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[German Version] I. Religious Studies – II. Old Testament – III. Judaism – IV. New Testament – V. Historical and Systematic Theology– VI. Practical Theology I. Religious Studies From th…

[German Version] I. Religious Studies – II. Judaism – III. Christianity – IV. Islam I. Religious Studies Any kind of written document relating to a religious symbol system (Symbols/sym…

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[German Version] I. Religious Studies – II. New Testament – III. Church History – IV. North America – V. Systematic Theology – VI. Islam – VII. China I. Religious Studies Millenarianism (chiliasm) refers to the notion of a 1,000-year (Lat. millenarius, Gk χίλια/ chília) period ¶ immediately preceding the Last Judgment and the end of the world. This conception of world history (see also II) derives from Jewish apocalypticism (III) and became widespread over time, being interpreted in various ways depending on the age and cultural environs: as a still future age or one that has already started, as an age of salvation for the elect, as an age of defeat for evil powers, or as an age of expectation ofperfect redemption. The duration of “1,000 years” was interpreted both lite…

[German Version] The concept of orientation of objects, persons, buildings, movements, etc. to the east (Lat. oriens; Orientation [Prayer and architecture]), is used in religious studies with regard to representations and conceptions of space and time, but also in reference to religious actions and religious behavior. Orientation is predefined in each worldview that is constituted and mediated by a religious symbolic system. Various reference patterns provide orientation in any given religious context. The orientations, demarcations, and separations of different domains are usually mediated through vari…

[German Version] I. History of Religion – II. Ancient Near East – III. Greco-Roman Antiquity – IV. Old Testament – V. New Testament …

[German Version] Generally speaking, settlements include various types of construction: individual buildings in isolation as well as villages, towns, and cities with various types of internal organization, functions, and networks. These tend to generate different forms of religious symbol systems. In ancient societies, the distinction between urban centers (Town and city) and other forms of settlement played a central role. The city or town was the center, the surrounding settlements the periphery…

[German Version] ( Jul 16, 1942, Männedorf, Switzerland – Dec 10, 2001, Männedorf ). After studying theology and Near Eastern philology in Zürich and Heidelberg, he taught Hebrew and Old Testament at the seminary in (Bielefeld-)Bethel from 1969 to 1980. In 1980 he was appointed professor of the history of religions and t…

[German Version] I. History of Religion – II. Church History – III. Fundamental Theology – IV. Orthodox Law – V. Eastern Poetry – VI. Islam – VII. Buddhism – VIII. Taoism I. History of Religion The canon can be defined as a complex process of selection of documents regarded as authoritative; from the totality of the extant written tradition, documents are set apart according to certain criteria as holy or inspired (Inspiration/Theopneustia). Although the concept of the canon as a normative collection…

[German Version] I. Religious Studies – II. Bible – III. History of Doctrine and Dogmatics – IV. Judaism – V. Islam – VI. Buddhism – VII. History of Art and Literature I. Religious Studies The history of the term “paradise” is informative for determining its meaning. The word “paradise” is derived from the ancient Iranian * paridaēza, literally “surrounding wall.” It appears as a loanword in many other languages, for example as the Akkadian pardēsu, the Hebrew פַּרְדֵּס/ pardes or the Greek παράδεισος/ parádeisos. These terms denote an enclosed park or garden (cf. Xeno-¶ phon, Anabasis V…

[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 a…

[German Version] (Biblical Scholarship, Hermeneutics, Interpretation) I. Religious Studies – II. History of Religions – III. Greco Roman Antiquity – IV. Bible – V. Church History – VI. Practical Theology – VII. Biblical Scenes in Art – VIII. Judaism – IX. Islam I. Religious Studies Exegesis (for etymology see III below) is the explanation, interpretation, or analysis of sacred or otherwise religiously central documents by experts; it enables and encourages the access of a …