Peter Singer şi morala tradiţiei

Author(s): Teofan Mada / Language(s): Romanian Issue: 08/2015

Peter Singer is a philosopher and an ethicist whose works are widely published, being no less controversial. His ideas of animal liberation and biomedical ethics occupy an outstanding position both in philosophical literature and in the media. His views on infanticide do not enjoy in the media a notoriety comparable, for example, to that of his position on the issue of voluntary euthanasia, but constitutes a serious challenge posed to “traditional” morals. His belief that babies with handicaps have no right to life and, in certain circumstances, may be painlessly killed, are in opposition to traditional moral principles regarding children, considered powerless beings who need to be protected and treated with respect, whether disabled or not. This study raises Peter Singer’s ethical theory, with the analysis of his views on infanticide.

Roelof van den Broek, Gnostic Religion in Antiquity, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2013, s. IX i 263.

Author(s): Łukasz Koszałka / Language(s): Polish Issue: 35/2014

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Author(s): Joanna Morawska / Language(s): English Issue: __/2016

CONSPECTVS SIGLORVM

Author(s): Joanna Morawska / Language(s): English Issue: __/2016

ON BOTH SIDES OF DOMNIȚEI BOULEVARD: TWENTY YEARS OF HISTORY OF RELIGIONS IN BUCHAREST

Author(s): Eugen Ciurtin / Language(s): English Issue: __/2016

The introduction to this volume includes a concise outline and some evocative elements of the study of History of religions in Bucharest, in the worldwide context of the prior twenty years.

IMAGERIE MYTHICO-POÉTIQUE, PHILOSOPHIE ET RELIGION DANS LE PROÈME DE PARMÉNIDE

Author(s): Gabriela Cursaru / Language(s): French Issue: __/2016

Scholars often noted that in the Proemium – which is conceived as a myth – Parmenides borrowed certain themes from the mythopoeic imagery of the time. He uses stereotypes and lieux communs, proceeds by analogy, reinterprets a series of myths and symbolic elements, while unfolding a narrative that is his own. Far from being simple artifices, these semantic and thematic-figurative borrowings, together with the way in which they are employed in the poem, indicate Parmenides’s intention to break with the pre-existing tradition by articulating his own approach and the principles that underlie it. For the sake of discerning Parmenides’s relationship to the preceding tradition, I will examine in detail the mythical motifs that are discernible in the Proemium in order to establish their individual function, meaning, and connotations. Albeit without a doubt inspired by the discourse of the poietaí and other “masters of truth”, Parmenides nevertheless aims at an independent adaptation and reinterpretation of elements borrowed from the mythopoeic imagery. In this fashion and like a veritable “myth-maker”, he departs from the traditional paradigm and proposes a new approach that competes with the pre-established one. When not appropriating already existing myths, he deliberately created others to explain better his philosophical position. Namely, his approach is derived from an understanding of philosophy as quest for the absolute knowledge of a truth that is essentially divine. In this way, the noetic quest for wisdom comes to replace the mythical voyage, both corporeal and spiritual, to exotic places of mythical geography.

LES ANGES DES NATIONSDANS LE CHRISTIANISME DES PREMIERS SIÈCLES. CONTINUITÉ ET MÉTAMORPHOSES

Author(s): Bogdan Tătaru-Cazaban,Miruna-Irina Tătaru-Cazaban / Language(s): French Issue: __/2016

The biblical and apocryphal fragments referring to the “angels of the nations” have been intensively discussed by scholars in the fields of biblical studies and history of religions, but also in patristics due to the stimulating works of E. Peterson and J. Daniélou. The aim of the article is to review the main occurrences of the “angels of the nations” in patristic literature between the 2rd and the 6th centuries in the light of recent research especially on Clement of Alexandria, Origen, Eusebius of Caesarea, Hilary of Poitiers, Basil of Caesarea, Evagrius Ponticus, Jerome, John Chrysostom, Cyril of Alexandria, Theodoret of Cyrus and Dionysius the Pseudo-Areopagite. In order to understand the place of this significant theme within the development of Christian thought, we focused on the patristic exegesis of Deuteronomy 32, 8 and Daniel 10, 13-20, studying its main elements and changes at the crossroads between angelology, theology of history, political thought and the definition of the Christian identity in relation to other religions. The second part the article will deal with exegesis of Jerome, Theodoret of Cyrus and Gregory the Great on Daniel as well as with the book IV of Against Julian of Cyril of Alexandria and the Corpus dionysiacum.

KAIROS OR OCCASION AS PARADIGM IN THE VISUAL MEDIUM: NACHLEBEN, ICONOGRAPHY, HERMENEUTICS

Author(s): Barbara Baert / Language(s): English Issue: __/2016

A complex concept that even Cicero found difficult to translate, the Greek term kairos expresses an idea of ‘grasping the right moment’, which travelled through art, literature, and philosophy. This article explores the artistic reception of this complex notion in the visual arts by bringing insights from Nachleben and classical reception studies, iconology and anthropology together. The essay brings together the hitherto largely disconnected ‘textual’ and ‘visual’ research traditions about kairos in order to explore, more systematically than has been attempted before, the Nachleben of this motif in the visual realm with specific attention to the transformation processes it underwent (such as Latinization, re-gendering, etc.). As the figure of kairos has been interpreted variously throughout history, from antiquity to the modern era, this research line problematizes the widespread idea that iconographies are essentially stable and static.

THE DIVINE FEMALE AND THE MYSTIQUE OF THE MOON: THREE-PHASES GENDER-THEORY IN THEOSOPHICAL KABBALAH

Author(s): Moshe Idel / Language(s): English Issue: __/2016

The present study describes the emergence of a Kabbalistic theory of gender, as a development from the Rabbinic ritual of blessing the moon, that is based on a myth that describes the diminution of the moon. In the pre-Kabbalistic text and in the Kabbalistic ones, it is possible to discern three different phases in the cycle of the moon and the divine Female hypostasis: the equality of the Male and Female, and Sun and Moon, the decrease of the Female/moon and finally the renewal or the restoration of Her status. These three phases should be understood as part of one unit, and are presented as a model for understanding the status of the Female in the Kabbalistic school of Nahmanides and in his many followers, who influenced a series of later Kabbalists.

“IT WAS AN ACT OF GOD”: ON THE RELIGIOUS DIMENSION OF THE CITY FOUNDATION IN THE SELEUCID KINGDOM, IIIrd CENTURY B.C.

Author(s): Adrian George Dumitru / Language(s): English Issue: __/2016

The aim of this paper is to briefly discuss the religious context of the process of city-foundation of Seleucus I Nicator, the founder of the Seleucid dynasty. This has so far been viewed solely from a pragmatic point of view, encompassing political and ideological reasons, which were necessary as means of propaganda for a dynasty that needed to legitimize itself in the eyes of its subjects. This paper attempts to look at the religious dimension of the foundation of a city excluding the above mentioned pragmatic reasons and it should be noted that in the case of the six known foundation stories, Seleucus Nicator did consult with gods (in fact, only one, which is surprisingly not Apollo, the god protecting the dynasty, but Zeus), who made their will known through omens and miracles. A few case studies are taken into account, namely those of Seleucia in Pieiria, Seleucia on the Tigris, Antioch on the Orontes and Laodikeia on the Sea. The difference in patterns in the ancient accounts (Appian, Libanius, Malalas) are also briefly discussed, as well as the unexpected occurrences of human sacrifices in the chronicle of John Malalas in his accounts of the foundations of Antioch and Laodikeia.

CONCURRENT INTERPRETIVE CALAMITIES: MALE AUTHORITY AND DOMESTIC VIOLENCE IN QURAN 4: 34

Author(s): Isac Alak Alina / Language(s): English Issue: __/2016

There is a series of contemporary Islamic issues which cannot be solved by invoking the pre-modern exegeses or the classical Islamic jurisprudence, otherwise than, at most, by resorting to a strategic artifice of identifying minority and isolated perspectives from the tradition or through selective and forced reformulations of some canonical opinions. Verse four of Surah Al Nisaʼ | the Women chapter of the Quran is probably the most unsettling Quranic verse, at least from a gender perspective, its exegesis being an infallible criterion for the tracking of egalitarian or hierarchical visions promoted by various pre-colonial Islamic schools of thought or by contemporary Islamic orientations. The interpretations attached to this verse concretely and very decisively affect the Muslim women’s life, their right to self-determination and autonomy, creating the juridical framework according to which all the other rights and duties of women have been traditionally distributed. Although Muslim authors have argued the validity of certain egalitarian interpretations, relying even on pre-modern juridical and hermeneutic procedures, progressive Muslims have also highlighted the need to reconstruct the bases of the traditional exegesis and jurisprudence by including the non-Islamic knowledge, through the contextualization and a holistic-thematic approach to the sacred text, in keeping with the universal Quranic ethical principles and, simultaneously, the contemporary realities, suppositions and necessities, with a view to an efficient and productive reshuffling of the classical, and gender-discriminating juridical verdicts.

THE SONS OF LUCIFER AND THE CHILDREN OF NEPTUNE: THE ANTI-OTTOMAN AND ANTI-ISLAMIC POLEMICAL WORKS OF GERASIMOS VLACHOS

Author(s): Ovidiu Olar / Language(s): English Issue: __/2016

The aim of the present paper is to take a closer look at the anti-Ottoman and anti-Islamic stance of the 17th century Greek scholar Gerasimos Vlachos by analysing and placing in its context an encomium entitled Trionfo del Illustrissimo et Eccelentissimo Signor Alvise Mocenico Secondo Procurator di San Marco et Dignissimo Capitan General da Mar. Hastily recorded by Nestor Camariano and rarely mentioned in passing by the scholars dealing with Vlachos, this text is part of one of the Greek manuscripts of the Library of the Romanian Academy in Bucharest – BAR ms. gr. 889. Including (mainly) homilies preached in Candia between October 1649 and May 1650, the codex counts among the oldest autographs of “padre Don Girassimo Vlacho Greco di Creta predicatore”. Delivered on November 25, 1649, after the sermon concluding the liturgy of the day, in the monastery of Saint Catherine in Candia, a dependency of the monastery with the same name from Mount Sinai, the encomium of Alvise Mocenigo celebrates the successful defence of the vital Martinengo cavalier of Candia during the first stages of the Cretan War (July – August 1649). Therefore, one is offered the possibility to look into the earliest depiction by Vlachos of the Ottoman Empire and of Islam, to see how (if ever) his opinion on the topic evolved over time.

ZUR EINORDNUNG VON ARSENIE BOCA (1910-1989 ) IN DER RUMÄNISCHEN RELIGIONSGESCHICHTE

Author(s): Ionuţ Daniel Băncilă / Language(s): German Issue: __/2016

A very popular spiritual figure nowadays in Romania, Arsenie Boca’s theological profile is rather seldom addressed. The main aim of this short contribution is to question the place Arsenie Boca has in Romanian religious history of the 20th century, by tracing the main topics of his theological teaching and the figures which mostly inspired it, among his teachers and friends. Apart from the fact that most of his works are occasional writings, there are hints that show Arsenie Boca aimed to account theologically for a total anthropology, as a theoretical framework which would do justice to the biological (and genetic) conditioning of man as well as to the spiritual strive towards God. This vision he could confront with the Patristic/philokalic anthropology he was working on in order to make it accessible to a wider Romanian public. This original synthesis – a rather original bioethics – was never fully articulated as such, yet it can be regarded as the main theological legacy of his work.

KARMA ACCOUNTS ANEW: REJOINDER TO RELIGION 43.4 (2013)

Author(s): Eugen Ciurtin / Language(s): English Issue: __/2016

In the footsteps of two contributions previously published in Religion 43 (2013) by Jens Schlieter and the present writer, this note discusses auxiliary Indic evidence instrumental in shaping a largely misunderstood fiscal imagery of deeds e.g. as rna (debt), kusīda (usury) and even karman as palpable cash money in a post-ascetic context.

INTRODUCERE LA EDIȚIA SANSKRITĂ ȘI TRADUCEREA ÎN ROMÂNĂ A GHERAṆḌA-SAṀHIT

Author(s): Vlad ȘOVĂREL / Language(s): Romanian Issue: __/2016

In this paper, conceived as a short introduction to the Romanian translation of the Gheraṇḍa-saṁhitā – a Haṭha-yoga text attributed to Gheraṇḍa (cca 17th century AD) – we are, on one hand, offering a brief overview of the major late medieval Yoga schools (Mantra-°, Laya-°, Haṭha-° and Rāja-yoga), with a focus on Haṭha-yoga, and on the other hand giving a careful description of the subject matter from within the seven chapters of the book in comparison with some of the most important Yoga texts (Yoga-sūtra, Haṭha[yoga]-pradīpikā, Śiva-saṁhitā, Gorakṣa-śataka, Dattāteyayoga-śāstra, etc.). Our effort was to give a text-based-tool in understanding Gheraṇḍa-saṁhitā for both the neophyte and the scholar.

EINE AUFGABE DER VERGLEICHENDEN MANDÄISTIK: DIE EDITION DER MANDÄISCHEN ASTROLOGISCHEN TRAKTATE

Author(s): Ionuţ Daniel Băncilă / Language(s): German Issue: __/2016

The aim of this note is to briefly delineate the task of editing the Mandaean astrological treatises along the lines set by researches nearly 70 years ago as well as according to new scientific insights.

THE ABBOT’S SEXUAL “RIGHT” IN PRE-MODERN ROMANIAN AND OTHER EUROPEAN CULTURES

Author(s): Oișteanu Andrei / Language(s): English Issue: __/2016

The author reviews the illicit sexual manifestations which happened (and may still happen) in the monastic and priestly milieu. It is a road which goes from asceticism to sin and even profanation. This concerns especially the pre-modern period in the Romanian and European space. Many Romanian abbots thought and behaved like alpha males on their monastic domain. The abbot would often use his “lord’s” role, deeming that he was owed the sexual “right of the lord” (including ius primae noctis), especially over young Gypsy women slaves on the monastic domain. This paper also analyses the way in which women were (are) discriminated against and marginalized within the Abrahamic consecrated spaces (synagogues, churches, and mosques).

GHIAURUL, NOBILUL SĂLBATIC, ŢIGANUL, ÎNTRE BYRON, ROUSSEAU ȘI PUŞKIN: ANTROPOLOGIA ILUMINISTĂ ȘI PREFAȚA LA UN STEREOTIP

Author(s): TUDOR Ciprian / Language(s): Romanian Issue: __/2016

In this article, the author addresses a topic hardly understood previously, despite the resonance of its literary canonical names. Since the foundational publication and rapid translation and circulation of Heinrich Moritz Gottlieb Grellmann’s Dissertation on the Gypsies, Being an Historical Enquiry concerning the Manner of Life, The OEconomy, Customs and Conditions of these People in Europe, and their Origin (London, 1787), early grand examples of a Romantic image of the gypsy interacted in producing the background of Pushkin’s unpublished Preface to his poem The Gypsies. In analyzing anew the Western European, Bessarabian and Russian sources, this contribution tries to unfold the early production of a long-lasting stereotype, combining the methods of sociology, cultural studies, and the history of (religious) ideas.

BUCAREST OFFRE L’AVANTAGE D’UN APOSTOLAT INTELLECTUEL IMMÉDIAT ET FÉCOND: UN DECENIU DIN ISTORIA INSTITUTULUI FRANCEZ DE STUDII BIZANTINE (1937-1947)

Author(s): Ionuţ-Alexandru Tudorie / Language(s): Romanian Issue: __/2016

After a prolific four decades having Istanbul as their home base (1895-1937), the intolerant climate that engulfed Turkey forced the small team of Échos d’Orient editors to leave “the second Rome” (Constantinople/Istanbul) and seek refuge elsewhere. After considering few other options, in May 1938 the French Institute of Byzantine Studies (Institut Français d’Études Byzantines) was inaugurated in the so-called le petit Paris, Bucharest. Although this institution spent only ten years in Romania (1937-1947), it left a deep imprint on the academic circles (Romanian Academy, University of Bucharest, Institute of Universal History, Institute of Balkan Studies and Research, Romanian Numismatic Society, to mention only few examples). Unfortunately, for the French scholars of the Assumptionist community, headquartered at Christian Tell 18B, the rise of the Communist regime came along with their arrest and subsequent forced departure to France (October-November 1947). This article is an attempt to trace their academic close links with Romanian intelligentsia, and also their cultural and political involvement during the World War II and afterwards as these were portrayed in published materials and several unedited documents from different private and special/institutional archives, from Bucharest, Paris and Rome.

IN SEARCH OF AN OLDER GIANT

Author(s): MARIN-BARUTCIEFF Silvia / Language(s): English Issue: __/2016

IN SEARCH OF AN OLDER GIANT. Review article of Otto-Hubert KOST, Christophorus. Seine Herkunft und sein Dienst, Mainz: Patrimonium Verlag, 2015. The present article aims to examine the last book of the late lamented Otto-Hubert Kost, esteemed German scholar in the academic study of religions, and his contribution related to the hagiography of Saint Christopher. His input regarding the connections among the passion of Christopher, the Golden Legend and the Hurritic and Old-Syriac legends will be analyzed from a comparative perspective. The paper will also consider selected European iconographic references associated to the research of Otto-Hubert Kost.