„Táto ekonomika zabíja“ alebo „Pápež, ktorý nerozumie ekonomike?“

Author(s): Radovan Šoltés / Language(s): Slovak / Issue: 2/2016

The exhortation of Pope Francis Evangelii Gaudium brought many ideas and reflections of the contemporary Church, but also the Western world, which has become characterised by a way of economic thinking and acting, that increasingly clashes with borders of social ethics. Francis´ controversial dictum “this economy kills” (EG 53) questions the discourse of contemporary standards in the economic space. But the criticism of the current capitalist economy by Francis is not solitary in the tradition of the social doctrine of the Church, but builds on the previous encyclicals, which also critically assess style of market economy, that does not respect the dignity of the human person. They do not condemn the market economy in itself, but draw attention to the necessary ethical dimension of economics, namely, to serve man and not vice versa.

„Teologia paruzyjna” jako przełom w eschatologii chrześcijańskiej

Author(s): Łukasz Pondel / Language(s): Polish / Issue: 44/2019

Scholarship does not like rapid changes. The current proposal thus fits into the modeling understanding of theological treatises in an integrated manner. The aim is not to initiate a Copernican revolution, but to attempt an integrated look at eschatology with the help of “parousian theology” (sic!). The proposed focus, after a more detailed development, may lead to a breakthrough in eschatology. The methodology rightly “suggests” that, as in every theological field, the first steps should be towards the foundation of Christian faith, that is, the Word of God. Following this, we should look at the current ways of understanding eschatology, looking for integrating connections. It will be shown that “parousian theology”, by its very definition, allows a bridge to be built between the present and the future, bringing out two paths to light, and at the same time two senses in which such theology may be practised: an eschatological and a Christological sense. For these two paths to combine, it is necessary to examine these senses in “parousian theology” (praesentia and adventus, as two Greek definitions of παρουσία). It is many years since Marie-Joseph Lagrange tried to connect these paths, dividing the eschatic times into two eons. The Lagrange concept allows “parousian theology” to build a bridge between the present and the future and vice versa. Will the idea of “parousian theology” become a Copernican breakthrough in eschatology?

„Tierisches” Eugena Drewermanna. W kierunku teologicznym

Author(s): Zbigniew Kadłubek / Language(s): Polish / Issue: 1/2015

The author’s essay is a collection of several short, seemingly casual reflections which contain more profound themes, giving the reader much food for thought. Starting from a personal wish to explore the question of animality, the author delves into the issues of biopoetics and zootheology, before once more returning to personal reflections, which lead him to the negation of the human and the animal as equal existences under law.

„To jest owczarnia onego Dobrego Pasterza”. Pojęcie „prawdziwego” Kościoła w polskich szesnastowiecznych katechizmach

Author(s): Waldemar Kowalski / Language(s): Polish / Issue: 1/2016

The paper focuses on the way in which the authors of Polish Catholic and Evangelical catechisms of the 16th century understood and explained of the idea of the Church. According to the decrees of the Council of Trent, the Catholic Church was presented as the continuator of the teachings of the Apostles, with its power deriving from the authority of the Pope, the successor of Peter, and unity of faith confirmed by miracles. Protestant theologists preach about the visible church, which exists wherever the pure Word of God is preached, and claim that sacraments are administered in accordance with the Gospel. The universal invisible Church exists alongside the visible Church. It connects every person following the Christ, who is the only head of his Church.

„Triadele” Sfântului Grigorie Palama: repere pentru cateheza contemporană

Author(s): Roger Coresciuc / Language(s): Romanian / Issue: 2/2014

The challenge of the modern/contemporary catechesis as it is approached by the patristic theology is extremely important: The Triads of Saint Gregory Palamas suggest a vivid theology which cannot go without the hesychast experiences, results of the ascetical life. The unity of the theological knowledge is represented, in fact, by the unity of the hesychast living on its whole. The legitimacy demands of Varlaam, in a field totally alien to his skills, are a pattern for the way the modern catechesis should react with regard to the adaptability requests. The Dionysian concept of `unity` can be seen along the entire defensive Palamite work. The knowledge of God is a unitary act, which moves from multiplicity to unity, not by acquiring multiplicity, but overcoming it in a transcendental way. On a contrary way, Varlaam, the great rival of the Palamite theology, considered the results of the philosophical knowledge to be gleams of the eternal judgments existing within the divine mind. Saint Gregory Palamas verticality and congruency with its simple truths. The demand of establishing any kind of catechesis on answers regarding firstly the scientific primary truth `area` and, then, the truths resulted from the confessional knowledge is a premise which cannot form the base of a real catechetical itinerary.

„Trójka widm w bezokoliczniku”. Spektralne koniugacje Witolda Wirpszy

Author(s): Piotr Bogalecki / Language(s): Polish / Issue: 2/2016

This article presents an interpretation of Witold Wirpsza’s poem ‘Zgryzota i dalekie światło’ [Distress and a Distant Light]. Bogalecki begins with an analysis of the poem’s formulas and procedures in a Deleuzian context. His goal is twofold: first, to deduce Wirpsza’s understanding of the theme of the spectre, which only becomes meaningful through Jacques Derrida’s hauntology and the works of Giorgio Agamben and John D. Caputo. The second goal is to indicate a direction for a post-secular reinterpretation of Wirpsza’s work. His return to the theological or religious tradition can be understood as a deconstruction of the traditional form of religious and metaphysical poetry. The effect turns out to be an affirmative recognition of the language of religion as a spectre that incessantly ‘haunts’ modern, seemingly secularized discourses.

„Tu i tam – zawsze wasz”

Author(s): Janusz Poniewierski / Language(s): Polish / Issue: 736/2016

„Tysiąc lat jest jak jedna Noc”. Rozważania Karola Wojtyły o człowieku i jego dziejach z okazji tysiąclecia chrztu Polski

Author(s): Mirosława Ołdakowska-Kuflowa / Language(s): Polish / Issue: 3/2016

In 1966, Karol Wojtyła, the then Archbishop of Cracow, inspired by the Millennium of the Baptism of Poland, wrote a poem entitled Easter Vigil 1966. The poem evokes the profi le of Prince Mieszko I, the Polish ruler who took the decision to accept the Christian baptism. The poem comprises a philosophical and religious meditation making use of poetic language and employing the stylistic means characteristic of poetry. The objective of the meditation is to show the beginning, the meaningfulness, and the goal of the humanity, and to do so based in a specifi c vision of man. The anthropology put forward by the author has Christian roots and manifests marks of a polemic with the materialistic view of the world, the outlook offi cially accepted in Poland in the communist times. In his philosophy of history, Wojtyła clearly refuted the official Marxist doctrine. Today, the problems he addresses in his poem, as well as the ideas and arguments he incorporates, assume a new relevance in the face of the new intellectual fashion for the so-called new humanities, also called performative humanities or non-anthropocentric humanities, which spring from the Marxist tradition and are rooted in historicism.

„Umysł widzący swoje światło” w nauce duchowej Ewagriusza z Pontu

Author(s): Leszek Misiarczyk / Language(s): Polish / Issue: 29/2016

The monk Evagrius of Pontus (345-399 AD) presents in his spiritual doctrine the concept of "pure prayer", that is, prayer not only devoid of any contact with material things but also divorced from any concrete image in the nous (i.e., the mind or intellect). This type of deep prayer becomes a source for the knowledge of God. Upon reaching this state of deep purification, the nous experiences during prayer the light of God and also perceives himself as radiant. Evagrius specifies that the nous sees itself in the color of the sapphire or in sky-blue, or even as a star. Scientists for a long time asked themselves whether, for Evagrius, this light originated within the mind itself, or came from God. It seems that monk of Pontus joins these two lights together, although considering them always as separate. The light of nous itself is but a reflection of the divine light, in the same way that the moon reflects the light of the sun. Even if the nous is not the source of its own light, nevertheless its light is real. In a time of deep spiritual union with God, His light illuminates the human nous and turns it into radiance.

„UND SALOMO HAT IHM EIN HAUS GEBAUT“ (APG 7,47): KONZEPTE VOM WOHNEN GOTTES IM LUKANISCHEN DOPPELWERK

Author(s): Heike Hötzinger / Language(s): German / Issue: 1/2015

This article examines concepts of places of God’s presence in Luke-Acts. As Luke-Acts aims the narration of the proclamation of the gospel with its roots in God’s history with Israel “to the end of the earth” (Luke 2:30-32; Acts 1,8) geographical and religious boundaries are crossed. Therefore questions about religious identity arise constantly as e.g. the reflection about the significance of the temple as God’s place. So the Gospel of Luke presents the temple on the one hand side as a place of God’s presence and thus as a centre of religious identity, on the other hand side as a place of struggling for religious identity. Acts also draws this two-sided picture and shows alternative concepts of God’s dwelling that base in God’s being. For example Acts 6:1-8:3, that marks the threshold to the proclamation outside of Jerusalem, pleads a relativisation of the significance of the temple and at the same time God’s universal presence, particularly mediated by the Son of Men Jesus exalted at God’s right hand side in heaven.

„USŁYSZAŁEM JEDEN GŁOS OD CZTERECH ROGÓW ZŁOTEGO OŁTARZA, KTÓRY JEST PRZED BOGIEM” – W KRĘGU FENOMENÓW DŹWIĘKOWYCH APOKALIPSY ŚW. JANA

Author(s): Joanna Nowińska SM / Language(s): Polish / Issue: 23/2016

The sentence fwnh.n mi,an evk tw/n Îtessa,rwnÐ kera,twn tou/ qusiasthri,ou tou/ crusou/ tou/ evnw,pion tou/ qeou/ is only in the Book of Revelation. There is no precisely information about the source of that voice nor in what way it’s unite with the altar. More: Rev 16,7 describe the altar as speaking one. The biblical meaning of qusiasth,rion connected it with God, His carries of men, cult, His – and human desire of meeting. Also the altar’s horns were signs of God’s power, directed to securing the world. The anointing them by the blood of sacrifices symbolized entrusting, offering the whole life to God. All of these thoughts and the context of Rev 9,13 proclaim that God take the human sacrifice, describe before and overwhelmed problems of the world and more: every human in every condition. He is an active and even the evil is under His control, so He – like an altar in the Old Testament – is a city for escape. The motive of voice suggest that it’s connected with the process of communication between God and men.

„Uwierzyliśmy miłości” (1 J 4, 16). Biblijny obraz formacji sercańskiej w świetle nauczania bł. Jana Pawła II

Author(s): Stanisław Hałas / Language(s): English,Polish / Issue: 1/2014

The paper sets together the traditional biblical text about the SCJ formation: We have believed love (1 John 4, 16) with the biblical inspirations of the apostolic exhortation Pastores dabo vobis. Pope John Paul the II likes particularly the John narrative about vocation of the first disciples (John 1 35 – 42), and the Markus text: He appointed twelve, that they might be with Him (Mk 3, 14). In these biblical texts he sees the contemplative aspect of the priest for-mation for the pastoral love.

„V normálním životě bychom se nikdy dohromady nedali."

Vyprávěná aranžovaná manželství tří generací  v Církvi sjednocení

Author(s): Andrea Beláňová / Language(s): Czech / Issue: 3/2016

Arranged marriages, together with mass weddings, are not the only remarkable practices of the Unification Church. Arranged marriages can also be viewed as the central point of the Unification Church members’ life histories. These biographies are continuously being created, shared, and retold within the group. Currently, three main generations meet in the Unification Church: the first generation, the second generation, and the neophytes. Members of each generation form their life-stories in a slightly different way. However, as I argue in this article, all of these biographies follow a four-stage structure when speaking about the “matching process”, which leads to the creation of a couple. All three of the generations also incorporate several “more powerful actors” in their narratives, who assist with accepting the chosen life partner and help keep the life trajectory going in the expected and accepted direction. Moreover, humor is always present to relieve any drama in the story. For the analysis, interviews from the Czech, the Slovak, and the American communities of the Unification Church were used, together with the author’s field notes and with Unification Church publications.

„Verbum spirans amorem“. Úvaha o vztahu mezi teologií a duchovním životem

Author(s): Štěpán Martin Filip / Language(s): Czech / Issue: 1/2018

The article, whose title is based on the designation of the Second Divine Person by St. Thomas Aquinas, begins with the application of the principle distinguer pour unir for the synchronic distinction and unity of theology and spiritual life. After an elucidation of the concept of theology and spiritual life, it tracts the harmony between both of them, based on the straight unity between the reason and the will generally and particularly in the act of faith. Since the relationship between theology and spiritual life is mutual, the article conconcept of theology and spiritual life, it tracts the harmony between both of them, based tinues with a treatise on the relationship between theology and spiritual life, summarized in the expression pietas theologica (theological piety), and than by a tract on the relationship between the spiritual life and theology, summarized in the expression theologia pia (pious theology). The example and doctrine of Pope Benedict XVI in this matter is made mention of in the conclusion.

„Viskótlan-e” a jó keresztyén?

William Paul Young sikerkönyvének margójára

Author(s): Istvan Pasztori-Kupan / Language(s): Hungarian / Issue: 2/2011

Since its publication, William Paul Young’s bestseller entitled The Shack caused a lot of turmoil amongst theologians and Christians in general. The appearance of its Hungarian trans-lation in 2009 added more fuel to the already heated debate within the Hungarian Reformed Church. This study will appear in three parts in the present and the next two forthcoming is-sues of Református Szemle, including both the analysis of some key theological questions contained in The Shack and reflections concerning the most important criticisms brought against it by various participants in the dispute. The present article is concerned with matters of principle such as the definition of The Shack’s genre and the legitimacy of its in-depth theological analysis.

„W imię naglących potrzeb literatury narodowej”. Tłumaczenie i żydowski nacjonalizm kulturowy w Europie Wschodniej

Author(s): Kenneth Moss / Language(s): Polish / Issue: 29/2014

This essay examines the rhetoric and practice of translation in the Russian Empire’s Hebrew and Yiddish cultural communities and focuses on the intriguing fact that by 1917, many of the writers, critics, intellectuals, and publishers committed to a Jewish nationalist vision of Hebrew or Yiddish cultural renaissance were convinced that a massive program of literary translation was their most essential task. The study reconstructs the guiding translation program of this divided intelligentsia, which posited a universal canon of European and even world literature that had to be incorporated whole into Hebrew and Yiddish literature systematically and rapidly, without any sort of Judaization or popularization, and with an emphasis on the expansion of the expressive capacities of the target language and its writers. The essay traces how this commitment was expressed and embodied in translation theory, practices of selection and publishing, and in several acts of translation themselves. It further demonstrates how this translation program and its practices were linked to a larger vision of programmatic ‘de-Judaization’ or ‘de-parochialization’ of Hebrew and Yiddish culture propounded by some of the most committed Hebraists and Yiddishists in Russia. Finally, it argues that this translation program expresses a more general and seemingly paradoxical variant of East European Jewish cultural nationalism which held that a modern Jewish national culture could only be truly worthwhile and compelling to modern creators and consumers if it was universal in its expressive potentials and demarcated from other national cultures by language rather than content.

„W MOCY DUCHA ŚWIĘTEGO. KSIĘGA PAMIĄTKOWA DLA JEGO EKSCELENCJI KSIĘDZA BISKUPA EDWARDA BIAŁOGŁOWSKIEGO Z OKAZJI XXV ROCZNICY ŚWIĘCEŃ BISKUPICH”, RED. P. MIERZWA, M. NABOŻNY, RZESZÓW 2013, S. 496, ISBN 978-83-936516-0-3

Author(s): Waldemar Pałęcki / Language(s): Polish / Issue: 18-20/2013

„W tobie jest źródło życia i w twej światłości [...] światłość” Wiara i religia
 w perspektywie resocjalizacji skazanych

Author(s): Anna Panek,Elżbieta Panek / Language(s): Polish / Issue: 31-32/2016

The paper intends to take a broader perspective on the issue of religion in the life and rehabilitation of individuals sentenced to the penalty of imprisonment. It discusses the importance of faith and (mainly Christian) religion and religious practices in the specific context of incarceration, as well as the role of prison pastoral care and correctional volunteering, with some major references to the findings of the thematic empirical work. Moreover, the paper calls for a more in-depth (both empirical and theoretical) analysis of the effectiveness of religiously motivated rehabilitation, without any attempts at its idealization or depreciation. Excerpts from a prison diary - selected as meaningful parts of the paper (in order to outline, among all, the importance of the convicts’ conversions) - are not intended to stun the reader with their emotional message. They are rather testimonials of the life of individuals, in their own flesh and blood, and as such send a powerful message for others. The rest is just about the faith and the will of individual readers and their interpretations. As for things of importance, sometimes suffice is to tell about them (with no references to doctrinal interpretations and paradigms or without establishing any ad hoc scientific constructs). That approach proves that the author’s intent goes far beyond the accurate reporting, disentangled from personal and self-construed messages. Universal clues for choosing between the good and the evil just do not exist. But steps are being taken to save others from the effect of the evil. Prison constitutes a peculiar space of existence where human life can both come to its end or have a new beginning.

„Wszystkie Boże przykazania są prawdą”

Author(s): Alojzy Drożdż / Language(s): Polish / Issue: 14/2018

We are living in a multi-standard culture. These are usually legal provisions. The number of bureaucratic regulations is also great. Each institution is created by numerous legislation processes. There are also, known for centuries, moral norms. Each type of morality has its own structure of norms and behaviour principles. Since the end of the 19th century situational ethics and moral relativism have been spreading in the western culture. It questions the existence of universal and commonly applicable moral norms. The God’s commandments (Decalogue) are particularly negated. It is often said about selective obeying the Ten Commandments. That is why it is urgently needed to remind the binding power of The Commandments. Of course, the Ten Commandments should be interpreted in the context of the New Testament. Today, at the core of this interpretation, there lies a christological criterion. It means that all of the Ten Commandments (lex naturalis, Decalogue, lex evangelica) are being fulfilled in the two Great Commandments of the love of God and neighbour. A visible example of not complying with the Commandments is the culture of death that exists nowadays. It is a sign of not only atheism but also the destruction of humanity.

„Wy jesteście świadkami tego!” (Łk 24,48) Koncepcja świadectwa w Ewangelii Łukasza

Author(s): Piotr Nyk / Language(s): Polish / Issue: 27/2015

The present article deals with the studies of testimony in the Gospel of Luke, focusing on the testimony of the disciples of Jesus. In the introduction the author outlines the theme of testimony in the double work of Luke-Acts as compared to other New Testament writings, and explains the meaning of giving testimony and being a witness according to the Third Evangelist. The exegetical study of texts, describing the missionary activity of the disciples in Luke shows that they were acting as witnesses in several stages. In the first stage the Twelve are witnesses sent by Jesus to proclaim the kingdom of God in Galilee. The second stage is the testimony of the seventy-two disciples sent on a mission to proclaim the kingdom of God in Samaria and Galilee. The radicalism of the requirements resembles the radicalism of Jesus’ life, and yields the special character of the disciples’ testimony. The object and the quality of the disciples’ testimony are changed after the Easter events. The disciples have to reckon with persecution, which turned into an opportunity to give testimony inspired by the Holy Spirit. The missionary commandment given by the Risen Lord, being simultaneously a testimony commandment, is preceded by the empowerment of the disciples with supernatural gifts from the Risen Lord, and conditioned by acceptance of the Holy Spirit. The object of disciples’ testimony after Easter will be the passion, the death, and above all the resurrection of Christ based on the prophecies of the Old Testament, and conversion with forgiveness of sins in His name. The testimony of the apostolic community of disciples would be taken from Palestine to all nations on Earth.