Christian Symbols Research Articles

THE CHARITY OF THE EMPRESSES FROM THE FIFTH CENTURY ACCORDING TO DATA FROM BULGARIA

The sources speak eloquently about the extreme charity of the empresses from 5th century. They built temples, orphanages and supported their work. Their mission was spread all over the empire, which is proved by the discovered coins of theirs. The golden coins which they donated not only supported the church financially, but also helped their activity in disseminating and establishing the Christian religion. The signs of Christ complement and in separate cases prevail over their pragmatic properties. The difference about the view about the role of the monetary units of the empresses is that their “spiritual value” in 5th century was also an important means for the state politics not only a medium of exchange. The support of the religion life at places had not only financial dimensions, which for that age was of extreme importance. That process underwent in an atmosphere of impoverishing of the town population, as the church advanced economically with the help of the state. That explains the fact why in the church buildings and around them such a great amount of coins from 6th century has been found, but near the public ones they decreased at the end of 4th century. The discovery location of the coins of the empresses clearly shows the area and the sites, connected with charity and religious activities of the Augusts. At the dissemination and establishing the Christianity the state used all possible means. It was imperative because of the heterogeneous ethnic structure of the population of Trace and Dacia during 4th-6th centuries, which created conditions for arising of various diversions from the Christian religion – the heresies.
 The inspection of the location of findings golden coins of empresses shows that they were discovered in/or at a short distance from the region of the Late Antiquity settlements and fortresses: Abrittus (now Razgrad), Beroe – Augusta Traiana (now Stara Zagora) Nicopolis ad Istrum – the old settlement near the village of Dichin, Kyustendil, Nicopolis ad Nestum (now Gotse Delchev), Strogovia (Kailuka – Pleven), Ryahovets, Sadovets, Tuida (now Sliven), Philipopolis (now Plovdiv), the fortress of Shumen. The listed places coincide with the territories with bishop centers, significant population and outstanding Christian temples from 4th and 5th centuries. It gives a good reason to search the connection between the gold in question, the cult artifacts and their religious meaning.
 During the Late Antiquity the role of the bishop institution increased rapidly, not only in the church life, but also in the civil ruling system. The area bishops began to take active part in the control of the towns, occupying a great deal of the town curia functions. That happened with the blessing of the emperor’s power, which gave such authority to the bishops, so that they were able to control and inspect various decisions of the non-clerical authorities.
 The topography of the monetary unit subject of the article is a good token in their interpretation as a means of propaganda of the still new Christian religion where the preliminary and dictatorial reasons of the emperor institution could be seen. The coins are subject of this study; they concentrate the ideological power in the image of еmpresses. Coupled with the Christian symbols they outline a spiritual vector in their dissemination. Thus the commercial role of money was combined with their spiritual mission to help the church establish the faith in Christ.

The cultural code of the italian city in D. Brown’s novel "Inferno"

The article based on D. Brown’s novel "Inferno" examines the problem of the Italian cultural code related to the topos of Florence and Venice cities. The process of creating the urban text is traced, its constituent elements are determined, which represent significant historical and cultural values and create the originality and uniqueness of the cultural code of each city. The genre specificity of Brown’s work as a novel – a tourist guide is determined, in which the urban cultural text (Florentine, Venetian) is presented as a kind of name-dropping, stringing together the names of notable cultural sights and the names of prominent citizens. Landscape, genetic, material-cultural and spiritual-cultural elements are distinguished in the process of researching the cultural code of each city. The time-space code of Florence is associated with the period of the late Middle Ages and the Renaissance. Characteristic elements of the conceptosphere of the Florentine myth are singled out in the description of the urban topos: motifs of the stone, the garden, the tower, and time. The spiritual sphere includes urban legends, historical legends, personal myths, among which Dante Alighieri occupies a prominent place. The gastronomic code, representing the names of Italian cuisine dishes as the result of a separate nation’s accumulation of material experience, is considered separately. It is noted in the study of the Venetian cultural code, that Brown’s novel uses the "signatures of the city" (T. Tsyvian) of the world Venetian: water, firmament, toponyms, architectural structures, characters, historical and cultural realities. The topos of the city is related to the Middle Ages: the rule of the Doges, the influence of Byzantine culture, which affected the eclecticism of architectural structures. The spiritual sphere is represented by elements of hagiography, Christian symbols that represent the Venetian identity.

The Garden Atonement and the Mormon Cross Taboo

The Garden Atonement and the Mormon Cross Taboo

Godła Zgromadzenia Sióstr Serafitek

Wiele grup społecznych, społeczności czy instytucji posługuje się symbolem identyfikacyjnym. Ten symbol (logo we współczesnej terminologii) identyfikuje poszczególnych członków grupy, jak i ich działania zbiorowe. Wspólny znak dodaje poczucie jedności. Podobną funkcję pełni wiele symboli chrześcijańskich. W ciągu wieków podobne funkcje odgrywały symbole rycerskie, herby przodków, oznaczenia cechów i związków ale również godła opactw, klasztorów i zgromadzeń zakonnych. gromadzenie Córek Matki Bożej Bolesnej opiera swą duchowość na duchowości franciszkańskiej. W konstytucjach zgromadzenia siostry stwierdzają m.in.: "za przykładem św. Franciszka za najwyższe prawo uznajemy Ewangelię, w której spotykamy Jezusa - naszą Drogę, Prawdę i Życie. Według ewangelicznych zasad powinny być kształtowane myśli, słowa i czyny każdej z nas oraz życie naszych wspólnot". Godłem zgromadzenia jest Serce Matki Bożej prze-szyte siedmioma mieczami. Znak ten dodaje sił do mężnego znoszenia własnych cierpień, jak również udzielania pomocy w cierpieniu tym, których w szczególny sposób ono dotknęło.

Meeting of Cultures and Architectural Dialogue: The Example of the Dominicans in Taiwan

This article introduces how, even if in a context refractory to the Gospel, the evangelization of the Dominicans started a kind of dialogue between the symbols embodied in the Catholic cosmology and the ones belonging to the traditional Taiwanese culture. The opposition of the local population to the presence of Westerners, and the fact that the Dominicans, being Spaniards, did not benefit from the protection of France, as happened for other religious orders working in China, are all factors that impacted the evangelization carried out by the Dominicans, and they have prevented the Christian message from taking a hegemonic position in Taiwanese culture. By observing better, however, the places and buildings affected by the missionaries’ evangelization, one can read the traces of a fruitful dialogue between the teaching of the missionaries, and therefore of the Catholic cosmology that they were bringing, and the artistic and architectonic cultural heritage of the Taiwanese tradition. Both public places, such as churches, and private places, such as houses of converts, show signs of the adaptation of Catholicism to local tradition, and likewise signs that local culture began to accept Christian symbols and cosmology.

The Late 4th - Early 5th c. Mosaic Pavements in Philippopolis and Augusta Traiana in Thrace

The present paper deals with the mosaic pavements that embellished the public buildings, semi-public and private houses between the 80s of 4th c. and the first two decades of 5th c. in the two most important cities in late antique province of Thrace - Philippopolis and Augusta Traiana that are unearthed so far. This was a period of great significance for the mosaic development in both cities which though developed in different way until that time, were now united with the use of the full geometrization. Although already entered in the private mosaic pavements in Thrace in the time of the Tetrarchy, the full geometric composition did not receive wide acceptance in the aulae of the private houses and the figural compositions with real emblema or pseudo-emblem are persistent. The inclusion of the Christianity into the new imperial ideology in the time of Theodosius I and Arcadius and the establishment of the symphonia between the State and Church reflected on the importance of the Christian bishop, but also impacted on the stylistic development of the mosaic art in both cities with the abrupt abandonment of any other compositions and motifs than the geometric in order to avoid any link with the paganism and its art. The examples studied reveal that the full, ‘orthodox’ geometric composition and motifs, with humble colouring, were distributed in the private houses of the Christian clergy, while these geometric mosaics with the inclusion of few specific symbols – in the Christian basilicas, related to the liturgical need. It is without any doubt that the mosaic pavements in the Christian basilicas inspired the mosaic pavement decoration of the aulae of the elites in both cities since the middle of 5th c. onward and therefore the Christianity dominating the official and private culture. At last, but not at least are the figural compositions that with the inclusion of specific Christian symbols gained Christian connotation. The present study reveals the still underestimated importance of the mosaic pavements for the study of the development of the political process in Thrace in the Late antiquity and link them with specific historical events as it is attested also elsewhere.

National Identity between the Principle of the Secular State and Freedom of Religion

The religious symbols exposed in public buildings, such as schools, courtrooms, etc., in recent years animated the debate not only public but also jurisprudential. It turns out that, after centuries of attempts to “purify” states of religious influences, after years of attempts to “purify” public spaces of religious symbols, it seems that the modern state has failed to do so. In this century of globalization, we see a return of the sacred, a clash between different cultures, a "duel" between the different absolute truths that everyone believes they possess. In particular, there is a symbol, representative of all, under which all citizens are subject, regardless of their religious or philosophical conviction, and it is precisely the flag. It turns out that, one in three flags, that is, one third of the flags in the world contain religious symbols, predominantly Christian symbols, followed by Muslim ones and the rest Hindu, Buddhist, Jewish symbols and traditional religions and cults (Theodoru, 2014). The cross and the crescent moon are the most common where the majority of nations recognize themselves. The cross and the crescent are the most common where the majority of nations recognize themselves. The intent of this work is to be able to give a stricto jure answer to a complicated diatribe, analyzing whether the exhibition of religious symbols contained in flags can constitute a justified reason to believe that the principle of neutrality and secularity of the State, the principle of equality and non-discrimination, is violed. Through these principles the freedom of religion of each individual is also guaranteed, also taking into account the negative dimension of the latter. This problem affects many democracies, including European ones, yet the European Union itself aims to build a European identity, an identity in which everyone identifies and recognizes.
 
 Received: 5 September 2022 / Accepted: 20 October 2022 / Published: 5 November 2022

Syncretism of Christian and Asian features in the design of St. Paul's Church in Macau

The subject of the study is the design of the Jesuit Church of St. Paul in Macau, built in 1602-1640. The plan and design of the temple are typical of the Jesuit churches of Europe, but the decoration is distinctive, which manifested a new strategy of the Jesuits. The focus of the publication is on the decor of the preserved western facade, combining both European Christian symbols and images, as well as Chinese and Japanese. The article shows how the Jesuits introduced the Christian doctrine into the consciousness of the inhabitants through the pictorial series familiar to the local population, seeking its speedy dissemination. The project of the church belongs to European masters, and local sculptors worked on the decoration. The novelty of the research lies in considering not only the historical aspects of the expansion of the influence of the Jesuit Order in the territories of the Far East in general, in China and Macau in particular, but also the artistic aspects, which is important, since art was an important tool for the Jesuits in promoting Christianity, especially in the era of the Counter-Reformation, after the Council of Trent. The main conclusion of the study is that the facade is a retablo of the Church of St. St. Paul's in Macau is a kind of doctrinal synthesis in stone: through images and inscriptions in Chinese and Latin, knowledge about Catholic doctrine and the basics of Christian teaching is transmitted to local residents.

Defenders of the Faith? How shifting social cleavages and the rise of identity politics are reshaping right-wing populists’ attitudes towards religion in the West

ABSTRACT From the display of oversized crosses at the United States Capitol riots, to a new rhetoric centred on defence of the ‘Judaeo-Christian West’ in Europe: right-wing populist movements on both sides of the Atlantic are intensifying their use of Christian symbols and language. Many observers have interpreted such rhetoric as symptomatic of a conservative religious resurgence against secular liberalism and multiculturalism. However, several indicators suggest a more complicated relationship between the populist Right, religion, and secularisation. For instance, in the United States Donald Trump was perceived to be the least religious Republican party candidate in recent history, while in Europe church attendance remains a strong predictor for not voting for right-wing populist parties. Deploying a demand- and supply-side framework to understand the socio-demographic roots behind the rise of right-wing populist movements and the motives behind their references to Christianity, this contribution posits that right-wing populists primarily employ Christianity as a cultural identity marker to mobilise voters around a new post-religious identity cleavage. However, they often remain distanced from Christian doctrine, beliefs, and institutions, and instead seek to combine cultural references to Christianity with secular policies, suggesting a secularisation of Christian symbols rather than a resurgence of religion in western politics.

Vasyl Haiduchok – the Poet of a Single Cycle

The article analyzes the only known poetic cycle by Vasyl Haiduchok, published in the Skrynia maga-zine. The text is focused on the problem of silence, which is fundamental for Ukrainian underground poetry, in spite of being understood in different axiological and semantic planes. The article discovers how the concept of silence interacts with the Christian symbols, concepts of time and death, and traditional Ukrainian images. Being connected with the internal emigration as a constructive strategy of the author who resists the invasion of the aggressive Soviet language, the concept of unvoiced is also substantial for surrealistic and hermeticism poetics. Moreover, Vasyl Haiduchok and other Ukrainian poets of the late 60s and 70s were forced to silence in an act of cultural and ideological abuse of the totalitarian system. After the arrests of the Lviv intellectuals and the confiscation of the entire print run of the Skrynia in 1972, Vasyl Haiduchok never went back to creative writing and died in poverty. The aim of the article is to return his voice to the Ukrainian literature discourse. To discover the philosophical particularities of the cycle we compare it with the texts of other poets of the Skrynia magazine. We draw a parallel between the artistic destiny of Haiduchok and Chubai. Censorship and political persecution pushed both of the writers not only into the underground but also into complete silence. While the poetry by Chubai is scientifically analyzed in modern journals, the cycle by Haiduchok is almost unknown even among philologists.

Postmodern Ethics, Premodern Farce

Postmodern Ethics, Premodern Farce

Schopenhauer and religion: Translating myth into metaphysics

The article assesses Arthur Schopenhauer’s reinterpretation of religious myths, particularly those of Christianity, in terms of his philosophical system, and applies his ideas to the mythical cosmology of shamanistic and animistic religions. Schopenhauer, a 19th-century Romantic philosopher, although an atheist himself, took religious myths very seriously, translating them into the terms of his metaphysical system. His view was that Roman Catholicism, for him the true form of Christianity, shared the pessimism and the focus on suffering of Hinduism and Buddhism, rather than the alleged optimism of Protestantism, Judaism and Islam, excepting the myth of the Fall. For Schopenhauer, this pessimism was evident in the central symbol of Christianity, the figure of the crucified Christ. Schopenhauer put forward his ethic of compassion (and asceticism), aligning him, despite his atheism, with the altruistic ethics of the major world religions. The article also explores the extent to which Schopenhauer’s philosophy as, arguably, a form of panpsychism can be applied to shamanistic and animistic religions. While Schopenhauer translated religious myths into his metaphysical terms – based ultimately on Kant’s distinction between phenomena (things as they appear) and noumena (things as they are) – his understanding of the noumenon as the universal will to life was itself an explanatory myth for an essentially unknowable reality. Therefore, the attempt of Schopenhauer’s philosophy to translate myth into metaphysics in turn contained a myth at its very core. Nonetheless, the article argues that Schopenhauer’s argument may satisfy those dissatisfied with materialism’s shortcomings yet not willing to subscribe to a supernatural order.Contribution: The article applies to shamanism and animism the neglected philosopher Schopenhauer’s method of interpreting religious myths in terms of his metaphysical system, relating this very briefly to current philosophical debates on panpsychism.

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

NECKLACE FROM CHORNIVKA HILL-FORT OF THE 13th CENTURY (EXCAVATION OF 1999—2020)

During the archeological works on the Chornivka hillfort various ornaments which decorated the everyday and festive clothes of women having lived on the territory of the feudal castle in the first half — the mid-13th century were discovered. The material from which they are made, typology and production technology suggest that definite jewelry could belong to different social, ethnic and age groups of local people.&#x0D; The old Ukrainian women’s necklaces and breast adornment in addition to aesthetic function also had protective and social ones. These categories include a number of necklaces with numerous pendants. Their form and ornamentation reflected the local population worldviews, where together with Christian symbols, pagan elements were used. All of this shows the combination in these ornaments the primitive and Christian principles and the syncretism of their semantic content.&#x0D; One of the most numerous groups of women’s breast ornaments from the hillfort is a necklace. Most of the beads are represented by single finds but their clusters (minithesaurus) have also been recorded.&#x0D; During the study of the hillfort 72 whole and fragmented beads were found. They are represented by metal items such as elliptical beads decorated with filigree and grain, openwork frame beads decorated with grain, figured beads; cowrie shells; glass items — monochrome, polychrome and beads with metal foil.&#x0D; The beads found on the hill-fort significantly increase the information on the elements of old Ukrainian women’s costume decoration in the region and allow tracing the trade, economic, cultural and possibly military and political ties of the feudal castle in the first half — the mid-13th century.

The Initial Stage of the Establishment of the Orthodox Church in the European North-East

The Orthodox Church has played a major role in the history of many nations of the Russian state. Historians believe that the beginning of Christianization of the European North-East is dated to the second half of 14th century. Archaeological discoveries over the past 35 years have provided new data for researchers. The article deals with a collection consists of 11 Christian symbols obtained during the study of medieval settlements in the European north-east. All the artifacts have been dated to the 12–13th centuries. The publication defines the typological and chronological composition, provides analogies from the excavations of other archaeological sites in Russia. These findings indicate that the ancient population of the region was acquainted with Christian culture before the 14th century. The author suggests that Christianization of the region began together with Old Russian colonization in the early 12th century. The spread of items with Christian symbols and ideas of Christianity was associated with the inhabitants of settlements in the valleys of the Vym, Vychegda and Sysola Rivers. These settlements were founded by immigrants from the territory of Russia and became centres of population concentration.

Korotakh Cap in the Light of New Epigraphic Data

The article discusses the headdress found during the study of the tower-shaped crypt of the village of Korotakh in the historical-geographical region of Malkhist (Itum-Kalinsky district of the Chechen Republic) and stored since 2016 among the exhibits of the National Museum of the Chechen Republic. The subject was introduced into scientific circulation in 1977 by R. A. Dautova and was repeatedly mentioned in scientific publications later. The fabric from which the cap is sewn was made in Italian weaving centers, and, according to radiocarbon dating, was made between 1430–1480. A certain discussion in the circles of researchers was caused by the origin of the dress and the circumstances under which it ended up at the disposal of the buried. The most plausible was the version of the capture of Italian fabric with Christian symbols as a trophy, followed by a deliberate partial trimming of the halo of Christ and the figures of the archangels. The author of the article for the first time provides a translation of the surviving part and a restored version of the text-embroidery on the headdress, which was identified by an associate professor of Ilia state university Temo Dzhodzhua as an old Georgian text composed in the Asomtavruli script. In the light of these data, the author examines the epigraphic monuments of the Argun Gorge and historical information reflecting close Chechen-Georgian cultural and religious contacts, which, in combination with the translation of the inscription on the headdress and the place of its discovery (on the border with Georgia), rejects, in the opinion of the author of the article, the version about the trophy origin of the headdress, and at the same time, perhaps, the opinion about the deliberate deformation of part of the Christian symbolism when sewing the cap. It is assumed that we can talk about technical reasons or not so reverent attitude of the local population to Christian symbols after the destructive campaigns of Timur.

An African perspective on hamartology and ecology: Assessing Jesse Mugambi’s contribution to the contemporary debate

Christian ecotheology offers a Christian critique of ecological destruction while simultaneously proposing an ecological critique of Christianity. One aspect of Christian ecotheology entails ecumenical discourse on the content and ecological significance of the Christian faith. This involves a reinterpretation of the classic Christian symbols – in this instance the doctrine of sin, more specifically the nature of sin – explored in the light of ecological discussions. Taking into account the radical diversity in contemporary forms of Christian ecotheology and the contemporary ecological crisis, this paper presents African theologian Jesse Mugambi’s contribution to such discourse. Following a brief overview of the Christian understanding of the nature of sin and how it is re-described in contemporary ecotheological terms, Jesse Mugambi’s position on ecotheological discourse through a discussion of anthropocentrism, domination in the name of differences of species, consumerist greed, alienation of humans from the earth community and sloth (backwardness) is explored. Mugambi’s African context is a key influencing factor in the formulation of his ecotheology. Science and technology, industrialisation, pollution and development are among the prominent emerging themes. The paper involves ecclesial scrutiny, namely Mugambi’s assessment of Christianity’s role in contributing to the current crisis and theological reflection on ecological sin, followed by alternative courses of action to appropriately attend to the issues in question. In closing, Mugambi’s overall contribution to the current ecotheological debate is assessed.

Bioshock: Infinite as the Mirror of America?

Few mainstream computer games have caused such controversy as Bioshock: Infinite (2013). The third instalment of the Bioshock series is set in the fictional city of Columbia in an alternate history of the early twentieth century, which at first glance appears to be a perfect social utopia. After a while, however, the narrative begins to uncover the multilayered problems of society oppressed by a fraction of the white elite and religious fanaticism. The popularity of the game is not only due to the attractive audiovisual processing and complex game mechanics. It is primarily a story that uses an unprecedented amount of religious symbolism – especially Christian symbols, historical references, polysemic story elements, and a story based on the concepts of frontier myth and American exceptionalism. This work will deal with analysing these phenomena, especially those directly related to the religious and nationalistic topics in the United States.

Far Cry 5, American Right-Wing Terrorism, and Doomsday Prepper Culture

The article explores Far Cry 5’scommentary on the rise of the radical right, domestic terrorism, and extremism in America. The game's two primary modes for this narrative critique involve its use of Christian symbolism and its exploration of doomsday prepper culture. What emerges from this analysis is that Far Cry 5 provides a harrowing reckoning in the rise of extremist thought in this country and its ramifications, one that is a timely reflection of current American culture. In Far Cry 5, America becomes the next great empire poised to fall throughout the game and finally, in its tense final sequences, succumbs to nuclear annihilation.

From the Altar to the Household. The Challenging Popularization of Christian Devotional Images, Objects, and Symbols in 16th and 17th Century China

After the expeditions of wealthy merchants and Franciscan missionaries during the 14th century, the Chinese empire under Ming rule did not engage profusely with the European world, and vice versa. This period of artistic and intellectual silence and detachment was broken in the late 16th century when the Jesuit missionaries reconnected two worlds –Europe and China– reactivating previous medieval commercial, artistic, and intellectual routes. Silk –the product par excellence commercialized along the routes connecting China and Europe– was then accompanied by other precious products, including Chinese ceramics reaching various European courts and European paintings that reached the Ming court in Beijing. This paper addresses the complex and challenging popularization of Roman Catholicism through objects and images during the early modern era. In particular, it focuses on the diffusion of devotional images and objects used by Roman Catholic missionaries and the religious practices related to them.