Divine Character Research Articles

AN EXAMPLE OF UNNEEDED LEGITIMIZATION TRADITION IN ANCIENT MEDITERRANEAN REGION: EXPOSE TO WATER

Many ancient civilizations glorified their kings, divine beings and heroes. In order to make them unreachable, ancient societies first of all separated the lives of these personas into two parts and created a turning point for them, and especially the first part of their lives was detailed with extraordinary events to make them the main theme of some mythological stories. The plot of these stories generally was related to the theme of the abandonment of a new-born or sometimes an adult to water in any object like basket, crate or closed box, and eventually his reaching to a vital position for society. The generally accepted view in the literature is that rulers, especially those who were not legitimately entitled, manipulated such mythological stories to legitimize their dominance in the public eye. Moreover, as far as it is concerned that divine characters and some heroes were legitimized in this way. Contrary to the generally accepted judgment, it is confirmed that the majority of the abandoned children had already had opportunities to come to the fore. The mounted arguments of this study have mostly been based on the antique sources, and it is aimed to reveal the fact that the individuals who were left on water in arks had already been prospective legitimate people on the domains of administration or religion.

The Christian Sanctification of Suffering Scale: measure development and relationship to well-being

ABSTRACT Sanctification theory proposes that when people appraise an aspect of life as having divine character and significance, this can lead to a number of positive outcomes. While questions remain as to whether a negative aspect of life – suffering – can be sanctified, the Christian tradition supports a sanctification approach. In a series of three online cross-sectional studies with Christian participants, we report on the development of a Christian sanctification of suffering measure, establishing and confirming its factor structure and evaluating its construct in online samples of Christians who indicated they had experienced suffering. In addition, we demonstrate incremental validity over religious commitment and orthodox beliefs about suffering with respect to eudaimonic well-being outcomes. We conclude that the Christian Sanctification of Suffering Scale represents an orthodox Christian approach to the sanctification of suffering that is associated with eudaimonic well-being.

NILAI PENDIDIKAN KARAKTER DALAM NOVEL NEGERI 5 MENARA KARYA A FUADI (KAJIAN SOSIOLOGI SASTRA)

The purpose of this research is to express the value of character education contained in the novel Negeri Lima Menara works A. Fuadi published by PT Gramedia Pustaka mold 2011. While data collection techniques used are descriptive-interpretative and categorization techniques. In this case, the instrument used is the researcher himself. This means that researchers do the reading and analyzing the source data repeatedly until found the certainty and confidence. The next step is consulted with the tutors. The result of the research shows that in novel Negeri 5 Menara contains five dimensions of character education value that is, divine character education, moral character education, social character education, character education culture and aesthetic character education. The elements used in the novel Negeri 5 Menara as a conveyor of the value of character education that there are four things: 1) the theme, which became the main idea of ​​the storyline, 2) the background, which underlies the description as explanation story, 3) The story in the novel is so interesting, and 4) the style of language, based on the directness of meaning, which is used in this research is a rhetorical and figurative style.

Практический идеал во плоти. Этикотеология Канта и Богочеловечество

The metaphysical layer of what can be called philosophical Christology in Kant’s treatise on religion reflects his idea of the embodiment of the archetype of moral perfection. Kant raises the problem of the ontology of the ideal in the shape of the question about the conditions that make actual experience possible: the ideal of holiness resides in reason, i. e. in the human being, but the dominance of radical evil over the human will puts it out of human reach either in thought or in practice. For rational thought it is more natural to imagine the practical reality of the archetype as the embodiment of the authentic man proceeding from God. Using the Gospel narrative about Jesus, Kant interprets the human nature of the archetype in the light of his general notions about the properties of this nature. It is widely believed that Kant’s ethical theology eliminates the divine nature of the archetype by stating that an entirely holy will cannot be a moral example for the infirm human will. Kant however says, merely as a critical philosopher, that there are not enough rational grounds for thinking divine nature. Rational philosophy can think the archetype of perfection only as its pure and whole moral attitude through all the maxims and acts. Philosophy would transcend its boundaries if it claimed more and expected recognition of the prototypical theology of the ideal as the content of church faith. But it is not by chance that Kant sets forth the philosophical theory of the archetype as the content of faith in the subjunctive mood. According to Kant, the preaching of the divine character of the archetype as extra-philosophical supplement of the paradoxes and symbols of philosophical theology is only possible on condition that this statutory preaching does not obstruct the overall aspiration toward the actualisation of the pure moral attitude. If these conditions are observed the philosopher and the biblical theologian remain each with their theologies and within their rights.

NARODNE PREDSTAVE O SUNCU I MESECU U FRAZEMIMA I PAREMIJAMA ITALIJANSKOG I SRPSKOG JEZIKA

In this paper we have analyzed and compared idioms and proverbs of Italian and Serbian, where folk performances and observations about the influence of celestial bodies on human life are present, relying on the theory of Polish ethnolinguistic school. Astronomical culture is one of the oldest, developing from prehistoric man to the modern age in various forms and under different influences, from the imaginary view of celestial bodies to nurturing of cults, and the creation of numerous myths and legends. Due to their physical distance from the man, the Moon and the Sun have often been a subject of fantasy, therefore being animized (receiving the features of a living being), personified (presented as human beings) and sometimes deified (the Sun ascribing divine qualities) in linguistic structures. Idioms and proverbs are an impor- tant linguistic heritage for their speakers, because they are formed based on common values accepted by both language speakers and users showing an anthropocentric and not always realistic view of phenomena in the world. This paper is intended to highlight the existence of a common Indo-European nucleus in the perception of the celestial bodies, as well as to show a number of cultural differences that have left their mark in the observed languages.

The Question of the “Divine Status” of the Davidic Messiah

Abstract This article addresses the question whether there are compelling reasons that suggest that the Davidic messiah in the Hebrew Bible must be a divine being, as opposed to having merely a human-heroic status. It presents a number of arguments that support a divine understanding in some of the texts that can be related to the expectation of a future Davidic messiah. It also draws attention to the fact that in many instances the divine interpretation of the relevant texts is possible or likely rather than necessary and that it is only the combination of a number of suggestive passages that allow the reader to discern the divine character of the Davidic messiah. The investigation is located in the broader context of the question of monotheism in the Hebrew Bible and draws some conclusions concerning the theological consequences of the affirmation of the divinity of the Davidic messiah.

Some survey results about the change of gods in myths to gods in the fairy tales of Vietnamese ethnic minorities

Gods appear in a wide variety of myths and fairy tales around nations in the world. This is one of the central images, showing a multidimensional awareness of the ancients on the nature and society. Understanding the transformation of the system of god characters in a process of sequences, the system from the myths to the fairy tales of ethnic minorities in Vietnam, we will see the development of awareness levels in thinking, in the spiritual life of the society and of Vietnamese people. From there, we see the development in the thought process and artistic performances of the ancients which were romantic and high-soaring. We also see the similarities and differences in the art of character building in ethnic minorities' myths and legends. The research outcome is to understand the origin, the way to reflect the world, the people, the process of changing according to the thought and the art process of the divine character from myth to fairy tales of the Vietnamese ethnic minorities through the following steps: 1) Describing and surveying the divine characters in 181 myths of ethnic minorities in Vietnam; 2) Describing and surveying god characters in 150 fairy tales of typical Vietnamese ethnic minorities; and 3) Giving comment , evaluating the transformation of mythical characters from myths to fairy tales through the survey results.

From Angel to the Shekhina: The Influence of Kabbalah on the Late Work of R. B. Kitaj

Abstract After a lifelong career as a central figure in the London art scene, the American-Jewish artist R. B. Kitaj (1932–2007) left England in 1997 for Los Angeles to be “in exile,” as he named it, following a series of tragic events that he believed had caused the sudden death of his beloved wife and muse, artist Sandra Fisher (1947–1994). In Los Angeles, he continued the mission he had assigned himself long before: to create a meaningful, new Jewish art. For Kitaj, Jewish art was a “Diasporist” art—that is, a modernist, universal art whose core lies in the experience of the artist living and working in multiple societies simultaneously, and a response to being Heimatlos (“homeless”). He formulated his thoughts in two manifestos (1988/1989 and 2007), which were followed in 2017 by his posthumously published autobiography, Confessions of an Old Jewish Painter. Around 2003, Kitaj’s perception of Sandra Fisher attained a more mystical level: in addition to angelic qualities, he began to assign divine qualities to her as the personification of the Shekhina, the feminine aspect of God, to whom he could cleave as a mystic through his art while painting his Los Angeles series. In his final years, his personal devotion focused entirely on his reunion with Sandra. In this, mystical ideas about the Shekhina offered Kitaj a vehicle for his thought and art as well as a means of transition from earthly existence to death.

QUANTUM PHYSICS AND THE BOUNDARIES OF HUMAN PERCEPTION

The experimental results of quantum physics were manipulated by empiricists to forward some philosophical notions, which are in conflict with common sense and religious convictions. Most seriously, the notion of observer-created reality questions the independent reality of subatomic particles and endows divine qualities on observers who presumably determine their status. Moreover, the seemingly spontaneous electronic transitions were used to shed light as to whether the universe has a stationary configuration. In this article, both notions are analysed in terms of the logical consistency of their arguments and the scientific approach they adopt. The same arguments are also examined in light of the Islamic conceptual framework pertinent to how the universe is like. The article starts by delineating the logical framework of classical physics through discussing three energy-related concepts. A more objective approach that emerges from the positions of rationalists, such as Faraday and Einstein, is proposed. It is argued that despite the peculiarities of quantum physics, drawing parallels between classical and quantum physics is possible, and following the same analytical approach in both is imperative.

This IsThe ShackThat Job Built: Theodicy and Polytheism in William Paul Young’s Evangelical Bestseller

AbstractWilliam Paul Young’s bestselling evangelical novel The Shack (2007) is a twenty-first century re-imagining of the Biblical book of Job, a re-imagining that strangely multiplies the number of divine beings responding to the problem of suffering. I argue that Young has inadvertently rediscovered the ancient Israelite polytheism of three thousand years ago, for the simple reason that justifying the gods’ ways to humans is an easier task than justifying God’s ways to humans. A “deep time” approach to contemporary religiously-interested literature illuminates the Biblical and Ancient Near East texts with which The Shack is in dialogue. Recent critical-historical Bible scholarship, meanwhile, uncovers the pantheon of gods worshipped in ancient Israelite religion, gods whose genealogical traces lead us to The Shack’s divine characters.

Transfiguration of Moses and Enoch on Heaven and the Adamic condition

In Second Temple Judaism, especially in apocalyptic literature, the encounter between God and believers acquires a distinct visionary accent. Regardless of whether heavenly realities are revealed on earth or the visionary ascends to heaven, the essence is the manifestation of important revelations. Corresponding Old Testament heroes, such as Enoch or Moses, according to apocryphal, Samaritan or rabbinic texts, ascended to the place of God’s presence (a throne room or even a cloud). In addition to receiving relevant soteriological and cosmological knowledge, they underwent transfiguration there. The transfiguration of these characters is very illustrative: they take angelic, royal, and priestly qualities. Divine radiance, shining faces, and magnificent robes are just some examples of the divine characteristics that are acquired. This article, together with the study of these elements, underlines the fact that these divine qualities were described in the literature around the change of era and dedicated to Adam prior to his expulsion from Eden. The closeness between the first man and God in the Garden of Eden was expressed in a number of divine attributes inherent in Adam, the same ones that would later be assumed by Enoch or Moses, among others, in heaven. In this way, the transfiguration of Enoch or Moses is nothing more than a manifestation of the rich Jewish anthropology of an Adamic character.

The Image of Water in the Traditional Rituals and Folksongs of the Western Podolia

The article provides a detailed discussion of the image of water in the traditional rituals of the Western Podolia. The synonymous representations of water are particularly numerous in the ritual calendar songs of the winter cycle. The article focuses on the sources of folklore and ethnology providing grounds for an exhaustive analysis of the water image as an inherent part of the human life.The article elucidates the importance of water in the ancient Slavic and particularly in the Ukrainian culture. The ancient Slavs have been recorded as worshiping and bringing sacrifices to the rivers, lakes, wells and springs. The most important water goddess for the Ukrainian ancestors was Dana, venerated as a bright and benevolent deity that would ensure life to all the living things. Therefore, the names of the greatest Slavic rivers derive from the word dana. Similar power is ascribed to the spring rain and thunder. Rain embodies the celestial water element, while thunder combines two life bringing principles – water and light.The analysis of the national cultural heritage primarily brings forth the importance of water in the traditional worldview of the Western Podolia. The sacramental aspects of water are prominent in numerous charms and spells, which distinctly reveal personification of water and surviving reflections of its divine quality. The broadly popular magical uses of water are interpreted on the grounds of the traditional local belief in its cleansing effect and healing abilities applied to all the surrounding objects. The consecrated Jordan water that was believed to provide powerful protection from all the evil spirits was regarded in Western Podolia as an indispensable attribute of all the healing and economical magic. In Western Podolia, as in many other ethnographic Ukrainian regions, the traditional bathing in water during the calendar winter festivities was widely practiced for the purposes of ensuring physical health. This ritual has survived until nowadays along with other contemporary traditions. According to the old Ukrainian collections of the traditional folksong texts, the notion of dunai is most frequent in the folksongs from the Western Podolia. In the lyrics of these songs the water of dunai commonly occurs in such synonymous manifestations as the water as such, as a river, as a lake, as a sea or an ocean, and as other shapes of water (rain or snow), also – as a faraway country. Symbolic representations of the dunai water are particularly frequent in the wedding songs from the Western Podolia. Water as personified passive side of creation provides typical environment for the woman to make herself ready for entering the matrimony and for ensuring the continuation of life. The mythical image of dunai is rather widespread in the traditional ballads from the Western Podolia as well. Here, the water appears as a relentless deity extending its fatal embrace to accommodate the young married couples or individual family members that have betrayed each other, or as a fast, deep and overwhelming stream that proves deadly to people. In other traditional socially engaged folksongs from the Western Podolia the image of dunai is considerably less frequent. Here, it is mostly identified with the “faraway lands” and can acquire the actual meaning of the Danube River.

La vida y el derecho civil ecuatoriano

El objetivo del presente trabajo es poder analizar la vida desde el punto de vista creacionista, y que sirva de medio para aportar elementos adicionales a los ya existentes, aporte que nos permitan formarnos un criterio, entendiendo la función principal que ocupa el derecho en la vida de los seres humanos. Se concebiría que la vida es el instrumento por el cual ese creador o divinidad en la que se basan los que somos creyentes, habita en cada uno de nosotros con un solo propósito, el de guiarnos por el camino correcto, normando nuestra conducta y acciones, en primera instancia mediante un orden de carácter moral, divino, y que luego se traduciría en derechos plasmados en ordenamientos jurídicos.

LION AS AN EPITHET OF HORUS OF BEHDETY AT EDFU

This paper examines one of the epithets throughout the texts of Edfu where adominating Horus of Behdety interacts with the forces of chaos as a lion bytrampling, retreating, smiting and devouring. The textual sources containlexical expressions of this epithet and provide the visual metaphors asdramatic scenes of the god's domination. Also they show Horus as theupholder of the legitimacy of the kingship and the defeater lion over anytransgressors. Furthermore he played a beneficent role toward the two landsof Egypt, his sacred mound, his chapel, his divine character and Osiris withIsis.

The Lords of the West: Cloaking, Freedom and the Divine Narrative in Tolkien's Poetics

The article aims (1) to investigate the hidden divine narrative in Tolkien's Lord of the Rings, that is the agency of divine characters in and on the story, whose presence appears to other, non-divine characters only in ‘cloaked’ or ‘glimpsed’ form; (2) to discuss the reasons for the concealing of this narrative (and of divine presence in general), which is revealed as a key feature of Tolkien's literary technique and poetics. The article analyses both literary and non-literary sources, arguing that the Creator's love for the freedom of His creatures is the main reason accounting for this ‘cloaking’ and this ‘glimpsing’, both within Tolkien's sub-created, ‘secondary’ world and the ‘primary' reality to which he belongs.

Dimensi Ketuhanan Falsafah Mashā’iyyah: Suatu Pengamatan Konseptual

The article observes Mashā’iyyah’s divine philosophical dimension which refers to the ideas of al-Kindī, al-Fārābī, Ibn Sīnā and Ibn Rushd. The discourse was dilated by Mashā’iyyah’s interaction with Aristotle’s metaphysical tradition based on the concept of effective cause (`illah) as the basis of evidence for the reality of existence. Critically, the pursuit of purification of this philosophical tradition is accomplished through the idea of harmonization of religion and philosophy (al-tawfīq bayn al-dīn wa al-falsafah). This article highlights the background of Aristotle’s idea of metaphysic, Mashā’iyyah’s idea of harmonization and its relation to the formation of their divine concept. Ironically, the study found that despite Mashā’iyyah’s efforts that were very synonymous with the tauhid’s aspiration, the divine concept was still influenced by Aristotle’s metaphysical dimension in perceiving the divine character of Allah SWT. © 2019, University of Malaya. All rights reserved.

ONTOLOGY AND METAPHYSICS. BEING AND PERSON - GOD AND MAN

How do we conceive of God? How can we understand God‟s agency? How do we interact with God? Can we say the relationship between God and humanity is one of free inter-personal relations? I argue that the way we conceptualise God demands that we cannot describe God as a free, personal agent or that our relationship with him is free in itself. I analyse what cognitive linguistics has to say about how we understand and assign characteristics to God, all the while measuring these implications with the notion of human and divine free will. I then discuss whether established key characteristics of God are philosophically consistent with cognitive linguistics‟ suggestions about the method of our conceiving of God. I argue that there are inconsistencies regarding the classical theistic understanding of divine causality and divine qualities which render this understanding of God incoherent. I measure the implications that these suggestions have on the notion of God‟s free agency. I will not argue for or against the existence of God, but rather comment on the philosophical implications of theological statements about the nature of God and humanity‟s interaction with God as an abstract concept. I base my understanding of God on a classical theistic foundation. On this understanding God is simple, personal, omni-benevolent, omniscient and omnipotent and can entertain an active relationship with all of His creation. I conclude that this understanding of God is not only internally incoherent, but furthermore literally impossible to accredit to God, since we cannot separate our talk of him from talk of ourselves. This means that we cannot know God, let alone coherently conceive of a „free‟ relationship with him.

IS IT COHERENT TO CONCEIVE OF GOD AS A FREE, PER-SONAL AGENT THAT HUMANITY CAN FREELY INTERACT WITH?

How do we conceive of God? How can we understand God‟s agency? How do we interact with God? Can we say the relationship between God and humanity is one of free inter-personal relations? I argue that the way we conceptualise God demands that we cannot describe God as a free, personal agent or that our relationship with him is free in itself. I analyse what cognitive linguistics has to say about how we understand and assign characteristics to God, all the while measuring these implications with the notion of human and divine free will. I then discuss whether established key characteristics of God are philosophically consistent with cognitive linguistics‟ suggestions about the method of our conceiving of God. I argue that there are inconsistencies regarding the classical theistic understanding of divine causality and divine qualities which render this understanding of God incoherent. I measure the implications that these suggestions have on the notion of God‟s free agency. I will not argue for or against the existence of God, but rather comment on the philosophical implications of theological statements about the nature of God and humanity‟s interaction with God as an abstract concept. I base my understanding of God on a classical theistic foundation. On this understanding God is simple, personal, omni-benevolent, omniscient and omnipotent and can entertain an active relationship with all of His creation. I conclude that this understanding of God is not only internally incoherent, but furthermore literally impossible to accredit to God, since we cannot separate our talk of him from talk of ourselves. This means that we cannot know God, let alone coherently conceive of a „free‟ relationship with him.

Revealing the Name: An Investigation of the Divine Character Through a Conversation Analysis of the Dialogues Between God and Moses in the Book of Exodus

YHWH’s statement to Moses, אהיה אשר אהיה , has been much discussed by biblical scholars and theologians. For much of the last century this discussion related to matters of etymology or history of religion, or the precise grammar of the text. However, recently there has been renewed interest in understanding the statement in its present context as part of the book of Exodus, and in particular its role in the call of Moses. My thesis seeks to deepen understanding of the implications of this statement through a close reading of the dialogues between Moses and YHWH. My close reading of individual dialogues involves three steps: first investigation of the way in which the narrator portrays the actions of the characters, then the manner in which the narrator portrays individual speech of the characters and finally the way in which an analysis of the dialogues utilising principles from the socio-linguistic field of Conversation Analysis adds to an understanding of the characters. Through this close reading I show that the phrase אהיה אשר אהיה is best understood as linking the meaning of the name YHWH to the verb “to be” and in particular God’s promise to “be with” Moses in 3:12. The phrase affirms both YHWH’s presence with Moses and his freedom to be present in the manner he chooses and the implications of this affirmation of presence and freedom are worked out more fully in the narrative of Exodus. In the thesis my reading of the dialogues in Exodus 3-4 shows that YHWH transforms Moses into the means by which YHWH delivers his people from Egypt and also by which YHWH is present with his people. My examination of the dialogues in Exodus 5-7 demonstrates that YHWH’s plans are accomplished by his speech which re-designates and reshapes those with and about whom he is speaking. My analysis of Exodus 19-24 finds that the dialogues demonstrate YHWH’s freedom to be present as he chooses to different people at different points. Exodus 32:7-33:11 gives further meaning and significance to the divine name in terms of YHWH’s withdrawal in response to the idolatry of the people. From the final section of dialogue, Exodus 33:12-34:35, I show that the intercession of Moses is critical to the demonstration of YHWH’s mercy and compassion. My analysis of each of these dialogues demonstrates that a key means by which YHWH is present to his people is in and through Moses.

Playing God or Participating in God? What Considerations Might the New Testament Bring to the Ethics of the Biotechnological Future?

The Bible is normative for all Christian theology and ethics, including responsible theological reflection on the biotechnological future. This article considers the representation of creaturehood and what might be labelled ‘deification’ within the biblical material, framing these concepts in terms of participation in providence and redemption. This participatory emphasis allows us to move past the simplistic dismissal of biotechnological progress as ‘playing God’, by highlighting ways in which the development of technology and caregiving are proper creaturely activities, but ones that must be morally aligned to the goodness of God. Framing our approximation of divine character in terms of ‘deification’ highlights its relational and soteriologically defined shape, preventing us from conceiving its attainment in any way that is loosed from the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The discussion allows us to affirm the pursuit of biotechnological research, but to recognize that it is unable by itself to accomplish certain ends, and that it must be pursued in alignment with the standards of goodness by which God loves his world.