نشریه معرفت ادیان
سال پانزدهم شماره 1 (پیاپی 57، زمستان 1402)

There are some similarities and differences between the stories variously narrated in the Quran and Torah. Discovering and investigating the differences between Quranic quotes and the differences between Quranic quotes and Torah quotes plays an important role in presenting a correct interpretation of these verses. The story of Abraham's guests is mentioned four times in the Qur'an and once in the Torah with some differences (such as whether the news of Isaac’s birth is prior to the news of the torment of Lot's people or vise versa, who is the audience of Isaac’s bisharah (good news), Sara's real reaction to this good news, and the reason for the fear of Hazrat Ibrahim). The Torah is in agreement with the Qur'an in some parts and contradicts in others in this topic. The Torah connotes matters such as undermining the infallibility and monotheism of the prophet and other important characters and denigrating the essence of God in its narration, as is the case in other Torah stories. Unlike the Torah, the Qur'an has outlined and explained the main story in various surahs, presenting the essence of the story, while having seemingly conflicting differences in those narrations. Comparing the Qur'an and the Torah and the interpretation of Qur’an’s story in the four surahs in this research, and listing the differences and similarities between the Qur'an and the Torah’s narration, I have presented and explained the interpretation of Qur'an’s differences in this story in the four surahs.

One of the topics discussed in ethical researches is the issue of "moral agency". Moral agency is central in these researches and it may be considered its most basic topic, because all moral affairs will be realized after this assumption. Considering the extent of this discussion, the question studied in this research is God's moral agency and its conditions from the perspective of Imamieh and Catholicism. This research tries to investigate the moral agency of God from the perspective of the two religions using a descriptive-analytical method and library sources. This article shows that God's moral agency, from the perspective of Imamieh and Catholicism, has many similarities in terms of the mentioned conditions (knowledge and awareness, power, authority and freedom) along with a few differences.

Judaism, one of the great divine religions in the Holy Quran, has suffered some deviations (including economic deviations) throughout history. It is necessary to study the contexts, factors of deviation and influence of Jewish rule on human societies from the perspective of the Holy Quran. Using analytical-descriptive methods and open and closed coding based on Quranic verses and valid interpretive viewpoints, this article first discusses the most important economic corruptions (such as extreme greed and avarice, hoarding, financial betrayal, prohibited transactions, stinginess, money-grubbing, breaking financial contracts and the prevalence of usury) among the Jews. Then it analyzes and describes the three factors of beliefs, ethics and behavioral habits and finds the factors of economic deviation of the Jews. Therefore, firstly, the main factor is materialism, paying attention to worldly matters, lack of real faith, polytheism and false beliefs; and secondly, whims and fancies are the most basic moral factors that cause pride, selfishness, materialism, and financial deviation for the Jews; and thirdly, behavioral habits affected by the first two factors has led to involuntary habits (such as lying, cruelty, enmity) and thus economic deviations.

"Moral education" is one of the most important issues for human perfection and ultimate happiness. Therefore, all religions and denominations have paid a special attention to this topic, especially by defining religious rituals for their followers. The question of this article is to examine the similarities and differences between Catholic and Shiite religious practices in terms of their moral education. In order to answer this question, using descriptive-analytical method and using Catholic and Shia religious sources as well as the works of some researchers, I have investigated and analyzed the Catholic and Shiite religious rites in terms of moral education and their similarities and differences. Therefore, I have studied the four rites of "Baptism", "Confession", "Marriage" and "Holy Communion" from the Catholic religion and the four rites of "Martyrdom", "Repentance", "Marriage" and "Prayer" from the Shia religion. I found many educational similarities between these rituals, but there are also many differences as well. Shia religious rites have a significant superiority in terms of moral education, and having all the positive aspects of Catholic moral education, it lacks their weak points.

Along with the critical studies of the Bible in the 18th century AD and the discussions on the historical personality of Jesus, his social life was studied as well and led to two different theories about him: Jesus as a moral ascetic or as a revolutionary reformer. Considering some statements of the New Testament and the political-social context of the time of Jesus, it seems that the ascetic reading is not comprehensive and is not based on all the reports of his life. Analyzing some passages of the New Testament, this research criticizes the idea of a purely moral image of Jesus that ignores social events. Then, it studies the grounds for the emergence of this view based on the historical analysis of the era of formation of Christianity. The textual analysis of the statements of the New Testament about the social performance of Jesus shows that he emphasized on the reform of society and governance as well as paying attention to moral issues. It also shows that presenting a purely moral and tolerant picture is due to factors such as the predominance of the moral and tolerant reading of Paul, the weakening of Christians and the support of the Roman Empire for the ethics-oriented rites and the challenge of waiting for the Messiah after the crucifixion of Jesus.

One of the Hindu traditions is the custom of "Sati" in which the dead husband's wife is cremated with him. This tradition has experienced some fluctuations throughout the history of India and finally it has been banned due to the opposition of various individuals and groups. Some studies show various motivations for performing this tradition. Some researchers believe this act has divine motivations and is an imitation of the goddess Dakshiani, and some others believe its reason is the social incentives and punishments that oblige the widow to do such an act. Another factor that has aggravated this custom is the belief of reincarnation along with woman's love for her lost husband and desiring to join him. Of course, neglecting the emotional and social needs of widows has also caused this self-immolation as a violent behavior, and the ending of this tradition is a proof for this claim. The concern of the religion of Islam towards the situation of this group of women and the consideration of individual and social interests in this issue shows the sublime view of Islam’s teachings. I have explained the custom of sati in this article using a descriptive-analytical method, then examining its intellectual roots, I have compared the status of women in Hinduism and Islam.

A holy place is a place that is distinct and prominent from all its surrounding in most religions. One of the key elements to distinguish these places is the "dome". In addition to having a unique architectural structure, the dome is considered a valuable and universal symbol in different historical periods and lands. The main question of this research is to study the symbolic shape of the dome and explain the supreme wisdom used in the shape of the dome in the religions of Hindu, Iranian-Islamic and Byzantine Christianity. The main goal of this research is to investigate how the symbolic elements and hidden concepts are realized in the dome structure in the religions of Hindu, Iranian-Islamic and Byzantine Christianity. The research method is descriptive-analytical, and is performed using library tools based on traditional opinions. The results show that all religions follow a sacred geometry in the formation of temples based on circle and square; and the dome is considered as an element that connects the soul to God and represents unity.

Christian missionaries have used a variety of evangelistic methods and strategies in order to change the religion of non-Christians since the past. One of these methods is "business as evangelism". Establishing various commercial organizations and companies in different fields in this evangelistic method, they create some jobs for native people in poor areas and help them to earn income, and thus provide the ground to attract them to Christianity and change their religion. The purpose of this business is to create economic prosperity and thus the Christian missionaries claim to contribute to the growth of the local economy and increase social welfare, besides earning money to cover the costs of their missionary activity. The focus of this missionary activity is on developing countries, including Islamic countries, where Christian missionaries may not be allowed to work officially. Considering the lack of access or the difficulty of access to field information, the present research uses the method of collecting library information and is written based on the available sources of "Missiology" using a descriptive-analytical method.

The main elements of shamanism is ecstasy and intuition for matters such as healing and divination and the use of mysterious spells for national and sometimes individual interests, confronting enemies and communicating with supernatural beings; which are similar to Jewish mysticism as well. The similarities between Jewish mysticism and shamanism creates a good situation to understand and compare them. Jewish mysticism is full of secrets subject to discovery and ecstasy and necessary preparations for having the honor of visiting, including "Merkabah", "Qabalah" and "Hasidism" and also the book "Ma’aseh Bereshit", the texts "Hekhalot" and the "Sword of Moses". It also has prescriptions of magical spells to achieve goals such as treatment and prediction, and harming to their enemies. Therefore, a shaman can be seen in Jewish mystics who use such a method to acquire the necessary transcendental techniques and skills for their national interests; yet the difference is that they consider themselves devoted to a more complex religion such as Judaism at the same time.

One of the most fundamental topics of mystical and theological schools is the matter of "good and evil" and its attribution to the origin of creation; being issued from one source or two sources. Being influenced by the culture and beliefs of various nations, especially the influence of the Orient, the Gnostic school, which emerged at the beginning of Christianity, has special views about the origin of good and evil and their authenticity and relationship with God. This essay tries to provide a descriptive-analytical explanation of these views to answer this fundamental question: what are the examples of good and evil in the Gnostic thought and how is their relationship with the realm of divinity? The special sign of the Qumran community in the Old Testament is the dualistic tendency, which was not extended to the realm of divinity in the initial stages of its division or assignment by Simon Magh, the father of the Gnostic religion, in the early stages; but in the second century AD, the Gnostic Marcion who raised questions about the nature of good and evil and their relation to God, established polytheism. He accepted the principle of "duality", just like his like-minded Gnostics, such as Kerdo and Lukyan, in imitation of ancient Iranian mysticism, and later with the appearance of Mani, this principle became one of the Gnostic teachings and became global. However the orthodox Christians believed that the Gnostics have doubted the unity of God in the religion of Jews and Christ by proposing the God of evil and the supreme God; and this was not acceptable to them at all. What led, in fact, to the belief of dualism and the separation of the God of good and evil by the Gnostic leaders of the second century, was the inability of the Gnostics to recognize the relativity of evil and its familiarity among all beings other than God and the introduction of the character of "Sophia" as the divine female face by Simon in the following centuries.