نشریه هفت آسمان
پیاپی 51 (پاییز 1390)

The development of science caused some controversies between the scientists and the Christian believers over the way in which the world was created. The Bible's account of the creation of the world in six days appears to be in conflict with the scientific findings. In order to resolve this conflict, the Christians have made attempts to provide different interpretations of this account. Having set forth some interpretations of the biblical account of the creation of the world, the author of the original paper provides his own interpretation. Putting this story within the cultural context of the ancient times, he is concerned to come to know what God meant by creation in six days. He believes that his interpretation has two merits: first, it upholds the authority of the Bible; second, it is compatible with the scientific findings. It goes without saying that the author of the paper is not concerned to examine all the interpretations; he, in fact, favors a certain view; and he has written his paper according to this view; therefore, he has made no reference to some rival views.

The oppressed people often use religion as a means of protest against the unjust economic conditions and upsetting the status quo. In the past few decades, in order to deal with the poverty, suffering, and oppression, some of the Christian religious leaders and ecclesiastics adopted a system of views which was later called "liberation theology". This concept is applied to a synthesis of Christian principles and political pragmatism. The liberation theology is one of the twentieth century movements, which is concerned to bring about unity among the poor and increase their knowledge by appealing to some of the Christian teachings. The liberation theology calls for the equality between man and woman in all cultural, religious, and social affairs; it also calls for the actualization of equality and social justice in all societies, especially those of the Latin America. The present paper is an attempt to examine the role of religion in the formation and development of this movement; it is also concerned to find a response to those thinkers who accuse this movement of Marxist tendencies. In other words, this paper considers the different aspects of liberation theology; these aspects are as follows: its definition, the formation of the general theological principles, its relationship with tradition and modernity, its prominent figures, the status of women in this theology, and its present status.

Soon after the emergence of Islam, the Islamic conquests began to increase; and the Muslims conquered many regions. In such a situation, it was necessary for the Jurists and judges to be sent to these regions to undertake the judicial affairs. The separate gatherings of the two groups of companions in Hijaz and Iraq led to the formation of two schools of thought: Medina school or school of hadith, and the Kufa shool or the school of Aras (views). This duality was the beginning of the later jurisprudential differences, which in turn caused the comparative jurisprudence to come into being. The comparative jurisprudence developed; and a variety of books were written on it. None of the books, which have been written on the comparative jurisprudence, is concerned with the historical periods of the comparative Jurisprudence. In fact, there has been almost no study in the historical periods of the comparative jurisprudence; even there is no mention of the oldest comparative studies. The present article consists of two parts: firstly, it suggests that we can divide the history of the comparative jurisprudence into five periods: 1. the age of writing; 2. the age of compilation; 3. the age of flourishing; 4. the age of decline; 5. and the contemporary period. Secondly, it introduces the oldest and the most important sources of this discipline in every period.

The question which this article examines is the problems the New Testament theology is concerned to solve. It goes without saying that the title of New Testament, as the Christians believe, is used in relation to its Hebrew counterpart, Old Testament. Therefore, we should be concerned with those questions which deal with the relationship between the two covenants, the reasons for propounding the new covenant, and the views which, as Christianity holds, made such a covenant unavoidable. The writings of this kind are usually expected to examine such issues as God, chosen people, the relationship between God and man, and salvation, which are regarded as the most important issues in the Old Testament; then it is expected to present the attitude of the New Testament on these issues. Thereby, the remarkable developments of these issues would be considered; and we would be provided with a set of theological viewpoints which seeks its justification in appealing to the New Testament passages and the insights of its writers.

The Yezidi religion is unknown, since the Yezidis are not willing to reveal the secrets of their religion; this is a taboo which has not yet been broken. On the other hand, the majority of the scholars of this religion have been neither Kurdish nor familiar with the Kurdish language; and this fact has further contributed to the ambiguity of this religion. Such ambiguities can also be found in the life of Adi Ibn Musafir, The Sheikh of Yezidi Religion. Sheikh Adi was one of the mystics of the fifth century of Hegira, who inhabited the mountainous area of the northern Iraq for seclusion and asceticism; there, he became familiar with the Kurds of that area who were not Muslim. He became the religious leader of these people who were known as Yezidis, and tried to spread Islam among them. His successors carried out his mission. On the ground that there has been no comprehensive research on the Yezidi Religion, the present writing is concerned to provide a short account of the Yezidi religion and consider the life of Sheikh Adi, and the way in which he was recognized among the Yezidis. Some of his successors are also considered briefly.

Convergence or proximity is one of the strategies to achieve balance and interaction in the Muslim world. Thus, a great many of Sunni and Shiite thinkers have been concerned to bring the Islamic sects together, formulating a variety of procedures. Imam Musa Sadr was one of the most remarkable exponents of proximity so that such a significant orientation was high on his agenda for structural reform in Lebanon and the Muslim world. Imam Musa Sadr, who enjoyed high status among the Muslim scholars, never failed to seize the opportunities in his journey towards a united Muslim world. As to this, he made a concerted effort; and he delivered lectures, held talks with the scholars of the Muslin world, attended the conferences, and gave papers on different subjects associated with the Islamic Ummah, so that he could pave the way for the unity of the Muslim world. His unity-seeking solutions are among the innovative subjects, the consideration of which may open up new horizons for the future. The present article examines the jurisprudential cooperation, jurisprudential unity of social rituals, and practical measures, as some of the ways of dealing with the problem of the unity of the Muslim world.

A major part of the Buddhist deeds are associated with Buddhist morality. The Buddhist prescriptions consist in a series of moral principles which are concerned with one's duty to one's self and others. The principle of Ahimsa, which means non-injury to one's self and to others, is the most central Buddhist moral teaching. The five abstentions begin with this sentence: "I make a promise to abstain from injuring the living creatures, stealing, immorality, telling lie, and intoxication". Now, is it possible for the human rights to be expressed in terms of these teachings? Is the universal declaration of human rights compatible with the demands of the Buddhist morality? Does the emphasis put upon law not overshadow one's religious duty? In this article, the author, Fredericks, examines the different answers of the Buddhist thinkers to these questions. He also sets forth the Buddhist's criticism of the universal declaration of human rights.

One of the newest approaches in the study of religion is the economic approach, which has not yet been widely practiced in our academic circles. In this paper, using an interdisciplinary method and the principles of psychology and sociology of religion, Rodney Stark, an English economist, introduces this approach as lucidly as possible. It goes without saying that, like any other discipline, the economic approach is based on many explicit or implicit assumptions. The most explicit assumption of this article is the principle of rational choice, which has enjoyed a high status in some of the trends in economics, political science, sociology, cognitive psychology, etc; according to this principle, man's behavior is purposeful and deliberated. The social events are the totality of the actions of a great many individuals, who act on the basis of rational calculation or instrumental reason. On the other hand, according to the rival theory, human behavior is mainly based on habit rather than rational arguments; as a result, man's behavior is shaped by training and social structures.