نشریه هفت آسمان
پیاپی 49 (بهار 1390)

The following discussion consists of the first two chapters of Practical Mysticism: A Little Book for Normal People by Evelyn Underhill, a contemporary Christian mystic. She contributed to the exposition of the spiritual thought and practice considerably so that she is regarded as the reviver of the concept of holiness, which is the mission of every Christian. It may first appear that such a small book as Practical Mysticism is not very noticeable among Ms. Underhill's 39 books and 350 articles; however, its subtitle, A Little Book for Normal People, will shed light on its intellectual status. In this book, Underhill on the one hand is concerned to explain the effect of the theoretical mysticism upon the practical mysticism; and on the other hand, she is concerned to make mysticism, a divine blessing, available to all people. He describes the stages of mystical journey in simple terms so that it can be easily understood by the ordinary people.

The second coming of Jesus Christ is one of the central teachings of Christianity with which the Christian eschatology has been mainly concerned. The Christians have always been of opinion that Christ will return with great glory in the end times to fulfill his promises and prophecies he has made on his first coming; he will return to establish the divine kingdom on earth. This, it goes without saying, does not mean that all Christians have had the same interpretation of this teaching; in fact, depending on the social conditions and intellectual contexts, they have had different views of it. Based on the literal meaning of the biblical verses concerned with this event, some Christians believe in the literal and visible second coming of Christ as well as his worldly kingdom which is to last for one millennium. Based on the interpretative approach, some other Christians have spiritualized this teaching. Providing a brief overview of the second coming of Christ, this article is concerned to discuss different views on this teaching in different periods of Christian history including New Testament period, church fathers period, middle ages, and the modern period.

The methodology of every discipline involves the certain definition of that discipline. Thus, methodology in exegesis has a certain definition, which differs from those of other disciplines. From among the definitions of interpretation one may prefer the following one: "The method of interpretation involves the citation of the sources which a commentator uses in his interpretation of the Quran." One may also define the method of interpretation as a path taken by a commentator in his interpretation of the Quran. According to these two definitions, the sources and the way selected by a commentator in his interpretation of the Quran will be regarded as his method of interpretation. Thus, if a commentator interprets the Quranic verses by the Quran itself, he has adopted the Quran-by-Quran method of interpretation. If a commentator bases his commentary on the traditions, he has taken a Quran-by-tradition method of interpretation. The Shiite exegetical heritage may be looked at from the viewpoint of the methodology of exegesis; it may be categorized based on the methods used by the commentators. The present paper is not to provide a critical analysis of the methods of exegesis; it is, in fact, an attempt to describe the methods applied in the Shiite exegeses.

The problem for Buddhism in general is how to liberate suffering beings (Sattvas) from the meaningless repetition and circularity (samsara) and bring them to see Reality as it truly is. This writing is concerned to discuss the "innate capacity" to experience reality as it truly is; it also discusses the solution offered by Mahayana Buddhism to the problem of the liberation of beings from samsara and allowing them to see Reality. Mahayana Buddhism comes up with a curious olution: deceit. This skilful means is exemplified by one of the most respected Mahayana texts, the Lotus Sutra, which presents its
teaching in the form of seven parables. Providing an overview of these parables, this essay examines this solution.

The first step in the study of any religion is to have an overall picture of the beliefs and practices of that religion; since the detailed analysis of the concepts involved in the religion concerned will lead us to what is acknowledged by that religion. Every scholar of religion, it goes without saying, seeks to understand: the view of the religion he is studying on the world, creation, and its creator, the way in which the founder of that religion characterized himself, the way in which one can achieve salvation, the status of morals, the religious symbols, the rituals performed by its adherents, the most important scriptures, the number and distribution of its adherents, and so on. This involves a general overview of the religion concerned. The present paper is an attempt to provide a general overview of one of the world's youngest religions. This paper may be the first step in studying Sikhism as well as exploring its different aspects in detail.

"New Age" refers to one of the new emerging religious movements; it applies to a large variety of people and groups with very different orientations and beliefs. The attempt to transform the people and society through the spiritual consciousness is what makes these people and groups united. "Channeling" refers to a well known concept in the New Age movement which is similar to inspiration and revelation. Thus, Mr. Hanegraaff considers this phenomenon as an articulated revelation. There are some thinkers who claim that all previous revelations should be regarded as channeling. Having discussed channeling and articulated revelations, Mr. Hanegraaff considers different types of channeling and developmental processes. Finally, he provides a brief overview of the works on channeling, which are used in this paper.

The public sphere is a social life arena, in which people come together, talk about their subjects of interest freely and openly, possibly reaching a common understanding. Thus, in modern societies the "public sphere" refers to an arena in which the political cooperation is done through dialogue; it may also correspond to a social life arena in which the public opinion is formed and a variety of actions are taken. By the public sphere I mean a political sphere which includes collectives that operate at different levels, such as the nation, the state, and the civil society. On the other hand, religion is not outside the public sphere; neither is it regarded as neutral in relation to the public sphere. Therefore, one may ask the question: In what forms is religion expressed in the public sphere in modern societies? Ms. Furseth presents five forms in which religion is expressed in the public sphere: the official religion of the state, civil religion, religious nationalism, public religion, and religious legitimation of political power.