True Christian Research Articles

Den inkarnerade kyrkan – synliggjord

The theme of the Festschrift to Carsten Bach-Nielsen in Aarhus is den sete kirke, i. e. “the seen church”. The theme derives its meaning from the fact that the Church is not just an abstraction or an invisible community, but also something that is incarnated, as it were, in the world. From the various articles in the volume, I have derived four themes concerning this “seen” Church. First, the “seen Church” always takes different material forms. The physical materials, such as church buildings, have according to the “material turn” the ability to transform us. During the Enlightenment and Pietism, the material forms of the physical church were often regarded as something negative. The “outward” forms were even considered dangerous whereas true Christianity was to be found deeply inside of man. Second, the survival of the “seen Church” has often been discussed. Should the cultural ecclesiastical heritage be something made for eternity, or has it an intrinsic value in always adjusting to the present situation? In either case, it is seldom possible to liberate the forms from its presumed content. Third, despite the skepticism from Pietism and the Enlightenment, the material forms in church culture regained their value during the 20th century. The “true church” could actually manifest itself in “seen” forms. Fourth, the “seen Church” cannot be isolated from its context. The Church as an institution is not limited to its buildings, and the activities in these buildings were, at least in earlier times, aimed at preserving society as a whole. Finally, it can be said that since history is always present in the “seen Church”, it is of importance to relate consciously to this history.

Nietzsche’s Protestant Fathers: A Study in Prodigal Christianity

Nietzsche’s Protestant Fathers: A Study in Prodigal Christianity

Nicholas of Cusa and the Ottoman Threat to Christendom

Abstract Nicholas of Cusa (1401–1464) had a long-time interest in the possibility of dialog with muslims. When the Ottomans captured Constantinople in 1453, he authored a vision of religious peace in De pace fidei. By the time Pope Pius II called for a crusade against the Turks, Nicholas provided him with a critique of the Qurʾān. The changed viewpoint combined polemic with an effort to find Christian truths in the Islamic sacred text. This article traces the changes in Cusanus’s thought on Islam and the crusade through an examination of his sermons and other texts not ordinarily read in this context. These texts reveal a gradual move away from dialog and toward support of the crusade.

Hausväterliteratur in the Educationand Spirituality of a Noblemanin the Early Modern Era

Aim. The aim of this study is to discuss how important the so-called Hausväterliteratur genre was in the education and spirituality of (not only) aristocrats in the Early Modern Era. Concept. This article will introduce the Hausväterliteratur as a literary genre that strongly influenced the spirituality and morality of its readers –householders, administrators of property, and their wives. Methods. The method applied was text analysis. The social history method based on research of the primary sources was also employed.. Results. The study confirms that the treatises of the so-called Hausväterliteratur genre, kept in high numbers in European libraries in the Early Modern Age, carry a certain type of spirituality which calls for “true Christian life” following what was often a Protestant pattern (exhortation for frequent reading of the Bible). Conclusion. Most of these books outline an ideal of the Christian life, characterised by the establishment of an order within the “household”, or “house”, i.e., the family in the broader sense, including both the manor owner and those closest to him as well as all his subjects and servants.

Logos, Thomas Carlyle, and The Everlasting Yea

Logos, Thomas Carlyle, and The Everlasting Yea Raymond N. MacKenzie, Editor Keywords Thomas Carlyle, Romanticism, Catholic Romanticism This is my first issue as Editor at Logos, and I want to begin by saying just a few words about my predecessor, Dr. David Deavel. Dave has taken a new position with the University of St. Thomas in Houston, and he will be very much missed here. His contributions to Logos were too many to count; many readers will remember, in particular, his many fine prefaces, which seamlessly blended personal reflection with intellectual and spiritual inquiry. And all Logos readers are in his debt for his work in soliciting, evaluating, and editing manuscripts, and for shaping and nurturing the journal for nineteen years (six as editor-in-chief). We here at the journal wish the very best for Dave and his family. As I begin my tenure as editor of Logos, I’m naturally drawn to the question of ends, of goals. I’ve been thinking about the question, what is this journal for? The obvious answers—the journal is a place for scholarly inquiry, for intellectual exchange—are satisfactory as far as they go, but those are true of all academic journals. Does Logos have something else to do, something larger to provide? Our website provides a good place to start thinking about the question. There, we read the following: [End Page 5] Springing from our commitment at the St. Thomas Center for Catholic Studies to contribute to national and international developments in Catholic higher education, we began publishing Logos: A Journal of Catholic Thought and Culture more than 20 years ago. Since then, Logos has served as an interdisciplinary meeting point for scholars to publish their finest work and for readers to remain engaged in the beauty, truth, and vitality of Christianity as it is rooted in and shaped by Catholicism. Engaging readers in the beauty, truth, and vitality of Christianity: now we can see a better answer to the question taking shape. Continuing to think about the subject, my attention was piqued by a concept that is developed in this issue of Logos, in Peter Gorday’s article. I will give a proper introduction to Reverend Gorday’s work later in this preface, but right now I want to pick up a specific point, though it is one that at first seems far removed from the question of what Logos can offer. He cites the French writer Henri Bremond as arguing that Romanticism is in its essence mystical; Bremond spoke of a conservative romanticism, even a Catholic romanticism. He seemed to see Romanticism as profoundly religious and thus, by implication, as a literature that is closely connected to faith. Was Romanticism essentially mystical? Was it that close to Catholicism? Nowadays, it is rarely discussed in such terms; scholars tend to stress the revolutionary side of Romanticism, its political radicalism, its flouting of taboos and breaking of boundaries. But I think Henri Bremond was right. Romantic poetry, especially the British variety, is very often marked by what can only be called a sacramental vision: Coleridge’s Rime of the Ancient Mariner is a prime example, as Catholic a poem as any non-Catholic ever wrote. Robert Penn Warren saw this already back in 1946 in a classic study of the poem that explored Coleridge’s “sacramental conception of the universe.”1 Coleridge’s haunting allegory of unmotivated sin, repentance, penance, and redemption not only expresses Catholic themes and ideas, but it foregrounds Catholic imagery and rhetoric. And Coleridge is [End Page 6] not alone among the Romantics in his profound quest for the spiritual. His friend Wordsworth is always in search of the transcendent: Our destiny, our being’s heart and homeIs with infinitude, and only there . . . 2 Wordsworth is often cast as a pantheist for the way he almost seems to deify nature, but when we read more closely, it is clear that for him, the natural world conceals a mighty power behind it, almost as if in illustration of an important point St. Athanasius makes: “He [God] provided the works of creation also as means by which the Maker might be known.”3 Across the Channel...

EPISODIC ISSUES «IN THE LIFE OF ST. DAVID GAREJELI»

One episode of «the life of Saint David Garejeli» is discussed in the work, in which it is narrated how Saint David Garejeli (6th century) converted to Christ an unrighteous man named Bubakr, who threatened to kill David, but after a miracle performed by David, he turned to Christ. From the work, we can see that David speaks to Bubakr in Armenian, which indicates that Bubakr is Armenian. But the author only hints about the Armenianness of this person and does not say it directly. In the present work, the attention is focused on the fact that in the Middle Ages the word `Armenian', along with the ethnic one, also had a confessional meaning and that it was also used in the meaning of Monophysite. The authors of the article express the opinion that in the previous text, which the creator of «Life of St. David Garejeli» (10th century) relied on when writing his work, Bubakri was presented as a person of Monophysite confession. The text showed that the Monophysite was going to kill the holy monk and he changed his mind only after Bubakr and his son were cured of their illnesses by this monk. According to the authors of the article, as Monophysitism was presented in a negative context in the Bubakr episode, the creator of the new monument about St. David Garejeli did not mention the word «Armenian» at all. After the church split between them, they tried to repair the broken relationship, and presenting Monophysitism in a negative context would not contribute to the improvement of this relationship. Bubakr is presented as a positive person in the monument, it is shown that he showed strong faith in God and became a true Christian.

Guéranger’s Révolution: Fire to a Movement through Fidelity to Tradition

Guéranger’s RévolutionFire to a Movement through Fidelity to Tradition Ryan T. Ruiz (bio) Keywords Catholic liturgy, Catholic liturgical movement, Dom Prosper Guéranger, Solesmes, Benedictine revival, Gregorian chant, nineteenth-century French Catholicism Introduction: The Revolutionary Nature of Tradition On the centenary of the death of Dom Prosper Guéranger (1805– 1875)—the restorer of the Benedictine Order in France following the tumultuous events of the late eighteenth-century French Revolution—Pope St. Paul VI (1963–1978) reflected on the legacy of the abbot of Solesmes and his contribution to the life of the Church. Identifying Guéranger’s status as the grandfather of the Liturgical Movement, a movement that came to its zenith in the early twentieth century and inspired the liturgical reforms of the Second Vatican Council, St. Paul VI stated that “there is every reason . . . to call Dom Guéranger the author of that movement of spirituality which, issuing from his writings and the monasteries associated with him, has had as its result that the intense participation of the Christian people in the liturgy is to be considered as ‘the first and indispensable source from which the faithful are to derive the true Christian spirit.’”1 At a time of great upheaval to the fabric of European society and the Church, in which even two successive popes—Pius VI and Pius VII—found themselves imprisoned by the excesses of a fervent revolutionary spirit, this diocesan priest turned Benedictine monk and abbot’s primary aim in life [End Page 55] was to reinstill in the lives of his contemporaries the “true Christian spirit,” a spirit that was rooted in sacred tradition manifested by the unifying beauty of the Church’s liturgical patrimony. For Guéranger, a man shaped by the age of near constant révolution in which he lived, tradition was everything. Ironically, though, this stance made him quite revolutionary. Even today, at least in Western society, the term “traditionalist” has morphed into a quasi-pejorative, indicating, to some, a radical lack of willingness to think openly and creatively about new possibilities. Such an interpretation, however, completely misreads the proper definition of the term, at least from the standpoint of the genius of Catholicism. What is “tradition” from the perspective of this universal Faith? Using the thought of the twentieth-century Catholic philosopher Josef Pieper, one can find a baseline definition. Delivering a speech in 1959 entitled “What Is, in Truth, Worth Preserving,” a speech that commemorated the rebuilding of a school in Münster, Germany, Pieper noted something about tradition that can be said to reflect the Catholic sensibilities of Prosper Guéranger and his desire to restore the Roman liturgy to her unique place in the life of the Church. In his speech at the Münster school, Pieper stated that tradition and the fostering of tradition are not things worth celebrating merely because what has “from time immemorial” been thought, said, and done simply continues to be thought, said, and done over the course of a hundred or a thousand years and even down to our own day. Rather: the glory of tradition—the content and the process of tradition—can only be seen as meaningful if, throughout the generations, what is truly worth preserving is preserved and continues to be preserved!2 As he continued his speech, Pieper clarified that “there is . . . ultimately only one single traditional inheritance that it is absolutely necessary to preserve: the gift that is received and handed on in sacred tradition, received again, and handed on.”3 [End Page 56] This definition of tradition aligns well with that of Guéranger, who held that “one of the fundamental aspects of the Church in her celebration of the Liturgy is that of confession,” which in this context meant “the act by which ‘the Church renders homage to the truth that she has received.’”4 Subsequently, tradition, and the liturgy that embodies tradition, is not something maintained merely for the sake of nostalgia; rather, tradition is maintained because it is something “truly worth preserving.” And while this sentiment is not necessarily revolutionary, we can appreciate how—alongside everything else in the Gospel—it can be a wonderfully...

Christianity seen by Muslims and Islam seen by Christians in the Period of Early Islamic Rule in the Middle East

Abstract This paper highlights a context where Christians lived under Muslim rule. Muslim critique of Christianity was widespread, and Christians had to react to Muslim dominance by finding ways of responding to criticisms without incurring punishment for rebellious attitudes to their rulers. In the first two centuries after the Arab conquest of the largely Christian Middle East, Muslims viewed Christians as needing correction for their mistaken beliefs about the oneness of God in their deviant Trinity, about the humanity of Jesus in their insistence on his divine status, about the death of Jesus by crucifixion when this had not happened, and for their failure to recognise the finality of the Prophet Muḥammad in their suppression of testimony to his coming in the Bible. Christians viewed Muslims as heretics who had diverted from the true Christian faith in the Trinity and the divinity and crucifixion of Jesus and who looked for prophecies of Muḥammad in the Bible that did not exist. Muslims and Christians searched each other’s scriptures to persuade the other that their interpretations might need correcting. As the centuries passed in the Middle East, Christians steadily embraced Islam. By the time of the Mongol invasion in the thirteenth century, the vast majority of the population were Muslims.

Is Michel Henry’s Radical Phenomenology of Life a Christian Philosophy?

This paper examines two fundamental claims by Michel Henry on his philosophy’s relationship with classical phenomenology (Husserl and Heidegger) and Christianity. It shows in what way Henry’s phenomenology is the radicalization and absolutization of classical phenomenology: pure phenomenological truth is the identification of appearing and what appears rather than the separation of the two. According to Henry, his notions of life and truth is fully in accordance with Christianity’s Revelation of God. In the last part, the paper challenges Henry’s claim that his phenomenology is a Christian philosophy from a Kierkegaardian point of view and argues that Henry’s phenomenology is, as a matter of fact, a philosophy without Christ. Contrary to a popular viewpoint that Michel Henry is a Christian thinker of our age, I would argue that Henry’s concept of God and Christ is essentially a scholarly philosophical invention. If Henry’s philosophy is an absolute and ultimate form of phenomenology, then it is reasonable to draw a conclusion that Christ as the Truth of Christianity is outside the boundary of phenomenology.

The Actualization of the Principles of Missionary Work According to 1 Corinthians 9:19-23

The issue of Christianity and the local culture has been a discussion that continues to flourish. The issue of the challenge of preaching the Gospel, which was considered incompatible with the spirituality of the local community, has been contested since the first century. Paul, as an apostle, faced the challenge of preaching the gospel because of the exclusivity of early Christianity. This article is aimed at explaining Paul's teachings in 1 Corinthians 9:1-23 from a missiological point of view. This article is aimed at describing how Paul carried out his missionary work in a society of diverse cultures and spiritualities. The author intends to explain it through an exegesis that emphasizes the passage's historical, grammatical, and contextual aspects. Missionary work is a noble task from God. Cultural diversity requires missionaries to be flexible with cultural conditions without compromising the values of biblical theology. The mission does not have to uproot a person from his or her culture but can provide a new interpretation of that culture according to Christian truth. While giving new meaning to culture, the material of the mission must be Christocentric. Flexibility to local culture can reduce the level of resistance from local communities.

The Practice of Occult Theology

The practice of Occultism knows no place and time. Even though the world has undergone radical changes marked by advances in science and technology, there are still people who want to practice Occultism. Many of these occult practices are generally inherited from their ancestors and passed down from generation to generation until now. Many Christians carry out Occult actions for various reasons, such as fear of ancestral spirits, not being protected by them, or feeling that ancestral spirits do not bless them. Occult practices are actions that are far from Christian truth. The occult does exist on this earth. The purpose of this study is to analyze the current occult practice. The method used is qualitative research in the form of library research method. Therefore, a believer must be vigilant and on guard to avoid this occult practice.

Kierkegaard’s Strong Anti-Rationalism: Offense as a Propaedeutic to Faith

Abstract In a now classic paper, Karen Carr argues that Kierkegaard is a religious “anti-rationalist”: He holds that reason and religious truth exist in necessary tension with one another. Carr maintains that this antagonism is not a matter of the logical incoherence of Christianity, but rather the fact that genuine submission to Christ precludes approaching him through demonstration. In this essay, we argue that while Kierkegaard is in fact an anti-rationalist, the literature has failed to appreciate the full strength of his position. It is not just that reason and obedience are in tension; rather, Kierkegaard holds the stronger view that reason is actively offended by Christianity’s primary claims. Not only is reason incapable of generating any positive evidence for the truth of Christianity, more radically, it provides evidence against it. In order to make this case, we offer a close reading of Practice in Christianity, developing a typology of Kierkegaard’s account of Christ’s “offense.” Finally, having motivated Kierkegaard’s strong anti-rationalism, we consider why, on his account, anyone would want to be a Christian.

Edukasi Teologis tentang Pernikahan Dini dalam Gereja

RI Law Number 16 of 2019 Article 7 paragraph 1 explains that marriage is allowed if the male and female parties have reached the age of 19 years. If the marriage is carried out below the minimum age stated in the law, then the marriage is classified as early marriage. There are so many problems that can arise due to early marriage, such as: reproductive health problems, psychological problems, even early marriage can affect self-concept in adolescents. In developing this paper, the author uses qualitative research methods with a literature study approach to further review the phenomenon of early marriage in adolescents. That way, the church as a representation of God has responsibility for the reality that is happening. The church, especially the youth pastor, must make young people aware of the importance of finding a life partner according to God's will. As believers, Christian youth not only have to struggle with their soulmate before God, but also have to struggle with whether God wants them to get married or not. Because, the principle of a true Christian life is to marry for the glory of God.

Delimiting Religion

Delimiting Religion

Scholasticism as a Systematic European Philosophy of the Middle Ages

The article examines the contribution of the greatest encyclopedic mind of antiquity - Aristotle to the formation of scholasticism. The direct and indirect influence of Aristotelian ideas can be traced during the long period of the formation of scholasticism. The emergence of non–Christian Aristotelianism – Averroism - was an important moment in the history of philosophy. An adherent of authentic Aristotelianism - Averroes, translated the works of Aristotle and interpreted them through the concepts of Arabic philosophy. The topic of the influence of authentic scholasticism on patristic theology is touched upon. The traditional understanding of scholasticism as a combination of Christian theology with the philosophy of Aristotle is noted. Scholasticism, being a religious philosophy, applies philosophical concepts and techniques to the Christian-church doctrine, the early experience of which is contained in patristics. Scholasticism, as a religious philosophy, needed the development of theological thought and its development took place along with the development of theology. Studying the great ancient thinkers – Plato and Aristotle, the development of scholasticism has moved forward especially noticeably, which is reflected in the formation of scholastic metaphysics. The penetration of Aristotelianism in the XIII century into Christian philosophy marked the heyday of scholasticism. The scholastics turned their eyes to the ancient thinkers in order to establish Christian truth. Aristotle was presented to them as a universal thinker with a broad outlook, who achieved knowledge by the aspirations of reason. The similarity of Aristotle's organic worldview and the Christian understanding of the spirit and life turned out to be suitable for representatives of scholasticism, who noticed the similarity of Aristotle's teaching about the existence of God with the teaching of Holy Scripture.

Portrait of a (Latter-day) Saint

Portrait of a (Latter-day) Saint

Christianization without westernization: A study of Acts 15:19-20 in relation to African-Western discriminatory bias

It is a happy news and a welcome development that Christianity registered an incomparable acceptance and growth in Africa. Religion deals with faith. It can make or mar the people’s development depending on how it is presented. It is appreciable that Christian missionaries to Africa brought with them civilization, ranging from education, politics, and even socio-economic area. However, the spate of fanaticism and fundamentalism in Africa not unconnected with a misconstruction of the biblical message is worrisome. Of greater concern is the inability of some Africans to distinguish between the truth of Christianity and the western bias. Left in a confused state not unconnected with the teaching by some confused or biased missionaries, some Africans repudiate African culture on the altar of Christian belief. The hardworking African has turned into a lazy one on the hope that God takes care of him. Her highly spiritualized culture has been abandoned for fear of idolatry. Her strong family cohesion has been exchanged with western individualism. Her respect for elders and ancestors has been replaced with blames against the ancestors for their woes and failure. This paper employs exegetical lens to study the response of the Apostles in the face of similar problems in the gentile world. It then exhorts Africans to accept that which is authentically Christian without neglecting her richly cultural heritage.

The Impact of St. Paul's Personality on the Christian Religion: A Critical Overview

The modern Christianity that has been going on in the world for many centuries is not the initial Christianity that was brought by the Prophet Jesus (PBUH). Now it consisted on a pretended and mixed faith, which St. Paul's was invented for his popularity. In the life of Hazrat Eesa bin Maryam (PBUH), Paul was his staunch opponent and he had never met him. After Jesus was taken up to heaven, this man suddenly began to sing in sympathy and harmony, and began to show excessive devotion to Jesus. In order to spread his beliefs widely, Paul made a mixture of the fanatical beliefs of the Greeks, Christians and Sun-worshipers and declared it to be true Christianity. The fact is that after Jesus (PBUH) his twelve disciples began to spread the teachings of Jesus (PBUH) on the planet with great zeal, and with great speed people began to abandon the outdated traditions of Judaism and started to join Christianity. The Jewish priests of that time were disturbed to see that their glory was in danger because of Christianity. To prevent this, St. Paul from Judaism announced that he had converted from Judaism to Christianity. And he gains the sympathy of other disciples by telling the story of Jesus descent upon himself. And he engages in the preaching of Christianity and shows such zeal that, he pushes the rest of the disciples into the background and even proclaims Prophecy in the name of revelation. He severely persecuted the followers of Christ in the enmity of Jesus and even martyred some. As a Jew, he used to go to his synagogue, a place of worship. Gradually he stopped going to Sina Gag too. He told his Christian followers that one day, fourteen years after Jesus, he came to him in a dream and demanded that he renounce violence against his followers. Paul said that after that incident his world changed and he repented of all his oppression. This article will provide a critical overview of St. Paul's personality in the light of the Bible and his impact in the modern Christianity.

Penggunaan Narasi Abraham Dan Rahab Dalam Yakobus 2:21-26

The use of Old Testament citation in the New Testament is the usage commonly used by New Testament writers. Likewise, the use of Abraham and Rahab's narrative in the context of faith and works in James 2:14-26, needs to be understood correctly. So that the text does not cause misunderstandings in interpreting the meaning of the theology of faith and deeds described by James. The author in this case uses the exegesis method of using the Old Testament in the New Testament presented by Grant R. Osborne to find the significance of the use of Abraham and Rahab's narrative in the topic of faith and works (Jas. 2:14-26). The narratives of Abraham and Rahab are authoritative illustrations or examples to respond to the thesis that faith and works are two separate things. James shows that faith and works are inseparable in the life of a true Christian.

Set expressions reflecting Slavonic mentality transformation during Christianization

The article deals with the socio-historical and axiological informativity of phraseological units in the Old Church Slavonic language in the aspect of the history of Russian phraseological system. The author pays her attention to the superword language units in Slavonic manuscripts of the 10-11th centuries. The purpose of the research is to identify through the prism of phraseology the origins of Slavonic key values, which were transformed during Christianization, and their superword nominations. The novelty of the study lies in the fact that besides the canon sources, the article analyzes the sources which were ignored by the authors of the Old Church Slavonic dictionaries. The object of the research is the Old Church Slavonic phraseological units reconstructed with the continuous sampling method from the texts created in different parts of medieval Slavia. To analyze the linguistic material, comparative-historical, linguoculturological, linguocognitive methods and methods of component and contextual analysis were used. As a result, adjustments were made to the idea of the activities of medieval Christian communities. Old Slavonic phraseological units testify that the former pagan Russians were attracted to Christians by their boundless faith in the truth of Christ’s teaching, their ability to defend their beliefs, personal courage, love for neighbor and mercy. The relevance of this study is that in the context of globalization, the Christian values assimilated by the Eastern Slavs during Christianization, which contributed to the powerful take off of Russian culture, today need to be protected. The research direction outlined in this article opens up the prospects of establishing the origins of the Russian Christian phraseological corpus and its rules.