Religion Past and Present
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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
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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
Remigius of Reims
(325 words)
[German Version] (c. 440–533), bishop. Scant biographical information on Remigius may be gleaned from two hagiographically overlaid lives of saints. The first
vita, which was written shortly after his death, was used by Gregory of Tours, while the second, written by Hincmar of Reims (9th cent.), has more to say about its author. Four letters by Remigius have been preserved, which headed the compilation of
Epistulae Austrasicae around 600. He was born into a family of senatorial rank; his brother Principius was bishop in the neighboring town of Soissons, and wa…
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Religion Past and Present
Remonstration
(211 words)
[German Version] refers to the right of bishops to “bring forward opposing arguments” (Lat.
remonstratio) against papal laws. Going back to the decretals of Pope Alexander III (Corpus Iuris Canonici [
CIC]:
Liber extra I, 3, 5), this privilege has a suspensive effect on the contentious laws until the further decision of the pope. Although it was not included in the
CIC of 1917, the right of remonstration was regarded doctrinally as an integral part of prevailing law and is still recognized by some as valid, and even expanded by some as the right of any co…
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Religion Past and Present
Renaissance
(9,034 words)
[German Version]
I. Concept The French term “Renaissance,” which was also borrowed by German and English, belongs to the large group of organic metaphors applied to historical occurrences. Used from the 19th century in sole reference to animal/human life and understood in the sense of “rebirth,” it is assigned in recent research (since Jost Trier) more appropriately to the botanical sphere and explained as “renewed growth,” i.e. as a renewed sprouting of shoots ¶ from felled trees and bushes. Pre-Christian Latin already employed
renasci (from
nasci, “to be born, to become, to ar…
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Religion Past and Present
Renan, Joseph Ernest
(635 words)
[German Version] (Feb 27, 1823, Tréguier, Brittany– Oct 2, 1892, Paris). Ernest Renan, French historian of religion and scholar of ancient New Eastern studies, began by studying Roman Catholic theology, philosophy, and philology at the ecclesiastical Grand Séminaire of St. Sulpice in Paris. Full of enthusiasm, he absorbed the works of German Idealist philosophy and of F.C. Baur’s Tübingen School, especially D.F. Strauß’s
Leben Jesu. His youthful desire for freedom and knowledge caused him to leave the seminary in 1845, shortly before his ordination as subdea…
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Religion Past and Present
Renato, Camillo
(184 words)
[German Version] (Paolo Ricci, Lisia Fileno; c. 1500, Sicily – c. 1575, Caspano, Valtellina?), lived as a Franciscan friar in Naples, got into trouble with the Inquisition, worked as a private tutor in Bologna in 1538, became an advocate of psychopannychism (Soul), and was convicted and imprisoned in Ferrara in 1540 as a “Lutheran.” In 1542, he was able to flee to Chiavenna and to the Valtellina, which was at the time ruled by Graubünden, and worked there as a teacher. Excommunicated in Chiavenna …
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Religion Past and Present
Renaudot, Eusèbe
(199 words)
[German Version] (Jul 20, 1648, Paris – Sep 1, 1720, Paris). Renaudot was born into a wealthy family with connections to the highest circles. A member of the French Oratory (Oratorians) from 1665 to 1672, he subsequently worked as a journalist and engaged in political activities; he was director of the
Gazette de France from 1679 to 1720 and a highly respected scholar on account of his very extensive knowledge of foreign languages. Within Catholicism, he opposed the Jesuits (Chinese Rites controversy, Jansenism) and R. Simon. In the conflict with …
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Religion Past and Present
Rendtorff
(543 words)
[German Version]
1. Franz Martin Leopold (Aug 1, 1860, Gütergotz near Potsdam – Mar 17, 1937, Leipzig-Schleußig). After serving as a pastor in Westerland, Eisenach, and Preetz, Rendtorff directed the Preetz Predigerseminar from 1896 onward. He became a
Privatdozent in practical theology in Kiel in 1902, honorary professor in 1906, and full professor for practical theology and New Testament in Leipzig in 1910, where he also became director of the Predigerkolleg in 1912 and rector of the university in 1924. He postulated a
Liturgisches Erbrecht (1913, repr. 1969 [Liturgical law o…
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Religion Past and Present
Reni, Guido
(188 words)
[German Version] (Nov 4, 1575, Bologna – Aug 18, 1642, Bologna), one of the most important and influential Italian painters of the Baroque (III). After completing his apprenticeship under Denys Calvaert (1584–1594), Reni joined the Accademia dei Carracci in 1594. He worked in Rome from 1601 to 1614, where he contributed, among other things, to the decoration of the Cappella Paolina in Sta. Maria Maggiore (1610–1612) at the behest of Paul V, and where he also frescoed the
Aurora (1614) for Scipione Borghese. After returning to his native city, Reni assumed the direction of the ¶ Bologna sch…
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Religion Past and Present
Renoir, Pierre-Auguste
(329 words)
[German Version] (Feb 25, 1841, Limoges – Dec 3, 1919, Cagnes near Nice), French painter and sculptor. Renoir initially worked as a porcelain painter, but then studied to become a painter at Charles Gleyre’s studio in Paris and at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris from 1862 to 1864. Under the influence of the school of Barbizon and Gustave Courbet, Renoir and his fellow students Claude Monet, Alfred Sisley, and Frédéric Bazille turned to outdoor painting and to realistic subjects. Around 1869, in cooperation with Monet, Renoir developed Impressionism on the banks of the Seine (
La Grenouil…
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Religion Past and Present
Renovabis
(192 words)
[German Version] the solidarity initiative of German Catholics with people in Central and Eastern Europe, established in 1993 by the German Bishops’ Conference. The name Renovabis is derived from Ps 104:30:
renovabis faciem terrae, “you will renew the face of the earth.” Renovabis provides assistance in 29 countries, helping to renew the living conditions of people in society and churches, and thereby to overcome spiritual and material distress. To this end, Renovabis promotes East-West dialogue, initiates and assists partners…
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Religion Past and Present
Repartimiento
(104 words)
[German Version] (Span.) was a system for the exploitation of Latin American Indians as workers. It stipulated that the communities must provide a certain number of workers annually, who then carried out work for the Spanish over a legally defined period of time. Often used as a synonym of
encomienda, repartimiento actually refers to a distinct form of compulsory labor.
Repartimientos for the performance of personal services existed before the system of
encomiendas was established and continued to exist after its introduction. Maria Cristina Bohn Martins Bibliography R. Konetzke,
Am…
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Religion Past and Present
Repentance
(11,471 words)
[German Version]
I. Religious Studies Examination of repentance from the perspective of religious studies must confront the problem that the term itself has no culturally neutral meaning. Many of the phenomena in other religions that Christians tend to call repentance appear in a different light when viewed in the context of different anthropological presuppositions, ¶ so that due weight must be given to the religious anthropology in question. Generally speaking, it is true to say that in almost all non-Christian religions the notion of repentance c…
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Religion Past and Present
Repression
(406 words)
[German Version] a concept formulated by J.F. Herbart (1806); cf. also “controlled forgetting” (Hermann Ebbinghaus,
Über das Gedächtnis, 1885; ET:
Memory: A Contribution to Experimental Psychology, 1913). From the perspective of psychoanalysis, repression is not an arbitrary act for the avoidance of frustration (“suppression”) but a distinct defense mechanism that prevents from reaching consciousness libidinous, aggressive or self-(esteem-)related representations, drive impulses, and feelings that are conflict-laden or …
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Religion Past and Present
Reproaches (Improperia)
(179 words)
[German Version] chanted during the Good Friday liturgy, in which the crucified Christ pronounces reproaches (Lat.
impropria) against the assembled congregation, identified with the people of God, for the injustices suffered in the Passion. The Reproaches go back to the lamentation of Christ and to corresponding passages in the Old Testament. In the medieval Roman Catholic tradition they were sung by two choirs during the Veneration of the Cross. They consist of twelve verses which ask questions about Christ’s …
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Religion Past and Present
Reproductive Science
(1,215 words)
[German Version]
I. Medicine Reproductive medicine encompasses research into female and male sterility and its treatment. The importance of reproductive medicine has greatly increased in recent years owing to the introduction of new diagnostic and therapeutic procedures. It has long been known that various morphological changes (e.g. malformations of the uterus, occlusions of the Fallopian tubes and seminal ducts) lead to male and female sterility. One possible therapy is attempted correction of the…
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Religion Past and Present
Requerimiento
(112 words)
[German Version] (“requirement, admonition”). Authored in 1512 by the Castilian royal councilor and jurist Palacios Rubios (1450–1524), the
Requerimiento was written for the purpose of introducing a legally valid formula for the recognition of Spanish rule in the New World. Read aloud before the indigenous communities by the ¶ expeditionary captains, the
Requerimiento established the formalities of a war of conquest: it demanded submission to Catholicism and threatened military conflict in the event of non-compliance. Maria Cristina Bohn Martins Bibliography B. Fernández He…
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Religion Past and Present
Requiem Mass
(1,102 words)
[German Version]
I. Liturgy Until the liturgical reform that followed upon Vatican II, every celebration of mass for the deceased began with the Latin antiphon to the introit,
Requiem aeternam, borrowed from
4 Ezra. This is why the term “requiem” came to designate any mass for the dead (also: mass for souls) that is celebrated with chant. The other special chants of the masses celebrated for the deceased were also fixed. Especially the sequence
Dies irae and the offertory
Domine Iesu Christe, along with other particularities (omission of Ps 43 [42] in the prayer at the foot …
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Religion Past and Present