Religion Past and Present

[German Version] (acronym RaSaG; 882, Faiyum, Upper Egypt – 942, Sura, Babylonia), from 928 the first non-Babylonian head (Gaon) of the rabbinic academy in Sura. As a philologist, exegete, controversialist, and philosopher, he was an outstanding figure in 10th-century Judaism. In 915 he settled in Palestine, where he wrote his first philological work, Sefer ha-Agron. From the year 921 at the latest, Saadia – who appears to have been a contentious character all his life – lived in Babylonia. There he became involved in the so-call Ben Meir controver…

[German Version] Finno-Ugric Religions

[German Version] a Semitic people in the area of modern Yemen, home of an advanced civilization in antiquity. The center of the kingdom of Saba was the city of Mārib, situated in a riverine oasis. With it as a base, in the early 7th century bce the Sabaean ruler Karibʾil Watar gained ascendancy over the rival kingdoms of Qatabān to the south and Ḥaḍramaut to the east, along with the confederation of Minaean towns to the northwest. From the 3rd century bce on, the Sabaean kingdom expanded into the Yemenite uplands, where a competing Himyarite kingdom emerged in the 1st century ce. When the Sab…

[German Version] God

[German Version] The monastery was established between 483 and 490 by St. Sabas alongside the Kidron Valley nine km southeast of Jerusalem. It was founded as a laura, consisting of individual caves in the rock with a communal building as its center. Despite its deep involvement in the Origenist controversies, by the time of the Persian invasion in 614 it had already experienced an initial spiritual and intellectual flowering (Cyril of Scythopolis); it played an essential role in the development of…

[German Version] (439, Cappadocia – May 12, 532, Palestine), founder of the Great Laura (Mar Saba). Sabas moved to Palestine as an ascetic at the age of 17, where he was sent to a monastery by Euthymius. He eventually embraced an anchoritic life, wandering in the desert for a number of years before settling in a cave in the Cedron Ravine. He began to attract disciples, which marks the beginning of the Great Laura. Its success led to the foundation of other related ascetic communities nearby. Sabas…

[German Version] (Aug 3, 1858, Saint-Michel-de-Chabrillanoux – Mar 4, 1928, Strasbourg), Protestant theologian and historian. The son of a Reformed pastor, Sabatier began his study of Protestant theology in Paris in 1880. Inspired by the works of E. Renan, his teacher, he dedicated himself after 1884 to exploring the life and impact of Francis of Assisi. From 1885 to 1889 he served as an assistant minister in Straßburg, then a German city; when the German authorities demanded that he either adopt …

[German Version] (Sebazios, Sabadios, Sabos), a Thraco- Phrygian god (5th cent. bce), found throughout the Mediterranean region. In Anatolia he was associated with Attis, Men, and Cybele; in the Greek milieu, his orgiastic cult led him to be associated with Dionysus. Little is known of his original nature, but some evidence (in part iconographic) suggests that he had power over nature and the animal world and hence also “cosmic” power, which could benefit humankind and promote mental and physical wellbeing (cf. the magical hand of Sabazius, raised in blessing). His myth portrays ¶ Sabaz…

[German Version] I. Europe Sabbatarians is a collective designation for various Christian groups in the context of Bible-oriented reform and revival movements; their common characteristic is observance of the Sabbath on the seventh day of the week (“Saturday Sabbatarians”). In English Puritanism (Puritans), advocates of strict Sunday observance could also be called Sabbatarians (“Sunday Sabbatarians”). Besides small medieval groups like the 12th-century Passagini in northern Italy, Sabbatarians in t…

[German Version] I. Old Testament In the preexilic period, Sabbath (שַׁבָּת/ šabbāt) meant the day of the full moon; from the Exile on, it denoted a weekly day of rest. The origins of this day of rest go back to the early days of Exile. The earliest laws regarding the preexilic day of rest appear in the Book of the Covenant (Exod 23:10) and the cultic code in Exod 34:18–23, 25f. (v. 21) (Law and legislation: III). In the Book of the Covenant, the commandment to ¶ observe a day of rest is part of the privilege law of YHWH that deals with setting apart the firstfruits and firstborn (Exod 22:28f.*), along with a fallow year (Exod 23:10f.) every seventh year (Sabbatical year) and the seventh day as a day of rest. The 6/7 rhythm of the sabbatical year and the day of rest derives from the analogous structure of the Feast of Unleavened Bread (Feasts and festivals: II) (Otto, “šaebaʿ,” 1016–1019). Forgoing the use of a field every seventh year and human and ani…

[German Version] (ShirShabb). The Songs of the Sabbath Sacrifice is a liturgical cycle of 13 related compositions. Each is dated to one of the first 13 Sabbaths of the year, according to the solar calendar. Nine manuscripts were found at Qumran (4Q400–407, 11Q17), and one at Masada (Mas 1k). The songs invoke and describe the praise of the angelic priests in the heavenly temple. Each song begins with a heading, “For the Maskil” (“Instructor”), and the date formula. The song proper opens with a call to praise, introduced by the imperative “halle…

[German Version] The Zionist (Zionism) settlement of Palestine made the sabbatical year newly relevant to Orthodox Judaism (Orthodoxy: III), even though its practical realization, the significance of its observance for salvation history, and the question whether discussion of the sabbatical year from the perspective of legal history provides a material basis for political claims to the Land of Israel all remain controversial issues. Independently of these dev…

[German Version] In the theological conflicts of the 4th century, the Modalistic Monarchianism that was condemned as a heresy was often called Sabellianism. Marcellus of Ancyra and his followers in particular were considered “Sabellians,” because they rejected the doctrine of three divine hypostases (Hypostasis; cf. Origen) as tritheism, emphasizing God’s unity as μονάς/ monás instead, citing John 10:30. Eusebius of Caesarea considered Marcellus a “new Sabellius” but had nothing more to say about the author of this heresy, so that later the teachings of Marcellus merged with those of Sabellius and coul…

[German Version] Talmud

[German Version] (Saxon Law Code), the most important medieval German law code, written between 1220 and 1235 by Eike v. Repgow (died after 1233) in Latin, then translated into Low German by Eike himself; it is the earliest extant example of German prose. It comprises a (rhymed) preface, a section dealing with common law, and a section dealing with feudal law (Feudal System). The Sachsenspiegel was recognized far beyond Saxony (Baltic, Transylvania). Although it was the work of a private individual, it effectively had legal authority; ¶ in the Saxon duchies, it was in use until 18…

[German Version] (Nov 5, 1494, Nuremberg – Jan 19, 1576, Nuremberg), son of a tailor, apprenticed as a shoemaker; at the same time, he was introduced to mastersinging. During his journeyman travels (1511–1516), he composed his first songs and poems in rhymed couplets ( Spruchgedichte); then he settled in Nuremberg as a craftsman. Increasing prosperity later allowed him to give up shoemaking in favor of writing. The Reformati…

[German Version] (properly Leonie; Dec 10, 1891, Berlin – May 12, 1970, Stockholm), eminent author. She began writing poems and sonnets in 1910. In 1940 she fled to Stockholm to escape the terror of National Socialism. Her texts reflect her involvement with Jewish identity, kabbalistic mysticism, and the Shoa (Holocaust). Her language is highly metaphoric and free. Through her translations of modern Swedish poetry, she established contacts with the literary groups associated with Walter A. Berndso…

[German Version] 1. August Friedrich Wilhelm (Feb 4, 1703, Harzgerode – Apr 23, 1786, Berlin), Reformed theologian. In 1722 he began to study theology in Frankfurt an der Oder; in 1724 he served as a domestic tutor in Stettin (Szczecin) and Holland, where he was influenced by Jean Barbeyrac (1674–1744), a critic of confessional tests, and Arminianism (Arminians: I). In 1728 he was appointed tutor to the heir to the throne of Hesse-Homburg. In 1731 he was appointed third preacher of German Reformed chu…

[German Version] (Feb 13, 1643, Hanover – Jun 4, 1718, Limmer), pastor in Limmer, near Hanover, from 1680. His Low German sermons (Plattdeutsch, Services in), often employing crude imagery, gained him a reputation beyond the local congregation. Direct criticism of individual members of the congregation and ¶ the nobility in his sermons brought him before the consistory on several occasion. Only four transcribed sermons can be considered authentic. Sermons and anecdotes associated with him at a later date increasingly turned the headstrong preacher into a caricature. Frank Michael…

[German Version] The origins of the concept of transfert de sacralité are obscure. The earliest known occurrence is in the works of the historian Mona Ozouf, who since 1976 has studied the symbolic worlds, rituals, and “implicit theologies” (Assmann) in the festivals celebrated by the French Revolution. Syncretistic combination of pagan, Christian, and Masonic symbols and ceremonies, she believes, created a post-Christian politico-religious cult in which the revolutionary nation staged and constituted its…