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The Kingdom of God: A modern agenda for pastoral integration When Edwards in The History of the Work of Redemption wrote about the Kingdom of Light (WJE 9:318), he was introducing a new way of understanding the Kingdom which highlighted its modern, Enlightenment credentials. 5 Edwards asserted just the same when commenting in his Blank Bible on Matthew 21:43: "By this it is evident that when Christ speaks of the kingdom of heaven as at hand, and of there being some there that shall not taste of death till they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom, and the like, there is no need to understand him of that coming of his that shall be at the end of the world, which is spoken of in the twenty-fourth and twenty-fifth chapters. Rhys Bezzant Ridley College Melbourne Jonathan Edwards Center Australia Eighteenth-century revivalism served both disruption and order. We note also how often Edwards described the Kingdom of God not just in terms of the Kingdom of Christ, but with yet more specificity the Kingdom of Christ the Messiah, or the Kingdom of Christ the Mediator. [Extracted from the article]

One of the most important and heated discussions of these days is to keep dogs as pets because Muslims differ from those in Western societies on the subject. The topic is also a controversial issue among contemporary Muslims themselves. Searching in GoGua or YouTube will show that there are hundreds of articles written in and videos uploaded on the topic. The primary objective of this study is to reconcile the opposing viewpoints of anti-dogs and pro-dogs on the permissibility or otherwise of maintaining a guard dog. It will also deal with Islamic rulings on touching dogs and praying in places where dogs pass, and purifying a dog of impurity by other means such as, after ablution, buying and selling, and killing dogs with soap instead of soil. This study will be conducted by collecting objectives for real guiding principles in Islam such as the Noble Qur’an and hadiths and exploring the viewpoint of Muslim scholars. Access to library material books, Islamic magazines and manuscripts will be provided. The study reveals that there is a viewpoint among Islamic scholars regarding dogs as Muslim. It is permissible to own a dog for a purpose, but to ensure that the dog has a private space that does not interfere with human living spaces. It recommends that one be careful not to come into contact with the dog's saliva. It concludes that Muslims should not let their misunderstanding of dogs lead them to neglect, abuse, or harm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A personal narrative is presented which explores the author's experience of Izala Movement in Nigeria.

The subject of agnosticism about the existence of God has emerged in many of the major conversations within analytic philosophy of religion, such as the debate on the nature of evidence for and against religious beliefs. In this article, I outline a map of the debate on agnosticism in religious epistemology—especially in relation to evidentialism—highlighting the significance of the problem of the ambiguity of evidence and connecting said problem to discussions of religious language and peer disagreement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article traces the motives and reasoning of several national Evangelical Alliances (EAs) in Europe in establishing the European Evangelical Alliance (EEA), that are predominantly theologically and partially culturally driven. Topics include examines that British EA had been the coordinating body of the World Evangelical Alliance (WEA) since the British EA's beginnings in 1846; and considered that research on the history of the evangelical alliances focus on the nineteenth century.

Baptists have played an important role in the discourse on religious freedom from the time of their emergence in Britain in the seventeenth century. Since then, their advocacy for religious freedom has been climacteric in other contexts beyond the shores of Great Britain. As a result, the arrival of Baptists to a conformist Lutheran state church context in nineteenth-century Norway posed a challenge to the prevalent religious homogeneity in the society and championed the debate on religious liberty for non-Lutherans. My article therefore draws attention to the journey of the Baptists in accomplishing the goal of extensive religious liberty in Norway and the processes involved within that. This article focuses particularly on the years 1877-1891, illustrating how controversies arose due to the disapproval of Baptists towards religious coercion and discrimination during that period, the legislative aftermath of this and the law which became a part of their witness for justice and religious equity in the late nineteenth century. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The role of regenerate men and women in the church remains an ongoing, intensely-debated subject within evangelical faith communities. The preceding also includes the narrower issue of church services involving the dynamic relational tension between the genders centred around ecclesial hierarchy and subordination. Pivotal to the preceding disputation is Paul's discourse in 1 Corinthians 11:2-16 and 14:33b-36 regarding male and female believers in congregational gatherings. My disquisition takes a renewed look at these two passages to discern what they do and do not teach on the topic mentioned above. A key premise is that when these texts are examined within the context of their first-century AD, Greco-Roman setting, Paul taught Christians to observe common cultural conventions of the time regarding the practice of wearing head coverings and maintaining decorum within public worship. A corresponding premise is that the apostle was not mandating a corporate practice that is directly applicable to 21st-century believers, regardless of whether they reside in the global north or the majority world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines attitudes evidenced in pre-imperial and Han sources (ritual compendia, historical chronicles, legal codes, administrative texts, and philosophical literature) towards visually repulsive individuals, in particular those who have undergone a penal mutilation. We start from the perception of bodily harm in the light of legal and ritual norms and the moral imperative of physical integrity, and then set out to analyze the concrete outcomes of mutilation visited upon certain kinds of offenders. Finally, we focus on three stories in the Zhuangzi , whose imaginary dialogues illustrate the way their authors try to change the social perception of outcasts in a context that was clearly adverse to their possible rehabilitation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the last decade Kenya has been seeing a lively debate over the regulation of its ever-expanding religious market and demands for a new 'Churches Law'. Tales of hypocritical abuse of power and of emerging cults coalesced with security concerns regarding religious extremism, leading to the proposal to tighten regulatory control over the religious market, which expanded rapidly since the 1990s. Despite widespread recognition of the problem, new legislative steps have failed so far, notably even leading to a controversial 2014 moratorium on the registration of new religious denominations. This article analyzes this legislative impasse and offers an explanation in terms of the ambivalent yet symbiotic relations between religion and state in Kenya. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article aims to examine the contemporary presence of religions in the Brazilian public space, having as its axis of debate in this process the Religious Teaching. In this aspect, it is in dialogue with the secular dimension of educational establishments, specifically public, questioning the relevance or not of the discipline in question in them and emphasizes, along the way, reflections that can broaden this discussion, especially with the curriculum. Thus, it is assumed that the current Religious Teaching curriculum advocates the sociability of the discipline as it suggests that it promotes the development of teaching-learning mechanisms in which the human being turns to the memory of his own culture, returning, consequently, his search for the understanding of symbolic and diversified foundations that are present in this. It is understood that the Religious Teaching requests integrated action inside and outside the school environment, with an interdisciplinary proposal involved by the relationship between religion, science, culture and society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present work investigates how the orisha Ogum, worshiped in religions of African origin, is represented in three songs by rappers Criolo and Emicida, according to the context in which the divinity is inserted and how it is re-signified through language Rap. In order to reach a satisfactory understanding, a brief history was made about the influence of Afro music in Brazil, as well as how it was influenced by religiously African origin. Content Analysis was used as a methodological tool, guided by the studies of Lawrence Bardin (2016), which enabled the survey of categories and through this analysis it was possible to verify that the presence of Ogum in the musical compositions of Criolo and Emicida shows Afro knowledge religious, but in a different way compared to the terreiros and contributes to the debate on religious intolerance and black resistance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Paternalism was exerted by American missionaries towards local Christians; patriarchy emanated from American men towards Syrian and American women, but also from Syrian men towards the women of their own communities. By creatively using both mission and university archives, and reading against the grain sources produced by Arabic-speaking Christians and international missionaries, Womack highlights the contribution of local Protestants to the Nahda. It is the merit of Deanna Womack's meticulously researched and compellingly argued book Protestants, Gender and the Arab Renaissance in Late Ottoman Syria, which is based on her dissertation, that it gives voice to a range of new and hithertho understudied personalities, particularly Syrian women. [Extracted from the article]

The paper analyses the emic conceptualisations of "religious identity" among the users of two online Catholic forums in Poland, dyskusje.katolik.pl and forum.wiara.pl, with the use of computer-mediated discourse analysis (CMDA). This study aims to contribute to the debates on online religious identity construction, in particular within heteronomous and/or contentious communities (Abdel-Fadil, 2017 ; Davidson & Farquhar, 2014 ; Kimmons et al., 2017). The paper argues that religious identity on the forums has an individual and collective dimension, and that the fillings of the term "religious identity" often involve non-verbatim, covert references to religion and faith, which makes them similar to a division into "us" vs. "them." It will be argued that the mediatised religious identities of forum users, while flexible and transformable, are also grounded in non-media contexts, for instance a church or a religious community, or a certain understanding of religion and religiosity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses that Shimon Gershon Rosenberg (1949–2007), known as Rav Shagar, was one of the most unique and original thinkers in Modern Orthodoxy of our time. Topics discussed include his thought spread through his books and articles, through his teaching in various institutions, and by his influential students has had a deep influence on religious discourse in Israel; and he majorly influenced the Religious Zionist community to which he belonged.

Copyright of Hipogrifo: revista de literatura y cultura del siglo de oro is the property of Hipogrifo: revista de literatura y cultura del siglo de oro and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Henry Care and Roger L' Estrange fought a bitter battle in the public press in Restoration England. Exploring the ways in which each employed the writings and reputation of Desiderius Erasmus provides insight into the deep fault lines dividing English society in the decade from 1678 to 1688. Their divergent uses of Erasmus demonstrate how late-seventeenth-century interpretations of the early sixteenth-century Reformation became critical points of conflict in the most significant political and religious debates of the period. Paying attention to the reception of Erasmus also helps explain how these two bitter enemies eventually joined William Penn in supporting James II's Indulgence for Liberty of Conscience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Following the restoration of Latvia's independence, the Soviet-time system of prisons had to be replaced with the system of state penitentiary institutions. In 1994, the Ministry of the Interior developed instructions concerning the procedure for the regulation of the provision of religious services in Latvia's prisons. In the same year, the Advisory Council of Religious Matters was set up within the Social Rehabilitation Division of the Prison Department. In 2003, the state provided funding to the Prison Department for establishing a chaplain service in prisons. The Guidelines for Resocialization of Prisoners 2015-2020 provide for one chaplain per 250 sentenced persons, but lack of funding hampers the attaining of this aim. The principles governing the relationship between the Church and the State are also applied to the relationship between the Church and the Prison. Constitution of the Republic of Latvia stipulates that the Church shall be separate from the State. Following long discussions on the laws to be used to regulate the relationship between the State and the Church, it was decided that the Concordat concluded between the Holy Seat and the State of Latvia before World War II (1922) would serve as a basis for the respective legislation. The Concordat was revised and adapted to the needs of other denominations. Given the fact that Latvia's prisons do not register religion of convicts, it is impossible to establish the number of cases when they revert to their religion or convert to another religion. In the context of Latvia's multi-faith society, conversion is a sensitive issue, and it depends on the chaplain's individual position on this issue. The chaplain hired by the Prison Department has to ensure religious care of prisoners and also accommodate their requests to invite a chaplain of another denomination or religion to visit them. Since a large majority of prisoners were born and raised during the years of the Soviet power when religious freedom was strictly limited, most of them do not know the denomination they might belong to (many children were baptized secretly, and families did not practise religion). If the convict requires religious care, he or she is usually first offered the services provided by the prison's chaplain only. Therefore, reverting to religion in prisons means joining Baptists, Adventists, or Pentecosts. The number of Muslims in prisons can be determined approximately according to the number of requests for Islamic religious items. Currently it is impossible to establish the rate at which the convicts convert to Islam, since in the past conversion to Islam in prison took place in the presence of two witnesses, but today Muslims allow for converting to Islam during a telephone conversation. No social discussions about prisoner's problems are taking place in Latvia, since the public is not interested in what is going on behind the prison gate. No debate on religious care in prisons has been initiated either, although there is no reason to believe that the religious organizations referred to in the Regulations on the Chaplain Service are the only ones that can be entrusted with religious care in prisons. The difference in treatment of various religions is still present in prisons. Moreover, there are doubts as to the validity of this difference in treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A wide range of religious and political debates about Osman period have been held throughout Islamic history. However, in the present article we only deal with the claim that “the conquests were discontinued” in this period. When the relevant sources have been examined, it will be seen that this claim is groundless. Perhaps such claims were made in order to underestimate this period as part of the general criticism about the reign of Osman in the following periods. In general, it is understood that during the reign of Osman the conquests resumed after the reign of Omar and continued during the caliphate of Osman. Moreover, it will be seen that the governors appointed in this period were generally among the experienced people who had taken up important positions and demonstrated their talents before the period of Osman. With the conquests that took place during the caliphate of Osman, the Muslimscontrolled areas expanded from the Eastern Black Sea coast to Armenia and Khorasan to the Sino-Indian borders, while also extending from the Red Sea and Mediterranean coasts to Egypt, Sudan, Libya and Tunisia. For the first time in the period of Osman, maritime expeditions which were not allowed due to various considerations during the period of Omar were launched. During this period, Muslims organized successful maritime expeditions in the Mediterranean Sea. In this study, the previous activities and duties of the governors appointed by Osman are aimed to be covered; In addition, general information about Basra, Kufa, Damascus and Egypt based conquests in the period of Khalifa Osman and the maritime expeditions that were started for the first time during his reign were explained with the main lines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ahlul Quran movements introduced the debates on the question of the authority of tradition as the second source of Islamic knowledge and critiqued the existing notions of Islam among the Malabar Muslims in Kerala. These intra-Islamic factions attempted to reinterpret Islam according to their interpretations solely based on the Quran and developed their take on what constitutes 'authentic Islam'. This article uses Ahlul Quran as a generic term for the two main Ahlul Quran movements that developed in the Malabar Coast during the early and late half of the twentieth century. These two movements were the Ahlul Quran movement of Pazhayangadi by B. Kunjahamed Haji and Khuran Sunnath Society of Abul Hasan (popularly known as Chekanur Moulavi). They initiated numerous oral debates and discussions with various Islamic groups existing in the Malabar region such as Sunnis, Mujahids, Ahmediyyas and Jamaat-e-Islami, challenging and contesting different notions of 'authentic Islam'. Along with oral debates, it also gave birth to textual contestations, with voluminous books, articles and pamphlets challenging each other. This article traces the intra-religious debates that developed among the Malabar Muslims after the emergence of Ahlul Quran thoughts. It analyses how the existing Islamic groups upholding different versions of 'authentic Islam' in the Malabar region, located in the northern part of Kerala, South India, challenged the growth of these Ahlul Quran movements. In short, during the numerous debates and contestations that happened between the Islamic groups within the Malabar region the article explores how these debates are a constant performance of Islam and its tradition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In an exchange preserved in al-Subkī’s (d. 771/1370) Ṭabaqāt al-shāfi...iyya, the jurists al-Juwaynī (d. 478/1085) and al-Shīrāzī (d. 476/1083) debate equating prayer time to prayer direction in regard to the validity of prayer, and the adult virgin to the adult nonvirgin in regard to consent. While the dispute between the two scholars is on seemingly innocuous legal issues, it reveals that despite adherence to the same Shāfiʿī legal school, the two hold contrasting positions on the specifics of analogical reasoning (qiyās). By examining the differences in their doctrines on qiyās and their approaches to dialectics (jadal), this article demonstrates that al-Juwaynī is more willing to use qiyās, especially its weaker forms, and make nontextual legal arguments, while al-Shīrāzī is more wary in his use of qiyās, leading him to reject its weaker forms and nontextual arguments. By tracing the differences in their qiyās doctrines through their works on jadal and exploring the differing dialectics used in the two debates, this article examines the connection between qiyās and jadal, intra-school jadal, and the various approaches to qiyās in the fifth/eleventh century. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines a previously unstudied dissertation on Plato's Timaeus presumably authored by the Danish bishop Jens Bircherod (1658–1708). By means of a study of Bircherod's sources and interpretative method, it assesses the place of his In Timaeum exercitatio historico-philologico-philosophica (1682) in the history of philology and philosophy, and in the context of seventeenth-century Lutheran pedagogy. It shows how Bircherod makes use of Plato's dialogue against the background of early modern religious debates, and how his method largely follows the historicist approach that had begun to characterise the reception history of the Timaeus since the late sixteenth century. It argues that Bircherod wrote his historical-philological-philosophical exercise on the Timaeus to demonstrate the existence of divine providence and monotheistic tendencies in antiquity, and to harness Plato's cosmological treatise to the cause of Christian apologetics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article refers to the growth of Hindu majoritarianism and illiberal democracy after the reelection of Narendra Modi as the Indian Prime Minister in 2019 Indian general election. Topics include the ideology of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and their dominance in the Indian politics; their unpredictable win because of poor performance score to uplift unemployment distress and agricultural sector issue; and ignorance for the rise of social and religious issues caused by Hindu extremists.

The translation of Aristotle's logical treatises from Greek into Syriac and Syriac into Arabic occurred in multiple stages. Another option for explaining the Neoplatonization of Aristotle in this case could be John Philoponus in his I Arbiter i , which survived only in a Syriac translation, or even the Syriac translation of his commentary on I Categories i . Within his deep analysis the scant number of references to Syriac Christians stands out, since as Hugonnard-Roche has shown, the vocabulary of the Arabs depends on the work of the Syriac translators. 10 R. J. H. Gottheil, "The Syriac Versions of the I Categories i of Aristotle", I Hebraica i 9 (1893), 166-215; D. King (transl.), I The Earliest Syriac Translation of Aristotle's i Categories (Leiden & Boston: Brill), 2010. [Extracted from the article]

This article explores a series of doctrinal disputations held in early Islamic Egypt, and known through the Hodegos of Anastasius of Sinai (fl. c. 670–c. 700). Using the text's prosopographical and contextual cues, it argues that these disputations occurred in the 680s, in the aftermath of Constantinople's Sixth Ecumenical Council (680/1), the decisions of which had thrown the Chalcedonian Christians of the caliphate into conflict and schism. In 686, it is argued, Anastasius had confronted the famed Edessene and Severan Athanasius bar Gūmōyē before the Marwānid prince 'Abd al-'Azīz at Fusṭāṭ, and there been defeated. That defeat is indicative of the new-found position of the Egyptian Severan Church, which now flourished under Marwānid patronage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Leo x's brief Cum nuper , which authorised Cardinal Cajetan to put Luther on trial but did not restrict debate between them, was sent not on 11 September 1518, as has been generally believed, but on 2 November. It referred to a lost brief countermanding the order of 23 August for Luther's arrest: this brief instead offered a safe conduct to Rome. However, Luther's abrupt departure from Augsburg prevented this offer from being made. Exsurge Domine (1520), which convicted Luther without trial on inflated charges of heresy, made the false claim that he had rejected an invitation to Rome. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the Flacian controversy over the definition of original sin (1560s-70s), a doctrinal debate took place that proved to be foundational for Lutheran theology: a number of the laity from the central German territory of Mansfeld wrote confessions in which they articulated their views on the matter. The mere existence of these statements from the likes of counts, city officials, artisans, and laborers raises the question of lay participation in the doctrinal controversies of the latter sixteenth century, a question rarely asked by historians. Moreover, an examination of why these people wrote their confessions reveals a desire to engage in questions of doctrine during this period of the late Reformation, while an analysis of their writings demonstrates a surprisingly complex understanding of the controversy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The fierce debates about the Eucharist during the Reformation era highlight a central tension between individuals' desire to secure confessional purity and their instinct to protect the communal nature of Christian worship. Preserving confessional coexistence required balancing these forces, often by expelling nonconformists or driving them underground. Instead, civic leaders in sixteenth-century Wesel demanded that residents of all confessions attend communion together. This policy emerged as a result of leaders' fear of unmanageable disorder in the face of waves of Calvinist immigrants, even as the town was still reeling from struggles between Lutherans and Catholics. In practice, this policy preserved the sacral communalism of the pre-Reformation church, while leaving individuals latitude to express confessional difference in informal but visible ways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The early age of orthodoxy in German Lutheranism was a crucial period of transition and solidification between the conciliatory Formula of Concord in 1577 and the work of early seventeenth-century dogmaticians such as Johann Gerhard (1582-1637). During this "confessional age" Lutheran theologians struggled to protect the "pure teachings of Luther" while consolidating religious reforms and engaging in polemical battles with Roman Catholics, Calvinists, Anabaptists, and Jews. This article sheds new light on early orthodoxy by examining the career of Heinrich Heshusius (1556-97), a Lutheran superintendent in the north German city of Hildesheim. Together with the town council, mayor, and a network of Lutheran pastors, Heshusius fought what he saw as the dangerous inroads of local Jews and Jesuits, using a variety of political and polemical tactics. This article explores the confessional literature related to the controversy, explains attempts at conversion as well as expulsion, and contributes to ongoing discussions about how clergymen shaped and controlled community in urban, parish, and academic settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Focuses on the disputes over the symbolization of the engel dryhtnes in the poem 'The Dream of the Rood' by biblical scholars. Views on the translation of the 'angel of the Lord'; Discretion on the indemnation of the engel dryhtnes; Arguments on the theological imagery of the poem.

The paper analyzes the senses of the secularity and religion categories in the public controversies operated by social actors. Will take as the main object of analysis the debate about religious teaching in public schools held at the public hearing organized by the Supreme Court in 2015. We assume that the systematic description of how the actors articulate these categories in this public arena illuminates the secular settings embodied by the actors. In this case study, we will map the various uses of these categories by representatives of 32 different organizations in civil society and the state, to understand how the characteristics inherent to their social position affect the way they articulate their justifications and the implicit meanings they attribute to the secular and its counterpart, the religious. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Disputes concerning state interference in the religious practices and traditions of citizens have created uproar in public debate in India and Europe during the past decades. The contributors to this colloquium on Europe, India, and the Limits of Secularism point to the importance of two domains in addressing these disputes: the comparative study of court decisions and the budding domain of comparative political theory. In this response, I discuss several issues that emerge from these domains and argue that the problem of cultural asymmetry continues to create major pitfalls in the debates on secularism and religious freedom. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An introduction to the journal is presented in which the editor discusses various articles published within the issue on topics like philosophies in education, Thomas Aquinas' method of disputation, and subjectivity in education.

This piece is the first of new annual feature of the journal, entitled 'Debate'. Two scholars offer their contrasting reflections on a topic of interest – this year, it is 'scientific progress, human progress and Christian theology'. The debate is opened by American sociologist Steve Fuller, who briefly presents his thesis on the subject, proposing in the end the Church to be more open to an 'adventurous approach to nature' in his opinion more consonant with today's 'emerging biometrically oriented genetic science'. In answer, Italian theologian Giuseppe Tanzella-Nitti explains that, from a Christian perspective, human progress needs to respect the 'ontological foundations of creature itself' in order to avoid the 'illusion' of a false progress. Taking these thoughts into account, Fuller replies clarifying his points. The debate is concluded by remarks from the Editor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Persistent disputation from non‐Muslim communities arguing against the veracity of Muḥammad's prophethood has undoubtedly served to contribute to the steady growth of Dalāʾil literature at the formative period of Islam. Besides intensifying Dalāʾil works with evidentiary miracles to prove the authenticity of Muhammad's prophethood, one of the popular styles of argument employed by the scholars of Islam is adducing Qurʾānic and Biblical verses and its hermeneutic to substantiate the prophethood of Muhammad. In the ninth century, Ibn Qutayba composed his Dalāʾil Nubuwwa with a unique approach in which he utilised the content of the Qurʾān to explore the meaning of the Bible. This study seeks to explore the novelty of his approach in utilising the Qurʾān to elucidate Biblical passages. The study employs a descriptive, comparative and critical approach, in which it analyses and extracts the author's original approach in explaining the legitimacy of Muḥammad's prophethood. The study in its finding affirms that Ibn Qutayba invented an innovative approach, exploring the meaning of scripture previously understood exclusively through Judaeo‐Christian theological methodology alone. This is where the novelty of his approach is distinguished. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

"World-class Muslims": Examining the Discursive Construction of a Singapore Muslim Identity The Muslim minority community in Singapore came under great scrutiny in the wake of the 9/11 attacks, and even more so, after the arrests of local members of terrorist network, Jemaah Islamiyah, in 2001 and the 2002 Bali bombings. When unpacking the identity of the ideal Singaporean Muslim in government speeches, it can be argued that Singaporean Muslims are still viewed through the lens of securitisation, and that the approach to understanding the Singapore Muslim identity remains prescriptive and essentialised. The purpose of focusing on government speeches, instead of discourse used in initiatives by Muslim institutions (like the SMI project), is due to the far-reaching impact that the national government has, affecting how citizens perceive the Singaporean Muslim identity. [Extracted from the article]

Religion is a powerful phenomenon arising in and from society. Various efforts have been done to understand religion as a natural phenomenon, which could be framed in the language of science. In this paper, I forward a sui generis approach to the naturality of religion, where religion is explained as one of the next stages in broader natural processes of self-organization. Furthermore, having framed like this the naturality of the religious experience, the paper explores the contemporary debate of current religious expressions. It is suggested that the arrival of science and the modern society have changed some expressions of religious experiences; while, nonetheless, keeping their capacity to self-organize societies. The magical realist society, as the society capable of disguising the magic of religion within the realism of the scientific ethos, is presented and discussed as a modern secular expression of religion, capable to cope with the challenges of science through the dynamics of modernity and capitalism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Studia Historica Brunensia is the property of Masaryk University, Faculty of Arts and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This article examines the role of child actors as recounted in Thomas Churchyard's and Bernard Garter's accounts of the 1578 Norwich entertainments for Elizabeth I, arguing that child actors and their performances were central to the entertainment in a way that has not been previously acknowledged. Elizabeth's visit coincided with pronounced economic and religious disputes, which provided an opportunity to counsel the Queen on the city's desired outcome. Crucially, this counsel was primarily communicated by the children who took leading roles in the early pageants. These child actors were presented by the city as neutral arbitrators whose interpretation of the situation should be the course of action taken by the Queen, and analysing their roles provides insights into Elizabeth's own performance as part of the progress's political theatre. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]