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
Apocalypticism
(4,831 words)
[German Version] I. Definition of the Term as a Problem for the History of Religions – II. Old Testament – III. Jewish Apocalypticism – IV. New Testament – V. Church History – VI. Dogmatics – VII. Islam – VIII. Art History
I. Definition of the Term as a Problem for the History of Religions As a phenomenon in the history of religions, apocalypticism represents
a form of revealed communication distinct from other types such as prophecy (Prophets and prophecy: I), oracle, mantic…
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Religion Past and Present
Apocatastasis
(487 words)
[German Version] (Gk ἀποκατάστασις πάντων) or the redemption/restoration of all is the eschatological notion that all human beings (things, creatures) without exception will be received into eschatological salvation (the kingdom of God). One the one hand, apocatastasis conflicts with the more common eschatological notion of a “double outcome,” which envisions an…
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Religion Past and Present
Apocryphal Acts
(893 words)
[German Version] I. Form and Genre – II. Literature
I. Form and Genre In terms of form the Apocryphal Acts (AA) resemble the canonical Gospels, especially John, rather than the Acts of the Apostles. Like Jesus in the Gospels, the respective apostle introduces himself as a mediator of divine revelation. At the end of his ministry, like Jesus, he endures martyrdom (crucifixion for Andrew, Peter and P…
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Religion Past and Present
Apocrypha/Pseudepigrapha
(2,145 words)
[German Version] I. Terminology – II. Old Testament – III. New Testament– IV. New Testament Apocrypha from Nag Hammadi
I. Terminology Etymologically, “apocryphal” means “hidden, secret,” while “pseudepigraphal” indicates that a document has been falsely attributed to an author. In the modern period, the usage of both terms has been burdened by confessional preconceptions, since the extent of the canon (Bib…
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Religion Past and Present
Apocryphon of James
(176 words)
[German Version] (NHC I,2;
Ap.Jas.),
Epistula Jacobi Apocrypha, attested only in Coptic translation, is an untitled Gnostic writing, attributable with certainty to no known movement, but belonging to the dialogue gospels or conversations of the Risen Jesus, ostensibly a letter (sender recontructable as James [p. 1.1], addressee as [Kerin]thos? [p. 1.2.]).
Ap.Jas. understands itself as secret doctrine (p. 1.10). The time of composition of the Greek original is difficult to determine: early 2…
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Religion Past and Present
Apocryphon of John
(445 words)
[German Version] A Greek Gnostic apocalyptic writing, extant in two independent Coptic translations of a shorter Greek original of the
Apocryphon of John in NHC III and BG 8502, as well as two additional copies, with slight variations in their dialect, of the Coptic translation of a longer Greek original in NHC II and IV. The long version is likely a revision of the short version. Around 180 Irenaeus (
Haer. I 29) summarized a work with significant similarities to one half of the
Apocryphon of John (NHC II 4,34–14,13). He probably remembered a source of the
Apocryphon of John without the …
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Religion Past and Present
Apollinarian Controversies
(12 words)
[German Version] Apollinarius of Laodicea and Apollinarianism
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Religion Past and Present
Apollinaris of Ravenna (Saint)
(161 words)
[German Version] (feast day Jul 23). According to Peter Chrysologus (
Sermo 128), Apollinaris was the first bishop of Ravenna and a martyr; his translation inscription (CIL 11/1, 295) calls him confessor. In the Ravenna episcopal list, Severus, the first bishop for whom there is clear evidence (343 in Serdica), appears in eleventh place after Apollinaris. As an expression of the exarchate's desir…
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Religion Past and Present
Apollinarius of Hierapolis, Claudius,
(669 words)
[German Version] bishop of Hierapolis in Phrygia (c. 175). Claudius Apollinarius or Apollinaris (Latin form; the preferred Greek form is “Apolinarios”; cf. Zahn) was a bishop in Phrygia during the reign of the emperor Marcus Aurelius (161–180, sole reign 169–176; cf. Eusebius
Hist. eccl. IV 21 with IV 19; IV 26.1;
idem, Chron. ad ann. Abr. 2187;
idem, Chron. paschale ad Olymp. ann. 237, 1 = ann. Christ. 167; Photius
Bibl., cod. 14). According to Theodoret, he was versed in scripture and also familiar with pagan learning (
Haer. fab. III, 2). Photius praises his literary style (
loc. cit.). No…
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Religion Past and Present
Apollinarius of Laodicea/Apollinarianism
(551 words)
[German Version] Apollinarius (or Apollinaris) was the son of a grammar teacher and presbyter of the same name in Syrian Laodicea and became a lector there before 335. He served from 360/361 as bishop in his home town, taught, and worked above all in Antioch. There he was initially regarded as a recognized teacher; shortly after the Synod of Seleucia (c. 360), an irritated Basil the Great requested from Apollinarius a written explanation of the Nicean ὁμοούσιος (
homooúsios; Nicea). Apollinarius also treated this the…
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Religion Past and Present
Apollo
(561 words)
[German Version] (᾽Απόλλων/Apollōn; Dorian Apellon). The Greek god Apollo was worshiped in all the cities of Greece, but was recognized as the city deity above all by Argos, Sparta, and Miletus (together with its colonies). Panhellenic sanctuaries of Apollo, visited by pilgrims from afar, included Delphi with its oracle and Delos. Social analysis indicates that Apollo was apt to be …
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Religion Past and Present
Apollonian and Dionysian
(131 words)
[German Version] are terms first attested in F.W.J.Schelling (
Philosophy of Revelation, posthum. 1858) for the nature of the Greek gods Apollo and Dionysus. The comparison of the two gods and the arts ascribed to them plays a role already in Plato (
Polit. 398c–400c;
Nomoi 652a–674c) and is taken up in a manner suited to modern times in F. Nietzsche. According to the explanations in his book on the
Geburt der Tragödie (1872; ET:
The Birth of Tragedy, 1927), apollonian stands for the limiting, individuating principle of graphic art, while diony…
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Religion Past and Present
Apollonia of Alexandria, Saint
(123 words)
[German Version] (feast day Feb 9). A letter of Dionysius of Alexandria concerning Alexandrian martyrs (Eusebius
Hist. eccl. VI 41.7) describes Apollonia as “an elderly woman of high standing who had remained a virgin”; during the uprising against Christians in 248, after abuse that broke off her teeth, she voluntarily leapt into the fire. Later legend speaks of a Roman princess under Julian or a siste…
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Religion Past and Present
Apollonius of Tyana
(395 words)
[German Version] According to Philostratus, Apollonius was born at Tyana in Cappadocia about the beginning of the Christian era and lived until the reign of Nerva (96–98 ce). He had a miraculous conception and birth. After finishing his studies, he became an ascetic philosopher in the tradition of Pythagoras. He foretold the future and performed other miraculous deeds. He traveled to Mesopotamia, Persia, India, …
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Religion Past and Present
Apollonius, Roman martyr
(130 words)
[German Version] (feast day Apr 18). At the end of Eusebius's brief account of the martyrdom of Apollonius, “a man who stood in high esteem among the faithful of that time on account of his culture and erudition” (
Hist. eccl. V 21.2–5), he refers to a text that he had “in his collection of the early acts of the martyrs.” These acts may be identical with the so-called
Acts of Apollonius, a largely apologetic work surviving in Greek and Armenian; its literary quality and fictional style led Jerome (
Vir. ill. 42) to identify Apollonius as a Roman senator. Wolfgang Wischmeyer Bibliography BHG, 149 BH…
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Religion Past and Present
Apollonius the Antimontanist,
(105 words)
[German Version] an early Anti-montanist from Asia Minor, composed c. 200 (?) a lost polemic against Montanism. It is said to have refuted the prophecies of the Montanists (Eusebius
Hist. eccl. V 18.1);
ibid. 2–11 preserves 6 fragments criticizing the teaching of Montanus and the lifestyle of well-known Montanists, especially their greed, extravagance, and arrogance. According to Jerome
Vir. ill. 40, Tertullian dedicated the 7th book of his lost
De ecstasi to refuting Apollonius. Georg Schöllgen Bibliography CPG 1, 1328 A. v. Harnack,
Geschichte der altchristlichen Literatur I/1,…
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Religion Past and Present
Apollos
(147 words)
[German Version] (contracted from “Apollonios”), a Jew from Alexandria versed in the Scriptures and trained in rhetoric, appeared as a Christian apostle independent of Paul in Ephesus and Corinth (Acts 18:24–19:1; 1 Cor 1:12; 3:4ff.; 4:6; 16:12). The partisan dispute at Corinth (1 Cor 1:12) was probably triggered by his pneumatic wisdom preaching, which Paul attacks in 1 Cor …
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Religion Past and Present
Apologetics
(9,615 words)
[German Version] I. Concept – II. Judaism – III. New Testament – IV. Church History – V. Islam – VI. Fundamental Theology – VII. Practical Theology – VIII. Missiology
I. Concept The necessity – felt with varying intensity by different communities of faith – to lend credibility to one's own convictions, ways of behaving, etc. in the face of other, perhaps dominant worldviews, using appropriate means, is an essential element of the history of religion. When the term apologetics is used in this context there is a certain conformity in content w…
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Religion Past and Present
Apologie, literarisch
(1,079 words)
[German Version] I. Form and Genre – II. Writings
I. Form and Genre In his
Ecclesiastical History Eusebius of Caesarea singled out a group of early Christian writings by calling them “Apologies.” The common denominator of these writings by Quadratus, Aristides, Justin, Melito, Apollinarius of Hierapolis, Miltiades, and …
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Religion Past and Present
Apologists
(92 words)
[German Version] Some 2nd-century Christian writers were called “Apologists” and they were edited as a group for the first time by F. Morel (Paris 1615). This work comprised genuine, dubious, and spurious works by Justin and subsequent works by Athena, Theophilus of Antioch, Tatian, and Hermias. In J.C.T. v. Otto's still classic edition (1842ff.), fragments of Quadratus, Aristides, Aristo, Miltiades, Melito, and Apollinaris of Hierapolis were also included. This has since been the conventional definition. Oskar Skarsaune Bibliography O. Bardenhewer,
Geschichte der altkirchl…
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Religion Past and Present