中国的民间宗教与儒释道三教

马伯乐在本文重点讨论了20世纪的中国人的信仰特点,中国的民间宗教和儒释道三教在传统社会中的地位和相互关系,以及各自的神职人员、信奉的神灵、仪式及传统等。作者认为中国神鬼世界的特点是与人间世界相仿佛,是帝王政治的影像和模拟。     

Grading Religions

This essay develops standards for grading religions including various forms of spiritualism. First, I examine the standards proposed by William James, John Hick, Paul Knitter, Dan Cohn-Sherbok, and Harold Netland. Most of them are useful in grading religions with or without conditions. However, those standards are not enough for refined and piercing evaluation. Thus, I introduce standards used in spiritualism. Although those standards are for grading spirits and their teachings, they are useful in refined and piercing evaluation of religious phenomena. The spiritual standards complement James’s, Hick’s, Knitter’s, and Netland’s standards. Although most of the spiritual standards are rationally unjustifiable, they have practical value.     

Religions and Conflicts

Many believe that a peaceful, tolerant and respectful coexistence among religions is not compatible with the conviction that only one of them is true. I argue that this ‘incompatibility problem’ (IP) is grounded in a ‘naturalistic assumption’ (NA), that is, the assumption that every subject, including religion, should be treated without taking into account that a super-natural being may exist and reveal to us an unexpected way to deal with our experience. I then argue that in matters of religion, NA is untenable and that its very opposite, which I call ‘super-naturalistic assumption’ (SA), should be adopted. My thesis is that, once SA is adopted, IP can be dismissed and that it is plausible to maintain that a peaceful, tolerant and respectful coexistence among religions is compatible with the conviction that only one of them is true.     

Religions in Europe

The breakdown of European society is changing rapidly, particularly in the field of religion. Culture is of vital importance to the presence of religion in all nations. Religions also have exerted a certain degree of political power, thus influencing the economy and other related spheres of life.The different religions in Europe exhibit a variety of attitudes towards religious pluralism. The religious differences between Western and Eastern Europe depend mainly on issues of national identity related to religious adherence.This essay provides an overview of religion and politics, or Church and state, in Europe. It will conclude with some reflections about possible future developments within religious traditions in Europe. New religious communities and religious organisations are reaching different parts of Europe, sometimes very far from their place of origin. Christianity (Catholicism, Orthodoxy, and Protestantism) is the most widespread religion in contemporary Europe. Catholic religion is well diffused in Europe, but there are substantial differences in belief, behaviour and practice within different Catholic communities. There are various branches of Orthodoxy in Europe, such as the distinct autocephalous churches. In general Orthodox religion is closely aligned with national culture. Islam is also present in Western countries, and its impact is evident.     

Religions, natural hazards, and disasters: An introduction

This editorial serves as an introduction to the special issue of Religion on Religions, Natural Hazards, and Disasters. It sets out some conceptual background and briefly reviews the existing literature on religion, natural hazards, and disasters. It also provides a brief assessment of the role of religious and groups in reducing the risk of disasters.     

辞世教育与宗教

辞世教育在于提升临终者生命的意义与品质.通过辞世教育使人们坦然面对死亡这个不可避免的人生课题,而死亡又是各类宗教最关注的内容,各宗教都有对死亡奥秘的深入诠释,对死后世界的详尽描述.宗教在辞世教育方面具有其独特性,辞世教育可以借鉴宗教智慧.     

杜尔干的宗教思维

杜尔干是法国社会学派的重要代表人物,其深邃思想,虽然时隔一个多世纪,今天却依然能为我们的研究提供宝贵的养份.本文主要以其晚年的重要著作《宗教生活的基本形式》一书为基础,重点讨论其对宗教的研究,并指出其理论对我国回族宗教信仰研究的启示.     

全球化与当代宗教

本文从“全球化”的时代氛围中分析了世界宗教的现状及其特征,指出了在全球化进程中我国宗教的发展和未来走向,由此提示“全球化”所具有的广泛的而深远的社会、文化意义,强调我国的宗教工作和宗教研究在这一形势下必须要有“全球”眼光,从国际化社会、世界化信息这一实际来有效展开。     

World Religions Paradigm,legal system and education. The case of the Czech Republic

The article deals with the concept of religion in the laws which regulate access of religious organisations to public education in the Czech Republic. The analysis of the laws reveals that the World Religions Paradigm (WRP) is applied here. Religious organisations representing ‘important world religions’ have a privileged position in accessing public education. Mostly Christianity-based churches have access to public education through the legal notion of ‘special rights’ granted by the state. The article provides a concise review of the key points of criticism of the WRP. The paradigm is criticised as ethnocentric, inherently theological, developed with colonialism, undefinable in practice, highly abstract, essentialist and ahistorical. Its historical development is related to the process of reification as defined by W.C. Smith. The concluding part relates the criticism of the WRP to the concept of religion in the laws regulating the access of religious organisations to public education in the Czech Republic. The application of the WRP leads to restrictions of religious pluralism.