Religion and Theology
December 10, 2019
P. Craffert
1 citation
Biblical scholarship has largely avoided the terms shaman and shamanism due to historical prejudice rooted in colonial ethnocentrism and Christian superiority. Yet shamanism—defined as a practice where a practitioner alters ordinary consciousness to serve a community—is one of humanity's oldest religious patterns, now widely studied across disciplines. Applying shamanic analytical models to biblical texts can explain anomalous features such as prophecy, divination, healing, exorcism, heavenly journeys, and spirit possession, which comparative research in shamanism illuminates.
Religion and Theology
January 1, 2020
Puiu Ionita
Mysticism is a way of knowing based solely on direct experience, described as knowledge through love. Despite visible differences among religions, mysticism is essentially one path. The yogi, Kabbalah worshiper, Sufi, hesychast, and Western mystic all follow the same route, behavior, and purpose. Unlike other ways of knowing, the mystical way transforms the subject rather than focusing on the object, proceeding inward through asceticism, unceasing prayer, and progressive enlightenment to reach ecstasy, revelation, and unitive purpose (Unio Mystica). Though often secret and initiation-based, mysticism has sometimes attracted masses and had strong social impact. In 20th-century Romania, Eastern mysticism, particularly hesychastic teaching, sparked two phenomena: the "Army of God" revival movement within the Romanian Orthodox Church and the intellectual movement of the "Burning Bush" group.