NTT Journal for Theology and the Study of Religion - Volume 69, Issue 1, 2015

The aim of this contribution is to give a coherent account of the World Parliament of Religions held in Chicago in 1893. The meeting was organised in the context of the Columbian World Exhibition, which celebrated 400 years of America. The Parliament convened in the main hall of the Chicago Art Institute and attracted 150,000 people, according to one of the lengthy reports. Various aspects are addressed: the objectives of the organisers, the character of the various reports of this mega-event, the participation of women, the relationship between the Christian organisers and the representatives of the East, the various – opposing – claims about the superiority of specific forms of religion and culture (for instance, the juxtaposition of the material West and the spiritual East), the tendency to spiritualize religion, and the role of the emerging field of religious studies versus the ‘interfaith’ character of the Parliament. It is hardly possible to draw one final conclusion from this heterogeneous event, but perhaps one can say that the participants were convinced of the ultimate meaning of ‘religion’ – however defined – as a force against indulging in consumerism and materialism.

This article provides a critical analysis and evaluation of Gijsbert van den Brink and Kees van der Kooi’s Christian Dogmatics, a lucid and welcome presentation of the core ideas that can be found in the Christian faith. First, the book is characterized, both from a more general perspective and from a specifically theological point of view. Next, it is argued that there is a discrepancy between the way the authors characterize systematic theology and the way they practice systematic theology themselves. After that, their assessment of natural theology is criticized and several problems in the Christian Dogmatics are highlighted, such as the fact that the authors’ anthropology fails to take holistic dualism seriously. Finally, it is argued that in some places, the authors ask important questions, but then provide answers to different questions without addressing the original issues.

Kan poëzie theologisch geduid worden? En zo ja, onder welke voorwaarden? Is daar een specifieke vorm van lezen voor nodig? Het antwoord van beide auteurs op deze vraag is bevestigend. Dat illustreren zij aan de wijze waarop God ter sprake komt in het werk van Gerrit Achterberg. Ook al benaderingen zij die poëzie vanuit verschillende invalshoeken – de een meer op herkenning gericht, de ander meer op vervreemding –, toch komen ze tot de gezamenlijke conclusie dat alleen een wijze van lezen die het innovatieve, respectievelijk vervreemdende karakter van de (zijn) poëzie honoreert, recht doet aan de intentie van het gedicht en de dichter.

The new Dutch Passover Haggadah (2011) is broad in a double sense: its Hebrew text and Dutch translations include variations that suit the different forms of variegated Dutch Judaism. In a literal sense, it is designed in a ‘landscape’ format and includes many visual features that make it an easy and attractive tool. Besides introducing this new Haggadah, this article offers an introduction to the Passover seder and its Biblical and rabbinic sources. It includes a detailed discussion of the midrash of Deuteronomy 26:5–8 that is central in the Haggadah, and its relation to the early Christian interpretation of the Pesach traditions.