Journal of religious studies
Online ISSN : 2188-3858
Print ISSN : 0387-3293
ISSN-L : 2188-3858
Volume 85, Issue 1
Displaying 1-14 of 14 articles from this issue
  • Makoto ONO
    Article type: Article
    2011 Volume 85 Issue 1 Pages 1-24
    Published: June 30, 2011
    Released on J-STAGE: July 14, 2017
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    The fundamental question for the science of religion, "What is religion?" is being questioned recently. According to Talal Asad, the base from which this question is put depends from the beginning on a special standpoint, that is, on secularized Western modernity. Therefore the answer to this question cannot be any universal definition of religion. Does the question, "What is religion?", then, have a very important meaning today or not? Nishitani Keiji also puts forward the question "What is religion?" as a starting point of his research on religion. His question, however, does not seek a definition of religion, and does not grasp religion "theoretically in a concept," but rather searches realistically for true reality and in the process he tries to convert an existential subject into what he calls "the standpoint of sunyata." One can note with approval that Nishitani's question "What is religion?" still has an original meaning in comparison with Asad's standpoint today in terms of the analysis of modern subjectivity, of the relationships of power in its background, and of the idea of religious training and ritual. Moreover, Nishitani's standpoint of sunyata, which is based on Buddhist thought, also contains the possibility to criticize, complement, and develop Asad's theory of power which is based on monotheism.
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  • Takao MARUYAMA
    Article type: Article
    2011 Volume 85 Issue 1 Pages 25-49
    Published: June 30, 2011
    Released on J-STAGE: July 14, 2017
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    In diesem Aufsatz untersuche ich den Wandel der Konzeption vom Judentum im Denken Martin Bubers, den es in den Jahren von 1900 bis 1916 erfuhr. Die sorgfaltige Lekture von Bubers Texten zeigt ihn als Kulturzionisten und Nationaljuden, der das Judentum als Volk oder Volksgemeinschaft begriff. Indem er die Verbindung zwischen dem Volk Israel und jedem einzelnen Juden auf Grund von "Blut", Stamm oder Rasse herausstellte, propagierte er dann eine "Judische Renaissance", d.h. die Erneuerung des Judentums durch die zionistische Bewegung. Im Zuge seiner Forschungen uber den Chassidismus hob er jedoch die Entscheidung des einzelnen Juden, Jude zu sein, immer deutlicher hervor. Nun verlegte er den Schwerpunkt seiner Erneuerungsidee weg von der kollektiven Bewegung hin zu den Einzelnen. Dabei traten die Begriffe von Blut oder Rasse zuruck. Aus dieser Wendung resultierten seine Versuche, das Judentum als Religiositat zu erfassen und die monotheistische Ordnung sowie die Gotteserwaltung in der Welt in seine Theorie einzufuhren. Eine solche religiose Ordnungsidee hatte er fruher als Zionist nie akzeptiert. Die hier betrachteten Wandlungen Bubers, die allmahlich und infolge kleiner Anderungen seiner politischen, philosophischen Stellungnahme erfolgten, losten einerseits bei den zeitgenossischen Juden Missrauen aus, aber anderseits belegt jeder Schritt seines Denkens die argumentativen Grundmuster, die in der damaligen Debatte des Judentum vorherrschten.
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  • Yohei KONDO
    Article type: Article
    2011 Volume 85 Issue 1 Pages 51-74
    Published: June 30, 2011
    Released on J-STAGE: July 14, 2017
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    In this article, the author examines the religious classifications of human beings and the development of the concepts of kufr al-ni'ma (translated as "ingratitude" in English) and nifaq (hypocrisy) in the eastern Ibadite, a sect separated from the Kharijite in the early Islamic history, analyzing their epistles and theological works. After reviewing the meanings and usages of these terms in the Qur'an and Hadiths, the author discusses the claim that the eastern Ibadite scholars try to discern nifaq from shirk (polytheism) in the second/eighth century and classify human beings from the viewpoint of both monotheist and polytheist positions, as well as the present world and Hereafter. The author also clarifies that in this process they use the term "nifaq" to refer to those who profess the unity of God but commit mortal sin or neglect religious duties, while "kufr al-ni'ma" for those who misinterpret the Qur'an in the Islamic Community. Against the arguments by some modern scholars in which these two terms were equal or equivalent in the Ibadite thought, the author concludes that it is difficult to say that the relationship is as such in the early times, although they are closely connected and linked with each other.
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  • Yohei MATSUYAMA
    Article type: Article
    2011 Volume 85 Issue 1 Pages 75-98
    Published: June 30, 2011
    Released on J-STAGE: July 14, 2017
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    This paper aims to show that the tone of postmodernism, in the sense of the collapse of the "Grand Narrative" as defined by Jean-Francois Lyotard, is seen in the ideas that are held by contemporary Muslim intellectuals, taking the case of the thought of Taha Jabir al-Alwani (1935-). One of the key-words in his theory of interpretation of the Qur'an is "the Sovereignty of the Quran." By this term he advocates that "the Divine Sovereignty" has ended when the final revelation or Qur'an was brought about and the prophecy was sealed, and then the Sovereignty has shifted to the Qur'an's text. Nevertheless, this does not deprive him of concern about the empirical matters, as he suggests the "Combination of Two Readings," another key-term of his thought. This term expresses the obligation of humans to combine two readings, the reading of the revelation and that of the world. This concept compels him to examine the law. He introduces the theory of "Fiqh for Muslim minorities" as the ideal style of Islamic law in the contemporary world. It promotes multiplication of discrepancies and creates plural valid fiqhs. Each filth would be enforced as a "micrology" and it narrates only a "micro-narrative." One can arrive at a clue, through the example of Alwani's ideas, to re-read contemporary Islamic thought, which in the author's view is being infiltrated by the ethos of postmodernism.
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  • Rui GE
    Article type: Article
    2011 Volume 85 Issue 1 Pages 99-123
    Published: June 30, 2011
    Released on J-STAGE: July 14, 2017
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    When thinking of a platform for national morality, Nishimura Shigeki's (1828-1902) position was that of disavowing religion. This was not only due to his refusal of religion as irrational, but also due to concerns related to conflicts between denominations. While showing marked wariness towards religion in general, Nishimura held a low opinion of Shinto. In the event of speaking about religion in Japan in public, he would invariably refer to Buddhism and Christianity, but clearly avoided to even mention Shinto. This kind of passive attitude is in many ways in variance with the traditional image of Nishimura as an individual who greatly contributed to the development of national morality discourses. That is, his position obviously differs from that of later intellectuals who found in the mythological history of the "Imperial Ancestors" (Jp. Koso Koso) a source for morality. Therefore, the absence of Shinto in Nishimura's discourse on national morality is suggestive of his unique understanding of the "way of the kami." In order to address the problematic above, in this paper I will consider the position of Shinto in Nishimura's ideas on morality.
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  • Makito SHIBATA
    Article type: Article
    2011 Volume 85 Issue 1 Pages 125-149
    Published: June 30, 2011
    Released on J-STAGE: July 14, 2017
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    This essay analyzes two kinds of religious discourses from the point of view of the role and place of nature in the encounter with God. Amidst the popular rise of kenshin, or "seeing God," which had originated in a series of mystical experiments proposed by Tsunashima Ryosen (1905), Uchimura Kanzo raised a question about what kind of kenshin constituted an authentic encounter with God (1906). Drawing on his life experience as a Christian and his Bible studies, he derived two requirements for the authentic kenshin, which had not been at the core of Ryosen's descriptions of kenshin: encountering God first "via Jesus Christ," and second, "through nature." After Ryosen's death, Kanzo speculated on the standard or ultimate pattern of kenshin through his biblical studies, as the occasion arose. His search for what is at the heart of real kenshin progressed to find the cosmological significance of nature in the history of the salvation of man from the Bible. In the process of his study, Kanzo grew convinced that nature was a basically sound medium for humans to approach God. But in a separate context, he also observed that an authentic God comes into existence for the human senses in a space from which nature, an ugly face of God, is absolutely excluded.
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  • Rieko NAITO
    Article type: Article
    2011 Volume 85 Issue 1 Pages 151-173
    Published: June 30, 2011
    Released on J-STAGE: July 14, 2017
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    Funeral rites have undergone various changes in Japan recently. In this paper, I focus on memorial services for pets, which are now in vogue, and throw light on the difference between them and traditional services for animals. In Japan memorial services for animals started long before services for pets came into fashion. For instance, services for horses were conducted with the Horse-Headed Guanyin/Kan'non (Hayagriva) as the main object of worship. In the Buddhist concept of transmigration in the six domains of the desire realm, animals belong to the "animal realm," which is the third lowest world, with the lowest and the second lowest world being the realms of hell and the preta, respectively. The basis for such memorial services for animals is the Fanwan Jing (Bonmokyo) compiled in China, which presents the possibility of awakening the heart to seek enlightenment (bodhicitta) by cows, horses, wild boars, sheep, and all other animals. Originally memorial services were conducted to help animals enter nirvana. In Japan today pets are often treated as if they were family members, and pet owners create stories concerning their pets entering the next world, and hope to meet their pets again in the next life. This phenomenon is not limited to pets, but has also extended to include people, so that stories are created in accordance with the wishes of those who memorialize the dead.
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  • Yoshiko ODA
    Article type: Article
    2011 Volume 85 Issue 1 Pages 175-186
    Published: June 30, 2011
    Released on J-STAGE: July 14, 2017
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
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  • Masataka SUZUKI
    Article type: Article
    2011 Volume 85 Issue 1 Pages 187-191
    Published: June 30, 2011
    Released on J-STAGE: July 14, 2017
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
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  • Ayako HOSODA
    Article type: Article
    2011 Volume 85 Issue 1 Pages 192-198
    Published: June 30, 2011
    Released on J-STAGE: July 14, 2017
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
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  • Teruhisa TAJIMA
    Article type: Article
    2011 Volume 85 Issue 1 Pages 199-206
    Published: June 30, 2011
    Released on J-STAGE: July 14, 2017
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
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  • Yoshio TSURUOKA
    Article type: Article
    2011 Volume 85 Issue 1 Pages 206-212
    Published: June 30, 2011
    Released on J-STAGE: July 14, 2017
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
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  • Keiji HOSHIKAWA
    Article type: Article
    2011 Volume 85 Issue 1 Pages 213-220
    Published: June 30, 2011
    Released on J-STAGE: July 14, 2017
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
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  • Shun'ichi MIYAJIMA
    Article type: Article
    2011 Volume 85 Issue 1 Pages 220-226
    Published: June 30, 2011
    Released on J-STAGE: July 14, 2017
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
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