Religion Past and Present

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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.

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Incunabulum

(350 words)

Author(s): Schmitz, Wolfgang
[German Version] Incunabulum, from Latin incunabula, “diaper,” refers to early printing, up to and including the year 1500. In contrast to wood-cut prints, J. Gutenberg's invention (c. 1440–1450 in Straßburg or Mainz) consists in the production of texts by using movable individual letters which can be cast identically in an unlimited number with the aid of a casting device and in the development of a printing press. The boundary 1500 marks the approximate date of the emanicipation of printing from th…

Indebtedness

(372 words)

Author(s): Gräb-Schmidt, Elisabeth
[German Version] Indebtedness differs from guilt/debt, which refers generally to an ethical circumstance as the omission or transgression of a duty, as a concrete, unfulfilled duty or a specific transgression of a requirement. In this regard, one thinks, first, of debts in the economic realm incurred through private, national or international borrowing. The term itself also echoes the understanding of indebtedness as a failure in the general moral sense. Both aspects converge from the standpoint o…

Independent Church Movements

(1,500 words)

Author(s): Koschorke, Klaus | Ludwig, Frieder
[German Version] I. History – II. Missiology I. History Independent local forms of Christianity and the aspiration to be emancipated from the control of European missionaries appeared early on in the history of the emerging churches of Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Examples include the movement initiated by the female African prophet D.B. Kimpa Vita in the Congo during the early 18th century, which temporarily threatened Portuguese rule in the region. Independent church movements became a widespread…

Independent Evangelical Missionary

(184 words)

Author(s): Ludwig, Frieder
[German Version] (Ger. Freimissionar), a person carrying out missionary work without ecclesial mandate. Since a comparable mission authority was lacking in German Protestantism until the founding of the Danish-Halle Mission, individually operating missionaries played an important role, as for instance J. v. Welz, who, after an unsuccessful call for mission, traveled to Surinam, and P. Heyling, who was active in Ethiopia. During the 19th century, independent Evangelical missionaries such as K.A.F. G…

Indeterminacy

(384 words)

Author(s): Albright, John R.
[German Version] In 1927, Werner Heisenberg discovered the uncertainty principle of quantum mechanics. The previously held theory of classical mechanics had been deterministic. The one-dimensional movement of a particle is described by its coordinates of position and momentum as functions of time. These two quantities define the space of phases in which the particle is represented as a point on a trajectory. From Newtonian laws (I. Newton) it follows that the movement proceeds deterministically if…

Indeterminism

(5 words)

[German Version] Determinism

Index librorum prohibitorum

(416 words)

Author(s): Kalb, Herbert
[German Version] (“Index of Forbidden Books”). Taking his lead from antecedents such as the indexes of the Spanish and Portuguese Inquisition, Pope Paul IV ordered the creation of the Roman Index (1559). Of prime importance for the censorship were the Tridentine rules (Trent, Council of), which stipulated penalties for printers, librarians, testamentary executors, and others. Believers who read indexed books were threatened with the excommunicatio latae sententiae (i.e. immediate excommunication, simultaneously occurring with the offense). The Tridentine index…

India

(4,173 words)

Author(s): Kiehnle, Catharina | Frasch, Tilman | Schimmel, Annemarie | Koschorke, Klaus
[German Version] I. General – II. History and Culture – III. Religious History – IV. History of Christianity I. General The designation “India,” Gk ἰνδός/ indós, Latinized as indus, goes back to Sanskrit sindhu (orig. “boundary”?) through the intermediary of Old Persian hindu; it is a designation of the River Sindhu and of the Indus region, from which Persian Hindūstān, “Place/territory of the Hindus,” is derived. The Indians themselves called the land (among other designations) Bhārata, “[Land of the] Descendants of Bhārata” (the l…

Indian Dance

(350 words)

Author(s): Moser-Achuthath, Heike
[German Version] A western definition of “dance” can scarcely do justice to the manifold performing arts of India. “Dance-Theater” would be a more suitable description. In India the boundaries between dance and theater are fluid: they both make use of rhythm and stylized body movements. “Theater” involves elements of dance (Kūṭiyāṭṭam), whereas “dance” – as in Oḍissi – often involves sung text with stylized hand gestures and miming. Nāṭakam is the term used for dance-theater forms whose text is re…

Indian Missions

(392 words)

Author(s): Selvanayagam, Israel
[German Version] Despite nearly 2,000 years of Christian presence, 500 years of Roman Catholic mission, and 300 years of Protestant missions, Christians in India remain a minority of 2.5%. This has motivated Indian Christians in particular to offer intensive commitment to mission. “Mission by Indians, for Indians with Indian means” was a slogan that reflected nationalist aspirations at the beginning of the 20th century and more intensely since independence in 1947, which led to the foundation of t…

Indifference

(886 words)

Author(s): Grube, Dirk-Martin | Ebertz, Michael N.
[German Version] I. Systematic Theology – II. Ethics – III. Practical Theology I. Systematic Theology The term “indifference” is used particularly in classical Catholic theology, where it has a positive meaning, applied to a distancing from the world motivated by the coming of the kingdom of God (see also II). This indifference is sharply distinguished from the negative concept of “indifferentism,” denoting indifference regarding claims to transcendent knowledge, and as such was officially condemned (DH 291…

Indigenas

(7 words)

[German Version] Native American Indians

Indigenization

(983 words)

Author(s): Koschorke, Klaus
[German Version] The modern Western missionary movement led to an encounter with a multitude of non-European societies as well as different models for the resulting cultural contact. These have ranged from the various versions of a tabula rasa theory – which denied non-Christian cultures any intrinsic religious value – to understanding of the need for a culturally authentic interpretation of Christianity. Conceptions such as accommodation (II), indigenization, and contextualization (contextuality: I) display many similarities, but …

Indios

(7 words)

[German Version] Native American Indians

Indirect Rule

(194 words)

Author(s): Ludwig, Frieder
[German Version] After early beginnings in India (the “princely states”), the British developed the classic model of indirect rule in northern Nigeria. Frederick Lugard ( The Dual Mandate, 1922) sought to use the existing emirate structures for administering the territory (co-opting local legislation, administration of justice, and collection of taxes). Dependence on the British weakened the emirs but enabled them to extend their influence to ethnic groups over which they had previously had no control, leading to conflict…

Individual

(8 words)

[German Version] Community and the Individual

Individual Ethics

(1,644 words)

Author(s): Heesch, Matthias
[German Version] I. Definition of Terms – II. History – III. Reflections on the Present I. Definition of Terms 1. Individual ethics includes the whole realm of ethical problems related to fulfilling the purpose of individuals. It must be distinguished from social ethics, because the purpose of individuals cannot be reduced to the purpose of collectives or the ordering of life in a group. 2. For every acting subject, in the context of Christianity, God is the absolute reference point of responsibility, situated …

Individualism

(1,082 words)

Author(s): Gräb, Wilhelm
[German Version] I. Concept – II. Methodological Individualism I. Concept Individualism is a programmatic concept that surfaced around 1900 amid the ideological and ideopolitical debates of the modern bourgeois cultural world. Even at the time of its historical origin, it had negative overtones: it was thought to express a Zeitgeist that made the individual absolute, subordinating institutions and communities to the self-defined ends of the individual, and thus undermined the basic foundations of society (Community and the individual). Collectivism came into use as the …

Individualization

(516 words)

Author(s): Krüggeler, Michael | Daiber, Karl-Fritz
[German Version] I. The Concept – II. Sociology of Religion – III. Practical Theology I. The Concept Present-day sociology considers individualization a central feature of modern societies (Society: I, II). It is rooted in the process of social differentiation or, more precisely, in the development of functional subsystems that for the most part have their own organizational structures. Individuals no longer necessarily belong to every subsystem. Commonly – though not always – membership in subsystems comes t…

Indo-America

(122 words)

Author(s): Caleffi, Paula
[German Version] José Carlos Mariátegui (1895–1930), known as the founder of Peruvian communism, proposed in his philosophy that Indo-America, arisen from the cultural heritage of the Indians and the Europeans, had constituted itself in Latin America in order to produce a socialist revolution (Socialism). The socialist revolution of Indo-America must, despite its peculiarities, be part of the worldwide socialist revolution: “In this world order, Indo-America can and must have individuality and style; but neither its own culture nor its own fate” (J.C. Mariátegui, Carta coletiv…

Indo-China

(7 words)

[German Version] Vietnam Laos Cambodia

Indo-European Religions

(918 words)

Author(s): Allen, Nick J.
[German Version] The term Indo-European applies primarily not to religions or cultures, but to languages: the Indo-European languages are those that share descent from a common ancestor, “proto-Indo-European.” The systematic similarities between the Indo-European languages cannot be otherwise explained, and although proto-Indo-European was not written down by its speakers, it can in part be reconstructed by linguists. Where and when it was spoken remains unclear, but one established theory situates it on the South Russian steppes c. 3500 bce. From there it would have spre…

Indo-Malayan Religions

(716 words)

Author(s): Sastrapratedja, Michael
[German Version] The term “Indo-Malayan” or “Indo-Malay” refers to a cultural entity in the Southeast Asian archipelago which is now geographically and politically included in the territories of Indonesia, Malaysia, and (southern) Thailand. In other words, the term denotes pre-modern Indonesia and Malaysia. Prior to the arrival of Islam, religious life on the Indo-Malayan archipelago was influenced by the religious traditions of India, namely Hinduism and Buddhism. The Indian influence was united with autochthonous religiosity to result …

Indonesia

(2,955 words)

Author(s): Peacock, James | Schumann, Olaf | Becker, Dieter
[German Version] I. Non-Christian Religions – II. Christianity A presidential republic since 1945, Indonesia is an archipelagic state in Southeast Asia (13,677 islands, 6,044 of them inhabited). Divided into 27 provinces, it comprises the Malay Peninsula, the Greater Sunda Islands (Borneo, Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi [formerly Celébes]), the Lesser Sunda Islands (including Bali), the Moluccas, and Papua (western New Guinea; Irian Jaya 1969–2002). Its capital is Jakarta. Its population was 234 million in 2007. Some 360 ethnic groups are represented, including 3% Chinese. Indones…

Indonesian Missions

(319 words)

Author(s): Becker, Dieter
[German Version] Indonesian churches are limited in performing their missionary task by edicts issued by the ministry of religion in 1978 which prohibit “oral propaganda,” the “distribution of printed materials,” the use of material “means of enticement” or visiting the homes of fellow-citizens of recognized religions (Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism and Christianity). On the other hand, the state calles upon adherents of the so-called tribal religions to join one of the recognized religions. The Indone…

Induction

(257 words)

Author(s): Wohlrapp, Harald
[German Version] Induction refers to the inference of a universal statement concerning an entire subject area on the basis of single statements concerning individual objects. The justification for an inference of this type, i.e. the problem of induction, has been a central issue in the epistemological tradition (Epistemology) ever since Aristotle. The validity of a principle of “complete induction” is considered proven in formal disciplines ¶ (logic, mathematics) with self-constituted subject areas. However, it has been clear since D. Hume's critique of the co…

Inductive Pastoral Care

(211 words)

Author(s): Klessmann, Michael
[German Version] The term inductive pastoral care was coined to describe the approach to pastoral care of S. Hiltner, a leading American pastoral psychologist and theoretician; it was later extended to represent the methodological approach of the pastoral movement of the 1970s and 80s in Germany as well. In Germany, thanks to the influence of dialectical theology, the theory of pastoral care has usually been derived deductively from a particular concept of proclamation (e.g. E. Thurneysen), but Hiltne…

Indulgence

(1,315 words)

Author(s): Ohst, Martin | Müller, Gerhard L.
[German Version] I. History – II. Modern Catholicism I. History Indulgences ( indulgentia as a fixed technical term since the early 13th cent.; previously also remissio, relaxatio, or absolutio generalis) are rooted in the early medieval system of scheduled penances (Repentance: IV), which allowed fixed forms of satisfaction to be replaced by other acts (“commutation”) or payment of a monetary sum (“redemption”), all meant to be equivalent. The new element in indulgences was the discontinuation of this required equivalenc…

Indulgence, Declaration of

(296 words)

Author(s): Sheils, William J.
[German Version] Indulgence, Declaration of, issued by King James II of England on Apr 4, 1687, granted full liberty of worship (Freedom of religion) to Protestant nonconformists (Dissenters) and to his fellow Roman Catholics provided the magistrates were informed, removed the requirement for Crown servants to take the oath of supremacy, and guaranteed security of tenure to the owners of former monastic lands. Similar declarations had been issued by Charles II, in 1662 and 1672, but both were with…

Indult

(78 words)

Author(s): Rees, Wilhelm
[German Version] Indult, from Lat. indulgere, “be lenient, grant.” In Catholic church law indult is the granting of a usually temporary exemption from a legal requirement (Dispensation, Privilege) by a bearer of sovereign leadership authority (cf. e.g. CIC [1983] cc. 306; 320 §2; 684 §2; 692; 727f.; 743; 995; 1015 §2; 1019 §2; 1021). Wilhelm Rees Bibliography KanR I, 1991, 256f.; 505, n. 8 I. Riedel-Spangenberger, Grundbegriffe des Kirchenrechts, 1992, 133 A. McCormack, The Term “Privilege”, 1997.

Industrial Chaplain

(518 words)

Author(s): Belitz, Wolfgang
[German Version] This article focuses on the situation in Germany. There are currently about 60 industrial chaplains working in the majority of the regional churches that belong to the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD). Their working field is now termed Kirchlicher Dienst in der Arbeitswelt (Church Ministry in the Working Environment; KDA). As a rule, this ministry is performed in close cooperation with social secretaries and socioscientific as well as economic consultants. It comprises three ma…

Industrialization

(1,534 words)

Author(s): Brüggemeier, Franz-Josef
[German Version] I. Concept – II. Aspects and Development Trends – III. Preconditions – IV. Germany – V. Phases I. Concept The term industrialization designates a historical process which originated in Europe and especially in England towards the end of the 18th century and which has in the meantime spread to the entire planet. The developments and changes associated with this process are so momentous that it is often referred to as an industrial revolution. This designation is problematical inasmuch as these c…

Industrial Society

(525 words)

Author(s): Brakelmann, Günter
[German Version] Industrial mass production is one of the fundamental realities of modern history, a presupposition of which was a progressive accumulation and concentration of productive capital. A complicated money and banking system developed. The growth of an industrial labor force which was willing to sell its labor to the owners of the means of production at the prevailing market prices corresponded to this process. Within this dependent labor force, a social differentiation according to pro…

Industry

(1,975 words)

Author(s): Brakelmann, Günter | Schibilsky, Michael
[German Version] I. History of Economics – II. Industrial Work Environment – III. Industrial Congegration I. History of Economics In a long, continuous process, modern industrialism (Industrialization) developed from crafts, household industry and manufacturing. The so-called Industrial Revolution led to a differentiated factory system and the machine became the symbol of the new industrial era. Systems of factories and machines became entwined in a novel form of production and communication. Major technical in…

Infallibility

(2,805 words)

Author(s): Herms, Eilert | Baumann, Urs | Hünermann, Peter
[German Version] I. Fundamental Theology – II. Dogmatics and History of Doctrine – III. Ethics – IV. Catholic Understanding I. Fundamental Theology Infallibility, understood as unswerving inerrancy or being held unshakably in the truth, is a theme of both Reformation and Roman Catholic theology. Both traditions of Western theology affirm the NT statement that the Holy Spirit will guide the faithful and the community of believers into all truth (John 14:16; 16:13) and that the church is therefore “the pillar and bulwark of the truth” (1 Tim 3:15). 1. Reformation theology sees he…

Infamy

(176 words)

Author(s): Landau, Peter
[German Version] The legal institution of infamy, adopted into canon law from Roman law, means loss of honor and hence severe degradation within the church. First found in legal sources in 419, it took on great importance for the church through the Pseudo-Isidorian Decretals (9th cent.) and later through inclusion of these texts in the Decretum Gratiani ( Corpus Iuris Canonici ). Infamy precluded bringing legal charges or testifying in court and was an impediment to ordination. Post-Gratianic canon law distinguished infamia facti, actual loss of reputation, and infamia iuris, impose…

Infancy Gospels

(502 words)

Author(s): Hock, Ronald F.
[German Version] are a series of popular and influential Christian narratives that expanded and revised the stories of Jesus' birth that are found in the canonical Gospels (Matt 1–2; Luke 1–2). They expand Matt and Luke where they are brief, as in Matt's sketchy account of Joseph, Jesus' father's trip to Egypt in Matt 2:13–15; they fill them in where they are silent, as in Luke's narrative gap between Jesus' birth and his trip to Jerusalem at the age of 12 (Luke 2:42–51); and they extend them backwards to include the birth, childhood, and early adulthood of Mary, the mother of Jesus. The most im…

Infancy Narratives

(408 words)

Author(s): Radl, Walter
[German Version] In the literature of antiquity, the grandeur of important persons is already announced in the miraculous circumstances of their birth and childhood. These are not understood as personal proofs of divine favor for the child and the parents, but as signs for the benefit of the people or realm in question. The content of the mostly legendary sources includes: the child's noble or even divine origin (sometimes attested by a genealogy), his extraordinary conception, the announcement, p…

Infant Baptism

(6 words)

[German Version] Baptism

Infinity

(1,645 words)

Author(s): Hühn, Lore | Evers, Dirk
[German Version] I. Philosophy – II. Philosophy of Religion – III. Dogmatics I. Philosophy Infinity is a key concept of ancient philosophy that combines a wide spectrum of meanings under the title ἄπειρον/ ápeiron: boundlessness and indeterminacy of the origins from which becoming emerged, that is, the fundamental principle of the physical world and of its objects (Anaximander); the limitlessness, to be evaluated negatively, which stands in opposition to the positive delimitation effected by number or measure (Pythagoras); t…

Information

(834 words)

Author(s): Stephan, Achim | Leiner, Martin
[German Version] I. Philosophy – II. Ethics I. Philosophy In colloquial usage, the term “information” is often employed in the sense of “disclosure” or “message.” Various media can convey the same information: A x-ray conveys information to a physician that his or her patient is suffering from lung cancer and then the physician can inform the patient in a conversation. Furthermore, the same message can hold different information for different recipients (the patient or the insurance company). In contra…

Information Technology

(365 words)

Author(s): Tinnefeld, Marie-Theres
[German Version] Information technology is the branch of computer science that is devoted to the creation of systems for the collection and processing, as well as the transmission, distribution, and presentation of digital, information-bearing data (in text, words, pictures, and graphics). In the application of information technology, at least four interrelated components are significant: hardware, software, organizational structures, and users or recipients. In the early days of data processing a…

Infralapsarianism/Supralapsarianism

(811 words)

Author(s): Link, Christian
[German Version] I. Dogmatics – II. Fundamental Theology I. Dogmatics The terms infralapsarianism and supralapsarianism designate the alternate positions in the 17th-century dispute between the various schools of Reformed theology regarding the understanding of predestination. The controversial issue was: who is the eternally chosen or damned human being? The yet to be created and fallible person (thus supralapsarianism: T. Beza, F. Gomarus, in certain respects already Calvin) or the already created and…

Inglis, Charles

(190 words)

Author(s): Goodwin, Daniel
[German Version] (1734, Glencolumbkille, Ireland – Feb 24, 1816, Aylesford, Nova Scotia, Canada), born to an Irish family of Scottish descent, emigrated to the USA at 20 years of age, worked there for three years as a teacher, and was ordained an Anglican priest on Dec 24, 1758. He was a loyalist during the American Revolution and returned to Britain in 1783. In 1787 Inglis was appointed the first bishop of Nova Scotia. Upon assuming his duties, Inglis encountered clergy that were antagonistic tow…

Ingoli, Francesco

(309 words)

Author(s): Metzler, Josef
[German Version] (Nov 21, 1578, Ravenna – Apr 24, 1649, Rome), studied civil and canon law at the University of Padua, received the Dr.iur.utr. in 1601, was appointed to a lectureship in law in Padua, became junior lawyer of the cardinal legate of the Romagna, was private tutor to the nephew of Gregory XV, and on Jan 6, 1622 he became secretary of the Cardinal's Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith ( de Propaganda Fide, today “for the Evangelization of the Peoples”; Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith), which was established on the same day. Ingoli g…

Ingolstadt, University of

(488 words)

Author(s): Müller, Rainer A.
[German Version] The Bavarian university of Ingolstadt, planned as early as 1453 and chartered by Pope Pius II in 1459, was able to open its doors to students in 1472. Its founder was Duke Ludwig the Wealthy of Bavaria (1450–1479), the chancellor of the bishop of Eichstätt. Modeled on Paris (II) and the statutes of Vienna (II), the university comprised four faculties. It soon became a center of Humanism, numbering among its teachers C. Celtis, J. Reuchlin, J. Aventinus, and Jacob Locher. With 300 …

Inheritance Law

(848 words)

Author(s): Lindner, Thomas
[German Version] I. Inheritance law is the sum of those legal norms of private law that regulate the transfer of a natural person's (testator) property rights and obligations after death to another (natural or juridical) person (inheritance law in the object sense); in addition, inheritance law refers to the totality of all rights and claims that devolve upon one with respect to inheritance upon the death of the testator (inheritance; inheritance law in the subjective sense). German inheritance law is primarily regulated in the fifth volume of the Civil Code (§§1922 to 2385). II. The fu…

Initiation

(7 words)

[German Version] Rites of passage

Initiation Groups

(376 words)

Author(s): Waldmann, Helmut
[German Version] The concept of initiation groups is a sub-category of the concept of the male society. It denotes the initiatory stages – often linked with a certain age – which an individual passes through in order to attain full membership in a male society. The most famous historical examples are the kardakes in the Spartan educational system and the Swiss disciplinary groups, in more recent times, groups in the youth movement, and then in the Hitler Youth. Church examples are catechumens, aco…

Inland Mission

(2,172 words)

Author(s): Kaiser, Jochen-Christoph
[German Version] I. Origins – II. The Concept – III. Wittenberg, the Central Committee and the Organization of Christian Charity – IV. Inland Mission, Church, and the Ermergence of the Social State – V. Third Reich, New Beginning, and Incorporation into the Diaconal Ministry I. Origins The end of the ancien régime also had consequences for the regional Protestant churches and the self-conception of its subdivisions at the turn of the 18th to the 19th century: the early bourgeois society encouraged the development of a “whole church” awarene…

Inner Asia

(3,811 words)

Author(s): Kollmar-Paulenz, Karénina | Muminov, Ashirbek | Kügelgen, Anke v.
[German Version] I. Pre-Islamic Period – II. Islam I. Pre-Islamic Period 1. Geopolitical ambiguity, conception, and definition The concept of “Inner Asia” is both historically and geographically unclear. It is usually understood to mean the territories between Iran in the west and the Chinese border in the east (China), while giving way to the Siberian taiga in the north and abutting to the Himalayas in the south. It includes areas in the modern states of Afghanistan, Pakistan, northern India, northeastern Ira…

Inner Emigration

(317 words)

Author(s): Graf, Friedrich Wilhelm
[German Version] The origin of the term is disputed. Some point to L. Uhland's Auswanderung in die Ver-¶ gangenheit [Emigration into the past] (1848), some to the author Frank Thiess (1890–1977), who claimed the term, which quickly became prominent after 1933, as his own. Inner emigration and its synonyms such as “emigration inward” or “spiritual exile” refer to the non-political habitus of artists and authors such as J. Klepper, R. Schneider, and W. Bergengruen under the conditions of the National Socialist dict…

Inner Person

(1,567 words)

Author(s): Markschies, Christoph | Burkert, Walter | Betz, Hans Dieter | Heesch, Matthias
[German Version] I. Concept – II. Antiquity – III. New Testament – IV. Early Church – V. Systematic Theology I. Concept The notion of a “real person” residing within the outer human being is widely attested in ancient literature and became part of a comprehensive system of metaphors by the time of Hellenism at the latest. However, this notion is conveyed through very different terms, corresponding also to conceptions of rather differing nature. The single English concept “inner person,” which cannot adequately …

Innitzer, Theodor

(213 words)

Author(s): Liebmann, Maximilian
[German Version] (Dec 25, 1875, Neugeschrei, northern Bohemia [today Nové Zvolání, Czech Republic] – Oct 9, 1955, Vienna), archbishop of Vienna from Oct 30, 1932 onwards and cardinal from Mar 13, 1933. Under his chairmanship (Austrian Bishops' Conference), the clergy were recalled from active politics in November 1933. The bishops whom Innitzer had ordered to Vienna made a declaration of loyalty on Mar 18 which had great propagandistic value for the popular referendum on Apr 10, 1938. Innitzer's e…

Innocent III, Pope

(606 words)

Author(s): Maleczek, Werner
[German Version] (papacy Feb 22, 1198 – Jul 16, 1216) (Lothar of Segi, b. 1160 or 61 at Gavignano, near Segni, in Latium). The papacy of Innocent III marked the high point of pontifical power in the Middle Ages. After studying theology at Paris and canon law at Bologna, in 1190 he was appointed cardinal deacon of St. Sergius and St. Bacchus. His cardinalate attracted little attention; during it he wrote De miseria humanae conditionis, De missarum misteriis, and De quadripartite specie nuptiarum, works of ascetical theology that later came to be widely read. His other works in…

Innocent I, Pope (Saint)

(242 words)

Author(s): Wischmeyer, Wolfgang
[German Version] (papacy Dec 21, 402 – Mar 12, 417; feast day July 28). According to Jerome Ep. 130.60, Innocent became bishop of Rome as the son of his predecessor Anastasius I (399–402); he aspired to a primatial status ( caput et apex episcopatus: Ep. 37.1; right to appoint all bishops: Ep. 25.21) that clearly went beyond canon 3 of the Council of Constantinople (IV, 1) in ¶ 381 and claimed authority for Rome in doctrinal questions. In the West, against the background of contemporary political and military troubles, he partially attained his goal, resolving t…

Innocent IV, Pope

(302 words)

Author(s): Schmidt, Tilmann
[German Version] (papacy Jun 25, 1243 – Dec 7, 1254) (Sinibaldo Fieschi, b. 1180/1190 at Lavagna, near Genoa). After studying and teaching law at Bologna, Sinibaldo served as auditor of the Curia, cardinal and vice chancellor of the Roman Church, rector of the March of Ancona, and legate of Gregory IX. During the conflict between empire and papacy, which also divided the College of Cardinals, the see of Rome stood vacant for 18 months (See, Vacant). Finally Sinibaldo was elected at Agnani as a com…

Innocent (Veniaminov), Saint

(180 words)

Author(s): Hauptmann, Peter
[German Version] (Aug 26, 1797, Anginskoye, near Irkutsk – Mar 31, 1879, Moscow). Born Ivan Popov, he was orphaned at an early age. At the seminary in Irkutsk, his patron Bishop Veniamin (Benjamin) of Irkutsk gave him the new patronymic Veniaminov. In 1840, when he was made a monk, his baptismal name was replaced by Innocent. In the same year, Innocent – who had been ordained to the priesthood in 1821 and had been working as a missionary in the Aleutians and Alaska since 1824 – was made bishop of Kamchatka. He took up residence as archbishop in 1852…

Innocent VI, Pope

(294 words)

Author(s): Baum, Wilhelm
[German Version] (papacy 1352 – Sep 12, 1362) (Étienne Aubert; b. 1282 or 1295 in Les-Monts-de-Beyssac, Limousin). He began his career as professor of civil law at Toulouse and as bishop of Noyon and Clermon; in 1342 he was made a cardinal. From the conclave of 1352 there survives the earliest capitulation signed by the cardinal electors stipulating their rights. After his election, Innocent withdrew his signature. He was a frugal administrator who shrank the papal household and promoted reform of…

Innocent V, Pope

(115 words)

Author(s): Schmidt, Tilmann
[German Version] (papacy Jan 21 – Jun 22, 1276) (Pierre de Tarentaise, b. c. 1224, Champigny, Savoy). After studying and teaching theology at Paris, the Dominican was appointed archbishop of Lyon by Gregory X in 1272 and made cardinal in 1273. He was focused on initiating a crusade, in support of which he arranged a rapprochement with Byzantium and settled conflicts in Italy by confirming Charles I of Anjou as senator of Rome and imperial vicar of Tuscany while deferring the coronation of Rudolf of Habsburg. Innocent wrote a commentary on the Sentences and several exegetical works. He …

Innocent XI, Pope

(374 words)

Author(s): Decot, Rolf
[German Version] (papacy Sep 21, 1676 – Aug 12, 1689) (Benedetto Odescalchi, b. May 19, 1611, in Como). Odescalchi, made cardinal in 1645, served as legate in Ferrara from 1646 to 1650 and as bishop of Novara from 1650 to 1656. He was renowned for his exemplary lifestyle and concern for the poor. After a two-month conclave, he was unanimously elected pope in 1676, after the resistance of France, who had opposed him in 1670, was overcome. Within the church, he sought a middle way in the controversy…

Innovation, Religious

(347 words)

Author(s): Usarski, Frank
[German Version] In everyday usage, the term innovation, from the Latin verb novare (“renew”), generally has positive connotations. When used in religious studies, it denotes the result of a qualitative change of or within a religious system. Its generality limits its usefulness in theoretical contexts; if it is to have analytic substance, not only must the content of an innovation be examined but also the constitutive factors and forces leading to the change in question. Innovation can take place, for exam…

Innsbruck, University

(338 words)

Author(s): Batlogg, Andreas R.
[German Version] The territorial order of 1526 stipulated the creation of a Hohe Schule (High School) in Tyrol. In 1562, the provincial of the Upper German Jesuit province, P. Canisius, opened a Gymnasium (grammar school) in Innsbruck. In 1669, the year of the university's foundation, Leopold I authorized an additional charge of twelve kreuzer on every sold cartload of Hall salt pro fundo alhiesiger Universitet, which initially consisted of four faculties (philosophy, theology, law, medicine). The university opened its doors in 1673 and was granted an imperi…

Inquisition

(2,005 words)

Author(s): Segl, Peter | Gareis, Iris
[German Version] I. Terminology – II. Historical Development and Aspects of Canon Law – III. Latin America, Asia, Africa I. Terminology In the broader sense, “inquisition,” from Lat. inquirere, “to seek out, research, investigate,” refers to the official ( ex officio) investigation of the facts, particularly in relation to criminal circumstances. Both in the ecclesiastical and the civil judiciary, the so-called “trial by inquisition” appeared alongside the customary “trial by accusation,” which had been the sole method, in the cour…

Inscriptions

(6 words)

[German Version] Epigraphy Palaeography

Insignia

(429 words)

Author(s): Ott, Joachim
[German Version] Symbols of rule (following Schramm) or insignia (Lat. signa; insignia) are objects that denote persons of superior status. In a narrower sense, they are the emblems of the supreme civil and spiritual dignitaries. As a rule, symbols of rule or insignia are worn on the body (regalia): crown, helmet, miter, tiara; sword, lance (Liturgical implements), scepter, globe, ring; clothing ¶ (e.g. coronation mantle, liturgical vestments [Vestments, Liturgical]) and jewelry (e.g. Pectoral cross); the throne marks the point from which dominion is exerc…

Inspiration Communities

(256 words)

Author(s): Schneider, Hans
[German Version] are communities which arose out of radical Pietism and still exist today. As early as around 1690, ecstatic, visionary and prophetic phenomena became manifest in the Pietist movement. After the appearance of ecstatic prophets from the Camisards, who came to Germany via England and the Netherlands, German prophets and prophetesses as well started to appear as “mediums”; in 1714, they sparked an enthusiastic “inspirational awakening,” primarily among the radical Pietists, which was …

Inspiration/Theopneusty

(4,151 words)

Author(s): Beinhauer-Köhler, Bärbel | Koch, Dietrich-Alex | Brändle, Werner
[German Version] I. Religious Studies – II. New Testament – III. History – IV. Fundamental Theology – V. Dogmatics I. Religious Studies 1. Terminology The terms inspiration (from Lat. inspiratio, “insufflation”) and theopneusty come from the NT. Prophecy comes through the Holy Spirit (2 Pet 1:21); in 2 Tim 3:16, the adjective ϑεόπνευστος/ theópneustos) ¶ describes Scripture as being “inspired by God.” In many religions, we encounter the idea that communications enter the human sphere through the mediation of other entities. Plato ( Phaidr. 265) was already systematizing m…

Institution

(1,609 words)

Author(s): Kehrer, Günter | Berger, Wilhelm | Heintel, Peter | Herms, Eilert
[German Version] I. Religious Studies – II. Social Sciences – III. Theology I. Religious Studies If an institution is understood as a set of norms that regulate action in a precise manner, then, from the perspective of religious studies, a differentiation can be made between institutions that regulate religious action and normative standards that regulate non-religious action but are religiously justified. However, it always needs to be taken into consideration that this distinction is made by the external …

Institutional Chaplaincy

(289 words)

Author(s): Hollerbach, Alexander
[German Version] In church and state church law, the institutional chaplaincy is a classic example of a res mixta, including pastoral care in state and local hospitals, penal institutions, homes for old and disabled people, orphanages and care homes, and in a wider sense pastoral care for the armed forces and police, including border police. In constitutional law, all these institutions are based on the fundamental right of freedom of religion in German law (Basic Law, art 4 §§ 1 and 2) and the institutional guar…

Institutional Congregation

(182 words)

Author(s): Böttcher, Hartmut
[German Version] The church of Jesus Christ does not take form in the local area only. In addition to the territoriall – defined local church congregation, special forms such as personal and institutional congregations have developed. While in personal congregations members are exempted from the local church organization because of particular personal characteristics, institutional congregations stand in a particular legally regulated relationship to an institution and a circle of persons for whom…

Institution, Church

(226 words)

Author(s): Böttcher, Hartmut
[German Version] On the one hand, the concept of the church institution is employed generally, especially in the 19th and early 20th centuries, to explain the nature of the church and is contrasted to or combined with the collegialistic understanding (the church as ¶ a community of saints and an institution of salvation, F.J. Stahl). In the specific sense, on the other hand, the concept refers to certain organizations and institutions within the responsibility of the church. According to the definition under administrative law, an institu…

Institutum Beatae Mariae Virginis

(339 words)

Author(s): Eder, Manfred
[German Version] (Mary Ward Sisters; since 2004: Congregatio Jesu), one of the most important female teaching orders of the Catholic Church. The “Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary” was founded by the Englishwoman Mary Ward (1585–1645) in 1609/10 in the Spanish Netherlands during the persecution of Catholics in England in order to care for and educate English girls living there. It was patterned after the model of the Jesuits. The founder, in favor of her youth work, dispensed with both the stri…

Institutum Judaicum

(368 words)

Author(s): Wiese, Christian
[German Version] With its roots in Protestant Jewish missions, the first Institutum Judaicum, founded in 1728 by J.H. Callenberg in Halle, was devoted to the training of missionaries and the distribution of Christian literature in Yiddish and Hebrew. It existed until 1792. In 1883, H.L. Strack founded the Institutum Judaicum Berolinense in Berlin which placed its emphasis on missions, scholarly engagement with Jewish sources and the battle against Antisemitism. After Strack's death, the Institutum…

Instructio

(179 words)

Author(s): Puza, Richard
[German Version] An instructio in the meaning of CIC/1983 c. 34 serves the interpretation and application of laws for the use of those who are responsible for their execution. Bearers of the potestas executiva (e.g. the Vicar General, but also the diocesan bishop [no separation of powers in Catholic church law!]) are competent to issue an instructio. It is subordinate to the laws. Consequently, its validity ends through derogation or with the expiration of the underlying law. It can neither alter nor invalidate a law. More recent instructions by the Roman dikasteria (e.g. “instruction…

Instruction Courses, Apologetic

(265 words)

Author(s): Dienst, Karl
[German Version] These courses trace back to the initiative of the Apologetische Centrale (Apologetic Center) founded in Berlin-Spandau in 1921 by the Centralausschuß für die Innere Mission (Central Committee for Inland Mission; Carl Gunther Schweitzer, H. Schreiner) with its method of a “new apologetics” influenced primarily by K. Heim. This method proceeds from familiarization with and objective portrayal of the opposing position in order “to understand [it] better than it understands itself” (F…

Insurance

(428 words)

Author(s): Cansier, Dieter
[German Version] One can protect oneself against the risks of life through personal provision or by acquiring private insurance. Given freedom of choice the individual will decide for the insurance if the costs of covering a certain risk are less than bearing the costs directly. In private insurance, premiums are determined on the basis of risks assessment on the principle of actuarial equivalence. Indemnification payments are based on premium payments, which, in turn, are assessed in terms of the…

Integralism, Brazilian

(127 words)

Author(s): Gertz, René E.
[German Version] Integralism was a fascist movement in Brazil, founded in 1932 by Plinio Salgado “for God, fatherland and family” (one million “greenshirts”). Its doctrine denied religious preferences or aversions. Salgado's deputy, Gustavo Barroso, however, was a radical anti-Semite. Integralism mostly sympathized with Catholicism (H.P. Câmara). Consequently, Lutheran circles (H.G. Dohms) raised objections, also against the nationalism that would render the Lutheran Volkskirche (people's church) impossible. The Estado Novo outlawed integralism (1937), and…

Integration

(411 words)

Author(s): Meyer-Blanck, Michael
[German Version] refers to the process of constituting or preserving a whole and is employed in the humanities primarily as a sociological and educational-psychological category. Consequently, in the field of theology, integration is a term with primary relevance for practical theology. Conceptually, in particular the third of the meanings of the Latin adjective integer (1. sound, incorrupt, 2. new, 3. whole) has come to dominate the current notion of integration, while the Latin substantive, integratio, primarily connoted “renovation.” The modern concept of integrati…

Integration Theory

(400 words)

Author(s): Krech, Volkhard
[German Version] With reflection on forced social differentiation, the question of the forces of social integration also arose in the course of the 19th century. H. Spencer in his sociology was the first to view differentiation and integration as mutually complementary processes. The search for answers quickly led to religion. Already the French counter-revolutionaries J.M. de Maistre and L.G.A. Bonald considered religion the guarantor of social order. W.R. Smith attributed a socio-integrative fun…

Intellect

(1,610 words)

Author(s): Steinmann, Michael | Korsch, Dietrich
[German Version] I. Philosophy – II. Philosophy of Religion – III. Fundamental Theology – IV. Dogmatics – V. Ethics I. Philosophy In the traditional doctrine of cognition (Epistemology), the intellect is primarily viewed as an intuitive capacity (Gk νοῦς/ nous, Lat. intellectus), partly in demarcation from reason as a discursive capacity. The intellect enables a person to attain direct insight into last principles or simple facts, so that the process of cognition is brought to a close logically and rationally (Arist. Eth. Nic. 1143af.). This dimension of grasping the truth…

Intellectual Intuition

(6 words)

[German Version] Vision/Intuition

Intelligence

(1,095 words)

Author(s): Meyering, Theo C.
[German Version] I. Definition – II. History of Research – III. Stanford-Binet Intelligence Test and Spearman's g-Factor – IV. Critical Assessment I. Definition Ever since its introduction, the concept of intelligence has been the subject of heated controversy. Accordingly intelligence has been defined in a wide variety of ways ranging from Cyril Burt's definition of intelligence as an innate, general, cognitive ability to such positivist but rather unhelpful definitions as “whatever it is that our tests measure.”…

Intelligence, Artifical

(7 words)

[German Version] Artifical Intelligence

Intelligent Design Theory

(498 words)

Author(s): Dembski, William A.
[German Version] The fundamental idea animating intelligent design theory (IDT) is that events, objects, and structures in the world can exhibit features that reliably signal the effects of intelligence. Special sciences as diverse as animal learning and behavior (Behavioral research), forensics, archeology, cryptography, and the search for extraterrestrial intelligence thus all fall within IDT. IDT becomes controversial when methods developed in these special sciences for sifting the effects of i…

Intension

(5 words)

[German Version] Extension/Intension

Intention

(7 words)

[German Version] Ends and Means

Intention/Intentionality

(1,594 words)

Author(s): Gander, Hans-Helmuth | Herms, Eilert
[German Version] I. Philosophy – II. Ethics I. Philosophy In the context of action theory, intention/ intentionality (from Lat. intentio) usually denotes an aim or purpose. Intentionality is understood both in the sense of the will that initiates actions and in the sense of the motive or motivation that guides both volition and action. In other philosophical contexts, the prevailing understanding of intentionality goes back to the turn of the 20th century in the work of E. Husserl, who drew in turn on his teacher F. Brentano. In his major work Psychologie vom empirischen Standpunkt, vo…

Intention, Pope's

(270 words)

Author(s): Heinz, Hanspeter
[German Version] In conjunction with the church's prayer, especially in the celebration of the Eucharist, particular concerns are brought before God in intercessory remembrance, supported by offerings for the worship service and the poor. It has long been customary to mention the givers and their intentions in the liturgy. The prayer formula “according to the pope's intention” (Indulgence) and the mass stipend, a gift of money given a priest outside the celebration of mass with the request that a …

Interaction

(1,248 words)

Author(s): Stoellger, Philipp | Heesch, Matthias | Mette, Norbert
[German Version] I. Philosophy of Religion – II. Ethics – III. Practical Theology I. Philosophy of Religion To begin the interpretation of society and religion with the notion of interaction means to assume a basis of action. Fundamental forms of interaction are, for example, cooperation, exchange, conflict and competition, or, according to F.D.E. Schleiermacher, identical and individual symbolization and organization. Problems of interaction occur when the rules of interaction are questionable. A monadic the…

Intercession

(1,408 words)

Author(s): Wiggermann, Karl-Friedrich | Bayer, Oswald
[German Version] I. Basics – II. History – III. Systematic Theology I. Basics Liturgical or congregational intercession (Prayer) is one of the primary duties of the church and the congregation (Worship). Such intercession lives on even when the powerful forget themselves and the helpless are forgotten. It transcends all (pious) wishes. With short texts of its own, the congregation takes part in ektenia and litany. The topical nature of intercession is augmented by the concretion, which dispenses with the …

Inter-Church Aid

(422 words)

Author(s): Jackson, E.M.
[German Version] Archbishop N. Söderblom of Uppsala's (1866–1931) personal initiatives since 1914 among refugees and victims of war in Europe and the Near East indicated a great need, but it was realized that a proper organization was needed to channel resources more effectively. In 1922, consequently, the European Central Office for Inter-Church Aid under the leadership of A. Keller was created in Geneva. Similarly, the ¶ deficiencies of the existing initiatives in view of the humanitarian crises became apparent in 1942 in the Geneva office of the World Counc…

Intercommunion

(1,110 words)

Author(s): Hilberath, Bernd Jochen
[German Version] I. History – II. Ecclesiology I. History Intercommunion refers to forms of fellowship in the Eucharist or the Lord's Supper, to communion between churches or ecclesial communities. In the full sense, it ¶ encompasses pulpit and altar fellowship (that is, also intercelebration); such a fellowship exists since 1973 between the churches affiliated on the basis of the Leuenberg Concord, and already since 1931 between Anglicans and Old Catholics. Limited forms of intercommunion are the general opening of celebration…

Intercultural Theology

(1,083 words)

Author(s): Küster, Volker
[German Version] The term “intercultural theology” does not yet refer to a clearly circumscribed subdiscipline of theology nor to a specific method. Its respective meaning is defined by the research interests of those who employ it. Nonetheless, a paradigm shift is taking place here at the margins of the traditional canon of disciplines that will influence the entire discipline of theology. Important impulses originate in the disciplines of the history of religions or religious studies, missiology…

Interdenominational Foreign Mission Association

(192 words)

Author(s): Bonk, Jonathan James
[German Version] (IFMA). Founded in 1917 for the purpose of “strengthening the effectiveness and outreach of faith missions,” the IFMA is a fellowship of theologically conservative North American mission societies without denominational affiliation. The seven charter members included South Africa General Mission, the China Inland Mission, the Central America Mission, the Africa Inland Mission, the Sudan Interior Mission, the Inland South America Missionary Union, and the Women's Missionary Union o…

Interdict

(226 words)

Author(s): May, Georg
[German Version] is one of the three ecclesial censures (Censorship) along with excommunication and suspension. It is only imposed on individuals, and no longer on places or regions and groups. The interdict automatically prohibits any service in the mass and other worship services, the administration and reception of the sacraments, and the administration of the sacramentalia. After the imposition or determination of the interdict, the one interdicted must be prohibited from any ministry in worship or else the worship must be suspended ( CIC 1983 c. 1332 in conjunction with c…

Interest

(3,846 words)

Author(s): Grundmann, Stefan | Bayer, Stefan | Schneider, Helmuth | Kessler, Rainer | Strohm, Christoph | Et al.
[German Version] I. Concept – II. Legal Aspects – III. Economics – IV. Non-Christian Antiquity – V. Bible – VI. Christianity – VII. Judaism – VIII. Islam I. Concept Interest is payment in exchange for a right of use or exploitation, typically on a temporary basis and always agreed for a fixed period of time. Money later gained increasing importance as an object of lending and now occupies a dominant position, although other items or rights remain possible as objects of lending, as for example rent. In economics (see III below), this mutual commitment between the conferral…

Interim Ethics

(403 words)

Author(s): Herms, Eilert
[German Version] If there are objective or subjective reasons to regard a life-orienting certainty concerning the nature (essence), origin and destiny of the world and humanity and the rules of action derived from it as valid for only a limited time, one speaks of an interim ¶ ethics. More properly, it should be referred to as an interim ethos or an interim morality. Examples include (a) the ethos of Jesus and (b) the “provisional morality” of R. Descartes ( Discours de la méthode, 1637; ET: Discourse on Method, 1960). a. A. Schweitzer first described Jesus' ethos as an “interim eth…

Interiority

(684 words)

Author(s): Schulz, Heiko
[German Version] I The term interiority or inwardness (Ger. Innerlichkeit) was used by F.G. Klopstock and J.W. v. Goethe, but it was only in G.W.F. Hegel that it gained the interpretive configuration that subsequently became definitive: first, and in the widest sense, the term refers to the subjectivity or the immediate being-within-one's self of the spirit (III). Wherever there is spirit, there is interiority, and vice versa, for interiority is nothing other than the spirit's “returning into itself” ( Philosophie der Geschichte, 340). Second, thus defined the term serves as…

Intermarriage

(5 words)

[German Version] Marriage
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