Religion Past and Present
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Subject: Religious Studies
Edited by: Hans Dieter Betz, Don S. Browning†, Bernd Janowski and Eberhard Jüngel
Religion Past and Present (RPP) Online is the online version of the updated English translation of the 4th edition of the definitive encyclopedia of religion worldwide: the peerless Religion in Geschichte und Gegenwart (RGG). This great resource, now at last available in English and Online, Religion Past and Present Online continues the tradition of deep knowledge and authority relied upon by generations of scholars in religious, theological, and biblical studies. Including the latest developments in research, Religion Past and Present Online encompasses a vast range of subjects connected with religion.
Subscriptions: see brill.com
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Religion Past and Present (RPP) Online is the online version of the updated English translation of the 4th edition of the definitive encyclopedia of religion worldwide: the peerless Religion in Geschichte und Gegenwart (RGG). This great resource, now at last available in English and Online, Religion Past and Present Online continues the tradition of deep knowledge and authority relied upon by generations of scholars in religious, theological, and biblical studies. Including the latest developments in research, Religion Past and Present Online encompasses a vast range of subjects connected with religion.
Subscriptions: see brill.com
Topic
(360 words)
[German Version] For Aristotle the theory of
topoi (Lat.
loci, “places”) was one of the fundamental elements of dialectics, the knowledge of what is probable, where it reveals and substantiates the situational appropriateness of strategies of argumentation (Rhetoric). Cicero’s rhetorical understanding of
loci, only partially coincident with Aristotle’s theory, was more influential: the
loci are
sedes argumentorum (
De oratore, II 162), the most general categories in which a speaker looks for arguments. Thus “topics” are associated with the rhetorical art of
inventio, which is…
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Religion Past and Present
Toplady, Augustus Montague
(103 words)
[German Version] (Nov 4, 1740, Farnham, Surrey – Aug 12, 1778, London), Anglican priest and hymn-writer. Though occupying a number of pulpits in the Church of England, Toplady remained mostly in London where he preached and, as a staunch Calvinist, engaged in spirited controversy with the Arminian J. Wesley, among others. He is chiefly remembered as the author of the hymn “Rock of Ages” (c. 1775). Grayson Carter Bibliography
Works, ed. W. Row, 1794 On Toplady: T. Wright,
The Life of Augustus M. Toplady, 1911 G. Lawton,
Within the Rock of Ages, 1983 A. Pollard,
Oxford DNB LV, 2004, 37–39.
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Religion Past and Present
Topography
(187 words)
[German Version] Topography is the representation and description of geographical areas (Geography of religion). As such it also plays a role in the treatment of religious symbol systems, which highlight territory in various ways. In urban areas and villages, the presence of religious orientation is signaled primarily by special structures. In settled rural areas but also in open country (in forests, in the mountains, along watercourses, etc.), the religious significance of specific places and pat…
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Religion Past and Present
Torah
(3,243 words)
[German Version]
I. Old Testament The noun
tôrāh (הרָוֹתּ) is usually derived from the verb הרי/
yrh, “show,” hiphil “instruct.” In Israelite wisdom literature, it denotes ethical and religious instruction by parents (Prov 1:8; 4:1; 6:20; 31:26) or sages (Prov 13:14) as well as religious instruction by priests (Jer 18:18). As a term denoting the law (Law and legislation: II; LXX: νόμος/
nómos), it stands at the end of an ongoing theologization of the law in ancient Israel, following the Deuteronomic centralization of the cult (Josiah) and the establishment…
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Religion Past and Present
Torah Shrine
(312 words)
[German Version] Almost every Jewish and Samaritan synagogue contains a repository for the Torah scroll(s). There is archaeological evidence of Torah shrines (Dura-Europos: II); there are also representations in Palestinian mosaic floors (Beth-Shean, Hammat-Tiberias [Mosaic art: III, fig. 2]); in antiquity a Torah shrine could take the form of an aedicula, a niche, or an apse. As a rule, it rests on a fixed platform at the center of a wall oriented toward Jerusalem. Originally there was probably n…
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Religion Past and Present
Torquemada
(419 words)
[German Version]
1. Juan de (Johannes de Turrecremata; 1388, Valladolid – Sep 26, 1468, Rome), OP, theologian and cardinal. Torquemada was present as an observer at the Council of Constance (Constance, Council of) after 1417. He studied in Paris, receiving his M.theol. in 1425, then served as prior of the Dominican houses in Valladolid and then Toledo. After 1432 he served as legate of King John II of Castile at the councils of Basel (Basel, Council of) and then Ferrara-Florence, where he played a ma…
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Religion Past and Present
Torres Restrepo, Jorge Camilo
(173 words)
[German Version] (Feb 3, 1929, Bogotá, Colombia – Feb 15, 1966, Santander Province) broke off his study of law to enter the seminary and was ordained on Aug 29, 1954. He went on to study sociology and political science at Leuven in Belgium and then worked as a lecturer and student chaplain in Bogotá, where he devoted himself particularly to the analysis of social problems and supported community projects. From 1962 on he was active in the National Institute for Land Reform. On Jun 26, 1965, he was…
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Religion Past and Present
Torre, Tomás de la
(168 words)
[German Version] (died Sep, 1567, Ciudad Real [now San Cristóbal de Las Casas, Mexico) entered the Dominicans in 1533, initially teaching logic at the house of studies in San Esteban, Salamanca. He hastily set out for the New World in the missionary territory of Chiapas in 1544 and wrote an account of his travels with interesting details about the social, religious, and cultural environment and his meetings with natives, sometimes in the company of B. de Las Casas. He was the Dominican superior in…
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Religion Past and Present
Tosafot/Tosafists
(482 words)
[German Version] Tosafot (lit. additions) is a literary format of commentaries and discussions of sections of the Talmud; Baaley ha-Tosafot (authors of tosafot, tosafists) is the name given to the school of talmudic scholars who developed this format, especially in northern France and western Germany between the 11th and 13th centuries. In the printed editions of the Talmud, the tosafot are printed opposite to the classical commentary on the Talmud by Rashi, on the two sides of the talmudic texts.…
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Religion Past and Present
Tosefta
(512 words)
[German Version] In rabbinic usage, Aram. אתפסות (“addition, supplement”) is a general term for Tannaitic traditions (Tannaim) that were considered supplementary to existing teachings (
b. Šabb. 8:1 [11a]). In some cases the term refers to collections of extra-mishnaic Tannaitic traditions (
baraitot; b. Meg. 28b). Today it serves as the title of a surviving Tannaitic work that largely echoes the structure and thematic material of the Mishnah (see the detailed outline of the Mishnah). Except for the tractates
Avot, Tamid, Middot, and
Qinnim, all the tractates of the Mishnah ar…
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Religion Past and Present
Totalitarianism
(1,829 words)
[German Version]
I. Philosophy The term first appears in controversies about Italian Fascism, but in theoretical discussions it is also applied to Bolshevism (Communism) (see II below). When the National Socialists (National Socialism) seized power it became a central theme of political theory. The term became popular because the traditional categories of tyranny and despotism were inadequate to define the rising political deformations of the 20th century. Whereas political science attempted to defi…
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Religion Past and Present
Totemism
(1,015 words)
[German Version] Totemism is one of the most controversial concepts in religious studies. It was introduced to describe the religious identification of human beings with plants and animals, and to distinguish related groups according to the names of plants and animals. Until well into the 20th century totemism formed a paradigm of research in religious studies, representing what was considered the most original form of the religion and society of “primitive” communities. Even though totemism is un…
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Religion Past and Present
Totensonntag
(442 words)
[German Version]
I. On Nov 17, 1816 Frederick William III of Prussia issued a cabinet order specifying that the last Sunday of the church year was to be set aside as a nationwide church feast in memory of the deceased (Memorials to the dead). This had been preceded, on Jul 4, 1816, by a “ceremony in memory of the soldiers who fell on the battlefield.” In addition to commemorating those who had lost their lives in the wars of liberation, the decision in favor of the new feast was influenced by mour…
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Religion Past and Present
Tourism
(647 words)
[German Version]
I. General Tourism is a modern mass phenomenon; its motivation and purpose can be described under headings like travel, vacation, recreation, culture, discovery, and sports. The roots of tourism are inconceivable apart from religious motivation, especially its central motivation: transcending the routine of everyday life (Hennig). The triad of separation, transformation, and reincorporation defines the fundamental structure of religious rites of passage as well as religious travel. …
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Religion Past and Present
Tours
(263 words)
[German Version] central city of the French Département Indre-et-Loire and an episcopal see, with a population of 137,000. In the early modern period, it was a prosperous mercantile town with a silk industry. Its two major churches, the cathedral of St. Gatien (13th–16th cent.) and the basilica of St. Martin (12th/13th cent.) recall Gatianus (2nd half of the 3rd cent.), its first bishop, and Martin of Tours, who lived in the community of ascetics at Marmoutier outside Toulouse before being appoint…
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Religion Past and Present
Toussain (Tossanus)
(485 words)
[German Version]
1. Peter (Tossanus; 1499, St. Laurent, Lorraine – Oct 5, 1573, Montbéliard), canon in Metz after 1515. His attempt to preach the Reformation in Metz was unsuccessful. In 1535 Tossanus was charged with continuing the Reformation of the Württemberg count of Montbéliard (Mömpelgard), begun by G. Farel. The introduction of the Württemberg church order of 1536 and then the order of 1559 created difficulties, since Tossanus and his colleagues favored the Swiss Reformation. Negotiations le…
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Religion Past and Present
Tower of Silence
(250 words)
[German Version] (
dakhma; Avestan
daxma), probably orginally “grave” (Indo-European *
dhṃbh, “bury”). In the Avesta, the word denotes the Zoroastrian (Zarathustra) burial practice of exposing corpses so that the birds can “cleanse” them of skin and flesh, which are considered unclean; the bones are then buried. Architecturally, the later towers of silence were circular stone structures, often standing on exposed hilltops; on these platforms the corpses of male and female adults and of children, after bein…
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Religion Past and Present
Town and City
(4,189 words)
[German Version]
I. Sociology The popular idea of a town or city is primarily a densely populated and heterogeneous collection of buildings having various uses, provided with specific rights, and always having a market place. The “European city” is however principally understood as being also the arena of city society. Sociology has studied the development of urban societies for about 150 years, because towns are places of close-knit economic growth, social diversity, and innovations and conflicts. To modern sociology the town was simply the laboratory of society. Today in Europe …
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Religion Past and Present
Town Planning
(495 words)
[German Version] Urban planning is the purposeful, foresighted management of the use of urban space through the direct action of public agencies or the facilitation of third parties. Planners believe their work is systematic, rational, and reasonable; their action is foresighted, because it takes social evolution into account and is designed to create appropriate structures for future situations. The goal of planning is to improve the possibilities of organizing space for the majority of people. The specific goals to be pursued depend on the particular society. In purs…
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Religion Past and Present
Town Plans (in Palestine).
(817 words)
[German Version] Plans of excavated settlements show that urban life was an intermittent cyclical phenomenon. The peasant population of ancient Palestine preferred to live in villages close to their ¶ fields. City life and the related long distances for transport conflicted with essential interests of the peasant population, and must be seen as a strategy of adaptation to social and environmental constraints. As a cultural phenomenon towns are centers with functionally important institutions for the community, providing poli…
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Religion Past and Present