The Idea of “Sin” in the Five Books of Moses in Oskar Goldberg’s atheological approach and in rabbinical interpretation

Oskar Goldberg’s hermeneutical approach eliminates from the text of the Pentateuch concepts crucial for its traditional – “rabbinic” – understanding. Based on deep etymological analysis, apathetical theory of language leads the German scholar to the conclusion that the idea of “sin” – among many others – was alien to the ancient Hebrews, who knew only the concept of “objective mistake”. Taking a diametrically different approach to the language of the Five Books of Moses, Aramaic translators develop the idea of “sin” as transgression and personal responsibility. This disagreement stems not only from two different visions of language of the Scripture, but is also determined by contrasting visions of god, man and their mutual relations.

“Religion of Cosmic Experience”. The Kabbalistic Sources of Jewish Theodicy “After Auschwitz”

This article is dedicated to some Kabbalistic myths, motifs and themes present in the thought of those Jewish thinkers who worked on the problem of God, religion and evil in the post-Holocaust period. It seems to be evident that such philosophers as E. Berkovits, E. Fackenheim, H. Jonas and R.L. Rubenstein consciously referred to some old ideas of Jewish mystics, while creating their concepts of God, man and world, as the Kabbalistic perception of beings and phenomena could save – to some extent, at least – the Jewish metaphysical tradition, after the tremendum of Auschwitz. Only the image of a weak and suffering God or a Godhead in need of man’s help is able to explain the enormous tragedy of the Jewish nation. At the same time, such an idea of God corresponds quite well with Albert Einstein’s concept of the sublimated “cosmic religion”, which is perceived by the thinker as accessible to very few, and confessed by very few believers.

Man is Commensurate with the Sacrifice: Anthropometry in the Vedic Śrauta Sacrificial Ritual 

The institutionalisation of the Vedic śrauta fire ritual in ancient India was strictly connected with the priest class’s establishment of a systematic theory of ritual. However, the pivot of ritualists’ reflections turned out to be not the gods receiving the fire oblations but the human being. As Taittirīya Saṃhitā states: man is commensurate with the sacrifice (TS.5.2.5). The first activity just after fixing the proper area for conducting the Vedic ritual was taking the sacrificer’s measurements. Then, using the units of measure modelled on the dimensions of man, the ritual enclosure was meted out and built. The origin of the mentioned procedure of taking human dimensions as units of measure can be traced to the Vedic passage of Taittirīya Saṃhitā: with man’s measure he metes out(TS.5.2.5). The constructed ritual enclosure therefore belonged to the sacrificer in a strict sense – it was his altar.

Ritual Transgression in Indian Vajrayāna

The movement of siddhas selectively drawing upon Buddhist tradition was a very important component of early Vajrayāna. One of the vital features of siddhas’ religion was violation of social standards in the course of rituals. Ritual transgression was a means to enter the amorphous and anormative state of being that was understood as the source of all things and the potential to transform a novice. The learnings of siddhas expressed cultural trends, so they captured the attention of Buddhist monks. The adaptation of siddhas’ learning to monastic circles consisted in serious reduction of transgressive activities, interpretation of ritual transgression in accordance with traditional Buddhist soteriology, and rationalising of transgressive behaviour. The synthesis of siddhas’ learnings and monastic tradition achieved a dominant position among Indian Buddhists.

Yōkai – Japan Liminal Spirits

The goal of this paper is to introduce Japanese demonology. The paper focuses on the spirits known as yōkai, providing answers from the incredibly scarce publications in Polish covering issues related to Japanese demonology. The article examines the origin of the term yōkai and thedifferences in meaning between yōkai, mononoke and ayakashi. It goes on to explain the difference between yōkai and kami, as well as introducing a categorisation of spirits to explain how new yōkai are generated

The Relationship of Science and Religion. Ideological Strategies of Polish Scientists

The article summarises 50 in-depth interviews with Polish physicists and biologists, focusing on the relationship between science and religion. The conflict paradigm is rejected by the majority of respondents. The author makes an attempt to reconstruct the argumentation strategies they use to justify their worldview.