Unity Of God Research Articles

Catechesis and education as a function of building the Church according to Fr. Franciszek Blachnicki (On the centenary of the birth of the great educator)

For Fr. Franciszek Blachnicki, the catechesis was in close relationship with the Church. The most appropriate place for the catechesis as the fundamental formation of Christians (adults, youth and children) is in the Church which is both the subject, goal and object of catechesis. Fr. Franciszek Blachnicki drew the concepts of the Church from studies by German-speaking authors, and above all from documents of the Second Vatican Council. For him, the Church was an intermediary of salvation, a universal sacrament of salvation, a mother, a temple of God, and most of all, a union of God's people, a community in Christ, a community of faith, hope and love. The task of catechesis is, in the first place, the introduction and experience of the Church. The nature of catechesis stems from the concept of the Church. Therefore, if the Church is a community, the aim of catechesis is to introduce it to the faithful so that they may not only participate in it, but above all create it. It is also important that catechesis serves the process of Christian initiation, discovering the Church as a place of fulfilling the mystery of life, salvation and healing. Therefore, Fr. Blachnicki put a strong emphasis on the relationship between the liturgy and catechesis, because the most complete process of initiation takes place in the liturgy. Another task of catechesis is its function of awakening and developing faith. For faith is the foundation for the Church and the primary goal for catechesis. It is to be both personalistic and social in nature. Father Blachnicki claimed that cathechesis educated faith was not an individual faith but the faith of the Church. Many Christians, even including those most zealous, live their Christian lives alongside the life of the Church, but not in the Church. In the meantime, every Christian is the Church, because the Church is the whole Christ, the head and members, and we are its members. For that reason, the life of the Church grows in so far as the life of faith of each member grows.

Cristianizzare Abramo. Il caso di Ireneo di Lione interprete della «prova di Abramo» (Gen. 22,1-19)

Irenaeus of Lyon uses the tale of Abraham as biblical proof for his thesis on the unity of God and of the history of salvation. In order to do this, however, he must first refute the Gnostic and Marcionite interpretations of Abraham, and so the episode of Isaac’s sacrifice (Gn 22:1–19). In Irenaeus’s exegesis of Gn 22:1–19, Abraham becomes the progenitor of the apostles and gentiles who are welcomed into the Church and an ante litteram disciple of Mt 4:22 and 16:24; he, who prophetically foresees the day of Jesus’s passion (Jn 8:56), offers his son Isaac as a sacrifice, just as God would offer his son, the incarnate Logos, as a sacrifice for the salvation of his descendants.

Un Dieu n’est pas 1 dieu

One God Is Not 1 God Heidegger and the Question of the Unique God In Heidegger’s Four Notebooks I and II (Black Notebooks 1947 – 1950), edited as volume 99 of the Gesamtausgabe of his writings, the author remarks that “One God, who as a unique God does not tolerate other Gods apart from him is outside divin-ity ”, the latter obviously referring to the Bible’s passage found in Exodus 34: 14 : “For you shalt worship no other God: for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.”. But how does Heidegger come to say that? How does he come to deny the divinity of the one God? This seems to be at first sight a radical criticism of the so-called ‘monotheism’. A major question remains unanswered, nonetheless: the sense in which the Jewish tradition focuses on the “One God”. In this context, “one” is actually not a number but a name. Far from being one of God’s attributes, it is God’s Name. It is a common ground that Heidegger had no access to the Hebrew text of the Bible, a biased situation which leads us to narrow-minded consequences regarding the ‘Old Testament’, where God is frequently called Elohim, i. e. a plural. Is the Jewish God exclusive, or rather Heidegger’s conception of Judaism restrictive? That is the question.

From “God of the World” to “God of the Heavens”: From the Mishneh Torah to The Guide of the Perplexed

AbstractMaimonides opened almost all of his books with the verse “in the name of the Lord, the God of the world” (Gen 21:33). This verse describes the nature of Abraham’s calling, which Maimonides interprets, both in the Mishneh Torah and in the Guide of the Perplexed, as an effort to persuade others to abandon their idolatrous perceptions and affirm the uniqueness of God. There is, however, a difference between the way Maimonides describes Abraham and his calling in the Mishneh Torah and their portrayal in the Guide of the Perplexed. In the former, Abraham is presented as a philosopher; in the latter, as a biblical prophet. In the Mishneh Torah, Maimonides’s description of Abraham revolves around a verse that describes the “God of the world”; in the Guide of the Perplexed, Maimonides adds verses in which Abraham mentions “heaven.” In this article, I shall examine these differences and suggest that they represent developments and shifts in Maimonides’s own philosophical position.

The Theoretical Approach of Indigenization of Chinese Protestant Theology in the First Half of the 20th Century

From the early 20th century, Chinese “Indigenous Theology” served as the main line in the development of Chinese Protestant theology. It represents an important orientation in the communications between Chinese and Western culture as well as the development of modern Chinese thought. Chinese Indigenous Theology was the theoretical result of the combination of Chinese and Western religious spirit and thought, with a strong background of traditional Chinese culture. Its main purpose was to interpret and develop modern Chinese Protestant thought within the frame of Chinese traditional culture, mainly Confucianism, and to construct a native Christian theology with Chinese characteristics. As will become obvious, the theoretical construction of Indigenous Theology caused Western Protestant theology, with its fundamental spirit of "Dichotomy between God and Man" and its thought pattern of “External Transcendence”, to Chinese Indigenous Theology, grounded on a "Unity of God and Man" and a “Internal Transcendence”. However, due to excessive adherence to the historical experience of Indigenization, modern Chinese Protestant theology came to lack a sufficient response to and discussion of the issues of modernization and universalization. In this paper, both the theoretical achievements and the shortcomings of Chinese Indigenous Theology will be summarized and reviewed carefully.

Intellectual Dimensions of Madīnian Polity and its Implication for Islamic Governance: Lessons from the Early History of Islam

The very first verse revealed to the Prophet of Islam ﷺ, namely ﴾ Read in the name of your Lord ﴿ implied the concept of knowledge that corresponds with the intellectual attestation of the first article of Islamic faith, that is, the belief in the unity of God, which for its part requires a specific kind of knowledge related to the Divine. With the same token, the Revelation continued to provide the Prophet ﷺ with the intellectual and spiritual insights that he ﷺ perfectly transformed into the nucleus based on which the first Islamic state known as the Madīnian polity was firmly established. Hence, in this paper, the analysis will cover the intellectual dimensions of the Madīnian polity portrayed here in three essential aspects: the revelation as the principal source of knowledge, the affirmation as the intellectual and practical application of knowledge, and the manifestation as the individual and communal reflection of knowledge. I will argue that the said aspects as they were displayed in the Madīnian polity are the core factors that underpin the Islamic governance as such.

Islamic Values in Environmental Communication within the Malaysian Media: A Case Study of Utusan Malaysia and Berita Harian

We argue that environmental communication within the Malaysian media landscape is influenced by Islamic beliefs and teachings. Although Islam has a great influence on environmental communication in Malaysia, it is an area underexplored by past studies. We conducted a content analysis on two mainstream Malay media outlets, namely Utusan Malaysia and Berita Harian, for a six-year period (2012-2017) in order to investigate the types of Islamic values which were represented in the environmental articles published by both newspapers. We also conducted interviews with 11 journalists from both newspapers to determine the purpose of using Islamic values in environmental articles. The result of content analysis discovered that tawhid (unity of God) is the most common Islamic value used in Utusan Malaysia’s environmental articles, while in Berita Harian, iman (faith) is the value which most commonly appears. In the interviews, journalists from Utusan Malaysia described that the value of tawhid is used the most in the environmental articles as it is one of the core values in Islam, while the journalists from Berita Harian explained that iman has been used the most as this value is an intrinsic part of the readers’ lives. However, most of the interviewees stated that the main challenge for them came from the need of the journalists themselves to have a great understanding of both Islam and environment. It is hoped that the findings of this study could serve as a reference for future research in the area of Islamic environmental communication. Keywords: Environmental communication, Islam, media, value, Malaysia.

Over de verborgenheid van God. De preken van rabbi Shapira in het getto van Warschau

This article examines sermons on the hiddenness of God rabbi Shapira delivered during the years 1939-1942 under unbearable circumstances in the ghetto of Warsaw. Based on studies of the Hebrew Bible and the Jewish tradition, the Hasidic rabbi explores the problem of God’s hiddenness in order to support perseverance in this dreadful environment. The article begins with a summary of non-European rabbinical reactions to the rumours of eradication of the Jews and then proceeds to discuss rabbi Shapira’s five ‘concepts’ of God's hiddenness. These concepts find their theological focus in the unity of God and his people.

Solving Moralistic Therapeutic Deism for the Youth Group

This article aims to provide new insights for resolving adolescents' Moralistic Therapeutic Deism, which remains problems in youth ministry. It presents an approach to Christian education to solve Moralistic Therapeutic Deism that is evident among mainline Protestant and Catholic teenagers but is also visible in other religious types of teens and even many non-religious youth in America. Moralistic Therapeutic Deism has become the dominant civil religion in America. It is the actual de facto functional religious faith of the majority of teens, regardless of their official affiliation. The problems with Moralistic Therapeutic Deism are that it tends to seek individual happiness as the highest goal in life, self-love and self-acceptance as the keys to achieving that happiness, and an amorphous faith in a unique God. Moralistic Therapeutic Deism is penetrating into youth in our worshipping community, and we must help them awake from the invasion of Moralistic Therapeutic Deism and rethink Christian tradition and practices, which make Christianity distinct from Moralistic Therapeutic Deism. This study has important implications for the theological practical application of youth ministry, which could solve the Moralistic Therapeutic Deism. It seeks to provide adolescents, who have bought into Moralistic Therapeutic Deism, anchors for the true Christian faith from a Christian theological perspective. In the course of exploring its deeper meaning, it will first discuss the harm of Moralistic Therapeutic Deism as the first phase to resolving the impacts of Moralistic Therapeutic Deism in the Christian life, especially for today’s teenagers, generally. Drawing on the insights of Christian practice, it will also explore how we could fix Moralistic Therapeutic Deism based on several key theological normative doctrines. Then, it will suggest the solution of Moralistic Therapeutic Deism for the youth group in Grace Church based on understanding its ministry. It is hope that it helps guide what Grace Church needs to do with Moralistic Therapeutic Deism in the present and the future.

Реформация: меняющееся представление о браке

The article analyzes the ideas of the great reformers of the 16th century Martin Luther and John Calvin about marriage as the most important social institution. Luther's doctrine of the "earthly institution" of marriage and Calvin's doctrine of the marriage covenant had been shaped under the influence of their criticism of the Roman Catholic Church's position on marriage. Catholics considered marriage to be inferior to celibacy. The Church forbade marriage for monks and priests, and also prevented many lay people from getting married on the basis of prohibitions regarding religion, consanguinity, and guardianship. Since the Church considered marriage to be one of the seven sacraments that imparted grace to spouses and symbolized the mystical union of God and the Church, the marriage union was considered indissoluble. If the spouses were unhappy in their marriage, then they could get permission only for a separate living, but not for divorce. The reformers shifted the emphasis from the sacramentality of marriage to its social significance. They emphasized that marriage is the first institution in terms of importance in comparison with the Church and the state. The institution of matrimony is able to provide an example of relationships based on love, trust and mutual assistance, and the family is not only a means of population reproduction, it educates future citizens and members of the Church. The views of Martin Luther and John Calvin have had a decisive influence on Western European views on marriage, family and parenting. The article analyzes the ideas of the great reformers of the 16th century Martin Luther and John Calvin about marriage as the most important social institution. Luther's doctrine of the "earthly institution" of marriage and Calvin's doctrine of the marriage covenant had been shaped under the influence of their criticism of the Roman Catholic Church's position on marriage. Catholics considered marriage to be inferior to celibacy. The Church forbade marriage for monks and priests, and also prevented many lay people from getting married on the basis of prohibitions regarding religion, consanguinity, and guardianship. Since the Church considered marriage to be one of the seven sacraments that imparted grace to spouses and symbolized the mystical union of God and the Church, the marriage union was considered indissoluble. If the spouses were unhappy in their marriage, then they could get permission only for a separate living, but not for divorce. The reformers shifted the emphasis from the sacramentality of marriage to its social significance. They emphasized that marriage is the first institution in terms of importance in comparison with the Church and the state. The institution of matrimony is able to provide an example of relationships based on love, trust and mutual assistance, and the family is not only a means of population reproduction, it educates future citizens and members of the Church. The views of Martin Luther and John Calvin have had a decisive influence on Western European views on marriage, family and parenting.

Christian faith and unorthodox belief

In his autobiographical account of his theology Augustine Shutte (2016) clarifies how his understanding of the Christian faith has, finally, put him in conflict with orthodoxy. More recently he explains that “in the absolute distinction between creator and creature it is appropriate to see God alone (Father, Word and Spirit) on one side and Jesus and me and you on the other.” This affords us a useful starting point for a discussion of a Christian faith marked by unorthodoxy. As foil for the discussion I take Bart Ehrman’s thesis that the early development of the understanding of Jesus as “uniquely divine” is unjustified, and this undermines Christian faith. I argue in response that the cognitional dimension is only one aspect of religious faith; secondly I unpack the structural side of orthodoxy; and thirdly I introduce Shutte’s concept of salvation in terms of a fundamental human need. The uniqueness of God’s presence in Jesus implies a sectarianism unhelpful in a plural culture.

On the Question of Apocatastasis: the Unity of God and Creation in the Legacy of St. Maximus the Confessor

On the Question of Apocatastasis: the Unity of God and Creation in the Legacy of St. Maximus the Confessor

Vers l’autonomisation des nuages : la voie picturale

The scientific age of clouds assumed the recognition of the existence of atmospheric electricity. It was nevertheless necessary to wait for Luke Howard in order for clouds to be not only observed but also named and classified (1802). What was the role played by painting in their scientific invention? Throughout the centuries very diverse points of view appeared concerning these paradoxical objects -the most dreamlike of all. Taken as cushions allowings for the distribution of space, as vehicles for pagan gods or of the unique God, as more or less transparent or opaque veils, clouds belong to the imaginary as well as to the phusis. However, Ruisdael already conceived the cloud as a personage. One can easily take his Buisson (Bush) (maladroitly titled) for a 19th century painting, individualizing the most labile appearance and giving it consistency even before any appellation

The Islamization of Aristotelism in the Metaphysics of Ibn Sina

The article analyzes the activity of the greatest classic of the Islamic philosophy - Ibn Sina (Avicenna, 980-1037), aimed at the revision of Aristotelianism, mainly in terms of its synthesis with Islamic monotheism. Preferential attention is paid to the metaphysical section of Avicennian multivolume encyclopedia “The Healing” (c. 1020-1027). Instead of Aristotelian God / the Prime Mover as the final cause, which serves as the source of the movement of the world, Avicenna establishes God / Necessary Being, who acts as the Giver of being. Developing the ontological foundation of creationism, i.e. the creation of every thing in the world, the philosopher introduces a distinction between essence and existence ( māhiyyawujūd , lat. essentia-existentia), which will pass through the subsequent history of philosophy. Ibn Sina thoroughly modifies the Aristotelian doctrine of the unity of God and His essential cataphatic attributes. The intellectual narcissism of God, Who only knows Himself in Stagirite, he changes with the concept of Divine Omniscience and His providence of all existents. Ibn Sina transforms Aristotelian eternalism into eternalistic creationism, modifying the emanationist scheme of cosmogenesis advanced by al-Farabi (d. 950), in which the process of proceeding of the existents from the First Principle appears as an intellectual act. The Muslim philosopher complements Aristotelian cosmology with the doctrine of angels, whom he identifies with cosmic intellects and souls as the governors of the celestial spheres. Avicennian radical innovation is in the doctrine of Active Intellect ( al-‘akl al-fa‘‘al , lat. intellectus agens ), who is not only the ruler of the sublunar world, but actually is its demiurge. This intellect is assigned with the function of the illumination of the human intellect, as well as with the role of the archangel Gabriel the transmitter of divine revelation according to Muslim tradition. From the philosophical perspective, Avicenna develops alien to Aristotelianism topics related to the prophecy and revelation, the immortality of the soul and its otherworldly fate.

Konsep Organisasi dan Manajemen dari Sudut Pandang Islam serta Implementasinya

The principles of the Qur'an and the Prophet's recipe provide guidance to Muslims. In the first six centuries, their commercial activities and family affairs led to the Islamic Golden Age, in which knowledge, commerce, industry, agriculture, and complex organizational construction flourished. . Work and creativity are respected in many forms. Industry and trade are regulated by companies or labor unions. Companies have enormous social benefits. They maintain work standards and prevent fraudulent competition, thereby ensure a friendly society based on religious and moral grounds, and provide members with professional knowledge and shared responsibility. Honesty and serenity are the hallmarks of Muslim commodities. These guiding principles derive from certain principles and guidelines governing worship and behavior, rather than the literal spiritual meaning of the principles and guidelines chosen. Islam has five pillars: the unity of God (Sahadat), fasting, prayer, zakat and zakat. These pillars and other standards also have an impact on business organizations. The purpose of this study was to study and describe the concept of organization and management in an Islamic perspective and its implementation in Riyadlul Jannah Mojokerto Islamic Boarding School. This research is a literature study using qualitative induction methods and descriptive analysis. Based on the results of the discussion, the following conclusions can be drawn: 1) Humans are born with social abilities, need an "organization" to survive and develop in order to achieve the expected goals and adapt to their social relationships through cooperation. The principle of socialization is due to the social nature of which the Qur'an proclaims as well as possible. Several verses of the Koran emphasize the need for organization. 2) The pillars of Islam are certain principles and norms that govern worship and behavior. In this section, the principles and guidelines chosen and established have an organizational meaning, not a literal spiritual meaning. 3) The organizational design mostly adopts a dual contingency point of view, that is, the organizational design must be chosen according to the multi-dimensional characteristics of a particular environment or context. These characteristics include structural elements (such as goals, strategies, and structures) and personnel (such as work processes, personnel, coordination, and control). 4) At the initial stage, it faced several pressing social problems: prejudice and discrimination against non-Arabs; abuse of power by elites; poverty; discrimination against women; competition between tribes; and harsh collective punishment. Prophet Muhammad SAW showed confidence and creativity in eliminating or minimizing these problems through the concept of organization and management.

The Philosophy of Man in the Poetry of Sеid Nasimi Imadeddin

In the article, the author substantiates the position about the relevance of Nasimi’s thoughts about the unity of God, that all people are children, that everyone should enlighten his mind. The poet’s lines about ignorance as to the cause of evil and cruelty because it is the essence of Shaytan remain relevant. Nasimi’s work, which is pantheistic, anthropocentric and humanistic, developing the language of the Azerbaijani people, contributed to the unification of Azerbaijanis into a single people, the formation of self-consciousness and national identity. The beauty of a syllable, depth of thoughts, melodiousness of lines of poetry of the poet and the philosopher, attracting love to itself and admiring such poets and thinkers of related Turkic nationalities as Alisher Navoi, Lutfi, Babur, Mashrab, etc. , promoted understanding by them of the relatedness with each other. Nasimi’s thoughts, based on the profound progressive humanistic and democratic provisions of the Qur’an, were ahead of his time and did not fit the socio-political conditions of the Islamic world of those times. It is so because he wrote that he does not fit into this world. The author concluded that the provisions of Nasimi about man as the highest value of existence are relevant today. Nasimi revealed the basis of the civilisational unity of humankind, which is also achieved by the legal “frame” of the value of human life, its freedom, and equality.

MEMBANGUN TOLERANSI DALAM MASYARAKAT MAJEMUK TELAAH PEMIKIRAN NURCHOLIS MADJID

Philosophically, human can be called as dialogical creature. The way to apply dialogical consciousness among human being needs the seriousness. In a daily life, dialogical consciousness will give big impact to the human behavior. In this case, tolerance has an important position to create this condition. According to Nurcholish Madjid, tolerance in Islamic religion is something to be based. Unity of God becomes the main destination. Tolerance can develop well to the human being having understanding and openness. The application of tolerance will create strong civil society. It is also appropriate with the pluralism of Indonesian society.

DR. ANNIE BESANT AND HER CONTRIBUTION TO EDUCATION IN INDIA

The paper manages the profound education with uncommon reference to Dr. Annie Besant's perspectives on education wherein her life and social way of thinking impact on Indian educational system. The paper additionally manages her theosophical way of thinking dependent on the standards of 'The Unity of God' and of 'The Universal Brotherhood' which are the fundamental piece of profound education. An endeavour has been made to perceive, grasp, discover, break down, combine, assess and fundamentally look at the prevailing variables answerable for reinforcing otherworldly education with respect to Dr. Annie Besant's perspectives. It is education which assists with satisfying the intrinsic limit of people through the Theosophical Idea of Education dependent on Universal Brotherhood, Self-control, Self-investigation, Self-regard, Control of psyche, self-acknowledgment, self-talk with otherworldly arrangement, Love and Sympathy, Service, Freedom, Patience, Peace and Tolerance and to set them up to take care of the ordinary issues. Annie Besant was an Irish political dissident, independent person and Fabian communist. In the wake of grasping Theosophy under the tutelage of Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, a Russian spiritualist, Besant set out on her strategic spreading theosophical standards, and arrived at the shores of India in 1893. In India Hinduism entranced her to such a degree, that she gave herself to advancing Hinduism. She visited the length and broadness of India, and addressed seriously on the grand beliefs of Hinduism. In any case, Besant was of the supposition that nonattendance of strict education in government schools and universities and instructing of Christianity in preacher educational organizations was answerable for strict lack of bias and doubt among Hindu youth, and subsequently the fallen territory of Hinduism. To cure this state, she underlined the requirement for its recovery, and spread the possibility that strict education of Hindu young people should turn into a necessary piece of their education. So as to concretise these thoughts, Besant set up a school for the strict education of Hindu youth in the heavenly city of Benares, in India, in 1898. Besant is generally known in India for her political exercises as author of Home Rule Movement and as the main ladies President of Indian National Congress, the boss ideological group engaged with the battle for national opportunity. Despite the fact that Besant's political profession in India has been widely investigated, little is thought about her educational thoughts and exercises. “She loved India with a fervour and devotion all her own. Our country’s philosophy, our history or legends, our spiritual heritage, our achievements in the past, our sorrows in the present, our aspirations for the future were part and parcel of Mrs Annie Besant’s own life.” – Sri Prakasa in Indian Political Thought.

Философские версии вечного сюжета об Амуре и Психее: от неоплатонизма к христианству

<p>The subject of this paper is the transformation of the poetics of Cupid and Psyche plot in its national and historical modifications in European literature. The methodology of the analysis is based on mythological studies (A. N. Veselovsky, A. F. Losev) and genre studies (M. M. Bakhtin, S. S. Averintsev, E. M. Meletinsky, etc.). Allegorization of the images of Love and Soul appeared in the antiquity long before the novel by Apuleius “Asinus Aureus” or “Metamorphoses” (the 2<sup>nd</sup> century AD). In a Greek epigram Eros is often associated with the element of fire that puts the soul — “Psycho” — to a variety of ordeals and tortures. In “Metamorphoses” by Apuleius the tale about Cupid and Psyche can be seen as an allegorical narration about the soul traveling around the world and looking for ways to Love and eternal life. Later, the parabolic core of the ancient story was enriched with new motifs from the arsenal of mythology, Neoplatonism and Christianity. The archetypical basis and platonic paradigm of the plot in “Metamorphoses” by Apuleius go together in a syncretic unity, that provides universality and polysemy of the different versions of tales about Cupid and Psyche in European literature. The neoplatonic version of the story, which interprets the reunion between Cupid and Psyche as the Union of God and Soul, is represented in literature by writings of Fulgentius, Boccaccio, Heine, Coleridge, Żuławski and others.</p>

Kidung Tunjung Biru: Metrum dan Makna yang Terkandung Di Dalamnya

This study uses Kidung Tunjung Biru as object. The problems raised in this study include structure and the meaning of Kidung Tunjung Biru. Theory which was employed in this study is a structural theory and semiotic theory. Methods and techniques used in this study were divided into three phases, (1) the stage of data collection method is used to read assisted with translation techniques, (2) the stage of data analysis used descriptive analysis method, and (3) the stage of presentation of the results of the analysis used informal and formal methods. The results obtained from this study is structure of Kidung Tunjung Biru consisting of: metrum and languages. The meaning contained in Kidung Tunjung Biru, consisting of: flowers in a symbolic;the expression of love; and the concept of kalepasan (unity of God and Human).