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.
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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
Lortz, Josef
(199 words)
[German Version] (Dec 13, 1887, Grevenmacher, Luxembourg – Feb 21, 1975, Luxembourg), Catholic church historian. After studying in Rome, Fribourg (Switzerland), and Bonn, he earned his
Habilitation with Sebastian Merkle in Würzburg (1923), and was professor in Braunsberg (1929) and in Münster (1933). In his “history of ideas” turn to the objective, to authority, and community, Lortz saw intersections between National Socialism (I) and Catholicism. Lortz was removed from his chair in 1945 mainly because of his writing
Katholischer Zugang zum Nationalsozialismus (A Catholic ap…
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Religion Past and Present
Löscher, Valentin Ernst
(412 words)
[German Version] (Dec 29, 1673, Sondershausen – Feb 12, 1749, Dresden). As the son of the Wittenberg professor of theology Caspar Löscher (1636–1718), Valentin Löscher also studied in Wittenberg. After a study tour (extending as far as Holland and Denmark), he received a master's degree and became an adjunct to the faculty of philosophy in 1692. He was appointed pastor and superintendent in Jüterbog (1699), superintendent in Delitzsch (1702), professor of theology in Wittenberg (1707), pastor of t…
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Religion Past and Present
Lossky
(441 words)
[German Version]
1. Nikolay Onufriyevich (Dec 6, 1870, Kreslavka, Belarus [today Latvia] – Jan 24, 1965, Sainte-Genviève-des-Bois, France), one of the most important Russian philosophers at the turn of the 20th century. He identified with the Intuitivists, and his thought was influenced by the monadology of G.W. Leibniz and the intuitivism of H. Bergson. After studies in St. Petersburg, Lossky earned a doctorate in Germany with W. Wundt. Because of his religious convictions, Lossky felt compelled to …
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Religion Past and Present
Losungen (Watchwords)
(605 words)
[German Version] The first
Losung was given orally on May 3, 1728, by N. v. Zinzendorf of the Moravian Church (Bohemian and Moravian Brethren: II) in the context of evening worship as a watchword for the next day. Every day from then on, the Brethren took the daily watchword given by Zinzendorf to the 32 houses of the Herrnhut community in Saxony, so that it could shape the community's common spiritual life. Zinzendorf chose a verse from the Bible or a line from a hymn. From this initial phase, a written fragment from the year 1729 has survived. The
Losungen entered a second phase when they w…
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Religion Past and Present
Los-von-Rom-Bewegung (Free-from-Rome Movement)
(522 words)
[German Version] The
Los-von-Rom-Bewegung was a movement within the Habsburg territories between 1897 and 1918 that encouraged people to leave the Catholic Church and to join the Protestant and Old Catholic Churches (Old Catholics). Its primary goals were to Protestantize Austrian Catholics and incorporate the German-speaking regions of Austria into the German Empire. It was triggered by a decree of Prime Minister Kasimir Felix Badeni recognizing Czech as an administrative language in Bohemia and M…
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Religion Past and Present
Lotus-Sūtra
(385 words)
[German Version] (Skt.
Saddharmapuṇḍarīkasūtra, i.e. “
Sūtra on the lotus blossom of the true
dharma ”), a fundamental text of early Mahāyāna Buddhism and a work of prime importance in the Chinese Tiantai school (Jap. Tendai) as well as in Japanese Nichiren Buddhism. The most important Chinese translation by Kumārajīva (406) bears the title
Miaofa Lianhua Jing (“
Sūtra on the lotus blossom of the sublime
dharma”), which gave rise, in Japan, to the frequently used prayer formula
Namu myōhō renge kyō. Sanskrit manuscripts are of later date. In terms of content, the concept of “(skill…
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Religion Past and Present
Lotzer, Sebastian
(163 words)
[German Version] (Weygelin, Wergelin; Basty, Beste; c. 1490, Horb am Neckar – after 1525, Switzerland?). Between 1523 and 1525, Lotzer, a craftsman (furrier?) ¶ and lay theologian, published five pieces supporting the rights of the laity and the Reformation. Together with C. Schappeler he led the Protestant movement in the imperial city of Memmingen, where early in January of 1525 he participated in a disputation with Catholic traditionalists and helped introduce the Reformation. Writing in support of the rebellious peasants, the
Baltringer Haufen, he composed the most import…
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Religion Past and Present
Lotze, Rudolf Hermann
(389 words)
[German Version] (May 21, 1817, Bautzen – Jul 1, 1881, Berlin). After receiving degrees in medicine and philosophy, Lotze was appointed professor in Göttingen in 1844. His significance in the history of philosophy is twofold. He released philosophy from speculative Idealism by contrasting the realism of the natural sciences. He was also the author of an epistemology that was not naturalistically reducible, such as would be developed by Neo-Kantianism in the person of Lotze's student W. Windelband …
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Religion Past and Present
Louis IX (Saint)
(672 words)
[German Version] (Apr 25, 1214, Poissy – Aug 25, 1270, Carthage), king of France; eldest son of Louis VIII (reigned 1223–1226) and Blanche of Castile (1188–1252). Louis became king of France at the age of twelve, initially under the guardianship of his mother, who remained coregent even after 1234. Louis's foreign policy was determined by three great spheres of influence: Byzantium (Constantinople/Byzantium), Islam, and the Mongol Empire. The alliance of the French king with the Mongols against Is…
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Religion Past and Present
Louis of Toulouse (Saint)
(167 words)
[German Version] (of Anjou, of Marseille; Feb 1274, probably in Brignoles, Provence – Aug 19, 1297, Brignoles), son of Charles II of Anjou. From 1288 to 1295 he was held hostage for his father in Catalonia, where two Franciscans saw to his education; they also brought him into contact with Peter Olivi. After the death of his elder brother, Louis renounced the throne in favor of his younger brother Robert and joined the Franciscan order. In 1296 he was appointed and consecrated archbishop of Toulou…
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Religion Past and Present
Louis the Bavarian
(264 words)
[German Version] (1282? – Oct 11, 1347, Puch, near Fürstenfeldbruck), German king and Holy Roman emperor, son of Duke Louis II of Bavaria (d. 1294). Duke of Upper Bavaria from 1302, Louis was elected as the German king in 1314 against the Ha…
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Religion Past and Present
Louis the Pious
(186 words)
[German Version] (714, Chasseneuil-du-Poitou near Poitiers – Jun 20, 840, near Ingelheim am Rhein). The third son of Charlemagne, Louis was appointed king of Aquitaine in 781 and coemperor in 813; he became sole emperor in 814. Initially he ruled energetically and decisively (Capitularies, reform of the rules for canons and monks with Benedict of Aniane). The
…
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Religion Past and Present
Louis XIV
(240 words)
[German Version] (Sep 5, 1638, Saint-Germain-en-Laye – Sep 1, 1715, Versailles), king of France from 1643. Louis's youth was marked by a revolt of the nobility and the Paris Parlement against Cardinal J. Mazarin, who reigned until 1661 on behalf of the king, who was still in his minority. Victory over this “Fronde” in 1653 laid the groundwork for French high absolutism, of …
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Religion Past and Present
Lourdes
(494 words)
[German Version] Lourdes, Marian pilgrimage site in southern France. The roots of the pilgrimage are in alleged apparitions of Mary, beginning on Feb 11, 1858, to a poor 14-year-old miller's daughter, Bernadette Soubirous. In the first apparition, in the grotto of Massabielle she saw a girl wearing a white dress and veil, with a blue belt and yellow roses on her feet. The apparitions were repeated during the following three weeks; the silent apparitions ¶ were followed by a second phase, in which she was told to do penance on behalf of sinners. On Feb 25, at the direct…
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Religion Past and Present
Love
(8,725 words)
[German Version] I. History of Religion – II. Bible – III. Dogmatics – IV. Philosophy – V. Philosophy of Religion – VI. Ethics – VII. Practical Theology – VIII. Judaism
I. History of Religion The concept of love describes a relationship of affection, tenderness, or devotion between human beings and between humans and God (Love of/for God) or the gods. The Old Testament speaks of the love of God for humanity; in Judaism, the commandment of obedience to God is followed by the commandment to love God (Deut 6:5) and one's fe…
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Religion Past and Present
Love/Charity Orders, Religious
(641 words)
[German Version] Many religious communities have the word
love or
caritas (
carità, charité, charity, etc.) in their name, referring to love of ¶ God and neighbor and usually further qualified as
love of Christ, love of Mary, and so on (Merciful Brothers and Sisters of, Borromeans, Grey Brothers and Sisters, Good Shepherd Sisters, Rosminians, Vincentian Sisters). Frères de la Charité (Brothers of Charity; Congregatio Fratrum a Caritate, FC), founded as a lay congregation in 1807 in Ghent (Belgium) by the priest Pierre- Joseph Triest (1760–1836); today present intern…
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Religion Past and Present
Lovedale
(261 words)
[German Version] Situated among the Xhosa people, Lovedale Mission, founded in 1826 near the town of Alice in South Africa's Eastern Cape, was named after John Love, secretary of the Glasgow Missionary Society. In 1844 the newly formed Free Church of Scotland took control and developed Lovedale, under William Govan, as one of the foremost educational institutions in Africa for black and white students. In 1866, its new principal…
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Religion Past and Present
Love Feast (Agape)
(482 words)
[German Version] I. Early Christianity – II. Modern Times
I. Early Christianity The Agape or love feast is a liturgically structured congregational feast. The first use of the term ἀγάπη (
agápē, “love”) is found in Jude 12 and Ign.
Smyrn. 8.2. The phenomenon is widely documented from as early as the 2nd century. Comparable to this are symposia, which are known also to Judaism, not least as a charitable institution (
T. Job 10.1–3). H. Lietzmann assumed that, besides the Eucharist, which derives from Jesus' Last Supper (I), there existed non-sacramental but liturgi…
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Religion Past and Present
Love Gifts, Church
(302 words)
[German Version] Love gifts have been given since earliest Christian times as donations, collections, bequests, and contributions for Christian welfare within and beyond the congregation and for the leaders or the employees of the congregation. In contrast to fixed levies such as the tithe (Tithing), contributions, or taxes, love gifts are understood to be voluntary and supplementary. Essentially, two types of love gift can be differentiated.
1. Well into the 20th century, not only pastors, but also sextons, clerks, deacons, and others, received gifts of money…
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Religion Past and Present
Love of/for God
(5,381 words)
[German Version] I. Old Testament – II. New Testament – III. Christianity – IV. Judaism – V. Islam
I. Old Testament
1. God's love The notion of YHWH's love (in Heb. primarily derivatives of the root אהב/
ʾhb) for his people first appears in the book of the prophet Hosea, where God's love is cited as the “ground of divine election” (Jenni) in response to challenges to the election (I) of Israel by God (Hos 1:9). Hosea uses the image of a father's love (11:1; cf. also 11:4); despite his son's disobedience, he cannot give him up …
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Religion Past and Present
Love of One's Neighbor
(2,576 words)
[German Version] I. Meaning – II. Old Testament – III. Early Judaism – IV. New Testament – V. Ethics
I. Meaning Love of one's neighbor is the love of creaturely persons, for other concrete creaturely persons (“neighbors”) as being in the image of God; it includes love of enemies (Matt 5:44 = Luke 6:27; Enemy,). The Reformers believed that the twofold law of love (Mark 12:29–31 parr.), expressive of a well-ordered creation, embodies all the demands of the law (cf. Luther, BSLK 586). The love…
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Religion Past and Present
Low Church
(387 words)
[German Version] Low Church is the name given to a party within the Church of England, which, after he Reformation, accepted the right of the state to control its worship and its doctrine. This position was almost universal in the late 16th and early 17th centuries, and after the revolution of 1688 it became closely identified with the legal establishment of the church. In the 19th century, the term “low church” became associated with the movement to resist Anglo-Catholicism and its ritualistic te…
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Religion Past and Present
Löwenich, Walther von
(194 words)
[German Version] (Mar 3, 1903, Nuremberg – Jan 3, 1992, Erlangen), was professor of church history, history of dogma, confessional studies, and Christian art in Erlangen (1946–1971), rector of the university there (1956/1957), and president of the Lutheran Society (1964/1965). Löwenich rejected the absolutization of dogmatic statements and their equation with divine truth. He became known primarily as an important Luther scholar who combined his pioneering historical studies of Luther's theology w…
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Religion Past and Present
Löwith, Karl
(232 words)
[German Version] (Jan 9, 1897, Munich – May 24, 1973, Heidelberg), German philosopher. Löwith studied in Munich and Freiburg, earned his doctorate in Munich and his habilitation under M. Heidegger, in Marburg with his thesis “Das Individuum in der Rolle des Mitmenschen. Ein Beitrag zur anthropologischen Grundlegung der ethischen Probleme” [The individual in the role of fellow human being: a contribution to the anthropological foundation of the ethical problem]. In 1933, Löwith emigrated to Italy, …
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Religion Past and Present
Löw, Leopold
(170 words)
[German Version] (May 22, 1811, Čzerná Hora, Moravia [today Poland] – Oct 13, 1875, Szeged, Hungary). As a scholar and rabbi – 1840 in Nagykanizsa, 1846 in Papa, and from 1850 in Szeged – Löw was one of the leading figures of the Hungarian Jewish Reform movement (Reform Judaism). He energetically promoted the emancipation of the Hungarian Jews and, against Orthodox opposition, a cautious reinterpretation of Judaism in the context of the rabbinic tradition. As a military chaplain during the Hungari…
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Religion Past and Present
Lowth, Robert
(212 words)
[German Version] (Nov 27, 1710, Winchester, England – Nov 3, 1787, London), Anglican theologian and the bishop of Oxford (from 1766) and London (from 1777). As professor of literature in Oxford (1741–1750), Lowth gave lectures in which he introduced the Old Testament into the contemporary debate concerning poetic language and the sublime. Through this hermeneutical decision, he was able to take a biblically based position in the controversy concerning Deism, and open up a new literary-critical approach to the OT. His lectures
De Sacra Poesi Hebraeorum (1753; Eng. 1787), a pamphl…
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Religion Past and Present
Luba
(1,691 words)
[German Version] The name “Luba” (pl.
baluba, sing.
muluba in the spoken language) denotes a group of Bantu-speaking peoples, numbering well over 5,000,000, in the southern region of the Democratic Republic of Congo,. Roughly speaking, they fall into a northern and a southern group. The northern group comprises the Kasai Luba in the west, the Songye Luba and Hemba Luba in the east; the southern group comprises the Katanga Luba, associated with the early Luba empire, and sometimes the Hemba Luba in the e…
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Religion Past and Present
Lubac, Henri de
(652 words)
[German Version] Lubac, Henri de, (Feb 20, 1896, Cambrai, France – Sep 4, 1991, Paris), a French Jesuit theologian, became cardinal in 1983. Lubac was one of the principal renewers of Catholic theology in the light of biblical and patristic sources and exerted decisive influence on Vatican II. After taking part in World War I and finishing his studies, according to the Jesuit curriculum, in Jersey, Ore Place (intensive preoccupation with M. Blondel,'s philosophy), and Lyon, he was appointed lectur…
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Religion Past and Present
Lubavich, Hasidic Movement
(285 words)
[German Version] Lubavich is a small town in Russia, near Smolensk, which became the common designation of the Hasidic movement (Hasidism), ¶ Habad, founded at the end of the 18th century. Seven generations of the Schneursohn family were the spiritual leaders of the people of Lubavich. Rabbi Shneur Salman von Liadi is still today revered as the founder and leader of Habad Hasidism. After his death his disciples elected his son, Rabbi Dov Baer (1773–1827) to lead them. Baer's son, M.M. Schneerson, became known by his …
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Religion Past and Present
Lubbertus, Sibrandus
(160 words)
[German Version] (c. 1555 Langwarden, Butjadingen, Lower Saxony – Jan 10, 1625, Franeker, The Netherlands). After studying at Wittenberg, Geneva, Marburg, and Neustadt an der Haardt and a brief ministry in Emden from 1582 to 1584, Lubbertus was appointed the first professor of theology at the newly founded university of Franeker. After receiving his Dr.theol. from Heidelberg in 1587, he wrote numerous works to secure the heritage of the Reformation against the Socinians (
De Jesu Christo servatore, 1611), the Remonstrants (Arminians), and especially Catholic theologians …
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Religion Past and Present
Lübeck, Bishopric
(857 words)
[German Version] Lübeck's origins go back to the German colonization and Christianization of Slavic Vagria/East Holstein under Henry the Lion, after the failed establishment of the bishopric of Oldenburg c. 972–983 and the destruction of the seat of the Slavic principality at Liubice (Old Lübeck). The German commercial town was founded in 1159 and the bishopric was moved there in 1160; a cathedral, several monasteries, and four parish churches were erected between 1163 and 1229. The small episcopa…
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Religion Past and Present
Lübeck, Vincent
(153 words)
[German Version] (c. 1654, Padingbüttel, Cuxhaven, Germany – Feb 9, 1740, Hamburg, Germany), German composer, organist, and teacher. Lübeck studied with Caspar Förckelrath and perhaps Andreas Kneller. He was organist of St. Cosmae and Damiani, Stade, from 1674 until 1702. His brilliant reputation won him the post of organist at the Nikolaikirche, Hamburg, which he held until his death. His nine extant organ works are characterized by brilliant virtuosity and thematic unity, and demonstrate the com…
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Religion Past and Present
Lucaris, Cyril
(372 words)
[German Version] (baptismal name, Constantinos; Nov 13, 1570, Herakleion, Crete – Jun 29, 1638, near Constantinople) was patriarch of Constantinople for five terms in office (brought about by depositions and reinstallations) between 1620 and 1638. He was a theologian open to Calvinism and controversial in Orthodoxy, and a martyr (strangled by a band of Janissaries). As the scion of a respected family of priests, he first worked, after studying in Venice and Padua, with his uncle Meletius Pegas, wh…
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Religion Past and Present
Lucas of Prague
(80 words)
[German Version] (c. 1460, Prague – Dec 11, 1528, Jungbunzlau, Bohemia) was the most important theologian and leader of the Bohemian and Moravian Brethren. After 1494, he contributed definitively to the reconfiguration and consolidation of their theology and polity (“Grand Party”). In the last years of his life, he made initial (critical) contacts with Luther and Melanchthon. Peter Hilsch Bibliography A. Molnár,
Bratr Lukáš, 1948 E. Peschke,
Kirche und Welt in der Theologie der Böhmischen Brüder, 1981.
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Religion Past and Present
Lucian of Antioch (Saint)
(318 words)
[German Version] Lucian of Antioch (Saint), an Antiochene presbyter and a controversial figure in church history research. The only reliable data concerning his life are that he suffered martyrdom on Jan 7(?), 312 in Nicomedia and authored a number of
Libelli de fide and letters. Considering this paucity of information, it seems quite remarkable that history has linked Lucian to very different theological movements and trends. He is thus regarded, for instance, – via Paul of Samosata – as the father of Arianism (Arius/Arianism; A. v. Har-¶ nack), as the founder of the Antiochene s…
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Religion Past and Present
Lucian of Samosata
(372 words)
[German Version] (c. 120 ce, Samosata on the Euphrates – after 180, Egypt [?]) was a prominent author of the Second Sophistic School. Not a Greek by birth, he acquired an extensive knowledge of the Greek language and of Greek rhetoric, literature, and art through his studies and travels. Journeys as a rhetorician and longer sojourns in Ionia, Greece, Italy, Gaul, and Egypt allowed him to gather a wide variety of impressions relating to social life. He drew the topics and genres of his rich literary …
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Religion Past and Present
Lucia, Saint
(142 words)
[German Version] According to the legendary
Passio (c. 500), as a virgin consecrated to Christ she was put to death by the sword, after much torture, in Syracuse during the Diocletian persecution (Persecutions of Christians: I). Her supposed relics came to Metz in 970, whence her cult expanded (feast day Dec 13). The Lucia catacomb and the grave inscription of Euskia, signs of early cultic veneration, were discovered in Syracuse at the end of the 19th century. The figure of Lucia found its way into poetry, popular song, and popular piety. Klaus Unterburger Bibliography Sources:
Martyrolog…
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Religion Past and Present
Lucifer of Cagliari
(281 words)
[German Version] (died 370), who became bishop of Calaris (Cagliari) on Sardinia c. 350, was exiled under Emperor Constantius II at the 355 Synod of Milan because he refused to agree to the deposition of Athanasius. Amnestied in 362 under Julian the Apostate, Lucifer contributed substantially during his return journey to Calaris to the prolongation of the Antiochene Schism by independently consecrating the presbyterPaulinus as Eustathian bishop of Antioch (Eustathius of Antioch). Back in his episc…
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Religion Past and Present
Lücke, Gottfried Christian Friedrich
(310 words)
[German Version] (Aug 24, 1791, Egeln near Magdeburg – Feb 14, 1855, Göttingen). After periods of undergraduate and graduate study in Halle an der Saale and Göttingen, Lücke became assistant professor in Berlin (1818), professor of New Testament and church history in Bonn (1819), and of New Testament and systematic theology in Göttingen (1827). In 1839, he joined the Consistorial Council and in 1843 became abbot of Bursfelde Abbey. Lücke may be considered the most important student of F.D.E. Schleiermacher; he published his teacher's
Hermeneutik posthumously in 1838. In his
Grundriß …
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Religion Past and Present
Lucretius
(254 words)
[German Version] (T. Lucretius Carus; c. 98–55 bce) authored a didactic philosophical poem entitled
De rerum natura in which he outlined the core issues of Epicurean teachings (Epicurus) in the fields of physics, anthropology, and cosmology. The individual books are devoted to the following topics: 1. principles of atomism, 2. theory of motion, 3. the soul, 4. theory of perception, 5. natural history, 6. natural phenomena. His principal source is Epicurus's work
Peri physeos; his main concern is to deliver the human being from his fear of the gods and of death, and t…
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Religion Past and Present
Luder, Peter
(161 words)
[German Version] (c. 1415, Kislau [Bad Schönborn] – 1472, Vienna). After basic studies in Heidelberg from 1430/1431, Luder lived from 1434 to 1456 in Italy and also visited Greece. He was a student of Guarino da Verona (1374–1460) in Ferrara, received a notary's certificate from the Republic of Venice in 1444 and studied medicine in Padua. From 1456 to 1460, he held an electoral commission to teach the
studia humanitatis in Heidelberg. In his programmatic inaugural address, he commended the study of history, rhetoric, and poetry. In 1460, he resumed his travels. …
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Religion Past and Present
Lüderwald, Johann Balthasar
(171 words)
[German Version] (Sep 27, 1722, Fahrland near Potsdam – Aug 25, 1796, Vorsfelde near Wolfsburg), studied in Helmstedt where he attended lectures by J.L. v. Mosheim. In 1747, he became a Lutheran pastor in Glentorf near Königslutter, and in 1762 superintendent and
pastor primarius in Vorsfelde. Sympathetic in his early years with the theology of Wolffianism (C. Wolff), he ultimately adhered to late orthodoxy (Orthodoxy: II, 2) and opposed G.E. Lessing in the Fragments Controversy. In addition, Lüderwald became known especially for his comprehensive treatise on the
Berufung und Seli…
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Religion Past and Present
Ludger, Saint
(203 words)
[German Version] (c. 742, Zwesen – Mar 26, 809, Billerbeck) was from a West Frisian noble family who supported Willibrord. As a student of Gregory of Utrecht, whose
Vita he wrote in 790/791, and after an apprenticeship with Alcuin in York (767–772), Ludger became one of the most important Anglo-Saxon missionaries. After his activities in Frisia and a pilgrimage to Rome and Monte Cassino (784–787), Charlemagne entrusted him with the West Saxon mission. In Münster, Ludger established a
monasterium in 793 which, along with his own monastery Werden, was under his rectorate. C…
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Religion Past and Present
Lüdke, Friedrich Germanus
(356 words)
[German Version] (Apr 10, 1730, Stendal – Mar 8, 1792, Berlin) studied theology in Halle an der Saal, initially with S.J. Baumgarten, then, after participating in the Seven Years War as a chaplain, under the definitive influence of J.A. Nösselt. In 1765, he became deacon, then archdeacon at St. Nicholas (Berlin). Through his writings and, even more, through his many contributions to F. Nicolai's
Allgemeine deutsche Bibliothek (
Comprehensive German Library, nearly 1000 reviews), Lüdke became an important proponent of neology (Enlightenment, The: II, 4, c). His ess…
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Religion Past and Present
Ludlow, John Malcolm Forbes
(154 words)
[German Version] (Mar 8, 1821, Nimach, India – Oct 17, 1911, London, England) was a Christian socialist, born to English parents, but raised in Paris, where he studied at the Collège Bourbon. From 1838 he was entered at Lincoln's Inn, becoming a barrister in 1843. He became a devoted disciple of F.D. Maurice, facilitating the gathering of a group of like-minded men around Maurice. Ludlow was the architect and builder of the resulting Christian socialist movement (Socialism), which began in 1848. In 1850 he founded the
Christian Socialist journal. He deserves most of the credit for…
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Religion Past and Present
Ludolf, Heinrich Wilhelm
(150 words)
[German Version] (Dec 20, 1655, Erfurt – Jan 25, 1712, London) became secretary to Prince George of Denmark in 1686, took a diplomatic journey to Russia in 1693 followed by stays in England, Holland and Germany (in Halle an der Saale and elsewhere). He traveled to the Orient (1698/99), returning to London in 1700 as a corresponding member of the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge. Ludolf's Reformation objective of an
ecclesia universalis, which ¶ was closely linked to diplomatic and economic concerns and met or attracted the interest of A.H. Francke, related in…
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Religion Past and Present
Ludolf, Hiob
(186 words)
[German Version] (Jun 24, 1624, Erfurt – Apr 8, 1704, Frankfurt). Ludolf went to school in Erfurt, then studied medicine and law there from 1639 to 1645. Advanced study of the major European and Middle Eastern languages qualified him as a private tutor and interpreter for noble families. During study trips, he came to know such figures as G. Voetius and A.M. van Schurman. In 1651 he entered the service of Duke Ernest the Pious, whose enthusiasm for Ethiopia (Acts 8:26–40) led him to support Ludolf's work on an Ethiopic dictionary (21699), a grammar (21703), and a geography (1681). Ernest…
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Religion Past and Present
Ludolf of Saxony
(180 words)
[German Version] (c. 1300, northern Germany – Apr 10, 1378, Straßburg). Initially a Dominican, he was a Carthusian after c. 1340 (Straßburg, Coblenz [Prior], Mainz, Straßburg). His major work is the
Vita Jesu Christi, a work based on the gospel harmony of Zacharias of Besançon (Chrysopolitanus, first half of the 12th cent.), early church authors and medieval, meditative and historicizing Jesus literature. It does not simply recount Jesus' life, but seeks, in individual sections (structured according to the scheme of
lectio, meditatio and
oratio and enriched by introductions an…
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Religion Past and Present
Lugano, Bishopric
(147 words)
[German Version] The see of Lugano was established in 1888 as the apostolic administrature of the canton of Ticino, encompassing former diocesan territories of Milan and Como. Until 1968 it was linked with the see of Basel
aeque principaliter. The year 1971 saw the nominal transformation of the apostolic administrature into a diocese directly responsible to the Holy See. A theological academy was founded in 1992 and a theological faculty in 1993, when the seminary in Lugano that had been closed in 1968 was reopened under Bishop Euge…
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Religion Past and Present
Lugo, John de
(167 words)
[German Version] (Nov 25, 1583, Madrid – Aug 10, 1660, Rome), theologian, Jesuit (1603), and cardinal (1643). After 1616 Lugo taught philosophy at various Spanish colleges; from 1621 to 1642, he was professor of theology at the Jesuit College in Rome. After 1642 he served as adviser to several Roman congregations and oversaw the publication of his extensive writings, which dealt more with resolving internal Scholastic controversies, especially in moral theology (but also
analysis fidei, the history of dogma, and doctrine of the eucharistic sacrifice), than with fundam…
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Religion Past and Present
Luhmann, Niklas
(376 words)
[German Version] (Dec 8, 1927, Lüneburg, near Hamburg – Nov 6, 1998, Oerlinghausen, near Bielefeld, Westphalia), one of the most important social theorists of the 20th century. Luhmann viewed sociology as the most important academic discipline of modernity and developed a conceptually highly ambitious version of sociological systems theory. After taking a degree in law, ¶ he began a career in Lüneburg's public administration followed by service in the ministry of education and cultural affairs of Lower Saxony. After studying sociology with T. Parsons…
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Religion Past and Present
Luís de Granada
(183 words)
[German Version] (Louis of Granada, Luís de Sarria; 1504, Granada – Dec 31, 1588, Lisbon), Spanish Dominican, renowned preacher and writer. After studying at Valladolid, he served 11 years as a preacher at the cathedral in Córdoba. In 1550 he was transferred to Portugal, where he remained until his death. Equipped with an excellent Humanistic and theological education, Luís left an extensive body of works, which found a worldwide audience. His writings – especially his imaginative, emotional descr…
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Religion Past and Present
Luján
(114 words)
[German Version] Luján, pilgrimage (III, 2.b) site in Argentina northwest of Buenos Aires, symbol of the national and religious identity of the Argentinian people. A miraculous statue was brought to Luján by ship from Brazil in 1630 at the request of a Portuguese immigrant, a small terracotta figurine representing Mary Immaculate. Early in the 20th century, the statue was silvered. Initially the statue was venerated at a farm on the Rio Luján. In 1762, with the support of the faithful, a chapel was built in the modern city of Luján. The neo-Gothic pilgrimage church dates from 1874. Alexandr…
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Religion Past and Present
Lukács, György
(435 words)
[German Version] (George; Apr 13, 1885, Budapest – Jun 4, 1971, Budapest). Lukács was born into a prosperous, assimilated Jewish family. His interest turned early to philosophy. Personal contact with G. Simmel, through whom he came to know E. Bloch as well as Emil Lask and Max Weber, shaped his views in the years leading up to World War I and the early years of the war. During the last years of the war, he spent most of his time in Hungary, where he was the leading figure of the so-called Sunday C…
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Religion Past and Present
Luke, Gospel of
(2,195 words)
[German Version] I. Composition – II. Theology – III. History The Gospel of Luke, the third canonical Gospel, is attested in full in the Greek manuscripts Sinaiticus and Vaticanus dating from the 4th century, but large portions are already attested in Papyri nos. 4, 45, and especially 75 dating from the 3rd century (Biblical manuscripts: II, 1 and 2).
I. Composition
1. Content and structure The Gospel of Luke begins with a preamble (1:1–4) and narratives similar to a prologue, the birth and infancy narratives (1:5–2:52), in which Luke relates the origins o…
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Religion Past and Present
Lull, Raymond
(559 words)
[German Version] (1232/1233, Majorca, Spain – 1316, Tunis, Morocco), Catalonian philosopher, theologian, mystic, and poet. At about the age of 30 (around 1263), while he was court official of the later King James II of Majorca, Lull decided to dedicate his life to the conversion of the infidels. He studied Latin and Arabic, Christian and Islamic theology, authored several works in the most varied literary genres, outlined an
Ars compendiosa inveniendi veritatem (1274), and founded a monastery of languages for future missionaries in Majorca (1276). A new version of the
Ars (
Ars demonst…
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Religion Past and Present
Lullus of Mainz (Saint)
(147 words)
[German Version] (Lul; c. 710, Wessex – Oct 16, 786, Hersfeld). In Rome in 738 Lullus joined his fellow-countryman Boniface, whom he helped (after 752 as auxiliary bishop) expand the organization of the church east of the Rhine. After the death of Boniface in 754, Lullus was appointed to the see of Mainz (I), although Pope Hadrian I did not make him archbishop until 780/782. Lullus commissioned the
Vita Bonifatii, served as an adviser to Charlemagne in evangelizing the Saxons, and expanded the bishopric of Mainz by absorbing the sees of Büraburg and Erfurt (I). S…
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Religion Past and Present
Lumpa
(287 words)
[German Version] Lumpa was an African Independent Church founded in 1955 by Alice Lenshina Mulenga Lubusha in Sione (“Zion”), in the Chinsali district of Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia). Lenshina, a lapsed catechumen of the Free Church of Scotland at Lubwa mission, began after receiving visions to preach, baptize and eradicate local sorcery. Her exclusion from the mission church led to the founding of Lumpa church (Lumpa means “surpassing all others”). At the ¶ top of the church hierarchy was “Mama” (grandmother) Lenshina herself, supported by deacons in charge of out…
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Religion Past and Present
Lund
(820 words)
[German Version] I. City and Bishopric – II. University
I. City and Bishopric The earliest documentary references to Lund as a wealthy and fortified Danish city date from around 940. The Anglo-Saxon missionaries Gerbrand and Bernard evangelized the province of Skåne in the reign of Canute the Great of Denmark (995–1035). During this time, the first church was established in Lund, under the bishopric of Roskilde. At the beginning of his reign, Sweyn Estridsen (d. 1074) established two bishoprics in Skåne, o…
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Religion Past and Present
Lüpke, Hans Johannes Eberhard Burghard von
(167 words)
[German Version] (Dec 28, 1866, Müden an der Aller – Jan 1, 1934, Göttingen). Between 1893 and 1925, Lüpke served as pastor and superintendent in various cures in Thuringia and Hanover. After early involvement in rural social welfare work (Welfare system), he became the founder and nestor of the
Dorfkirchenbewegung, a village church movement with a romantic agrarian vision. He was the editor of the journal
Die Dorfkirche (1907/1908–1933), to which he contributed many fundamental articles. He was also a promoter of rural evening classes and night courses. Theolo…
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Religion Past and Present
Lupold of Bebenburg
(238 words)
[German Version] (c. 1297 Bemberg Castle near Rot am See, district of Schwäbisch Hall – Oct 28, 1363, Bamberg?). Born of a knightly Frankish family, Lupold became a canon of the Würzburg cathedral in 1316. After studying law at Bologna, he received his Dr. decretorum before 1326. He enjoyed a substantial income from chapter benefices in Mainz and Bamberg. In 1328 he established contact with the archbishop of Trier, Baldwin of Luxemburg, an important political figure in the Empire. He may have had …
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Religion Past and Present
Lupus of Ferrières
(234 words)
[German Version] (c. 805 – after autumn 862), from a west Franconian/Bavarian noble family, was from 840 until his death abbot of Ferrières (archdiocese of Sens), where he had been educated (staying with Rabanus Maurus in Fulda from 829 to 836). He was the court chaplain of Charles the Bald and his adviser in the predestination controversy. Lupus was one of the most important philologists of the Carolingian period: he collected and prepared text-critical editions of ancient authors such as Cicero …
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Religion Past and Present
Lupus of Troyes (Saint)
(99 words)
[German Version] (c. 383, Toul – 478), like his brother Vincent, entered the monastery on Lérins Islands (426), after being married to Piminiola (the sister of Hilary of Arles). While on a trip to Troyes, he was elected bishop. Lupus's journey to England in 429 with Germanus of Auxerre on an anti-Pelagian mission, his efforts in the resistance to the destruction of Troyes by the Huns, and the five letters from Sidonius Apollinaris to Lupus show that he was an erudite personality. Uta Heil Bibliography N.K. Chadwick,
Poetry and Letters in Early Christian Gaul, 1955.
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Religion Past and Present
Luria, Isaac
(302 words)
[German Version] (Acronym: Ha-ARI; 1534, Jerusalem – 1572, Safed) is regarded as the most important Jewish kabbalist (Kabbalah) of modern times, the originator of a revolutionary kabbalistic myth, which is the dominant theology in orthodox Judaism to this day. His father was of European origin (“Ashkenasi”; Judaism). Not long after Luria was born, his family went to Egypt, where Luria was raised and educated. He became a halakhic authority (Halakhah) with great creative abilities and dealt in comm…
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Religion Past and Present
Lütgert, Wilhelm
(163 words)
[German Version] (Apr 9, 1867, Heiligengrabe, Ostprignitz – Feb 21, 1938, Berlin). In 1892 Lütgert ¶ became
Privatdozent at Greifswald; in 1895 he was appointed full professor. In 1901 he moved to Halle an der Saale, where he became professor of New Testament in 1902 and professor of systematic theology in 1912, succeeding M. Kähler. In 1929 he went to Berlin, where he was dismissed for political reasons in 1935. His New Testament studies explore the occasion of the Pauline Epistles and, like his
Die Religion des deutschen Idealismus und ihr Ende (1923–1930), examine the causes of dec…
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Religion Past and Present
Luthard, Christoph Ernst
(179 words)
[German Version] (Mar 3, 1823, Maroldsweisach, Lower Franconia – Sep 21, 1902, Leipzig). Luthardt studied Protestant theology at Erlangen and Berlin from 1841 to 1845, as a student of J.C.K. v. Hofmann. In 1854 he was appointed professor at Marburg. From 1856 to 1895 he was professor systematic theology at Leipzig. Luthardt is one of the most prominent representatives of confessional Lutheranism (Lutherans). With K.F.A. Kahnis and F. Delitzsch, he led the Leipzig theological faculty to a golden ag…
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Religion Past and Present
Luther Academy
(198 words)
[German Version] The historical background to the foundation of the Luther Academy in 1932 – the successor to the Apologetics Seminar (Apologetics) – was the “Luther renaissance.” Its initiator and first academic director, C. Stange, was also interested in cooperation with the Lutheran churches of Scandinavia. Its first chairman was L. Ihmels. Its main emphases were on study conferences (Sondershausen) and publication of the
Nachrichten der Luther-Akademie (
NLA) and
Studien der Lutherakademie (
SLA). To secure the academy's funding, Stange placed his work in the serv…
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Religion Past and Present
Lutheranism
(6,151 words)
[German Version] I. Denominations: Lutheran Churches in History – II. Lutheran Churches Today – III. Statistical Survey – IV. Missions – V. Ecumenism
I. Denominations: Lutheran Churches in History
1. General
Lutheranism denotes that portion of Christianity that traces its historical and theological origin to the Reformation of Martin Luther and uses his works as its theological foundation. The Latin terms
Lutherani and
Lutheranismus were coined originally by Roman Catholic opponents of the Reformation movement in order to identify it as heretical (firs…
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Religion Past and Present
Lutheran Society
(193 words)
[German Version] The society was founded in Wittenberg on Sep 26, 1918, on the initiative of R. Eucken. According to its constitution, its purpose is “constantly to maintain a living awareness of Luther in the totality of who he was and what he did.” It carries out this work through publications – the
Lutherjahrbuch as an organ of international Luther scholarship and the journal
Luther, addressed to a broader circle –, support of the Luther Memorials Foundation of Saxony-Anhalt, conferences, work with regional bodies, the Martin Luther Prize, and a Martin Lu…
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Religion Past and Present
Lutheran World Federation (LWF)
(1,348 words)
[German Version] I. History and Constitution – II. Division of Missions
I. History and Constitution The Lutheran World Federation was founded in 1947 on the initiative of the Lutheran churches in the United States. Unlike its predecessor, the Lutheran World Convention, founded in Eisenach in 1923, it succeeded in both overcoming the past and representing the interests common to all Lutheran churches. Because the first relief efforts were based in Geneva, there was close cooperation with the nascent World Cou…
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Religion Past and Present
Lutherische Kirchenmission (LKM)
(229 words)
[German Version] The LKM was founded on Jun 14, 1892, by synodical resolution of the Hannoversche evangelisch-lutherische Freikirche (today: Selbständige Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche, SELK; Lutherans: II), as a secessionist initiative from the Hermannsburg Mission, with which many of its supporters were previously associated. Its motto was typical of the confessional attitude: “A Lutheran Church can only conduct Lutheran mission, and Lutheran mission can only be conducted by a Lutheran Church.” …
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Religion Past and Present
Luther, Martin
(25,017 words)
[German Version] I. Life and Writings – II. Theology – III. Impact (Nov 10, 1483, Eisleben – Feb 15, 1546, Eisleben)
I. Life and Writings
1. To the fall of 1517
a. Luther was the son of Hans Luther (died 1530), who made a substantial living from the local copper mines, and his wife Margarete (died 1531). He initially attended school in Mansfeld, since his parents had ¶ moved there shortly after his birth; in 1497/1498 he attended the cathedral school in Magdeburg, operated by the Brothers and Sisters of the Common Life. Finally, from 1498 to 1501, he attended…
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Religion Past and Present
Luther Renaissance
(835 words)
[German Version] I. Name and History – II. Program and Differences – III. Ecclesio-political Options, 1918–1935
I. Name and History The term
Luther renaissance denotes a movement of theological, ecclesiastical, and cultural reform between ¶ 1910 and 1935; in self-conception and impact, this movement and dialectical theology constituted the two great revolutions in Protestantism after 1918. The figures involved in the renaissance included K. Holl, C. Stange, E. Hirschl, P. Althaus, R. Hermann, G. Wehrung, H. Bornkamm, Hanns Rüc…
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Religion Past and Present
Luther's Works, Editions of
(996 words)
[German Version] A first, widely disseminated collection of the Reformer's Latin works was published in Basel in 1518 by Johannes Froben; a first edition of his German works was published in Basel in 1520 by Andreas Cratander. Luther's literary productivity persuaded Cratander and then Adam Petri to publish two more Latin editions – each expanded – in March and again in July of 1520. The first complete edition of Luther's works, the Wittenberg edition, was published between 1539 and 1559 in two series of folio volumes, 12 in German and seven in Latin; the ed…
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Religion Past and Present
Lütkemann, Joachim
(207 words)
[German Version] (Dec 15, 1608, Demmin, Hither Pomerania – Oct 18, 1655, Wolfenbüttel). During his time as a student in Straßburg (Strasbourg), Lütkemann was influenced decisively by Johann Schmidt. After travels in Italy and France, he received his master's degree from the philosophical faculty at Rostock, where he was appointed professor of metaphysics and physics in 1643. Appointed deacon in the church of Sankt Jacobi in 1648, he gained a reputation as an outstanding preacher. Forced to leave M…
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Religion Past and Present
Lutz, Samuel
(209 words)
[German Version] (Aug 10, 1674, Biglen, Canton of Bern – May 28, 1750, Diessbach, near Thun). After studying theology at Bern, Lutz was not admitted to the ministry until 1700 because of his Pietist leanings. In 1703 he was appointed pastor in Yverdon (Iferten), in 1726 he was transferred to Amsoldingen, Canton of Bern, and in 1738 to Diessbach. He rejected calls to Köthen, Zweibrücken, Büdingen, and Zerbst, and his efforts to secure an appointment in Bern failed, but he attracted an active influx…
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Religion Past and Present
Luxembourg
(543 words)
[German Version] The city of Luxembourg goes back to Lucilinburhuc, a fortress dating from the Roman period, which the Lotharingian count Siegfried acquired in 963 through exchange with the Abbey of St. Maximin in Trier. In the shadow of the fortress rebuilt on a rocky promontory above the Alzette, the nucleus of a settlement formed, the upper city with the ducal palace, which in the 11th century became the center of the duchy of Luxembourg. In 1244 Countess Ermesinde linked the castellany with th…
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Religion Past and Present
Luxeuil Abbey
(176 words)
[German Version] Luxeuil Abbey, a prominent abbey situated in the borderland between Austrasia and Burgundy, founded around 590 by the Irishman Columbanus and patronized by the Merovingian kings (Merovingians), especially by Chlothar II (from 613). The extensive library and the great scriptorium are first attested under Abbot Walbert (629–670). Luxeuil Abbey fell into decay in the late Merovingian period, only to rise to new (intellectual) heights under the Carolingians, now as a Benedictine abbey. Endowed with rich landholdings ¶ and supervised by influential churchmen su…
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Religion Past and Present
Luxury
(812 words)
[German Version] “Luxury” is derived from Latin
luxus, luxuria and was first used as a German term (
luxus) by Paracelsus in 1529. On the basis of its Latin root, luxury denotes wastefulness, pomp, and immoderate expenditure exceeding the respective social norm (Veblen). Luxury is a concomitant phenomenon of the history of humanity (Voltaire,
Oeuvres complètes, ed. L. Moland, vol. XX, 1967, 16). Because it is defined in relation to the respective social norm, however, this descriptive concept of the conduct of life (Lifestyle/Conduct of life) is als…
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Religion Past and Present
Luzzatto, Moshe Hayyim
(315 words)
[German Version] (1707, Padua – May 6, 1747, Akko) is regarded as one of the most influential figures in Jewish culture in early modern times. His poems and plays, written in the fashionable Italian allegorical manner of the time, placed him in the position of the first writer of modern Hebrew literature. With a small group of adherents Luzzatto established a mystical-messianic sect (Messiah/Messianism). He claimed that a maggid appeared to him in 1727, transmitting secrets, directing his actions, and instructing him in the composition of the new
Zohar , the mysti…
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Religion Past and Present
Luzzatto, Samuel David
(131 words)
[German Version] (acronym: Shadal; Aug 22, 1800, Trieste – Sep 30, 1865, Padua), Orthodox Jewish scholar. Luzzatto was an expert at combining biblical and general learning. In 1829 he was appointed professor of Bible, grammar, Jewish history, and theology at the Collegio Rabbinico Italiano in Padua, a position he held until his death. He rejected Hellenistic philosophy, the intellectualism of M. Maimonides, and the rationalism of B. de Spinoza, but also the Kabbalah. He ¶ is noted for his work as a Bible translator and his editions of medieval poetry. Giuseppe Veltri Bibliography I. Luz…
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Religion Past and Present