Religious Ethics

In this paper, I seek to present the range of issues involved in the efforts of sixteenth-century kabbalists to understand the nature of selfhood, and the paths prescribed for the formation of an ideal life. I reflect on the mystical writings of Moshe Cordovero, Eliyahu de Vidas, and Hayyim Vital-probing their conceptions of core identity, the polarity between body and soul, and the ethical guidance for a life well lived. In so doing, I consider the following additional themes, and their relation to the matrix of self-formation and religious identity: reincarnation and rebirth; the virtue of humility and self-effacement; the cultivation of wisdom; ideals of piety and prophetic experience; asceticism; and the spiritual transcendence of desire. In presenting this wide range of constituent themes, I argue that sixteenth-century kabbalists understood the soul to be the ultimate marker of personal identity (nuanced and complicated by the doctrine of reincarnation), and that they formulated a vision of an ideal ethics in which the human being functions as an earthly vessel for the divine presence. What is more, the preparation of that vessel required a degree of humility so extreme that the attainment of ideal personhood ultimately involved the effacement of that very identity.

Part of a series from Visual Aid Publishing, designed for Kindle, iPad etc. Aimed at a general readership but also useful for teaching purposes, as an accessible, thought provoking and inexpensive introduction.  Topics include Abortion, Euthanasia, Acts and Omissions, Kant, Mill, Hume, Law and Morality, Emotivism, Moral Luck, Altruism, Torture, Suicide, Ethics and Religion, Relativism, Justice and many more (another eighty-five, to be precise).

Part of a series from Visual Aid Publishing, designed for Kindle, iPad etc. Aimed at a general readership but also useful for teaching purposes, as an accessible, thought provoking and inexpensive introduction.  Topics include Abortion, Euthanasia, Acts and Omissions, Kant, Mill, Hume, Law and Morality, Emotivism, Moral Luck, Altruism, Torture, Suicide, Ethics and Religion, Relativism, Justice and many more (another eighty-five, to be precise).

The story of Rapunzel is a German folktale collected by the Brothers Grimm in  the late nineteenth century as part of a drive to record folk traditions and myths. The story of Rapunzel begins with the long-awaited pregnancy of a poor couple who lived next door to the walled garden of an enchantress. The pregnant wife longed for the rare plant of "rapunzel" to the point of death. So her husband stole into the garden to take some of the plant for his wife. He was discovered by the enchantress and begged for mercy. So she required as payment that they surrender their child to her at birth. This they did. The child (named Rapunzel) grew in loveliness and was placed in an ivory tower, deep in the forest. Each day the enchantress would visit her and ask her to let down her golden hair so she could scale the tower to reach her, using the hair as a rope. One day a young prince was passing by the isolated tower and heard Rapunzel singing. He longed to meet the possessor of such a beautiful voice. Then he saw the enchantress visit Rapunzel, so after she left, he mimicked her commands. Rapunzel let down her golden hair but instead of the enchantress it was a young dashing prince. He went to visit her everyday after the enchantress had been and they planned to run away together. But the enchantress discovered the deceit of Rapunzel and cut her hair in anticipation of the prince's arrival. When the prince got to the top of the tower, he met the enchantress instead of Rapunzel. The enchantress threw down the rope of hair so that the prince fell from the tower and landed in a thicket of thorns. He was blinded and was left to wander the forest alone. However Rapunzel escaped and went to live in a little cottage. One day the prince heard her singing once again. The couple was reunited. As Rapunzel saw his damaged eyes, she wept. But as her tears delicately dropped onto his eyelids they miraculously restored his sight. And of course, they lived happily ever after.

When moral or religious teachings have public and political effects, analysis usually focuses on the message, but attention to the manner in which the teachings are communicated is equally important in understanding their power to influence the course of events. Oscar Romero's particular style of moral discourse was remarkably effective for three reasons: First, his moral reasoning resonated with Salvadoran identity. It was intelligible within those reigning assumptions about national history and territory that could actually move a public to action. Second, his moral judgments were timely. Romero sought to discern what was possible for the Salvadoran public at a given moment. Third, Romero had integrity as a public He lived in such a way that his life, and especially his death, became an exemplary embodiment of the larger religious narrative that both grounded his ethics and gave meaning to the nation.

After the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, most legacy airlines filed for bankruptcy protection as a way to cut costs drastically, with the exception of American Airlines. This article applies the Principle of Double-Effect to the act of filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection for reasons of management strategy, in particular, cost-cutting. It argues that the Principle can be a useful tool for discerning the ethicality of the action, and demonstrates the usefulness by proposing three double-effect criteria that, when fulfilled, argues for the ethical justifiability the action in question.

Despite increasing public attention to animal suffering, little seems to have changed: Human beings continue to exploit billions of animals in factory farms, medical laboratories, and elsewhere. In this wide-ranging and perceptive study, Lisa Kemmerer shows how spiritual writings and teachings in seven major religious traditions can help people to consider their ethical obligations toward other creatures.

Dr. Kemmerer examines the role of nonhuman animals in scripture and myth, in the lives of religious exemplars, and by drawing on foundational philosophical and moral teachings. She begins with a study of indigenous traditions around the world, then focuses on the religions of India (Hindu, Buddhist, and Jain) and China (Daoism and Confucianism), and finally, religions of the Middle East (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam). At the end of each chapter, Kemmerer explores the inspiring lives and work of contemporary animal advocates who are motivated by a personal religious commitment.

Animals and World Religions demonstrates that rethinking how we treat nonhuman animals is essential for anyone claiming one of the world's great religions.

Constitutional liberal practices are capable of being normatively grounded by a number of different metaphysical positions. Kant provides one such grounding, in terms of the autonomously derived moral law. I argue that the work of Edmund Burke provides a resource for an alternative construal of constitutional liberalism, compatible with, and illumined by, a broadly Thomistic natural law worldview. I contrast Burke's treatment of the relationship between truth and cognition, prudence and rights, with that of his contemporary, Kant. We find that in each case where Kant's system is constructed from the first principle of autonomy, Burke's thought is oriented toward an end that is not of our making. Readings of Burke as a natural law thinker are currently out of fashion among Burke commentators; without relying, for the main thesis, on historical claims about Burke's “Thomism,” I nonetheless explore and challenge some of the assumptions that underlie the current orthodoxy.

This article proposes a suitable ethical framework based on Islamic teaching in tackling emerging scientific and technological issues. The framework is based on the maqasid al-shariah or the higher purposes of the Islamic Divine law. Under this framework, there are five purposes of the Islamic Divine law which are protected, namely faith, life, intellect, progeny, and property. This framework can serve as a useful checklist that can assist Muslims in providing responses to the various issues pertaining to science and technology. Islamic ethical framework must therefore be grounded on these five higher purposes of the maqasid in order to address the changes taking place in the world as a result of the rapid progress in the various branches of science and technology. This would provide the much needed moral muscles to ensure that science and technology do not bring forth harm and destruction.

Abstract: This paper explores the possible ways of animating religious life in a time marked by sociocultural change and vocational crisis. It seems that a part of the Consecrated have their prophetic soul sickened, that they have lost the capacity of hoping and dreaming (1st part). However, Pope Francis reminds them that this is a time of hope and new prophecy. Therefore, they need the audacity and creativity of their founders to retake the core of their own charism and find the way of incarnating it today through a deep structural transformation (2nd part). More precisely, religious life needs inspiring leadership (3rd part) and a greater attention to fraternal life (4th part).
Keywords: Religious life, Vocational crisis, Leadership, Ethical challenges, Digital era.

Sumario: Este artículo estudia los posibles modos de animar la vida consagrada en un tiempo marcado por el cambio sociocultural, la crisis vocacional y el aumento de la edad media de los religiosos. Se diría que una parte de los religiosos tienen enferma su alma profética, que han perdido la esperanza y la capacidad de soñar (1ª parte). Sin embargo, el Papa Francisco les recuerda que éste es un tiempo de esperanza y nueva profecía. Por tanto, necesitan la audacia y la creatividad de sus fundadores para retomar el núcleo del propio carisma y encarnarlo en la situación actual, afrontando una profunda transformación estructural (2ª parte). Más concretamente, los religiosos necesitan un liderazgo inspirador (3ª parte) y una mayor atención a la vida en fraternidad (4ª parte).
Palabras clave: Vida religiosa, Crisis vocacional, Liderazgo, Desafíos éticos, Era digital.

Until 1993 there were conducted first excavations in what promised to be the site of one of the most important buildings of Petra, the stunning capital of the Nabataean kingdom. Its construction, whose initiation century BC, several changes, reconstructions and landslides along its more than five hundred years of operation. But despite this still unknown for certain functions for which it was designed and that, regardless of the construction elements, materials have been located just still less inscriptions that shed some light on a mystery that will try here exhibit various theories that enable closer to resolution.

Go to tobybetenson.com for my recent work. I argue that the problem of evil can be a moral objection to theistic belief. The thesis has three broad sections, each establishing an element in this argument. Section one establishes the logically binding nature of the problem of evil: The problem of evil must be solved, if you are to believe in God. And yet, I borrow from J. L. Mackie’s criticisms of the moral argument for the existence of God, and argue that the fundamentally evaluative nature of the premises within the problem of evil entails that it cannot be used to argue for the non-existence of God. Section two establishes the moral objectionability of many responses to the problem of evil (theodicies). I discuss the work of the moral ‘anti-theodicists’, and support some of the key premises within their arguments via appeal to the moral philosophy of Raimond Gaita. I combine the claims of section one and section two, and conclude that theism inherits the moral objectionability of theodicy. In section three, I establish the...

Islam and Judaism both understand themselves as ethical religions. As such, each of them have something that can offer a moral criticism of modern economic practices. The intent of this article is to demonstrate the ways in which the Israelite narrative of Sabbath and the Islamic command of Zakat can speak to each other, strengthen each other, and together provide a decisive and prophetic critique of the economics of Western “Christian” nations.

This article is part of a roundtable discussion on Sharing the Burden: Rabbi Simḥah Zissel Ziv and the Path of Musar.  Responding to Christian Miller, I consider the tensions found in Simḥah Zissel Ziv's view of the soul, how Simḥah Zissel sees human beings as inclining toward evil, and how he tends to recommend measures that are more demanding than those typically tested by psychological researchers. Responding to Andrea Dara Cooper, I pay particular attention to Cooper's question regarding the tension between Simḥah Zissel's expansive view of fellowship and his lack of support for his family, and focuses on the constructions of gender that produce this tension. Responding to Jeffrey Pugh, I explore the clear limits to Simḥah Zissel's tolerance for criticism, questions, and disobedience. Responding to Rebecca Todd Peters, I consider various ways in which Simḥah Zissel's legacy has been appropriated, and I give particular attention to ways that his thought has been used to support critical thinking about structural injustices and social change.

I argue that three recent studies (Imagining the Life Course, by Nancy Eberhardt; Sensory Biographies, by Robert Desjarlais; and How to Behave, by Anne Hansen) advance the field of Buddhist Ethics in the direction of the empirical study of morality. I situate their work within a larger context of moral anthropology, that is, the study of human nature in its limits and capacities for moral agency. Each of these books offers a finely grained account of particular and local Buddhist ways of interpreting human life and morality, and each explores complex conceptions of moral agency. I suggest that these three studies share similar interests in moral psychology, the human being across time, the intersubjective dimensions of moral experience, and what life within a karmic framework looks like. I propose that their contributions offer some of the most refreshing and interesting work generated in Buddhist ethics in the last decade.

In the past two decades, the validity of Asian theological reflections has been forcefully argued not only by liberal theologians, but also Evangelicals.2 As a result, a consensus has emerged through critical Asian theological reflections for the legitimacy of Asian theology. However, the question remains: How shall we construct such a theological framework? Meanwhile, the century-old Pentecostal movement is experiencing several paradigm shifts in theological reflection. Case in point, various theological concerns were raised in two recent conferences: Brighton Conference of World Evangelization (1991)3 and Globalization of Pentecostalism Conference in Costa Rica (1996). In particular, the stance on constructing a Pentecostal theology was convincingly argued by participants from various parts of the world and traditions. Despite this progress, there are many basic unsettled issues in doing Pentecostal theology, let alone Pentecostal theologies related to specific contexts. As an example, the exact nature of the baptism in the Spirit, the primary Pentecostal distinctive, continues to be hotly debated.

In our digitalized world, gigantic amounts of data are generated, creating a hitherto unknown need for communication, storage and processing. Mechanical processes and autonomous procedures are becoming increasingly important. Currently public attention is focused especially on the so-called artificial intelligence. In their new book, Julian Nida-Rümelin and Nathalie Weidenfeld provide substantial orientation in this broad field. Remarkably, this book also provides constructive offers for ethical-theological reflection.

Rather than merely applying existing forms of philosophical ethics, Religious Ethics defines the meaning of the field and presents a distinct and original method for ethical reflection through comparisons of world religious traditions. Written by leading scholars and educators in the field, this unique volume offers an innovative approach that reveals how religions concur and differ on moral matters, and provides practical guidance on thinking and living ethically.

The book's innovative method—integrating descriptive, normative, practical, fundamental, and metaethical dimensions of reflection—enables a far more complex and nuanced exploration of religious ethics than any single philosophical language, method, or theory. First introducing the task of religious ethics, the narrative moves through each of the five dimensions of reflection to compare concepts such as good and evil, perplexity and wisdom, truth and illusion, and freedom and bondage in various theological contexts. In summary, this unique and thoroughly original text:
Guides readers on understanding, assessing, and comparing the moral teachings and practices of world religions;

Applies a disciplined, scholarly approach to the subject of religious ethics;

Explores the distinctions between religious ethics and moral philosophy;

Provides a methodology which can be applied to comparative ethics for various religions;

Compares religious traditions to illuminate each of the five dimensions of ethical and moral reflection

Religious Ethics: Meaning and Method will help anyone interested in the relation between religion and ethics in the modern world, including those involved in general and comparative religion studies, religious and comparative ethics, and moral theory.

This essay demonstrates the prominence of imitation in Kierkegaard’s ethics. I move beyond his idea of authentic existence modeled on Christ and explore the secular dimension of Kierkegaard’s insights about human nature and imitation. I start with presenting imitation as key to understanding the ethical dimension of the relationship between the universal and individual aspects of the human self in Kierkegaard. I then show that Kierkegaard’s moral concepts of “primitivity” and “comparison” are a response to his sociological and psychological observations about imitation from an ethical point of view. In the final section of this paper, I briefly engage Friedrich Schleiermacher’s “ethics of individuality” and Gabriel Tarde’s “laws of imitation” to explore Kierkegaard’s consideration of ethics and imitation as situated within the context of a broader conversation on imitation.

이 책은 기독교 윤리의 기초를 포괄적으로 다루는 것을 목표로 한다. 신학의 기초를 다루는 과목을 “기초 신학(fundamental theology)”이라고 부르듯이, 윤리의 신학적 기초를 다루는 이 책의 부제도 “기초 윤리학(fundamental ethics)”이라 부를 수 있을 것이다.

이 책의 특징은 다음과 같다.

첫째, 기독교 윤리의 근거를 성경적, 교의학적, 철학적 관점에서 다룬다. 이것은 윤리에 대한 통전적 접근을 시도한 것이다. 특히 교의학과 윤리학의 상관성에 많은 주의를 기울였다. 이것은 아리스토텔레스가 말했던 “아크라시아”, 즉 “앎과 실천의 괴리 현상”을 극복하고자 하는 노력의 일환이다.

둘째, 교회사에 나타난 탁월한 윤리들을 소개하고 차용한다. 주로 16세기 이후로 등장한 개신교 특히 개혁주의 관점에서 많은 주제들을 다루겠지만, 교부들의 윤리학이나 중세 사상가들의 사상도 필요한 경우에 소개하였다. 특히 아우구스티누스의 사상이 가지는 윤리적 중요성에 대한 강조가 이 책의 중요한 기여이다.

셋째, 윤리의 성경적 근거를 최대한 제시하고자 했다. 그리하여 일반 성도들과 설교자들에게 도움이 되고자 했다. 이 책에 여러 곳에서 윤리적 관점에서 성경 주석을 시도한 이유는 성경적 신앙과 윤리의 밀접한 관련성을 보여주기 위해서이다.

넷째, 21세기 한국사회를 늘 염두에 두면서 기술하였다. 종래의 윤리학 교재들은 주로 서양 사람들이 저술한 경우가 많았다. 이 책은 서양 신학자들과 윤리학자들의 작품을 자주 소개하지만, 한국적 상황을 의식하면서 저술하였다.

다섯째, 다양한 1차 자료들을 두루 섭렵하여 기독교 고전들이 지니는 윤리적 힘을 보여주고자 했다. 그 안에는 신조들도 포함된다. 이 책에서 소개하는 기독교 고전들은 기독교 신앙이 마땅히 지녀야 할 윤리적 측면에 대해서 오늘날 일반적으로 기독교인들이 생각하는 것보다 훨씬 더 예리하고 분명하게 인식하고 있음을 독자들은 쉽게 깨닫게 될 것이다.

This book deals with fundamental Christian ethics from the biblical, doctrinal, philosophical, historical, and practical perspectives.

헤르만 바빙크(1854-1921)는 교의학자였지만 중요한 윤리학 작품도 남겼다. 최근에 발간된 『개혁파 윤리학』은 아주 탁월한 기독교 윤리학 저서이다. 바빙크의 『개혁교의학』과 『개혁파 윤리학』은 다음과 같은 밀접한 관련성이 있다. 첫째, 『개혁파 윤리학』은 『개혁교의학』에 나타난 종합적-발생론적 방법론을 사용한다. 둘째, 『개혁파 윤리학』은 교의학과 윤리학의 상호보완적 관계성을 유지한다. 셋째, 『개혁파 윤리학』은 교의학과 윤리학을 밀접하게 관련시키면서도, 교의학을 너무 많이 개입시키지 않고 윤리학에서 꼭 다뤄야 하는 교의학의 내용만을 엄선해서 다룬다. 넷째, 『개혁파 윤리학』의 내용은 『개혁교의학』과 내용상으로 짝을 이룬다. 다섯째, 바빙크는 교의학과 윤리학에서 철학과 깊이 있게 대화한다. 여섯째, 바빙크의 교의학과 윤리학은 초기 근대 개혁파 신학에서 많은 내용들을 인용하고 다룬다. 일곱째, 바빙크의 교의학과 윤리학은 성경을 근거로 주제를 전개하고 결론을 완성한다. 바빙크 사후 100주년을 기념하는 오늘날의 개혁신학이 앞으로의 100년을 건설적으로 모색하고자 한다면, 바빙크라는 거인의 어깨에 올라가서 보다 성경적이면서도, 역사적 자료에 충실하고, 현대 학문과 대화하면서, 오늘날의 교회와 사회의 구체적 문제에 응답하는 교의학과 윤리학을 발전시켜 나가야 할 것이다.
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Herman Bavinck (1854-1921) was a dogmatician, but he also wrote important ethical works. The recently published Reformist Ethics is an excellent book on Christian ethics. Bavinck’s Reformed Dogmatics and his Reformed Ethics are closely related. (1) Reformed Ethics uses the synthetic-genetic method endorsed in Reformed Dogmatics; (2) Reformed Ethics shows a complementary relationship between dogmatics and ethics; (3) Reformed Ethics intimately relates dogmatics to ethics but carefully selects and treats only the theological topics that should be dealt with in ethics without involving dogmatics too much; (4) the content of Reformed Ethics is paired with Reformed Dogmatics; (5) Bavinck has an in-depth dialogue with philosophy in both works; (6) the two works quote and deal with a lot of material from early modern Reformed theology; and (7) Reformed Dogmatics and Reformed Ethics develop the subjects and complete their conclusions based on the Scriptures. If today’s Reformed theology, commemorating the 100th anniversary of Bavinck’s death, wants to constructively explore the next 100 years, it should climb on his shoulders and develop dogmatics and ethics that respond to specific problems of the church and society while being more biblical and faithful to historical data and conversing with modern academic studies.

Thomas Aquinas holds that acquired and infused moral virtues are compatible. They can be had and used together by a Christian. More than that, they should be. For Thomas, Christians ought to pursue and use the acquired virtues. To fail to do so is a failure of discipleship. It is a failure of love. This view has recently come under attack. This article seeks to resolve that debate by defending and elucidating the compatibility of acquired and infused virtue and answering key objections raised by critics of this interpretation. I especially hope to show how the compatibilist interpretation actually honors many of the very commitments that motivate these critics. As it turns out, their best reasons for endorsing incompatibilism are really reasons to embrace the compatibilist interpretation. Moreover, the textual and theological case against incompatibilism seems compelling. I move in three steps: first, elucidating the grammar of habit specification; then filling out my argument and addressing objections; and finally, illustrating Thomas's vision and explaining why he would think Christians should pursue acquired virtue.

In her book, The Politics of Piety, Saba Mahmood (1) challenges liberal views about agency, and (2) offers her own account of agency. I argue that Mahmood’s characterization of liberal agency is a caricature. Contrary to her view, liberalism isn’t merely procedural but rather espouses stringent commitments toward protecting people’s basic rights and liberties. I then argue that her account of agency may entail practices decried by liberal and some feminist theorists. Specifically, practices that override one’s status in moral and political communities cannot be defended on the grounds that they are necessary for particular forms of human flourishing.

This is Ch 6 in The Cambridge History of Moral Philosophy. I survey Luther and Calvin's theologically inspired moral philosophies, paying special attention to their criticisms of scholasticism, the connections between their ethics and their moral psychologies, and their concerns about eudaimonism.

Augustine is known as the great theologian of sin. For this he has been celebrated as a realist and criticized as a pessimist. What modern readers often miss is the deeply humane source and character of Augustine's views about sin. We tend to think of Augustine as an observer of humanity whose setting in the midst of the slow demise of an empire provided ample material for reflection on the darker side of life. But Augustine's doctrines of sin and evil were less a product of empirical observation than that picture suggests. Rather, he began with a doctrine of grace and a conception of the good. His ideas about evil and sin were driven by those commitments and laced with compassion for the plight of all those whose lives are a disappointment to them (though also with scorn for those who are self-satisfied).

A key argument in this chapter is that Augustine’s views about sin and evil are derived from his views about grace and goodness. Given his ways of thinking about the latter, the former follow. Keeping this fact in mind may or may not make Augustine’s views easier for modern readers to love, but it can help to avoid some common misunderstandings. A second major contention is that Augustine’s ontology of evil as a privation should shape the way we understand Augustine’s claims about sin. This point is developed in conversation with Augustine’s doctrine of original sin, which applies his privation account to moral psychology, and in conversation with Augustine’s doctrine of primal sin, which has more in common with his understanding of original sin than is commonly realized.

Jesus' prayer for the Body of Christ: "They are not of the world any more than I am of the world. My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world" (John 17:14-18; emphasis added). The 2006 mass murder in a school in Pennsylvania brought our attention to a Christian group that is very intentional about relating their faith to secular culture: the Old Order Amish. 10 This growing group of some 200,000 is mostly descendant from Swiss and Alsatian Anabaptists of the sixteenth century. From the beginning of their movement, they have said that true believers must be serious about holiness and that holiness means being separate from the world, even withdrawal from the world. This withdrawal relates to the State but also to technology and labor-saving devices. Some Amish perceive selfish pride as the fundamental motivation for modern technology; therefore, serious believers must avoid self-serving technology. Instead, we should practice true humility, which means hard physical work with hand tools. Biblical verses they may quote include 2 Corinthians 6:17: "Come out from among them and be separate" and Romans 12:2: "Be not conformed to this world." According to the Old Order Amish, Christian holiness requires the formation of humble communities of true believers. This model of relating God's Word to cultures can be called Holy Withdrawal. 11 Technology and government seem to be the dimensions of life given prominence in this way of relating God's Word to culture. If we are serious about following Jesus, I hope we have moments when we think this way. Since my student days I have wondered why we Christians do not set up separate communities of faith, diligence, 9 This essay was previously published as "Christ and Culture," Evangelical Review of Theology 35:1 (2011), 4-16.

Of the many forgiveness-related questions that she takes up in her novels, the one with which Iris Murdoch wrestles most often is the question, ‘Is forgiveness possible without God?’ The aim of this paper is to show, in the first instance, why the question Murdoch persistently raises is a question worth asking. Alongside this primary aim stands a secondary one, which is to consider how one might glean moral insights from the Christian tradition even if one does not (any longer) endorse its theological commitments.

Though others have surveyed the different methods in comparative religious ethics, relatively little attention has been given to different approaches to pedagogy (exceptions include Lovin and Reynolds; Juergensmeyer; Twiss). The field of comparative religious ethics has now reached a level of maturity so that there are a variety of ways such courses can be taught. In this review I consider the approaches to comparative religious ethics found in four recent texts by . In the essay I note the strengths and weaknesses of each text, with special attention given to how the texts might work in the classroom. I then argue that the different texts reflect different understandings of the goal of teaching comparative religious ethics, and I make these goals explicit in order to help teachers decide how they might approach the teaching in this growing field.

In his early work, De inventione rhetorica, Cicero casually defines religion as the part of justice “which offers care and ceremony to a certain superior nature, which they call divine" (De inventione rhetorica 2.53).  In Latin medieval philosophy, this Ciceronian definition of the virtue of ‘religion’ (religio) acquired monumental importance.  A few key authors, such as Albert the Great and Thomas Aquinas, cite this definition as an auctoritas, and get much philosophical and theological mileage out of it. 

Their intention with this auctoritas was to classify religious worship as a natural virtue, as opposed to a theological virtue, that is, as a virtue that naturally inclines man to give to the deity what is due to it on the basis of the natural law, without any dependence on Christian doctrine or revelation.  Despite being conscious that the source of this definition of religion was a pagan (Roman) philosopher, and that his religious background was very different from their own, they sought to ground their view on the nature of religion firmly on the classical understanding of the cardinal virtue of justice.  Thus, Cicero went down in history as the official source for the medieval conception of religious worship. What these medieval thinkers did not know—because they did not have access to Plato’s Euthyphro—is that Cicero’s own source for this doctrine was Plato.  Plato’s Euthyphro truly represents the first Western philosophical text to relate religion to justice, and in fact it is the first instance in the history of philosophy where religious worship is discussed as a thoroughly philosophical issue. The dialogue hinges on the nature of “piety” (eusebeia) or “the holy” (to hosion). After a few unsuccessful attempts at defining piety, Euthyphro, with Socrates’ help, formulates the hypothesis that piety can be defined as “the part of the just that is concerned with the ‘care’ (therapeia) of the gods” (Euthyphro 11e-12e). Although Socrates will question how it is possible for mere mortal men to give “care” or “service” to the gods—for the gods are assumed to be self-sufficient—nevertheless, the claim that piety is a part or species of justice will remain unchallenged throughout the dialogue.  The dialogue, therefore, approaches a definition of piety: it strongly suggests that the genus of piety is justice and, in the second place, that its specific difference has to do with the “care” or “service” of the gods, a definition that almost perfectly resembles that offered by Cicero centuries later. The discussion on piety in the Euthyphro is undoubtedly inconclusive, and this has led most modern interpreters to focus on the aporetic nature of the dialogue, emphasizing its lack of a definitive doctrine on piety.  A few Plato scholars, however, such as McPherran and Vlastos, have proposed what they call a constructivist reading of the Euthyphro, noting that, while the dialogue is inconclusive, this is only partially so: after an aporetic interlude, a somewhat constructive discussion on the nature of piety is offered. 

The aim of this paper is to show through internal evidence, by means of a constructivist reading of the Euthyphro, that with such a reading Cicero was able to draw out and synthesize a positive doctrine on piety, or in Cicero’s language, religio.  The conclusion emerges, then, that Cicero is only the second-hand source of this important medieval idea, and that Cicero himself was heavily influenced by Plato on this issue, probably through the Academy.  Hence, although the text of the Euthyphro was not available to the medieval philosophers, it nevertheless exercised a great deal of indirect influence on them by way of Cicero.  It was really Plato, then, and only secondarily Cicero, whose religious thought the medieval philosophers inherited.

This review essay assesses the significance of J. B. Schneewind's The Invention of Autonomy for the history of moral thought in general and for religious ethics in particular. The essay offers an overview of Schneewind's complex argument before critically discussing his four central themes: the primacy of Immanuel Kant, the fundamentality of conflict, the insufficiency of virtue, and community with God. Whereas Schneewind argues that an impasse between modern natural law and perfectionist ethics revealed irresolvable tensions within Christian ethics and thus encouraged the emergence of secular moral thought, this author suggests that these tensions were specific to a voluntarist strand of Christian moral thought from which even antivoluntarists of the modern period were unable to break free.

"Megaleh Temirin (Revealer of Secrets), ed. Jonatan Meir, Three volumes, Mosad Bialik, Jerusalem

Megaleh Temirin (Revealer of Secrets), first published in Vienna in 1819, is one of the sharpest and wittiest pieces of Jewish literature written in the first half of the nineteenth century, and is perhaps the most important piece of Hebrew prose composed before the stories of Mendele Mocher Seforim. A sly and complex story deriding Hasidism and Hasidim, it is told through the correspondence between the beadles of Hasidic courts and contemporary rabbis, and it presents a dark picture of  avaricious frauds and swindlers whose main concern was control over territory and the souls of believers, a goal achieved by beguiling the authorities and attacking all opponents. Perl lends his book a ‘Hasidic’ feel both in its physical design and in its language, presenting a Maskilic version of In Praise of the Ba’al Shem Tov that lays Hasidism bare so that no reader will ever be able to look at that, or any other Hasidic book, in the same way again. In addition to the book’s satiric sting, which would have been enough to bring its readers a dual pleasure, Perl’s hints at contemporary people and places, hidden within anagrams and numerological tricks. With the unraveling of these clues, which also include the use of actual Hasidic sources, the book is a valuable, contemporary view of historical reality. A meticulous reading of the book may therefore open a window on the hidden worlds of Hasidism and the Haskalah at the start of the nineteenth century.


The first volume (Imagined Hasidism) serves as an introduction to the complex satirical writings of Josef Perl of Tarnopol (1773-1839). At the center of the book stands an analysis of the satires, Megaleh Temirin (1819) and Bochen Tzadik (1838), including a systematic treatment of the ‘characters’ in the central works and a discussion of the dozens of manuscripts to be found in the Perl Archive in Jerusalem. Perl’s writings are analyzed here in the fuller context of Hebrew and Yiddish literature in general and Maskilic and Hasidic literature in particular, as well as other polemical writings and governmental records critical of Hasidism. The study thus presents a complex and nuanced picture of the relationship between literature and history, between the anti-Hasidic reports and the more complicated historical reality, and lays the groundwork for further research into the genre of nineteenth-century Maskilic satire.

The second and third volumes (Megaleh Temirin) present for the first time an annotated edition of Megaleh Temirin. It is based on the first edition and the scattered manuscripts and it includes a comparison to its Yiddish translation. The book is accompanied by appendices on its origins and contents, including fundamental treatments of several passages: an explication of the encoded names, the Hasidic sources used by the author, and the variants found in the manuscripts and in the only edition of the book in Yiddish.

The editor of the book, Professor Jonatan Meir, teaches in the Goldstein-Goren Department of Jewish Thought at Ben-Gurion University. He has published several articles on the Haskalah of Eastern Europe, Hasidism, and a number of varied topics in twentieth-century Kabbalah.


Contents

Volume 1  - Critical Edition

Concerning this edition
Key personalities
Sefer Megale Temirin – Critical Edition


Volume 2 - Appendixes:
1. Glossary, Abbreviations, Acronyms
2. Explanation of the Speaking Names
3. Perl’s Hasidic Sources
4. Manuscripts of Sefer Megale Temirin
5. Yiddish Introduction to Sefer Megale Temirin
Bibliographic Abbreviations

-------------------------------
Reviews:
(1) Dan Meron, 2013, ‘Megaleh Temirin’, Kivunim Hadashim 29, 55 pages (Hebrew)
(2) David Assaf, 2014, ‘Hasidim will not Read it but Tear it’, Haaretz, Tarbut ve-Sifrut, p .6 (Hebrew) http://onegshabbat.blogspot.co.il/2014/04/blog-post_18.html
(3) Eliezer Brodt, 2014, 'New book Announcement- Megale Temirin', The Seforim Blog http://seforim.blogspot.co.il/2014/01/new-book-announcement-megale-temirin.html
(4) Matan Hermoni, 2014,  הסבתא המופקרת של הספרות העבריתHaaretz, Sfarim (Hebrew) http://www.haaretz.co.il/.premium-1.2382365
(5) Shinichi Yamamoto, 2015, 山本　伸一, "ヨナタン・メイール編著『想像のハシディズム』", ユダヤ・イスラエル研究　第28号  http://www.waseda.jp/assoc-jsjs/jistudies.html
(6) David Biale and David Assaf,, 2015, 'Revealer Revealed', Jewish Review of Books, pp. 17-21  http://jewishreviewofbooks.com/articles/1454/revealer-revealed/
(7) Hillel Halkin, 2015, "Sex, Magic, Bigotry, Corruption- and the First Hebrew Novel', Mosaic Magazine,  http://mosaicmagazine.com/observation/2015/05/sex-magic-bigotry-corruption-and-the-first-hebrew-novel/
(8) Tomer Persico, 2015, "Interview", Lula'at haEl Blog, http://tomerpersico.com/2015/08/10/meir_perl/

للمؤسّسات التربويّة دور هام في تنشئة الأفراد وبالتالي تأسيس المجتمعات على سبل تؤمّن تراصّها من جهة وعلاقتها مع بعضها من جهة أخرى.

في عالم اختصرت فيه تقانات الاتصال المسافات وأصبح التواصل من سمات العصر، لا بد من التساؤل حول ماهيّة الأمور التي تسمح بقيام حضارة تعايش وقبول للآخر واعتبار التنوّع غنى مشترك.

تشكّل أنظومة القِيَم، التي يمكن أن تُجمِع عليها المجتمعات خاصة في مقموماتها الدينيّة المُلْهِمة، أهم عناصر هذا الإجماع المجتمعي. يمكن للمؤسسات التربويّة على اختلافها دعم هذه الأنظومة، وترسيخها، وبلورة مستلزماتها.

كيف نقارب اليوم موضوع المناهج الدراسيّة من هذه الزاوية الحضاريّة التي تنطلق من المعطى الديني لتؤهّل الفرد لرحابة المجتمعات التعدديّة؟ على ماذا تقوم هذه المقاربة؟ وما هي أسس تفعيلها؟ هذا ما ستسعى هذه المداخلة للإجابة عليه.

Uñchavṛtti (living by gleaning) and āpaddharma (“exigent dharma”) are two important constructs that eventually made their way into the ancient Brahminic Religious Law (dharmaśāstra) that bespeak some of the economic, social, and political stress some brahmins experienced or perceived in ancient India in the couple centuries either side of the turn into the Common Era. The  brahmin head of household who lived on grain left in fields after the harvest (the uñchavṛttin) was a particularly important culture-hero among brahmins, because he refused to earn his living from non-brahmin occupations. If he was unable to secure enough appropriately pure clients for his ritual and teaching functions or his 'sin'-removing function of receiving donations, he chose to eke out a living by gleaning, rather than become a king's minister, a merchant, a soldier, or take up any other allowable non-brahmin occupation. That this decision could lead to actual death by starvation is implied in some of the uñchavṛtti narratives of the Mahābhārata, several of which are presented and discussed in this paper after a general discussion of the overall dharmaśāstra context. The stories on uñchavṛtti also stand in tension with the ethics of liberation oneself through yoga and controversies regarding wealth and poverty.

What I have written about the āpaddharma appeared in the introduction to my translation of the Śāntiparvan (The Mahabharata: Book 11: The Book of the Women, Book 12: The Book of Peace, Part One. (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2004): 152-64. Another, more broadly contextualized discussion of āpaddharma will appear in my forthcoming paper, “Why So Many ‘Other’ Voices in the ‘Brahmin’ Mahābhārata?” which will appear in the volume to be published from the conference Asia Beyond Boundaries: which was held in Leiden at the end of August, 2018.