Search

…

[German Version] …

[German Version] (Sep 17, 1864, Colombo as Don David Hevāvitharana [also: Hewavitarne] – Apr 29, 1933, Bena…

[German Version] I. Religious Studies 1. General Suffering is a …

[German Version] I. Religious Studies – II. Philosophy of Religion – III. Christian Theology – IV. Buddhism I. Religious Studies Verbalizing the internal light (Symbols/Symbol theory) of the mysteries and mysticism, enlightenment denotes salvific knowledge that comes through sudden ineffable existential experience. Interreligious contacts (reception of ancient conceptions of enlightenment in Judaism, Christianity, an…

[German Version] (Sanskrit: euphemistic trans. “small vehicle”; originally used pejoratively by the adherents of Mahāyāna in the sense of “lesser vehicle”) designates a number of sometimes quite disparate early Buddhist orientations (Buddhism: I, 6). Bareau (1964) proposed adopting the objectively more correct designation “Early Buddhism/Old Buddhism.” The path to salvation (Redemption/Soteriology: IX) is often considered the unifying element, which is sometimes qualified as selfish: The …

[German Version] I. Religious Studies – II. Christianity – III. Buddhism I. Religious Studies …

[German Version] I. Terminology – II. Religious Studies – III. Church History – IV. Buddhism – V. India I. Terminology Monasticism is a collective term for an alternative way of life, always religiously motivated, that includes asceticism but is also characterized by a more or less radical withdrawal from society (the “world”) as well as from the monastics' own community of faith. The term monk commonly used in Christianity (from secular Gk μοναχός/ monachós, “solitary,” Lat. monachus, borrowed by way of a hypothetical 8th-century monichus* into Old High German [ munih] and othe…

[German Version] comprises the modern continental countries Myanmar (Burma), Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, and Singapore, together with the island states of Indonesia, Brunei, East Timor, and the Philippines. The territory of Malaysia comprises both continental and insular regions (see the map at Asia). In the year 2000, the population was about 522 million; 27.2% were Buddhists, 2% Hindus, 26.8% Muslims, 21.4% Christians (14.7% Catholics), and 22.6% other. South-East Asia is extraordinarily varied – ethnically, linguistically, culturally, and religiously. The linguistic situation today on the continent is roughly as follows: in Myanmar the dominant language is Burmese, a member of the Sino-Tibetan language family; Thai, the official language of Thailand, and Laotian belong to the same family; (Standard) Khmer is the official language of Cambodia, belonging to the Mon-Khmer family of Austro-Asiatic languages; Vietnamese should …

[German Version] I. Comparative Religion – II. Christianity – III. Buddhism – IV. Monastic Law I. Comparative Religion The term monastery (or cloister) derives from the Christian tradition, where it denotes the living and working quarters, rel…

[German Version] I. Religious Studies – II. Systematic Theology I. Religious Studies In the religious studies context, gifts are usually not understood in terms of a present, and such an idea is ¶ …

[German Version] I. Terminology All the major concepts in soteriology have biblical roots. Of central importance today is the notion of reconciliation (II), which bridges the theological and secular realms. The original Greek word καταλλαγή/ katallagḗ involves the notion of exchange, which was early taken to imply that Christ takes the place of the sinner before God, so realizing atonement (at-one-ment) and making expiation. Associated ideas include substitution and representation, which conceive Christ as standing in for the sinner before God. Particular theolo…

[German Version] was the third ruler of the Indian Maurya dynasty and ruled approximately 270-230 bce. A bloody campaign against Kālinga is claimed to have contributed to the change in his disposition. Subsequently, he promoted Buddhism, according to Buddhist sources. That he himself became a Buddhist is not undisputed. Apart from the Buddhist Saṃgha he supported other religious groups (Jainas [Jaini…

[German Version] I. Geopolitical Considerations, Concept – II. History of Religions – III. Modern Asian Religions outside Asia – IV. Christianity I. Geopolitical Considerations, Concept Culturally, economically, and politically, Asia is extraordinarily heterogeneous. The Islamic states of the Near East with their oil wealth are part of this continent, as are the multireligious societies of South and Southeast Asia, relatively poor in resources, and the countries of East Asia with their extraordinarily dynamic economies (at least through the mid 70s). Equally diverse are the…

[German Version] I. Religio-Cultural Journals – II. Journals of Religious Studies – III. Christianity – IV. Judaism – V. Islam I. Religio-Cultural Journals During the second half of the 19th century, the publication of German-language journals experienced a tremendous upsurge. While the year 1890 saw the publication of 3,203 individual titles, the number had grown to 5,231 by the year 1900 and to 6,689 by 1914. Journals became the preferred medium in academia and culture. In the field of theology, the proportion …

[German Version] I. Terminology The sociology of religion studies religion’s social aspects and manifestations, clearly including religious institutions, organizations, and social groups. It also studies more situational forms, less clearly defined, such as gatherings, ceremonies, and collective rituals (e.g. processions [Rite and ritual]). In an extended sense, characteristic of the German-language tradition since M. Weber, religious sociology deals with all social or socialized behavior focused on…