Religion Past and Present

[German Version] (lit. “Song of the Lord”) is one of the best-known, most discussed, and for many Hindus most authoritative texts of Hinduism; it comprises 18 chapters (700 verses) from book 6 of the Mahābhārata epic. Greatly simplified, the teachings contained in the Bhagavadgītā fall into three categories: 1. reflections on competing ideals of salvation and proper social order: ascetic renunciation, yogic contemplation, Sāṃkhya …

[German Version] I. History of Religions – II. Missiology I. History of Religions Bhakti (Sanskrit, “participation, devotion, love”) is a devotional, in some respects ecstatic, adoration of God and personal experience of God. It originated in southern India in the 7th century and spread to northern India from the 12th/13th centuries. The novelty in this often popular bhakti piety was the fact that …

[German Version] (Sep 1, 1896, Calcutta – Nov 14, 1977, Vrindavan, India), known as A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. Bhaktivedanta was the founder of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, popularly known as the “Hare Krishnas,” the most successful missionary movement of Hindu bhakti devotion (Hinduism) in modern times. Robert S. Ellwood Bibliography Works include: KRSNA, The Supreme Personality of Godhead, 1972.

[German Version] encompasses the area enclosed by the Himalayas between India and the autonomous region of Tibet (People's Republic of China) (47,000 km2). The population numbers c. 2.1 m. (2002), though with a growth rate of 3.2%. Although small in size, Bhutan comprises four climatic zones, from tropical in the south to thinly settled high alpine mountainous zones in the north at 7,600 m altitude. The pop…

[German Version] (1515, Saluzzo, Piemont – 1588, Alba Iulia, Transylvania). After studying medicine in Pavia and Bologna, Biandrata was for a time personal physician at the royal court in Poland and Transylvania, and otherwise practiced medicine in Pavia. He fled to Geneva in 1556, but had to move on two years later following christological arguments with …

[German Version] I. Concept – II. Old Testament – III. New Testament – IV. Dogmatics – V. Practical Theology – VI. Missiology – VII. Judaism – VIII. Cultural History I.  Concept “Bible” is the predominant designation in church, theology, and society for the collection of OT and NT scriptures recognized by the church. The word “Bible” and its close equivalents in other European languages derive from the middle Latin “biblia.” This Latin feminine derives from the Greek neuter plural τὰ βιβλία/ tá biblía. Grammatically, the sg. βιβλίον/ biblíon is a diminu¶ tive form of ἡ βίβλος/ hē b…

[German Version] The Bible Christians are a small denomination that emerged in 1815 from Wesleyan Methodism in the wake of William O'Bryan (1778–1868), a lay evangelist who refused to accept the discipline of preaching appointments in WesleyanMethodism. Their theology (Arminians: II) and organization remained Methodist in the Wesleyan (J. Wesley) sense. The Bi…

[German Version] Before the dual canon of two Testaments formed, readers of the NT, like the synagogue, were familiar with the Law, the Prophets and the Writings (e.g. 1 Cor 15:3). 1 Thess 5:27 refers to public readings of Pauline letters, Col 4:16 to their exchange among communities; the stylistically appropriate prologue with a dedication of the book in Luke 1:3 attests to the author's intended distribution in a synagogue or church, but not in the book market. The Septuagint, the first Holy Scripture of the Christians, was a translation (Bibl…

[German Version] I. Manuscripts and Miniatures – II. Print and Graphic Printing I. Manuscripts and Miniatures 1. Introduction. The illustrations of Bible manuscripts, including manuscripts of portions as well as analogous image cycles in other manuscript genres, may be divided into three groups: (a) drawings for illuminating the text (tent of meeting, temple, temple objects, the high…

[German Version] I. Term – II. History (in Germany) I. Term Today the term Bibelschule (“Bible school”) denotes educational establishments (seminaries), as well as educational endeavors (courses in churches) and media (distance-learning materials). Their learning processes serve the purpose of deepening personal faith, as well as theological preparation for work in churches and denominations at home or in mission service. In principle it designates theological training outside the theological faculty of a university. ¶ II. History (in Germany) Four developmental steps may…

[German Version] Biblia pauperum, was the name given to the Bible abbreviations for preaching purposes in the late Middle Ages. Technically “Bible of the Poor” denotes a specific, primarily pictorial work of monastic provenance. As far as it can be reconstructed, its earliest, originally anonymous exemplar was written in the southeastern German language area in…

[German Version] I. History and Tasks – II. Bible Societies and Mission I. History and Tasks 1. The Cansteinsche Bibelanstalt (CBA). Pietism expressed the demand for inexpensive Bibles. At that time Bibles were costly and prohibitively expensive for the poor. A.H. Francke recognized the possibility of reducing the cost of printing Bibles by keeping the type that had been set. To this en…

[German Version] This is a common headline in relation to church-ordered restrictions on the reading of the Bible in the vernacular or of Bible translations that are not approved by the church (Innocent III, 1199; Synods of Toulouse, 1229; Tarragona, 1234; Oxford, ¶ 1408; cf. also Paul IV, 1559; Pius IV, 1564; Clement VIII, 1596, etc.). The justification for such prohibition was the subversive or sectarian use of vernacular tra…

[German Version] I. Term – II. History – III. New Forms and Methods I. Term Bible study generally means a communal study of biblical texts in and by groups. The German term ( Bibelarbeit) is comparatively recent and is owed to Protestant youth groups after World War I and the revival of Bible-reading that occurred at that time. II. History First moves toward such “Bible study groups” were probably in the order of the Dutch-Reformed church in Geneva (1550), which supplemented Bible interpretation in …

[German Version] I. Translations into Ancient Languages – II. Christian Translations into European Languages since the Middle Ages– III. Translations into Non-European Languages in Modern Times I. Translations into Ancient Languages 1. Translations of the Old Testament into Greek a. The first written translation of the Hebrew Bible, the Septuagint (LXX), owes its name to the circumstance that the Letter of Aristeas refers to 72 elders who had come to Alexandria from Jerusalem in order to translate the Torah of the Jews into…

[German Version] (c. 1504, Bischofszell – Sep 26, 1564, Zürich) studied at Basel and was professor of Rhetoric in Liegnitz from 1527 to 1529. In 1531, as a follower of Zwingli, he became professor of Old Testament at Zürich. Buchmann had command of an exceptional number of languages. His exegesis was philosophical and historical; he interpreted the entire Old …

[German Version] Bible of the Poor

[German Version] Old Testament Gen Genesis Exod Exodus Lev Leviticus Num Numbers Deut Deuteronomy Josh Joshua Judg Judges 1 Sam 1 Samuel 2 Sam 2 Samuel 1 Kgs 1 Kings 2 Kgs 2 Kings Isa Isaiah Jer Jeremiah Ezek Ezekiel Hos Hosea Joel Joel Amos Amos Obad Obadiah Jonah Jonah Mic Micah Nah Nahum Hab Habakkuk Zeph Zephaniah Hag Haggai Zech Zechariah Mal Malachi Ps(s) Psalm(s) Prov Proverbs Job Job Song Song of Songs Ruth Ruth Lam Lamentations Qoh Ecclesiastes (or Qohelet) Esth Esther Dan Daniel Ezra Ezra Neh Nehemiah 1 Chr 1 Chronicles 2 Chr 2 Chronicles The following selection of writings takes i…

[German Version] Leo XIII established the Pontifical Biblical Commission ( commissio pontificia de re biblica) in 1902 to “promote the study” and “defend the truth of the Holy Scriptures.” Its members were Roman cardinals who were assigned exegetical experts as consultants. Their work consisted in responding ( responsum) to controversial questions of biblical exegesis ( dubia). Pius X decreed in the motu proprio Praestantia Scripturae in 1907 that the decisions of the Biblical Commission have the same authority as …

[German Version] I. Methods of Biblical Criticism applied to the Old Testament – II. Methods of Biblical Criticism applied to the New Testament See also Effective History/Reception History I. Methods of Biblical Criticism applied to the Old Testament Today, (Christian) biblical scholarship is faced with a plethora of varied methodical approaches that, especially in the last decade of the 20th century, have persistently questioned the role of historical criticism …