Цар Резос и Орфей в планината Пангей

Author(s): Milen Ivanov / Language(s): English,Bulgarian Issue: 23/2018

The present paper has been focused on the literary passage of (Pseudo-)Euripides from his tragedy “Rhesus”, which deals with the posthumous being of the Thracian king (Eurip. Rhes. 962-973), and the fragment of Aeschylus from his tragedy “Bassarids”, which tells about the life and death of Orpheus (Aesch. Bassar. Fr. 83). Both texts situate king Rhesus and Orpheus in Mount Pangaion. They describe on one hand Dionysian, chthonian type of cult and ritualism, and on the other hand – Apollonian, solar type of cult and ritualism. The passages have been analysed in comparison with other pieces of evidence from ancient authors, related to Mount Pangaion and other similar cultic topoi. These sacred places described in the ancient literary tradition correspond to the rock topoi of cult and ritualism in South-East Europe and in Asia Minor, which have preserved numerous ancient relicts as a vital heritage up to the present day. One important feature of Thracian religion is to be noticed – both its unity and its variety. we can see clearly juxtaposed the Apollonian and the Dionysian principle – this fundamental opposition which marks the entire European cultural-historical tradition. But this juxtaposition can be logically explained in the light of the literary evidence of the Roman writer Macrobius. In his work “Saturnalia” he provides numerous arguments that Apollo and Dionysus are one and the same god. In conclusion, Mount Pangaion may be considered as an important sacred place of synthesis between Dionysian and Apollonian types of religiousness.

Prawno-kanoniczny zakaz podejmowania przez duchownych niektórych rodzajów działalności i jego znaczenie na gruncie prawa polskiego

Author(s): Jan Krajczyński / Language(s): Polish Issue: 21/2018

The article deals with the prohibited activity of the clergy specified in can. 285 § 4 and can. 286 of the Code of Canon Law. It follows from the canons that it is against canon law for clerics to manage goods belonging to lay persons, to hold a secular office which entails an obligation of making financial statements (rendering accounts), or to conduct trade and transactions solely for profit. This prohibition, however, cannot be considered effective under Polish law, and legal acts carried out by a cleric who holds such an office or performs a function will be valid. The regulations of canon law in question are neither the sources of universally binding law of the Republic of Poland nor internally binding law (art. 87 and art. 93 of the Constitution of the Republic of Poland. In other words, although the Catholic Church, in the name of the principle of autonomy, has the right to self-organization and self-government, its own law (canon law) is foreign to Polish law. As a consequence, a cleric who, against canon law, is member of the board of a joint stock or limited company or for example a state-owned enterprise, should be considered to act rightfully. A different interpretation of Polish law would call into question the principle of certainty and security in business transactions.

Charakterystyka stosunku prawnego łączącego kapelana z podmiotem leczniczym w świetle przepisów prawa polskiego i wybranych regulacji prawa wewnętrznego Kościoła katolickiego

Author(s): Michał Ożóg / Language(s): Polish Issue: 21/2018

The aim of this article is to present the legal forms of establishing cooperation between medical facilities and chaplains with a view to guaranteeing patients’ right to pastoral care. The main research problem concerns defining the legal relationship between the chaplain and the medical facility in which he provides pastoral care. More specifically, the study aims to characterize the legal relationship between the chaplain and the medical facility taking into account the following types of employment: employment contracts, civil law contracts and voluntary work. The analysis is based on the dogmatic and, to a lesser extent, historical method. The results indicate that employment contracts are especially important in shaping the legal relationship between the chaplain and medical facility. The legal relationship between the chaplain and medical facility is general in character under Polish law owing to the fact that it is necessary to respect the institutional relations between the state and churches and other religious organizations. The specific duties of chaplains are defined by the law of their religious community, which, however, does not automatically apply in Polish law.

Wybrane zagadnienia dotyczące pozycji prawnej duchownego w orzecznictwie Europejskiego Trybunału Praw Człowieka

Author(s): Michał Hucał / Language(s): Polish Issue: 21/2018

The research goal is to reconstruct selected aspects of the legal position of the religious minister on the basis of the case law of the European Court of Human Rights. The analysis includes 33 judgments and decisions on the admissibility of complaints made by the bodies of the European Convention on Human Rights in 1976-2017. Based on them, it can be concluded that the ECtHR case law in this area is grounded in many years of practice.The religious minister as such has no guarantees other than those of any other person professing religious beliefs, but he benefits from the indirect strengthening of this protection by virtue of the guarantees of corporate freedom of conscience and religion. It is the autonomy of a religious organization that differentiates his position in both positive and negative respects. The autonomy of a religious organization is, in the light of ECtHR jurisprudence, an important component of pluralism in democratic societies, and it also includes determining the requirements for the religious minister. For this reason, the religious minister obtains strong protection against the interference of state power in matters relating to his appointment and removal from the office. The cost of obtaining this protection is a significant limitation of his personal freedom of conscience and religion, and indirectly also other rights while in the office of a priest, in relation to a religious organization. However, it should be remembered that the assessment of matters related to the performance of the office of a priest depends on the formal relations between a religious organization and the state. In the case of state churches, it is possible, for example, to submit certain church matters to state jurisprudence, and a religious organization can perform its self-limitation by shaping relations with the religious minister on the basis of a regular employment contract. As a rule, however, the ECtHR clearly indicated that matters concerning the religious minister lie outside the jurisdiction of the state and its organs. Nevertheless, the controversy surrounding the ruling in Károly Nagy v. Hungary indicates that the religious minister’s status may undergo some changes in the future.

Church-State Relations in the Democratic Republic of Georgia (1918-1921)

Author(s): Dimitry Gegenava / Language(s): English Issue: 21/2018

Democratic Republic of Georgia (1918-1921) was one of the unique states in the first quarter of XX century. Despite the historical relations between the Church and the State in Georgia, the social-democratic government changed its official policy and chose French secularism, which was very unusual for the country. This was incorporated in the Constitution of 1921. This article is about the Georgian church-state relations during 1918-1921, the positive and negative aspects of the chosen form of secularism and the challenges that the newly independent State faced in the sphere of religious freedom until the Soviet occupation.

The state, sectarian violence, and freedom of association in a secular context: the case of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria

Author(s): Abiodun Akeem Oladiti / Language(s): English Issue: 21/2018

This paper examines the interrelationship between the State, freedom of association and sectarian violence among faith communities in Nigeria. It specifically discusses the role of the State in maintaining peace, and the government’s official response to sectarian violence among religious associations. In modern African states, sectarian violence has been prevalent and deadly among religious group movements. It is deployed as the most preferred means of attracting recognition, affirming feasibility and proclaiming existence among other religious associations in the State. This trend is associated with the Islamic Movement of Nigeria. It is against this background that this paper historicises sectarian violence, the myth and reality of religious freedom, the interrelationship between religious freedom, the State and secularism in Nigeria while discussing the constitutional provisions of religious freedom and religious associations in Nigeria. The paper concludes that religious freedom and freedom of association are integral features of the Nigerian Constitution and, therefore, all religious associations are permitted to live in peaceful coexistence.

Sünnet Olma ve Kadın Sünneti

Author(s): Aynur Eryiğit Bader / Language(s): Turkish Issue: 37/2018

Circumcision is a surgical practice. It is usually practiced for male and sometimes for female in some countries; but female circumcision isn’t common in comparison with male circumcision. Circumcision was practiced by different communities in the past and was accepted as a religious ritual by these nations. Circumcision in Jewish is a covenant with Rabb and Jews so all jews have to circumcise their all sons. Circumcision in Cristianity is accepted as the spiritial cleanliness so they don’t do surginal practice. Cimcumcision among Muslims always is practiced to male but to female in somewhere not by all muslims. Because there are diffirent opinions among Islamic jurists. However circumcision is accepted as a good custom by most of muslims. As known that firstman who was circumcised the Messenger Abraham. After the Messenger Abraham circumcised his sons called İsmail and İshak with the command of God. Circumcision is accepted as medical for male according to most of specialist doctors but not medical for female.

Patrząc wspólnie w kierunku jedynego Boga

Author(s): / Language(s): English,Polish Issue: 1/2018

Jewish Anti-Christian Polemical Treatises in Early Modern Central and Eastern Europe: Where are They?

Author(s): Daniel J. Lasker / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2018

Jewish anti-Christian polemical treatises comprise a well-known genre in medieval Jewish literature. It is generally thought that these books were written in response to Christian missionary pressure. Yet, when considering eastern Europe in the early modern period, one sees that this genre is almost non-existent, despite continuing Christian attempts at converting Jews. An analysis of medieval Jewish anti-Christian writings shows that rather than being necessarily a response to Christian missionary pressure, many of them are part of the larger Jewish theological enterprise. Hence, such works are prevalent in areas where Jews engaged in theology – the Islamic world, Iberia, Provence, and Italy – and almost non-existent in northern Europe (Ashkenaz), where there was little interest in theology. This pattern continued into the early modern period, at which time Ashkenazic Jews still produced almost no anti-Christian polemical works. The most important early modern, eastern European anti-Christian book, the very popular Faith Strengthened, was written by a Lithuanian Karaite Isaac of Troki (died 1594), reinforcing our knowledge that eastern European Karaite Jews did not share the Ashkenazi intellectual ethos of their Rabbanite neighbors.

The Russian Jewish Question, Asked and Answered. Virtual Polemics Between Moisei Berlin and Yakov Brafman in the 1860s

Author(s): Vassili Schedrin / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2018

In the first half of the nineteenth century, Russian authorities had very limited knowledge of their Jewish subjects. The government relied more on its enlightened perceptions of the Jews and Judaism than on empirical observation. This situation changed radically in the 1860s, when at the onset of the Great Reforms era the government sought full and veritable information about all imperial subjects, including Jews, to facilitate the efficient policymaking by framing and answering Russian Jewish question. As a result, Russian language studies—written by Jews, Russian Christians, and Jewish converts to Christianity—on Judaism, Jewish history, society and culture started to appear. The article focuses on two such studies: Moisei Berlin's Essay on the Ethnography of the Jewish Population in Russia (1861) and Yakov Brafman's Book of Kahal (1869). Virtual polemics between Berlin and Brafman highlights fundamental differences between Russian studies of Judaism and Jewish life and classical Western European Christian Hebraism, namely, Russian scholars’ general lack of interest to the Talmud and to its alleged anti-Christian thrust, and almost exclusive focus on Jewish communal, social, and political institutes—kahal, chavurot (voluntary societies), beit din (rabbinical court) and others—and on their alleged anti-government nature.

The Translation of the New Testament into Hebrew in the Eyes of Franz Delitzsch: Philology, Mission, Theology

Author(s): Eran Shuali / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2018

In this article, I examine the way in which Franz Delitzsch envisioned his masterpiece translation of the New Testament into Hebrew, first published in 1877. I focus on the aims Delitzsch attributed to his translation and on the way in which the translation project was embedded in the wider views held by Delitzsch as a Hebraist and a theologian. Furthermore, I show how Delitzsch’s conception of his endeavor structured the translation work itself.

Oh, Bestia Synagoga! The Representation of Jews in Czech Sermons at the Turn of the 17th and 18th Centuries

Author(s): Daniel Soukup / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2018

The main aim of this study is to present how early modern preaching in the Czech lands shaped the image of the local Jewish community in Christian eyes at the turn of the 17th and 18th centuries. Bohemian and Moravian preachers, drawing from medieval literature, were fundamentally influenced by the traditional theological concept of Jews as a living witness to the Christian truth. At the same time, baroque sermons reused medieval exempla and miracula preserving typical anti-Jewish narratives. Due to the increasing number of Bohemian and Moravian Jewry at the end of 17th century, and the socio-economical tension between Christian and Jewish communities, catholic preachers pursued contemporary topics and criticized unpermitted contacts, allegedly leading to the inferior status of Christians. On the other hand, these critical notes usually were targeted primarily on Christian believers and their laxity in the observance of religious life, as well as ignorance of social hierarchy. Although the Czech Catholic sermons constructed the hostile perception of Jews, the preachers endeavoured to avoid vulgar anti-Judaism and partly smoothed popular anti-Jewish sentiments.

The Role of the Jew in Franciscus Mercurius van Helmont’s Adumbratio kabbalae christianae

Author(s): Sheila Spector / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2018

While the use of the Jews as scapegoats is well documented, less noted is how they have provided a pretext for exploring and writing about heterodoxical ideas that otherwise might cause problems for the author. A case in point is the Adumbratio kabbalae christianae, by seventeenth-century esoteric thinker Franciscus Mercusius van Helmont. Although ostensibly designed to convert the Jews, a close examination reveals that the text was intended to inform like-minded Christians about an esoteric mode of thought that, at the time, was repudiated by Church authorities.

„Ritual“ als epistemologisches Problem der (prähistorischen) Archäologie. Religionswissenschaftliche und erkenntnistheoretische Anmerkungen zum Problem urzeitlicher Religionen

Author(s): Alexander Rubel / Language(s): Romanian,German Issue: 1/2009

„Ritual” as an epistemological problem of (prehistoric) archeology. Religious studies and epistemological notes on the problem of prehistoric religions

Symbolic Functions of Salt and Related Similes in Oriental Curses and Blessings

Author(s): Iulian Moga / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2009

Salt has a polymorphic symbolic functionality that recommends it as one of the most impressive and effective symbols ever. Like many other basic symbols of a remote origin, its perception was ambivalent. Most of its symbolic functions derive from its practical features. It has been valued both for its corrosive and therefore destructive nature, and for its antiseptic and preservative qualities. And this is why its imagery was all the time positive as well as negative within the same type of cultural environment. For example, it was Elisha who cured the waters that made the land infertile with salt, while in other contexts in the Jewish or Mesopotamian cultural milieux, the salt waters possess negative connotations. In the epic of Enuma Elish, Tiamat, who was a personification of the salt waters, was threatening with the destruction of the newly begotten world and the gods until she was eventually slain by the god Marduk who split her body into two parts, subsequently creating heaven and earth.

Арабският свят и ислямът в културно-историческа перспектива. Изследвания в чест на проф. д.и.н. Йордан Пеев. Състав., [предг.] Павел Павлович, Симеон Евстатиев. София, Изток-Запад, 2017. 255 с.

Author(s): Nadya Filipova / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 2/2018

Book Review

“Verily, This Is the Sheepfold of that Good Shepherd”: The Idea of the “True” Church in Sixteenth-Century Polish Catechisms

Author(s): Waldemar Kowalski / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2016

The article discusses how the authors of sixteenth-century Polish Catholic and Evangelical catechisms perceived and analysed the notion of “the Church”. Following the Tridentine programme, the Catholic authors present their Church as unified under the Pope’s authority and the only inheritor of the works of the Apostles. The veracity of its teaching is testified to with God’s unnatural interventions – miracles. Protestant theologians teach about “the visible and outward Church”, which exists whenever the pure Word of God is preached and where sacraments are administered in accordance with the Holy Writ. Alongside the Visible Church, there exists “the invisible and inward Church” that unites all those following Christ, who is the one and only head of the Church.

Notes on the Role of the Basel Manuscripts in Sixteenth-Century Protestant Literature of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania

Author(s): Margarita A. Korzo / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2016

This study is an analysis of the text and sources of the Calvinistic catechism printed in the Nieśwież hymn book (1563), which was previously regarded as a compilation from Sz. Budny’s cyrillic text (1562). The given catechism is a revised translation of the most influential of the Basel Manuscripts, prepared by I. Oekolampad ca. 1525–1529 and edited by his successor O. Myconius as Institutio Christiana in 1544. The Polish version of the Basel Manuscripts reflects the progress of this dogmatic profile of Calvinism in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and the infl uences of anti-Trinitarianism in Calvinistic instructive and catechetical literature.

Always Faithful? Confessional Situation in Sixteenth-Seventeenth-Century University of Cracow

Author(s): Dawid Machaj / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2016

The article aims at showing in a new light the confessional situation of the University of Cracow in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, using sources omitted in previous research into the topic and thanks to a more detailed analysis of the sources used by other scholars (e.g., Acta rectoralia, university conclusions, rectors’ and professors’ diaries). The Academy of Cracow (as it was called then) was a Catholic institution, thus portraying the attitude of the university’s authorities to non-Catholics in a period of confessional struggle in Cracow and in the Commonwealth seemed promising. Another point was to analyse the possibilities for non-Catholics to function within the walls of the University in different periods of time, as well as to describe the most important events and regulations, which influenced the University’s policy. The author also tried to bring to light the subsequent stages of administrative exclusion (on various levels) of non-Catholic students. However, the contacts of the Academy with religious minorities in Cracow is a matter so complex, that it remained beyond the scope of the article.

Wyznania protestanckie na obszarze dystryktu podlaskiego

Author(s): Jan Mironczuk / Language(s): Polish Issue: 1/2018

The article is divided into an introduction, three subchapters, and a conclusion. The introduction explains the purposes of the study, and the terminology used as well as presents the source basis. In the first subchapter, a genesis of the Reformation in Podlasie Region is outlined, with a role played by Mikołaj “The Black” Radziwiłł. Next, a list of Protestant churches is presented in the district of Podlasie existing in 1560–1796, together with the vicissitudes of the Protestants under the protection of the Radziwiłłs. The study closes with a conclusion containing the answers to the research questions posed in the introduction.