Spiritual Authority Research Articles

Weaving potentialities and AI:

Ngaa tuku o Maahina is a roopuu [group] whose kaupapa [purpose] relates to the multiple interconnected strands of knowledge of ngaa maramataka [site specific lunar calendars]. We are Hagen Tautari, Horomona Horo, Te Taima Barrett, Hollie Tawhiao, Toni Herangi, Ra Keelan and Joe Citizen. At our inaugural hui [gathering], Toni brought along a taonga [prized treasure] which had been in her family for generations – dated 1898, this photolithographed collection in te reo Māori [the Māori language] and English, has copies of He Whakaputanga (Declaration of independence), Te Tiriti o Waitangi (Treaty of Waitangi) and other associated papers. To some, this is might appear to simply be copies of older original documents. In te ao Māori [the Māori world], however, this collection has its own mauri [life-essence], mana [spiritual authority and prestige] and haa [breath] and retains links to the tuupuna [ancestors] through their tohu [signs]. Our koorero [discussion] became centred on its preservation – simply photographing it and uploading copies of it online would make it vulnerable to AI that employ web-scraping and web-crawling practices, to thieve knowledge and assimilate it into a supposedly universalist framework. This koorero brought to our attention the wider take [subject] of how we should navigate the colonial tendencies of AI – the structural violence that arises from those culturally specific practices that assume a priori truths as universally foundational. By appraising the Eurocentric and human-centric assumptions behind data recognition through the automation of iterative logic loops, we acknowledge the entanglements of historically systemic problems: how cognitivism and positivism underpin supremacist claims of liberatory technological progress; how material realism and representational indexicality have traditionally dismissed and abused indigenous knowledge frameworks; how military-industrial control culture has normalised surveillance and transnational capitalism; and how reductionist methodologies reify libertarian claims of individual freedoms as commodified transactions between atomistic entities.

Spiritual Leadership in the Upheaval of Settler Colonialism

In the current global landscape, characterized by religious fervour, social and political unrest, economic instability, and environmental challenges, spiritual leaders stand as pivotal agents of change. Their role is especially crucial in contexts marred by ingrained injustices and persistent conflicts, such as the Palestinian–Israeli settler colonial context—a reality I have been intimately involved with over three decades of reconciliation work. This paper contextualizes scholarship on spiritual leadership within the Palestinian–Israeli context by integrating it with settler colonial theory. By applying insights about spiritual leadership to this context, three key traits of spiritual leaders—(1) spiritual authority, (2) discernment, and (3) the ethical use of power—are identified as essential for envisioning an alternative future. By embodying these traits, spiritual leaders can effectively guide their communities through the multifaceted realities, advocating a transformative approach to leadership and interreligious work.

Communication Styles and Leadership Conflicts in the Legio Maria Church, Ugenya, Kenya

This study explored the impact of communication styles on leadership conflicts within the Legio Maria Church in Ugenya. Effective communication is crucial for organizational dynamics, particularly in religious institutions where spiritual authority intersects with hierarchical structures. The Legio Maria Church faces persistent leadership conflicts, often exacerbated by differences in how leaders convey, interpret, and act upon information. These conflicts are influenced by the church's complex web of formal and informal communication channels, which shape power dynamics and organizational cohesion. This research identifies the diverse communication styles employed by church leaders, ranging from direct and open to indirect and informal methods. It examined how these styles impact decision-making processes, conflict-resolution strategies, and overall leadership dynamics. By understanding personal and organizational communication preferences, the study provides insights into the root causes of leadership conflicts. Practical recommendations are proposed, including communication training programs, clear communication protocols, and fostering a culture of openness and respect for diverse communication styles. These measures aimed to enhance leadership cohesion and improve the church's ability to serve its members effectively. This research contributes to the broader discourse on effective communication in religious organizations, offering valuable insights for fostering sustainable leadership practices and organizational harmony within the Legio Maria Church.

Mission in polarized public social media interaction: Speaking out against injustice, standing up for truth, or loving your neighbor?

This study examines polarized US-based public social media interaction in which at least some participants support positions on public policy, politics, or social ethics using scripture, theological reasoning, spiritual authority, or ethical reasoning within a broadly Christian framework. Specifically, it considers social media interaction among commenters on public posts, in which some of the participants manifest a mission of speaking out against injustice, standing up for truth, and/or loving their online neighbors. It finds that speaking out against injustice often includes an argument about the nature of truth, but that standing up for truth can be done on its own. It also finds no incidences of loving one’s neighbor in ways that the neighbor would recognize as love, in interactions studied to date. It concludes that humility and charity are called for, because of disagreements about both justice and truth. Note that this article and the uploaded research data include social media interactions that are homophobic and transphobic, as well as interactions that may hurt or offend conservative believers.

The Fathers of the Church, the Reformation, and the Failed Attempts at Union between the Tübingen Theologians and the Patriarchate of Constantinople: A Broad Perspective

The sixteenth century witnessed dramatic upheavals in Eastern and Western Europe in both the ecclesiastical and political domains. In the previous century, Constantinople had fallen to the Ottoman Turks, meaning that its Eastern Orthodox inhabitants were severed both politically and religiously from their Western Christian neighbors, who were ruled over by sovereigns that derived their spiritual authority from the Papacy. Meanwhile, the Reformation endangered the unity of the political and religious spheres of the Catholic West. As it soon became clear that the mainstream Reformers were neither united nor consistent in their ecclesiological views, one thing remained a constant: a recourse to the Fathers of the Church for the confirmation of Reformed tenets such as sola scriptura and sola fide. The use of Patristic proof texts played an important role in the attempt of the Lutherans to unite with the Orthodox, the former reading the writings of the Fathers in a very different way to the latter. This article analyzes why this attempt at union failed, with specific focus on the correspondence between the Tübingen theologians and the Patriarch of Constantinople, Jeremiah II Tranos, in their respective reading of the Augsburg Confession which represents the main Lutheran articles of faith.

The expulsion of scholars by Ottoman rule in Algeria

The relationship between the Ottoman authority and the scholars in Algeria was characterised by a duality of hostility and affinity. Ever since the Ottomans came to Algeria, they sought the reassurance of its scholars and sought proximity to them after realising their status and spiritual authority. However, they faced hostility and rejection from some scholars, which led the rulers to use various forms of violence, including exile and expulsion, against scholars who opposed their authority and presence.

The expulsion of scholars by Ottoman rule in Algeria

The relationship between the Ottoman authority and the scholars in Algeria was characterised by a duality of hostility and affinity. Ever since the Ottomans came to Algeria, they sought the reassurance of its scholars and sought proximity to them after realising their status and spiritual authority. However, they faced hostility and rejection from some scholars, which led the rulers to use various forms of violence, including exile and expulsion, against scholars who opposed their authority and presence.

Ibn Taymiyya and his Circle on samāʿ: a means to Purify Sufism? (with an Arabic edition of al-Wāsiṭī’s (d. 711/1311) Bulgha)

Abstract By examining polemical treatises on Sufi samāʿ or ‘spiritual audition’, written by scholars with a Ḥanbalī or traditionalist orientation, we assess the strategies and rhetorical devices that they used to discuss the status of samāʿ within their tradition. Our exploration reveals a clear difference in approach between pre-Taymiyyan scholars, on the one hand, and ‘Taymiyyan’ scholars, including Ibn Taymiyya (d. 728/1328) himself, on the other. Unlike their predecessors, the latter systematically refer to the legacy of esteemed figures from the formative period of Sufism, such as al-Junayd (d. 289/910) and some of his contemporaries, invoking his spiritual authority to consolidate the relation between Ahl al-Ḥadīth traditionalism and what they considered to be Sufism in its ‘true’ form.

Crime and Punishment in Ottoman Egypt in the Last Quarter of the 18th Century: the Yusuf Bey Murder Case

The study, executed in the form of a case-method, focuses on a story from the chronicle of the prominent Egyptian historian Abd al-Rahman al-Jabarti, describing the murder of Yusuf Bey, one of the ruling emirs of Egypt. By using this particular historical episode, the author illustrates the complicated relationship between the Muslim religious leaders of Egypt (ulama) and the military elite of the country represented by the neo-Mamluk “nobility”. Investigating these, at the first glance, ordinary circumstances of this gloomy case, the author comes to an unexpected conclusion. However, according to the researcher, the assassination of this key figure of the Egyptian military elite does not fit into the traditional struggle between or within the ruling factions, that filled the entire history of Egypt under the Ottomans. According to the author, the main reason for Yusuf Bey’s unenviable fate was his unceasing confrontation with the representatives of the Alim corps, the guardians and interpreters of the centuries-old Muslim heritage. By putting himself in opposition to the Muslim scholars, imprisoning and threatening them, infringing on their lives for the sake of his personal ambitions, Yusuf Bey violated the principles of respect and deference to the holders of spiritual authority and suffered the deserved punishment according to the generally accepted norms of behavior among the ruling elite of Ottoman Egypt.

Unsettling settler-colonialism in Gender and Development: reflections from Aotearoa New Zealand

ABSTRACT In November 2020, the first woman Indigenous Minister of Foreign Affairs, Nanaia Mahuta, was appointed in Aotearoa New Zealand. Mahuta has reinforced the message of taking a values-based Indigenous-centred approach to foreign policy and development. She has also recognised the mana of wāhine (the unique spiritual authority of women), “not defined by western feminist thinking, but the values that have long underpinned our culture, histories and traditions”. Her appointment reflects the complicated intersections of Indigeneity, colonialism, Western feminist discourse, and foreign policy in a settler-hegemonic state, and the possibilities (and constraints) for reimagined futures. How, then, can the teaching of gender and development (GAD) be attentive to these politics of settler-colonialism in Aotearoa? How can the complexities of the colonial project be reflected in GAD, and how can GAD be responsive to settler-hegemonic and Indigenous spaces? This paper will explore these questions and look at GAD’s role in perpetuating or unsettling settler-colonialism.

Identity Annihilation in Ann Bradstreet’s Poetry

A ‘City upon a Hill’ has always been the phrase which depicted the ideal and the perfect society the puritans sought to establish in Massachusetts, yet there can be several discrepancies noticed within their social and intellectual life and the way they dealt with the female intellectuals and poets. The current study tackles the way puritan patriarchal society marginalizes female writers and intellectuals, such as Ann Bradstreet, in a way that demolishes their identities. It also aims to depict these female intellectuals as breakers of the social norms in challenging the Puritan spiritual authority and its social system, so their writings were not valuable, and their voices were not heard. More significantly, the study shows how the social/religious conventions created within the puritan were used as a weapon against female writers. Thus, for puritans, the idea of women being writers or poets was not acceptable.

Beyond Religion: A Bonhoefferian Discussion of Ecclesial Repentance in the Aftermath of Abuse

Abuse, when committed by spiritual authority figures, can have far-reaching consequences for church communities well after perpetrators have been removed and held accountable. In attending to survivors, a host of issues may come to light, including but not limited to, organizational complicity in abuse, institutional marginalization of the vulnerable, and the revelation that worship spaces can be traumatically triggering. The work of scholars like Michelle Panchuk, Elaine Heath, and Katharina von Kellenbach all point to the challenging reality that ecclesial repentance­ may demand dramatic changes to restore a safe environment and righteous expressions of worship that honour God's intentions for all. Glen Kinoshita's ‘ministry of reconciliation’ and Dietrich Bonhoeffer's ‘preparing the way’ and ‘religionless Christianity’ are texts that on the surface address this type of process; however, it is not clear that either scholar fully reckons with the issue of a worshipping community or space that has been so marred by abuse as to become an impediment to a survivor's participation in liturgy. In this article, I modify Bonhoeffer's work to move beyond his claims and make recommendations for further steps towards repentance.

Spiritual Influencers – New Forms of Authorisation in the Digital Age?

Abstract This paper investigates the legitimisation of contemporary spiritual influencers Marianne Williamson and Laura Malina Seiler. The paper argues that spiritual authority is a relational concept that consists of reciprocal ascription processes in which the needs of the followers are just as decisive for generating authority as the spiritual self-authorisation of the leader. Considering the success of contemporary spiritual coaches in the highly competitive digital religious marketplace and the new forms of spiritual practices online, the paper seeks to reflect on the question why this specific form of “weak” leadership is especially resonating with an increasing number of people by drawing on sociological concepts such as Max Weber’s concept of the “exemplary man” and Martin Engelbrecht’s “spiritual wanderer”. An analysis of spiritual influencers’ narration, both online (on social media, blogs, websites) and offline (in books and magazines), reveals a continuing interweaving of autobiographical information, spiritual self-reflection and the use of specific spiritual sub-traditions that continually produce new hybrid forms of spiritual practices. Framed in emotional and personal language and presented on multiple communication platforms, the spiritual advice is rooted in the individual experience of these coaches unto whom followers temporarily submit as they recognise them as fellow seekers with superior and potentially helpful knowledge. By investigating specific narrative and communicative performances, the paper aims to provide a deeper understanding of the dynamic ascription processes between contemporary spiritual influencers and their faithful yet critical followers.

Pravoslavna crkva u raljama aktuelnih globalnih geopolitičkih promena - kanonska i socio-politička analiza

This paper points to processes that have been going on for a century and aim to change the modern image of the Orthodox Church. One patriarchy, the first in honour, is trying to impose itself as the supreme interpreter of traditions and theological narratives, as well as to change the canonical structure and ecclesial identity of all other autocephalous Orthodox Churches. The prehistory of the devastating processes starts with the restoration of national and church self-consciousness in the 19th century in the Balkans, which led to the emergence of the brainchild of restoring the autocephalous status of church communities in the liberated territories. The procedures for church independence were not initially approved by the Patriarchate of Constantinople. The leading patriarchate in honour, faced with the actual church situation on the Balkan Peninsula, confirmed the independence of the Athens Archdiocese and the Metropolitanate of Belgrade in the second half of the 19th century. However, the 20th century brought massive changes. The Balkan Wars, the Great War, the communist revolution in Russia, the disappearance of the Ottoman and Austrian empires, and the great tragedy of the Orthodox Greeks in Constantinople and Asia Minor led to changes in theological paradigms in the Patriarchate of Constantinople, which also initiated a change in its church position from Primus inter pares (The first among equals) to Primus sine paribus (The first without equals). This fact leads to the pretensions of this patriarchate to the entire Orthodox diaspora, as well as to the exclusive right to form criteria for granting autocephalous status to church communities that request it. However, the representatives of the Patriarchate of Constantinople very consistently continue to develop the theological assumptions of the new ecclesiological matrix, especially in the decades after the Second World War. Quite consciously and with the expected outcome, they are approaching the levers of power of the US political elite with the desire to strengthen their position in front of the repressive regime in Turkey. Soon, they began to use the established connections and increased political potential to impose their ecclesiological and canonical views on other Orthodox churches, especially since the fall of the Iron Curtain and the demolition of the Berlin Wall. The resistance of the new ecclesiological narratives of the Patriarchate of Constantinople, which give it a priority place in relation to all other churches and in the processes of accomplishing canonical and spiritual authority, not just honour, to all reasoned theological and historical criticism from Orthodox theologians, canonists, and archbishops, points to the fact that the theological turnover of this Patriarchate is well and studiously prepared. It is apparent that this church expects essential benefits from it, but also that the shaped narratives have a reflective effect on anticipated political situations that have been preparing for decades under the guise of the pseudo-ideological supremacy of the West. Since it is under massive transformative pressure from the Western power centres, it's evident that the Orthodox Church is in great turmoil, with painful uncertainty about its resolution. The processes that are mentioned are part of global geopolitical change. Rational interpretation of reality suggests they are synchronized from the same centre of power and political decision-making, as well as mutually compatible and complementary. This fact tells us that the mutual relations of the Orthodox churches are in a crisis that seems to be designed and managed for the purpose of more comprehensive intervention in the self-consciousness of the Orthodox peoples and their ecclesial, national, ethical, and political identity.

The Hierarchy

The Catholic hierarchy and lines of authority begin with the pope, extend to the bishops, and then to the priests. Fundamental to Catholicism is the belief in a line of spiritual authority that Jesus gave to the apostle Peter and to every pope throughout the millennia. The bishops and archbishops are appointed by the pope and oversee areas of various sizes called dioceses and archdioceses. Priests lead the parishes. The cardinals — the men at Vatican events dressed in red — serve as advisors to the pope, administrators of Vatican areas, and most importantly, are the papal electors.

Badr ad-Din Kashmiri and His Treatise Rawzat ar-Rizvan

The essay of Rawzat ar-Rizvan by the Indian author of Muslim origin Badr al-Din Kashmiri is subject-ed to a source analysis. Based on the biographical information about the author contained in the work, an attempt is made to highlight his respectful attitude to the Juybar khodges, devotion to this family. A com-plete list of the historiography of the Juybarids is also provided, which will make it possible to imagine how attentive medieval authors were to the legacy of the Juybar Khojas. Rawzat ar-Rizvan is perhaps the only list that has reached us in good condition. Unlike other works devoted to the Juybar Khojas, this source covers in more detail the issue of the social status of two of their representatives — Khoja Islam and Khoja Sa’d. The work consists of an introduction, seven chapters and mainly information about Khoja Islam and his successor Khoja Sa’d. The historical part of the work is mainly written on the basis of the author’s per-sonal observations. The article briefly describes each of the chapters. The historical, artistic, hagiographic genre of the work allows us to consider this source from different angles. The historical genre mainly con-tains the real socio-political situation in Bukhara in the second half of the 16th century, and the place of representatives of the house of Juybarids in it. Judging by the essay, under Sheibanid Abd al-Aziz Khan (1539–1549), Khoja Islam managed to secure the right to the village of Sumitan, which was, as it were, the hereditary property of the Juybar Khojas. On the basis of Rawzat ar-Rizvan, the source of the formation of the economy of the Juybarids is investigated, in which the village of Sumitan played an important role. Based on the information of the essay, the relationship between the supreme ruler of the Sheibanid state Abdullakhan and the Juybar Khojas is investigated. The significance of this source in the study of the socio-political role and indisputable spiritual au-thority of the Juybar khojas of Bukhara is investigated. The main content of the work is revealed in the con-text of the political situation of the Bukhara Khanate in the middle of the 16th century, when the struggle between the Sheibanid appanage rulers for supreme power in Bukhara escalated.

Spiritual Authority for a (Post)Secular Age: Olive Schreiner’s Dreams as Literary Theology

Although an outspoken freethinker, Olive Schreiner engaged frequently and creatively with religious texts and traditions throughout her writings. Her religious revisionism informs Dreams (1890), a collection of short narratives that influenced many subsequent women’s rights activists but has since fallen into relative critical neglect. Responding to developments in postsecular scholarship, this article re-reads Schreiner’s stories as advancing a literary theology of immanence. Her various and fragmentary revelations adapt inherited models of spiritual autobiography and refashion biblical imagery, experimenting with religious allegory to challenge religious exclusivism. These innovations reflect her participation in several intersecting developments within early feminist movements that sought not only to overturn patriarchal expressions of religion but also to reclaim women’s spiritual authority and imagine new pathways to divinity. Rather than advancing a linear model of spiritual development, Dreams reflects an eclectic, open-ended process of searching that refashions religious symbols even as it ventures beyond canonical and institutional boundaries. This work, in turn, invites a critical reassessment of Schreiner’s freethinking output not as a rejection of religion but as an effort to rewrite it.

Mystic on a Tilting Stage: Julian of Norwich’s Performance of English Visionary Devotion

Julian of Norwich’s performance within her longer Revelations of Divine Love involves layers of authorizing and devotional steps that frame it as a gift for her community. She presents herself not as an author, but as a revelator, in step with John’s acts of unveiling his visions and dialogue with the divine in the Biblical Revelations. Examining Julian’s act of presenting her visions in writing demonstrates how her daring yet insistently orthodox visions handle issues of spiritual authority and individual faith made urgent by the rise of Lollardy. My work with Julian’s Revelations is the foundation for a wider argument about the interchange between vernacular mysticism and public devotion through their use of affective piety and the performance of spiritual dialogue. In this article, I examine Julian of Norwich’s Revelation of Divine Love to determine how it works as contemplative drama. I also look at The Mirror of the Blessed Life of Christ and The Cloud of Unknowing to set up Julian’s performance of contemplative devotion and the potential pitfalls of a pious English readership. Julian’s revelations demonstrate where interior contemplation is transformed into collective acts of devotion.

The Sufi Who Was a Sayyid: Muḥammad Ḥusaynī Gesūdarāz’s Assertions of Spiritual Authority

Abstract In the context of contested succession within a silsila (lineage) of sufis, this paper studies Sayyid Muḥammad Ḥusaynī Gesūdarāz’s (d. 1422) recourse to a familial genealogy in order to claim the status of a pīr or sufi master, while attempting to entrench his legacy in Gulbarga where he emigrated to from Delhi after the incursions of Timur (d. 1405). As he arrived in the Deccan at the turn of the fifteenth century, Gesūdarāz used his kinship with the Prophet and particularly his identity of sayyid (a descendant of the Prophet through Ḥusayn) as a persuasive device, to set himself apart from other sufi shaykhs in the area who claimed an equivalent spiritual genealogy. The case of Gesūdarāz reveals a societal pattern wherein the identity of sayyid was gaining new traction, and relational ties were evoked not only as a means of establishing an identity as part of a community but also to supersede others who made the same claim. Kinship was a device through which Gesūdarāz staked his claim to authority, and it was also a mechanism that he and his family utilized to cement their hold on the Muslim community of Gulbarga.

Politics in the street: the materiality of urban public spaces in Renaissance Italy

Abstract In Renaissance Italy, the political power of authorities found one of its expressions in material symbols of sovereignty. The placing of inscriptions, sculptures and columns and the commissioning of frescoes in streets, piazzas and public spaces, for example, were essential ways of communicating political or spiritual authority to the populace. Sometimes perceived as representations of a top-down form of communication, in the urban context these same material emblems of power became political objects through which to express dissent, as in the case of public loggias, speaking statues or graffiti on walls and civic palaces. Presenting case-studies from various cities in northern Italy, this article investigates the dialectics between the people and the authorities in the urban fabric, especially in everyday life. Combining a spatial and a material approach to politics, this article reveals the dynamic and relational nature of political public spaces.