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Diese Arbeit ist eine redaktierte Version eines Vortrags. Darin werden die Eroberungen von Alexander des Großen und die palästinischen Ereignisse in der Regierungszeit der Ptolemaischen und Seleukidischen Könige skizziert. Es wird hier, auf dem Grunde des 1 Makkabäer dargestellt, wie sich die typologische Schriftauslegung im Laufe des 2. Jahrhunderts nach Christus erneuert und verstärkt hat.
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Although the theme of eschatology is not at the forefront of baptismal theology, it plays an important role in it. It is referred to in both the catechumenal rites and during the baptism ceremony. This theme is particularly prevalent in the catechetical teachings of Theodore of Mospuestia (350–428). In the, he explains the process and theology of the sacrament of baptism and of the Eucharist. This article summarizes the most important elements of this teaching and indicates the moments during the celebration when eschatological elements seem to be particularly emphasized; it also tries to ask about the cause of similar practices.
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Religion is deeply rooted in man and his blood since many centuries ago. Still, it has been dominating man and his way of thinking and behaviour. Within the framework of human rights, religion is considered an inherent and individual right of the man. Therefore, religion is a very personal matter in man and his life. Within the Eastern Philosophical traditions, we can find a great thinker and the religious man who was not limited to the East and the one who spread that new ideal of the religion to the Western world. He is Swami Vivekananda. He was born in 1863 and expired in 1902. Within that short period, he did excellent contribution to the tradition of the Vedantic religion. To him, Religion is not just a talk and doctrines or theories, nor is it sectarianism Religion cannot live in sects and societies. It is a relationship between the soul and God. He explains that religion does not consist of erecting temples or building churches or attending public worship. As well as it cannot find in the books or in words or in lectures or in organizations. Religion consists of realization. Religion does not consist in subscribing to a particular creed or faith but in spiritual realization. Therefore, spiritual realization is religion. He said “I shall try to bring before you the Hindu theory that religions do not come from without, but from within. It is my belief that religious thought is in man’s very constitution, so much so that it is impossible for him to give up religion until he can give up his mind and body until he can give up his thought and life.” Religion is inseparable with a man and his life. Another thing is that it is within the man. Each and every one should understand God within their soul through self-realization. Religion is the manifestation of the divinity already within man. Therefore, it is not necessary to have doctrines or dogmas and intellectual argumentation. It is a realization in the heart of our hearts. It is touching God; it is feeling God and realizing that I am a spirit in relation to the universal spirit and all its great manifestations. In a simple manner, his way of understanding of religion is that man must realize God, feel God, see God, and talk to God. That is the religion. To him, material prosperity and wealth is not an important thing. However, the wealth of the spiritual thought is needed for the human progress. All the religions of the world together constitute one whole. For him, there existed only one Eternal Religion of which all other religions were only variations. Each religion has a special bent, a unique trait, some good points and this uniqueness is not the different buildings, languages, rituals, books etc employed in various religions, but the internal soul of every religion. Every religion has a soul behind it, and that soul may differ from the soul of another religion. Thus, all these religions are different forces in the economy of God, working for the good of mankind. All the religions of the world together constitute one whole. All religions are valid means to the same end. It is not necessary to change the viewpoint of one’s own religion. To enrich one’s life, one can accept some of the good points from another religion. Man and his true nature are already divine. But that divinity is hidden. Therefore, the realization of that divinity should be the purpose of life; that is the religion. It is the harmony of all religions so that it is one of best solutions for the prevalent religious conflicts in the world. This research paper will analyze Swami Vivekananda’s concept of universal religion and its implications on the prevalent religious conflicts in the world. In addition, the paper will try to investigate his views on the nature of a postmodern world where we can say ‘is there need for universal religion?’
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Marxist ideology, and later the practice of the communist state, denied the essential goals of education, making it an important tool for indoctrination. Man ceased to be the highest value, and was replaced by other values that were lower than him. The communist program of raising children and youth in atheism, without God, was an attack on all believers, because it impacted the future of any religion in Russia. The pontificate of John Paul II, the first Pope from a communist country, was important in determining the threat of Marxism. In the encyclical „Laborem Exercens” the Pope stated that “by the use of various kinds of influence, including revolutionary pressure, it aims to win a monopoly of power in each society.” (LE, 11). The fundamental assessment of Marxism was made by John Paul II in response to social issues posed by the so-called theology of liberation. This power reaches deep and is vast, because it affects the whole person, in all dimensions of his existence.
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The present article aims to analyse the issues related to marriage and family in Hinduism. A Hindu marriage is viewed as an individual and intimate union of two persons, while clearly emphasizing its importance for the entire community – the fate of the entire caste depends on the harmony of this relationship. Despite the importance of marriage in the Hindu tradition, in this society inappropriate behaviours are still continued. In particular, they show up at the stage of engagement and the related negotiations on the “height” dowry. Another ritual, still present in the community is sati ceremony. Despite the opposition of the authorities and humanitarian organisations, a woman often chooses to be burned at the stake, along with the remains of her husband, rather than live in contempt, as a widow. Except for the spouses, children occupy an important place in a family being a guarantee of the family’s continuity as well as the guarantee of permanent exercise of religious rites in veneration of dead ancestors.
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Either polytheistic, pantheistic or monotheistic religions, all resort to theology as the basis of their own religious discourse. Structured either on logic or on revelation the approach has always the same center: Divinity, as the source and companion of the human being in its existence.
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Throughout the years, the two cultural and doctrinaire worlds – philosophy and Christianity – have always claimed a series of principles aiming to be considered as “absolute” from the perspective of “defining the divine”, but also from the point of view of contouring the main characteristics of the world. The following lines intend to describe a historical moment when the meeting between the two doctrinaire spaces already mentioned above manifested itself in a visible seething manner while bringing to attention an extremely diverse conceptual landscape about the Neoplatonic philosophers’ attempt to demonstrate their own visions as compared to the Christianity’s.
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Our study wishes to approach, in a synthetic manner, the religious aspect of the poetry of Nichifor Crainic. This literary approach will be illustrated with a few representative poems from the poetical creation of Nichifor Crainic: Rugăciune pentru pace (Prayer for peace), Rugăciune din amurg (Prayer from dawn), Noaptea Învierii (Night of the Resurrection).
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Godianism is a new religious movement that emerged in Nigeria, a country of the African continent in the 20th century. This movement opposed to Western colonialism and the religious conception it brought. Godianism combined the traditional beliefs of Igbos, the indigenous people of Nigeria, with the new interpretation of Christianity. Thus, it has imposed its existence as a syncretic movement with the name first as the National Church of Nigeria and later as Godianism. Its founder K.O.K Onyioha is the religious leader of this movement. This movement has its own teaching, worships, rituals and festivals. Godianism has been a movement that defended the belief in a single god in a continent like Africa where there were many gods. The understanding of the creator and the great God has been identified by the names Godian or Chineke. This belief system has its own holy text and place of worship. Godianism inspired and adopted many worship and ritual from African traditional beliefs, the church construction and some religious practices from Christianity, and the beliefs such as karma and reincarnation from the Indian religions. Although Godianism bears nationalistic and regional motifs, it has been spreading with the claim of being a universal belief system. In this context, the aim of our study is to address this new religious movement in Africa in all aspects in the light of existing sources.Summary: In the historical process, some religious movements emerged as a reaction to the belief in the geography in which they were found. When these religious movements find supporters, they gradually turn into a system of beliefs on their own. Godianism is such a religious movement that emerged against the oppression of colonialists in the African continent. It sprouts as a protest movement in Nigeria, which has been under the British colony for many years. There are many reasons this move enables the emergence of. One of the reasons is that Britain has exploited underground resources and food products of Nigeria for years. Britain's long-term exploitation of the people of the country and especially the low wages of workers in the factory harass the indigenous people to run the local people. Igbos cannot accept to be treated as a slave in their own homeland. This situation creates a national consciousness against foreigners in the locals. Ethnic discrimination is another reason for the emergence of this movement. British white people think that they are privileged in the country of blacks people, develop a national anger among indigenous people. Nigerian indigenous people see the British exploiting and humiliating themselves as indignity behaviour. When protesting low wages, their rejection and killing is an indication of the extent to which this discrimination has come. The indigenous people of Nigeria, Igbos are not discriminated against for economic and ethnic reasons only. There are also religious reasons. Thus, they did not allow the funeral of the Igbos to be held in the church even though they were Christians, shows that they were also excluded from the faith. England, which established Christian churches through Christian missionaries and christianized the indigenous people was able to easily excommunicate the indigenous people for economic, ethnic and religious reasons by using the protests as excuse. In fact, Nigerian natives are a people of African traditional faith. Poverty and hunger caused them to turn to Christianity. In a sense, being Christian was an obligation for them. Being a Christian means bread for poor indigenous people. In this context, it cannot be said that the Igbos have embraced Christianity willingly. The deliberate exploitation of their own countries and beliefs may seem tolerable for a while, but the situation becomes unbearable. They cannot accept the exclusion of their traditional beliefs by Christian missionaries for hundreds of years. The killing of workers, preventing religious ceremonies in churches for their funerals, and the exclusion from the church, has caused a national and religious reflex in Nigerians. Thus, the National Church movement of Nigeria, which consists of a new interpretation of Christian traditional beliefs and Christianity under the leadership of the religious leader Onyioha arises. This religious movement, Godianism, is spread in many parts of Africa with a national consciousness. The increase of the supporters makes this movement open to the world. Thus, it claims to be a universal belief system with his own institutions and rules. Godianism becomesr religion that has founder, a sacred book, temple, teaching, worship, rituals, festivals and a peculiar moral movement that has a considerable number of followers in the African continent. The reason why it is syncretic is that this movement creates a new synthesis by being influenced by Christianity, African traditional beliefs and Indian religions. The discussion that whether Godianism is sect of Christianity or not is an indication of the extent to which Godianism is influenced by other religions. It is normal to have such an approximation in terms of this movement. Because it emerged as a reaction to Western colonialism and the Western understanding of Christianity. It is natural that the African Igbos, who were Christians for years, were influenced by Christianity in creating this new belief. Godianism inherited from Christianity so many things such as conception of temple, communion, marriage, funeral, ceremonies, churches and clergy building. The emphasis on Christ believe and the fact that the movement sees itself as the new savior of Africa and Christ is an indication of being influenced by Christianity. Godianism was a movement that advocated a single god belief in a continent where there were many gods in Africa. The understanding of suprime and creator God has been identified by the names Godian or Chineke.Considered as a whole, it can be said that Godianism is a religious movement or belief system in which different religious, cultural and moral elements are imbedded. This movement is syncretic as well as national character. The Godian movement, boasting its African personality, wants not only the African continent, but all the black people of the world to gather under the same roof. In this context, the aim of the study is to reveal the historical process of Godianism movement which has reached millions in Africa today, its reasons, teaching, worship, festivals and moral values. To know this belief system thoroughly will contribute to our understanding of the new religious movements in the African continent and other continents. Within the framework of the historical discipline of religions related to this religious movement, there is no study conducted in our country yet. Therefore, our aim is to address this new syncretic belief system in a scientific way in light of the available resources.
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What follows is but the attempt to draw the lessons from the mystical and visionary text of Teresa of Ávila in order to consider today issues that concern us, questions that are asked of Aesthetics, and not only as theoretical discipline that theorises on the arts and considers the beautiful, but as a reflection on aísthesis, of sensitivity, of the sensitive edge exposed by a constituent relationship which installs the human in a world. Consideration, then, of the happening, of entering the world, creative experience. This essay seeks to consider the relationship between the image and the body via the visionary discourse of the mystics, because their writings question and lend shape to a large number of formulae of thought that can help us better understand the questions facing us today. Let us imagine that the mystics made of their body a frontier or a support where what by definition has no place could take place. Place: part of space occupied by a body (Newton), the boundary of a containing object (Aristotle). This then is what is addressed here, a question of boundaries.
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The author in his article speaks of peace and other issues that are directly or indirectly related to it. The same question is not only seen as important for the state, but also for the church as a human society. As the different religions and nations live in the Balkans today, the importance of peace has always gained on importance. Peace in our Balkans has often been violated by our own, but also by someone else’s fault. However, as we have always been lacking in self-criticism, it was always someone else’s fault for our omissions and irresponsibility. Before starting to build peace, it is always necessary to answer the question of what are we to each other? If we are friends, let’s immediately start with building of peace. If we are the enemies, let’s reconcile and forgive each other, in order to begin the building of that peace between us as early as possible.
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In the late antiquity, a cult of St. Menas was widespread over the whole Roman world, and his sanctuary in Abu Mena was a centre of a bustling pilgrimage movement. In the course of time, a significant hagiographic dossier has been created around the figure of the Saint. The paper presents two basic texts which are martyr passions. The Greek text originated plausibly in the 5th century. It contains the version of the Menas’ martyrdom that was the most prominent in the Greek and Latin world. The Coptic text, although preserved only fragmentarily, shows how the vernacular Egyptian flavour and the tradition of the Abu Mena contributed to the Saint Menas’ legend.
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The article focuses on the special charisma of the prayer for rain in Judaism and its connection to the concept of Hasid exemplified by two stories that illustrate the charisma of praying for rain. In the centre of these stories stand Elijah and Honi the Circle-Maker, both possessing the gift of their prayers for rain being heard regardless of their way of praying. In the framework of Lazar Gulkowitsch’ (1898–1941) research on Hasidism and history of ideas these two characters, a prophet and a miracle-worker, can be seen in connection to prayer as two ends of the same concept, that of Hasid. The article follows Gulkowitsch’ elaboration of the special disposition of the attributes of the Hasid, its connection to prayer, miracles and attributes of Prophets.
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For me, as a teacher in a theological faculty, the discussion about ecumenical movement and interfaith usually crosses roads with colleagues or students. There is no occasion in which these two are not placed under the same roof, overlaid or confused. That is why the sudden preoccupation to settle this topic as clear as I can so that it can stand for a groundwork when researching about this relationship. Their overlapping is probably the most common hindrance and at the same time indictment for the DIR (abbr., interreligious dialogue) movement of its “least-connoisseurs”, namely that DIR is a new figment of promoting ecumenical globalization. After I myself faced in classroom students with these assumptions, I thought it is appropriate to add this chapter and explain why DIR is nothing of what the ecumenical movement wanted to be.
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This article demonstrates the importance of alchemical symbolism in Victorian fairy tales. Contrary to Jungian analysts who conceived alchemy as forgotten knowledge, this study shows the vivid tradition of alchemical symbolism in Victorian literature. This work takes the readers through the first stage of the alchemical opus reflected in fairy tale symbols, explains the psychological and spiritual purposes of alchemy and helps them to understand the Victorian visions of mystical transformation. It emphasises the importance of spirituality in Victorian times and accounts for the similarity between Victorian and alchemical paths of transformation of the self.
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Some scholars, following a deconstructivist interpretation of Catharism (which denies the existence of Catharism as dualistic heresy, or at least diminishes the significance of dualism as its distinctive feature) propose a hypothesis which assumes that Cathar dualism was not an idea imported from the East (from the earlier dualist traditions, especially from Bogomilism), but that it emerged independently in the West, later than it is reported by the sources, as an effect of specific scriptural exegesis developed in the dissidents’ schools. The main aim of this article is to verify, through the analysis of Biblical exegesis, this hypothesis, on which the myth of the fall – crucial for the dualist doctrine – was built. Based on various sources, both polemical and created by the Cathars themselves, it reconstructs biblical foundations of this crucial myth in two main branches of Catharism: the moderate and the radical (within the latter in two of its options: the angelic doctrine, and the doctrine of the two worlds), comparing them to the analogical exegetical concepts developed earlier by the Bogomils.
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Comparing the cycle of initiation rites in the Arrernte with initiation rituals in the desert tribes, we arrive at the conclusion that they are based upon an analogous symbolism of activities and ideas. The Arrernte initiations are therefore a transformation of the desert rites in which the ritual syntagmas are distributed differently. An example supporting this thesis is the use of tall torches of the witi/widi type in the circumcision rite instead of in the “proper” fire ceremony, the fact that they are not lit despite the presence of the symbolism of fire in the ritual songs, and the role of women in their destruction. The founding myth of the Engwura is at the same time a myth that introduces circumcision (Lartna), and both of these ritual activities are treated interchangeably in variants of the myth. The Engwura itself, as a fire ceremony, has to be considered the final and crowning phase of the initiation processes. It is characterised by the presence, shared with the Western Desert, of a symbolic complex in which a special role is played by the equivalence: adepts ≡ Eremophila ≡ torch fire. Due to the fact that use of Eremophila, on the one hand, refers to the symbolism of the monsoon season (the greenness of the plant) and, on the other hand, to fires of the dry season (the redness of the plant and associations with the emu), it constitutes an ideal operator for the initiation process.
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