Theology Degree Research Articles

Paul Crego, a Life in the Study of East Europe: A Short Autobiographical Sketch

ABSTRACT The memoir narrates how Paul Crego came to study the Russian and Georgian languages. With a background in Soviet Studies, Crego went on to earn degrees in Divinity and Theology at Harvard and the Andover-Newton Theological School before becoming a librarian. Crego’s library career, which centered on Georgian and Armenian acquisitions and cataloging, spanned more than 25 years at Harvard and the Library of Congress.

Legal Regulation for Ensuring the Integrity of the Russian Scientific Certification System

This article is devoted to the issue of preserving the integrity of the Russian state system of scientific certification in the context of the growing diversity of regulatory and legal acts, as well as practices for awarding academic degrees. The recent expansion of the autonomy of a number of scientific and educational organizations raises a number of doubts, primarily related to the ability to ensure equal rights and opportunities for applicants for academic degrees in different parts of the system. This article provides a comparative analysis of state acts and regulatory acts of organizations that carry out procedures for the independent awarding of academic degrees. In the course of this study, three subsystems were identified that operate according to comparable rules but provide different rights and opportunities. The first subsystem is dissertation councils under the leadership of the Higher Attestation Commission and Russia’s Ministry of Education and Science. There, a place is occupied by special dissertation councils, in which the applicant avoids the publication of articles and the text of the dissertation, as well as other publicity requirements. The second subsystem is formed by scientific and educational organizations found on a special list. Similar norms and requirements apply within the framework of their local regulations, but there are also noticeable differences. These include reducing the number of dissertation councils, including candidates of sciences in them, the possibility of defending a candidate's thesis in the form of a scientific report, etc. The third subsystem includes spiritual education organizations awarding theological degrees. The ambiguity of the attitude toward such degrees remains at the federal legislation level. Theological degrees are recognized along with other academic degrees during state licensing and accreditation procedures, but their holders are not guaranteed mandatory surcharges, apostille affixing, etc. The analysis made it possible to identify indicators that are important for checking the integrity of the system and determining the direction of its improvement.

New Mexico's Spanish Catholic Past

New Mexico's Spanish Catholic Past Ramón A. Gutiérrez La Conquistadora: The Autobiography of an Ancient Statue, by Fray Angelico Chavez (Paterson, NJ: St. Anthony Guild Press, 1954), 96 pp. In the years following the initial voyage of Christopher Columbus seeking a western route to the riches of the East Indies in 1492, Spain rapidly established a far-flung empire. By the 1560s Spain's sovereignty extended from Madrid to Manila. Its expeditionary forces had captured the wealth of the Aztec and Inca Empires and explored much of what became known as the Spanish Borderlands of North America, that southern third of what became the United States extending from Florida to California. The Kingdom of New Mexico, established in 1598, is the oldest and most enduring of Spain's settlements in the United States, antedating the founding by the English of Jamestown in 1607 and Plymouth colony in 1620. The person who chronicled New Mexico's Catholic history most intensively during the twentieth century was Fray Angélico Chávez. In his lifetime he published twenty-three books and more than six hundred articles describing different facets of Catholic experiences here under Spanish, Mexican, and U.S. rule. The focus of this essay is on Chavez's 1954 book, La Conquistadora: The Autobiography of an Ancient Statue, in which he narrates the history of New Mexico's Christianization through the eyes of a wooden statue of Our Lady of the Rosary, brought by the Franciscan friars in 1625. Fray Angelico performs as a ventriloquist, giving the statue her feminine voice, which in turn she uses to narrate her triumphs and travails as New Mexico's virgin, queen, and mother over a span of more than three centuries. Chavez occasionally wrote with the female pseudonym as "Ann Jellico" assuming the persona of a woman, making his work by today's standards rather queer and campy. Males assuming female personas in [End Page 61] European and American literature is hardly unusual; what is, is that a piece of wood does. Chavez was born in 1910 to Fabian and Nicolasa Roybal in Wagon Mound, New Mexico and baptized as Manuel Ezequiel. When ordained a Franciscan friar in 1937 he chose Angélico as his clerical name to honor Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Ángeles, the Catholic patroness of Los Angeles, California. Fray Angélico was born into an ancestral line he traced to members of one of the first Spanish colonizing parties to enter New Mexico in 1598. A year after Angélico's birth his family moved to San Diego, California where his father worked as a carpenter building the pavilions for the Panama-California Exhibition inaugurated in 1915 to celebrate the opening of the Panama Canal. New Mexico's exhibition there, modeled after Acoma Pueblo's Franciscan church, became the pavilion that attracted the fair's largest crowds and subsequently inspired Santa Fe's city fathers to refashion the town's architectural style from Victorian to Spanish colonial in the 1930s. Some scholars opine that young Manuel's exposure to Spanish neocolonial architecture in San Diego and later Santa Fe may have inspired his fascination with the region's Spanish past. As a child Angelico was educated by the Sisters of Loretto who undoubtedly encouraged his pursuit of a clerical career. At the age of fourteen he enrolled at St. Francis Seraphic Seminary High School in Cincinnati, Ohio, moving to the nearby novitiate of the Saint John the Baptist Province of the Order of Friars Minor in 1929, obtaining a bachelor's degree in theology at Duns Scotus College in 1933. On returning to Santa Fe he was ordained a Franciscan priest at St. Francis Cathedral on May 6, 1937. He was the first native-born New Mexican ordained by the Order of Friars Minor begun by St. Francis of Assisi in 1210, having been educated entirely in Catholic schools by priests and nuns. Angelico Chavez became a prolific writer at a young age, first of poetry while he was still in high school, eventually adding essays and tomes on colonial art, history, and imaginative fiction to his literary repertoire anchored in themes derived from New Mexico...

Legal Regulation of the Integrity of the Russian System of scientific Certification

The article is devoted to the issue of preserving the integrity of the Russian state system of scientific certification in the context of the growing diversity of regulatory and legal acts, as well as practices for awarding academic degrees. The recent expansion of the autonomy of a number of scientific and educational organizations raises a number of doubts, primarily related to the ability to ensure equal rights and opportunities for applicants for academic degrees in different parts of the system. The article provides a comparative analysis of state acts, as well as regulatory acts of organizations that carry out procedures for the independent awarding of academic degrees. In the course of the study, three subsystems were identified that operate according to comparable rules, but provide different rights and opportunities. The first subsystem is dissertation councils under the leadership of the Higher Attestation Commission and the Ministry of Education and Science of Russia. There a special place is occupied by special dissertation councils, in which the applicant avoids the publication of articles and the text of the dissertation, as well as other publicity requirements. The second subsystem is formed by scientific and educational organizations included in a special list. Within the framework of their local regulations, similar norms and requirements apply, but there are also noticeable differences. These include the reduction of the number of dissertation councils, the inclusion of candidates of sciences in them, the possibility of defending a candidate's thesis in the form of a scientific report, etc. The third subsystem includes spiritual educational organizations awarding theological degrees. At the level of federal legislation, the ambiguity of the attitude towards such degrees remains. Theological degrees are recognized along with other academic degrees during state licensing and accreditation procedures, but their holders are not guaranteed mandatory surcharges, apostille affixing, etc. The analysis made it possible to identify indicators that are important for checking the integrity of the system and determining the directions of its improvement.

Work of dissertation councils of new system of scientific attestation

The paper is devoted to the consideration of the question of whether the Russian system of scientific attestation retains its integrity. The elimination of the monopoly of the Higher Attestation Commission (HAC) in matters of control over the activities of dissertation councils and procedures for defending dissertations made it possible to increase the variety of rules and practices of scientific attestation. Many scientific and educational organizations have developed their own regulations governing the corresponding activities. At the level of legislation, the instruction was fixed for the self-awarding of academic degrees to set requirements not lower than how they are formulated in federal acts. The question of how exactly this instruction is implemented is of research interest. In addition, it is important to understand whether applicants can receive equal rights and opportunities in different parts of the modern system. During the study, three existing subsystems were identified, together forming a single system. The first of them consists of ordinary and special dissertation councils, regulated directly by the Higher Attestation Commission and the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of Russia. The second subsystem is a collection of leading scientific and educational organizations that independently award academic degrees. Finally, the third subsystem consists of spiritual educational organizations, empowered to award theological degrees, which at the level of federal state educational standards are recognized as like other academic degrees. In all three subsystems, options for the defence of dissertations in permanent, one-time and joint dissertation councils were considered. Comparative analysis of regulatory and legal acts made it possible to highlight the similarities and differences of these subsystems, as well as to identify possible options for their development.

Tribute: John Thomas Ford, C.S.C. (1932–2021)

TributeJohn Thomas Ford, C.S.C. (1932–2021)* Dr. Kenneth L. Parker The field of newman studies suffered the loss of a great scholar and mentor when Fr. John Ford, CSC passed from this life. He died peacefully on 29 December 2021 at Holy Cross House in Notre Dame, Indiana, after a protracted struggle with cancer, and a short bout with COVID, from which he was thought to have recovered. We do not begrudge him the next stage of his journey toward the Beatific Vision; yet, we mourn the loss of his encouraging presence, even as we celebrate the achievements of his life. Though he is best known among us as a leading North American scholar of the life, work, and influence of John Henry Newman, his life story reflects a diversity of interests and the many ways he influenced those who came into contact with him. While this tribute can only touch the surface of his rich and varied life, it is an effort to share with you some of the reasons to be thankful for Fr.John Ford's well-lived life, and to remember with gratitude his generosity of spirit and Christian example. John Thomas Ford was born on 21 November 1932 in Dallas, Texas, and was the only child of Thomas and Leonara (Senn) Ford. He attended elementary school at St. Vincent's School, led by the Sisters of the Holy Cross in Logansport, Indiana, and graduated from Logansport High School in 1950. While attending the University of Notre Dame, Fr. Ford received his call to serve God as a Holy Cross priest and entered the Holy Cross Novitiate in Jordan, Minnesota on 15 August 1951, professed final vows on 16 August 1955, and was ordained a Holy Cross priest on 10 June 1959. After graduating from the University of Notre Dame in 1955 with a bachelor's degree in philosophy, he went on to Holy Cross College in Washington, DC to earn his master's degree in theology in 1959. In 1962, Fr. Ford received his doctorate in theology from the Gregorian University in Rome. In 1962, Fr. Ford taught theology at the University of Notre Dame and served as Prefect in Cavanaugh Hall before he left that fall to teach at Holy Cross College in Washington, DC until 1967. In 1964, he was appointed Assistant Superior at the Foreign Mission Seminary and later became Superior until 1968. From 1968 to 2018, Fr. Ford served on the faculty at Catholic University of America (CUA), in Washington, DC. [End Page 101] I first came to know Fr. Ford toward the end of his years as Chair of the Department of Theology at CUA (1977–1983). I was writing my PhD thesis under the supervision of Eamon Duffy at Cambridge University and anxious to find academic employment. Having applied unsuccessfully for a position in the history of Christian spirituality in his department, I wrote to Fr. Ford to ask advice on how to improve my application materials. He responded with a generous suggestion that we meet when he was in England later that year. He spent a day with me, offering sage advice and encouragement that saw me through the difficult process of beginning an academic career. My experience is but a single example of many lives he touched in that way. As the director of 63 dissertations, 16 on John Henry Newman, he knew the fears and frustrations of the young and managed their struggles with a pastoral touch. A notable dimension of Fr. Ford's life work was his passion for ecumenical dialogue. In the post-conciliar era, he served as a member of the United Methodist/Roman Catholic Bilateral Dialogue (1971–1977), the Faith and Order Commission of the National Council of Churches (1981–2011), the Roman Catholic observer-consultant for the Consultation on Church Union (1974–1988) and its Theology Commission (1982–1985), and the Reformed/Roman Catholic International Consultation (1987–1988). His work in the field of ecumenism was recognized in 2014 by the Franciscan Friars of the Atonement with their Paul Wattson Christian Unity Award. His graduate students benefited from his ecumenical work through his course on The History...

The problem of the integrity of the new Russian system of scientific attestation (by the example of the requirements for a dissertation)

The article is devoted to the issue of the integrity of the scientific certification system in modern Russia. After the elimination of the monopoly of the Higher Attestation Commission (HAC), the procedures for awarding academic degrees began to be regulated by a variety of different regulatory and legal acts. The growing variety of rules and regulations raises doubts about whether the system is still capable of ensuring equal rights and opportunities for all applicants for academic degrees. Using the example of the requirements for a dissertation for a degree, the article shows the similarities and differences that exist in different parts of this system. In the course of the study, three subsystems were identified within the system that have relatively similar requirements. The first subsystem is classical and special dissertation councils, directly controlled by the Higher Attestation Commission. The second system is formed by leading scientific and educational organizations that independently award academic degrees. The third subsystem includes spiritual educational organizations that are granted the right to award theological degrees recognized as equivalent to other academic degrees at the level of federal state educational standards. В В В В To consider each of these systems, the relevant requirements of federal legislation, local regulations of educational and scientific organizations that independently award academic degrees, as well as internal regulations of spiritual educational organizations were studied. A comparative analysis of normative and legal acts made it possible to trace how the integrity of the entire system of Russian scientific certification is ensured in the context of the diversity of its forms. In general, this system still remains comparable in terms of requirements for dissertations, but the rights and opportunities of applicants arising after their defense differ markedly depending on the place of defense.

Beurteilung des Einsatzes von Gleichnissen im Arabischunterricht für Nichtmuttersprachler durch Studierende des Instituts für Islamische Theologie der Universität Osnabrück

The study was initiated on the premise that the mission of teaching is loaded with goals other than the mere transfer of content. Those other goals are considered to be an enrichment of the teaching mission. When teaching Arabic to students, it is important to take into account their current level of Arabic skills. It is shown that reliance on the text of the holy Qur’an to reveal the beauty of the Arabic language is the right choice, especially in the case of students learning Arabic as part of their degree in Islamic Theology in Germany. Given that the Qur’an was worded on the basis of Arabic language rules, the Qur’anic text uses all the capabilities of the Arabic language – its terms, semantics, and aesthetics – in such a way that it reveals the beauty of the language like never before. Many methods of teaching Arabic are thought to be rather stagnant, which cannot be said of the method of teaching Arabic from an aesthetic perspective. The goal, then, is to teach Arabic through the aesthetic dimension by integrating the rhetoric into the context. This enables learners to understand Qur’anic texts more effectively, showing them the beauty of the language. This is the challenge undertaken by the researcher. The researcher used the specific rhetorical method of allegory. The methodology was based on a lesson for teaching Arabic designed by the researcher, entitled “Spending for the sake of Allah”. The main question of the study was to explore the attitude towards the method of integrating allegory into teaching Arabic to non-native speakers among a sample of students at Osnabrück University’s Institute of Islamic Theology. The descriptive method was used to shed light on the research question. Despite being a pilot study, the researcher relied on the descriptive method, since the study lacked pre- and post-analysis, and did not include a control group. The results showed the importance of using a variety of teaching methods to teach Arabic in general, and to non-native Arabic speakers in particular.

Connections lead to office, career success

When Steve Shablin graduated from college with a degree in theology and philosophy, he wasn't sure what career he wanted to pursue. The president of his college suggested he apply for a registrar position at the institution that had opened up. More than 35 years later, Shablin, now University Registrar at Michigan State University, is still passionate about working in higher education, where he has mostly served in the Registrar's Office. With a new initiative always launching and a community of scholars to connect with, he said he's never been bored. “It doesn't feel like work,” he added.

Ignacio Ellacuría, filósofo mártir de la realidad histórica, discípulo de Xavier Zubiri

Father Ignacio Ellacuría (1930-1989) was a Spanish Jesuit philosopher and the most important disciple of another great Spanish philosopher, Xavier Zubiri (1898-1983). Ellacuría was sent to El Salvador (Central America) in 1949 at eighteen, and after degrees in humanities, philosophy, and theology in Ecuador and Austria (where he was disciple of Karl Rahner), he travelled to Spain in 1962 for doctoral studies with Zubiri. There he became perhaps the leading specialist on Zubiri’s philosophy, which first analyzes reality as a dynamically structured epigenetic system tracing its emergence from material through organic to historical reality (open to transcendence), and second, which postulates the concept of sentient intelligence through which we are able to apprehend reality as reality. Upon returning to El Salvador in 1967, Ellacuría used Zubiri’s philosophical system to develop a powerful analysis of Latin America’s complicated historical reality during the 1960’s, 70’s, and 80’s. Ellacuría’s extraordinary output touched many different fields: philosophy, theology, political analysis, and his role as President of the UCA (Universidad Centroamericana José Simeón Cañas) in defense of the poor, and as peacemaker during the Civil War in El Salvador (1980-1991). He was assassinated with five other Jesuits and two women housekeepers by Salvadoran soldiers on November 16th 1989.

A history of russian literature: from philologists to theologians (A review of: Russian Literature of the 19th Century: A Course of Lectures for a Bachelor of Theology Degree: in 2 V. М.: POZNANIE Publishers, 2020.)

A history of russian literature: from philologists to theologians (A review of: Russian Literature of the 19th Century: A Course of Lectures for a Bachelor of Theology Degree: in 2 V. М.: POZNANIE Publishers, 2020.)

Las emociones positivas y su relación con el rendimiento académico en la materia de métodos de investigación

Las emociones positivas modelan la percepción de la realidad. En ambientes escolares universitarios, es necesario que exista un clima de positividad que facilite el proceso de enseñanza-aprendizaje, lo cual se puede lograr a través de actividades que generen ese tipo de emociones. Se realizó un estudio cuasi-experimental, comparativo, longitudinal y prospectivo con dos grupos de estudiantes de primer año de la licenciatura en Teología en la materia de Métodos de Investigación. En el grupo experimental se realizaron actividades planificadas que generaran emociones positivas durante los primeros cinco a siete minutos de clase, comprobando la influencia de un clima de positividad sobre el desempeño en la asignatura. Se utilizó otro grupo control para comparación, donde no se hizo intervención alguna. Ambos grupos tuvieron una composición demográfica similar. Al someter los resultados a análisis estadísticos, el grupo experimental obtuvo mejores calificaciones en los productos de aprendizaje y en la nota final de la materia. Se propone incentivar el uso de las herramientas que la psicología positiva ofrece en función de la educación integral, al reproducir este tipo de intervenciones generadoras de emociones positivas en contextos educativos más amplios. Los beneficios serán más abarcantes que un mejor rendimiento académico, pues el aumento del bienestar subjetivo se incrementa proporcionalmente a este tipo de actividades.

The Needs and Expectations of the Instructors, Student and Students’ Parents According to the 4-6 Years Qur'an Course Instructors (The Sample of Kırıkkale)

Diyanet İşleri Başkanlığı tarafından açılan 4-6 yaş Kur’an kurslarının amacı, çocukların İslam dininin değerlerinin insan hayatına anlam kazandıran olgulardan biri olduğunu fark etmelerini, Kur’an-ı Kerim’i ses ve şekil olarak tanımalarını, sağlıklı bir din ve ahlak gelişimini sağlamaktır. Kurslarda uygulanan müfredat akademisyenler ve okul öncesi öğretmenlerinden oluşan ekip tarafından hazırlanmaktadır. İlahiyat Fakültesi, İlitam, Ön lisans İlahiyat ve İmam-Hatip lisesi mezunu olup halk eğitim merkezi, üniversitelerin uzaktan eğitim merkezleri, Başkanlık tarafından düzenlenen programlardan sertifika alan öğreticiler bu kurslarda görev yapmaktadır. Araştırmanın amacı da 4-6 yaş Kur’an kursu öğreticilerinin tecrübelerinden yola çıkarak söz konusu kurslarda görev yapan öğreticilerin yeterlikleri, öğrenci ve öğrenci velileri ile ilgili deneyimlerini ortaya çıkarmaktır. Çalışmada nitel veri toplama yöntemlerinden görüşme ve doküman analiz yöntemi kullanılmıştır. Araştırmada 18 kurs öğreticisiyle görüşme yapılmış, elde edilen verilerin içerik analizi ile çözümlenmiştir. Birbirine benzeyen veriler belirli kavram ve temalar çerçevesinde bir araya getirilerek yorumlanmıştır. Araştırma sonucunda, öğreticilerin pedagojik formasyon bakımından kendilerini yetersiz gördükleri tespit edilmiştir. Hizmetiçi eğitimlerin teori ağırlıklı ve uzun aralıklarla yapıldığı, veli eğitiminin gerekliliği ortaya konulmuştur. Ayrıca velilerin çocuklarının okula hazırlanması yönünde taleplerinin olduğu, kurstan mezun olup ilkokula başlayan öğrencilerin akademik başarı gösterdikleri tespit edilmiştir. Bu başarıya öğreticilerin bireysel gayretleri ile ulaşıldığı, kursu müfredatında çocukları okula hazırlayıcı içerik olmadığı belirlenmiştir.

Three Credits' Worth of Research: The Librarian as Research Advisor for MA Candidates

In addition to the MDiv degree, granted after three years of graduate study, students at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in Wynnewood, Pennsylvania, can complete their requirements for the MA degree in Theology in their fourth and final year by writing a thesis paper. Several years ago, in an effort to ensure that the candidates were performing an acceptable level of research before beginning writing, academic administrators enjoined the librarian to supervise them during the fall semester of that fourth year, when their courseload is lighter. The students now earn three credits for the research they do. Thus, without the framework of regular class meetings, the librarian had not only to advise each student individually on the best sources and research techniques suited to his subject, but to encourage the students to work consistently, without the structural benefits that traditional courses provide, in the hope that the students will produce academically satisfactory work. The author will relate the trial-and-error course he took to bring this enterprise to its current form, and share some of the methods that he uses to keep on top of all the students throughout their research journey.

Juden und Christen—das eine Volk Gottes by Walter Kasper

Reviewed by: Juden und Christen—das eine Volk Gottes by Walter Kasper Leonard Swidler Walter Kasper Juden und Christen—das eine Volk Gottes, Freiburg im Breisgau: Herder Verlag, 2020. Pp. 160. This is an important book. But first some pertinent—and perhaps some may also think, "impertinent"—background information. Reviewing this "must read" contribution to Jewish-Christian relations by Cardinal Professor Walter Kasper brings me back to when I was fortunate enough to be a fellow Professor with three of the most influential Catholic theologians of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, when I was Guest Professor of the Pontifical Catholic Theological Faculty of the University of Tübingen, Germany, in the early 1970's. Those hyper-influential Catholic theologians are Josef Ratzinger (a.k.a. Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI), Professor Hans Küng, and Cardinal Walter Kasper. I beg the readers' permission to say a word about my contact with each of them. I became a close personal friend of Küng already in 1959 when I was finishing my Licentiate in Sacred Theology (S.T.L.) degree in Catholic Theology at Tübingen (perhaps the first Catholic layperson to receive a degree in Catholic theology ever!), and he was the successor there to my "Doktor Vater," Professor Heinrich Fries (who had just moved to the University of Munich). In those early years, Kasper was an assistant to Küng and subsequently became Professor there. During Vatican II, Küng was hired as the successor to Fries. A short few years later, Küng was the Dean of the Catholic Theology Faculty and hired Josef Ratzinger, with whom he earlier had been a fellow Assistant in the Catholic Theology faculty of the University of Münster and also a colleague at Vatican II. Thus, the Catholic Theology Faculty of the University of Tübingen housed at the same time three theological world-shapers—and I was privileged to know them all. [End Page 453] Walter Kasper was made Cardinal in 2001 and the Head of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity during 2001–10. In many ways, this book is the fruit of his experience then, as well as his continued very active involvement in Jewish-Christian matters. The reader is the beneficiary of his manifold decades working in, and helping to shape, the ever-developing relationship between Catholics and Jews. The fact that he is a German theologian also cannot help but be important, given the Holocaust, during which all four of us were alive. This volume will be an eye-opener for those Christians and Jews, and intelligent outside observers, such as Muslims and "Nones," how these two sibling religions—Christianity and Rabbinic Judaism—came into existence and developed alongside each other. It is worth the price of the book just to learn of the family-intertwined relationship of these two religions. To begin, "Jesus" is an English spelling of the Latin Iesus, which is a translation of the New Testament Greek, Iesous, which is a translation of the Hebrew/Aramaic Yeshua. The latter was how he in life was named by his friends and enemies. Also telling, in this regard, was that he was addressed as "Rabbi," which means "Teacher." The New Testament was written Greek (the generally known language in the Roman Empire of the first century of the Common Era), and, consequently, almost always in its pages Jesus/Yeshua was addressed as Didascalos, Teacher, which is a translation of the term actually used, Rabbi ("Teacher") in Hebrew. So, when we read in English that he is addressed as Master or Lord, he in fact was addressed as Rabbi. What difference in Christian-Jewish relations might it have made over the centuries if the masses of illiterate Christians had constantly heard Yeshua addressed as Rabbi! There were at least a half dozen Jewish groups contending during Yeshua's time about what was the correct way to live as a Jew: Pharisees, Sadducees, Zealots, Qumranites, Hellenists, and "Yeshuites." The latter, initially, according to Luke's Acts of the Apostles, called themselves "Followers of the Way"—Hodos in Greek—of Rabbi Yeshua. It was only many decades after the death of their Rabbi that they were...

De/Constructing Friedrich Hölderlin: The Year in Germany

De/Constructing Friedrich HölderlinThe Year in Germany Tobias Heinrich (bio) Der große Unbekannte, the big unknown in German literature, is how Rüdiger Safranski introduces Friedrich Hölderlin (1770–1843) in his new book on the contemporary of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, the protégé of Friedrich Schiller, and the schoolmate of Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel. On the occasion of Hölderlin's 250th birthday, the German publishing house Hanser has put out two books on the poet's life and his legacy that couldn't be more different from each other. Yet at the same time, they both revolve around the Geheimnis, the mystery, that surrounds Hölderlin's literary work as well as his tragic fate. While Safranski's interest in that respect is mainly biographical and thus he discusses the poet's decline into madness, Karl-Heinz Ott traces the dazzling afterlife of Hölderlin's enigmatic oeuvre. The title of Ott's book, Hölderlins Geister, is deliberately ambiguous, as Geist can translate to either spirit, mind, or phantom. The plural form of the noun indicates that it is not just one Hölderlin that we encounter in Ott's extensive essay, but several, ranging from the herald of Greek mythology to the Jacobin revolutionary or the icon of German nationalism. In accordance, the book's five chapters are entitled Tübinger Visionen, visions of Tübingen, Der bräunliche Hölderlin, the brownish Hölderlin, alluding to the brown uniforms of the Nazi's paramilitary troops, Die Wahnsinnsmaske, the mask of madness, Griechisches Licht, Greek light, and Forever Young (in English). Hölderlin thus appears as the often only vaguely discernible center of a wider circle of spiritually akin figures like Friedrich Nietzsche, Stefan George, and most notably Martin Heidegger. From Ott's perspective, this panorama of German philosophical thought is predominantly, if not exclusively, male, which comes as a surprise, taking into account that Bettine von Arnim, one of German Romanticism's sharpest minds and arguably its most prominent female voice, was largely responsible for the fact that Hölderlin's poetic work would not be forgotten. While Ott's critical acknowledgment spreads out and around Hölderlin and his legacy, Safranski opts for a more conventional narrative. This is in accordance [End Page 76] with his books on E. T. A. Hoffmann, Martin Heidegger, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, and Friedrich Schiller, which have all become bestsellers and turned the author into one of Germany's most distinguished living biographers. In the first chapters, one learns about Hölderlin's childhood in Würtemmberg, in the southeast of Germany. As he lost both his biological father and stepfather quite early on, his mother became the dominant figure in his family, and she remained a central, yet problematic character until the end of the poet's life. Part of the reason is that she administrated her son's considerable inheritance, which she refused to pay out to him until he took up a secure profession, ideally the respected post of a country parson, and found a family of his own. To her great dissatisfaction, Hölderlin had very different ideas for his life. After he graduated in 1793 with a degree in theology, he worked as a private tutor, among others for the son of Charlotte von Kalb, a close friend of Friedrich Schiller's. Through this connection, he was able to publish parts of his epistolary novel Hyperion in Schiller's periodical Die neue Thalia. At this time, Hölderlin also frequented the lectures of Johann Gottlieb Fichte at the University of Jena. Building on the ground-breaking realignment of philosophy by Immanuel Kant, Fichte, through his exploration of the self and human consciousness, became one of the founding fathers of German Idealism. The other two names usually associated with this movement, Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schelling and Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, had studied with Hölderlin in Tübingen, where they had become a tight-knit group of friends, united in their adoration of Greek antiquity and their fascination with the political upheavals in nearby France. While both Schelling and Hegel would eventually embark on successful academic careers, Hölderlin...

Ambassador of the Vatican Archbishop and the Apostolic Nuncio to the Russian Federation, Celestino Migliore’s interview with editor-in-chief of the Journal Burganov House Space of culture

We are pleased to present an academic interview with the Ambassador of the Vatican Archbishop Celestino Migliore, the Apostolic Nuncio to the Russian Federation, who kindly agreed to answer questions asked by Maria A. Burganova, the editor-in-chief of the journal Burganov House. The Space of Culture. The meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Pope Francis, which will undoubtedly facilitate further development of relations in the context of the positive historical dialogue that has long been developing between the Vatican and Russia, was the impetus for the interview. Archbishop Celestino Migliore, an Italian prelate and Vatican diplomat, is the Apostolic Nuncio to the Russian Federation since May 28, 2016. Archbishop Migliore has a master’s degree in theology from the Center of Theological Studies in Fossano and Doctorate in Canon Law from the Pontifical Lateran University in the Vatican. He has been in the diplomatic service of the Holy See in different countries since 1980. He was appointed as Special Envoy to the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, the Under-Secretary of the Section for Relations with States of the Vatican’s Secretariat of State, and the Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations. Celestino Migliore received his episcopal consecration from John Paul II on January 6, 2003.

Responsibility for Sin in Ezekiel 18:21-28

REV. KRZYSZTOF RUDZIŃSKI was born in Suchowola in 1965. After being ordained to the priesthood in Bialystok in 1990, he served within different parishes in the Archdiocese of Bialystok. In 1995, he began biblical and pastoral studies at the Faculty of Theology ATK in Warsaw. In 1999, he successfully defended his Master’s thesis under the direction of Rev. Prof. Ryszard Rumianek and obtained a Master’s Degree in Theology and a Bachelor’s Degree in Biblical Studies. Rev. Rudzinski subsequently pursued doctoral studies at the Faculty of Theology at UKSW in Warsaw, where he is currently continuing his studies. In 2000, he was sent as a missionary to France where he serves as a priest “fidei donum” in the Diocese of Nice.

Johannes Soreth: Expositio paraenetica in Regulam Carmelitarum. Ein Kommentar zur Karmelregel trans. by Leo Groothuis

Reviewed by: Johannes Soreth: Expositio paraenetica in Regulam Carmelitarum. Ein Kommentar zur Karmelregeltrans. by Leo Groothuis Jos Huls O.Carm Johannes Soreth: Expositio paraenetica in Regulam Carmelitarum. Ein Kommentar zur Karmelregel. Übersetzt und erläutert von Leo Groothuis. Mit Beiträgen von Bryan Deschamp und Edeltraud Klueting. [ Schriften des Forschungsinstituts der Deutschen Provinz der Karmeliten, Band 1.] (Münster: Aschendorff Verlag. 2018. Pp. xii, 199. €29,90. ISBN 978-3-402-12135-1.) The German translation of this 1455 text by John Soreth, Prior General of the Carmelites, is based on the critical edition of the Latin original by Bryan Deschamp (Turnhout: Brepols, 2016). The publication of this new translation is an important contribution to the history of religious life in the fifteenth century, because it is a significant example of a much-needed reformation of the order more than a century before Teresa of Jesus and John of the Cross in Spain. The original text was published for the first time in 1625 by Léon de Saint Jean in Paris, within the context of the reform of Touraine, France, at the beginning of the seventeenth century. John Soreth was born in 1394 in Caen, France, and entered the Carmelite order in that city. He received a master's degree in theology at the University of Paris in 1438. Two years later, he was elected prior provincial of the province of Francia. In 1450 he became vicar general, and in 1451 he was elected prior general of the order, a function he held until his death in Caen in 1471. Soreth chose the convent of Liège as the residence of the General Council. In 1455, he wrote the Third Rule of Carmel for lay people and was the founder of the first Carmelite communities for women, whose first members were beguines. With the help of Françoise d'Amboise, he founded a monastery at Bondon, Brittany (France), where she wrote the Constitution for the first Carmelite nuns. Soreth's efforts at renewal and reform of the French convents began during his term as prior provincial, and continued through his tenure as prior general of the order. His detailed commentary on the Rule of Carmel has as its point of departure the original contemplative experience of the hermits on Mount Carmel. In his commentary, he emphasized a simple and hidden life centered on God alone. Using the method of the connexio auctoritatum, he highlighted how the Carmelite charism was embedded in the broad mystical and monastic tradition of the Middle Ages. In keeping with the times, differentiation of a particular identity was less important for him than the shared culture of religious life. Although it seems impossible to prove any real influences of the Modern Devotion of Geert Groote and Thomas à Kempis, they shared the same climate of reform. The German translation is excellent and gives the reader a good insight into the original text. However, modern readers will miss a mystagogic presentation of the chapters, since such an ascetic interpretation might too easily hamper a spiritual interiorization of its essence. Publication of a similar translation in English, as well as in other languages, would be valuable. Hopefully, this publication will act as an incentive for the future publication of the collection of Soreth's sermons, which are buried in the Liège archives. [End Page 577] Jos Huls O.Carm Titus Brandsma Institute, Nijmegen, The Netherlands Copyright © 2019 The Catholic University of America Press

Sprawozdanie z działalności Katedry Teologii Katolickiej Uniwersytetu w Białymstoku w roku akademickim 2018/2019

REV. LESZEK MARIUS JAKONIUK – was born in 1976. He obtained his Masters Degree in Theology and a Licentiate of Theology from the Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński University in Warsaw. From 2002-2005, he completed a special course in catechetics (pedagogie de la foi) at the Catholic University of Paris and obtained a diploma in DSET (Diplôme Supérieur d’Études Théologiques). In 2010, he completed his third degree doctoral studies at the University of Strasbourg in France. Since 2014, he has worked in the Department of Catholic Theology at the University of Białystok and served as the Editorial Secretary of the publication Annual of Catholic Theology and as the Editorial Secretary of Studies on Dogmatic Theology. Since 2018, he has been a member of the Association of Polish Catechists. Since 2019, he has served as the President of the Mess’AJE Association of Poland, which promotes adult biblical catechesis in Poland, as well as the Vice Director of the Metropolitan Curia of Białystok’s Department of Catechesis. He has authored and co-authored many articles inter alia: L’Exultet – La Bonne Nouvelle chanté e (2012), L’Exultet – une catéchèse vécue (2013), Wspó lnota z Taizé – współczesna forma życia monastycznego na Zachodzie (2014), The French and Polish Versions of the Catechism of the Catholic Church: An Examination of Certain Passages of the Catechism’s Teaching on the “Mysterium Ecclesiae” from a Philological and Translational Perspective (2017), Numbers 748 and 749 of the French and Polish Versions of the Catechism of the Catholic Church from a Translational Perspective: An Example of the Theological Effects of Translation (2018), Archbishop Edward Kisiel: The “Primary Catechist” of the Diocese (2018), Songs of Taizé (2018). His research interests include: the dimensions of the liturgy and catechesis that are conducive to the growth of the Church as a community, ecclesial identity in a united Europe, subjectivity in intercultural and interfaith dialogue, and adult biblical catechesis.