Act Of Redemption Research Articles

Christ, the Image of the Invisible God, the Proscenium of Old and New Testament. Perspectives of Knowing God from Colossians

Christ is the visible representation of the unseeable God. Although this statement emphasizes Christ's relationship with the Father, it is Christ who reveals God to the world. The text in Hebrews reinforces this same concept. Christ is “the reflection of God's glory and the exact imprint of God's very being” (1:3), and thus only His Son can make Him known (Col 1:18). In 1 Cor 15:49 and 2 Cor 4:4, the Apostle Paul employs the term εἰκών to portray the resurrected and exalted One, in whom, analogous to the eschatological Adam, all humanity is recapitulated. The risen One, however, is the image of the unseen God of eternity. In light of the statements in Colossians 1:13-14, it becomes evident that there is a dynamic relationship between the experience of redemption and the statements about the One through whom God accomplished the act of redemption. Although the initial section of the hymn is centred on Christ's role in creation, the Christological statements can be interpreted from a perspective of redemption. It is only through His blood (Col 1:14-20) that the Redeemer, who is the image of the unseen God, can effect redemption.

Trevet’s Medea: A Reading of Seneca’s Medea Through Nicholas Trevet’s Medieval Commentary

AbstractIn 1314, the Oxford Dominican monk Nicholas Trevet was commissioned to write a commentary on Seneca’s tragedies. Trevet’s interpretation of character and plot in Seneca’s Medea differs in many ways from 21st-century classical scholars. Because Trevet relied on a single manuscript from the A tradition, he and his readers did not have access to a Senecan Medea who asks Jason whether he ‘recognizes his wife’ before departing Corinth in a flying chariot drawn by serpents because the last nineteen lines of the play did not exist in A. Trevet did not know a Medea who told her Nurse that she ‘would become’ Medea. It is Trevet’s Medea, and not Jason, who is being pursued by Pelias’s son Acastus. For Trevet, Jason’s alliance with Creon’s daughter Creusa is calculated not to protect himself and his sons from an angry and dangerous Acastus, but in order to save Medea’s life. Furthermore, the theme of Medea as Jason’s saviour, and this act of salvation itself as the cause of crime, informs Trevet’s reading (and misreading) of important passages. Finally, when Medea argues back and forth with herself, Trevet attributes Medea’s regard for her sons as ‘not mine’ to her loss of power over them because of her exile from Corinth, without any mention that the sons might now belong to Jason’s new wife Creusa. These are all subtle interpretations that cumulatively form a unique ‘reading’ of Seneca’s Medea offered by the very first commentator on all of Seneca’s plays, seven hundred years ago.

Populism and its Economic Impact: What Does the Evidence Say?

Populism is an essentially contested phenomenon due to its complex nature. Even more difficult is to study its economic consequences. This paper aims to study populism as an economic phenomenon by reviewing literature devoted to studying its economic impacts. The paper starts with a brief overview of the concept of populism and its history. Further, it delves into economic literature that has so far tried to study its empirical effects on economies around the world. The paper seeks to investigate whether the long-held conceptions of economic theory are corroborated by empirical evidence or not.n act of redemption, but his sacrificial death is far from being suicidal because he did not allow the powers of temptations to lead him astray.

The Archbishop Who Fell in Love with Martyrdom: Characterization in Eliot’s Murder in the Cathedral

This paper aims to analyze the characters of T.S Eliot’s Murder in the Cathedral in an endeavor to prove that Eliot’s characterization in the play is not to be tackled using conventional ways of analysis. Embracing these ways in the previous studies of the play resulted in a faulty assessment of characters as lacking psychological depth and dramatic tension. The paper argues that the method of character depiction employed in the play is meant to produce a ritualistic work celebrating Becket’s martyrdom and glorifying the ideas it stands for. Since martyrdom is the central idea that the play revolves around, glorification of the individual is not expected, for what it requires is self-abnegation or self-erasure. Hence, the study proves that Thomas Becket did the right thing for the right cause after passing all the tests of faith similar to those described in morality plays and transcending the strong temptations he underwent. It is evident that Becket fell in love with martyrdom as an act of redemption, but his sacrificial death is far from being suicidal because he did not allow the powers of temptations to lead him astray.

Arab Psyche, Indian Dream, and the Ethics of Psychoanalysis

Arab Psyche, Indian Dream, and the Ethics of Psychoanalysis

Ragnar Kjartansson and the Art of Pleasure

Ragnar Kjartansson and the Art of Pleasure

„compassio“, Leidenschaft, Ekstase

Abstract Expressions and gestures of mourning for the loved one have been a theme of religious art from early on. In the Middle Ages, after the discovery of the suffering Christ (“Christus patiens”), they are shown in numerous depictions of the crucifixion, especially in those of the taking down of the cross. Since the 13th century, the attitude of “compassion”, which commemorates Christ’s act of redemption and, according to theological interpretation, thereby brings about one’s own salvation, has promoted empathy with the other. After the theme had been increasingly treated aesthetically in painting, non-religious models of mourning also appeared in poetry from the 16th century onwards, whose actions were oriented towards the respective epoch-specific image of man (passion, ecstasy). The article analyses relevant poetic and musical works.

Transfiguracja – Piękna złośnica Jacques’a Rivette’a w świetle mimo-sekularnej myśli o filmie i mediach światłowodowych

The essay is an interpretation of the film by Jacques Rivette La Belle Noiseuse (1991) within the context of post-secular studies. The sketch is inspired primarily by the writings of Martin Heidegger and Jean-Luc Nancy, and it also corresponds with the Bible and biblical studies. The author describes the creative process shown in the film as an act of salvation which occurs between the painter and his model. The hiding of the resulting image is understood here in relation to the passion, cross and burial of Jesus which brings the hope for a liberated life and “the new creation”. The film is made in a very consistent way, which opens up the perspective of crossing the world of images, paintings and classical films (the world of stage), towards the art of mutual respect (the world of interface). Rivette’s work contains a multitude of relevant observations and indications regarding psychology, religion and culture, but it also reveals the possibility of a new way of thinking about film and the media, close to Nancy’s post-metaphysical thought.

Parasitic Language

This paper presents initial thoughts about the phenomenon of parasitic language. This is a language which clings to the other’s linguistic patterns and in doing so produces a double manifestation of omnipotence and impotence; a language that forges a linguistic “prosthesis,” and while allowing for a false manifestation of language and thinking, constitutes thoughts as foreign objects that are mechanically and artificially “stuck” to the speaking subject. The early roots of this language, as illustrated in a detailed analytical case description, inhere in the infiltration of language by multi-generational traumatic traces. This turns language itself into a scene of simultaneous repetition of the act of salvation and the act of annihilation.

A study on the dynamics between the moral reasoning process and celebrity image and their impact on consumers’ support for celebrity comebacks after a transgression

A study on the dynamics between the moral reasoning process and celebrity image and their impact on consumers’ support for celebrity comebacks after a transgression

Zbawcza misja Ducha Świętego według programu duszpasterskiego dla Kościoła w Polsce na lata 2017-2019

Referring to the pastoral program for the Church in Poland in 2017-2019, an analysis of the publication of the pastoral committee of the PolishBishops’ Conference for pneumatology was carried out. It was demonstratedthat the pastoral program primarily focused on the presence of the HolySpirit in the life and mission of Jesus Christ in order to show the savinginfluence of the Spirit on the human being. Also, the accurate presentationof the salvific activity of the Holy Spirit in the community of God’s peopleshould be appreciated, especially in the sacraments (with special regard tobaptism and confirmation) and in charisms. However, the publication inquestion results in some overemphasis on the flattering approach to the giftsof the Holy Spirit and the depiction of the discernment of spirits. Moreover,the discussion of temptations and criteria for their discernment, althoughinteresting, is not fully developed in view of the difficulties resulting fromthe inability to precisely distinguish, in charisms, between what manproduces and what is the work of the Spirit that surpasses all cognitiveabilities. Therefore, apart from pointing out external and internal threats,the program lacks bold references to increasing, far-reaching threats thatnot only weaken faith, but are also dangerous to the very existence of man,and thus may even lead to his diabolical destruction. Finally, there are fewreferences in the program to such important aspects of pneumatology suchas: the role of the Spirit in Mary’s maternal mission, the pursuit of Christianunity, interreligious and intercultural dialogue, and the realization of thekingdom of God until its final fulfilment in the Parousia.

The Spirit and salvation?

To answer the question of the relation between the Spirit and salvation, this article explores Michael Welker’s theology of the Trinity. I argue that Welker’s Trinitarian theology, with its focus on the activity of the triune God, is built on his theology of the Spirit. The Spirit, I argue, allows him to understand the salvific activity of the triune God realistically. The first three parts of the article will focus on Welker’s Trinitarian understanding of salvation, by looking at the sacraments, particularly at holy communion as a mirror of the salvific activity of the triune God. The fourth and final part will analyse Welker’s theology of the triune God in light of Dirk J. Smit’s analysis of the Trinity, thereby shedding light on Welker’s understanding of the activity of the triune God, on the one hand, and on the relation between the Spirit and salvation, on the other.

MEMORIES AND STORIES OF RETURNING HOME IN KHALED HOSSEINI'S NOVELS THE KITE RUNNER, AND THE MOUNTAINS ECHOED, A THOUSAND SPLENDID SUNS

The aim of this paper is to analyze the acts of returning home, thinking about home and the significance of home and returning home in Khaled Hosseini’s novels The Kite Runner, A Thousand Splendid Suns, and in the novel And the Mountains Echoed. As an American writer of Afghan origin, who left his home country as a child and moved to USA, Khaled Hosseini addresses the concepts of leaving home, immigration, and returning home in all of his published novels. In 2003, Khaled Hosseini published his first novel The Kite Runner. This story depicts the friendship between two Afghan boys, whose relationship is broken by the Afghan civil war and the violence before and in the aftermath of the war. In this novel, returning home is an act of redemption on behalf of Amir, for the betrayal of his best friend Hassan. Hosseini’s second novel, A Thousand Splendid Suns, describes the relationship between two women and their lives under the Taliban regime. Mariam’s and Laila’s life stories are intertwined the moment Laila, forced by the circumstances in Kabul during the civil war and the loss of her parents and her home, accepts Rasheed’s marriage proposal, becoming his second wife. The strained relationship between her and Mariam develops into close friendship, which ends the day Mariam kills Rasheed to protect Laila. Laila returns to Afghanistan and visits Mariam’s home. For her, this is an act of paying respect, of visiting a place where she can sense Mariam’s soul and her presence. And the Mountains Echoed presents the life stories of a number of characters, mutually connected in different ways. One of the sibling relationships described is the relationship between Pari and Abdullah who are separated as children. Pari, who leaves her home and is adopted, always feels the strange sensation of being homesick and missing somebody or something in her life. For Pari, who plans to travel to Afghanistan in attempt to find the answers to her questions, the act of returning home is exploring her own personality and heritage.

The perseverance of the saints, persecution and mission, and its implications for Reformed churches

The confession of saints’ perseverance in the Canons of Dort gives much comfort to the Christian. This was one of the most important challenges the Synod of Dort had to address. It also has many implications for the mission of the church. Not only does it highlight the message that God, in his salvation, will always complete his act of redemption, but also that he will not reject the believer once he or she has become a true Christian. It also comforts many in times of persecution, because God, in his faithfulness, will be the One to empower the believer to remain steadfast and also to vow for those who doubt and even struggle to keep the faith. For Reformed churches, this means that, in the endeavour of mission, a message of great comfort can be proclaimed to all. In Jesus Christ there is certainty of eternal life not because of human power or godliness, but because of God’s faithfulness. Theologically it is, however, also important to challenge philosophical views where certainty of faith is rejected for a worldview of uncertainty. The truth of faith is, however, found in God, not in the human possibilities. In this regard, Dort is important for the church to be guided to the fullness of service to the triune God. Mission becomes a wonderful act of peace for the troubled soul in a troubled world.

Pieśni religijne Ottona Mieczysława Żukowskiego (1867–1942) pochodzące z zeszytu X „Śpiewów kościelnych w układzie na jeden, dwa i cztery głosy mieszane z towarzyszeniem organów lub harmonium” – problematyka teologiczna i zagadnienia muzyczne

In the presented article the author discusses six religious songs of Otton Mieczyslaw Żukowski (1867–1942) of the Volume 10 – „Śpiewy kościelne w ukladzie na jeden, dwa i cztery glosy mieszane z towarzyszeniem organow lub harmonium” [„Liturgical Chants for One, Two and Four Mixed Voices to the Accompaniment of Pipe Organs or Harmonium”]. The songs include: Modlitwa [The Prayer] ; Pozostan z nami [Stay with us] ; Krolowo niebios [The Queen of Heaven] ; Zostan z nami Panie [Lord Stay with us] ; Matko Bolesna [Sorrowful Mother] ; O Jezu Chryste [Oh Jesus Christ] . They are songs to be performed by soloists to the accompaniment of pipe organs. Żukowski composed songs to the poetical texts of authors contemporary to him. The songs were important, as performed during the liturgy or during the non-liturgical services, they have became catechesis to be sung in the times of limited access to systematic religious education. Moreover, as they were written in the Polish language, they could be understood by the participants of Latin liturgy. In terms of semantic meaning, the songs have provided the knowledge of God in the Holy Trinity, expressed the faith in the Divine Providence, highlighted the true presence of Jesus in the sacramental forms and emphasized the person of Mary in the act of salvation.

The Spirit of YHWH as the Charism of the Pre-Monarchic Liberators of Israel and the Theological Symbol of God’s Salvific Activity in the Book of Judges

Duch JHWH charyzmatem przedmonarchicznych wyzwolicieli Izraela i teologicznym symbolem zbawczej aktywności Boga w Ksiedze Sedziow Jedną z najbardziej charakterystycznych, a zarazem enigmatycznych formul Ksiegi Sedziow jest syntagma ruaḥ JHWH , ktora rownocześnie zalicza sie do najstarszych form starotestamentowej pneumatologii usilującej wyrazic duchowy charakter zbawczej obecności i aktywności Boga JHWH w dziejach narodu wybranego. Tą formulą poslugują sie zarowno autorzy oryginalnych źrodel o przedmonarchicznych wyzwolicielach Izraela (Sdz 13,1; 14,6.19; 15,14), jak tez ich deuteronomistyczni redaktorzy (Sdz 3,10; 6,34; 11,29), ktorzy opierając sie na teologii przymierza synajskiego i zasadach Bozej retrybucji postanowili zrekonstruowac epoke sedziow. Publikacja bada pochodzenie oraz etymologiczny i teologiczny sens hebrajskiego rdzenia rw ḥ i formuly r uaḥ JHWH , a takze biblijną koncepcje Bozego ducha w szerokim kontekście literatury starozytnego Bliskiego Wschodu oraz biblijnych tradycji o sedziach.

La Mariología en San Gregorio de Nisa

When analyzing the Mariology of St. Gregory of Nyssa, one theme stands out: the reality of the hypostatic union and as a direct consequence the divine motherhood. So the more frecuent statements about Mary are those contained in Adversus Apollinarem. The reader can see for himself that, years before Nestor, the question which this gave rise to was even then clearly formulated, extensively dealt with and clearly resolved. Continuing on from this point, St. Gregory comments on the Blessed Virgin in a throrough and loving manner. He quietly defends the Marian privileges with firm conviction, and above all, her virginity, placing in relief her role in the salvation of men. St. Gregory in short finds himself immersed in the environment of his contemporary theologians, and he knows how to incorporate into his theological thinking as well as in his spiritual life all of those mariological questions which come down to him through the secular Christian tradition. Our study is divided into two parts. In the first, we consider four sections which are especially long and significant: the Sermo de Annuntiatione, the Sermo in diem natalem Domini, the De Tridui Spatio and the homilies ln Canticum Canticorum. In the second part, we go on to study the most important Marian themes, from a systematic point of view: the divine maternity, her perpetual virginity, the role of Mary in the economy of Salvation. There are three fundamental texts of Sacred Scripture which St. Gregory cites to speak of Mary. These texts are always understood in the identical sense: Lk 1, 26 ss.; Is 7, 17, and Prov 9, 1. All of these are cited for the purpose of discussing the virginal motherhood. St. Gregory's understanding of Is 7, 14 is always consistent and serene, because he found himself in close contact with the way in which the prior tradition had understood this text. The term parthenos is understood not as maiden, but as virgin in the strictest sense of the word. The prophecy not only announces that a maiden will conceive a child, but announces a great mystery: that a maiden will conceive as a virgin and that her virginity will remain intact in giving birth. Prov 1, 9 refers to the virginal motherhood: it is Wisdom itself which builds its own house; God, without the intervention of man, forms in the womb of Mary the body of the Lord. The terms theotokos is employed by St. Gregory in its fullest sense, especially directed at Apolinar and his theory that Christ was less than fully human. St. Gregory stresses that the union of the Word with his human nature took place at the very instant of conception, and points out that the title of theotokos is incompatible with the term anthropotokos. St. Gregory considers the virgin motherhood as a reflection or the eternal and incorruptible generation of the Word. Finally, St. Gregory fully developes the parallelism between Eve and Mary, and lovingly describes the Virgin at the foot of the cross, intimately united to her Son in the act of Redemption. He also calls Mary lmmaculate Virgin. The term evidently does not posses the defined limits which it would have in later theology. But what can be said is that with this term, with all of its underlying theology, the Saint from Nyssa is saying exactly that which is confirmed in the Doctrine of the Faith concerning the Inmaculate Conception of Mary.

Znaczenie ciała w duchowości Karola de Foucauld

Autor artykułu bada znaczenie ciała w duchowości błogosławionego Karola de Foucauld. Pokazuje godność ludzkiego ciała stworzonego na obraz i podobieństwo Boga. Ta godność niepomiernie wzrosła dzięki wcieleniu Słowa i całemu dziełu odkupienia. Tekst podkreśla także znaczenie Mistycznego Ciała Chrystusa i Eucharystii w duchowości chrzescijańskiej. Wszystko to stanowi element „cielesnego” doświadczenia Boga, które to doświadczenia wymaga odpowiedniej ascezy.

The Dark Lord of the Tiki Bar by Quincy R. Lehr

Reviewed by: The Dark Lord of the Tiki Bar by Quincy R. Lehr James Hamby (bio) Quincy R. Lehr. The Dark Lord of the Tiki Bar. Measure Press, 2015. Judging from the title, you might think Quincy R. Lehr’s The Dark Lord of the Tiki Bar might be filled with whimsical dark humor. While there are plenty of lines evoking laughter, the tone is never exactly light-hearted nor is the dark humor alleviated by any promises of something better. Instead, we laugh at the lines describing pathetic, sexual desperation or the brutalities of empire-building in acknowledgment of our own fallen states. It may be somehow comforting to know that others feel just as jaded as we do. Many of the poems create unstable ironies that arise from irreconcilable emotions, such as the tension between wanting to believe in something that you reject or the disappointment in failing to derive comfort from deeply desired experiences. Throughout the collection, the past haunts the present, as both childhood memories and ancient narratives, both now eschewed, affect the consciousness of the narrative voice. Yet no matter how bleak the [End Page 40] outlook of the book becomes, there is not a sense of despair, but rather a sense of hurt, an assertion that life does not have to be as unfulfilling as it is. Sexual desire in a dehumanized world forms one of the central motifs of the collection. In “The Dark Lord of the Tiki Bar,” a man lands at an airport while awakening from a sexual dream. He then drives to a tiki bar through [...] a billboard sea of kitsch along the access road—corrupted signs and semiotics. Pad Thai. An English pub. Se habla Español. You’ll never find a better deal on brand-new furniture! Once at the bar, “a relic of a previous century” with “Oriental peaks” dominating the strip mall, he orders a Mai Tai and scopes out the place. The combination of tired post-colonial aesthetics, clichéd post-modern tropes, and dull, crass capitalism inform the sexual conquest he hopes will take place. Near the end of the poem a woman—little more than a colonized body—dances for leering men: “Consuela does the hula—half burlesque, / half pastiche Hawaiian, with a splash / of Carmen Miranda in the mix. She sighs. / One brown skin’s like another.” Sex is little more than a transaction between two people of unequal power. Other poems also give accounts of people suffering from weltschmerz. “Left on Mission and Revenge” contains an image of an old man lusting for sex while simultaneously fearing “becoming flaccid” or catching an STD. Sex is compared to “a Savior—/ or is it daily bread,” but this sexual satisfaction fails to arrive: “he fails to note his zipper / is firmly still in place—/ a sin that never happened, a voided fall from grace.” Here, sex is simultaneously a sin and an act of redemption, an inversion of values the man both embraces and rejects. The man, far past his sexual prime, is effectively emasculated and unable to control either his desires or his state of unwanted celibacy. Throughout the volume, Lehr highlights examples of the inequality upon which our society is built. However, his political statements are never didactic or hackneyed. As with “The Dark Lord of the Tiki Bar,” his most political poem, “Avast!” addresses issues of colonialism. He imagines corsairs from the Barbary States attacking Washington, D.C. and envisions the assailants in a comically anachronistic scene: “all turbans, cutlasses, and crescent flags, / salty curses shouted at frightened aides / as Barbary sets forth for its revenge.” This humorous fantasy of early nineteenth-century pirates exacting revenge upon modern-day America, with all of its military and economic might, highlights the inability of the colonized peoples of the world to fight back whenever the US invades. America is the power that “maintain[s] / the weighted scale, the fixed rate of exchange,” and any attempt to fight against this is, sadly, a joke. Still, much like the old man lusting for sex, the speaker in this poem continues to fantasize about what he knows will never happen. Throughout this collection, the speakers...

Models of Salvific Activity of the Church. The State of Research and Future Perspectives

The main objective of pastoral theologians is to develop theologically accurate and practically effective models of salvific activity of the Church, known as pastoral care. A pastoral model is a simplified, descriptive, graphical reflection of the whole or a part of the complex salvific activity of the Church, embracing both a normative and practical element of the activity, which makes it possible to analyze and evaluate it, as well as to offer some predictions for the future (N. Hepp). The aim of this article is to present the state of research concerning the current models of salvific activity of the Church within the scope of pastoral theology and to direct us towards a need to develop new models that will take the socio-cultural context into account. Nowadays, we can talk of three such models that have been scientifically discussed on a global scale (the human-divine model by F. X. Arnold, the community model by F. Klostermann, and the preferential option for the poor). It seems, then, that there is a space for a new model of salvific activity of the Church, centered on the principle of love, or alternatively, the model of dialogue.