Search

[German Version] The term Haustafel, “domestic code,” refers to a list of the various duties and responsibilities of the members of a household. Such lists appear in ancient ¶ ethical literature and set out the appropriate behavior toward gods, the state, friends, other members of the household, and outsiders. Content, form, and function vary considerably; domestic codes appear in the unwritten laws of Greek popular culture (Aesch. …

[English Version] I. ReligionsgeschichtlichS. und F. erscheinen aus religionswiss. Sicht als dichte, komplexe Begriffe, die sich schwer in einem einheitlichen, alle rel. Symbolsysteme übergreifenden Konzept zusammenfassen lassen. S. und F. sind nicht primär als Gegensätze, sondern als parallele, polyvalente Begriffe zu verstehen, welche unterschiedliche Formen von rel. Kommunikation zum Ausdruck bringen. Als komplexe Vorgänge bilden sie eine Kondensierung unterschiedlicher Kodierungsebenen rel. Botschaft: Wort und Handlung sind in S. und…

[German Version] I. Religious Studies – II. Old Testament – III. New Testament – IV. Philosophy – V. Social Sciences – VI. Systematic Theology I. Religious Studies Religious studies have paid little attention to friendship, since it appears initially not to be a phenomenon of primary relevance to religion but to denote simply a personal relationship between individuals, culturally conditioned and codified, that represents a form of identityforming social life. As a result, very different understandings of friendship are found in the ancient world, in Christianity, in Buddhism, and in the increasingly individualized societies of the modern era. Friendship takes on religious relevance in the relationship between teacher and student. It can be cultivated in the formation and maintenance of religious communities (secret societies, orders, brotherhoods and sisterhoods, sodalities, friendship cults). Friendship is also fostered toward God (friendship with God in mysticism), humankind (already in the works of Theophrastus and since the Enlightenment as philanthropy), and toward the world as an affirming (Stoics) or compassionate (Buddhism) attitude. Conflicts of loyalty can arise when personal friendships develop between adherents of different religions. In a f…

[German Version] I. Religious Studies – II. Old Testament – III. Judaism – IV. New Testament – V. Historical and Systematic Theology– VI. Practical Theology I. Religious Studies From the perspective of religious studies, blessing and curse are dense, complex terms, hard to summarize in a single concept that would include every religious symbol system. They should not be thought of primarily as opposites but as parallel polyvalent ter…

[German Version] I. Religious Studies – II. Old Testament – III. Judaism – IV. New Testament – V. Church History – VI. Ethics – VII. Law I. Religious Studies As a solemn affirmation of a statement, an oath takes its religious quality from the underlying belief in the power of words to effect a blessing or curse (Blessing and curse). Therefore the early phenomenology of religion classed oaths with invective, curses, etc. as words of consecration: those who swear oaths identify themselves with their words and are “consecrated” to the power of the oath if it proves false or is not kept. In fact most oaths take the form of a spoken utterance – often formulaic –, but they can be reinforced by accompanying actions. Oath formulas often have the nature of (self-)imprecation and have an inherent efficacy, but sometimes they depend on the power of the gods or a god. Gods can also swear oaths; in Greek religion, for example, the Olympian gods swear by the Styx, the river of the netherworld, and in the early su…