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[German Version] I. Natural Sciences The natural sciences themselves do not work with a concept of transcendence as the opposite of nature. They consider “nature” or the “cosmos” (Cosmology) the totality of reality. 1. Nevertheless the natural sciences are based on a finitized epistemology. Kurt Gödel’s first incompleteness theorem of 1931 demonstrated that it is impossible in principle to prove within a formal system both the system’s internal consistency and its completeness. There are also physical limits to what can be known. The universe is very large but finite. There are in all some 1080 stable particles, which can be further qualified by 10…

[German Version] I. History of Religions – II. Biblical – III. Philosophy of Religion – IV. Dogmatics – V. Ethics – VI. Science I. History of Religions 1. So-called chaos research (see VI below) has renewed a positive meaning of the term with the model of the “creative” self-organization of matter (thus without the goal-oriented will of an ordering creator). Previously, since Late Antiquity, a negative evaluation of chaos had prevailed: Since creation demonstrates the existence of God, chaos was a negative in relation to the Creator God in a dualistic system, as disorder ( confusio: Augus…

[German Version] I. History of Religions – II. Old Testament – III. New Testament – IV. Church History – V. Philosophy of Religion – VI. Fundamental Theology – VII. Dogmatics – VIII. Education and Practical Theology – IX. Judaism – X. Islamic Theology I. History of Religions Miracles are extraordinary, mystifying human experiences that cannot be explained by normal causes, which in many cases suggest the intervention of a deity or superhuman power. Miracles are found in all cultures and are among the traditions of almost all religions. But their significance can vary quite widely depending on how they are understood, assessed, and utilized in their historical, religious, and cultural context. The notion that ethnic religions do not involve miracles because their worldview considers everything that h…

[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 symbols of) in history and society, along with such phenomena as cultic worship, and the implications of these concepts as they shape human lives individually and collectively. When the study of religion deals with God …

[German Version] I. Terminology and Natural Science 1. Terminology. The term “nature” (Gk ϕύσις/ phýsis; Lat. natura [ Physis/Natura : II, 2]) is a concept that derives from Aristotle and ancient philosophy. There it denotes that which is of itself, as distinct from that which is made by art or culture (Arist. Phys. II 1.6). Greek philosophy distinguished, if often implicitly, between (a) investigation of ethical, juridical and political questions as the field of human interest and (b) study of the origin of nature and physical reality. In this c…

[German Version] I. Denmark With the coming of the Reformation in 1536, the University of Copenhagen, founded in 1478, gained new academic status. P. Palladius was among the first of many Danish theologians to receive a doctorate at Wittenberg. In his dual role as bishop of Zealand a…

[English Version] I. Naturwissenschaftlich Die Naturwiss. kennen von sich aus nicht einen Begriff von T. als Gegenbegriff zur Natur. »Natur« oder »Kosmos« (Kosmologie) wird als das Ganze aller Realität gefaßt. 1. Dennoch gehen die Naturwiss. von einer finitistischen Erkenntnistheorie aus. Kurt Gödels Unentscheidbarkeitstheorem von 1931 bewies, daß es prinzipiell nicht möglich ist, innerhalb eines formalen Systems sowoh…

[English Version] I. Dänemark Mit der Reformation 1536 gewann die Universität Kopenhagen, bereits 1479 gegründet, einen neuen akademischen Status. P. Palladius gehört zu den ersten von vielen dänischen Theologen, die in Wittenberg promoviert wurden. In seiner Doppelrolle als Bischof von Seeland und Prof der Theol. (diese Ordnung gab es bis 1830) war er sich sowohl seines Amtes als Superintendent wie auch als königlicher Beamter bewußt. Energisch setzte sich Palladius dafür ein, die Reformation zu v…

[English Version] I. Begriff und naturwissenschaftlich 1.  Begriff. Der Begriff N. (griech. ϕυ´σις/phy´sis; lat. natura [Physis/Natura II.,2.]) geht als Konzept auf Aristoteles und die antike Philos. zurück. Er bez. dort das von sich selbst her Seiende im Unterschied zu dem von Kunst oder Kultur Gemachten (Arist.phys. II 1.6). Die griech. Philos. unterschied, wenn auch oft implizit, zw. der Untersuchung der ethischen, rechtlichen und polit. Fragen als dem Bereich der menschlichen Belange auf der einen und der Erforschung des Ursprungs der N. und der physischen Realität auf der anderen Seite.…

[English Version] I. Religionsgeschichtlich W. sind außergewöhnliche und Verwunderung auslösende Erfahrungen von Me…