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An analysis of the biblical references mentioning the place name Gilgal indicates that they all denote a single site—namely, the cult site located east of Jericho. References to Gilgal that seemingly allude to other sites resulted either from scribal errors or from scholarly misinterpretation of the biblical text. Moreover, gilgal as a noun for a kind of settlement never appears in the Bible. Hence, the plural form gilgals sometimes used by archaeologists to designate elliptical or round sites enclosed by a massive or narrow stone wall are misleading and should best be abandoned. On the contrary, Gilgal was the exclusive name of a major Israelite cult centre located near the main road that passed from Jericho to Transjordan. The cult site operated in the pre-monarchical and monarchical periods, but ceased to function in the late monarchical period, possibly during the reign of King Josiah. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This text attempts to analyze the competition for the leadership role in the young Bábí religious community after the execution of their leader, Báb (1819–1850). With the elimination of many leaders, a small group stood out who were willing to replace the absent leader. Two preferences arose within the Babi community: forceful and pacifist. Motivated by the hunger to settle scores, supporters of the first option wanted to fight and reach the victory predicted in the Shiʻite tradition. The second option's followers, however, rejected all acts of violence, preferring to look at the Báb's texts, calling their worshipers to lofty ideals as a method of luring other people to the new religion. Presently, after the sentencing to punishment of the Prophet Báb, several people emerged among the former Shiʻites' group who made claims to authority in the community. Nevertheless, quite quickly, the main confrontation came down to a conflict between two outstanding personalities. Mírzá Yaḥyá Núrí (1831–1912), representing the radical trend of Babism, nicknamed Ṣubḥ-i Azal, was fighting for leadership with Mírzá Ḥusajn-'Alí Núrí (1817–1892), his half-brother, belonging to the peaceful Bábí party. This article describing the rivalry between two relatives for the leadership position also allows us to see the process of writing down, codifying and spreading the young Bayán religion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses the depictions of healings on the St. Honoré portal at Amiens Cathedral (post-1240) and the visual strategies by which its viewers were invited to participate in the saint's cult. I contend that the carved figures who gaze or gesture beyond the borders of the tympanum invited the active participation of a broad audience of spectators: male and female, young and old, rich and poor, clerical and lay, and disabled and hale. Moreover, I argue that by referencing both the saint's vita and more contemporary miracle accounts, the sculptures negotiated between the historical past and the Gothic present, allowing the viewers to share in the hope for a miraculous cure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Næstved Calendar (Copenhagen, Det Kongelige Bibliotek, E don. var. 52 2º), an illuminated manuscript produced at the Benedictine monastery of St Peder at Næstved (also called Skovkloster) ca. 1228-1250, is known for transmitting historical information in the form of the older Næstved annals, as well as information pertaining to various persons related to the community. However, the composition of the calendar which gives the manuscript its name has received little attention. An analysis of the feasts in the calendar reveals a strong influence from the Low Countries, more specifically the areas today covered by Belgium and Northern France, but little to none of the English and German influence usually seen as typical of high medieval Danish calendars. The article proposes two possible explanations for the calendar's composition: the influence of the Flemish and Northern French connections of the Danish elite in the Valdemar Era (1157-1241), most famously exemplified by members of the Hvide family such as Peder Sunesen (d. 1214), and Næstved's own contacts, forged through the town's position as a centre of trade. In both scenarios, the saints' presence should be seen in the context of greater mobility and increased connections with the continent in the Valdemar Era. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlighting the transformed landscape of political communities in the twenty-first century, I reexamine the discourse of civil religion (DCR). Widely recognized in religious studies and notably in American history, this concept reveals a subtle yet intricately functional framework of community consciousness within political entities. This article posits that the prevalent interpretation of civil religion, and its application across diverse contexts, falls short of effectively reflecting and utilizing the essence identified by Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Robert Bellah—classical and modern architects of civil religion, respectively. Many discussions of DCR often disregard the role of the traditional sense of religion and religiousness. Instead, they fixate on superficial symbols and rituals associated with secular institutional bodies and communities. In this article, I contend that reintegrating the ordinary sense of religion into the discourse is crucial for envisioning and constructing a new community consciousness capable of adeptly responding to the burgeoning demands of our highly multicultural world. Following the conceptual roadmap of civil religion, which seeks transcendent, sacred, and unifying narratives, symbols, and rituals, I introduce a new model termed Interfaith, Cosmopolitan Civil Religion (ICCR). Within this model, ordinary religious agents, through interfaith engagement, assume positive roles in nurturing a broader sense of community and unity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Typically, scholars view/read the enigmatic apostle Paul monolithically—that is, through either a Greco-Roman or Jewish socio-cultural lens. The traditional Lutheran (Greco-Roman/Western) lens was criticized in the mid-/late-twentieth century by scholars highlighting Paul's Jewishness—resulting in the so-called "New Perspective on Paul" and "Paul within Judaism" movements. This paradigmatic post-Shoah shift of Pauline interpretation begs the questions, "Should we abandon Greco-Roman readings of Paul?" and "Should we continue to read Philippians and Paul through a singular (Jewish) lens?" Building upon the work of Markus Bockmuehl, Abraham Malherbe et al., I argue for an "eclectic and pragmatic" approach. I explain how "monocular" (Greco-Roman or Jewish) and even "binocular" (Greco-Roman and Jewish) approaches flatten Paul's complex thought world and Sitz im Leben as an in-Christ church-planting missionary. The purpose of this study is to read Philippians and Paul "kaleidoscopically"—considering the distinct Romanitas, juxtaposed and colliding cultures, worldviews, and religions that Paul likely encountered in the cosmopolitan colonia of first-century Philippi. This article transcends the Greco-Roman/Jewish debate surrounding Paul—highlighting the literary and archaeological evidence of competing pagan, Jewish, and Pauline Christ cults in first-century Philippi—and thus encouraging scholars to read Philippians and Paul through a "kaleidoscopic" rather than a monolithic lens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of the cult of Mount Wutai was a milestone event in the history of Chinese Buddhism. Crucial in that development was a novel depiction of Mañjuśrī, believed to be transmitting the deity's "true visage" (zhenrong). While consensus suggests that the primary new aspect of that depiction is the ethnicity of the attendant for Mañjuśrī's animal vehicle, it is puzzling that the true visage of a saintly figure is defined externally, by his attendant, rather than internally, within his own stylistic or iconographic configuration. This paper critically re-evaluates arguments and evidence surrounding this issue and argues that the image of the True Visage Mañjuśrī invented at Mount Wutai has specific iconographic features in his own representation. Uncovering the heretofore neglected iconographic specificities provides a more fine-grained understanding of how visual devices contributed to the cult of Mount Wutai, while also bringing renewed thinking about the notion of auspicious images and their replication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article draws on Stefano Bigliardi's recent Cambridge University Press Element New Religious Movements and Science, which provides an historical and comparative examination of how science is conceptualized within five New Religious Movements. We analyze Bigliardi's methodology and results, and offer multiple suggestions on how scholarship on NRMs and science can be extended and deepened. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses the discovery of two Paleo-Arabic inscriptions believed to be authored by companions of the prophet Muhammad. The inscriptions provide insights into the early Islamic period and demonstrate the paleographic and orthographic features of the script. The spelling of the name of God, Allāh, in the inscriptions is analyzed, and the shapes of certain letters are examined. The article also explores the religious background of pre-Islamic Arabia, particularly the shift from polytheism to monotheism. The inscriptions challenge the notion of widespread polytheism and shed light on the prevalence of monotheism in the region. [Extracted from the article]

In popular management literature corporations are sometimes loosely compared to cults. The comparison is a severe allegation as it implies the transgression of subordinate employees' integrity. This paper explores to what extent such comparisons with cults are warranted as well as the implications this has for the practice of corporate culture management. On grounds of the author's unique, first-hand experience in both corporate and cultic environments a retrospective autoethnographic (RAE) approach was chosen to further explore the supposed resemblance. The comparison is structured along Lifton's eight criteria of thought reform and reveals that although akin to cults in all aspects corporations also fundamentally differ due to the infeasibility, at least for now, of controlling the corporate environment in totalist fashion. This might explain why so many attempts to change corporate cultures fail as these initiatives are based on the anachronistic idea that culture change can be "implemented" by somehow "inculcating" employees with "company values." A sanitized form of brainwashing that fails in the corporate environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The activities, outputs, and histories of youth organisations across a range of contexts can give us a privileged understanding of later political movements that find their roots with those youth movements. Scholars have already paid a great deal of attention to youth movements as part of totalitarian regimes, revolutionary and rebellious factions, as well as weird and wonderful cults. However, our understanding of the realities and impact of youth groups tied to minoritised language movements in Iberia remains underdeveloped and fails to reflect on the agency of youth. In the case of Catalonia – the focus of this article – a number of youth groups emerged in the delicate, and politically fraught period between Spain's disastrous defeat at hands of the United States in 1898 and the sudden rise of the Primo de Rivera dictatorship (1923–1930). Nearing the end of this timeline, the Pomells de Joventut de Catalunya (1920–1923) were one such organisation that sprung up to serve both God and Catalonia, a combination which would garner interest from the Catalan elite but also single them out for annihilation at hands of Spanish nationalism. This article seeks to disclose the history of the Pomells, their wider networks and relations to the power structures of the day, how young people made the organisation their own through small actions, and, finally, the demise and afterlives of the organisation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article explores legitimization strategies related to cultural consumption in the Czech media space by comparing the representations of cultural products in influencer communication on social media and in legacy (print and online) media outlets. Departing from the theoretical debate on the intersection of cultural omnivorousness and the emergence of algorithmic culture, the article poses the question: what strategies do influencers on social media and journalists in legacy media outlets employ to present consumption of cultural products as legitimate, interesting, and cool? Based on qualitative content analysis of 10 Instagram profiles of prominent Czech influencers and culture sections of 10 Czech legacy media, it discusses two main discursive legitimization strategies: (1) the notion of authenticity, used by social media influencers and (2) the notion of cult, used by legacy media in two distinctive ways – as (a) legendary, part of the pop cultural canon and (b) new, contemporary, part of up-to-date cultural savviness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An inscription carved on the interior corner of the north-west anta of the Temple of Artemis at Sardis records the obligations of a certain Mnesimachos in return for a loan of money he received from the temple funds. Unable or unwilling to pay his loan, Mnesimachos declared his decision to convey his estate to Artemis and accept the conditions of the contract. This estate, including villages, dwellings, and peasant-serfs, had been given to him by King Antigonos Monophthalmos around 300 bce. The present work attempts to focus on the sequence of events in Mnesimachos' life and their relation to the history and architecture of this important temple. The new reading of these events as a result of the last two decades or excavations at Sardis offers us a synthetic understanding of the Hellenistic history of the city and an insight into Mnesimachos' willingness to forgo his estate in a financial deal that ultimately tricks the goddess. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The religious veneration of Bharat Mata began with the three temples honouring her in the Hindu pilgrimage sites of Varanasi, Haridwar, and Ujjain. They symbolise the nation by anthropomorphising the territory and establish the relationship between nation-divine and its citizen-devotee through 'darshan' wherein the latter is imbued with feelings of patriotism. By studying the narratives emerging from these spaces, referred to as temple publics, it has been argued that they are reflective of majoritarian politics, where the aim is to construct a new religion called nationalism, with Bharat Mata at its helm and a set of rituals and unique traditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyzes how the philosopher Alain Badiou describes a process invented by Lacan, la passe , the pass—a procedure for deciding whether or not to admit to his student analysands about to complete their analysis. By deconstructing Badiou's text, the author shows how the philosopher ascribes a sacramental presupposition to the pass, understood as a Catholic sacrament or mystical mystery. The author criticises a kind of dogmatic worship of psychoanalysis into which many philosophers fall, and shows how this uncritical belief in the sacramental effectiveness of psychoanalysis—and the cult of Freud's work as a Revelation—fails to help psychoanalysis to improve in any way, but rather shuts it down in a narcissistic self-satisfaction. Instead, psychoanalysis lives of its own deconstruction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article introduces the special section Comparative X: Religious and Gendered Transitions, linking the experiences of religious exes and transgender people through their mutual and different uses of "X" to mark liminal identity and status. Reframing religious disaffiliation through the lens of transition, the article presses on the overlap and intersection of religious and gendered movements to connect these different but related crossings as Xes. Through this crossed and comparative framework, it offers a way of looking at the norming systems of religion and gender together through the movements of those who cross them. Expanding comparative studies in religion through the interfaithless, it introduces comparative ex-religious studies as a new subfield. Drawing on the literature of religious disaffiliation and queer and transgender studies in religion, the article considers how changing the orientation through which we approach religion from its Xes might lead to a better understanding of how the normative structures of "religion" and "gender" shape one another transitively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

QAnon is beginning to gain attention in scholarly circles, but these sources often disagree about how to categorize the movement. This amounts to the meta-dispute between those who view QAnon primarily as a religious "cult," and those who grant it greater credibility as a political populist movement. Using quantitative and qualitative methods we test the proposition that QAnon could be a mix of both. Results from both analyses suggest that QAnon is best understood primarily as a political populist movement, but one that utilizes religious rhetoric. The findings thus highlight the asymmetric nature of the conflation of religion and politics in the contemporary American civil sphere. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This document titled "Spiritual Elasticity and Crisis: From Non-Religiosity to Transreligiosity—An Introduction" explores the concept of spiritual elasticity in response to crises. It discusses how contemporary religiosity can adapt and transform during times of crises, including non-denominational and New Age spirituality. The document identifies four levels of elasticity: high elasticity, low elasticity, hyperelasticity, and inelasticity, and highlights the importance of understanding these varying degrees of elasticity in spirituality to gain insights into how individuals and communities respond to crises. The text also discusses the concept of transreligiosity, the crossing of boundaries between different religious and spiritual beliefs and practices, and its relationship to the secular. It suggests that there is a growing interest in personalized and decentralized forms of religiosity and calls for further research in this area. Additionally, the text explores the relationship between transreligiosity and wellbeing, emphasizing the adaptability and negotiation involved in transreligious practices. [Extracted from the article]

This article explores Maurice Blondel's (1861–1949) later notion of the "cycloid" of thought, particularly as this helps us to understand his earlier work L'Action (1893). The aim is to demonstrate how Blondel incorporates aspects of the Christian faith, particularly the Eucharist, into his philosophy without abrogating his "method of immanence". In particular, the article shows how Blondel saw attention to the Christian spirit as essential to the development of a metaphysics that attends both to finite actions and to the action of God, actus purus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Emerging in 1917 amidst the anxieties of World War I, the Cult of Our Lady of Fátima began with a vision witnessed by three shepherd children in rural Portugal. News of the apparition quickly spread, drawing hundreds, then thousands of pilgrims to the Cova da Iria. This potent symbol of faith soon transcended its origin, migrating in the form of venerated statues and dedicated shrines that sprouted across the globe. Particularly intertwined with Portuguese emigration, the cult's reach extended to former colonies in Africa and Asia ("Ultramar") and distant communities like Brazil. Statues of Our Lady became beacons of familiarity and solace, offering "homes away from home" for displaced populations. This essay focuses on the discourses surrounding the cult between the early 1930s and 1950s, exploring how Fátima served as a focal point for navigating the social, political, and cultural conflicts inherent in the emigration experience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The passage of marriage equality via the Marriage Amendment (Definition and Religious Freedoms) Act 2017 ushered in a new era for religion and politics in Australia. The polarised public debate that was provoked in the lead-up to the legislation continued and only served to entrench the perceived incompatibility of religious freedom and LGBTIQ+ rights. The articles in this Symposium responding to these developments were first presented as works-in-progress at a Macquarie University workshop on 'Religion and Politics after Marriage Equality'. In the Introduction to this Symposium, we briefly outline the history and context of the religious freedom debate that crystalised after 2017 to introduce the three interdisciplinary articles that follow, each offering a unique perspective on the public, political, and highly personal controversies that accompanied this momentous change. Together these articles seek to enhance our understanding of how the discourse of religious freedom is being wielded for political gain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the decline of the fraternity of St. George in Nottingham between 1459 and 1546. It uses the guild's accounts in conjunction with Nottingham's rich surviving documentary materials to investigate the financial management of the fraternity by its officers. It argues that the officers were adept at negotiating shifting economic conditions by switching between various revenue streams. However, this adroit management did not stem the tide of membership decline. It discusses the role of religious reform in the guild's ultimate demise. It investigates why the decline in membership started long before any moves towards state-sponsored religious reform in the 1540s. It examines the impact of key individuals upon the guild's history. It argues that, for a more nuanced view of the decline of fraternal organizations in this period, a recognition of individuals' impact upon institutions needs to be incorporated into our understanding of institutions' influences upon the economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the prophecy of Zephaniah, the fate of Judah and that of foreign nations in the purposes of God are intertwined, both in regard to judgement and salvation. Judah needs to learn from God's dealings with the nations. God's verdict and judgement on the nations (1.14–18; 2.4–15) are lessons for sinful Jerusalem, which is under the same threat (2.1–3; 3.1–8). Likewise, but more positively, and this is the focus of the present article, cultic unfaithfulness in contemporary Judah (1.4–6) is set in contrast to the prospect of future cultic devotion to Y hwh by the nations of the world (2.11b; 3.9–10). The prediction of God's favourable dealings with the nations of the world is a salutary lesson to the Judahites and should motivate them to reform the cult and faithfully serve Y hwh. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scholars who study the Northern Kingdom of Israel repeatedly refer to it as a centralised state or kingdom and often take a neo-evolutionary approach in their assessments of its character. This paper argues for a different approach, one in which the agency of northern Israelite actors/taxpayers and their intricate kinship-based networks are highlighted. It applies collective action theory, which states that rational social actors cooperate with rulers, and the patrimonial household model, which states that social order is viewed as the extension of the ruler's (and god's) household, to an analysis of administration and cult in northern Israel during the Iron II. It argues that the Omrides benefited from taxpayer cooperation and a reliance on complex kin-based systems. The same can be said for the Nimshides who, it is suggested, were operating within an even less centralised system than their predecessors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Radochowska Cave is known primarily from the find of a cave bear skull, intended to be placed intentionally by Palaeolithic hunters in a 'stone cage'. This find was supposed to be proof of the existence of the cult of bear hunters at this site. Critical analysis did not give a clear answer to its occurrence or a clear negation of this phenomenon. Research is not facilitated by the fact that a large part of the collection was lost after World War II. The found part, especially numerously represented by predatory mammals, made it possible to verify the old lists of fauna and extend them with a number of new species, often unknown from the Polish Sudetes, such as Cuon alpinus europaeus or Panthera pardus. The analysis showed the presence of two main faunistic associations. The older one, dated to MIS 3, is represented by a number of cold-loving forms. Remains of Holocene species and those from the very end of the last glaciation represent the second faunal assemblage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explains the public engagement of the Catholic Church in Poland in the post-Communist period (from 1989 to approximately 2015) as a symbolic challenge to the state. It draws on Simon Harrison's theory of symbolic conflicts—conflicts over symbolic capital—applied to power struggles involving religious actors in contemporary political systems. The Polish Church engaged in a valuation contest against the state in which it tried to champion its own religious interpretation of several key elements of Polish statehood and national identity using items from its own symbolic arsenal, including the notion of Pole-Catholic and an emphasis on the Christian origins of Poland. Similarly, by solemnizing state ceremonies with religious symbolism and politicizing the cult of religious figures, the Church sought to sacralize the public sphere. Although these challenges to the symbolic inventory of the state have not led to its total replacement by a competing set of religious symbols, the series of low-intensity conflicts generated a considerable amount of symbolic capital for the Church and contributed to maintaining its authority as a value-based public actor. This, ultimately, helped in sustaining the Church's political leverage throughout most of the post-1989 period, well into the second decade of the twenty-first century. It is only in the last few years that the Church's support for a more stringent abortion law, the scandals connected with sexual abuse by the clergy and its concealment by the hierarchy, and questions over Pope John Paul II's moral integrity have considerably harmed its public image. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article I explore hagiographical narratives about Khwāja Yaḥyā Kabīr (d. 1430), among the earliest of the Sufi masters to be identified as Afghan. The social memory of Yaḥyā Kabīr's life exemplifies the function of hagiography as a key arena for the production of historical knowledge, generating a vivid and specific imaginary of the past for devotees. My goal here is to present a reading of the hagiography, but first I will situate it within the discursive nexus of Persian historical writing, which often essentialized Afghans as innately barbarous while peripheralizing Afghan homelands (identified with the Sulaiman Mountains). Yaḥyā Kabīr's hagiography is both reflective of Indo-Afghan anxieties about social hierarchies and a device by which marginalizing traditions could be subverted through a highly textured portrayal of the past. As such, it exemplifies how saints' lives can index not only the hierarchies of imperial life, but also the techniques by which to escape them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The River God cult held a significant place in state rituals in imperial China. While scholars have primarily focused on the evolution of the River God sacrificial system, with its interplay of the official granting of noble titles and popular beliefs, this paper offers a further examination of the River God cult. By reading the "Stele of the (Shrine) Temple for the River God honored as the Duke of Numinous Source" (hedushen lingyuangong cimiao bei 河瀆神靈源公祠廟碑), created in the Tang Dynasty, this study explores the interactive relationship between the River God cult and state power in the Hezhong 河中area during that time period. We contend that the traditional River God cult and the participation of both officials and civilians in common rituals throughout past dynasties not only created a concentration of historical memories and reverent emotions but also established a strong social foundation for belief in the River God within the Hezhong region. This cult attracted both state endorsement and popular support. Thus, Guo Ziyi 郭子儀 (697–781), a famous military general in the Tang Dynasty, sought to renovate a temple and erect a monument for the River God. This monument was to serve as a cultural symbol that would strengthen the connection between the state and the local community, and hence ease the social tensions in the Hezhong area after the An Lushan Rebellion. In sum, such a construction would enhance the psychological and cultural identity of the people with both the mandate of heaven and the Tang imperial authority. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses a unique miniature in a fifteenth-century Ashkenazi Passover Haggadah. The image represents a young woman holding an open book at a spread Seder table at the opening words of the Maggid, the narrative part of the Haggadah. The image of the woman is reminiscent of Christian representations of female patrons, saints, and the Virgin Mary herself. Having demonstrated this similarity, this article attempts to explain it by exploring to what degree the concept of the 'ideal woman' was shared in Jewish and Christian cultures. Since the lady in the Haggadah is clearly interacting with a book, the article also surveys textual evidence of female education in medieval Ashkenaz and women's participation in religious rituals, to examine to what degree portraying the lady this way could reflect the reality of fifteenth-century Ashkenaz. The findings suggest that the authorship of the Haggadah may have deliberately drawn a visual parallel between the lady in the Haggadah and the Virgin Mary in order to challenge the latter's unique position in Christianity and counterweight her ever-growing cult. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In cuneiform culture the New Year Festival was an important ritual of kingship. The most fundamental source for the reconstruction of this festival is a small corpus of cuneiform ritual texts that describe the ritual actions and prayers to be performed during the first days of the year. Those texts were written by Babylonian priests during the Persian‐Hellenistic period (484–140 BCE), when Babylonia had come under foreign rule. Why were these ritual texts outlining a royal ritual created at a time when Babylonia was governed by foreign rulers, who had little interest in Babylonian religious traditions? Why write down rituals at all? In this paper, I show how these New Year Festival texts are programmatic more than instructional, as they give shape to a new ritual paradigm in which Babylonian priests, not kings, are the central authority of the cult. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tenrikyō, one of Japan's oldest "new religions," remains one of the archipelago's most fascinating, yet most understudied religious organizations within English‐language scholarship. Since its founding in 1838, the group has undergone multiple radical transformations as it has negotiated its place within Japanese society and the fluctuating place of religion therein. Once a rural group of relative outcasts drawn by the healing powers of its foundress, the group became a vital arm of Japanese colonial expansion through missionary work as a Shinto sect in the decades after her death. Since the promulgation of the country's postwar constitution, the movement once again asserted its independence, refocused itself on public service and the teachings of its foundress, and has grown into a complex, transnational religious organization with multiple generations of followers across no fewer than 15 countries. This essay provides a brief overview of the movement's development with particular focus on its history of global expansion and the growth of its cultural institutions. It aims to provide a balanced introduction to the movement by critically reviewing sources and materials produced by non‐members, members, scholars from Tenri University (part of Tenrikyō's secular mission), and the movement's own institutions alike. It offers avenues for potential future research on the movement, paying special attention to diaspora, the formalization of its cultural identity, and its development beyond Japan's borders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Reformation has mostly been present since the second half of the 18th century in Vojvodina. In this area, the history of the predominantly reformed settlements, their own communities, and their congregations has already been more or less researched. In Vojvodina, the Reformation does not live in a block, but in a relatively dispersed manner. In addition, among the reformed church districts in the Carpathian Basin, the Serbian Reformed Christian Church is still one of the smallest church communities with its twelve thousand souls approximately. This was the southern bastion of European Protestantism, where even the reformers had to fight a huge battle against the opponents of the Lutheran and Calvinist doctrines, especially against the Orthodox Church. Despite the difficulties, many reformed churches were established. However, about a hundred years later, in the second half of the 19th century, the reformed ministers of Vojvodina were already intolerant towards the members of the new Protestant religious movements. There were hardly any exceptions in their circles. The article aims to present the conditions of the time and the state of religious freedom in Vojvodina through the thoughts of a progressive 19th century reformed minister. He does this by pointing out the difficult situation of the historic Protestant churches, the role, importance and challenges of the internal mission in parallel with the spread of the rapidly spreading neo-Protestant trends. The question arises as to how a responsible pastor can maintain the basic theological teaching of his own church while being open to adopting the missionary methods of small religious communities classified as sects at the time. Can we discover a kind of early ecumenical approach in this openness, or is the situation different? The author tries to answer these questions with the help of numerous contemporary sources, archival materials, newspaper articles and minutes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The spread of Islam to the South Asian region of Kashmir and its role in shaping the socio-religious and political contours in the region is a highly charged debate in academic as well as popular circles. This article examines the early modern debates about the vegetarian food practices of a sixteenth-century Sufi saint of Kashmir, Baba Hyder Rishi (b. 1504) and contemporary debates around the modern cult mainly centered around his shrine in the Anantnag (locally known as Islamabad) town of south Kashmir. It is divided into two parts; the first focuses on debates during the saint's own lifetime and the second analyses modern debates about what has by now emerged as a cult around the saint's shrine. We begin with a critical re-evaluation of the wide-spread notion that the saint's practice of vegetarianism was, much like his predecessors in the local Rīshī Sufi order, grounded in local Buddhist-Hindu customs and thus exemplifies the syncretic nature of Islam in Kashmir. Instead, we argue that both the defence and contestation of the saint's practice as well its modern cult was and continues to be located within the Islamic tradition itself. We use this discussion for a critical reflection on the widely prevalent idea of religious syncretism in Kashmir and the over-simplified and ahistorical view of Islam as a monolith, and then explore the possibility of using Islamic 'multiplicity' as an alternate analytical category. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Byzantine religious architecture of Cilicia presents strongly regional characteristics. This region possesses a rich architectural heritage from the Late Antique period, and various plan practices can be found here. The most commonly seen of them is the basilica plan scheme, where apses are closed off by a straight wall from the east, which also reflects the cultural connection with Syria. However, another notable plan scheme, almost exclusively found in the Cilicia Region, features spaces connected to the naves to the east of the main apses. The apsidal spaces to the east of the church are connected to each other by a corridor. The first researchers that studied the region merely described the overall status regarding this peculiar spatial design of Cilicia. However, they failed to suggest a definite function. It is observed that these spaces to the east of the apsis are associated holistically with tombs and/or the cult of saints toward the end of the twentieth century. Having a basilica plan directly associated with the cult of saints thanks to the sacred cave underneath, the Saint Thecla Church draws attention as the strongest basis for this argument. It seems that the spatial setup in the Church's eastern part gave rise to the association of the cult are in the cave with this section. South Church in Yanıkhan represents another strong argument as it certainly hosts a martyrion as seen from the epigraph inscribed onto the lintel above the church's main gate. The domed square unit, which is allegedly situated to the east of the two interconnected apsidal spaces to the east of the church, is characterized directly as a martyrion. However, the architectural data of the two buildings have to be reviewed and the other regional buildings, to which functions are ascribed on the basis these two buildings, have to be discussed. These spaces, often associated with tombs and/or the cult of saints, constitute the main subject of this study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Together with Procopius' other texts; namely "Wars" and "Secret History", "Buildings" is one of the principal sources for writing the history of the reign of the emperor Justinian (527-565). "Buildings" is a panegyric and conforms to literary conventions. Procopius portrays Justinian as a powerful patron who expanded and transformed the empire, and ended the schism in Christianity by uniting the Church. The first book of Buildings is dedicated to Constantinople and focuses on the churches of the imperial capital. In the second book, Procopius focuses on Mesopotamia and Syria. He starts with Dara and devotes a passage even longer than the one he wrote on Hagia Sophia in Constantinople. When he wrote Buildings, the discussions about Christology were as pressing as the wars with Persians, and Mesopotamia and Syria were the main centers of Syriac miaphysite Christianity. Procopius rarely mentions the churches in this book on the eastern frontier and he never talks about the miaphysites. Northern Mesopotamia is an important frontier and it may seem only natural that Procopius chose to focus on fortifications to depict a strong frontier. This article argues that while avoiding tackling the Christological disputes of the day, Procopius gave implicit references related to the unity of the Church by employing some literary devices and suggests that some buildings that Procopius neglected may have pointed to the division in the Church. Procopius dedicates a long section to the Church of Sts. Sergius and Bacchus in Constantinople which has been claimed was built in the Hormisdas Palace for the miaphysite refugees and compares it with the Church of Sts. Peter and Paul, which had relics of these saints received from the Pope in Rome. His narration can potentially be interpreted as a reference to the unity of the Church. While discussing Procopius' preferences in choosing his material and treatment, this article shows the potential of analysing the many layers of his texts and reads the "Buildings" in a new light in relation to the miaphysites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When applied to Pentecostalism in Zimbabwe, the concept of cultural hybridity provides a framework for understanding how global religious movements can adapt to and incorporate local cultural elements. This process results in a unique form of religious expression characterised by convergence and syncretism, reflecting cultural and religious identity's dynamic and fluid nature. This hybridity in religious practice is a testament to the ongoing, interactive cultural exchange and adaptation process. This article delves into the intricate cultural hybridity, convergence, glocalisation and syncretic tendencies within the characteristic features of New Religious Movements (NRMs) in Harare, Zimbabwe, illuminating their multifaceted role in addressing spiritual and material needs. Through a comprehensive exploration of selected NRMs that emerged from the Catholic Church in Zimbabwe, including Prophetic Healing and Deliverance Ministries and Grace Oasis Ministries, this article unravels the central role of prophets and pastors in shaping the fundamental ethos of these religious entities. A striking and thought-provoking parallel emerges between the hallmark features of these NRMs and the tenets of African Traditional Religion and many other religious traditions. This parallel extends to practices such as exorcism, worship, healing, and deliverance, thus manifesting a profound form of religious expression informed by cultural hybridity, convergence, syncretism, and glocalisation. While there are ambiguities around scholarly debates on the definition of these terms, the article delves deep into the intricate religious elements embedded within the NRMs' characteristic features, such as hymns, modes of worship, healing rituals, and deliverance ceremonies. These elements are tangible manifestations of their unique position at the crossroads of diverse belief systems. The cultural hybridity, convergence, syncretism, and glocalisation tendencies within NRMs offer gateways to invaluable networks, fostering social cohesion and the sharing of critical information. Consequently, these characteristics have become instrumental in the holistic development of individuals and communities within the vibrant religious landscape of Harare. Thus, this article provides profound insights into the nuanced dynamics of NRMs in Zimbabwe, shedding light on their various dimensions. It contributes substantially to our comprehension of the intricate interplay between spirituality, material prosperity, and the rich tapestry of religious traditions in Harare and the broader context of religious studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The health/salvation nexus can be better understood if analyzed through the transformations that have affected the social relationship with the sacred in Western society. These changes have caused relevant implications concerning the sphere of "ultimate meaning", in the words of Peter Berger. Today, we are witnessing a weakening of legitimized "theodicies" capable of promising—according to Max Weber—salvation and guaranteeing "just equalization", that is, compensation or metaphysical condemnation for worldly conduct. However, this occurs to different extents depending on whether we are in the field of Western religions or new forms of spirituality. Medicine deserves a separate discussion. The hypothesis is that the health/salvation nexus leans towards salvation in the case of Western religions; towards health in the case of medicine; and, in the case of new forms of spirituality it leans neither exactly towards health nor exactly towards salvation: new forms of spirituality promise more than the achievement of health, but less than the achievement of salvation. Ultimately, the health/salvation nexus is structured differently depending on how much Western religions, new forms of spirituality and medicine are able to respond, more or less effectively, to the questions of "theodicy" and of "ultimate meaning". I use the term of "theodicy" in the way Max Weber and Peter Berger conceived it: therefore, this concept can also be usefully applied to non-theistic and secular worldviews. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Books are complex objects. They have an undeniable material dimension, because they are artifacts characterized by a refined technology that has evolved over the centuries, and at the same time, they are vectors of intellectual products, consisting of the work(s) that they convey. However, books may also have a third dimension, since they embody the sacrality of a cult, belong to a performing rite, are offered to god(s) for the salvation of a soul, etc. Therefore, they incorporate an intrinsic sacredness for the simple reasons that they contain certain texts and are used on certain occasions to perform a certain rite. This paper explores the sacred aspect of Coptic codices and their third dimension, analyzing in particular the special case of books buried with a deceased person. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article redacts certain sections of the author's recent book on Maharishi Mahesh Yogi and the Transcendental Meditation (TM) movement. Specifically, it offers an updated overview—based on earlier studies—of the TM movement's development and what led to its enormous success, while also providing analysis of the movement using metrics gleaned from the academic study of new religious movements. The author places primary attention on assessing whether or not TM and its attendant philosophy constitutes a religion, and, based primarily on metrics offered by Bainbridge and Stark, argues that it is not only a religion but a variety of Neo‐Hinduism. Attention is also given to the TM movement's deep appeal for the youth culture of the 1960s. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This book review discusses "The cult of Stephen in Jerusalem: Inventing a patron martyr" by Hugo Méndez. The book explores the origins and development of the cult of St. Stephen in Jerusalem between 350 and 500. Méndez examines the earliest dates for Stephen's feast, the veneration of his relics, and the introduction of new feasts in Jerusalem after the discovery of his relics. The book also discusses the basilica built in honor of St. Stephen by Eudocia, the wife of Emperor Theodosius II. While the book provides valuable insights, the reviewer raises some critical points regarding the actions of John II and the significance of Stephen compared to other saints in Jerusalem. Overall, the book offers a fascinating exploration of the cult of St. Stephen in late antique Jerusalem. [Extracted from the article]

The question of the Most High God is very difficult to address from many points of view. First, because of the disproportionality of ancient sources.Mostsources areepigraphicin nature, including simple dedications orthose resulting from a covenant, and contain rather little information that can be addressed in detail. The literary sources are four in number and raise serious problems of interpretation. The numismatic ones are completely missing from the context in the case of Hypsistos. Moreover, the way the subject has been treated in modern historiography, especially in relation to pagan sympathisers or God-fearers orbiting around the synagogue environment, makes this sensitive issue even more cautious. Finally, the perception itself of the identity of this Most High god, as well as the typology of the cult, its potential unitary character is another thorny issue. Two of the epigraphs discovered in the Lycian town of Oinoanda, that of Chromatis and the oracularresponse of Apollo of Claros, are, we believe, a very good starting point for clarifying some of theimagological aspects of this abstract and anonymous god. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article brings to the attention of both specialists and the general public two clay artifacts, quasi-conical, provided with holes and perforations, discovered in the Precucuteni II-III settlement at Isaiia-Balta Popii, Iasi County. Although objects with similar characteristics are rather rare, the authors have managed to find a few nearly exact analogies. This is all the more surprising as the analogies come from various Neolithic and Eneolithic cultural contexts in Central and Southeastern Europe, giving this object an archetypal character. Establishing its functionality, however, proved to be much more challenging, leading many archaeologists who discovered or approached similar artifacts to easily place them in the somewhat ambiguous sphere of symbolism and cult. Although this interpretation cannot be categorically ruled out, there are arguments supporting a surprising utilitarian functionality, albeit situated, in a sense, within the realm of prehistoric spirituality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Can strategists reduce the adversary's capability or will to fight through militarily inspired awe? While strategic and emotion theories suggest an affirmative answer, evidence from strategic history indicates awe does not work well in practice. Historically, military power has only inspired awe on a limited scale, unreliably, disparately and not repeatedly. Furthermore, the emotion does not translate into favourable strategic effects because of the fluid emotional landscape which characterizes combat and politics. These findings question the wisdom of relying on awe in strategic practice but also hold implications for the extant and future strategic thought, particularly the emotion centric one. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sometimes, all that remains from the history of a place is its name. Thus, toponyms may provide valuable information. Moving backward in time, we trace the ancient history of the Arab/Crusader village Bēt ˁAṭab in western Judea, with remains from Middle-Bronze II (MB II), Iron III and Hellenistic periods. In Roman times it was Eusebius' Ēnadab, 'Spring of ˁaṭab', identified near the spring of this name mentioned in the Survey of Western Palestine. While missing from Masoretic Biblical town lists, Tatami of the Septuagint derives by dropping the b- from reconstructed batˁaṭami, traced to Northwest Semitic languages exhibiting the ay>ā diphthong contraction. The MB II final -i is analysed as an enclitic -mi, found also in the Execration Text (ET) Shechem, and as enclitic -ma in personal names from Alalaḫ VII. The 'prince' of nearby ET 'Ashnah (=Beth Shemesh) had an identical name as later Niqmi-epuh, King of Yamḫad, suggesting settlers from Yamḫad/Alalaḫ during the early 2nd millennium bce. In Bronze Age Bēt-X toponyms X was a deity. Thus, batˁaṭami = 'place of the vulture-goddess shrine'. This, and additional evidence, suggest that Egyptian king Senwosret III could have set a shrine to goddess Nekhbet on Bēt ˁAṭab's summit during his Shechem campaign. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]