Christian Story Research Articles

Ethics and Form in Fantasy Literature: Tolkien, Rowling and Meyer by Lykke Guanio-Uluru

Reviewed by: Ethics and Form in Fantasy Literature: Tolkien, Rowling and Meyer by Lykke Guanio-Uluru Ryan K. Strader Ethics and Form in Fantasy Literature: Tolkien, Rowling and Meyer, by Lykke Guanio-Uluru. Palgrave Macmillan, 2015. In Ethics and Form in Fantasy Literature: Tolkien, Rowling and Meyer, Lykke Guanio-Uluru's purpose is to evaluate the "formative ethical influence" of best-selling fantasy novels (1). The popularity of The Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, and the Twilight series "makes their reflection (or refraction) of cultural values relevant to understanding contemporary Western society"; these are our "best-selling" ethics, and Guanio-Uluru has mined 7,000 pages of text to deliver a rich and sprawling analysis of their ethical arguments (1). Guanio-Uluru draws on James Phelan's rhetorical theory of narrative and ethics to map the "ethical progression" of each series, arguing that the narrative strategies in each text create a discernable "ethical universe" (2). A consistent theme in the analysis is a theoretical conversation between Farah Mendlesohn's argument that there is "an 'unavoidable' link between narrative form and ideology" and Phelan's argument that narrative effects are ethically dynamic, stemming from complex interactions between narrative aesthetics, form, and the reader's ethical positioning (13, 234). Guanio-Uluru questions Mendlesohn's belief in a "rigid" relationship between ethics and rhetorical form; instead, the complexity and depth of Guanio-Uluru's analysis "suggests that individual texts tend to rely on dynamic combinations of formal patterns according to their ethical agenda rather than stay confined to any single and 'static' formal or ideological 'template'" (14). As a result, Guanio-Uluru not only draws on Phelan's work but also acts to validate it and expand its application to works for younger readers. Guanio-Uluru's introductory section on methodology is thorough and useful, foregrounding her use of the contested notion of the "implied author" in the work of Wayne C. Booth and Dan Shen. In connecting the primary texts (the three main series of the authors indicated in the title) to contemporary ethical theory, Plato, Augustine, and Boethius are given some treatment, but the succeeding chapters do not dwell too much on them. The discussion of ethics in the primary texts is concentrated on discovery of how the aesthetic characteristics of the primary text communicate value assessments of right and wrong, good and evil. For each series, Guanio-Uluru focuses on how the narrative presentation influences readers to choose moral sides. This approach of eschewing lengthy discussion of ethical theory does not leave the [End Page 243] ethical discussion feeling unmoored; on the contrary, it keeps Guanio-Uluru's discussion focused on the primary texts, allowing her to dig into the narratives to provide a thorough discussion, undistracted by too-lengthy forays into Plato. The accompanying plot summaries provided by Guanio-Uluru are ample, allowing a reader to compensate if they simply couldn't make it through seven tomes of Harry Potter, but are still curious about the ethical realities of Harry Potter "occulture" (88). Readers who have enjoyed any of the series that Uluru analyzes will feel that they have had a long and satisfying visit back to the worlds of Middle Earth, Hogwarts, and Forks. The analysis of The Lord of the Rings is as sprawling as the Norse mythical traditions that were Tolkien's sources. And fittingly so, as the ethical vision of the implied author is "to amalgamate something of the (heroic) boldness permeating the Norse vision of life with the ideal of compassion and self-sacrifice on which the Christian faith is based" (47). Christian ethical values discussed include Bombadil's value of self-mastery and the collective consequences of individual choice (54, 75). Harry Potter, on the other hand, is presented as a text that utilizes some Christian symbolism and recognizable Christian story arcs, but ultimately the ethical rhetoric of the text rejects the notion of a spiritual reality that imparts morality (156–57). The chapters on The Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter are engaging, but it is when Guanio-Uluru compares the two series that the analysis shines brightest. While she concludes that the Christian ethical vision of The Lord of...

The Comparison of the Baroque and Renaissance Aesthetics Paintings of “The Last Supper” by Caravaggio and Leonardo da Vinci

Abstract The paintings of Caravaggio’s and Leonardo da Vinci’s “The Last Supper” are two iconic art works from two maestros in different era. Caravaggio is one of the fame Baroque’s artists and da Vinci is the most famous Renaissance man, who created the same theme of painting: The Last Supper. The theme represents the story of Christ’s supper. Through an inductive view, this comparative study analyzes the aesthetic structures of both paintings, by using Feldman’s perspective (Art as Image and Idea (1967). The analysis includes visual structures: line, form, darkness-lightness; elements of organization: unity, balance, rhythm, and proportion; and elements of perception and aesthetic: empathy and a psychic distance. The result of this research discovers two different perspectives of aesthetic characteristics of Baroque and Renaissance pantings.Key words: Baroque, Caravaggio, Leonardo da Vinci, Renaissance, The Last Supper.

Two perspectives on the high priest Joseph Caiaphas: challenges for religious educators presenting Jesus’ Passion

Along with Pontius Pilate, the high priest Joseph Caiaphas takes centre stage when the most dramatic events of the Christian story unfold—the arrest, interrogations and execution of Jesus of Nazareth. Despite his central role in the unfolding drama, the gospel authors present Caiaphas as a shadowy figure and offer little context which might assist readers to judge his character, motivations and intentions. As a result, most Christians remain unaware and uninformed about Joseph Caiaphas. Christian tradition has presented Caiaphas as vengeful, jealous, self-serving and misguided. These characteristics of the key Jewish leader have profound implications for the way modern Christians understand Jesus within his Jewish culture. Contemporary understanding of the relationship between Jesus and Caiaphas also has implications for the course of relationships between modern Jews and Christians. This paper outlines the gospel and historical evidence for Joseph Caiaphas and suggests ways that religious educators might proceed when presenting the story of Jesus’ Passion.

«Мера за меру» У. Шекспира и мистерии: сюжет о воскрешении Лазаря

<p>В настоящей статье предпринимается попытка проанализировать традицию средневековой мистерии в «проблемной» пьесе «Мера за меру». Несмотря на использование Шекспиром итальянского источника, новеллы Джиральди Чинтио «История Эпитии» из сборника «Гекатомити», пьеса не превращается в полной мере в неоклассическую комедию в итальянском духе. Важность таких противопоставленных тем, как неправедный мирской суд и высшая справедливость Божьего суда, закон и милосердие, связывают шекспировский текст с проблематикой средневекового религиозного театра, а через нее — с евангельской традицией.</p><p>Пьесы, посвященные воскрешению Лазаря, имеются в сохранившихся текстах Йоркского, Честерского и Таунлийского циклов, а также в цикле пьес «города N». Хотя их композиционное расположение различно в разных циклах, значимость драмы о величайшем чуде Христа для жанра мистерии неоспорима.</p><p>Монолог Клаудио о смерти восходит к средневековой апокрифической традиции Visio Lazari, повлиявшей также на тексты мистерий, — рассказа воскресшего Лазаря о загробных муках. В то же время загадочное молчание закутанного в плащ Клаудио в финале пьесы может быть связано уже напрямую с текстом Евангелия от Иоанна, где воскресший Лазарь предстает перед скорбящими родными с лицом, обвязанным платком, и воспринято как воплощение тайны смерти.</p><p>Поведение Изабеллы и Марианы в заключительном акте даже внешне напоминает о Марии и Марфе, преклонивших колени перед Христом. Однако на этот раз они молят пощадить Анджело, и дарованное ему помилование позволяет говорить о хотя бы потенциальной возможности его раскаяния и духовного воскрешения. Наиболее сложной для интерпретации оказывается фигура Герцога: хотя его роль в сюжете может быть сопоставлена с ролью Христа в мистерии, он становится лишь отчасти богоподобной фигурой, но не Богом, а его слишком человеческие слабости и промахи позволяют пьесе сохранять баланс между аллегоричностью и психологизмом.</p>

Called To Be Holy In The World: An Introduction to Christian History by Timothy H. Maschke

Reviewed by: Called To Be Holy In The World: An Introduction to Christian History by Timothy H. Maschke Phillip L. Brandt Called To Be Holy In The World: An Introduction to Christian History. By Timothy H. Maschke. Eugene: Wipf and Stock, 2016. 350pp. This book is the fourth volume in a series of textbooks written by theology faculty within the Concordia University System of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod (LCMS) for their students. Each chapter covers one century of material. Major figures, movements, and events are succinctly described. The only deviation from this pattern comes in the treatment of the sixteenth century, which is divided into three chapters, allowing a more complete treatment of the Reformation. Maschke writes for undergraduates, not a body of readers noted for its passionate interest in ecclesial history. This fact forces him to make a number of concessions and adopt strategies which make his work useful in that context, but may also result in a text which is unsatisfying for those outside his intended readership. Cognizant of undergraduate reading habits, his chapters are brief, averaging just over fourteen pages. Despite this brevity, Maschke manages to treat a substantial amount of material. This necessitates a superficiality which might be considered a weakness. The book at some points reads more like an encyclopedic work which is arranged chronologically than a historical narrative. For an instructor whose lectures are providing that narrative, this work will provide a handy resource of facts and summaries for the student. For someone in another context, however, the book can become a blur of information which leaves the reader hungry for deeper treatment and contextualization of the events described. There are moments when the book surprises the reader with great detail and interesting context. The treatment of progress in agricultural techniques in the early centuries of the second millennium stands out. This is also true when he turns his attention to the nineteenth century and concentrates on the events surrounding C. F. W. Walther and the founding of the LCMS. The best defense of the book’s approach may be found in the very brief material which one finds at the beginnings and endings of chapters. Here Maschke makes an attempt to frame the material and connect the reader to what he or she has just read or is about to read. He emphasizes the mission of the church and [End Page 340] the persistent need for reform, especially in the centuries prior to Luther. Whether this effort at contextualization succeeds is open to debate. To some, this framing material will sound excessively parochial. The general reader who is looking for an accessible survey of Christian history will likely be more satisfied with The Story of Christianity, the two-volume work of Justo Gonzalez, published by HarperCollins, 2010. Phillip L. Brandt Concordia University Portland, Oregon Copyright © 2017 Johns Hopkins University Press and Lutheran Quarterly, Inc

The Body of Mahomet: Pierre Bayle on War, Sex, and Islam

This paper discusses Pierre Bayle’s article on Muhammad in his Dictionnaire historique et critique (1696), especially with regard to its two main themes: the role of force in the establishment of Islam, and sexual morality within Islam. Both themes had been a traditional part of Christian apologetics for centuries, but Bayle takes them up in an unconventional way, proposing to write the history of Islam objectively rather than fitting it into a Christian story. This article will discuss these and other themes in Bayle’s "Mahomet" and place it within the wider historiographical context of the early modern debate on Islam.

Parable themes in Islamic transformation: an anthology with analysis

Abstract The similes and parables in Islamic tradition are strongly influenced by their Christian or Jewish predecessors. The Arabic mathal is related to the Hebrew mashal and both words convey a broad range of meanings, from proverb to simile and parable as such. Still, slavish copying is not in order here. Older studies of the Jewish sources of Islam often made the mistake to consider the Islamic stories as merely a bad copy of a Jewish original. Hence the specific characteristics of Islamic story-telling remained in the dark. It is clear, however, that the stories, even if relying on pre-Islamic predecessors, have been modelled and transformed in order to convey a message typical of Islam. Quite often, a conscious polemic with their predecessors can be detected. In this article, I have collected some examples of such story-telling from post-Qur’anic Islamic literature. By demonstrating the (often oral) influence of Jewish and/or Christian stories upon these narratives, the Islamic idiosyncrasies come to the fore.

Public Theology as “Bridge Building”

This exchange between ethicist Peter Gathje and one of the guests of Manna House of Hospitality (Memphis, Tennessee) points to the task of the public theologian. Gathje serves at Manna House, sharing meals and prayers with its guests. Through his blog Radical Hospitality he echoes and responds to the theology of the people he serves, and their deep questions about justice in our world. In this dialogical movement he enters the locations where he serves meals and prays with his “public,” who in turn ask for a justice that seems all too elusive from their vantage point. His “public,” the guests and others who pass through Manna House, are sources for theological imagination and critical questioning, shaping the way Gathje organizes his vision of the Christian story and the liberating truth it seeks to relate to the world.

Rethinking Christian Forgiveness: Theological, Philosophical, and Psychological Explorations.By James K. Voiss, SJ.

James Voiss’s study sets out to answer the question as to whether there is a distinctively Christian understanding of forgiveness. It’s a big question to which his book offers a substantial and positive answer. Voiss identifies forgiveness as a key part of Jesus’ teaching and commission to his disciples, running as a ‘unifying theme’ holding the Christian story together. However, he is also aware that events in recent history (the Holocaust, the Killing Fields, etc.) have raised profound challenges about the nature and even the possibility of forgiveness and prompted wider interest in forgiveness beyond the realms of theology. Accordingly his book sets out first to explore these new philosophical and psychological approaches (Part I), then to see what points of commonality can be found across their respective approaches (Part II), and then to outline a theological approach which can take proper account of such new insights (Part III). In Part I he explores philosophical approaches in terms of two different traditions, the ‘French-Continental’ (focusing more on the concept and possibility of forgiveness) and the ‘Anglo-American’ (focusing more on the way forgiveness operates within the context of moral philosophy), and then recent psychological studies (exploring the relationship of forgiveness to moral harm). In Part II he starts by recognizing some of the unresolved tensions or ‘faultlines’ between these different approaches and then goes on to identify in a more descriptive way the key issues which a properly reformulated Christian understanding of forgiveness will need to address.

Practicing the Story: Equiping Congregations for Evangelism

Abstract“Evangelism” carries a lot of baggage! And many in our 21st‐century church feel that the baggage was packed by someone else and contains clothes that no longer fit or equip them for sharing the gospel with people and life in the present world. If evangelism is to find its place high on the agenda of our church of today, we need to enable Christian people to freely and honestly explore first, what it means to be people of the gospel now, and then, the message they have to share and how they will share it with the world today. Radical questions about our understandings of the gospel and purpose and practice in sharing it need to be asked, discussed, and explored with faith and courage in the many different contexts that Christian people are called to live and serve in. If the Christian church is to be faithful to the gospel and recognizing and growing the kingdom of God, then we must be listening to the discomfort within ourselves and our neighbours and open to the possibility of transformation. Can our Christian story, always a renewal movement, inspire that new thinking, sharing, and action that will reach the people we meet today?

Book Review: An Updated Introduction to Roman Catholicism: Gerald O’Collins and Mario Farrugia, Catholicism: The Story of Catholic Christianity

Book Review: An Updated Introduction to Roman Catholicism: Gerald O’Collins and Mario Farrugia, <i>Catholicism: The Story of Catholic Christianity</i>

From Every Tribe and Nation: A Historian’s Discovery of the Global Christian Story by Mark A. Noll

From Every Tribe and Nation: A Historian’s Discovery of the Global Christian Story <i>by Mark A. Noll</i>

Catholicism: The Story of Catholic Christianity. By Gerald O'Collins SJ, and Mario Farrugia SJ. 2nd ed.New York: Oxford University Press, 2015. xvi + 430 pages. $29.95 (paper).

Catholicism: The Story of Catholic Christianity. By Gerald O'Collins SJ, and Mario Farrugia SJ. 2nd ed.New York: Oxford University Press, 2015. xvi + 430 pages. $29.95 (paper).

Omnisubjectivity and Incarnation

In her 2013 Aquinas lecture and a previous article (Zagzebski in Oxford studies in philosophy of religion. Oxford University Press, New York, 231–247, 2008), Linda Zagzebski argues for a new divine trait, that of omnisubjectivity. In brief, omnisubjectivity is God’s ability to know what it is like for each of God’s creatures to be themselves. This knowledge is not merely propositional but ascribes to God knowledge of the sort that one typically associates with a first-person perspective on the self. Zagzebski’s considered opinion about what grounds omnisubjectivity appears to be that it is grounded in simulations of creaturely experiences that God imagines. My answer is that God experiences your experiences in experiencing you. Getting clearer on the basis of omnisubjectivity provides some novel results for thinking about what it would mean on the Christian story for Christ to become incarnate and in particular, for how it could be that an incarnate deity could learn something new even if that deity is omnisubjective.

Storytelling and Spiritual Formation According to the Apostle Paul

Storytelling is one of the favorite means the Apostle Paul frequently employs in his letters to enrich the spiritual formation of his converts. Philippians demonstrates this well. In this letter Paul presents not just stories of his own personal experiences–-whether in the past or present (1:12–16; 3:5–16; 4:10–13). He also talks about Christ Jesus (2:6–11), about his coworkers (2:19–24; 2:25–30), about the Philippian brothers and sisters (1:3–5; 4:2–3; 4:14–16), and about the false teachers (3:1–2; 3:18–19). The story of Christ in particular provides a theological foundation for all kinds of formation experiences taking place in the individual, ecclesial, and societal contexts. In this paper, I attempt to demonstrate how Paul interweaves this metastory with other stories for the multilayered spiritual formation of Christ-believers in Philippi and suggest implications for pastoral ministry today.

The Christian Story of the Body as the Ritual Plot for Youth Ministry

The rationale for a special ministry to and with young people has often been rooted in narratives of culture or developmental psychology. This article argues that the Christian story of the body as it is unfolded in most Christian funeral rituals should be the story that orders youth ministry. Based on an understanding of youth as a phase of transition, a reading of the narrative of the Hunger Games trilogy, ritual theory, and contemporary theological engagements with the body and embodiment, the article argues that youth ministry should be ordered by the Christian story of the body as created, finite and living under the hope of resurrection. Making this story the ritual plot in youth ministry turns youth ministry into a catechesis of hope.

The Hermeneutics of the Apostolic Proclamation: The Center of Paul’s Method of Scriptural Interpretation. By Matthew W. Bates.

I n this study, based on a Ph.D. dissertation submitted to Notre Dame University, Matthew Bates seeks to analyse the hermeneutical method underlying Paul’s exegesis of Scripture. In doing so, he surveys and challenges the work of many scholars who have worked in this field, including C. H. Dodd, Dietrich-Alex Koch, Christopher Stanley, Richard Hays, Ross Wagner, and Francis Watson. Bates’s central argument is that ‘Paul received, utilized, and extended an apostolic, kerygmatic narrative tradition centered on certain key events in the Christ story as his primary interpretative lens—a narrative tradition that already contained a built-in hermeneutic’ (pp. 56 f.). The recognition that Paul was a Jewish interpreter who used Jewish methods of exegesis must therefore be balanced by the fact that he read Jewish scriptures through the filter of this apostolic proclamation. In defence of his thesis, Bates explores 1 Cor. 13:3–11 and Rom. 1:1–6, tracing a kerygmatic narrative which underlies both. He then looks at various figurative methods employed by Paul—typology, allegory, and parable—but suggests that these are simply literary devices he employed to clothe the underlying meaning of the texts he quotes.

Paralysis and Sexuality in Medical Literature and the Acts of Peter

This paper focuses on the story of Peter’s daughter that is found in the Berlin Coptic papyrus BG 8502.4, and is associated with the apocryphal Acts of Peter. Research on the story of Peter’s daughter has primarily focused on its interpretation of the theme of chastity, or whether the story was originally included in the Acts of Peter. In the course of these investigations, scholars have taken for granted the curious assumption of the text that paralysis renders Peter’s daughter unfit for marriage, and thus safe from Ptolemy’s unwanted advances. This paper explores the underlying understandings of paralysis and sexuality that would have enabled ancient Christian audiences to make this leap from paralysis to sexual inviolability. Using data from ancient medical texts, this work demonstrates that both paralysis and infertility were understood as symptoms of excessive cooling and insufficient blood flow. Thus, for the ancient audience a paralyzed female body was incapable of bearing children, and an undesirable candidate for marriage. When read in light of these findings, Peter’s daughter is not only a model of early Christian chastity, but of early Christian story telling—using common cultural assumptions about disability to redefine normativity.

Catholicism: the story of Catholic Christianity

This book explains how Roman Catholicism and its beliefs and practices came to be what they are. The authors move through history to sum up the present characteristics of Catholic Christianity and the major tests it faces in the third millennium. Explaining matters in a fresh and original way, they do justice to the Catholic heritage and show that Catholicism is a dynamic and living faith. Well-structured, highly informative, and clearly written, the book does not evade critical problems and the negative side of history. Rather, O'Collins and Farrugia explore challenges facing Catholics and other Christians and engage with contemporary moral issues.

Book Review: From Every Tribe and Nation: A Historian's Discovery of the Global Christian Story

Book Review: From Every Tribe and Nation: A Historian's Discovery of the Global Christian Story