Die Embryologie im Spannungsfeld zwischen Tradition und Empirie

Already in classical antiquity people dealt with the principle of formation, developing different theories. Researchers in the renaissance, working in the conflict zone between tradition and experience, tried to prove one or the other of these theories by the means of new observations, especially of chicken development. Aldrovandi was the first to see the real principle of formation of the hen's egg, i. e. the blastodisc, but he didn't recognize the importance of his discovery due to his close adherence to Aristotle in the theoretical field. Fabricius even thought that traditional knowledge was of more importance than his own excellent observations. Parisano was the first to succeed in making a correct interpretation of the function of the blastodisc, but only by holding to a ‘false’ classical theory. Harvey combined his attempt to restore the developmental theory of Aristotle with a religious interpretation postulating God's intervention in all development. Subsequent to atomism, Highmore evolved a two seed theory of development, which in his view made a permanent engagement of God superfluous. Also the first observations using the microscope did not contribute to any improvement in developmental theory. Malpighi used them to confirm the theory of epigenesis, whereas Croone attributed to a piece of blastoderm the proportion of a whole embryo to demonstrate his ovistic theory of preformation. The founder of animalculism Leeuwenhoek, an amateur researcher, was at first not influenced by the trends of the scientific community. He postulated that the spermatozoa, which he discovered, contained perfect miniature animals. His investigations are a good example of where prejudices can lead, even when the observations are excellent. In the 17th century the tension between experience and tradition shifted in favour of experience, but a final solution had not by any means been reached.     

The signs of the sacred: Identifying shamans using archaeological evidence

Anthropologists have determined that shamanism is a robust cross-cultural pattern, but they still have many methodological and theoretical issues to resolve. Central to archaeological religious studies is the need to develop a general and rigorous methodology for identifying the presence and structure of shamanism. This discussion begins by discussing shamans as a polythetic class and proposes that shamans and priests as they are commonly defined do not represent dichotomous religious structures, but rather reflect two ends of a continuum. The paper then presents a methodology for identifying and studying shamanism based on cross-cultural regularities in shamanic tools (sacra) and shamanic experiences. The methodology is then applied to the Casas Grandes region and Pottery Mound, both from the North American Southwest, and indicates that shamanic ritual was likely present during the late prehistoric occupation of the region.     

西周天帝信仰的特点

西周时期天、帝已经合二为一,难分彼此,二的宗教地位、神权、神性和社会功能都没有本质差异。西周天帝作为至上神具有权威性、道德性、理智性和民族性。西周人对天帝充满敬畏感和依赖感,信仰虔诚。天帝信仰产生了政治整合功能、道德制约功能、心理宣泄功能以及社会认识功能。西周人将自己对象化于天帝,但未被天帝真正异化。     

Silvesterbesinnung und Weihnachtsartikel. Jahresendzeitreflexionen großer Physiker des 20. Jahrhunderts

The article deals with the relationship between science and religion (esp. Christian faith) in two articles of physicists Max Planck and Pascual Jordan. The relationship of the two factors is reflected in the treatment of time, a subject that comes up because both articles were written on the occasion of the year's end or even the end of a decade. By analysing the two perspectives on time it is possible to distil the distinctive ideas of Planck and Jordan on religion and how a religious should be related to a scientific world view. From this two different models of a positive relationship of science and religion can be formulated which transcend the framework of present discussions on the subject. In conclusion a possible role of science of religions in the dialogue between science and religion is described.     

善堂——中国、新加坡和马来西亚的慈善寺堂

论文分析了中国慈善组织产生和发展的历史背景;简述了潮汕地区、新加坡和马来西亚三地善堂的基本情况以及善堂的跨国往来及其对潮汕地区的影响,同时描述了地方精英、尤其是商人,为推动善堂在中国及东南亚发展所做出的贡献。认为处在不同政治环境中的善堂都能以各自独特的方式求得平稳运行。宗教性质增强了这些善堂的适应能力,而在需要强调其非迷信性质的时候,布善乐施的传统也有助于确立其世俗和慈善的形象。     

Politics of Immortality: Hobbes on “Humane and Divine Politiques”

Hobbes anticipates many important features of liberalism, including rights, the sovereign state, social contract and constitutionalism. Yet in his insistence that the sovereign will have final authority in matters of faith he appears to repudiate what we have come to consider the core liberal assumptions regarding separation of church and state. In this article, I argue that Hobbes takes this approach because of the political challenge posed by immortality (the promise of eternal rewards and the threat of eternal torment and damnation after death). Hobbes regards immortality as one of the most important factors that transform a religion from a means to strengthen the sovereign's authority, a “humane politiques,” to a “Divine politiques,” where others come to exercise countervailing claims on subjects' loyalty. Because immortality presents such a profound challenge to Hobbes' political remedy founded on the judicious use of fear, he adopts a twofold strategy to moderate its political influence. The first is a redefinition of who shall speak and what shall be said about immortality. The second strategy is to elevate the demands of this-world, by promising an eternal peace that will ensure a commodious life.     

A black and white sermon: John Jasper’s capitalization on white exploitation in late nineteenth-century Virginia

Groups within southern society seized on John Jasper’s sermon arguing that the sun moved around the earth in order to reinforce ideas of African American inferiority. Jasper, however, took advantage of these efforts at exploitation. By embodying the stereotype whites sought to promote, Jasper became very popular with white visitors, and tourists to Richmond frequently requested renditions of the sermon. Through preaching his sun sermon on 253 occasions, Jasper was not only able to secure the financial and social independence of his church, but also provided inspiration to African Americans through highlighting that southern white supremacy could be overcome.     

Performed worlding: Political praxis of Sikh nagar kirtan assemblies in Canada

Nagar kirtans are street assemblies with Sikh spiritual music, political marches, and free food distribution. They are especially large in April during the Punjabi harvest festival of Vaisakhi but also take place in other months. This paper explores the political praxis of nagar kirtans in Canada to contribute to critiques of secularism and theorize the political ontology in the Sikh context. I conceptualize nagar kirtan as a mobile court of both poetic pilgrimage and politics, which engage an embodied and performative world-making process, termed performed worlding, that is at odds with the modern ontology of the secular state. The empirical study analyzes early 20th century nagar kirtans in Vancouver and contemporary ones in urban Canada in the 2010-decade. Ethnographic fieldwork was carried out between 2017 and 2018 including analysis of interviews and archival and media content. Early nagar kirtans in Vancouver were aligned with the anti-colonial Ghadar Movement to protest the racial state of Canada. In the contemporary context, the study reveals competing ways of worlding the political ontologies of the mobile court. On the one hand, there is an increased commodification and state presence that refashions the practice at larger Vaisakhi nagar kirtan to be marketable to Canadian multiculturalism. On the other hand, the bottom-up assembling of participants align a spiritual politics of Sikh and Punjabi world-making, one that is grounded in practices of horizontal organizing and mutual care and sustain a form of embodied expression against racial Canada.     

高句丽自然宗教信仰对象辨析

本从天神类崇拜、地祗类崇拜、人祖类崇拜等方面,对高句丽自然宗教信仰对象进行了辨析。认为高句丽自然宗教信仰虽然具有一定特点,但却是源出于中原,变系于中原,高句丽人精神世界浸透着的是中华化的基本成分。     

关于元杂剧《灰阑记》的来源问题

《灰阑记》引起了世界的关注,国内有学论及了它的来源和世界性影响问题,这有意义。但学关于《灰阑记》题材来源的说法是不正确的。《灰阑记》虽在内容上与佛教、基督教、伊斯兰教所记的故事有相似之处,但李行道却不是从这三个宗教故事中取材。一,三个宗教虽在唐代以前就传入中国,但其时除了佛教有关故事已翻译过来以外,其他两个同类故事是不是已经翻译过来,难以确定;二．李行道是中国的隐士,不是宗教信徒,他受中国传统化的影响,《风俗通义》是宋元习见之书,他见到的可能性更大;三,元杂剧创作中普遍存在着吸取历史故事、小说等材料进行创作的倾向．李行道所在的平阳是当时杂剧创作的中心之一,他当然会受到这个倾向的影响。因此,我们认为,他是从中国本土的故事受到启发,创作了《灰阑记》。中国本土故事就是见载于《风俗通义》中的黄霸断两妇人争子的故事。《灰阑记》的故事情节、宗旨．与之极为一致。世界几种化中都存在着《灰阑记》式的故事,这一情形值得深入研究。用比较的方法研究中外化及学的相互影响及异同,是有意义的,但应注重事实,不应轻言袭用而贬低一个民族创造化的努力和对世界化的贡献。