Rationalisation of Suffering and Evil in Philosophy of Religion

The article presents the main philosophical explanations for the existence of evil and suffering in the world which have been suggested in the current debate taking place in philosophy of religion. All these explanations assume as a basic fact the existence of a God who is a Creator of the world in which evil and suffering take place. However, the explanations of evil and suffering are not simply presented, but critically discussed. The most important and popular explanation for the fact of evil and suffering in our world, discussed in the paper, is a rationalist theory that God has different kinds of reasons for allowing evils to exist in the world. The other explanation which is mentioned in the paper, the a-rational or probabilistic one, claims that many evil events and sufferings in the world happen which have no reason or explanation. Such evil events are not any part of a divine mind or plan. However – and this is the main conclusion of the paper – the existence of chance evil events does not have to be incompatible with the existence of a God and a Creator of the world.

The Phenomenology of Eschatological Violence in the Messianism of Adam Mickiewicz

This article considers the phenomenon of eschatological violence present in the messianic works of the Polish poet Adam Mickiewicz. Eschatological violence is a conception according to which the eschaton can be created by means of war and violence. For Mickiewicz, alongside self-sacrifice and suffering, violence is one of the two forms of creation of the millenaristic kingdom of everlasting freedom and peace. Polish pilgrims are those who, after sanctification and purification, are destined to unleash the final war – as a result, all the demonic enemies of freedom revealed by Christ will die and there will be no more war.

Jung’s concept of myth combines philosophical and psychological aspects. He was inspired by Schelling’s ideas, including the relationship between myth and the process of development of reality. Myth not only refers to the human mind, but reflects the dynamism of reality processes. This is the meaning of the relationship between myth and the unconscious in Jung’s grasp, because he understood the latter as a basis and matrix of reality. The psychological and psychoanalytical aspects of his conception of myth relate to patterns of human experience, which are also contained in myths. Thus, through the concept of myth is expressed the relationship of man and the world, the experience and the reality in which it happens.

The Cosmos and Violence – an Analysis of the Relationship between the Cosmic Order and Sacrificial Rites from the Perspective of René Girard’s Theory

The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between the idea of the cosmic order and sacrificial rites associated with ritual violence, which can be found in many different mythologies and religions. The whole analysis is based on René Girard’s theory of primordial force as a fundamental factor that cultivates culture. 

According to the consideration, the concentration of rapidly exploding violence (caused by natural disasters or social conflicts) on a victim not only re-establishes an order between agents (through concentration of aggression on one point), but also leads to an idea of universal harmony, which can be disturbed by “evil” deeds and restored through the repetition of sacrifice.

A Study on the Origins of Islam from a Historical and Dogmatic Perspective – Bruno Bonnet-Eymard and the French school of Islamicist Scepticism

The article briefly presents the scholarly theory on the historical and dogmatic origins of Islam by the modern French researcher Bruno Bonnet-Eymard, with an attempt to classify its place in the modern field of Islamic studies. The result of over thirty years of Bonnet-Eymard’s work is his translation of the first five Qur’anic suras into French, with their comprehensive critical edition, prepared on the basis of his own philological, historical and theological exegesis. Bonnet-Eymard, who belonged to the Islamicist sceptical school, attempts to read the Arabic Qur’anic text also from the perspective of other Semitic languages – mainly Hebrew and Syriac. Regardless of the flaws and merits of Bonnet-Eymard’s exegesis, it is surely a valuable source of scholarly insights, conclusions and linguistic remarks that cannot be overstated for modern critical studies of the Qur’anic text.

Non-religion in Yogyakarta (Central Java). The History, Problems  and Challenges of Kejawen

The aim of this article is to explore the perceptions and understanding of the term kejawen, not only in academic publications (from Geertz to Mulder), but first and foremost in terms of changes to Indonesian law and society. Kejawen, traditional Javanese beliefs and traditions, are officially not recognised in Indonesia as a “true” religion (agama). This paper discusses the definitions as well as the interpretations of religion in contemporary Indonesia in the context of religious discrimination, especially “non-official” religions and beliefs in the world’s largest Muslim – but formally still not Islamic – state.