Search

[German Version] The intransitive meaning of the German verb verelenden, which is already attested in Middle High German, is “to sink into misery,” while its transitive use means “to drive someone into poverty.” ¶ The related verb verelendigen means “to drive out of the land, to bring misery upon someone.” Elend (misery) was the term with which the social criticism of the early 19th century denounced the impoverishment of large segments of the population that accompanied the simultaneous increase of general prosperity resulting from progressing industrialization. In contrast to pro-reform conceptions of society, the early writings of K. Marx and F. Engels are based on the assumption that the growing impoverishment of the working class would lead to revolutionary action. According to Mar…

[German Version] Recent conceptions of Protestant sexual ethics emphasize the difference between ethics as critical moral theory and sexual morality as its object; again, a distinction must be made between normative conceptions of ethics and descriptive or hermeneutical conceptions, following in the footsteps of F.D.E. Schleiermacher. Changes in the area of sexuality, marriage, and family, often profound, can be adequately addressed theologically only if they are not subjected at the same time to …

…

[German Version] The term sexism was coined by feminism after the analogy of racism. It denotes “the social construction of inequality within a society based on the assum…

[German Version] (AI), founded in 1961, is a human rights organization that works worldwide esp. for the release of people imprisoned for philosophical, religious, or political reasons. The impetus for the founding was a newspaper article by the English lawyer Peter Benenson in the London Observer…

[German Version] I. Dogmatics, Fundamental Theology - II. Missiology I. Dogmatics, Fundamental Theology The term “accommodation” (from Latin accommodatio, “accommodation, adaptation”) originated in classical rhetoric (I); it denotes the adaptation of an object to its environment – in …

[German Version] I. Fundamental Theology Although proclamation is not a specifically religious term, it plays a central role in Christianity. Generally speaking, it is “a form of address in which…

[German Version] I. Religious Studies Religions have various assessments and guidelines regarding sexuality, which shape the concrete ways people deal with it and influence certain social attitudes. Religious sexual morality (Sexual ethics) regulates sexual relations through various sexual taboos and by ¶ prohibiting premarital and extramarital sex as well as homosexuality, but also by requiring temporary continence, for instance during menstruation or periods of fasting. It protects procreation (Generativity) in general by commandments to multiply or restrictions in Birth Control. In patriarchal cultures, male control of female sexuality and fertility is legitimated and reinforced by many restrictions on women (e.g. the ideal of virginity, dress codes, restricted freedom of movement, exclusion from education)…

[German Version] I. History of Religion – II. Old Testament – III. New Testament – IV. Ethics I. History of Religion The theme of the enemy is connected with the development or protection of identity and is directed toward people of other tribes or states, those of other faiths, or a hostile region of the world. The enemy can represent what is foreign and threatening or be localized within the world of common daily life (heretics, heresy). Stereotypical images of the enemy can stylize the other even as the embodiment of evil and serve to…

[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 derives from the personification of spiritual events (animatism), the idea of attributing a soul to stones, trees or places (Animism) or the idea of a power indwelling objects or persons (dyna-mism). In r…