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1. History of Research and Definition The religions of so-called primitive peoples, which G. W. F. Hegel (1770–1831; Hegelianism; Idealism 6) would not recognize as religion according to his definition, became an object of research in the 19th century, not on their own account, but to offer material for wide-ranging theories and to provide an answer to the question of the origin of religion as such. The presuppositions of the Enlightenment and the concept of evolution included the idea that these reli…

1. Term The term “syncretism” (Gk. synkrētismos) appears first in the Moralia (490ab) by Plutarch (ca. 46-after 119). Popular opinion or perhaps Plutarch himself derived the term on the basis of a false etymology from the Cretans, who in times of danger would set aside all differences in order to make common cause against the enemy. The term appears first in its theological meaning in the late Middle Ages (Erasmus), where it means the mixing together of various confessionally related doctrines that originally …

[German Version] (Oct 18, 1818, Riga, Latvia – Nov 24, 1895, Cape Town, South Africa). Sent by the Rhenish Mission to southwest Africa (Namibia) in 1842, Hahn studied the Herero language, wrote the first Herero grammar and translated first sections of the Bible. In 1844, he founded a so-called “mission colony” in which Christian life was to be shared and into which the converted Herero were to be incorporated. During his activity, Hahn laid the cornerstone for the Lutheran stamp on mission and chu…

[German Version] I. Greco-Roman Antiquity – II. Drama and Religion – III. Drama and the Christian Tradition I. Greco-Roman Antiquity 1. Concept The noun δρᾶμα/ dráma, derived from the verb δρᾶν ( drán, “do, act”),…

[German Version] I. The Cross in Non-Christian Religions – II. Crucifixion in Antiquity – III. The Crucifixion of Christ – IV. Church History – V. Dogmatic Theology – VI. The Cross in Modern Art…

[German Version] I. History of the Discipline – II. Methodology – III. Missiology and Other Disciplines – IV. Missiological Hermeneutics – V. Topics of Missiology – VI. Research and Study …

[German Version] I. Religious Studies – II. Christianity – III. Judaism – IV. Buddhism – V. Islam I. Religious Studies 1. Overview. Mission is not a fundamentally universal phenomenon in the history of religions; neither is every form in which religion is passed on eo ipso mission. “Primary,” tribal religions are not missionary religions. Their domain is coterminous with their society and its way of life; they are handed down from one generation to the next in the course of natural life. The question of truth does not arise. An individual is born into this religion. Only “secondary” religions, founded by reformers or spiritual leaders, are essentially missionary. Monotheism and an anthropology that embraces all human beings identically are the basis and pre…