Main Churches Research Articles

“Medivangelism”: History and Antecedents in Ghana

This article explored the link between medicine and sharing the message of Jesus in Ghana. It looked at how medical missions and medical evangelism have played a vital role in bringing both physical healing and spiritual hope to people in need. It also analyzed developments and progress associated with modern medicine and its usage by the church to foster the well-being of Ghanaians. By creating hospitals, clinics, and other healthcare services, churches in Ghana have made a big difference in the lives of those who are often forgotten or lacking medical care. The article focused on three main churches—the Catholic Church, the Presbyterian Church of Ghana, and the Methodist Church, Ghana—and their contributions to holistic ministry over time. The research adopted the qualitative historical approach within the framework of practical theology as the methodology for the study. Primary data was gathered through historical documentation, personal interviews and the researcher’s participation in the missions field as a volunteer. Secondary data were sourced from peer-reviewed articles and books. The research revealed how these churches have combined their faith with their desire to help others, bringing medical assistance and spreading the love of God in the process. By understanding the important role of medical missions, their connection to sharing the Gospel, and the reason why the pioneering missionaries added it to their missions, readers will gain a deeper appreciation for the efforts of churches in Ghana and the impact they have on the lives of people in their communities. Keywords: Medical Missions, Medical Evangelism, Medivangelism, Social Action, Evangelism

Have Faith in Business: Nestlé, Religious Shareholders, and the Politicization of the Church in the Long 1970s

During the 1970s, religious activists were heavily involved in national and international campaigns against multinationals and urged firms to adapt their behavior to align with Christian ethics. This article analyzes the strategies of Nestlé in addressing religious activism at three levels: national, international, and organizational. The analysis examines Nestlé’s collaboration with other Swiss and European multinationals and high-ranking church representatives in establishing dialogue platforms that sought to improve mutual understanding and promote tolerance for global capitalism. Nestlé also contributed to the creation of guidelines for the main churches in Switzerland that were aimed at their partial depoliticization. When Nestlé’s executives faced religious shareholder activists during its shareholders’ annual general meetings, they chose to engage with them to avoid their radicalization, although most of their demands ultimately remained unanswered. Overall, Nestlé contributed to the reorientation of religious discussions to small-scale ethical problems and business self-regulation rather than to substantial reforms of the capitalist economic system.

‘Cantare alla greca con citere e violini’: Western Musical Transfers and Localisations in Early Modern Crete

During the late mediaeval and early modern periods, Crete was the most important Venetian colony, giving the Republic almost unchallenged commercial and military control of the eastern Mediterranean. Based on archive and documentary evidence, this article discusses the role played by music as a means of social and cultural control over the native Cretan population.
 After a brief introduction to the history of the Venetian domination of Crete (aka Venetocracy) and of its impact on local literature and visual arts, the first section deals with the presence of Western music in the Venetian secular and religious institutions. From a very early stage, Venice started employing locals as civic musicians (mostly trumpeters and ‘piffari’). For the locals themselves, a stable role in the local musical institution represented an opportunity for income and social ascension; for the Republic, meanwhile, it was a means of political and cultural control. Music was also central to religious institutions, as documented by archive sources. The main churches and monasteries on the island had instruments and singers and provided training for the Catholic clergy and musicians.
 The article goes on to explore the dissemination of Western secular instrumental and polyphonic practices in the main Cretan cities, taking as a case study literary sources dating from the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries which testify to polyphonic compositions in Greek, such as madrigals and incidental music. A last example is represented by the chivalric romance Erotokritos, containing references to Western musical symbolism, such as the myth of Orpheus as a good rhetor and sovereign, and the lute representing civic harmony. Written by a Hellenised Venetian nobleman, Erotokritos represents the most manifest case of musical values being used for pro-Venetian propaganda.

Dignity, Autonomy, and Assisted Suicide: An Ecumenical Perspective on the German Context

Abstract A 2020 decision by Germany’s highest court dramatically shifted the national discussion on assisted suicide. The decision stressed the ‘right to a self-determined death’ which must ‘be respected by state and society as an act of personal autonomy and self-determination’. Moreover, it clarified the non-criminality of assistance for suicides by third parties. The reaction of the main churches in Germany to this decision reflects ecclesiological differences. Protestant positions on assisted suicide are defined by pluralism; the Roman Catholic official position remains tied to ontologically-referenced principles of natural law that prohibit assisted suicide as intrinsically evil. Thus, ecumenical efforts on bioethics are complicated by a context where many Protestant leaders prioritize autonomy and pluralism, whereas Roman Catholic leaders stress consensus and orthodoxy. Even official church guidelines on such matters are received differently in Protestant and Roman Catholic communities. For Protestant Christians, an opinion functions primarily as guideline; for Catholic Christians, there is a goal at least of reaching principles reflecting the objective order of God’s creation.

Eastern Medieval Architecture. Russia

We publish in this issue the continuation of the translation of the new book of the outstanding historian of the architecture of Byzantium professor of Penn University (USA) and professor honoris causa of the Moscow Institute for Architecture (State academy) “Eastern Medieval Architecture. The Building Traditions of Byzantium and Neibouring Lands (Oxford University Press, 2019). This part of the book of the scholar is devoted to the development of the Byzantine tradition in Russian postrenaissance architecture. The description of Robert Ousterhaut’s scholarly biography and his impact to the study of the history of architecture was published in the previous issue of this magazine in the article of Dmitry Shvidkovsky “Ousterhaut and the Byzantium”. Summary: It is impossible to overestimate the role of professor Robert Ousterhaut in the studies of the history of Byzantine art. At the present day he is the leader in the world studies of the architecture of Byzantium, the real heir of the great Rihard Krauthaimer and Slobodan Curcic, whom he had left behind in his works. His books are known very well in Russia. In his study of Russian architecture of the Middle Ages, the author analyses the artistic image and the design characteristics of church architecture. The author highlights the distinctive features of the largest centres of Moscow, Novgorod, Pskov, Chernigov, and other cities. Much attention is paid to the influence of Italian architecture on the development of Russian church construction, which is associated with the participation of Italian architects in the construction of the main churches in Moscow. The outstanding cathedrals of the Moscow Kremlin — the Assumption, the Annunciation, and the Archangel Michael cathedrals, created with the participation of Italian architects, are considered in detail The author considers St. Basil’s Cathedral, built by Ivan IV (the Terrible) in memory of his victory near Kazan in 1552, to be the most impressive building of this period. The church has a unique composition. It consists of nine adjoining chapels. In his research, the author also highlights one of the unresolved issues in the development of Russian architecture — the appearance of a characteristic onion dome. One of the assumptions put forward by the author is that the domes reflect the shape of the canopy over the Tomb of Christ. The influence of Islamic forms introduced into Russian architecture after the triumphant victory of the Russian troops in the Battle of Kazan, which brought significant territories of Mongolia under Russian control, is the author’s another hypothesis. The author cannot single out a priority version but rightly believes that whatever the initial meaning of domed forms in Russian architecture was, they quickly became popular and acquired their symbolism.

Citoyenneté et identités religieuses dans la doctrine allemande du droit public ecclésiastique au XIXe siècle. Aux sources intellectuelles du modèle allemand de sécularisation

It is generally accepted that the legal doctrine of ecclesiastical public law as taught in German universities in the 19th century shaped some of the basic notions of current law, particularly the core idea according to which some churches, or »religious societies«, are privileged by law, whereas others are not. This system was conceived in a context where individual religious freedom and the neutrality of the state were not the leading principles, and where the objective was to create a kind of parity between the two main churches (Catholicism and Protestantism) in bi-confessional societies. The conception of a »Christian state« – that is to say, a state that always seeks to translate Christian principles in its law and in its actions and cannot, therefore, admit non-Christians among its citizens – prevailing among 19th-century scholars, and recognition extended only to Christian churches. This article studies the intellectual transformation of this Staatskirchenrecht shaped by Christianity into a more secularized, »public law« oriented vision. It will emphasize the essential moments of these doctrinal evolutions and their reception in positive law. Zitiervorschlag: Reverchon, Florian, Citoyenneté et identités religieuses dans la doctrine allemande du droit public ecclésiastique au XIXe siècle. Aux sources intellectuelles du modèle allemand de sécularisation, in: Rechtsgeschichte - Legal History Rg 29 (2021) 233-244, online: http://dx.doi.org/10.12946/rg29/233-244

Double Denominational Belonging among Youths in Nigeria: Implications on Christianity

Christendom is fragmented in many denominations with different religious beliefs and histories that make them distinct and different from one another. In Nigeria the mainline denominations are Catholic, Anglican, Methodist, Presbyterian and Assemblies of God churches with the many multi-faceted Pentecostal churches gradually making serious in road into the religious arena. This is a qualitative research. Oral interviews were conducted by the researcher and research assistants to generate data. The data so collected was then analyzed through the phenomenological method to arrive at results. The population of the study is Christian Nigerian Youths who belong to double denominations. Furthermore, using the snowball sampling technique, youths who belong to double denominations were located (34 males and 34 females from each establishment representing the various states). 340 respondents were interviewed in all. Pentecostal churches are not so distinct in their faith beliefs as the other main churches. Because of their rich spirited liturgical celebrations, scripturally and prosperity appealing messages, penchant for healing, miracles and casting out of demons and lose hierarchical structures, young people are easily drawn to them. Young Christians while not denouncing their membership of mainline Christian churches have joined the different Pentecostal groups that dot every nook and crony of the society. The paper addresses this phenomenon and its impact on Christianity by using library findings and oral interviews.

Monumental Painting of Altars of Vyatka Churches between the 19th and Early 20th Centuries

Monumental church construction began after the approval of the Vyatka diocese in 1657. Since the original decoration of the Vyatka altars is hardly preserved, the article mainly considers monuments of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The authors aim to analyse the altar monumental painting of Vyatka churches of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries which has not been done previously, revealing its special features, as well as the peculiarities of wall painting in general. The researchers analyse visual photographic, bibliographic, and historical archival documents collected as a result of many years of expeditions and studies. The methodology of the research involves the use of iconographic and stylistic analysis, as well as the application of the historical and cultural approach. The article considers features of local monumental painting, architectural and designing characteristics. It is demonstrated that most of the preserved altars with wall painting date back to the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, apart from a few interiors of the eighteenth century. Additionally, the authors examine the issue of introducing the iconography of locally venerated saints into the programme of church painting. It is revealed that a substantial part of the paintings is made following the religious national style and according to the “examples” of the local Vyatka artist V. M. Vasnetov. Special attention is paid to important epigraphic resources, i.e. altars which have dates and authors’ signatures. The characteristic phenomenon for local wall painting is a tendency to freedom in dealing with examples and using various sources while fulfilling contracts. Referring to written data, the authors establish that the works were carried out by both local masters and those from elsewhere and reflected the financial condition of the parish. As a result of iconographic and stylistic analysis, it is found out that the decoration of the Vyatka altars was generally traditional and relied on the examples of the main churches of the capitals in terms of programme formation, as well as artistically and stylistically.

The Last Chapter of the Golden Fleece (Ghent, 1559). Burgundian Ritual, Church Space and Urban Lieux de Mémoire

ABSTRACTIn 1559 the twenty-third chapter of the Golden Fleece was held in Ghent, presided over by its grandmaster King Philip II. The meeting concluded the chivalric order’s venerable tradition of organising large public ceremonies in the primary cities of the Burgundian-Habsburg lands. This contribution foregrounds the spatial arrangements for this chapter within Ghent’s collegiate church of St Bavo and discusses the positions not only of the court but also of important local players such as the church chapter, the urban magistracy, local chroniclers, and iconoclasts. The essay shows how the Habsburg dynasty systematically appropriated the interiors of the main urban churches in the Low Countries in order to highlight the continuity of Burgundian rule but at the same time broadcast a new imperial ideology. Despite these efforts, however, local audiences reinvented these spaces as important lieux de mémoire of what they perceived as traditional Burgundian rule.

The Ruins of Ani: A Journey to Armenia’s Medieval Capital and its Legacy by Krikor Balakian

Reviewed by: The Ruins of Ani: A Journey to Armenia’s Medieval Capital and its Legacy by Krikor Balakian Jesse Siragan Arlen Krikor Balakian, The Ruins of Ani: A Journey to Armenia’s Medieval Capital and its Legacy, translated and with an introduction by Peter Balakian with Aram Arkun (New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press 2019) xxxix + 120 pp. The medieval Armenian city of Ani, located in the Armenian highlands in the Kars province of present-day Turkey, was formerly one of the important nodes along the Silk Road and capital of the autonomous Bagratuni dynasty from the mid-tenth to mid-eleventh century. Its architectural ruins have attracted the attention and spurred the imagination of scholars and non-specialists alike for well over a hundred years, resulting in a number of archaeological, art historical, and other scholarly and non-scholarly publications. Known as the “city of one thousand and one churches,” Ani has over the years become one of the most studied and well known sites of medieval Armenia. The fact that it has also been subject to looting, vandalism, and cultural destruction as well as appropriation over those same years has heightened the urgency that accompanies studies of the site. This short book provides a translation from Western Armenian of the Ottoman Armenian clergyman Krikor (Grigoris) Balakian’s Illustrated Description of the Ruins of Ani (Նկարագրութիւն Անիի աւերակներուն պատկերազարդ) published in 1910 in Constantinople/Istanbul. This short but significant work has been largely overlooked until very recent years by [End Page 210] scholars concerned with Ani. Balakian, who after the genocide of 1915 became a bishop of the Armenian Apostolic Church in southern France, is best known for his voluminous two-volume genocide survivor-witness memoir, which was also translated into English (in abridged form) by his grandnephew Peter Balakian, English professor at Colgate University and Pulitzer Prize-winning poet, along with Aris Sevag in 2010 as Armenian Golgotha: A Memoir of the Armenian Genocide, 1915–1918 (New York: Vintage Books). The present volume on Ani was Krikor Balakian’s first monograph, and it blurs the boundaries between travel account, history, scholarly study, and travel guide. It was composed after his 1909 visit to Ani in the retinue of Catholicos Matteos II Izmerlian. At the time, Ani was under Russian imperial rule, and being excavated by Nicholas Marr. Part of Balakian’s goal in writing the monograph was to raise awareness of the ongoing excavations and newly founded on-site museum (later looted and destroyed) in order to procure financial backing for those enterprises at Ani from wealthy Constantinopolitan Armenians, and also to provide an illustrated and scholarly travel guide for future Armenian visitors (or itself to serve as a substitute for a visit). After a brief preface (pp. 5–10) that outlines the project, the book is divided into four chapters. The first chapter (pp. 11–24) charts the history of the city from its founding in the ninth century up until its depopulation at the end of the fourteenth, and largely follows the grand three-volume national history of the eighteenth-century Mkhit‘arist scholar, Mik‘ayel Ch‘amch‘ian. In so doing, Balakian makes no attempt to maintain scholarly distance from his subject, instead infusing his writing with traditional laments over the series of external invasions that led to the destruction and desertion of the city, censuring both the invaders themselves as well as the inability of Armenians to present a united front in order to defend their land. The brief second chapter (pp. 25–28) focuses upon the topography and geography of the site, while the third and lengthiest chapter (pp. 29–77) provides a detailed study with illustrations of the surviving walls, main churches, palace, catholicosal residence, citadel, and the nearby monastery of Hoṙomos. The fourth and final chapter (pp. 78–103) reviews past scholarship on Ani by western European, Russian, and Armenian scholars from the nineteenth century up until Balakian’s own day, culminating in praise of Nicholas Marr’s work of excavation. The chapter closes with Balakian’s description of his brief visit to the site with the Catholicos. The translators, Peter Balakian and Aram Arkun, have also provided a helpful glossary (pp. 107–111...

Orthodox churches of Ukraine in the process of Ukrainian state formation

The article analyzes the state and development of the main Orthodox Churches in the world and in Ukraine in the context of the interaction of the state and religious institutions. The systemic spiritual crisis of modern Ukrainian society is revealed. The content of the state policy in the field of strengthening spirituality and morality according to the life and sermon of the Ukrainian Christian Churches is determined. Certain directions of consolidation of Christian communities in Ukraine are outlined. The complex analysis of scientific literature on state dialogue and religious organizations is carried out.The scientific problem concerning the improvement of theoretical and methodological principles of the formation of the state policy in the field of religion based on the activities and preaching of the Orthodox Churches in Ukraine in the conditions of the globalized world is posed. The article identifies the main threats to the national security of the state in the religious sphere which faced Ukraine at the present stage, as well as the theoretically grounded ways of interaction between the state and the Ukrainian Christian Churches. The role of Orthodox Churches in Ukraine in the processes of state formation as a theoretical and methodological basis of state policy in the field of religion is revealed.The article is devoted to the research of the current state of interaction between the Ukrainian state and the Ukrainian Orthodox Churches and the main directions of their cooperation. The article deals with the peculiarities of the development of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, ways of developing the relations between the Church and the state in the conditions of the political transformation of Ukrainian society. The state of development of civil society in Ukraine in the context of constructive interaction between the Church, society and the state is also considered.The article substantiates that the Ukrainian Christian Churches were, are and will be an integral part of Ukrainian culture, history and future of the global world. The dialogue between the Church and the state will always be the basic element of social development, the foundation of the Ukrainian state building and the platform of democratization processes in Ukraine.

КОНФЕССИОНАЛЬНЫЙ ФАКТОР В ПРОЦЕССАХ ЭТНОКУЛЬТУРНОЙ ИНТЕГРАЦИИ АГРАРНЫХ ПЕРЕСЕЛЕНЦЕВ ЗАПАДНОЙ СИБИРИ В КОНЦЕ XIX - ПЕРВОЙ ТРЕТИ XX В.

The article considers the influence of the confessional factor on the processes of ethno-cultural adaptation and integration of agrarian resettlers from European Russia, who settled in the multi-national environment of Asian Russia. Basing on mass historical and statistical material, the influence of migration flows, primarily agrarian flows, on the formation of the ethnic and confessional structures of the West Siberian population in historical dynamics is examined. The author shows the role and place of the main churches of the Russian Empire in the formation of the ethno-confessional image of the territory under study.

"Bekennen Will Ich Seinen Namen": Authenticity, Purpose and Context for the Aria BWV 200. Observations on Johann Sebastian Bach's Reception of Works by Gottfried Heinrich Stölzel

"Bekennen Will Ich Seinen Namen":Authenticity, Purpose and Context for the Aria BWV 200. Observations on Johann Sebastian Bach's Reception of Works by Gottfried Heinrich Stölzel* Peter Wollny (bio) Translated by James Brokaw (bio) Johann Sebastian Bach's engagement with the works of his forebears and contemporaries has occupied Bach research time and again from the very beginning.1 The motivating cause and impetus has always has been the desire to gain deeper insight into the genesis of Bach's own compositions and, by uncovering biographical, historical and stylistic as well as purely musical lines of connection, to approach a better understanding of the so "idiosyncratic" ["fremden"] and "similar to no other composer" ["keinem anderen Componisten" ähnlich]2 music of the Thomascantor. To be sure, today Bach's artistic involvement with actual or supposed models is assessed in a more sophisticated fashion than was the case with earlier scholarship. Nevertheless, determining the various "historical and artistic/musical phenomena that had an influence on Bach's life and work"3 still numbers among the most urgent tasks of Bach scholarship. In her study of Johann Sebastian Bach's music library published in 1990, Kirsten Beißwenger systematically surveyed the findings of 150 years of scholarship and, on the basis of this [End Page 36] comprehensive overview, sought to identify the emphases of his collecting and arranging activities which shifted numerous times over the course of Bach's lifetime.4 Shortly after its appearance, it became evident that a study of this kind was by no means the culmination of this branch of research, but rather was the starting point for a new phase of similar investigations—and not only because a considerable number of significant new sources have turned up since then.5 On the one hand, Beißwenger's descriptive catalog made possible for the first time a quick overview of the make-up and dating of the collection of other composers' works assembled by Bach; on the other, however, the newly-acquired mastery of these materials led to the realization that the function and significance of Bach's music collection are far from easy to determine. In fact, only a portion of the collection, at best, can be classified as a study library; the rest seems rather to partake of the character of a usable repertoire selected solely with a view towards actual performance. The Thomascantor seems to have been mainly concerned with being prepared with appropriate music, at any moment for all conceivable occasions and eventualities, including providing the prefects with more modest figural pieces should they be needed as replacements, or for the less capable second choir.6 That is why high-quality works appear beside others of at best average artistic merit, which almost leave us puzzled as to why Bach even bothered to copy them out. The key words "study library" ["Studienbibliothek"] and "repertoire development" ["Repertoirebildung"], and the closely related terms "artistic models" ["künstlerische Vorbilder"] and "musical practice" ["musikalische Praxis"], delineate what is still a gray area in our knowledge. Particularly for Bach's Leipzig period, they reveal how full of gaps our picture of the musical performances [End Page 37] at the two main churches—and thus, ultimately, our knowledge of Bach's daily routine—is. The three cantata cycles that have come down to us, the comparatively small number of oratorical works that have been preserved or that can be documented, the handful of motets—these cannot possibly represent the entire corpus of works performed during Bach's twenty-seven year tenure. These must have been supplemented by a presumably not inconsiderable number of figural works by other composers. If these works were known to us, they could provide valuable clues regarding the relative value Bach accorded his own compositions, as well as the profile of Leipzig church music during the second quarter of the eighteenth century in general. The search for traces of this repertoire has been widespread, but only recently has it resulted in a number of leads and initial successes. They point to a range of repertoire that could scarcely have been imagined before, and that presupposes an exceedingly demanding and critical public. Over the long term...

Spectroscopic Investigation Leading to the Documentation of Three Post-Byzantine Wall Paintings.

The main churches of three monasteries in Thessalia, Central Greece, were decorated with wall paintings in the post-Byzantine period. The main goal of the present study is to characterize the inorganic and organic materials present in the paint layers of areas that have been gilded. Optical microscopic examination was carried out on samples taken from the gilded decoration of the paintings to view their layer build-up. The combined use of micro Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) and micro-Raman spectroscopy led to the detection of the pigments and the binding media used. The results from specimens taken from different wall paintings were compared with each other to observe their differences and similarities. The three investigated churches are believed to have been painted by the same iconographer, Tzortzis, who however has only been identified in only one of them. The comparison led to the conclusion that there are many similarities in the painting materials used and the general methodology adopted and, therefore, this study offers support to the belief that the mural paintings of the three monasteries could have been painted by the same iconographer. While not authenticating the two painting as being by Tzortzis, the results provide further critical material that is consistent with this attribution. However, this statement must be carefully considered because the pigments identified have been commonly and diffusely used in historic mural paintings.

Waar is die gereformeerde lidmate dan?

This article discusses the numbers of church members within the reformed main stream churches as researched during the past decade, while focusing on the disappearance process of white members as researched within sample congregations of the RCSA, as well as the absence of growing numbers among black congregations amid the huge South African population growth. To identify trends, the most recent available information regarding the activity of evangelising in congregations, the terminating of membership and whether members leave or arrive with of without testimony, were researched. Reasons are given why numbers increased in a few congregations. These congregations are thus not part of the declining trend in the traditional white congregations, and also not part of the not-growing, stagnated traditional black RCSA-congregations. The literature study, as well as the qualitative and quantitative approach, provides useful information and valuable insights in the recent tendencies regarding the eccleciastical survival battle.

Scottish Churches, Morality and Homosexual Law Reform, 1957–1980

The role of Scottish Churches in the decision not to include Scotland in the 1967 Sexual Offences Act requires scrutiny. This article examines the role of the Church of Scotland, and other Churches, in debates regarding homosexuality in the years following publication of the Wolfenden Report. It argues that although Scotland's Churches appeared steadfast in their determination to prevent homosexual law reform during the 1950s and 1960s, there was much ambivalence, contradiction and debate and that, in fact, Scotland's two main Churches played a significant role in the development of Scotland's foremost homosexual rights organisation, the Scottish Minorities Group.

Supporting community cohesion through ICT: The epartners programme in Northern Ireland

In the face of deep-rooted sectarian sentiment in Northern Ireland and the pervasive nature of “separateness” between the Protestant and Catholic communities, this article examines school projects designed to promote community cohesion and assesses the role that information and communications technology (ICT) can play to encourage collaboration within a social psychology framework. Further, we report on exploratory research conducted through the evaluation of a pilot program that involved university student tutors working with teachers and pupils in a range of schools. Our findings to date suggest that a strong focus on collaborative work in non-contentious areas of the curriculum has a strong chance of securing support from key stakeholders, including teachers, the main churches and other stakeholders in the educational system.

Between Marginalization and Orthodoxy: The Unitas Fratrum in Poland in the Sixteenth Century

ABSTRACT Soon after parts of the Unitas Fratrum emigrated to Poland in the years following the Schmalkaldic War (1546–47), the Brethren received much attention because of their church discipline. This fascination even led to first unions of the protestant churches in Poland. At the very beginning of the history of the Polish Reformation, the Calvinists from Lesser Poland decided to join the Brethren. This agreement was signed in Koźminek in 1555. Just after a couple of months, however, it was not valid anymore. A second attempt was made in 1570 in Sandomierz, where the Brethren joined the Lutherans and the Reformed and accepted the Reformed Confession of Faith. This union—though seemingly spectacular—did not have any consequences either. The status of the protestant confessions was secured by the religious peace called Warsaw Confederation in 1573. The Brethren remained one of three protestant confessions, which were officially recognized in Poland. This essay examines the transition of the image of the Brethren in the eyes of the Polish nobility from a radical and marginal religious group to one of the main churches and important players in the political arena.

Missionary Societies in the Evangelical Churches: Origins and Characteristics

The present study attempts to describe one of the most interesting phenomena in the history of missions: the birth and development of the Missionary Societies , which arose between the end of the 18 th and the beginning of the 19 th century. The beginning was linked to the humble story of a simple shoemaker, turned Baptist pastor and a missionary in India but it soon developed within all main Churches of the Reformation. Characteristic of the phenomenon was the spontaneity of giving life to societies aiming at preaching the Gospel overseas. It was a novelty in the Reformation world as the missionary venture had found a difficult ground to develop in the first two centuries after Luther and Calvin. These societies were capable in reasonably short time to develop their own pastoral guide-lines and policy and their members in the overseas missions committed themselves to social issues and educational projects as part of the evangelising project. The article examines these elements and other aspects trying to highlight also unavoidable limitation encountered in the process.

Bach's St John Passions

There are few pieces that can illustrate the vital differences between our own musical culture and that of Bach’s time more strikingly than the St John Passion. Whereas Bach’s audiences at Leipzig’s main churches primarily would have sought to contemplate the Passion of Christ, for example, today’s listeners are more likely to engage with the music on account of a passion for Bach. Even the well-known fact that Bach’s music originally formed part of a liturgical sound-world can seem surprising today, as John Butt and the Dunedin Consort have so powerfully illustrated in their widely acclaimed new recording of the John Passion (Linn Records, ckd419, rec 2012, 139′). The set reunites the Passion with a reconstructed Good Friday liturgy, and contrasting the controlled formality of organ preludes and congregational singing with Bach’s concerted movements achieves a remarkable effect: it not only intensifies a sense of drama and tension...