Abstract. In 1947, Emmanuel Levinas published a short essay entitled “Being Jewish” (“Être juif”) in the magazine Confluences. Starting from a reflection on “the Jewish question” or “problem” (Judenfrage), Levinas inquiries into the “reason for being” or justification of Jewish existence. His essay has been the subject of a reappropriation by some interpreters who make Levinas’s claim of “being Jewish” the fulcrum of an ontological conversion or Heideggerianization of his thought. This paper aims to critically analyze one of these hermeneutic perspectives, that of Sarah Hammerschlag, addressing two decisive questions opened by Levinas’s text: Jewish identity and Judaism in history. An alternative approach to the 1947 text is set out, which involves another way of understanding the meaning of Levinas’s analysis of being Jewish.

Resumen. En 1947, Emmanuel Levinas publica un breve ensayo titulado “Ser judío” (“Être juif”) en la revista Confluences. A partir de una reflexión sobre la “cuestión” o “problema judío” (Judenfrage), se pregunta por la “razón de ser” o justificación de la existencia judía. Su ensayo ha sido objeto de una reapropiación por parte de algunos intérpretes que hacen de la afirmación de Levinas de “ser judío” el punto de apoyo para una conversión ontológica o heideggerianización de su pensamiento. El presente artículo analiza críticamente una de estas perspectivas hermenéuticas, la lectura de Sarah Hammerschlag, atendiendo a dos cuestiones decisivas abiertas por el texto de Levinas: la de la identidad judía y la del judaísmo en la historia. Expone una aproximación alternativa al texto de 1947 que supone otro modo de comprender el sentido de los análisis de Levinas sobre ser judío.

Resumen El artículo plantea distintas concepciones que algunas tradiciones filosóficas y religiosas, tanto de Oriente como de Occidente, han mantenido en torno a lo que es el espíritu y la manera de concebirlo. Se analiza la noción de Alianza entre Dios y el hombre y la personalización del espíritu que deriva de ello en el judaísmo; además, se exponen los argumentos que confrontan tal posición y se debate en torno al finalismo espiritual, aludiendo tanto a Spinoza como a Nagarjuna. Con todo ello, se observará que la filosofía, ya sea como herramienta o modo de vida, constituye un antecedente necesario para considerar la meta-filosofía, la cual se alude en la tercera parte del texto.

Abstract The article analyzes different conceptions that some philosophical and religious traditions, both from the East and from the West, have maintained about what the spirit is and the way of conceiving it. The notion of Alliance between God and man and the personalization of the spirit that derives from it in Judaism is analyzed; In addition, the arguments that confront such position are exposed and the spiritual finalism is discussed, alluding to both Spinoza and Nagarjuna. It will be observed that philosophy, either as a tool or a way of life, constitutes a necessary antecedent to consider metaphilosophy, which is alluded to in the third part of the text.

Abstract In his writing On the Question: What is Enlightenment? Mendelssohn asserts that the progress of enlightenment finds its limits when it threatens the religious and moral foundations of society. These assump- tions can be read as part of the criticisms he develops in Jerusalem: Or on Religious Power and Judaism against his friend Lessing’s philosophy of history. Hence, this article aims to show how, based on the differences in the ways both authors define the concept of enlightenment and the perfection of the human being, it is possible to understand Mendelssohn’s defense of religious pluralism in the face of the danger of a definitive unity that Lessing sets as the goal of the progress of history.

Resumen En su escrito Acerca de la pregunta ¿qué significa ilustrar?, Mendelssohn afirma que el progreso de la ilustración encuentra sus límites cuando amenaza los fundamentos religiosos y morales de la sociedad. Estas suposiciones pueden ser leídas como parte de las críticas que desarrolla en Jerusalem, o acerca del poder religioso y judaismo contra la filosofía de la historia de su amigo, Lessing. De ahí que este artículo intente mostrar cómo a partir de las diferencias entre las formas en que ambos autores definen el concepto de ilustración y de perfeccionamiento del ser humano, es posible entender la defensa del pluralismo religioso de Mendelssohn ante el peligro de una unidad definitiva que Lessing fija como meta del progreso de la historia.

Abstract In his writing “On the Question: What is Enlightenment?” Moses Mendelssohn considers that, in cases where human enlightenment would compromise the stability of the State, the philosophy must remain si- lenced. To justify this, he appeals to the words of “a Hebrew writer”, but wi- thout mentioning him. The present article will offer a detailed analysis of the references implied in this quotation, facilitating the task of interested readers. Starting from it, an alternative interpretation of Mendelssohn’s writing will be proposed, reading between the lines, inspired by the philosophy of Leo Strauss. With special attention to the citizenship conditions of Mendelssohn and the Jews, the philosophical and political understanding that an enlightened Jewish philosopher could have of this text will be considered.

Resumen En su escrito “Acerca de la pregunta: ¿Qué significa ilustrar?”, Moses Mendelssohn considera que, en casos donde la ilustración del ser humano comprometiese la estabilidad del Estado, la filosofía debería guardar silencio. Para justificarlo, apela a las palabras de un “escritor hebreo”, pero sin mencionarlo. El presente trabajo ofrecerá un detenido análisis de las referencias contenidas en dicha cita, facilitando la tarea de los lec tores interesados. Partiendo de ella, se propondrá una interpretación alternativa del artículo, haciendo una lectura entre líneas inspirada en la filosofía de Leo Strauss. Con especial énfasis en las condiciones de ciudadanía de Mendelssohn y los judíos, se considerará la comprensión filosófica y política que un filósofo judío ilustrado pudiera hacerse del texto.

ABSTRACT This article deals with the actions of the commissioners of the Tribunal of the Holy Office of the Inquisition of Lisbon in the colonial state of Maranhão and Grão-Pará during the first half of the 18th century. The aim is to analyze the inquiries carried out by these commissioners in the towns and cities of that state between 1708 and 1743. For this purpose, digital documents from the National Archives of Torre do Tombo-ANTT referring to the Lisbon Inquisition are used, as well as digital files from the Overseas Historical Archive-AHU and the Public Archive of the State of Maranhão-APEM. The methodology consists of analyzing the networks of denouncers and denounced. By cross-referencing the sources through name clues, we obtained a snapshot of the information circulating in the colonial state of Maranhão and Grão-Pará and in the Kingdom about the religious practices of the Andrades and the influence of members of this family on local public administration. GrãoPará Grão Pará th century 170 1743 purpose TomboANTT Tombo ANTT used ArchiveAHU AHU MaranhãoAPEM. MaranhãoAPEM APEM. APEM Maranhão-APEM denounced crossreferencing cross referencing clues administration 17 174 1

RESUMO O presente artigo aborda as ações de comissários do Tribunal do Santo Ofício da Inquisição de Lisboa no Estado colonial do Maranhão e Grão-Pará durante a primeira metade do século XVIII. Objetiva-se analisar as inquirições ocorridas nas diligências desses comissários por vilas e cidades daquele Estado entre 1708 e 1743. Para tanto, utilizam-se documentos digitais do Arquivo Nacional da Torre do Tombo (ANTT) referentes à Inquisição de Lisboa, bem como documentos digitais do Arquivo Histórico Ultramarino (AHU) e do Arquivo Público do Estado do Maranhão (APEM). A metodologia consiste na análise das redes de denunciantes e denunciados. Ao cruzar as fontes por meio dos indícios dos nomes, obteve-se uma conjuntura das informações que circulavam no Estado colonial do Maranhão e Grão-Pará e no Reino sobre as práticas religiosas dos Andrades e a influência dos membros dessa família na administração pública local. GrãoPará Grão Pará XVIII Objetivase Objetiva se 170 1743 tanto utilizamse utilizam ANTT (ANTT AHU (AHU APEM. APEM . (APEM) denunciados nomes obtevese obteve local 17 174 (APEM 1

The article surveys a number of common elements between Augustine and Origen that shed light on the existence of a Christian form of philosophical rhetoric with roots in Plato. The article briefly presents Socrates' approach to this form of rhetoric in the Phaedrus dialogue, a rhetoric that aims at teaching truth, unlike the other forms of rhetoric, and focuses on the true nature of the soul, its present condition, and the journey towards true happiness. Socrates calls it a form of ψυχαγωγία, guidance for the soul. A brief survey of Philo's use of ψυχαγωγία/ψυχαγωγέω in his comments on Moses illustrates how the Socratic form of rhetoric has been appropriated in some currents of Hellenistic Judaism, which could have been one of the sources for the development of the Christian form of philosophical rhetoric in Origen and Augustine.

According to prevalent approaches to the Pauline corpus, the concepts of justification and salvation are often interpreted as constituting a believer's legal and salvific status before God in distinction from such a person's ethnic identity. In the so-called Radical New Perspective on Paul, Judaean believers in Christ are envisioned to keep their nomistic identity in distinction from gentile believers, which is then differentiated from their legal and salvific status before God. In this contribution, the relation between justification and identity is defined more closely in order to evaluate the tendency to distinguish between justification/salvation and identity. This is done especially by analysing texts in the Pauline corpus in which the concepts of justification, salvation and identity overlap.

The Torah is God's law. This biblical concept is so prominent and is considered so self-evident that it has hardly been perceived as a historical problem until now. Traditionally, it was considered to be a basic element of the Bible within its historical context. But in fact, it represents an innovation in the ancient Near East, and for this very reason it should be investigated historically: In the ancient world, kings, not deities, were lawgivers. Only the legal tradition of ancient Israel developed the idea that God himself formulated laws and passed them on to his people. In the Torah, Moses plays a prominent role in this mediation. Divine laws then became a central element of religion in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, but what historical circumstances and factors gave rise to them? The loss of kingship in Israel might have provided a major impact, but in addition to political and socio-historical developments, fundamental transformations in ancient Israel's intellectual history must also be considered, which could have led to the formation of the idea of God as a lawgiver. Due to new insights into the historical emergence of the Torah, which research has developed in recent decades, but also due to new findings on the legal tradition of the ancient Near East, there is both the possibility and the need for reconstructing the historical forces and factors that made the Torah God's law.

This article dealt with the irony that confronts any investigation into the conceptualisation of morality in Judaism: much of contemporary scholarship promotes the Strong Dependence Theory where God is considered the prime source of morality − yet an empirical analysis of classical rabbinic literature indicates a leaning more towards the Weak Dependence Theory which considers human beings the source for morality. Somehow, scholarship seems to overlook this textual evidence. On the other hand, that same contemporary scholarship has no problem in accepting absolute and complete human autonomy in the area of Jewish religious law or Halacha. This study questioned why humans are comfortably accepted as the primary determinants of religious law but not of morality - and argued for a return to the original Weak Dependence Theory to maintain moral efficacy. It included an examination of an extreme historical test case for rabbinic morality concerning how the rabbinic world dealt internally with the moral implications of major rabbis who had fled the Holocaust. INTRADISCIPLINARY AND/OR INTERDISCIPLINARY IMPLICATIONS: While this literature study was conducted from an orthodox rabbinic perspective, it adopted a descriptive and evaluative methodology based on academic, rabbinic and historical sources

This study is an exploration of the Hagar narrative from the perspective of African Womanist Theology. The article focuses on the spirituality of Hagar before and after her captivity (Gn 16). The research takes an Afrocentric perspective and uses a postcolonial lens to comment on the preceding text as well as consider how this story is captured in Judaism, Christianity and Islam. At the core of the article is an attempt at reclaiming the African in Hagar who is largely portrayed in the stories of Sarah and Abraham within a Hebrew perspective which itself is arguably imperial. The aim is to inspire modern African women (and in the diaspora) to reclaim their African spirituality within their stories and experiences. Summarily, the article is a critique of the colonial project, slavery and its legacies in dehumanising and disenfranchising people and African knowledge systems. The article is structured as follows: firstly, it introduces the Hagar and/or Hajar traditions from the perspectives of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Secondly, it takes a step back to consider Hagar's identity as an Egyptian princess before she encountered Sarah and Abraham. The article also discusses how Hagar's past in Egypt had a bearing on her spiritual encounters when she and her son Ishmael and/or Ismail were exiled. Finally, the article concludes with a recommendation for continued reflection on an African spirituality narrative of the Hagar traditions alongside the predominant narratives from Abrahamic religions. CONTRIBUTION: This article demonstrates that the religious scriptures must be read from liberation perspectives such as the postcolonial paradigm to inspire the recovery of authentic experiences of the oppressed and displaced, and it is an inspiration to African women to reclaim their true identity and spirituality

Encounterology is a missiological approach to the theology of religions that was developed by J.N.J. Kritzinger - a South African missiologist. The approach recognises the encounter between people of different faiths or religions such as Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, Judaism and others. Encounterology is a theology of a particular interfaith encounter that is relevant to the theology of religions. Encounterology is discussed here as a theology relevant to addressing the differences that exist between Christian denominations and their theological approaches. This article engages encounterology from a Pentecostal theological perspective to develop an authentic and transformative Pentecostal theology of encounters. This article builds from the Pentecostal theology of encounters with the Holy Spirit and fellow human beings into the development of the theology of interreligious encounters. In addition, encounterology is relevant in Pentecostalism in the encounters between the movement and other Christian traditions. Therefore, the theology of religions should consider not only exclusivist, inclusivist and pluralist approaches, but also encounterology as an authentic and transformative approach for both interreligious and ecumenical dialogue. CONTRIBUTION: This article used encounterology as an important framework for a Pentecostal theology of interreligious and ecumenical dialogue. This article has made a new contribution to the theology of religions in the methodological and theoretical field in proposing encounterology to existing approaches such as exclusivist, inclusivist and pluralist approaches.

This article analysed the evolution of Haredi Judaism in Israel, highlighting its deep-rooted fundamentalist beliefs and its transformation from a marginalised group to a central force in Israeli society. As the fastest-growing demographic, the Haredi community exemplified the tension between fundamentalism and modernity. The study explored the defining characteristics, political ideologies and social influence of Haredi Judaism in Israel, detailing how it transitioned from insular religious enclaves to active participants in national politics. The article also examined the Haredi impact on Israeli-Palestinian relations, focusing on their influence on party politics, land disputes and Jerusalem-related issues. CONTRIBUTION: The study enhanced the understanding of Haredi Judaism's ideological evolution and political integration within Israeli society. It highlighted the Haredim's influence in shaping Israel's national identity and policy directions. Additionally, the research elucidated the significant impact of the Haredi community on Israeli-Palestinian relations

Prayer and the temple were two of the most prominent themes in the Third Gospel and they have garnered scholarly interest. However, the discussion about prayer vis-à-vis the temple in Luke's special source (L) has gone unnoticed. Using source criticism and narrative criticism, the research shows a connection between prayer and the temple in L. The relationship between the two reflects the development from a belief in the temple as a place for praying and receiving an answer, to Jesus who intercedes for the people. This article argues that the prayer in Luke's special source revealed Jesus as the new, personified temple through whom the L communities prayed and received answers to their prayers. Based on this finding, this article then shows the possible reconstruction of the separation between Judaism and Christianity from the perspective of L communities. CONTRIBUTION: This article contributes to the discussion on Lukan Christology by proposing that Jesus is the new personified temple as understood by the L communities. Such a depiction lends new support to Dunn's reconstruction of the parting of the ways between Jews and Christians.

Abstract: Lisbon, throughout the 16th century, established itself as one of the most important cities in Europe. It was the effervescent center where, along with trade and business that marked relationships, dynamics and landscapes, women’s stories unfolded, such as that of Maria Fernandes, a New Christian, haggler, seller of onions, garlic and oranges in Ribeira and resident of beco da Tinturaria. Her process is unique, because even though she was arrested and accused of Judaism, a “crime” for which severe penalties were imposed, she was sentenced in an auto da fé with determination of release after payment of the term of imprisonment surety by Francisco Fernandes, New Christian, book merchant. Taking aspects of the inquisitorial process of Maria Fernandes, this article intertwines two New Christians in a story of solidarity, in the face of the tension provoked by the actions of the Tribunal of the Holy Office. Abstract Lisbon th century Europe where relationships landscapes womens women s unfolded Fernandes Christian haggler onions Tinturaria unique Judaism crime “crime imposed merchant solidarity Office

Resumo: Lisboa, ao longo do século XVI, firmava-se como uma das cidades mais importantes da Europa. Era o efervescente centro onde, a par do comércio e de negócios que marcavam relações, dinâmicas e paisagens, desenrolavam-se histórias de mulheres, como a de Maria Fernandes, cristã-nova, regateira, vendedora de cebolas, alhos e laranjas na Ribeira e moradora no beco da Tinturaria. Seu processo é singular, pois mesmo tendo sido presa e acusada de judaísmo, “crime” para o qual eram imputadas severas penas, foi sentenciada em um auto da fé com determinação de soltura após o pagamento de termo de fiança por Francisco Fernandes, cristão-novo, mercador de livros. Tomando aspectos do processo inquisitorial de Maria Fernandes, este artigo entrelaça dois cristãos-novos em uma história de solidariedade, frente à tensão provocada pelas ações do Tribunal do Santo Ofício. Resumo Lisboa XVI firmavase firmava se Europa onde relações paisagens desenrolavamse desenrolavam mulheres Fernandes cristãnova, cristãnova cristã nova, nova cristã-nova regateira cebolas Tinturaria singular judaísmo crime “crime penas cristãonovo, cristãonovo cristão novo, novo cristão-novo livros cristãosnovos cristãos novos solidariedade Ofício

Abstract Written almost simultaneously (c. 1160) by Abraham Ibn Daud, The Book of Tradition and The Exalted Faith respond to a common purpose, developed, respectively, from a historiographic and philosophical perspective: to define and defend rabbinic Judaism in the Iberian Peninsula, within the general framework of an apologia pro religione Judaica. Our objective in this present paper is to investigate the fundamental features of these two works from the perspective of the religious polemicism, showing the differences between the philosophical and historical version that each of them, respectively, represents.

Resumen Escritos casi simultáneamente (c.1160) por Abraham Ibn Daud, El libro de la tradición y La fe exaltada responden a un propósito común desarrollado, respectivamente, desde una perspectiva historiográfica y filosófica: definir y defender el judaísmo rabínico en la península Ibérica, dentro del marco general de una apologia pro religione judaica Nuestro objetivo en el presente trabajo es indagar en los rasgos fundamentales de estas dos obras desde la perspectiva del polemismo religioso, mostrando las diferencias entre la versión filosófica e histórica que cada una de ellas, respectivamente, representa.