Religion Past and Present
Get access
Subject: Religious Studies
Edited by: Hans Dieter Betz, Don S. Browning†, Bernd Janowski and Eberhard Jüngel
Religion Past and Present (RPP) Online is the online version of the updated English translation of the 4th edition of the definitive encyclopedia of religion worldwide: the peerless Religion in Geschichte und Gegenwart (RGG). This great resource, now at last available in English and Online, Religion Past and Present Online continues the tradition of deep knowledge and authority relied upon by generations of scholars in religious, theological, and biblical studies. Including the latest developments in research, Religion Past and Present Online encompasses a vast range of subjects connected with religion.
Subscriptions: see brill.com
| Help us improve our service |
Religion Past and Present (RPP) Online is the online version of the updated English translation of the 4th edition of the definitive encyclopedia of religion worldwide: the peerless Religion in Geschichte und Gegenwart (RGG). This great resource, now at last available in English and Online, Religion Past and Present Online continues the tradition of deep knowledge and authority relied upon by generations of scholars in religious, theological, and biblical studies. Including the latest developments in research, Religion Past and Present Online encompasses a vast range of subjects connected with religion.
Subscriptions: see brill.com
Dabney, Robert Lewis
(151 words)
[German Version] (Mar 5, 1820, Louisa County, VA – Jan 3, 1898, Victoria, TX), a premier 19th-century Presbyterian theologian in the USA. He was a pastor, and then taught church history and systematic theology at Union Theological Seminary in Richmond, Virginia (1853–1883). Dabney supported slavery before the Civil War and served as chaplain to “Stonewall” Jackson during the war. He became professor of philosophy at the University of Texas (1883–1893) and helped establish Austin Seminary (1894–1895). Dabney's
Lectures in Systematic Theology (1871), while similar to the West…
Source:
Religion Past and Present
Dabra Dāmo
(447 words)
[German Version] is the site of a Christian monastery complex with two churches, located approx. 100 km east of Axum in the region of Tigray, Ethiopia. Ethiopian tradition attributes the founding of the monastery and the introduction of the Pachomian rule (Pachomius) to Abbā Za-Mikāʾēl Aragāwi (e.g.
EMML 3738). He was one of the nine holy monks who came to Ethiopia at the ¶ end of the 5th century. King Gabra Masqāl (6th cent.) is reputed to have built Enda Abuna Aragāwi, the main church within the compl…
Source:
Religion Past and Present
Dabra Libānos
(461 words)
[German Version] is a famous monastery in Šawā, Ethiopia, located approx. 100 km north of the current capital, Addis Ababā. Emperor Zarʾā Yāʿqob changed the original name Dabra ʿAsbo to Dabra Libānos ¶ on Dec 26, 1445. The holy monk Takla Hāymānot (died 1312) founded the monastery in 1284. One version of his hagiography (
Gadla) assigns him the main political role in the establishment of the Solomonic dynasty in 1270, instead of his teacher Iyasus Moʿā (c. 1214–1294). This transfer of religious…
Source:
Religion Past and Present
Dabra Miṭmāq,
(291 words)
[German Version] church in Tagulat, Šawā, Ethiopia. It was constructed by King Zarʾā Yāʿqob around 1440. Several Marian miracles that took place at the Egyptian monastery of Dabra Miṭmāq were also passed on in Ethi¶ opian tradition (
Taʾāmmra Māryām, The Book of Mary's Miracles, e.g.
EMML 3872). Zarʾā Yāʿqob promoted the veneration of Mary in Ethiopia and wished to preserve the memory of the destroyed Egyptian monastery. Dabra Miṭmāq attained significance in…
Source:
Religion Past and Present
Dach, Simon
(133 words)
[German Version] (Jul 29, 1605, Memel – Apr 15, 1659, Königsberg [Kaliningrad]) studied Protestant theology, classical languages, rhetoric and poetry in Königsberg. In 1633, he went to work at the Cathedral School in Königsberg and, in 1639, became the professor
poëseos at the Albertina at the express wish of the prince-elector. Dach's poetry consists primarily of occasional poems in Latin and German. His friendship songs, set to music and published by the cathedral organist Heinrich Albert (
Aria), were dedicated to the musical/poetic “Königs…
Source:
Religion Past and Present
Dacia
(98 words)
[German Version] The Dacians originally settled between the lower Danube, the Tisza and the Carpathian arc. The Romans subdued them in three wars (85–106 ce). Established in 106, the province of Dacia (Transylvania, Oltenia, Banat) was abandoned by Aurelian around 271. ¶ The name was carried over to territories lying south of the Danube. Christianity probably found its way into Dacia as early as the 3rd century. Stefan Rebenich Bibliography H. Wolff, “Dakien,” in: F. Vittinghoff, ed.,
Europäische Wirtschaftsund Sozialgeschichte in der römischen Kaiserzeit, 1990, 616–630 J. Burian…
Source:
Religion Past and Present
da Costa, Uriël
(149 words)
[German Version] (1583/1584, Oporto – April, 1640, Amsterdam). The son of a Portuguese Converso, Costa was able to return to Judaism after moving to Amsterdam in 1615. In 1618 he was excluded from the synagogue in Hamburg for criticizing important points of the Halakhic tradition (Halakhah). The Amsterdam synagogue pronounced a further ban in 1623 following his denial of the immortality of the soul. Costa's
Exame das tradiçôes Phariseas (1624), in which he defended his opinions, was burnt. Costa was prepared to retract some of his statements, but i…
Source:
Religion Past and Present
Dahle, Lars Nilsen
(103 words)
[German Version] (Dec 7, 1843, Grytten, Norway – Feb 20, 1925, Stavanger), missionary to Madagascar 1870–1987, and general secretary of the Norwegian Missionary Society (Norwegian Missions) 1889–1920. He was a member of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters in 1889. Dahle participated in the 1910 World Missions Conference in Edinburgh and was a member of the Continuation Committee. In 1887 he revised the Malagasy Bible. Vidar L. Haanes Bibliography Works include: Books and articles on Malagasy folklore, language, and geography, e.g.
Specimens of Malagasy Folklore, 1877. Num…
Source:
Religion Past and Present
Daillé, Jean
(167 words)
[German Version] (Dallaeus; Jan 1, 1594, Châtellerault – Apr 15, 1670, Paris), Reformed theologian. After studying philosophy in Châtellerault and Poitiers, Daillé turned to theology in 1612 in Saumur. As the tutor of the grandchildren of P. Duplessis-Mornay in Saumur, he became friends with the professors of the academy and traveled with his students through Western …
Source:
Religion Past and Present
Daimon
(283 words)
[German Version] Greek δαίμων, may be etymologically related to δαίω “disperse” (i.e. the fateless?); originally “divine being, divine power” (= ϑεός, “god”) (Hom.
Iliad 1.222 etc.), but already in Hes.
Erga 121–126 it referred to the “soul of a deceased person.” The two concepts fuse in the image of daimons as punishing avengers (souls of the ¶ murdered execute vengeance as daimons). The concept of the “personal” daimon that influences the fate of the individual appeared from the 6th century bce (Theognis 161–164, Heraclitus 22 B 119 D.-K., Pindarus,
Olympia 13.28, 105, Sophoc.
Trachin…
Source:
Religion Past and Present
Dalai Lama
(1,187 words)
[German Version] I. Institution and History – II. Present Situation
I. Institution and History Dalai Lama (Mongolian-Tibetan “ocean [of knowledge]-teacher”) refers to the spiritual and political head of the Tibetans and of the Gelugpa School, the order in Tibet that functions as the governmental institution. The Dalai Lama is also everywhere viewed as the religious …
Source:
Religion Past and Present
Dalberg, Karl Theodor Anton Maria v.
(198 words)
[German Version] (Feb 8, 1744, Mannheim – Feb 10, 1817, Regensburg) became governor of Mainz in Erfurt in 1771 (becoming associated here with J.W. v. Goethe and F. v. Schiller, among others), head of the cathedral school in Würzburg in 1780, Electoral archbishop of Mainz and archchancellor of the Holy Roman Empire in 1802, as well as prince-bishop of Worms and…
Source:
Religion Past and Present
d'Alembert, Jean le Rond
(514 words)
[German Version] (Nov 16 [17?],1717, Paris – Oct 29, 1783, Paris), illegitimate child of Madame de Tencin and the officer Destouches, was abandoned by his mother on the steps of the church of St. Jean Le Rond – hence the first part of his name. His father provided for his education in the Jansenist Collège des Quatres Nations (Jansenism), where he acquired the second part of his name. Quite early on, d'Alembert gained fame as a mathematician and physicist. One still speaks today of the “d'Alembertian principle” developed in 1743 in the
Traité de dynamique, by which he contributed to a fo…
Source:
Religion Past and Present
Dale, Robert William
(166 words)
[German Version] (Dec 1, 1829, London – Mar 13, 1895, Birmingham) received his M.A. in 1853, London, Doctor of Divinity at Yale, and Doctor of Laws at Glasgow in 1883. Dale became a lay minister at Carr's Lane Congregational Church in Birmingham, and in 1859 he became its pastor. He was Chairman of the Congregational Union in 1869, and first President of the International Congregational Council in 1891. Dale emphasized the objective character of the redemption ¶ wrought by Christ and was critical of the Calvinist doctrine of election and the s…
Source:
Religion Past and Present
Dali, Salvador
(296 words)
[German Version] (May 11, 1904, Figueras, Catalonia – Jan 23, 1989, Figueras), painter and author. Salvador Dalí studied art in Madrid (1921–1923 and 1925/1926), lived in Paris (1928–1940) and the USA (1940–1948), and thereafter spent most of his remaining years in Spain. During his studies, he acquired and perfected his sleek, translucent technique with which he could render even the finest naturalistic details. In 1929, he cooperated with L. Buñuel in writing the “scenario” for the film
An Andalusian Dog, a series of shocking scenes expressing the irrationality …
Source:
Religion Past and Present
Dalman, Hermann Gustav
(124 words)
[German Version] (actually Marx; Jun 9, 1855, Niesky – Aug 19, 1941, Herrnhut), Old Testament scholar and explorer of Palestine. From Jerusalem, Dalman undertook archaeological investigations (Archaeology, Jerusalem, Petra) as the first director of the Deutsches Evangelisches Institut für Altertumswissenschaft des Heiligen Landes (German Evangelical Institute for the Study of the Holy Land in Antiquity) (1902–1916) and gathered materials from all areas of information concerning the region, of which some still await publication in Greifswald, Dalman's later workplace. Stef…
Source:
Religion Past and Present
Damage
(460 words)
[German Version] refers to the essence of all the effects of natural or social events that, in contrast to benefit, do not maintain or increase the possibilities of human life, but diminish them. The subject of ethical consideration cannot be damage caused by nature (IV), but only damage as the consequence of human action. The deliberate production of damage b…
Source:
Religion Past and Present
Damascius
(290 words)
[German Version] (c. 458, Damascus – after 538, Emesa), Neoplatonist and the last head of the Platonic Academy until Justinian I abolished it in 529. In 531, on the invitation of Great King Khosrau, he went into exile in Persia, but returned to Athens in 532/533. Heavily influenced by Plotinus, Iamblichos, and Proclus, Damascius gave Neoplatonism a critical epistemological turn, after the epistemological optimism of Proclus, through an agnosticism in the name of transcendence. Starting from Plato's
Parmenides, he placed greatest emphasis on the pure …
Source:
Religion Past and Present
Damascus
(2,359 words)
[German Version] I. Archaeology – II. Early Church – III. Arab Period – IV. Christianity in Damascus
I. Archaeology Damascus, modern
Dimešq (
aš-Šām), is located 3 km east of where the Baradā river (cf. 2 Kgs 5:12) emerges from the ravine (Rabwāt al-Minšār) between Mount ¶ Hermon) and Mount Qasyūn (Anti-Lebanon). It is the center of the largest Syrian mountain-border oasis – the Ghutah, an area threatened by overdevelopment – and since 1946 has been the capital of the Syrian Arab Republic (Syria). According to legend, Damascus is one of the oldest cities in the world, …
Source:
Religion Past and Present
Damascus Document
(856 words)
[German Version] The
Damascus Document has been known since its discovery in 1896/97 in the Genizah of the Ezra Synagogue in Cairo and its publication in 1910 by Schechter. Although it has also been called
Fragments of a Zadokite Work because of the special role played by the Zadokites (Zadok/Zadokites) in it, the designation
Damascus Document (Cairo Damascus Document = CD [Qumran]) has generally established itself because of the mention of the “new covenant in the l…
Source:
Religion Past and Present
Damaskinos, Michael
(163 words)
[German Version] (1530/1535, Candia on Crete – 1592/1593, Candia) is considered the most significant Greek icon painter of the second half of the 16th century. His artistic career began in Candia (now Heraklion) around 1555–1560. In 1574, Damaskinos was invited to Venice to create the icons for the new church of the Greek congregation, San Giorgio dei Grec…
Source:
Religion Past and Present
Damasus I, Pope
(464 words)
[German Version] from Oct 1, 366 to Dec 11, 384 (born c. 305, probably in Rome). Having been deacon under Liberius from 355, he was elected bishop of Rome in October 366; at the same time, a strong opposition appointed Ursinus as rival bishop. Bloody struggles ensued, but Damasus prevailed with the aid of the emperor (
Collectio Avellana 1). Though Ursinus was sent into exile, he remained an active opponent, as evidenced by the instigation of criminal proceedings against Damasus, which seem to be linked to this conflict. Of Damasus's writings, epigrams, letters and synodal documents (
Epistu…
Source:
Religion Past and Present
Damian of Alexandria/Damianites
(226 words)
[German Version] Damian, a Syrian, became a monophysite patriarch (578 – Jun 25 [Julian calendar: 12], 607) after 17 years as a monk in the desert of Scetis in Enaton near Alexandria. In 575, he became the secretary of Peter IV, the patriarch recognized by the majority; he succeeded Peter in 578. Damian was able to overcome this schism, and briefly that with t…
Source:
Religion Past and Present
Damnation
(1,397 words)
[German Version] I. History of Religions – II. Philosophy of Religion – III. Dogmatics
I. History of Religions As a theological category, damnation belongs primarily in the context of the history of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. The etymology of the term itself connotes a local and a judicial dimension: the punishment of expulsion to a real or imaginary place as an exclusion from …
Source:
Religion Past and Present
Dan
(611 words)
[German Version] I. Archaeology – II. History (Arab. Tell el-Qāḍī), city near the southern foot of Mount Hermon enjoying a location favorably situated along trade routes in a fertile valley at one of the sources of the Jordan River.
I. Archaeology A differentiated city developed at this site during the EBA (27th – 24th cent.) to which a mighty earthen wall was added during the MBA (1st half of the 2nd mill.). After being destroyed at the end of the MBA, …
Source:
Religion Past and Present
Dance
(2,237 words)
[German Version] I. History of Religions – II. Dance, Gesture, Movement and Religion – III. Dance, Gesture, Movement and the Christian Tradition
I. History of Religions In contrast to pure movement, dance consists of intentional, differentiated, recurring and rhythmic elements. Initially, natural rhythms such as the beating of the heart, rainfall or animal sounds were imitated and translated into movement. In early forms of culture, da…
Source:
Religion Past and Present
Dance of Death, Representations of the,
(595 words)
[German Version] a figurative genre that developed from first examples in early 15th century France (abbey church of La Chaise-Dieu, ¶ Auvergne; Franciscan monastery of Aux Saints Innocents, Paris) and gradually spread throughout Europe (Fr.
Danse macabre, Ger.
Totentanz). Its existential theme (deceased people inviting the living to a last dance) continues to arouse artistic and medial interest to this day (Stöckli). The tradition associated with the …
Source:
Religion Past and Present
Daneau, Lambert
(154 words)
[German Version] (c. 1530, Beaugency-sur-Loire – 1595, Castres). After law school in Orléans and Bourges, Daneau turned to Protestantism under the influence of Calvin in 1560. In 1562, he became pastor in Gien-sur-Loire, and in 1572 pastor and professor of theology in Geneva. He moved to Leiden in 1581, and on to Ghent in 1582; from 1583 he worked in Orthez an…
Source:
Religion Past and Present
Daniel, Additions to
(549 words)
[German Version]
I. The ancient Greek, Syriac, and Latin versions of the book of Daniel offer about half again as much material as the Hebrew/Aramaic version. The major Greek and Latin churches consider these Additions to be canoni¶ cal (cf. Catholic Bible translations). The Reformers, however, set them aside as apocrypha. The Additions probably are based on Semitic originals; the medieval
Chronicle of Jerahmeel apparently preserves the Aramaic version of 3:24–90 and the dragon narrative.
II. The passage inserted into ch. 3 (as vv. 24–90 = Additions …
Source:
Religion Past and Present
Daniel, Book of
(2,336 words)
[German Version] I. Overview – II. Origin of the Book – III. The Tales in Dan 1–6 – IV. The Visions in Dan 7–12 – V. The Influence of Daniel
I. Overview The book of Daniel is found among the
Ketuvim (Writings, Old Testament) in the Hebrew Bible, but among the
Neviʾim (Prophets) in the Greek and Latin (Christian) scriptures. The first six chapters tell the story of Daniel and three companions who are taken to Babylon by Nebucha…
Source:
Religion Past and Present
Daniélou, Jean
(189 words)
[German Version] (May 14, 1905, Neuilly-sur-Seine – May 20, 1974, Paris) was a French Jesuit (since 1929) and cardinal (since 1969). After studies in Jersey and Lyon-Fourvière, he was ordained to the priesthood in 1938, received the Dr. theol. in 1943 and was professor of early Christian literature and history at the Institut Catholique in Paris (until 1969). He edited the
Etudes for many years, and contributed to sparking off the controversy over the “nouvelle théologie” with his article “Les …
Source:
Religion Past and Present
Danish-Halle Mission
(144 words)
[German Version] (DHM). An initiative undertaken around 1705 by the Danish King Frederick IV (1671–1730) under the influence of his court chaplain, Franz Julius Lütkens (1650–1712), who was, in turn, inspired by P.J. Spener, later became the Dänisch-Hallesche Mission, after A.H. Francke had abandoned his initial reticence to cooperate. It initiated Protestant …
Source:
Religion Past and Present
Danish Missions
(545 words)
[German Version] I. State Mission – II. Missionary Societies – III. Missionary Council
I. State Mission B. Ziegenbalg and H. Plütschau were sent in 1705, during the reign of King Frederick IV, to the Danish colony Tranquebar (Danish-Halle Mission). To support the mission and train missionaries the king founded the Collegium de cursu Evangelii promovendo in 1714. In 1716 the Norwegian minister Thomas v. Westen (1682–1727) started work among the Lapps and in 1721 H. Egede set out for Greenland. Toward the end of the 18th century the Danish mission suffered a recession.
II. Missionary S…
Source:
Religion Past and Present
Dannhauer, Johann Konrad
(388 words)
[German Version] (Mar 24, 1603, Köndringen, Breisgau – Nov 7, 1666, Strasbourg), the most important theologian of Strasbourg's Lutheran orthodoxy in the 17th century. After studying in Strasbourg, and for one year each in Marburg, Altdorf, and Jena (with J. Gerhard), he became inspector of the seminary in 1628, professor of rhetoric in 1629, profes¶ sor of theology and preacher at the cathedral in 1633, and in addition church president in Strasbourg in 1658. Dannhauer wrote fundamental works, s…
Source:
Religion Past and Present
Dante Alighieri
(2,579 words)
[German Version] I. Life – II. Works – III. Impact (May/Jun, 1265, Florence – Sep 13/14, 1321, Ravenna)
I. Life Dante came from an old family of lesser nobles who represented the interests of the Guelph in partisan struggle-shaken Florence. One of his ancestors was Cacciaguida, who died in the Second Crusade. When the young Dante accepted the inheritance of his father, who died prematurely, the estate of the influential fam¶ ily was already diminished. He studied first with the Franciscans in Florence; late…
Source:
Religion Past and Present
d'Aquili, Eugene
(135 words)
[German Version] (Jun 4, 1940, Trenton, NJ – Aug 2, 1998, Philadelphia, PA), professor of psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania. D'Aquili pioneered in research that he himself termed “biogenetic structuralism,” which correlates brain states to ritual and mystical experience in order to develop explanatory models of brain function. He developed theories …
Source:
Religion Past and Present
Darby, John Nelson
(212 words)
[German Version] (Nov 18, 1800, London – Apr 29, 1882, Bournemouth). The most significant participant in the evangelical dissenting movement (Dissenters) known as the Plymouth Brethren (Darbyites), Darby popularized the interpretation of biblical prophecy, and was one of the founders of biblical historical theology, known as “dispensational theology” …
Source:
Religion Past and Present
Darmstadt Declaration
(507 words)
[German Version] (Darmstädter Wort), a statement by the council of the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD) on the political future of the German people. The text was compiled from the draft by H.J. Iwand and revisions by M. Niemöller, K. Barth and the Kirchlich-Theologische Arbeitsgemeinschaft, and was agreed upon on Aug 8, 1947 in Darmstadt. Its radical questioning of ethical/political traditions that were previously taken for granted unleashed a controversy (H. Asmussen: socialism policy, W. Künneth:
Konjunkturtheologie) which not even the official …
Source:
Religion Past and Present
Darśana
(99 words)
[German Version] In Hinduism,
darśana (Sanskrit, neut., literally “vision, sight”) designates: (a) the mutual beholding of believer and divinity in worship (Pūjā), and (b) a philosophical system, especially the six “orthodox” schools of Vaiśeṣika, Nyāya, Sāṃkhya, Yoga, Mīmāṃsā and Vedānta. In Buddhism, the term denotes either a rational insight or the meditative vision of a celestial Buddha or Bodhisattva. Axel Michaels Bibliography E. Frauwallner,
Geschichte der indischen Philosophie, vol. I, 1953; vol. II, 1956; ET:
History of Indian Philosophy, 1973 D. Eck,
Darśan: Seeing …
Source:
Religion Past and Present
Darwin, Charles Robert
(592 words)
[German Version] (Feb 12, 1809, Shrewsbury, England – Apr 19, 1882, Downe, Kent, England) is known as the author of
The Origin of Species (1859), the book which popularized the theory of biological evolution and introduced the evolutionary mechanism of natural selection. Darwin developed the evolution theory following studies of biogeography as a naturalist on the survey-vessel H.M.S. Beagle (1831–1836). Con…
Source:
Religion Past and Present
Darwinism
(1,874 words)
[German Version] I. Science – II. Philosophy of Religion – III. Systematic Theology – IV. Ethics
I. Science Although Darwinism may be thought of as referring to the version of evolutionary theory originating from C.R. Darwin (Desmond & Moore), it is in reality, however, difficult to agree on any more precise definition. Darwin's own works on evolution involved several different mechanisms for br…
Source:
Religion Past and Present
Dasein
(652 words)
[German Version] I. Dasein – II. Dasein Analysis
I. Dasein
1. General The German term
Dasein refers to the reality of things (Lat.
existentia, which C. Wolff translated into German as
Dasein, lit. “being there”) in contradistinction to their essence (Ger.
Sosein, “being so”) and to the actuality of facts (i.e. that such-and-such is the case). In early Greek philosophy and also in Plato,
Dasein does not receive much attention as an independent topic, there being more interest in determining the what and the how of things. Although Aristotle inquires concerning
Dasein in his
Posterior An…
Source:
Religion Past and Present
Data Protection
(1,878 words)
[German Version] I. Data Protection – a Fundamental Right – II. Limitations of Data Protection – III. Data Protection and Information Technology – IV. The General Data Protection Law – V. Church and Data Protection – VI. Area-Specific Data Protection – VII. Future Prospects
I. Data Protection – a Fundamental Right The misleading term data protection arose at the beginning of the 1960s when business and government first began using computers on a large scale to process bulk transactio…
Source:
Religion Past and Present
Dathenus, Petrus
(274 words)
[German Version] (1531/1532, Cassel near Hazebrouck, Flanders (now France) – Mar 17, 1588, Elbląg [Elbing], Poland) joined the Reformation as a young Carmelite monk (Ypres) and fled to England in 1550. In 1555, he became the leader of the Dutch exile community in Frankfurt am Main. After the eucharistic controversy between Calvin and J. Westphal, Dathenus and some 60 families took refuge in the monastery of ¶ Frankenthal. He moved to the Netherlands in 1566, but fled once again to the Electoral Palatinate (Kurpfalz) in 1567 …
Source:
Religion Past and Present
Daubanton, François Elbertus
(199 words)
[German Version] (Feb 5, 1853, Amsterdam – Dec 6, 1920, Utrecht) served as a minister in the Netherlands (1878–1903), and subsequently as professor of biblical theology, practical theology, and the history of mission at Utrecht University. His most important study,
Prolegomena van protestantsche zendingswetenschap (“Prolegomena of Protestant Missiology,” 1911), was the first history of mission studies and the first formal study of missiology; it deals wit…
Source:
Religion Past and Present
Daub, Carl
(248 words)
[German Version] (Mar 20, 1765, Kassel – Nov 22, 1836, Heidelberg). From a poor background, Daub began his studies of philology, philosophy, history, and theology in Marburg in 1786. He passed the theological exam in Marburg in 1789, became
Stipendiatenmajor (tutor for scholarship students), and
Privatdozent in 1790. In 1794, he became professor of philosophy in the Hohe Landesschule Hanau. On Nov 13, 1795, he was appointed second professor – of dogmatics a…
Source:
Religion Past and Present
Daube, David
(299 words)
[German Version] (Feb 8, 1909, Freiburg – Feb 24, 1999, Berkeley, CA), scholar of Roman, biblical, and Jewish law, biblical Interpreter. Born in an orthodox Jewish family, Daube studied in Freiburg and Göttingen. In the face of the Nazi oppression of Jews (Holocaust), he emigrated to England in 1933: Daube received his doctorate in Cambridge in 1936 and his M.A. in Oxford in 1955. He …
Source:
Religion Past and Present
Daut, Johann Maximilian
(158 words)
[German Version] (died after 1736), radical Pietist. A cobbler's apprentice, he was expelled from his home city, Frankfurt am Main, in 1709, because of his polemics against the church and authority, led an irregular life as a wandering prophet (Wittgenstein region, Leiden and Altona). In view of the impending judgment of God, he called “false and unrepentant C…
Source:
Religion Past and Present
David
(3,786 words)
[German Version] I. Bible – II. Christianity – III. Judaism – IV. Islam
I. Bible
1. Old Testament From the biblical perspective, David, whose name means “darling, beloved,” is the embodiment of the ideal ruler. He governed in the early 10th century bce, allegedly for 40 years, of which seven and a half were in Hebron, the rest in Jerusalem (2 Sam 5:4f.). Although he is the king of whom the Bible has most to tell (Kingship in Israel), he remains a …
Source:
Religion Past and Present
David, Christian
(189 words)
[German Version] (bapt. Feb 17, 1692, Senftleben – Feb 3, 1751, Herrnhut), a carpenter, as a Catholic stimulated by secret Protestants and Jews, he studied the Bible and converted to Protestantism in Berlin in 1715. Awakened in 1717 under the influence of pastor Melchior Scheffer in Görlitz, he requested land from N.L. v. Zinzendorf for Moravian immigrants and built the first house at Herrnhut in 1722 (Bohemian and Moravian Brethren: II). David was the prototype of a Moravian emissary whose
Beschreibung und Zuverlässige ¶ Nachricht von Hernnhut (“Description …
Source:
Religion Past and Present
Dávid, Ferenc
(159 words)
[German Version] (actually Hertel), (c. 1510, Klausenburg – Nov 15, 1579, Déva), studied 1546–1559 in Wittenberg and Frankfurt an der Oder, in 1551 became teacher in Bistritz, in 1552 the first Protestant pastor in Petersdorf (north Transylvania), in 1555 school director in Klausenburg, in 1556 superintendent of the Hungarian Evangelical-Lutheran Church. Initi…
Source:
Religion Past and Present
David IV of Georgia
(185 words)
[German Version] (1089–1125; born 1073). Also known as David the Builder, he occupies a special place among the kings of the Georgian “Golden Age” in the period of the defense against the Seljuqs. As the son of George II, he is numbered the second, third, or better, fourth to bear the name among Georgian kings. From 1107 to 1118, he conquered provinces previou…
Source:
Religion Past and Present
David, Johann Nepomuk
(151 words)
[German Version] (Nov 30, 1895, Elferding, Austria – Dec 22, 1977, Stuttgart). Together with E. Pepping and H. Distler, David is one of the most innovative 20th-century composers of church music. After composition studies in Vienna, David spent ten years as an organist and school teacher in Wels. From 1934 to 1945 he taught in Leipzig. After three postwar year…
Source:
Religion Past and Present
David of Augsburg
(287 words)
[German Version] (c. 1205, Augsburg – 1272, Augsburg), OFM, novice master and religious author. As a popular preacher he was the
socius (not
magister) of Berthold of Regensburg, whom he accompanied in 1246 as papal visitor of the abbeys of Ober- and Niedermünster. The often claimed activity as inquisitor is unlikely since authorship of the Waldensian tractate
De inquisitione is no longer attributed to David. In addition to minor Latin tractates and an exposition of the rule of the Ordo Fratrum Minorum, he authored the mirror for novices,
De compositione, which, as a comprehensive in…
Source:
Religion Past and Present
David of Dinant
(138 words)
[German Version] (died 1206/1210) probably received the Master of Arts in Paris, and supposedly spent time at the court of Innocent III. He excerpted and translated Aristotle's works of natural philosophy from Greek, discovered his
De problematibus, and developed, under neoplatonic influence, a pantheistic philosophy in which he identified God with the primary material and mind. He defended the worldview of Pythagoras ag…
Source:
Religion Past and Present
David of Ethiopia
(226 words)
[German Version] (Eth. Dāwit) I (II according to Ethiopian enumeration – after the biblical David, or the epithet “the second David”) was the throne name of Qosṭanṭinos (Constantine); he was an Ethiopian king who reigned from 1382 until 1413. Through evangelization in Goğğām, he extended the Christian realm southward. Campaigns agai…
Source:
Religion Past and Present
Davidson, Donald
(512 words)
[German Version] (Mar 6, 1917, Springfield, MA – Aug 30, 2003, Berkeley, CA), American philosopher. After studies at Harvard in the 1930s and 1940s under both A.N. Whitehead and later W. v. O. Quine (service with the US Navy 1942–1945), Davidson held positions at Queen's College (NY), Stanford, Princeton, Rockefeller, Chicago and fi…
Source:
Religion Past and Present
Davies, Robertson
(151 words)
[German Version] (Aug 28, 1913, Thamesville, Ontario – Feb 12, 1995, Orangeville, Ontario), Canada's leading 20th-century novelist. In his works Davies regularly employed religious symbols, disputes, traditions, and hagiography. After working in the theater and as an editor of the
Examiner, published in Peterborough, ¶ Ontario, he became Master of Massey College, University of Toronto, in 1963, where he served until retirement. Davies's novels included three trilogies: …
Source:
Religion Past and Present
Davies, Samuel
(160 words)
[German Version] (Nov 3, 1723, New Castle, DE – Feb 4, 1761, Princeton, NJ) studied under Samuel Blair, a New Light revivalist, before entering the Presbyterian ministry in 1746 as an evangelist in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Maryland. Soon after, he moved to Virginia, where he pursued the establishment of congregations in a five-county area. Rules against the licensing of …
Source:
Religion Past and Present
Davis, John Merle
(135 words)
[German Version] (Oct 1, 1875, Kyoto, Japan – Mar 15, 1960, Palo Alto, CA), son of American Congregationalist missionaries, educated at Oberlin College, Hartford Theological Seminary, and in Germany, he was YMCA secretary in Japan from 1905 to 1922. Davis was founding director of the Department of Economic and Social Research and Counsel within the International Missionary Council …
Source:
Religion Past and Present
Dawson, Christopher Henry
(149 words)
[German Version] (Oct 12, 1889, Hay Castle – May 25, 1970, Budleigh Salterton), English his¶ torian and cultural theorist, originally Anglican. In 1914, he converted to the Catholic Church. He was, among other things, the 1934 Forwood Lecturer and delivered the Gifford Lectures in 1947 and 1948. From 1958 to 1962, he was the first to hold the Chauncey Stillman Professorship for Roman …
Source:
Religion Past and Present
Dawson, John William
(173 words)
[German Version] (Oct 13, 1820, Nova Scotia – Nov 19, 1899, Montreal, Quebec), an important geologist and lay theologian. He was brought up as a Scottish Presbyterian, and remained so all his life. He studied at the University of Edinburgh and was involved in a range of educational and evangelistic ventures in Nova Scotia. In 1855 he became principal of McGill College in Montreal. With the support of Charles Lyell, Britain's foremost geologist, he published many scientific works such as
The Canadian Ice Age (1893). Dawson was elected to numerous scientific …
Source:
Religion Past and Present
Day and Night
(403 words)
[German Version] The unity of the duality of day and night is one of the most striking and constitutive phenomena in the divisions of the natural flow of time. Within the unity of day and night, cultural variations, conditioned upon socio-mythological and geographical-climatic factors, determine when a day is to begin or end (in the night, in the morning, or at noon) or how …
Source:
Religion Past and Present
Day, Dorothy
(206 words)
[German Version] (Nov 8, 1897, Brooklyn, NY – Nov 30, 1980, New York City), co-founder of the Catholic Worker movement (Labor movement), was a social activist (Social movements) and writer, who integrated orthodox Catholicism (converted in 1927) with radical American and Christian social thought. Day was active in American journalistic and intellectual circles in the World War I era. In 1933 she and the French peasant philosopher Peter Maurin founded the Catholic Worker movement. This movement published the influential
Catholic Worker and operated many “Houses …
Source:
Religion Past and Present
Days of Prayer and Repentance
(1,762 words)
[German Version] I. History – II. Theology – III. Liturgy
I. History Days of prayer and repentance or the like are found in all religions. Particularly worthy of note are the days of prayer and repentance in the Old Testament and Judaism: the annual Day of Atonement (Lev 16:29ff., etc.), fasts and days of prayer and repentance in times of crisis (Judg 20:26; 1 Sam 7:5f.; Joel 1:13ff., etc.), an…
Source:
Religion Past and Present
Dead, Baptism of the
(10 words)
[German Version] Vicarious Baptism
Source:
Religion Past and Present
Dead, Cult of the
(2,817 words)
[German Version] I. Religious Studies – II. Old Testament – III. Classical Antiquity
I. Religious Studies Nearly all societies view death as a transition from one mode of existence to another. To enable the departed or his or her soul to complete this transformational process successfully, the survivors must perform certain rituals, referred to collectively as the cult of the …
Source:
Religion Past and Present
Dead, Liturgy of the
(12 words)
[German Version] Burial, Exsequia, Requiem Mass
Source:
Religion Past and Present
Dead Sea
(333 words)
[German Version] Belonging geologically to the Syrian rift as the continuation of the course of the Jordan River, the Dead Sea constitutes the lowest point on earth (approx. 400 m below sea level). With a length of approx. 85 km and a breadth of 17.5 km, it covers a surface of approx. 10,000 km2. Its northern basin reaches 400 m in depth, the portion south of the Lisan peninsula is flat and, today, almost dried up. Although the high salt content (28–33% instead of …
Source:
Religion Past and Present
Deaf and Hearing Impaired, Care of the
(523 words)
[German Version] The areas of work include church and diaconal activities for deaf (obsolete: deaf-mute), hard of hearing, and hearing impaired persons (Deaf and Hearing Impaired, Education of). Since the church fathers, there has been a tradition of considerations and attempts to reach the deaf catechetically and pastorally. Hearing impairment was lar…
Source:
Religion Past and Present
Deaf and Hearing Impaired, Education of
(462 words)
[German Version] The deaf (obsolete: deaf-mutes) include (1) people whose hearing loss does not permit them to learn language by natural means or with the help of hearing aids, and (2) people who, regardless of their hearing loss, affiliate with deaf communities, adopt their culture and means of communication dominated by sign language, and may refuse to consi…
Source:
Religion Past and Present
Dean/Deanery
(172 words)
[German Version] Both Roman Catholic and Protestant church law know the deanery as a supra-congregational administrative unit within the diocese and as a mid-level association within the regional church respectively. The dean is a pastor with supervision and leadership responsibilities in the deanery, including pastoral care as the
pastor pastorum, ordination (Protestant), visitation, supervision, and administration. The functions of Roman Catholic deans derive from the bishops. Protestan…
Source:
Religion Past and Present
Death
(11,861 words)
[German Version] I. Religious Studies and History of Religions – II. Death and the Realm of the Dead in the Old Testament – III. Judaism – IV. New Testament – V. Philosophy – VI. Philosophy of Religion – VII. History of Dogma and Dogmatics – VIII. Ethics – IX. Practical Theology – X. Art – XI. Islam – XII. Buddhism – XIII. Hinduism
I. Religious Studies and History of Religions
1. General Modern religious criticism regards religion as compensation for human anxiety in the face of death. …
Source:
Religion Past and Present
Death Penalty
(3,790 words)
[German Version] I. Old Testament – II. New Testament – III. Judaism – IV. Law – V. Ethics
I. Old Testament The death penalty in the Old Testament has three causes: 1. blood revenge as a direct legal reaction by a family damaged by a homicide; 2. cultic law involving severe violations of religious taboos such as witchcraft, sodomy and apostasy (Ex 22:17–19); 3. family property …
Source:
Religion Past and Present
Debir
(277 words)
[German Version]
1. A city of the Canaanites (Josh 10:38–39) and Anakim (Josh 11:21), 13 km southwest of Hebron, which was annihilated by Joshua and whose territory was allotted to the Israelites (Josh 12:13). According to another (and probably older) tradition in Judg 1:11–13 (also Josh 15:15), the city (here with its earlier name, Kiriath-sepher) was taken by the Kenizzite Othniel, an ally of the Calebites. Another earlier name is Kiriath-sannah (Josh 15:49), which could have been the Calebite name of the settlement, unless it represents a scribal error (
OLB II, 765; cf. …
Source:
Religion Past and Present
Deborah/Song of Deborah
(633 words)
[German Version] Deborah (Judg 4–5) is a female figure with an important political function, untypical for ancient Palestinian times. Although she is identified as the “wife of Lapidoth,” there is no mention of a male household in the narrative. She appears to be operating completely on her own initiative as judge and prophet. This probably indicates that she is a post-menopausal female, who like the “wise women” of the David narrative (David: I; 2 Sam 14:2–20; 20:15–22) function as elders. Deborah is the only character described in the book of Judges (Deuteronomic history)…
Source:
Religion Past and Present
Debrecen, University of
(253 words)
[German Version] The institution of higher learning in Debrecen grew out of the Reformed College of Debrecen. By the end of the 17th century, the municipal school that had become Protestant in 1538 developed into the central educational institution of the Reformed church in Hungary. At the beginning of the 20th century, there were three academic departments (theology, philosophy, …
Source:
Religion Past and Present
Debt Crisis
(374 words)
[German Version] If a debtor can no longer make the amortization and interest payments (“debt service”) for which he or she is obligated under a credit agreement, then one may speak of a “debt crisis.” In recent decades, the public has been especially aware of the debt crisis of the developing and emerging countries (Third World). This has …
Source:
Religion Past and Present
Decadence Models of Religion
(606 words)
[German Version] The notion of decadence (degeneration, depravation, decay, decline) reflects the assumption that a better state has devolved into a worse state. This assumption defines the history of religions to the extent that the proper evaluation of the loss and regaining of original bliss (salvation) is a consistent motif in the self-definition of religions. …
Source:
Religion Past and Present
Decade of Evangelism
(125 words)
[German Version] The Anglican Lambeth Conference passed its resolution 44 in 1988 with a call to shift from mere self-preservation to “proclamation and service.” Resolution 43 challenged every church province and diocese to cooperate with other Christians ¶ to make the 1990s a “Decade of Evangelism.” This call originated especially from the African bishops, the continent with the largest number of active members of the Anglican Church, and was …
Source:
Religion Past and Present
Decalogue
(5,698 words)
[German Version] I. Old Testament – II. Judaism – III. New Testament – IV. Church History – V. Dogmatics and Ethics – VI. Practical Theology
I. Old Testament The designation Decalogue (“ten words”) for the series of ten commandments derives from the Greek translation of the Hebrew
ʾaśeret haddebārîm (δεκάλογος “ten words”). It is employed in late deuteronomic theory in Deut 10:4 for the Decalogue, in Deut 5:6–21 and by the post-dtr. redaction of the …
Source:
Religion Past and Present
Decapolis
(467 words)
[German Version] The thesis of a Decapolis founded by Pompey in 63 bce as a Hellenistic bastion against the Arabs in the East is outmoded. A self-concept as Decapolis (Gk “ten cities”) arose only in the middle of the 1st century ce when a few cities of Coelesyria attempted to escape new Herodian sovereignty by proclaiming their autonomy in the
Provincia Syria (cf. the beginning of minting municipal coins with the city Tyche: Canatha 38/39, Skythopolis 39/40 [Beth-Shean], Gerasa and Hippos 67/68 ce; only Gadara, rebuilt by Pompey, minted coins from 63 bce on). In the …
Source:
Religion Past and Present
Decay/Decline
(820 words)
[German Version] I. General – II. Greek Views – III. Roman Views
I. General Decay/decline (cf. decadence, degeneration;
inclinatio; Ger.
Verfall) refers to a process of gradual deterioration that ends in sudden catastrophe (Gk καταστροφή), destruction, disintegration, slow dissolution, or ruin (Gk φϑορά/
phthorá), unless it is averted by reform or renaissance. Decay/decline is the corresponding antonym of progress, an – often …
Source:
Religion Past and Present
Dechamps, Victor-Auguste-Isidore
(202 words)
[German Version] (Dec 6, 1810, Melle near Ghent – Sep 29, 1883, Mechelen) was ordained priest in 1834 and joined the Redemptorists (CSsR) in 1835, religious instructor of the children of Leopold I of Belgium. In 1865, he became bishop of Namur, and in 1867 archbishop of Mechelen and primate of Belgium. He was elevated to cardinal in 1875. Theologically, Dechamps based faith on two elements:
le fait intérieur (the dynamic of human will and knowledge, which leaves human beings unfulfilled and opens them to God) and
le fait extérieur (the church, in whose
notae ecclesiae …
Source:
Religion Past and Present
Dechristianization
(816 words)
[German Version] I. History of the Concept – II. Concept in Cultural Studies
I. History of the Concept Dechristianization can be identified since c. 1820 as a translation for
déchristianisation, which was coined in the struggles over religious policy in the French Revolution.
Déchristianiser initially referred to the spontaneous acts of violence by lower-class groups against the church, that is, the theft of church property, the destruction of churches, and the execution …
Source:
Religion Past and Present
Decian and Valerian Persecution
(11 words)
[German Version] Persecutions of Christians
Source:
Religion Past and Present
Decision
(992 words)
[German Version] I. Philosophy – II. Dogmatics – III. Ethics
I. Philosophy The process of clarifying an uncertain, unclear situation that demands a reaction is essentially linked to decision as a choice between several possibilities of action. The scope of the term ranges from the more distanced judicial decision to the personal life decision. What is variable here is the amount of rational …
Source:
Religion Past and Present
Decisionism
(381 words)
[German Version] From Latin
decisio, “decision,” “judgment,” is a term coined by C. Schmitt to designate ¶ his thesis that the application of a norm can never be entirely defined by the norm itself, so that there is always a margin and need for “decision.” The term is directed critically against normative and legal positivist positions, especially against the position of Hans Kelsens. For Schmitt …
Source:
Religion Past and Present
Decision Theory
(334 words)
[German Version] is the systematic investigation of the conditions of rational action. Here, decision means the choice between several alternative actions. The meaning of the rationality of a decision is defined in the so-called theory of rational choice. The condition is an actor whose objective is to fulfill his own preferences. Rationality consists, on the one hand, in the systematic …
Source:
Religion Past and Present
Decius
(108 words)
[German Version] Roman emperor (c. 180–251 ce). After a senatorial career, Decius was chosen as (anti-)emperor in 249 at the Danube. In his efforts toward the political order and cultic unity of the empire, he issued a universal sacrificial order (
supplicatio). All citizens of the empire had to have their performance of the sacrifice officially confirmed (
libelli); the refusal of many Christians sparked a major persecution (I) (Eus.
Hist. eccl. VI 41.9 f.). After fighting the Goths in the Balkans, Decius fell in 251. Johannes Hahn Bibliography R. Selinger,
Die Religionspolitik des K…
Source:
Religion Past and Present
Deck, John Northcote, and Norman Cathcart
(197 words)
[German Version] John Northcote (Mar 12, 1875, London – May 10, 1957, Toronto) and Norman Cathcart (1882 – Aug 31, 1980) were brothers from a large missionary family belonging to the Bohemian and Moravian Brethren, which contributed significantly to the South Seas Evangelical Mission (also known as the Deck Mission) and the evangelization of the Pacific. N…
Source:
Religion Past and Present
Decolonization and Mission
(1,063 words)
[German Version] I. History – II. Missiology
I. History The term decolonization was first used in 1932 by the German researcher Moritz Bonn and was defined as “countercolonization.” In as far as the term is connected to a “transfer of power” on an international level, for example in the British Empire, decolonization marks a final stage in world and colonial history (Colonialism/Neocolonialis…
Source:
Religion Past and Present
Deconstruction/Deconstructivism
(1,117 words)
[German Version] I. Philosophical Considerations – II. Deconstruction/Deconstructionism and Religion – III. Deconstruction/Deconstructionism and Theology
I. Philosophical Considerations The expression “deconstruction” refers to the position of the French philosopher J. Derrida (1930–2004) and to the line of thought deriving from his work especially as manifested in literary criticism, though its roots are …
Source:
Religion Past and Present
Decretalists
(169 words)
[German Version] are those canonists who made the interpretation of the decretal collections (Decretals) the focal point of their scholarly work. Anonymous canonists around 1180, who divided the decretal material into systematically organized collections, can be considered the first decretalists. In Bologna, Bernhard of Pavia stands at the beginning around 1190 as the author of the
Breviarium extravagantium decretalium (Compilatio I). He also wrote the first textbook of decretal law. The large glossary to the fifth
Compilationes antiquae, in which decretal …
Source:
Religion Past and Present
Decretals
(260 words)
[German Version] derives from
epistolae decretales. Since Late Antiquity, this term has referred to papal letters that authoritatively rule on legal questions with binding effect. Pope Siricius issued the first transmitted decretal in 385 to Bishop Himerius of Tarragona. The major canon collections of c. 500 ce transmitted the decretals as legal sources of equal value alongside the conciliar canons. The papal decretal is the church's counterpart to the imperial …
Source:
Religion Past and Present
Decretists
(155 words)
[German Version] are the medieval canonists who devoted themselves to the interpretation of the
Decretum Gratiani (
Corpus Iuris Canonici ) published around 1140. The decretists began with Paucapalea, a student of Gratian. The school of the decretists in Bologna authored a number of important canonistic works in the years before 1190. After 1160, a French school of canonists arose centered in Paris. Arou…
Source:
Religion Past and Present
Decretum Gelasianum
(329 words)
[German Version] The so-called
Decretum Gelasianum, a synodal decree or decretal, is attributed in the manuscript tradition to the popes Damasus I ¶ (366–384) or Gelasius I (492–496). Its five chapters contain, among other things, important texts for the history of the canon and the development of the papacy: 1. on the names of the Holy Spirit and Christ; 2. a list of the books of the Old and New …
Source:
Religion Past and Present