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The novel Shira by Samuel Joseph Agnon (1887–1970), which remained unfinished and was posthumously published, is one of the classics of modern Hebrew literature. The stories and novels by Agnon, who received the Nobel Prize in 1966 together with Nelly Sachs (Todesfuge), had an essential influence on the formative development of modern Hebrew, as well as on Hebrew literature as a whole. Agnon was born in Habsburg Galicia and was familiar with the varied life worlds of Jews in Eastern Europe and in …

Der postum veröffentlichte, unvollendet gebliebene Roman Schira von Samuel Joseph Agnon (1887–1970) zählt zu den Klassikern der modernen hebräischen Literatur. Die Erzählungen und Romane Agnons, der 1966 gemeinsam mit Nelly Sachs (Todesfuge) den Nobelpreis für Literatur erhielt, prägten wesentlich die formative Entwicklung des modernen Hebräisch wie auch die hebräische Literatur als Ganzes. Agnon, im habsburgischen Galizien geboren und durch Sozialisation und Reisen mit den unterschiedlichen Lebenswelten der Juden in Ostmitteleuropa un…

[German Version] I. Judaism 1. Antiquity. The Trisagion from Isa 6:3 (Heb. Qedusha, Q ) appears in three places in the synagogal liturgy (VII; see also Worship: II, 3), sometimes in combination with Ezek 3:12 and Ps 146:10: (1) as an interpolation in the third benediction of the ʿAmida ( Q. ha-ʿAmida), (2) in the first benediction of the Shemaʿ ( Q. ha-Yotser), and (3) after the weekly portion ( Q. de-Sidra). The origin and relative age of the individual forms of the …

[German Version] I. Philosophy Neoplatonism takes the system constructed by Plotinus as its starting point. Important representatives are Amelios, Porphyry, Iamblichus, Theodore of Asine, Emperor Julian the Apostate, Plutarch of Athens, Syrian, Proclus, Damascius, and Simplicius. Pagan Neoplatonism ends institutionally with the closing of the Academy by Emperor Justinian I in 529 …

[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 …

[German Version] I. The Concept Pre-existence refers to the existence of deities, persons, or objects prior to the world or the earth. All religions in which the deity is not subsumed into time espouse the notion of the d…

[German Version] I. Old Testament – II. Judaism – III. New Testament – IV. Christianity I. Old Testament Elijah, an Israelite prophet in the 9th century bce, was from transjordanian Tishbe in Gilead (not yet located with certainty); consequently, he bore the nickname “the Tishbite,” but only rarely the title “prophet.” He appeared in the Northern Kingdom and was active under kings Ahab (871–852) and Ahaziah (852–851). He is said not to have died …

[German Version] I. Religious Studies – II. History of Religions – III. Philosophy of Religion – IV. Art History I. Religious Studies All cultures have concepts of a hereafter or beyond (“the next w…

[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 derivatives of the root אהב/ ʾhb…

[German Version] I. Religious Studies – II. History of Religions – III. Old Testament – IV. New Testament – V. Philosophy of Religion – VI. Dogmatics – VII. Judaism ¶ I. Religious Studies Concepts of the hereafter do not, of themselves, necessarily contain statements concerning eternal life. On the contrary, concepts of the hereafter develop with dynamics of their own and thus variability. Eternal life and …

[German Version] I. Religious Studies – II. Old Testament – III. New Testament – IV. Church History – V. Systematic Theology – VI. Law – VII. Judaism I. Religious Studies 1. The use of the term grace has been influenced strongly by the historically innovative Pauline conception. For Paul, grace is a gift, a unique fruit of God's salvific purpose and redemptive action. After the analogy of other redemptive religions, Paul employed this term to denote a fundamental aspect of the salvific action of the deity. In other religions (e.g. the religions of Greco-Roman antiquity), certain deities can show “favor” in response to the prayers of their devotees. But this “favor,” like the bounty of natur…

[German Version] I. Religious Studies – II. Old Testament – III. New Testament – IV. Church History – V. Dogmatics – VI. Judaism – VII. Islam – VIII. Buddhism – IX. Contemporary Art I. Religious Studies 1. Hell as a place of retribution in the afterlife for those who continually transgress the religiously sanctioned rules of their community is not specifically Christian or monotheistic. But it is also not an idea that springs automatically from the question of how the dead exist (Death). Although hell was long viewed as a…

[German Version] I. Relig…

[German Version] I. Religious Studies – II. Old Testament – III. New Testament – IV. Philosophy of Religion – V. Dogmatics – VI. Practical Theology – VII. Missiology – VIII. Art – IX. Judaism – X. Islam I. Religious Studies 1. It is fundamentally true that God is not an object of religious studies, since God – as theology teaches – cannot be made an object of empirical scientific study. Religious studies can only address the concepts that human beings have expressed concerning their God (or gods: God, Representations and sym…

[German Version] I. Religious Studies and History of Philosophy The dogmatic definition of the Holy Spirit as a person within the one divine substance (Trinity/Doctrine of the Trinity) presupposes not only a particular philosophical context but also a religio-historical horizon. A formative influence on the conceptualization of the Holy Spirit was exercised by the various anthropomorphic interpretations of elemental anthropological or normative qualities in the context of polytheistic interpretations of …

[German Version] I. Religious Studies and History of Religions – II. Death and the Realm of the Dead in the Old Testament – III. Judaism – IV. New Testament – V. Philosophy – VI. Philosophy of Religion – VII. History of Dogma and Dogmatics – VIII. Ethics – IX. Practical Theology – X. Art – XI. Islam – XII. Buddhism – XIII. Hinduism I. Religious Studies and History of Religions 1. General Modern religious criticism regards religion as compensation for human anxiety in the face of death. …