Heb 5.7, Jesus' Prayer on the Mount of Olives and Jewish Christianity: Hearing Early Christian Voices in Canonical and Apocryphal Texts

(Résumé de l'ouvrage) The book of Hebrews has often been the Cinderella of the New Testament, overlooked and marginalized; and yet it is one of the most interesting and theologically significant books in the New Testament. A Cloud of Witness examines the theology of the book in the light of its ancient historical context. There are chapters devoted to the structure of Hebrews, the person of Jesus Christ, Hebrews within the context of Second Temple Judaism and the Greco-Roman empire and the role of Hebrews in early Christian thought.

La relation ambiguë des protestantismes à la sociologie

(Résumé de l'ouvrage) What are the relations between sociology and the different religions - Christianity with its various branches, Judaism, Islam, Oriental religions, sects and New Religious Movements ? That is the question which this work, - conceived on the occasion of the XXVth Conference of the International Society for the Sociology of Religion/Société Internationale de Sociologie des Religions (SISR) - wishes to clarify. The book retraces the varied and troubled history of these relations and also reveals how in opening up its research to other religions besides the Christan, sociology is forced to redefine the very object of its field of study. What is the religious? This question, which until recently was considered impertinent, informs this book throughout. If confronts the necessity of rethinking theories and methodological appoaches which, constructed in the context of 19th and early 20th century Western Europe, prove to be rather inadequate for encompassing contemporary religious phenomena and religious manifestations in other contexts. To these new theoretical and methodological demands is added, for the sociologist, a deontological imperative, which takes on all the more importance today as the religious provokes passionate social debate.

La dignité de l'animal. Quel statut pour les animaux à l'heure des technosciences?

A bien des égards, comme le philosophe Emmanuel Kant l'avait déjà signalé, la manière dont nous traitons les animaux nous renvoie en miroir notre propre attitude envers nos compagnons humains. La maladie de la vache folle n'est-elle pas le résultat d'une rationalité industrielle déraisonnable et, par là même, le révélateur des dérives de la rationalité instrumentale et des menaces qui pèsent sur l'éthique ? Les perspectives ouvertes par le génie génétique et par les xénotransplantations n'annoncent-elles pas une fuite en avant dans les illusions d'une technoscience sans conscience et sans précaution ? Comment trouver un équilibre entre les intérêts des patients, les finalités de la médecine, le respect de l'animal et les réalités de l'économie ou de la politique ? Pour promouvoir une éthique à la hauteur de ces questions, faut-il abandonner tout anthropocentrisme, adopter une philosophie centrée sur la vie et le vivant (biocentrisme) prenant uniquement en compte le critère de la souffrance humaine et animale (pathocentrisme) ?Fruit d'un colloque interdisciplinaire tenu à Lausanne en mai 1999, cet ouvrage donne la parole à des chercheurs d'horizon très variés : des spécialistes de la zoologie, de l'étude du comportement animal, de la douleur animale et humaine et de l'anthropologie culturelle, des juristes, des médecins, des philosophes et des théologiens.

Sacred Music, Sacred Journeys : What Makes an Event Postcolonial?

Fanon, Senghor, and Ela took a radical stance in criticising the structures and mechanisms of power in hegemonic situations and relations between colonial subjects and colonial masters. They aimed to liberate African societies by decolonising the mind, culture and religion of colonial subjects. In this respect, we are concerned with the continuities and ruptures of the colonial encounter and its unequal relationships. Switzerland does not have an official colonial history and yet, Swiss companies and migrants were and are part of the world's colonies. In our contribution, we question what makes an event postcolonial : in other words, how are postcolonial relations negotiated in Switzerland? We discuss this question by analysing two annual sacred journeys in Switzerland that have been invented for and by African Christians (clerics and laity) together with the leaders of the Swiss Catholic church : one to the relics of African saints in St. Maurice, canton Valais and the other to the Black Madonna, the Virgin Mary of Einsiedeln, in the canton Schwyz. These events are empowered by the performance of African choirs - their music, dance, and costumes - but to which end and in which way?

The First Christian Historian. Writing the "Acts of the Apostles"

As the first historian of Christianity, Luke's reliability is vigorously disputed among scholars. The author of the Acts is often accused of being a biased, imprecise, and anti-Jewish historian who created a distorted portrait of Paul. Daniel Marguerat tries to avoid being caught in this true/false quagmire when examining Luke's interpretation of history. Instead he combines different tools - reflection upon historiography, the rules of ancient historians and narrative criticism - to analyse the Acts and gauge the historiographical aims of their author. Marguerat examines the construction of the narrative, the framing of the plot and the characterization, and places his evaluation firmly in the framework of ancient historiography, where history reflects tradition and not documentation. This is a fresh and original approach to the classic themes of Lucan theology: Christianity between Jerusalem and Rome, the image of God, the work of the Spirit, the unity of Luke and the Acts.

Le mythe de la chute de Satan et la question du milieu d'origine de la Vie d'Adam et Ève

(Résumé de l'ouvrage) This collection of studies in honor of François Bovon highlights the rich diversity found within early expressions of Christianity as evidenced in ancient texts, traditions, symbols, and motifs. Old labels like 'apocrypha' or 'heresy' that for centuries have suppressed much of this evidence are removed, previous assumptions are questioned, and the old data are examined afresh along with the latest discoveries. The studies fall into six areas: ancient gospels, acts, early Christian movements, ancient interpretations, art, and manuscripts. Contributors include James Robinson, Helmut Koester, Harold Attridge, Karen King, and Jean-Daniel Kaestli.

Quand l'évêque Athanase se prend pour l'évangéliste Luc (Lettre festale XXXIX sur le canon des Ecritures)

(Résumé de l'ouvrage) This collection of studies in honor of François Bovon highlights the rich diversity found within early expressions of Christianity as evidenced in ancient texts, traditions, symbols, and motifs. Old labels like 'apocrypha' or 'heresy' that for centuries have suppressed much of this evidence are removed, previous assumptions are questioned, and the old data are examined afresh along with the latest discoveries. The studies fall into six areas: ancient gospels, acts, early Christian movements, ancient interpretations, art, and manuscripts. Contributors include James Robinson, Helmut Koester, Harold Attridge, Karen King, and Jean-Daniel Kaestli.