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The term secularism is used in several German-language texts by the World Council of Churches (WCC) and its predecessor organizations. However, the use is not uniform, the term often remains vague. In this article, a systematic survey of the uses of secularism in German is developed and applied to texts of the ecumenical movement. Based on the use in English, three meanings can be worked out for the German term: Secularism can be understood 1. under constitutional law as secularity, i.e. as a principle of a state’s religious neutrality, 2. ideologically, as secularist atheism and 3. as indicating a secularized society. The texts of the ecumenical movement primarily take up two meanings of the term: the ideology of secularist atheism and secularized society. The texts contain four strategies for dealing with secularism: 1. Criticism of secularist atheism, 2. Consideration of secularized society as a place of mission, 3. Participation in secularized society and cooperation with secular organizations towards common goals, and 4. Examination of the inclusion of secular cultural elements in worship.
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A careful examination of the text of the Imperial Constitution promulgated byEmperor Justinian in 530 has given us the possibility of fi nding out that the lastroman Emperor was constantly concerned with protecting the vulnerable interests ofwomen and children, whom he recognized, in fact, as “legitimate” even if they wereborn within a marriage with a “concubine”.Justinian stipulated, in this Imperial Constitution, that a “marriage” (matrimonium)is “iusta” (legal) only if it is concluded in accordance with the constitutionalprovisions of that time, that is, with the consent of “pater familias”, except if hesuffers from “madness”, the consent of the future spouses, the existence of a dowry,the conclusion of a marriage contract, and, fi nally, the performance of the HolySacrament of Marriage. This confi rms to us, in a peremptory way obviously, the factthat, “in illo tempore”, the religious, Christian marriage had already a well-defi nedlegal status.
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This study presents the contribution of Father Dimitru Stăniloae to the development of Orthodox Dogmatics in the 20th century. The renewal he produced in this field of Theology was based on several specifi c aspects of his approach: the connectionof patristic theology with the Scripture and the Church; an integrated view ofdogma, spirituality and the Liturgy of the Church; rediscovery of the Palamitetheology of the uncreated divine energies; unity between natural-supernatural andapophatic-cataphatic; a theology of creation with emphasis on the inter-relationshipbetween God-man-world without confusion, on the cosmic dimension of salvationin Christ, on the sacramental-ecclesiological dimension of cosmology, and onits eschatological and transfi gurative destiny; Christ’s centrality within theology,creation, Church and the history of humankind; a conception of the Church whichkeeps together the institutional aspect with the eschatological and charismatic one,the sacramental one with the one of spiritual communion
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clothing, the environmental conditions, and others, they make possible the earthlyexistence of the man, and imprint in the body the quality and the energies specifi cto them, the prayer gives to the bodily life and to the soul`s life, that Life ownedby the One Who said: I am the bread of the Life, I am the Way, the Truth and theLife. Within the Church`s space, the cultic prayer gives again birth to the humanlife, it corrects the “nature`s shortcoming” through the initiation Mysteries, andduring the existence, the prayer maintains and deifi es the life. The prayer relentlesslyaccomplishes a new creation, for the prayer means a together-working of the manwith God “in the act of creating immortal gods”. The prayer is the answer given tothe heavenly Father through which the man is deifi ed. Each power of the humannature, when it is overshadowed by prayer, it becomes from above world.
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In Orthodoxy, the human person is never a static reality or presence. He is alwaysunderstood as a being of communion, because he wants to meet other people, hisfellows, and especially his eternal prototype, which is “a communion of persons”,the Trinity God. The Orthodox theology and spirituality affi rm and expressthemselves by pointing to the possibility and reality of communion between man andGod through divine, uncreated, and existential energies. Life within the Traditionof the Church means life within the truth, and communion is understood as a livingand direct connection with the truth of the Father in the Holy Spirit. Orthodoxspirituality is a spirituality of uncreated grace not only because it is presented duringthe grace, which is the time of the Church. In addition, because it can be achievedonly with the work of grace, which spiritually transfers the believer to the level ofthe grace experience, that is the level of the ontology of the Holy Spirit.
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In this paper we examine the dynamic and ambigous relationship between monksand bishops in the late antique monasticism. As is well known, in this period theascetic or charismatic authority of the monk was indisputable. As a source ofspiritual authority distinct from ecclesiastical authority, monks could support orundermine the work of the bishop. Therefore, monasticism became an importantreservoir for the involvement of monks in clerical agenda. This paper is dividedin two sections: in the fi rst section, we will characterize the ascetic authority andecclesiastical authority, and their specifi c way of interaction in Late Antiquity.Therefore, we will try to understand the complex relation between ascetic authority(represented by monks) and ecclesiastical authority (assumed by bishops). In thesecond section, we will try to promote a vision based on cooperation betweenascetic authority and ecclesiastical authority. With this paper, we hope to bring outthe complexity of the theme of spiritual authority and to demonstrate the majorimportance of this theme for late antique monasticism.
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At the end of the “Octoechos period” and until the “Pentecostarion period”, fromthe vigil of the Sunday of the Publican and the Pharisee, a new liturgical period ofthe religious year begins, ending with the Holy Saturday - this is the “Triodion”.From this day on, in the Orthodox churches, the cult book called “Triodion” isused. Among the hymnographic pieces of great spiritual strength and unequaledpoetic quality pronounced with devotion and deep interiorization in the Triodeperiod are also found “The hymns of the stanzas”, hymns sung on Good Friday inall monasteries and churches Orthodox. These express, in a liturgical, mystical andpoetic way, the historical fact of the burial of the Body of Jesus Christ. There arefew systematic concerns in Romanian theology regarding this important text. Inthis study, I propose a liturgical analysis of these hymns, an analysis necessary tounderstand their theological and poetic meanings.
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St. Isaac the Syrian’s thinking on eschatological realities is not to be found as somemind enchanting ideas in the univers of his thought; it reveals itself as the summitof his whole spiritual vision. Eschatological judgment remains God’s mystery and itis a challenge for the spiritual understanding of the entire creation. It is marked byhope in God’s unfathomable, endless love and compassion, for, in the great Syrianfather’s thought, God rejoices in the salvation of his creation.
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The process of educating or pastoring young people in theological schools is veryimportant because it concerns the formation of vocations for the priestly ministry.The priests, in turn, are trainers and responsible to the souls of those entrusted tothem to shepherd on the path to eternal life, as we can see in Jesus Christ’s teaching.Therefore, the teachers should consider the body and soul of the person to beeducated, the dignity and the call of each one to eternal existence.The methodological elements in the formation of young people for the life of theChurch are diverse and necessary in their application during the years of studies.Holy Scripture and Holy Tradition are the sources of inspiration in the theologicaleducational act, then the lay disciplines are added with their contribution andimportance.
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This paper deals with some basic facts regarding secularism in the Western,particularly German society. I start with a brief defi nition of the the term and then Igo on presenting the religious, cultural and social conditions that contributed to thephenomenon of secularization in modern times. Next I highlight some connectionsbetween secularism and Protestantism such as the rationalization of theology and thetaking on by the 19th century middle class urban society of the Protestant culturalmodel. Finally, I list some of the challenges that the Evangelical Church in Germanyfaces today and suggest that the inter-church dialogue could help in overcomingthem.
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Post-Decembrist religious effervescence might be deemed as a form of missionarismaddressing a dechristianized society. Unfortunately, this is only partially true.Authentic mission, which is strictly about preaching and never about constraining, isparallelled by an unprecedented recrudescence of sectarian proselytism, which is anirreparable distortion of genuine missionarism, and actually opposes it. As a countertestimony,thus, proselytism is defi ned by the endeavour to divert and estrange thefaithful (be they Orthodox or members of other historical denominations) from theirChurch, and affi liate them abusively to sects and new religious movements. It is abrutal action, breaking traditional spiritual bonds, by conveying the harmful messageof antisocial defi ance. This is why proselytism poses a serious challenge marking thecourse of a society in transition. To illustrate this fact, the present study undertakesan analysis of the most aggressive form of proselytism in post-1989 Romania 1989:the adventist-millenarian one.
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The present paper represents a historical, political, and canonical study onthe valuable contribution made by the priest Gheorghe Ciuhandu. He was animportant historian and scholar from the Bishopric of Arad, who wanted to clarifythe institution of the ecclesiastical patronage of Hungary and its implications inthe life of the Orthodox Romanians in Transylvania before and after the timeof the Romanian united state. Gheorghe Ciuhandu analyzes the problem of theecclesiastical patronage from the perspective of the historical reality, as well as ofthe political and ecclesiastical impact. He establishes the nature of the patronagelaws, as laws emanating from the sovereign quality of the kings of Hungary andnot following the quality of apostolic kings, received based on personal meritsfrom Rome. His contribution in establishing the basis of the supreme patronagelaws was intended to clarify the situation of the relationship between cults and thestate in Romania after the Great Union, inscribing his work within works of specialimportance for the study and development of Church Law.
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Church Dedications and Pilgrimages represent two of the defi ning and determiningliturgical moments for the church life in general, but also for the life of parishes,monasteries, dioceses, etc., in particular.These events also constitute an essential component of what the liturgists call„popular piety” (one of the decision-makers, par excellence, in the evolutionof worship structures, but also of the whole liturgical life), aspects which,unfortunately, were less studied and deepened, which is why we would like tounderline in this study two of the fundamental characteristics of these events,namely, the liturgical dimension and their missionary impact.
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One of the topics addressed in the Work Sessions of the “Holy and Great Council”,held in Crete (Greece), in June (16-26) 2016, was Marriage, especially theimpediments to marriage, a topic debated and evaluated thoroughly also at thepre-Synodal Pan-Orthodox Conferences in the light of the canon law of the EasternChurch.As the Synodal Fathers replicated some defi nitions of marriage left to us by theRoman legal experts from the 2nd-6th centuries AD, in the pages of this study,with a canonical-legal content, we have fi rst discussed the “Jus romanum” (Romanlaw), and then the Byzantine (state and church) legislation. Hence the evaluationof these synodal “decisions” also in the light of the provisions of the Code ofLaws (nomocanon) legislation, which also enjoyed a real welcome in the NorthernDanubian area ever since its very beginning, that is, from Emperor Justinian’s time(527-565).
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In this study, the author highlights the confessing force of the saints in the history ofthe fi rst Christian centuries, in the context of idolatry and heresy. On the one hand,he emphasizes the unity between the Gospel-dogma-worship, and on the other handthe unity between Prophets-Apostles-Saints in the life of the Church. At the sametime, he brings to light the unity between holy life and confession, between holinessand the sacramental life of the Church. The testimony of the saints saved the dogmasof the Church from the conceptual and experimental distortions that idolatry andheresies proliferated and spread. The saints have sometimes confessed the catholicfaith of the Church with their life, being existentially integrated into the “canon oftruth” and the “rule of faith”.
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This study presents Dumitru Stăniloae’s vision on both God’s and man’s personal nature. Starting from the love present in the world, Fr. Stăniloae postulates theexistence of an eternal and perfect love which can be shared only by multiple, divinePersons. Humans are persons due to the image of this living and personal God theybear. As man keeps alive his love and relation with the Triune God, he is constantly discovering and deepening his own personal nature. The image of God inside him is unceasingly prompting him to manifest in a concrete way his relations with Godand with his fellows. Following this impulse, man is taken out of the monotony and superficiality of the existence, and put on the vertical spiral of communion with God and with the people, which is always new and creative.
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Our study is an incursion into the period of Hellenization of the Jews, presentingthe Seleucid persecutions and the fi ght of the Maccabees to defend the faith, torestore the cult and to obtain Judaic independence. The fi rst part present the earlyintroduction of Hellenism among the Jews under the rule of Alexander the Great,during which the process was peacefully, and Alexander’s attitude towards the Jewsduring his passage through Judea (Jerusalem). The second part present the attemptsto impose Hellenism forcefully, during the reign of Antiochus IV Epiphanes, theSeleucid, and his harsh provisions against the Jews who refused Hellenization. Thethird part present the Maccabean struggle for the defense of Judaic monotheism, therestoration of the sacred worship and of the Jewish independence. Finally, there willbe an update in the sense that the attitude of Maccabees should be an example formodern Christians.
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The Orthodox Church has diachronically recognized and revealed the centrality ofpeace and justice in people’s lives. The Encyclical Letter, The Message of the Holyand Great Council of the Orthodox Church, the document entitled The Mission ofthe Orthodox Church in Today’s World all speak, for the very fi rst time in historyunanimously about some things that are facing the today’s world. Since thesedocuments have been adopted by the Holy and Great Council in 2016, some newfacts appeared in world as in the between relations among the Orthodox Churches.In the light of these, we will try to make a postponed point of view about the final documents and how they could be a strong and credible voice in the contemporary world.
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In this paper we will examine the theme of spiritual authority in Gazan monasticism.More exactly, we talk about the relationship between ascetic authority (assumed bymonks) and spiritual authority (assumed by bishops and priests). In this sense, wemake two general arguments. First, the body played a key role in defi ning holinessof the monk because it was viewed as a vehicle for spiritual progress. Second, thereis a strong connection between askesis, theosis, and spiritual authority. In otherwords, if the ascetic life generated the holiness then the holiness generated thespiritual authority. Our conclusion is that monks and bishops were great examples ofholiness, and this perspective they played the fundamental role of spiritual guides inGazan monasticism.
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