Usuteaduslik Ajakiri

Mis tunne on olla surnud?

2025-04-19T20:20:04+00:00

Ivar Paulsoni usundilugu fenomenoloogia ja evolutsionismi vahel

2025-10-15T19:05:12+00:00

Ivar Paulson’s comparative religion in-between phenomenology and evolutionism
This article presents an in-depth analysis of the main methodological and theoretical focuses of Ivar Paulson based on his research publications. The goal of the analysis is to clarify how Paulson understood phenomenological, ecological, psychological and evolutionist research. Overall, it is shown how Paulson understood his phenomenological research closely related to issues relevant for psychological research and how this in turn was also related to ecology, and in a complex, implicit way to classical cultural evolutionism as well. In addition, the article also places special emphasis on contextualizing Paulson’s perspectives in relation to the general trends in comparative religion and other relevant disciplines of his time.

Leviathan in Mandaean Literature

2025-10-15T19:09:41+00:00

The Mandaeans are the only Gnostic group from antiquity that has survived to the present day. Their sacred texts contain various biblical figures, place names and narratives known from the Bible. Among the different biblical characters found in Mandaean literature is Leviathan, who is mentioned in the Old Testament. Using various Jewish and early Christian texts as comparative material, this article explores the possible sources of the Leviathan figure in Mandaean literature. It concludes that the “demonic nature” of Leviathan is primarily based on two Old Testament texts – Psalm 74:14–16 and Isaiah 27:1 – where he appears as a chaos monster, an enemy of God, embodying the open sea. Although Leviathan also appears as an evil being in early Christian tradition, it seems more likely that the figure of Leviathan in Mandaean literature was influenced more by post–Old Testament Jewish than by Christian traditions, and that the portrayal of Leviathan as an evil being is also consistent with Gnostic traditions outside the Mandaean community.