Search For God Research Articles

Василий Розанов: богоискательство как трагедия

Religion is the dominant aspect of Rozanov’s creativity. The main topics of Rozanov’s spiritual search include: God, the world and man are focused around this dominant. The peculiarity of this topics is the explication of intuition of a single whole. This intuition was realized by means of symbols that belong to the world of traditional religions. Rozanov’s creativity actualizes the opportunity of vision of religion as a phenomenon despite the prevalence of images of material things in his texts. This vision is based on a metaphysical foundation of suggestions, examined in the work “On Understanding”, where he understands religion as a temporal undetermined phenomenon. Contact with the world of religion allows us to explicate the human spirit as unity. Rozanov’s vision moves from a description of religion as unity to the description of single images of paganism, Judaism and the Christianity. Rozanov emphasizes this particular content, but his search is inspired by the doctrine of religion as having a certain potency. The realization of this certain potency is the historical development of religions, that conditions the occurrence of new religion in a cultural vacuum, and appears after the distraction of Christianity. The presentiment of metaphysical emptiness is the culmination of Rozanov’s search for God and at the same time the tragedy. Rozanov conceptualizes this intention as the absolutisation of particular things. The transparency of the religious search and the concentration on religion itself makes Rozanov’s position in some aspects close to the narrative of the classic phenomenology of religion. We study the creativity of Rozanov by means of historical-philosophical reconstruction, using elements of hermeneutic analysis.

Evolutionary Accounts of Religion within a Christian Account of Big History

Big History is a mode of thought that seeks to integrate findings of the natural sciences, social sciences, and history into a coherent overarching story of the universe and of humanity. The humanity-related elements in Big History will necessarily include the emergence of "religion," including Evolutionary Accounts of Religion (EAR). Here we review two programmatic contributions to EAR, by Dunbar and Torrey, and then propose a theistic account of Big History through which to respond to their proposals. We accept their general argument that humanity's religious capacities have emerged through the evolutionary history of the Homo genus, yet we offer a theistic alternative to their accounts of the evolutionary function of religion. We then argue for how one aspect of humanity's evolved religious capacities, namely the proclivity of the Homo sapiens brain to produce transcendent ambiguity (many gods, etc.), reflects not a flaw in God's design but an evolutionary outcome intended by God--to facilitate humanity's search for God.

Evolutionary Accounts of Religion within a Christian Account of Big History

Big History is a mode of thought that seeks to integrate findings of the natural sciences, social sciences, and history into a coherent overarching story of the universe and of humanity. The humanity-related elements in Big History will necessarily include the emergence of "religion," including Evolutionary Accounts of Religion (EAR). Here we review two programmatic contributions to EAR, by Dunbar and Torrey, and then propose a theistic account of Big History through which to respond to their proposals. We accept their general argument that humanity's religious capacities have emerged through the evolutionary history of the Homo genus, yet we offer a theistic alternative to their accounts of the evolutionary function of religion. We then argue for how one aspect of humanity's evolved religious capacities, namely the proclivity of the Homo sapiens brain to produce transcendent ambiguity (many gods, etc.), reflects not a flaw in God's design but an evolutionary outcome intended by God--to facilitate humanity's search for God.

Searching for God in the Lord's School of Service of Saint Benedict

Monaški život nema svoje posebne svrhe. Ne određuje ga rad na nekom posebnom polju djelovanja, nego molitva i dosljednije traženje Boga. Za sv. Benedikta, pisca poznatoga Pravila za monahe, povlašteno mjesto traženja Boga je bratska zajednica. Od onih koji žele tražiti Boga u monaškoj zajednici Benedikt u svom Pravilu zahtijeva trostruku revnost: revnost za Djelo Božje, kako on zove Časoslov, za poslušnost i za služenje. Iako sveti bogotražitelj Benedikt ističe da je Djelo Božje prvi pokazatelj istinskoga traženja Boga, on liturgijskom molitvom želi sve prožeti i povezati; ne samo ostale molitve, nego i poslušnost i služenje. Članak je napisan prvenstveno na temelju Benediktova Pravila, u koje je nadahnuti Svetac utkao vlastito iskustvo pustinjačkoga i zajedničkoga života, a zatim i radova istaknutijih poznavatelja benediktinskoga monaštva. U prvom dijelu članka predstavljena je monaška zajednica kao “škola službe Gospodnje” u kojoj Benediktovi početnici postaju Kristovi učenici, a u drugom dijelu izlaže se što znači stvarno traženje Boga i koje revnosti istinski bogotražitelji moraju usvojiti. Na sažet način tumači se traženje Boga u molitvi i poslušno vršenje njegove volje u raznim službama zajedničkoga života.

Shifting Profile of Africa in Twenty-First Century Black Canadian Writing

The affective link with Africa was visible in those Black Canadian works composed in the late 1980s and early 1990s. In contrast, the profile of Africa has shifted for younger generations of Black diasporan writers in Canada. The purpose of this article is to open up a conversation into how Black Canadian affects, both concerning national identity and homeland connection, seem to have shifted roughly after 2000. In order to do so I analyse The Adventures of the Black Girl in Her Search for God (2017), a reinterpretation by Black Canadian playwright Lisa Codrington of George Bernard Shaw's 1932 short story of the same title. Her play was a milestone in the history of Black Canadian writing, because for the first time a Black Canadian playwright (and a woman, too) was invited to participate in one of Canada's most prestigious and longest-established theatre festivals, the Shaw Festival.

The Search for God in the works of A. Hitchcock and I. Bergman

The subject of this article is the work of A. Hitchcock and I. Bergman, which are well studied both in Russia and abroad. The relevance of this study is due to the fact that so far no attempt has been made among researchers to investigate the influence of A. Hitchcock's work on I. Bergman. The purpose of this study is a comparative analysis of the work of A. Hitchcock and I. Bergman, identifying similarities and differences, including in matters of religious faith; studying such a little-known aspect as the influence of A. Hitchcock on the work of I. Bergman. The author also pays attention to the consideration of the religious views of A. Hitchcock, to which the researchers paid little attention. This study uses an integrated approach, including a comparative method for analyzing the connections between directors, a phenomenological method, as well as a method of psychoanalysis in their combination and complementarity. The novelty of this research consists in identifying the links between directors, in applying an integrated approach to the analysis of their works. The conclusion is made about the religious views of A. Hitchcock and I. Bergman, their similarities and differences. Bergman's religious views underwent a long transformation throughout his life. Hitchcock's religious views were more conservative and stable, which affects the rhythm of his paintings.

An Independent Scholar during the Pandemic

An Independent Scholar during the Pandemic

Bernard Shaw as Political Writer

Bernard Shaw as Political Writer

Prophet Ibrahim (as), the Search for God and a Transformative Pedagogy Perspective

Transformative pedagogy is the latest trend in educational studies. This is inseparable from several concepts, one of which is the study of human nature. So far, pedagogic understanding emphasizes the ability to manage student learning rather than understanding human nature. On the other hand, studies on Prophet Ibrahim’s (as) search for God in the Quran is an important subject to investigate from the perspective of transformative pedagogy since it is related to human nature. This study is included in the literature research. The method used was tafsir maudlu’iy namely by gathering verses of the Quran that have the same theme and analyzing them with the rules of interpretation. The results of this study show that Prophet Ibrahim (as) is not passive, but has energy or magmatic. This energy shows Prophet Ibrahim (as) as autonomous “I” that is in the process of becoming. This process is a search for God. This process subsequently develops from ‘ilm al-yaqin to ‘ayn al-yaqin. This study has a contribution in developing the theory proposed by H.A.R Tilaar into Transcendental Transformative Pedagogy.
 Keywords: Transformative Pedagogy, Educational Studies, Millenial Generation

Divine Thoughts and the Corruption of the Will in Doctor Faustus

In act 2 scene 1 of Christopher Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus, the title character professes that ‘hell is a fable’. But how could Faustus not believe in hell, standing in the presence of a devil that he himself only recently conjured? What is the philosophical difference in the play between ‘experience’, as Mephistopheles describes it, and Faustus’s lack of understanding on the state of his soul? This article discusses the controversy between Ockhamist and Thomist epistemology, and places Faustus within early modern debates concerning the status of knowledge and its effect on the soul’s search for God.

RECIPE OF CREATIVITY BY LEV TOLSTOY IN THE RUSSIAN PHILOSOPHY OF THE LATE XIX - BEGINNING OF THE XX CENTURY

This article presents an analysis the philosophical and religious views of the outstanding Russian writer Lev Tolstoy and examines the influence of his work on the philosophy of the Silver Age. The ambiguity and inconsistency of many ideas of Tolstoy’s legacy is emphasized. The features of Tolstoy’s understanding of the meaning of life and the purpose of man, faith and reason, the nature of good and evil, love, non-violence and violence are considered.The interpretation and attitude to the fundamental Tolstoy’s ideas on the part of D. Merezhkovsky, V. Solovyov, N. Berdyaev, L. Shestov, S. Frank, I. Ilyin, highlighted the general and distinctive in the assessment of the philosophical concept of Tolstoy.In general, positively assessing the writer’s artistic heritage and the high moral bar of his moral teaching, Russian thinkers criticized his religious and philosophical pursuits for inconsistency, excessive rationalization and contradiction, in particular, they assessed Tolstoy’s metaphysics of evil and his idea of non-resistance. Also, the representatives of the philosophy of the Silver Age were not satisfied with Tolstoy’s interpretation of Christian doctrine, which they considered erroneous.Tolstoy’s creativity became the foundation and starting point for further research into the philosophy of the Silver Age, because the range of problems that was considered by Tolstoy was the reason for such currents and trends such as «search for God», «new idealism», «new religious consciousness», etc.

Contour in Time: The Plays of Eugene O'Neill

Contour in Time: The Plays of Eugene O'Neill

The Mahatma and the eunuch: brahmacharya education in Gandhian nationalism

ABSTRACT Eunuchism was conceptualized as a sacred political duty in Gandhian liberal nationalism. From 1906 to 1948, Gandhi embraced the identity of a ‘pure’ and ‘asexual’ eunuch through his brahmacharya experiments to locate the nation on an alternative plane and sought to educate Indians to practice an asexual life for larger cultural liberation based on moral supremacy. This article explores how Gandhi creatively utilized his practice of brahmacharya – often defined as the search for God entailing celibacy – to reinvent the persona of the eunuch. It discusses how he decriminalized and demarginalized eunuchs by collaborating with them conceptually to salvage the colonized (male) self. The article also shows the paradox of Gandhian eunuchism: the exclusion of real eunuchs who were evaluated according to colonial ideas of deviance and immorality.

МЕТАФІЗИЧНІ ТА РЕЛІГІЙНІ МОТИВИ ТВОРЧОСТІ ПАВЛА ПЕТРА

The spiritual direction of Czech poetry reaches the period of the XIX-XX centuries, where we see the works of such authors as J. Deml, J. Zagradníček, J. Durych. Despite the difficult years of the Second World War, and later oppression by the official communist authorities, this tradition has not been lost, but rather strengthened and is represented today by a number of authors, including M. Schtor, R. Fajkus, partly M. Děžinský and others. In these authors’ poetry one can see noticeable search for a lyrical hero of the Higher Power, the search for his own place in this world, trying to unravel its mysteries. One of the famous representatives of this literary trend is Pavel Petr. Poet was born in Zlín, worked as a locksmith for some time, later was the editor of some Czech literary journals, and afterwards began to write his own works. As of today, there are eleven of his poetic books. His poetry is characterized by religious symbolism, complex metaphor, irrational imagery, the lyrical hero's search for God. Images of Peter are very rarely lined up in a clear logical whole picture. The reader may try to do it him or herself, but it is likely that such an attempt will encounter an obstacle where logic falls into a dead end and the author, as if watching it, just smiles. The lyrical hero, being in such a world, also does not know in what temporal and spatial dimension he is, where exactly to go. The only hope for a Supreme Power that can show the way through revelation. That is why in the poetry of P. Petr there is often an appeal to such a force. The author seems to be hinting to the reader so that it is impossible to understand the spiritual world by logic, and the only thing left for us to do is to apply the power of faith.

DISKURSUS KETUHANAN DALAM PUSTAKA BRAHMAVIDYA-UPANISAD HASIL TRANSLITERASI OLEH BEBERAPA SARJANA BARAT DAN TIMUR

<p>Divinity discourse in the Vedas is very broad, so that it gave birth to many documents from the results of reflection and in-depth study of the search for God. This Brahmavidya-Upanisad is the centerpiece of the 39th Upanisad of 112 Upanisads translated by board scholars. This Brahmavidya-Upanisad is the result of contemplative research by ancient sages who used the paravidya-apaparavidya approach. This approach is a holistic approach, namely the paravidya approach is related to the investigation of the microcosm, and the aparavidya approach is related to the investigation of the macrocosm. The paravidya approach is a spiritual approach (subjective) and the aparavidya approach is a material approach (positive objective). The integration of this positivistic subjective-objective approach is a harmonious-integrative approach called a holistic approach, a blend of spirituality and science. The results of integrative contemplative research on the combination of spiritual-science found that the macrocosm and micro-cosm are the same but differ in intensity.<br />The results of the research of these sages have given space for mankind to seek God within themselves or to seek God in all of His creations that are in front of humans. There is nothing worse or better than man's search for God. If he is a layman then he can seek and place God outside of himself; but for spiritualists can worship God inside or outside themselves or both. This is a form of theology of freedom and theology of liberation that can liberate humans from alienation from God.</p>

Discerning Love, Recuperating Hope: The "Search for God" in Carson McCullers's The Heart is a Lonely Hunter

Discerning Love, Recuperating Hope: The "Search for God" in Carson McCullers's The Heart is a Lonely Hunter

Menelisik Eksistensi Tuhan, Islam, dan Al-Qur’an Perpsektif Karen Armstrong

The discourse of this study is in the form of Karen Armstrong's thoughts about the existence of God, the Prophet Muhammad and the Qur'an, which began with her search for God by becoming a nun. In examining Armstrong's thinking, the writer uses a type of research library approach with descriptive-analysis method which is assisted by Hans George Gadamer's hermeneutic theory. The results of this study are in the form of an understanding that in Karen Armastrong's view of God, the Prophet Muhammad, and the Qur’an, in the process of searching for god, a sense of curiosity about Islam grows and gives rise to Armstrong's admiration for the Prophet Muhammad, whose ideas are seen in a early prophetic history while receiving revelations in the cave of Hira. God here is Allah in Islam, and the existence o the Prophet Muhammad as a representation of Islam, and the Qur’an as the holy book of Muslim that gives the mission of God.Armastrong's perspective expressed in his writings has implications for the religion of Islam, in the form of a contribution to the treasures of early understanding of God, Islam, and the Qur’an, to the development of the perspective of contemporary Muslim scholars.

Advancing African Psychology: An Exploration of African American College Students’ Definitions and Use of Spirit in Times of Stress

Although religion and spirituality are understood as multidimensional resources in times of stress, less is known about the culturally relevant concept of spirit in African psychology. Eighteen African American college students completed written open-ended questionnaires about how—in relation to religion and spirituality—they define and use spirit in response to stress. Qualitative constant comparison analysis of the data yielded themes defining spirit and its use in response to stress. The definition of spirit was described distinctly as energy, while it overlapped with religion and spirituality as a connection with or a search for God. Spirit also overlapped with religion as faith and spirituality as a feeling/sense/guiding consciousness or inner thought within oneself, and soul. Themes for the use of spirit in response to stress were descriptive of optimal functioning and included (a) thoughts of asking God for help, (b) prayer, (c) positive emotions, (d) self-affirming thoughts, and (e) productive activity. The findings are discussed regarding spirit as a distinct yet overlapping concept with religion and spirituality that has implications for research and practice within African psychology.

CHRISTIAN SELF-FORMATION: An Augustinian Contribution

Augustine’s dense and probing thought about the imprint of the Trinitarian God upon human persons in De Trinitate (AD 399-422/426) provides an alternative spirituality of the self to that of a more individualistic Western liberal search for self-fulfilment through self-discovery. By referring to the Trinitarian images in De Trinitate and recurring to Augustine’s self-searching mode in the Confessiones (AD 397-401), his quest may be said to inspire a mode of Christian self-formation that, sub specie humanitatis, rejects the “discovery” of one’s “true self” – the sense that one really does possess a stable authentic core self, and that one can find it by following some process of interior self-scrutiny. Rather, for Augustine, it appears that to be human is to pursue the quest of self-knowing in a relational formation that opens into the life of the being who called one into existence. Consequently, the search for God (Confessiones) and for the Trinitarian imprints of God (De Trinitate) appear to raise the more serious questions that inform and shape Christian self-formation: Can one “know oneself”? What does it mean to be founded by a Trinitarian God? How does one know which goods to choose in order to construct a holy life? How would one construe a “Trinitarian life” for oneself?

Uniwersalno-teologalny wymiar muzyki i śpiewu w ujęciu Benedykta XVI

Niniejszy artykuł został napisany głównie w oparciu o liczne przemówienia Benedykta XVI z okazji ofiarowanych mu koncertów wielkiej muzyki światowej. Wyłania się z nich obraz papieża jako wielkiego miłośnika i znawcy tej dziedziny. W jego komentarzach i wypowiedziach muzykologicznych wybijają się dwie podstawowe cechy muzyki i śpiewu: charakter uniwersalny oraz charakter teologalny. Uniwersalny, ponieważ odsyła słuchacza ku sprawom nieprzemijającym, ponadnarodowym, ponadkulturowym. Te aspekty starano się wydobyć z papieskich przemówień w pierwszej części artykułu. Jednak to zorientowanie muzyki i śpiewu ku temu, co uniwersalne, nie jest u Benedykta XVI ukierunkowaniem ku jakiemuś czystemu abstrakcjonizmowi, jakiejś pustce egzystencjalnej, lecz jest ukierunkowaniem teologalnym, tzn. ku Stwórcy piękna kosmosu, ale i piękna artystycznego, w tym muzycznego, Dawcy talentów tworzących piękno, a równocześnie ku Bogu­‑Człowiekowi, który objawił się jako Miłość osobowa. Muzyka i śpiew umożliwiają poszukiwanie Boga i zarazem kontemplację tajemnic Jego istnienia i działania zbawczego. W przekonaniu papieża nie da się oddzielić wymiaru uniwersalnego od teologalnego; w jego nauczaniu nawzajem się przenikają.