Despre religie, politică și literatură în lumea occidentală secularizată

Author(s): Rad Silviu Cristian / Language(s): Romanian Issue: 1/2018

In this book review we find out about a collection of philosophical texts signed by Sandu Frunză. Here, the author displays his searches for a honest positioning in understanding the relation between politics and religion. The review discusses the essays on literature, religion and politics, and emphasizes the important role the relation between political power and the religious one holds in regard to the secularized society in which the Western men and women live. The book presented is: Sandu Frunză, Între moartea politicii și moartea lui Dumnezeu. Eseuri despre literatură, religie și politică, ediția a doua, Ed. Eikon, București, 2017.

Noi interpretări privind evoluția organizării bisericești pe teritoriul provinciei romane Scythia în secolul al VI-lea p.Chr.

Author(s): Ionuţ Holubeanu / Language(s): Romanian Issue: 53/2020

The subject of this paper is the evolution of the ecclesiastical organization in the Roman province of Scythia during the 6th century. Examinating the documentary and archaeological evidence together, the author assumed that Scythia ceased to be an exception in terms of ecclesiastical organization (i.e. an only see – that of Tomis – for the whole province) during the first part of Justinian I's reign (527-565), most likely in 536,when at least 14 ordinary bishoprics were organized in its main cities. Other new ecclesiastical sees were organized in the province during the second half of the 6th century, as it happened in the neighboring Roman province of Moesia Secunda.

The Evangelical Movement in Austria from 1945 to the Present: A Critical Appraisal

Author(s): Frank Hinkelmann / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2020

This essay examines the development of the Evangelical Movement in Austria from 1945 to the present. The history of the Evangelical Movement can be divided into four phases: The beginnings (1945-1961), which can be characterized above all by missionary work among ethnic German refugees of the World War II, a second phase from 1961-1981, which can be described as an internationalization of the Evangelical Movement especially through the work of North American missionaries. During this time new ways of evangelism were sought and also church planting projects were started. A third phase is characterized by a growing confessionalization and institutionalization of the Evangelical Movement. While free church congregation were increasingly taking on denominational contours, the evangelical movement as a whole began to increasingly establish its own institutions. The last phase since 1998 is characterized by the Evangelical Movement breaking out of isolation towards social and political acceptance.

Imagine și text în opera lui Pál Baranyi

Author(s): Csongor Vass / Language(s): Romanian Issue: 1 Supp./2021

In the Romanian scholarship, Pál Baranyi (1657–1719) is known as one of the most important personalities of the religious union of the Romanians from Transylvania. His literary activity was much less studied, although his manuscripts and edited works are closely connected to the Jesuit mission in Transylvania. This devotional, religious literature used consciously the force of image. This study presents the modalities of using image and text as devices of mission, persuasion and spiritual strengthening. The most representative book analysed in this paper is the Viaticum spirituale (1695), which has 23 gravures and offers an interesting way to understand text and image together. Another book of great importance for the subject is the Imago vitae et mortis. Életnek és halálnak képe (1712 – I, 1719 – II). Although the book comprises no image, the text appeals to the imagination, constructs images with the power of words. This study intends to be a brief overview of Baranyi’s works too – including usuality, policy and devotion in Transylvania during the 17th and 18th centuries.

Războiul de independenţă în documentele Episcopiei Rîmnicului şi Argeşului

Author(s): Gherasim Cristea-Piteşteanul / Language(s): Romanian Issue: 4/1978

Le présent ouvrage se propose de refléter certains aspects liés à la contribution du clergé orthodoxe de l'Olténie à l'appui de la guerre d'Indépendance. Nous mentionnons la contribution importante de l'évêque Atanasie Stoenescu qui a béni les armées roumaines lors de leur départ à la guerre et a collectionné, de l'argent pour l'acquisition des armes.C'est pour cela qu'il a reçu de la part du Gouvernement une haute distinction. Les prêtres de l'évêché et l'ordre monacal y ont eu, eux aussi, leur contribution en offrandes, en objets, en argent ou comme infirmiers dans tes hôpitaux militaires. Beaucoup d'institutions monacales de l'évêché ont servi comme hôpitaux pour les soldats roumains et turcs. Le clergé orthodoxe roumain a été toujours près du peuple dans les moments de tristesse et de joie.

Secularising Buddhism: An Ethnography of Roadside Buddhist Shrine Worshiping in the City of Colombo

Author(s): Anton Piyarathne / Language(s): English Issue: 13(42)/2020

The construction of roadside shrine rooms in Colombo, Sri Lanka has been a recent phenomenon, a trend which started after the 1970s. These roadside shrines are constructed and maintained by Buddhists, Catholics and Hindus and are a testimony to the increase of religious influence on the everyday social lives of people. Against this backdrop, an ethnographic research was conducted in 2009 and 2019 by the author aiming to explain why and how city folk construct roadside shrines in Colombo and worship at these shrines, and also to identify alternative and emerging religious practices. The paper based on the ethnographic data collected in relation to the Buddhist shrines suggests that roadside shrine worshipping has a lot of functions for the everyday social life which is identified as secularising Buddhism in the sense of Durkheim’s definition. This paper is based on a functionalist approach to discuss those urban religious practices which play a very significant role in explaining how people in the city negotiate their goals, the aspirations of their lives and the means to achieve them. In general, most people visit these shrines to obtain the blessings of the Buddhist pantheon and cosmology to minimize vulnerabilities and get the maximum benefit from the liberal economic trends and globalisation patterns. Moreover, these mini-shrines which give easy and quick access to a people friendly religious place pay more attention to this worldly life than that of considering other worldly benefits, which seems to be the priority of the urban dwellers.

Cognitive aspects of the philosophical and theological coherence of the concept of a miracle within the contemporary scientific world view

Author(s): Wojciech P. Grygiel / Language(s): English Issue: 70/2021

The purpose of the article is to investigate the philosophical and theological validity and coherence of the classical concept of a miracle within the contemporary scientific world view. The main tool in this process will be the cognitive standard model of the formation of religious beliefs operative in the cognitive science of religion. The application of this model shows why an intentional agent is assigned as responsible for the occurrence of events with no visible cause such as a miracle: miracles are events that violate the intuitively expected behaviors observable in the physical reality. It will become evident that much of the conceptual content of the classical understanding of miracles can be retained despite of the ontological and epistemological challenges of the contemporary science. In particular, this concerns the semantic view of miracles in which a miracle does not occur as an objective Divine intervention but qualifies as religious interpretation of the natural course of events always in reference to a cultural and personal context that is unique to those who directly experience these events either as direct recipients or as observers.

Od redakcji

Author(s): Leszek Poleszak / Language(s): Polish Issue: 2/2021

Editorial "Sympozjum" 2(41) (2021).

Sprawozdanie z sympozjum naukowego „W służbie życiu i miłości”, Kraków, 28 października 2021 roku

Author(s): Leszek Poleszak / Language(s): Polish Issue: 2/2021

Report from the scientific symposium In the service of life and love, Krakow, October 28th, 2021

Badania nad konwersją: nowe trendy, metody, wyzwania

Author(s): Agnieszka Jagodzińska / Language(s): Polish Issue: 46/2020

This review article addresses the recent popularity of studies on Jewish conversion. In particular, it examines the volume Bastards and Believers: Jewish Converts and Conversion from the Bible to the Present edited by Theodor Dunkelgrün and PawełMaciejko (Philadelphia, 2020). The author of the article suggests looking at this volume as at a representative example of recent trends, themes, methods, and challenges present in studying Jewish conversion.

Bernard z Clairvaux, Tomasz z Akwinu i uświęcenie Najświętszej Maryi Panny

Author(s): Bogusław Kochaniewicz / Language(s): Polish Issue: 28/2021

The article entitled Bernard of Clairvaux, Thomas Aquinas and the sanctification of the Blessed Virgin Mary is devoted to the controversy surrounding the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which was revealed in Letter 174 written to the Canons of Lyon by the Cistercian Abbot. The arguments formulated in it were adopted by St. Thomas Aquinas and used in the theological debate, thus influencing the shaping of the position regarding the sanctification of Mary at the beginning of her earthly life. This contribution highlights the influence of Bernard of Clairvaux on Aquinas’ position on the sanctification of the Virgin Mary, which until now has seemed to be overlooked in the literature.

Czy eutanazja to „dobra śmierć”? Orędzie listu Samaritanus bonus w świetle doświadczeń doktor Elizabeth Kübler-Ross

Author(s): Piotr Skiba / Language(s): Polish Issue: 28/2021

An issue that constantly raises questions and doubts is death and the process of the person’s dying preceding it. Everyone wants to die “well”, that is, happily, calmly and with dignity. This human desire was expressed by the ancient Greek term “euthanasia”. In today’s times of dehumanization and technicization of good and dignified medicine, death is understood differently. Above the principle of the sanctity of life, what counts is its quality and the freedom to decide about it. Faced with these challenges, the Church reminds in the published letter Samaritanus bonus that contemporary moral problems related to the end of human life must be looked at in the spirit of the Gospel, in terms of personalism and traditional Hippocratic ethics, emphasizing and protecting the value of every human person. An example of a Samaritan service to the dying is Dr. Elisabeth Kübler-Ross. Her experience shows that today it is necessary to return to the original understanding of the concept of “euthanasia” that can be achieved through palliative care, for “mercy killing”, in which showing mercy involves deliberately killing patients, does not solve the problem of “good” dying.

Polityka religijna cesarzy Pawła I i Aleksandra I w sprawie Kościoła grecko-unickiego w południowo-zachodnim terytorium Imperium Rosyjskiego

Author(s): Viktoria Bilyk / Language(s): Polish Issue: 28/2021

The article analyzes the religious policy of the Russian emperors Paul I and Alexander I regarding the Greco-Uniate Church in Volyn, Kyiv and Podil provinces. It was clarified that during the reign of these emperors, the pressure on the Uniates was eased, and it helped to restore the Greco-Uniate parishes and increase the number of parishioners of this Church. Also shown the government measures aimed at removing the Greek-Uniate Church from the influence of the Roman Catholic Church.

Ambony protestanckie w gotyckich kościołach w Osiekach i Suchej Koszalińskiej

Author(s): Henryk Romanik / Language(s): Polish Issue: 9/2021

Pomeranian churches combine elements of the medieval Gothic tradition and furnishings from the Lutheran Reformation era. Such examples can be found in two temples, the history of which dates back to the times of the mission of religious orders in the Koszalin region. The original relics of the original furnishings are very rare, but relatively many elements of Protestant sacred art have been preserved. Two pulpits located on the new tourist route between Darlowo (Darłowo) and Sianow (Sianów) attract particular attention. The pulpit in Osieki belongs to the family of late-Renaissance pulpits (c. 1660) with an architectural structure with figural and sometimes painted decorations. An interesting fact here is the inscriptions of the chronostychonic co¬nvention, which encode chronological information in the writing of letters as Roman numerals. Unfortunately, during the last conservation works, the information from the parish chronicle published before World War II was not used. Documented biblical sentences originally placed under the parapet and in the panels under the statues of the apostles have not been recreated. The rococo pulpit (1729) in Sucha Koszalinska (Sucha Koszalińska) is even more rooted in the scriptural tradition. Here, the decoration of the canopy and the pulpit’s basket are a dozen medallions with biblical quotations, which fully express the ideological program rooted in the prophetic and apostolic books. The only figure is the image of Christ the Savior of the World, and on the top of the canopy we have the image of the Holy Spirit’s dove. Both pulpits deserve the attention of art and liturgical historians, and after the necessary conservation works, they can become a tourist attraction of the coastal microregion.

Obraz Stolicy Apostolskiej i papieży na łamach Głosu Pomorza i Głosu Koszalińskiego w latach 1972–1989

Author(s): Andrzej Rybak / Language(s): Polish Issue: 9/2021

The press, as a medium of mass communication of news and specific ideological and educational content, was to raise the level of social awareness of the population, its culture and knowledge, including religion and the Catholic Church, in the spirit of the prevailing ideology. The image of the Holy See and the popes from 1972–1989 emerging from the texts under discussion shows these entities as political institutions. At that time, words were selected, quoted and even paraphrased in press articles from the public appearances of popes and representatives of the Roman Curia so that they were consistent with the views of the Polish United Workers’ Party or served its propaganda. At the level of the highest hierarchy in particular, allies were perceived, and attempts were also made to present them in this way. An analysis of the texts devoted to the Church showed that the Church was treated as too serious and independent a force to openly criticize it. Therefore, especially in the 1980s, the perspective of dialogue with the Church was adopted. In criticism, the Church was sometimes presented in opposition to the communist state, and this concerned, inter alia, hierarchy of values, social rights, references to countries with other political systems.

Z wizytą w Muzeum II Wojny Światowej

Author(s): Jarosław Wąsowicz / Language(s): Polish Issue: 9/2021

Unități Polilexicale Stabile Generale și Echivalentele Lor. Originea Biblică.

Author(s): Angela Savin-Zgardan / Language(s): Romanian Issue: 1-2/2020

Phraseology as well as the lexis is constantly evolving, so its object of study must be viewed both synchronously and diachronically. For this reason, in the present article, we propose to analyze the stable polilexical units (SPUs) from the point of view of the extralinguistic causes that motivate the emergence of the stable polilexical units in the Romanian language (Primary stage). Linguists suggest different ways of classifying them. We consider that it does not matter whether the SPUs are borrowed, calqued or have entered the language in a cultured way. All these SPUs are of foreign origin and for this reason must be considered common for a large number of languages. In this study, we will address phraseological units and set expressions that have a biblical origin. These stable polilexical formations entered the language when there was the need to name the given reality. However, the motivation of their use is determined by the degree of culture and the familiarity with fiction of the person concerned. Below we propose the general approach to SPUs of biblical origin with their equivalents in French, Russian and Bulgarian.

Strategia națională de educație parentală 2018-2025. Implicații juridice, pedagogice, ideologice și etice

Author(s): Vasile Crețu / Language(s): Romanian Issue: 5-8/2021

The family and its educational roles are the subject of the latest psychological, sociological and pedagogical studies, which analyze modern educational concepts such as parenting and home schooling. The knowledge, skills and abilities of parents manifested in the activity of education and upbringing of children, as well as in over coming the critical situations that occur in this process are called parental competences. This quality, in the conception of modern specialists, becomes educable by talking more and more frequently about the ability to become better parents and about the innovations that support the formation approach within the family. All these principles are known under the name of parental education. The Romanian educational space analyzed the difficult situation in which the Romanian family finds itself and the difficulty with which it carries out educational activities, and developed a plan based on education called National strategy of parental education 2018-2025. However, the parenting strategy is proving to be a new way of developing the postmodern principles of the European agenda.

Structuri metaforice implicând substantive deverbale, reperabile în textele-acatist

Author(s): Ecaterina Braguta / Language(s): English,Romanian Issue: 3/2021

Orthodox hymnography comprises a wide variety of musical-poetic structures. Among them, the akathist stands out both in terms of size and aesthetic features or in terms of frequency of use in the practice of prayer. From the point of view of linguistic interest, we notice the abundance of deverbal nouns in the structure of the akathists, present at all levels of text structure. The multifunctionality of the deverbal nouns within this type of text also includes the aesthetic dimension of the hymn. In the current article we will focus on the dominant metaphorical structures, formed on the basis of deverbal nouns, which highlight fundamental concepts of Christianity.

LES RELATIONS ENTRE L’ÉGLISE ORTHODOXE ET L’ÉGLISE GRÉCO-CATHOLIQUE EN ROUMANIE - UN APERÇU DE LA PÉRIODE COMMUNISTE ET POST-COMMUNISTE.

Author(s): Florin Toader Tomoioagă / Language(s): English Issue: 1-2/2021

Les relations entre l’Église orthodoxe et l’Église gréco-catholique en Roumanie - un aperçu de la période communiste et post-communiste. L’étude présente se concentre sur les relations entre l’Église orthodoxe et l’Église gréco-catholique en Roumanie, en particulier pendant le temps de communisme et après sa chute. Nous utilisons la méthode historique et abordons cette période du point de vue des tensions historiques, des moments d’aliénation mais aussi de ceux de rapprochement entre les deux Églises. L’étude décrit les principaux points de cette relation, les efforts de chaque Église pour préserver son identité en période de pression politique énorme, à une époque où l’État communiste tentait d’anéantir l’Église gréco-catholique et d’instrumentaliser l’Église orthodoxe selon la propagande et ses intérêts. On y analyse également il décrit brièvement la relative ouverture réciproque des deux Églises sœurs survenue après 1989, malgré les tensions existantes et l’interruption brutale de ce processus de rapprochement en 2008. L’apport de cette étude est la proposition de quelques étapes concrètes absolument nécessaires dans le processus de guérison de la mémoire, qui devrait impliquer les deux Églises.