HTS Teologiese Studies/Theological Studies
January 27, 2016
Celia E.T. Kourie
10 citations
The article reviews recent developments in the study of spirituality and mysticism, noting that contemporary spiritualities now encompass the full range of human experience. New variants such as Contemplative Studies have emerged alongside traditional approaches. Research increasingly crosses inter-religious boundaries, natural mysticism is prominent, and neurotheology offers insights into the mystical mind. Debates continue over the value of techniques and methods in the mystical journey, while mystical silence is highlighted as especially valuable for modern, fast-paced life. The author aims to contribute to ongoing research in this domain.
HTS Teologiese Studies/Theological Studies
August 28, 2015
Pieter F. Craffert
10 citations
Possession is not a single phenomenon but a collective term covering a wide range of experiences, including illness labels and dissociative states. Cross-cultural and neuroscientific research shows that possession involves complex neuro-cultural processes and often functions as a cultural technique for being a Self or as a solution to underlying problems. The growth of exorcism in Southern Africa partly stems from viewing Jesus as a successful exorcist, yet there is little critical reflection on possession as a cultural practice. These insights suggest that exorcism should be reconsidered as a clear-cut practice worthy of emulation.
HTS Teologiese Studies/Theological Studies
February 23, 2023
S. Supriyanto
8 citations
The text explains the Sufi concept of al-Hulul, or unity with God, which involves cleansing the heart and purifying the soul to achieve true happiness by directly connecting with God. It describes how Sufism is more accommodating to local culture, particularly among the Javanese, who blend religion and culture. Religion represents obedience to God, while culture provides values and symbols for dynamic living. The religious system integrated into society shapes the socio-religious order mutually, though it is not a standard system. Javanese life tends toward mystical and magical traits, closely aligned with religious characteristics.
HTS Teologiese Studies/Theological Studies
July 29, 2021
R. A. Northover
3 citations
Emile Durkheim’s theory that religion originates from society and collective sentiments is critiqued using speech act theory, cognitive neuroscience, and southern African ethnography. David Lewis-Williams’ shamanism, with its emphasis on altered states of consciousness, trance dance, and potency, is proposed as a more plausible origin of religion than Durkheim’s totemism. Durkheim’s sociological reduction of God to society and his dismissal of individual psychological experience are criticized. While Durkheim helped demystify religion and establish social constructionism, he overestimated collective affect and underestimated the role of individual altered states. The study posits shamanism rather than totemism as the probable origin of religion.
HTS Teologiese Studies/Theological Studies
June 3, 2024
Nita Trimulyaningsih, M.A. Subandi, Kwartarini W. Yuniarti
Spiritual-religious transformation among Indonesian Muslims who follow spiritual practices leads to the tranquil self (nafs al-muṭmaʾinnah). Ten participants in Yogyakarta province were interviewed along with their significant others. Five themes emerged: deviation from religious environment, spiritual discipline, transformative experiences, new characters, and a continuous process. Transformation occurs gradually after a sudden experience and continues throughout life. Three contributing factors are predisposition, a spiritual guide, and spiritual experiences. This study provides an Islamic-Sufi perspective on spiritual-religious transformation, which has mainly been studied within Judeo-Christian traditions.
HTS Teologiese Studies/Theological Studies
December 17, 2021
H. Muhammad, Ilyas Supena, A. A. Junaidi et al.
The use of Qur'anic verses in shamanic practices by Javanese kyai (Muslim clergy) is not necessarily heretical or idolatrous (shirk). The practice has gained popularity because the kyai legitimize their mantras through normative arguments drawn from the Qur'an and classical salaf scholarship. Contrary to common assumptions that shamanism contradicts Islamic law, the article argues that when performed by santri or kyai, shamanism can be theologically justified. This provides a new perspective that shamanic healing within Javanese society is not always un-Islamic, as practitioners rely on sacred texts rather than forbidden magic.
HTS Teologiese Studies/Theological Studies
August 3, 2021
Ahmad Ebadi, Mohammadmahdi Amoosoltani
Consciousness cannot arise from purely physical systems because physical entities are intrinsically multiple, absent, and deficient. Instead, the emergence of consciousness requires the emergence of an immaterial mental substance or soul. Arguments from properties such as the first-person perspective, qualia, and the capacity for invention support substance-emergentism over property-emergentism. Drawing on the philosophy of Mulla Sadra, the article responds to objections from property-emergentists and argues that the immaterial soul emerges after stages of natural bodily evolution. This view links science and religion, providing a foundation for beliefs in the afterlife and religious morality.
HTS Teologiese Studies/Theological Studies
January 27, 2016
Jock Agai
Near-death experiences (NDEs) are typically studied as phenomena that do not provide evidence for an afterlife. However, from an African perspective, NDEs can be seen as supporting traditional beliefs about death and resurrection. Drawing on Ancient Egyptian afterlife beliefs and those of the Yoruba people of Nigeria, the author argues that in African contexts, NDE percipients are not viewed as merely coming close to death but as having truly died. This research aims to initiate an African-centered debate on NDEs and provide background knowledge for counselors working with African NDE percipients.
HTS Teologiese Studies/Theological Studies
August 28, 2015
Pieter G.R. de Villiers
The article examines how divine presence is experienced in an intimate relationship between God and humans, as described in Philo's writings and the Gospel of John. It identifies a shared mystical pattern from the 1st century CE that explains similarities between the two texts, without claiming a direct genetic link. Philo's relatively unknown mystical experiences and views are given special attention, showing how union with a transcendent God is mediated both directly and indirectly. The Gospel of John is then compared to illustrate how this pattern appears in a Jewish-Christian context. The analysis highlights divine longing for union with humanity despite God's transcendence.
HTS Teologiese Studies/Theological Studies
August 21, 2014
Jakub Urbaniak
This article examines how Buddhism and Christianity understand suffering as part of mystical experience. It challenges the simplistic contrast between a detached, emotionless sage and a suffering saint. By analyzing the meanings each tradition assigns to suffering, the article contributes to discussions about the theological and spiritual dimensions of human suffering across religions. It also suggests, using a Kantian distinction, that mystical experience can set boundaries for interfaith dialogue without imposing absolute limits.
HTS Teologiese Studies/Theological Studies
May 21, 2012
Stephen D. Edwards
Hope involves states and stages of consciousness development that can be enhanced through breath control, meditation, prayer, and related practices central to spiritual healing traditions. Breath control alone may lead to pure, transcendent, or cosmic consciousness, but its effects on consciousness can be anchored and amplified through further contemplative and intercessory meditation and prayer, varying across people, groups, contexts, and traditions. A specific method called One Breath is associated with pure consciousness and the experience of hope, typically leading to further spiritual practice, healing, and transformation. Ongoing spiritual practice is crucial for improving consciousness development, healing, and hope for individuals, societies, the planet, and the cosmos.
HTS Teologiese Studies/Theological Studies
May 21, 2012
Kees Waaijman
The Bible serves as an authoritative framework, guide, vocabulary, and site of transformation in mystical texts. Intertextuality, a literary approach analyzing text intersections, reveals two ways mystical texts (phenotexts) relate to the Bible (archetext): mono-causal surface effects and reciprocal meaning production. Forms of intersection include quotations, collage, allusions, and reproduction. Three intertextual strategies—participation, detachment, and change or rearrangement—produce meaning. Six functions emerge: the Bible as framework for argumentation, guide and blueprint of the mystical way, vocabulary of mystical experience, initiation into divine infinity, place of mystical transformation in love, and articulation of transformation in glory.
HTS Teologiese Studies/Theological Studies
August 18, 2010
John J. Pilch
A reinterpretation of an ancient Christian practice suggests that placing a finger on the nostril during prayer, described by the Church Father Epiphanius among the Tascodrugites, may have been a deliberate technique to induce an altered state of consciousness. Drawing on anthropological and neurophysiological evidence, the gesture's capacity to affect brain function is explored as a pan-human potential. This framework is then applied to two biblical passages: Ezekiel 8:17 and Jesus' experience in the Garden of Gethsemane (Luke 22:43-44), arguing that these texts may also describe similar practices for achieving altered states.
HTS Teologiese Studies/Theological Studies
August 18, 2010
Willem J. Smith
In his book Theology and Psychology, Fraser Watts proposes an interdisciplinary approach to the interface between theology and psychology, examining each discipline from the perspective of the other. He applies a religious perspective to psychological topics such as evolution, neuroscience, and computer intelligence, and uses psychological perspectives to examine theological topics like divine action, salvation history, and eschatology. Watts aims to propose a psychology of religious experience, viewing theology as rational reflection on the Christian tradition. He acknowledges the risk of lacking competence in one discipline but proceeds based on his 25 years of experience in psychology and his position at the University of Cambridge's Faculty of Divinity.
HTS Teologiese Studies/Theological Studies
August 18, 2010
Andries van Aarde
This article engages with Pieter Craffert's book that portrays Jesus as a Galilean shaman, using the "shamanic complex" to explain how traditions about Jesus were layered and reconfigured within the same cultural area. Jesus' healings and encounters with spirits are interpreted through alternate states of consciousness as polyphased consciousness. The article offers both appraisal and critique, arguing for a different judgment rather than a paradigm shift. It evaluates scholars who focus on stratifying the Jesus tradition as complementary to a culturally sensitive reading scenario, rather than opposing approaches.