This paper discusses the issue of the relationship between theology and religious studies, drawing on certain principles of Hans-Georg Gadamer’s hermeneutical theory. Leaving aside differences between Gadamer and his critics, it is argued that his rehabilitation of prejudice, authority, and tradition as well as his notions of the fusion of…[Read more]

Muslim study of religions before modern times has claimed the attention of some modern Western scholars. At least three developmental phases of this nascent discursive field are discernable. Firstly, Western views of Muslim writings on different religions started appearing as prefaces, marginal notes, and introductions to the edited manuscripts…[Read more]

I take as a “jumping off place” for this reflection the Conclusion that Werner Brock, (DPhil) made to his lectures published as An Introduction to Contemporary German Philosophy (1935, Cambridge University Press). Following the observation of J. H. Muirhead in the Foreword, that “readers will draw their own conclusions from his presentation of hi…[Read more]

This talk reads Robert Bresson’s Notes on the Cinematographer, not as a mere collection of thoughts, but as spiritual reflections. These brief meditations record aspects of his film practice in condensed form and reveal the connection between contemplation and action. The contemplative tone of the book becomes perceptible through the careful o…[Read more]

This study argues that there is a tradition, arising from a ‘Jewish milieu’, based around the exegesis of select biblical passages, indicating that the messiah bears the Divine Name. This tradition appears to predate the Christian movement, and is referenced also in rabbinic literature. In the first section we highlight a tradition regarding the…[Read more]

The essays collected into this volume represent an attempt by the author to philosophize creatively on three different topics; Video Gaming, God, and Philosophical Thought in light of a posthuman understanding. Each has been written from a “dehellenized” point of view which makes them somewhat unconventional in their construction and pre…[Read more]

Meaning understood in terms of teachability and learnability is crucial to Ludwig Wittgenstein’s later work. As regards the resolution of philosophical problems – and epistemological problems in particular – this approach seems to posit a hierarchy of meaning that excludes endless deferral. This is the basis of Wittgenstein’s attack on philo…[Read more]

This paper will look at the way the African Hebrew Israelites of Jerusalem have utilised the theological narrative of marginalisation in their quest for identity and self-determination. The African Hebrew Israelites of Jerusalem are an expatriate black American group who have lived in Israel since 1969, when their spiritual leader, Detroit-born…[Read more]

Much has been written on the epistle to the Colossians. Much less has been written on Colossians and rhetoric. Even less has been written on the connection of praise and paraenesis found in the epistle. If the book of Colossians can be understood as epideictic rhetoric, then a connection between its paraenesis and the encomium to Christ…[Read more]

The Q hypothesis has long dominated the study of the Synoptics. It is often heralded as the key to Synoptic interpretation, yet it is simultaneously challenged at nearly every juncture. Regarding parable study, the Q hypothesis offers much by way of identifying redaction, but the impact of identifiable redaction is often overvalued. Those choosing…[Read more]

A theory of the atonement is outlined which is grounded in an appropriation of the Platonic doctrine of participation, and an Irenaean theodicy. The purpose of Christ’s life and death was to enable humans to destroy the sinful aspects of their character, and to manifest Christ’s righteousness, by means of participation in the same Form. The the…[Read more]

In this article I consider the stories of Jesus’ women ancestors in the genealogy which opens the Gospel of Matthew. Reading these stories in light of Marxist-feminist analyses of marriage, sex work and reproductive labor, alongside contemporary sex workers’ rights discourse, and through Marcella Althaus-Reid’s claim that all theology is “a se…[Read more]

John 20:24-29 – the Doubting Thomas Narrative – is explored in terms of the thesis that Jesus showed Thomas wounds absolutely identical to the wounds originating at the time of the crucifixion. John understands the risen Jesus to enact sovereignty over time in this passage. This was a new stage in John’s Christological Development and aug…[Read more]

In interpreting the risen Jesus’ action of appearing ‘out of nowhere’ at John 20:19-20 (and Luke 24:36) and his inferred action of rising from the dead at John 20:5-7 (and Luke 24:12), the consensus of both classical and modern biblical tradition has been to understand these actions as Jesus in some sense passing through physical objects and there…[Read more]

In the section ‘Jesus Christ, Lord of Time’ in Church Dogmatics III/2 Karl Barth held that lordship or sovereignty over time was central to the reality of the risen Jesus. I argue that his enacting sovereignty over time coincided with the very resurrection of time itself – the past recapitulated in the present – in a way necessarily invol…[Read more]

Yoga-Taravali of Acharya Shankara
Translated by Swami Narasimhananda

A review of the translation of Uttara Gita by Minati Kar published by the Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture, Kolkata, India. Though brief, the Uttara-gita clearly explains the nature of the Atman and the method to realize it,primarily through yoga. This book serves as a supplementary text to the Bhagavadgita. It is a text that inspires…[Read more]

Book Review Towards the Goal by Mrs Vandana Sarathy and Dr Rajeev Ramakrishna

Book Review The Western Construction of Religion: Myths, Knowledge, and Ideology by Daniel Dubuisson