Mozart Among the Theologians

The essay compares and contrasts the philosophical, theological, and aesthetic approaches to Mozart in the writings of Søren Kierkegaard's aesthete A (Either/Or, I), Karl Barth (primarily Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart), and Hans Küng (Mozart: Traces of Transcendence). Whereas Kierkegaard's A outlines a non‐religious ‘daemonic Mozart’, Barth and Küng depict two contrasting theological understandings of Mozart's music. Barth's Mozart reflects a Reformed aesthetic, with Mozart as a ‘parable’ of gospel, whereas Küng's Mozart reflects a Roman Catholic ‘sacramental’ vision of music and religious faith. The essay explores how these different visions of Mozart are shaped by both their theological and aesthetic commitments.     

Love from Afar: Distance,Intimacy and the Theology of Love

Proceeding from Jean‐Luc Marion's The Erotic Phenomenon, this article discusses how the Christian concept of love can manifest intimacy. While most theological concepts of love spell out the requirement of distance, they do not pay sufficient attention to the intimate variants of love. The article argues that a full‐fledged theological account should make room for love's different economic and donative variants, as well as for love's advance from ‘distance’ to ‘visibility’ and, finally, ‘intimacy’. Concrete examples of intimate love include mystical union, transforming hospitality, fidelity and love that is as strong as death.     

Martin Bucer's Assessment of the Canon of the Mass in the Era of the Religious Colloquies

Abstract

In the early part of his reforming career Martin Bucer shared Luther's and Zwingli's contempt for the Canon of the Mass. However, in the era of the religious Colloquies (1540-1546) Bucer argued that it was the practices and theological commentaries associated with the Canon—not the Canon itself—that supported the debased theology of Eucharistic sacrifice prevailing under the papacy. Bucer maintained that the genuine meaning of the Canon was to be found in the writing of the Fathers, the liturgies of the Eastern church and, indeed, in Aquinas’ Summa. Bucer seems to have hoped that the Catholics would admit communion under both kinds and abolish the private Mass in exchange for the retention of a ‘suitably interpreted’ Canon. An outline of this interpretation can be seen in Article Twenty of the Worms-Regensburg Book (1540-1541). It was further developed in Constans dejensio (1543) and De vera et falsa caenae dominicae administratione (1546) both written in the aftermath of the first Colloquy of Regensburg (1541).     

Three More Jigs in the Puzzle: The Unity of Analogy,Beatitude and Virtue in Thomas' Summa Theologiae

Scholarship abounds on the notion of analogy in Thomas Aquinas' writing. Scholarship also abounds on Thomas' treatment of beatitude and virtue. Yet seldom does scholarship treat the fundamental unity Thomas intended among analogy, beatitude and virtue in the Summa Theologiae. This article traces the connections between these terms to re‐endow terms like ‘beatitude’ and ‘virtue’ with a theological meaning that may surprise, and it shows how Thomas assumes that what we say of God is of first importance.     

Does John Henry Newman Have a Theo‐Drama?

The essay surveys Newman's work in literary drama, from an early essay on Aristotle's Poetics to his adaptation of Roman comedies for production at the Oratory School, in order to approach his affinities with Hans Urs von Balthasar's theological dramatic theory. Newman does not find a Balthasarian theo‐drama via literary drama – perhaps because he was not properly exposed to medieval religious drama – but scattered dramatic analogies in his history writing suggest that he undertakes a theo‐drama in that genre. Von Balthasar and Newman employ dramatic analogies to reject chiliastic apocalyptic and foster ‘keromatic’ apocalyptic.     

Theistic Dissonance Among Religious Jewish Holocaust Survivors: A Psychodynamic Perspective

Coining the term theistic dissonance to capture conflicted attitudes and feelings toward God, this article examines faith-based reactions to the Holocaust. The theological weltanschauung of religious Jewish Holocaust survivors is analyzed, with a particular focus on their attempts to reconcile the notion of a benevolent and caring God with their harrowing experience. Basic religious sources and contemporary literature are presented to elucidate the realm of resolutions of theistic dissonance. It is suggested that elements of defense mechanisms are adapted from the emotional into the cognitive realm, and are used by survivors to facilitate respective interpretations of God’s role during the Holocaust. Dissonance resolution is seen as being informed theologically and experientially for these victims who confronted stark challenges to their religious integrity.     

Queering Migrations: Towards,From, Beyond Asia

Abstract

The author's most recent book, Sanctity and Male Desire: A Gay Reading of Saints, was published by the Pilgrim Press, which is part of the United Church of Christ (UCC), a liberal Protestant denomination. The book came under a fair measure of close scrutiny by the UCC Ministry Interpreters, and parts of it were asked to be removed or rewritten. This article examines some of the ‘offensive’ or problematic passages in the text, and it raises questions about ‘the intersections of a sexualized gay discourse and a normative religious one’. The author looks at concepts of pollution or disorder as these might apply to the writing of an eroticized theology, and why it is that writing about the sacred in a sexual or homoerotic way, particularly in a Christian context, so often is perceived as a source of theological angst or ecclesial panic.     

Understanding Biology in Religious Experience: The Biogenetic Structuralist Approach of Eugene d'Aquili and Andrew Newberg

What are the biological bases of religious experience? Are there biological constraints upon or determinants of religious narratives and practices? How does understanding the biology of religious experience inform the ongoing reconstruction of religious rituals and myths? In The Mystical Mind, Eugene d’Aquili and Andrew Newberg address these central questions and others from a distinct perspective called biogenetic structuralism. They propose a model of how brain activity gives rise to mystical experiential states, examine how neurobiological responses to rhythmic behavior form religious ritual, and point toward the development of a megatheology, or a theological system appealing to the widest scope of religious world‐views. This paper is a critical review of d’Aquili and Newberg's exciting work.     

Purity and danger in the solar temple

Based on research conducted in Québec, this study explores the shape of the social life, apocalyptic ideology and authority structure of the Ordre du Temple Solaire (OTS) or Solar Temple within the framework of Mary Douglas's typology of ‘group and grid’. The pollution fears and purity rituals of this controversial new religious movement are analysed as an important factor in their decision to orchestrate a religiously‐motivated mass suicide/homicide, explained in their suicide documents as a ‘transit’ (a magical feat of soul travel) to the Star Sirius. Douglas's insights into how the human body becomes a ‘natural symbol’ for small, persecuted groups, mirroring the social body and the vulnerability of its exits and entrances vis‐à‐vis the surrounding culture, are applied to the alternative patterns of sexuality and parenting in the OTS. It is suggested that the magical aspect of the mass suicide expressed a concern for purity and for protecting the boundaries of their community. It is also suggested that the ritual homicides in Morin Heights resemble the ‘witch‐hunts’ characteristic of Douglas's ‘small society’ that conceives of itself as the perfect, impermeable vessel.     

Multiple Religious Belonging among visitors of Dominican spiritual centers in the Netherlands

ABSTRACT

In the religiously pluralized Western world, a trend called ‘Multiple Religious Belonging’ (MRB) has been identified. Although it is a much theologically debated concept, empirical research on the practice of MRB is limited. The present research project therefore explores the phenomenon of MRB among visitors of Dominican spiritual centers in the Netherlands (n=472). It investigates to what extent and in which ways such visitors combine elements from more than one religious tradition in their lives and what they perceive to be the benefits of combining elements. It links this information to their views on religion, the resources they draw from, their (religiously diverse) networks, and their motivations for attending spiritual activities. The results indicate that respondents who combine elements from more than one religious tradition (‘combiners’) are more likely than ‘non-combiners’ to: a) see religion as something that is constantly changing during the life course; b) have networks which are religiously diverse; c) place importance on nature, in-depth conversations, personal rituals or practices, and theological, philosophical, and spiritual texts as resources; d) be motivated to attend spiritual centers because of a focus on self-exploration.     

Writing Cultures,Enculturating Writing at Two Theological Schools: Mapping Rhetorics of Correlation and Liberation

Taking the theory and practice of contrastive rhetoric as a point of departure, this article identifies two rhetorical models that inform the teaching and writing of theology at two theological schools where the author directs a joint writing program. The models of correlation and liberation are drawn from the official documents and typical theological/rhetorical practices of each school, exemplified by representative student and faculty writing. In conclusion, the common ground encouraging comparative and cooperative models of writing theological culture(s) is intimated by four concluding motives that warrant wider disciplinary discussion of the rhetorics we have and those we need as religious scholars and theological educators at the beginning of the third millennium.     

Newman's Forensic Classic of Development: Its Uniqueness and Its Agon with Gibbon and Surrogates

In this article I argue for the uniqueness of The Development of Doctrine vis‐à‐vis other classic texts on doctrinal development supplied by the German theologians J.S. Drey and J.A. Möhler. Whereas the accounts of the German theologians are ‘theological’ in the strict sense, Newman's is theological only indirectly and forensic in its primary construction and execution. By ‘forensic’ I mean that the bulk of his reasoning is argumentative and intends to clear a space for thinking plausibly of the development of doctrine given other assumptions in the secular imaginary. While I make plain that in his classic text Newman is taking issue with the barriers against the idea of development from a number of religious constituencies, I suggest that in the end the enemy of enemies are religious rationalists, especially those with a historical sense largely derived from reading Edward Gibbon. Although The Development of Doctrine is an extraordinary text in so many ways, it comes to life when one understands it as Newman doing battle with Gibbon over the proper historiography of Christianity over the ages.     

Remembering Karbala in the diaspora: religious rituals among Iraqi Shii women in Ireland

Memory studies have gained much popularity in the humanities and social sciences since the 1980s. Particularly after the seminal work of Danièle Hervieu-Léger on ‘religion as a chain of memory’, discussions arose around how theories of memory can be applied in the Study of Religions. Few scholars, however, have discussed the intersection between religion, particularly Islam, and memory. In this article, the focus lies on Shii Muslim communities in Ireland, for whom remembering constitutes an important part of their identity and legitimises their particular sectarian existence within Islam in general. This article discusses Iraqi Shii women's engagement in ‘collective remembering’ (Paul Connerton, How Societies Remember, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1989; J.V. Wertsch, Voices of Collective Remembering, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002) expressed through constantly performed religious rituals and practices.     

Hare Krishna and Sanatan Dharm in Britain: The Campaign for Bhaktivedanta Manor

Bhaktivedanta Manor, the main centre for ISKCON (the ‘Hare Krishna movement') in Britain, has been under threat of closure for over ten years. The centre—which is a place of pilgrimage for many thousands of Indian Hindus in Britain—is considered by its local authority to be used inappropriately, since it does not have the required planning permission to be a place of public worship. In their view, Bhaktivedanta Manor should be used only as a theological college. ISKCON have challenged this position, and through a series of legal and political battles have tried to prevent the local authority from taking enforcement action. The campaign against closure by ISKCON demonstrates the large support this ‘new’ religion has among the Hindu population of Britain, and indeed has played an important part in developing the relationship between Hindus and the Hare Krishna movement. But the campaign also demonstrates a key point about the role of religious freedom within British law, as the series of legal challenges by ISKCON have highlighted how the right to religious worship is subject to other factors, such as planning regulations.     

On the use of the uncanny in ritual

In ‘The Future of an Illusion’, Freud suggested that religion allows a person to ‘feel at home in the uncanny’ – that unsettling interplay of suppression and memory that arises from living subject to fears and anxieties in an unpredictable world. Here, the author examines a ritual called the ‘Wild Hunt’ that occurred during her ethnographic research among contemporary Pagans to explore how uncanny encounters within religious rituals can help participants come to terms with fears and anxieties, transforming inchoate emotions stemming from trauma or dislocation. Following Otto, the author suggests that such a sense of the uncanny can be central to the power of religious ritual. These uncanny elements within religious ritual provide an illustration of how religious experiences can help participants to feel ‘at home in the uncanny’, thereby bringing together the seemingly disparate accounts of Otto and Freud on the relationship between religion and uncanny experience.     

Ritualising the Secular? Inter‐Religious Meetings in the ‘Immanent Frame‘

I take a philosophical approach and seek to address the question of inter‐religious rituals and practices with reference to what Charles Taylor has called ‘the immanent frame.’ Whilst considering the dynamics of inter‐religious or cross‐religious ritual, this article will focus mainly on the idea of rituality occurring in an immanent frame or habitus (Pierre Bourdieu). I will argue that whilst there are specific cultic rituals that need to be negotiated as part of any form of explicit inter‐rituality, there is a larger potential that is suggested by a broader anthropological vision. Moreover, an ‘immanent turn’ by religions may be the positive step towards the joint creation of meaning and practice in the public sphere.     

Heidegger’s Destruktion of Theology: ‘Primordial Faith’ and ‘Recognition’ of the Messiah

Heidegger’s phenomenology of religious life offers important insights by engaging Paul’s Epistle to the Galatians, where he distinguishes ‘Paul the Pharisee’ from ‘Paul the Christian’ in order to explicate the nature of faith in contrast to systematic theology. Neither certitude in God’s existence is primordial to Christian faith, according to Heidegger, nor is rabbinic nor theological disputation concerning God’s existence or God’s nature. Instead, what is essential to Heidegger’s phenomenology of religious life are: (1) faith as lived experience and (2) recognition of ‘the Christ’ (ho christos/ha ma?ía?). This ‘recognition’, however, requires phenomenological clarification and not philosophy of religion as traditionally construed.     

The Meaning of Pilgrimage (Hajj): Re-shaping the Pious Identity of Belgian Turkish Muslims

This article examines how Belgian Muslims of Turkish origin interact with the hajj (pilgrimage) and the meaning of the pilgrimage for Muslims living in Belgium. It focuses upon the space of pilgrimage rituals, identifies the motivations for the practice of the pilgrimage and attempts to explain how the ‘canonical meaning’ of the hajj, which is considered unchanging, is adopted in the new Belgian situation and how pilgrims regard it. The physical practice of pilgrimage constitutes an interesting area through which to depict how Belgian Muslims of Turkish origin experience the sacred journey that shapes their religious understanding and their identity. The article’s findings are based on interviews and observations in 2012 and 2014. The author visited mosques during hajj information sessions and spoke with imams, but the fieldwork was carried out among pilgrims who had visited Mecca for their hajj and ?umra..     

Maximus the Confessor and the Problem of Participation

In defining the theological problem of participation as the question of how created beings, namely human beings, can participate (μ?θεξι?) in the transcendent Uncreated God towards deification (θ?ωσι?) without a pantheistic blurring of essences, this article examines the Christologically intuitive way in which Maximus the Confessor (580–662) would have responded. Specifically, Maximus’ Cyrilline Chalcednonianism, featuring an unconfused perichoretic union between Christ's two natures in his hypostatic union, serves directly as an apologetic and hermeneutic for humanity's and creation's participation in God. In addition, taking into account the scholarly debate over Maximus’ understanding of the relationship between the Logos and the logoi, it is argued that this indirectly provides a second Christological way forward to resolve the problem at hand, particularly when the two types of logoi (that ‘of being’ and that ‘of virtue’) are correctly distinguished. Insofar as the Logos and the logoi, not to mention the notions of participation and deification, were viewed by Maximus through his Cyrilline Chalcedonian lens, his Cyrilline Chalcednonian Christology was ultimately his answer to the theological problem of participation.