Über einige Heiratsbräuche im Alten Testament. Von Kalle Kasemaa

Die meisten der sogenannten .Übergangsriten. (verbunden mit Geburt, Pubertät, Heirat und Tod) werden im Alten Testament stillschweigend vorausgesetzt, aber wenig wird darüber berichtet. Dennoch gibt es im AT Stellen, die über solche Ereignisse im Leben des Menschen einige Streiflichter werfen. Im folgenden werden einige Fälle der Brautschau bzw der Verehelichung im Text des AT überprüft. In allen behandelten Fällen geht es höchstwahrscheinlich um fremde Bräuche; für die Israeliten aber war die Ehe ein rechtliches Abkommen zwischen betroffenen Familien.

Who is John? Some Thoughts About the Name of the Fourth Gospel. By Peeter Roosimaa

The name .John. could designate several different persons. It could be, for example, John the Baptist, the father of apostle Peter, or John the Apostle. The interesting question is which John could most likely be associated with the name of the Fourth Gospel? It seems that this text comes from a so called .Johannine school. that was active in Syria at the end of the first century. In addition to its Christian theology, this school incorporated many influences from judaism and gnosticism. It is also notable that the Gospel of John deals a lot more with John the Baptist than the other Gospels. Therefore, it would seem that the Fourth Gospel may be an attempt to mediate between the Johannine school and the school of John the Baptist (located in the same region). In this case the name of the gospel could have been a means of paying honors to the great prophet by the members of the Johannine school.

Porvoo and Meissen: Two Important Steps in the Relationship between Lutheran and Anglican Churches. By Veiko Vihuri

The paper is an introduction to the developments connected with two ecumenical documents: .Meissen Common Statement. and .Porvoo Common Statement.. The article is also meant as an introduction to the dialogue between anglicans and lutherans. These documents represent a significat advance ment towards the visible unity of the two churchis, but it is not the end of the process. There are many possibilities still to be used in order to turn these formal documents into a practical cooperation.

To Live in Compassion towards the Fellow-man. By Tarmo Kulmar

A short survey will be given about the life, importance, two of his visits to Estonia and contents of the three books published in Estonian of His Holiness XIVth Dalai Lama Tendzin Gyatso, in the context of the lecture delivered by him in the Assembly Hall of the University of Tartu on the 20th of June 2001.

The Ethics of the New Millenium. By His Holiness the XIVth Dalai Lama Tendzin Gyatso

The lecture delivered by His Holiness the XIVth Dalai Lama in the Assembly Hall of the University of Tartu on the 20th of June 2001. The whole text is in English and will be published in the following edition: Tartu Ülikooli aulaloengud. Aula Lectures. Tartu Ülikool, 2002.

From Stahl to Salumäe. By Toomas Paul

The paper deals with some aspects of the formation of the Estonian hymnal. The first surviving hymnal written in Estonian is the 2nd part of Heinrich Stahl.s Hand- und Hauszbuch that contained 144 hymns in prose translation. The first metrical hymnal Neu Ehstnisches Gesangbuch was published in 1656 and contained 241 original or translated hymns of the best local poets Georg Salemann, Reiner Brockmann, Martin Gilaeus and Heinrich Göseken. The hymnal used in the churches has been successively improved in the following centuries, and the collection of the hymns has been altered. Kiriku Lauluja Palveraamat [The Church Hymnal and Prayer Book], in use from 1991, has been completed under the supervision of Ivar-Jaak Salumäe. Sad to say the process of the formation and revision of the Estonian hymnal has been totally neglected by the researchers. One of the reasons of that negligence has been due to the fact that to the end of the 19th century the Estonian clergy was almost hundred percent of the German nationality. During the period of the National Awakening the Estonian intellectuals started to withdraw from the German culture and took pains to create the Estonian culture. The church and the sacred literature were considered to be a stranger.s business. The opposition has not disappeared even at present. The Estonian poets of the 20th century have stayed aside from the creation of the hymns. The history of Estonian literature concerns itself only with the 1637 and1656 publications, the following ones are simply considered to belong to the conventional literature and the researches have not been interested in them. But still, the hymnal has been the most important book in the lives of the Estonian people for many centuries, much widely spread even than the Bible. The hymns that people have listened and memorized from childhood could not remain without any influence. It is necessary to study which hymns have been sung, how and why the hymnal have been altered, and how the hymnal has affected the people.s mentality. The paper ends with a proposal to the theologians to research the history and the significance of the hymnal of the Estonian church.

From Herrnhagen, Germany, to Estonia and Back, 1742-44: The Travel Diary of Brother Michael Petersen. By Voldemar Ilja

Michael Petersen was one of the 200 Herrnhut brothers and sisters who journeyed to Livonia or Estonia from 1729 to 1763 to preach Gospel and teach children. He started his diary on April 17, 1942, in Herrnhagen, where he and six more brothers were ordered to travel to Tallinn. They took a ship from Lübeck and arrived in Tallinn on June 26. For Michael Petersen, the first place to go was Vormsi island where he worked with local pastor named Holming and taught local Swedish children. In the beginning of 1743 Peter sen was ordered to go to Kriimani in South-Estonia. There he acted as an accountant in a store and assisted at the building of local watermill. At the same time he had several confrontations with state officials, because the state did not favor religious movements that sounded radical or separatist. In January 1744 he caught an eye disease and felt homesick, so he started to make plans to return to Germany. Before departure he once more visited Vormsi . the place had become especially close to him. On February 27 he started his journey to Germany, traveled through Riga, Königsberg, and Lübeck, and arrived at Herrnhagen on April 30.

Kirchengeschichte als theologische Disziplin. Von Urmas Petti

Die Stellung der Kirchengeschichte in Rahmen der theologischen Wissenschaft ist mehrfach problematisiert worden. Das Problem geht zurück ins 18. Jahrhundert, wenn man bei der Entstehung der modernen Geschichtswissenschaft der Geschichte einen objektiven, aus den Quellen rekonstruierbaren Inhalt aneignete. Damit wurden die biblische Heilsgeschichte und die sogenannte Profangeschichte unterschieden. Zugleich entstand das Problem, ob die Kirchengeschichte, die sich mit den geschichtswissenschaftlichen Methoden bedient, sich überhaupt in die Theologie, die sich hauptsächlich mit der Heilsgeschichte befasst, integrieren lässt. Um dieses Problem zu lösen, setzen wir zuerst voraus, dass die Theologie eine Wissenschaft ist. Vielleicht ist die Kirchengeschichte das eben nicht? Die Wissenschaftlichkeit einer jeder Wissenschaft wird durch die kritische Methode, durch das untersuchende Objekt und die festgelegten Voraussetzungen garantiert. Die beiden ersten können jedoch den theologischen Charakter der Kirchengeschichte nicht gewährleisten. Die Methode macht die Kirchengeschichte zu einer Wissenschaft, aber nicht zur Theologie. Das Untersuchungsobjekt macht sie zur Geschichtswissenschaft, aber erst die weltanschaulichen Voraussetzungen können sie zur Theologie machen. Somit ist die Frage nicht nur, ob die Theologie die Kirchengeschichte als ihren integeren Bestandteil anerkennt, sondern zugleich, ob die Theologie selbst kritisch bleibt, ob sie eine Wissenschaft ist wie die Kirchengeschichte. Der theologische Charakter der Kirchengeschichte kann gerade dann geleugnet werden, wenn die Theologie selbst nicht mehr als eine Wissenschaft angenommen wird.