This study focuses on the knowledge of inter-relations between surah al-isra’ and surah al-kahfi and aims to derive patterns of thematic relation between them and discloses its hypothesis by ...responding to two main questions: the first, whether they have limited and strong relationship. The second, what are types of relationship between the two surahs in terms of the topics, contents, and meanings. As for the method followed for this study is descriptive and resolving the issues by referring to the main references.The outcome of the study appears in two main points.Relationship between the two surahs very strong in terms of the objectives and aims, strong connection between beginning and ending of the both surahs, as well as between the ending of the al-isra’ and the beginning of the surat al-kahf. It appears that thematic harmonization in both surah, particularly regarding the issues; of the faith, prophethood, truthfulness of the message and the high ranking of the status of the Prophet.
For thousands of years, our world has been shaped by biblical monotheism. But its hallmark—a distinction between one true God and many false gods—was once a new and radical idea. Of God ...and Gods explores the revolutionary newness of biblical theology against a background of the polytheism that was once so commonplace.     Jan Assmann, one of the most distinguished scholars of ancient Egypt working today, traces the concept of a true religion back to its earliest beginnings in Egypt and describes how this new idea took shape in the context of the older polytheistic world that it rejected. He offers readers a deepened understanding of Egyptian polytheism and elaborates on his concept of the “Mosaic distinction,” which conceives an exclusive and emphatic Truth that sets religion apart from beliefs shunned as superstition, paganism, or heresy.     Without a theory of polytheism, Assmann contends, any adequate understanding of monotheism is impossible. Best Books for General Audiences, selected by the American Association of School Librarians, and Best Books for Special Interests, selected by the Public Library Association
Abstract This study aims to see how symbols or personifications can bridge profane things from God into human reality. Religious symbols as the embodiment of God have the highest sacred value because ...they are built by the structures of religious teachings originating from the texts of the scriptures. This research is limited to three religions because they have the same theological concept, namely monotheism and the approach used is qualitative based on library research-related sources, especially as primary data, are the holy books of each religion, namely the Vedas, Tipitaka, and Al-Qur'an. As an analytical tool to help compare the symbolization of God in the scriptures, the semiotic theory is used to analyze the symbols of each religion. The results of this study found that the theological concept of monotheism in symbols of Hinduism, Buddhism, and Islam has similarities and there are differences in Islam that do not symbolize God in the form of symbols or forms. In this case, the difference is due to the pattern of belief, worship, and communal structure patterns in the teachings of the holy books of each religion. Keywords: Symbol, Monotheism, Islam, Hindu, Budha Abstrak Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk melihat bagaimana simbol atau personifikasi dapat menjembatani hal-hal yang profan dari Tuhan ke dalam realitas manusia. Simbol-simbol agama sebagai perwujudan Tuhan memiliki nilai sakralitas yang tertinggi karena terbangun oleh struktur-struktur ajaran agama yang berasal dari teks kitab suci. Penelitian ini dibatasi pada tiga agama karena memiliki konsep teologis yang sama yaitu monoteisme dan pendekatan yang digunakan adalah kualitatif dengan berbasis library research dengam sumber yang terkait terutama sebagai data primer adalah kitab suci masing-masing agama yaitu Veda, Tipitaka dan Al-Qur’an. Sebagai alat analisis bantu membandingkan simbolisasi Tuhan dalam kitab suci, teori semiotik digunakan untuk menganalisis simbol dari masing-masing agama. Hasil penelitian ini ditemukan, konsep teologis monoteisme dalam simbol agama Hindu, Budha dan Islam memiliki persamaan dan terdapat perbedaan pada agama Islam yang tidak menyimbolkan Tuhan ke dalam bentuk simbol atau bentuk. Pada hal perbedaan tersebut disebabkan karena faktor pola struktur keyakinan, peribadahan, dan komunal dalam ajaran kitab suci dari masing-masing agama. Kata kunci: Simbol, Monoteisme, Islam, Hindu, Budha
One God Mitchell, Stephen; Van Nuffelen, Peter
04/2010
eBook
Graeco-Roman religion in its classic form was polytheistic; on the other hand, monotheistic ideas enjoyed wide currency in ancient philosophy. This contradiction provides a challenge for our ...understanding of ancient pagan religion. Certain forms of cult activity, including acclamations of 'one god' and the worship of theos hypsistos, the highest god, have sometimes been interpreted as evidence for pagan monotheism. This book discusses pagan monotheism in its philosophical and intellectual context, traces the evolution of new religious ideas in the time of the Roman empire, and evaluates the usefulness of the term 'monotheism' as a way of understanding these developments in later antiquity outside the context of Judaism and Christianity. In doing so, it establishes a framework for understanding the relationship between polytheistic and monotheistic religious cultures between the first and fourth centuries AD.
Building on previous studies on a mid- and late-twentieth-century recasting of Islam’s doctrine of monotheism, or tawhid, as a distinctly Islamic framework for liberative praxis, this article ...considers the interplay between the particular and the universal in the tawhidic paradigms of Iranian lay theologian Ali Shariati (1933–1977) and African-American pro-faith and pro-feminist theologian amina wadud (b. 1952). The article proposes that although it was developed in a distinctly Islamic register by means of Quranic exegesis and intrareligious conversations, the tawhidic paradigm has always been conversant with a range of non-Islamic liberative paradigms, and these conversations have been integral to the negotiation of a more inclusive concept of tawhid. To continue to recast tawhid in a more inclusive register, the article further argues, requires taking account of the non-Muslim ‘other’ as an equal moral agent in liberative struggles and embracing Islam’s theological and ideological ‘others’ as equally significant repositories of liberative potential.
The Life of Adam and Eve contains an episode in which Satan describes the protoplast Adam receiving worship from the angels of heaven, worship commanded by God himself. This tradition has played a ...role in recent debates over the nature of Second Temple religious devotion to the God of Israel. In particular, it has been put forward as an example that undermines arguments that Israel’s God alone was the exclusive recipient of Jewish cultic worship. Within this debate, the reliability of Satan as a narrator within the Life of Adam and Eve has yet to be considered. Demonstrating Satan to be an unreliable narrator would have significant implications for the role of the Life of Adam and Eve in the debate regarding the nature of Jewish religious devotion.
This doctoral thesis concentrates exclusively on the Historiae adversus paganos, an apologetic history in seven books written by the presbyter Paulus Orosius in the early fifth century AD. This ...thesis is ultimately an exposition of Orosius's philosophy of history, within which the themes of divine providence, monotheism, and imperial authority are central. This thesis has endeavoured to establish what the Historiae is in terms of content, purpose, and genre, a more complex task than this simple statement suggests. At every stage of analysis this research has worked to uncover the ideology and apologetic underlying Orosius‘s historical narrative, in particular the significance behind Orosius‘s stylistic habit of rhetorical comparison. This thesis consists of six chapters, unified in methodology but encompassing a broad diversity of subject matter. Chapter One examines the constructed text and its genre, as well as issues of opponent, audience and self-representation. Chapter Two provides a philosophical and technical treatment of time. Chapters Three and Four explore the representations of monotheism and imperial authority in the emperors Augustus and Theodosius. Chapter Five is concerned with Orosius‘s representation of warfare, and Chapter Six considers the retributive and redemptive aspect of the sack of Rome.
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