Christian Point Of View Research Articles

African spiritual phenomena and the probable influence on African families

African spirituality is a holistic concept that stemmed from the historical, cultural and religious heritage of Africa, and includes among others, folktales, beliefs, rituals and culture. African spiritualities must be understood as originated from Africa’s soil, but also developed through contact with people from other countries and continents. The African independent or indigenous churches play an important role in the establishing of African Christian spiritualities. This article distinguishes and gives attention to the influence of African traditional spiritual phenomena as well as a ‘globalised Africa spiritual’ phenomenon on African families. When the influence on African families are discussed, it is done from a Christian point of view, and for this reason the article concludes with the role of the missional church and parents in the spiritual formation of their children.

„Митология“ и „религия“ в латинската християнска литература на IV–V в.

Christianity illuminated the world in the age of Antiquity but it differed significantly from the life of the ancient world. The Christian writers of IV–V cc. treat the ancient mythology in a negative way. The present article discusses the characteristics of ancient mythology which were unacceptable from a Christian point of view. Why are the concepts of ‘mythology’ and ‘religion’ opposed in the minds of the Christian writers? Christian literature depicts a different world. What are the characteristics of this world? What demonstrates its reality and veracity? The answers to these questions are given in the article “Mythology and Religion in Latin Christian Literature of IV–V cc.”

Kartelisasi Sitasi Ditinjau Dari Perspektif Kristen

This article discusses the issue of "citation cartelization" which is viewed from a Christian perspective. A review from a Christian point of view is needed in order to give a view to Christian academics, so that they can take a stand regarding the issue. From the results of the analysis, "citation cartelization" is a citation control measure in an effort to increase the number of citations which ultimately has an impact on increasing index rank in indexing and ranking machines on the Sinta page. In addition, "citation cartelization" is a scientific dishonesty, because efforts to increase the number of citations are carried out by encouraging others to cite one's scientific work even though there is no relevance.

『베오울프』를 통해 본 서양문명의 자연의 타자화 고찰

The purpose of this study is to analyze how the ethnic groups of the East Asian nomadic races are portrayed and the negative images are connected to Westerners through cultural origins and symbols in Beowulf, which is a combination of Christian values and Germanic perspectives. Beowulf is a story about the heroes of the Germanic people, but it is a work with a Christian perspective in the process of describing in writing letters that have been passed on to the oral tradition of Christianity in the later years. Beowulf and Grendel form two distinct axes, good and evil, which are depicted in the work as images of light and darkness. In this work Grendel is an image of a wolf symbolizing an ancient East Asian nomadic ethnic group. The immigrants from East Asia who came to Europe along the pasture, where animals can be eaten, worship dragons as life of primitive nature and live according to the nature of nature. The fact that the emblems representing nature are perceived as objects of conquest and elimination can be said to provide an opportunity to constantly typify nature and identify objects of conquest. In other words, it can be seen that Christian civilization denies all pagan civilizations other than Christianity by worshiping nature, rejecting the horizontal relation between nature and man, and looking from a vertical perspective. In the beginning, human beings have tried to be in awe of nature and united with nature, and worship and awe of this nature were unacceptable in Christian worship of God alone. In conclusion, from a Christian point of view, nature is an object that must be destroyed and eliminated. Therefore, this Christian perspective can be said to recognize nature as an object of conquest and to connect with the viewpoint of the West.

Azienda Ospedaliera “Pia Fondazione di Culto e Religione.«Cardinale Giovanni Panico»” di Tricase (Italia)

The article presents history of “Cardinale Giovanni Pani­co” the hospital which was transformed into Hospital-Cor­poration “Pia fondazione di culto e religione ‘Cardinale Giovanni Panico’” in Tricase, Italy. The Hospital Corporation arose from the Vatican diplomat Giovanniego Panico’s idea and initiative. The activity of the International Institute of Sisters Marcellin (Istituto Internazionale delle Suore Marcel­line) led to its actual functioning and constant development with continual help of suitable church and secular authorities. The future cardinal was sensitive to people’s suffering and lack of suitable health care; his work in many diplomatic agencies in different countries, usually poor and neglected, led to the idea of opening a small hospital in his hometown. The article is an attempt to show in an chronological order history and achievements of one of many Italian hospital corporations. However, the presented institution deserves special attention. The text shows how the private nursing home brought to life in 1963 (casa di cura privata) developed into an important Hospital Corporation in Italy which is defined as the only hospital-medical consortium classified as religious (ospedale religioso classificato). In the article the author does not only present mentioned chronology and achievements of the powerful medical facility, but also the role and need of transplanting on the ground of medical care catholic values as those which help to come back to physical health. The author also presents educational values of suffering in the Christian point of view.

The Christian Theory of Human Needs: Flesh and Spiritual Needs (A Spiritual Approach by Gayed)

This proposed theory disagrees with Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Based on the idea that humans are made up of spirit (a breath from God) and flesh (earthly nature), and the desires of each part is opposite of the desires of the other. Therefore, every person who believes in a Creator and of eternal life after death, especially Christians since this theory is based on Biblical teachings, has two sets of needs that need to be satisfied, spiritual needs and needs of the flesh. These needs work against each other. From a Christian point of view, it’s not required to satisfy both of these equally or proportionally, therefore they will be satisfied at different levels. The theory assumes that the total sum of both needs, those of the spirit and those of the flesh, add up to a 100%; and that a Christian person should be lead by his spiritual needs, even if he did not work on trying to satisfy them. Therefore the needs of the flesh are the complementary needs, because the spirit can tame the flesh but not the other way around. Thus, the spiritual needs start at an unknown quantity above zero and can continue to grow to a point less than a 100% (because of basic bodily needs that must always be satisfied) based on how hard a person strives within the teachings of their church. On the other hand, the scale of the needs of the flesh start from a point above zero to a point less than 100% (as there is a minimum level of morality, mercy and love in every human regardless of their personal beliefs). The theory also assumes that the spiritual needs start at a line called the line of faith and ends in a line representing the spirit leaving the body. The spiritual needs are divided into three escalating and complementary levels. It’s not necessary for every believer to go through all levels during their life but they have to a pass through a level before going into the more advanced level. The spiritual levels are: basic spiritual needs, belonging and participation, and, lastly, the desire to transcend and be released. Each level, therefore, does not replace the previous one, but rather adds to it. Finally, the theory assumes that throughout a person’s life, the spirit versus and the flesh will be at a constant battle for control in a person’s life.

Some Virgilian Perceptions of the Underworld in Book 6 of the Aeneid and Dante’s Inferno

Classical literature is not only the heritage of the earlier civilizations but also integrated elements of that literature in our modern era. Dante, the Christian, for example, uses some of the earlier perceptions of the Roman civilization in his Underworld. This paper focuses on some Virgilian perceptions of the Underworld in Book 6 of the Aeneid as they appear in Dante’s Inferno. The political corruption of Dante’s Rome is best compared to Virgil’s ideal Rome when Aeneas traveled to the Underworld to meet his father. As this comparative study will show, Dante’s purpose of depicting the corruption of contemporary Italy from a Christian point of view in the Inferno determined what and how much pagan mythology and motifs he drew from Virgil’s Aeneid to glorify ancient Rome.

Az üzleti kapcsolatok erkölcsi újjáépítése

Globalisation is a complex and worldwide process overarching historical times and continents.It started with the great geographical discoveries, continued with the emergence of world tradeand the development of a truly global market reaching its present status. Globalisation has bothnegative and positive effects. Out of the positive effects it has to be emphasised that more andmore zones of our planet benefit from the advances in sciences and techniques, more and more people have better access to work, education and the necessary commodities to meet their basicneeds. Globalisation has brought efficiency and new opportunities to companies, providing practically free access to raw materials, labour and knowledge. Out of the negative effects degradation of the biosphere, the greater social and economic inequality especially in the developingcountries has to be pointed out. Some companies are operating worldwide and have acquiredgreat economic power and influence. Governments have only limited possibilities to regulatetheir operation. The expenses of profit maximisation are high, which are often ‘paid’ by the social-natural environment (as externalities). The aim of our study is to overview how currentbusiness relations could be formed to be more human and environment friendly from the pointof view of Christian philosophy. It has to be pointed out that our study is focusing on the Christianpoint of view, although in our globalised world when studying business relations we should notforget about the role of other world major religious groups.

Echoes of the Scripture in the Gospels. By Richard B. Hays.

Julia Kristeva writes in her article ‘Word, Dialogue and Novel’, in which she coined the term intertextuality: ‘any text is constructed as a mosaic of quotations’. Richard B. Hays shows in his book that the Gospels really are mosaics of different kinds of quotations, or echoes, of the Old Testament. Hays considers the complete Bible as a great narrative and in this narrative the exile of Israel plays a prominent role. During Jesus’ time the exile was, in fact, not yet over, and so the gospel narratives, especially the synoptic gospels, describe the end of the exile from the Christian point of view. Thus Hays shares the view that N. T. Wright presented in his multi-volume study Christian Origins and the People of God (1992). The same view has most recently been presented by the Finnish scholar Timo Eskola, in his book A Narrative Theology of the New Testament (2015).

Can Christians really make a difference? A response to the call for change to make the world a better place

Christianity changed the world for the better through the development of education, charity organisations, art, music, law and medical care among others. However, not all changes initiated by Christianity were positive. The Christian religion was also responsible for division, death, destruction and war. Focusing on the positive changes, nearly 500 years after the reformation though, it seems as if Christianity has lost its renewing and transformative powers. It seems as if society, politics and the economy are pressurising Christianity to conform to the world and not the other way round. Therefore, the research focuses on the question whether Christians can bring about positive change and transformation to the current problems in society. What can Christians do to provide a religious response to current persistent societal problems? Change agents – people who drive positive change – are capable and competent, make use of networks, are visible and contactable and are often also outsiders in the communities they serve. Examples of the work done by change agents – Christians within their local communities – through small-scale community projects are showcased here to suggest possible ways forward for dealing with persistent problems from a Christian point of view.

Longing for a Better World: Hope in Professional Practices

ABSTRACTChristians are called to be a witness to the coming of the Kingdom of God and to cultivate practices in which peace and justice may flourish. In order to serve God in their daily work, Christians are faced with situations that cause both hope and despair. In this article, we explore what the concept of hope means for the education of Christian professionals. How does hope help them to fulfill their professional duty, especially in situations in which perseverance and courage are needed? We first elaborate on what Snyder (1994), one of the founding fathers of the field of positive psychology, wrote about hope. However interesting Snyder's ideas may be, we contend that the project-based attitude to the future that guides his research does not help us to develop a full understanding of the ambiguities and urgencies of professional practice. According to the scholarship of Schön (1991) and Bourdieu (1998), hope has been described as the active anticipation of a future state of affairs. Because hope anticipates a reality that does not yet exist, it always is a risky enterprise. To use a colloquial expression, we can never be sure whether or not we are betting on the wrong horse. Kelsey (2009) reflected on hope from a theological-anthropological perspective. He argued that hope is always a response to something that is eccentric to humankind. Professionals do not bring hope themselves, but rather orient themselves to something that transcends the horizon of human existence. From a Christian point of view, hope is grounded in the community with the living God.

MYŚLENIE PRAKSEOLOGICZNE STEFANA WYSZYŃSKIEGO I JEGO IMPLIKACJE PEDAGOGICZNE

Duszpasterski i naukowy dorobek Stefana Wyszyńskiego pozostaje wciąż nieodkryty. W tym artykule sięgam po pojęcie praxis, które jest obecne w wielu tekstach Prymasa Tysiąclecia i z jego pomocą rekonstruuję koncepcję myślenia krytycznego z pozycji chrześcijańskiej. Moje rozważania prezentuję w czterech punkach. W pierwszym opisuję stan współczesnego człowieka za pomocą dwóch par wyrażeń przeciwstawnych: atrofia myślenia versus entropia działania oraz apateizm versus indyferencja. Przez ich skrzyżowanie powstaje punkt oznaczający postulowane przez Wyszyńskiego (pozytywne) „zatrzymanie w myśleniu”. Drugi punkt poświęcony jest rekonstrukcji pojęcia praxis w oparciu o wybrane teksty Wyszyńskiego. Na tej podstawie w trzecim punkcie ukazuję jego pojmowanie myślenia krytycznego. Polega ono na zmianie punktu widzenia albo gotowości do wysłuchania i zrozumienia partnera dialogu. W ostatnim, czwartym punkcie wyciągam dwie pedagogiczne konkluzje przeprowadzonych przeze mnie analiz.

La <em>Emblemata</em> de Alciato y el programa iconográfico de la capilla mayor de Santa Baia de Banga (O Carballiño, Ourense)

The Church of Santa Baia de Banga, O Carballino (Ourense) stands out due to the decoration of the vault of the presbytery: it displays emblems drawn from Alciato’s Emblemata that were moralized from a Christian point of view, thus defi ning a sacred discourse in keeping with its location. This paper aims to reconstruct the “lost piece of evidence” of its iconographic programme; in order to do so, I will employ the clues that the mastermind himself left to ease its interpretation and that correspond to the Bible verses of the four prophets also depicted in the vault: Jeremiah, Isaiah, Micah, and Nahum. These verses recall a key message of the Christian catechesis: those living in sin are to be inevitably punished, although they may be saved thanks to the Mercy of God if they repent and find the way back to him. On the contrary, if they persist in their attitude, they are to suffer the eternal damnation.

Abortion and Christian Moral Decisions: An African Ecofeminist Perspective

Abortion is a controversial and complex matter that has been debated since the dawn of modernity. Current anti-abortion protests in some parts of the world are only the most recent examples of resistance against the legalisation of abortion. Anti-abortion protests continue to trigger debates on whether abortion is permissible from a Christian point of view. This article analyses the question of whether abortion is permissible from an African ecofeminist perspective. The article analyses ongoing protests against abortion, considers the question of moral rights and the Christian understanding of the sacredness of life, and discusses circumstances in life that may render abortion permissible. The article’s contention is that life is a sacred gift from God but there are situations in life when abortion should be allowed as a painful last resort.

Pragmatikkens rolle i et morfologisk funderet genussystem i yngre middelskånsk

In Old Danish (c800-c1525), masculine, feminine, and neuter nouns were used to denote humans, animals, things, and abstract categories. In Early Modern Danish (c1525-c1700), however, the masculine and the feminine merged into a common gender, confining the anaphoric and cataphoric personal pronouns han ‘he’ and hun ‘she’ to nouns denoting humans. This paper points out an early pragmatically based use of gender in the Scanian text Sjælens Trøst ‘Comfort of the Soul’ in manuscripts C 529 and A 109 from c1425. From a Christian point of view, the noun afgudh ‘idol’ is used as a neuter and thereby objectified, unlike the masculine noun gudh ‘God’. This use of the neuter is in all likelihood one of the first steps on the way from a primarily morphologically based three-gender system to a primarily semantically based two-gender system which distinguishes between human and non-human nouns.

Protected by Substitute Consent as a Human Right: A Reformed Perspective

In 2005, the Universal Declaration on Bioethics and Human Rights (UDBHR) by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) was accepted unanimously by the world community, consisting of 191 member nations, which means that the declaration is currently the first and only bioethical text to which the entire world has committed itself. It must be borne in mind, though, that this document, particularly Article 7 of the UDBHR, is not of religious origin and must therefore be evaluated from a Christian point of view. This article strives to ground the ethical and human-rights issue of substitute consent from a Reformed perspective. The grounding is performed in light of the creation and salvation perspectives.

Persons without capacity as participants in research: A Kingdom perspective on article 7(b) of UNESCO’s Universal Declaration on Bioethics and Human Rights (2005)

In 2005, UNESCO’s Universal Declaration on Bioethics and Human Rights (UDBHR) was accepted unanimously by the world community (191 member nations). The declaration is currently the first and only bioethical text to which the entire world has committed. However, this document, particularly Article 7(b), is not of religious origin and must therefore be evaluated from a Christian point of view. This article strives to ground the ethical and human rights issue of substitute consent with regard to research with persons without capacity from a Protestant perspective. The grounding is performed in the light of the theme of the Kingdom of God.

Gilberta Keitha Chestertona krytyka brytyjskiego imperializmu

Gilbert Keith Chesterton’s Critique of British ImperialismGilbert Keith Chesterton (1874–1936) was a famous English writer, a journalist, a philosopher and a Christian apologetic. In his works he dealt with many issues, among which were those concerning significant political questions that were widely discussed in public debates in the United Kingdom in the first decades of the twentieth century. This article describes and analyses Chesterton’s critical reflections on British imperialistic policy. The author: 1. Makes a brief analysis of the concept and the phenomenon of imperialism and imperialistic policy. 2. Presents Chesterton’s point of view on imperialism. 3. Depicts Chesterton’s vision of international order and England as part of this order. The author explains why imperialism must be, from a Christian point of view, found immoral and indicates how it is possible to remain being an English patriot while condemning the British Empire and its international politics.

CONSIDERAÇÕES ACERCA DO IMAGINÁRIO, DAS REPRESENTAÇÕES SOBRE O MAL E DE SUA EVOLUÇÃO DA ANTIGUIDADE CLÁSSICA ROMANA À ANTIGUIDADE TARDIA

RESUMO Através de uma análise evolutiva das representações o Mal, do ponto de vista cristão, da Antiguidade Clássica Romana até a Antiguidade Tardia, este artigo procura estabelecer, dentro do escopo compreendido, um diálogo entre as principais fontes desde a Igreja Primitiva até a Patrística, apresentando um panorama de como os autores cristãos pensaram e externaram na literatura teológica e hagiográfica as representações imaginárias a respeito do Mal. Ao indicar as proposições dos autores cristãos do período acima citado, vemos uma lenta e gradual modificação no pensamento a respeito das representações do Mal, nas diferentes conjunturas, presentes no processo de análise de tais fontes na longa duração.

The effect of a stand-alone ethics course in Chilean engineering students' attitudes

Engineering ethics education is taking on increasing importance worldwide, but in Chile the percentage of universities that have a mandatory course concerning ethics is still small. Traditionally, Chilean universities with existing ethics courses teach them using a philosophical or theological perspective, limited to occidental theories, and usually from a Christian point of view. This article studies the impact of a new methodology and technique to teach ethics in Chile: case-based, non-normative, and with a critical-descriptive approach. An empirical study is conducted to assess the relative impact of an ethics class on students individual and inherent moral values and attitudes, and understand the factors that contribute to this impact. Results indicate that even though the importance of religion in Chile is decreasing, it is still a major source of students� ethical principles and moral values. In addition, results suggest that a change in moral values develops when discussions among groups with different points of view occur.