pre-Christian Times Research Articles

‘The Lord defends refugees, protects the orphans and widows’ (Psalm 146:9). Emerging Challenges in Supporting People after Loss and Traumatic Events

This study, rooted in patristics and social sciences, delves into the historical evolution of support for orphans and widows in the Christian and Catholic tradition, underscoring its profound significance in the identity of these faith-based communities. Tracing the modes of assistance from pre-Christian times through the Old and New Testaments and the teachings of the Church Fathers, the paper elucidates various aspects of the caregiving process. Additionally, it explores the evolving sensitivities across different epochs in modernity, encompassing the contemporary, postmodern and recent years, with a specific focus on the periods before, during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. In light of this analysis, a fundamental question arises: What are the primary pastoral responsibilities of Catholic parishes in Poland regarding support to individuals who have experienced the loss of loved ones, borne multiple losses or endured severe traumas (such as war refugees from Ukraine in local communities)? This work provides guidance to over 10,000 Catholic parishes in Poland, considering the context of an aging society and the lessons derived from the COVID-19 pandemic. It extends an invitation for further research and the initiation of practical endeavours by pastoral theologians and specialists in social and healthcare, to ensure the highest quality of care in parish communities and local societies.

Канонический и церковно-административный аспекты спора о прерогативах митрополитов Никеи и Никомидии на Халкидонском соборе

Introduction. On October 30, 451, during the 4th Ecumenical Council in Chalcedon, the dispute between Metropolitan Eunomius of Nicomedia and Metropolitan Anastasius of Nicaea was considered. Eunomius believed that his rights as the metropolitan of the entire province of Bithynia, in regard to ordinations, were violated by Anastasius of Nicaea, who had deposed a number of clerics of the city of Vasilinopolis. Information about this lawsuit is taken from the published acts of the 14th session of the Chalcedon Council. Methods. The work is based on the application of the historical-critical method of data processing of the source text used in the original in Greek according to the standard critical edition and quoted by the author in his own translation. Analysis. Based on the analysis of the act material, the author restores the course, content and internal logic of the conciliar audition of the claim of Eunomius of Nicomedia. It also reveals the cause of the claim, external factors and figures that had influenced the course of the case and become the cause of its occurrence. The factors include the unsettled status of the Metropolitan of Nicaea within the province of Bithynia, the limits of his competence and jurisdiction. Similar factor is the unsettled status of the Metropolitan of Nicomedia as bishop of the provincial capital (metropolis), that lead to a conflict of jurisdictions over the Bithynian city of Vasilinopolis. Decisive is also the influence in Bithynia of the patriarchal see of Constantinople and persons who occupied it, beginning with John Chrysostos. The decision of the Ecumenical Council on this lawsuit turns out to be half-hearted: the city of Vasilinopolis and its clergy are recognized as belonging to the jurisdiction of the Metropolitan of Nicomedia, declared the first Metropolitan of Bithynia, but the question of the subordination of the Metropolitan of Nicaea, recognized as the second, remains open. This is evident from later sources, in which the Metropolitan of Nicaea is designated as an independent ruling metropolitan within the province of Bithynia, with his own district and jurisdiction. Results. The decision of the Ecumenical Council in Chalcedon failed to approve in Bithynia the canonical definition of the Council of Nicaea that there should be only one ruling metropolitan in the province. It is obvious that the decision of the judges was influenced by the ancient tradition of intercity rivalry between Nicaea and Nicomedia, dating back to pre-Christian times. The latter was clearly manifested in the fact that the main argument of the litigants was the recognition of the secular title of metropolis for both cities, confirmed by imperial letters. Thus, the dispute between Nicaea and Nicomedia shows that the decisions of the Ecumenical Councils were embodied in church-political and church-administrative practice in so far as they corresponded, or at least did not contradict the established tradition of socio-political relations.

Rhosia and the Circum-Russian Politosphere of the 10th Century

This review considers the concept of the Rurikid polity of the tenth century proposed by Aleksei S. Shchavelev, Senior Researcher at the Center for Eastern Europe in the Ancient and Medieval World, Department of the History of Byzantium and Eastern Europe, Institute of General History, Russian Academy of Sciences. Also, the reviewer examines its chronology and spatial structure, the genealogy of the early Rurikids, and the dynamics of their territorial power. The concept of “polity” replaces the previous notions of “Ancient Russia”, “Kievan Rus’”, and “Ancient Russian State” irrelevant for pre-Christian Times. The basis for the reconstruction of the Rurikid polity in the tenth century was not so much The Primary Chronicle whose chronology is being criticized more and more harshly, as The Tactica by Byzantine Emperor Leo VI the Wise (866–912), the treatise De Administrando Imperio by Emperor Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus (905–959), letters from Hasdai ibn Shaprut (905–975), advisor to the Caliph of Cordoba, etc. This polity emerged following stochastic fluctuations in ethno-social, event, and personal history.

Кони Бирки

The data presented in this article on horse burials in the Scandinavian burial ground of Birka (Sweden) suggest the existence of trade relations between the population of southeastern Scandinavia of the Viking Age and the western Baltic inhabitants of the Amber Coast. These contacts could be based on the supply of raw amber to the north of Europe. In parallel, Prussian horses were supplied to Scandinavia, equipped with authentic headbands for funeral ceremonies. This part of the Balto-Scandinavian contacts is extremely interesting, first of all, because the cult of the horse and its role in the funeral ceremony, associated with the solar cult of the Ashvin twins, is a specific feature of the spiritual culture of the Baltic population of the entire Eastern Baltic region. The representation of horse burials in the Scandinavian funerary antiquities of the Viking Age suggests the influence of the features of the Baltic spiritual culture on the cult of the northerners of Europe. In truth, the burial of a horse with riding equipment, which accompanied the grave of the leader, is known in Scandinavian legends about pre-Christian times.

Fenomén pútnických pohľadníc a ich náplň (Poznatky o zaniknutej pokladnici v Marianke)

The paper has the goal of informing on the phenomenon of Catholic pilgrimage treasuries that are set in significant pilgrimage locations. The tradition of creating collections of votive donations goes back to pre-Christian times. The bringing of sacrificial gifts has continued to this day in connection with pilgrimages, reaching its peak in the Baroque era. We will concentrate our attention on Marian pilgrimage treasures within the Central European environment, among which the defunct pilgrim and monastery treasury in Marianka also belonged. In the 18th century, Marianka enjoyed a versatile development that was also reflected in the frequency of treasury collections. Specific collections of the wide spectrum of devotional donations included objects of a sacral and worldly nature. Treasury collections were deposited in secured premises, where they were divided into groups according to their type. In some locations, the collections have survived until the present day and were transformed into museums. As a result of historic events, others were broken up and destroyed. We know about the extensive treasury in Marianka only on the basis of a register created during the destruction of the Paulist monastery. As a result of the reforms under Jozef II, the monastery’s property, along with the treasury collections, were sold at public auction in 1786. From an extensive register of briefly described items, we recognize several selected records, along with a translation of the original register in German. From the number of objects that, according to the register, were stored in the treasury, apparently nothing remained. In this paper, however, we present several objects of which we can say with confidence belonged to the destroyed treasury. Among them figures a rare monstrance, which at present resides in Stupava, along with small votive gifts resembling parts of the human body.

К ИСТОРИИ АРХЕОЛОГИЧЕСКОГО ИЗУЧЕНИЯ СОВЕТСКОЙ АРКТИКИ

The article presents a brief historiographical review of the first archaeological studies of the Yenisei North. The study presents a description of unknown documents developed by the team of the Arctic Institute in the mid 1940s. The evacuation of the Institute of the Arctic to Krasnoyarsk during the Great Patriotic War increased the attention of its employees to the Krasnoyarsk North. The article publishes «Brief instructions for the registration and protection of archaeological sites of the Soviet Arctic» and «A short questionnaire program for collecting information about the archaeological sites of the Arctic». These documents were identified by the authors in 2022 during the analysis of unprocessed archival materials in the funds of the Krasnoyarsk Regional Museum of Local Lore. The purpose of the study is to introduce the identified archival materials in the historical context of the development the matters of registration and protection the historical and cultural resources in the Russian Arctic. The instruction contains the main types of resources of the native peoples of the North: dwellings and settlements of coastal tribes, settlements of hunters and reindeer herders of the tundra and forest tundra, ancient workshops, fortifications, burial grounds, sacrificial places, rock carvings, remains of fossil fauna, grottoes, caves and sheds in the rocks. Saibs, Arangas and other ancient burial places of pre-Christian times among the Nenets, Yuraks, Nganasans, Yukaghirs, Yakuts are singled out in a special group of resources. They were subject to research only by specialist archaeologists and should were protected. The need to single out resources of the archaeological heritage of the Russian population is emphasized on the example of unique finds in Sims Bay and Thaddeus Island. The section «Recording and protection of archaeological sites of the North» contains regulatory requirements for the identification and registration of the noted types of sites. To characterize them, the Instruction recommends cartographic, field observation, comparative-historical, complex and other methods of study. The transfer of found artifacts and all identified information to the Arctic Institute of the Main Northern Sea Route under the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR or its representatives located in the nearest points is regulated. The content of the identified documents ends with a brief questionnaire for collecting information about the archaeological sites of the Arctic.

Looduslikud pühapaigad kui jutupaigad Rambynase mäe näitel

This article presents different cases of Rambynas Hill in south-western Lithuania. The first one discusses Rambynas Hill as a pagan sacred site. Sporadic mentions in written historical sources do not paint a clear picture of the place and of how it was used in pre-Christian times. Nevertheless, early mentions of Rambynas from as early as the 13th century confirm that the place was indeed significant at the time. No high-profile archaeological excavations ever took place at Rambynas and this limits our understanding of the place in the prehistoric context. Unfortunately, the most important part of the hill collapsed into the Nemunas River in the 19th century, which suggests that any future archaeological expeditions would probably be unavailing. Folklore remains the main source for understanding Rambynas’ importance as a sacred site, while some folktales are presumably of pagan origin. The cult stone on top of Rambynas, last seen in the late 19th century, also suggests that the place was a kind of pagan sacred site. However, its origins could not be verified because the stone was destroyed. It is important to note that despite the lack of additional data in some cases, Rambynas Hill is one of the best-documented and best-known sacred sites in Lithuania. The second case of Rambynas Hill demonstrates how the place regained its fame and importance at the beginning of the 20th century, at the time of creating national identity in Lithuania Minor. Rambynas became the pinnacle of the joint historical narrative between the inhabitants of Lithuania Minor and Lithuania Major in order to further include the former to the newly formed independent country. Rambynas also became the centre of summer solstice celebrations that grew larger with every year during the 1920s and 1930s. For these celebrations a local figure, Martynas Jankus, started The Eternal Book of Rambynas, where people wrote down their experiences of the place. This book represents the third case of Rambynas and is comprised of short writings from different people inspired by their immediate experience. It presents the main topics that were important for people visiting Rambynas Hill and also shows how the place was successfully re-storied in the 20th century and regained its fame as a sacred site of now romanticized pre-Christian religion, despite the fact that it had not been practiced for a few hundred years. The Eternal Book of Rambynas reveals a more personal approach, even though still highly influenced by collective ideas. It does not elaborate on each case of personal experience due to the limited scope of the records. The last case presented in this article discusses Rambynas as part of personal lifeworld, revealed in the memories of a local villager Elena Grigolaitytė. Her experiences are recorded in a short book titled Rojaus Kelias, in which the woman summarizes her life in Bitėnai village close to Rambynas Hill. The case of Elena shows how the same place could be presented in a different light when viewed from a personal perspective of everyday life. All the cases presented in the article serve the purpose of showcasing the possibilities of studying sites as story-places. Research of ancient sacred sites in Lithuania is often limited by historical and ethnological data, and researchers try to include these places in pre-Christian narratives. Due to phenomenological approach, story-places allow to temporarily suspend these values and discuss these places as part of human experience and everyday life. However, the phenomenological approach works best as a part of complex research. Historical facts and written sources about the hill introduce Rambynas as a part of pre-Christian sacred site, probably important during prehistoric times and later in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Investigation carried out by the 19th and early 20th-century press, written memories, historic documents and other data introduce the modern restoration of Rambynas and how the hill functioned as a cultural and even political centre of Lithuania Minor. Lastly, by analysing records in The Eternal Book of Rambynas, folk stories about the place and personal memories, it is possible to understand how people were experiencing the place. This approach paints a complex picture of the place and, most importantly, does not automatically reject modern stories as irrelevant.

Paso a paso se va muy lejos: Traveling the Path with AFS

<i>Paso a paso se va muy lejos</i>: Traveling the Path with AFS

Amber Brian, Bradley Benton, Peter B. Villella and Pablo García Loaeza, translators and editors. History of the Chichimeca Nation: Don Fernando de Alva Ixtlilxochitl’s Seventeenth-Century Chronicle of Ancient Mexico

Amber Brian, Bradley Benton, Peter B. Villella and Pablo García Loaeza, translators and editors. <i>History of the Chichimeca Nation: Don Fernando de Alva Ixtlilxochitl’s Seventeenth-Century Chronicle of Ancient Mexico</i>

PIE *peh2ur ’fire’. Two Slavic etymologies

&#x0D; &#x0D; &#x0D; &#x0D; &#x0D; &#x0D; The article adds two Proto-Slavic derivatives of the Proto-Indo-European word for ‘fire’ to a small number of other, already identified derivatives (§1). Detailed phonological and morphological analysis of the words for ‘bat; moth, butterfly’ establish PS *netopyŕĭ ‘bat’ and PS *netopyŕĭ, *netŭpyŕĭ ‘moth (&gt; butterfly), which support a Pre-Proto- Slavic (PPS) *[nekt-i+pūr]-ja- ‘[night-time fire] one’. Semantic interpretation posits the social and ecological context for the divergent nominations ‘bat’ and ‘nocturnal moth’. The variant word shapes and meanings of these lexemes defined intersecting isoglosses at the time of the Slavic Expansion (§§2–3). Similar analysis of PS *ǫpyŕĭ ‘revenant, monster’ supports the reconstruction PPS *[un-pūr]-ja- ‘[without fire] one’. Its semantic interpretation is based on the Slavic folk belief that the untimely dead were in the power of evil forces and were tools of evil. In pre-Christian times they were denied the pyre, they were ‘without fire’. This belief long survived the introduction of Christianity and its abolition of cremation and obligatory burial (§§4–5). The conclusion (§6) comments on the remarkable archaisms in these ancient lexemes, which were coined thousands of years ago: PPS *nekt- ‘night’ (cf. Hittite), *un- ‘no, without’ (cf. Germanic), and *pūr- ‘fire’ (cf. West Baltic).&#x0D; &#x0D; &#x0D; &#x0D; &#x0D; &#x0D;

Al-Watsiniya fi al-katsulikiyah (al-bahts fi romziyu al-sholib)

The cross is a symbol that is well known among the public as a symbol of Christianity. Every sect in Christianity has a distinctive cross that distinguishes one from another. The Catholic and Protestant crosses are distinguished by the presence of a corpus or statue of Jesus hanging on it. Catholics use a corpus on their crosses, whereas Protestants are just plain crosses without any statues. Researchers will trace deeper into the history of the cross in pre-Christian times who rejected the presence of the symbol of the cross because this symbol was only attached to people who had committed grave sins. So that the researcher will use a historical methodology with an approach to the manuscript literature related to the cross. The results found by researchers that the meaning of the cross for Catholics today is taken from the meaning of the Pagan people because most Catholic teachings have been influence and interfered with by the teachings of Paganism. The meaning of the cross as a symbol of the resurrection and atonement for sins by Jesus is like the god Bacchus in Pagan. In addition, the use of the cross in Catholic religious rituals is not much different from the worship of Pagan gods who also use the cross. In fact, the cross is a symbol of the god Mithra or the sun god who was later transformed into a symbol of God’s love through the death and resurrection of Jesus.

Український пісенний феномен (на матеріалі пісні «Шум» у виконанні гурту «Go_A»)

Purpose: to investigate the Ukrainian song as means of consolidation of nation and find out, what the phenomenon of the song «Noise» performed by the band «Go_A» consists in. Research is carried out by means of descriptive method, it is made theoretical analysis of literature, critical analysis of researches, it is applied the method of selection and systematization of material, the method of supervision, synthesis. Folklorists have already been studying the song «Noise» over one hundred and fifty years: 1) it was investigated by М. Maksymovych, B. Hrinchenko, М. Hrushevskyi and others; 2) the «Noise» is a very old Ukrainian vesnianka (spring folk song) that originates from pre-christian times and rituals related to nature, with its spring awakening; 3) the «Noise» is personification: well-organized energy, green forest, character of noise of the first spring greenery, God of the forest. Haivka (spring song) is the ancient name of round dances that was saved yet from the time, when our ancestors carried out ceremonial songs and dances in the protected groves round sacred trees. Aboriginal vesnianky (spring folk songs)-haivky are syncretic – singing and motion, words and action, song and dance are combined in them. Phenomenon of the song «Noise» that was presented on a song competition Eurovision by the Ukrainian electro-folk band «Go_A», consists in that on a background of «sleek and inexpressive pop songs» that sounded mainly in English, Ukrainian performers, leaning against old Ukrainian folklore traditions, offered to Europe Ukrainian powerful and catching «spring hymn» in a style of techno, that was perceived with gladness and fascination by European listener audience. Thus, firstly, Ukrainian haivka (spring song) became a world hit in 2021; secondly, the band «Go_A», keeping national identity, popularizes Ukraine, Ukrainian language and Ukrainian song; thirdly, it consolidates Ukrainian society; fourthly, it engages young people in patriotic education. Summarizing, it is possible to establish with confidence: 1) Ukrainian language and Ukrainian song are indivisible as they are organically interdependent and are the basic criteria of originality of nation; 2) the Ukrainian song as well as language unites nation; 3) we found out, firstly, that the old Ukrainian vesnianka (spring folk song) «Noise» became the basis of the song «Noise» of the Ukrainian band «Go_A»; secondly, we made sure that vesnianky (spring folk songs) and haivky (spring songs) were not identical concepts, as varieties of vesnianky (spring folk songs) are haivky – songs that were performed only in time of the Easter holidays; vesnianky (spring folk songs) are a cycle of spring songs that are sung from the Annunciation.

Functional Features of Multiple Spaces in Ray Bradbury’s The Martian Chronicles

The category of fictional space is an important part of a literary text that has a significant impact on it. Adherents of literary structuralism such as Yuri Lotman, Tsvetan Todorov, Vladimir Toporov, Mikhail Bakhtin, Umberto Eko, Volodymyr Propp, and others have pointed out that the type of space or chronotop has a strong effect on the genre, plot, and characters of a text. In other words, space is an important functional component, and not just a decorative element in the fictional world. However, a literary text often cannot exist within the limits of a flat structure. That is why a text multiplies itself by building multiple worlds within one universe. Such a complicated universe has a number of terms. There are multiverses, possible worlds, small worlds, multiple worlds, mirror worlds, alternative worlds, and others. Possible worlds form the most common concept, which was introduced by modal logics and borrowed by literary critics. The phenomenon of possible worlds implies the existence of two or more worlds that coexist simultaneously in one universe. Opposition is the main condition in which possible worlds can exist as a phenomenon. This resistance is implemented by the division of the worlds into objective (actual) and subjective (possible) worlds. It is this condition and conflict that trigger the entire mechanism of possible worlds. Such a universe model was known in pre-Christian times, in the Middle Ages, in Modernity, and is known today. Thus, a stable tradition has naturally and gradually crystallized into a world cultural code. Ray Bradbury’s Martian Chronicles (1950) is one of the classic and vivid examples of fictional texts whose events develop in a plural fictional space. As the majority of sci-fi literature, the Martian Chronicles are built on the opposition of 2 worlds – Earth and Mars. Earthlings have colonized Mars and gradually destroyed its cultural code. This destruction brings another essential thing, namely a hierarchical change. In other words, Earth is a traditionally objective world but throughout the plot’s development the cycle of short stories loses its solidity and passes into the periphery. Consequently, Mars as subjective world takes on the signs of an objective world.

A Journey through Time and Space in Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin’s “A Midwinter Prayer”

Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin often writes about journeys and quests, the focus in these poems is not on the destination but on the voyage itself. A poem called “A Midwinter Prayer,” first published in the poet’s 1972 collection, Acts and Monuments, depicts a journey that takes place not so much in space but rather in time. The poem spans not only a part of the year from Samhain to spring, but also takes the reader from pre-Christian times through the dawn of Christianity into the future of prophecies. This is achieved by an intricate system of allusions and interweaving of various subtexts that my essay aims to uncover. By mapping the references in this poem, this paper examines Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin’s strategic use of allusions and subtexts. The paper explores how allusions to different sources, like the Bible and old Irish literature and myth, are juxtaposed within a text. The article argues that allusions can become essential structural elements in the poet’s work and they can act as governing principles for entire poems. The aim of this paper is to analyse Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin’s complex allusive technique in one of her poems, “A Midwinter Prayer” in a way that will be applicable in later studies of the poet’s work.

САКРАЛЬНАЯ ЖЕРТВА КАК КРЫЛАТАЯ ЯЗЫКОВАЯ ЕДИНИЦА В ЛЕКСИКО-ФРАЗЕОЛОГИЧЕСКОМ ПРОСТРАНСТВЕ «РУССКОСТИ»

The modern Russian personality is purposefully and systematically exposed to language attacks in the media space and proves to be in a situation of constant choice and obsessive infantility in determining the means and forms of modern speech. Over the past two decades, the sacred meaning of many linguistic units has been actively transformed, and this causes concern among Russian linguists. The article deals with the winged linguistic unit “sakral'naya zhertva”, the semantic evolution of which originates from pre-Christian times. With the adoption of Christianity, the linguistic unit “victim” acquires a spiritual and educational character. The secularized stage of using the lexeme manifests a contrasting palette of transformations and nominates objects of ritual, political, and economic proceedings in the media space, which radically distinguishes it from its original meaning and negatively affects the consciousness of the Russian cultural and linguistic personality.

Abraham in Wonderland: On Judeisapta and Imaginary Jewish Sovereignty in the Fourteenth-Century Austrian Chronicle (Österreichische Chronik von den 95 Herrschaften)

The late fourteenth-century Austrian Chronicle (Österreichische Chronik von den 95 Herrschaften), a prose work composed anonymously in Habsburg Vienna, contains a fabulistic history of Austria and its rulers—including a description of heraldic devices. According to the Chronicle, the first geographical designation for Austria was Judeisapta (lit: appropriate for Jews), a land named by a Jew but devoid of Jews. The initial settler, Abraham, was a pagan who, some eight centuries after the deluge, left Terra Ammiracionis (Wonderland) for Judeisapta. Later, Jewish rulers of Austria, under darkly articulated circumstances, converted from idol worship and then reverted to paganism in pre-Christian times. In conformity with the Augustinian scheme of the Ages of the World, Jewish sovereignty in the Chronicle is portrayed as evanescent and transitory, worthy of attention only as a preparatory stage for the Christian ascendancy. An important theme is the conversion of Austrian Jews, whose fictitious history betrays a fragile conception of religious affiliation.

Simboluri și sculptură. Porțile maramureșene vechi

The cult of globalization from these days could be easily resisted or even forgotten once you find the carved wooden portals on the lands of Maramureș. There, the cultural tradition of the picturesque villages from our country’s distant past remains immaculate and at the same time conveys freshness to the Romanian art history and sculpture. From the beauty and artistry of these ornate gates, one could get the impression that the carved symbols were created for esthetic purposes only, if their significance were unclear. Nevertheless, like the painted churches in Bukovina where one could view or decipher the Bible by looking at the paintings in a certain order, the portals in Maramureș accurately convey a visual record of local people’s beliefs and traditions throughout history. We know that these gates date back to pre-Christian times, but they are still being crafted by local craftsmen today. To what degree has Christianity influenced the evolution of the Maramureș portals’ symbolism?

Debating Medieval Natural Law: A Survey by Riccardo Saccenti

Reviewed by: Debating Medieval Natural Law: A Survey by Riccardo Saccenti R. S. White Saccenti, Riccardo, Debating Medieval Natural Law: A Survey, Notre Dame, University of Notre Dame Press, 2016; cloth; pp. xiii, 155; R.R.P. US $45.00; ISBN 9780268100407. Natural law is an ancient and abiding way of thinking about the relationship between morality and law. Extremely simple in its premise, that knowledge of the difference between right and wrong is innate and 'written on the heart' as a way of preserving existence, the doctrine has led to vast amounts of commentary on its endless complexities and its very existence or otherwise. As Aquinas put it, 'Good is to be done and pursued, and evil is to be avoided'. However, natural law was also argued for in pre-Christian times, by Plato, Cicero, and others, using not Christian notions of God's divine purposes nor conscience, but reason alone to deduce its existence. Within the later Christian cosmology, conscience was considered central as the innate, God-given faculty, but some Christian thinkers did not draw the conclusion that natural law itself is also innate, insisting instead that God's emissaries on earth are needed to pass down divine law. Meanwhile, after its heyday in medieval and early modern times there have been revivals of natural law and its more civic equivalent, natural rights, which in turn underpinned human rights. Throughout history political applications have been based on the justification offered by natural law for resistance to unjust positive (man-made) laws and for issues like conscientious objection, since the argument runs that positive law must be consistent with natural law or it is no law at all, and can—indeed in some cases must—be broken. However, it needs to be said that Riccardo Saccenti's book is probably not the best place for beginners. Despite its inviting subtitle (A Survey) and its brevity (eighty pages of text, and almost the same of notes), the account presupposes some acquaintance with the mountain of scholarship on the subject. In particular, its intended audience is most likely those in the Natural Law Forum at Notre Dame, which has its own important journal. The subtitle could really be limited to 'A survey of twentieth-century literature' on medieval natural law theories, rather than implying a history of natural law. Furthermore, given the medieval lens, generally speaking the primary concentration is on theological approaches rather than historical, secular, or philosophical ones. Even more specialized, there is a focus on a particular medieval debate on distinctions between lex naturalis (natural law) and ius naturale (natural rights). Within its chosen parameters, Debating Medieval Natural Law is a challenging and important analysis. [End Page 243] R. S. White The University of Western Australia Copyright © 2019 Parergon

Personal Religion among the Ancient Scandinavians and the Fulltrúi-Concept

The question of personal religion among the ancient Scandinavians has centered around the concept of having a deity as one’s fulltrúi ‘trustworthy friend,’ ástvinr ‘close friend,’ or vinr ‘friend.’ Most scholars of the twentieth century regarded the concept as a true expression of pre-Christian Germanic belief. By contrast, modern scholarship strongly tends to see it as a construct of medieval authors who took the saints’ cult as a model to describe the personal piety of their ninth and tenth century compatriots. On the basis of a passage in the Old Norse translation of Clemens saga, corroborated with archaeological evidence and some skaldic verse, e.g. Sonatorrek, the present study argues that the religious concept of fulltrúi and its parallel terms developed in pre-Christian times.

ІДЕЯ СПІВВІДНОШЕННЯ ЛЮДСЬКОГО РОЗУМУ І ПОЧУТТІВ В КОНТЕКСТІ УКРАЇНСЬКОГО КОРДОЦЕНТРИЗМУ: ІСТОРИЧНА РЕТРОСПЕКТИВА

The article analyzes the evolution of the idea of human mind and feelings correlation in the history of Ukrainian philosophical thought from pre-Christian times till modern times. It is proved that this idea has a long tradition in the history of Ukrainian culture and its components – religion, philosophy, science, art. In historical sequence, the views of the great Ukrainian thinkers of different historical epochs on the problem of mind and feelings correlation in the integral human nature, their role in the cognition of the world are set forth. According to the researchers, from ancient pre-Christian times, the ancestor Ukrainians were interested in the vital issues of their own being, which they associated primarily with the notions of spirit and soul, which for Ukrainians were always «sacred» and identified with the heart as the centre of the spiritual life of a person occupying the world of his feelings, experiences, thoughts and faith. The image of the heart is central in the ancient monuments of oral folk art, which points to their cordocentric problematics, which is manifested in emotionality, sincerity, benevolence, mercy, and the like. The ideological concept for Ukrainians, from the times of KievanRus to our days, is cordocentrism, which represents the Ukrainian spiritual tradition and fulfils the function of a mental dominant. In KievanRus with the birth of philosophical thought (I.Kyivskyi, V. Monomakh, F. Pecherskyi), within the Christian faith there is a tendency that a special role in the cognition of the Divine essence was given to the heart. In Holy Scripture (the Bible), there are 851 references to the heart as one of the central images in the Old Testament texts.The concept of the heart, which takes its origins in the religious worldview of Ukrainian-Rus people from the times of KievanRus, gradually transformed into a «philosophy of the heart», becoming its distinctive feature that expressed the originality and uniqueness of the Ukrainian cultural tradition and its spiritual history. «Philosophy of the heart» as a doctrine in its ontological, theoretical and moral and ethical aspects is most fully expounded in the heritage of the outstanding Ukrainian thinkers G. Skovoroda, P. Yurkevych, T. Shevchenko, N. Gogol. A modern philosophy of human-centrism has been created on the basis of the philosophy of cordocentrism as a strategic direction of the humanization of society, in which one of the central places is child-centric education - the leading direction of the national education reform in Ukraine.