Christian Dogma Research Articles

10.18290/rkult.2018.9.4-3 Herezja jako czynnik rozwoju kultury. Rozważania na przykładzie działalności waldensów

At the beginning of the text, the author sets in order some terminological issues. He explains how heresy is conceived on the ground of Christianity and how it differs from schism. He also shows contemporary changes in meaning and evaluation of concepts of “heresy” and “orthodoxy”. For that purpose, he refers to Gilbert K. Chesterton’s books. Then he proposes and proves the thesis that heresies in strict sense are not constructive, i.e. they cannot contribute to the progress of culture within which they exist. The main argument is as follows: heresies do not develop culture because their authors reject its achievements (i.e. cultural heritage) and try to shape the culture anew according to completely different principles. Referring to activity of the Waldenses movement, the author shows that heresies can be constructive only indirectly—as inspiration to improve the orthodox religion. This improvement consists in making dogmas more precise and also in modification of functioning of religious communities and institutions. The Waldenses had an influence on these two areas. On the matter of doctrine their role was that they helped the Catholic Church to point at and criticize these elements of Catharism which were in disagreement with Christian dogmas. When it comes to practical and institutional issues, as “the movement of the poor”, they prepared a ground for the mendicant orders.

Religion as Factor in Formation of Law: Current trends

This article consists of the following parts: introduction, methodology, research results, analysis, and discussion. The article is devoted to religious law formation research from a historical and modern prospective. The authors consider the most prevalent religions in present-day society such as Hinduism, Christianity, Islam, and Buddhism and the way in which these religions influence legislation of India, Russia, Thailand, the United Kingdom and Muslim states. Furthermore, the author researches relationship between religion, law, and morality to reveal theoretical and practical links between religion and law. The explanation of the criteria for the legal provisions morality of is an obvious fact. In this regard, analysis of religious values and morality mutual influence is a necessary step of scientific research. This point provided a basis for studying the basic tenets of Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism in terms of their ability to determine law. In conclusion, the authors note that the search for the rule we are looking for is not absolute, and many lawyers denied the very possibility of its existence. However, the authors come to the conclusion that complete denial of religious determinism of law restricts the range of possible tools for studying law formation.

The Heart of Faith in Graham Greene’s The Heart of the Matter

There is no question that Graham Greene's The Heart of the Matter is a work that tackles religious faith views. Through the principal character, Major Scobie, Greene tries to show his own concept of true faith. Major Scobie, the police commissioner is put in the divine-earthly balance equation and is left alone to lead up his way. This paper is an attempt to piece together Graham Greene's ideas around the truth of faith. The strategy adopted in the paper is to follow Major Scobie's words and actions and to put them in the scale of Christian dogma to weigh their truth. At last, the paper presents the results it attained in the conclusion. It concludes that there is a deal of hypocrisy or self-deception built in the principal character, Major Scobie that extends from the beginning to the end of the novel that affects the truth of faith.

Spanish

What is introduced as metaphysics of light attached to religious connotation, turns out to be one of the most dominant and discussed topics during the medieval period, though more exhaustive addressed during the scholastic period, that is, from the late-ninth century to the middle-fourteenth. Nevertheless, thoughts about the idea of lux began with Neoplatonism, more precisely with the Egyptian Plotinus who championed the idea of revitalizing the doctrine of the Academy, which was founded by Plato. In fact, consideration about light stands out as one of the elements that had repercussions on medieval patristic philosophy, establishing a solid base for formulations of Christian dogma. Bearing this in mind, the purpose of the article is to introduce some meanings of the concept of lux, as developed by Plotinus of Lycopolis, aiming for a better understanding of the symbolic consequences of this idea for theological considerations and arts during the scholastic period.

Histoire de la littérature grecque chrétienne des origines à 451. Volume 1: Introduction: problèmes et perspectives. Volume 2: De Paul de Tarse à Irénée de Lyon. Second edition. Edited by Bernard Pouderon and Enrico Norelli

Volumes 1 and 2 of this monumental oeuvre were previously published by Cerf in 2008; the present is the second, expanded edition. In the first volume, the main novelties with respect to the previous edition lie in bibliographical updates and the presentation of new instruments for the study of patristic literature, especially online resources. In the second volume, each contributor has updated his or her own chapter, including bibliographical references. The first volume sets out some methodological and theoretical points. Norelli addresses the relationship between the history of early Christian literature and that of Christian institutions. Paolo Siniscalco deals with the tradition of ‘histories of literature’. Rémi Gounelle studies the variegated transmission of Christian literary works, dwelling on the multiple reasons why many of these are lost, from ideological to material factors, and offers a selective but helpful relevant bibliography. Gilles Dorival presents the various literary forms and models. Marie-Anne Vannier follows the evolution of dogmas and their literary expressions in the patristic age, when almost all Christian dogmas were fixed. Marie-Ange Calvet focuses on aesthetic aspects of early Christian literature, Martin Wallraff provides a history of the editions of patristic texts, and Benoît Gain draws a sketch of the instruments for the study of Greek patristic literature, including the main electronic resources.

The Creation of the world and the birth of chronology

The eternity of the world and, correlatively, the cyclical nature of time were agreed upon by all Greek philosophical schools except the Platonists. As for matter, all of them posited that it was eternal so that the idea that something could be made from nothing was considered as pure absurdity. With the advent of Christianity, however, a matter coeternal with God raised fundamental theological difficulties. Toward the end of the second century, apologists such as Tatian the Assyrian, Theophilus of Antioch, Irenaeus of Lyons or Tertullian thus emphasized God's absolute freedom and power by claiming that Creation had been made from nothing. Along with the Passion of Christ and the Last Judgment, the initial moment defined by the Creation then conferred to time an irreversible, linear orientation and to history both a new sense and an obsessing concern for chronology. Unambiguously, the Creation became the reference point for the world's history. From Scripture analyses, one determined that it took place about 5500 years earlier within a framework where the History of man and that of the earth were not distinct. Having designed a consistent, universal time scale from chronological data recorded for all ancient peoples, Eusebius of Caesarea could thus attribute to the Great Flood the fossils found on the top of Mount Lebanon. The short Mosaic chronologies were eventually rejected during the 18th century, but Eusebius’ chronological procedure was unknowingly transposed when a relative geological timescale was then set up from the fossil record. The close association of Creation with Christian dogma in turn induced some circles to reject the second law of thermodynamics at the end of the 19th century and, a few decades later, the thesis of an expanding universe. In both cases, the reason was that continuously increasing entropy would imply some low-entropy initial state akin to a Creation.

Contribution of Early Missionaries to the Expansion and Management of Education in Colonial Kericho, Kenya, 1901-1962

<p><em>The paper critically analyzed the contribution of the early missionaries to the expansion and management of education in colonial Kericho of Kenya. Arguably, it extensively utilized structural functionalism and dialectical materialism theories as organizing frameworks as well as guided the conceptualization of data analysis and interpretation. As aptly articulated in this paper, </em><em>the close association of Christianity and education among the local Kipsigis of Kericho cannot be overemphasized, for it was through the innumerable schools established by both Protestant and Roman Catholic missionaries that many Kipsigis came into contact with Christianity. In fact, school was the church in many parts of Kipsigis. The Christian missionaries therefore saw the school as a key institution, being the most reliable means for membership recruitment and for creating self-perpetuating congregations whose members would ensure the survival of Christianity. Education and evangelization were so closely linked that for, many parts of Kipsigis, the pitching of the missionary tent was synonymous with the establishment of a school. Among the inhabitants of Kericho, as elsewhere in Kenya, the missionaries preceded the administrators and settlers. Education was the inevitable concomitant of Christian proselytisation, since the ability to read the Bible was fundamental. But from the onset, it had been recognized that the principal actor in conversion would have to be the locals themselves. The missionary education was thus intended to prepare the locals in Christian dogma and to ensure that the students observed proper Christian principles. The education also aimed at discouraging the extended family system, encouraging individualism, abolishing polygamy and more so female circumcision. The Christian missionaries had entered Kericho region with a purpose of preaching the Gospel of Christ, but when they realized that illiteracy among the local inhabitants especially the Kipsigis was a serious hindrance to their enterprise they picked up pen and book to spread Western education. This education was geared to serving their interests - basically evangelism. They achieved this by trying to reach out to the locals i.e. the Kipsigis through elementary schools in the villages. Largely, they taught elementary education aimed at producing cheap but literate manpower. On the other hand, the early converts saw education as a sure way of bridging the cultural gap between them and the Europeans who appeared to represent a superior type of human being and this synthesis found its fulfillment within the realm of dialectical materialism framework.</em><em></em></p>

Pronouncing that being is nothing in the work of Martin Heidegger

Raising a question of Being, anew, after it had fallen into oblivion, was initiated by Martin Heidegger and that marked his complete philosophical work. Along those lines, the paper titled 'Pronouncing That Being is Nothing in the Work of Martin Heidegger' briefly discusses the history of the question of Being starting from the Parmenides' research on the topic, through Christian dogma, Hegel's Science of Logic and establishing Being-Dasein-Nothing, all the way to the Heidegger's distinction among Being, Dasein, and Nothing in the anxiety phenomenon along the lines of existential thinking of Kierkegaard. The hypothesis as a judgment that is presumed to be true in order to explain certain facts with it or as an assumption on the basis of facts reflects in the thesis that Heidegger, asking the question about the meaning of Being and the tendency of getting to his concept in the anxiety phenomenon, especially in his later speeches, gets to pronounce that Being is Nothing, without providing final answers, but considering that just asking the question about such a relation is a success.

The Memory of Original Wholeness and Conscious Differentiation in Genesis 1:1-2:4a

Sakkie Spangenberg has written a number of articles dealing with Genesis 1-3 in terms of its place in traditional Christian dogma and the paradigm shifts he has experienced in his understanding of this text. In this article, I would like to honor Sakkie by providing a Jungian psychoanalytic interpretation of Genesis 1:1-2:4a, focusing primarily on the memory of original wholeness and the conscious differentiation that are reflected in this text. I conclude that the psyche that produced this creation story had stalled at the third stage of individuation as a result of a traumatic experience which caused it to long for its erstwhile memory of original wholeness.

Elf Queens and Holy Friars: Fairy Beliefs and the Medieval Church by Richard Firth Green

Reviewed by: Elf Queens and Holy Friars: Fairy Beliefs and the Medieval Church by Richard Firth Green Carole M. Cusack Green, Richard Firth, Elf Queens and Holy Friars: Fairy Beliefs and the Medieval Church ( Middle Ages), Philadelphia, University of Pennsylvania Press, 2016; cloth; pp. 304; R.R.P. US $55.00, GBP 45.00; ISBN 9780812248432. This engrossing and eminently readable book makes a significant, and original, contribution to scholarship on the medieval Church through its rehabilitation of the lived reality of medieval people with regard to belief in fairy lore. Green thus is able to bring together fields that are usually separated: medieval romance, and attitudes expressed by clerics in the Middle Ages. Elf Queens and Holy Friars joins a myriad recent studies that have enriched knowledge of vernacular beliefs and of 'religion' that existed outside of texts, creeds, and official Church doctrines. The brief 'Introduction' suggests that fairy beliefs were fluid and controversial even in the medieval era, and disavows sundry [End Page 208] ideas that have been floated with reference to such beliefs, including the 'Celtic origins' (p. 5) hypothesis, and the rituals that people performed to draw on fairy power at dangerous times of life. Green's interest is political; his study uses Antonio Gramsci and Michel Foucault, and traces the 'policing' of fairy beliefs by the ecclesiastical hierarchy in the high Middle Ages. Chapter 1, 'Believing in Fairies', addresses C. S. Lewis's challenge to 'imagine what it would feel like to witness, or think we had witnessed, or merely to believe in' fairies (pp. 11–12). Green details the clerical connections between fairies and demons, and notes the learned middle ground that posited 'neutral angels' (p. 25). He also sketches the less judgemental treatment of fairyland and fairies in literary texts, and rejects the modern view that 'the fairy machinery of medieval romance [… is] a convenient narrative device' (p. 33). Learned writers including Gervase of Tilbury, Walter Map, and William of Newburgh also gave some support to the 'popular' beliefs and practices regarding fairies. Chapter 2, 'Policing Vernacular Belief', demonstrates that the perceived gulf between learned and popular culture in the medieval era does not really work for fairy beliefs. Green summons evidence to show that penalties and penances for fairy beliefs and practices became more severe over the centuries (Burchard of Worms, who died in the early eleventh century, sentenced those who believed in fairy lovers to ten days on bread and water, but the late fifteenth-century Malleus Maleficarum condemned them to death). Green traces a 'campaign of cultural repression' (p. 66) of fairy lore, which, he contends, makes certain of the claims regarding Celtic elements in romances tenable if not provable. Romances were texts in which half-fairies like the magician Merlin existed, and which resisted the official clerical position. Chapter 3, 'Incubi Fairies', opens with an analysis of the various terms for fairies, and explains how clerics consistently express the view that relationships with fairy lovers will end badly, where in vernacular romance 'liaisons with fairy mistresses are invariably exotic and exciting' (p. 101). Chapter 4, 'Christ the Changeling', is especially interesting in that it makes plain how theologically orthodox Christian dogmas might shade into versions of fairy beliefs. Changelings are usually male, and when examined by the learned the beliefs of peasants are generally dismissed, in favour of a 'medical' view. The term for 'changeling', conjoun, appears in diverse contexts (for example, legal texts and romances), and in the Chester and York play cycles, Christ is called a changeling. Green examines all the 'uncanny' terms used for Christ and biblical characters associated with him, such as Abel, and demonstrates that the popular understanding of orthodox doctrine has many connections with fairy beliefs. Chapter 5, 'Living in Fairyland', examines liminal places such as Avalon in the Arthurian legend, and related speculative ideas such as William of Auvergne's consideration of 'whether the fairy horde might be made up of those who had been lost in battle' (p. 158). This segues into a discussion of [End Page 209] the emergence of Purgatory, a term first used around 1170, which begins with Jacques le Goff's account of the subject. Green argues...

In the end there was the beginning: Pagan cosmogonies in the age of Justinian

The conflict between the pagans and the Christian authorities of the Eastern Roman Empire has given birth to numerous polemical discussions among modern commentators, which is due to the fact that our sources on the subject were often biased. The closing of the Neo-Platonic Academy in Athens in 529 has nevertheless been cited as the end of pagan philosophy, even though its last leader, Damascius, would continue his philosophical activity around the Persian border. My paper deals with the persistent reception of one subject that was at odds with the Christian dogma, the cosmogony. Damascius is also known for his De principiis, a lengthy treaty about the One and the Ineffable that precedes it. Although the work itself is first and foremost an answer to previous Neoplatonists, it is also an extremely valuable source for other lost Pre-Socratic cosmogonies, namely the Orphic ones, which are interpreted alongside other non-Greek creation myths in the final pages of the treatise. On the other hand, John Lydus provides an intriguing adaptation of such creation myths in De magistratibus reipublicae Romanae, where he combines Platonic and Aristotelian ideas in order to build an explanatory model for the contemporary decline in offices of state. His choice of sources shows, however, that he was likely a pagan himself and that he had professed the official religion in order to avoid persecution. Thus, he bases his argumentation on a pagan cosmogony as a form of resistance against recent changes in Byzantine bureaucracy.

Communicating Difference through Social Media: The Case of a Kenyan Facebook Group

ABSTRACTFollowing Butsch’s (2007) observation that ‘the sheer scale of modern media corporations overwhelms the relatively minute institutions of the public sphere, as a skyscraper enshadows a small public park’, the argument made here is that modern democratic societies are subjugated by a public sphere overwhelmed by the interests of the dominant social classes. Social media are stepping into the void thus created by the corporatised and institutionalised media. The article interrogates the ways in which a Facebook group, founded upon the principle of counterpublics à la Nancy Fraser (1990), communicates difference against the overwhelmingly and oppressively Christian Kenyan public sphere. The research found that the social media group provides its members with a community where they can form identities and voices not predicated upon the claims and assumptions of the dominant public. The group, in opposition to religion, dogma and tradition, identifies with freethinking and atheism, and challenges the suppositions of Christian dogma and perceived bigotry.

Understanding God from the Indian Context in the 20th and 21st Centuries

Understanding God from the Indian Context in the 20th and 21st Centuries

Der radikale Pragmatismus N. F. Fedorovs als Überwindung der Philosophie Kants

The article shows how the discussion between representatives of pragmatism and neo-Kantianism reveals an evident similarity between the two opposing philosophical positions. This similarity consists in their reliance on Kant’s philosophy as well as in their attempt to surpass it by turning to relativism and irrationalism. A particularly clear example of this is the projective philosophy of Nikolai F. Fedorov. By attempting to surpass Kant in a radically pragmatic way, Fedorov exposes the problems of pragmatism and “blows” it up from inside. In his philosophical construction, Fedorov pursues a “universal synthesis” of both the belief in reason inherent in Enlightenment and the belief in God, positivism and dialectic, projectivism and phantasy. On the one hand, he introduces a number of new notions, such as ideolatry, supramoralism, etc., on the other hand, he utilizes Christian dogmas. As a result, Fedorov fails to create a conception, which would dialectically combine contradictory approaches, producing a utopia or myth instead.

St Denys’ concept of initiation in De divinis nominibus: A paradoxical case

In this paper, I am trying to analyze and interpret key passages of The Divine Names which concern Denys’ theory of intitiation into the Christian mysteries. This analysis shows that Denys put forward Christian dogma as articulated in Neo-Platonic ontological terms; and that he understood initiation essentially as an advancing into the infinity of God.

Historicizing Christianity and Profiat Duran’s Kelimat ha-Goyim (1397)

This study of the Hebrew treatise Kelimat ha-Goyim (“Shame of the Gentiles,” 1397) by Profiat Duran exemplifies the stimulating impact medieval religious polemics exerted on the scholarly construction of Christian religious history. Besides explaining Jesus in his Jewish context, this Catalan author outlined in detail the emergence of the fundamental Christian dogmas during the apostolic, patristic, and medieval age and searched for the driving forces behind long-term religious transformation. While a common view holds that Duran’s method of New Testament study mirrored thirteenth-century Christian Talmudism, I underscore his originality as a historian of religion, whose clandestinely transmitted text still inspired early modern and nineteenth century attempts at critical scholarship. Duran’s proper context is the contemporary converso problem. A comparison with a Spanish Renaissance text, the Diálogos en Marruecos, strongly suggests that his historical representation of ex-Jews turned into Christian leaders not only addressed conversos, but actually meant to caricature them.

SWEDENBORG AND THE PLURALITY OF WORLDS: ASTROTHEOLOGY IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY

AbstractThe possible existence of extraterrestrial life led in the eighteenth century to a heated debate on the unique status of the human being and of Christianity. One of those who discussed the new scientific worldview and its implications for theology was the Swedish natural philosopher and theologian Emanuel Swedenborg. This article discusses Swedenborg's astrotheological transformation, his use of theological arguments in his early cosmology, and his cosmogony that later on ended up in his use of contemporary natural philosophy in his theology, especially concerning the question of the plurality of worlds. I will first sketch the astrotheology found in his natural philosophical works, and then turn to the astrotheology of his later spiritual teachings. In Swedenborg's works we find teleological arguments and a stress on the universality of the divine creation and Christianity, as well as anthropomorphic descriptions of extraterrestrial life. By reconciling contemporary astronomical ideas, among others the concept of the plurality of worlds, with Christian dogmas, Swedenborg refuted deistic conclusions that Jesus was merely a mortal, while at the same time keeping his belief in the modern astronomical worldview.

Disrupting the Colonial Transgender/Law Nexus

Not long ago, clutched in colonial laws deployed to regulate dissident genders, the Hong Kong courts had never recognized the transgender person as a legitimate legal personality. Alongside powerful cultural transphobia that casts doubts on the corporeal authenticity of gender in post-operative transgender subjects, the laws held desperately onto the anachronistic and heterosexualized matrimonial framework that denies transgender subjects of their marriage rights—via the vastly productive hegemonic Judeo–Christian dogma of “one man and one woman” in marriage laws. All this was about to change because the disruptive pulse of cosmopolitan marriage laws began to vibrate in various national jurisdictions, causing ripples that spread through the legal disputes of rights first in non-procreative marriage and divorce rights, and subsequently in gay and transgender marriage legal challenges. Using the groundbreaking case of W v. Registrar of Marriages heard in Hong Kong’s various courts (2010-2013), this article attempts to work through the conceptual possibilities offered by a postcolonial legal approach to understand the contingent but real legal possibilities to advance an immanent politics of transgender justice in the 20th century.

Między „jarzmem fanariockim” a „jarzmem jezuickim”. Polemiki wokół bułgarskiej kwestii cerkiewnej między periodykami „Bułgaria” a „Dunajski Łabędź” w latach 1859–1861

At the turn of 1850s and 1860s there was a serious discussion inside the Bulgarian Church Movement, which had fallen apart into four parties: national, pro-Turkish moderates, pro-Russian moderates and pro-Uniate. One of the most fervent debates took place between the journals “The Danubian Swan” (edited by Georgi Sava Rakovski, connected with the national party the Church Movement) and “Bulgaria” (published by the leader of pro-Uniate party Dragan Tzankov). The discussions focused on the topics pivotal for the Bulgarian national case: the relation of the Church Movement to the Ottoman Empire, the Patriarchate of Constantinople, the Catholic Church and the Great Powers (especially Russia and France), the problem of the Bulgarian cultural model, the medieval heritage and Christian dogmas. One of those topics concerned the relation of the Church movement to the Ottoman Empire – in general both journals declared loyalty to the Sultan, but the problem mainly concerned the Turkish censorship. “Bulgaria” and “The Dunabian Swan“ agreed that the Patriarchate of Constantinople is the main enemy of Bulgarian interests. Liberating the Bulgarian Church from Greeks was their primary goal. Tzankov wanted to realize this goal in cooperation with the Catholic Church, for Rakovski, instead, the Church Union would lead to the new enslavement of the Bulgarians, who would fall under the “yoke of Jesuits”. That problem was also connected with the search for an ally between the Great Powers: “Bulgaria” wanted to cooperate with France, which was the main patron of Catholicism in the World, whereas “The Dunabian Swan” tried to gain Russian support. The activists of the Church Movement realized that the Union will have a significant impact on the future of the Bulgarian culture. Tzankov was a proponent of the modernization of the Bulgarian society according to Western standards. Rakovski warned that the Union will be the beginning of the collapse of the Bulgarian nation and a betray of its age-old connection with the Orthodox Church. They proved these visions with historical examples – during the discussion the editor of “Bulgaria” created an alternative and false version of the Medieval history of Bulgaria, in which he tried to prove the existence of deep relations between Bulgarians and the Catholic Church. Another important part of the discussion between the journals revolved around Christian dogmas and was based on the old polemics about dogmas lasting since the 9th century between the Western and Eastern Christianity. The arguments used in the articles about the Church Movement by Rakovski and Tzankov only very rarely had a rational character, they were usually based on emotions, stereotypes and the Bulgarian sense of pride.

The essence оf the Christian dogma by Erich Fromm

The essence оf the Christian dogma by Erich Fromm. In the article is widely considered the dynamics of religious beliefs Erich Fromm. For the first time a comparative analysis of all Fromm’s work relating to the theme of religion. Fromm devoted to the search itself and society in faith quite a lot of time because such research is very important and requires a recess in the nature of some of the world’s religions, including Christianity. Questions and countermeasures manifestations of humanism and authoritarian Christianity, its historical evolution and ideals throw a kind of challenge to the outstanding philosopher, and forced him to work on this complex issue almost all his life. Dogma Erich Fromm developed so that initially there was an idea of the man who became God, and turned on the idea of God became man. The concept of the Old Testament prophets world extend beyond relationships between people, harmony should prevail between man and nature. Peace between man and nature is harmony between them. Erich Fromm permanently broke with Judaism in ‘26 and has since considered himself a Christian. But Christianity Fromm, his understanding of God, the role of Christ in history, the interpretation of the evolution of ideas and Savior is surprising for its boldness.