Gift Of Prophecy Research Articles

God as Male–Female: Priscillian, Prophecy, and the Witness of Irenaeus and Marius Victorinus

This paper examines a comment by Priscillian (d. c. 385) in his Liber apologeticus that certain people erroneously applied to God the unusual Latin neologism, masculofemina. He contrasts their perspective with scriptural teaching about the Holy Spirit being poured out on both men and women. This raises two questions, namely, how Priscillian’s comment relates to accusations he faced of encouraging dangerous intimacy between men and women and the source of his information about their teaching. This paper argues that the central thrust of Priscillian’s teaching is around the notion that the spirit of prophecy was manifested in both sexes, but that he distinguished his teaching from that of Valentinian gnostics to defend his own orthodoxy. It argues that Priscillian acquired this teaching about God as masculofemina from the translation into Latin of the Aduersus haereses of Irenaeus of Lyons (d. c. 202). The term also occurs within the writing of Marius Victorinus (c. 359–61) in defense of Catholic Christianity. Priscillian drew on Irenaeus to defend the orthodoxy of his notion that the gift of prophecy was given to both men and women.

Menggunakan Karunia Rohani Sebagai Bentuk Membangun Iman Jemaat Analisa Teks (1 Korintus 14:26-40)

Encouraged by the motivation of serving His congregation in Corinth, through the Apostle Paul, God’s servant who was entrusted with establishing, guiding, and advising God’s people there in God’s word which reads :
 “Though I have the gift of prophecy and know all mysteries and have all knowledge; and though I have faith perfect to move mountains, yet I have no love, I am utterly useless” (TB 1 Cor 13:2).
 So, with the motivation because I love God's congregation, who have mistaken the spiritual gifts that God has bestowed or have wrong perceptions, I wrote a paper with the title "Using spiritual gifts as a form of building congregations", so that we all know that the gifts that are God gives is to have noble intentions and goals.

Historical Overview of the Old Testament Prophecy and Prophetism: Its Application to the 21st Century Church

Most talked-about and prominent topic in the Church is prophecy and prophetism, which is most misunderstood and misused. The subject is precisely defined and covered in both Testaments. Likewise, many textbooks and articles either explain the subject or reappraise it today. Despite being as ancient as the Bible, prophecy is as modern as the Church of Jesus Christ. The study focuses on how the gift of prophecy might strengthen the modern Church and individual Christians. Data for the study is gathered through a literature review, and discussion is done using the discursive and analytical approach. The entire discussion pitched its tent that prophecy is essential for the 21st-century Church. The results of this study show that God employs prophecy as a unique means of blessing His Church. The congregation of believers is the perfect setting for the Holy Spirit to speak to contemporary needs and circumstances. In the setting of the Christian assembly, the message’s holiness is safeguarded and increased.

Fungsi Karunia Roh Kudus dalam Pelayanan Gereja Digital Berdasarkan 1 Korintus 12:1-11

This paper reviews the gift of the Holy Spirit in 1 Corinthians 12:1-11. The method used in writing this topic is a qualitative method with a descriptive approach. The role and function of the Holy Spirit based on 1 Corinthians 12: 1-11 is to enlighten believers in preaching the gospel. The purpose of the gift of the Holy Spirit is to help in the ministry of the Digital Church and to show that the power of God is more dominant than the powers of the universe. In preaching the gospel, the function of the gifts of the Holy Spirit has a very important role. Preaching the Gospel is the Great Commission of Jesus Christ, and the responsibility of believers. The purpose of this paper is to explain how the gifts of the spirit function in the ministry of the church in digital. In 1 Corinthians 12: 1-11 the Apostle Paul further explains how about healing in the church? In 1 Corinthians 12 there is an answer from Paul to the Corinthians' question about the gifts of the Spirit. There are various kinds of gifts: the gift of healing, the gift of prophecy, the gift of discernment of spirits, and the gift of tongues. These gifts are given for the purpose of assisting, helping and facilitating the ministry of preaching the gospel of the Kingdom of God.

PATRON SAINTS OF GEORGIA IN MODERN ORTHODOX WRITERS’ LITERATURE

Semantics and functions of images that represent Georgia’s patron saints are examined in this article as exemplified in the Georgian Rhapsody, a collection of stories by O. Nikolayeva, stories by M. Saradzhishvili (from the books Do not rush to condemn and Next to you), Exile, a short story by V. N. Lyalin, and Wonderful journey to Orthodox Georgia by O. Rozhneva. Referring to episodes from the hagiography of Georgian saints in the texts in question allow us to trace the spiritual history of Georgia since the time of adoption of Christianity. The detailed list of saints is present in the books of О. Nikolayeva and О. Rozhneva. Even though only particular periods of Georgia's history are reflected in the stories of М. Saradzhishvili and V. N. Lyalin, the country's patron saints participation in the life of their characters in Georgia’s recent past or present day is undeniable. For example, Saint Equal-to-the-Apostles Nina performs a guardian function and her appearance during the Soviet years provides spiritual support to the female character of V. N. Lyalin’s story. First and foremost, a patron in combat, Saint George the Trophy Bearer is also a patron of the family. Venerable David of Garedzha is both an example of humility and a patron of the hearth and home. With his gift of prophecy, Blessed Gabriel (Urgebadze), mentioned in the book by О. Rozhneva, also assists on the path of personal salvation. Whereas О. Rozhneva’s book is exclusively focused on depicting Orthodox Georgia and its saints, the work of О. Nikolayeva provides a more comprehensive image of Georgia, including a vast stratum of the country’s cultural characteristics. In О. Nikolayeva’s book the saints represent a significant facet of Georgia’s image.

Makna Teologis Ajaran Rasul Paulus Tentang Karunia Bernubuat Menurut Surat 1 Korintus 14:1-40

The purpose of this study is to find out the results of biblical interpretation of Paul's teachings about the gift of prophecy contained in 1 Corinthians 14: 1-40. The writer in this research uses descriptive qualitative research methods and literature study. The object of this study is the biblical perspective on Paul's teachings on the concept of the gift of prophecy according to 1 Corinthians chapter 14. The form of approach used is the exegesis approach in which data collection techniques are interpreting the text with the help of hermeneutic science studies and assisted by books and literature relating to the context of the gift of prophecy in 1 Corinthians. There are several findings of the principles of truth contained in the discussion as theological implications for the Corinthian church or church at that time. First, the Gift of Prophecy Is a Gift of the Holy Spirit, 1 Corinthians 12: 1-14: 40, The Apostle Paul writes about the gifts of the Holy Spirit that God bestows to believers (the body of Christ). In Christianity, spiritual gifts (or charismata) are gifts given by the Holy Spirit. Second, the Gift of Prophecy Is the First Gift, In 1 Corinthians chapter 14 Paul also explains the ultimate gift. Paul's thought is not based on the understanding that he is ordering the gifts of the Spirit. Paul had stated earlier in chapter 12 that all gifts are important and are from the same Spirit and aim to build the body of Christ (1 Cor 12: 7). Third, the Gift of Prophecy Serves to Build, Entertain and Advise. The gifts of the Spirit are given by the Holy Spirit with a specific purpose, and that purpose is given by God to believers with the intention of building up the body of Christ or His church, not for personal / commercial / profit interests.

Kobieta posłuszna Duchowi Świętemu – św. Aniela Merici

Celem tego artykułu było zbadanie, jak św. Aniela była posłuszna Duchowi Świętemu w swoim życiu? Analizy świadectw jej życia oraz jej pism pokazały, że była prowadzona przez Ducha Świętego od wczesnego dzieciństwa i młodości. Podczas trudnych doświadczeń, jak śmierć rodziców i siostry, była otwarta na miłość do Boga i chciała należeć do Niego. Bóg prowadził ją i uczynił wrażliwą na Jego obecność w niej samej, w innych ludziach, w wydarzeniach. Aniela kochała słowo Boże, była kobietą modlitwy i ascezy. Była otwarta na dary i charyzmaty Ducha Świętego, szczególnie została obdarowana mądrością, proroctwem i oblubieńczą więzią z Chrystusem. Wszystkie te dary były jej dane dla dobra Kościoła, w sposób szczególny dla urszulańskiej wspólny gromadzącej się wokół niej. Święta Aniela stała się proroczym znakiem dla całego Kościoła.

The Nepali Shamans’ Unlettered Gift of Prophecy as Intermediaries between the Physical and Alternate Realities

The Nepali Shamans’ Unlettered Gift of Prophecy as Intermediaries between the Physical and Alternate Realities

Orthodox Church in Tsar Russia

The liberation of the Muscovite lands from the Mongol oppression coincided with the fall of Constantinople. The inhabitants of Muscovy were convinced, in line with the Byzantine tradition, that the state was necessary for salvation just as the Orthodox Church, while the close ties between the state and the Church symbolised God’s covenant with people. After 1453, the Orthodox society of Muscovy were commonly of the opinion that the legitimacy of the Byzantine Empire vested into the new „Third Rome”, i.e. Moscow. That idea began assuming a more tangible shape during the reign of Ivan IV the Terrible. The ruler was officially crowned as Tsar and the abbot of the Volokolamsky monastery Josef declared that the Orthodox Church and the state should unite in making the Kingdom of God come true in the earth. Russian Orthodoxy was torn by a disagreement over the issue of monastic life and attitude to the earthly power. Nil Sorsky (1433–1508) and the Hesychasts from the forest hermitages beyond the Volga river claimed that the Orthodox Church should be independent of the state and it should not resort to state administration in religious matters. According to Nil Sorsky, monasteries should remain poor and denounce the ownership of land. That time witnessed a dynamic development of the monastic centre on the Solovetsky Islands in the White Sea. Solovetsky saints Savvatii, Zosima and Herman launched a magnificent spiritual centre of Russian Orthodoxy. During the reign of Ivan IV the conflict was unavoidable also between the ruler and the clergy. The Metropolitan of Moscow Philip demanded that the Orthodox Church gain autonomy – and fell victim to Tsar’s fury. After Ivan IV’s death, during the rule of Boris Godunov, in 1589 Moscow was granted the status of a patriarchate. Metropolitan of Moscow, Job was appointed the first patriarch of Moscow and All Russia.Muscovy was first named Russia in the late 15th century. The name was popularised during the 16th century and in 1721 it became the official designation of the state. Until 1694 the relations between the state and the Church were exemplarily harmonious. Religious life in Russia was overthrown during the reign of Peter I (1682–1725). The Russian Orthodox Church could not form an effective opposition to the political reforms of Peter I who, after the death of patriarch Adrian (1700), obstructed the election of his successor. Finally, Peter the Great abolished the patriarchate and replaced it with the institution of the Holy Synod, whose members were appointed by himself. The 18th century witnessed another revival of religious life in Russia, accompanied by the growing importance of the Orthodox Church in the public sphere. The Russian theological school was stimulated by the more and more popular teachings of bishop of Voronezh St. Tikhon Zadonsky. Inspired by the Gospel and the works of the Holy Fathers of Orthodoxy, his preaching promoted the idea of the common character of human salvation. Owing to his efforts new monastic centres, specialised in contemplation and prayer, were founded in the 19th century. The Russian monasticism was increasingly moved by the institution of Elderhood (starchestvo), the body of monks of eminent piety and wisdom. The revival of monastic life was instigated by the monk St. Paisius Velichkovsky, who lived in the 18th century. The views of the charismatic elderly who had the gift of prophecy (monks of the Optina hermitage), and especially those of St. Seraphim of Sarov, influenced the Russian elites, including Tsar himself. In the 19th century the Russian Empire Tsar promoted the ideology of an Orthodox state based on a symbiosis of „Orthodoxy, absolutism and nationality”. The circles of the higher clergy recultivated the ideas of the Church’s independence of the state. Metropolitan of Moscow Filaret was an ardent supporter of the Church’s autonomy. Other bishops, faced with the failure of any efforts to free the Orthodox Church from dependence on the state, chose to live monastic life, as for instance St. Ignatius Branchaninov, St. Ambrosius of the Optina hermitage or Theophan the Hermit. Another movement among the clergy was represented by St. Ioann of Kronstadt (1829–1909). The priest hailed the participation in everyday liturgy, support to the poor and the need for educating social masses.In the early 20th century the Orthodox Church raised the demands of independence and reactivation of patriarchate. The outbreak of World War I and the defeats suffered in the first years of the war made the revolutionary tendencies imminent. In the times of both revolutions, in 1917, the Orthodox Church remained faithful to Tsar. After the subversion of monarchy but before the Bolshevik prosecutions of the Orthodox Church began, the Kremlin Synod managed to restore the canonical elect ability of bishops and reactivate the patriarchate. Archbishop of Vilnius Tikhon was appointed patriarch of Moscow in 1918.

The Southern Social Network

The Southern Social Network Catherine Clinton (bio) Hola and welcome: I am so grateful for this opportunity to address you as the eighty-second president of our Southern Historical Association (SHA), as the nomination came at an ebb tide in my personal and professional life. This honor has buoyed me during the transition from teaching southern studies abroad back to my patria chica and an endowed chair at the University of Texas at San Antonio.1 I had always fantasized the most popular presidential address might include a few pleasantries before announcing, “The bar is now open.” But my right hand in this and so many matters, our invaluable SHA secretary-treasurer, Stephen Berry, had already contemplated modifying tradition by welcoming glasses aflow and table seating during our presidential session. This is our first annual meeting on the beach since 1972—when the SHA met at Hollywood-by-the-Sea, Florida. That presidential address, “The Making of a Feminist,” was a departure: Mary Elizabeth Massey was the first woman president of the organization since 1953, and the word feminist appeared for the first time in the annual program.2 Mine will strike an equally different chord, emphasizing our annual meeting as part of a southern social network, with autobiographical and historical observations interwoven along the way.3 [End Page 7] My path to this podium has been a long and winding road: as I have often joked with friends, my academic career might provide a cautionary tale, that you could “publish and perish.” What I rarely could do was hold my tongue; I began my career as a Cassandra and continue a scold. Cassandra was allegedly seduced by Apollo with the gift of prophecy, but when she refused him her body, he cast a spell: no one would believe any of her warnings. She became a kind of exile as a madwoman. Cassandra has always been to me the patron saint of those fighting sexual harassment, an issue I will return to later. My first formal teaching post was at the University of Benghazi in 1974, and you could only go up from there: Complaining about sexism? Try teaching in a fundamentalist Islamic republic. After my doctoral stint of four years at Princeton University (1975-1979), I secured a tenure-track job in upstate New York at Union College, where I spent four years before landing at Harvard University as an assistant professor in the Department of History in 1983. I was married by then and settled near Cambridge, and my chair explained to me that the history department was “like a monastic order”—just in case I had not yet figured out my unsuitability for permanent faculty status. A 1998 Boston Globe exposé of the Harvard history department explained that the last time someone was promoted to tenure through the ranks in American history, Dwight D. Eisenhower was president.4 By 1989, two books published and another manuscript in progress, one child and two miscarriages later, I sought refuge from dwindling prospects with a temporary post at Brandeis University. After my second child was born in 1989, I was called back to another department at Harvard. Following the death of Nathan I. Huggins, a friend and champion, the Afro-American studies department (my alma mater, as I had majored in Af-Am as an undergraduate) was in limbo. My temporary appointment provided a jill-of-all-trades, while Barbara Johnson and Werner Sollors put shoulders to the wheel to salvage the struggling enterprise, bringing on board Henry Louis Gates Jr. to reinvent the program. The department, born of revolution and revived from life support, was transformed into an academic powerhouse, and its renaissance over the past twenty-five years has been historic. [End Page 8] Click for larger view View full resolution Figure 1. The author during her year (2001–2002) at The Citadel, in Charleston, South Carolina. Courtesy of the author. But in 1991, with two young sons, I moved to Connecticut for my husband’s work, commuting to Harvard and then, for a semester, to Brown University. Finally, I decided to abandon teaching to write full-time, which included joining the Screen Writers’ Guild and acquiring...

Losing My Religion

Losing My Religion Vic Sizemore (bio) Igrew up in a strict fundamentalist Baptist home beside a mud-brown river in Elkview, West Virginia. From the door of my house to the front doors of the Baptist church, where my dad preached for thirty-eight years, was a walk of about fifty steps. From the back of the house, once you stepped out of the yard you were standing before the twin metal doors of the pole barn that served as the church gymnasium. Inside were two sets of basketball hoops on padded poles; the [End Page 28] floor markings were not those of a basketball court however, but of two AWANA circles. AWANA is a club where children have team competitions on the circle and learn arts and crafts, but that is just a way to get the kids in. The real purpose of AWANA is to make kids memorize Bible verses and imbibe the Absolute Truth they contain. I will give you the short version of what I grew up learning was Absolute Truth: God created the world fully formed, sometime between six- and ten-thousand years ago. Eve sinned first, and then Adam with her, bringing death and suffering to all earthly creatures, and eternal hellfire to humans after death. God established different governments, or dispensations, for dealing with people and giving them a way to get to heaven and avoid hell; we are in the age of grace, which means you are saved from hell by asking Jesus to come into your heart, save you, and be your personal Lord and Savior—there is no other way. All these claims are true because the Bible says they are true and the Bible is the inerrant, infallible Word of God; the Bible is the infallible Word of God because it is written in the Bible. Finally, if you question any of these articles of faith you are at best backsliding, and at worst, not saved and dangling dangerously over eternal hellfire. This was the constant driving message of my pastor father, and the guiding principles of my mother’s work as a keeper at home. I came to ignore it as best I could—which you had to do to keep from becoming a basket case thinking of all those millions of people dying and tumbling into eternal suffering, all because you had not gotten to them in time with the Good News of Jesus. When I was in high school, my chief interests were playing soccer and writing bad poetry to a long series of girls I loved with all the passion in my youthful heart. I went to church, as they say, every time the doors were open. The [End Page 29] soccer team and the Elkview Baptist Church youth group were my circles. The youth group was vibrant and growing at this time—a cult of personality, as those kinds of bursts always are, though parents speak of how the Lord is working or the Spirit is moving among the kids. The personality in EBC’s youth group at this time was Joe. Joe was one of those youth pastors who seemed to have a sure calling, the kind of guy people called on fire for the Lord. He preached fearlessly, with the zeal of a prophet; unlike others who believed they had the gift of prophecy, Joe did not see it as an excuse to be a loud and judgmental asshole. He was open and honest, transparent about his struggles. It drew us kids to him. He and his wife opened their home to us, were endlessly patient with the teenage noise, hormones, strife. Joe’s Sunday school classroom was packed. He led emotionally charged prayer meetings and revival gatherings, full of crying and repentance. He had a beard and crazy hair, and eyes as wild as John Brown raiding Harper’s Ferry. In 1983, an anti-rock and roll wave that swept through the group after they went downtown to a Marty Tingelhoff crusade where the evils of rock ‘n roll music were presented along with musical demonstrations. Tingelhoff played The Eagles and Led Zeppelin and ELO backwards—and, yes, Queen’s “Another...

From Gaia to the Pythia

This paper explores the ambiguous connection between women and prophecy in ancient Greece. The issue of the genealogy of the prophetic seat of Delphi – the most authoritative oracle of ancient Greece – is first dealt with in relation to Aeschylus’ Eumenides (458 B. C. E.), where the gift of prophecy is said to have been first endowed to Gaia, Mother Earth, to be passed on from mother to daughter until it is given to Apollo, the god of prophecy. Starting from this testimony, the role of Gaia is used in the paper as a key to understanding the motherly symbols associated with prophecy. The paper further explores how the powerful prophetic voice and role of the Pythia is “normalized” in the context of fifth century Athens, where women were not allowed to be public speakers or agents and where the dominant male voice constructed any public feminine voice as inappropriate or deviant. In this respect, the paper points out how in the Athenian representation of the Pythia, the authoritative heir of Gaia is reduced to a reconciling woman acting as a devout supporter of men and their authority.

Two distinct perspectives on pneumatology – similarities and differences between The Romanian Pentecostal and Evangelical theology

Abstract This article aims to compare and analyse two different perspectives of pneumatology: within the Pentecostal and the Evangelical perspective. In spite of many doctrinal tangents with the Evangelical theology, the Pentecostal has its own spirituality and theological accent, especially in the field of pneumatology. The two differences centre on baptism in the Spirit and the gift of prophecy. From a Pentecostal practical perspective, the spiritual gifts continue to play an important role for the contemporary church. Although there are differences in their theological approaches, the Pentecostals and the Evangelicals found the common ground in forming the Evangelical Alliance of Romania and working together for about a quarter of Century.

From Gaia to the Pythia

This paper explores the ambiguous connection between women and prophecy in ancient Greece. The issue of the genealogy of the prophetic seat of Delphi – the most authoritative oracle of ancient Greece – is first dealt with in relation to Aeschylus’ Eumenides (458 B. C. E.), where the gift of prophecy is said to have been first endowed to Gaia, Mother Earth, to be passed on from mother to daughter until it is given to Apollo, the god of prophecy. Starting from this testimony, the role of Gaia is used in the paper as a key to understanding the motherly symbols associated with prophecy. The paper further explores how the powerful prophetic voice and role of the Pythia is “normalized” in the context of fifth century Athens, where women were not allowed to be public speakers or agents and where the dominant male voice constructed any public feminine voice as inappropriate or deviant. In this respect, the paper points out how in the Athenian representation of the Pythia, the authoritative heir of Gaia is reduced to a reconciling woman acting as a devout supporter of men and their authority.

Case study. Faith and futility in the ICU. Commentary.

AbstractJames is a seventy‐two‐year‐old man with end‐stage dementia who was transferred from another hospital. At the time of transfer James had sepsis from two multidrug‐resistant organisms, respiratory failure requiring ventilatory support, renal insufficiency, pancytopenia, and hypotension requiring vasopressors. He has severe contractures and foot drop, has a feeding tube, and has been nonverbal for several months. His son, Paul, is requesting full code and treatment focused on recovery despite James's extremely poor prognosis.Paul is James's only child, and James's wife is deceased. Paul says he has the “gift of prophecy” and knows for certain when God is speaking to him. “God,” he says, “doesn't lie.” He says that he and his father spent years preaching together and have witnessed many healings. He believes that they are being “rebuked” because at a time when his father was too tired to travel much, they held fewer revivals and did not save enough souls.James's condition has worsened slowly. He has almost no urine output and does not breathe over the ventilator. He is extremely volume overloaded; his toenails have bloodied and popped off. By hospital‐day twenty‐one, he had only corneal reflexes. The medical team is troubled; if James is to stay on the ventilator, he will need a tracheostomy, but this would only further prolong what has already been an agonizingly prolonged dying process.Paul continues to pray for his father to get up.

Prophecy in William Blake’s The Marriage of Heaven and Hell

William Blake is a famous English poet and engraver, one of the leading poets of the pre-romantic period. Many critics consider him as a remarkable poet, prophet, philosopher and artist in the world. He was unknown during his lifetime and was often called a madman. Many people surprisingly find that Blake has depicted the life in modern time in his poems and pointed out the prospects. The Marriage of Heaven and Hell is a classical prophetic book, which shows Blake’s gift of prophecy. The thesis will deal with Blake’s prophecy in The Marriage of Heaven and Hell from the perspective of contradiction, vision and imagination. William Blake’s prophecy includes the destruction of empire and Jerusalem’s reconstruction.

Civil Procedure: The Tempest Brews

IN WHAT areas of the law will the genius of Roger Traynor have its greatest impact? To answer that question with confidence would require not only the gift of prophecy but also a versatility comparable to that which Chief Justice Traynor himself has achieved in a quarter-century of experience on one of our busiest courts of last resort. The reader can best form his own judgment after consulting the articles in this symposium and earlier appraisals of the Justice and his work-product.' My own hope is that his influence will be especially fruitful in the conflict of laws, where he has contributed much and can contribute much more when the

The Exercise of Prophecy in the Early Reformation

Close scrutiny of sixteenth–century Anabaptism reveals striking similarities to the early years of the modern Pentecostal movement, including considerable exercise of the gift of prophecy in its various forms. Whereas Luther and Calvin were generally wary of overt manifestations of the Holy Spirit, the so–called Radical Refonners were quick to confront the existing socio-political structures with what they saw as the unequivocal Word of God, even to the extent of their becoming a martyr movement. Various elements within early Anabaptism further embraced predictive and directive expressions of prophecy. Regretfully, the Anabaptist experience was also tainted by a measure of fanaticism, libertinism and failed predictions, which ultimately led to an abnegation of interest in extemporaneous prophecy.

Toward a Methodology of Storytelling Performance Criticism

There is perhaps no other artistic endeavor for which project of criticism is as fraught, and thus as necessary, as storytelling. In our field, issues of community commingle with those of class against twin backdrops of Western critical theory and American anti-intellectualism. In order for art form to receive its due, however-meaning that its most talented practitioners and scholars are provided with grants, tenure, reasonable compensation, and all other privi- leges that accompany a seat at grown-ups' table, including, most importantly, audiences and students-some formalization of an authoritative gaze, if not actual gatekeeping, is beneficial.Yet it is this same authority and gatekeeping-stricture and structure-that is most effectively countered by storytelling. The archetype of hero traditionally functions as a critique to existing relations of power and knowledge, a counter to master narrative, a nagging question nipping at heels of definitive answers.This essay attempts to describe challenges facing critical turn in storytelling studies. In doing so, we hope to jump-start a conversation that has, at various times, been initiated and then left to languish, within storytelling community, as well as to help initiate a new paradigm for field of storytell- ing studies. This essay, therefore, is intended to serve as a prolegomenon for future research and discussion within multidisciplinary storytelling studies community.The ChallengesPerhaps most personal criticism of critical turn in storytelling studies can be found in (mostly oral, partly anecdotal) reaction to field of storytelling studies by some members of storytelling art world. Characterized as age-old rivalry of heart and head (Sobol, Gentile, and SunWolf 2), concern among some of our community is that by systematizing or, as some would have it, overintellectualizing storytelling, we would somehow destroy very spon- taneity and authenticity that is its most attractive feature.Writing in 1942, Sawyer was already concerned by divide between folk art and scholarship:Storytelling is a folk-art. To approach it with feelings and ideas of an intel- lectual or sophisticate is at once to drive it under domination of mind and critical sense. All folk-arts have grown out of primal urge to give tongue to what has been seen, heard, experienced. They have been motivated by simple, direct folk-emotions, by imagination; they have been shaped by folk-wisdom. To bring a sophisticated attitude to a folk-art is to jeopardize it. Or rather, it is to make it into something that it is not. (Sawyer 27)If, as editors of this journal observed in their introduction to inaugural issue, the push and pull . . . between storytellers and Academy can. . . be seen in Jungian terms as opposition of Logos and Eros (Sobol, Gentile, and SunWolf 2), then perhaps we can take a cue from a related myth. Cassandra, having refused advances of Apollo, was cursed with a gift of prophecy that no one would accept. If storytelling likewise rejects rational (Apollonian) consideration, it may also find that its messages fail to gain acceptance. Eros, allowing for Logos, can develop a beneficial literacy for form.It is an unfortunate feature of English language that word criticism is burdened with connotation of censure. In popular media, critic often functions as a consumer advocate, assessing relative value-for-money of a commercial venture-be it film, stage play, concert, or exhibition-helping reader decide whether attendance is worth money. Criticism is inherently bounded by subjective experience of critic. Yet role of critic varies with intent. Unlike thumbs-up/thumbs-down mentality of popular media reviewing, criticism may take form of a gift to be unwrapped at birth of a new work, discursive equivalent of a set of silver spoons. …

The relationship between prophetic preaching and performing the gift of prophecy in South Africa

The goal of this article is to investigate the relationship between the liturgy of the worship service, where prophetic preaching is delivered, and the liturgy of life, where the gift of prophecy must be put into practice. In what way could the ‘prophets’ be equipped to become practitioners of the gift of prophecy? A short description is given of what is understood by prophetic preaching and the gift of prophecy in an effort to determine the relationship between these concepts. In a brief summary, burning questions in church life and in the South African society are addressed: in church life, the questions of extreme conservatism and extreme liberalism are scrutinised and in the South African society, corruption and inequality are investigated. In conclusion, a few guidelines are given for putting the gift of prophecy into practice in the liturgy of life.