Around the Bloc: Russian Patriarch Gives Blessing to Bombing Campaign in Syria
Orthodox Church head backs Moscow's ‘defensive war’ in Syria, as activists slam Russia’s alleged use of cluster bombs.
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Orthodox Church head backs Moscow's ‘defensive war’ in Syria, as activists slam Russia’s alleged use of cluster bombs.
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In the current education system the importance and role of didactics (general didactics/ speciality didactics) and the didactic methodology of the teaching-learning-assessment process are well known. Therefore, beside several defining features that indicate the didactic dimension, in the sphere of education we note a number of issues that require a multidimensional approach to the learning contents. In other words, given the "scientification" of the contents, in the current education system they can no longer be taught / assimilated from the perspective of a single didactics. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to explain, on the one hand, the idea of alternative didactics and, on the other hand, its role in the teaching-learning-assessment system.
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The Love of God experienced by the prophet Hosea (8th century BC) is closely linked in its description, which is contained in Hos 2,4-25, with the historical and existential context: Israel’s idolatry and the marital infidelity of the Prophet’s wife. In the face of this situation this Love reveals its spousal character. It is characterized by ‘jealousy’ – fervent concern for the relationship’s exclusiveness with simultaneous intolerance of adultery, the latter being connected with the dimension of justice. This aspect, however, is complemented by another: mercy – the readiness to forgive and do anything to save the unfaithful wife and to restore the lost unity. The marital Love of God outlined by Hosea will find its embodiment in the Person of Jesus Christ – the Spouse of the Church.
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The story of the Franciscan presence in the Middle East began with the encounter between St. Francis and the sultan. The Turkish sultans had their seat in Constantinople and for this reason there was a need for a continued presence of the Franciscans on the banks of the Bosphorus. During the period of Ottoman rule Istanbul was not only that largest Islamic city, but also the center of Jewish and Christian minorities. They were subjected to so-called millet. The capital of the Empire functioned also as the seat of the Oriental Patriarchates. The Greek Orthodox communities, taking advantage of the fact that their members were subjects of the Ottoman Empire, had many privileges. Competition for the possession of the Holy Places led those communities to begin a defamation campaign against the Franciscans, depicting them as usurpers, foreigners and enemies of the Turkish Empire. The defense and recovery of the Holy Places were due to the laborious action undertaken by the Franciscans and the Holy See. They asked Catholic rulers to begin diplomatic work with the Muslim sultans of Constantinople for the defence of Catholic rights in the Holy Places. This is a long tradition marked by diplomacy in various regions belonging to the Ottoman Empire.
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In his work entitled The Symbol Gives Rise to Thought, Paul Ricoeur accurately noted that a symbol is primeval in nature with regard to every process of thought, as something which is given. In order to take up the hermeneutics of symbols, i.e. to start thinking about them, one has to engage successfully in a complicated thinking process: first, it is necessary to set apart methodologically from among a variety of notions only those which are essential to the symbol (eidetics); next, one needs to uncover the symbol’s cohesion and wholeness (phenomenology), in order to analyze it and begin to think properly about it (hermeneutics). Ricoeur’s hermeneutic of symbols, described in this fashion, has become a contemporary attempt to find a philosophy with its four tasks: understanding, uncovering, criticism and theory. Ricoeur does not allow himself to be boxed in within the boundaries of pure formalism and statistics. He begins to look for sources in the most primeval experiences of man, including the so-called state of “pre-understanding”. In order to avoid dwelling merely upon inquiries and pure speculations, Ricoeur has made use of the symbolism of evil. Beginning from the first fall of Adam, he has shown how the demythologization of sense takes place in the mind every human being. Such demythologization consists of the transference of Adam’s fall on to every intimate human I, within which a constant battle takes place together with an endless process of choosing. For Ricoeur, life is a constant dynamis, a constant demythologization of symbols, an unending path between phenomenological examination and personal history, personal becoming. It is a philosophy thus outlined, understood hermeneutically on the way towards the sacred, which constitutes the foundation of Ricoeur’s phenomenology of religion.
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According to literature and researches in European society there is a fear of Islam, the intensity of which is usually inversely proportional to the average citizen contacts with this religion. Taking in to account the long historical experience of multicultural Britain we wanted to see how it looks like in this society. In 20132014, the Inter-Institutes Migration Research Unit, of Cardinal St. Wyszynski University in Warsaw, did a limited research in England: Attitudes towards Muslims and Hindus in the UK. Limited Study. For the purpose of this research 77 persons were chosen by “snowballing method”. They completed questionnaires prepared according to the Bogardus Social Distance Scale. We asked two questions: Are there any significant differences in our respondents’ attitudes to Hindus and Muslims? Can we say on the base of these differences that it indicates a fear of Muslims? We were interested particularly in the respondents’ attitude to Muslims. Their attitudes towards Hindus were needed only for comparison. This study is treated as exploratory research, that means it does not aim to provide the final and irrefutable answers to the research questions, but merely explores the research topic and shows whether it would be worthwhile to undertake a broader research.
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This article presents some psychological aspects of the move away from religion by young people in post modern society. The first thing I analyze is the need of religion, then religiosity as a factor that helps in upbringing, the practical aspects of religion, the basic psycho-spiritual needs of youth and the main attitudes and factors that lead them to turn away from religion. One of my explanations of the abandonment of religion by young people is my own conception of the so-called “filter”, which blocks and distorts human religious needs. I also introduce the term of the “inside key” and mention another of my own terms, “the need of anchoring (rooting)”, as well as defense spirituality and surrogate spirituality.
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The article deals with the problem of presentation the animals in the saints’ lives (hermits), i.e. the animals who are the participants of the miracles. The lives of the saints – one of the narration mode ofanimals along with the myth about birds and beasts, fairy tales of crafty animals, moral tales (apologues), medieval bestiaries, epic poems and satirical short stories of the animal kingdom. The analysis has shown that the animals presented in the lives of the saints are one of themost important mode of expression of the miracles that occur with the saint. As the result of the eremitic life of the saints, the animals become a society for the saint, the participants, sometimes the reason for the performing a miracle, as well as the catalyst for showing the holiness.
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Dante’s Paradise is the place where the soul arrives after having passed through the long path of sacrifice and difficulties which is meant to bring purification in order to be saved. It is the purged space of perfection and pure happiness, where the believers who have washed their clothes in the blood of the Lamb are in harmony, together with the angels, continuously praising the saving and triumphant Holy Trinity. It is the feast of the bog weeding, of the union between Christ and His Church, it is the divine Liturgy which is the union of the saints’ and the angels’ voices who worship the divine glory.
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From the first Christian centuries, martyrdom represented the most acute expression of suffering for the defence of faith in Jesus Christ. The violent death suffered by those who kept a firm faith in the sacred values they confessed marked the whole Christian world from East to West, and offered an example of infinite courage and above all an undeniable model of holiness. This paper is a research on different forms of martyrdom and the artistic expressions used in their visual representation in the Middle Ages, briefly recalling some of the most remarkable creations of Christian art.
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Religion and religious beliefs have continued to play an important role in the evolution of the ability to cooperate at the level of large groups. It seems that natural selection favors selfishness rather than cooperative tendencies. Therefore, we suggest that cultural selection was necessary for the evolution of pro-social forms of behavior. Cooperation is connected with conflicts, which are used to develop in-group cooperation. Here I show the possible impact of religion and religious beliefs on the development of an ability to cooperate, and to generate conflicts which are strictly connected with the possibility of in-group cooperation.
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This paper examines a few aspects of religiousness presented in various narratives offered by Polish authors of the Camino memoirs. The parameters that determine the individual dimensions of religiosity are self-confession, religious practices, religious knowledge, religious ideology, religious morals, religious experience, and religious community. This paper adopts an analytical approach to varied source material including literature and popular and scientific texts created by authors that walked the Camino de Santiago themselves.
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The paper deals with the evolution of votive offering from Antiquity to the present day as the expression of faith in God and divine thanks for a miraculous cure. Votive offering, asking / thanking for health and cure, is a thousand year old tradition still practised nowadays. Information collected by interviewing worshipers and priests in Lithuania was summed up. Unique stories of a miracle cure are provided. Votive offerings were analysed as part of our rich cultural heritage and the fine arts. The tradition of votive offering was viewed as the expression of a belief in miracles. The assumption that the placebo effect is present in a miraculous cure was made. The majority of votive offerings have an artistic value, being part of our cultural heritage they are deposited at museums, churches, private collections.
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The methodology proposed in this article is that of historical research, which is understood as the formulation or identification of a research topic, followed by literature review and sources’ collection, assessment of the sources in an order that is logical and/or chronological, information and findings’ synthesis, and finally the narrative exposition of the research results and the finding of a general conclusion that draws on the finds of each segment of the research. Regarding the formula “instances of kingship” in the title, the concept of ideology plays an important role in the current research as one of the premises of the study is that power relations are embedded in it. The term ideology is to be taken in consideration in its political meaning, which is why I have chosen the formula “ideology of power”. The premise of the current thesis is that political behaviour is shaped by pre-existing ideology, which is not always logical yet it holds great meaning for the society under examination. The concept of political power includes a suite of levels of analysis: the discussion of the transformation of power (whether it is conferred, delegated, shared or limited), the way power is exerted (either through consent or coercion), what power relies on (coercion or influence) and possibly whether it flows from authority, legitimacy, or right. The source to be used in the purpose of discerning the characteristics of royalty in Norway is Sverris saga, which represents a unique source among the kings’ sagas, since it is entirely dedicated to the rule of one king.
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