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Temples of Modernity uses ethnographic data to investigate the presence of religious ideas and practices in Indian science and engineering. Geraci shows 1) how the integration of religion, science and technology undergirds pre- and post-independence Indian nationalism, 2) that traditional icons and rituals remain relevant in elite scientific communities, and 3) that transhumanist ideas now percolate within Indian visions of science and technology. This work identifies the intersection of religio...

Every day millions of Tamil women in southeast India wake up before dawn to create a kōlam, an ephemeral ritual design made with rice flour, on the thresholds of homes, businesses and temples. This thousand-year-old ritual welcomes and honors Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth and alertness, and Bhudevi, the goddess of the earth. Created by hand with great skill, artistry, and mathematical precision, the kolam disappears in a few hours, borne away by passing footsteps and hungry insects. This is th...

First published in 1909, this book presents an English translation of chapters 25-42 of the Bhishma Parva from the epic Sanskrit poem Mahabharata — better known as the Bhagavad-Gita, reckoned as one of the "Five Jewels" of Devanagari literature. The plot consists of a dialogue between Prince Arjuna and Krishna, the Supreme Deity, in a war-chariot prior to a great battle. The conversation that takes place unfolds a philosophical system which remains the prevailing Brahmanic belief, blending the d...

Samuel Vollenweider bettet die urchristliche Literatur und ihre Theologien konsequent in ihre antike Umgebung ein. Die hier behandelte Landkarte umfasst theologische Zentralthemen wie die Auferstehung Jesu und der Toten, den christologischen Monotheismus, Christi Mittlerschaft, die Anthropologie und das Weltverstandnis des Neuen Testamens. Besondere Aufmerksamkeit gilt der Theologie des Paulus, zumal dem Philipperbrief, sowie dem Stellenwert der antiken Philosophie im fruhen Christentum. Weitere...

Florian A.G. Lutzen untersucht in dieser Studie den Religionsbegriff ( din) bei Ahmad Ibn 'AGiba (gest. 1224/1809), seine Synthese von Sufitum und Theologie. Den Religionsbegriff beschreibt er insbesondere anhand der im "Gabriel-Hadith" dargestellten Ebenen: islam, iman und ihsan - Hingabe, Glaube und Vervollkommnung. Dieses Stufengebilde, von vielen Gelehrten in der spaten Phase der Islamischen Theologie (etwa 1400-1800) fur fundamental erachtet, eignet sich zum einen dazu, die Religion aus der...

Devotion is a category of expression in many of the world's religious traditions. This book looks at issues involved in academically interpreting religious devotion, as well as exploring the interpretations of religious devotion made by a sixth century poet, a twelfth century biographer, and present-day festival publics. The book focuses on the female poet-saint Karaikkal Ammaiyar, whose poetry is devotional in nature. It discusses the biography written on the poet six centuries after her life...

In this study, Teresa Morgan offers a radically new interpretation of 'in Christ'and related expressions in the undisputed letters of Paul. Starting from a reassessment of Deissmann's Die neutestamentliche Formel "in Christo Jesu", she argues that Deissmann's philology is flawed, the Schweitzerian concept of 'participation in Christ' which is indebted to it is problematic, and many contemporary accounts of participation are better understood in other terms. Through close readings of each letter,...

Alexandria was one of the main hubs of the Hellenistic world and a cultural and religious "kaleidoscope." Merchants and migrants, scientists and scholars, philosophers, and religious innovators from all over the world and from all social backgrounds came to this ancient metropolis and exchanged their goods, views, and dreams. Accordingly, Alexandria became a place where Hellenistic, Egyptian, Jewish, and early Christian identities all emerged, coexisted, influenced, and rivaled each other. In or...

In this study, Max Whitaker investigates the intriguing accounts of Jesus' resurrection appearances through the lens of Greco-Roman narratives. In both canonical and apocryphal accounts of Jesus' post-resurrection appearances, Jesus appears in an unrecognisable form to other characters, including people who knew him well just before his death. The motif of a character appearing in an unrecognisable form to people he or she knows well is one which exists in folk literature, and in Greco-Roman and...

In this book, Andrei A. Orlov examines the imagery of "inclination" or yetzer found in the Apocalypse of Abraham. He argues that the text operates with several yetzer anthropologies, some of which are reminiscent of early biblical models, while others are similar to later rabbinic notions. Although the author focuses on the traditions found in the Apocalypse of Abraham, he also treats the evolution of the yetzer symbolism in its full historical and interpretive complexity through a broad variety...

Die in diesem Band versammelten Studien Hans-Josef Klaucks zum johanneischen Schrifttum im weiteren Sinn beginnen mit einem Originalbeitrag, der den Abschnitt "Von Kana nach Kana" in Joh 2-4 als erste Missionsreise Jesu interpretiert, metaphorisch gestaltet als Hochzeitsreise, mit der Grundung der Familie Gottes als Ziel. UEberlegungen des Autors zur eschatologischen Bildersprache und zu alttestamentlichen Zitaten schliessen sich an. Die antike Rhetorik und das Thema "Liebe" kommen bei den Johan...

In Hindutva as Political Monotheism, Anustup Basu offers a genealogical study of Hindutva—Hindu right-wing nationalism—to illustrate the significance of Western anthropology and political theory to the idea of India as a Hindu nation. Connecting Nazi jurist Carl Schmitt's notion of political theology to traditional theorems of Hindu sovereignty and nationhood, Basu demonstrates how Western and Indian theorists subsumed a vast array of polytheistic, pantheistic, and henotheistic cults featuring m...