Religious Studies

The contributors to this volume discuss several aspects and questions related to ancient Egyptian rituals against enemies (»execration rituals«). This type of ritual is documented through various kinds of sources from the 6th Dynasty to the Ptolemaic-Roman period, thus making it an especially multifaceted phenomenon to study.

What is the good? What does it mean that an action is obligatory? Metaethics clarifies the preconditions for all ethical judgments. Hendrik Klinge discusses various approaches to metaethics from a theological point of view. He presents a framework for theological metaethics that takes particular account of the importance of religious pluralism.

Christian Blumenthal examines ancient translations of the Christ hymn in Paul's Letter to the Philippians (Phil 2:6-11). Focussing on the image of Christ in this fascinating text, he investigates how the early Latin, Coptic, Syriac, Armenian, Ethiopic, and Arabic translations dealt with its numerous ambiguities.