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The problem of schism is one of the major issues in 1 Clement. To resolve this problem, the author of 1 Clement exhorts the Corinthian believers to submit to their leaders by using military imagery. While the use of military imagery is often understood in reference to the author's emphasis on peace and concord, what remains to be explored is the way in which the militaristic imagery in 1 Clement 37 can be read alongside 2 Timothy 2:3–4. Although there is no clear evidence of whether Clement draws on 2 Timothy or vice versa, I suggest that the militaristic imagery in 2 Timothy 2:3–4 offers a helpful analog for understanding the meaning of the use of military imagery in 1 Clement 37. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, I shall argue that the law of non-contradiction can be used to constructively reframe the univocalist debate. Duns Scotus argued famously that a term is univocal in two statements if its unity is sufficient for a contradiction. This logical definition was woven into his arguments against Henry of Ghent's (and indirectly Thomas Aquinas') view of analogy, arguing that all successful analogies must be built upon a univocal core. As early as the 1960s, this Scotist univocity had been singled out by French scholars and, by the turn of the century, had become the cherished whipping boy of Radical Orthodoxy, which claims that Scotus was the progenitor of modern onto-theology, nihilism, and secular immanence. While the genealogical critique in its fullness is beyond this paper's scope, it illustrates the gravity of the question. If the doctrine of analogy is coherent—i.e., if Scotus turned to univocity without cause—then perhaps his condemnation is justified. However—in line with the principle quod est necessarium est licitum (that which is necessary is permissible)—if univocity is necessary for successful theological reference, then perhaps the doctrine of univocity can be defended regardless of its historical usage. This paper will argue that univocity is latent in all successful analogies, commencing with a fairly standard analysis of Scotus' Ordinatio, then moving beyond Scotus to more constructively suggest that an expanded version of the argument from non-contradiction can help reframe the univocalist debate for today. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper aims to clarify Mendelssohn's stance on speculative philosophy by connecting the conflict between common sense and speculation with the notion of approval-drive. It argues that Mendelssohn identifies a principle of existence in the faculty of approval, aligning common sense with the divine nature, thereby challenging the skepticism inherent in metaphysical speculation. By invoking God's creative impetus, Mendelssohn demonstrates that the ontologically abundant world conceived by common sense is more consistent with the divine nature than the ontologically impoverished worlds envisioned by metaphysicians. This approach positions Mendelssohn within the tradition of Descartes, Spinoza and Leibniz, emphasizing the role of the divine intellect as the guarantee of the accord between perceived and actual reality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The non-dual path—which runs through the undercurrent of all the great traditions and religions at their esoteric and initiatory level—is underpinned by the doctrine of Unity, namely the fact that the ultimate Reality is one. In this respect, negation is neither local nor tied to a positive content (simple negation), nor does it affirm elsewhere the existence of what it denies (presuppositional negation), but it presents itself, in a more original way, as the neutralization of all determination and dualism, i.e., of false assumptions on what there is that prevent us from accessing to that which, being unqualifiable, really is. In order to grasp the meaning of the via negativa as a path of deconstruction and disidentification (Neti-Neti) and of the apparent obscurity of non-knowledge (Agnosia), which is expressed in the lexicon proper to negative theology (silence, abyss, inexpressible, unrepresentable, non-manifest), the questioning about the Being-in-itself must not be separated from that about one's own Self. This original negativity, which proceeds from the metaphysical ignorance of the truth of the self and the truth of what is (Avidyā), once lifted, opens the way to the subjective apprehension of Reality, i.e., the perspective of transcendental interiority: the Supreme Identity between the Being-in-itself and Oneself. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Juedi Tiantong occurred in ancient China and was the critical foundation for understanding the relationship between Tian and man in China. From the perspective of conceptual history, Juedi Tiantong not only shaped the metaphysical dimension of the concept of Tian, but also transformed the original religious form of communication between man and natural gods into the unity of human nature and Tiandao, which liberated the relationship between Tian and man from the religious field. Therefore, Juedi Tiantong should be regarded as the critical basis of the unity of heaven and man in Chinese philosophy. Furthermore, as an important religious revolution, Juedi Tiantong also affected people's understanding of nature, which was mainly reflected in the recognition of astronomy and calendar reform. In ancient China, it was difficult to distinguish between humanity and astronomy, science and religion, and rationality and divinity. In this case, Juedi Tiantong also abstracted Tian, originally representing the physical sky, into a metaphysical concept. Accordingly, the concept of Tian in Chinese philosophy has not developed the same meaning of nature as Western civilization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article addresses determinants of the ecumenical impetus' weakening in the second half of the twentieth century. This situation invokes a key question about the purpose of the ecumenical journey. Despite the complexity and multiplicity of problems dividing the Churches, it was acknowledged that the main reason for stagnation was differences in understanding the Church. The Dominus Iesus declaration represented a kind of caesura, one marking a divergence in the aims of the ecumenical path, especially in Catholic–Protestant relations. Since then, certain statements on the Protestant side signal a clear attempt at distancing themselves from the concept of visible unity. They have come to prefer an alternative model of a community of Churches. Some have, in turn, put forward arguments for the apparent nature of such an alternative. In fact, the realisation of the Church's visible unity can only take place "through" and "in" the community of various Churches. The Church herself is the assembly (community) of all peoples and nations in one people under God. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The trans-phenomenology of Emmanuel Levinas has helped expose the totalising dynamic that has marked much of Western philosophy. The quest for a unity of knowledge in the truth assimilates any hint of otherness into more of the same. Plurality becomes a source of violence and dissent regarded as decay. Levinasian perspectives, however, and recent developments in magisterial teaching in the Roman Catholic Church point to a more ethical approach that can begin to escape the dialectic binary of the same and the other and so help avoid static conceptions of truth and unity. Religious truth and ecclesial unity, in other words, are explored in this paper for their ethical–dialogical quality. Indeed, the asymmetrical priority of dissent within this dialogical approach offers positive soteriological significance for the church rather than seeing dissent as a threat. Such an approach can enable the church to take plurality and diversity seriously in the current context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay takes initial steps on a journey with an Irish eco-spiritual philosopher, the late John Moriarty. As a gateway into his broader oeuvre and way of thinking, we explore Moriarty's image of the Christian mystical Easter journey—the Triduum Sacrum—as a vision for humanity and the planet. After briefly reviewing his spiritual biography, we consider Moriarty's re-framing of the story as a journey to the bottom of a symbolic Grand Canyon, a mystical trail beyond historical time to a primordial unity before the evolution of the species. There, the total integration of the natural ecumene is experienced. For Moriarty, this journey leads not only into the past, but prefigures a pilgrimage that everyone can—and should—take. Analyzing primarily his own writing, we highlight the intercultural roots and ecumenical connections of Moriarty's work, which draws extensively on spiritual traditions and contemporary debates from across the world. On that basis, we sign-post directions for further research into a potential post-Christian ecology as a new way of thinking about the earth and our role on it, based on an attitude of Gelassenheit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Religion is one of the central themes of the young Hegel. This is where intellectual problems arise, the treatment of which led him to discover his speculative way of thinking. Starting in the footsteps of Kant's ethicotheology, Hegel quickly realized that religion cannot be a vehicle for introducing autonomous morality. Under titles such as love and life, he then develops a kind of Spinozist thinking of unification of everything, including the finite and the infinite. However, it turns out that the quasi-divine performance of unity cannot be thought of as such, since thinking is bound to discursive forms of reflection that are always mediated through differences. As soon as the religious performance of unity is to be thought of, it slips away from the form of reflection. This problem can be solved if, on the one hand, the differential form of thinking is brought into a self-application and, on the other hand, difference itself is put into the performance of unity, even if it is named as absolute. The former becomes the nucleus of the figure of negation characteristic for Hegel's speculative thinking; the latter leads to an understanding of the absolute as spirit, which, according to its self-being, which encompasses difference, is always for the other and is known by the other. Religion brings this to mind in the form of imagination, according to Hegel's later concept of religion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The unity of the Persons of the Trinity is the source and highest exemplar of Christian unity which all ecumenical initiatives seek. During his earthly ministry, our Lord Jesus Christ prayed for the unity of Christians (John 17:21). This prayer of Jesus furnishes us with the fundamental inspiration for the ecumenical movement in all its dimensions of expression. Right from the beginning, the Christian church has experienced rifts in both the West and the East. The modern ecumenical movement is an attempt to restore Christian unity against the background of 16th century divisions attendant upon the Protestant Reformation. It is also conducted in hindsight of the Protestant Reformation that the 19th and 20th century missionary activities of Christian churches from Europe in Nigeria took place. Several historical factors have shaped the successes and failures of significant missionary endeavors. This article highlights a few of those historical factors in a bid to identify the roots of discord and footprints of ecumenism at the beginning of the establishment of Christian churches in Nigeria. The goal intended to be realized through this historical excursus is to engender a livelier ecumenical hope for Christian unity in Nigeria while maintaining the already-achieved progress made so far, as well as countering further divisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines Gustav Landauer's mystical anarchism, focusing on the concept of overcoming death as a core element of his thought. It explores Landauer's rejection of death as both a linguistic superstition and a limited worldview, emphasizing the collective whole over individualism. The essay suggests that Landauer's representation of revolution moving from space to time includes his account of mystical anarchy, which fosters a deep connection with the past and a sense of unity with the world and humanity. This shift in perspective promotes a more fulfilling and meaningful existence within a larger, authentic community that is an antidote to the constraints of death. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The problem of schism is one of the major issues in 1 Clement. To resolve this problem, the author of 1 Clement exhorts the Corinthian believers to submit to their leaders by using military imagery. While the use of military imagery is often understood in reference to the author’s emphasis on peace and concord, what remains to be explored is the way in which the militaristic imagery in 1 Clement 37 can be read alongside 2 Timothy 2:3–4. Although there is no clear evidence of whether Clement draws on 2 Timothy or vice versa, I suggest that the militaristic imagery in 2 Timothy 2:3–4 offers a helpful analog for understanding the meaning of the use of military imagery in 1 Clement 37.

Kierkegaard's claim that God just is love implies that love is ultimately one reality. Indeed, on more than one occasion, Kierkegaard will make this point explicitly as well as implicitly by frequently asserting the oneness of love. For example, early on in Works of Love, he states plainly that "this love for the neighbor is not related as a type to other types of love. Erotic love is defined by the object; friendship is defined by the object; only love for the neighbor is defined by love". What Kierkegaard means by this is that preferential loves are defined by a factor in addition to love itself: the object of that love. Neighbor-love is defined by love itself, which takes as its object the neighbor, or in other words, "unconditionally every human being". Preferential loves are specified as it were by the person loved in this manner. Neighbor-love is not related as a type to other types of love in that neighbor-love is paradigmatic love; preferential loves are specified, but as recent commentators have shown, are not thereby precluded from also being or filtered by or infused by or coincident with neighbor-love as well. The point of this passage is that there are not distinct, enumerated types of love that, taken together, can be amalgamated into something called "love", which would be inclusive of distinct kinds. The current paper argues that neighbor-love is meant to be thought of as paradigmatic. Therefore, as a paradigmatic unity, it will also exhibit qualities ordinarily associated with preferential love. Put differently, my claim is that we have reason to conclude that, in the end, features of preferential love will be manifest in neighbor-love just as surely as neighbor-love has an effect on preferential love. I wish to take seriously the claim of Works of Love that, ultimately, love is one. Love, being one, is not comprised of distinct types or subsets. I demonstrate the importance of this point by explaining how all love has its ultimate origin in God (and God just is love). While seemingly a truism, I argue from a variety of passages that the oneness of love has multiple implications throughout the text, implications that further support the theory that neighbor-love is not an alternative to, but rather encompasses features of, preferential loves. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses the topic of the Church in the multilateral international theological dialogue conducted by the Faith and Order Commission (FOC) of the World Council of Churches (WCC), which in 2013 published a "convergence statement" entitled "The Church. Towards a Common Vision" (TCTCV), which gave a fresh impetus to the ecclesiological debate that has been taking place in the ecumenical movement for many decades. The document demonstrates that despite continuing differences among "confessional" ecclesiologies, there exists a converging vision of the Church, its nature, mission, and unity among all Christian traditions. This paper is divided into two parts: the first part dedicated to the TCTCV statement and the second part dedicated to the process of its reception during the last decade. Part one includes an introduction to the long study process within the Faith and Order Commission that led to the production of TCTCV, explains its ecumenical significance, presents its structure and content, and outlines some of the themes that are central to its vision of the Church, such as communion (koinonia), sacramentality, and the missionary vocation. Part two presents different stages of the reception process of TCTCV in the churches and in the FOC and addresses some of the issues that were identified as vital for the future ecumenical dialogue on the Church such as the meaning of communion (koinonia), visible unity, mutual recognition, ministries, baptismal ecclesiology, legitimate diversity, and others. This paper expresses the hope for the continuation of dialogue on the basis of the results already achieved as a necessary way of strengthening ecclesial communion among the churches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article reviews the history of the ecumenical movement from an English Anglican perspective, exploring its successes and limitations. It suggests that ecumenical aspirations risk being bogged down in incremental ecumenism, the pursuit of small steps in inter-church relations. A worked example is the Porvoo agreement, which depended on a new paradigm of the Anglican understanding of order, yet which has not been applied equivalently elsewhere. The necessity of unity is reasserted, and a call for a more imaginative, eschatological paradigm of unity is made. Some implications for Anglican ecumenism are briefly explored. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay will explore the relationship between synodality as an ecclesiality and Receptive Ecumenism as one form of enacting the synodal vision within the ministry of ecumenism. In so doing, this essay will consider how Receptive Ecumenism within the ministry of Christian unity fosters transformation and koinonia within and between communions and presents an ecclesial vision for the People of God that is analogous to the Trinitarian koinonia, thus offering a vision for ecumenism that avoids both Parmenidean homogeneity or Heraclitian flux, which has plagued the ecumenical endeavor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article aims to promote the integration of knowledge and life based on a phenomenological description of sexuality and erotic relations. To carry out this task, I will follow the approaches of the French philosopher Michel Henry in order to extract the anthropological consequences of a phenomenology of incarnation pertaining to sexuality. Both the peculiar union produced by the sexual act and its perpetually threatened condition through the "event" of nihilation of the flesh will be the object of reflection throughout this work. In my search for the reintegration of the human being through the sexual act, I will show the importance of woman and her spiritual superiority in deepening the intimate meaning of sexuality. Further, I will argue that the intersubjective experience lived in sexual practice demands a consideration of human beings from their ultimate condition of relational possibility (Life), emphasizing their engendered, not merely created, condition. Thus, the salvation of human beings and their involvement in the coming of Life to them is intrinsically related to that carnal disposition which aids to unify them, beyond their diversity, in their self-revelation in Life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article aims to shed new light on the work of the humanist and Jewish convert Paulus Weidner (1522–1585) by focusing on his use of postbiblical Jewish sources to defend, illustrate, and spread a non-confessional Christian faith both among Jews and among the divided Christians of the Habsburg Monarchy. As such, Weidner was a major figure of the Christian via media promoted at the Habsburg court in Vienna around the mid-16th century. Yet, he retained, at the same time, a profound originality, for his contribution was largely based on the Mishnah. Indeed, Weidner not only proposed Christian interpretations of the Talmud, which he argued could lead to Christian faith but also claimed that the Pirkei Avot could serve as a source of Christian ethics and, as such, ought be added to the Biblical and classical heritage promoted and revered by scholars of his time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By a close reading of Salomon Maimon's 1794 Essay on a New Logic or Theory of Thinking, this article shows, first, how Maimon radically criticized his previous metaphysical systems while painstakingly reestablishing Kantian transcendental philosophy on a theory of reflexive cognition. Second, it shows how he employed this theory to ground innovative accounts of both formal and transcendental logic, including a reformulation of Kant's schematism. Third, it shows how he employed it to ground his axiotic philosophy. Specifically, he argued that his reflexive theory of cognition constituted the necessary condition for the theories of Kantian morality, natural rights, works of art, and finally for a metaphysics according to which God creates the world ex nihilo. Maimon's achievement is impressive and unique. It is a theory of the systematic unity of theoretical and axiotic philosophy that rivals other Enlightenment systems and, if anything, anticipates later works of Hans Wagner and Werner Flach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In terms of the comprehension of modern order and values, understanding individuals and their relationship with the community has always been an important perspective. Scholars have noticed that traditional Confucian thought in China contains a profound understanding of individuals and their relationship with the community. In the Confucian perspective, an individual's significance lies in human relations, with the "family" constituting the foundation and core of these. This study presents the unique structure of the "family" in Confucian ethics and its generative significance. A literature analysis of Confucianism reveals that it places significant importance on the husband–wife relationship. The husband–wife relationship is a unity (heti) in the order of human relations, where spouses enjoy equal status and respect. The union of husband and wife propels the generational progression of the entire human relation system, making the husband–wife relationship a core node in the continuity of human ethical order. In this generative structure woven by human relations, the individuals are always subordinate to the human relationships they are involved in. The primary significance of the individual lies in the roles and corresponding responsibilities assumed within various human relations. Previous discussions on Confucian ethics have failed to clearly unveil the generative structure inherent in the concept of the family. The Confucian understanding of the individual and their relationship with the community can only be accurately grasped by clarifying this aspect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article describes and discusses Green's mystical neo-Hasidic thought, his reshaping of Judaism and his combination of scholarship and existential engagement. I showcase how his vision on the Oneness of all and on the unity in plurality leads him to an appreciation of evolution and to the promotion of love energy in all, to ecological care and to a deep concern for what happens in Israel and Palestine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper looks at the mystical topic of munājāt, or intimate dialogue, typically between a worshipper and their Lord, and how it relates to Ibn al-'Arabī's waḥdat al-wujūd (Unity of Being). The paper first works to situate munājāt within the current surrounding body of Sufi devotional literature and within the Islamic intellectual tradition. Then the paper goes on to examine how munājāt as prayer reflects and relates to Ibn al-'Arabī's larger metaphysical treatises, particularly waḥdat al-wujūd, using crucial concepts such as Barzakh, Imagination, and dhikr (remembrance). From this it may be understood that munājāt is direct communication occurring from God to Himself through the form of man. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

From the perspective of mysticism, the interpretation of zuowang 坐忘 as the breath-meditation technique with a transcendental goal establishes the religious basis of Zhuangzi's cultivation. In contrast, most Chinese scholars argue instead that zuowang is primarily the mental state independent of meditative techniques, and that the techniques are devoid of philosophical significance. The pivot of the two seemingly irreconcilable views is the holistic concept of qi 氣. Combining the two interpretations can lead to a consummate understanding. There is an innate connection between the physical and nonphysical qi, and the latter can be considered as the root and basis. Deep exploration of the mysticism paradigm represented by Harold Roth reveals that the interpretation of meditative techniques is a necessary step in gaining mystical experiences not contradictory to the one that construes it as mental cultivation. The mind–body transformation shows that the pursuit of authenticity and wholeness of humanity can broaden one's concern with fellow human beings and other realms of existence, as the same process is followed in the perpetual growth and change of the universe. This allows us to experience resonance with the universe toward the goal of "the unity of self" so to speak. The religiousness of Zhuangzi's cultivation is, thus, substantiated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To understand Confucian ethics as a "hierarchical mode of association" is to think that it is incapable of dealing with a society of strangers or to understand Confucian ethics as "authoritarian" or "collectivist", and to criticize that it ignores human characteristics and freedoms is to mistake one part of Confucianism for the whole. The Confucian theory of the individual and community actually has a tightly woven structure wherein its recognition of the plurality of diverse individuals and its appeal the unity of a common consensus are combined. From an exploration into the relationship between Xunzi's concepts of "preference" (teyi 特意) and "consensus" (gongshi 共予) and from the way he uses such concepts as "similarity and difference" (tongyi 同異), "one and ten thousand" (yiwan 一萬), and "unity and division" (tongfen 統分), I show how Xunzi included the diversity of individuals within a pluralist society in a unified community with a collective consensus where this community at the same time guarantees the freedoms and preferences of each individual member that belongs to it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study approaches the question of the unity between the existence of God and the knowledge of God. Henry's phenomenology of life, as a phenomenological ontology, offers a phenomenological way to rethink the existence of God and our cognition of God by seeking the essence in life's self-donation. As a phenomenological heritage of Husserl's intentional phenomenology, Henry's phenomenology of self-affection (auto-affection) clarifies the essence of God in the dimension of subjective body or in the flesh. This truth, which presents our absolute immanence, is, in its depth, a divine revelation between God and human. When we experience our own existence in the tonality of corporal life, we receive the existence of God and the knowledge of God. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article aims to shed new light on the work of the humanist and Jewish convert Paulus Weidner (1522–1585) by focusing on his use of postbiblical Jewish sources to defend, illustrate, and spread a non-confessional Christian faith both among Jews and among the divided Christians of the Habsburg Monarchy. As such, Weidner was a major figure of the Christian via media promoted at the Habsburg court in Vienna around the mid-16th century. Yet, he retained, at the same time, a profound originality, for his contribution was largely based on the Mishnah. Indeed, Weidner not only proposed Christian interpretations of the Talmud, which he argued could lead to Christian faith but also claimed that the Pirkei Avot could serve as a source of Christian ethics and, as such, ought be added to the Biblical and classical heritage promoted and revered by scholars of his time.

Many Korean American churches have several different worship services on a given Sunday that cater to different age and language groups. The intent is to cater to the different needs of each group, where each group can worship in an age-appropriate setting with the language they are comfortable with. However, it has also had the unintended consequence of creating factions and divisions within the church. It is not uncommon to hear about conflicts and quarrels between Korean Ministry (KM) and English Ministry (EM), from the leadership level down to the congregation members. While there may be several other contributing factors to church conflicts, one key reason is worshipping separately, which creates different spiritual identities within the church. This article proposes that through a creative and engaging bilingual, intergenerational worship and ministry, different generations in Korean American churches, and perhaps other immigrant churches in multilingual and multicultural settings, can worship and learn together as one community with a common spiritual identity. Careful planning of liturgy that is meaningful to different age and language groups is the key. A project conducted at True Light Community Church, a Korean American congregation in the Metro-Denver area, shows that different generations can be brought together in unity as they worship together regularly. In this project, basic qualitative research tools were used to plan a six-month worship and ministry program. The results show that while it is difficult to provide a meaningful, spiritual experience for every single person or generation, bilingual, intergenerational worship and ministry can bring different generations together. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]