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Around the Bloc: Poland’s Tusk Takes Over Top EU Post, Moldova’s Pro-West Alliance Likely to Retain Power
Plus, the pope urges Turkey to open doors to Armenia, and a new Russian convoy enters eastern Ukraine.
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Plus, the pope urges Turkey to open doors to Armenia, and a new Russian convoy enters eastern Ukraine.
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Der Prophet Elija gilt in der karmelitanischen Tradition für den geistlichen Stifter des Ordens. Seit Beginn, also der Behauptung des Karmelitenordens im 13. Jahrhundert, ist er der geistliche Führer der Karmeliten. Die Frömmigkeit des Ordens, die an Elija gerichtet wurde, intensivierte sich im 17. Jahrhundert auf der Grundlage der historiographischen Werke der Karmeliten sowie deren Kritik durch Bollandisten. Zu Ausdrücken elianischer Tradition gehörten die Elemente des Ordenskleides und des Ordenswappens, die Ikonografie, die Annahme von Ordensnamen, die Literatur und die Liturgie. /Prorok Eliasz w tradycji karmelitańskiej uchodzi za duchowego założyciela zakonu. Od początków sformalizowania zakonu karmelitów w XIII wieku jest on dla nich przewodnikiem duchowym. Pobożność zakonna skierowana ku Eliaszowi zintensyfikowała się w XVII wieku na skutek karmelitańskich prac historiograficznych, a także ich krytyki przez bollandystów. Wyrazem eliańskiej tradycji były elementy habitu i herbu zakonnego, ikonografia, przybieranie imion zakonnych, piśmiennictwo oraz liturgia.
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Chociaż chrześcijaństwo nie jest „religią księgi” w potocznym rozumieniu tego określenia, to jednak księga Pisma Świętego stanowi jej oparcie, program i kryterium weryfikujące. Dlatego też w ciągu wieków zawsze starannie dbano o to, by tekst biblijny był odpowiednio przechowywany i przekazywany. W tym artykule zwracamy uwagę na to, w jaki sposób poszukiwano optymalnego tekstu Biblii na uniwersytecie w Paryżu w XIII wieku. Powstanie uniwersytetów i nadanie naukowego charakteru teologii sprawiło, że powstał problem przygotowania odpowiedniego tekstu biblijnego, jednakowego dla wszystkich i łatwo dostępnego. Potrzeba akademicka szybko wpłynęła więc na popularyzację tekstu biblijnego oraz na potrzebę jego skorygowania. Proces opracowania nie był łatwy, ale mimo powstających trudności dość szybko z nim się uporano. Wypracowano tekst, który w końcu zarówno zadowalał uczonych, jak i spełniał kryteria tradycji eklezjalnej. Przy okazji pojawiło się wiele ważnych refleksji teoretycznych, które wpłynęły na pogłębione rozumienie natury tekstu biblijnego oraz na sposoby jego interpretacji. Z tych doświadczeń korzystano w kolejnych wiekach, a wiele wniosków, które wyprowadzono w XIII wieku, zachowuje swoją aktualność do dnia dzisiejszego. Although Christianity is not “a religion of the book” in the common understanding of this expression, however the Bible constitutes its support, programme and verifying criterion. That is why over the centuries the text of the Bible was always scrupulously enshrined and transferred. This article focuses on the subject of how the optimal text of the Bible was searched for at the University of Paris in 13th century. The advent of universities and a new character of theology as a scientific study created a need for a proper text of the Bible, the same for everyone and easily available. Thus the academic necessity rapidly increased the popularity of the biblical text but also prompted the need of its correction. The study was a difficult task, but the problems were soon overcome. The final version of the text satisfied the scholars and met the criteria of the ecclesiastical tradition. Concurrently a lot of significant theoretical reflections emerged which affected the profound understanding of the nature of the biblical text and the ways of its interpretation. These achievements appeared to be valuable in centuries to come and the numerous conclusions drawn in 13th century remain relevant even today.
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The essay gives a critical review of The Rituals of the Media by Lajos Császi. It seeks to showhow the Durkheimian sociology of religion can be applied to the modern communicationtheory and what perspectives such a combination can store for sociology. The mediahas a significant impact on the formation of public opinion; therefore, its rituals deservea special attention. However, the opinion forming power of the media depends on thesocial structure and the movement of the masses. Today even ordinary people can broadcastInternet TV-programmes and we have not even mentioned the technical possibilitiesoffered by the various social network sites. It is not only the technical competence, whichdetermines whether a given opinion will remain embedded in a narrow subculture or itsucceeds to move the masses, which was a well-loved catchword of the 20th century
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Mevlid is one of the basic ritual complexes in the culture of the Turks in Bulgaria and is practiced by all Muslim communities. It is believed to be religious in nature and is an immanent part of the system of calendar and family rites. Mevlid first appears among Sufi Muslims, but soon becomes an element of the traditional Suni rites. The article follows the appearance and the diffusion of the rite and further compares Mevlid in mosque practice with its performance in the village tradition by revealing the specifics of the ritual as it is performed in the village of Gorna Hubavka, Targovishte region. The use of a text which differs from the conventional one, the appointment of specific months in the religious calendar for the performance of the ritual, the inclusion of authors songs not related to the Prophet, as well as the nature of the ritual stereotypes that are built form the local specifics of the ritual in the village. The analysis of the Mevlid and its particular local characteristics opens the possibility for the study of a very important aspect of the culture of the Suni in Bulgaria. It reveals the mechanisms of functioning of the so-called Balkan Islam which differs substantially from the high Islamic religious culture.
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Selected bibliography in the field of Bulgarian Studies published in the current year.
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The content of the main Bulgarian scientific journals for the current year in linguistics, literature, history, folklore, ethnography, archaeology and art studies.
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The text of the article focuses on the relations between Vasil Levski and the Bulgarian Orthodox Church. The fact that Deacon Ignatius was excommunicated is part of the debate about the relationship between Levski, the church and the clergy. Its development is characterized by an interesting regularity: according to the political situation and the worldview of the authors, Levsky’s religious feelings are either muffled to emphasize his radical break with the church or vice versa, his Christian worldview is emphasized at the expense of his revolutionary image. A special place is devoted to the question of the possible „canonization“ of the Apostle – whether it is necessary and whether it would change his bright image of an undisputed political leader, but also of a person who never breaks with the moral norms of a cleric of the nineteenth century.
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The article examines the history of the 1820–1821 rebuilding of the Orthodox church of St. Sunday, the seat of the Metropolitan in Sofia. The author uses information from the church chronicle as well as from a preserved document of the expenses made in connection with the construction. The analysis of the cost account shows that the construction took place in two stages: from the beginning of August until the end of September 1820 and from mid-November to the spring of 1821. A church was built, which for the most part was wooden. The documents allow the author to track not only the construction but also to highlight the conditions under which it was carried out, as well as to reveal the peculiarities of the very society which undertook the construction. The text of the construction bill is applied at the end of the article.
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This paper presents the biography of Antimus, bishop of Vratsa and later bishop of Lovech, who became the Metropolitan of Belgrade in 1827. After the establishment of the Principality of Serbia in 1831 he moved to the Kingdom of Greece. This article explains his background, and describes advancing through church structures of the Ecumenical Patriarchate. Attention is also focused on his appointment to be metropolitan of Belgrade, his arrival in Belgrade and working in the new environment. The strengthen Serbian national government and more open practice of the Orthodox faith created specific circumstances for his spiritual mission that are highlighted. His relationship with Prince Miloš Obrenović, which was much better than in the case of his predecessor, is also pointed out. The data on the last months he spent in the Principality of Serbia are presented. Terms and time of his departure to the Kingdom of Greece, where he spent the rest of his life, are also known.
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The subject of this study are two adornments from the fund of the Regional Museum of History – Kardzhali: the first one being from the ninth century and the second one being from the end of the nineteenth century. They include shells of the genus Monetaria sea snails (babki, cowrie) which are typical inhabitants of the Indo-Pacific tropical waters. The purpose of the study is to establish the species to which the shells belong and the symbolism with which they are loaded as parts of these ornaments. The cultural phenomenon of cowrie originates from the epipalleolite in the Middle East. Gradually spreading from there throughout Asia, Africa and Oceania, and through the Mediterranean, it reaches all parts of Europe, including Bulgaria, and the Eastern Rhodopes in particular.
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The western world is slowly recognizing the threats resulting from the new ideology called transhumanism that started thirty years ago in the United States. The ideology of transhumanism draws from rapidly converging technologies such as nanotechnology, biotechnology, artificial intelligence, cognitive science and genetic engineering. Transhumanism wants to be a positive response to postmodernism and nihilism sweeping developed countries. It aspires to ignore the natural law and current anthropology. It aims to cover all dimensions of the human being to ensure unlimited earth-life extendibility, happiness and unfathomable pleasure. Transhumanism takes aim to eradicate current civilizations and cultures, rejects history, nationality, family and religion. Instead transhumanism wants to introduce global culture and civilization for a human as a product of biotechnology. Transhumanism reduces the human to a material dimension and intentionally confines him to this dimension. The progress of the new ideology appears difficult to stop and its catastrophic impact on humans and society is difficult to foresee. We must therefore explore the field of philosophy; mostly through returning to the metaphysics of existence by St Thomas Aquinas, through affirmation of biblical anthropology and finally through a comprehensive return to contemplative theology.
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“Exposition of the Church Services” (ECS) is a 9th century liturgical commentary, the first and integral liturgical work about the East Syrian liturgy after the great liturgical reformation of Patriarch Išo’yahb III. Though the Author of the ECS comments on the various memrē of the Church of the East, we shall pay attention mainly to the baptismal memrā, which is the most remarkable among the memrē commented on by the Author. At first, we shall discuss the different terms and methods of baptism together with the manuscripts and editions of East Syrian baptismal liturgy. The baptismal memrā contains nine chapters and an analysis of the content of each chapter provides us with a clear outlook about the content of the text. The Author highlights the Pauline theology that explains baptism as a participation in the death and resurrection of Christ. The Author speaks about three anointings upon the candidate: pre-baptismal rušmā, anointing of the whole body and the post-baptismal rušmā. He emphasizes the pouring out of the consecrated water before the post-baptismal rušmā. He sets the baptismal rite within the framework of Eucharistic celebration, and the reception of the Eucharist by the baptized is presupposed in the commentary. A lucid idea is depicted in the commentary about the rights and duties of the sponsors too. In short, the baptismal commentary of the Anonymous Author of the 9th century provides us with a holistic view about the East Syrian rite of baptism.
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This article presents the points of view from which interreligious relations in the Ottoman world have been approached in academic historiography, the frames of interpretation and concepts that have been used, and the critical reassessments and revisions that are currently underway. Conceptions about the position of the non-Muslims and the nature and forms of interreligious relations in the Ottoman Empire have changed perceptively over the last half century. The mosaic world of subjugated nations and self-governed religious communities (millets) that lived parallel and distinct lives gave its place, in the last two decades of the twentieth century, to the plural society of extensive interreligious interaction at individual or communal level. In tandem came the shift from an emphasis on the oppression of the non-Muslims to that on toleration. We are now in a new phase of revision which focuses on the forms, extent and limits of toleration and intercommunal interaction, and pays close attention to change over time.
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There is one group of findings, discovered at the shrine of St. Atanas in village Spanchevo that includes anthropomorphic and zoomorphic repre¬sents made of mix of dirt (soil) and stones, known under the general term “figurines“.Such represents are characteristic of the Eneolithic period in Macedo¬nia and in the wider Balkan area. Alongside their aesthetic role, they also had a more practical and protective one; they protected the area, people, crops, fertility and good hunt, or to be more precise, they protected the core values from any kind of “evil“.Their undisputed cult affiliation is already accepted in science. How¬ever, we use basic comparative examples in the interpretation of their in¬sufficiently defined role, and we add the observations made on the choice of material and embossed decoration as an addition while trying to recon¬struct their ritual and magical meaning and the definition of the role they had in the community.In this presentation we will focus on the material, iconography and symbolism that is transferred by the figurines, using more sophisticated comparative examples preserved up till nowadays in the cultural group of the Shopi and the region they inhabit. We provide religious and ritual manifestations characteristic of the Shopluk region, in addition to previously confirmed magical-religious function of the figurines, despite the obvious temporal and cultural diversity. These similarities enable com¬parison of beliefs, symbols and images in cultures, which although differ in time, have geographical overlap.
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Most of terracotta reliefs in the collection from the early Christian period found at the archaeological site Vinica’s Fortress in Vinica, are whole or fragmented pieces with motifs of Archangel Michael. The cult of this saint persists in Vinica and Vinica’s area up to this day. The biggest church in the town is dedicated to the Archangel Michael.It was originally built in 1850, but later enlarged and upgraded. The feast of Saint Michael the Archangel (in the Orthodox Church celebrated on November 21 ac¬cording to Julian calendar ) is popularly known as Arangel, and many families glorify it as their family’s patron saint and it is a general belief that it is one of the major saint feast days.
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If examined in detail – by means of archaeological excavations plus objective dating techniques – аt least 20 Islamic burials (direct task of ethnology and archeology) they will create a database. A database can serve as an additional heuristic tool in the field studies (reverse task of ethnology and archeology) that aim to clarify the various ethno-confes¬sional processes occurred during the last seven centuries when the Islam attended the Balkans.
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The aim of this paper is to discuss the persecution of the Iraqi Yezidis by the so-called Islamic State of Iraq and Syria that took place over the last years, to present its political and religious background, and to analyse its legal consequences, which includes the possibility of punishing the perpetrators under international law. The article consists of three main parts: The first one gives a short account of the history and theology of Yezidism; the second part presents the origin and course of the religious persecution of the Yezidis; and the third part suggests some legal actions that could be undertaken by the international community with a view to punishing the perpetrators. The final section of this paper proposes the establishment of an international criminal court as an alternative solution to solve the problem of how perpetrators should be punished in such cases.
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The article describes the establishing of the first circle of Kabbalists in Salonica by two scholars who later laid the foundations of The Golden Age of Safed: R. Joseph Karo, whose Shulchan Aruch became the authoritative codification of Jewish law; and his companion, kabbalist and poet R. Solomon Halevi Elkabetz. While performing a mystical ceremony on the nights of Shevuot (Pentecost) of 1533, a prophetic voice was heard through R. J. Karo’s throat and mouth. The voice urged the companions to ascend immediately to the Land of Israel in order to redeem the Assembly of Israel and be redeemed from exile.Special weight is given to the messianic enthusiasm of the circle, and to their interpretation of the triumphs of Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent over the Christian coalition led by Emperor Charles V as an omen to the fall of the satanic realm of “Edom” and as an encouraging step towards redemption.
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