Eastern Christian Spirituality and Experimental Psychology: Dilemmas and Interrogations in Building a Dialogue

Author(s): Smaranda Buju / Language(s): English Issue: 3/2016

The society in the 19th century got a science about man that meant the development and progress of the world. This gain brought along a big loss, too: negation of soul, spirit and spiritual life, of the relation with Divinity. It reflected in the moral and value crises of the modern and postmodern man. What else the experimental psychology has lost and what can be recovered by dialogue with the Eastern Christian spirituality are aspects developed in this approach.

LJUBAV, PATNJA, OPROST – SUSRET PSIHOTERAPIJSKE I RELIGIJSKE PERSPEKTIVE

Author(s): Ljiljana Božović,Ivana Vidaković,Antonije Aras / Language(s): Serbian Issue: 4/2015

Fides et corpus. Teologie aktu víry ve světle kognitivních neurověd

Author(s): Josef Mikulášek / Language(s): Czech Issue: 1/2021

This article aims to deepen the interdisciplinary reflection on both the act of faith and the Christian identity. The starting point is the contribution of the Italian theologian Pierangelo Sequeri (b. 1944), who theologically analyzes the deepest human interior called by him ‘the believing consciousness’. After presenting briefly his theory I will argue that the solution to this question needs to be broadened. The call to this task comes to us from the field of cognitive neurosciences. Its findings lead us to overcome a still present hidden dualism in understanding a human being. I am here seeking to analyze the theory called embodied cognition understood as an enlarged description of human consciousness. Finally, this approach makes possible to obtain a more realistic description of the concept of human habitus and its complexity.

Kazus (anty)duchowości behawiorysty radykalnego B. F. Skinnera – perspektywa psychobiograficzna

Author(s): Andrzej Pankalla,Agnieszka Wiatrowska / Language(s): Polish Issue: 1/2021

The purpose of the article is to show how the religious education that B. F. Skinner experienced changed his perception of man and the world, and ultimately influenced his abandonment of faith and directed him onto the path of radical behaviorism. Analysis of the available literature shows that the difference in the views of Skinner’s opponents (Joseph Wood Krutch, Tomasz Szasz, Ayn Rand) and his allies (Richard Dawkins, Daniel Dennett, Sam Harris) lies in their different upbringing and complex life experiences. Related beliefs influenced their understanding of spirituality and free will.

Bilimsel Tefsirin İmkânı Üzerine

Author(s): M. Lütfi Bozdoğan / Language(s): Turkish Issue: 18/2020

“Bilimsel tefsir” kavramından maksat, Kuran’daki fen bilimleriyle alakalı olan ayetlerin bilimin güncel verilerinden yararlanılarak yorumlanması ve Kuran ile bilim arasındaki mutabakatlara dikkat çekilmesidir. Tarih boyunca Kuran’ın bilimsel tefsiri üzerine yapılan tartışmalara bakıldığında, birbirinden farklı üç ayrı görüş ortaya atıldığına şahit oluyoruz. Bilimsel tefsir yapmanın doğru olmadığını savunanlar, bilimsel tefsirin mümkün olduğunu ve yapılması gerektiğini savunanlar ve bilimsel tefsirin belirli şartlar dâhilinde olabileceğini savunanlar. Kuran’ın bilimsel verilerle desteklenmeye ihtiyacı yoktur. Ama bilimsel verilerin Kuran’la teyidi söz konusu olabilir. Ama bu dahi kendi içinde riskler barındıran bir yaklaşım sayılabilir. Doğrusu, kâinatı Allah’ın kudret eliyle yazdığı bir kitap olarak görüp delicesine ve ibadet bilinciyle bilimsel araştırma yapmaktır.

Religija u diskursu savremenih znanstvenika – horizonti evolucionizma

Author(s): Nusret Isanović / Language(s): Bosnian Issue: 2/2018

Religion has become a major extra-scientific interest of contemporary natural scientists. The topic permeates the discourse of some of the best known names in comtemporary science, including R. Dawkins, J. Lennox, F. Collins, and S. Gould. These scientists’ attitudes towards religion range from the view that science and religion are mutually exclusive and in conflict through the view that they are discrete fields without overlap to the view that they have to respect each other, engage in dialogue, and cooperate. One may discern in these approaches a number of discursive types: conflictual, integrative, dialogical, pluriperspectival, and discrete. These discourses unfold within the horizons of the epistemological constellations of evolutionism, creationism, intelligent design, and BioLogos. This paper has two main parts. The first part includes a treatment of key issues for understanding the relationship of science to religion: the question of evolutionism and, consequently, the theory of evolution, its scientific status, and its reception by theistic scientists; the attempt to establish a universal natural scientific epistemology and responses to it; and questions of the stochatic nature of the creation of the world and the origin of life. The second part includes consideration of the issue of theistic evolutionism and its major characteristics, followed by an exposition of the views of Christianity or more precisely of the Catholic Church regarding the theory of evolution and an investigation of certain echoes of its theistic reception.

Islamsko sekularno

Author(s): Sherman Jackson / Language(s): Bosnian Issue: 1/2017

Obično se smatra da postoji inherentni konflikt sadržaja kategorije „religije“ i kategorije „sekularnog“. Pretpostavlja se da je ovaj konflikt u islamu, s obzirom da islam, po općeprihvaćenom mišljenju, ne odvaja sveto od svjetovnog, utoliko teži. Međutim, čak i ako se pretpostavi da islam odbacuje dihotomiju sveto / svjetovno, postoje drugi načini definiranja sekularnog u islamu i promišljanja njegovog odnosa s religijom. Upravo to namjeravamo učiniti u ovom eseju. U eseju će se, uzevši Šerijat kao polazište, posmatrati samonametnuta ograničenja religije, kao granica između načina procjenjivanja ljudskih djelā koji je zasnovan na konkretnim izvorima objave (i / ili njihovim ekstenzijama) i načinā procjenjivanja ljudskih djelā koji su neovisni o takvim izvorima, ali ne i nužno van Božijeg sudbenog pogleda. Ovo nešerijatsko područje, tvrdi se, jeste „islamsko sekularno“ područje. Ono je „sekularno“ utoliko što se razlikuje od Šerijata kao osnove procjene ljudskih djelā. Ono, međutim, ostaje „islamsko“, pa time i „religijsko“, po tome što odbacuje ideju da se ide dalje „kao da Boga i nema“. Kako ću pokazati, ovo razlikovanje između šerijatskog i nešerijatskog ima dugu historiju u islamskoj pravnoj (i teološkoj) tradiciji. Kao takva, ideja islamskog sekularnog više je „iskopina“ nego što je novina.

INTEGRITATEA ÎN CONTEXTUL LIBERTĂȚII DE CONȘTIINȚĂ - NECESITATE ȘI/SAU IMPOSIBILITATE

Author(s): Ciprian Corneliu Ciurea / Language(s): Romanian Issue: 1/2020

Moral uprightness is reffering to the whole ensemble of certainties, motivations and habits that have a firm ground in solid principles, norms and rules, historically and socialy determined, which are governing the way people are interacting and relate to each other, having as foundation one’s conscience and public opinion.In this article, following a short introduction, integrity is presented as a core moral value, seen from both an individual and public perspective, and also from that of the freedom of conscience. It also emphasizes some principles that should secure the moral uprightness in our post modern society.As far as the religious standpoint is concerned, the author stresses the fact the moral uprightness and freedom of conscience are both divine blessings, sacred gifts given for keeping in proper balance one’s self, necessary for having harmonious and fair associations with thouse that we live with and to grow lovesome liaisons with both other people and God.

ISAAC BACKUS ȘI LUPTA PENTRU LIBERTATEA DE CONȘTIINȚĂ

Author(s): Sorin Bădrăgan / Language(s): Romanian Issue: 1/2020

Although the concept of freedom of conscience had been promoted by Baptists since the early generations, Thomas Helwys in England and Roger Williams in the United States in the seventeenth century, by the middle of the next century there is full freedom în this area at least in the United States. In this context, the decisive contribution made by a tireless fighter for religious freedom, Isaac Backus, is to be acknowledged. We can speak of him as a true pioneer in supporting this cause in many ways, his work being crowned with total success only after his death. This paper will explore the way in which he developed the argument in one of the best known of his works, An Appeal to the Public for Religious Liberty, Against the Oppressions of the Present Day.

GENESIS AND BLACK HOLE UNIVERSE:THE FOURTH DAY

Author(s): Tianxi Zhang / Language(s): English Issue: 9/2021

Papers I through III has fully and self-consistently addressed the first three days of Genesis according to the author’s well-developed black hole universe model. In the first day, God created space and time, matter and motion, charge and fundamental forces, and energy and light for the infinite entire universe. Then, in the second day he hierarchically structured the entire universe by separating the matter and space with infinite layers bounded by event horizons and further formed our finite black hole universe. In the third day, God constructed the interiors of our black hole universe with planets, stars, galaxies, and clusters, etc. In this sequence of study as Paper-IV, we describe how God created our earth and solar system and generated lights including the Sun, the moon, and stars to give light to our universe and earth. The efforts of this systematic study on God’s creative work during the first four days bridged the gap between Genesis and observations of the universe and brought us a scientific understanding of the Genesis. This innovative interpretation of Genesis also strongly supports the black hole universe model to be capable of revealing the mysteries of the universe.

PHYSICAL OR THEOLOGICAL APPROACH TO INVESTIGATE THE SHROUD IMAGE FORMATION BY UV RADIATION?

Author(s): Giovanni Fazio / Language(s): English Issue: 9/2021

In this article, we ask ourselves if it is possible that Corona Discharge or Vacuum UV radiation may have been the tools to produce the Shroud body image. We are convinced that both are not appropriate mechanisms. In fact, the start of these processes is based on inconsistent hypotheses for the natural sciences, although all that follows is rational, reasonable and acceptable. However, the big initial mole remains. The complexity of this situation is such that it seems to be in a world in part Transcendent and in part Immanent. Therefore, independently from the possible results that in a next future could be obtained, due to identified photochemical processes, the Scientific Method cannot accept both the hypotheses and, consequently, the experiments. The same is also for the Theological approach which discards both proposals.

BIBLIOGRAFIA PIŚMIENNICTWA DUCHOWIEŃSTWA DIECEZJI EŁCKIEJ W LATACH 1992-2017 (KS. EDMUND PRZEKOP)

Author(s): Wojciech Guzewicz / Language(s): Polish Issue: 1/2020

The article presents the literary output of one of the priests of the Ełkdiocese, that is Edmund Przekop (1937-1999), representing canon law.

THE FIRST FOUR DAYS: A SCIENTIFIC VIEW FOR THE CREATION OF THE UNIVERSE

Author(s): Tianxi Zhang / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2021

The first four days of Genesis are scientifically interpreted according to the author’s well-developed blackhole universe model. From this scientific view for the creation of the universe described in the book of Genesis, God in the first day created the space and time, matter and motion, charge and fundamental forces, energy and light for the infinite large entire universe. Then, in the second day, God hierarchically structured the entire universe by separating the matter and space with infinite layers that are bounded by event horizons and further formed our finite black hole universe. In the third day, God constructed the interiors of our finite black hole universe with planets, stars, galaxies, and clusters, etc. And, in the fourth day, God finally created our home planet Earth and the solar system and made lights including the Sun, Moon, and stars to give light to our universe and Earth. This up-to-date explanation to God’s creative work during the first four days has bridged the gap between Genesis and observations of the universe and brought us a scientific view and understanding on the book of Genesis. This innovative interpretation of Genesis also strongly supports the black hole universe model to be capable of revealing the mysteries of the universe. This is a synthetic article of the four papers recently published on IJTPS to interpret the firs through fourth day of Genesis according to the black hole model of the universe.

TWO RESEARCH PARADIGMS, WITH OR WITHOUT „GOD HYPOTHESIS”: C.S. LEWIS AND RICHARD DAWKINS

Author(s): Alexandru-Corneliu Arion / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2021

In this present paper we try to learn something about how to cope with analytical investigation of reality, by comparing the ideas of two iconic Oxford figures. On the one hand, the renowned atheist Richard Dawkins, and the Christian apologist C.S. Lewis, on the other. It is more than interesting to know how to great thinkers of the 20th century can raise and answer to questions of life, such as Reasoned belief, the so-called „God hypothesis” or concerning our place and purpose in this world. Both Dawkins and Lewis see intellectual reflection on the big questions as natural and significant. Both insist that their beliefs – atheism and Christianity respectively – demand and deserve intellectual seriousness and are capable of being developed into larger systems. Lewis’s apologetic approach generally takes the form of identifying a common human observation or experience, and then showing how it fits, naturally and plausibly, within a Christian way of looking at things. For Dawkins, there is no room for faith in science, precisely because the evidence compels us to draw certain valid conclusions. He proposes an absolute dichotomy between ‘blind faith’ and the ‘overwhelming scientific evidence. Dawkins contends that a supernatural creator, God, almost certainly does not exist, and that belief in a personal god qualifies as a delusion, which he defines as a persistent false belief held in the face of strong contradictory evidence. An inevitable conclusion is that both Dawkins and Lewis are men of faith, in that both hold committed positions that cannot be proved right, but which they clearly regard as justified and reasonable. We must learn to live with a degree of rational uncertainty about our deepest beliefs and values.

CONȘTIINȚA CREȘTINĂ AUTENTICĂ ÎN RAPORT CU CONȘTIINȚA „PROGRESISTĂ” ȘI „SEMI-UMANISTĂ”

Author(s): Emil Jurcan / Language(s): Romanian Issue: 2/2020

We live in a world that no longer has the consciousness of eternity. There is at most talk of a horizontal education promoted by those who falsely call themselves „progressives” and „humanists”. It is a falsehood, because without that vector of his excelsior towards transcendence there is no progress, and to speak only about the material side of man, about his corporality, without talking about the soul, means to be only a semi-humanist. The mission of the authentic Christian Church is to make humanity aware of its transcendental vocation and call to Tabor. The church must remain on Tabor and look at the world with an agapic prosopon and through it change the world and return it to the conscious state of God’s creation.

Prezenţa şi circulaţia Noului Testament de la Bălgrad în judeţul Mureş

Author(s): Elena Mihu / Language(s): Romanian Issue: 9/2010

The New Testament was published in 1648 in Alba Iulia by Simion Ştefan. Several copies circulated and were used in Transylvania, in our small wooden churches. Among these, there are 11 existent copies and another 15 copies which are documentary attested. The copies that could be found are deteriorated because of their frequent use and because of their long journeys from one master to another. Yet, it is lucky we still have them to tell about their stories, about their journey and to witness the material effort, seldom significant, that was made for their acquisition

Ekologia w przypowieściach Jezusa

Author(s): Andrzej Jacek Najda / Language(s): Polish Issue: 1/2007

Jesus during His public ministry concentrated Himself above all on teaching. He often made use of parables, in which He used a variety of motifs and presentations from the field of ecology, in order to be properly understood by His listeners. Making use of ecological images Jesus describes the beginning, development and reality of the Kingdom of God, He speaks about the time already begun of salvation and God’s reign, about God’s goodness and mercy, about the situation of His disciples in the world. He also calls for repentance and for the bearing of good fruit.

Čemu religija u doba znanosti? Pristup iz perspektive sociologije religije

Author(s): Ivan Markešić / Language(s): Croatian Issue: 17/2021

Živimo ne samo u doba znanosti nego i u društvima znanja, svjesni da je globalno širenje znanosti i tehnologije omogućilo i zapravo dovelo do zbližavanja kultura i religija, a time i do zbližavanja društava bez obzira na njihova politička ustrojstva, do širenja sličnih pogleda u svezi sa socijalnim problemima, siromaštvom, neravnopravnošću, klimatskim promjenama, religijskim, ali i temeljnim ljudskim pravima, kao što su pravo na život, sloboda savjesti, govora, ali i pravo na čovjeku dostojanstvenu smrt.

THEOLOGY, PHILOSOPHY AND RELIGION REVISIT THE SHROUD IMAGE FORMATION BY RADIATIVE PROCESSES

Author(s): Giovanni Fazio / Language(s): English Issue: 15/2022

For some decades several scientists have claimed the formation of the Shroud body image by the radiative hypotheses. These proposals have as a start the emission, by the corpse wrapped in the burial linen, of proton or electromagnetic radiation with the wavelengths of the far ultraviolet. From a theological point of view, these hypotheses must be discarded. In fact, the above proposal foresees a transcendental beginning, followed in compliance with the natural laws, hoping to find a result that justifies their initial hypothesis. The Miracles are done only by God, the Omnipotent. Also for Thomas Aquinas, a Doctor of the Church, the Divine intervention is instant. Therefore a description of these transcendental events, step by step, it is impossible. In line with Theology there is also the Ockham’s thought. It is not a physical law but a philosophical razor that still enjoys great consideration in the scientific world. Used in the case of Shroud Body Image Formation, the “Ockham’s razor” does not agree with the radiative hypotheses. The same occurs with the Religion. In fact, reading The Gospels, The Act of Apostles and The Letter, we must accept the initial absence of image.

Relacje między teologią a naukami przyrodniczymi w kontekście edukacji

Author(s): Sławomir Śledziewski / Language(s): Polish Issue: 1/2006

Man, wanting to progress, must educate himself, the sense of attaining education is formed both by „the deeper desire in the human being”, which leads him to reflect on the subject of God and by the will to study natural sciences, which have permanently changed our way of thinking about the world surrounding us and about ourselves. In the process of cognition faith cannot take the place of reason, nor reason the place of faith, these are two ways of arriving at the truth, which must collaborate in agreement with each other, thus education should concentrate on outlining the relation between theology and natural sciences. Such complementing leads to the cognition and fathoming of the truth, and this, besides the attainment of wisdom, is one of the main assumptions of education.