The Forging of a Tradition: The Hebrew Bible, Ezra the Scribe, and the Corruption of Jewish Monotheism According to the Writings of al-Ṭabarī, al-Thaʿlabī, and Ibn Ḥazm

The Forging of a Tradition: The Hebrew Bible, Ezra the Scribe, and the Corruption of Jewish Monotheism According to the Writings of al-Ṭabarī, al-Thaʿlabī, and Ibn Ḥazm

Author(s): Steven Donnelly / Language(s): English / Issue: 70/2/2023

Keywords: Al-Tabari; Al-Talabi; Avot d’Rabbi Natan; Ezra; Hebrew Bible; Ibn Hazm; puncta extraordinaria

A widely distributed religious legend maintains that Ezra the scribe rewrote the Hebrew Bible sometime during the post-exilic period. The story is interpreted differently among its varying iterations. Some accounts view Ezra’s recovery of the Scriptures as an act of divine wonder while other versions insist that Ezra’s hand distorted the biblical text. Both outlooks are present in medieval Islamic writings. This article considers the polemical approach of three Muslim authors (e.g., al-Ṭabarī, al-Thaʿlabī, and Ibn Ḥazm) and their portraits of Ezra, including his role that led to a purported compromise of Jewish monotheism. The article explores Ibn Ḥazm’s claim that Ezra the scribe corrupted the biblical text. Several sources are examined (e.g., 4 Ezra, Porphyry, Justin Martyr, a Samaritan liturgical imprecation, and diverse rabbinic traditions) as plausible support for the charge that Ezra corrupted the Scriptures. A tale from Avot d’Rabbi Natan that features Ezra’s alleged scribal dots is posited as a reasonable source for the comment. Given Ibn Ḥazm’s interpretive outlook and Ezra’s prominent role in the story, the dots offer a new and sensible explanation.

What Are the Maccabean Insurgents Fighting For? The Theological Meaning of νομίμων in 1 Macc 3:21

What Are the Maccabean Insurgents Fighting For? The Theological Meaning of νομίμων in 1 Macc 3:21

Author(s): Janusz Nawrot / Language(s): English / Issue: 70/2/2023

Keywords: Old Testament; Septuagint; First Book of Maccabees; Mosaic Law; Judah Maccabee

In the discussed verse 1 Macc 3:21, there are two main motivations for the struggle of Judah Maccabee and his compatriots against the Seleucid army of Antiochus IV Epiphanes. The text combines the struggle for the physical existence of Jews with the defence of native customs established on the foundations of the Mosaic Law. There is a clear indissolubility of life and faith in the Jewish consciousness. One cannot survive without one’s own religious tradition, which is the basis of national identity. This article aims to explore the meaning of the Greek adjective νόμιμος, -η, -ον, appearing in the analysed verse of the the book, as substantive (τὸ) νόμιμον, "custom" especially in the plural τὰ νόμιμα, "customs, usages, norms". This term will be presented from a theological and historical perspective in search of an answer to the question about its content and implied meaning in the speech of Judah to his countrymen before the beginning of the battle of Beth-Choron. This content will be both the justification of the struggle undertaken and its importance in the history of Israel in the middle of the 2nd century BC.

The Characterisation of Joseph by Matthew (Matt 1–2; 13:55)

The Characterisation of Joseph by Matthew (Matt 1–2; 13:55)

Author(s): Krzysztof Mielcarek / Language(s): English / Issue: 70/2/2023

Keywords: Narrative by Matthew 1–2; Infancy Narrative; Joseph; characterisation; theology in Matthew

The article presents the figure of Joseph and his place in the narrative by the first evangelist in Matt 1–2. Apart from the arguments for the unifying function of Mary’s spouse in the whole Infancy Narrative, the most important features of Joseph highlighted by Matthew are emphasised. Those include the attitude of the righteous man, the fact of belonging to the royal family of King David, the bond and similarity to the actions of the patriarchs, as well as the silent and ascetic nature of the spouse and parent. Despite many similarities to the Lukan narrative, the first evangelist stresses different aspects in his characterisation of Joseph. Using the tools proposed by Cornelis Bennema, the author of the paper also assesses the degree of characterisation of the person under study, his role in the narrative and his representative value for the modern reader.

Christoph Heilig, The Apostle and the Empire. Paul’s Implicit and Explicit Criticism of Rome (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans 2022)

Christoph Heilig, The Apostle and the Empire. Paul’s Implicit and Explicit Criticism of Rome (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans 2022)

Author(s): Marcin Kowalski / Language(s): English / Issue: 70/2/2023

The tragedy of Thomas Megan – the Prefect Apostolic of North Henan: apostolic or political missionary

The tragedy of Thomas Megan – the Prefect Apostolic of North Henan: apostolic or political missionary

Author(s): Andrzej Miotk / Language(s): English / Issue: 2/2022

Keywords: Thomas Megan’s missionary vocation; Apostolic Prefect of Xinxiang; Japanese Invasion; Missionary Methods; Political Involvement; Deposition and Ban on Return to China

China was the first mission of the Society of the Divine Word initiated by the Founder, Fr. Arnold Janssen with the sending of the two pioneer missionaries in 1879, one of whom, Fr. John Baptist Anzer, became the first bishop of the Society. The successful development of this mission was marked by the territorial expansion of the SVD mission. After South Shandong (1882), the Society took over the mission in Gansu (1922) and shortly after in South Henan (1923). Afterwards, the Divine Word Missionaries took over an independent mission entrusted to the American SVDs as Apostolic Prefect of Xinxiang in the North Henan (1936). The undisputed leader of this mission was its energetic pioneer Thomas Megan (1899-1951), appointed as the first Apostolic Prefect of Xinxiang. His activities and tragic fate are discussed in this study. In China’s complicated political situation, Megan became actively involved on the side of the National Government of Chiang Kai-Shek and of the American troops in the ongoing war against the Japanese invaders and Communist forces of Mao Zedong. Megan particularly distinguished himself in the fight against the Henan famine (1942-1943). After 22 years of uninterrupted work in China, Megan went on a well-deserved six-month leave of absence in his homeland USA (1948). His journey turned out to be without Return. The Holy See excluded his candidature for bishop post and forbade him to return to China because of his involvement in political activities. Devastated by this decision, Megan undertook a difficult mission among the African-American population and died two years later in 1951.

The Establishment of the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission in Peking as an Example of a Long-Term Cooperation between the State and the Church: A Historical Review

The Establishment of the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission in Peking as an Example of a Long-Term Cooperation between the State and the Church: A Historical Review

Author(s): Piotr Adamek / Language(s): English / Issue: 2/2022

Keywords: Russian Ecclesiastical Mission in Peking

The idea of the Orthodox Ecclesiastical Mission in Peking was created at the beginning of the 18th century by the Tsar Peter the Great as a joint project of the Russian State and the Russian Orthodox Church. Besides the official religious aim – to guarantee a pastoral care for Orthodox Albanians in Peking – political, diplomatic, commercial and scholar interests were intended by the Russians. After the Chinese authorities agreed to accept a group of priests and students in Peking and the first Russian Ecclesiastical Mission in Peking was established in 1715, it started to play a very important “strategic” role in the political relationships between Russia and China. It became both the first foreign mission of the Russian Orthodox Church and the first foreign long-term “embassy” in China. For 150 years the Mission in Peking had a dual structure, being subordinate to both secular and spiritual authorities, and implementing their missionary as well as political interests.In this article, a historical review of the project of the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission in Peking, jointly implemented by the Russian State and the Russian Orthodox Church will be presented. Their cooperation, mutual support and successes will be analysed and evaluated together with their interferences, problems as well as deficits resulting from the partly counterproductive interests and activities of the Church and the State.

The influx of Street Children on the streets of Uganda cities. What the Church can do?

The influx of Street Children on the streets of Uganda cities. What the Church can do?

Author(s): John P. Aisu / Language(s): English / Issue: 2/2022

Keywords: Street children; begging; stealing; drugs; abuse; the Church; Soroti Diocese; Uganda

In many African countries there is an alarming influx of minors on the streets, begging, stealing, and robbing. In big cities in Uganda such as Kampala, Mbale, Soroti and others, one cannot comfortably speak on a phone for fear of it being snatched by these young thieves. Some of these kids even open car doors and steal property when a car is trapped in the traffic jam. Years back, a majority of people used to feel pity for these children. However, since these children could receive a fortune from the streets several times more than a minimum day’s wage, some thugs then started using them to make money, and the poor children would only receive a token from their “bosses”, the so-called “owners of the streets”. Is there nothing the Church can do to help clear the cities off these children? What future do these children hold if they continue with this kind of life? This is a case study of Soroti, a fast-growing city in Eastern Uganda.

Review: Andrzej Miotk SVD, 2022, The Untiring Missionary of the Word and the Spirit, Vol. 1, Arnold Janssen: From the Sacred Heart to World-Wide Vision, 646 p.; Vol. 2, Arnold Janssen’s Spiritual Journey, 331 p., Collegium Verbi Divini, Roma. EAN: 97

Review: Andrzej Miotk SVD, 2022, The Untiring Missionary of the Word and the Spirit, Vol. 1, Arnold Janssen: From the Sacred Heart to World-Wide Vision, 646 p.; Vol. 2, Arnold Janssen’s Spiritual Journey, 331 p., Collegium Verbi Divini, Roma. EAN: 97

Author(s): Eric Lacandula / Language(s): English / Issue: 2/2022

Review: Tomáš Gerboc, 2021, Spoločnosť Božieho Slova v Československu počas komunistického režimu v rokoch 1948-1968. The Society of the Divine Word in Czechoslovakia during the Communist Regime in 1948-1968, Monografia, Dobrá kniha, Trnava, 256 p. I

Review: Tomáš Gerboc, 2021, Spoločnosť Božieho Slova v Československu počas komunistického režimu v rokoch 1948-1968. The Society of the Divine Word in Czechoslovakia during the Communist Regime in 1948-1968, Monografia, Dobrá kniha, Trnava, 256 p. I

Author(s): Stanislav Orečný / Language(s): English / Issue: 2/2022

Kant, Moral Imagination, and the Pathologies of Reason

Kant, Moral Imagination, and the Pathologies of Reason

Author(s): Randall E. Auxier,LAURA J. MUELLER / Language(s): English / Issue: 4/2022

Keywords: Kant; imagination; reflective judgment; sensus communis; persons;

We argue that the relationship between Kant’s theory of imagination and his moral philosophy has not been well understood. Missing is an adequate connection between his idea of sensus communis and the power of imagination to exceed the senses. This connection is close and important, and it has serious implications for how we are to apply and further theorize moral relations among human beings. Especially important in this regard is the ability among humans, in their social setting, to imagine other persons. We do this pre-cognitively, at the level of feeling. The effects of imagining other persons prior to all knowledge of them (as, for instance, rational agents), grounds the autonomy of other persons in a relationship that is far broader than knowledge.

On Reminding and Forgetting: Care about Moral Responses in the Case of Alzheimer’s Disease

On Reminding and Forgetting: Care about Moral Responses in the Case of Alzheimer’s Disease

Author(s): ADRIANA WIERZBA / Language(s): English / Issue: 4/2022

Keywords: Alzheimer’s disease; memory; care; moral response; ethics; bioethics;

In this article, caring, remembering and sharing memory are presented as moral responses, the case study being Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Memory connects memories and images, while care connects individuals, which is an ethical issue. When a person’s memory is lost, the care of others becomes the only thread connecting them to the world. AD deprives a person of memories, body control, makes it impossible to remember, communicate, move, recognize the environment, and disrupts consciousness. Caring for a patient with a neurodegenerative brain disease requires constant reminding and reiteration; the presence of a caring person reminds of what the patient themselves can no longer remember. Lost memories do not mean that life or relational values have also lost their meaning. The description of the memory movement emphasizes the importance of repetition in the moral act. Highlighting the matter of care, also in scientific work, is the aim of this text. To care is to remember, on behalf of the AD patient, about the patient’s life. Within bioethical research, moral responses are an important point for projects which seek to improve the condition of patients—not only the condition of health but also the comfort of life. This improvement will not be possible without attentive, committed caregivers and their responsible attitude in the face of the phenomenon of memory loss.

The Agnoiological Nature of Modern Epistemology: Grounding Knowledge by Ignorance

The Agnoiological Nature of Modern Epistemology: Grounding Knowledge by Ignorance

Author(s): Marius Povilas Šaulauskas / Language(s): English / Issue: 2/2022

Keywords: metaphilosophy; modern epistemology; agnoiology; solipsism; scientism;

One of the distinguishing features of modern and contemporary philosophy is the fact that they are consistently grounded by the epistemological outlook. The essence of this outlook is the modern conception of knowledge, which could not exist without a proper evaluation of a systemic success — or, even more importantly, in some sense a successful failure — of modern science. The only way for us to perceive the lack of error as the basis of a reliable knowledge is to recognize our own fallacies. In such a way the ancient cosmocentrical worldview and the medieval theocentrical epistemology have been changed by the scientistic agnoiological approach, which had its origins in the modern times and includes the primary requirement to treat the fundamental ignorance as a reliable foundation of knowledge. In this article the reader is provided with a detailed exposition of the phenomenon of self-grounding of epistemological modernity. Adopting the terminology used in the metaphilosophical reflexion, we could reveal the dual origin of contemporary philosophical discourse, the basic principles which ground the epistemological claims, and also demonstrate the necessity of constant efforts when seeking to avoid solipsism and the paradoxical nature of modern epistemology.

“A Necessary Shadow of Being”: Irony, Imagination, and Personal Identity

“A Necessary Shadow of Being”: Irony, Imagination, and Personal Identity

Author(s): Przemysław Bursztyka,Randall E. Auxier / Language(s): English / Issue: 2/2022

Keywords: irony; imagination; subjectivity; personal identity; otherness; possibility; subjunction; Kierkegaard; psychoanalysis;

This is the second of the essays on the existential-ontological ground of otherness, in which we see this ground as essentially entwined with our personhood and our personal identities. We analyze irony as both a “mechanism” of constituting these very identities and as an act revealing their self-altering nature. Irony in our view — informed by Kierkegaard, phenomenology, and psychoanalysis — is a subtle existential strategy by means of which subjectivity (not “the subject”) not only asserts itself, but also, and much more importantly, initiates an open-ended process of self-actualization and self-formation. Irony, as we present it, is at once a form of defensive response against the “absolute” character of reality and comparably “absolutist” aspirations of an individual. Such responses open up a space of negotiation between and among these forces, in their creative interplay. In doing so the responses can be as constitutive for subjectivity as they can be disruptive. The disruption does not only undermine the (apparently) unshakeable forms of our self-understanding. More radically, the disruption puts on the stage our “alternative identities,” those with which we have to confront ourselves, whether in the negative mode of repression, or in the acts of positive, or even playful, recognition. In this way irony reveals and articulates otherness in the very heart of subjectivity.

Dilemmas of Political Anthropology: Historical-Philosophical Approximations and Current Contexts

Dilemmas of Political Anthropology: Historical-Philosophical Approximations and Current Contexts

Author(s): Karol Morawski / Language(s): English / Issue: 2/2022

Keywords: political anthropology; nature; human nature; natural man; natural state; human being; dilemmas of political anthropology;

The article is devoted to certain fundamental and discussed threads defined as dilemmas of political anthropology. Starting from specific rudimentary descriptions of human nature, the natural state or natural man, initiated by thinkers described by Barnard as “precursors of anthropology,” as well as referring to the problems of contemporary political philosophy, the papers aims to bring closer the issues concerning the fall of human and his “regeneration,” the “mask regime,” tensions between a human being and society, conflict and cooperation; dialogue and antagonism. The proposed interpretations of the thoughts of Hobbes, Machiavelli, or Rousseau have the character of “retroactive reading.” It means that the references made to historical-philosophical examples activate the contexts of contemporary thought, or even give them new meanings, and at the same time trigger a thought that leans towards the future.

The Symbolic Language of the Unconscious: Erich Fromm’s Studies on the Human Being

The Symbolic Language of the Unconscious: Erich Fromm’s Studies on the Human Being

Author(s): Arian Kowalski,Michał Sawicki / Language(s): English / Issue: 2/2022

Keywords: Fromm; Freud; Marx; symbol; unconscious; symbolic language;

This text aims at a multi-dimensional reflection on Erich Fromm’s conception of the human being. Starting from Marxist-Freudian sources of the philosopher’s thought, the authors show the fundamental ideas underlying his version of psychoanalysis. Next, Fromm’s view of the human being as a social being is discussed, referring to the concepts of unproductive and productive orientations. Another important dimension of Fromm’s thought that is discussed is the reflection on the nature and functions of the symbolic language of the unconscious, which reveals to the human being both the best and the worst aspects of his or her personality. One of the most famous concepts of the American philosopher is also discussed — the distinction between the being mode and the having mode. The authors drawattention to the value Fromm placed on a life oriented towards the being mode. Finally, they remind us, following Fromm, that a human being turns towards himself in his or her dreams, going beyond all the schemes and concepts that bind his mind when he or she is awake. The understanding of oneself that comes from a deep reflection on the content and character of a dream can awaken in a person the recognition of previously unknown dimensions of his or her mind; from now on, he is not merely someone immersed in the reality of everyday life. Crossing the horizon of oneiric imagination, he or she becomes free, in the dream, and she experiences the freedom of being on waking.

Strangers in the Hands of an Angry “I”: On the Immediacy of Other Persons

Strangers in the Hands of an Angry “I”: On the Immediacy of Other Persons

Author(s): Randall E. Auxier,Przemysław Bursztyka / Language(s): English / Issue: 1/2022

Keywords: otherness; phenomenology; self; subjectivity; Waldenfels; sensus communis; imagination; narrative;

In the first of two essays on the ontological ground of otherness, and its phenomenological availability, we argue that what we call the “occasion” within the encounter of others are sources as well as re-sources for disclosing the results of a construction and concealment of a secret identity, one we keep from ourselves even though we have created it. Yet, individuals are capable of returning their encounters to the well of sensus communis, and that sensus communis is as natural as it is cultural. Human beings are not compelled to interpret strangeness as threat, even if we are culturally compelled to interpret strangeness itself. Narrative lives in our sensus communis, and it is open, revisable, even danceable. Immediacy is person, the person that is community, and it is sublime, is both liked and disliked.

Moral Topography of Memory, Time Control and Accumulation of Identity

Moral Topography of Memory, Time Control and Accumulation of Identity

Author(s): Piotr Machura / Language(s): English / Issue: 1/2022

Keywords: memory labour; moral topography; time control; phronesis; social identity;

The aim of this paper is to analyze the basis for the moral obligation to remember. As the moral relation to the past is primarily a matter of shared identity, the kind of obligation in question splits into two related issues, namely, that of political, state-oriented and state-organized memory on which the political identity rests and that of memory labour grounded in social identities based in shared, time-extended projects. Drawing upon tensions between these two, I discuss time control and the accumulation of identity as central to memory labour and, referring to John Zerzan’s critique of symbolical roots of power, pinpoint the moral basis of such an accumulation. On the basis of this, I argue for nesting the duty to remember in acknowledging the agent’s recognition of the relatedness and dependency of their agency and possibilities of flourishing which can be obtained thanks to adjusting the field of the virtue of practical wisdom so that it includes members of the time-extended community.

Metaphysics of Beauty in Islam

Metaphysics of Beauty in Islam

Author(s): VICTORIA ROWE HOLBROOK / Language(s): English / Issue: 1/2022

Keywords: beauty; Plato; Islam; metaphysics; ancient philosophy; Islamic philosophy;

I summarize fundamental philosophical principles of the metaphysics of beauty in Arabic, Persian and Turkish thought, literature and culture, beginning with the Quran and hadith. As in Plato, true beauty is thought of as the destination of a journey of inner development, but through a distinctively Islamic series of “worlds.” With examples from literature and painting I show how Islamic philosophy elaborated the key role of imagination in realization of true beauty.

The Place of God in Metaphysics: A Short Analysis of Ibn Sīnā’s Critique of Aristotle

The Place of God in Metaphysics: A Short Analysis of Ibn Sīnā’s Critique of Aristotle

Author(s): Engin İ. Erdem / Language(s): English / Issue: 1/2022

Keywords: Aristotle; Ibn Sīnā; metaphysics; God; ontology; theology;

This article deals with Ibn Sīnā’s criticisms of Aristotle regarding what the place of God should be in the science of metaphysics. From Aristotle’s point of view, the existence of God is proved by the proof of motion in physics and is held as a subject matter in a science that comes after physics, which is metaphysics. According to him, metaphysics is the most sublime science because God is its subject matter. The most striking criticism against Aristotle’s conception of metaphysics was put forward by Ibn Sīnā. From Ibn Sīnā’s point of view, the most important problem encountered in Aristotle’s understanding of metaphysics is that ontology and theology are intertwined. According to him, God cannot be a subject matter in metaphysics, rather, proving the existence of God is the aim of metaphysics. The subject matter of metaphysics is being qua being, and its aim is to prove the Necessary Existent that is the principle of existence. Accordingly, for Ibn Sīnā, metaphysics is an ontological science in terms of its subject and a theological science in terms of its aim. This new conception of metaphysics, developed by Ibn Sīnā, had a profound effect not only on Islamic thought but also on Western philosophy. In a way, the ontotheological notes of Islamic and Western thought from the Middle Ages to the present have progressed through the metaphysical symphony composed by Ibn Sīnā.

Mnemic Images in the Early Works of Sigmund Freud

Mnemic Images in the Early Works of Sigmund Freud

Author(s): Ilona Błocian / Language(s): English / Issue: 1/2022

Keywords: image; mnemic image; screen memories; memory; autobiographical memory; psychoanalysis;

Freud was interested in the problem of memory from the time of his very early works. The processes taking place in memory, imaging, remembering and forgetting images focused his attention and were one of the pillars of shaping his conception of the unconscious and mind as “the storehouse of total memory,” which in one of his works he compared to “the Eternal City of Rome” (Culture and Its Discontents), which accumulate images-memories gathered throughout life. Shifts, changes, deformations, strong emotional components determine the specificity of many processes of remembering and forgetting, a specific “coding” of information in the form of visual, acoustic and other images. Nowadays, there are indications of Freud’s views in various dimensions of scientific research on memory and the consciousness of the importance of these approaches in our culture and its discovery of the role of autobiographical memory.