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The Problem of Suffering in the Holy Scripture. Suffering is one of the universal problems of mankind. Generally saying, everybody suffers to some extent in a part of his or her life. Corporal suffering has a great influence ont he state of mind, and vice versa. We are searching the reason, the purpose the suffering in human experience, in philosophy and in the same way in the Holy Scripture. In this study the author makes an attempt to lighten the answers of the Bible in the following problems: the different kinds of suffering, the origin and the purpose of it, the problem of the substitute suffering, the Servant of the Lord, the sufferings of Christians and of the Church, the human behaviour under suffering, the blessing of it; the suffering, which leads to death and finally: the suffering in the salvation counsel of God. The conclusion of the study is the following: suffering may be probation or an educational instrument of the Lord’s, which is included in his eternal plan of salvation. The blood of Christ purifies us from every sin, but in this earthly life we need the permanent purificatory work of God as long so as to reach we will be transformed to the similitude of the Son of God.
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Der Fragenkreis der Erinnerung und des Vergessens wird in der Heiligen Schrift – abgesehen von einigen Ausnahmen – nicht in seiner psychologischen Bedeutung dargestellt. Alle mit der Erinnerung und dem Vergessen verbundenen menschlichen Tätigkeiten, die zwar anthropologischen Charakter haben, sind Glaubenstätigkeiten, die ihren Sinn in der Gott – Mensch-Beziehung erhalten. Die Aufforderung zur Erinnerung ist ein solcher Befehl, der die Tätigkeit des jeweiligen Christen bestimmen muss. Die Erinnerung ist die Ausübung des Glaubens: in Demut, Gebet, Gastfreundlichkeit, Diakonie, Liebe und Achtung einander gegenüber. Sie ist die missionarische, seelsorgerliche und kathechetische Aufgabe einer Fest begehenden Gemeinde. Sie ist ein ethischer Imperativ, doch reicht sie über alle Moraltätigkeiten hinaus, weil sie ihren Sinn und Inhalt nicht von den menschlichen Beziehungen, sondern vom ewigen Gott erhält. Was in der Glaubenssprache Erinnerung heißt, das ist in der Sprache der Ethik: Tat. Was in der Sprache des Glaubens Vergessen heißt, das nennt man in der Ethik Selbstopferung und Demut. Was in der Sprache der Ethik Erinnerung ist, das wird in der Sprache des Glaubens Erkennung der Gnade genannt. Was in der Sprache der Ethik Vergessen heißt, das bedeutet in der Sprache des Glaubens, dass wir uns selbst und Gott für nichts achten.
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Kornelis Heiko Miskotte, geboren 1894 in Utrecht. Dort studierte er auch Theologie. Pfarrer in der Niederländischen Reformierten Kirche, zuletzt (1938–1945) in Amsterdam. 1945–1959 Professor für Dogmatik und biblische Theologie an der Universität von Leiden. Wichtigere Werke: Das Wesen der jüdischen Religion, Edda und Thora, Biblisches ABC. Sein Hauptwerk ist: Wenn die Götter schweigen. Über den Sinn des Alten Testaments (1959). Er starb 1976. In seinem Buch: »Biblisches ABC« spricht Miskotte davon, daß wir unsere eigenen Urworte beim Lesen der Bibel mit hineinbringen, obwohl diese unsere Urworte in der Schrift überhaupt nicht vorkommen. Diese Worte sind: Ewigkeit, All, Natur, Religion, Persönlichkeit, Tugend und Ideal. Unsere europäische, vom Christentum geprägte Kultur ist, im Grunde genommen unbiblisch. Diese unsere Urworte beinhalten nämlich alle ein gründliches Missverständnis dessen, was die Bibel uns in ihren Worten ans Herz legen will. Nach Miskotte dienen sie nur dazu „den Abgrund des Grenzenlosen zu camouflieren“. Sie versuchen die Erfahrung der Grenzenlosigkeit zu verdrängen. Es ist das Lebensgefühl der Neuzeit: grenzenlos ist die Freiheit, alles zu können, alles zu dürfen. Unsere auf diese Worte gebaute Kultur hat es in sich nihilistisch zu werden, zu erkennen, dass im Grund alles nichts, umsonst, sinnlos und ziellos ist. Diese Erkenntnis ist für Miskotte grundlegend, er hat diesen Nihilismus selber immer wieder zutiefst erfahren. So wie er selber erfahren hat, dass nur uns eins aus diesem Nihilismus befreien kann: das Wort, das in den Urworten der Bibel bezeugt wird, der Name, mit dem Gott sich uns zu erkennen gibt: ich bin da, ich bin mit euch. Dies in allen Tonarten zu verkündigen ist der Kern der Theologie von Miskotte.
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Der niederländische Theologe, Kornelis Heiko Miskotte ist einer der einflussreichsten Theologen seiner Zeit gewesen, der die Theologie Karl Barths auf eigenständige Weise bearbeitet und weitergedacht hat. Seine Theologie ist auch heute eine Quelle der Impulse für den modernen Theologen. Die vorliegende Studie hat sich als Ziel gesetzt, die Theologie Miskottes, wenigstens in ihren Hauptlinien darzustellen, bzw. deren Konsequenzen für die ungarische reformierte Theologie aufzuzeigen. Die Arbeit gleidert sich in drei Teile und eine Einleitung. In der Einleitung sagt der Verfasser, warum er der Meinung ist, daß die Theologie Miskottes heute noch relevant und wichtig für die Menschen des 21. Jahrhunderts sei. In dem ersten Teil wird versucht einen „theologischen Lebenslauf“ Miskottes aufzuzeigen, mit biographischen Angaben und Zitaten aus seinen Tagebüchen gestützt auf die Arbeit seines Sohnes über den Vater. In dem zweiten Teil werden die wichtigsten Themen der Theologie Miskottes in einer subjektiven Auswahl gezeigt. Die hier behandelten Themen sind: Der Name, die Religion, die drei Hauptypen der religiösen Menschen und in einem letzten Abschnitt die Themen: Kultur, Zeit, Bewusstsein, Offenbarung. In dem letzten Teil der Arbeit wird versucht das zu zeigen, worauf die Theologie Miskottes die ungarische reformierte Theologie aufmerksam machen kann. Dabei wird besonders Wert auf die Tatsache gelegt, dass Miskotte ein beliebter kirchlicher Theologe gewesen ist, der in seine wissenschaftliche Arbeit immer die Praxis vor Augen hielt. Es wird auch hervorgehoben, dass die systematische Theologie ihre Aussagen nicht als absolut geltende ansehen kann, sondern sie müssen immer mit den biblischen Grundstrukturen im Einklang sein. Der Theologe soll keine metaphysischen Urworte, oder Urbegriffe suchen, sondern auf die Offenbarung schauen. Theologie bedeutet auch Verpflichtung, auf Wahrheit und Methode. Miskottes Theologie erinnert die heutigen Leser und Leserinnen an die Frage wie sich die Kirche zur Kultur verhält. In der ungarischen reformierten Kirche hat die Kultur eine bedeutende Rolle. Die ermahnende Frage Miskottes Theologie ist, wie sich Kirche und Theologie zur Kultur verhalten. Auch die Schönheit muss im Lichte der Wahrheit gesehen werden. Als Endergebnis dieses Themenkreises wird es anhand der These Eberhard Jüngels formuliert, was uns auch zum Weiterdenken anregt.
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The Missiological [re]Interpretation of Abraham’s Offering, As a Potential Paradigm-Shift in [post]Modern Philosophical and Theological Reasoning. Consideration has to be taken in new view of the striking and in many ways mysterious and scandalous narrative of Abraham’s offering his son, Isaac on the mountain of Moriah. It was with Kierkegaard that this Old Testament story came to the forefront of philosophical investigations. The Danish philosopher marvelled on the obedience of the Patriarch in not even wavering (although certainly accepting the deadly burden of the angst which entails this action) to act without really understanding why Yahweh has asked for such a terrible sacrifice. Abraham is eulogized as the ‘knight of faith’, but Levinas has a different view of the story, more closely of the ‘Kierkegaardian Abraham,’ and as such opts more for a kind of ‘knight of action’ in a responsible undertaking of compassion and empathy toward the Other human being, and of the act of looking into the God-given image of the Other One. Thus he seems to put the emphasis on the second part of the narrative when God’s Angel intervenes and Levinas marvels (and opts) for this second kind of obedience based on a second Word coming from the same Yahweh, which, curiously enough, could not take Abraham by surprise, despite the seemingly contradictory demand of the God of Israel this time. In Levinas we face the embodiment of concern and responsibility as the ultimate ethical demand, when the father looks into the face of his son, and the face of the Other, as that of Abel and tells him: “Thou shalt not kill!” This inherent ‘categoricus imperativus’ reflecting on the human face of the Other is the ethical stage, and Levinas criticised Kierkegaard for replacing this ethical stage illegitimately by the religious one. The uncritically embraced neo-Kantian patterns are still lurking with both philosophers, despite the post-modern claims made especially by Levinas. The story still serves as a paradigm-shift taking place at the borderline of modernity and postmodernity, which of course will survive for long concomitantly in contemporary reasoning and in ongoing moral debates both locally (I am critically evaluating to some extent in this study Tavaszy’s philosophy as well on the matter as it emerged locally), as well as globally. Yet, the interpretation of the ‘akkedah’ of Abraham seems not to be near of completion neither with neo-Kantians and existentialists, nor with theological hermeneutics listed above. The narratives of the Moriah event, as well as the whole Genesis context of it, and beyond, the whole Old Testament-context of the Abrahamic Covenant serves us with a new missiological challenge, as Abraham and successively Israel, and finally the Messiah-Seed plays the role of a ‘missionary priesthood’ in order to bring all the nations under the blessings of salvation promised to Abraham exclusively and fulfilled through him inclusively in the whole world. After twenty centuries of Systematic theology engaging itself exclusively in a dialogue only with Western philosophy, the post-modern age might be in due time kept opened up at last to a different kind of dialogue, such as with missiology. The challenge of a new paradigm-shift emerging out of this dialogue is expected to determine the theology of mission in order to become the very mission of theology itself. That impulse would bring Christian theology and theistic ethics back again to its real and primordial state.
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The author analyzes the relation of the Eucharist and reconciliation through one of the well-known writings of the Early Church – The Lord’s Teaching to the Nations Through the Twelve Apostles. Christianity has evolved from Judaism, and despite many differences there are still numerous similarities, overlaps as the feast, liturgy, prayer, Holy Communion and the renewal of the covenant. The meaning and content of the Eucharist went through several changes during the history of the Church, and differences of opinion on this point exist even in our days. The Eucharist is an important part of Christian faith which lives in the Parousia, through this Christians are in ongoing relation with the resurrected Lord. As a result of the reconciliation of Christ, the participation of Christians in the Eucharist enforces their relation to each other. The strong relationship between the Eucharist and reconciliation is clearly stated in the 8th verse of the 4th chapter of the Didaché: “for if ye are partakers in that which is immortal, how much more in things which are mortal”.
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The origin of sin is a universally commonly discussed problem of theology. It can be clarified only from the original texts of the Bible. There we find a clear answer by its diverse teachers: Sin originates from bodily desires. In our terminology, bodily desires are the biological instincts. In the animal world instincts are specifically restricted. They are only active in necessary times and conditions; they assurae the harmony of nature. Man’s instincts are free; they are always active and biologically unrestricted. The millionaire works for more money, women are able and ready to copulate even while being pregnant, the lust for power is limitless, and even world domination can not fulfil it. Remaining uncontrolled, instincts can destroy all human societies. They must be controlled morally. Man is personally responsible to keep them under God-given moral control. That is the dignity and tragedy of being human. Instincts are biological forces, morally neutral, but by nature self-centered. Godgiven morals are always altruistic. Under the guidance of strong morals, instinct is the force that brings good economy into reality, secures family life, a well trained society. When instinct escapes from under the control of morals, it is a guideless, selfcentered, always active force, which is able to destroy every social human activity, even personal life. Human morals are always questionable. My rules are as valuable as anyone else’s. Only God-given morals can be unquestionable. That is the meaning of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil: Man is free to do as he wishes, but moral laws are not under man’s will. To do what moral say is the personal and social responsibility of man. So there is a permanent battle between the moral convictions and the urgings of the instincts striving to get from under it. Consequently sin is the act of self-centered instincts getting out from under the guidance of the God-given moral rules.
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A református és unitárius teológiai viták a reformáció korába nyúlnak vissza. A két teológiai álláspont markánsan elkülönült egymástól évszázadokon keresztül.1 Az unitárius teológia, amelynek egyik legjelesebb 19. századi alakja Simén Domokos kolozsvári teológiai tanár volt, hirtelen egy váratlan területről kap teológiai megerősítést.
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A folyamatteológia nem úgy épül fel, mint a hagyományos rendszeres teológiák. Az „Istenről”, „Jézusról”, „Szentlélekről” és az „Egyházról” fejezetcímek távol állnak a folyamatteológiai gondolkodástól még akkor is, ha a folyamatteológiai munkák esetenként önálló fejezeteket, sőt önálló könyveket is jelentenek a fent említett kérdéskörökben. A folyamatteológia ugyanis filozófiai teológia, és tartózkodik a „kijelentéspozitivizmustól”. Ezért csupán arról beszélhetünk, hogy e teológiai megközelítés miként használja az „Isten” szót.
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Holland újságíró fejtegette egyszer, hogy a keresztyén emberek magatartásából meg lehet állapítani felekezeti hovatartozásukat. Másképpen cigarettázik a római katolikus, a református és a lutheránus ember. Még a reformátusok között is van különbség: a konzervatívok bőrszivart szívnak, a barthiánusok pipáznak, a szabadelvűek (és a remonstránsok) cigarettáznak. Ha ebben a vélekedésben sok is a túlzás, annyi igazság mégis van benne, hogy minden felekezet tagja magán viseli vallási kultúrájának valamilyen lenyomatát. Valami olyan ez, mint a római katolikusoknál és a görögkeletieknél a keresztvetés: amikor a kereszt vízszintes szárát formázzák az egyik balról jobbra, a másik jobbról balra lendíti kezét a válla felé. Ezek a különbségek a sok-sok vallási jelkép használatában, az istentiszteleti és kegyességi önkifejezés gesztusaiban nyilvánulnak meg. Még a kegyesség gyakorlásának is sok változata van akár ugyanazon felekezeten belül is. Alábbi írásomban viszont az a meggyőződés vezet, hogy a külső formákon túl a kegyesség mint vallási alapmagatartás, illetve a kegyességgyakorlás legegyszerűbb eszközeinek tára minden keresztyén felekezetnél megtalálható. Van egy „kegyességi minimum”, amely nélkül nincs igaz keresztyénség. Nem fogok reflektálni sok keresztyén egyház kegyességi gyakorlatára, csupán az erdélyi református kegyesség azon alapformáiról szeretnék értekezni, amelyeket sok tekintetben azonosnak, vagy nagyon hasonlónak látok a két másik erdélyi magyar protestáns egyház – az unitárius és a lutheránus egyház – híveinél is.
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Originally, the role of the university was to create a community of professors and students, whose goal was to learn the truth and shape life according to it. The university’s paradigm included human personal development intellectual, volitional, moral, emotional culminating in spiritual life. Today, various processes can be observed that propose a change to this earlier model. They embrace man himself in a reductionist manner or strive to “use” the university for its own particular purposes. All this means that the spiritual development of human society, including thanks to university culture, he is often at risk. Thus, the spectrum of anti-intellectualism, anti-culture, anti-humanism and anti-religion appears on the horizon of history. Many contemporary authors see an unsafe process. This article is a proposal to name these threats and systematize them, as well as to search for answers to the disturbing modern signs of the times. The hermeneutic key to these considerations, however, is the understanding of man as a person conical in the image and likeness of the Personality of Godhead.
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The University as a “unique center of creative work and radiation of knowledge, serving the good of humanity,” although it grows out of the tradition shaped by the Church, in contemporary globalized societies it is in crisis because it was largely dependent on utilitarian thinking and mercantilist factors and transformed into a model serving the interests of the social and economic evolution of these societies. The article is an attempt to comprehensively define the mission of a Catholic university on the basis of the Ex Corde Ecclesiae Constitution of John Paul II and his speeches to the university world and cultural environments. This mission consists in: 1) searching for “the whole truth about nature, man and God” referring to faith and reason and their ability to derive truth from two sources: revelation and created reality; 2) creating a community based on truth, one vision of human dignity, Christian values and upbringing into Christian and human maturity; 3) preparing students to realize their vocation in the Church and in the world, including participation in the evangelization of cultures as well as building culture and civilization worthy of man.
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The article focusses on the spiritual value of an academic work, with the term “spiritual” being understood twofold: in a wider and a narrower sense. In the reference to the former meaning, several aspects have been highlighted: moral, personality-related, educational, etc. In a narrower sense, however, references to Christian spirituality have been made, specifically, it discusses academic work as an implementation of the Christian virtue of love, a vocation and a path to holiness. The final part of the article has been devoted to spiritual threats stemming from both, scientific and didactic work at the university. Therefore, it is not so much an attempt to answer the question as to what kind of a lecturer should one be in order to allow the students to benefit as much as possible, but what kind of a spiritual benefit that professional path allows for an academic themselves and to what extent it helps them to develop personally and spiritually.
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The author begins the article by giving two examples on the subject of professional work done with excellent preparation and enabling the provision of assistance to a person in his personal and social dimension. He is in favor of a university model that acquires and transfers knowledge in the service of man and society. This should be done by the cooperation of various scientific disciplines at the university and the preparation of the scientific staff should be focused on reliable scientific research and appropriate didactic message.
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Theology as a rational reflection on God’s Revelation still remains in the service of the faith of an individual man and of the Church, and thus affects the society and the temporal reality of the world. Theology, by its very nature, must influence everyday life – in the first place for the theologians themselves as well as for their students. In this way, the formative nature of studying the sacred sciences is realized.Formation therefore includes hearing the Word of salvation and its assimilation into life which then leads to thinking and acting in accordance with the Gospel. Therefore, spiritual life, especially prayer, the reception of the sacraments and participation in the everyday life of the Church, is a necessary component of theology. This primarily concerns the lecturers of theology.These goals can be achieved through the kerygmatic inclination of theology, openness to dialogue and transdisciplinarity. For today’s world needs theology that understands the contemporary thinking. At the same time, it is necessary for the graduate of theological studies to be well versed in all areas of theology, and not to remain at the level of narrow interests and specializations. This requirement of modern times demands that the Church takes a new comprehensive view of theology, practiced in the community of believers and in the context of the increasingly secularized world. It is time to return to the holistic vision of life, world and theology.
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In today’s world, the concept of spirituality has entered into an extremely dynamic phase. This evolution is especially noticeable in the way spirituality is being taught at various universities. This paper will discuss studying spirituality from a Roman Catholic perspective viewed in a combination of four dimensions: ontological or phenomenological and foundational or pragmatic. It will take into account future directions in the approach to spirituality, including the ecumenical (Christian), the interreligious, and the non-religious.The aim of this paper is to develop the above-stated characteristics based on some chosen examples of university curricula, then having done so, to elaborate a comparative analysis of the understanding of spirituality and its implications for academic programs.
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Among the specialties offered by theological faculties at universities and colleges, there is often theology of spirituality. This means that it is a full-fledged scientific discipline. Therefore, it has its own history, own name that identifies it, the subject of research, specific sources and an adequate research method. At the university level, it is practiced by a large number of scientists whose achievements are recognized and appreciated in the world of science. In addition to university structures in which research and teaching are conducted, and conferences are convened, spiritual theologians form organizations and associations that have legal personality.The article aims at to deeping aforementioned issues, taking polish theological and ecclesiastical background on board. The awareness of the main methodological matters is very important for every committed theologian and his reliable scientific work, as well his spiritually-ecclesiastical vocation.
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What spirituality do lay people need today? There is a great need today to understand the theological meaning of the “secular character” – the characteristic “color” of lay people. The layman is a Christian called to unite with God, to holiness; someone who lives in the world and its structures, and from there is called to find God in ordinary life – family, work, social relations. If the mission of the Church is – along with the salvation of souls – to sanctify the world, one cannot continue to ignore the theological and apostolic nature of the daily work of lay people in the middle of the world. It is sanctified by God and sanctifying. It is therefore necessary to appreciate secularity – recognition of lay vocation and mission in the Church. The teaching of the Church also reminds that it is necessary to raise the awareness of pastors so that they can show lay faithful their call to renew the world in Christ.
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Very rare are the saints experiencing possession. Even less often they are documented in writing. Of course, there are testimonies that the Saints were violently attacked by a demon, but very little is said about cases of possession or enslavement. There is extensive documentation of two cases of people proclaimed saints – two Carmelite nuns: Saint. Maria Magdalena de ’Pazzi (1566-1607) and Saint. Maria Baouardy (1846-1878), “Little Arab Woman”. The example of the Saints who were temporarily possessed during their lives creates a rich source of very important and practical information about God’s power and the role of Satan in the economy of human salvation. This information can talk to the theological reflection and to the exorcists themselves, and also – as a consolation – for all who experience similar states. Saints possessed by a demon teach us how and why this happens, as well as testify that above all there is a merciful and powerful God who saves man.
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