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Chrystus fundamentem człowieczeństwa. Jana Pawła II wizja kultury w kontekście kryzysu człowieka i społeczeństwa

Author(s): Jan Perszon / Language(s): Polish Issue: 31/2024

The essay presents selected elements of John Paul II’s teaching on culture. The Pope saw culture as the natural environment for humanisation of man. Since European culture was formed through Christianity, Europeans – In order to “be themselves” – need Christ. The Pope persistently promoted a Christological model of culture and the human person. Therefore, warning against anthropological reductionism, he advocated the evangelisation of culture so that it would foster (as a “true” and “authentic” culture) the integral development of the human person and society. During his pontificate, he clearly diagnosed the dangers of the “culture of death”, that is, philosophical currents and social trends that distort the truth about man.

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Ars Medica Et Cura Pastoralis. Grija pentru cei bolnavi în Biserica antică

Author(s): Leontin Popescu / Language(s): Romanian Issue: 22/2024

The writings of the Holy Fathers reveal a variety of attitudes towards medicine, from forms of recognition of it and extreme trust in doctors’ prescriptions to reasons for mistrust; However, there is almost always a Christian concern to legitimize medicine as a useful tool for healing, but at the same time to consider it a gift from God who instituted it. Numerous testimonies also convey the metaphor of Christ “medicus”, variously expressed and spread both in the East and in the West. From the union of Christian care and professional medicine were born the first hospitals, also inspired by the Christian hospitality and philanthropy available in various settlements in both the East and the West. The new structures established themselves as treatment centers and effectively assumed a monopoly on universal medical practice.

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„Nu cei sănătoși au nevoie de doctor, ci cei bolnavi” (Mt 9:12)

Author(s): Ovidiu Soare / Language(s): Romanian Issue: 22/2024

Regardless of our state of health, we need pastoral care and care from the Church. Illness, suffering, sadness and hopelessness accompany us at every step, especially when an illness, which we see as incurable, torments us and does not give us peace. The Church teaches us to be prepared to be tested by illness, but at the same time it teaches us to pray to the Good God for our healing and to be aware, with each prayer, that we need help and healing.On the one hand, God is the one who allows everything, implicitly the diseases that fall upon us, and on the other hand, He also urges us, advises us, commands us to pray to Him, in order to receive healing from Him, healing, salvation.No one is exempt from these trials, trials which, contrary to all immediate and selfish expectations, strengthen us, make us better, more patient and set us on the path of salvation.

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Rolul medicului în opera Sfântului Vasile cel Mare

Author(s): Sorin Marinescu / Language(s): Romanian Issue: 22/2024

Starting from the challenges of the last years, in which people faced the Covid pandemic and its consequences, and turning our thoughts to those who take care of those in suffering, for whom, as a sign of homage, it was dedicated to them in the Patriarchate Romanian, the year 2024, we returned to the work of Saint Basil the Great, and to his perspective on the role of the doctor in society. Thus, in The Great Rules, he includes medicine among the arts given by God to men, as a “help to their weak nature”, and the “use of its benefits“ must be “ordered to the glory of God and as a model of the care of souls”. The physician is the one skilled in the art of medicine, “as a model for the healing of the soul, so that by it what is superfluous is cut off and what is needed is added”.

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Sfântul Mucenic Trifon „doctor fără de arginți” în iconografie

Author(s): Marcel Muntean / Language(s): Romanian Issue: 22/2024

The Holy Martyr Tryphon was originated from the Phrygian area, from the village of Lampsac and lived as a true Christian, preaching Christ. Among the various miracles performed by Saint Tryphon, we recall the one in which he expelled a demon from the daughter of the Roman emperor Gordian at only 17 years old. The devil appeared to everyone metamorphosing into a black dog with eyes like fire. This deed led to the conversion of the abbey to Christianity, along with many other dignitaries. He was martyred during the reign of Emperor Decius, the persecutor of Christians in the year 250. In iconography there are several types characteristic of Eastern art. His figure according to the Erminia of Dionysius is that of one: young, beardless, with curly hair. A series of symbolic elements stand next to his face, such as: the Holy Cross, vine leaves, palm leaves, sickle, falcon, flowers, geese, etc. In Western painting, two reference names complete the study, Vittorio Carpaccio and Giarolamo da Santacroce.At the end of the study, we consider that the iconic variants from the Eastern area with their distinct typologies and symbols, stand next to Western painting, which, through specific means of accentuated figurativeness, define an interesting, unique and welcoming artistic repertoire for those who persistently bend in understanding the representative artistic and hagiographic phenomenon dedicated to the confessor of Christ, Saint Tryphon.

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Preocupări liturgice în corespondența edită a Episcopului Melchisedec Ștefănescu

Author(s): Lucian Vasile PETROAIA / Language(s): Romanian Issue: 22/2024

In Romanian Orthodoxy, the 19th century was dominated by several figures of hierarchs with pregnant theological and scientific concerns, among which the personality of Bishop Melchisedec Stefanescu is outstanding. Much has been written about this hierarch of the Lower Danube and Roman in recent decades, with a predilection for his spiritual life, his liturgical, missionary, and pastoral ministry, and his theological and historical work. The present study is occasioned by the appearance of two volumes of correspondence of the great hierarch with personalities of his time, published by the Archdiocese of the Lower Danube. The liturgical aspects that I try to highlight in the following pages reveal a hierarch who was concerned with seminary theological education. The liturgical aspects that I try to highlight in the following pages reveal a hierarch who was concerned with seminary theological education (for which he personally and completely wrote or translated the first systematic manuals), fascinated by liturgical worship (to the enrichment of which he contributed with proposals for church books translated into Romanian and Latin) and attentive to the godliness of the people (to which he almost brought competent hagiographic research). To these must be added his brilliance in what is meant by “ecclesial polity”, that is, fidelity to universal Orthodoxy in general, and his tenacious struggle, with doctrinal, canonical, and traditional arguments, for the affirmation of Romanian Orthodoxy. From all of them one can see the scientific intuition and prophetic vision of this hierarch, to whom we of today are so indebted.

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Evoluția iconografiei creștine în secolele VI-VII

Author(s): Cristian Gagu / Language(s): Romanian Issue: 22/2024

The II-III centuries represented the period of the birth of Christian sacred art through Christians imitating the custom of pagans, from whose ranks most of them came, to decorate their graves, sarcophagi or mausoleums with images and even by borrowing some pagan symbols and themes, to which they obviously gave a new, Christian meaning, to which, of course, exclusively Christian themes were added, most often of biblical origin, most of them having a narrative-historical character. In the 4th-5th centuries, under the careful supervision of the Church, a synthesis was made regarding the themes addressed, by abandoning some, by taking over others from the imperial imaginary, prevalence acquiring a dogmatic character, from the desire to express and through the mediation of figurative art, not only through the poetic, transposed into songs, the truths of faith formulated at the first four ecumenical synods, but also in terms of styles. In this second stage of the history of Christian sacred art, especially in the 5th century, as a result of the synthesis achieved in the capital of the empire between the two great artistic currents that manifested themselves in painting, the Hellenistic-Alexandrian and the Syro-Palestinian, was formed the Constantinopolitan painting school and the stylistic features specific to this school crystallized1. The present study aims to point out the main characteristics and developments of Christian sacred art in the Byzantine Empire starting from the time of Emperor Justinian I until the outbreak of Byzantine iconoclasm.

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Apariția și dezvoltarea vieții monahale în răsăritul creștin în perioada antichității târzii

Author(s): Ionuţ Holubeanu / Language(s): Romanian Issue: 22/2024

This study provides a short overview of the origins, evolution, and characteristics of monasticism in the Christian East during Late Antiquity. The first part examines the Christian ascetic movement from the 1st to the 2nd centuries AD which served as the basis for the development of monasticism. Then, the main monastic centers in the eastern regions of the ancient Christian world – Egypt, Palestine, Syria and Mesopotamia, Asia Minor, the city of Constantinople, and the diocese of Thrace – are described. The study outlines their distinctive characteristics and their key representatives, such as saints Anthony the Great, Pachomius the Great, and Macarius the Great in Egypt; Hilarion the Great, Gerasimus of the Jordan, Sabas the Sanctified, and Theodosius the Cenobiarch in Palestine; and Basil the Great in Cappadocia. The assessment confirms the view that monasticism emerged independently and almost simultaneously in several locations across the ancient Christian world (Egypt, Palestine, Syria, Asia Minor). It also highlights the impact of the lives and teachings of certain monastic figures of the time on the development of monasticism in other provinces.

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O controversă inedită din Rusia secolelor XV-XVI privitoare la averea bisericească: disputa dintre agonisitori și neagonisitori și consecințele sale nomocanonice

Author(s): Maxim Marian Vlad / Language(s): Romanian Issue: 22/2024

During the years of the Renaissance, issues surrounding the relationship between the Church and the State as well as between the Church and the world at large came into high relief throughout Europe. The status quo of the Middle Age was both widely questioned and vigorously upheld by opposing groups. At one end of the spectrum of opinion concerning these relationships were groups like the Spiritual Franciscans, who advocated ecclesiastical poverty and the renunciation by the Church of all secular power. At the opposite end of the spectrum of opinion were organizations like the Inquisition, which sought to expand the temporal power of the Church and to use that power against the Church’s enemies. One manifestation of this debate occurred in Russia, where the Orthodox Church was split between the Possessors, who advocated the ownership of land and serfs by the Church and a close relationship of the Church with the State, and the Non-Possessors, who advocated the spiritual poverty of the Church and a distancing of the Church from secular powers.

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Mănăstirea Mavromol din Galați. Noi mărturii documentare

Author(s): Florin Marinescu,Eugen Drăgoi / Language(s): Romanian Issue: 22/2024

A monastic settlement of monks, the only princely building in the city of Galaţi, built by voivode Constantin Duca of Moldavia in 1702, which has survived until our time, Mavromol Monastery, today a church of myrrh, has a history that is not yet sufficiently known. Recent incursions into the archive of the Vatoped Athonite Monastery, carried out by Dr. Florin Marinescu from Athens, to which are added some documents from the same archival fund received by Fr. Eugen Drăgoi from Galați, through the kindness of Reverend Efrem, the abbot of Vatopedu, bring rich and interesting testimonies about the past of this monastery, important pieces of documentary material for a necessary monograph of this monastery from Galaţi. The present study – of which we are publishing here the first part - utilizes previously unknown information, which emerges from Vatopedi documents belonging to the second half of the 18th century (years 1767-1786), regarding the properties of the Galățean Mavromol and some of the unknown servants of the former monastery in the city of Danube in Moldavia, an important fair in that century.

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Генетичната информацията – Божиите логоси на Творението

Author(s): Svilen Spasov / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 4/2024

The doctrine of the uncreated energies of St. Fathers is existentially connected with the theology of the logos which was developed and formulated by St. Maximus the Confessor (662 †). Generally speaking, in his teaching he defines the logos (λόγσί) as God's thoughts for Creation. The logos of existing things in this world are identical with God's purpose for them in God's economy (purpose) of Creation. Therefore, the concept of logos can be defined as a record or concise information about the whole creation. This concept determines the overall structure and sets the final body of the creation in its eschatological transformation from being to well-being. However, it is wrong to consider logos as static prototypes of creation in God in the sense of Plato's philosophical ideas, they rather represent dynamic volitional meanings of God to Creation

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Justifying Factors of Religious Beliefs’ Rationality

Author(s): Qodratullah Qorbani / Language(s): English Issue: 63/2022

There are different factors that can justify the rationality of religious beliefs. Some factors have epistemological virtues, and some have functional ones. Based on the inductive method, it is possible to use some justifying factors such as relying on logical demonstration, universality, and comprehensiveness; having more compatibility with people’s innate and common sense; more stability and less changeability; independence of religious texts’ authority; having more consensus among religious believers; simplicity and explainability; reducing errors in understanding them; dependency of religious texts on them; the basis for religious unity and plurality; independence of believers’ presuppositions; and having more practical and useful conclusions. Assessing religions based on the mentioned factors teaches us to focus on logical, universal, innate, coherent, and practical ones as the main characteristics of religious rationality. Applying these justifying factors also helps us to measure the rationality of religious beliefs at their three levels: fundamental, middle, and marginal. Considering the justifying factors pertaining to these three levels of religious belief, they show gradual and hierarchical relationships between them, with the fundamental beliefs having the highest level of rationality, the marginal beliefs having the lowest, and the middle ones having a level in between. The result is that, for establishing peaceful life and interfaith dialogue, we should focus on fundamental beliefs and have a reciprocal understanding of the middle ones.

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WAR MACHINES AND ORTHODOXY: UNMANNED COMBAT VEHICLES AND AUTONOMOUS WEAPONS SYSTEMS IN EASTERN CHRISTIAN-ORTHODOX UNDERSTANDING OF WAR

Author(s): DRAGAN STANAR / Language(s): English Issue: 63/2022

In this paper, the author aims to explain why the use of modern war machines, namely Unmanned Combat Vehicles (UCV) and Autonomous Weapons Systems (AWS), cannot be justified in Eastern Christian-Orthodox ethics of war. The author explains how the moral dimension of war in Eastern Christian Orthodoxy is derived from its ontological nature, which prevents the creation of a just war theory. War is understood as a divine punishment for nations which “fall from God” and it does not have a Manichean nature in which one side represents the Good and the other Evil, unlike Western Christianity which developed not only a Just War Theory but also the concept of a Holy War. Eastern Christian-Orthodoxy perceives war as a combination of a cataclysm and temptation for all involved, creating a morally-tragic situation for all soldiers who are faced with impossible choices. Due to the key implications of the introduction of modern war machines into warfare, namely, the elimination of risk and even the elimination of the human element from the process of killing, such machines transform war into a punitive action of the “just” side, a phenomenon more resembling hunting, police enforcement, or even pest control in which the outcome is not in God’s hands but is actually predetermined. The author therefore concludes that modern war machines are fundamentally incompatible with Eastern Christian-Orthodox ethics.

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The Orthodox Christian Church Fathers and Pastoral Counseling – Specific Patristic Pastoral Approaches

Author(s): MARINEL LAURENȚIU MARCU / Language(s): English Issue: 63/2022

The primary purpose of this study is to bring awareness to today’s Orthodox pastoral counselors that the pastoral counseling approaches of the Holy Fathers are still applicable. Ignorance of the Orthodox Faith can lead to poor Orthodox pastoral counseling, so it is necessary for an Orthodox pastoral counselor to understand the "mind of the Fathers" in order to be effective. The theoretical section of this paper presents Orthodox patristic pastoral counseling approaches and suggestions, while the project facet of this study is a demonstration of that theory in practice. This paper is based on the underlying assumption of the Orthodox doctrine that the Fathers were collectively given to know the reins of the heart, despite their individual limitations. The Fathers spoke and wrote after having lived the mysteries of God, having undergone prayer, fasting, and spiritual labor, and coming to the vision of God and His creation in a heart purified by divine grace. From this Orthodox Christian perspective, since the Fathers had the whole of creation revealed to them by the Holy Spirit, one can learn from them.

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Psychosocial effects of Zakaat in the era of materialism and global recessions

Author(s): TANSIF UR REHMAN / Language(s): English Issue: 63/2022

Zakaat serves as the fundamental and essential mechanism in Islam. Its core, structure, and function can be better appreciated from modern life's micro and macro perspectives. Therefore, it is vital to elucidate Islam's core ideas and highlight Zakaat as a cornerstone of social order. The Qur'anic teachings of intellect and rational Sunnah evolve and establish a social order based on the most solid and secure foundations, i.e., the Zakaat system. If properly institutionalized, these can have a powerful impact. Recent scientific research has found that when people engage in philanthropy, their brains secrete dopamine (a feel-good chemical), serotonin (a mood-mediating hormone), and oxytocin (associated with tranquility and serenity). This highlights the psychosocial benefits of Zakaat in the current materialistic and economically challenging climate, with over 260 million people worldwide suffering from depression.

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Enlightened Vegetarian Restaurants in Malaysia: Buddhist Ethics in Contemporary Buddhism

Author(s): LEE KEAN YEW / Language(s): English Issue: 64/2023

It is important to consider Buddhist Ethics of Ahimsa as a true practice to enhance compassion and understanding. The first precept of Buddhism stresses the importance of protecting life-beings and not exploiting other living beings. The Theravada and the Vajrayana schools are inclined to permit eating of meat whereas Mahayana practitioners advocate vegetarianism. The question that arises is whether running a vegetarian restaurant in Malaysia is identified as a way to practice Buddhist Ethics of Ahimsa. However, not much of Buddhist literature highlights the practices of Buddhist Ethics towards vegetarianism. This paper traces the link between the running of vegetarian restaurants in Malaysia and Buddhist ethics of Ahimsa and how this will decrease violence in one-self, in the family and in society. The authors’ conclusion is that the running of vegetarian restaurants will bring about greater awareness about Buddhist ethics which will have an impact on practicing the Buddhist value.

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The Teachings of The Naqsabandiyah Khalidiyah Tarekat as a therapy to improve worship: Psychology of counseling

Author(s): - Saliyo,- Koentjoro,- Subandi / Language(s): English Issue: 65/2023

This article focuses on a study of research results on the teachings of the Naqshbandiyya Khalidiyya Tariqa as a therapy to improve worship in the field of counseling psychology. A person who follows the teachings of the Naqshbandiyya Khalidiyya Tariqa can increase their worship, such as prayer, fasting, dhikr, and other sunnah(the words, deeds, and silence of the prophet). The Naqshbandiyya Khalidiyya Tariqa has three aspects: cognitive, affective, and psychomotor. A person who practices the teachings of the Naqshbandiyya Khalidiyya Tariqa will experience both psychological and non-psychological impacts. The teachings of the Naqshbandiyya Khalidiyya Tariqa can be used as a means of counseling psychology for a Mursyid (teacher) towards his students (santri).

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Buddhism without a living Buddha: State management of religion in post-Bhumibol Thailand

Author(s): Ji-In Ong,Myengkyo Seo / Language(s): English Issue: 65/2023

This article examines Thailand’s religious attitudes under the government of Prayut Chan-o-cha in the post-Bhumibol era (2018-2019). The article argues that this government has provided justifications for state intervention in people’s religious lives. Field research was conducted in the Department of Religious Affairs of Thailand from June to September in 2018 and 2019 to analyze state policies and gain a better understanding of Thailand’s management of religion. The article also analyzes the 2017 constitutional change and the 2018 Sangha Act to reveal how Thailand deals with different religions in the country. The research found that, in the post-Bhumibol era, Prayut’s government has attempted to give Buddhism an even greater position of superiority over other religions by supporting it with government policies and constitutional clauses. In contrast, King Rama X, the successor of Bhumipol, has pursued the king’s traditional role as a religious sponsor. However, unlike his predecessor, he does not devote himself to the traditional kingly virtues derived from Buddhism.

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A Theological reading of “The Obsolescence of Man” by Günther Anders

Author(s): Stelian Pașca-Tușa,Constantin Radu Iliescu / Language(s): English Issue: 65/2023

Although Günther Anders explicitly confesses in several places that he is an atheist, his writing The Obsolescence of Man lends itself to broad theological readings. We do not understand by this last statement what is commonly accepted in the common mind, but rather we call theological reading the process of going through a given text by a theologian who is able to discover the theological meanings implicit in its content. If secular man has expelled God from the world of ideas, and with this act has degraded theology to the status of a discipline perfectly separate from all the other humanities or sciences, we propose, on the contrary, a restoration. The aim of a theological reading is the constitution of understanding and the elucidation of problems, without any obsession with solutions. The theologian engaged in such an endeavour is a historian of ideas who deals with their past, present and above all future. The right and ability of theology to account for everything is presumed axiomatic. Only in this way can we bring theology out of its imposed isolation and restore it to the world as the queen of the disciplines of the spirit. Therefore, we affirm that the theological reading we shall undertake of the Andersian occasionalism in The Obsolescence of Man will lead to a diagnosis of the degrading state of the world and of man today and will enable us to point out how to deal with the terrible assault to which the whole of humanity is being subjected by the technological revolution.

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The basic model of Islamic psychospiritual treatment based on understanding and appreciating the concept of destiny (Al-Taqdir)

Author(s): Syed Mohammad Hilmi Syed Abdul Rahman,Muhammad Hazim Mohd Azhar,Che Zarrina Sa’ari,Mohd Syukri Zainal Abidin,Muhamad Zariff Ilias / Language(s): English Issue: 65/2023

The severity of mental and emotional disturbances is not only a topic of discussion among academics and medical practitioners but also debated by world leaders. Despite various methods being employed to address this issue, the number of mental illness cases continues to rise each year. Therefore, it is crucial to explore alternative treatments. This article proposes a basic model of psycho-spiritual treatment that draws on an understanding and realization of Allah's taqdir, driven by faith in al-Qada' and al-Qadr, to help treat mental disorders. The proposed model takes into account that a stable and positive faith, morals, and self-identity can be formed through an understanding and realization of Allah's taqdir. This model also acts as a fundamental concept of mental and spiritual support needs by fostering a sense of dependence, hopefulness, justice, and solidarity. As such, it offers an alternative approach to psycho-spiritual treatment.

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