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In the Christian tradition, it is necessary to express that the woman closest to Jesus after his mother, the Virgin Mary, is Mary Magdalene. It is indicated in the New Testament that she was one of the women who assisted Jesus in his mission and that the one who informed the other apostles of Jesus’ resurrection after the crucifixion. Although there is not much information about her in the canonical sources, it can be said that Mary Magdalene has a very important position in the early Chiristian community especially in terms of non-canonical sources. Hence Mary Magdalene draws attention as one of the main speakers in some texts from the first centuries of Christianity and including conversations with the apostles after the resurrection of Jesus. Yet more she is often praised by Jesus in terms of comprehending spiritual truths. Also in the sources of the first centuries of Christianity, it is emphasized that some male apostles were seriously disturbed by this position of Mary Magdalene and reacted to Jesus. On the other hand, we see that Mary Magdalene was depicted for a long time as sinful woman who later repented in the history of Christianity. Although the mistake of this understanding has been officially accepted in recent years, the true identity of Mary Magdalene is still an important subject of dispute today. Is Mary Magdalene the wife of Jesus or an apostle that he valued so much? Here in this study it is aimed to determine the place and importance of Mary Magdalene in the Christian history by comparing how Mary Magdalene is depicted in both canonical and non-canonical Christian sources.
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This paper analyzes and systematically examines the teaching of the Apostle Paul on man. In the first part of the study the influence of Jewish and ancient Greek anthropological teaching on the thought of the Apostle Paul is examined. The aim of this examination is to point out, on the one hand, that Paul’s teaching is primarily based on the Old Testament anthropology, while on the other hand, that it contains anthropological formulations which point to their Hellenistic origin. The second part deals with the most important anthropological terms: spirit (πνεῦμα), soul (ψυχή), body (σάρξ/σῶμα), mind (νοῦς), and heart (καρδία). By the investigation of these terms and concepts behind them it is concluded that in the Pauline anthropological thought man is neither spirit, nor soul, nor body, but a complete being, a psychosomatic one, composed of both soul and body together.
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In this article there are described fundamental ideas in cardinal Joseph Ratzinger’s / pope Benedict XVI’s theology of music. We begin with a description of the context of Ratzinger’s theology of music which is the faith expressed in the liturgy. The biblical and patristic sources of his theological thought will be described subsequently. In the next section the theological-systematic basis (christological, pneumatological and eschatological) of Ratzinger’s musical-theological thought is studied.
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St. Thomas of Aquinas was not only a formidable philosopher and theologist, but also he was a tireless exegete of the Holy Scripture. He wrote comments on the books of both the Old and New Testament. His exegesis has several traits. It is constructed around two fundamental rules: the analogy of Catholic faith and the analogy of Biblical faith. Furthermore it contains a typical to the Medieval exegesis – scholastic, patristic and theological lineament.
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Elijah, the prophet is undoubtedly a unique figure both for the Old Testament and for Christ’s disciples. His life can be served as a model for the evangelists of God’s word. Elijah’s virtues, like faith and devotion to God’s word made his mission powerful. They also strengthened his impression of being the genuine prophet of the Only Jahweh. Studying Elijah’s history is certainly useful for the contemporary prophets of The Only God.
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In the New Testament, especially in Luke’s version, paradise is perceived as a blessed state of being with Jesus and in this aspect his view differs from the Judaic idea of paradise as a joy-filled waiting room for the great events which are still to come. In Judaism those events, in which the prophet Elijah will play an important role, are closely related to the long awaited Yahweh’s Day. The ultimate happiness as perceived in the New Testament can be achieved only in relation with the infinitely loving God in the Person of Jesus Christ. This relation is the ultimate event for any human being because the very salvation is inscribed in it. The time and place of establishing this relation are not determined by some indefinite future or even by the moment of death, but they depend on the will and openness of the human heart.
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Zarówno sam problem sprawiedliwego podziału dóbr, jak i niektóre metody jegorozwiązywania były znane ludzkości od początku jej dziejów. Jedną z najpopularniejszychmetod było rozstrzygnięcie poprzez losowanie. Przytoczony wyżej fragmentbiblijnej księgi Jozuego stanowi jeden z licznych przykładów praktycznego zastosowaniatego podejścia. W samej Biblii znaleźć można całą paletę innych sytuacji losowegopodziału, choć powyższy opis należy do najobszerniejszych.
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In the paper, the Jesus' view on divorces is analyzed. Under the question was an “exception” which is derived usually from the clause “except it be for fornication” (Math. 19:9) and interpreted as a possibility to accept divorces. The phrase was put into Hebrew/Aramaic context of 1st century Judaism and Jewish mentality of the presumed readers of the Matthew Gospel (the phrase never occurs in any other book of the New Testament). Next, wide view of the Talmudic arguments on the divorce issue was given to understand what the Pharisees could have meant asking for “divorce causes.” The cause of fornica- tion (adultery) was analyzed separately as it was viewed by Jewish Law and rabbis, and then the Jesus' opinion was interpreted in the proper context. The conclusion is that Jesus even adding this “exception” never meant a possibility to accept a divorce under any condition.
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In my opinion there are a few themes which succeeded in receiving so many literary, artistic and even scientific analysis as Grail. A look at this reality is full of controversy and extremes. Everything depends on the point from which the reality is observed. Full of mystery tales of medieval knights became the reason of the attentive looking at the most important romantic novels of Grail. In these texts, it appears in various forms, hence came the question: What was the Grail? The most common answers are: 1) a container for a stained with blood, severed head; 2) a wide and fairly deep jeweled plate; 3) the dish of the Last Supper; 4) an object made of difficult to define material; 5) a beautifully decorated dish in the shape of the cup; 6) a cup filled with blood of the Savior; 7) a small stone. As a result of an error Grail was also called Sankgreal. So as we see among many answers to this question, there are very extreme opinions. They are represented by the work of two women: Jessie L. Weston from the early twentieth century and Janice Bennett written a few years ago. All these searches lead to two symbols: “the cup (of wine)” and “blood”. The reality, which we try to touch in this study appeared to us in a very complex form, both in terms of texts, which should have been analyzed as well as the source of the theme of Grail. Studies may be very different, and the results difficult to predict. However, the themes of wine and blood present in the descriptions of institution of the Eucharist at the Last Supper, became the guides in the search. It seems that something had to decide on the unique- ness of the dish that has focused an interest of so many literary, artistic and scientific works. In my opinion it was the wine which has been transformed by the Savior into His blood. This reality can be seen as a literary theme shared by many romantic novels of Grail. It could also be seen as the cult of relics of the Savior, as in the history of the Chalice of Valencia Cathedral. Invariably, however, it is still the extremely fascinating subject and let it remain.
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SummaryThe article discusses biblical archaeology from a generic viewpoint. How are we to understand “Biblical Archaeology”, or better still “The Archaeology of the Middle East”? What do we really mean when we talk about biblical archaeology? It is effectively the same as any other type of archaeology, but limited to a particular land and defined in a particular period of time.As regards scientific methodology, biblical archaeology is not different from any other general archaeology. The only distinguishing feature is the sub- ject of the research. These are: the biblical land - Palestine and the time - from Abraham to the Apostles. These are the narrow parameters. Obviously there is also a wider perspective.During the excavations one discovers the influences, dependences and contacts with other developed cultures of the Near East (Mesopotamia, Egypt, Asia Minor). These contacts made their mark on the culture and men- tality of the People of Israel and indirectly also on the Sacred Scripture.The same can be said as regards the time factor. The most ancient, at the time of Abraham, even if prehistoric, had an influence on the development of the civilization and culture and therefore on the language and idiom of the Bible.The post-Apostolic times (the Byzantine and Crusader era) are the conse- quence of the biblical times. They bear witness to the preacing of the Gospel. This means that biblical archaeology is not only interested in Palestine, neither is it interested only in the time from Abraham to the Apostles. It is interested in all the neighbouring states and in the times prior to the Bible as well as the more recent times.Biblical archaeology is not a proof of the Bible's historical authenticity, even when objects and structures that are mentioned in the Bible are brought to light. It not only discovers the biblical world, but reveals the world in which the Bible was written.An essential part of the article is the list of archaeological sites. The data for each site is made up as follows:- The modern name - frequently this is an Arab toponym (the name of the site at the time of excavation, its Arabic name) The location, The ancient name in brackets, The years of excavations, A general review of the findings: the periods identified on site, and de- tails of the most important artefacts brought to light.
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In the literary composition of the Letter to the Seven Churches of the Apocalypse, the central position is occupied by the Letter to the Church of Thyatira. Christ introduces Himself to the community of Thyatira as the Son of God and to this revelation, the remaining six letters' these representations refer to. In the letter to the community of Thyatira, the image of Christ alludes to craft work. The Son of God is revealed in this manner, the human face of Christ, who is similar to us and participates in our human existence; introdu- cing at the same time, a divine element: Hence the ones who joined their fates with Christ are invited to participate in the life of God, and, they must as well overcome this world's lifestyle, which is frequently based on compromises with evil. A symbol of this compromise is the figure of Jezebel and he who adopts this style of life, walks on the path of sin and is called to repentance by the Son of God. All people standing by Christ are free and the boundaries of their freedom were stated at the apostolic meeting in Jerusalem, in the year 49A.D. He who defeats the sin of compromise, with the world's deities, will be the conqueror and will gain full participation in the triumph of the Son of God; i.e. he will participate in His resurrection.Modern man has built his somewhat newer world of myths and also at- tempted to reconcile it with the faith in Christ: Thus the Son of God's call to repentance still prevails. Today Christ calls to us: change your way of thinking and living, you cannot serve the modern world's “deities”, who are trying for the sake of economical or social reasons, to deprive a man of his rightful digni- ty; or even to take his life if it does not correspond to the worshipped ideal!
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In the paper, the idea and the functions of Apostles is discussed in the context of 1st century Judaism. The main characteristics for the rabbis' disci- ples are presented according Talmudic writings and the documents found in Qumran. It was found that it was not customary to appoint ‘messengers' from among the disciples for any specific purpose apart of usual things that a mes¬senger could do in the name of someone who sent him. Since the word “apos- tles” appears only once in the Matthew Gospel (which is proved to be the most ‘Jewish' New Testament book) in the specific context, it could be considered as a remez (a hint) pointing out some important issue. In fact, three main func- tions assigned to Apostles by their Master, seen in Jewish context of 1st century discipleship, were the clear evidence of Jesus' divinity.
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The article analyses the figure of the Biblical King Saul in early French theatre. First, it considers various theatrical forms reworking the Biblical story in the dramatic mode, from the medieval mystery play to the dramas written in accordance with the classical rules, which show the protagonist on the verge of death. The playwrights discussed in the article particularly emphasize two aspects of the character: that of a father and of a king. In all the plays considered, the central focus is the spiritual drama of the cursed king, who questions divine justice, as it was often the case in ancient tragedy. Despite numerous versions, additions and sometimes significant changes to the original story, King Saul in early French theatre turns out to be quite a faithful rendering of the Biblical Saul from the Books of Samuel.
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The aim of the analysis is to present selected non-biblical intertextual references appearing in the novel Franz et François by the Belgian writer François Weyergans. They create a polylogue of voices coming from various areas of culture, e.g. literature (Gide), philosophy (Sartre, Camus) or psychoanalysis (Freud, Karl Abraham), and often taking issue with the world of traditional biblical values. As such these references illustrate well the process of individuation of the hero of the novel who, full of guilt, moves away from the Bible and from his father.
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In this paper, an attempt is undertaken to determine the genre of Wacław Potocki’s Nowy zaciąg, a meditative poem about the Passion of Christ, one of the numerous works that belong to the seventeenth-century biblical epic. In the literature on the subject, this poem is traditionally called a “messiad” or “biblical epic”, but in the epic tradition, there are no models for such a structure, stylistic and rhetorical conventions of narrative, and the way in which the epic action is developed in this work. The aim of this study is, therefore, to prove that classifying Nowy zaciąg as an epic is a mistake and to indicate the appropriate literary frame of reference, that is the group of texts which significantly influenced Potocki’s poetic thinking about the Passion of Christ. This referential frame consists of texts that represent not only meditative literature but also ecclesiastical oratory prose.
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The article deals with the ways in which the temple was viewed over Biblical times. First, the ancient, Middle Eastern concept of the temple as the mountain of God is analyzed; a place connecting heaven and earth, and also connecting the entire order of creation, and its connection with the person of the king. Next, similarities and differences between this concept and Old Testament’s perception of the so-called First Temple built by Salomon. Next, a new concept of the so-called The second Temple rebuilt after the Babylonian exile, whose ideological reminicescence is the description of the tent–temple (Book of Exodus) and the regulations regarding the worship and people participating in it (Leviticus). The new concept sees above all the sanctuary as a reality “on the road”, not related to a particular geographical location, much less any king. The essence of the temple understood in this way is to secure the sacred present in it and to enable its emanation on worshipers. This specific “incarnation” of the sacred is also reflected in the texts of the New Testament, where Jesus Christ appears as a new temple, culminating in the heavenly temple and the full participation of all the faithful.
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Pericope Luke 2:33–35, which is a part of the Gospel scene of Jesus’ sacrifice in the Jerusalem temple, contains the second part of the words spoken by Simeon. They are prophetic and foretell the fate of Jesus. The Son of God will lead many people to fall or rise and become a sign of opposition to them. The direct addressee of Simeon’s prophecy is Mary, whose life connects closely with the salvific mission of her Son. Therefore, as a Sorrowful Mother, she will expe¬rience suffering that will penetrate her soul like a sword.
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