Roman Catholic Beliefs Research Articles

Lutheran Theology: A Grammar of Faith by Kirsi Stjerna

Reviewed by: Lutheran Theology: A Grammar of Faith by Kirsi Stjerna Anthony Bateza Lutheran Theology: A Grammar of Faith. By Kirsi Stjerna. New York: T&T Clark, 2021. 218 pp. In many Lutheran congregations the Book of Concord is resting comfortably on a dusty bookshelf, safe from the wear and tear other books might receive. One could lament this reality, but, truth be told, the confessional documents can trip up rostered leaders and parishioners alike. The eager optimism of curious readers diving [End Page 465] into the Augsburg Confession turns into befuddled dejection long before reaching the Smalcald Articles. What is needed is a guide who will blend well-crafted historical and theological knowledge with a passion for the Confessions’ ability to illumine pressing questions. Fortunately, Kirsi Stjerna, professor at Pacific Lutheran Theolo gical Seminary, proves to be just such a guide. Lutheran Theology is divided into three sections, with the first two providing succinct introductions to Martin Luther’s life, theology, and the general layout and history behind the Book of Concord. The third section does more heavy lifting, with chapters addressing issues with our language about God, Christology, sin, and the church. Stjerna suggests that the idea of freedom, in its various angles, is a helpful thread for readers trying to find their way through these documents. This approach gives a welcome flexibility and the reader is invited to “engage Luther boldly with the topics they are passionate about and not worry too much about the historical distance or the appropriateness of the questions raised” (197). This, of course, does not mean that questions of historicity or appropriateness are abandoned. Each chapter grounds itself in the Augsburg Confession before moving through other confessional documents, Luther’s broader theology, and the practical and conceptual puzzles that modern readers bring to the texts. Core Lutheran beliefs are highlighted and well explained. Readers come to understand the principle of sola scriptura and how this Reformation principle differs from biblical literalism. Just as the Reformation itself was an exercise in teamwork, Stjerna says that Lutheran hermeneutics has always “been considered a group effort, a dialogical process, where concord and discord are possible and tolerated” (58). Other central loci, such as the law-gospel dialectic, are also presented as key Lutheran formulations possible of generating endless spiritual insights “as the framework allows tension and surprises” for all (78). Stjerna celebrates the confessions while noting potential deficiencies and omissions. At times this means pushing deeper into the texts. Acknowledging the lack of a systematic engagement with pneumatology in the confessions, Stjerna guides the reader through [End Page 466] the Holy Spirit’s appearance in various passages and in particular Luther’s constant and pastoral attention to the Spirit in the Large Catechism (104–108). In other cases texts simply overlook or fail to address issues of our day, like the ideas of lordship and bondage or the use of gendered language for God and gendered norms for humans. In these moments Stjerna pushes beyond the confessions without abandoning them, providing a wonderful example of how this work enriches both our reading and our response to the texts. While this volume offers much to praise, two areas of concern should be noted. First, minor grammatical infelicities can occasionally distract the reader. Second, the consistently positive explication of Lutheran teaching can create challenges for understanding the reformers and their forebears. This can lead to a lack of nuance in dealing with earlier figures, like St. Augustine, or in addressing the motivations behind late-medieval Roman Catholic beliefs or practices. When problems appear to threaten some of Luther’s claims, Stjerna sometimes explains these as resulting from his lack of systematicity or as deep theological insights in themselves. Luther’s teaching on human freedom and predestination, for example, leads to notorious difficulties when pressed in different directions. Stjerna recognizes this, but appreciatively lifts up Luther’s warnings about God’s unknown ways and the dangers of pressing the issue too far. But should we push back on Luther’s potentially evasive response? Is he cautioning the faithful to respect proper theological boundaries, or is there a deeper issue here generated by Luther’s own theology or the...

Anti-“Heterosexist” Education and the Stigmatization of Some Roman Catholic Beliefs

I address some tension between Roman Catholicism and the anti-“heterosexist” education within some of Ontario’s regular, public schools. In particular, I argue that the anti-“heterosexist” education within the Peel District School Board (PDSB) and the Toronto District School Board (TDSB) stigmatizes some Roman Catholic beliefs, however incidentally. I then offer a proposal for how this stigmatization could be extinguished without abandoning an effort to prevent bullying against students with same-sex sexual inclination.

For the common weal

While much of recent Hamlet criticism is heavily invested in foregrounding Catholic-nostalgic aspects in the play, I argue that the purgatorial Ghost can also be read as a caricature. Comedic and parodic depictions of Roman Catholic doctrine and beliefs were fairly common in the popular writings of Shakespeare’s age. I situate Shakespeare’s Hamlet within contemporary Protestant culture and its literary aesthetics as well as populist appeal. Finally, I read Hamlet’s mocking of the Ghost at the end of Scene 1.5 along with a popular pamphlet, Tarltons Newes out of Purgatorie (1590). Both, I argue, caricature Purgatory to induce community reinforcing Protestant laughter.

The Wisdom of Animals: Creatureliness in Early Modern French Spirituality. Catharine Randall. Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 2014. Pp. ix+178.

<i>The Wisdom of Animals: Creatureliness in Early Modern French Spirituality</i>. Catharine Randall. Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 2014. Pp. ix+178.

Changes in Roman Catholic Beliefs and Practices in Ireland between 1981 and 2008 and the Emergence of the Liberal Catholic

This study aimed to investigate the changes that have occurred in the religious beliefs and practices of Roman Catholics in Ireland between 1981 and 2008 and to examine the extent to which Catholics have become liberal in their attitudes towards social issues over this period. Data were derived from 23 religious indicators and six social items sourced from the European Values Study (EVS). Only Roman Catholic respondents (n=3810) were included in the analysis. Data were analysed using ANOVA, t-tests, and chi-square tests. The majority of religious indicators were found to be in significant decline between 1981 and 2008. Also, Catholic attitudes towards homosexuality, euthanasia, abortion, prostitution, divorce, and the use of ‘soft drugs’ were found to have become significantly more liberal over this period. These findings support not only the notions of privatisation of religion and morality but also the emergence of a liberal ethos among a considerable proportion of Catholics in Ireland. Results are discussed in relation to theories of secularisation, believing without belonging, and the emergence of Liberal Catholics. Suggestions for future research, such as investigating the effect of conflict between one’s Catholic identity and liberal views, are made.

Numinous or Dead? Real Presence, Iconoclasm, and Pygmalion’s Image in Shakespeare

Real Presence was a question at the heart of the iconoclastic debates and violence that erupted in the English Reformation and the periods following it. Those iconoclasts participating in the debates sought to prove the Roman Catholic belief in Real Presence false, and thereby to desacramentalize the relationship between matter and spirit, body and soul, presence and absence, or representation and original. I argue the terms of those debates are incorporated and explored in the poetry of love, secular and sacred, produced in the post-Reformation period. Shakespeare’s “absence” sonnets, for example, reveal a deep-seated anxiety about idolatry, particularly through the figure of the sonneteer-lover who, driven by his scopic desire, creates an absent-present ‘body’ out of the absence of the beloved, and thereby serves to expose how easily latria can slip into dulia into idololatria. Shakespeare further explores, in The Winter’s Tale, the dangers inherent in the sonneteer-lover’s scopic desire, transforming the Ovidian myth of Pygmalion into a story of Pygmalion’s image into a story of Leontes’s petrifying and idol-making desire for absolute possession and absolute presence.

Bruce Thomas Boehrer Animal Characters: Nonhuman Beings in Early Modern LiteratureAnimal Characters: Nonhuman Beings in Early Modern Literature. Bruce Thomas Boehrer. Philadelphia: Pennsylvania University Press, 2010. Pp. 238.

<i>Bruce Thomas Boehrer</i> Animal Characters: Nonhuman Beings in Early Modern Literature<i>Animal Characters: Nonhuman Beings in Early Modern Literature</i>. Bruce Thomas Boehrer. Philadelphia: Pennsylvania University Press, 2010. Pp. 238.

Religious Features of Curanderismo Training and Practice

The purpose of this study is to investigate religious features of curanderismo, specifically the role of ostensibly Roman Catholic beliefs and practices in the training and work of curandero/as. The integration of religious beliefs and practices within the rituals of curanderismo and how this potential clash of worldviews negatively and positively impacts clients and practitioners are examined. Interviews were conducted with practicing curandero/as and clients who had sought their services. Factors observed to have potential to facilitate healing include psychological reassurance gained through incorporating familiar religious beliefs and paraphernalia and the therapeutic healing property of features of curanderismo practice, such as herbs used in many remedies. Negative effects may result from feelings of distrust, fear, and embarrassment engendered by seeking care from a curandero/a. Future research targeting the complexities of the relationship between Roman Catholicism and curanderismo might focus specifically on how negotiating this conflict of worldviews may affect health.

Das Heiligkreuz-Sujet und die Organisation des weltlichen Zusammenlebens im Medium städtischer und jesuitischer Spiele

The symbol of the Holy Cross is pivotal to Christendom, and it is central to several medieval and early modern plays covering Constantine’s victory and the finding of the cross by Helena. In the period of Counter-Reformation, these subjects provide examples of Roman Catholic beliefs, referring to relics and miracles, and thus hold propagandistic potential. Their staging allows not only for an authoritative expression of denominational convictions, but also includes a model of government that may, by conveying an ideal of social order, even fulfil a disciplining and critical function. Two plays will serve to illustrate these intentions: Cysat’s Holy Cross Play and the Jesuit drama Constantinus Magnus.

Roman Catholic beliefs produce characteristic neural responses to moral dilemmas

This study provides exploratory evidence about how behavioral and neural responses to standard moral dilemmas are influenced by religious belief. Eleven Catholics and 13 Atheists (all female) judged 48 moral dilemmas. Differential neural activity between the two groups was found in precuneus and in prefrontal, frontal and temporal regions. Furthermore, a double dissociation showed that Catholics recruited different areas for deontological (precuneus; temporoparietal junction) and utilitarian moral judgments [dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC); temporal poles], whereas Atheists did not (superior parietal gyrus for both types of judgment). Finally, we tested how both groups responded to personal and impersonal moral dilemmas: Catholics showed enhanced activity in DLPFC and posterior cingulate cortex during utilitarian moral judgments to impersonal moral dilemmas and enhanced responses in anterior cingulate cortex and superior temporal sulcus during deontological moral judgments to personal moral dilemmas. Our results indicate that moral judgment can be influenced by an acquired set of norms and conventions transmitted through religious indoctrination and practice. Catholic individuals may hold enhanced awareness of the incommensurability between two unequivocal doctrines of the Catholic belief set, triggered explicitly in a moral dilemma: help and care in all circumstances-but thou shalt not kill.

Roy’s Specific Life Values and the Philosophical Assumption of Veritivity

Roman Catholic beliefs that form the basis for Roy's life values are discussed to help others understand veritivity and the Roy adaptation model more clearly. Veritivity, the main philosophical assumption of the Roy adaptation model, shapes it, and Roy's assumption of humanism in a unique way. Veritivity has a theocentric focus, with anthropological values. Roy views human beings as individuals in community with a loving Creator and with others. Truth, freedom, and moral ends are discussed in terms of veritivity and in terms of contemporary values.

Reproductive health in Malta

Objectives The Maltese population traditionally harbours Roman Catholic beliefs that have been gradually secularised. The present study sets out to quantify the consequences of more liberal sexual attitudes in this community.Methods We reviewed the reproductive and sexual health indicators reported from Malta and from other selected European countries. We then analysed the findings of a questionnaire study which was carried out among 200 Maltese and 2200 other European individuals to investigate various aspects of their sexual history.Results A greater proportion of Maltese births occur in teenagers but the out-of-wedlock maternity rate in Malta appears to be the third lowest in Europe. However, the rate appears to have nearly trebled over seven years. Sexually transmitted infections rates in Maltese are either similar to or lower than those reported from the other European countries. The Maltese reported a higher mean age at first intercourse and a lower mean number of sexual partners mainly in women aged over 35 years. They received an earlier sexual education but they still predominantly resorted to unreliable contraception methods at their first sexual encounter.Conclusions The study confirms that sexual behaviour has changed. The educational support to deal with these altered practices is in place but still needs to be reinforced.

The Odyssey of Adam and Paul : A Twenty-First-Century Irish Film

The Odyssey of Adam and Paul:A Twenty-First-Century Irish Film Michael Patrick Gillespie James Joyce's Ulysses encapsulates the tempo of life in early twentieth-century Dublin through the straightforward device of tracing the peregrinations of Stephen Dedalus and Leopold Bloom around the city on June 16, 1904. In chronicling the experiences of Bloom and Stephen interacting with Dubliners as they move—first separately and then together—across the metropolitan area, the narrative of Ulysses offers insights into the dysfunctional elements of Irish home life, the fractious consequences of Ireland's political upheavals, the chaotic layout of Dublin's typography, the alternately exhilarating and suffocating elements of Roman Catholic beliefs and rituals, and a host of other topics of local and, ultimately, of universal interest. With its freewheeling referentiality to Dublin's individuals, places, and events, Joyce's work stands as an unmistakably Irish novel. It uses heavily allusive snapshot encounters to convey a strong sense of how middle- and lower middle-class individuals lived in Dublin at the beginning of the last century. Its very specificity has a wide-ranging appeal that has engaged readers around the world. In depicting these idiosyncratic lives, Joyce articulates a unique environment that is nonetheless imaginatively accessible to a wide audience. Joyce himself acknowledged this phenomenon in a comment to his friend Arthur Power: "I always write about Dublin because if I can get to the heart of Dublin I can get to the heart of all the cities of the world."1 Readers agreed, immediately proclaiming Joyce's work a monumental achievement. At a time in literary history when the rise of Modernism and the trauma of the First World War challenged the efficacy of the novel, Ulysses presented a unique way of seeing the world. With its resolute detail, Joyce's novel revitalized conventional perceptions and came to dominate the consciousness of the twentieth-century literary scene. Its eclectic thematic concerns, from the erotic to the emetic, established new parameters for narrative discourse. Its wide-ranging stylistic approaches—which reflected a consciousness of literary [End Page 41] forebears, yet asserted an attitude uninhibited by the restrictions of cause-and-effect logic or the tradition of linear construction—presented a form of fiction unlike anything since Laurence Sterne's Tristram Shandy. The cultural effect of Ulysses, a distinctly Irish novel with near universal appeal, proved to be immediate, profound, and lasting. In our time, the achievement of articulating a uniquely Irish experience with widespread imaginative resonance has become more and more difficult for artists to replicate. The nature of being Irish, particularly among the middle class, has lost much of the distinctiveness it enjoyed as recently as a generation ago. Simple dichotomies that for generations had been commonly and comfortably applied to articulate the features of Irishness—religious versus secular, provincial versus metropolitan, republican versus Unionist, and numerous other polarities—no longer provide a stable foundation for understanding the parameters within which the national identity exists. The concept of an overarching, defining public character has become anachronistic. David McWilliams, in discussing the contemporary Irish adults whom he calls "the Pope's Children," probes the ways in which economic and social growth over the past few decades—particularly in an expanding middle class—have radically transformed traditional reference points. At present, the qualities that the Irish middle class privileges seem hardly distinguishable from the identifying features of middle-class communities across Europe and North America. McWilliams hammers home this point in a series of contrasting images of the old and new aspirations of the middle class in Ireland: The Old Irish Dream—which was mother's milk to their parents and previous generations—was of Catholicism, nationalism, community, chastity, the Brits, the six counties, the Irish language, the famine, the underdog, getting a good job in the bank and the glamour of Grace Kelly. Things were offered up, sacrificed in this life for fulfillment in the next. This has been replaced by a New Irish Dream. The New Irish Dream can be best summed up by 'I wanna trade up'. I want the biggest fridge, the best holiday, the newest car, the loudest sound system, the healthiest food, the best yoga...

Roman Catholic Beliefs in England: Customary Catholicism and Transformations of Religious Authority. Michael P. Hornsby-Smith

Previous articleNext article No AccessBook ReviewsRoman Catholic Beliefs in England: Customary Catholicism and Transformations of Religious Authority. Michael P. Hornsby-Smith Steve GowlerSteve Gowler Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUS Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by The Journal of Religion Volume 73, Number 1Jan., 1993 Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/489064 Views: 1Total views on this site Copyright 1993 The University of ChicagoPDF download Crossref reports no articles citing this article.

Roman Catholic Beliefs in England: Customary Catholicism and Transformations of Religious Authority.

This 1991 book makes available an empirical study of the transformations in religious beliefs that have occurred amongst English Catholics. It complements Dr Hornsby-Smith's well received Roman Catholics in England (1987) which provides the social and historical context for this present study. In Roman Catholic beliefs in England, Michael Hornsby-Smith explores Catholic beliefs over a range of concerns from doctrinal matters to questions of personal and social morality and assesses how religious beliefs are differentiated between different types of Catholics. He also examines the legitimacy accorded by English Catholics to both papal authority and religious authority in general.

Roman Catholic Beliefs in England: Customary Catholicism and Transformations of Religious Authority

Roman Catholic Beliefs in England: Customary Catholicism and Transformations of Religious Authority

Roman Catholic beliefs in England: customary Catholicism and transformations of religious authority

Roman Catholic beliefs in England: customary Catholicism and transformations of religious authority

The Adventures of an Angel-Guardian in Seventeenth-Century England

‘I acknowledge this Doctrine is not commonly received by Protestants, who (I humbly conceive) might reject it chiefly in opposition to the See of Rome, wherein such a multitude of monsters do swim…’ This is how the Congregationalist divine, Robert Dingley (1619-1660) summarized the characteristic Protestant attitude to the Roman Catholic belief in guardian angels in the preface toThe Deputation of Angels, or The Angel-Guardian(1654, Wing D 1496).

Childbirth belief and practice in a Garifuna (Black-Carib) village on the North Coast of Honduras.

This study describes the beliefs and practices related to pregnancy delivery postpartum and immediate infant care among a population of Garifuna in Rio Tinto 1 of 43 Carib settlements located on the north coast of Honduras. This represents the 1st description of childbirth practices in Rio Tinto as well as the 1st such account of any Carib group. The research was based on fieldwork conducted in Rio Tinto from January to July 1978. Unscheduled interviews were used in Rio Tinto. Interviews with the local midwives and other women in the village were conducted in Spanish. A survey was conducted of 83 women who had been pregnant to elicit information on pregnancies and live births and infant and maternal mortality. Participant observation was a key data gathering method. The black Caribs are descendants of African slaves who escaped from 2 Spanish ships in the 17th century and found refuge on the island of St. Vincent in the Caribbean. The population of Rio Tinto is estimated at 515 persons. The village has a schoolhouse and a church. Although the Garifuna are nominally Roman Catholic belief in spirits remains strong. With a single exception every Garifuna baby in Rio Tinto was delivered by a partera (midwife). 2 of the 3 attendants were Garifuna; the 3rd was an elderly Ladina woman. A midwife visited a pregnant woman several times during the 3 or 4 weeks prior to the expected delivery date. The midwives were well regarded by their neighbors and their services were considered indispensable. The midwives were capable practitioners who inspired confidence in their patients. Some of their practices were questionable but their skills appeared adequate for most birthing events in that setting. They expressed confidence in their abilities but they were also aware that certain complicated delivery episodes could be managed best by medical doctors. Failure to use aseptic techniques and materials in delivery and the care of the newborn may prove to be potentially harmful e.g. dirty hands blowing water from their mouth into the mouth and nose of the newborn. Garifuna practices differ from the North American in several important respects. Unlike obstetrical expectations in the U.S. the Carib mother is encouraged to walk during the entire course of labor. She generally delivers in a squatting position at home with friends and family nearby during labor and parturition. Forceps are not used to assist delivery nor chemicals to ease labor. Episiotomies are not performed in Rio Tinto. Symptoms which might be related to postpartum psychosis in the U.S. were attributed in Rio Tinto only in 1 instance. Informants could recall only a single case of maternal mortality. Improved maternal and child care could result from modification of certain aspects of Carib practice e.g. the application of aseptic principles.

Book Review: What's the Difference in Protestant and Roman Catholic Beliefs

Book Review: What's the Difference in Protestant and Roman Catholic Beliefs