This thesis sets to find out what kind of marketing strategies the Hillsong Church uses and how this influences its popularity. The goal of this thesis is to look for the success of Hillsong Church...Show moreThis thesis sets to find out what kind of marketing strategies the Hillsong Church uses and how this influences its popularity. The goal of this thesis is to look for the success of Hillsong Church not only in its music, but in Hillsong as a whole, as a company selling a religion with the use of marketing strategies such as branding and glocalization. To put Hillsong in the context of today’s religion landscape and what this means for the kind of marketing strategies it used and must use to be popular.Show less
The tafsīr tradition is, as an accumulative and overarching science, a direct reflection of the trends emerging in other Islamic sciences. Exegesis on verse Q.11:117 became an important marker for...Show moreThe tafsīr tradition is, as an accumulative and overarching science, a direct reflection of the trends emerging in other Islamic sciences. Exegesis on verse Q.11:117 became an important marker for Islamic theology: (A) God transcends any form of injustice, therefore when He destroys a people it is caused by their own theological injustice i.e., unbelief/idolatry/major sins (vertical ẓulm). It therefore presents faith (ʾīmān) as the main expression of ethical goodness (maṣlaḥa), and unbelief as a just cause for divine wordly punishment. This interpretation became the exegesis of the Muʿtazila, as represented by al-Zamakhsharī (d. 538/1144). (B) God does not destroy a people for their theological injustice, but provides them respite as long as they are not unjust towards others i.e., their vertical ẓulm is ignored as long as they do not perform horizontal ẓulm. It therefore applies the separation of faith (ʾīmān) and works (aʿmāl), and views ethical injustice (horizontal ẓulm) as the main cause for divine worldly punishment. The Sunnī tafsīr tradition adopted the (B) reading early on, which in the post-classical period functioned as an uṣūli foundation for the preference of human rights (ḥaqq al-ʿibād) over divine rights (ḥaqq Allāh), as represented by the Later Ashʿarī scholars al-Rāzī (d. 606/1210) and alBayḍāwī (d. 685/1286). Our analysis will show the development from early to contemporary tafsīr works on Q.11:117, which went through several paradigm shifts, from the emphasis on divine justice towards the emphasis of human justice, becoming a school defining heuristic and thereby acting as a ground for theological humanism within Islamic thought.Show less
In deze scriptie worden de reacties in de christelijke media op het rapport Voltooid Leven,over hulp bij zelfdoding aan mensen die hun leven voltooid achten (d.d. 4 februari 2016) geanalyseerd. Het...Show moreIn deze scriptie worden de reacties in de christelijke media op het rapport Voltooid Leven,over hulp bij zelfdoding aan mensen die hun leven voltooid achten (d.d. 4 februari 2016) geanalyseerd. Het rapport is vanuit een medisch-juridisch perspectief geschreven. Wat echter ontbreekt in het rapport is een religieus-ethisch perspectief. Het lijkt alsof religie geen rol speelt. Bepaalde belangrijke begrippen spelen naast het begrip ‘voltooid leven’ in het maatschappelijk debat een hoofdrol. Door in te gaan op het werk van twee auteurs, die in relatie tot het thema van belang zijn, heb ik deze begrippen verder verdiept. Uit mijn onderzoek naar de reacties in de christelijke media op het rapport Voltooid Leven, gedurende de periode februari 2016 - februari 2018, komt naar voren dat het religieus-ethisch perspectief onmiskenbaar een relevante rol speelt.Show less
