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1. The Bible 1.1. Usage The biblical vocabulary of hope includes also important terms that are rendered “expect,” “wait,” “trust,” and “rely.” 1.2. OT …

[German Version] I. The Concept As the antonym of virtue (Gk ἀρετή/ aretḗ, Lat. virtus), vice (Gk κακία/ kakía, Lat. nequitia, vitium) is a categorical concept for morally problematic or reprehensible behaviors (Habit), thus for negative aspects of individual capacity for action which Christian reli-…

[German Version] I. Philosophy Historically, the term phenomenology has been used in various different ways. It is first found in the Novum Organon (1764) of Johann Heinrich Lambert. Here phenomenology studies appearance, in order to clarify its influence on the correctness or falsehood of human cognition, and to overcome this influence in the interests of truth. The term phenomenology was passed on in this sense by J.G. Herder, I. Kant, and J.G. Fichte, among others. The term became widely known only through G.W.F. Hegel’s Phänomenologie des Geistes (1807; ET: …

[German Version] I. Philosophy – II. Philosophy of Religion – III. Fundamental Theology – IV. Dogmatics – V. Ethics – VI. Practical Theology and Psychology of Religion I. Philosophy Feeling or sense (Lat. sensus, Fr. sentiment, Ger. Gefühl) is the direct sensate awareness of an inward state, in which a unique access to reality is articulated. Until well into the modern era, the term encompassed without distinction both sensory perceptions and emotions (affects, passions, moods). During the 18th century, feeling came to be defined more precisely in its cognitive, expressive-¶ ev…

[German Version] The term striving (Gk hormḗ, órexis; Lat. inclinatio, appetitus, conatus) denotes a fundamental concept of ethics (see esp. Trappe); its phenomenal illumination is always conditioned by insights of fundamental anthropology (theory of personhood). From the perspective of Christian dogmatics, it denotes a “being after” or “pursuing” a “for-the-sake-of-which,” an end or set of ends that is determined by certainty of a highest good; it is the basis of all sustained self-activity on the ¶ part of individual or social actors. Attainment of this end means happ…

[German Version] As a basic notion of fundamental ethics, “conviction(s)” (Ger. Gesinnung) is one of the key concepts of a specific theory of morality (Morality and immorality). It denotes the enduring and persevering quality of an emotional or volitional urge to attain an envisaged good (cf. Rom 8:5; Phil 2:5; 3:19) – in other words, the intentionality (Intention/Intentionality) that inspires a person or community of persons. The more precise definition of its content a…

[German Version] I. Religious Studies – II. Old Testament – III. Early Judaism – IV. New Testament – V. Dogmatics I. Religious Studies 1. The judgment discussed here is not in response to a specific transgression or lapse on the part of an individual; it is a judgment upon his or her entire life, taking place only after death and determining the fate of the ¶ deceased in the next world. Because this notion implies the idea of a just recompense, it has the quality and function of a theodicy that seeks…

[German Version] I. Dogmatics – II. Ethics I.…

[German Version] I. Philosophy – II. Philosophy of Religion – III. Church History – IV. Fundamental Theology – V. Dogmatics – VI. Ethics – VII. Practical Theology I. Philosophy In a broad sense shaped by daily life in the world, “experience” has been understood since Aristotle ( Metaph. 980b28–982a3) as a kind of knowledge of reality that rests on practical contact and is related to paradigmatic individual cases (Gk ἐμπειρία/ empeiría; Lat. experientia). It does not, therefore, lead to systematic knowledge but remains “knowledge of…

[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 deri…

[German Version] The word virtue…

[German Version] I. Social Sciences Since its Greek origins, politics has meant (a) an action with a specific object, aiming to achieve the best way for all the inhabitants of the ancient city-state ( pólis) to live together and hence achieve the common good of the ¶ community ( koinón), and (b) the theory of this action (Sellin; see also Political science). Given that we no longer live in small urban societies but in large, open, and functionally complex societies (Society), politics includes – but cannot be limited to – the system of state governance that affords internal and external security. Today politics (including policy and polity) embraces all the processes of informed collective decision-making – concerning both the rules that determine the ongoing i…

[German Version] Within the semantic field of the different modes of experiencing harm or ill-being, pain refers first of all to the sensation felt by the injured, sick, or unsound body (Suffering, Sickness and healing), but then also, and especially in poetic language, to the experiencing of separation, mourning and grief, and compassion ( Welt-Schmerz [v. Hartmann]). I. The history of pain research since J. Müller ( Handbuch der Physiologie des Me…

[German Version] I. Philosophy - II. Dogmatics - III. Ethics - IV. Practical Theology I. Philosophy …

[German Version] In Aristotle’s ethical theory, friendly benevolence is a particular manifestation of self-love ( philautia) as an ontological principle, so that what exists affirms itself in its existence ( Eth. Nic. 9, 1168a, 4–6). The Synoptic tradition, following Lev 19:18 (cf. Mathys), glossed self-love with the commandment of love of one’s neighbor, which together with love of God (Love of/for God) epitomizes the binding will of God the Creator (Matt 22:34–40 parr.). Following Augustine of Hippo, theological exegesis of this explanation in the context of New Testament soteriology led to a distinction between abstract self-centeredness (…

[German Version] Systematic treatment of virtue (Gk ἀρετή/ aretḗ; Lat. virtus…

[German Version] The dichotomy of “desire” versus “lack of desire” refers to the central moment in the experience of the present (Religious experience), namely the essentially affective (Affect) determination of true volition as realized in decisions. The specific ¶ character of this moment is difficult to determine for two reasons. On the one hand, the theoretical clarification of the phenomenon is intimately related to the notion of the moral autonomy of rational life and to its modern adaptation as the concept of self-preservation (B. Sp…

[German Version] I. Psychology – II. Science of Religions and Philosophy of Religion – III. Ethics I. Psychology In clinical psychology programmatic psychological research of emotions has only recently started to gain significance. Emotions are regarded as functional, adaptive processes that allow people to respond quickly and appropriately to relevant environmental changes. Emotions motivate and …

[German Version] The term ethics of conviction refers to a form of ethos or an ethical theory and occurs as such in M. Weber's theory of the evolution of ethical positions that leads from the legal ethics of scholastic natural law to the Reformation's ethics of conviction and thence to the Enlightenment's ethics of responsibility. In a certain tension …

[German Version] I. Religious Studies Experience is a process occurring directly in the conscious mind, whereby the perceiving subject and internal as well as external objects of the conscious mind link up to form an experience, representing a separate category, which is connected episodically with the moment in which a particular perception occurs. (Religious) experience (Ger. Erlebnis) is the subjective perception of an experience (Ger. Erfahrung). An experience is participation in an event; the accumulation of experiences generates knowledge. An event is c…

[German Version] I. The Term – II. Eros and Amor – III. Eros and Agape ( Caritas) – IV. Eros in Philosophy I. The Term The Greek term ἔρως/ éros, noun, verb ἐρᾶν/ erā́n (“to be in love with”), denotes an intense affection or desire. It can express a passion for an inanimate object, such as wine or one's city, or even for wisdom, as in Plato. However, eros is commonly associated with er…

[German Version] I. Philosophy Sensuality is a collective term for various human faculties that mediate sensations. Sensations are mental states. In contrast to abstract thoughts, memories, and fantasies, sensations are qualitatively dependent on the present state of the sensate person. It is…

[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 on…

[German Version] I. Religious Studies – II. Philosophy – III. History of Dogma – IV. Ethics I. Religious Studies Blessedness is the goal of eudaemonist ethics (Eudaemonia; Eudaemonism) oriented toward well-being and a successful life, toward the optimal condition of an individual; earlier usage often referred to this condition as “happiness, bliss” (Happiness: I), the direct religious implication of this …

[German Version] The notion of God’s self-love is a contingent implication (not a necessary implication) of the doctrine of the Trinity (Trinity/Doctrine of the Trinity); it seeks to understand the relationship between the Father and the Son in salvation history – the Son’s surrender of his life as “abiding” in the Father’s love (John 15:9ff.) – as the basis of our knowledge of God’s immanent being as love (1 John 4:16). In the history of the doctrine of the Trinity, God’s self-love was developed as a corollary of the recognition of love (III) as the essential qual…