Hans G. Kippenberg

Consider that it is a raid on the path of God : The spiritual manual of the attackers of 9/11

The document found with three of the four cells responsible for the crimes of 9/11 is unique in providing specific information about how the Muslim suicide terrorists conceived of their action. The document shows that they found justification for violence by emulating the moment in early Islamic history when Muhammad cancelled contracts with non-Muslims and organized raids (ghazwa) against the Meccans in order to establish Islam as a political order. No statement in the Manual explicitly identifies the United States as the financial, military, and political center of todays paganism; rather, such identification is tacitly assumed, as was shown by the action itself. Instead, the Manual prescribes recitations, prayers and rituals by which each member of the four cells should prepare for the ghazwa, purify his intention and anticipate in his mind the successive stages of the struggle to come. Not the objective aim but the subjective intention is at the center of the Manual. The article places this type of justification of violence in the history of Islamic activism since the 1980s.

Comparing Ancient Religions. A Discussion of J. Z. Smith's (Drudgery Divine'

J. Z. Smith tells us two stories in his book: the story of a great chain of scholarly misunderstandings, and the story of describing similarities between ancient Christianity and the religions of Late Antiquity. Both stories are carefully studied, reported with numerous valuable suggestions and ably presented. Reading this book made me feel like being under the treatment of an intellectual health service. Smith has chosen the study of Mystery religions as an example of the obstinate impact that tacit assumptions make on comparative studies and the distortions produced by them. Like a good doctor Smith diagnoses the disease. This disease has its roots in a long history of theological bias deriving from Protestant apologetics against Catholics. In these controversies ancient Mystery religions played the same role that sacraments perform in religions such as Catholicism. Well-known Protestants of different professions agreed that the early Church lost its genuine character by adapting to the Mystery religions. Because of this background the issue of similarities between pagan religions and ancient Christianity became a battlefield of hidden theological wars. Smith provides evidence of an obvious failure of the so-called hermeneutical circle. In understanding others we must refer to our own experience and knowledge. But at the same time we have to rule out misunderstandings deriving from our own assumptions. Only by revising them can a good understanding be attained. In this context we may recall the names of F. Schleiermacher and H.-G. Gadamer who view

A Wealth of Small Articles, but Theoretical Reflections in Tiny Doses: An Evaluation of the New RGG

Religion in Geschichte und Gegenwart. Handwiirterbuch fiir Theologie und Religionswissenschaft. Vierte, v6llig neu bearbeitete Auflage, hg. von Hans Dieter Betz, Don S. Browning, Bernd Janowski und Eberhard Jiingel-Tiibingen: Mohr Siebeck, vol. 1: A-B, 1998 (liv, 968 p.) ISBN 3-16-146901-1; vol. 2: C-E, 1999 (liv, 925 p.) ISBN 3-16-146902-X; vol. 3: F-H, 2000 (lxviii, 992 p.) ISBN 3-16-146903-8; vol. 4: I-K 2001 (lxxi, 962 p.) ISBN 3-16-146904-6; vol. 5: L-M, 2002 (lxxv, 852 p.) ISBN 3-16-146905-4. Each vol. (cloth) EUR 214.00 (subscription).

The Problem of Literacy in the History of Religions

Aleida und Jan Assmann, Christof Hardmeier (Hg.), Schrift und Gediichtnis. Archaologie der literarischen Kommunikation I. Wilhelm Fink Verlag, Miinchen 1983; 284 p.; ISBN 3 7705 2132 3; Aleida und Jan Assmann (Hg.), Kanon und Zensur. Archiiologie der literarischen Kommunikation II. Wilhelm Fink Verlag, Miinchen 1987; 347 p.; ISBN 3 7705 2379 2; Aleida Assmann (Hg.), Weisheit. Archiiologie der literarischen Kommunikation III. Wilhelm Fink Verlag, Miinchen 1991; 571 p.; ISBN 3 7705 2655 4; Jack Goody (ed.), Literacy in Traditional Societies. Cambridge University Press 1968; 350 p.; ISBN 0 521 29005 8 (pbk. 1975); Jack Goody, The Logic of Writing and the Organization of Society. Cambridge University Press 1986; 213 p.; ISBN 0 521 33962 6 (pbk.); William A. Graham, Beyond the Written Word. Oral Aspects of Scripture in the History of Religion. Cambridge University Press 1987; 306 p.; ISBN 0 521 33176 5; Wolfhart Heinrichs (Hg.), Neues Handbuch der Literaturwissenschaft. Band 5. ORIENTALISCHES MITTELALTER. Aula Verlag, Wiesbaden 1990; 589 p.; ISBN 3 89104 053 9.