Importance Of God Research Articles

The Decline of Traditional Values in Western Europe: Religion, Nationalism, Authority

Religion, nationalism and authority were the traditional pillars of the old state-societies of Western Europe. Three generations ago it was still a sacrilege to critize them. The church sanctified the national community and legitimated the authority (a monarch or an authoritarian leadership). If one of these pillars had been removed, the entire system would have been weakened. During the last four decades these traditional values have declined simultaneously, at different speeds, in all Western European countries, without a single exception. Decline of Religious Beliefs Over the past 30 years a decline in religious beliefs has been observable in all the European countries. In some the erosion in faith had begun even earlier but it has accelerated to such an extent in recent decades that it has become detectable in opinion surveys held at close intervals, whereas previously it was a matter of more gradual trends charted by historical studies over longish periods. A decline in religious belief among the majority of the population is not incompatible with a revival of faith in small communities. These groups may attract the attention of the media with their sometimes spectacular activities but their relative weight in the population is so slight that they fail to show up in a survey based on representative sampling. This analysis relates to mass trends and disregards minor ones. Religious decline is shown clearly in religious practices, in particular celebrating mass and attending certain services. It is a well-known phenomenon and has long been a subject of study, particularly by the clergy themselves. As the sociologist S. Acquaviva has pointed out, it is practice which first declines, and then the beliefs themselves begin to crumble. Between the two types of decline there is a gap which time has not so far closed or narrowed. There is a strong relationship between the attitude toward the church and the religious feelings of the interviewed people. In eleven countries, the majority do not express full confidence in the ecclesiastical hierarchy, for a variety of reasons that cannot be detailed here. This is one of the most astonishing findings in the surveys on values. It raises an embarrassing question: Which is the real audience of the church in Western Europe? The Netherlands, after having been long divided in confessional compartments, has become one of the most agnostic countries in Europe. Similar trends have been observed in Sweden, Germany and Britain. This paper deals with religious beliefs and only infrequently refers to religious practice, about which there is a wealth of literature in almost all European countries. Suffice to note that the statistics available on attendance at mass, baptisms, marriages and religious burials and so on show clearly that the decline in religious practice measured over the last 40-50 years has steepened in recent years. No one can prove that God exists or does not exist. But sociologically it is possible to show whether God is present in or absent from people's minds. Belief in the existence of God is an observable social fact. The simplifying question Do you believe in God? elicits a massive majority of affirmative answers. But if people are asked to say where they come on a scale of 1 to 10 as regards the importance of God in their lives we see that it is only for a minority that God has very great importance. God is more or less present, or absent, in most people's minds. For the majority, then, belief in God is relative - neither yes nor no. God may be present in the mind at a time of misfortune or absent at a time of happiness. The International Social Survey Programme found a subtle wording for the question on the perception of God by suggesting six different possibilities: (1) I don't believe in God; (2) I don't know whether there is a God and I don't believe there is any way to find out; (3) I don't believe in a personal God but I do believe in a higher power of some kind; (4) I find myself believing in God some of the time but not at others; (5) While I have doubts, I feel that I do believe in God; and (6) I know God really exists and I have no doubts about it. …

Augustine's World: An Introduction to His Speculative Philosophy (review)

Reviewed by: Augustine’s World: An Introduction to His Speculative Philosophy Frederick Van Fleteren Donald Burt, OSA. Augustine’s World: An Introduction to His Speculative Philosophy. Lanham, MD: University of America Press, 1966. Pp. 277. $36.00. This volume is a textbook on Augustine’s speculative philosophy for both undergraduate and graduate study and as such it is a useful tool. It is a popularization of the bishop’s thought. The work is comprised of ten chapters plus an introduction. The first nine deal with man (if we think of the problem of evil as part of the human condition); the last treats of God. The selection of topics is appropriate. Burt’s explanations are lucid and concise. His numerous references to Augustine’s own text supply the necessary support for his explication. Given the importance of God in Augustine’s thought, more space might be given to God’s existence and nature. However, the space devoted to the subject can be defended: despite the extraordinary length of De trinitate, by his own admission, Augustine’s theology is essentially apophatic. Quibbles over interpretation, of course, will always arise. I mention but a few. Is the Manichean world-view best described as “mystical” (p. 14), or should not the proper term be “gnostic?” Is it true to say that for Augustine death is not an evil (p. 20)? Does not Augustine quite clearly say that death is poena peccati? Is the true similitudo between God and man the imprinting of divine eternal ideas upon the human soul? Rather, is not the most apt explanation of the theory of illumination that immutable ideas are present to each human being by a mediate presence of the Word? Can there be an authentic interpretation of illumination theory without mentioning John 1:9 in the uetus latina text, Verbum Dei, Deus, est lumen verum quod illuminat omnem hominem venientem in hunc mundum? Whatever the actual Johannine text and its proper interpretation, does not this passage, together with Enneads V,3, exert pivotal influence on Augustine’s theory of knowledge? Can there be a chapter devoted to Augustine’s consideration of God without an extensive discussion of the evolution of Augustine’s thought on the ascent of the human mind to the divine? This theme is axial in Augustine’s development and central to Hellenic philosophy since Plato. Is Confessiones IX,x,23–26, the vision at Ostia, the only personal reference in the entire Augustinian corpus to Augustine’s mysticism? How, for example, would the author interpret Confessiones VII,x,16; xvii,23; xx,26? Should we not expect more discussion of mysticism in Augustine’s writings? Finally, can there be a treatment of human knowledge, or human knowledge of God, without a thorough account of exercitatio animae and its several meanings at various stages of Augustine’s intellectual maturation? In this regard, should we not anticipate a more extended account of Augustine’s evolving views on the value of the liberal arts? Burt’s interpretation of Augustine, though often enlightening, is frequently excessively Aristotelian, in both substance and terminology. The very division between speculative and practical philosophy, which serves as background to the [End Page 286] book’s title, bespeaks a division first found in Aristotle, but never in Augustine. Would not a division into physical, logical, and ethical be more Augustinian? Aristotelian aphorisms, not Plato and Platonism, regularly provide intellectual background for Burt in understanding Augustine’s thought. Several chapters begin with summaries of philosophia perennis. Such recapitulations can be a useful magisterial tool and, doubtless, Augustine contributed greatly to the Western philosophic endeavor. But how much of this acquired wisdom does Burt read back into Augustine? For example, the technical distinction between supernatural, preternatural, and natural postdates Augustine by almost a millenium—grace, nature, and free will of course are axes of his thought. Likewise, Augustine does not subscribe definitively to the notion of purgatory. Such a doctrine is found only later in the tradition, though Augustine maintained its possibility. To be sure, purification plays a large role in Augustine’s thought. Thankfully, Burt does not treat Augustine’s works as a kind of encyclopedia. Nevertheless, the author does not employ the...

The Relative Importance of God and Christ in Kierkegaard’s Writings

The Relative Importance of God and Christ in Kierkegaard’s Writings

What healthy women think, feel and do about cancer, prevention and breast cancer screening in Italy

In preparation for a major campaign to encourage participation in a breast screening programme for all women between 50–70 years old in Florence, Italy, an in-depth study of 200 women's attitudes and practices regarding cancer and its prevention was undertaken. 72% participated in semistructured interviews, and inclination to participate was analysed in terms of Yes (39%), Uncertain (36%), and No (20%) (5% were unspecified). Age ( P = 0.03), area of birth ( P = 0.01), education level of husband ( P = 0.04) and prior Pap smear ( P = 0.00) or mammography ( P = 0.00) were among the variables statistically associated with inclination to participate. While the women shared more or less common images of cancer, concern for health, and belief in the importance of God and destiny, those less inclined to participate felt less personally vulnerable, had less faith in medicine's ability to cure or prevent cancer, were more distant from the medical system and culture in general and regarded information about health or illness more as unnecessary or dangerous than beneficial. Understanding and consideration of both “popular” and “medical” cultures need to be encouraged.