Religions

12 pages, 491 KB

Open AccessArticle

How They Recover: A Qualitative Study of Female Adult Clergy Sexual Abuse Survivors Using AI

by David K. Pooler

Religions 2025, 16(11), 1355; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel16111355 (registering DOI) - 27 Oct 2025

Adult Clergy Sexual Abuse (ACSA) is a profound betrayal of trust and power that produces complex psychological, spiritual, and relational injuries for survivors. While much of the literature has focused on the abuse itself and its consequences, less attention has been given to [...] Read more.

Adult Clergy Sexual Abuse (ACSA) is a profound betrayal of trust and power that produces complex psychological, spiritual, and relational injuries for survivors. While much of the literature has focused on the abuse itself and its consequences, less attention has been given to recovery and resilience. This qualitative study draws on in-depth interviews with 27 female survivors of ACSA to explore how they heal and recover. Using artificial intelligence to support thematic analysis, nine key recovery processes were identified: 1. therapy, 2. supportive relationships and community, 3. faith and spirituality, 4. survivor organizations, 5. education and understanding, 6. justice and accountability, 7. sharing their stories, 8. time and patience, and 9. practical support and advocacy. Across experiences, the most potent factor undergirding recovery was being believed and validated, which addressed survivors’ core wounds of self-blame and isolation. Findings highlight survivors’ capacity for healing and underscore the critical role of supportive, informed communities. Full article

(This article belongs to the Section Religions and Theologies)

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30 pages, 8638 KB

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A 19th-Century Representation of Identity: An Evaluation of the Architectural Design of the Yüksek Kaldırım Ashkenazi Synagogue (Austrian Temple) in Istanbul

by Gülferi Akın Ertek

Religions 2025, 16(11), 1354; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel16111354 (registering DOI) - 27 Oct 2025

Abstract

This article examines the impact of 19th-century Jewish emancipation on architecture through the example of the Yüksek Kaldırım Ashkenazi Synagogue in Istanbul. The emancipation process enhanced the public visibility of Jews, and synagogue architecture emerged as a medium reflecting this new search for [...] Read more.

This article examines the impact of 19th-century Jewish emancipation on architecture through the example of the Yüksek Kaldırım Ashkenazi Synagogue in Istanbul. The emancipation process enhanced the public visibility of Jews, and synagogue architecture emerged as a medium reflecting this new search for identity. The adoption of Orientalist architectural trends—which became widespread in 19th-century Europe—as an expression of Jewish identity led to the incorporation of Eastern styles, particularly those influenced by Islamic and Andalusian esthetics, in synagogue design. Within this framework, the article analyzes the architectural design of the Yüksek Kaldırım Ashkenazi Synagogue, commissioned by an Ashkenazi congregation that had migrated from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and explores the intellectual and historical context behind its Orientalist style. Identity representation is assessed through architectural elements such as arch forms, ornamentation, and structural arrangements inspired by Islamic architecture. The architect, construction process, and the social position of the Ashkenazi community within the Ottoman Empire are also examined through historical documentation. In conclusion, the synagogue constructed in Istanbul is interpreted as a reflection of the Orientalist architectural approach embraced by Jewish communities in Europe, as manifested within the Ottoman context, drawing attention to the relationship between identity, belonging, and architectural representation. Full article

(This article belongs to the Section Religions and Health/Psychology/Social Sciences)

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17 pages, 296 KB

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“My Tears Have Been My Food, Both Day and Night”: Integrating Theology and Psychology on the Nature of Grief

by Daniel Lee Hill, Sierra Wickline and Angie S. LeRoy

Religions 2025, 16(11), 1353; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel16111353 (registering DOI) - 27 Oct 2025

Abstract

Recent work on theological reflection on the phenomenon of human grief has called for an apophatic posture, one that resists speaking positively about what grief is, what grief does, or where it is situated with respect to the economy of God’s works. Grief, [...] Read more.

Recent work on theological reflection on the phenomenon of human grief has called for an apophatic posture, one that resists speaking positively about what grief is, what grief does, or where it is situated with respect to the economy of God’s works. Grief, on this account, is viewed as inaccessible to theological inquiry and illogical in nature. This essay references recent work in psychological science to offer “theological fragments” on the nature of grief with the respect to the generational self’s journey in the “time of weeping.” In so doing, it argues that an integration of theological and psychological science provides a framework for describing grief in a way that resists the temptation to ascribe positive meaning or value to it in the reconciling work of God. Full article

(This article belongs to the Section Religions and Health/Psychology/Social Sciences)

19 pages, 484 KB

Open AccessArticle

Influence of Ecological Factors and Internal Resources on Adolescent Suicidal Ideation: An Empirical Study in Colombia

by Mario Euseche and Antonio Muñoz-García

Religions 2025, 16(11), 1352; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel16111352 (registering DOI) - 27 Oct 2025

Abstract

This study analyzes suicidal ideation in Colombian adolescents from an ecological perspective, considering family, school, religious, and psychological factors. A total of 1372 high school students participated. The findings demonstrate that family functionality was directly and positively associated with lower levels of negative [...] Read more.

This study analyzes suicidal ideation in Colombian adolescents from an ecological perspective, considering family, school, religious, and psychological factors. A total of 1372 high school students participated. The findings demonstrate that family functionality was directly and positively associated with lower levels of negative suicidal ideation, positioning it as the most influential factor in mitigating risk. This effect was both independent and substantially stronger than that of personal religiosity or school satisfaction, which exerted their influence primarily through indirect pathways mediated by psychological well-being and spirituality. Structural equation modeling confirmed the direct effect of family functionality on suicidal ideation, whereas school satisfaction and religiosity operated exclusively through mediating variables. The study highlights the importance of culturally sensitive preventive interventions that strengthen the family and school environment and promote the spiritual and emotional development of adolescents. Full article

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19 pages, 307 KB

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The Implicit Liberation Theology of Dorothy Day: Spiritual Dissatisfaction, Lo Cotidiano, and Sacred Spaces of Hospitality

by Amanda Rachel Bolaños

Religions 2025, 16(11), 1351; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel16111351 (registering DOI) - 27 Oct 2025

Abstract

This paper will analyze the life of Servant of God Dorothy Day through the hermeneutical lens of liberation theology. Although Day was not an explicit liberation theologian, her work through the Catholic Worker Movement exemplifies liberative qualities. I will first reflect on Day’s [...] Read more.

This paper will analyze the life of Servant of God Dorothy Day through the hermeneutical lens of liberation theology. Although Day was not an explicit liberation theologian, her work through the Catholic Worker Movement exemplifies liberative qualities. I will first reflect on Day’s interior life and her dissatisfaction with social injustices, claiming this as the starting point of liberative theological practices; then, I will turn to St. Thérèse of Lisieux, a saint whom Day came to greatly admire, and Thérèse’s method of “the little way,” paralleling it with mujerista theologian Ada María Isasi-Díaz’s epistemological concept of lo cotidiano as an important method in spiritual praxis; and finally, I will parallel the liberation between Base Ecclesial Communities in Latin America and the houses of hospitality in the Catholic Worker Movement, ultimately arguing that liberation for those on the margins stems from first offering safe places for the creativity of the marginalized to flourish. It is safety that thus leads to creativity—to a restoration of one’s agency and an affirmation of one’s voice and dignity—that can then lead to a stable and sustainable type of liberation. Day and the Catholic Worker movement serve as exemplars in this liberative method. Full article

20 pages, 1752 KB

Open AccessArticle

The New-Style of the Pageant on Immortals Event in Changle: Decorating Deities like Dolls

by Mengxue Wei

Religions 2025, 16(11), 1350; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel16111350 (registering DOI) - 27 Oct 2025

Abstract

The longevity of popular religions in China is primarily attributed to their strong adaptability. This study uses online ethnography to examine the Pageant on Immortals event in Changle, which became a popular topic on the Chinese Internet in February 2024, to explore the [...] Read more.

The longevity of popular religions in China is primarily attributed to their strong adaptability. This study uses online ethnography to examine the Pageant on Immortals event in Changle, which became a popular topic on the Chinese Internet in February 2024, to explore the identity transformation of popular religious inheritors and innovations in religious rituals. This study contributes to the research on the diversity of Chinese religious cultures by addressing the question of what emotions young people in an atheistic society hold toward deities like “Prince Zhao,” and how are these emotions generated? Here the Pageant on Immortals event, the “Deities,” who traditionally held a subsidiary position to the main god, due to changes in statue-making styles and gaps in mythological narratives, resonates with the “daily superstition” practices of contemporary Chinese youth. This shift has led participants to treat the deities as idols, and the organizers have transitioned from traditional roles of religious merchants or ritual specialists to seeing themselves as the “dolls’ masters.” However, these changes and innovations present challenges for the transmission of faith. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Dolls and Idols: Critical Essays in Neo-Animism)

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11 pages, 200 KB

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What Do a Jew, a Hindu and a Buddhist Mean by “One”? Trans-Different Reflections

by Ephraim Meir

Religions 2025, 16(11), 1349; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel16111349 (registering DOI) - 26 Oct 2025

Abstract

In this study, I analyze how reflections on the “one” appear in different cultures. Thoughts on the “one” in several worldviews show similarities but also dissimilarities that should not be neglected. More specifically, I juxtapose Arthur Green’s neo-mystic “oneness” with Anantanand Rambachan’s Hindu [...] Read more.

In this study, I analyze how reflections on the “one” appear in different cultures. Thoughts on the “one” in several worldviews show similarities but also dissimilarities that should not be neglected. More specifically, I juxtapose Arthur Green’s neo-mystic “oneness” with Anantanand Rambachan’s Hindu view on the one and the many and with Thich Nhat Hanh’s insights on inter-being and on “one” and “many” as mere mental constructs. I clarify what each of these three thinkers means by “one” in, respectively, their Jewish, Hindu and Buddhist thoughts. Full article

20 pages, 286 KB

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Knowledge and Opinions of Orthodox Clergy in Greece Regarding Religious Psychopathology

by Georgios Timotheos Chalkias

Religions 2025, 16(11), 1348; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel16111348 (registering DOI) - 25 Oct 2025

Abstract

This study focuses on the knowledge and attitudes of Orthodox clergy in Greece regarding religious psychopathology, which refers to the complex phenomena where religious experiences or beliefs intersect with mental disorders. The sample included 125 clergy members with varying levels of education and [...] Read more.

This study focuses on the knowledge and attitudes of Orthodox clergy in Greece regarding religious psychopathology, which refers to the complex phenomena where religious experiences or beliefs intersect with mental disorders. The sample included 125 clergy members with varying levels of education and pastoral experience. The findings reveal significant gaps in the understanding of basic concepts of religious psychopathology, despite recognition of the need for collaboration with mental health professionals. Formal education proved to be a decisive factor in understanding religious psychopathology, as clergy with higher educational levels demonstrated significantly better knowledge. In contrast, clergy opinions towards mental health issues appeared to be shaped by multiple factors beyond education alone. Experience in collaboration with psychologists or psychiatrists was positively associated with higher knowledge levels and more realistic, positive attitudes toward managing religious psychopathology. Additionally, clergy who had direct experience with cases of religious psychopathology showed greater sensitivity and differentiated perspectives. The study highlights the urgent need to incorporate knowledge of religious psychopathology into theological education in Greece and to strengthen cooperation between the Church and mental health services. Such initiatives can improve pastoral care, reduce the stigma surrounding mental illness, and holistically support members of religious communities Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Religiosity and Psychopathology)

20 pages, 351 KB

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The Role of Ritual Prayer (Ṣalāh) in Self-Purification and Identity Formation: An Islamic Educational Perspective

by Adeeb Obaid Alsuhaymi and Fouad Ahmed Atallah

Religions 2025, 16(11), 1347; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel16111347 (registering DOI) - 25 Oct 2025

Abstract

Ritual prayer (ṣalāh) is one of the most central and enduring practices in Islam, widely recognized for its spiritual significance. However, its educational and formative role in shaping the Muslim’s inner self and moral identity remains insufficiently explored in contemporary scholarship. This paper [...] Read more.

Ritual prayer (ṣalāh) is one of the most central and enduring practices in Islam, widely recognized for its spiritual significance. However, its educational and formative role in shaping the Muslim’s inner self and moral identity remains insufficiently explored in contemporary scholarship. This paper aims to examine ritual prayer as a core pedagogical tool within Islamic education, focusing on its transformative power in the processes of self-purification (tazkiyah) and identity formation. The study seeks to analyze the ethical and psychological dimensions of ṣalāh, drawing on classical Islamic sources, as well as integrating insights from contemporary critical philosophy—particularly Byung-Chul Han’s Vita Contemplativa—and Islamic virtue ethics, including perspectives such as those advanced by Elizabeth Bucar. Through this framework, the paper explores how prayer shapes inner dispositions like humility, mindfulness, sincerity, patience, and submission, reinforcing both spiritual awareness and communal belonging. Employing a descriptive-analytical methodology, the study engages Qur’anic verses, prophetic traditions, and traditional pedagogical literature to investigate how ṣalāh functions as a lived and repeated experience that cultivates the soul and molds ethical behavior. The discussion highlights how regular performance of prayer integrates belief with action and contributes to the formation of a reflective and morally grounded Muslim identity. This paper contributes to the field of Islamic Practical Theology by demonstrating how ritual prayer operates as a dynamic and holistic model for moral and spiritual development. It provides educators and scholars with a theoretical and applied vision for incorporating ṣalāh-based character education into Islamic curricula. Future research may explore how prayer interacts with modern lifestyles, digital spiritual practices, and intergenerational transmission of religious identity in diverse contexts. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Islamic Practical Theology)

25 pages, 14476 KB

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Tracing Sacred Intercession in Childbirth Across Byzantine Tradition and Its Western Reception, from the Virgin’s Girdle to Saints Julitta and Kerykos

by Şükran Ünser

Religions 2025, 16(11), 1346; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel16111346 (registering DOI) - 25 Oct 2025

Abstract

This article explores devotional responses to childbirth in Byzantine and medieval Western Christianity, focusing on the interplay between maternal experience, sacred objects, and saintly intercession. It begins by examining how the Virgin Mary was revered as a powerful intercessor in matters of fertility [...] Read more.

This article explores devotional responses to childbirth in Byzantine and medieval Western Christianity, focusing on the interplay between maternal experience, sacred objects, and saintly intercession. It begins by examining how the Virgin Mary was revered as a powerful intercessor in matters of fertility and childbirth. Drawing on literary, liturgical, and visual sources, the study also highlights vernacular practices such as the use of ritual girdles and protective garments. It then traces how these traditions migrated to Western Europe, where Mary’s girdle became a widespread devotional object, particularly in Italy and England. Later in the study, special attention is given to the cult of Saints Julitta and Kerykos, known in the West as Quiricus/Cyricus and Julitta, a mother-and-child martyr pair whose veneration in the Latin West gained renewed significance in the late Middle Ages, particularly through its symbolic parallels with Marian devotion in childbirth-related contexts. While Byzantine traditions emphasized theological regulation and elite contexts, Western Christianity fostered more accessible, embodied, and affective forms of devotional practice. The article concludes that childbirth devotion, variably expressed across regions, formed a significant part of Christian spirituality, shaped by institutional authority, local needs, and ritual acts grounded in bodily experience and articulated through images, objects, and gesture. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Devotion Practice and Performative Expression in the Religious Art of Medieval Europe)

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12 pages, 244 KB

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In a Flash of Lightning: Conversion and the Non-Object Through Kierkegaard and Eliot

by Jesse D. Goodman

Religions 2025, 16(11), 1345; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel16111345 (registering DOI) - 24 Oct 2025

Abstract

In both T.S Eliot’s poetry and the writings of Søren Kierkegaard, conversion serves as an escape from the noise and din of social life. Similarly, both writers implicitly respond to Hegelian Absolute Idealism’s placement of poetry and religious practice within “picture-thinking,” outside of [...] Read more.

In both T.S Eliot’s poetry and the writings of Søren Kierkegaard, conversion serves as an escape from the noise and din of social life. Similarly, both writers implicitly respond to Hegelian Absolute Idealism’s placement of poetry and religious practice within “picture-thinking,” outside of real knowledge. Conversion appears in both thinkers as a response to the pressures of social life, and as a breakdown in communication between religious adherents and their society. Kierkegaard especially articulates the impossible space of Christians within “Christendom.” This paper takes as its point of comparison Eliot’s “The Waste Land,” reading it through a lens from Kierkegaard’s pseudonymous works. First, I work through the development of anxiety as a social phenomenon in both, before turning to Eliot and Kierkegaard’s depiction of the conversion event as self-obliterative. I then explore the silence after conversion, with a particular interest in the cessation of metaphysical speculation. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Experience and Non-Objects: The Limits of Intuition)

22 pages, 6502 KB

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The Religious-Political Strategy of the Mu Chieftains in Ming Dynasty Lijiang: A Spatial Analysis of the Murals in the Dabaoji Palace

by Xiyu Hu and Shaohua Wang

Religions 2025, 16(11), 1344; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel16111344 (registering DOI) - 24 Oct 2025

Abstract

This article examines the murals of Dabaoji Palace in Lijiang during the Ming Dynasty, analyzing their tripartite religious spatial configuration to elucidate how the Mu chieftains visualized and asserted their political and cultural agency as local elites operating at the empire’s south-western frontier [...] Read more.

This article examines the murals of Dabaoji Palace in Lijiang during the Ming Dynasty, analyzing their tripartite religious spatial configuration to elucidate how the Mu chieftains visualized and asserted their political and cultural agency as local elites operating at the empire’s south-western frontier within the framework of imperial authority. Through an interdisciplinary methodology that combines textual research, spatial analysis, and iconographic interpretation, the study identifies and theorizes a threefold religious spatial model in Dabaoji Palace: a Daoist facade symbolizing allegiance to the Ming court, a Han Buddhist-dominated central hybrid space asserting political authority and local agency in cultural mediation, and a secluded Tibetan esoteric sanctum providing sacral legitimacy for frontier governance. This tripartite spatial configuration is interpreted as a strategic localization of religious space that embodies the Mu chieftains’ response to Ming frontier administration. By highlighting the Sino-Tibetan artistic synthesis in the murals, the paper argues that the Mu chieftains, as Naxi elites in a borderland context, crafted a visual narrative of frontier rule that both reinforced their ties to the Ming court and forged a distinctive local identity. In doing so, their initiatives contributed to the cultural integration of multi-ethnic communities in northwest Yunnan and laid the foundation for the formation of a shared national identity. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Arts, Spirituality, and Religion)

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15 pages, 274 KB

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“The Kingdom of God Is Anarchy.” Apophasis, Political Eschatology, and Mysticism in Russian Religious Thought

by Francesco Vitali Rosati

Religions 2025, 16(11), 1343; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel16111343 (registering DOI) - 24 Oct 2025

Abstract

This essay examines the reception of Western mystical theology in early twentieth-century Russian religious thought, showing how leading Russian thinkers—such as Ivanov, Frank, Bulgakov, and Berdyaev—reinterpreted Meister Eckhart’s central categories (Gottheit, Abgeschiedenheit), often in significant conjunction with Nietzschean and Tolstoyan [...] Read more.

This essay examines the reception of Western mystical theology in early twentieth-century Russian religious thought, showing how leading Russian thinkers—such as Ivanov, Frank, Bulgakov, and Berdyaev—reinterpreted Meister Eckhart’s central categories (Gottheit, Abgeschiedenheit), often in significant conjunction with Nietzschean and Tolstoyan doctrines. It reconstructs a distinctive philosophical current—“mystical anarchism”—emerging at the intersection of apophatic theology, political eschatology, and the critique of violence. Through a detailed analysis of primary texts, the essay argues that Russian philosophers radicalized the doctrine of detachment into a political ontology of freedom, aimed at challenging both metaphysical authority and social coercion. While drawing extensively on negative theological traditions, their most original contributions appear not in strictly speculative or metaphysical terms, but rather in the ethical and political domain. Particular attention is given to Berdyaev’s notion of an “apophatic sociology,” which articulates freedom as the negation of all power of man over man and as the condition of a communal life no longer bound by abstract categories of morality and knowledge. The article concludes that Russian religious thought offers an original contribution to understanding mysticism as a resource for ethical and critical philosophy. Full article

24 pages, 895 KB

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The Flowing Pantheon: A Study on the Origins of the Wutong Deity and the Five Road Deities of Wealth, with a Discussion on the Pluralistic Harmony of Daoism

by Qi Zhang

Religions 2025, 16(11), 1342; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel16111342 - 24 Oct 2025

Abstract

The origin of the Wutong deity, a controversial figure in Chinese folk religion, has long been an unresolved academic issue, hindering a clear understanding of its complex godhead and its derivative cults, such as the Five Road Deities of Wealth. This study aims [...] Read more.

The origin of the Wutong deity, a controversial figure in Chinese folk religion, has long been an unresolved academic issue, hindering a clear understanding of its complex godhead and its derivative cults, such as the Five Road Deities of Wealth. This study aims to provide a comprehensive etymological solution to this long-standing problem. Through a systematic investigation combining cross-cultural linguistic analysis, comparative mythology, and socio-historical contextualization, this paper traces the deity’s evolution from its prototype to its final forms. The study argues that the Wutong deity’s prototype is the Buddhist Yakṣa General Pañcika, known in early China as the “Wudao Dashen” (Great Deity of the Five Paths). Its core godhead was formed by inheriting Pañcika’s attribute as a wealth deity, while degrading his myth of prolificacy into a licentious characteristic by conflating it with indigenous stereotypes of Yakṣas. Its name resulted from an orthographic corruption of “Wudao” to “Wutong,” and its “one-legged” image from a phono-semantic misreading of its transliterated name, “Banzhijia (半支迦).” This transformation was catalyzed by the severance of the Tangmi (唐密) lineage and the concurrent rise of commercialism in Song-dynasty Jiangnan. This evolutionary chain reveals the complete process by which a foreign deity was seamlessly integrated into the indigenous Chinese belief system, a “Flowing Pantheon,” through misreading and reconstruction, vividly illustrating the pluralistic and harmonious nature of Chinese religion. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Diversity and Harmony of Taoism: Ideas, Behaviors and Influences)

18 pages, 250 KB

Open AccessArticle

Feline Divinanimality: Starseed Soteriology and Lyran Ontology

by Tom Berendt

Religions 2025, 16(11), 1341; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel16111341 - 24 Oct 2025

Abstract

This paper analyzes the entangled relationship between feline divinanimality and extraterrestrial ontology, which has spawned a New Religious Movement (NRM) called Lyran Starseeds, centered upon a human–feline interspecies coevolution and exogenesis. Alongside offering a detailed exposition of this new intergalactic creature exotheology, I [...] Read more.

This paper analyzes the entangled relationship between feline divinanimality and extraterrestrial ontology, which has spawned a New Religious Movement (NRM) called Lyran Starseeds, centered upon a human–feline interspecies coevolution and exogenesis. Alongside offering a detailed exposition of this new intergalactic creature exotheology, I will also analyze the many ways it has been inspired by historical feline veneration and contemporary science fiction film and literature. I shall argue that both offer Lyran Starseeds an epistemological framework to situate and legitimize their intergalactic feline ontology. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Transdisciplinary Theological Study: Animals, Divinanimality, and Creaturely Theology)

19 pages, 446 KB

Open AccessArticle

Tracing the Incorporation of the Bimo shi Mulian jing into the Chinese Tripitaka and the Attribution of Its Translators: A Study Based on Buddhist Catalogs

by Wen Zhang

Religions 2025, 16(11), 1340; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel16111340 - 24 Oct 2025

Abstract

The reliable corpus of Buddhist sutras translated by Zhi Qian 支謙 serves as an important reference benchmark for determining the authenticity of Buddhist sutras from the Three Kingdoms 三國 period to the pre-Jin period (220–265 CE). The Bimo shi Mulian jing 弊魔試目連經 ( [...] Read more.

The reliable corpus of Buddhist sutras translated by Zhi Qian 支謙 serves as an important reference benchmark for determining the authenticity of Buddhist sutras from the Three Kingdoms 三國 period to the pre-Jin period (220–265 CE). The Bimo shi Mulian jing 弊魔試目連經 (The Sūtra of Māra Testing Maudgalyāyana) is currently included in the Taishō Tripiṭaka as an individual sutra. Since the start of block-printing of Buddhist canons, this sutra has been attributed to Zhi Qian of the Wu 吳 State in the Three Kingdoms period and included in the ruzangmu 入藏目 (“list [of texts] admitted to the canon”) of various editions of the Tripitaka. However, historical investigation reveals significant complexity and controversy surrounding its title, attributed translator, and its entries in different ancient catalogs. A systematic examination of historical Buddhist catalogs (jinglu 經錄) demonstrates that, during the times of Dao’an 道安 and Sengyou 僧祐, the sutra was given different names and recorded as a scripture with an unknown translator. During the time of Fajing 法經 in the Sui 隋 Dynasty, the sutra first appeared in the annotations of the sutra catalog under the name Bimo shi Mulian jing, and the translator was not recorded. By the time of Fei Zhangfang 費長房 in the Sui Dynasty, the sutra was first attributed to Zhi Qian, yet it was not included in the ruzangmu 入藏目. Finally, Zhisheng 智昇 in the Tang 唐 Dynasty integrated a great deal of information and attributed the sutra to Zhi Qian under the name Bimo shi Mulian jing and included it in the ruzangmu of Hinayana sutras 小乘入藏目 (List of Hinayana Sutras Admitted to the Canon). Zhisheng’s record has been followed to the present day. Furthermore, critical analysis of Fei Zhangfang’s methodology in attributing this sutra to Zhi Qian, when combined with linguistic evidence, confirms that this sutra was neither translated by Zhi Qian of the Three Kingdoms period nor produced earlier than the Western Jin 西晉 Dynasty (265-316 CE). This study’s analysis of both the canonical inclusion process and the attributed translator of the Bimo shi Mulian jing demonstrates how Buddhist catalogs—exemplified by Fei Zhangfang’s Lidai sanbao ji 曆代三寶紀 (Records of the Three Treasures Throughout the Successive Dynasties)—systematically constructed false translator attributions, while simultaneously underscoring the imperative to re-evaluate so-called “authoritative records” within the Chinese Buddhist canon through integrated multidisciplinary methodologies combining Buddhist catalog criticism with linguistic analysis. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Monastic Lives and Buddhist Textual Traditions in China and Beyond)

19 pages, 1464 KB

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Fear and Faith: The Rhetorical Strategy of the Serpent and Buddha Paths in the Dunhuang Ten Kings Sutra (S.3961)

by Changjie Yang

Religions 2025, 16(11), 1339; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel16111339 - 23 Oct 2025

Abstract

A unique illustrated manuscript of the Ten Kings Sutra from Dunhuang (S.3961) depicts two anomalous paths of rebirth alongside the traditional six: a path of serpents and a path of Buddhas, neither of which is found in canonical Buddhist scriptures or other illustrative [...] Read more.

A unique illustrated manuscript of the Ten Kings Sutra from Dunhuang (S.3961) depicts two anomalous paths of rebirth alongside the traditional six: a path of serpents and a path of Buddhas, neither of which is found in canonical Buddhist scriptures or other illustrative paintings. This paper argues that these two paths should be understood as a symmetrical visual and rhetorical strategy designed to serve the sutra’s didactic and ritual functions within the local community. The serpent path visualizes a popular belief linking rebirth as a serpent to dying in a state of anger, functioning as a terrifying warning against the consequences of neglecting filial duties and mortuary rites. In symmetrical opposition, the Buddha path offers the ultimate promise of liberation, symbolizing the goal of rebirth in a Pure Land and eventual Buddhahood, which could be achieved by performing the very rituals the sutra promotes or by resorting to the protection of Bodhisattva Kṣitigarbha. This pairing of “fear” and “faith” stands as a uniquely powerful example of the creative localization of Buddhism in late Tang and Five Dynasties Dunhuang, revealing how local communities actively synthesized elite doctrines, popular scriptures, and folk beliefs to create a potent visual narrative that addressed their pressing anxieties about afterlife judgment and liberation. Full article

(This article belongs to the Section Religions and Humanities/Philosophies)

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26 pages, 458 KB

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A Re-Examination of Albert the Great’s Use of Thomas of Cantimpré’s De Natura Rerum

by Irven Michael Resnick

Religions 2025, 16(11), 1338; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel16111338 - 23 Oct 2025

Abstract

The first twenty-one books of Albert the Great’s massive paraphrastic commentary on Aristotle’s De animalibus (completed in the 1260s) were followed by something very different in books 22-26, namely brief narrative descriptions of various animals arranged alphabetically and relying extensively upon Thomas of [...] Read more.

The first twenty-one books of Albert the Great’s massive paraphrastic commentary on Aristotle’s De animalibus (completed in the 1260s) were followed by something very different in books 22-26, namely brief narrative descriptions of various animals arranged alphabetically and relying extensively upon Thomas of Cantimpré’s De natura rerum. The result is a peculiar composite that first articulates the general or common principles of animals—e.g., the manner of their reproduction, their nutrition, growth, shared behaviors, etc.—but then provides brief, narrative descriptions of different animal species which are sourced primarily from Thomas of Cantimpré’s encyclopedia (ca. 1256). In the following pages I examine Albert’s use in his De animalibus of Thomas of Cantimpre’s narrative descriptions in De natura rerum. I will show that although Albert often criticized Thomas’s text, he utilized it nonetheless to satisfy the requirements for a natural science and to make that science accessible to a wider audience. Full article

20 pages, 2554 KB

Open AccessArticle

The Intersections of Buddhism and Contemporary Korean Visual Culture

by Mina Kim

Religions 2025, 16(11), 1337; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel16111337 - 23 Oct 2025

Abstract

Religion has played a significant role in shaping social cohesion by providing stability and support that transcends the human capacity to resolve individual desires, aspirations, and concerns while contributing to national identity and unity. Religion has also become an inseparable element of human [...] Read more.

Religion has played a significant role in shaping social cohesion by providing stability and support that transcends the human capacity to resolve individual desires, aspirations, and concerns while contributing to national identity and unity. Religion has also become an inseparable element of human history, and the human desire to embody religious imagery has been with human history. Art has historically visualized the complex and subtle relationship between humans and religion directly and profoundly. In this way, religious works have provided a lens for examining how religious ideas permeate everyday life and influence cultural practices. This study explores how Buddhist philosophy and esthetics have influenced and coexisted in contemporary Korean artistic expression to emphasize the rich intersections between Buddhism and modern and contemporary Korean artworks. The concept of consilience, which refers to the integration of knowledge across diverse domains, aims to explain how Buddhist thought has transcended human conflict and promoted harmonious coexistence within Korean visual culture. The dynamic interplay between traditional Buddhist values and contemporary visual practices produces a rich cultural synthesis that highlights the importance of preserving Korea’s artistic heritage and expands and fosters the development of global visual culture today. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Religious Conflict and Coexistence in Korea)

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