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[German Version] Recent conceptions of Protestant sexual ethics emphasize the difference between ethics as critical moral theory and sexual morality as its object; again, a distinction must be made between normative conceptions of ethics and descriptive or hermeneutical conceptions, following in the footsteps of F.D.E. Schleiermacher. Changes in the area of sexuality, marriage, and family, often profound, can be adequately addressed theologically only if they are not subjected at the same time to …

[German Version] I. Religious Studies – II. Bible – III. Judaism – IV. Islam –V. Philosophy of Religion – VI. Dogmatics – VII. Practical Theology I. Religious Studies Anthropomorphism denotes the conception of God or gods in human form. It derives from the personification of spiritual events (animatism), the idea of attributing a soul to stones, trees or places (Animism) or the idea of a power indwelling objects or persons (dyna-mism). In r…

[German Version] The expression “love for the distant neighbor” originated (as Fernstenliebe) with F. Nietzsche, whose Zarathustra propounds a love for those far away and for the future Übermensch (6.1: 78.30–79.2), derived from the Socratic idea of friendship (IV) and in contrast to the Christian ideal of love of one's neighbor, which is said to be merely a symptom of base self-love and weakness of c…

[German Version] The term sexism was coined by feminism after the analogy of racism. It denotes “the social construction of inequality within a society based on the assumed superiority of one sex to the other” (Tolbert, 503). The social pressure to act in accordance with conventional gender roles implies a negative moral assessment of deviant sexual behavior, especially homosexuality, and in the context of patriarchy misogyny that can extend to violence. A sexist perspective ascribes gender differen…

[German Version] I. Fundamental Theology Although proclamation is not a specifically religious term, it plays a central role in Christianity. Generally speaking, it is “a form of address in which what is proclaimed takes effect in the moment it is proclaimed” (K.E. Løgstrup, 1358). It goes together with communication and message. While the term message has more to do with the content of the address, proclamation focuses more on the process. The term communication interprets the process as an objective event, whereas the term proclamation includes its effect on the person addre…

[German Version] I. Dogmatics, Fundamental Theology - II. Missiology I. Dogmatics, Fundamental Theology The term “accommodation” (from Latin accommodatio, “accommodation, adaptation”) originated in classical rhetoric (I); it denotes the adaptation of an object to its environment – in rhetoric (II), the adaptation of linguistic expression to its subject matter, purpose, and …

[German Version] I. Religious Studies Religions have various assessments and guidelines regarding sexuality, which shape the concrete ways people deal with it and influence certain social attitudes. Religious sexual morality (Sexual ethics) regulates sexual relations through various sexual taboos and by ¶ prohibiting premarital and extramarital sex as well as homosexuality, but also by requiring temporary continence, for instance during menstruation or periods of fasting. It protects procreation (Generativity) in general by commandments…

[German Version] The intransitive meaning of the German verb verelenden, which is already attested in Middle High German, is “to sink into misery,” while its transitive use means “to drive someone into poverty.” ¶ The related verb verelendigen means “to drive out of the land, to bring misery upon someone.” Elend (misery) was the term with which the social criticism of the early 19th century denounced the impoverishment of large segments of the population that accompanied the simultaneous increase of general prosperity resulting from progressing…

[German Version] I. History of Religion – II. Old Testament – III. New Testament – IV. Ethics I. History of Religion The theme of the enemy is connected with the development or protection of identity and is directed toward people of other tribes or states, those of other faiths, or a hostile region of the world. The enemy can represent what is foreign and threatening or be localized within the worl…

[German Version] (AI), founded in 1961, is a human rights organization that works worldwide esp. for the release of people imprisoned for philosophical, religious, or political reasons. The impetus for the founding was a newspaper article by the English lawyer Peter Benenson in the London Observer on 28 May 1961, which called the public's attention to the fate of “forgotten prisoners.” AI serves exclusively so-called nonviolent political “prisoners of consc…

[English Version] I. Fundamentaltheologisch V. ist kein speziell rel. Begriff, spielt aber im Christentum eine hervorgehobene Rolle. Ganz allg. ist V. »eine Form der Anrede, bei der das Verkündigte im Augenblick des Verkündigtwerdens in Kraft tritt« (K.E. Løgstrup 1358). Sie steht neben der Mitteilung und der Botschaft. Während der Begriff der Botschaft mehr den Inhalt der Anrede bez., richtet sich der Begriff der V. mehr auf den Vorgang. Letzteren deutet der Begriff der Mitteilung als ein objektiv…

[English Version] I. Religionswissenschaftlich In den einzelnen Rel. existieren unterschiedliche Bewertungen und Richtlinien für S., die die konkreten Umgangsformen und bestimmte gesellschaftliche Einstellungen zur S. prägen. Die rel. Sexualmoral (Sexualethik) regelt Geschlechterbeziehungen z.B. durch diverse Sexualtabus, Verbote von vor- und außerehelicher S. oder Homosexualität, aber auch durch Forderungen nach temporärer Enthaltsamkeit (z.B. für die Dauer der Menstruation oder in Fastenzeiten) u…

[English Version] . Neuere Konzeptionen ev. S. betonen den Unterschied zw. Ethik als krit. Moraltheorie und Sexualmoral als ihrem Gegenstand, wobei nochmals zw. eher normativen und deskriptiv-hermeneutischen Ethikkonzeptionen, die v.a. an F. Schleiermacher anschließen, zu unterscheiden ist. Der z.T. tiefgreifende Wandel auf dem Gebiet von Sexualität, Ehe und Familie kann nur dann angemessen theol. reflektiert werden, wenn er nicht sogleich ethisch-normativ bewertet, sondern zunächst sozial- und hu…

[English Version] . Das schon im Mhd. bekannte Verb »verelenden« bedeutet intransitiv »ins Elend geraten«, transitiv »elend machen«. Das verwandte »verelendigen« meint »aus dem Land jagen, ins Unglück stürzen«. Als Elend prangerte die Sozialkritik des frühen 19.Jh. die Verarmung breiter Bevölkerungsschichten bei gleichzeitiger Vermehrung des allg. Wohlstands durch fortschreitende Industrialisierung an. Im Gegensatz zu reformerischen Gesellschaftsentwürfen gehen die Frühschriften von K. Marx und F.…

[English Version] . Der Begriff des S. stammt aus dem Feminismus und ist demjenigen des Rassismus nachgebildet. Er bez. »die soziale Konstruktion derjenigen Ungleichheit innerhalb einer Gesellschaft, die auf der angenommenen Überlegenheit eines Geschlechts über das andere beruht« (Tolbert 503). Der gesellschaftliche Druck, sich entsprechend den konventionellen Geschlechterrollen zu verhalten, impliziert die negative moralische Bewertung abweichenden sexuellen Verhaltens, insbes. der Homosexualität…