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[German Version] I. New Testament – II. Dogma and the History of Dogma – III. Art History I. New Testament Christ's descent into hell, i.e. his descent to the underworld, the realm of the dead, is, as Descensus ad inferos, one of the christological statements of the early and medieval church's confession of faith (Apostles' Creed, Athanasian Creed; Confession (of faith): III). Nonetheless, the NT does not offer a single certain text for this notion; at most, 1 Pet 4:6 may be interpreted as preaching by Jesus to the dead, before his resurrection (cf. Ign. Magn. 9.2; Gos. Pet. 10.41f.; Iren. H…

[German Version] The Symbols of the Evangelists are found from the 5th century on: winged depictions of a human (angel), lion, ox, and eagle, representing the authors of the four canonical Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, respectively. This scheme was based on the Early Church's interpretation of the four living creatures (lion, ox, human, eagle) that, according to Rev 4:6–8, surround God's heavenly throne. Traced back by the history of tradition to the vision of the throne-like chariot in Ezek 1:5–14; 10:14–17, the four living creatures originally evidently depicted the Babylonian signs of the zodiac for the four seasons (Boll 36–39): scorpion-man (autumn), lion (summer), ox (spring) and eagle (petrel, Pegasus; winter). It was Irenaeus of Lyon who first interpreted the four living creatures of Rev 4:6–8 as bein…

[German Version] I. History of Religions The phenomenon of predictive prophecy is often referred to by the related terms “promise” and “soothsaying,” which vary in content according to context. While soothsaying or divination belongs in the demonic sphere of an individual’s curiosity about his or her future, prophetic promise is invariab

[German Version] I. Resurrection of the Dead 1. History of religions a. Resurrection as a religious category. The concept of resurrection has been shaped extensively by connotations drawn from the tradition of Christian theology. In this sense, it is understood as a unique event that takes the body and soul of a human being, separated at death, and reunites them for a new, eternal life in the next world. Here it serves to mark a distinction from other notions of a postmortal existence (e.g. reincarnatio…

[German Version] I. History of Religions – II. Old Testament – III. Christianity – IV. Ethics – V. Judaism – VI. Islam …

[German Version] I. Old Testament – II. Judaism – III. New Testament – IV. Christianity…

[German Version] I. Ancient Near East and Old Testament – II. Greco-Roman World and the New Testament – III. Early Church I. Ancient Near East and Old Testament The starry heavens were the object of enthusiastic study in the ancient Near East from earliest times. This is ¶ associated with the importance of the star cycles for the calendar and with belief in the divinity of the stars (Astral religion). From veneration of the stars, astral divination or astrology developed in Mesopotamia based on the conviction that …

[German Version] I. History of Religions …