NTT Journal for Theology and the Study of Religion - Volume 73, Issue 1, 2019

Typically, early Christian authors are not considered to be theorists of religion. In this article, by comparing the Apology of Aristides the Philosopher (second century CE) and the work of the ‘father of the science of religion’ Friedrich Max Müller, I argue that the early Christian author offers an early religionist theory of religion similar to the one formulated by Müller in the modern period. The core aim of the article is the demonstration of a proclivity to theorizing about religion that is not restricted to the Enlightenment onwards as most scholars in the field of religious studies maintain but also extends to the earliest Christian theologians.

In the Netherlands mutual pastoral care is understood as an ecclesial practice where members of the congregation care for each other in everyday life. The growing interest in mutual pastoral care in Dutch Protestant congregations shows how pastoral care is moving from the ministers to the people and from the ecclesial domain to all kinds of places where people meet, in the public as well as the private sphere. The author reflects on this broadened scope of mutual pastoral care by elaborating on three characteristics: fluidization, informalization and sacredness. He argues that a broader perspective is needed to study mutual pastoral care in the context of our late-modern culture and explores how the concept of sacro-carescape contributes to a more adequate understanding of this practice.

The Sunday Morning Prayer written by Etty Hillesum (1914-1943) on 12th of July 1942 has attracted worldwide attention. Well-known authors like Ulrich Beck and Hans Jonas have found in Hillesum’s prayer support for their thesis of a helpless God. In this article, the author criticizes their interpretation of the text and proposes a different reading.