Search

This article attempts to analyse and interpret the archetype of Christ in the cinematographic work of Czech director Evald Schorm in the decade of 1960. Throughout the investigation the fact that all of Schorm’s protagonists prefigurate Christ will be showcased as a symbolic motif he uses to articulate a series of films reflecting on modernity’s tendency towards the alienation of the individual, the loss of ideals and the moral decadence of his time; concepts that link him with the cinematographic modernity of the fifties and seventies. Nevertheless, and in stark contrast to other authors who had a great reception in the international scene, Schorm’s cinema hardly made itself known outside Czechoslovakia. It is this article’s objective to delve into the reasons why one of the most relevant filmmakers in Czech cinema was led to isolation.

Influenced by critical race theory and drawing on historical Jesus scholarship, the paper discusses the portrayals of Jesus Christ in Philip Pullman’s novel The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ (2010), and the poems written by young, mainly anonymous, poets found online on the social media platform Tumblr. The interpretation of Pullman’s novel and the selected poems is placed within the context of past and current struggles over the historicity, human/divine status, and politics of Jesus Christ.

The aim of the paper is to examine the potency contained in the mystery of Christ as Alpha and Omega of human history. The issue will be viewed through the prism of accidental encounters, etc. that is, those which in our earthly life have no visible importance or continuation. It is striking that our life largely consists of such contacts: thousands of people passing by every day seem to be accidental, “non-productive” and not important. Broken relationships belong to the same set as well. Thus, the real question is whether they have any deeper meaning or not. I will try to argue, by reference to spiritual theology, that life in Christ brings a real answer to this question. The apparently accidental encounters become, subsequently, relationships flourishing in Christ, on the basis that He is the one spiritual principle of all believers and the Head of the Mystical Body of the Church. In Him, our particular present encounters are purified and come into perfection to the state when they will appear as true and everlasting relationships. A man who is overlooked now turns out to be a real co-author of my eternal happiness. Although this sense will fully be realised in heaven, it can now be experienced by hope and the contemplation of the neighbour in God.

Résumé : Si le chant chrétien est généralement considéré comme l’apanage des acteurs musicaux que sont les chantres, chorales et orchestres exerçant au sein des dénominations chrétiennes, l’écoute de certains artistes comme Tonton Etienno conduit à remettre en cause cette définition. Il est, en effet, de moins en moins rare d’entendre des chanteurs emboucher la trompette de la louange chrétienne alors qu’ils n’y sont pas spécialisés. L’on assiste donc à une appropriation du chant chrétien par des artistes qui, à priori, y sont étrangers en tant que musicien. Dans le cas spécifique du chansonnier baoulé Tonton Etienno, comment s’opère cette appropriation du chant chrétien ? C’est l’interrogation à laquelle répond cette étude à travers l’analyse de la chanson intitulée Jésus-Christ mã hey N’gouã. Dans cette pièce, Tonton Etienno se sert des proverbes, des récits anecdotiques, de l’humour et aussi d’une section vocale et instrumentale peu sophistiquée pour s’approprier le chant chrétien. In finie, cette appropriation sonne comme une rupture d’avec certaines idées reçues sur le chant chrétien. Mots-clés : chant chrétien ; louange ; chanson baoulé ; appropriation ; culture musicale.

Reflecting on the many challenges facing Christianity as a religion, and particularly Christian philosophy as a way of thinking in modern, strange and unfamiliar times, one encounters time and again the grim realization that many of such challenges are simply provided by the current culture, the cultural sphere. Without idealizing Europe’s Christocentric culture and remembering that it was not homogeneous, we must recognize that it once existed, it was the ruling cultural norm. Today, such norms are indeed very different and vary greatly depending on the geographic region we have in mind and change from decade to decade. After the Renaissance, the Enlightenment, modernity and the postmodern era, we observe that what governs our cultural world today is pluralism more than anything else. But there are still some traces of Christocentrism in our culture and in what it has become during this period, namely popular culture. Among other aspects, research has focused on the analysis of one idea – that of the Christ-figure, which has come a long way from theology to culture to pop culture over the centuries. In this article, I will try to show why this complicated legacy can be seen, at least in part, as a challenge to Christianity in light of contemporary Christian philosophy.

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.

Alongside with the legendary phoenix, which rises from death through the fire, and with the lamb, which expresses selfless love, the Pelican is one of the oldest symbols of Jesus Christ. This article reviews the rise of the legends about the sacrifice of the pelican, discusses the pelican as a symbol of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ and presents Jesus Christ as a true Pelican, feeding His faithful with His blood. Seeing the pelican through the eyes of the faith helps to discover the deepest Christ’s message: to give oneself to one’s brothers because it will make visible what evangelist John said about Jesus’ love: “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” (Jn 15:13) The symbol of the pelican in Christianity evokes contemplation of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, understanding the depth of God’s love and gratitude for this sacrificial love. Representation of Jesus’ sacrifice through the symbol of the pelican visually reminds us that the Lord, when He feeds people with His Body, receives them into Himself to become His Body.

Noel Putnik, Between Hermes and Christ: The Middle Way by Corenliu Agrippa, Službeni glasnik, Beograd, 2019, pp. 423

The author analyzes and summarizes the work of Thomas Pott OSB La réforme liturgique byzantine and proposes a biblical basis for the renewal of the liturgy. He also examines the thoughts of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI and Pope Francis. The analysis has shown that the idea of reform is linked to the center of the teaching of the Gospels and of St. Paul about the human person and to the experience of a new life in Christ. The Greek word μεταμόρφωσις (metamorphosis), in the New Testament sense, refers to a process of transformation of thought and of man as such. Metamorphosis invites to go beyond the form, to discover the true essence of the liturgy. In relation to the liturgy, it is necessary to rediscover the action of the Holy Spirit, which transforms man into being conformable to Jesus Christ.

L’Afrique coloniale décrite à travers la plume des auteurs africains de la période contemporaine regorge d’images de violences de tout genre. Parmi les injustices coloniales subies par l’Africain, on note la sixa qui se présente comme une institution catholique géré par les missionnaires dans l’objectif de proposer une éducation religieuse aux jeunes filles avant leur mariage. De nombreux ouvrages historiques ont peint la réalité sombre de cet établissement qui a conduit ses pensionnaires à la maladie et à la débauche. Nous verrons à travers Le Pauvre Christ de Bomba (1956), comment l’auteur a livré à son tour au lecteur une image réaliste de ce projet voué à l’échec à travers un stratagème scriptural qui allie neutralité, naïveté et engagement.

Este estudio describe un nuevo tipo de censura en traducción, la “censura por homenaje”. Se trata de una censura procedente de un plano interno, ya que la produce el propio traductor, pero condicionada por factores externos previos, debido a que rinde homenaje a una traducción influenciada por un sistema censor. Esta censura, además, se suele manifestar en el uso de la creación discursiva, es decir, de equivalentes ficticios, o la modulación para suavizar aquellos elementos polémicos que contradicen la versión del sistema censor. A partir de una revisión de las estrategias de traducción a las que se recurre en la subtitulación de la canción “The Last Supper” de la película Jesus Christ Superstar, ofrecida en la plataforma Filmin, y las empleadas en la que parece ser la versión utilizada como referente para esta nueva traducción, la obra de teatro musical Jesucristo Superstar, de 1975, se sostiene la hipótesis de que esta nueva traducción tuvo como modelo la versión de 1975, censurada por el régimen franquista, debido a la gran influencia de la versión de 1975 sobre el público español. Para realizar este análisis, se ha utilizado la metodología aplicada en un estudio anterior, basada en el análisis contrastivo de estrategias a partir de las descritas por Molina (2001). Se discuten, además, aquellos pasajes en los que la traducción se aleja más del significado original, con el fin de observar la influencia de la censura en esta nueva versión.

The article considers the painting “The Appearance of Christ before the People” by A. Ivanov as a very valuable subject of study for visual theology (by the method of hermeneutics of images). The enormity of the task that the artist faced is striking. The central event of world history – the arrival of the Savior into the world – was so boldly placed in his picture by A. Ivanov. In fact, A. Ivanov gives in his picture an overview of the fate of the human race, similar to the one we see in Dante’s “Divine Comedy”. Unlike the latter, there is limited number of characters in the picture, and therefore each of them becomes a symbol of some important character and phenomenon. There are no paintings in European history similar to this one, only multi-plot paintings of temples made by artists – “titans of the Renaissance” can be compared with it. The Russian artist managed place all ideas into one plot only because of the special quality of his worldview, which, after A. S. Khomyakov, is commonly called “sobornost”. This monumental canvas was appreciated by the geniuses of that time – N. V. Gogol, A. S. Khomyakov and N. Ya. Danilevsky. The artist’s task was to depict the diverse impression that the Savior’s arrival in the world made – an impression that, as in a grain, contained the influence that he made in the future. In this picture, A. Ivanov sets a task that is possible only for iconography – the image of the fate of all mankind as a result of its meeting with Christ. The Russian painter managed to embody this idea by secular means. The first image in the picture among people is St. John the Baptist as the embodiment of humanity, who hoped for his salvation and recognized his Savior. All the other images are expressing the ways leading humanity to Christ. This collective experience of humanity is given in the picture. The picture gives a typology of the ways of conversion of souls to Christ and the corresponding typology of personalities. Actually, the iconographic plot of the picture is the moment of conversion (initiation, “second birth”) in its various forms, and at the level of integral composition – the history of the world until the Last Judgment, given in a symbolic form. From a technical point of view, A. Ivanov made a brilliant synthesis of the technique of painting and iconography. The discussions of the artist’s contemporaries about the painting have already outlined the present circle of all the correct and incorrect ways of understanding it. В статье рассмотрена картина «Явление Христа народу» А. Иванова в качестве ценного объекта изучения визуальной теологии методом герменевтики образов. Поражает огромность задачи, которая стояла перед художником. Центральное событие мировой истории – приход в мир Спасителя – столь дерзновенно вместил в свою картину А. Иванов. Фактически А. Иванов даёт в своей картине обзор судеб человеческого рода, подобный тому, который мы видим в «Божественной комедии» Данте. В отличие от последней, в картине ограниченное количество персонажей, и поэтому каждый из них должен был стать символом какого-то важнейшего характера и явления в жизни человечества. В истории европейской живописи нет подобных картин, к ним могут приближаться по замыслу только многосюжетные росписи храмов, сделанные художниками – «титанами Возрождения». Русскому художнику удалось вместить всё это в один сюжет и в одну картину только благодаря тому особому качеству его мироощущения, который вслед за А. С. Хомяковым принято называть соборностью. Естественно, что это монументальное полотно сразу же по достоинству оценили гении того времени – Н. В. Гоголь, А. С. Хомяков и Н. Я. Данилевский. Задача художника состояла в изображении того разнообразного впечатления, которое произвёл приход Спасителя в мир, – впечатления, которое, как в зерне, заключало то влияние, которое он произвёл в дальнейшем. А. Иванов поставил себе задачу, которая была бы под силу только иконописи, – изображение судьбы всего человечества как итога его соборной встречи со Христом. Но русский художник сумел воплотить этот замысел средствами светской живописи. Первый образ в картине среди людей – это св. Иоанн Предтеча как воплощение человечества, чаявшего своего спасения и узнавшего своего Спасителя. Все остальные люди, изображённые на картине, – это живые образы тех самых разнообразных путей, которыми идёт человечество ко Христу. Этот соборный опыт человечества и дан в картине. В картине также представлена типология путей обращения душ ко Христу, соответствующих типологии личностей. Собственно, иконографическим сюжетом картины является момент обращения (инициации, второго рождения) в разных своих формах, а на уровне целостной композиции – история мира от сотворения до Страшного Суда, данная в символической форме. В техническом отношении А. Иванов совершил гениальный синтез техники живописи и иконографии. Дискуссии современников художника о картине уже очертили круг всех адекватных и неадекватных путей её понимания, которые воспроизводятся до настоящего времени.

During the IVth century A. D., Asclepius, both celestial and terrestrial, is seen to have taken on the powerful features of Christ for the pagan revival of Julian to stem the spread of Christianity. The fact remains that in the Helios-King and Against the Galilaeans, Asclepius does not play a prominent role. In the first book, the latter is only mentioned in two passages. Among the panegyrists of Julian, Libanios, Himerius and Eunapius, the emperor became the worthy successor of Asclepius present on earth and the son of Helios having for attribute the term σωτήρ, attribute which he himself had granted to the god of medicine. Yet convinced that he had been predestined by Helios and Asclepius and that he had been invested with a mission of a healer, Julian did not inspire to become the savior of souls described in the Gospel of John.

Résumé : L’objectif principal de ce travail est de montrer que le concept maternité a largement évolué de manière générale et particulièrement en Afrique. Le mot maternité évolue dans le temps et l’espace, il ne se cantonne plus essentiellement à la mission d’enfantement dévolue aux femmes. D’un point de vue traditionnel et anthropologique, ce concept se distingue selon les modes de filiations (patrilinéaire, matrilinéaire). L’on observe en cette période postmoderne certaines réalités surgissent dans la société. Il s’agit de l’avènement de nouvelles réalités que sont : les mère-porteuses, les mères donneuses d’ovocytes, et enfin des femmes qui refusent volontairement d’enfanter.

The article examines the literary sources of the anonymous Panegyric on Nicholas, named Kochanov, a 14th-century Saint of Novgorod, presumably written in Novgorod in the middle of the 16th century. In numerous cases the author of the Panegyric conveys the few historical information about the life of the Saint by the borrowings from certain literary sources. Established ones are the Sermon on the memory of Basil of Caesarea by John XIII of Constantinople, the Panegyric of Nicholas of Myra attributed to Clement of Ohrid, and the anonymous Sermon on the transfer of the relics of Nicholas the Wonderworker from Myra of Lycia to Bari. The second part of the article privides a comparison of the Panegyric with two late lives of Nicholas Kochanov. The results of analysis confirm the conclusion that they go back to the Panegyric as their source. Moreover, the late Praise of Xenophon of Robeika, another Saint of Novgorod, the founder of the Monastery in honour of St. Nicholas, as well as the Life of Xenophon of Robeika are also based on the text of the Panegyric of Nicholas Kochanov. The appendix contains the text of the Panegyric of Nicholas Kochanov published in accordance with the manuscript of the 17th century OLDP F.48.

Copyright of Biblica & Patristica Thoruniensia is the property of Nicolaus Copernicus University in Torun 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 analyses two late 15th and early 16th century panels, one of Christ Seated on a Cold Rock from the Museo del Prado in Madrid and the other of The Way to Calvary from the Pushkin Museum in Moscow. The first work is related to the artistic production of Juan de Flanders, while the second, since the beginning of the 20th century, has been attributed to Michel Sittow. A stylistic and iconographic analysis of the two panels in the context of the Polyptych of Isabella the Catholic reveals their common characteristics. It might suggest that the two artists, while they were in the service of Isabella of Castile, collaborated not only on the forty-seven panels in the Royal Collection but also on other works.

The mural paintings in the Saint-Jean-du-Grais priory in Azay-sur-Cher, Indre-et-Loire, have never been the subject of a technical study. The use of sinopia is rarely observed in France for paintings from the 12th and 13th centuries. The clues left on the paintings and the drawing conducted to propose a restitution of the painting process. The study shows that the iconographic programme was scrupulously designed before it was applied to the wall. This painting illustrates the technical and stylistic changes that took place from the second half of the 12th century to the beginning of the 13th.

The unexpected appearance of Jesus Christ at the end of Aleksandr Blok’s The Twelve has caused much debate among scholars. This essay attempts to discover a key to decoding this image in the light of a much-discussed remark in Blok’s diary: “A terrible thought from the present times: the problem is not that the Red Guards are ‘unworthy’ of Jesus Christ who walks with them now; rather, the problem is that it precisely He who walks with them, when an Other is needed”. This remark suggests that the author himself could not fully explain this controversial idea he introduced in the poem. In the light of this remark, this article reads the ending of the poem as Blok’s attempt to deconstruct the symbolism of the traditional image of Christ. For Blok, such an attempt was necessary because at the time of writing the old image of Christ was already obsolete for Blok, and the new meaning had not yet crystallized for him. As a result, we are presented with a puzzling, transitional image that stems from the author’s searching for a new meaning.