NTT Journal for Theology and the Study of Religion - Volume 47, Issue 2, 1993

Adelman of Liège was the first who opposed Berengar of Tours in his views regarding the eucharist. He did so in a letter written at about 1051. Adelman defended a real transition of bread and wine into Christ’s body and blood by referring to the so-called corpus Christi-mystery and by expressing his doubts about the validity of sense perception. Berengar replied explaining the transition as a process of assumption into a higher dignity, and not as a total destruction of the original bread and wine. By stressing the symbolic character of the sacrament he introduced a semiotic interpretation.

This article presents a short survey of the life and work of F. Max Müller. It deals especially with his theories on the relation between language and thought, which are vital to his views on religion and mythology. Müller combined linguistic theories of romantic scholars such as Herder and Humboldt with the comparative study of Indo-European languages. His contention that language was not only a means of communication but also essential for human thinking, brought him in conflict with the evolutionists of his day. In this context he introduced the epistemological ideas of Kant and argued against the idea of a humanity emerging from the depth of animal brutality with the words: ‘language is our Rubicon and no brute will dare to pass it’. The central place Müller assigned to languages brought him also in conflict with ethnologists. He challenged the validity of their simple comparisons by means of which the unknown was explained by the more unknown.

A correct understanding of human freedom presupposes the theory of synchronic contingency as is developed by John Duns Scótus (1266-1308). With regard to human freedom the following aspects must be distinguished: I. Formal freedom: for any act of the will it is true that the will has the ability to will its opposite at the same moment. II. Material freedom, which concerns the ability to realize the possible states of affairs chosen by the will.

The teaching of missiology today is greatly facilitated by new tools such as dictionaries, collections of source materials and textbooks made available in the periode 1987-1992. Countries mentioned in the survey are The Netherlands, with several centres of missiological production, Germany, Belgium, France, Italy, Spain, Korea, the U.S.A, and the Republic of South Africa. Monographs are not included. Th. Sundermeier, H. Rzepkowski, K. Müller, H. Kasdorf, A. Wind, J.A.B. Jongeneel, D.J. Bosch, J. Gadille, J. Pirotte, W. Saayman are among quoted authors. The abundance and quality of the publications justify the title of the article ‘Missiological banquet’.

This article describes the typical Japanese changes in the belief system of a small group of descendants of Christians in the Nagasaki area of Japan who kept their faith in spite of the persecutions of the Tokugawa shogunate (1603-1868). They are called Kakure-kirishitan: hidden Christians. The Kakure-kirishitan in a syncretistic way united Christian elements with Buddhist, Shinto and folklorist elements. In ascribing hundred forms to Deusu they even devised a new type to Buddhist monotheism and made him superior to Kannon in its 33 forms. In replacing three divine persons in God with three bodies they identified Deusu to other gods of the Shinto pantheon. In their rituals they added many Shinto and Buddhist elements to the original Christian sacraments.