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Több milliárd dolláros üzletággá nőtte ki magát a világban a béranyaipar. Hogyan illeszthető egy ilyen szenvtelen közgazdasági megállapítás a megszülető emberi élet misztériumához? Az alábbiakban röviden ismertetem a béranyaság jelenségét, valamint az ezzel kapcsolatos alapfogalmakat, ennek romániai jogállását és gyakorlatát más országok szabályozásának kontextusában, végül pedig néhány etikai szempontot fogalmazok meg a problémaegyüttesre nézve.
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Die persönlichen und kollektiven tragischen Erfahrungen des zwanzigsten Jahrhunderts haben den französischen Philosophen Emmanuel Lévinas dazu geleitet, das bekannte biblische Gebot wieder ins Licht zu bringen. Der Imperativ, du sollst nicht töten hat in der Philosophie von Lévinas eine paradigmatische Funktion. Auf einer Seite unterstreicht Lévinas die göttliche Originalität des Verbotes, auf der anderen Seite betont er, dass diese Aufforderung fürs jeweilige Ich gültig ist, denn auf dem Gesicht des anderen steht immer zu lesen: Du sollst nicht töten!
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Die Theologie der Weisheitspsalmen. Die Weisheitspsalmen bilden ein wichtiger Teil in der Gebetsliteratur Israels. Diese Psalmen haben eine eigentümliche theologische Orientation in Zusammenhang der Weisheitsliteratur Israels. Dieses Studium repräsentiert ein Gesamtbild über das wichtige Problematik der Weisheit im Gebet Israels. Das wichtigste Thema ist die Theodizee, welches hat eine eigentümliche Betonung durch die eschatologische Auffassung (Psalm 37., 49., 73.). Der Beter klagt, aber er lebt immer in dieser Gewissheit, dass Gott ist seine Lebensquelle. Darum bekennt er durch seinen Glaube: „Wenn mir gleich Leib und Seele verschmachtet, so bist du doch, Gott, allezeit meines Herzens Trost und mein Teil.“ (Psalm 73,26)
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The origin of sin is a universally commonly discussed problem of theology. It can be clarified only from the original texts of the Bible. There we find a clear answer by its diverse teachers: Sin originates from bodily desires. In our terminology, bodily desires are the biological instincts. In the animal world instincts are specifically restricted. They are only active in necessary times and conditions; they assurae the harmony of nature. Man’s instincts are free; they are always active and biologically unrestricted. The millionaire works for more money, women are able and ready to copulate even while being pregnant, the lust for power is limitless, and even world domination can not fulfil it. Remaining uncontrolled, instincts can destroy all human societies. They must be controlled morally. Man is personally responsible to keep them under God-given moral control. That is the dignity and tragedy of being human. Instincts are biological forces, morally neutral, but by nature self-centered. Godgiven morals are always altruistic. Under the guidance of strong morals, instinct is the force that brings good economy into reality, secures family life, a well trained society. When instinct escapes from under the control of morals, it is a guideless, selfcentered, always active force, which is able to destroy every social human activity, even personal life. Human morals are always questionable. My rules are as valuable as anyone else’s. Only God-given morals can be unquestionable. That is the meaning of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil: Man is free to do as he wishes, but moral laws are not under man’s will. To do what moral say is the personal and social responsibility of man. So there is a permanent battle between the moral convictions and the urgings of the instincts striving to get from under it. Consequently sin is the act of self-centered instincts getting out from under the guidance of the God-given moral rules.
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A Chinese courtyard house, called in Chinese siheyuan, equipped with a single entrance and with one or more open courtyards encompassed by one-storey buildings, represents traditional house dwelling in China. Throughout Chinese history, courtyard dwelling was the basic architectural pattern used for building governmental (palaces and offices) and family residences, and religious compounds (temples and monasteries). In this short contribution, the author depicts a standard traditional Beijing court house from the Ming dynasty (1368–1644) which would normally host an extended family of three and four generations. The physical construction and spatial structure of the traditional Chinese courtyard house were deeply rooted in ancient Chinese philosophical thought. The Chinese used fengshui (wind and water) principles to harmonize themselves with their environment in order to secure prosperity, longevity, and family blessings. From the viewpoint of fengshui, a basic courtyard house compound was not only a dwelling place, but also a structured and complicated vision of the cosmos that should function as an ideal container of qi (life energy). The fundamental north-south axis which rhythmically and continuously guarantee the vital flow of qi and the square shape of a courtyard house which means near to the earth, should promise health, prosperity, and the growth of the family. The fengshui system (nowadays mostly associated with Daoism) in the context of a Chinese courtyard house was intimately combined with China’s strict social and family system (Confucianism). The structure of the Chinese traditional family – and the author calls it “Confucian familism” – i.e., the Confucian conviction of family as a model for the whole state. This rigid and hierarchically structured family system, which had been the basis of Chinese society in imperial China for over two thousand years, has been reflected in courtyard house compounds. At the end of this contribution, the author mentions the efforts of present-day architects to find a way to revive traditional courtyard housing for modern times.
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The Cognitive Science of Religion (CSR) is a scientific approach to the study of religion that seeks to provide causal explanations of religious beliefs and practices. Proponents of CSR seek to explain the process of the formation, acceptance, transmission, and prevalence of religious beliefs by explaining the natural features of the human mind and how it functions. One of the religious beliefs that exists in all human cultures, and has attracted the attention of many CSR scholars in the last decade, is the belief in afterlife. According to CSR researchers, this belief is rooted in the natural structures of the human mind. They see the belief in life after death as a non-reflective or intuitive belief that results from the functioning of mental tools. They have proposed various theories to explain the formation, development, spread, and transmission of belief in life after death. But among these theories, two theories have been more widely accepted, intuitive dualism theory and simulation constraint theory. Intuitive dualism theory says that all humans have the two mental tools: Intuitive Biology and Intuitive Psychology. Intuitive Biology in the face of a dead person makes us believe that he is no longer alive because he cannot move and act. Intuitive Psychology continues to attribute invisible features (such as desires, thoughts, beliefs, and emotions) to the dead person automatically. The simultaneous functioning of the above two mental tools makes the human mind believe that a part of the dead person is immaterial and remains after the physical death. Simulation constraint theory says that all humans have the mental tools to process information from the environment and acquire religious beliefs. None of the mental tools can imagine or simulate the nonexistence of one's desires, thoughts, beliefs, and emotions. Therefore, the human mind in the face of the dead person, although easily imagining his physical death, continues to believe in the existence of another part of the person (thoughts, desires, etc.). Both of these theories seem to face challenges and limitations in explaining the formation of belief in afterlife. These include inability to provide causal explanation, the lack of distinction between the natural and the rational foundations of belief in afterlife and disregarding the supernatural foundations of the afterlife belief. Neither of the two theories seems to provide a sufficient causal explanation for the formation of belief in the afterlife. Both theories attempt to present a possible story about the formation of afterlife beliefs based on how mental tools function. They provide only a reasonable story of the process that has led to the belief in afterlife. What these two theories offer is a description (not causal explanation) of the human mind and its tools and how they function. This in itself does not explain that these tools have produced a belief in the afterlife. Therefore, the claim that belief in the afterlife is the result of the functioning of mental tools requires a causal relationship between mental tools and this belief. Neither of these two theories can explain this causal relationship, and they merely describe a reasonable story of the relationship between them. Furthermore, distinction between rational foundations of religious belief and natural foundations of religious belief shows that finding a natural origin for believing in the afterlife or describing the cognitive mechanisms associated with it does not in any way mean rejecting or discrediting that belief. Cognitive theories about the natural origins of the belief in the afterlife cannot show us whether this belief is rational or irrational. These explanations can only (if they can) show us the natural roots of the formation and prevalence of this belief. Also Religious belief is a complex notion. Firstly, it is a natural notion, in that sense it is rooted in the human nature and is related to human cognitive systems and mental tools. Secondly, it is a cultural and social notion, in that sense it is both influenced by cultural and social change, and also affects it. Thirdly, it is a supernatural notion, in that sense it is deeply connected with both revelation and prophecy, and with the immaterial aspect of human. Belief in afterlife seems to require all three levels of explanation.
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This paper contains a critical edition and philological analysis of Isa 44:6–45:25, which were worked out primarily on the basis of the Coptic manuscript sa 52.2 and other available manuscripts of the Sahidic dialect. Particular attention is paid to these verses since they occur only in manuscript sa 52.2 and so far have never been published. The first part presents general information on the fragment of codex sa 52 (M 568) that includes the discussed text. The next part provides a list and brief characteristics of the other manuscripts containing at least some verses of Isa 44:6–45:25. The focal section of the paper is a presentation of the Coptic text (in the Sahidic dialect) and its translation into English. The differences between the Sahidic text and the Greek text of the Septuagint, on which the Coptic translation is based, have been pointed out in tables. They include additions and omissions in the Coptic translation, lexical changes, and semantic differences. Finally, the paper is devoted to difficult philological questions observed in the Coptic text itself or in its references to the Greek text of the LXX.
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The author’s aim is to provide an analysis of the current state of theology, what led to it, and what influenced it. He aims to discuss in detail the different perspectives and to provide one that is to be embraced. By making constant reference to the Fathers he wants to signal that they still have things to teach us and we should not ignore them when it comes to treat subjects so subtle as that of interpreting the Scripture or tradition.
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Közismert, hogy a 20. századi európai kultúrában és társadalomban a család mélyreható változásokon ment keresztül, és ez a folyamat a 21. században is tovább tart. Az évszázadokon át megfelelően működő család szerkezetei, funkciói, szerepei, típusai lassan-lassan átalakultak. Ezt a folyamatot gazdasági, politikai, ideológiai változások, motiválták, de a családi életre kedvezőtlenül hatottak olyan eszmék, irányzatok és felfogások, mint például az individualizmus, a modernizmus, a globalizáció, a posztmodern, a pluralizmus és mások. Nem is csoda, hogy ebben a hatásrendszerben „társadalmi kihívások generálódtak”, és „a dolgok felbomlottak, feltöredeztek.”
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The role of group work in teacher education. This essay deals with the role and importance of psychological group work with special regard to teachers’ professional development. In the last few decades a new view of the way teachers should be educated emerged, in which more attention was directed towards the person of the teacher. The real self image and self-knowledge is important for religion teachers when we take into account that they are especially expected to be empathic, authentic and able to accept the others. After we had investigated that the actual curriculum of the Faculty for Teachers of Religion provides hardly any programmes which aim to develop students’ selfknowledge, we tried to work out a programme which would help the healthy development of students’ personal and professional self. Moreover the essay points out: the role of self knowledge in the profession of teaching; the importance of communication and how to develop communication skills; some conflict handling methods student teachers should know before they start their teaching practice.
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Baptism inaugurates a life that daily moves forward to a battle, confident that in each sorrow, there is a more vigorous expression of the presence of the risen Christ. Baptism warns the Christian that if he shares the same life, he must face the same struggle of life unto death so that life is eternally victorious. Recent events in the Romanian Orthodox Church regarding the baptism of infants by immersion have ignited a civil debate and much criticism. The issue of baptism and for that matter, the baptism itself is very important. For the believers especially this is important. However, no matter how important this is, one has to agree that it should never ever lead to division and hate. Unfortunately, it looks like nothing among believers can lead to disagreement more than such discussions about the role of baptism, the meaning of it, and of course, the methods used to perform the baptism. On the other hand, there should be an agreement that ignoring the problems raised by this issue will not solve it at all, but instead creating even more problems and further the gap among many Christians, ultimately. The fact that there is a possibility to discuss this important doctrine as part of a dialog among many denominations, among many religions it will prove the level of one’s maturity to “agree to disagree” with the main goal of learning always and know what to stand for and what is worth fighting for. When it comes to major doctrines special attention should be given to the text, making sure that there is a proper, correct, throughout exegesis as well as a very good lexical and syntactical study. The purpose of this research is to dig deep into the Bible and more specifically exegete the text found in The Gospel of Matthew chapter 3, from verses 13 to 17, then view its theological lessons followed by practical applications.
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Das Reformierte Kollegium von Debrecen als Mutterschule versah bis ins 19. Jahrhundert hinein Hunderte von seinen Partikelschulen auf dem Lande mit Lehrkräften (Rektoren oder Präceptoren), Lehrplänen und Schulbüchern, weshalb es als die „Schule des Landes“ bezeichnet wurde. Die Studie liefert an Hand von Quellen im Archiv des Kollegiums wichtige Beiträge zur Geschichte der Partikelschule in Nagyharsány (Komitat Baranya). Die ersten Spuren der schulischen Beziehungen der beiden Orte stammen aus dem Jahre 1671. Sehr intensiv waren die Kontakte in den Jahren zwischen 1763–1813. In dieser Periode waren in den reichen Marktflecken insgesamt 18 Rektoren, deren kurzer Lebenslauf und auch ihr Belohnungsverzeichnis aus dem Jahre 1799 dargelegt werden.
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The study presents the first two months of the existence of the Southern Transylvanian Reformed Church District. This church district is not a historical part of the Hungarian Reformed Church, it was created after the Second Dictate of Vienna, which inorganically tore Transylvania in two. Northern Transylvania has become again part of Hungary, while Southern Transylvania remained under Romanian rule. Together with the country, the Reformed Church in Transylvania also tore in two: the northern part, with Kolozsvár, the center, became part of the Hungarian Reformed Church, but the southern part was left in Romania, without a center, a bishop or a theological institute. Chaos was to be expected in this area of the Reformed Church. Most of the pastors would have taken refuge in North, several congregations would have ceased to exist, schools and churches would have to be closed. Bishop János Vásárhelyi did not want this to happen. Therefore, to maintain the continuity in the southern part of the Transylvanian Reformed Church, he decided to create a provisory committee, with the duty of leading this part of the church. The Committee had its center in Nagyenyed, and the dean of the Gyulafehérvár Diocese, Ferenc Nagy has been appointed vice bishop. The duty of this committee was to keep contact with the Romanian authorities, to supervise the religious and educational activities of the church, and to preserve the Reformed Church with all the means. Creating this provisory committee was the best choice the bishop could made. As it later turned out, the committee had to lead the southern part until April 1945, when the Transylvanian Church has been reunited. The provisory status of the committee had been preserved until 1945, because the Romanian authorities did not allow the creation of a new Church District, and no bishop has been elected. The existence of the committee was crucial in preserving the Reformed Calvinist communities in Southern Transylvania. The following study has three parts. The first part deals with the circumstances of the Second Dictate of Vienna, the second part presents the consequences of the Dictate on the life of the Transylvanian Reformed Church, and the circumstances of the creation of the provisory committee, and the third part is a historical source, the first report of vice bishop Ferenc Nagy to bishop János Vásárhelyi. This source is very important, because it is a true testimony of the struggle that was awaiting the Reformed followers in Southern Transylvania during WW2.
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The study continues to present the life of the Transylvanian Reformed Church after the Vienna Award (several studies on this topic have been published in this journal in 2008). The laws regarding state of siege were applied on Romania during the whole period of the 2WW. Citizens’ rights to free assembling, traveling or to use their own language were severely restricted in these years. These restrictions have caused the Reformed Church of Transylvania a great disadvantage, because church-life was almost diminished. Only regular sermons and no other types of meetings could beheld, pastors were not allowed to visit their followers, no charity or educational events could be organized, and even administrative meetings were totally banned. Regulations regarding the traveling of citizens resulted that dean could not visit the pastors of their dioceses, and the vicar of the church had also his serious mobility restrictions. Hungarian language has been banned from official and phone conversations, it could not been used in regular mail, or in denomination of localities. The laws regarding state of siege have diminished pluralism and democracy and made place for Antonescu’s fascist dictatorship, which has also affected the Hungarian population of Romania and the Reformed Church.
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Europe is suffering, the hard inheritance of the 20th century hasn’t been worked up yet.Traumas of the past, taboos, prejudices, stamps remained after the war and changes of regimes. The destiny of individuals is also the same, moreover the communities, and the bounds broke up, and the conflicts accumulated in this drifting. While the old continent is busy with his own past, a new provocation is coming by the new migration of nations: different people are coming one by one, and in this manner masses are moving. It is a general phenomenon,that even if somebody lives always in the same place, the world surrounding has been changed,either the political borders are transformed, or the neighbours are changed, or new ideologies are coming, but we cannot ignore the account of the challenge. The unknown brings always anxiety, but we must face up to facts, instead of escaping. Veress Károly, a contemporary philosopher of the University in Cluj, in his paper (2001) pointed out the growing up of conflict sources, and considered the opening as existential requirement towards each other, and suggested the development of the dialogical existence.
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As a prominent Church father, mystical theologian and incisive polemicist, St.Gregory Palamas has realized a «Summa Theologica» of his epoch, but one that hassurpassed not only the thinking of contemporaries, but remained, to this day, asynthesis of philosophical and theological knowledge, at least for the EasternChristianity. He pointed out with clarity the independence of theology fromphilosophy or from any other field of research. One of the most importantinstruments with a view to knowing God is prayer and Palamas began to write underthe pressure of defending the hesychastic method of prayer. He proves that truecommunion with God was possible through sanctification and that God's visionthrough prayer was a sign of this spiritual communion. In Palamas' very coherenttheological thinking, Christology corresponds to his anthropology, and both to hismysticism. St. Gregory strongly depreciated the value of intellectual effort,maintaining the primacy of direct illumination over scientific reasoning. Thus,prayer and asceticism engender love, which leads to illumination by God andparticipation in the divine life. He tries to make sense of mystical experience in thescientific and philosophical language of his day. Paradoxically, almost every attemptarrives at establishing that the spiritual cannot be grasped by man's naturalintellectual capacity, nor expressed in philosophical language. But the spiritual mancan be the partaker of this experience through the experience of grace, as divineuncreated energy, the true "face" of God accessible to human contemplation. TheArchbishop of Thessaloniki, who realized a synthesis of Science, Theology, andSpirituality outlines the relation between them as follows: Science explores the worldand leads to technological inventions; Theology interprets reality within theChristian framework, evidencing the glory of God as reflected throughout hiscreation; and Spirituality is the privileged path toward personal transformation. Thedebate about Palamism is likely to continue for some time. His version of theosis(deification) was enshrined in Orthodox teaching as a result of his canonization, butamong the intellectuals for whom it was intended it remained controversial, despiteits grandeur.
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In addition to the four marks of the Church, mercy has been emphasized since the pontificate of St. John Paul II as essential to the authentic fulfillment of the Church’s identity and mission. A Christological and pneumatological understanding of these marks of the Church leads to a proper grasp of the Church in relation to mercy. The Church is merciful not de facto because of her works of mercy on behalf of the poor or sinners. Rather, she is first the recipient of unprecedented Divine Mercy, poured forth in the gift of the Holy Spirit, and so shares that same Spirit of Mercy with others through her sacraments, preaching, and service. The Church’s mission of mercy thus extends beyond the myriad of manners to alleviate human misery. In union with Christ, her Bridegroom, the Church is to communicate the one gift of Divine Mercy, the Holy Spirit, to all.
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Until now, the mission carried out in Rome by the Ruthenian bishops Hipacy Pociej and Cyryl Terlecki between November 1595 and March 1596 was mainly known by a few scattered notes and reports left by the various members of the Curia, which were brought together in the second half of the 20th century in sources editions of Atanasij Velykyj. This is why the Ruthenian psalter found in the library of Évreux (Normandy) offers a new perspective on this founding stage of the Union of Brest. The book annotated by the hand of Pociej himself and offered to the French bishop Jacques Davy Du Perron, who was then in Rome, refl ects both the ecclesiological conceptions of the Ruthenian bishop of Volodymyr and his desire to place the unionist polemic in a wider confessional context, well beyond the borders of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The apparent failure of this initiative also comes as a testimony to the challenges faced by supporters of local Unions from the post-Tridentine period.
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