مجله پژوهش های علم و دین
سال سوم شماره 2 (پاییز و زمستان 1391)

Christology in the western tradition is as old as Christianity itself. Jesus Christ is one of the most mysterious characters in the history of Christianity. This vagueness is not due to various conflicting interpretations in regard to the person of Christ which came about much later than the time of Christ’s emergence as a historical personality. On the contrary، the source of these conflicting views is within the New Testament. On the one hand، some scholars who could be viewed as followers of the Hebraic-Judaic tradition، have attempted to portray a historical image of Jesus rather than insisting on divine nature of Christ who has come to redeem humanity from the ‘First Sin’. The first interpretation is termed as Judeo-Christian vector and the second approach is conceptualized as the Paul-Johnian interpretation of Christianity. In other words، the dominant view is the Paul-Johnian interpretation which has been able to marginalize the other view in the course of history of the Christian religion.

The Earth’s biosphere، regardless of political، religious، and linguistic boundaries، needs special care which is attainable if we observe common global ethical principles which can be called Earth Ethics. The emphasis on providing a common definition of mankind’s relationship with God، himself، and others does not seem necessary while the health and preservation of biosphere requires a common definition of mankind’s relationship with nature. Rearing its ugly head over and over in this century، the environmental crisis has called for a revision of human interaction with nature with respect to his using science and technology as well as an overall reconsideration of all religions and all schools of thought، both religious and ethical، concerning the human place in the world and environmental ethic. Perhaps، the main impetus of such reconsideration in Christian world came from Lynn White’s article، “Environmental Ethics”، which since its publication in 1967 up to now، have been extensively discussed by its opponents and proponents. In Islamic countries، such scholars as Seyyed Hossein Nasr، Parvez Manzoor، Seyyed Mostafa Mohaghegh Damad، Fazlun Khalid and Abdollah Javadi Amoli have carried out wide range of researches and written many publications on the subject. This paper attempts، in the first place، to give a general survey of the researches conducted up to now with the aim of showing that a common ground could be reached to preserve natural environment. The practice of learning and teaching such principles can both preserves natural environment and lead to a universal consent over some aspects of ethical principles.

The overall perspective from which one sees and interprets the world is called the worldview. This perception of the world can be divided into three categories of religion، philosophy، and science that come in the order mentioned. In religious ontology، the first creation is the divine light. Religion is the origin of all sciences. The moment philosophy and science resort to religion، knowledge and human understanding of life move towards evolution and development. In religious worldview، beauty originates from absolute beauty; the nature of the absolute is aesthetic and cannot be any other way. According to Plato، in the line of ontology، aestheticism in philosophical worldview is first formed in the world of ideas، it is then entered in the world of mathematics through its quality and quantity، and it can be seen in the world of senses. In scientific and empirical worldview، nature and the world have a spatial and aesthetic space. The world is God''s workshop of divine creation and the most beautiful among the creatures are human beings. In the interaction of religion with philosophy، Muslim scholars and philosophers have obtained their school of philosophy from religion. In the interaction between religion and science، empirical aestheticism is registered under God''s provisions; and in the interaction between science and philosophy، the scientific and empirical aestheticism is specific while philosophical aestheticism is general and contains various examples. Real beauty originates from religion and value system and continues in philosophy and science; after the appearance of beauty، the beauty of religion، philosophy، and science interact; thus، all beauties become united in religion.

Methodology of humanities is thoroughly dependant on the epistemology involved، for it determines the capacity and formation of the knowledge and social life system in all civilizations and cultures. Recognition of religion، also، is dependent on simultaneous exploitation of all epistemological sources. Therefore، wisdom and tradition only together are able to introduce Islamic law. Neither of them، by itself، is able to master what is present and what is to come since religious knowledge is the output of deliberation and interaction of joint rational knowledge and traditional knowledge. Islam is capable to use the endless capacity of wisdom and tradition and provide the general lines and the comprehensive bases of many of sciences.

In this essay، the authors briefly discuss the views of those who question the relevance of indigenous science in Iran. Then، the positions of thinkers who have taken issue with Shari’ati’s viewpoint on indigenous science are appraised. Afterwards، the fields that Shari’ati describes for his scientific model are probed. The most important of them are: the impact of culture on science، the role of researcher in science، and the distinction of science and philosophy. Then، the authors reflect upon the necessity of indigenous science by working through the discourses on “critique of modern science”، on the one hand، and the pivotal relevance of science، on the other hand. The meaning of indigenous science in Shari’ati’s viewpoint، the area of indigenizing and the method of doing that are the last subjects of this article. Finally the authors conclude by arguing that Shari’ati is one of the first thinkers that propounded the necessity of indigenous science in the Iranian context.

The study of religious experience and its features has been one of the most important issues in the history of philosophy of religion. Recent scientific researchers have shown that some factors like music and meditation have a great influence on religious experience. This article is first going to count these factors thoroughly and then study their influence on everyday life. Finally، the impact of scientific researches on philosophers’ understanding of religious experience is addressed. The research result of this article is hoped to open a new chapter in the scientific study of religious experience.