Divine Favor Research Articles

Patterns of Religious Content and Narrative Arrangement in Arrian’s Anabasis of Alexander

Abstract This study examines three patterns of religious content in Arrian’s Anabasis of Alexander: (a) ritual reports, (b) religious material culture, and (c) omens. Although ritual reports and omens mainly mark turning points of the expedition and certain qualities of Alexander’s character, the passages pertaining to religious material culture also transfer our focal point of interest to the author’s religious beliefs and his literary and cultural tastes. Most importantly, Arrian uses ritual reports and omens in compliance with (a) the dynamic portrait he wished to delineate for Alexander and (b) his opinion about Alexander’s relationship with religion on three different levels (alleged divine origins, stories about the divine favor Alexander enjoyed, and his rivalry with Dionysus and Heracles). A comparative reading of these three religious patterns reveals how Arrian, as a narrator, achieved a creative compromise between his own assessment of Alexander and the historical material he drew from his sources.

T. Desmond Alexander. Face to Face with God: A Biblical Theology of Christ as Priest and Mediator

T. Desmond Alexander. <i>Face to Face with God: A Biblical Theology of Christ as Priest and Mediator</i>

A psychopathological reading of the blood sweat phenomenon and religious stigmas: The case of Blessed Elena Aiello.

Around 300 cases of stigma have been described since the 13th century. Hematidrosis, hemolacria, bloody otorrhea, vicarious menstruation, and Gardner-Diamond syndrome are dermatological manifestations that are also observed in cases of stigma. This paper presents the disconcerting circumstances in the life of the Blessed Elena Aiello. From 1923 until her death, she suffered severe hematidrosis blood sweating on her forehead, hands, feet and knees, just as stigmata appear at the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. Stigmas, in Christian tradition, are marks corresponding to those left on Christ's body by the torture and the Crucifixion, it's said that are impressed on the person body by divine favor. These episodes, among the few recognised as authentic by the Catholic Church would appear each Friday in Lent, particularly on Good Friday. In this unique case study, doctors Fabrizio and Turano performed a medical study where the origin of the sores was unclear. Neurologist and psychiatrist Vincenzo Bianchi, on assessing the case, raised the possibility of simulation or mere suggestion on the part of the patient. Keywords: Elena Aiello, Autosuggestion, Psychology, Stigmata, Psychopathology, Malingering, Factitious Disorder.

“In All Ages and All Churches”: Anti-Mormonism and the Making of Antebellum Evangelicalism

“In All Ages and All Churches”: Anti-Mormonism and the Making of Antebellum Evangelicalism

САКРАЛЬНА ФУНКЦІЯ СВЯТКОВОГО ПИРОГА В ДАВНІХ РИМЛЯН: ОНОМАСІОЛОГІЧНИЙ І КУЛЬТУРОЛОГІЧНИЙ АСПЕКТИ

The article represents evolutional changes in modern culture of celebration, the traits of desacralization of traditional festive practices in comparison with the old ceremonial rites of "serving the deity" appropriate, in particular, to Greeks and Romans. In conformity with V. Turner’s universal theory of rite its multilevel structure was determined (symbolic, valuable, teleological and role-playing) as well as important sacred function that insures the integrity of all components. The rite of sacrifice was described as the most important festive ritual aimed at the creation of the channel of communication between the heavenly and the earthly, between gods and people. The assignment of different species of animals and plants’ sacrifice was determined the existence of link between the type of ophir and the deity’s cult was proved, between its zoomorphic and phytomorphic attributes, which had to guarantee the choice of the victim at the deity’s preference. Ancient Greeks and Romans traditionally sacrificed the bulls to Zeus / Jupiter, the cows to Hera / Juno, the horses to Poseidon / Neptune, the ear of cereals to Demeter / Ceres etc., and those who lacked the money to buy animals, had to choose animal and vegetable substitutes to bloody sacrifice – pies in the form of animalistic figures. The sacred assignment of festive banquet after the sacrifice ritual was grounded, when joint consumption of food symbolized an accord between gods and people and was aimed at winning support of the celestials and to ensure receiving divine favour. Names of bakery product were analyzed, in particular, pies, that ancient Romans used as bloodless sacrifice during both public sacrifice ceremony and festive rituals in the family circle. Conclusion was made that metaphthonyтy is major means of nomination, language formulas of dedication and examples of the use of pies’ names in the works of such famous Roman authors as Cato, Ovid, Horace, Martial and others were illustrated. Derivative mutuality of the names of festive pies and the libation as various types of the ophir deriving from the Latin verb "libare" – to sacrifice – was determined.

The Ideal State Conception in Abu'l Hasan al-Âmirî

Bu çalışmada, Âmirî’nin ideal devlet tasavvuru ve iyi bir devlet yönetiminin oluşması yolunda tasavvur ettiği siyâset felsefesi tartışılacaktır. Klasik İslam filozofları siyâset felsefesini ahlâk ve mutluluk ilişkisiyle bağlantılı bir şekilde incelemişler ve eserlerinde birey-toplum-devlet düzleminde ilerleyen, biri olmadan diğeri olmayan yani bu düzlemlerin doğal olarak birbirilerini etkilemesinin kaçınılmaz olduğu iddiasını ortaya atan bir sistemi öngörmüşlerdir. Yine onlar ahlâk ve mutluluk bağlamından kopmadan ideal bireyi, ideal toplumu ve ideal devletin özelliklerini ele almışlardır. Fârâbî sonrası İslam siyâset felsefesinde iz bırakmış Âmirî de toplumu ve devleti erdemli olup olmamasına göre ikiye ayırmış olup Platon-Aristoteles-Fârâbî üçlüsünün siyâset anlayışlarını kendine özgü yorumlamak suretiyle ideal bir devlet tasavvuru ortaya koymuştur. İnsanın ihtiyaçlarını gidermek için yine doğası gereği zorunlu olan bir devlette yaşamak durumundadır. İşte bu devletin kurulması, yönetici olacak kişinin de gelişigüzel bir kişi olamayacağını savunan Âmirî devletin ulvî bir ikramla olabileceğini, yöneticinin de ilahî ikramla onu elde edebileceğini, hayırlı, mutlu bir devletin de yasalara dayanması gerektiğini belirtir. Âmirî’nin eserlerinde sunduğu Said Devletin tüm unsurları bireyden başlayarak aile, toplum ve yöneticilerin hikmete önem veren, ahlâki kemalin olduğunu bilen ve onu uygulayan, erdemleri sahip olan kişilerdir. Siyâseti halkın en yüce erdemlere ulaştırılması olarak tanımlayan Âmirî onun gayesini de en yüce mutluluk olarak açıklar. Yine filozof ideal devletin vatandaşlarının erdemlere, ahlâki olgunluğa ve en yüce mutluluğa ulaşmasına vesile olan erdemli başkana da önemli bir rol yükler ve onun tüm yönleriyle özelliklerini tartışır. Sonuç itibariyle Âmirî’nin ideal devlet anlayışı özellikle İslam kültürü, Grek felsefesi ve Fars siyâset düşüncesiyle beslenmiş olduğu iddiasından hareketle onun ideal devlet tasavvuru değerlendirilecektir.

Grace in the Workplace: A Process Model of its Impact

This paper provides a focused literature review on grace, drawing on the domains of psychology, business ethics, philosophy, and religion. Then the design and findings of a qualitative study are presented. The results illustrate how individuals from a variety of organizations understand the term grace and how it has been enacted in their workplaces. Then the effects of grace in the workplace are presented, showing that most effects, both of giving and receiving grace, are positive. Yet, there are situations in which some negative consequences may occur. Based on the analysis of thirty interviews, in concert with the existing literature, a typology of four ways of enacting grace developed. Type 1 involves a direct experience of divine favor or direction while at work. Type 2 expresses kindness, with reference to spiritual beliefs or practice. Type 3 expresses kindness or friendliness, without reference to spiritual motivation or any sense of transcendence. Type 4 is anti-obligational favor expressed by one person toward another, without direct reference to spiritual motivation or empowerment. Some propositions to guide future research are offered, and implications for practice are discussed. This study contributes to the literature on management, spirituality and religion by developing the concept of grace, specifically within the workplace. This contribution is timely as workplaces are often hard-pressed by the speed of change, strong competition and at times, very harsh and challenging work conditions. The call to craft, manage and lead organizations that deliver quality products and services is always clear. While workplace pressure is up and employee engagement is down, understanding and nurturing the practice of grace is worthwhile as we seek to foster the development of workplaces that are both successful in terms of products and services, while being life-giving environments for those who work in them.

God and Heirs: The Theme of Progeny in Job

ABSTRACT This paper explores the theme of children in the book of Job. It will be argued that a significant theme in Job is divine blessing through progeny to continue his household name. Both Job and his friends refer to the death of his progeny in the prologue as a sign of disfavor and the possible reinstatement of his children as divine favor. The focus upon progeny as heirs to continue the house of Job explains why the replacement of children in the epilogue is not presented as problematic in the text. Within the text, progeny is the sign of divine favor not specific children, so the epilogue is only concerned with the reinstatement of potential heirs to continue Job’s name.

When was Constantine V born?

Emperor Constantine V was born in the summer of 718, however our only two texts that provide an approximate date of his birth diverge on the matter; mid-July according to Patriarch Nikephoros? Breviarium, and early September according to Theophanes? Chronographia. This paper first analyses the place of Constantine V?s birth in the two texts and argues that Theophanes moved the birth to attach it to the baptism episode, which was a separate event, effectively distorting the date of birth. The article also proposes that Theophanes had both practical and ideological reasons to do so and suggests that with the current state of the sources, evidence from the Breviarium is more likely to be closer to the actual date of birth of the infamous iconoclast emperor. Considering that the birth of an imperial heir had a legitimizing value, demonstrating the divine favour shown to the current ruler, and the importance of victory in 718, the last section of this paper further analyses whether the date-just before the retreat of the Arab army besieging Constantinople for about a year-may have played a role in Isaurian propaganda or in the memory of Constantine V as a triumphant ruler.

German Catholicism at War, 1939–1945 by Thomas Brodie

Reviewed by: German Catholicism at War, 1939–1945 by Thomas Brodie Jean-Guy Lalande German Catholicism at War, 1939–1945. By Thomas Brodie. (Oxford: Oxford University Press. 2018. Pp. xi, 275. $93.00 cloth. ISBN 978-0-19-882702-3.) What roles did Catholicism play in shaping Germans’ experiences and understandings of World War II? Such is the question that Thomas Brodie answers in this well-researched and well-written monograph, which focuses on the Rhineland and Westphalia. These two regions represented heartlands of German Catholicism and were homes to the archdiocese of [End Page 149] Cologne as well as the dioceses of Aachen and Münster. They were also part of the Ruhr industrial belt, which was heavily bombed by the western Allies during the war. During the 1930s, the Nazi regime pursued increasingly hostile policies towards the Catholic Church. Nevertheless, at the outbreak of the war in September, 1939, the Catholic hierarchy in western Germany urged the faithful to fulfill their patriotic duty, though with less rhetorical enthusiasm and nationalist fervor than their forebears had displayed in August, 1914. They also expressed their hope for a swift end to the hostilities. While Catholic bishops and theologians described the war as a divine punishment for a secular and sinful humanity, Protestants saw the war as an opportunity to redeem the national disgrace of November, 1918, and prove the nation worthy of divine favor. Between 1939 and 1941, this commitment to the national war effort on the part of German Catholics expressed itself in various ways: German bishops did not speak out against the atrocities perpetrated against Polish co-religionists and the Jews; most Catholics accepted the regime’s claim that the war was defensive in nature and rejoiced at the news of the fall of France in June 1940. As the war on the Eastern front and Allied bombing raids on the German home front intensified between December, 1941, and June, 1944, Catholics responded to these developments in complex and diverse ways. On the one hand, bishops and priests appreciated the slackening of Nazi anti-clerical policy; on the other, though clerical and lay support for the war effort remained generally strong throughout 1942, the surrender of the German Sixth Army at Stalingrad in February 1943 and the subsequent advance of the Red Army placed real strains on the Catholic community’s cohesion. Criticism of the Nazi authorities increased, as a result of these military setbacks, and even Hitler’s own popularity showed signs of erosion. The final collapse of morale—defeatism—among Catholics occurred only from the summer of 1944 onwards. From the early stages of the war, the Nazi authorities imposed various pressures on the Church’s resources, both in terms of personnel (extensively recruited to the armed forces) and infrastructure (in the wake of Allied bombing raids) that greatly hindered parish life. More specifically, did the war years invigorate religious life in German society? Brodie’s answer is that levels of religious engagement oscillated. Though the Neo-Scholastic language of episcopal pastoral letters did little to inspire the laity to greater devotional efforts, religion helped sustain Germans’ morale and their perception of the war’s legitimacy, with women and the elderly at the forefront [End Page 150] of Catholic religious practice. In particular, as rituals of individual bereavement and communal solidarity, funerals and memorial services mobilized religious sentiments in large sections of the population. Brodie’s second thematic chapter (“The Catholic Diaspora—Experiences of Evacuation”) is arguably his most original. As Allied bombing of the German home front intensified from 1943 onwards, evacuation measures scattered Catholics throughout the Reich. Such wide geographic dispersal resulted in the dislocation of parish life and, simultaneously, the emergence of great pastoral challenges. Indeed, in these new surroundings, the makeshift living conditions experienced by many evacuated people, the widespread tensions with the local population, the demonstrations of confessional hostility from Protestants, the cultural divides between rural and urban areas, and the lack of priests—all had a negative impact on the levels of religious engagement, to the bitter disappointment of the clergy ministering in the diaspora. Popular defeatism and alienation from the Nazi regime increased during the final—and so destructive...

An Infelicitous Feast: Ritualized Consumption and Divine Rejection in Amos 6.1–7

Previous studies of the marzeaḥ in Amos 6.1-7 have tended to put forth one of two opposing views. Scholars who focus on the religious or ritual aspects of the banquet have claimed that the marzeaḥ was lewd, ‘pagan’, and ‘syncretistic’. Calling into question the assumptions of Israelite exceptionalism underlying this approach, a second group argues that the prophetic critique is economic rather than religious in nature. Both approaches are potentially reductive. This paper analyzes the marzeaḥ of Amos 6 in the context of ancient Middle Eastern banquets, with a focus on commensality as a means for human-divine communication. I conclude that the marzeaḥ functioned as an offertory event, in which participants focalized divine presence through ritualized consumption in honor of a patron deity. Banqueters could hope to accrue divine favor through their own feasting. Amos 6.1–7 condemns the affluent for believing that they can give Yahweh their cake and eat it too.

Black Religious Belief Systems and Political Participation

Political science research has shown that attending religious institutions promotes Blacks’ political participation by developing civic norms, skills, and networks. Fewer studies, however, examine what role religious beliefs play in promoting the political participation of African Americans. Inasmuch as religious beliefs are at the heart of what binds people to their religious institutions, it is also important to examine how variations in the way people conceptualize their religious duties affect their willingness to engage the political system. Thus, this article adds to the existing research by examining two religious belief systems prominent in Afro-Christianity: the Prosperity Gospel, which emphasizes individualism and divine favor; and the Social Gospel, which emphasizes working to achieve a just society. Using original survey data, the analyses find that the Social Gospel is associated with higher levels of political engagement and participation among Blacks, while the Prosperity Gospel is associated with lower levels.

Violence, Vexation, and Redemption: Book 3 of Einhard’sTranslatio et miracula sanctorum Marcellini et Petri

Einhard’s Translatio et miracula is a four-book text that describes the taking of relics of St. Marcellinus and St. Peter from Rome to Einhard’s church in Mulinheim and the miracles that these saints worked in the Carolingian empire. In the midst of the third book, Einhard includes a pair of miracles featuring the archangel Gabriel and a demon named Wiggo that offer very dramatic political admonition of the emperor, Louis the Pious. In this paper I argue that these two episodes need to be seen in the context of a wider narrative that Einhard lays out in book 3 of the Translatio, a narrative that he establishes by extensively reordering and redescribing miracles. Einhard’s editorial decisions give the impression of a cycle of sacred violence that culminates in a demonic possession, which itself dramatizes fears that divine wrath resulted from widespread sin in the empire, especially among its rulers. However, the pain of this process gives way to the miracles of redemption that demonstrate how Einhard’s relics could bring about the restoration of divine favor to the empire, if only Einhard were allowed to withdraw into the service of his saints. I also draw attention to the intricate relationship between the timing of the miracles that Einhard includes in his text and the political crisis that was unfolding in 829-30. I argue that Einhard chose to highlight the miracles from 828, culminating in the winter assembly of 828-29, when the instructions from Gabriel and the correction from Wiggo would have arrived at court, thereby obscuring the traumatic rebellion of 830 in the record and giving a fresh chance for the agenda of the winter assembly to bear fruit.

God's Delivery State

Middle-class Christians in Ghana’s capital Accra voice ambivalence about paying taxes: some claim that the government wastes their hard-earned money, while others consider taxes a Christian duty enshrined in the scripture. By contrast, most Christians in Accra esteem tithes to churches as contributions that yield infrastructural ‘development’ and divine favor. Drawing on the explicit comparisons that Ghanaian Christians make between the benefits of paying taxes vis-à-vis paying tithes, this article argues that taxes exist as part of a wider conceptual universe of monetary transfers. The efficacy of such transfers is evaluated in relation to what I call a ‘rightful return’. The unveiling of tithes as the counterpoint to taxes ultimately elicits an emergent Ghanaian conception of the public good between the state and God’s Kingdom.

El arte de la Contrarreforma y la épica de Lepanto: la obra de Paolo Caliari, el Veronés

El fervor religioso del Concilio de Trento produjo en el arte del mundo católico un estilo triunfalista que pretendía demostrar la superioridad de la fe romana y el favor divino de sus príncipes. Con la victoria de Lepanto, los jefes de la Liga Santa crearon una entera propaganda político-religiosa que les permitía explotar los efectos psicológicos de su triunfo frente a la Cristiandad dividida. El ensayo propone revisitar esta historia, relacionando la dimensión artística-ideológica de la Contrarreforma con el contexto político de la Repúbli-ca de Venecia, a través de la obra del pintor Paolo Caliari.

The Sacred and the Poetic: The Use of Religious Terminology in Ovid’s Words

The article investigates Ovid’s use of religious terminology and imagery, in particular in the Fasti and the Metamorphoses. As an educated Roman citizen, Ovid was conversant with Roman ritual practices and frequently drew on facets of the Roman religious experience in his writing, exploring topics such as ritual performance, religious nomenclature, festivals, customs and traditions. In the article, I argue that Ovid’s treatment of religious material is deliberately uneven. The poet, well-versed in the Roman ritual nomenclature, nevertheless flaunted his technical competence only in the rite-oriented Fasti: in his other works, above all in the myth-laden Metamorphoses, he abandoned drier technical details for artistic flair and poetic imagery, unconstrained by traditional practices of Roman piety. The mythological setting of the latter poem gave Ovid a chance to comment upon universal truths of human nature, espousing the prevailing Roman belief that maintaining good relations with the gods (pax deorum) through collective piety would win Rome divine favour in all her initiatives.

Dreams of Destiny and Omens of Greatness: Exceptionalism in Ottoman Political and Historical Thought

Abstract This article uses dreams, portents, and prognostications as an entry point into what some scholars have recently called ‘Ottoman exceptionalism’. Drawing on sources in Turkish and Arabic, it traces beliefs about the Ottoman dynasty and empire’s superiority, divine favour, and special role in history from the fifteenth to the eighteenth century. I begin with the ‘seeds’ of the topic in the empire’s early years and myths of origin, including a number of dream stories, before moving to full-scale political exceptionalism. Looking closer, I then identify an eschatological strand in the lead-up to the Islamic millennium that centred on the dynasty’s role in the end time. The millennium’s uneventful passing led to the dissolution of this strand but not of ideas about exceptionalism itself, which in later forms turned inward, depicting the empire as ‘eternal’ and projecting its rule to an undetermined future period.

Hailing the divine: Inducement motifs in the psalms and Levantine inscriptions

The psalms employ various motifs to induce divine favor, the principal categories of which are praise, protest, and piety. The inducing quality of these rhetorical devices is most easily discerned in petitionary contexts, where their implementation increased the efficacy of the petition. These exhibit considerable overlap with those attested in the ancient Levantine inscriptions, helping us discern the religious utility of the motifs. More importantly, the same motifs that occur in the 77 psalms of petition also appear with regularity in the 73 psalms that lack one. Considering the religious and literary matrix of psalmic production, the evidence suggests that, where these inducement motifs were employed, they sought to obtain divine favor, even in the absence of a petition.

El poder y lo sagrado: intereses políticos y religiosos en la canonización de Vicente Ferrer

El presente artículo examina algunas cuestiones políticas y religiosas relacionadas con la canonización de San Vicente Ferrer, a través de una atenta y a menudo compleja lectura de los materiales de la canonización, de cartas y de hagiografía contemporánea. Los más fervientes promotores de su canonización fueron los Montfort, Duques de Bretaña, donde el santo fue enterrado; ellos utilizaron su buena relación con el dominico para afirmar la sagrada legitimidad de su dinastía, que había llegado al poder después de una sangrienta guerra civil y que adoptó una imagen casi real, similar a la de la monarquía francesa. En su Aragón natal, la situación era más complicada. El dominico había aupado a los Trastámara al poder en 1412, pero su protagonismo en el anuncio de la sustracción de la Corona de Aragón a la obediencia del papa Benedicto XIII disminuyó su importancia simbólica en su propia tierra. Solo después de la conquista del Reino de Nápoles por Alfonso V empezaron los Trastámara a impulsar con fervor la apertura del proceso de canonización, como parte de una estrategia para mostrar el favor divino con el que contaba el nuevo “régimen” aragonés en Nápoles. Los promotores de la canonización de Ferrer sabían que se encontrarían con varios impedimentos –presumiblemente, los rumores sobre sus convicciones heréticas, como aquellas vinculadas a la predicación de Vicente Ferrer sobre el Anticristo, y su posición respecto al Cisma y al Concilio de Constanza. En contrapartida, los defensores del nuevo santo lo presentaron sutilmente como sabio predicador que, gracias a sus sermones apocalípticos, movía a la multitud a la penitencia y que no reparaba en esfuerzos para conseguir la unidad de la iglesia dividida.

Sponsoring the Arts: Melic Perspectives

This paper explores the melic poets’ take on art and its sponsors. Since much has been written on the relationship of epinician poets with their patrons, this paper broadens the focus of enquiry to include other melic genres and, in addition to the verbal, to look at the visual arts as well, i.e. melic representations of communities that sponsor songs and of communities or individuals that sponsor other art-forms such as sculpture, architecture, and precious objects. Taking as starting point Xenophon’s depiction of Simonides in Hiero, I discuss epigrams XXVII and XXVIII Page and relevant testimonia that show Simonides’ keen interest in Athenian dithyrambic contests; Bacchylides’ Ode 19, probably composed for the Great Dionysia; Pindar’s Pythian 7, Paean 8, and fragment 3 in conjunction with Homeric Hymn to Apollo 281-99, Herodotus 1.31, Cicero, De oratore 2. 86. 352-353, [Plutarch] Consolatio ad Apollonium, and Pausanias – all of which offer precious insights into Pindar’s views on sponsoring monumental sculpture and architecture; and Bacchylides’ description of the golden tripods that Hieron offered to Apollo in Ode3. On the basis of this evidence I argue that whatever the nature and the range of remuneration of poets and artists may have been, melic rhetoric shows that it was the relationship of poets, artists and their sponsors with the gods that was ultimately at stake. This is why both the poetry and the traditions about Simonides, Pindar and Bacchylides privilege the divine favour that poets, artists and patrons alike either obtained or were hoping to obtain by offering masterpieces to the gods.