نشریه معرفت ادیان
سال چهارم شماره 1 (پیاپی 13، زمستان 1391)

Hope is one of the main prerequisites of man's life. Whoever is optimistic about the future feels that he/she has everything at his disposal, because real happiness and everlasting felicity consist in the feeling of peace and tranquility, hope and optimism. One who has not mental peace is bereft of the least provision even if one possesses material power, and this can be ascribed to mental problems, distress and overwhelming satanic temptations.We may not find among the teachings of divine religions any instance that lacks optimism about the future and its developments and that does not look directly or indirectly at the improvement of man's condition and realization of his ideals in the future. Divine religions which are based on revelation pay greater attention to this idea than other beliefs and most of their follower's religious doctrines are related to it.The present paper sheds light on how the concept of "hope" is reflected in Islamic and Christian religious texts and seeks to make explicit the general parameters of this teaching in these texts in order to prepare the ground for bringing religions closer and closer.

"Worship" means submission to God and belief in His divinity. Worship means performing divine injunctions. In fact, worship is obeying the absolutely powerful God and praising and thanks giving to Him who grants His blessings to man by His will. In Judaism too worship means obeying divine commands in all affairs and serving God. Worship has a vast scope in Islam and Judaism and does not include only such acts of worship as prayers and fasting, etc; rather, any act which man does with divine intention and for the sake of God is considered as worship. The Quran and Old Testament regard worship as an alliance between God and His servants. Monotheistic worship is the main teaching of divine prophets and librates man from worshiping other than God. Worship is a divine straight path and the man's mission, and all creatures in the world praise God. Worship has a particular position in the Quran and Old Testament and is considered as one of the most important issues in man's life.

Most of the instances of the divine Unseen aid mentioned in the glorious Quran is related to the previous nations and followers of the previous religions. In the meantime, the verses revealed about Israelites or Musa's nation are more than those revealed about other nations. Quranic view of "divine aid" in is, in some cases, similar to that of Old Testament in terms of kind, conditions, and functions. The Quran also mentions the divine aid for Musa's nation when they left Egypt (Exodus), for Yahweh in desert and when God granted them the various blessings they wanted, although there are some differences between the Quran and Old Testament regarding some issues. The Quran does not mention God's promise to the offspring of Ibrahim to make them own the land through Isaac and Jacob, as it is mentioned in the Old Testament. Furthermore, the Quran does not mention the idea of giving the Promised Land to Israelites without any condition; rather, it mentions that such a bestowal is contingent upon obeying divine injunctions. We understand form Quranic verses that Israelites were liberated from imprisonment of Pharaoh and inherited the land in order to freely worship the Most High God. Some other kinds of divine aid are related to the Muslim nation in early Islam. The present paper discusses the features of divine Unseen aid mentioned in the Glorious Quran and Old Testament in terms of concept, kind, conditions and functions, while referring to the similarities and differences between these features in their text.

Although the Church of England is in a position between Catholic and Protestant Churches, it is regarded as a branch of Protestant Church inclined towards Catholicism. This church is a quite moderate one in terms of principles and belief, and is regarded among the churches which provide systematic studies on Christian theology, and as a scientific and academic one.The clergymen in the Church of England are ranked according to some regulations and rules. One who is admitted into Christian theological schools has to pass some stages and then begins to help the priests. In this stage he is called deacon. He is introduced to a parish after he passes some special stages and receives the degree of priest from a bishop or archbishop. Among the priests, those who enjoy particular qualifications rise to the rank of bishop. In the Catholic Church of Rome, the Pope is the leader of the Christians of the world and it is incumbent to obey him, because it is thought that he is designated in some way by Christ. The hierarchies of clergymen who serve in the Catholic Church are: the Pope as the leader of the Church, Cardinal, archbishop, bishop, priest and deacon.

Using an analytical approach and a documentary method, the present paper tries to study Osho's views on theology. To this end, five of the important issues on God have been selected from a number his scattered works, who claims Indian mysticism, and are discussed. Then they have been criticized reasonably and philosophically. These five issues are: proving the existence of God, defining God, knowing God, God's attributes and how to attain nearness to God. Osho has made mistakes in each of these issues and has made certain contradictory remarks. Therefore, it should be admitted that most of criticisms leveled against his proposed issues are related to the contradictions which cannot be discovered without close attention to and contemplating on his words and views.

Among the important contemporary discourses is the trend of traditionalism which is concerned with "tradition" as a phenomenon with divine origin. Traditionalism holds that every tradition is a manifestation of the sun of guidance and a wave of Truth Sea. Using an analytical-narrative approach, the present paper deals with the way through which we can develop an approach to understanding see whether or not the tradition intended by traditionalists meets the needs of modern man properly. Providing a theoretical framework for understanding the traditionalist trend of the recent century, this paper seeks to study Frithjof Schuon's view called "transcendent unity of religions". This paper is a prelude to the study of trend of contemporary religious thought and is intended to study it to improve religious knowledge and logically confront with questions and challenges which the studies about trends face.