the sponsus with Christ, and the sponsa with the Virgin Mary. Volume 1 offers the author’s sketch, volume 2 gives a selection of notes. Königshausen & Neumann, Würzburg (2008) 1–231; 1–214

2026 Wolfgang Bretschneider, Bewundert – verstoßen – wiederentdeckt: Die Sequenz “Dies Irae”. Ein musiktheologischer Beitrag Ein berühmter mittelalterlicher Hymnus über das Jüngste Gericht ist die Sequenz “Dies irae” (Tag des Zorns). Sie wurde bis in das Jahr 1970 in der katholischen Totenmesse gesungen und hat darüber hinaus viele Komponisten zu großen Vertonungen angeregt. Dieser Beitrag erörtert die Entstehung, liturgischen Gebrauch, den Inhalt, biblische Ver- wurzelung und musikalische Rezeption dieses Hymnus. BiKi 63/4 (2008) 233–237

HISTORY OF RELIGIONS

General basic concepts and issues 2027 Hans-Dieter Betz et al. (eds.), Religion Past and Present: Encyclopedia of Theology and Religion. Vol. 4: Dev-Ezr New volumes of RPP, by now well known (see IRBS 53:2079, 2080; 54:2076), continue to be issued at regular intervals. This translation of the fourth edition of Religion in Geschichte und Gegenwart, the authoritative German encyclopedia of religion, has been adapted and revised for the English-speaking public, though occasionally the German still shines through (e.g. “” appears as “ethnology”, refl ecting Ethnologie). Some of the bibliographies have been updated, but some are already out of date (an example is the bibliography appended to the entry on Durkheim). In the case of Droste-Hülshoff, one could have added M. Reiser’s innovative re-interpretation of what the article calls the Westphalian author’s “secularized consciousness”; in fact, hers is not a secular voice. Among this volume’s highlights are entries dealing with doctrine, dogma, and dogmatics, and more topical ones on the “ecological movement” and “ecological theology”. RPP continues its strength in articles pertaining to the history of religions, see the entries on Egypt ( J. Assmann being one of the authors), Elephantine, the Enlightenment (A. Beutel), epiphany, eschatology (very technical, multi-authored, and with much bibliography), ethics, and (archaeological) excavations, and existence of God (proofs). Brill, Leiden (2008) CXI/1–789 (BL)

2028 Hans-Dieter Betz et al. (eds.), Religion Past and Present: Encyclopedia of Theology and Religion. Volume 5: F – Haz The fi fth volume of RPP reaffi rms the projects general idea: that of presenting, within one single work, basic information on traditional Christian subjects (such as, in the present volume: the very long entries on ‘faith’ [with E. Jüngel as the main author] and ‘God’; but also ‘free will’, ‘God as father’, ‘gospel’, ‘grace’) with information on other religions (see the frequent inclusion of sections on and in long, multi-authored articles such as ‘God’ and ‘Fear of God’; also articles such as ‘Handsome Lake’) and current ethical and political topics (such as ‘feminism and feminist theology’ [with a sec- tion ‘religious feminism in North America’], ‘fundamentalism’, ‘gender segregation in the church’, ‘gender studies’, ‘genetic engineering’, ‘happiness, bliss’). Although ecumenical in its general perspective, the work can be best understood from its background in Ger- man liberal . The present volume includes numerous biographical articles: Fénelon, Ludwig Feuerbach, James George Frazer, Frederick the Great, Romano Guardini (but also ‘Grimm brothers’), to name just some of the better-known personalities. – For

469 the English version, the bibliographies have been updated and edited to suit the English- speaking user. – Indispensable for all libraries. Brill, Leiden (2009) CXI/1–685 (BL)

2029 Carl Ploetz (founder), Der große Ploetz. Die Enzyklopädie der Welt- geschichte. 35th Edition Ever since its fi rst edition in 1863 has “the Ploetz” become a household word among Ger- man students and scholars. Starting as a list of names and events, chronologically arranged and presented in the form of a simple list, the Ploetz manual of historical dates and facts has not only survived its founder (d. 1881), but has also grown in size and diversifi ed into a small paperback (Der kleine Ploetz, ca. 639 pp.) and a major encyclopaedic presentation of world history: Der große Ploetz, of which we can present here a new edition. Prehis- tory, ancient history, and the Middle Ages get about one third of the space available, the rest is used for the history – or, more properly, the histories – of all nations of modern times. Asian, African, and Latin American history is treated with much detail. Historians of religion will use it with much profi t, though religious history as such is not selected for special attention (though one must praise the editor for not allowing Abraham or Moses to fi gure in ancient Israelite history). By contrast, the history of science and technology, and to a certain extent also the history of culture, receives special subsections. The relevance of the computer for modern forms of communication is briefl y mentioned (p. 1450) though perhaps not to the extent that it deserves. It is to be hoped that the Ploetz will survive as a printed book even in the electronic age. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen (2008) 1–2128 (BL)

2030 Michael Klöcker et al. (eds.), Praktische Religionswissenschaft Although it is by no means clear what “applied religious studies” stands for, it seems clear enough from this collective volume that it has to do with research about contemporary phenomena, especially as they appear in the media, including fi lm and the internet. The contributions are presented under the following headings: theoretical papers, everyday language and media (including museums), further fi elds of research (including sports and religion, tourism and religion, international confl icts), interreligious dialogue and learning. Böhlau Verlag, Köln (2008) 1–328 (BL)

2031 Rainer Flasche, Religionswissenschaft Treiben. Versuch einer Grundle- gung der Religionswissenschaft Flasche, who teaches religious studies at the University of Marburg, Germany, insists that much of traditional ‘science of religion’ is pre-scientifi c, because it is based upon an idea expressed by Joachim Wach in 1924: every human person may act as a student of religion, for he or she has inevitably some innate religious sensibility. Wach seeks more objective criteria. According to him, the academic study of religion is geared toward explaining each religion as a fl exible system that seeks to explain the world and that offers guidelines for coping with life. Although the name of the sociologist N. Luhmann is not mentioned, Flasche seems to think in terms of Luhmann’s ‘theory of social systems’. Marburger religionsgeschichtliche Beriträge 5; Lit Verlag, Münster (2008) 1–193 (BL)

2032 Benjamin Ziemann, Sozialgeschichte der Religion. Von der Reformation bis zur Gegenwart Ziemann, who teaches European history at the University of Sheffi eld, England, discusses the relevance of religion – meaning, on the whole: the Christian churches – for understand- ing European history, though occasionally America is also mentioned (Billy Graham, pp. 147–149). Dealt with are defi nitions of religion, processes of change, religious roles and

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