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[German Version] The right of appeal, in current juristic terminology, denotes the possibility made available by law of obtaining judicial review of a court decision. In a broader sense, the right of appeal includes all ¶ procedural rights to the review of official decisions (including non-judicial ones; legal redress). The history of law and jurisprudence recognizes a multiplicity of rights of appeal. The model of an orderly right of appeal based on factual and judicial scrutiny goes back to the appellation of Roman and canon law…

[German Version] I. Religious Studies Tolerance and intolerance must be defined in terms of their relationship to respect, coexistence, indifference, acceptance, and prejudice. In the public context, they ¶ correspond to the presence or absence of freedom of religion. They originate in the claim to exclusive religious truth or else collide with it. Tolerance requires insight into the human ability to err and into the limits of human cognition with regard to faith, whereas intolerance rejects this insight. Following Gerlitz,…

[German Version] I. New Testament Social structures that entrusted older individuals with functions on behalf of the community were widespread in the ancient Mediterranean world. In the memory of Israel, they were particularly important in the early history of the people (Num 11– 1 Sam 30:26ff.; 2 Sam 2:4; 12:17; Elders in the Old Testament). Their entrustment with local and regional judicial functions continued (reflected in Deut 19:12; cf. 11QT XLII 13f.) albeit often in diminished form. In the Ne…

[German Version] I. Catholic Church Voting rights give the opportunity to vote or be elected in an election, or under various circumstances to make a decision on one’s own responsibility (Church elections). Active elective rights can be based on membership in the church ( CIC/1983 cc. 96, 208; cf. c. 536: pastoral council; c. 537: finance committee) or on special legal entitlements such as membership in the college of cardinals (c. 349; Cardinal), the college of consultors (cc. 413 §2, 421 §1, 424) or cathedral chapter (c. 502 §3), the co…

[German Version] I. Terminology – II. Historical Development – III. Content and Function I. Terminology Church-state agreements (Ger. Kirchenverträge) are agreements between the state and a Protestant church. Along with agreements between the state and the Catholic Church (Concordats) and other religious bodies they constitute one source of modern law governing church and state. II. Historical Development These agreements have been possible in Germany ever since the Weimar Constitution of 1919 released the Protestant regional churches from …

[German Version] I. Church History – II. Church Law I. Church History Within the church's general duty to confront heresies, there has been, since the time of the Early Church, a particular responsibility to counteract heresies held by those that hold church offices. Until the late Middle Ages, this task was fulfilled by synodal or episcopal, and ultimately, papal decree – in the West, after a p…

[German Version] I. Catholicism – II. Protestantism I. Catholicism Unlike private devotions, the official liturgy is performed in the name of the church by persons lawfully deputed (clergy and laity) and in a form approved by ecclesiastical authority (cf. CIC/1983 c. 834 §2; CCEO c. 668 §1). Therefore liturgy requires legal standards, which are the responsibility of the Apostolic See, the diocesan bishops, and the Bishops' conferences (c. 838). This is also the context of punitive and disciplinary measures. The CIC contains canons governing the celebration of the Eucharis…

[German Version] I. Old Testament – II. New Testament – III. Church History – IV. Dogmatics – V. Liturgy – VI. Practical Theology – VII. Law and Legal History – VIII. Judaism I. Old Testament The search, mainly from a Protestant perspective, for antecedents of ordination in the Old Testament does not seem very promising, since no direct equivalent to Christian ordination as public commissioning of office-bearers by the community is to be found in the Hebrew Bible. Relevant research is mainly limited to the OT Jewish background of…

[German Version] I. Religious Studies – II. Old Testament – III. Early Judaism – IV. New Testament – V. Church History – VI. Systematic Theology – VII. Practical Theology – VIII. Law – IX. Missiology I. Religious Studies Over the course of history, the word office has been used for a wide variety of functions. In every case, however, what is peculiar to the term is that it refers to an activity independent of the unique personal characteristics of the officeholder. In the context of religious studies, what first comes to mind is the office…

[German Version] is the – especially judicial – assertion of subjective rights, i.e. of individual, legally guaranteed claims to the realization of an interest. Legal protection is an essential feature of the rule of law. The legal protection of the claims established by civil law has always been a central aspect of judiciary. Legal protection against governmental actions only became a practicable legal construction from the second half of the19th century with the dogmatic conception of public leg…

[German Version] viewed the relationship between church and state as an equal partnership between two sovereign powers (Violence: IV). It is rooted in corresponding teachings on the relationship between empire and papacy, and was invoked by Roman Catholic doctrine in the 19th century as an argument against the modern state's claim to sovereignty (in its configuration as secular supremacy). After 1945, if only temporarily, it once again attained a h…

[German Version] I. Bible – II. History – III. Law – IV. Church Administration – V. Ethics I. Bible 1. In Israel and Judah . From the 10th into the 8th century bce, only a rudimentary administration can be assumed in Israel and Judah in comparison to Egypt and Mesopotamia. State income was basically produced by the royal demesne, which at the time of Hezekiah supplied provisions for fortresses (royal seal). The royal demesne was under the control of a major-domo or steward ( 'šr ʿl hbyt; 1 Kgs 4:6, passim; epigraphic evidence in ReRö II, 113f.; in a private household: Gen 43:16, passim). The desi…

[German Version] I. Catholic Church – II. Orthodox Church – III. Protestantism – IV. Canon Law I. Catholic Church The term consecration is used to render various liturgical and canon law terms: ordinatio, dedicatio, consecratio, benedictio. This demonstrates that the content of the notion of consecration extends broadly. Common is the conviction of faith that an object of earthly reality is connected in a particular way with God and the saving work in Christ. This connection is related to the theology of …

[German Version] The legal capacity under church law is the ability to be addressed as a subject of rights and duties by the norms of church law. It neither presupposes nor necessarily follows from legal capacity under state law (Legal capacity of the church). The intrinsic criterion for the legal capacity under church law is involvement in the mission and promise of the church. It manifests itself in baptism (Matt 28:19–20: “Go” – “I am with you”). People thus acquire the legal capacity under chu…