Kršćanska teologija kao odgovor na islamski izazov – Historijska perspektiva

Author(s): Stefan Schreiner / Language(s): Bosnian Issue: 61/2015

Od samog početka su kršćani, osobito kršćanski teolozi, Muhamedovu objavu, i iz nje proizašlo nastajanje islama kao religije i religijske zajednice sa zahtjevom na vlastitu Objavu i iz nje izvedenim odnosno na njoj utemeljenim zahtjevom na Istinu, na jednoj strani, i brzo širenje ove nove religije i područja vladavine njenih pristalica, na drugoj strani, shvatili ne samo kao društveno-politički nego, upravo, i kao teološki izazov. To se po kršćanskom uvjerenju uopće nije moglo desiti da se post Christum natum, nakon objave kroz Isusa (Mesiju) Krista, tačnije: nakon samoobjave Boga dogodi još jedna druga, nova Božija objava, kada se samoobjava Boga kroz Isusa Krista po svjedočanstvu poslanice Hebrejima dogodila “jednom za sva vremena” i “konačno” (Heb 7,27).

Стенописите в Долнобешовишкия манастир „Св. Архангел Михаил”

Author(s): Tsveta Kuneva / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 2/2015

Most of the murals at the catholicon of St Michael the Archangel nearby the village of Dolna Beshovitsa, Vratsa district, were uncovered in the restoration work of 2006 by Dimcho Radev and were not been published. The extant murals are set mostly on the east side. The wall-painting programme features a combination of Catholic influence and gearing to the selection of the representations of the patron saint of the church, St Michael the Archangel. The Catholic influence is discernible in the architecture and in the representations of Roman Popes and of SS Cyril the Philosopher and Methodius. An explanation of the individual figure of the Mesopotamian prophet Balaam is provided by the dedication of the church, as he is represented in the scene of an Angel appearing to him. An Archangel, holding the Holy Sudarium, is painted mirroring Balaam’s figure. The representation of the two small figures of angles, flunking the image of Christ in the composition adoration of the Lamb in the apse, is also in all likelihood connected with the patron saint of the church. The just a few studies mentioning the murals at the church of Dolna Beshovitsa, date them to the seventeenth century at the earliest. Their manner as well as the Heirmologion copied for the monastery in 1549 by Deacon John, suggest the assumption that the murals under consideration have been painted circa the mid-sixteenth century.

Надписи от Горноводенския манастир „Св. Св. Кирик и Юлита” край Асеновград. Предварителни бележки

Author(s): Aleksandra Trifonova / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 2/2015

In this paper the inscriptions of the Sts Cyricus and Јulitta monastery at Gorni Voden are discussed. They give valuable information about the historical persons who contributed to the weal of the monastery. Based on them, it comes out that the monastery was built in 1835 with the donations of the habitants of the Greek community of Gorni Voden. The naos was painted in 1847-1848 with the sponsorship of laymen of Bulgarian origin, whereas the narthex was painted in 1850, during the time of the hegoumenos Gerasimos Iviritis, by the painter Alexios Athanassiou from Naoussa. The wood-carved iconostasis was painted with the help of Greeks from Philippopolis during the period of 1864-1871. Among the donors of the monastery laymen of Bulgarian origin dominate who come from the places Assamita, Gerdima, Gorni Voden, Guzurli, Edbek, Irinzik, Karaorman, Kezik, Meriza, Muldava, Tremezli and Chiflik mahala, as well as members of the guilds of the chandlers, the grocers and the snippers of Philippopolis. Donnors were also by separate persons from this town, as Georgios Kazandzoglou (1847), Georgios Athanassiou Kaftandzis (1864), Anasstasios hadji Dimitriou Koimdzis (1864), Athanassios Iakovou Argyriadou (1868), Vassilios G. Klieanthis (1870), Ekaterina A. Tomidi (1871) and Josif, as well as persons from the ecclesiastical circle, as hierodeacon hadji Makarios from Bursa, the hegoumens of the monastery Gerasimos Iviritis (1850) and hadji Jeronimos Philippopolitis, the priest Dimitrakis Chrisafi Frangakis and the monks Sofronios and Josif.

Summaries

Author(s): Author Not Specified / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2015

Summaries of the articles in the issue.

The Franciscan Eusebio Fermendžin and His Work in Favor of Bulgaria

Author(s): Yordanka Gesheva / Language(s): English Issue: 1-2/2014

Euzebijo Fermendžin was born in Vinga, the Banat region (Romania) and was a descendant of catholicized Bulgarian Paulicians from Nikopol, who had left their homes at the beginning of the 18th century but haven’t lost their Bulgarian national consciousness. Fermendzhin was better known in Rome and the Vatican, in Vienna and Hungary, in Croatia, than he was in our lands, but spiritually, emotionally and creatively, he was also related to Bulgaria. He reached the highest positions in the Franciscan Order, he was a professor at Catholic schools and academies; a corresponding member of the South Slavic Academy of Sciences in Zagreb; for some time he was the head of the well-known multivolume edition of Luke Vading ”Annales Minorum”, in which were published documents and studies on the history of the Franciscan Order all over the world and others. Collector and compiler of ”Acta Bulgaria ecclesiastica ...”, a large volume of documents on Bulgarian church history from 1565 to 1799, published in Zagreb in 1887, and also the collections ”Acta Bosnae potissimum ecclesiastca ...”, of ”Acta Croatiae ...” and others.

Identity, Church and State: A Bulgarian Pole among the Catholics in the Village of Dragomirovo

Author(s): Blagovest Nyagulov / Language(s): English Issue: 1-2/2014

This paper presents a micro-historical touch to the topic of this conference, which along with the 150th anniversary of the mission of the Congregation of the Resurrection in Bulgaria refers in more general terms to Bulgarian-Polish relations based on the Catholic religion. In the focus of attention will be the Catholic priest Grzegorz / Grigoriy Piegza, 07.11.1851, Rokytnice, Poland – 29.09.1932, Przasnysz, Poland), Polish by origin and Bulgarian by identity, who was involved in the disputes on the priests issue in the Nikopol diocese and the ecclesiastical strife between the two communities of Catholics in the village of Dragomirovo, Svishtov region. The events took place from the end of the 19th century to the immediate aftermath of the First World War - a period when the national factor acquired strong positions in the relationship between state, bishop, clergy and congregation in the northern Catholic diocese in Bulgaria.

Манастирът Пустиня и неговите фрески от XVII век

Author(s): Biserka Penkova / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 2/2003

За иконата - богословски („Богословие на иконата” от Л. Успенски)

Author(s): Georgi Gerov / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 3/2002

Ново издание на издателска къща „Омофор”

Author(s): Chavdar Popov / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 3/2002

Ценен принос към изследването на древноруската икона

Author(s): Elena Genova / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 3/2002

„Зборник. Средновековна уметност 3. Музеj на Македониjа”

Author(s): Ivanka Gergova / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 3/2002

Модерно и новаторски за живописта на българското възраждане

Author(s): Elka Bakalova / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 2/2002

The philosophic background as starting-point for early Christian doctrine of God’s immanence

Author(s): Tudor Cosmin Ciocan / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2016

In philosophy of religion the term of Immanence is mostly applied to GOD in contrast to the divine Transcendence. This relation, as we will see here, it is not far from the truth since one cannot be without the other, however they are not to be put in contrast, but in conjunction. The one-sided insistence on the immanence of God, to the exclusion of His transcendence, leads to Pantheism, just as the one-sided insistence upon His transcendence, to the exclusion of His immanence, leads to Deism. These two can be separated, but the consequences are great for human knowledge and society; it is the two taken together that result in, and are necessary to Theism. But from the least complicated idea that even the name of God is a manifestation of His immanence contrasting with Deus absconditus, whose existence and name cannot be known or thought, theology and religion in general need to regard immanence of God as crucial for the acts of worship. What are the philosophical background for Christian theology to imply the immanence characteristic for God’s existence related to His creation? – This is the main question the present work tries to answer as an overview.

Англиканската църква, Източното православие и България (XIX – средата на ХХ в.). Част първа

Author(s): Zhivko Lefterov / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 5-6/2014

The first contacts of the Anglican Church with Eastern Orthodoxy date from the early 17th century and they initiated a process of rapprochement, which is well known in the international historiography. Over the centuries, to this day it has a different intensity depending on the degree of theological negotiations and the political situation. This study traces the impact of this process among the Bulgarian Orthodox community and among Bulgarian society, how perceptions of the Anglican church were formed among Bulgarians and furthermore whether the topic went out of theological dialogue and was publicly known and discussed, and hence politically exploited. The author tracks the attitudes and positions of the representatives of the Anglican Church to the main events related to Bulgaria, and the Bulgarian Orthodox Church in the 19th and early 20th century. He reveals how individual public representatives tried to see farther than purely theological dialogue and sporadically, albeit unsuccessfully, to use thefavor of the Anglican Church to Eastern Orthodoxy in the context of the national tasks that had to be resolved. During the Second World War and the Cold War Anglican-Orthodox rapprochement became part of big politics and was influenced by Stalin‘s religious policy. Although Stalin initially relied on the Anglican Church to expand Orthodox influence in international organizations, subsequently he started considering it to be a competitor and opponent. As a consequence the dialogue was restored after the death of Stalin, but in the countries from the socialist camp and particularly Bulgaria the Orthodox Churches followed the Communist Party religious policy of „opening“ which aimed to use the churches in the big propaganda war between East and West showing that there was religious freedom behind the Iron curtain.

Hieronim Eugeniusz Wyczawski OFM, Przygotowanie do studiów w archiwach kościelnych, wydanie drugie poprawione i uzupełnione, red. ks. Tomasz Moskal i Aleksander Krzysztof Sitnik OFM, Calvarianum, Kalwaria Zebrzydowska 2013, ss. 590

Author(s): Kamila Pawełczyk-Dura / Language(s): Polish Issue: 15/2016

„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

Образите на светите братя Кирил и Методий – идеологизация на миналото, изразена в нумизматиката

Author(s): Wojciech Józwiak / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 9/2014

The great work of the Solun Brothers – Saints Cyril and Methodius – undoubtedly played an important part in the creation of the national identity and national awareness for many Slavic nations. Considering importance of the Cyril and Methodius heritage, it seems surprising how little their images were used on national coinage – one of the most common and most important symbols of independent nations. The only countries that paid a tribute to Solun Brother’s legacy, while creating their national identity were Slovakia, Bulgaria and Macedonia; by placed them in certain cultural, political and ideological context on collector’s items as well as on everyday currency.

Жестът на скръстените пръсти според хирологията във френската живопис през ХVІІ–ХVІІІ век

Author(s): Temenuzhka Dimova / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 9/2014

Hands language as a means of expression in rhetoric and fine arts, the rules of which were presented mainly by the Roman authors Cicero and Quintilian, continued to stir interest over the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries and strongly influenced artists and their iconographic reference points. English physician and rhetorician John Bulwer (1606–1656) devoted a few of his significant works to studying of the human gesture system, offering over 120 chirograms (types) of particular meanings. Spanish mathematician Juan Caramuel (1606–1682) studied the rhetorical wealth of chirologia, defining it as a major means of human communication. Hand gestures with fingers locked together is traditionally deemed to be a Christian prayer gesture, where palms are pressed together with fingers straight pointing up. In fact, the locked together fingers, known as early as the Antiquity, unlike the prayer gesture that emerged as late as the late medieval period, designated something else: a moment of deep sadness and suffering reflecting the strong tension of the mind. French artist Georges de La Tour uses this gesture as a basis for reflection on the vanity of worldly goods. Thus the position of the hands played the role of both a plastic device and an iconographic symbol.

CHRISTIAN MISSION IN THE CARE OF THE SICK AND THE ELDERLY: PASTORAL PERSPECTIVES

Author(s): AURELIU VOICU / Language(s): English Issue: 40/2025

The essential role of the Church in this facet of her mission is deeply rooted in Christian dogmas, reflected in the Holy Gospels and in the teachings of the Fathers of the Church. According to them, illness can be seen as a result of sin or as a divine test, intended to strengthen virtue and strengthen the relationship with God. Caring for the suffering is not only a moral duty, but also a form of adoration, an offering pleasing to God, comparable to the sufferings of martyrs and ascetics. Priests play a dual role, serving as spiritual guides and partners in the process of physical and spiritual healing of the faithful. This pastoral and social activity takes on a special importance in a strongly secularized and materialistic society, which often ignores the spiritual aspect of life. The text also emphasizes virtuous living practices, such as prayer and fasting, as methods of disease prevention and as a means of promoting a healthy life on a physical and spiritual level. Thus, the Church, following the example of Jesus Christ, continues to be a central pillar in promoting health and well-being, reaffirming the divine imperative to serve and care without reservation.

THE CHURCH AND THE TRINITARIAN COMMUNION: THE FOUNDATION OF CHRISTIAN MISSION IN DOGMATIC AND HISTORICAL LIGHT

Author(s): AURELIU VOICU / Language(s): English Issue: 40/2025

The theological complexity and ecclesial implications of pneumatology within the Trinitarian communion are emphasized, highlighting the fundamental role of the Holy Spirit in mediating the interaction between unity and diversity in the Christian Church. Exploring the Trinitarian dynamics manifested at the Descent of the Holy Spirit, the research emphasizes how the presence of the Holy Spirit strengthens the communal identity of the Church, facilitating the harmonious integration of cultural and spiritual diversity into a common unity of faith. The study investigates the theological, scriptural and traditional foundations that support consubstantiality and divine perichoresis as models for structuring relationships within ecclesial communities, highlighting the influence of these conceptions on current ecumenical dialogue and on the way of addressing contemporary social challenges. By integrating the synthesis of patristic theology with modern theological reflections, the work advances a reinterpretation of the role of the Holy Spirit in cultivating a unity that values and celebrates the internal diversity of the Church. By proposing a revitalized Trinitarian framework, it offers an innovative perspective on the realization of ecclesial unity in the context of today's religious and cultural pluralism.