Hand Of God Research Articles

Once upon a time in Naples: Intermediality and Bildung as chronotope in The Hand of God and Martin Eden

Beginning from Jack London’s Martin Eden (1909), a famous American Bildungsroman, this article invokes Bakhtin’s chronotope to better understand a contemporary cinematic discourse predicated on the cultural maintenance of the post-Enlightenment masculine subject. Tracing the development of the Bildung genre-as-chronotope across key examples of post-war and contemporary Italian cinema – Fellini’s I Vitelloni (1953), Leone’s Once Upon a Time in America (1984) – I compare adaptation of Martin Eden with Paolo Sorrentino’s The Hand of God (2021). Where the latter’s ending reimagines the conclusion of I Vitelloni, Martin Eden is the filmic equivalent of the modernist novel’s deconstruction of the nineteenth-century realist novel’s spatio-temporal and epistemological boundaries. And, where Sorrentino’s alter-ego protagonist must leave Naples for Rome in order to succeed as a filmmaker, Marcello’s intermedial evocation of Naples amplifies the book’s paean to socialism while reproducing, in another modality, the failure of London’s intended critique of individualism. Finally, in none of these films is the invisibly essential masculinity of the subject superseded by a post-humanist alternative.

Flawed Sainthood in Popular Culture: Maradona’s Culture of Commemoration in Naples

There is currently a certain pressure from various mnemonic communities, animated by vernacular interests, to canonize new saints within what is regarded as the flawed saints’ cultural-political movement. Among these new, uncanonized saints, whose memory is commemorated unofficially in various cultural-political registers, there is also the football star Diego Armando Maradona, called by his millions of fans “the Hand of God” (La Mano de Dios). The commemorative culture that thrived around Maradona’s persona—materialized in artefacts, shrines, icon-like paintings, prints, graffiti, stencils, and other memorabilia—do not fit the customary narratives of sainthood, nor to the display and content of the recently inaugurated (2023) memorial to the new martyrs of both the 20th and 21st centuries at Saint Bartholomew Basilica in Rome. The article argues that the commemoration of Maradona by his fans in Italy, Argentina, and worldwide is enacted in pop culture formats aimed at addressing different sets of contemporary mnemonic and spiritual needs. The aim is to offer a fresh conceptual engagement with the contemporary cultural-political phenomenon of “flawed saints” commemoration through the lens of contemporary popular culture, taking the culture of commemoration of Diego Maradona as a case study.

Sacralization of Football: Example of Iglesia Maradonia

This study aims to explain the emergence of Iglesia Maradonia, Maradona’s role in this endeavor, and how they become sacred in this quest. In this study, which is based on qualitative paradigms, the method of choice is documentation. In this framework, firstly, the emergence of football and Maradona’s place in football’s history is examined. After that, the quest for Maradona’s sacralization and how he became a cult is observed, and symbols belonging to Iglesia Maradonia are ethnomethodologically analyzed and interpreted. Iglesia Maradonia, Establishe by Maradona fans, is a religious constitution that puts Maradona at its center. Maradona, who is thought to be one the saints of football due to his extraordinary football skills, showcases his charismatic personality not only within the field but also outside of it. When the aforementioned religious/sacred constitution’s character is observed, it could be considered a cult movement. However, when it is looked under the light of the objectivity principle of the social sciences, this religious constitution, being established more recently, seen in not only Argentina but different places in the world, and having Christianity-opposing beliefs and teachings, is more fit to be considered under the New Religious Movements. When the character of this religious constitution is observed, Maradona’s goal against England, called ‘the Hand of God,’ plays a prominent role in shaping the beliefs and practices. Another point brought to light in this study is that, in the post-modern era, individuals or groups can resume their relations with the sacred without the traditional religious constitutions.

‘At the Right Hand of God was Their Soul’: An t-Óglách, the National Army, and Hegemonic Masculinity During the Irish Civil War, 1922–1923

Understandings of masculinities are neither developed in isolation nor are entirely culturally unique but are multifaceted, hierarchal, and adapted throughout history to fit the specific milieu in which they operated. In the context of the Irish Civil War, 1922–1923, the Irish National Army's journal, An t-Óglách, constructed its model of hegemonic masculinity into a complex dual dialectic of anti-colonialist rhetoric and British appropriation. Looking at militarism, linguistics, and athletics, this article argues that An t-Óglách underlined the National Army's engagement in physical force and cultural nationalism as a performance of hegemonic masculinity, with the intent to confer legitimacy onto the National Army as a military and cultural institution in the early years of the Irish Free State.

El futuro de la Congregación de la MisiónEn Camino con Vicente de Paúl hacia el V Centenario

The worldly context of today is a place and time wherein what we need to do seems more significant than our capacity and commitment. The future of the Congregation of the Mission has always been in the hands of God’s loving providence. Entering the fifth centenary of the Congregation of the Mission is an opportunity to intuit where the Spirit will take humanity, the Church, the Vincentian Family, and our Congregation. In this space of vital discernment, the Congregation of the Mission and its charism has not reached an end. Our creativity is not exhausted, but we must renew ways of living our charism. Today we must give birth to these ideas. Our confidence is based upon the common knowledge expressed within our constitutions. Our constitutions are interested in the person of Jesus, and the centrality of the Kingdom was the engine of his earthly existence. The Revitalization and future of the Congregation is not an Escape from the “festival of uncertainties” of history. With Jesus, we have to walk through in the certainty of His divine providence.

“Hands of gods” at Work

“Hands of gods” at Work

‘The hand of God’: hierophany and transcendence through sport

ABSTRACT The designation of Diego Maradona’s ‘handball’ goal, that it was an intervention by God himself, brings the phenomena of sport and religion into an interrelationship. The basic thesis of this paper is that, despite many of their phenomenal similarities, explicit religion is not, and cannot be, substantially related to sport, as the two manifest themselves in different ways of being. This thesis is supported by arguments from three philosophical areas: 1. The ontological dimension of the manifestation of the sacred in the profane through the process of hierophany in sport does not refer to a specific deity or God, and is therefore not a presentation but an indirect representation of the sacred; 2. The epistemological perspective of the intentional relation of consciousness to religious ritual justifies the necessity of situating them in an overall horizon of references and meanings to the horizon of the lifeworld; 3. The existential and experiential aspects of transformative sport experiences transform the horizon of meanings of empirical reality, but lack the sacramental perspective. Implicit religion as a possibility of transition on a continuum of complementary existential states is a suitable explicative framework for analyzing the phenomenal similarities and essential differences of religion and sport.

The compatibility of Christ’s ascension in the Epistle to the Hebrews and the theology of pre-advent judgment (Part 1)

The Seventh-day Adventist doctrine of pre-advent investigative judgment has facedskepticism since the late 19th century, largely due to perceived conflicts with the Epistleto the Hebrews. This study endeavors to establish the doctrine’s biblical foundation,predominantly found in the book of Daniel, while scrutinizing its compatibility withthe New Testament. By analyzing texts in Daniel 7, 8, 9, and the explicit sequence inRevelation 14, this research provides compelling evidence for the concept of pre-adventjudgment in the Bible. However, questions arise concerning the location of Jesus’post-ascension ministry in heaven, particularly in the context of “seated at the right handof God”. Despite potential conflicts suggested by this phrase, aspects such as intercessoryministry and High priest Christology appear to harmonize with the doctrine. Whilethis article offers substantial support, a more detailed examination of their compatibilityawaits part two of this study.

Gender-based violence as a destructive form of warfare against families: A practical theological response

War is an appalling crisis and destructive force on human dignity and life. War was permitted in biblical times at the hand of God, with disastrous consequences for the nations of the Ancient World. The current war between Ukraine and Russia is fast becoming a global catastrophe, with the threat of World War III looming. Warfare destroys families, and families are vital units God instituted in society. The critical issue addressed in this article is the ruining effects of gender-based violence (GBV) on family life. Therefore, this article responds to GBV as a social ill and destructive form of warfare against women and aims to propose feasible, viable, and practical theological ways to curb this ruinous issue. Gender-based violence, as a form of warfare against women and children, is one of the most destructive forces regarding family life and the key reason for unstable, disrupted, and fractured families. Because this article is grounded on a practical theological response, its pastoral role is explored. Practical theology builds a theological framework for critical evaluation. It also takes a more direct role on the moral debates of society on issues such as GBV, father absence, and family violence that occurs in Church, family, and society.Contribution: This article employed a descriptive modus operandi on GBV against women and endorses the journal’s focus on family and society who is experiencing a violation of human rights and a life-threatening issue in the field of Practical Theology.

In the hands of God: How evangelical belonging transforms migrant experience in the United States By JohannaBard Richlin. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2022. 272 pp.

In the hands of God: How evangelical belonging transforms migrant experience in the United States By JohannaBard Richlin. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2022. 272 pp.

Johanna Bard Richlin, In the Hands of God: How Evangelical Belonging Transforms Migrant Experience in the United States

Johanna Bard Richlin, In the Hands of God: How Evangelical Belonging Transforms Migrant Experience in the United States

Arthur Conan Doyle, Eugenics, and the Hand of God

The lifetime of Arthur Conan Doyle coincided with the development of eugenics and its establishment as a powerful presence in some of the leading institutions, and minds, of the time. The discourse of eugenics was an important part of both the literary and scientific culture to which he belonged and contributed. His involvement with it, throughout his working life, shows the attraction of eugenics to a man of letters with a lifelong interest in medicine and science, but also his reasons for not endorsing its programme of action. Many of Conan Doyle's most interesting writings, in fiction and non-fiction, deal with themes that obsessed the eugenicists – race, empire, health, inheritance, and the future. But although he inhabited the same intellectual environment as figures like Francis Galton and Karl Pearson, and often expressed himself in language similar to theirs, Conan Doyle was never tempted to the kind of biopolitical proposals for which eugenics became notorious. This essay shows why not.

Myśl ekonomiczna kalwinizmu

The aim of the paper is to present the economic thoughts of John Calvin and his followers, referring to current issues, such as money lending, usury, or work. The latter, according to the famous thesis of Max Weber, received spiritual value by acting as a bridge between God's will and daily life. The hypothesis of this article differs somewhat from this conviction, assuming that the main economic elements of Calvinist thought have been the consequence of the release of temporal realities from the influence of the direct action of God, according to the protestant theology of the radical separation of nature and grace. Initiated by Protestantism, the dichotomy of nature and grace seems to have important consequences for economic thought. The salvific dimension of human fate remained in the hands of God, he depends entirely on its favour in connection with the dogma of predestination. In the earthly life, a human being was treated as a part of nature, his survival depended on skill and determination. in the struggle with nature, devoid of the grace of God, ruled by the law of necessity. Survival and a better life depended primarily on human labour and effort. The flourishing of economic life has resulted not only from the ethical role of work, but also from the fact that it was no longer inhibited by religious restrictions. Thus, modern man was born, more and more aware of his subjectivity, subordinating nature to himself building the human world in place of the natural world. Building a modern society and economy is part of the Protestant ethos of mastering nature.

The God of Qohelet: Positive Divine Attributes for an Age of Technology

Abstract The book Ecclesiastes has been regarded as one of the most profound pieces of ‘wisdom’ literature in the ancient Orient. It rivals in depth and the courage to challenge the institutional status quo with the literature from Mesopotamia and Egypt. It has puzzled readers in the last three millennia with its unparalleled courage to ask uncomfortable questions about faith, Gods and humanity. Ironically, many of the questions that Ecclesiastes asked have found reverberations in the hearts of post-modern men and women today. On the one hand, the author affirms his belief that one can discern the ‘hand of God’ dispensing justice even in the most tragic of circumstances. On the other hand, Ecclesiastes confesses that, even though he applied his heart ‘to know wisdom and to know madness and folly,’ in the end he perceived ‘that this also is but a striving after wind.’ His conclusion? ‘Vanity of vanities: all is vanity!’ Statements like these have compelled us to approach Ecclesiastes in order to find the equilibrium in his vision between ‘despair’ and ‘hope.’ To do so, we will select a number of divine attributes that offer clarity not only to the vision of God in Ecclesiastes, but also to the sensitive issues of the meaning of life, suffering, justice, death and eternity. In the course of our analysis we will examine the views of contempoerary scholars who have written on this subject. We will show how Ecclesiastes’ vision takes into account human suffering and despair, without sacrificing the integrity of hope.

Science, Metaphysics, and the Hand of God: the case of Thomas Reid

This paper will explore how being a Newtonian scientist affected the formation of Thomas Reid’s philosophy and theism. Reid, like other Newtonian scientists, found evidence of God in his understanding nature and the limitations of science. Reid introduced the Newtonian scientific method into his philosophical speculations to establish his system. Focusing on the application of the ‘Newtonian method’ he employed, this paper examines the development of Reid’s philosophy and points out that one of the origins of his theism was his mastery of Newtonian science and its methodology.

"There is a God or There is No God-It is in the Hands of God:" Fatalistic Beliefs Among Israeli People About Cancer and Their Impact on Behavioral Outcomes.

This qualitative study examined fatalistic beliefs and cancer causal attributions among people without cancer. Participants were 30 Israeli women and men aged 51-70 from diverse sociocultural backgrounds who participated in four focus groups. Three main themes emerged, referring to the variability in fatalistic beliefs of cancer occurrence and cancer outcome, the duality in attributing causality to divine providence and mere luck or chance, and the connection between distinct fatalistic beliefs and health behaviors. Data analysis enabled an expansion of the understanding of cancer fatalism as a multidimensional structure, whereby interactions between causality attribution and different fatalistic beliefs are related to prevention and screening behaviors.

Collateral circulation − “Hand of God:” Salvaging the transplant kidney!

The physiological adaptation capability of any living being is necessary for survival. Vascular collaterals are proven to be maintaining organ perfusion in various situations such as ischemic heart disease, cerebrovascular disease, and peripheral vascular diseases. We are presenting here a postrenal transplant case with renal graft perfused by collaterals because of the complete occlusion of right common iliac artery. This was diagnosed while the patient presenting with right lower limb claudication pain. He required femoro-femoral graft to perfuse the right lower limb. The importance of pretransplant iliac vessels imaging and Doppler studies is emphasized.

Sacred Socialism

Sacred Socialism

Emperors, Aristocrats, and Columns: Christian Imperial Politics in the Late Fifth Century CE as Reflected in the Life of Daniel the Stylite

This paper examines the hagiography of Daniel the Stylite, believed to have been written by one of his disciples soon after the saint's death at Constantinople in the late fifth century. It first explores the identity of Daniel's named patrons, highlighting the status of these individuals as members of former imperial families who were not currently in power in the East, but who were competing with the reigning emperors of the day for patronage of the holy man. Second, it highlights the imperial-like manner of the hagiographer's presentation of Daniel, particularly his column-dwelling existence with its analogies to imperial columns in the city, and his ordination by the hand of God, and it suggests that the author was shaping his presentation of the holy man to appeal to the Christian court of his day. Both of these aspects of the text indicate that the hagiographer wished to present Daniel as the pre-eminent holy man of late fifth-century Constantinople, whose monastery was worthy of future patronage by emperors or aristocrats with imperial connections.

AJARAN SAMKHYA YOGA DALAM BHAGAVAD GITA

Bhagavadgita. The teachings of this samkhya provide different understandings ofpurusa and prakerti which are different, but integrated with one another. In the essenceof the Bhagavadgita which describes the philosophy of life in which every human beingwill leave or experience liberation from worldly life. So that humans must accept thechallenge between life and death and dare not to feel afraid to fight the situation becausein this world only a puppet player who is moved by the hand of God. The purpose of thisstudy is to obtain the values contained in the teachings of samkhya yoga because thisteaching is not very easy to understand and deepen understanding in order to be able tounderstand and understand the purpose of the teachings. Thus, the teachings of samkhyaprovide humans with an extraordinary understanding of life for this journey, because thislife is like a cycle of birth and death, above, below and in the middle. Therefore, the lifeof this universe no one knows how the next life will be.