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[German Version] I. Religious Studies – II. Bible – III. Judaism – IV. Islam –V. Philosophy of Religion – VI. Dogmatics – VII. Practical Theology I. Religious Studies Anthropomorphism denotes the conception of God or gods in human form. It …

[German Version] (Leone Modena da Venezia; 1571, Venice – 1648, Venice). Modena enjoyed a broad education, including Italian literature, music, and song. His family's precarious fi…

[German Version] I. Religious Studies – II. Judaism – III. Christianity – IV. Islam I. Religious Studies Any kind of written document relating to a religious symbol system (Symbols/symbol theory) can be considered a holy Scripture. The existence of a written text as a criterion is a convenient starting point for a systematic orientation within the variety of religious texts produced throughout history. The process of reducing something to written form always implies more or less distanced reflection on what is written. Examination of a particular sacred text…

[German Version] was a Hellenistic Jewish historiographer whose work, Concerning the Kings in Judea, is preserved fragmentarily in excerpts from Alexander Polyhistor (transmitted by Eusebius and Clement of Alexandria). He should probably be identified with the Eupolemos mentioned in 1 Macc 8:17 and 2 Macc 4:11 as the leader of the Jewish embassy to Rome. His work, which may be dated around 158/157 bce, covers the period from Moses to his time. A brief passage concerning Moses as the “first sage” and inventor o…

[German Version] I. Definition The combination of the terms Judaism and philosophy suggests two distinct but deeply related issues: the place of Judaism in the history of philosophy and the emergence of a distinctive “Jewish” philosophy. Viewed historically, the compound Jewish philosophy points to a process of cultural debate between Greek “philosophy” and thought shaped by Jewish religion and culture, during which the two were often treated as irreconcilable. The question of the existence and nature of “Jewish philosophy” was first r…

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[German Version] (1604, Madeira – 1657, Middelburg, Netherlands), rabbi, author and printer, who liv…

[German Version] I. History of Religions – II. Biblical – III. Greco-Roman Antiquity – IV. Judaism – V. Practical theology I. History of Religions 1. Term . Astrology is the functional use of quantitative astronomical observations and calculations in the service of a qualitative cosmic and anthropological interpretation of the heavens. Inasmuch as the first of these two elements has not yet been, or is minimally, …

[German Version] I. History and Archaeology 1. History and archaeology. On a favorable site, on the road from Etruria to Latium and Campania, at a ford over the Tiber about 30 km from its mouth, and also on the road from the coast going in the direction of the Apennines, and in fertile lands by the river, there were small settlements from at least the 14th century bce (esp. on the Capitol). According to legend, Rome was then founded in 753 bce by Romulus, who became its first king. Other legen…

[German Version] (c. 1530, Osimo – c. 1593, Padua), one of the most important rabbis of the Renaissance. When the expulsion of the Jews commanded by Pius V in 1569 (Persecutions of Jews) forced Moscato to leave Osimo, he became the official preacher…

[German Version] I. General – II. History and Sociology I. General Since 1861 (the establishment of the Kingdom of Italy), Italy has been the name of the first unified nation on the Italian peninsula since the Lombard invasion in 568. Following a referendum in 1946, Italy became a republic (Repubblica Italiana) with a bicameral parliament. The president is the representative chief of state; the government is headed by the prime minister. Since 1870, with the dissolution of the Papal States, the capital has been Rome (population 2.7 million in 2000). Italy has an area of 187,179 km2, with a population of 57.6 million. It is divided into 20 administrative regions, of which five possess limited autonomy: Sicily, Sardinia, Valle d'Aosta, Trentino-Alto Adige, and Friuli-Venezia Giulia. The regions are divided into provinces, traditionally made up of communes. The official language is Italian, which, like all Romance languages, evolved from Vulgar Latin. Thanks to the works of the great 14th-century Italian writers Dante, Petrarch (F. Petrarca), and Giovanni Boccaccio, modern …

[German Version] I. History of Religion – II. Ancient Near East – III. Greco-Roman Antiquity – IV. Old Testament – V. New Testament – VI. Church History – VII. Judaism – VIII. Islam …

[German Version] I. Religious Studies – II. Old Testament – III. Judaism – IV. Early Christianity – V. Church History – VI. Liturgical and Practical Aspects I. Religious Studies The words “feast” and “festival” (cf. fête, festa, fiesta, Fest, etc.) derive from the Latin festus ( dies). They refer to the calendar and also evoke the notion of the divine: a feast day is a special day set aside and dedicated to a certain supernatural being. “Feast” or “festival” can therefore be understood as synonyms for religious celebrations. To speak,…

[German Version] I. Religious Studies – II. Antiquity – III. Bible – IV. Church History – V. Practical Theology – VI. Philosophy of Religion – VII. Judaism – VIII. Islam I. Religious Studies No definition of magic has as yet found general acceptance. Approaches that go back to the late 19th century (E.B. Tylor, J.G. Frazer) view magic as a primitive cognitive system, the lowest rung on an evolutionary ladder (Evolution) that progresses with religion and science (cf. also Myth/Mythology: I). Magic in this view is characterized by the assumption of mechanical cosmic laws, knowledge of which enables the magician to tinker with the conditions of life for the benefit of the community. Th…

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[German Version] (of Prague; 1525 – Aug 12, 1609, Prague), known as “the Maharal” (“our rabbi, Rabbi Loew”), distinguished himself as a teacher of the Talmud and as a rabbi. Judah's legendary life is historically attested for the period from 1559 to 1573 in which he was the rabbi of Nikolsburg and the…

[German Version] We know Aristeas only through a “precise report” ( diḗgēsis) concerning the causes and circumstances of the translation of the LXX for the (fictive) Philokrates. Though the description of events forms the framework of the letter (occasion for the translation: 1ff.; Philadelphos's request to the high priest Eleazar and positive response: 9–11; 28–51; …

[German Version] (acronym: Shadal; Aug 22, 1800, Trieste – Sep 30, 1865, Padua), Orthodox Jewish scholar. Luzzatto was an expert at combining biblical and general learning. In 1829 he was appointed professor of Bible, grammar, Jewish history, and theology at the Collegio Rabbinico Italiano in Padua, a position he held until his death. He rejected Hellenistic philosophy, the intellectualism of M. Maimonides, and the rationalism of B. de Spinoza, but also the Kabbalah. He ¶ is noted for his work as a Bible translator and his editions of medieval poetry. Giuseppe Veltri Bibliography I. Luz…

[German Version] I. Translations into Ancient Languages – II. Christian Translations into European Languages since the Middle Ages– III. Translations into Non-European Languages in Modern Times…

[German Version] I. Definition – II. Historical Expansion I. Definition Hellenism as a periodization concept goes back to J.G. Droysen, who gave a positive assessment of the amalgamation of Greek and Near Eastern cultures, seeing this as a characteristic feature of the period and as a precondition for Christianity. Thus, instead of a negative judgment of the period equaling it with a time of decline, its distinct character was highlighted in the definition of the concept. The Greek usage (ἑλληνισμός/ hellēnismós, for the assimilation of non-Greeks to the Greek language an…

[German Version] I. History of Religion – II. Bible – III. Dogmatics – IV. Philosophy – V. Philosophy of Religion – VI. Ethics – VII. Practical Theology – VIII. Judaism I. History of Religion …

[German Version] I. History of Religion (Ancient Near East and Antiquity) – II. Old Testament – III. New Testament – IV. Church History – V. Iconography – VI. Practical Theology – VII. Judaism – VIII. Islam I. History of Religion (Ancient Near East and Antiquity) The term “demon” as used in European language groups derives from the Greek (δαίμων/ daímōn), where it initially also referred simply to gods (ϑεοί/ theoí; cf. Homer …

[German Version] I. Philosophy The term rationalism is used in philosophy in a …

[German Version] (Aug 5, 1877, San Francisco – Oct 27,1948, New York), Rabbi, one of the founders of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. Magnes was ordained as a rabbi in 1900 at the Hebrew Union College. In 1902 he gained a doctorate at Heidelberg. In 1904 Magnes was Reformed rabbi of the Temple Israel in Brooklyn and in 1906 of the Temple Emanu-El in New York. Disappointments with…

[German Version] (Philo Alexandrinus or Philo Judaeus; 20/10 bce – 45 [?] ce), best-known and most influential philosopher and exegete in ancient Judaism (I). Scarcely anything is known of his life. According to the historian Flavius Josephus, Philo belonged to one of the leading families of Alexandria. The only certain fact about his life is that he took part in a legation to the Roman emperor Caligula in 39/40 ce (Jos. Ant. XVIII 259f.), which he describes in his Legatio ad Gaium. From the fact that he was already of advanced age when he undertook this journey (he describes himself as gerṓn, “aged man”), it is assumed that he was born between 20 and 10 bce. The other certain, but not datable, report is of a pilgrimage to Jerusalem that he mentions in De providentia (frgm. 2, 64). Although his dates are uncertain, there is no doubt that he played a leading part in Alexandrian Judaism. He was educated in all disciplines of ancient Greco-Roman culture ( enkýklios paideía), and, as his writings show, he was familiar with most of the literary and philosophical works of his time. The culture of the Hellenistic environment (Hellenism) spurred him on in a decisive manner to counter the profound Hellenization process of the Jewish Diaspora, and to put forward a synthesis of Greek philosophy and Jewish tradition. In this, the focal point of his philosophical and exegetical speculations is the Torah, so that his entire work may be described as a commentary on the Pentateuch. His works can be divided into three groups: (1) “Historical-a…

[English Version] von Alexandrien…

[English Version] I. Philosophisch Der Terminus »R.« wird in der Philos. in einem weiteren und einem engeren Sinn verwendet. In seinem weiteren Sinn steht er für alle antiskeptischen Positionen (Skepsis/Skeptizismus: I.) in der Theorie des Seins und seiner Erkenntnis, die die einzig verläßliche Quelle für Erkenntnisgewißheit nicht in der sinnlichen Wahrnehmung, sondern in der Tätigkeit der ratio, der Vernunft (: I.) sehen. Das Paradigma für die Gewißheit (: I.) garantierende Vernunfttätigkeit liefert das mathematische Denken mit …

[English Version] Rossi, Azaria de' (ca.1511 Mantua – ca. 1577 ebd.). Nach Vertreibung der Juden aus dem Kirchenstaat 1569 zog er nach Ferrara, wo er das Erdbeben des 18.11.1570 erlebte, das ihn zu seiner lit. Tätigkeit anregte. R.s Hauptwerk, »Me'or ‘Enayim« (»Licht der Augen«)…

[English Version] I. Definition Die Verbindung zw. Judentum und Philosophie deutet auf zwei unterschiedliche, aber doch tief miteinander verbundene Sachverhalte hin: die Stellung des Judentums in der Gesch. der Philos. und die Entstehung einer eigenen »jüd.« Philos. Das Kompositum »jüd. Philos.« verweist dabei hist. gesehen auf einen Prozeß kultureller Auseinandersetzung zw. der griech. »Philos.« und des durch die jüd. Rel. und Kultur geprägten Denkens, wobei beide Seiten oft als unversöhnliches Gegensatzpaar gehandelt wurden.…

[English Version] I. Geschichtlich und archäologisch 1.  Geschichtlich-archäologisch An einer günstigen Stelle, nämlich der Straße von Etrurien nach Latium und Campanien, einer Furt durch den Tiber, etwa 30 km von der Mündung des Tibers entfernt, weiterhin an der Straße von der Küste Richtung Apennin sowie an fruchtbaren Gegenden am Fluß, gab es zumindest seit dem 14.Jh. v.Chr. kleine Siedlungen (v.a. auf dem Capitol). Der Sage nach wurde R. dann 753 v.Chr. gegründet, und zwar von Romulus, der auch erster König wurde. Andere Sagen machen Aeneas, den Sohn des Anchises und der Aph…