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1. Origin American pragmatism arose as an effort to oppose both scientism and academic philosophy by holding together the world of practical effects with the world of critical reasoning. 2. Development The word “pragmatism” first appeared in an 1878 paper by Charles Sanders Peirce (1839–1914) of Cambridge, Massachusetts. Peirce asked about the practical conditions that make a term meaningful and then answered: A term’s meaning is the operation one performs and the experiential results one learns to expect from such an operati…

The abuse of illegal drugs, prescription drugs, alcohol, and nicotine is an international problem of overwhelming scope. Although such activities have historically been considered vices and socially unacceptable in the United States and many other countries, some of them have increasingly become more tolerated, although regulated, but in some instances are still legally prohibited. At least until the mid-20th century, Protestant America strongly discouraged drug and alcohol abuse and the use of …

The word fitna (pl. fitan), which occurs thirty-four times in the Qurʾān—where it means approximately “trial, temptation” (or perhaps “distraction [from the faith]”)—was found across religious and political boundaries in early Islam. Its pre-Islamic usage appears to include the idea of “a melting (of metals) in order to separate or distinguish the good from the bad” (Lane, s.v. fitna; as perhaps in Q 21:35, 54:27), but in the Qurʾānic text it is often contrasted with some absolute, such as “killing” or “death” (Q 2:191, 217), which are said to be preferable to the fitna, with its associ…

The donkey appears in Muslim eschatology as the principal method of locomotion for the Dajjāl (Antichrist) during the brief period of his rule at the end of the world. Use of the donkey for the Antichrist figure is in opposition to the use of the donkey in the biblical tradition, where it is generally held to be one of the signs of the messianic figure (cf. Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem, Matt. 21:5). The most probable reason for this difference has to do with the difference in attitude towards the donkey: in the Qurʾānic tradition the donkey (ḥimār) is considered to be emblematic of…

The Dajjāl is a malevolent creature in human form, who appears at the end of the world as the apocalyptic opponent of Jesus. The Arabic word dajjāl (lit., “cheat, impostor”) is probably cognate with the Syriac dagalo (deceiver), which is used frequently for the Antichrist. The Dajjāl is not mentioned or alluded to in the Qurʾān but appears in apocalyptic works and canonical ḥadīth collections. The Dajjāl is usually said to be Jewish and to come from the eastern part of the Muslim world, either Isfahan or various other cities in Iraq, Fars, or Khurāsān. He i…

Gog and Magog (Yājūj wa-Mājūj) are two subhuman peoples, mentioned in the Qurʾān (Q 18:94, 21:96), located usually in the region of Central Asia or northern Asia, who, as part of the apocalyptic events prior to the end of the world, will invade and destroy large sections of the Muslim world. Yājūj and Mājūj are based upon the biblical peoples of Gog and Magog, first mentioned in Ezekiel 38–9, and amplified in Revelation 20:7–9 and in Christian early-Islamic-era apocalypses (Pseudo-Methodius, 133–4…

Ghazw means “to raid,” with the understanding of gaining spoils thereby (the English “razzia” is a derivative). The term is used extensively in pre-Islamic poetry as the standard term for raiding, especially of camels and other domestic animals, a favourite Bedouin activity. The root is mentioned only once in the Qurʾān (3:156), where the implication is of an activity associated with unbelievers (alladhīna kafarū) rather than believers. The term soon gained an Islamic connotation and was used, in the first centuries of Islam, for the battles and raids of the pr…

[German Version] (Apr 11, 1853, Kingston, Canada West – Jan 30, 1933, Toronto, Ontario) was ordained in 1879 in the Methodist Church of Canada. During the First World War, Chown was the driving force in the initiative to recruit Methodists in the Canadian Expeditionary Force. After the war he led the Methodist church to form the United Church of Canada. Chown was influenced by modern biblical criticism. Accepting the notion of progressive revelation, he accepted that …

[German Version] The term mission statistics covers the systematic collection and compilation of diagrams, data, and statistics to describe the course of the Christian missionary process throughout the world over specific time periods and in specific areas. Statistical data from the mission field have been collected, described, and evaluated throughout the 20 centuries of Christian history, as we can see, for example, from the works of Augustine of Hippo and Isidore of Seville (600 ce). The Old Testament already contains usable surveys and statistical data. The New Te…

Bibliographic entry in Chapter 2: The Se…

[German Version] (Aug 24, 1810, Lexington, MA – May 10, 1860, Florence), Unitarian theologian and preacher. Greatly influenced by transcendentalism (III), he developed a theology based upon intuition, according to which authority and truth had their ultimate sources not in the church nor in the Bible, but in conscience, which Parker often labeled as the voice of God or higher law. Most Unitarians in his time considered him heretical, but Parker’s thoughts mark the emancipation of Unitarianism from…

Bibliographic entry in Chapter 3: From t…

Bibliographic entry in Chapter 25: The U…

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Bibliographic entry in Chapter 2: The Se…

Bibliographic entry in Chapter 2: The Se…

Bibliographic entry in Chapter 11: The U…

Bibliographic entry in Chapter 1: Refere…

al-Aʿrāf (pl. of ʿurf, “elevated place”, “crest”), appears in an eschatological judgement scene in Qurʾān 7:46, where a dividing wall is spoken of, which separates the dwellers of Paradise from the dwellers of Hell, and men “who are on the al-aʿrāf and recognise each by his marks” (Q 7:48, “those of the al-aʿrāf”). The interpretation of this passage is disputed. Richard Bell makes a doubtful conjecture that the word is al-iʿrāf and translates: “(Presiding) over the recognition are men, who recognise… .” According to Tor Andrae the “men on the elevated places” are …

Bibliographic entry in Chapter 2: The Se…