نشریه پژوهش های ادیانی
پیاپی 1 (بهار و تابستان 1392)

Some scholars believe that Mahayana Buddhism goes extremely far from early Buddhism. Indeed, they believe that Mahayana is a deviation from the early Buddhism; since Mahayana, as I myself believe, on the one hand, makes use of the conceptions which are not so much important in early Buddhism, and on the other hand, it claims to be superior to Hinayana as regards morality. This article will try to show that the nature of Mahayana ethics is complex; and there is evidence for its development in some respects. In either case it will be shown that Mahayana ethics contains no precepts and values which cannot be found in other major Buddhist ethical traditions. Mahayana texts indicate that Mahayana morality is superior to Hinayana morality. According to this view, Mahayana morality can be regarded as superior to its Hinayana counterpart in four respects: classifications of moral principles, shared and different moral rules, extension, and depth

In the middle ages, with strong philosophical attitudes among Jewish rabbis, Jewish ethics became philosophical as well. At the time, Jewish philosophers were concerned with the relationship between faith, reason, and questioning the nature of God which resulted in different ethical attitudes. The answer to these two questions, in addition to the place of ethics, distinguishes the degree of its dependence on Torah (the Old Testament) as well. Moses Maimonides is the most important Jewish philosopher who discusses his own ethical views in his writings. His Commentary on Mishnah tries to show that Jewish ethics is based on the Holy Text. In the Guide for the Perplexed, knowing God as wise in essence, he explains that Human’s perfection is achieved through faith, and true value of ethics lays on its role as an introductory to true faith. This article studies Maimonides ’views on ethics and other related issues

Tolerance is the reason for mobility, development and growth of different ideas and causes to enhance capacity of acceptance and toleration of different opinions confronting various views. Religious tolerance and forbearance toward different religions and denominations advance community to dynamism and scientific vitality. In the fourth century of Hegira, being well known to Islamic Renaissance, religious tolerance is one of the highlights. It is because of tolerance that different ideas can emerge and Islamic culture and civilization develop. In the paper, first it is refered to the meaning of tolerance and its history in Islamic culture and civilization, then dimensions of religious tolerance and its impact on the the development of civilization, culture and Islamic Studies have been studied

The belief in apocalypse and the end of the world is one of the components of religious traditions. In Jewish mysticism, as an esoteric aspect of Judaism, belief in both human and cosmic spheres is so important. According to Kabbalah Eschatology, human has spiritual bodies, called Nefesh, Roah, and Neshamah, and each has special requirements due to its level. Accordingly, the human life is not finished after death; rather it will continue to live in different levels. After death, man, being judged according to his deeds, goes to heaven or hell. Reincarnation is also referred in some texts of Kabbalah, thus the spiritual dimension of human evil comes back to this world after death. The process continues until the human attains sufficient knowledge to Sefirot (divine attributes)

In the Holy Quran, addressing His Messenger, God states: "say," Come! Let us call our sons and your sons, our women and your women, our souls and your souls, then let us pray earnestly and call down Allah's curse upon the liars." (3:61), this verse, which has been given the name 'Mubahalah', has been sent down in the course of a dispute between the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and the Christian people of Najran. It has always been, and will continue to be, one of the clearest Quranic evidences of the virtues of the Prophet's household (Ahl al-Bayt) and especially Ali (PBUH). On the strength of the content of the verse and trusted historical sources, Shia theologians and interpreters and The majority of Sunni scholars have reached a general consensus that in the verse, 'our soul's points to the Prophet and Ali, together or to Ali alone. However, whether Ali alone is the referent or both the Prophet and Ali, it shows his high position with the Prophet and that in the conflict between truth and falsehood, Ali is the complete manifestation of the Prophet. Shia theologians use the Verse of Mubahalah to prove Ali's superiority over all except the Prophet. Since the Prophet is God's best creature and Ali, according to the verse is as his soul, then, except for prophethood Ali is similar to the Prophet. As a result, Ali is superior to all except Muhammad himself. Shia theologians use this verse to prove Ali's rightfulness for caliphate after the Prophet and believe that choosing others for caliphate while Ali was present was wrong, for God never approves that the superior becomes the follower while the inferior is the leader. Despite believing in Ali's superiority over all or at least over some companions of the Prophet, Sunnis reject Shia reasons for Ali's rightfulness for caliphate and try to oppose in different ways. In this article while analyzing the different attitudes towards the verse, we offer replies to the objectors

Of the Manichean Gospel - the most important work of Mani - three Middle Persian manuscripts in the Manichean script were identified as of yet: M17, M172/I/ and M644. This article aims to show that the small unpublished fragment M5439 also is undoubtedly a part of the manuscripts of Mani’s Gospel and, like the above mentioned fragments, contains a part of the beginning of the first chapter (the chapter aleph) of Mani’s Living Gospel. A complete reading of this damaged fragment rendered not only a correction of the former reconstructions, but also the completion of a small section of the text. This text shows that the beliefs of Mani, who clearly introduced himself in his own Gospel as the ‘Apostle of Jesus Christ’ and praised ‘the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost’ - by and large - have a likeness to other Gnostic-Christian thoughts in general