Theme Of God Research Articles

The Democratic Public To Be Brought into Existence and Education as Secularization

The Democratic Public To Be Brought into Existence and Education as Secularization Stefano Oliverio (bio) Introduction: Democracy as the ‘Dead God’ of Modernity and the Dimensions of the ‘Office’ A decade ago the German sociologist Ulrich Beck seemed to consign democracy to the past and, significantly, drew upon an ironically religion-inspired vocabulary: Democracy becomes the religion of the past epoch. One still practises it—on Sunday or on Christmas under the ‘Christmas tree’ of polls. But no one really still believes in it. It is the dead God of the first modernity.1 When Ulrich Beck dismisses democracy as “the dead god” of a past era or as a liturgy drained of any substantial meaning, he misses the target principally in reference to modernity: indeed, from a Deweyan perspective, if democracy is really going to expire it may be not because of the end of modernity but precisely because modernity is “as yet unformed, inchoate.”2 Against this backdrop the question this paper would like to explore is whether (and in what sense) the engagement with a genuine democracy is, in the final analysis, the engagement with modernization as secularization (in a sense which needs to be investigated). And whether (and in what sense) such an engagement is also (if not primarily) an educational one. I will deal with this thematic constellation (weaving together the themes of God and a [bygone?] liturgy, democracy and modernity, secularization and education) through a reading of The Public and Its Problems and, in particular, through an investigation of what official means, the latter being a notion which is pivotal in Dewey’s political theory. Indeed, the very first illustration of what ‘public’ means is realized by referring to ‘official’ as opposed to ‘private,’3 and the very definition of ‘public’ implies a mobilization of the notion of ‘officials.’ By resorting to an archaeological analysis of sorts in the wake of Giorgio Agamben,4 I will investigate how and in what sense the notion of ‘official’ is interlaced with that of ‘community’ up to the point that they come to constitute a sort of dyad. I will take my cue from and build on a peculiar expression that Dewey uses after summarizing his hypothesis on the public: officials and their special powers give form and organization to the public, which otherwise would be formless,5 but [End Page 5] since the public forms a state only by and through officials and their acts, and since holding official position does not work a miracle of transubstantiation, there is nothing perplexing nor even discouraging in the spectacle of the stupidities and errors of political behavior.6 I am not interested here in the sociological remark about possible crimes and misdemeanors but, firstly, in the occurrence (very rare but very significant in Dewey7) of such a momentous word as “transubstantiation” in the context where the ‘forming power’—in a non-substantialist but rather purely functionalist sense—of officials is highlighted and, secondly, in the fact that, in terms of the history of ideas, the officials’ position has much to do with the miracle of transubstantiation. In a sense, to speak with a taste for the paradox, the question of ‘democratic officialdom’ amounts to how transubstantiation occurs in human communities. Inadvertently and independently from any clear historical and genealogical consciousness that he could have had about it, Dewey is here hinting at one of the depths of the idea of the office as officium (I am using the Latin word here to signal that the concept is being used in reference to its long-standing history). Investigating this idea, by capturing and elaborating the clue offered in the text, will allow us to understand what is at stake when the question of officialdom emerges and when it reacts with those of democracy and of community. This will require an exploration of the idea of officium and the distinction between three different (but interrelated) senses of it (I will speak, then, of officium0, officium1, officium2, for the sake of brevity). By officium0 I refer to the anthropological dimension of the notion, related to the institution and management...

A eterna jornada da comunicação do cristianismo, no esforço da fé de Karl Rahner

O presente artigo aborda o desafio de comunicar o Cristianismo aos nossos contemporâneos. Nesse sentido, o êxito do papa Francisco em seus quatro meses de pontificado vem impactando o mundo. Os nossos contemporâneos sobrevivem a um bombardeio de informação de naturezas tão diversas que a missão de comunicar o cristianismo deve partir da identificação do que efetivamente se constitui no núcleo da existência cristã, o que Francisco reitera cada dia, no uso reiterado de expressões como “sair de si”, encontro, relação, diálogo, amor… Nesta busca, a autora encontra na gigantesca teologia de Karl Rahner, o encontro que a um só tempo define a relação entre o homem e Deus, na síntese: “o homem é o evento de uma autocomunicação de Deus absoluta, livre e que perdoa”. Esta síntese, para muitos autores, constitui o centro e o fundamento de toda teologia de Karl Rahner. Nesse sentido, e na intenção de apontar a experiência de Deus que o homem faz no mundo e no tempo em que vivemos, o artigo ressalta que “a existência cristã aborda a totalidade da vida do homem”. Apesar de Rahner haver falecido já há 29 anos, a atualidade de sua obra se encontra na prática de uma teologia ocupada com o homem em seu dia a dia e no amor a Deus que, ao autocomunicar-se, doa de si à sua criatura. Assim, o tema da autocomunicação de Deus permitiu tirar lições da rica Tradição cristã, por seu passado de XX séculos e apontar um caminho para hoje, assim como rumos para a Igreja do Futuro, que se quer no mundo onde os homens, afinal, convivem e acolhem a autocomunicação de Deus, que é Deus.

Miłość Boga w ujęciu J. Razingera/Benedykta XVI

The article presents the subject of God’s love in J. Ratzinger/Benedict XVI’s interpretation. The theme of God’s love, according to Ratzinger, is not to be reduced to one of the many theological issues to be discussed. Pope puts the love of God at the center of the Christian life as a principle and interpretative key. It is no coincidence that the first encyclical Deus caritas est, inaugurating his pontificate, begins with the words which are the profession of faith in the name of God who is Love. This agapetological feature of the Papal reflection sets the frame of his theology and points at the sphere where it reaches its essence and consummation. The subject of God’s love is discussed in two parts of the article: the first one consists of the analysis of the three terms: eros, agape and caritas, which are the three aspects of love. The philosophical and biblical analysis of these expressions made by Benedict XVI allows him to extract the essence of divine love. In the second part of the present article, the three moments reflecting the whole dynamics of love in the teaching of the Pope will be discussed: the source of love in the Triune God (1), the concretization and the fullest revelation of love in the person and work of Jesus Christ (2), and the relationship between the love of God and the love of man (3). The latter ultimately becomes a human response based on the primacy of God’s love, and turns into a divine-human love.

Horizontes da Pertença Religiosa a partir do Cristianismo

A situação atual do cristianismo e, portanto, do tema de Deus poderia por uma parte resumir-se na constatação seguinte: depois do predomínio da convicção, que durou séculos, que as outras religiões ou tradições religiosas giram em torno do cristianismo considerado como centro do fenômeno religioso mundial tomado em bloco, no momento atual é mais do que tempo de reconhecer que o centro ao redor do qual gravitam todas as tradições religiosas, incluídas aí o cristianismo, é Deus.

L’infinité divine chez Grégoire de Nysse : de l’anthropologie à la polémique trinitaire

Abstract In this article, I propose to call into question the opinion according to which the Contra Eunomium was a founding moment for the idea of God’s infinity in Gregory of Nyssa. I take into account two writings whose evidence on this subject was often neglected by most scholars of Gregory: De hominis opificio and De anima et resurrectione. I point out to the fact that virtually all the ideas related to the theme of God’s infinity are already present in these treaties. Instead of considering the Contra Eunomium as a breaking point in the intellectual developement of Gregory, I then suggest one should read it in the light and the continuity of his anthropological treaties.

The Mixed Multitude in Exodus 12:38: Glorification, Creation, and Yhwh’s Plunder of Israel and the Nations

Abstract The “mixed multitude” of Exodus 12:38 is a curious detail who are included amidst the departure of God’s people from Egypt. Yet close attention reveals that the mixed multitude holds a key concerning Israel’s deliverance and their nature as God’s people. Exodus 12:35-39 is a hinge device, and the one place in the narrative of chapters 1-15 in which its liturgical elements, plunder and creation motifs, and primary theme of God’s glorification converge. This makes 12:35-39 both a structurally and thematically key moment in the larger narrative, wherein God’s plunder from Egypt is an Israel who is constituted of both the “sons of Israel” and the “mixed multitude” of 12:38. And in view of Israel’s deliverance in their crossing of the sea in chapter 14, this composite people is identified as God’s new humanity who is brought forth in his new act of creation.

God’s Love According to Hosea and Deuteronomy: A Prophetic Reworking of a Deuteronomic Concept?

One of the most evident shared themes between the books of Hosea and Deuteronomy is the theme of God’s love for Israel. The usual scholarly explanation goes that Hosea fathered this notion which later was taken up in the Deuteronomy tradition. A close scrutiny of this theme in Hosea and Deuteronomy establishes that the lexical and structural agreements in the theme are considerable. However, it also reveals some major differences within the thematic parallel. The simplest solution seems to be that Hosea has reused an available Deuteronomic concept.

Suspense, Simultaneity, and Divine Providence in the Book of Tobit

(ProQuest: ... denotes non-US-ASCII text omitted.) Look at all the works of the Most High, Ben Sira urges his readers, they are two by two, one corresponding to the other (... [33:15]). This is a sentiment with which the author of the book of Tobit would have been in certain agreement. In Tobit's carefully ordered world, each problem has its corresponding solution, each need its corresponding fulfillment. Thus, the story ends in perfect equilibrium; there are no loose ends. The orderliness of this itself corresponds, I will argue, to one of Tobit's most salient theological emphases-namely, divine providence. According to George W. E. Nickelsburg, the book of Tobit a portrait of a God who carefully orchestrates . . . the dark events of human and history, working them toward gracious ends.1 And our hero certainly shows no ambivalence about the reality of God's providential intervention: There is nothing that can escape his hand (13:2), he proclaims in his joyful hymn of praise upon the story's successful denouement.2 My purpose in this essay is twofold: First, I want to explore the techniques by which the author creates this tale's reassuring sense of tidiness. In particular, I will suggest that the story's management of suspense and artful use of simultaneity posit a world in which God is firmly in control. Second, I hope to illuminate the interaction between this author's fiction and his reality: Tobit's carefully supervised world is, I will argue, a fitting response to the anxiety and seeming chaos of in Diaspora-chaos that is itself represented but rendered impotent in the narrative. First, however, I will risk two brief comments concerning this book's genre: Emil Schurer, noting Tobit's salient emphasis on almsgiving, burial, and endogamy, categorized this book among Jewish didactic and paraenetical stories-a characterization that continues to exert considerable influence.3 I would not deny that this story presents its readers with moral exempla: the elderly Tobit's assiduous devotion to Jewish piety certainly does provide a model for in the Diaspora, and the author's concern for righteousness is evident in the ethical omnibuses provided by both Tobit and the angel Raphael (4:3-19; 12:6-10). However, such moralizing is but a corollary of the book's primary aim, for this does its work on a more fundamental level-it constructs a world in which traditional mores make sense. Second, the sobriety of Tobit's alleged parenetic purpose has been challenged recently by those who see this as a much more light-hearted book. David McCracken considers Tobit essentially a comic narrative that encourages us to laugh at a character who is obsessed with tribe and family and comically overzealous about his own virtues.4 But Tobit is hardly the only biblical character who claims to have walked in the ways of truth and righteousness all the days of [his] life (1:3),5 and we do not accuse David (see Psalm 26) or Hezekiah (see 2 Kgs 20:3; Isa 38:3) of risible egotism. Moreover, Tobit's concern for proper burial and endogamous marriage is no more laughable than, for example, the book of Jubilees' calendrical preoccupation-though indeed it may be difficult for secularized readers like us to take such religious scruples seriously.6 So, although this novel undeniably contains the occasional humorous touch, and although we may find it amusingly superstitious, there is simply no compelling reason to imagine that it was intended as a comedy.7 Οn the contrary, it is deeply concerned with the wholly serious theme of God's providence. Indeed, as I hope to demonstrate, the very structure of this emphasizes that God's ordered universe has not-despite the vagaries of exile-succumbed to chaos.8 Through conscientious management of suspense and artful use of simultaneity, Tobit posits a world in which God is firmly in control. …

God—Creation's Hope, Creation—God's Home: A Pentecostal Theological Response to Terence E. Fretheim's God and World in the Old Testament: A Relational Theology of Creation

AbstractThis essay is a theological response to Terence E. Fretheim's God and World in the Old Testament. I will look first at Fretheim's theological method and hermeneutics. Then, I will examine the theme of God's relationality as it relates to God's openness and human ongoing participation with continuous creation. In this section I will also address praise, judgment, and salvation. Finally, I will offer a brief theological reflection on Pentecostal glossolalic speech as indicated by Rom. 8.26-27. I argue that glossolalic speech as an act of prayerful praise causes one to enter into the deep symbiotic relationship with the sociality of God and nonhuman creation. This is one significant way for the charismatic community to participate with God in continuous creation.

Paul’s use of slavery imagery in the Hagar allegory

In this article it is examined how Paul used slavery imagery in Galatians 4 when dealing with the theme of God’s “children”. The use of words related to the semantic field of slavery in Galatians is briefly discussed. Paul uses these words both with their literal meaning and in a figurative sense. This is also true for the main passage to be discussed in this article – the Hagar allegory. In Galatians 4, Paul first speaks about a real slave wo- man, and then uses this imagery to describe those who do not accept God’s promises to have been fulfilled in Jesus. The way Paul uses the term “allegorise” is examined. It is argued that in Galatians 4 Paul uses the slavery imagery in order to speak about aspects of one’s relationship to God. The background of his use of the Hagar allegory is his “salvation historical” view concerning God’s covenantal relationship to his people. He uses allusions to Old Testament texts to express his view re- garding who belongs to God’s people in the era of the new covenant.

Bóg - ״budowniczy Izraela"1 i Kościoła. Przesłanie Rdz 2,18-24 w świetle tajemnicy paschalnej Chrystusa

This article aims mainly at revealing the spiritual sense of the pericope according to wording of the Papal Biblical Commission: the spiritual sense conceived according to Christian faith, as sense expressed through biblical texts, when they are read under the influence of Holy Spirit in the context of paschal mystery of Christ and the new life springing from it. JHWH is expressed in the words: It is not good for the man to be for himself (Gen. 2,18a). In BHS there is a particle of purpose 19, for, in purpose of, overlooked by exegetes in a Hebrew word hbaddó, consisting of a particle of purpose 19, a noun bad = separation, a part of, and a pronoun suffix 6. That is why the standard translation of this verse should be changed (istead to be alone, for to be for himself). ‘The man-Adam, being alone, not having any relation to anybody else, was not yet image of God’ (Kiemikowski), because ‘God is love’ in the relation of the three divine persons, and because it is said in Gn 1,27 that woman and man were created together in God«s image and the word 3àdam means both man and woman (1,26). The deepest carrier of the message of the pericope is the verb banah - built, occuring here in the form of wajjiqtol wayylben. It is full of meaning that the theme of God as a builder or an architect in himself appears in the exile or post-exile texts Is 45,13; 62,5; lKgs 11,39; Jer 5,5n; 31,2-6; Ez 36,33-38; Ps 102,17; 127,1; 147,2. Biblical authors use a verb ״bnh”- to build because a conception and birth of the man was always related to activity of God who ‘was building’ man in his mother's womb (Gn 16,2; 30,5; Ps 139,13), who was building a dynasty (2 Sm 7,27; 1 Kgs 17,25), and consequently he was building the nation and the state, (cf. Ex 1,21 Dt 25,9). The following conlusions result from this article: 1. The key to understanding the pericope is the allusion of the verse Gn 2,23a to the formula of the covenant (W. Briiggemann), which does not say about origin of the woman in a biological sense. Exegetical tradition interpreting the text as supposedly saying about the biological origin of the woman is based on familiarization of the word ‘rib’ and with inappropriate play of words in 23b, which blurrs and misinterpretes the meaning of the text. While the main intention of the text is to emphasize solidarity of man and woman and their mutual responsibilty for each other and for the world. 2. This solidarity is mutual but it refers both to cultivating soil - 3àdàmàh (3iSSah - 5adama11) and to observing the Law of the covenant. 3. Image of God and his bride Israel is close to the prophets.That is why Gn 2,18-24 refers to the teachings of the prophets about the covenant (H. Renckens), especially to Hos 1-3; Ez 16 i 23; Deutero- i Trito-Isaiah. This image was presented both in terms of infidelity and restored relations of the covenant. The metaphor of marriage says about the covenant of God with Israel. However, on basis of Gn 2,23a it is clear that this marriage is not a more personal or auxiliary image of the covenant but speaks directly about permanent relations which last between God and Israel in weal and woe, in weakness and power, in faithfulness and infidelity. 4. The same imagery is used by St. Paul in Eph 5,21-33. The relation between Christ and Church was built on the community of fate, loyalty and responsibility which has a guarantee to survive in any lot. Christ and Church are one body. This is a formula of the covenant repeated by Paul from Gn 2,24. The words of St. Paul His purpose for dying for all was that men, while still in life, should cease to live for themselves, and and should live for him, whofor their sake died and was raised to life (2C0r 5,15) are found as a prolongation of Gn 2,18 It is not good for the man to be for himself. 5. The text does not suggest any superiority of male element over female or justifies sexual intercourses since such a problem did not exist in Israel. Marriage was based on community of fate, loyalty and commitment which ought to be treated seriously. It is neither light nor accidental, grounded on mood or feeling. It is based on an oath of solidarity. Its general aim is not tofind mutual joy, though not excluded, but it is the job of cultivating soil and obeying the Law of the covenant. Thus, human relations were grasped in context of solidarity and responsibility for people and the world.

Suffering and Spirituality in the Poetry of Emily Dickinson

After a brief review of recent accounts of spirituality in its relation to medicine and psychotherapy, Emily Dickinson’s poetry is considered as a springboard to a more specific account of spirituality. While not conventionally religious, she is arguably among the most spiritual of poets inasmuch as her themes of God, love, beauty, and especially death and suffering all depend upon the jarring juxtaposition of embodied human experience and transcendent human significance. Her poems suggest a complex view of the ambiguous relation of suffering to human action and meaning. Psychotherapy is a spiritual process not because it necessarily involves supernatural beings or destinies, but because it represents the struggle between human will and aspiration on the one hand and acceptance of biological and other realities on the other.

The Kingdom of Heaven in Kindred Systems, Judaic and Christian

Abstract "Kingdom of Heaven" figures prominently in one Judaic system, forms part of the background of another, and plays no role whatsoever in a third, which makes possible the comparison and contrast of Judaisms. What is at stake in this exercise is how and whether "Kingdomk of Heaven" functions as a category-formation in the Aggadic theology as it does in the Evangelists' account of Jesus' teaching adn the media framed to bear that message. In Aggadic and Halakic contexts, by contrast, the theme of God's rule pervades, but the particularization of that theme as "Kingdom of Heaven" forms no more than an inert category-formation, one that figures as part of the background of ideas that everywhere inhere but nowhere take an active, generative role.

The Kingdom of Heaven in Kindred Systems, Judaic and Christian

Abstract "Kingdom of Heaven" figures prominently in one Judaic system, forms part of the background of another, and plays no role whatsoever in a third, which makes possible the comparison and contrast of Judaisms. What is at stake in this exercise is how and whether "Kingdomk of Heaven" functions as a category-formation in the Aggadic theology as it does in the Evangelists' account of Jesus' teaching adn the media framed to bear that message. In Aggadic and Halakic contexts, by contrast, the theme of God's rule pervades, but the particularization of that theme as "Kingdom of Heaven" forms no more than an inert category-formation, one that figures as part of the background of ideas that everywhere inhere but nowhere take an active, generative role.

The Latin Visions of Calabre and Ida and the Origins of the Initial Branches of the Old French Crusade Cycle

The initial branches of the Old French Crusade Cycle were written in the second half of the twelfth century. They were composed with the theme of God's agency in the affairs of the First Crusade as a primary organizing factor through the dreams and prophecy of the principal women: Elioxe (Naissance), Beatrice (Chevalier au Cygne), Ida and Calabre (Enfances Godefroi). Calabre, mother of Kerbogha, the Amir of Mosul, is in the Gesta Francorum et aliorum Hierosolimitanorum, the earliest eye-witness account of the siege of Antioch. In the Beatae Idae Vita a vision of Ida, Godfrey of Bouillon's mother, is recorded concerning the importance of her sons in conquering Jerusalem. The writer perceived the principal theme of the narrative and knew the Latin text of Calabre's dream and the Latin life of Ida and her dream. He saw exactly how these two dreams fit the historical reality of this crusade. Transposing Calabre's vision from a specific situation at Aleppo involving her son to a more general prophecy long before the First Crusade itself, the writer set up how God became the efficient cause of the movement designed to recover the Holy Sepulchre and the land that gave birth to Christianity. Then in Ida's dream, also years before the event, he saw God's preparation of the lineage of knights that would carry out God's will.

Theology and Ecclesiology in the Miletus Speech: Reflections on Content and Context

Paul's address to the Ephesian elders in Acts 20 stands at the center of an extended treatment of the internal life of the church (20.1–21.17), and constitutes Luke's last portrait of the believing community. In this section, scenes of community life (20.7–12, 17–38; 21.8–14) alternate with travel episodes (20.1–6, 13–16; 21.1–7, 15–17) to show the relationship among groups of believers scattered around the Aegean and back to Caesarea. The resulting portrait of believing communities echoes some important features of the early descriptions of community life in Jerusalem. In this larger literary context, the speech to the Ephesian elders takes on a different appearance from its usual characterization as the farewell address of Luke's hero, Paul. The speech repeatedly connects the church to God, introducing Luke's larger themes of God's plan, the action of the Holy Spirit, and the instruction of Jesus himself. These features show that the church's future, in Luke's view, has less to do with its imitation of Paul than with its relationship to the God who calls it into being.

Die betekenis en funksie van die himnes in Openbaring 12-22

The meaning and function of the hymns in Revelation 12-22 The hymns in Revelation 12-22 function as type of commentary, as they interpret the narrative events of the kernel plot. Being separated spatially and in some instances temporally, the hymns offer interpretations on the events and emphasise the basic themes of God’s accomplishment of salvation and judgement through Jesus Christ in the narrative. The final set of hymns in 19:1-8 recall the prior themes recounted through the hymns to form a musical climax. The hymns function as both prolepsis and analepsis in the narrative time, to the creation of the cosmos by God on the one hand, and the final victory of God on the other. As satellelites, the hymns maintain contact with the readers. The hymns function in an assuring sense throughout, constantly reminding of the final victory, one in which the implied reader plays an active role. A better understanding of the use of hymns in Revelation could enrich the use of songs in our liturgy today.

The Pentecostal Discovery of the New Testament Theme of God's Power and Its Relevance to the African Context

The Pentecostal Discovery of the New Testament Theme of God's Power and Its Relevance to the African Context

On the Way from Schleiermacher to Barth: A Critical Reappraisal of Isaak August Dorner's Essay on Divine Immutability

The theme of this article is the reconstruction of the doctrine of God offered by the German theologian and historian of doctrine Isaak August Dorner (1809–84), in his treatise ‘On the Proper Conception of the Doctrine of God's Immutability, with Special Reference to the Reciprocal Relation between God's Suprahistorical and Historical Life.’ Although the theme of God's immutability has received wide attention in the last years, Dorner's essay has gone largely unnoticed, and its contribution to the current debate still awaits appreciation. The following argument shall provide some building-blocks for this goal. It presupposes that Dorner's theology was shaped in dialogue with the thought of Schelling, Hegel, and Schleiermacher, but it will extend this perspective and ask for the particular systematic-theological link between Schleiermacher and Karl Barth that Dorner's essay represents.

Job in Auckland: Karl Wolfskehl's Poetry in the Light of the Jewish Job, the Topos of the <i>Galut</i>. and the Lurianic Theme of God's Exile from Himself

Wolfskehl