Reform (religion)

A religious reform (formed from the Latin re : back and formare : form, shape; composed for example: restoration) is aimed at reforming the doctrine of the faith. A differentiation must be made between a reform of the organization of a religious community, which, however, is often the result of a reform of the doctrine of the faith.

definition

Religious reforms are carried out when a religious community came to the conclusion that they from - in their true faith has deviated - eyes. As a rule, reform is started by some members of a religious community and meets resistance from other members of the same religious community. In the course of religious reforms, doctrines believed to be true are usually reformulated, and doctrines believed to be incorrect are condemned and rejected.

Most of the time, the deviation from the accepted true belief that gives rise to reform has crept in over a long period of time, in some cases centuries. A religious reform is always a reorientation at the beginnings of religion (therefore: re-formare , restore) from the perspective of the present and with the knowledge of the present. A typical example of deviations from the assumed true faith are social changes in society, which lead to traditional ethical rules losing their meaning and must be replaced by changed ethical rules in order to be able to protect the underlying value in the future. Another typical example is the factual refutation of traditional ideas, e.g. B. through better insights into historical processes or into scientific contexts, through which the traditional knowledge was proven to be false.

The progressive change in society and the advancement of human knowledge mean that there can never be a “final” reform of a doctrine, but that a doctrine must be reformed again and again. This insight was formulated succinctly by Karl Barth in 1947 : Ecclesia semper reformanda est , d. H. the church must always be reformed.

Religious reforms are not primarily aimed at adapting to the zeitgeist of the present, but naturally entail certain adaptations to the present, since the religious tradition is viewed and reformed from the perspective of the present and with the knowledge of the present. A complete adaptation of a doctrine of faith to the zeitgeist of the present cannot be expected from a credible religious reform. Religious reforms that do not aim first at the restoration of the true faith, but at the mere adaptation of a doctrine of faith to the zeitgeist of the present without regard to an assumed true faith, are not religious reforms in the actual sense. Their usefulness is questionable as these reforms are not built on the faith of believers. Reforms of this kind are often coercive and i. d. Usually not very durable, but are reversed after a few generations. An example of this are the reforms to strengthen paganism against Christianity by the Roman emperor Julian the Apostate.

The opponents of legitimate religious reforms are called traditionalists, their ideology traditionalism . The supporters of reforms to adapt to the zeitgeist without regard to an assumed true belief are called modernists, their ideology modernism . Both terms were first coined in the Christian-Catholic environment, but are now applied to all religions.

Famous Examples of Religious Reforms

• The Buddhist Councils to clarify the teachings of the Buddha.
• The Council of Nicaea to Clarify the Doctrine of the Trinity , A.D. 325
• The Muslim Muʿtazila Movement Rejecting False Traditions, Sept. 9-11. Century
• The 1517 Reformation by Martin Luther , Johannes Calvin and others.
• The gradual implementation of the historical-critical method in Christianity in the 19th and 20th centuries.
• The Second Vatican Council of the Catholic Church , 1962–1965.

See also

• Aggiornamento
• Sociology of Religion
• Religious studies
• Church criticism , church reform
• Islam criticism

literature

• Ronald L. Johnstone: Religion in Society: A Sociology of Religion , Pearson / Prentice Hall, 2006.
• Thomas K. Kuhn / Katharina Kunter (eds.): Reform - Enlightenment - Renewal: Transformation processes in modern and modern Christianity. Festschrift for the 80th birthday of Martin Greschat. Evangelische Verlagsanstalt 2014. ISBN 978-3-3740-3899-2
• Michael Molloy, Richard C. Trussell: Experiencing the World's Religions: Tradition, Challenge and Change , McGraw-Hill Higher Education, 1998.
• Armin W. Geertz, Jeppe Sinding Jensen: Religion, Tradition, and Renewal , Aarhus Universitetsforlag, 1991.
• John P. Bradbury: Perpetually Reforming: A Theology of Church Reform and Renewal , 2013.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Ronald L. Johnstone: Religion in Society: A Sociology of Religion , Pearson / Prentice Hall, 2006. pp. 134 ff.
2. ↑ See e.g. B. Hassan Butt: Appeal to fellow believers: put an end to terror! , in: Neue Zürcher Zeitung July 5, 2007; Quote: “We need new, contemporary rules, a revised understanding of the rights and responsibilities of Muslims whose homes and souls are firmly rooted in what I would like to call the land of coexistence. And when this new theological terrain has been tapped, Muslims in the West will be able to free themselves from long-obsolete worldviews and reformulate the rules of coexistence; then perhaps we will discover that the concept of killing in the name of Islam is just an anachronism. "
3. ^ Theodor Mahlmann: Ecclesia semper reformanda . A historical reappraisal. New arrangement, in: Torbjörn Johansson, Robert Kolb, Johann Anselm Steiger (eds.): Hermeneutica Sacra. Studies on the interpretation of the Holy Scriptures in the 16th and 17th centuries, Berlin - New York 2010, pp. 382–441, here pp. 384–388
4. ↑ See e.g. B. the struggle for the term aggiornamento in the Catholic Church.
5. ↑ See e.g. B. for Islam Prof. Stephan Conermann: Traditionalism , source: Elger, Ralf / Friederike Stolleis (ed.): Kleines Islam-Lexikon. History - everyday life - culture. Munich: 5th, updated and expanded edition 2008.