Ars moriendi kao ars vivendi u svjetlu kršć anske vjere

Author(s): Tomislav Smiljanić / Language(s): Croatian Issue: 43/2015

U današnjem postmodernom i postmetafi zičkom vremenu govor o umiranju i smrti, a s njime nužno povezan govor onda i o trpljenju i patnji, ne samo da je nepoželjan i neprimjeren, nego ga se nastoji pod svaku cijenu izbrisati i iz čovjekove misli i govora, iako je smrt sastavni, svakodnevni dio naše svakodnevnice, i ona se događa na svakom koraku, do te mjere da mediji zabilježe i prenesu svaku nesreću bilo kojeg oblika u kojoj se dogodila smrt. Čovjek znanstveno-tehničke civilizacije ježi se od pomisli na smrt i svaki govor o njoj nastoji eliminirati iz svog svakodnevnog življenja. Dok je srednjovjekovni čovjek, pa i onaj renesanse i humanizma usmjeravao svoj život prema načelu ars vivendi kao ars moriendi, i onda u trenutku smrti doživio ars moriendi kao ars vivendi, čovjek 19. i 20. st. više ne prakticira ovu dijalektičku napetost između umijeća življenja i umiranja. Znatan doprinos promijeni ove svijesti i mentaliteta donijela su otkrića i spoznaje prirodnih i tehničkih znanosti, koje su napredovale nezaustavljivim tijekom od 19. st. pa sve do danas. One su obećavale čovječanstvu spasenje i oslobođenje od svih prirodnih ograničenja, materijalni napredak i odgovore na sva pitanja koja su mučila čovječanstvo od postanka. Svojim lažnim sekularnim soteriologijama i eshatologijama osiromašile su čovjekov tubitak i izbacili ga na još veću moralno-etičku pustoš čijoj se krizi ne nazire kraj. U takvoj ispražnjenoj duhovnoj situaciji na poimanje smrti i završetka ljudskog života gleda se na nešto zastrašujuće i utonuće u apsolutno ništavilo. Zato je bolje za današnjeg čovjeka o fenomenu smrti i ne razmišljati prema staroj antičkoj rečenici fi lozofa Epikura: “Smrt, to najstrašnije zlo, nema nikakvog posla s nama; jer dok mi postojimo, smrti nema, a kad ona stigne, onda nas više nema. Tako, dakle, smrt ništa ne znači ni za žive ni za mrtve, jer se živih ne tiče, a mrtvi više ne postoje”.

Kompariranje logosa u kršćanstvu sa savršenim čovjekom Ibn Arebija

Author(s): Mansour Mo'tamedi,Vali Abdi / Language(s): Bosnian Issue: 68-69/2015

The notion of pre-Christianity logos is found in an abstract form in ancient Greek philosophy as well as Judaism (ancient times and some works of Philo of Alexandria). In Christianity (Prologue to the Gospel of John), logos is for the first time identified with a historical character (Jesus), and Christians, namely, Church elders, attributed to logos some characteristics very much resembling Islamic Gnostic interpretation of the “perfect man”. In Islamic gnosis, Ibn Arabi gave a detailed treatment of the issue of the perfect man and gave standpoints comparable to Christian standpoints on logncesos. Having processed Ibn Arabi’s standpoint and standpoints of his commentators’ on the perfect man, as well as standpoints of Church elders on logos, we have concluded that, despite noticeable differences between these two terms, the question of embodiment of logos in Christianity still makes a huge difference regarding this issue.

Moral Development in a Developing Economy in Moral Crisis : Evangelical Youth Culture in Contemporary South Africa

Author(s): Ibrahim Abraham / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2015

Adopting ethnographic research into contemporary Evangelical youth culture in South Africa, this paper critically analyses approaches to the development of moral subjects in Evangelical youth ministry. After introducing the moral landscape of South Africa twenty years after the formal end of the racist apartheid system, the paper then introduces the notion of “moral capital”, making use of the work of Sharlene Swartz amongst impoverished youth in Cape Town. Arguing that the nature of contemporary South African society prevents too instrumental a view of the accumulation of moral capital amongst young people, the paper analyses three broad approaches to the development of moral subjects in Evangelical youth culture and ministry. Approaches focusing on piety seek to separate material poverty from spiritual practice; approaches focusing on prosperity seek miraculous gifts of wealth as rewards for personal piety; and approaches focusing on resilience seek to develop religious subjectivities capable of withstanding the inequities of contemporary South Africa without withdrawing from material reality.

Обкови на напрестолни евангелия - паметници на златарския център от района на Пловдив и Бачковския манастир

Author(s): Nona Petkova / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 2/2015

Eight precious Gospel covers with common typological characteristics and technology of execution are related to the production of the goldsmith centre in the region of Plovdiv and Bachkovo Monastery (its place has not been exactly determined even nowadays). They belong to the group of multi-structured Gospel precious covers and their decoration invariably includes central composition and different kind of frame (casted and embossed plaques, openwork elements or enamel bands with reach filigree ornamentations). Usually on the front cover is represented the scene Descent into Hell, and on the back side - Crucifixion of Christ and this interchange of the position of the two main themes in the iconographic program of the precious Gospel covers is one of the particularities of the group. Five of the works discussed in the article are made for Bachkovo Monastery, and the rest are related to the cultural history of Koprivshtitsa, Krichim and Samokov. The precious Gospel covers are divided into three main groups according to their characteristics. In the first two the examples are put together on the basis of the similarity in the arrangement and techniques of execution while the third group is formed on the basis of the fact that three of the works belong to the quite rare type of box bindings. In the presented precious Gospel covers one can see gradual deterioration of the execution and quality of the works as a whole with each decade. The deterioration of the goldsmith centre in the region of Plovdiv and Bachkovo Monastery made evident by the examples testifies a longer and overall process on the Balkans - the common tendency of disappearance of the mediaeval traditions at the end of 17th century and during 18th century.

Поглед към творческата лаборатория на художниците Михаил и Евтихий (за цикъла на Успение Богородично)

Author(s): Maria Kolusheva / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 2/2015

The availability of a rare cycle of the Assumption scenes in the post-Byzantine painting at the Church of St George in Veliko Turnovo (1616) made us look at the root of its visualisation. The extant pictorial cycles both form West Europe and the Orthodox Christendom, show that until the late eighteenth century the representation of the subject has still been in a process of formation and any established iconographic tradition is out of the question. The things changed when the workshop of painters Michael and Eutychios Astrapas from Thessalonica took to the visualisation of the Assumption. In the late thirteenth and the early fourteenth centuries they were commissioned to decorate several monuments in the territory of what are now Macedonia, Serbia and Kosovo. The approach of the masters to the subject was creative and innovative. Working on various mural ensembles, they succeeded in inventing new compositions, introducing and establishing a number of iconographic elements in the traditional depicting of the Assumption. The next generation of painters followed closely and at times, more freely the model preset by the painters. With the fall of the Balkans to the Ottomans the tradition of representation of the cycle of the Assumption began to wane, but never faded away.

Иконография святых и рассказы о них: Богородица „Троеручица” (принципы взаимодействия образа и текста)

Author(s): Olga Belova / Language(s): Russian Issue: 2/2015

One of the characteristic features of the „Folk Bible” (folk legends based on the plots from the Old and New Testaments) is the fact that apocryphal tales and samples of Christian iconography became its sources together with the canonical biblical text and hagiography texts. The influence of iconography masterpieces on the structure of folklore texts is an extremely interesting area of research: it demands the study of the influence of canonical and „naive” sacred paintings on oral tradition; the principles of image interpretation in oral texts, and mechanisms of generation of folk narratives, based on the interpretation of this or that image are also to be analyzed. In this paper, we will focus on one illustrative case, i.e. the relationship of iconography and oral text in the folk stories about the icon of the three-handed Theotokos (Bogoroditsa Troeruchitsa). The article examines the narratives about the icon of Bogoroditsa Troeruchitsa, recorded in different regions of Russia, Ukraine and Belarus. The image of Bogoroditsa Troeruchitsa is rather popular in the folk tradition environment, but its interpretation in East Slavic folklore is often based not on the episode from the life of Saint John of Damascus, but on the beliefs about the third hand of the Virgin, miraculously given to her by God (or by Christ). According to popular belief, because of this the Virgin and Child escaped from the chase and crossed the sea. It is also believed that the icon of the Bogoroditsa Troeruchitsa helps from the hands and arms disease: the presence of three hands on the image is regarded as evidence that the icon’s help is addressed to all the suffering and praying. With the help of this icon, if it was put on the water, the body of a drowned man can be found. A number of calendar prohibitions (for example, one cannot swim or bath in the Midfeast, which name Prepolovenie in folk etymology is explained through the word pereplyvat’ „to swim”) and local stories about the stones with traces of feet of the Virgin are associated with the legend of Bogoroditsa Troeruchitsa as well.

Oral Teachings of Old Women in 1 Timothy 4:7

Author(s): Sławomir Torbus / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2020

The paper attempts to consider the possibility that the expression γραώδεις μῦθοι used in 1 Timothy 4:7 might refer to oral teachings conveyed by older women in Ephesus. It can be observed that in the Pastoral Epistles, the word μῦθοι denotes false teachings which stand in sharp contrast with the truth contained in the written Scriptures. The context of 1 Timothy may suggest the possibility that older women could convey such oral teachings in the space of the οἶκος, which was a natural ecclesiastical environment of the earliest Christian church.

When a Fresco Speaks: the Epigraphs in San Fiorenzo’s Church (Bastia di Mondovì – CN)

Author(s): Sonia Maura Barillari / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2022

The epigraphs in the fresco cycle of the church of San Fiorenzo in Bastia (1466) are edited for the first time in this article. And for the first time, a classification of epigraphs according to their function is proposed here. Epigraphs can be subdivided into three groups with regard to their role in the figurative pattern: they can in fact fulfill a documentary, explanatory or narrative role in relation to the images with which they are associated. The epigraphs that we define as documentary have the purpose of attesting and making known information about the work (pictorial, sculptural, architectural, mosaic…) in which they are inserted. The inscriptions that we could call explanatory identify the figures they are associated with. The epigraphs with a ‘narrative’ function are more interesting: we have defined them in this way because they give voice to the characters with whom they are associated, who in this way converse with other painted figures or address their message to the beholder.

Gotycki ołtarz główny kościoła św. Jakuba w Nysie

Author(s): Aleksandra Szewczyk,Jacek Witkowski / Language(s): Polish Issue: 1/2007

Gotyckie malowidła w wieży kościoła św. Macieja we Wrocławiu

Author(s): Romuald Kaczmarek,Jacek Witkowski / Language(s): Polish Issue: 2/2007

Klasztor lubiąski w literaturze i sztuce od XVIII wieku do połowy wieku XX

Author(s): Anna Jezierska / Language(s): Polish Issue: 2/2007

GLOBALIZATION AND IDENTITY – COMPLEMENTARITY IN THE DYNAMICS OF RELIGIOUS CULTURES' INTERACTION

Author(s): Nicolae Moroșan / Language(s): Romanian Issue: 40/2025

Globalization and identity are two interrelated concepts that profoundly influence the dynamics of the interrelationship of religious cultures in contemporary times. Globalization facilitates rapid and extensive interaction between diverse cultures and religious traditions, resulting in an increased circulation of religious ideas, practices and values on a global scale. This expansion of cultural interconnections can lead both to homogenization, through the standardization of norms and customs, and to heterogenization, through the fostering of identity diversity and religious syncretism. The complementarity between globalization and identity is evidenced in the way religious communities navigate between maintaining authenticity and adapting to global environments. This dynamic interaction generates new forms of religious expression and the cultivation of intercultural dialogue. Thus, the study of the relationship between globalization and identity is essential for understanding how religious cultures cohabit, transform and enrich in an increasingly interconnected world.

RELIGIOUS SACRIFICE – CONCEPTUAL DELIMITATIONS AND IDEATIONAL TRAJECTORIES IN SPECIALIZED RESEARCH

Author(s): Iuliana Magdalena Neacsu (Lupeanu) / Language(s): Romanian Issue: 40/2025

This study analyzes the concept of religious sacrifice in the Bible, highlighting its essential role in the spiritual and communal life of the Israelites. Sacrifice is examined as a complex ritual, grounded in the idea of social reciprocity, where the offering of divine gifts reflects devotion and loyalty to Yahweh. We explore the types of sacrifices, emphasizing that they range from food and drink offerings to animal sacrifices, each carrying specific symbolic meanings. The study also investigates the meanings and functions associated with sacrifices, including the importance of the act in the context of community and relationship with divinity in the New Testament. In conclusion, sacrifice in the Bible is not merely a ritual of worship, but an essential instrument for maintaining social and spiritual bonds, reflecting the complexity of the relationship between humans and God.

PRAYER AS A MEANS OF CULTIVATING THE HEART IN THE MISSION OF FAITH

Author(s): Ciprian Stanca / Language(s): English Issue: 40/2025

The Orthodox Church is spiritually revived through the power of prayer, sustained by the service of bishops, priests, monks, hermits and all her faithful people. Prayer, the existential foundation of the faithful, unceasingly renews the spirituality of the Church, reflecting in the diversity of forms of prayer the breadth of the spiritual life. Central is the essential prayer that resounds in the words "Well will I say the Lord at all times, his praise always in my mouth" (Psalm 33:1), manifesting the gospel in its living and authentic form. St. Isaac the Syrian emphasizes this as the "praise of the Church of Christ," highlighting a multifaceted spiritual practice that includes monasticism as a sanctuary where doctrines and devotions are preserved in unadulterated forms. Monastic chant, a subtle but profound element of this spiritual ecosystem, illuminates and challenges with the light of Christ. Through prayer, the Church not only communicates with God, but also spiritually transforms human beings, extending the prayer of the heart to the whole of creation. The spiritual fathers outline three progressive stages in the life of prayer and Christian perfection, as St. Basil the Great summarizes. These stages involve the journey of the mind from an outward movement to God, to introspection, and finally, the ascent of the soul itself to God. Each stage signifies a deeper integration of the spiritual into everyday life, culminating in the direct and direct encounter with God, overcoming the need for images or conceptual forms. This transformative prayer practice leads to a deep inner unity, echoing the teachings of the Psalmist and the Fathers of the Church, manifesting itself as a joyful devotion and love to God. By maintaining sustained attention and the virtues of temperance and patience, this transformative engagement with the Divine is maintained, deeply embedding the prayer of the heart into the fabric of daily existence.

PRAYERS IN THE HOLY GOSPEL ACCORDING TO SAINT LUKE THE EVANGELIST

Author(s): Ciprian Stanca / Language(s): English Issue: 40/2025

The Song of Mary, known as the "Magnificat", as recounted in the Gospel of Luke, addressing its poetic structure, theological themes and social implications. The analysis highlights how Mary expresses her gratitude and praise for divine intervention in her life, while also emphasizing the prophetic aspects of the hymn that foreshadow a divine order of justice and mercy. The central theme of the work is the reversal of social orders—the raising of the humble and the lowering of the mighty—which reflect the nature of God's kingdom as described in Jesus' teachings. The hymn is discussed not only as an expression of Mary's personal experience, but also as an echo of Old Testament promises and a vision of the universality of salvation. The "Magnificat" is presented as a profound eschatological and theological text that articulates the continuing hope in the fulfillment of divine promises for all nations, marking a defining moment in Christian literature and biblical spirituality. This work emphasizes the continued relevance of the Song of Mary as a source of theological inspiration and a model of divine and social engagement for believers of all times.

From Versification to Phonetics in a Byzantine-Slavonic Contex

Author(s): Regina Koycheva / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2025

The aim of this research paper is to unravel some unknown sound features of the language of the disciples of St. Cyril and St. Methodius by analyzing the rhythmic structure of four Old Bulgarian canons in 12-syllable verses. Each of the verses in these works follows one of the variants of the dodecasyllable used in the three Byzantine iambic canons by St. John of Damascus, which are briefly presented in the article. The restriction of the line to exactly 12 syllables makes it possible to clarify: a) whether the vocals ъ and ь (jers) in a weak position began to disappear as early as the 9th and the beginning of the 10th century; b) whether jers positioned before [j] were syllabic; and c) whether Old Bulgarian hymnographers used contracted endings of the adjectives.

Картина, икона, сонет и текст: сравнительный анализ сонета Пушкина «Мадона» и эпизода романа Достоевского «Братья Карамазовы»

Author(s): Valentina Vasilievna Borisova / Language(s): Russian Issue: 4/2024

The article offers a comparative examination of A. S. Pushkin’s sonnet “Madona” and the description of the cell of elder Zosima in F. M. Dostoevsky’s novel “The Brothers Karamazov” as vivid examples of visual representation of the idea of “universal responsiveness” in the works of both authors. They are united by verbal and figurative images that visually embody it. In this case, it is Pushkin’s ekphrastic image of the “Russian Madonna,” which bears the mark of ethno-confessional cultural synthesis. Pushkin’s sonnet contains an intermedial contamination of two artistic traditions — poetic and pictorial. The former is associated with sonnets by Dante and Petrarch, as well as Orthodox prayers; the latter – with Raphael’s painting “The Bridgewater Madonna” and the icon of the Mother of God of Kazan. In Dostoevsky, a similar example of a visual embodiment of the idea of “universal responsiveness” is the description of Zosima’s cell, in which the Orthodox image of the Mother of God neighbors the Catholic image of Mater Dolorosa. From an axiological point of view, the attribute of Catholic iconography purposefully introduced by the writer into the interior of the cell is fundamentally significant. It is absent in the cell of the Optina elder Amvrosy, reproduced by Dostoevsky with great, but not literal, accuracy in order to portray the elder Zosima as the embodiment of the image of the “Russian all-man” who understands everything and everyone and accommodates everything. His iconostasis represents the entire history of Christian culture: the period before the schism in Russia (the image of the Mother of God), ancient Orthodoxy (icons of saints and martyrs), Catholicism (Catholic ivory cross and engravings) and modernity (portraits of bishops). The religious and cultural syncretism of Zosima’s religious feeling, which in cultural terms was in many ways close to Dostoevsky himself, is apparent.

Библейская мифопоэтика в литературном сценарии «Первороссияне» О. Ф. Берггольц

Author(s): Natalya А. Prozorova / Language(s): Russian Issue: 1/2025

In the screenplay “The First Russians” (“Pervorossiyane,” 1965), Bergholz reinterpreted the history of the creation of the first Russian agricultural commune in Altai by St. Petersburg workers, which she first creatively mastered in the poem “Pervorossiysk” (1950). She filled the text with biblical symbols, mythopoetic images and new characters. The place where the relocated workers choose to create a commune is described in the text as a “legendary valley” with “biblical cedars” which in the Psalter are associated with the righteous. Biblical allusions can be traced in the image of Uncle Lesha the cannon founder, who escorted the migrant communards on their way: according to the description, the worker resembles the god of Нosts (Sabaoth), who sends his heavenly messengers into the world. Obsessed with the idea of social justice, the First Russians die as martyrs for it: the scenario is permeated by the metaphor of the bonfire, which establishes a connection with the figure of the Old Believer Protopope Avvakum. The spiritual make-up of the communards is reflected as in a mirror in the “iconographic face” of Efimiya, the daughter of the Old Believer Theodosius, who opposes the First Russians. The idea of the commune as an ideal social structure is comprehended by Bergholz through the Kitezh concept. St. Petersburg workers, drawing a plan of the future settlement of Novorossiysk, see it “through the water.” Novorossiysk, set on fire by the Cossacks, appears to the communard Vasily Gremyakin submerging into a reservoir, just as the mythical Kitezh-grad descends into the waters of Svetloyar Lake. The text illustrates the integration of the author’s religious and mythological consciousness with the communist worldview. Bergholz builds a national image of the world built around the Christian worldview and the Soviet model of social justice. The analysis is carried out using Bergholz’s diary entries and the transcript of the script discussion meeting at the “Lenfilm” Studio. Bergholz’s informative notes from the period of her work on the script and a transcript containing a polemic about biblical allusions in the text allowed to place more precise accents in the interpretation of the work.

Библискиот лик на Енох во еврејската, христијанската и исламската теолошка традиција

Author(s): Dragan Zajkovski,Vladimir Janev / Language(s): Macedonian Issue: 87/2025

Briefly mentioned in the text of the Bible, Enoch remains one of the most mysterious biblical characters. In the corpus of Jewish mythology, Enoch ascended to heaven and became an angel (Metatron). The “Book of Enoch” represents one of the main apocryphal works of Jewish and Christian thought. Canonized only by the Ethiopian Oriental Orthodox Church, the “Book of Enoch” carries the author’s vision of heaven and the hierarchy of angels. The relevance of the biblical character of Enoch exists in the contemporary theology of Judaism, Islam and Christianity.

Teologhie sau Cuvântare de Dumnezău (De Descoperirea Dumnezăiască, Tomul I, Cartea 2, Cap. 1-3)

Author(s): Samuil Micu / Language(s): Romanian Issue: 2/2025

This article contains excerpts from the work: Teologhie sau cuvântare de Dumnezău acum întâiu aşezată şI scrisă în limba românească.