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Hans Rollmann
hrollman@mun.ca
Biography
Dr. Hans Rollmann is a religious studies professor at Memorial University. His column appears monthly in The Weekend Telegram . His Web site address is http://www.ucs.mun.ca/~hrollmanAll articles of Hans Rollmann
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Meditations for women with depression
“Mysticism” and “mystics” may often convey a sense of exotic and extreme, if not fanatical, religion. Yet in the history of religions, mystics ... -
What lies hereafter
Clint Eastwood’s new film, “Hereafter,” presents the encounter with death in three individuals: a psychic, played by Matt Damon, who considers ... -
Religion 400 years ago
Twice this summer, I had the pleasure of visiting Cupids, which is celebrating the 400th anniversary of its beginning. In August, archeologist ... -
Shorter forms lead to census information shortage
This week, at last, I had opportunity to see the new, shorter census forms crafted by the Harper government. They are indeed quickly answered, ... -
Quitting Christianity
A few years ago, Rice had come out publicly as a “Christian” and had vowed to devote her writing from then on to religious and biblical topics. ... -
Last Station
Recently I saw two biographical films of religious import. The first was "Creation," a treatment of the conflict between the religious ... -
Home away from home
I have come here to Herrnhut, Saxony, in easternmost Germany, close to the Polish and Czech borders, ever since the Iron Curtain unzipped and the ... -
Queen Adelaide and Placentia
Although Victoria Day remains a popular and much cherished holiday, the word "Victorian" often evokes feelings of mental, spiritual and cultural ... -
Righteous gentiles
The Holocaust Mem-orial Service on Sunday, April 11, focused our attention on "righteous gentiles." The term once re-ferred to those resident ... -
Shouting and dancing with ecstasy
Ever since the Reverend Laurence Coughlan, that outspoken and quarrelsome Irish-born Anglican missionary and founder of Newfoundland Methodism, ... -
The communion of saints
After recognizing a second, "scientifically inexplicable" healing associated with Brother AndrÉ, the founder of St. Joseph's Oratory in Montreal, ... -
Eli and his book
Last weekend I saw the Hughes brothers' recent film, "The Book of Eli," with Denzel Washington in the leading role as Eli and Gary Oldman as ... -
New beginnings
Entering a new year and decade, we may find hope in a vision of new beginnings, just as others must have found a century ago, in 1910, or even ... -
Advent in Snooks Cove, 1871
On the first Sunday in Advent, 1871, a group of Inuit gathered at the home of Jacobus and Salome in Snooks Cove, southwest of Rigolet. The couple ... -
October Revolution: 1989
Last month, while visiting the eastern part of Germany, I was reminded many times of the peaceful revolution that shook the two Germanies in ... -
Newfoundland and Labrador sea monsters
Sea monsters of various sizes and forms have inhabited the human imaginary universe and range in meaning from the profound to the curious. ... -
Thomas Campbell: advocate of Christian unity
Two hundred years ago, in late summer 1809, a man in his mid-40s looks out of the second-storey window of a farm house in southwestern ... -
A trip to Captain Bartlett on West Turnavik
This year we celebrate Capt. Bob Bartlett's Arctic exploration, notably his contribution to Commander Peary's expedition to the North Pole in ... -
John Calvin and Newfoundland
July 10, 1509, 500 years ago this month, John Calvin, a theological giant and one of the shapers of the modern world, was born in Noyon, France. ... -
Neither angels nor demons
Recently I saw Ron Howard's adaptation of Dan Brown's bestselling novel "Angels and Demons," again with Tom Hanks in the lead role playing the ... -
Joey's religion
With the recent focus on the 60th anniversary of Confederation, Joey Smallwood, the wedding planner of Newfoundland's marriage to Canada, has ... -
An educational innovator
On this day, March 28, 1592, the wife of a humble miller in Southern Moravia, in the present-day Czech Republic, bore a son who would become ... -
A defining speech
This month, 60 years ago, one minute before midnight - so that people might never call it an April Fools' Joke - on March 31, 1949, Newfoundland ... -
Labrador medical
In 1709, 300 years ago, Sophie Agnes Waiblinger, wife of a Protestant minister in the Duchy of Wurttemberg, gave birth to a son, who received the ... -
A dark period remembered
During the holidays I saw "Valkyrie," a new film starring Tom Cruise as Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg, the central figure of the ... -
Advent
Among the treasured memories of my childhood in the Eifel Mountains of Germany is celebration of the Christian Advent season. During Advent, the ... -
All about Advent
Among the treasured memories of my childhood in the Eifel Mountains of Germany is celebration of the Christian Advent season. During Advent, the ... -
'Religulous' ridiculous
I must confess that I like Bill Maher's humor, his use of hatchet and scalpel on duplicitous politicians. I also admit to having cheered his ... -
Luther decade opened
A few weeks ago, in the historic Castle Church of Wittenberg in Saxony, Lutherans from all over the world opened the "Luther Decade," ... -
Sarah Palin's religion
With the announcement of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as Sen. John McCain's vice-presidential running mate, religion has once again surfaced as a ...





