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In the Old Testament, God related to Israel through covenants, made between Him and the people. There were several covenants, such as, for example, the Noetic, Abrahamic, Sinaitic, Davidic and New Covenant alliances in the prophetic period. The prophets were men raised up by God to denounce Israel's sin and its consequences of rebellion. Not only did they announce the judgment of God, but they also called the people and their leaders to repentance and announced forgiveness and restoration. The regeneration of the nation passes through the New Covenant. The present work is concerned with analyzing the New Covenant presented by the Old Testament prophets. What is the prophets' view of the New Covenant? In what context is it announced? The type of research to be addressed is a bibliographic and analytical review, consisting of the survey of information related to the research. It will have as a source of information and foundation, the following research tools: the Christian Bible, biblical and theological encyclopedias, biblical theology manuals, biblical commentaries, exegetics, and scientific articles related to the subject, among others. The conclusion is that the New Covenant will bring new life, gather Israel into the fold of the Lord, bring the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, and give the people a new heart. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the publication of Julicher's Die Gleichnisreden Jesu, parable research has largely focused on the legitimacy of allegory, classification of form, and matters of meaning and polyvalence. Still underdeveloped is an evaluation of the function of parables. This paper argues that one of the functions of Jesus' parables was to invite hearers to turn from their previously defined notions of the kingdom of God and join him in his vision of the kingdom. The paper begins with an examination of the Markan Jesus' citation of Isaiah 6:9–10 as a justification for speaking in parables and concludes that, while Israel was largely obdurate, the offer of repentance remained. Preaching repentance is one component of the work of a prophet, and an examination of Jesus' vocation indicates that his parables function as prophetic witnesses. The paper concludes with an exploration of how the parables might serve as invitations to turn from self-defined notions of kingdom and join Jesus in his movement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Psalms constitute more than a randomized collection of discrete songs. God has given the psalms to form believers through regular performance. The Psalms are not merely an anatomy of the soul: the Psalms are medicine for the soul. A proper understanding of the dominant metaphors within the psalms, through their use and practice, renders the Book of Psalms a pathway toward refuge and the refuge itself. The worshipper must sing his or her way through the Psalms from songs of lament and repentance, through songs of thanksgiving and trust, eventually ascending the hill to praise. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article analyzes the original terminology of the patristic writings of Egyptian and Palestinian monasticism of the 4th - 7th centuries, which is found when mentioning the practice of revelation of thoughts as an important pastoral-ascetic activity and a form of spiritual leadership in the monastic tradition of this period. The author identifies the main terms related to this area, analyzes the context of their use and various semantic shades that reflect the corresponding forms, conditions and characteristics of this activity. Modern patrolologists strictly distinguish the practice of revealing thoughts from confession, which in ancient times was carried out in all forms of monastic life: hermitage, semi-hermitage, community and laura. At the same time, the most ancient sources do not always reflect this difference, their external forms and ideological content. Another equally important question remains not entirely clear: how the great fathers of ancient Eastern monasticism understood this saving remedy, whether for them there was a division between confession and revelation of thoughts as between two different actions of repentance, and if so, what appeared for them clear criteria for such division. The sources for the study were the most famous and significant works of monastic writing in the tradition of Egypt and Palestine in the 4th - 7th centuries, as the period of formation, development and greatest flowering of monasticism, and at the same time its ascetic and pastoral theology. Some manuscripts of individual sources were also used as sources, including the most ancient ones, reflecting the understanding of the practice being studied in the minds of scribes belonging to various manuscript traditions - Greek, Latin and Coptic. The subject of study are terms denoting revelation (of hidden thoughts, sinful falls committed in secret), revelation (of oneself, one’s emotional experiences, demonic temptations, etc.), confession (of sins, a passionate disposition of the soul and its destructive consequences), etc.

The article presents the penitential prayers that emerged as a literary genre after the Qumran discoveries and the intensive study of many prayers from these finds. The characteristic feature of the penitential prayers is that they do not ask God why He sent misfortune to the people, but rather acknowledge their own culpability for it. They were written during and after the exile. The prayer of Esther in the Greek version of the Book of Esther is one of them. It is prayed by Queen Esther before she goes to ask the Persian king to avert the death sentence already pronounced against her people after the atoning deeds have been done. Esther's coming before the king without being summoned puts her in mortal danger. So her prayer is a mixture of worship to God, acknowledgement of Israel's guilt, danger they are in, and a plea for her and her people's salvation. God answered her prayer.

Christopher Marlowe's Doctor Faustus (1588) intricately explores the interplay of religious motifs, cosmic exploration, and themes related to Space, Heaven, Hell, and repentance. By incorporating biblical and Qur'anic references, Marlowe crafts a compelling narrative that deeply resonates with the human experience. The central character, Faustus, embodies the conflict between good and evil and between human ambition and spiritual limitation. The play's depiction of celestial realms parallels biblical narratives like the 'Tower of Babel' and Qur'anic visions, emphasizing humanity's persistent quest for knowledge and divine understanding. This study examines how Marlowe integrates religious concepts, andangelic and cosmic themes with theological and moral conflicts, highlighting the thematic parallels with sacred narratives from the Bible and the Qur'an. To conclude, Faustus' mythology remains a poignant and thought-provoking narrative that resonates across different cultural and religious contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Prophet, who was known as'Amīn'(trustee) in the society in which he lived, for the purpose of transmitting the divine laws through generations, foretold that lying and Islam would not come side by side. In a special sense, it is stipulated that those who narrates hadiths should be free from sins, especially lying, and even have a personality in accordance with the custom in which he lived. While the narration of anyone who has a deficiency in this regard falls below the level of authenticity, the situation of those who repented later was discussed. While it was stated that the sins other than lying would be forgiven with repentance and the narrator would return to his former state, the situation of the person who lied on behalf of the Prophet was kept separate. The general opinion on the subject is that even if he repented, no hadith should be accepted from such people for eternity. The acceptance of their testimony and rejection of their narrations is due to the fact that the transmission of hadith is a matter of concern to the ummah. This is because the effect of lying in testimony is limited, whereas the harm of a person who narrates a fabricated narration is much greater. From this point of view, the hadith scholars, who say that repentance is between Allah and the servant, regard the repentance of the one who lies to the Prophet even once as doubtful. In the matter of testimony, which differs from narration in certain points, it has been stated by the scholars of fiqh that there are those whose testimony is rejected for eternity. Some scholars, on the other hand, said that narration and testimony would be accepted with repentance. However, the aforementioned issue has been theoretically analysed in the works of hadith methodology, but no separate study has been conducted considering its practical aspect. The fact that there are very few narrators who can be used as evidence on the subject, and the elaboration of the issue with the issues of narration and shahada have caused different opinions to be put forward. Therefore, in this research, the issue has been be discussed by analysing the narrators and witnesses in terms of both the claims of the scholars of the methodology and repentance. As a result, it was seen that the repentance of the narrators from their sins caused them to be cleansed due to the fact that the hadith scholars were not agreed in the reasons for al-jarh (criticism), and the issue was jurisprudential (ijtihādi). However, those who fabricated a lie in the name of the Prophet, even once, were exempted from this issue, which is the general opinion of the scholars. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The call to conversion has its roots in the Gospel. On this basis, evangelical preachers call on their listeners to turn from sin, repent of it, and believe in Jesus Christ. Preaching without this message is meaningless. It deprives the listener of the opportunity to awaken to Christian life and grow in faith. Conversionism is the belief that every person’s life needs to change, to be given a new direction. One of the essential elements of conversionism is the new birth in Christ.

How do you follow up a person under church discipline who needs to show that they are truly repentant? God has not given us the ability to see a person's heart and thoughts, let alone detect the presence of genuine repentance. Observing someone's journey to find out if that person has already completely regretted what they have done is a task easily and unconsciously taken to the field of subjectivity. Should we trust only what the person confesses, or do we need to compare what they confess with their attitudes? Psalm 51 describes this trajectory. That is the focus of this article, to carefully observe David's walk after being confronted by God. There are several points that need to be considered when we read this psalm, which, in my opinion, have not received due attention. As I look at David's path of repentance, I can identify some very clear points that can be used as a guide for those who will need to assist people under discipline, who need to show evidence of repentance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Considering the Crusades, Antioch has been an important city throughout the process. The Crusaders, who determined their final destination as Jerusalem, did not want to continue their way without taking Antioch, which they considered sacred, on the way. They besieged Antioch for about nine months and captured it on 3 June 1098 as a result of the betrayal of the non-Muslims inside. The subject of the article focuses on the motivation of the crusaders to continue the siege despite the harsh conditions of winter, hardships, hunger and poverty, epidemics and deaths. In this context, as seen in the text, the focus is on the sin-repentance equation. The Crusaders attributed the troubles they encountered during and after the siege to the multitude of their sins. Therefore, this situation brought God's wrath, and they believed that they were punished for the troubles above. To appease God's anger and obtain his mercy, they thought they should repent through various clergymen-led rituals. One of the important factors that cause the repentance process is visions. Especially the legend of the Holy Lance caused the crusaders to change their dimension. The successes that followed were attributed to their repentance, which led them to believe that God had mercy on them. The article discusses the issue through historical analysis of the chronicles of the First Crusade. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Seven Victories is one of the most influential works in Catholic literature from the late Ming and early Qing dynasties. The seven victories spiritual cultivation contained therein is the result of the localization of the practice of the Christian faith in the West. It is still a living tradition in the Christian religion and even in Western culture. Since the end of the Ming Dynasty, The Seven Victories has aroused significant repercussions in the ecclesiastical and academic worlds. Some scholars converted to Catholicism because of The Seven Victories and wrote preambles in response to it; some scholars wrote essays criticizing the ethical ideas of The Seven Victories; and some scholars were inspired by The Seven Victories to write about Confucian ideas of sin, the work of reform, and the liturgy of repentance. Together, these constitute the history of the reception of The Seven Victories in China. Through Confucian culture integration, Chinese Christian scholars have developed a localized interpretation of the seven victories spiritual cultivation, resulting in a localized Chinese spiritual cultivation of sin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of eHumanista is the property of Professor Antonio Cortijo-Ocana and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This essay examines the Holy Monday sermon by Boules George, a senior priest at St. Mark Church in Cairo, that was preached the day after the Palm Sunday suicide bomb attacks against St. George Coptic Orthodox Church in Tanta and St. Mark Coptic Orthodox Cathedral in Alexandria in Egypt in 2017, which left forty-four people dead and more than one hundred injured. The sermon addressed Coptic Orthodox Christians in Cairo as well as the wider Coptic Orthodox community in Egypt and throughout the world through a live video broadcast. The sermon is remarkable for presenting a radical call to nonviolence and Christian love. Notably, the preacher speaks to "those who are killing us", and says "thank you" for the opportunity to die as Christ died, for "this is the greatest honor that we could have". This essay analyzes the sermon in light of the work of Walter Brueggemann and Alexander Schmemann, and argues that the sermon is an example of daring speech that offers divine empowerment to the suffering and the fearful. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This is a film review of Punishment (2024), directed by Øystein Mamen. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article is a comment on a research paper by Mariia Atanasia Smetaniak titled "The main aspects of asceticism and repentance in the work of Pratum by John Moschus." The research focuses on the analysis of the work Pratum by John Moschus, which explores the themes of penance and asceticism. The work is considered an enduring literary masterpiece that recounts the exploits of ascetic monks from the 6th to 7th centuries. The author of the book, John Moschus, was a strict anchorite monk and a mentor to Saint Sophronius. The article discusses the significance of asceticism and repentance in early Christian monasticism and highlights the importance of the work Pratum in understanding this period. [Extracted from the article]

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The Ethiopian Jews of the Beta Israel community are unique in the annals of Jewish history. The community maintained its Jewish identity and devotedly upheld observance of the mitzvot, even in the face of grave physical and spiritual difficulties and unrelenting attempts to persuade them to abandon their religion. Yet, their traditions diverge significantly from the accepted Rabbinic halakhic tradition that is the norm in Israel. This paper examines Yom Kippur observances and describes key differences between the Beta Israel tradition, which reflects the centrality of atonement, and the Rabbinic tradition, which reflects the centrality of repentance. These distinctions stand as manifestations of a set of profound differences within the very consciousness that animates the two traditions. Discussion, using the works of thinkers like Rabbis Joseph B. Soloveitchik, his disciple, Prof. Rabbi David Hartman, and Ethiopian sages, will focus on the more theocentric Beta Israel tradition, in which individuals are perceived, and perceive themselves, as a part of a collective, in contrast to the Rabbinic tradition, which places a greater emphasis on the agency of the individual and human reason. We will highlight the difference between the concepts of "repentance" and "atonement" that are at the root of the two communities' theologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This encyclopaedia article aims to provide an exhaustive investigation of the concept of Teshuva in Jewish thought, with a focus on its historical trajectory and multifaceted interpretations. The term teshuva in Hebrew etymologically means ‘return’, suggesting a journey back to an original state or condition or to the divine. Originating from biblical precepts, Teshuva has undergone substantive elaboration in Rabbinic literature and further intellectual treatment in subsequent Jewish writings. This article underscores the theological gravitas of Teshuva. To bring depth and nuance to this investigation, it integrates the contributions of four seminal Jewish scholars – Moses Maimonides, Nachman of Breslov, Abraham Isaac Kook, and Joseph B. Soloveitchik – each offering a unique conceptual framework of Teshuva. Their divergent viewpoints serve as a prism through which the richness and complexity of Teshuva are elucidated.

Confession and repentance, being the sacrament of the Church, constitute a place of meeting between God’s grace and human freedom, which is thus transformed into the true freedom of God’s sons and daughters. A man who loves the beauty and purity of graceful, sacramental, and virtuous life cannot live without confession. Just like any Christian who does not participate in the communion of Christ, in the liturgical gifts of Christ’s Body and Blood, cannot call himself by this holy name, the neglect of the grace by which those who confess educate themselves represents spiritual death. The correct and salvific life in freedom, as given in the Church, cannot actualize if one neglects repentance and confession. Modern man, sick from the consequences of sin, cannot get better without the salvific confession. Many psychological and somatic disorders stem from reducing the confession to mere “custom” and obligation. Rediscovering the pure spring of the graceful life in Christ and renovating graceful freedom through the tears of repentance and honest confession represent a way threaded by the Church’s Fathers. If we want to show the graceful perspective of freedom and God’s love to modern humanity, we are obliged to personally and communally approach Christ through confession and repentance, so we might be transformed into gods by grace. A cleansed and Christ-bearing man is truly free and capable of living as God has intended – in eternal joy and grace of God’s Kingdom. This cleansing and transfiguration begin in time and continue in eternity. The education for eternal life is based on confession and our decision to follow Christ and fulfill his commandments. We rise if we fall and stumble, all thanks to Christ, who brings us into eternal life.

Catholicism has long been hostile towards Jews. It has even been claimed that its anti-Judaism was the matrix of twentieth-century anti-Semitism. This contribution sets out to show that the pontificate of John Paul II marks a break in the history of the Church in this respect. A relative break perhaps: the Polish Pope is following in the footsteps of the Second Vatican Council, one of whose major texts, the declaration Nostra aetate (1965), revokes the idea of the Jewish people's guilt in Christ's death sentence and accepts that the Jews are still part of the Alliance with God. However, there was one decisive break: influenced by his education between the wars, which brought him into contact with nineteenth-century literature favourable to an inclusive nationalism, he accentuated the “philo-Judaism” of the conciliar period by developing a new approach to the Jewish community, linking recognition of the State of Israel with a request for forgiveness for the sins of Christians addressed to the “Jewish People”.

The temptation of prosperity and immediate success at any price, that which intrinsically contains a demonic influence, often always gives man the capacity to be autonomous, selfish, envious and unable to open up to people. Meditating on how to escape this temptation and aspiring to offer an adequate response, we’ve compiled the present book, in which we aim to navigate through the important chapters of Christian dogmatics including: hristology, pnevmatology, mariology, soteriology and eschatology, Thus, discovering four elements: the relationship of fragility with grace, the necessity of fragility awareness and its activation for salvation, the positive and negative risks of fragility awareness, and the future face of pnevmatized fragility. The work is conceived from the perspective of a theology of exception concept, for only existential exceptions can reveal the things that come thereafter, as well as the edges of the road leading to them. They tend to reveal what is usually not seen, while placing everything in crisis, under the divine judgment that is to be, and constitute the only space of a possible Christian esotericism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Firat University Faculty of Theology / Fırat Üniversitesi İlahiyat Fakültesi Dergisi is the property of Firat University and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This study aims to read Daniel Defoe’s novel Robinson Crusoe from an Islamic perspective, arguing that the novel ‒ though set in a Western context ‒ is rich with the foundational principles of Islam. The study uses the comparative analytical method to compare and contrast the presence of these principles prevalent in Christianity and Islam and portrayed in the novel through the disobedience, repentance, solace in spirituality, and ultimately, the triumph of the individual, the protagonist, Robinson Crusoe. The paper thus demonstrates the extent to which an Islamic reading of Defoe’s classic text fosters greater consciousness of the close affinity between Christianity and Islam, breaking the wall and bridging the divide. The analysis, in other words, highlights a range of Christian ethics, such as sin/disobedience, repentance and providence, that the story presents and are also the basic principles in Islam. In this sense, the study further reveals that Crusoe, as is evident in these readings from a new perspective, is not a unique man, he is rather representative of mankind which is also the case with religion and literature that use man as an epitome of God’s will which ensures poetic justice, though it may come after much suffering.

The article titled "Penitence and Grace in Blaise Pascal" discusses Pascal's understanding of charity and its relationship with the Eucharist. Pascal desired to receive communion in his last days, but the doctors did not consider him to be in danger of death. As compensation, Pascal asked that a needy person be taken care of in his home or be moved to a hospital. Pascal saw charity as a way to supplement communion. The article also mentions Pascal's involvement in the penitential controversy of the 17th century and the indulgent attitude of Jesuit confessors. Pascal also engaged in a controversy against the Jesuits and defended the Augustinian theory of grace, which emphasizes the disproportion between man and God. Pascal approaches devotion and spiritual consolation, housing God's grace in the heart instead of the intellect. Pascal believes that God's love is revealed in dazzling flashes in a night of fire and that the heart has its own reasons that reason does not understand. The text speaks about the relationship between faith and reason in religion, and how Blaise Pascal was never convinced by the God of philosophers. Pascal believed that God cannot be derived from nature or the creature, and that faith is necessary to understand the mysteries of the Trinity and the incarnation of God. It is also mentioned that God hides to be found only in love, and that Jesus Christ is the transformative value of lowliness. The text concludes by discussing Pascal's last days and his love for poverty. [Extracted from the article]

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The indispensable corollary to shameful memories ought to be repentance. Tellingly so, no such notion appears in Edmund Burke’s writings about the French Revolution and Ireland. After all, the French revolutionaries with their tabula rasa were, as if necessarily so, immune to repentance: they, and their British supporters, were content to repeat those hallowed moments in the past where some supposed evil had been stifled, as with the execution of Charles I; as for Irish Protestants, they were not inclined to abandon what enabled them to crush their coreligionists of the older persuasion, even though this led them to overlook that English oppression bore on them and Catholics alike. Burke engaged in historiographical issues that, by redressing erroneous outlooks on past events, might have provided a sense of unity against a common enemy. His efforts were as damningly shaky as could be found, and he could not have been entirely convinced by his own rhetoric which tried to identify early forms of worship and/or political arrangements that could have supplied the solution. The foundation of such political analyses seems to derive from his juvenilia, specifically his Sublime and Beautiful, where the figure of Job casts doubt on the very relevance of repentance. Ultimately, shameful memories, with their nonexistent sequel, repentance, have precious little to tell of Burke’s engagement with the future where the latter emerges as the bottom line of one who is only too easily regarded as an exponent of the pleas of the past against the present day.

In the present study we will direct our attention to the particular instances in which God appears as the subject of the verb נחם in the Pentateuch, where the context describes the reaction of ‘regretting’ or ‘repenting’ over a previous decision. In addition, in order to find out whether the Aramaic translators were consistent when trying to avoid anthropomorphisms, we will look at several of the occurrences of the verb in situations where it appears with a human, not a divine subject. This comparative approach will allow us to locate the different dimensions of the semantic field in which a given verb functions. Hopefully the wider the picture of this field, the better the chances are that we will understand the motivations and beliefs that informed the particular choices the translators made.

The penitential prayer, first found in The Book of Ezra, belongs to a tradition that goes back to Deuteronomy, which describes how Israel found itself in the exile because of its sins and how salvation can come only through the repentance of the nation. The key element for understanding the development of the tradition of penitential prayer is found in the text 1 Kings 8 in which the author, by re-interpreting Deuteronomy, develops the idea that a penitential prayer is the answer to the given demand for repentance. This answer, which is especially focused on the absence of the temple, is adapted to and created for the exile circumstances, in which the temple gets a different role, namely, it becomes a place of prayer and not of sacrifice. Penitential prayer becomes a new, ≫institutional≪ form of penitence, which the nation has to undergo for their sins. The major stumbling block to this logic is the suffering of the righteous, for the righteous should receive God’s blessing and not suffering. Tobit, who was a righteous man even according to Deuteronomistic notions, presents a serious challenge to the theory of the retribution or retributive justice. Despite his distress he claimed that God is righteous and through this act he proved to be a righteous man himself. The writer of the book does not consider righteousness as a state of being without sin, which is in fact an illusion, but sees the greatest virtue of the righteous in repentance and recognition of their sins. Repentance and recognition of sins, which have a crucial role in penitential prayers, enable the individual and the nation, which the righteous identifies with and represents, to receive God’s mercy and thereby find a way out of suffering. The survey on the development of the literary genre of penitential prayer is a summary of the theory presented by Werline in his book Penitential prayer in Second Temple Judaism: The Development of a Religious Institution (1998).

This research aims to examine the concept of contravention as one of the studies of the fundamentals of jurisprudence (Islamic Fiqh) related to the denotative meaning of expressions, and to present the different viewpoints on the issue under investigation and the weighting between them as well. The researchers opted for dropping their theoretical study on the two holy Quranic verses of Repentance 80 (al –tawbah), and the Rooms: 6 (Al-hujurat), as an applied study on the subject. The two researchers followed the descriptive approach, and divided their study into three parts. The first talks about the concept of contravention, its types and conditions; the second and the third come in application of the two selected verses. The researchers accordingly concluded that the concept of contravention is more likely to be adopted according to its terms and conditions, with the concept of not being applicable to the two verses under study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the 11th–12th centuries, extreme ascetic practices reappeared in Western Europe, in particular, the wearing of hauberks and heavy iron chains, associated with penitence and eremitism. This article discusses the charisma of three ascetic saints of the 12th century: Bernard the Penitent (d. 1182), Wulfric of Haselbury (d. 1154/55), and Godric of Finchale (d. 1170). Their hagiographies were written shortly after their death. The authors emphasize that they were revered as holy men already in their lifetime. Their charismatic power was revealed by miracles of healing and prophecy, sometimes in visions. The manifestations of their charisma continued and even increased after their death and were transmitted and spread through their relics. Their mortifications and the signs of their holiness are comparable to those of the stylites and other hermits of Syria of late Antiquity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since their very first entry into the Ming empire (Jesuits 1580s, Franciscans 1630s), Christian missionaries produced an extensive body of testimonies on this exotic and unknown territory, in which they described Chinese history, philosophy, nature, culture, religions, society, and people, including Chinese food, culinary practices, and habits. This extensive corpus of missionary documents not only discussed "things Chinese" but also interpreted this unknown country for their European readers in a process our current scholarship has deemed as "transcultural translation", during which the foreign culture is explained using familiar European terms. In my article, I focus on one particular aspect of food intake, or rather its voluntary absence: the practices of ecclesiastical fasting. I analyse how the first Jesuit and Franciscan missionaries understood fasting in the particular context of Chinese and Japanese culture and, more importantly, what obstacles and dilemmas they had to face in establishing it in their missionary work. I then relate these doubts and questions to contemporary missionary casuistry and moral theology. Finally, I explore ecclesiastical fasting as a compelling symbol of Christianity's encounter with the alien spiritual and cultural idioms of China (and Japan). I argue that it exemplifies the nature of the inter-cultural and inter-religious confrontation, displaying the inevitable difficulties inherent in rendering the Christian message. As far as the methodology is concerned, I explore some central assumptions of transculturality, transcultural translation, and Otherness, though I also point out the potential flaws and deficiencies of these perspectives when applied to this textual material. However, I do not aim at establishing an unambiguous methodology for dealing with these sources; my intention is rather to emphasize the absence of a reliable methodological approach for Early Modern missionary documents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While most Christian denominations were condemning or openly demonizing movies when this form of artistic expression was still in its infancy, many of them today embrace film and use it for pastoral purposes. Orthodox Church is not an exception: while at the end of the 19th century Holy Synod of the Russian Church officially opposed movies because of their potential to lead the faithful astray, modern Orthodox filmmakers produce movies with the blessings of the highest Church authorities. Some of these movies, e.g. The Island (2006) and Man of God (2021), seem to function as cinematic homilies, more effective and more memorable than traditional formal homilies one can hear inside the church buildings. Nevertheless, religious movies are primarily artistic expressions and, as such, should be interpreted as any other work of art. Theological interpretation of movies, especially by pastoral theologians, should encourage their actual use as pastoral means in parish communities. Since the theology of film is still largely unknown or ignored in the Orthodox world, this paper contains a short introduction to the topic of “theology and film”, which is followed by a theological analysis of four films with specifically Orthodox themes: The Island, Angel’s Aisle, Healing Fear and Man of God.

This paper conducted a thematic and literary study of the book of Amos to ascertain how Amos’ message should inform contemporary Christianity. The prophet ministered to pre-exilic Israelites who were about to be destroyed because they had abandoned their covenantal responsibilities. The rich trampled upon and exploited the poor and the weak. Amos’ message was meant to call attention to the impending judgment and to give hope of future restoration. This paper used literary analysis to examine key themes in the book of Amos; including, Israel’s covenant relationship with Yahweh, Israel’s sin, call to repentance, social justice and future restoration. The study also provides a useful model for contemporary Ghanaian leaders on God’s expectations for governance and leadership responsibilities, especially towards the vulnerable in the society.

In early modern Italy, lyric poets of spiritual verse experimented with engaging and depicting the divine Word in novel ways. They aestheticized bodies, including that of Christ, and they imagined eroticized encounters between themselves and the Word made flesh. This article examines the sensual spiritual poetry of three early modern Italian women who, between 1530 and 1630, dedicated themselves to crafting and reinvigorating the poetic word and to expressing and (re)presenting the divine Word. Exploring the introspective and subjective spiritual lyrics of Vittoria Colonna (1492–1547), Laura Battiferri (1523–1589), and Francesca Turini Bufalini (1553–1641) in the context of the Italian literary Renaissance and Counter-Reformation, it aims to highlight and to elucidate the conflation of the sacred and the erotic in their verse. In so doing, this article reveals how these early modern female poets deployed the sensual strategically in their verse to elevate the erotic and how they raised the Italian religious lyric to new literary heights by spiritualizing the dominant poetic idiom. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The set of eighth-century objects known as the "Tōdaiji Golden Hall Platform Pacifying Objects" (Tōdaiji Kondō chindangu 東大寺金堂鎮壇具; "Tōdaiji objects") is among the earliest concrete evidence of ritual practice in the Nara period. This study reveals how the Tōdaiji objects transformed the space inside the temple's colossal central statue of the Vairocana Buddha into a symbolic heavenly realm where the deceased would traverse to arrive at Vairocana's Pure Land. Close analysis of the Tōdaiji objects within Sovereigns Shōmu's and Kōken's religiopolitical applications of the Kegon teaching strengthens Okumura Hideo's argument that Kōken orchestrated the emplacement of these objects in the year 757 as part of commemorating the one-year anniversary of Shōmu's death. I argue that the Tōdaiji objects encapsulated Kōken's filial piety towards her father, Shōmu, by praying for his swift ascension to Vairocana's Pure Land. The objects furthermore served as a reenactment of Buddhist repentance that not only ensured Shōmu's salvation, but also the prosperity of Kōken's new reign. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the study, the author focuses on penitence law in the medieval Kingdom of Bohemia, and specifically on the territory of the Prague ecclesiastical province, i.e. in the Prague and Olomouc dioceses. Confession also became the subject of normative regulation in medieval ecclesiastical law, taking on the character of a legal institution. The decree Omnis utiusque sexus, promulgated at the Fourth Lateran Council in 1215, made it compulsory for each resident in a parish to make a confession to his or her parish priest once a year. The provisions of the conciliar decree were taken into the papal code Liber extra in 1234. Confession thus became an institution of canon law. Confession was regulated more closely at ecclesiastical province and diocese level by provincial and diocesan statutes, the most important of these being the provincial statutes of Arnošt of Pardubice from 1349. A certain set of sins was reserved for the diocesan bishop or the Pope to absolve. Numerous manuals for administering the Sacrament of Penance (summae confessorum, poenitentiale) were used for the theoretical instruction and practical needs of confessors. The most widespread in the Czech lands were Summa de casibus poenitentiae by Raymond of Peñafort and Summa Pisana by Bartholomaeus de Sancto Concordio. Several such penitentials were also created in Bohemia, written by Bishop Robert of Olomouc, Hermann of Prague, Štěpán of Roudnice, Sander Rambow, Matthew of Cracow, Štěpán of Kolín, and Václav of Dráchov. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

What happens to old competences in organizations when new competences are acquired? In this paper, we propose a competence attrition theory to explain the effects of acquiring new competences on previously acquired ones. While the presumed positive role of available competences for the acquisition of new competences has been the subject of extensive research, the potentially negative effect of the acquisition of external competences on the availability and use of existing competences has not been sufficiently theorized. We aim to do so by extending existing learning and absorptive capacity theories with insights from linguistics on competence attrition. Specifically, informed by parallel patterns in language acquisition and attrition, we develop a set of focused propositions on competence acquisition and attrition in organizations. We end the paper by discussing the implications of our theorizing for existing theory and research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the most important and frequent Quranic teachings is the subject of repentance. Repentance or return is attributed to both God and servant. In speculative theology (Kalām) of sects, although there is consensus between Shi'a and Mu'tazila on some topics, accepting repentance is not the case. Mu'tazilites of Basra believe that accepting repentance is an intellectual obligation on behalf of God, and if he does not accept, he has performed an ugly act, while Ashʿarites, Imāmīyyah, and Mu'tazilites of Baghdad believe that accepting repentance is due to God's grace over his servants. The Mu'tazila have based their claims on two rational reasons and a Qur'anic reason, and their belief is centered on "permanence in fire for sinners". The results of this study, conducted by analytical-descriptive method, indicate that such a belief will lead to "people’s influence on god" and "God’s deserving of blame ", both of which are impossible. According to several verses, God has promised the acceptance of repentance from the sinner, and breach of promise is ugly; thus, accepting repentance is not rational but is aural, and because God has promised to accept it, he accepts it.

The article examines the cultural, historical, philosophical-aesthetic, and theological contexts of the aphorism “beauty will save the world”. Some researchers believe that for Dostoevsky “beauty” is Christ Himself; others argue that the aphorism denotes the main problem of the novel The Idiot. The article identifies the semantics of the concept “beauty will save the world”. The study also focuses on the motif of beauty in the novel. Aglaia’s words about “chivalrous platonic love” point to the philosophical and aesthetic tradition of Plato’s philosophy of eros and to Schiller’s theory of the “aesthetic man”. Prince Myshkin was a supporter of the Platonic principle of elevation from the sensual to the ideal. Ippolit points out the anagogical nature of beauty. Ippolit’s question about how the apostles could believe in Christ’s resurrection if there was no beauty on the face of the crucified Savior introduces the gospel narrative of Christ’s suffering on the Cross and the foundation of the faith of the apostles involving repentance. In the Gospel, the principle of anagogy and repentance are understood as stages in the knowledge and understanding of God. Myshkin’s problem is that he offers his neighbor a strategy of anagogy without taking into account repentance.

The aim of this article is to demonstrate how in Islam the principle mechanism for atonement lies in tawba (returning, repentance). Divided into four sections, and drawing primarily on the literature of classical Sufism, the analysis begins by defining some key terms related to the idea of atonement, with special attention to the language of the Quran. Then it outlines three conditions of returning, repentance, and atonement, delineated by classical Muslim authorities, before turning to a brief overview of the concept of amending wrongs or settings matters aright. It concludes with some final remarks about the possibilities of atonement available until death, and the soteriological role divine mercy is believed to play in the posthumous states of the soul. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Luke-Acts is a theocentric narrative. It tells how God in and through Jesus acts out of faithfulness to the covenant on behalf of Israel. This article uses this fundamental claim to offer a post-supersessionist reading of Luke-Acts. It contends that genealogical Israel (the Jewish people) remains God's people because of election. God turns to Israel offering forgiveness and salvation. The people struggle to respond. All Israel, including Jesus's disciples, stumbles. Some Jewish people are more faithful, others less. Together they comprise the less-than-faithful people of God to whom God is faithful. Luke's Jesus and Paul embody this dynamic. Jesus recapitulates Israel's history, acting faithfully on its behalf for its salvation. He dies in solidarity with the Jewish people, faithful and unfaithful alike. He is raised, proleptically guaranteeing their restoration. Paul embodies how God remains loyal to recalcitrant Israel. Apart from repentance from Paul, an encounter with the risen Lord transforms this "God-fighter" simply because he is a "chosen vessel". In Paul, Luke narrates God's radical fidelity to Israel. God will restore Israel, opening blind eyes to see Jesus as messiah. The article distills the author's forthcoming monograph Reading Luke-Acts after Supersessionism: The Salvation of Israel and the Nations in Accordance with the Scriptures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Intersecoes: Revista de Estudios Interdisciplinares is the property of Editora da Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (EdUERJ) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Journal of Public Finance Studies / Maliye Çalismalari Dergisi is the property of Journal of Public Finance Studies / Maliye Calismalari Dergisi and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The article reconsiders the structure of Clement's writing Quis dives salvetur? and as a consequence questions the traditional designation of this text as a homily. In the first part, the article focuses on the Gospel text quoted by Clement and attempts to explain some of the unusual choices of the text. In the second part, it highlights some pastorally interesting or, on the contrary, controversial aspects of Clement's interpretation: (a) the use of the Stoic concept of indifferent things, which makes it possible to give emphasis to the freedom of human decision; (b) the thorough justification of the allegorical interpretation of Mk 10,21; (c) the pastoral project of the "divine business" based on Lk 16,9 and finally (d) the possibility of a second repentance after baptism justified by the story of the Apostle John. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article explores and offers a diplomatic edition of A Very Useful Confession for Unction for Every Christian, for the Black and White Clergy. This is an autograph by Vladislav the Grammarian placed in the Trebnik of Monk David (1480s), manuscript 1/42 in the collection of the Rila Monastery. The analysis is based on the working hypothesis that after the conquest of Constantinople by the Ottoman Turks in 1453, the Ottoman invasion of the Balkans was perceived as a God's punishment for the sins of the Orthodox Christians. This idea became strongly present in a number of texts. Penitential prayer patterns multiply in the literature. The Greek prototype of the text under study has not been identified yet, but features a close relation to the prayers with the so-called accumulation of sins. It is, in essence, a confession which is performed in connection with the sacrament of the eleosvet (anointing of the sick) before receiving communion and the anointing with holy oil. The textual unit was purposefully introduced into Monk David's Trebnik and reflected topical textual additions to the basic composition of the Slavonic Trebnik. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]