CEEOL - Advanced Search

Analyzing contemporary image of the Olympic city Sarajevo: Modalities, Meanings and Negotiations

Author(s): Erna Husukić,Emina Zejnilović / Language(s): English / Issue: 1-2/2023

Keywords: city branding; identity of Olympic city; city image; signs and symbols in the city; Sarajevo 1984

This work examines the visual identity of the city of Sarajevo, the host city of the XIV Winter Olympic Games 1984. It aims to question the role of the Olympic signs and symbols today, which do not solely exist as just visual interpretations but are set in the context of meaning – systems in a contested environment of post-Olympic, post-war, and divided city . By doing so, it looks closely at the concept of the Olympic city as a constructed visual identity, with particular emphasis on the analysis of the (in)consistency of the constructed city’s image in the period after the Games. It puts focus on the Olympic Games, not just as a large-scale, cross-cultural event, but also as a visual event and experience, where there is a wealth of information to be explored by evaluating its “visuality” and outlining the numerous ways in which the vision is formed. Applying the central contention that all signs and symbols have the potential to make some meanings available and rule out others, this work identified a set of factors that determine Sarajevo’s image. This leads us to the conclusion that an immense effort is being put into conceptually creating and aesthetically communicating the host city’s desired visual identity. To comprehend today’s image of Sarajevo as an Olympic city one must gain insight into the complex realities of national identity, the economy, and political and cultural influences.

More...

From Agricultural Village to Socialist Industrial Town

Author(s): Romana Hajduková,Alžbeta Sopirová / Language(s): English / Issue: 1-2/2023

Keywords: urban morphology; Socialist Industrialization; Strážske; shrinking cities; spatial development; chemical industry

Town of Strážske has gained recent attention because of heavy contamination with PCBs produced in Chemko Strážske, which was established in August 1952. Since then, small village in region of Upper Zemplín in eastern Slovakia had experienced a rapid industrialisation and urbanisation. Promising economic development quickly led to migration of builders and future factory workers to Strážske. New housing estates, „hostel for singles”, public and recreational amenities were built simultaneously with the factory construction. Growing population and urban development had a single goal – to support the industrial development. Industrial and spatial development changed Strážske from a small agricultural village to a thriving socialist industrial town, gaining town status in 1968. This paper aims to present the comprehensive picture of the urban development of Strážske from the 1950s to the present with an emphasis on socialist industrialization as the determinant of spatial development and socio-economic changes leading to emergence of brownfields and urban shrinkage.From Agricultural Village to Socialist Industrial Town.

More...

Historical Evolution and Contemporary Examples of Hungarian Social Housing

Author(s): Dávid Szabó / Language(s): English / Issue: 1-2/2023

Keywords: contemporary architecture; 2008 economic crisis; rise of real estate prices; Hungary

There is a lack of a housing system based on common social responsibility in Hungary. There were attempts to create wider social housing system after democratic transition, but the lack of coherent social support a comprehensive system has not able to be established. The small number of new social housing projects were completed in an isolated way. They have never reached a critical mass. Apart of the existing historical, outdated municipal housing stock fulfils this function.

More...

Rusovce Manor House and Its Neo-Gothic Rebuilding. New Findings from Artistic and Archival Materials

Author(s): Katarína Beňová / Language(s): English / Issue: 1-2/2023

Keywords: Rusovce; Neogothik; manor house; Emanuel Zichy Ferraris; Franz Beer; country house

The theme of the study is the manor house in Rusovce, near Bratislava, built in the neo-Gothic style, designed by a prominent Austrian architect working in noble circles in the monarchy, Franz Beer (1804 – 1861). Between 1841 and 1846, a radical reconstruction of the manor in the neo-Gothic style was carried out, commissioned by Count Emanuel Zichy Ferraris (1808-1877). The house was the cause of public interest shortly after its completion, as is shown in the first visual depictions. The collections of the Slovak National Gallery contain two works of art which relate to the period around 1850 and evidence the artistic depiction of this monument. Alongside a 1847 watercolour, containing a view of the building and made by an unknown author (but probably the architect Beer) we have a sketchbook of drawings by Count Viktor Odescalchi (1833 – 1900) from the years 1851 and 1852, where he recorded his visits of Rusovce. In terms of extant surviving archival documents the most recent addition to our knowledge of the Rusovce rebuilding is a building journal, found in the Zichy family archive in the Hungarian National Archive in Budapest. These new visual and archival documents interpretation are the subjects of this study.

More...

From Kraus to Orbis: The Two Window Designs of Armin Kraus between Vision and Practicality

Author(s): Alexander Kuric / Language(s): English / Issue: 1-2/2023

Keywords: wood; sliding windo; steel frame; Kraus; sash; Orbis; pivot

In the late 1920s, the Bratislava company of the metalsmith Armin Kraus produced an intriguing window design. Unique for its folding opening mechanism and an unusual combination of wood and steel, it represents one of the most original examples of windows produced in inter-war Czechoslovakia. Although the window was well received by the avant-garde, it struggled as a commercial product, despite Kraus’ efforts to innovate the design or to partner with larger companies. This contrast between the reception from architects and the public highlights an issue typical of many Modernist technical innovations, which despite promises of comfort and affordability often suffered from unexpected issues.

More...

The Concept of Homage in VAL’s E-temen-an-ki Project

Author(s): Gabriela Smetanová / Language(s): English / Issue: 1-2/2023

Keywords: visionary architecture; VAL; fantastic architecture; Brueghel’s Tower of Babel; homage; prospective architecture; Tatlin’s Tower

The text is devoted to one of the eight projects of the Slovak art-architectural group VAL, active in the 1970s through the 1990s, the work of which falls into the category of visionary architecture. The following study is part of a broader historical-architectural research project involving VAL, one of the aims of which is an attempt to formulate an original conception of the group and to explore the possible development of their architectural thinking over time. Using the selected project E-temen-an-ki – Sheraton Hotel Babylon, it explores one of the characteristic motifs of the group’s work, which is the concept of homage, and the way it is grasped and manifested in the project.

More...

THE ETERNAL GOD ENTERED OUR TIME AT THE “FULLNESS OF TIME” BY BECOMING MAN FROM THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY

Author(s): Irineu Ion Popa / Language(s): English / Issue: 8/2022

Keywords: Holy Trinity; Jesus Christ; Virgin Mary; Incarnation; Salvation; Time; Eternity;

In the present study, we propose to analyze and debate the teaching of the Holy Scriptures and the Holy Fathers about the Blessed Virgin Mary as the fruit of the spiritual life and the theological thinking of the Church. The Mother of God in the theology of the Holy Fathers, presents through her life and vocation the whole truth about the Most Holy Trinity and about the economy of incarnation the Son of the Most High from the Holy Spirit. The Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of our Lord Jesus Christ, has a well-defined place in the world’s plan of salvation and in Orthodox Mariology. She was chosen from among all the nations so that at the “fullness of time” the Father’s Son would be born from her. This time marks par excellence the entrance of the Eternal One into our time, our history being redeemed and sanctified for eternity. Therefore, time, being filled with the mystery of Christ the Redeemer, definitively becomes the “time of salvation” of the world for all nations and for all generations. The expression “the fullness of time” shows the achievement of stewardship ordained and decided by the Most Holy Trinity, which primarily has in mind the person of the Blessed Virgin Mary, who was chosen from eternity to be the Mother of the Father’s Son. The “fullness of time” also indicates the mysterious beginning of the journey of the Church, the mysterious Body of the Lord, in time and space. The time is therefore blessed by God, in the Church, emphasizing first of all the role of the Most Holy Theotokos in the act of our salvation. The Blessed Mother is the one through whom the Son of God entered history, to lead people through time to the Kingdom of Heaven.

More...

THE BIBLE IN THE SYRIAC TRADITION

Author(s): Sebastian Brock / Language(s): English / Issue: 8/2022

Keywords: Holy Scriptures; Syriac Bible; Peshitta; Codex; Vulgate; Manuscripts; Hebrew; Greek;

Manuscript Bibles in all languages except Hebrew were in book, or “codex,” form. For purposes of study the Jews would also write out the Hebrew Bible in codex form, but for liturgical use in Synagogue they always wrote out the text on scrolls (a practice which still exists today). The scroll is in fact a much older invention than the codex. The codex only came to be widely used for literary texts in the early centuries of the Christian era, and it seems that Christians helped to popularize the new format by first employing it for writing out biblical texts in Greek. As we shall see, manuscripts of the standard Syriac Bible are remarkably uniform in character; in this respect they are comparable to Hebrew biblical manuscripts, and unlike Greek ones.

More...

FEATURES OF PASTORAL MINISTRY IN THE ROMANIAN ORTHODOX COMMUNITIES OF WESTERN EUROPE

Author(s): SORIN ȘELARU / Language(s): English / Issue: 8/2022

Keywords: Diaspora; Orthodox Communities; Mission; Ministry; Romanian Orthodox Church; European Union;

In recent years, the Romanian Orthodox Church has significantly intensified its mission, support, and pastoral effort towards the Romanian Orthodox faithful who have chosen to live and work outside Romania, organising dioceses and numerous parishes, missions, and monasteries that meet the needs of its faithful outside Romania. Starting from the specificity of the current context in which the Church carries out its pastoral ministry for the Romanian Orthodox faithful who have chosen to work and live outside Romania, I will try to present some of the challenges facing the pastoral ministry of our Church in the communities of Western Europe, and then point out some of its coordinates. As a method, I will first show what is common in the pastoral ministry of the Romanian Orthodox Church, in order to then underline its specific accents.

More...

ASSUMING OF THE TORAH, TOLEDOT AND PROPHETS IN THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MATTHEW: CITATION OR EXEGESIS?

Author(s): Ioan Chirilă / Language(s): English / Issue: 8/2022

Keywords: Observation of the Law; Genealogy; Supreme Prophet; Unity; Revelation;

In this study, the concept of assumption refers strictly to the manner of fulfilling the Law in the New Testament that is the way the text of Torah occurs in the Gospel according to Matthew. Thus, we intend to emphasize the unity of the revelation and the way it is fulfilled/perfected in Jesus Christ Who comes to orient eschatologically mankind through the Self-validation of the Old Testament. Validated on a genealogical level by the representatives of the chosen people, such as David and Abraham, the Lord assumes the quality of a prophet like Moses to offer the Law a plenary perspective through assumption and perfection. To outline these aspects, we will first present the perspectives that refer to the observation of Torah in the presentation of Matthew, we will indicate the way it is necessary to conceive the Toledots in the Gospel according to Matthew and we will underline the manner in which the Apostle places in the theology of his writing the manner in which the prophecies are fulfilled. Thus, we will offer an answer to the question and, therewith, to the challenge from the title.

More...

ΜΑΘΗΤΕỶΩ AND ΔΙΔΆΣΚΩ OR THE EVANGELIZATION OF THE WORLD (MATT. 28:19-20). AN EXEGETICAL-MISSIONARY PERSPECTIVE

Author(s): Stelian Tofană,Ovidiu-Mihai Neacșu / Language(s): English / Issue: 8/2022

Keywords: Μαθητεύω; Command; Mission; Evangelization; Διδάσκω; Centrality of Christ; Baptism; Old Man; New Man; Gospel; Church;

Starting from the term μαθητεύω, I have pointed out in this article the need of the Church to redefine the Christian identity and the role of Jesus Gospel in our modern society. This task belongs to the mission of the church and means, in other words, the reaffirmation of Jesus centrality in the life of the present Christianity. To argue this topic, I shall especially analyse the mean of the verb μαθητεύω and its significance for the mission of the Church. The meaning of the verb μαθητεύω from the post-paschal Jesus Great Commission (Matt. 28:19) has a doubly missiological dimension: a. to preach the Gospel of Jesus; b. to make disciples to Jesus. Emphasising this aspect, I have accentuated the need of putting the Gospel of Jesus in the Centre of the Christian life.

More...

MATTHEW, THE PUBLICAN SCRIBE – THE CHURCH GOSPEL OF PERFECTION

Author(s): Constantin Preda / Language(s): English / Issue: 8/2022

Keywords: The first Gospel of the Church; the Judeo-Christian Gospel; Superior Righteousness; Jesus – the New Moses – the New Joshua; the Crisis of Judaism; Controversies with Pharisee Judaism;

The Gospel according to Matthew is rightly called the “church Gospel”, being the Gospel most used in the Church’s catechesis. It has its own literary and theological identity, with its own prologue and an ample epilogue. Placing the Gospel according to Matthew in the first place reflects the importance it had and has in the life of the Church. A position superior to the two synoptics Mark and Luke, and in no way inferior to that of Saint John. This primacy acknowledged to the Gospel according to Matthew was primarily due to its apostolic character, being written, according to the oldest testimonies, by one of Jesus’ disciples (Matthew), but also for its didactic and catechetical character, the clarity of the exposition of the Saviour’s teachings, which Matthew systematized in the five discourses, and especially for life in Christ, for the spirituality of the Christian community present in the first Gospel. In addition to Mark and the loggia source of sentences, it contains exclusive traditions with Judeo-Christian characteristics originating especially from the context of Palestinian Judaism. The extensive material available to Matthew is organized in the final draft according to literary, systematic – didactic and theological criteria. Behind the Gospel according to Matthew there is the local Church of Antioch of Syria.

More...

BIBLICAL CANONS IN THE POSTMODERN WORLD: TRUTH OR DARE?

Author(s): Constantin Jinga / Language(s): English / Issue: 8/2022

Keywords: Biblical Canon; Authority; Postmodernism; Apocrypha; Metanarrative; Subjectivism; Suspicion; Reader-Response Criticism; Feminist Biblical Interpretation; Secular Literature; Phantasy;

The present paper begins with an image revealed by a physical map of the current city of Byblos (Lebanon): an old harbour, used in Antiquity for importing papyrus into the Hellenistic world, from Ancient Egypt. In Byblos today, the old harbour of Byblos is a museum, a remnant of a remote past, while the modern present-day city develops around a newly built motorway. Regarding the biblical canon, things are looking quite the same: referential mutations do have direct consequences and result in significant changes in the way the Scriptures are approached, biblical narratives are read and the canon of the Bible is reconfigured. Surveying some of the main changes that took place during the last decades, the author examines various new ways of referring to the secular literary canon and its consequences on the way the biblical canon is thought about today. The preference for apocrypha, the ignorance of biblical canon(s) throughout the Judeo-Christian-based world and the prevalence of reader-response criticism tend to lead to the exclusion of the Bible from a possible contemporary canon or to replace the Scriptures with other texts considered to be more appropriate today. Finally, the article briefly look at how the biblical canon was established and then received by early Christian communities. The author is asking for a reconsideration of the fact that, until the establishment of canonical lists, these lists rather have had the purpose of establishing a corpus from which one could select what was considered right and useful for the faithful to be exposed to. Their function was thus similar to the way canons of modern literature function today. If the truth is that the biblical canon is at stake in the postmodern world today, then what is the dare? The dare could be to raise a question like: “What was the Bible like before it was turned into a book?” The author is daring us to ponder on this.

More...

ISAIANIC TEXT IN LUKE’S WRITINGS AND ICONOGRAPHY

Author(s): Ilie Melniciuc-Puică / Language(s): English / Issue: 8/2022

Keywords: Old Testament; Luke-Acts; Isaiah; Quotations; Iconography;

Old Testament books are used in St. Luke’s writings of the New Testament as sources of divine authority. The Isaiah’s prophecy text is quoted in the Third Gospel and Acts with the purpose of identifying Jesus Christ. From written word letters in Scripture, the study point also the visual expression through painting Church, on Jesus Christ the Savior.

More...

THE CONTRIBUTION OF SAINT ATHANASIUS THE GREAT TO THE ACCOMPLISHMENT OF THE CANON OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 39TH FESTIVE EPISTLE. TEXT, TRANSLATION AND ANALYSIS

Author(s): DORU FER / Language(s): English / Issue: 8/2022

Keywords: Saint Athanasius the Great; Canon; Festive Epistle; Apostolic Fathers; Christian Apostles;

The biblical research proposes, as an imperative premise, the in-depth study of the Holy Scriptures. As the source of supernatural divine revelation, the Holy Scriptures contain a double collection of books: the books of the Old Testament and the books of the New Testament. The Old Testament is called “pedagogue to Christ” (Gal. 3:24), because it contains the preceding revelation and the fundamental truths, but not in all their depth, it being indispensable, but not perfect. The New Testament includes the supernatural revelation made by God the Son and recorded in writing by the Holy Apostles, either directly or through mediation. This double collection of books has been named by the Church as holy and canonical. As for calling them holy books, they are called so because they are not the product of human reason, their fixation in writing being done by the care of the Holy Spirit, that is, by inspiration. And in terms of their content, the designation of saints is appropriate, because they describe historical events that are part of the economy of the salvation of the human race, religious truths revealed by God and practical exhortations to ensure the fulfillment of one of the desires for which man was created: salvation. As for the appointment as canonical, that is, the recognition of the canonicity of the books of Holy Scripture, this aspect has concerned the Church since the beginning, and its achievement proved to be the result of a process carried out over several centuries.

More...

“THE BOOK OF THE GENERATION OF JESUS CHRIST, THE SON OF DAVID, THE SON OF ABRAHAM” (MATTHEW 1:1). A RECOURSE TO OLD TESTAMENT GENEALOGIES

Author(s): Cătălin Vatamanu / Language(s): English / Issue: 8/2022

Keywords: Genealogy; Old Testament; Kingship; Prophecy; Ancestors; Stages of Life;

Genealogy is one of the oldest auxiliary sciences of history, which can help us to understand the history in its complexity. It shows us that biological descent has always played a decisive role in preserving family heritage, religious beliefs and cultural traditions, implicitly that they could have had an influence in relation to other families or the whole community. Biblical genealogies are far from just lists of names, drained of the pathos of history. Being precisely the supporting structure of holy history, genealogical lists invite the reader to read the entire text of Holy Scripture and to discover its theological message. The two genealogies of the Savior Jesus Christ, in the Gospels according to Matthew 1, 1-16 and Luke 3, 23-38, show the reality of the Incarnation and the fulfillment of the prophetic words. The mystery of “Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham” (Matt. 1, 1) can only be accessed by having the key to the prophetic message of the Old Testament: the hope of messianic expectation and the faith of salvation through the Holy One. That is why ancient history, which has Abraham and David as landmarks, is a holy history, and leads us to a better way of life, for which the Incarnate Son of God, Christ the Lord, is the perfect model.

More...

THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW, THE FIRST WRITING IN THE NEW TESTAMENT CANON

Author(s): Ion-Sorin Bora / Language(s): English / Issue: 8/2022

Keywords: Gospel of Matthew; Synoptic Problem; New Testament Canon; Q (Quelle);

In this article we examine the place of the Gospel of Matthew in the concerns of contemporary theologians. The synoptic problem has most affected the traditional approach to the Gospel of Matthew, which has been downgraded from the top of scholars’ preferences on the grounds that it is written later than Mark. Another view is that it belongs to an anonymous assembler of existing sources, of which the famous Q must have been the most important. The tradition of the Orthodox Church has used the criteria of antiquity and apostolicity to keep the books in the canon. The first writing in the New Testament canon, the Gospel of Matthew, was considered until the 19th century to be the first to be written in the canon. Attempts to resolve the Synoptic problem led to conclusions that contradicted Church Tradition. Thus, Matthew has been regarded as an expansion of Mark or a redaction based on existing sources. The voice of Orthodox theologians was not heard; most considered these theories as unquestionable truths and neglected their consequences for the spiritual progress of the Orthodox faithful. That is why I have shown I have analysed the general character of the ancient papyri, the canons of the first four Christian centuries, the contents of the codices of the 4th-5th century, the quotations from the most preserved Christian writings. All this shows that the Gospel of Matthew was the most important book of the New Testament, the earliest and first Christian writing to appear.

More...

THE INITIAL FUNCTION OF THE GREEK TETRAEVANGELION FROM THE MUSEUM OF OLTENIA IN CRAIOVA

Author(s): Ion Reșceanu / Language(s): English / Issue: 8/2022

Keywords: New Testament; Manuscript; Tetraevangelion; Gospel Lectionary; Byzantium;

This study aims at analysing the function that the Greek Tetraevangelion from the Museum of Oltenia in Craiova initially had, in order to understand its use and to establish its original destination. To this aim, we evaluated the function that a Tetraevangelion had as compared to a Gospel in the context of the liturgical life of the Byzantine world, with the aim to create the framework for better understanding how the manuscripts could be used. Moreover, the research of the critical apparatus, hymns or notes with liturgical character from the initial period gives us the opportunity to have a relevant image of how the Byzantines related to the biblical text from an exegetical point of view and capitalized on it in their liturgical life.

More...

THE THEONYM KYRIOS IN THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MATTHEW

Author(s): Mihai Ciurea / Language(s): English / Issue: 8/2022

Keywords: Kyrios; Son of David; Son of Man; Son of God; Yahweh;

The present paper aims to conduct a theological survey on the using of the theonym “Kyrios” in the Gospel according to Matthew which functions as a complementary Christological title that registers a crescendo from the Son of David Who has mercy, to the Son of Man as Lord of the Sabbath, and finally to the Son of God who fulfills the Law and, at the same time, has the power to teach and save everyone who believes in Him. Likewise, the double specific formula “Kyrie, Kyrie” always serves to represent the ineffable name of the God of Israel, YHWH, being specific to the Greek texts, through a sort of connective identity. Such a designation of the Lord Jesus Christ implies an “ascension” and a “dwelling” of Him at the right hand of God the Father, thus a recognition of His divinity. In this sense, it becomes comparable to what St. Paul said in the Christological hymns of Eph. and 1Cor., where the confession of faith “Shema Israel”, which speaks of the one true God, the Father, is extended to the Son, who is One Lord, Jesus Christ.

More...

MARY IN THE MATTHEW ANNUNCIATION (MATT. 1:18-25). AN EXEGETICAL AND THEOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE

Author(s): Ovidiu-Mihai Neacșu / Language(s): English / Issue: 8/2022

Keywords: Son of God; Incarnation; Virgin Mary; Annunciation; Matthew; Angel;

In the canon of the New Testament, the coming into the world of the incarnate Son of God is anticipated by its announcement and description through a special intervention of Heaven illustrated in the mission of an angel sent by God. In the two synoptic Gospels, Matthew and Luke, the only ones that record this preliminary announcement, the event is described in the so-called “good news” of the angel, one addressed to Joseph (in the description of the Evangelist Matthew) and the other one addressed to the Virgin Mary (in the description of the Evangelist Luke). In the present study, the Matthew description of the angel’s announcement to Joseph is analyzed, exegetically and theologically, by emphasizing its role in shaping the supernatural understanding of the soteriological event, as well as by accentuating, in the end, the everlasting virginity of the Mother of God, a state that defines her status in the past, present and future redemption plan of her incarnate Son.

More...