The Old Testament is the story of Yahweh and His Covenant relationship with His people Israel. Many other Ancient Near Eastern (ANE) peoples are mentioned in the context of their relationship to Israel. This Covenant relationship which began with Abraham had a core component, the gift of land (Gen 12:7), the Promised Land. The Covenant was ratified at Mount Sinai where the terms, the Ten Commandments were given to Israel. Core to the terms was the obligation that Israel would serve no other god but Yahweh and without any representative image. Israel must be a monotheistic people. Only then would they retain the Promised Land. The Promised Land was occupied by the Canaanites. The Canaanites though difficult to identify with precision, were a people whose religious cult was the direct opposite of Yahwism. They worshipped Baal the fertility god. The fertility cult was a belief that there is no absolute being but a universal realm with a womb of fertility. This womb is the source of fertility and the gods are the agents. In the land of Canaan, Baal was the agent of fertility. The wealth and fertility of the land, crops, livestock, and humans was attributed to Baal. Baal was worshiped through the fertility cult which had cult personnel like prophets, and temple prostitutes. The fertility cult had festivals in which sympathetic magic was performed to induce the gods into action. This magic involved cultic sex and wine consumption in honor of Baal. The Canaanites were driven out of the land lest they influence Israel to copy their ways. This would violate the Covenant and Israel would be ejected out of the land because the occupation was based on keeping the Covenant. There were no strict conditions of obedience in Baal worship like in the Covenant. Baal offered them release from „Covenant Obedience‟ to indulge in sensuality while enjoying the blessings. In the end, the Baal fertility cult had such a negative impact on the Covenant that Israel was ejected out of the Promised Land and deported into the Babylonian Exile as seen in the book of Jeremiah / Old Testament and Ancient Near Eastern Studies / D. Th. (Old Testament)

Le déferlement urbain des grandes agglomérations sur leur périphérie est remarquable au Bénin, ces dernières décennies suite à l’évolution croissante de leurs populations. Cette nouvelle dynamique spatiale amène un changement des pratiques foncières et à un étalement urbain dans presque toutes les communes périurbaines. La production foncière aujourd’hui est basée sur les règles modernes. Mais le statut des terres dans certaines de ces communes périurbaines notamment celles qui sont à forte tradition Vodoun comme Adjarra et Avrankou suscite une interrogation quant à l’influence de la production foncière urbaine sur le patrimoine socio-cultuel. L’intérêt de cette recherche porte sur la problématique de la cohabitation entre les pratiques foncières endogènes qui cherchent à se maintenir et les exigences d’un foncier moderne qui a quelques difficultés à être généralisé. Les résultats de nos recherches nous permettent de constater l’existence, non seulement d’une certaine complicité entre les deux pratiques, mais aussi parfois de tension voire de confrontation entre la tradition et la modernité. Les réalités foncières modernes ont pu investir la région d’Adjarra et d’Avrankou à forte pratique foncière coutumière à travers l’instauration d’un marché foncier résultant des faits d’immatriculation et surtout des lotissements administratifs sans cependant réussir à s’y imposer. La présence des pratiques foncières modernes dans cette région a été surtout facilitée par sa position géographique qui fait d’elle le réceptacle des déferlements urbains de Porto-Novo, engendrant un espace mi-rural, mi-périurbain voire urbain à l’ombre de cette métropole. Parallèlement, les pratiques foncières coutumières bien que résistantes face à la modernité ont connu d’énormes mutations amenant parfois à la disparition de certaines représentations foncières. Si par le passé ‘‘la terre’’ (la terre entière) et ‘‘les terres’’ (les espaces abritant les divinités) sont perçues comme sacrées, ce caractère semble être aujourd’hui réduit au profit des ‘‘terres sacrées’’ qui se sont maintenues grâce à l’existence encore de la croyance à la religion traditionnelle. Les ‘‘terres sacrées’’ n’ont pas été emportées par la pression urbaine même si leur emprise spatiale s’est fortement réduite. Au contraire, elles ont contribué à freiner à plusieurs endroits l’urbanisation dans sa course à la consommation de l’espace, créant un paysage mixte où s’interfèrent la tradition et la modernité dans le tissu urbain. Cet espace périurbain qui présente l’intérêt d’associer les influences de la modernité et de la tradition révèle à contre-courant de la pensée dominante, qu’au lieu de s’opposer, les régimes fonciers coutumiers et modernes ont tendance à s’associer pour créer une situation nouvelle. / In Benin, the urban development of large cities on the periphery is a notorious phenomenon in recent decades, due in particular to increasing their changing populations. This new spatial dynamics results in a change of land use practices and urban sprawl in almost all the suburban municipalities. The land is now producing based on modern rules. But the status of the land in some of these suburban towns, including those with strong traditions Vodoun like Adjarra and Avrankou, raises a question about the influence of urban land production on the socio-cultic heritage. The interest of this research focuses on the issue of coexistence between indigenous land practices, looking to maintain itself, and the requirements of a modern land, which has some difficulties to be generalized. The results of our research allow us to determine the existence not only of a certain complicity between the two practices but also sometimes tensions and even confrontations between tradition and modernity. Modern land realities have been able to invest Avrankou and Adjarra area, high customary land practice, through the introduction of a land market arising from registration made especially administrative subdivisions, without managing to win in this locality. The presence of modern land tenure practices in this area was mainly facilitated by its geographical position, which makes it the receptacle of urban Porto Novo surges , resulting in a half countryside , half suburban (or urban ) next to this metropolis. Meanwhile, customary land tenure practices, although resistant face of modernity, experienced enormous changes, sometimes leading to the disappearance of certain land representations. While in the past, '' land '' (whole earth) and '' lands '' (space housing the gods) are perceived as sacred, this character seems now reduced in favor only "sacred lands", which are maintained thanks to the existence still of the belief in traditional religion. The "sacred lands" were not swept away by urban pressure, even if their spatial extent is strongly affected. Instead, they helped to slow, in many places, urbanization in its race to the consumption of space, creating a mixed landscape with interfering in the urban fabric tradition and modernity. This suburban area, which has the benefit of combining the influences of modernity and tradition, reveals, against the grain of mainstream thinking, instead of opposing, customary and modern land tenure systems tend to combine, creating a new situation.

Conspiracy theories are an old-new phenomenon which has gained its importance and specific character over the last three centuries. Unofficially, they have become an alternative tradition of the interpretation of historical events connected with an alternative form of spirituality, known as conspirituality. This manner of the interpretation usually holds the power when the consensually accepted worldview loses its plausibility for the concrete person or group. Conspiracy theories are the verbalization of a certain way of thinking and action which depends on it. Most often, they are manifested in the form of myths. That is understood as one of the dominant structures, commonly connected with traditionally perceived religion. From this point of view and in terms of the function associated with conspiracy narratives, conspiracy theories are examined as functional and structural equivalents of religion. These functions are especially the defense of the order (nomos), differentiation of the outer reality or the explanation of the presence of Evil in the world. In addition, they can also become a medium or tool of social actors in power relations. This thesis represents the complementary overview of the contemporary approaches in the study of religion discourse, which deals with unconventional religiosity...

Abstracts in German and English / Diese Studie befasst sich mit einer Untersuchung und Einordnung einiger theologischer Aspekte der charismatischen Lobpreispraxis im deutschsprachigen Raum. Dies erfolgt mittels Analyse einschlägiger Literatur sowie repräsentativer Liedtexte der charismatisch geprägten Lobpreismusik der letzten Jahre. Insbesondere durch die Untersuchung des Tempelmotivs und seine Bedeutung in der charismatischen Lobpreispraxis, werden Charakteristika eines zugrundeliegenden Gottesdienstverständnisses und sich daraus ergebende weltanschauliche Implikationen herausgearbeitet. Der Befund zeigt, dass den untersuchten Lobpreisliedern ein Narrativ der Begegnung des Menschen mit Gott und seiner Gegenwart (in „heiliger Atmosphäre“) als Grundmotiv zugrunde liegt. Dieses Narrativ folgt der Logik und dem Vorbild des alttestamentlichen Tempelkults. Wie der Eintritt des Priesters ins „Allerheiligste“, soll das gottesdienstliche Lobpreiserlebnis als eine transzendente Begegnung mit dem „Heiligen“ verstanden werden, wodurch sich Tendenzen zu einem sakral-kultischen Gottesdienstverständnis und Hinweise eines Dualismus zwischen „profanen“ und „sakralen“ wirklichkeitsdimensionen des zugrundeliegenden Weltbildes aufzeigen lassen. / This study evaluates some theological aspects of the charismatic praise and worship practice in the German-speaking area by analyzing relevant literature and representative lyrics of the charismatically influenced worship songs of recent years. In particular, by examining the temple theme and its significance in charismatic worship, the characteristics of the underlying conception of worship and the resulting worldview implications are worked out. The results show that the studied praise and worship songs are based on an underlying narrative of man's encounter with God and his presence (in a "holy atmosphere") through the singing. This narrative follows the logic and model of the Old Testament temple cult. Like the priest's entry into the "holy of holies", the worship experience is to be understood as a transcendent encounter with the "holy", whereby tendencies towards a sacral-cultic understanding of worship and a dualism between a "profane" and a "sacred" dimension of the underlying worldview can be shown. / Practical Theology / M. Th. (Practical Theology)