NTT Journal for Theology and the Study of Religion - Volume 57, Issue 1, 2003

The chances that the newly published ossuary inscription of ‘James, son of Joseph, brother of Jesus’ is a forgery are negligible. The possibility that another James than the one known from the NT as Jesus’ brother is meant here, seems to be almost excluded on the basis of a combination of statistical considerations and Jewish epigraphic habits. The article further discusses the possible implications of the new find for the study of earliest Christianity.

In 1942 students had no possibility to leave abroad and dr. Matthieu Schyns formed a commission for theological study. In 1950 the French-speaking Protestant Theological Faculty started, followed by the Dutch-speaking department in 1954. The Dutch Reformed Church was one of the sponsors at the foundation. Currently, the faculty consists of 10 professors, 2 visiting professors, 5 lecturers, 8 scientific staff members and 2 scientific assistants. The Faculty’s library, once started with 200 books, counts at the moment about 40.000 titles and 130 periodicals. A daughter-institution was founded at Butare (Rwanda).

Recently a group of theologians has advanced the thesis (1) that the majority of the Christian tradition endorsed the opinion that human life is sacred from the very beginning, and (2) that this moral judgment was based on convictions about the ensoulment of the embryo. This article is devoted to the question whether the development of thought within reformed orthodoxy supports this thesis or not. Comparison of three important reformed theologians (Danaeus, Alsted, Voetius) shows that they are acquainted with theories about ensoulment, but have differing opinions about the relevancy of these theories for morality.

We researched the impact of Poulenc’s opera Dialogues des Carmélites as performed in the Amsterdam opera house, March 2002. The main question was: What feelings and associations does this explicitly religious opera evoke in the allegedly secular audience and performers? The audience was asked to fill in a questionnaire, and eight ‘performers’ (singers, musical and dramatic director) were interviewed. A striking result was that the opera was experienced as highly moving and recognisable, irrespective of the religious affiliation and religious commitment of the interviewees. Religious commitment turned out to be the variable that is significant with respect to evoking existential/religious feelings. It is concluded that art may influence religious sensibility, in the broad sense of the word.