Christian Love Research Articles

Christian Pedagogy as a Pedagogy of Love

Christian views on the education of man are considered. Christian pedagogy is the science of the formation of the spiritual and bodily life of man on the basis of absolute values, which is filled with Christian culture. It is based on universal moral law of humankind that is Ten Commandments of God and Two Fundamental Commandments of Christian Love and on Seven Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy, Evangelical Counsels and Beatitudes. Christian pedagogy helps a person to realize his dignity and value as a person created on the image and likeness of God. A special feature of Christian pedagogy is the close connection between spiritual and moral education. By means of Christian pedagogy moral and theological virtues are formed. The most important virtue in upbringing is love, as a struggle for the good of your neighbors, regardless of yourself. Love to God and to others is the basic law of Christian pedagogy. In the Christian upbringing of youth, the most important tasks are the formation of: the mind in which faith will reign; the will in which love will dominate; feelings in which hope will work. Principles of Christian pedagogy are nonviolence, timeliness, unity of pedagogical influences, the principle of personality, anthropological principle (respect for human dignity). Christian education is an alternative to a society that surrounds our youth. It creates a sensible conscience, calls for the avoidance of sins, and to live according to the commandments of God.

Особливості контекстного вивчення казок Г. К. Андерсена на заняттях з дитячої літератури з майбутніми фахівцями початкової школи

The article raises the problem of the artistic works context study at the children's literature classes in the process of training elementary school future specialists. It is relevant in the context of creating a new Ukrainian school which is based on a competent approach to the educational process. Contextual study of artistic works is sufficiently effective for understanding its issues and ideas. It is emphasized by V. Hladyshev and L. Miroshnichenko in their methodological studies. As it is noted in the study such an approach is often ignored in the analysis of literary tales. That is why we suggest examples of the contextual studying method use while getting acquainted with the creative works of Danish storyteller H. C. Andersen. Considering the biographical, moral, aesthetic and cultural contexts, the following works have been analyzed in the study, such as: "The Ugly Duckling", "The Snow Queen", "The Little Mermaid", "The Nightingale" and "The Snail and the Rosebush". Philosophic-Christian interpretation of fairy tales, which corresponded to the personal Christian outlook of their author, is emphasized. In particular, the concept of sacrificial Christian love and spiritual humility, which govern the actions of the protagonists of the storyteller’s works, contribute to their spiritual growth. From this very side one should approach the analysis of fairy tales "The Snow Queen", "The Little Mermaid", "The Nightingale" and "The Pen and the Ink". The tales "The Ugly Duckling" and "The Snail and the Rosebush", in addition to the writer's world-wide orientations, reveal the individual facts of his life. In order to understand the essay fully, you need to plunge into biographical information about the writer. An important source of information about the life and outlook of the storyteller is his autobiographical work “The Tale of My Life” in which the true Andersen appears to the reader. Consequently, the interpretation of H. C. Anderson’s tales with the use of works context study methodology opens their new understanding, which enables future educators to place important accents, identify the educational subtext and the main idea correctly and to approach the school analysis of these works taking into account the necessary details. Keywords: context, contextual study, biographical context, analysis, literary tales, subtext, world view.

Kenotic Gestures

Christians sometimes take Christ's ken?sis, or self-emptying, as the pattern for Christian love of God and neighbor. Feminist critics suspect that this model reinforces unhealthy gender norms and oppressive power structures and contest the nature and extent of this template. Interreligious study can shed light on the debate. The Gau??ya Vai??ava tradition employs the categories of Indian aesthetic theory to explain how types of loving devotion (bhakti rasa) toward Krishna are evoked and expressed. The subordinate and peaceful modes of love for Krishna can serve as a heuristic for understanding Sarah Coakley's and Cynthia Bourgeault's retrievals of ken?sis in spiritual practice. A comparative reading suggests that objections to Coakley's version, which resembles the subordinate love of God, are more intractable due to the rootedness of its aesthetic in oppressive human experiences, while Bourgeault's reclamation of ken?sis aligns with a peaceful or meditative mode of love that feminists may more readily appreciate.

Agape, Justice, and Law: How Might Christian Love Shape Law? Edited by Robert F. Cochran, Jr., and Zachary R. Calo

Agape, Justice, and Law: How Might Christian Love Shape Law? Edited by Robert F. Cochran, Jr., and Zachary R. Calo

Erasmus’ Paraphrases on the New Testament and the Presentation of Christ’s Teaching

Abstract Erasmus wrote his Paraphrases on the New Testament (1517–1524) at the climactic point of his literary career, just after his new edition of the New Testament, the humanistic edition of the Adagia and his edition of the works of St Jerome. This lecture asks why Erasmus gave so much time to paraphrase at such a key moment, what he hoped his paraphrase would give to early sixteenth-century Christians, and how his paraphrase clarifies, dramatizes and adds to the Biblical text. It analyses quotations from the paraphrases on Romans and the Gospel of Mark, relating to his historicization of the text, his criticism of the contemporary church, and his presentation of issues of law, grace and faith, the appropriate attitude to civic authority and Christian love. It compares Erasmus’ approach to teaching from the New Testament to his hero Rudolph Agricola’s Oration on Christ’s Nativity (1484) and to Philipp Melanchthon’s approach in the first version of his Loci communes (1521).

“Using the Language of Christian Love and Charity”: What Liberal Religion Offers Higher Education in Prison

This article explores what religious frameworks and institutions have to contribute to college-in-prison. We first provide an historical overview of higher education programs in American prisons. Then, we limn the role religion can play in motivating people to commit themselves to educating incarcerated people. Because this work is so thorny, we document some of the generic challenges programs must face and show how religious languages can be an asset in navigating these challenges. Next, we present the pedagogical practices and educational philosophies expressed among the programs in our study. We conclude with some broader reflections about teaching incarcerated people, and, after wrestling with objections, we encourage our colleagues in religious studies—those with faith commitments as well as those without them—to get involved.

The Politics of Christian Love: Shaping Everyday Social Interaction and Political Sensibilities Among Coptic Egyptians

Christian love has historically been subject of extensive theological study but has rarely been studied within anthropology. Contemporary Coptic society receives growing attention over the last two decades as a minority in Egyptian Muslim majority society. An important bulk of this scholarship involves a discussion of the community’s sometimes self-defined and sometimes ascribed characterization as a persecuted minority. Particular attention has gone to how social and political dimensions of minority life lead tochanges in Christian theological understandings This paper builds on these insights and examines how Christian love is experienced, and shapes feelings of belonging, everyday morality and political sensibilities vis-à-vis Muslim majority society. It draws from ethnographic observations and meetings with Copts living in Egypt between 2014–2017. It focuses on three personal narratives that reveal the complex ways in which a theology of love affects social and political stances. An anthropological focus reveals the fluid boundaries between secular and religious expressions of Christian love. Love for God and for humans are seen as partaking in one divine love. Practicing this love, however, shapes very different responses and can lead to what has been described as Coptic ‘passive victim behaviour’, but also to political activity against the status-quo.

The Ground of Covenant Community and the Righteous Scandal of Christian Love for the World

The Ground of Covenant Community lies in the Righteous Scandal of Christian Love for the World. And Jesus is the Most Supreme Scandal to which Christians owe their devotion, that is, their active faith and fidelity in the form of a rugged and sublime love for “the least of these” in temporal life and history.

Witnesses to Their Own Cause: The Dominant Polish Narrative About the Holocaust During the Holocaust

After Dariusz Libionka’s pioneering treatise entitled Berkom Joselewiczom już dziękujemy… [Bereks Joselewiczs, goodbye and good luck...] (2009), this is the second analysis of Maria Kann’s canonical and paradigmatic pamphlet. This time the research question is: why did the Holocaust not delegitimize antisemitism in Poland, and did not lead to a revision of the dominant culture and the majority’s collective identity? The pamphlet Na oczach świata (1943) – ordered, published, and distributed by the Polish Underground State – condemns the extermination of Jews, while voicing the need of their elimination from the society. It maintains the belief in the existence of the “Jewish question” (without quotation marks in the original) and heralds that after the war Poles will “solve” it for the sake of the Polish “national interest” – without “foreign assistance” and, supposedly, without violence. The presented discourse analysis deconstructs this and other mechanisms of hate speech, which declaratively delegitimize violence, but in fact incite to it, and are acts of violence in themselves. In the situation of the Holocaust, a surgical separation of the praised elimination from the condemned extermination was but wishful thinking. This wishful thinking, presented as a description of reality, removed from the view the responsibility of the non-Jewish majority for co-creating the realities of extermination, and thus this majority’s influence on the number of Jewish victims on the “Aryan side.” An important tool of falsifying the state of affairs was the figure of the Polish witness to the Holocaust. In the analyzed perspective, at no time was the fate of Jews of any importance. The declared purpose of Na oczach świata was to stop Poles from participating in the Holocaust for the sake of Christian love of enemies, which in fact masked collective narcissism. After all, the more worthy of hatred an enemy is, the more glory it brings to one to refrain from aggression towards them. The presented analysis focuses on the techniques of constructing the enemy figure as, simultaneously, an irreducible abject, and an irreducible threat. This construction consisted in the reproduction of hateful and oppressive phantasms and argumentative schemes – like the myth of Judeo-communism or orientalization – none of which were original. However, Na oczach świata was novel (or restorative) and precedential in that it updated the antisemitic narrative to make it fully efficient in relation to and in the face of the Holocaust: “before the shooting in the ruins of the ghetto fell silent”. Maria Kann’s pamphlet was also a normative text in the sense that, with the full sanction of the Polish Underground State and its authority, it organized the Polish experience of the Holocaust. It established its legitimate variant. It shaped individual and collective emotional and mental dispositions. The analysis covers strategies and tools for pacifying empathy and cognitive dissonance. Na oczach świata contains peculiar guidelines for how to profess antisemitic pre-sumptions without confronting their consequences. What is secured in such a way, apart from the Polish (self-)image interest, is the Polish identity interest in its preclusive, chauvinist understanding. The dominant culture loses contact with reality and gains immunity to the imperative of reckoning and rejection of disgraced virtues, values and patterns.

The theme of Faith in F. Mauriac’s Works

The article addresses the theme, or rather the problem of faith in the works of a prominent French writer of the 20th century, Nobel Prize winner and a foremost representative of the French Catholic Revival F. Mauriac. Analysis of the religious aspect of the writer’s novels grants us the possibility to conclude that the essential part of his worldview is the Catholic faith, which is reflected in the Nobel Prize winner’s works in a complex and even problematic form. Mauriac’s own searches in this field constitute an important reason to consider the faith theme. It is important to remember that his attitude to faith and its corresponding reflection in his works differ from the attitudes of his contemporaries. Mauriac’s works lack didacticism. An important feature of them is the mode in which Mauriac treats the problems of “lost creatures”, the depiction of which his whole literary career is dedicated to. He does not use moral discourses and does not try to force his reader to agree with him. He instead feels sorry that the reader cannot recognize the means of overcoming senselessness, which most people are eager to fill with much useless effort. Another peculiarity of Mauriac’s works is the morose atmosphere, even though it does not seem to correspond to Christian faith in the kind Father, which brings harmony. The novelist explains this phenomenon with the factor of necessity reflecting the truth of life. He therefore thinks that his duty is to depict life in the way he sees it around himself.The fact that a person has a free will causes the presence of a different basis for relations among people in Mauriac’s creations. Therefore, one can find in them intersubjectivity grounded both on the principles of Christian love and opposing ones – power, violence, and compulsion. The other feature of faith in the author’s understanding is that it is not only emotional but also intellectual. For the novelist, highly intellectual faith is of little effect as is totally emotional faith, which can be seen in his works and in his characters. The path of a person towards living, rather than ritualized and hypocritical faith, is a central motive in Mauriac’s novels. This route, not an easy one for the heroes of these works, indicates a search for the sense of being and truth.

The Mystery of Marriage: Mystery of Human Love Crowned in Glory and Honour. An Orthodox Perspective

Abstract The Mystery of Marriage has always been understood by the Eastern Orthodox as a divinely mandated holy act, in which the grace of the Holy Spirit is communicated to the affianced man and woman, whose natural bond of love becomes thus elevated to the state of representation of the all-encompassing spiritual union between Christ and His Church. According to the patristic tradition, the service of the Mystery of Marriage invariably took place during the Liturgy and within the Eucharistic context. It was through the blessing of the bishop that the espousal love merged with the love of Christ–the true source and power of all human affection, and only then could the two become one single being, one single “flesh”, the body of Christ. The intent of the present article is by no means to cover all aspects of the marriage ritual in the Orthodox Church, as this is a vast topic that begs for further theological research and ample multi-angled analysis, but rather to examine the patristic view on the Mystery of Marriage and on its evolution, and to revisit the exegesis of its liturgical expression.

CHARITY OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IN MEDIEVAL POLAND

Charity in the Christian tradition is a voluntary form of care and help, which consists in material support provided by wealthy people to the weak, poor and helpless.
 The article discusses the most important form so institutional assistant ce provided by clergy, religious or dears, confraternities and corporations - guilds. In the Middle Ages, the greatest social problems were poverty, begging and vagrancy. The actual guardian of the poor was the bishop, where he was obliged to collect funds "provided by the faithful members during the monthly services, from the Sunday collection and imposed penitential penalties. All lay people who performed this task by giving alms to the needy were obliged to provide basic help to their neighbours.
 Very important institutions that helped the needy were monasteries, especially those that had their own agricultural economy. Their duties included providing a one-off accommodation and a modest meal for travelers. The monks regularly supported local poor people, often playing the role of seasonal employers, e.g. during the harvest season.
 Various fraternities and corporations – guilds were created in medieval cities. From their members they required observance of moral principles and the provision of Christian love to their fellow men. From the collected contributions, as well as from fines for breaking corporate rules or privileges, a fund for charity was created.These organizations were created primarily by craftsmen. One of the most important goals was to care for old and sick members, as well as their decent burial. Some corporations had their own hospitals and shelters.

A Time of Sifting: Mystical Marriage and the Crisis of Moravian Piety in the Eighteenth Century

A Time of Sifting: Mystical Marriage and the Crisis of Moravian Piety in the Eighteenth Century

And Who is My Neighbor? Kant on Misanthropy and Christian Love

And Who is My Neighbor? Kant on Misanthropy and Christian Love

기독교 사랑의 관점에서 살펴본 이슬람 수피즘의 ‘사랑’에 관한 소고

기독교 사랑의 관점에서 살펴본 이슬람 수피즘의 ‘사랑’에 관한 소고

El amor cristiano de Heraclio

A través de la mayor parte de las composiciones de Jorge de Pisidia (c.589-634) conocemos las campañas llevadas a cabo por el emperador Heraclio (610-641) contra los persas. El poeta toma los hechos históricos y les da trascendencia religiosa. Heraclio es presentado como el líder cristiano, que fortalecido por la fe, se manifiesta ante sus hombres como verdadero testimonio del amor cristiano. Jorge de Pisidia resalta entre sus cualidades, la claridad y serenidad de pensamiento, las acciones ejemplares y el poder persuasivo de su palabra que ejerce una poderosa influencia sobre sus hombres.

Llull's <i>A Contemporary Life: Narratio vera</i> or Auto-hagiographic Account?

Summary: The Vita coaetanea is a mesmerizing autobiographical account of Ramon Llull’s life dictated by himself to a monk at the monastery of Vauvert in Paris in 1311. The philosopher was then 79 years old and was making preparations to attend the Council of Vienne that same year. Throughout the Vita Llull imagines himself as a combination of sinner, pilgrim, hermit, teacher, preacher and spiritual knight (miles Christi). The Vita closely follows the model of hagiographic accounts and has as its point of departure Llull’s so-called conversion to penitence. Llull’s ulterior life is understood by him as an act of self-effacement and love for Christ and his neighbor. In a previous book, the Book of the Order of Chivalry, written decades before, Llull had defended a new moral definition of knights as embodiments of man’s effort in his attempt to achieve everlasting rest with his Creator, a mission that has spiritual as well as temporal connotations. The two works, separated by some thirty-five years, insist on the need to reach the Muslim population through a crusading effort which is both military and spiritual. The The Book of the Order of Chivalry gives way in the Vita to an autobiography conceived of as an exemplum of the chivalric endeavors which the first book extolls and calls for. Keywords: Ramon Llull, Vita coaetanea, autobiography, Miles Christi, The Book of the Order of Chivalry

Die pastoralpsychologische Studie zum Leiter-Zentrismus des Pastors in der Seelsorge

Christianity is a religion of love, and the church is a place to practice love. The ministry(cura animarum) as the essential purpose of the existence of the church is the love and caring of Christ, and the pastor is the subject of caring for Christ for the people. Pastor should serve the church community, preach the teachings of God to community members, listen to the sufferings of their lives, and help them resolve their conflicts in their lives. This is the task and mission of the pastor. Because of this pastor's mission, Christians as believers recognize the pastor as the leader of the ministry community. Of course, Christians give the pastor strong authority as a community leader. However, if the pastor extends the concept of capitalism-selfishness in the context of pastoral care and the pastor regards members of the church community as objects that meet the need for power and recognition, which is simply the pastor's selfish desire, the pastor is no longer a leader but a ruler to members of the church community. And the relationship between the pastor and the congregation is a relationship of unilateral oppression and destruction, not a mutual caring relationship that practices Christ's love. However, some congregation do not criticize these pastors' oppressive and violent attitudes, but also prefer to conform or conform to the attitude of the pastor, and even to those pastors. In this study, I have studied the negative authority of the pastor, the cause of the negative power of the pastor, and the symptoms and the result. Through this study, I hope to escape the outward concept of capitalist property, which is the absolute yardstick for assessing Korean Christianity and the church, namely the size of the church building or the number of church members. And I hope that this study contributes to establishing the concept of pastor practicing true pastoral care and love of Christ.

On The Dialectical Maxim Of Critical Rationalism

The paper discusses one of the major principles of critical rationalism with a critical approach. This principle is about giving all participants the opportunity to argue in a friendly spirit. I analyze the main theoretical and practical implications of this maxim and argue for the importance of this Popperian principle beyond scientific rationality, enabling a general rationality for co-operation among all interested parties in the argumentation of scientific or everyday life issues, no matter if they are our friends or opponents. The conclusion is that this maxim has an inner logic with an effective result of successful dialectic argumentation and critical thinking. A parallel has been drawn between Christian love for others, the Socratic insight that it is better to suffer injustice than to do it and the strategy of Popper’s principle. And hereby I suggest its compati-bility with Popper’s so-called via negativa.

Christian Ethics in educational institutions of Ukraine

The article deals with aspects of Christian Ethics as an integral part of Christian Philosophy. It is a science of the moral good of man based on absolute values, which is filled with Christian Culture. Christian Ethics is based on universal moral law of humankind that is Ten Commandments of God and Two Fundamental Commandments of Christian Love and on Seven Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy, Evangelical Counsels and Beatitudes. Christian Ethics calls on respecting of life as the God’s Gift.
 Christian Ethics complements and ennobles natural Ethics by adding the revealed truths. Christian Ethics is a doctrine common to all Christian denominations in Ukraine.
 Christian Ethics is a powerful educational tool in the formation of theological, moral and public virtues. Characterized interconfessional problems of teaching Christian Ethics. Christian Ethics is faith, hope and love for good. Education and upbringing in Christian Ethics is carried out on the principle of Christocentrism. In high school, the problem of teaching Christian Ethics touches on issues related to the formation of world outlook, spirituality and morality of youth.