Marburg Journal of Religion

The ‘Logic’ of Mediatization Theory in Religion:

2018-10-09T11:34:18+02:00

The concept of mediatization was introduced to research on religion a decade ago by several scholars of communication: Hepp, Hjarvard and Sá Martino. The approach is controversial and has been debated in religious studies and beyond. This article critically analyses the core elements of mediatization theory in religion. These elements are the dating and measurement of mediatization, the secularization and the concept of ‘banal religion,’ the understanding of ‘religion’ and of ‘media,’ and the process of deterritorialization. This analysis questions the empirical evidence for and the theoretical consistency of the mediatization approach. Finally, some alternative research perspectives are presented.

A community of emotions: pastoral care meetings in Conservative Laestadianism

2018-10-08T17:56:24+02:00

This article studies Conservative Laestadianism, a Lutheran revival movement group located mainly in Finland. The focus of this article is so called pastoral care meetings which took place in the 1970s. The meetings were internal examinations of members’ belief with the intention of correcting spiritual errors and missteps of the members of the community and guiding them in the right direction. One important implicit purpose of the meetings was also to maintain the unanimous nature of the community. The article analyzes the emotional responses to these meetings; how the meetings were experienced by those who were forced to participate in them. Theoretically, the theme of emotions will be elaborated; how emotions could help in understanding and analyzing spiritually and religiously motivated violence and pressure. Empirically the presentation relies on collected narratives, internet material, interviews as well as documents, newspapers and official material provided by the Laestadian community.

Susanne Beck, Samanu, Ein vorderasiatischer Dämon in Ägypten, Ägypten und Altes Testament 83 (Münster: Ugarit-Verlag, 2015), IX, 1-360, ISBN 978-3-86835-173-6

2018-10-08T17:56:24+02:00

Book Review

The Qur’an: A New Annotated Translation

2018-10-08T17:56:24+02:00

The need for a modern, critically annotated translation of the Qur’an that can serve as a teaching tool for students and a reliable resource for the non-specialist scholar has
been strongly felt for a very long time. This book aims to fill that need, and it does. It is a ‘Study Qur’an’ that fully matches the works of that genre that have long been
available for the study of the Bible.