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This paper explores the profound lessons of the Qur’ān about equality and social justice, as well as how these lessons relate to promoting world peace. The goal is to clarify the fundamental ideas of the Qur’ān that support gender equality, economic justice, and human dignity while examining their applicability in the modern world. The study uses a thorough examination of Qur’ānic verses, closely examining particular allusions to social issues and their historical background to produce complex interpretations. One of the main goals is to determine the connection between social justice, equality, and world peace. The study recognizes and tackles widespread misunderstandings and historical obstacles that have impeded the successful application of Qur’ānic principles, even despite the rich Islamic tradition that places a strong emphasis on these values. Additionally, the paper evaluates the current obstacles to social justice advocacy and offers solutions. A thorough examination of the role of Muslim communities and leaders is conducted, emphasizing their obligations to advance social justice and peace worldwide. Furthermore, a comparative examination with alternative religious and ideological viewpoints is conducted to find points of agreement for interfaith communication and cooperation. The article concludes by making suggestions on how communities, governments, and legislators can incorporate the Qur’ānic teachings into real-world projects. It emphasizes the critical role that social justice and equality play in bringing about enduring world peace.

This paper explores the Apostle Paul's teachings on righteousness and justification, emphasizing forensic, covenantal, apocalyptic, and sacramental aspects of his theology. Analysing key passages in Romans and Galatians, it integrates insights from contemporary theologians Douglas Campbell, N.T. Wright, and Pope Benedict XVI. Central to Paul's theology is the concept of justification by faith and the transformative power of divine grace. This study highlights the theological richness of Paul's teachings, while also acknowledging their ecumenical potential. By synthesizing these perspectives, the paper offers a comprehensive understanding of Pauline righteousness and its enduring relevance in contemporary Christian life.

The paper analyzes gardens and landscapes of the Renaissance, Mannerism and Baroque with particular attention to moral themes and Christian symbols. I follow the development of moral topography in the gardens by examples of Villa Hadriana, Villa d’Este in Tivoli, Versailles, Tsarskoye Selo, Désert de Retz, Sanspareil, Regaleira. The two types of gardens are identified: architectural (Castelo Branco, Bom Jesus do Monte in Braga) and landscaping (Bomarzo, Cetinale, Esztergom, Buçaco, Kuks, Valsanzibio). The paper then turns to “sacred mountains” created in the foothills of Italian Alps as a symbolic barrier at the border of Protestant lands. The interplay of gardens themselves and their descriptions, such as in “The Path of Purification”, the treatise by Francesco de’ Vieri on Pratolino, 1587 and in the inscriptions in Valsanzibio, is also discussed. Further in the paper I wonder about how moral programs of gardens can be studied and incorporated in the history of ideas and religiosity. The work is based on the materials of author’s travels and is illustrated with his photographs. Translations into Russian are by B. Sokolov. В работе анализируются садовые и ландшафтные памятники Ренессанса, маньеризма и барокко, программа восприятия которых основана на моральной тематике и христианских символах. Прослежено сложение моральной топографии в саду (вилла Адриана, вилла д’Эсте в Тиволи, Версаль, Царское Село, Дезер де Ретц, Санпарей, Регалейра), описаны ансамбли двух типов – архитектурные (Каштелу Бранку, Бон Жезуш ду Монте в Браге) и ландшафтные (Бомарцо, Четинале, Эстергом, Бусаку, Кукс, Вальсанзибио). Рассмотрена идеология создания «священных гор» в предгорьях итальянских Альп как символического барьера на границе протестантских земель, показано взаимодействие сада и текста о нём (трактат Франческо де Вьери «О чудесных устройствах в Пратолино», 1587; «путь очищения» и надписи в Вальсанзибио). Поднимается вопрос о способах изучения моральных садовых программ и включения их в контекст истории идей и религиозной жизни. Работа выполнена по материалам путешествий автора и иллюстрирована его фотографиями. Переводы текстов сделаны автором.

Prior to the 1980s, various theories of poverty have been proposed by psychologists, ranging from, but not limited to, ‘naturalizing perspective’, ‘constitutionally inferior perspective’, or ‘nativist perspective’; to the ‘McClelland approach’ (McClelland 1961, 1965, 1973); to the ‘attribution theory’; and to Lewis’ (1975) culture of poverty theory. The theories tease out issues of the accumulated environmental deficits and psychiatric disorders, such as depression as well as the lack of ambition and mental drive to achieve success. However, from the 1980s, psychologists returned to the Lewis’ culture of poverty theory. The World Bank Development Report for 2000–2001’s expansion of Sen’s (1999) theory, which placed emphasis and/as three-pillars on ‘security’, ‘empowerment’ and ‘opportunity’ led for one, among other psychological bodies, the American Psychological Association to consider various conceptualisation of the theories of poverty. The paper tests the psychological theories of poverty against the background of the historical-literary read poetic text of Psalm 72. Does a poetic reading of Psalm 72 bear a psychological meaning when read within the framework of psychological theories of poverty? Firstly, the paper investigates psychological theories of poverty prior to 1980s to the present. Secondly, in a poetically and historically read Psalm 72, the psychological presuppositions are teased out. In the end, the paper submits with caution that when read within the framework of psychological theories of poverty, the poetically read Psalm 72 produces psychological meaning, which contributes value to the reading of Biblical poetic texts. Intradisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: The article draws on the discipline of psychology, employing the psychology theories of poverty to read an Old Testament poetic text of Psalm 72. The meaning of Psalm 72 is derived from the psychological reading of the historical-literary critically analysed poetic Hebrew Bible text.

The legacies of colonialism in South Africa and broadly in Africa have problematised discourses on violence and discrimination. To counter coloniality and its continued efforts to dehumanise Africa, many Africans have often uncritically embraced certain notions of African culture that exacerbates the problem of homophobic violence and discrimination. This has left certain African discourses embracing ubuntu without critically addressing the violence and discrimination where ubuntu is often promoted. Recognising the attempts of African reconstruction theologians such as Mugambi and Ka Mana who advocate the necessity for African epistemic paradigms or epistemic justice, I engage their paradigms considering epistemic violence from the context of the queer community. Ubuntu must be understood within the context of African holism, a framework which African reconstruction theology makes use of. Using Dotson’s three orders of epistemic oppression, I argue that Mugambi’s theological paradigm could become problematic for the queer community because of the epistemic shells it carries into the future from the past. Considering the queer community, I argue that the epistemic flexibility of Ka Mana’s theology of reconstruction allows for more engagement because of its commitment to an ethic of African holism. At the heart of such an ethic is a commitment to the unity and the interconnectedness between God, humans, ancestors, plants and animals. This paper makes a theological contribution by engaging queer epistemic violence from the context of two African theological reconstruction paradigms. Intradisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: This paper engages discourses from African masculinities, social sciences, African theology and philosophy with reference to epistemic violence enacted against the queer community.

This paper, taking into account previous partial studies, formulates the methodology, aspects, and aims of a pioneering study of emotions in all the major literary genres of the Old Testament books. Special attention is given to the literary representation of the emotional state of female characters in Old Testament narratives and poems. In light of previous representations of emotions in the Old Testament, the study proposes an integrated analysis of the selected texts that combines linguistic-literary, historical-anthropological, and ethical-moral aspects. The focus is on the study of emotions in the relationships between male and female persons and between humans and God. The analysis of the selected texts takes into account the broader textual and intertextual relationships in relation to similar texts in the Old Testament. The paper focuses on how partial, often abstractly cognitive and allegorical methods can be complemented by a more holistic approach at both the diachronic and synchronic levels in assessing the authenticity of the emotions of the acting subjects. From a methodological point of view, it is also important to pay attention to the relationships between the explicit and implicit representation of the emotions of the main and secondary characters.

This paper presents the pre-Islamic Jews’ and Christians’ conception of Jerusalem, the Temple Mount and the Basilica of the Holy Sepulchre. The first part of the paper presents Jewish views of the Temple Mount, pointing out that Jews hoped, and still do, to rebuild the Temple, and that there was a widespread belief in rabbinic Judaism that in the centre of the Temple stood a stone called the šǝtiyyâ, which marked the centre of the world, and from which the world was created. The second part of the paper analyses the notion of the eternal desolation of the Temple Mount among Syriac Christians, which developed in close contact with rabbinic Judaism. The article shows that the Christian thesis on the eternal destruction of the Jewish Temple is closely related to the Christian critique of rabbinic Judaism as such and of religious practices of Jews. In the course of the development and construction of the Christian earthly Jerusalem, Christians developed a distinctive system of beliefs that integrated some of the characteristics that Jews ascribed to the Temple, including the belief in the Temple as the centre of the world. In the conclusion, the article sketches the basic tensions between Judaism and Christianity regarding the future of the Temple Mount at the beginning of the 7th century. When Muslims conquered Jerusalem and entered into the world of these tensions, they forever changed it through the deliberate use and refutation of Christian and Jewish belief in accordance with their own religious teachings.

The paper outlines the historical background of the phenomena of starets (starchestvo) in monasticism, which has its roots in the early days of monastic life in Egypt and is primarily linked to the education of young monks under the guide of an experienced teacher. Particular attention is paid to the development of the phenomena in Russia, which, although with a time lag, initially imitated the Byzantine tradition, but nevertheless in the 18th and 19th centuries developed original traits, especially around the monastery of Optina Pustyn and the figure of the starets Macarius, who opened the monasticism ≫outwards≪ and became a spiritual guide of the laity – the intelligentsia and the common people. The monastery's connection with the world later led to specific forms of elderhood in which also diocesan priests and even lay people, men and women, were recognised as starets. Of course, this was largely connected with the historical situation in Russia, with the communist persecution of monks and the closure of monasteries. Particularly outstanding are the so-called ≫yurodiviy≪ (fools for Christ), who are an unique embodiment of God's wisdom and its redemptive power. The paper attempts to present the basic traits of the spirituality of the starets and the relationship with his spiritual sons and daughters from the perspective of Russian scholars. We can see a deeply Trinitarian and Christologically rooted spirituality, which presupposes a kenotic attitude of the starets in order that the person who is led by him reach God through him. Far from any spiritual manipulation and domination, the unique aim of the starets is to lead the spiritual son or daughter to theosis, divinisation, i.e., to freely accept the grace of salvation.

In this paper, icons are understood as holy images in a broad sense, including murals, mosaics and miniatures. An icon is considered as a channel of communication with the sacred reality revealing itself through the icon. The numinous experience of ascetics during their devotional prayers in front of icons is described and conceptualised. This experience is categorised following its increasing intensity: (1) visions of a tunnel extending beyond the icon; (2) gleaming of icons; (3) apparitions of Christ or saints depicted on the icon; and finally, as a climactic point, (4) rapture or ‘energy discharge’. In particular, the images of a tunnel, transcending the icon and extending beyond its surface, can be found in some miniatures, frescoes, and icons of the 13th – 15th centuries as well as in some patterns of spatial ornamentation in Serbian and Bulgarian churches. The author argues that images of glowing icons reflect real ecstatic experience evoked when praying in front of icons. Then the paper turns to icons that represent apparitions of Christ or other holy figures to ascetics praying in front of their icons. Finally, the topic of ‘hidden’, i.e., veiled or curtained icons in Cypriot monasteries is explored. This tradition, which implies that a person can be “punished” for looking at or touching a miraculous icon, has, as the paper suggests, a completely different meaning. It is not addressed to all pilgrims, as it was customarily understood, but only to ascetics. According to Gregory Palamas, a true ascetic is able to sense uncreated energies, and this ability is a danger and a grace at the same time. Статья рассматривает икону как канал связи с сакральным миром, который являет себя через неё, и ставит задачу описать нуминозный опыт подвижников во время предстояния иконе. Этот опыт классифицируется, в порядке возрастания его интенсивности, следующим образом: (1) ощущение туннеля, уходящего за икону; (2) свечение иконы; (3) явление Христа или святого, изображённого на иконе; (4) в пределе, как возможность – энергетический удар. Материал для описания этих явлений содержится в самих иконах, свидетельствах адептов, а также в преданиях и легендах вокруг чудотворных икон. «Икона» понимается в статье в широком смысле, включая фрески, мозаики и миниатюры. Автор привлекает внимание к изображениям туннеля, уходящего как бы за плоскость иконы, на ряде миниатюр, фресок и икон XIII–XV вв. Указывается также на пространственный орнамент в сербских и болгарских церквях, среди примеров которого есть и изображения туннеля как такового. Автор обращается далее к теме изображения свечения иконы на самих же иконах, приводит примеры таких сюжетов и высказывает мнение, что эта тема возникла как отображение реального опыта подвижников. Далее рассматриваются иконы, на которых отображено явление Христа, Богоматери или святых подвижникам во время их предстояния перед иконой. Наконец, автор исследует тему сокрытых, то есть закрытых покрывалом или занавешенных, икон в кипрских монастырях. Предполагается, что эта традиция, подразумевающая, что человек может быть «наказан» за взгляд или прикосновение к чудотворной иконе, имеет совсем другой смысл и обращена не к каждому паломнику, как это принято считать, а к подвижникам: именно они способны ощущать нетварные энергии особенно остро, как об этом писал св. Григорий Палама, – и это не только опасность, но и благодать.

The article begins with the history of St. Andrew Stratelates Church in Veliky Novgorod. It is shown that today’s church dedicated to St. Andrew was originally built as a chapel of the Boris and Gleb Cathedral in Novgorod Detinets. The St. Andrew Stratelates Church now stands alone in the south-eastern part of Novgorod Detinets, but until 1682 it was the southern chapel of the Boris and Gleb Cathedral. Its earliest part was erected at the former location of cathedral’s staircase tower. The initial church, as the paper suggests, was constructed to commemorate the capture of Swedish Landskrona fortress in 1301 by the army of Prince Andrey III Alexandrovich. It was later rebuilt by Euthymius II, the Archbishop of Novgorod, likely in 1441, simultaneously with rebuilding the Boris and Gleb Cathedral “on its old foundation”. Then the paper turns to the description and analysis of what remains today of the initial iconographic program of the original St. Andrew Stratelates Church, namely a composition with nine images of saints in the lower part of the northern wall, which belongs to the earliest period of painting. On the right we see the Apostle Peter, an Archangel (Michael?) and the Apostle Paul being blessed by Christ. In the background stand a few praying figures: St. Andrew Stratelates, the patron saint of the church, as well as the Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles St. Prince Vladimir Svyatoslavich, passion bearers princes Boris and Gleb, and two unidentified holy women. The composition was likely to be created after 1494, when the Boris and Gleb Cathedral in Novgorod burned again. Although the origins of the mural remain unknown, a connection with the capture of the Landskrona fortress is a likely possibility. Indeed, St. Andrew Stratelates Church was first constructed in 1302, i. e., a year following the capture of Landskrona, and it was initially integrated into the Boris and Gleb Cathedral which speaks for itself in view of military overtones of the cult of Boris and Gleb. В статье рассматривается история церкви Андрея Стратилата в Великом Новгороде и содержание её интерьерной декорации. Автор показывает, что современный храм, посвящённый святому Андрею, первоначально был построен как южный придел Борисоглебского собора в новгородском Детинце. В статье аргументировано предположение о том, что церковь Андрея Стратилата была построена в воспоминание о взятии в 1301 г. шведской крепости Ландскрона и первоначально могла быть деревянной (обыденной). Далее автором производится идентификация персонажей первоначальной росписи храма. Эти росписи составляют часть композиции, находящейся на северной стене. Справа представлены: апостол Пётр, архангел (Михаил?) и апостол Павел, благословляемые Христом. За ними изображены в молении: патрон храма-Андрей Стратилат, равноапостольный великий князь Владимир Святославич, князья-страстотерпцы Борис и Глеб и две святые женщины, которых не удалось идентифицировать. Композиция создана, скорее всего, после 1494 года, когда новгородский Борисоглебский собор горел в очередной раз. Уточнить, по какому поводу создана эта фреска, на данный момент вряд ли возможно. Однако можно с большой долей уверенности указать на связь между взятием новгородским князем Андреем Александровичем крепости Ландскрона, военным характером культа святых Бориса и Глеба, ремонтом в 1302 г. Борисоглебского собора и возникновением церкви Андрея Стратилата.

This paper aims to uncover the underlying Neoplatonic ideas embedded in Russian Orthodox iconography and theology. The focus is on two earlier figures of Neoplatonism, namely, Iamblichus and Plotinus. In Iamblichus, his determination of religious practices or theurgy as imperative for union with God is emphasised. This includes his utilisation of symbols and icons for heightening the worshipper's faith, a practice that Russian Orthodoxy largely appropriated into a Christian context. However, the understanding of Beauty that both Iamblichus and Russian Orthodoxy incorporated is propelled out of Plotinus' ontology set in the Enneads. The suffusion of Plotinean ontology and Iamblichean theurgy resulted in the Orthodox portrayal of a divine ladder symbolising assimilation with God. This theological symbolism is markedly adopted by central figures of Eastern Orthodox theology and artistically rendered in Orthodox icons, such as the 12th-century icons Ladder of Divine Ascent and the Faith, Hope, and Love. Both icons are also closely intertwined with the theological texts of Eastern Orthodoxy, especially the Philokalia, which is permeated with Neoplatonic themes that portray a deep historical trajectory of influence that this paper hopes to have better elucidated.

‘Connected or committed critic?’ Theologically pondered on the issue of ‘Insider’- or ‘Outsider’ critic in South Africa: During the beginning of 2023, a conference was organised by a study group to be held in Stellenbosch later that year with the focus on the ideology of apartheid in South Africa, with special reference to prof. B.B. Keet, one of the first theologians to oppose this ideology. The author of this article was invited to attend the conference and present a paper. Unfortunately the conference did not take place, for various reasons, and subsequently the author decided to finalise his paper and present it as an article for publication. The author decided to look into the matter from two opposing views which were called ‘connected critic’ (criticism of the insider) on the one hand, and ‘committed critic’ (criticism of the outsider) on the other hand. Which road should be followed by prophetic theologians in their church, when they become convinced that their church is contradicting the Word of God and the gospel of Jesus Christ? Should they stay inside the church (connected critic) and contribute their criticism from there, or should they leave the church while raising their voice from outside the church (committed critic)? Contribution: The article starts with an introduction that investigates the views of Keet. Then three other voices are analysed, namely those of prof. W.D. Jonker of Stellenbosch (connected critic), Beyers Naudé of Johannesburg (committed critic) and at last the voice of the author himself (connected critic). In the end, the author explains why he had chosen for the option to be a connected critic. In a final conclusion, a few remarks are made as far as the future of South Africa is concerned.

At the center of Trstenjak's life and work is man. This is why anthropology has a special place in his scientific interest, not as a specific discipline, but as a search for an answer to the question who a human being is and how to live together in interpersonal relationships, in society and in culture. In the paper, we discuss Trstenjak's scientific and human-experiential ≫reflections≪ of society and culture. We are particularly attentive to his understanding of man as a person and as a being of symbol, not of reason. His approach has a strong and a weak side. The strong one seems to be his fundamental intuition about the person and the symbol that enabled him to have a deep insight into the soul of man, nation, and culture. The weakness of the approach, however, is some of its limitations and ambiguities, so we critically confront Trstenjak's thought with authors who have deepened the theme of the person and the symbol. In the next part of the paper, we discuss his thoughts on the Slovenian man, family and nation. We believe that his thoughts are still relevant and worthy of attention. The paper concludes with a reflection on the importance of Trstenjak's thoughts for our times. This, we believe, cannot be shown without taking into account his reflection on the five great thinkers who for him were a key mental reference and the challenge of how to face the choices of life.

The subject of research in this paper is the relationship between religion and politics in the current Bosnian moment. The research sample is limited to the appearance and analysis of cases/examples of the relationship between religion and politics in a period of one month of the current year. More precisely, from the end of January to the end of February 2023. The paper follows and analyzes the dynamics of three characteristic phenomena of the relationship between religion and politics in the public space, with an emphasis on the relationship between religious themes and political actors.

In this paper, we present the influence of religion on the revolutionary movement that led India to political independence in the last century. The most credit for the changes has Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, who achieved political changes through satyagraha without violence. After introducing the term satyagraha, the authors outline Gandhi's life and his spiritual development, which enabled him to think and act nonviolently. The sources of his spirituality are highlighted as the Bhagavad-gita, the Bible and Leo Tolstoy's prose. He was also influenced by Jain religious practice, especially the principle of ahimsa practiced by Mohandas' mother. The paper concludes with an outline of the influence of satyagraha in India and beyond after Gandhi's death.

In this paper I will discuss the visual category of “reverse perspective”, i.e., the principle of constructing pictorial space in the icon. I will show that in Russia one of the most basic terms in Western art history, i.e., perspective, was thoroughly reworked, even turned on its head as suggested by the terminology, in order to serve a project of modern Orthodoxy. The main proponent of the theory of “reverse perspective” was Florensky, who in his essay of that title, written in 1919, uses several different definitions of the term. In the first section of the paper, I will mention briefly six such definitions, all of which are still current in contemporary scholarship. In the second and third sections, I will suggest a possible theologically-grounded elaboration of one of Florensky’s ideas of what constitutes “reverse perspective”. According to the interpretation proposed here, “reverse perspective” becomes the visual analogue of two basic Christian dogmas – that of a timelessly eternal God and that of “theosis” or “deification”. In the last section, I will give a short background to the relationship between art history and theology, which lies at the heart of my approach.

In the last decades since the Willingen Conference of 1952, the concept of missio Dei has been extensively studied in the field of theology, especially by missiologists. Such commendably extensive scholarship, however, seems to have taken great pains not to unequivocally identify salvation (Σωτηρία) as signifying a transitional phase in attaining the Kingdom of God (βασιλεία) as the definitive objective of the missio Dei. This paper finds it somewhat concerning that literature on missio Dei seem uninterested in distinguishing salvation as a mechanism by which the definitive objective of missio Dei (the all-embracing kingdom of God) is to be attained. Consequently, based on a literature review, it is argued here that the history of salvation in its entirety is to be regarded as the decisive key to enable entry into the kingdom of God as the definitive objective of the missio Dei. In other words, it addresses what appears to be a lack of emphasis that underscores salvation as not an end in itself, but a means to an end. While the limited scope of this paper is to distinguish between salvation as a precursor and the kingdom of God as the ultimate goal of missio Dei, it warrants future research that will expand and test the novelty of their claims. Intradisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: The scope of this paper extends theological anthropology as it addresses human participation in the attainment of the primary ends of God’s mission, or missio Dei, as it were.

African spiritualities and leadership have shared a profound connection throughout history. With Africans predominantly embracing spirituality, their engagement with national political leadership takes on a spiritual dimension. However, spiritualising contests for secular power often lead to manipulation, deception and other various consequential issues. Thus, this paper investigates the impact of African spiritualities on political leadership and vice versa, shedding light on the prevalent use and abuse of African traditional and Christian religions by prominent African politicians. While much has been written about religion and politics, less attention has been given to transforming these dynamics. This paper seeks to bridge that gap by examining the inherently influential role of African spiritualities on political leadership, highlighting manipulative tendencies that serve selfish interests. Various factors, including knowledge gaps, economic vulnerabilities, susceptibility to corruption and the co-optation of spiritual leaders, contribute to these abuses. The paper concludes with recommendations for mentorship, education, discipleship, enlightenment and empowerment of both current and emerging spiritual leaders to counteract self-centred political manipulation and promote inclusive transformation. Interdisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: This paper interfaces African spiritualities and politics with leadership for inclusive transformation.

This paper aims to present, based on the Church’s current teaching on synodality, the attempt at synodality of the Catholic Church in Czechoslovakia, which was entitled The Decade of Moral and Spiritual Renewal of the Nation. The paper briefly analyses this little-known event based on contemporary testimonies and their expert processing. It begins by clarifying the concept of synodality to gain a deeper understanding of the theological significance of this task that God asks us to do. Then we present the main actors of the Decade of Moral and Spiritual Renewal of the Nation, its content, and a summary of its effects on walking together of the Church in Czechoslovakia in the still totalitarian atmosphere of the 1980s. At the same time, the paper attempts to compare this event with the current course of the Synod on synodality. The successes and failures of the Decade of the Spiritual Renewal of the Nation, as well as the catechetical work of the so-called underground Church in Slovakia, show that it is necessary to look at man and history not as the addressees of one’s agenda, but as those with whom one wishes to have a relationship characterised by mutuality and dialogue.

The paper is divided into two parts. The first part explains the concept of solidarity and fraternity on a theoretical level, especially in the light of Catholic social teaching. The second part analyzes the principles of solidarity and fraternity in Croatian society during the National Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. In addition to solving the national question under a specific aspect of brotherhood, this term was understood in the spirit of the communist ideology of brotherhood and unity of the Yugoslav peoples, and the ideology of solidarity was present predominantly in the form of self-governing socialism. The paper, therefore, shows how socialist Yugoslavia had many characteristics of a totalitarian system defined by communist ideology.

After the Second World War, Europe faced the question of what kind of political future to choose. Exactly five years after the end of the war, Robert Schuman proposed a declaration that opened the way for European integration: the European Community, later renamed the European Union, was created. This paper presents the circumstances of the creation of the Schuman Declaration and the vision that led him and other founding fathers to the realization of a completely new way of connecting European states. Three of the founding fathers of the European Community, Robert Schuman, Konrad Adenauer and Alcide de Gasperi, were devout Christians. In the paper, we show their understanding of the relationship between democracy, European integration and Christianity. According to Schuman, European institutions need a spirit, Europe needs a soul. What does this mean and how is it that only a few of the later European political leaders paid attention to this aspect? The last part of the article regards the efforts of Pope Francis to make Europe a place of peace and economic development, and furthermore, to strengthen the essence of its identity, encourage creativity and recognize its responsibility to its own nations and citizens, as well as responsibility to others in a globally connected world. The series of speeches by Pope Francis on Europe, including in the European Parliament, shows his closeness to the vision of Schuman and the founding fathers of the European Union on the one hand, and on the other hand, he directs attention to the present and the future.

The aim of this paper is to address the issues dealing with politics and religion in the Middle East, focusing on secularism vs. Islamism; the aftermath of the Arab Spring, and the Shia and Sunni split, as key themes for the purpose. Via analysis of the complexity of the Middle East, the Secular-Islamist Conflict, the Arab Spring and its outcomes, the article explains how the Arab Spring hardened the traditionally fluid relationship between the politics and Islam. It argues that Islam has never actually left the political realm, as there is still political contestation about the role of Islam in public life. The paper then deals with the complexity of the Shia and Sunni relationship and the split between the two, giving the explanation for such occurrences on the three levels – doctrine, legitimacy, and power.

The paper introduces the concept of Velayat-e faqih (Guardianship of the Jurist) as actual political system in Iran. The Farsi concept transfers the authority, political and religious, to the Shia clergy called ruling faqih (ruling jurist). It means that the religious leader (Vali-e faqih) is in fact the supreme leader in Iran. He gets his authority from God and he has already been appointed by the Hidden Imam and he would just be discovered by Maraj-e taghlid. Shia Islam knows a particular meaning of the concept Velayat-e faqih, started by Islamic Revolution in 1979. The paper presents the interpretation of the doctrine formulated by the dissident Iranian cleric Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. The presentation is based on his book Islamic Government: Governance of the Jurist. The paper compares different views of Velayat-e faqih and it describes the relation of the actual Iranian understanding of Velayat-e faqih with traditional Shia custom and practice. This paper is written in English but it is based on the Farsi bibliography and is supported by the life experience of the political system.

This paper articulates a way of the hearer's bodily experience of God in preaching by understanding it as a ritual knowledge that gained through the hearers' bodily practices in preaching and worship. In the application of ritual theory, embodied cognition theory, and social memory theory, this essay suggests ritual knowledge can be described as an embodied, imaginative, and social knowledge. On the basis of this concept of ritual knowledge, this paper will discuss how the hearer's experience in preaching can be understood in terms of ritual knowledge. As a result, it argues that the divine encounter in preaching is not merely a result of a cerebral intellectual understanding of the preaching contents but an event that may occur when the lived bodies of the hearers meet the Spirit in words and actions.

The Black Notebooks [Schwarze Hefte] are personal notebooks that Heidegger wrote from the beginning of the 1930s to the end of the war. The first notebook has been lost, but transcripts of the next fourteen, which originated in the decade 1931–1941, were published in 2014 in three consecutive volumes of the philosopher’s Gesamtausgabe (more recently, further notebooks up to 1970 have been published). Their publication triggered a new wave of public polemics about his Nazism and anti-Semitism. This paper evaluates Heidegger’s multistage and multilayered relationship to Judaism and National Socialism, and the most prominent modern interpretations of that relationship, especially in light of the Black Notebooks. Among such readings, some of the most profound and lucid are those of the editor of the German edition of the Notebooks, Peter Trawny, and the Spanish philosopher Jesus Adrian Escudero. Many early reactions to the first publication of the notebooks were characterized by a combative outrage that was not supported by serious study and understanding of the material in question. This paper studies the reasons why that initial, sensationalist reaction stimulated precisely the opposite effect from what might be expected: Instead of jeopardizing Heidegger’s well-established place in the Western philosophical canon, the controversies of 2014 triggered a kind of renaissance of interest in his life and work.

Roman gold-glass roundels were excised from the bottoms of functional glass vessels and inserted in the mortar, sealing funerary niches in the catacombs. Images were executed in gold leaf laminated between two layers of glass. It is still not clear whether the original vessels were meant just for funerary use, or whether they were given as valuable gifts on important occasions, such as baptisms. The paper begins with the discussion of these two possibilities; it concludes that the ‘gift theory’ better fits the known facts. The purpose and functions of the gold glass vessels are further explored in the paper within the framework of the hierotopic approach, thus shifting the focus of analysis from individual artefacts to sacred spaces in their entirety. The Christianization of the Roman household is thus viewed as the creation of a domestic sacred space, particularly through its saturation with Christian symbolism and proto-iconic imagery. These developments were tightly connected with the re-interpretation of the traditional Roman lifestyle in terms and categories of the new faith, and with the emergence of new Christian ideals of marriage and the family home. Portraits of married couples, well represented in gold glasses, asserted a new Christian understanding of marriage as an eternal union sealed by God in heaven. Another important kind of sacred space was that of the catacombs themselves where the Christian paradise shone through the eternal gloom of the underworld, with gold-glass proto-icons shimmering in the darkness to mark the points of connection between heaven and earth. The sacred space of the catacombs saw the transition from the cult of the dead to the veneration of saints. When a tomb was sealed with a gold-glass roundel with a saint’s sketchy likeness, their presence was thus evoked while the soul of the deceased was committed to their care. The increasing popularity of the proto-icons of martyrs in gold glasses alongside a phasing out of family portraits indicated the advent of the cult of saints, marking as well an important step in the evolution of portraits into icons. Статья посвящена известному, но всё ещё малоизученному жанру христианского изобразительного искусства, расцвет которого приходится на вторую половину IV века. Изображения выцарапывались на золотой фольге и вплавлялись в днище стеклянных сосудов. Большинство золотых стёкол найдено в римских катакомбах в виде выломанных из сосудов «донцев», так что судить о назначении и форме сосудов можно лишь гипотетически. Статья начинается с сопоставления двух представленных в литературе теорий по данному вопросу: погребальной и подарочной. Согласно погребальной теории, сами донца и были конечным продуктом, предназначенным для закрепления на могиле как своего рода визуальные эпитафии. Согласно подарочной теории, сосуды заказывались в качестве ценных подарков по случаю важных событий, например, крещения. По совокупности известных фактов подарочная теория представляется в целом более обоснованной. Вопрос о возможных функциях сосудов с золотыми донцами обсуждается далее в рамках иеротопического подхода, согласно которому процесс христианизации следует рассматривать как создание христианских сакральных пространств, в первую очередь семейного дома. Сакрализация дома путём его насыщения христианской символикой и протоиконическими изображениями находилась в тесной связи с переосмыслением традиционного семейного уклада в терминах новой веры и становлением христианского идеала семейной жизни. Семейные портреты, представленные на золотых стёклах, утверждают христианское понимание брака как нерасторжимого союза, заключённого на небесах. Другим важным сакральным пространством были сами катакомбы, в которых образ христианского рая «просвечивал» сквозь вечный мрак подземного царства мёртвых. В сакральном пространстве катакомб произошёл переход от культа мёртвых к культу святых. При запечатывании могилы золотым донцем с ликом мученика душа покойного поручалась заботам святого. Вытеснение семейных портретов в золотых стёклах ликами мучеников было не только этапом формирования культа святых, но и важным шагом на пути эволюции портретов в иконы.

Spirit Christology has resonated within Anglican, Protestant, and Catholic theology. This is due to several limits of the traditional approach based on the formula of Chalcedon which have been highlighted since the 18th century. Entangling Christology and Pneumatology is regarded a promising solution to the notorious problem of explaining the person of Jesus Christ. In this paper, both the intentions and the challenges of Spirit Christology are being displayed. An important aspect will be to differentiate between two types of Spirit Christology: first, attempts to deepen and enrich the understanding of the traditional approach, and second, attempts to replace it. In recent theological discourse, both views are being expressed.

The article aims at developing a theoretical framework for analysing the cultural significance of taste. Instead of reviewing the relevance of taste and of eating for culture – cooking, eating rituals – the paper focuses on the importance of taste as a cultural metaphor. The paper proposes a mediological approach to the domain of taste, and identifies three different dimensions: a physiology, an aesthetic and a symbology of taste. In this analysis, the paper argues that Christian culture is a very rich source of taste-based cultural metaphors, and that taste does play a major role in the way Christianity has developed its own understanding of knowledge, ethics and human life in general. Der Geschmack der Wahrheit. Eine mediologische Annäherung an das Essen In diesem Beitrag soll ein theoretischer Rahmen für die Analyse der kulturellen Bedeutung des Geschmacks entwickelt werden. Somit wird nicht die Relevanz des Geschmacks und des Essens für die Kultur – Kochen, Essensrituale – untersucht, sondern es wird auf die Bedeutung des Geschmacks als kulturelle Metapher fokussiert. Anhand eines mediologischen Ansatzes werden drei verschiedene Dimensionen des Geschmacks identifiziert: eine Physiologie, eine Ästhetik und eine Symbologie des Geschmacks. In dieser Analyse wird argumentiert, dass die christliche Kultur eine sehr reiche Quelle geschmacksbasierter kultureller Metaphern ist und dass der Geschmack eine wesentliche Rolle darin spielt, wie das Christentum ein eigenes Verständnis von Wissen, Ethik und menschlichem Leben im Allgemeinen entwickelt hat.

This paper examines the preaching at Washington National Cathedral as a response to the dual pandemic of COVID-19 and systemic racism in the United States. Drawing on research from over forty sermons from high church traditions and comparing it with analysis of sermons on Palm Sunday and Easter this paper will show how preachers in high church traditions, accustomed to preaching in the presence of eucharist, adapted their proclamation to respond to a virtual congregation and the absence of in-person communion. Then, the paper examines how Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde and Presiding Bishop Michael Curry further develop elements of eucharistic preaching in Pentecost and Trinity Sunday sermons to respond to the murder of George Floyd. Among other things, Budde and Curry’s sermons call for confession, evoke anamnesis, employ liturgical music, invite embodiment, and offer Christ as broken body and resurrected hope to target systemic racism. These sermonic examples show how the theology and rhetoric of the eucharistic liturgy can be a resource for preaching that more effectively confronts the challenges of a dual pandemic.

This study’s point of departure is a question: given that the Old Testament God so categorically prohibits all images, why is His Word, i.e., the Bible, so full of visions and visual imagery? In this paper, the issue is discussed in terms of a distinction between the visual, broadly understood, and the pictorial, relating in a narrow sense to graphic artefacts. I argue that mental images are distinct from and, in a sense, superior to pictures. The latter are contrasted with an ‘enhanced’ visual imagery that includes sensory and motor images as well. Holistic units of these ‘enhanced’ visual memories are termed as ‘image-experiences’. The first and most important quality of the ‘enhanced vision’ is its spatial character, which can even predetermine the emotional key of the response. This is particularly the case with ‘limitless’ natural spaces, such as the sea, the skies, or mountainous landscapes. The complex structure of the natural sublime and its affinity with divine imagery is discussed using the concrete example of the modern European aesthetics of mountains in its historical evolution. Then the paper turns to the hierotopic approach, according to which the spatial experience of religious imagery emerges from organized ensembles of sacred objects and symbolic pointers, conceptualised as spatial icons. Another important quality of the enhanced visual is in its organic link with movement and action. Image-experiences are lived through rather than passively watched. Calvinist visual theology provides a remarkable example of an iconoclast ideology, which explicitly supports the ‘enhanced visual’ and shows a way to develop it into a form of understanding and transforming the world. The motional/actional aspects of the ‘enhanced’ visual are further discussed in terms of a hierarchical model of motion control proposed by Nikolai Bernstein in which two kinds of spaces are defined: first, space as a geometric medium of locomotion defined by delimiting surfaces and dynamic constraints; secondly, spaces of purposeful tool-mediated activity as collections of meaningful objects. Our human talent for identifying things by unclear or incomplete features is instrumental to our ability to recognize objects in drawings and photographs. The Bernsteinian system helps to explain why the perception of 2D images is dominated by object-oriented parsing. Hence, there is a danger that the response to pictures be reduced to subject-object interaction in which many important holistic qualities of the enhanced visual would be lost. Hierotopic creativity – the construction of sacred spaces – can be seen as a strategy to mitigate these dangers by integrating image-pictures into higher-level spatial constructs of enhanced visuality.

The social value of this article is a demonstration of the impact of the Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative on Zambia and how, in response, faith-based organisations had attempted to influence public economic policy for the betterment of 80% of Zambians who lived under the ‘poverty datum line’ and spent one U.S. dollar a day per capita by 2002, when compared to almost a decade earlier, and who experienced a reduction in life expectancy from 54 years in the late 1980s to 37 years in 2002. The knowledge gap which this article sought to narrow is a lack of adequate reflections on the role of faith-based organisations in addressing economic instability and increasing poverty among majority citizens. The methods used were mainly qualitative in nature, which examined both primary and secondary sources of data. The findings were that the situation of adverse social dislocation of the majority was unlikely to be any better in and beyond 2002. Experience showed that in the year 2005, the socio-economic situation of the majority was still pathetic. Intradisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: This article sought to highlight the specific role which faith-based organisations played in the orientation of the state towards a ‘reconstructed society’ in Zambia. The paper challenged the view that socio-economic development matters are a preserve of development experts and politicians only. Instead, the paper argued that the path towards economic stability and prosperity called for the involvement of all stakeholders, including faith-based organisations.

This paper presents and critically evaluates dr. Jakob Aleksič’s view of dialogue, the unity of the Scripture, and Judaism, based on the discussions published by him in the journals Zbornik teološke fakultete and Bogoslovni vestnik after the Second World War. The paper is a continuation of the article Jakob Aleksič – The Messenger of the Biblical Science Spring published in the Unity and Dialogue 74 (2019‑1). In his discussions Aleksič »faithfully follows the teachings of the Church« (Stainer 1980, 497), i.e. the Council’s and other documents of the Church. As Aleksič (1955, 144) himself asserted, his discussions do not represent an original scientific contribution but a more professional presentation, »which has only a more general introductory character«. Aleksič understands the Bible as a written record of the dialogue between God and man or as a historical sediment of this dialogue woven into the history of the elected people. In harmony with the Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation (Dei Verbum), he emphasizes the unity of the two covenants, the Old and the New, for the history of salvation »did not begin with the wood of the cross on Golgotha, but with the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in Eden« (1967, 6). Thus, the message of Jesus of Nazareth cannot be properly understood without »observing it in the context of the living, millennial prophetic tradition and historical reality of the Jewish people« (1965, 236b). Similarly, the question of Jews and Judaism is placed within the framework of God’s universal plan of salvation. Due to the fact that Aleksič was the first in Slovenia to report very accurately and extensively on the so called Declaration on the Jews, which in its final (fourth) form became known as the Declaration on the Relation of the Church to Non-Christian Religions (Nostra aetate), he is valued as a national awakener who educated future generations of priests for dialogue. His work thus in a special way prelude the present (and previous) issue of Unity and Dialogue, which marks the 55th anniversary of the publication of the Nostra aetate.

After the emergence of Islam in the early seventh century, the Arabic language saw its rapid expansion and eventually become a theological language as well. Non-Muslim theologians living in the Islamic world began to express themselves in Arabic and wrote polemical literature against their adversaries from different religions and religious denominations. Of special importance were also Jewish theologians who wanted to demonstrate the correctness of their own religious beliefs and the ill-foundedness of Christian and Muslim doctrines. This paper is dedicated to the Arabic speaking Jewish theologian Dāwūd al-Muqammaṣ (the 9th century A.D.), whose work Twenty Chapters (ʿIšrūn maqāla) is the earliest extant summa theologiae in Arabic, i.e., a work which aims to address the totality of theological teachings of a certain religion. The eight chapter of this work contains a critique of the Christian doctrine that God is three, while the tenth chapter refutes the Christian teachings that the Son is from eternity begotten by the Father and that God was incarnated in reality. This paper places Dāwūd’s critique in the broader context of trans-confessional polemic in the medieval Islamic world with special attention to Judeo-Arabic tradition.

The Cathedral of the Nativity of the Virgin of the Ferapontov Monastery houses the life of St. Nicholas of Myra, consisting of 12 episodes, the earliest one among Russian murals. The cathedral was painted by the artel of the Muscovite painter Dionisy in 1502. The frescoes of St. Nicholas chapel (actually, a sacristy) with the central image of the Saint, located in the conch of the altar apse, have attracted much attention. Researchers did not fail to notice the expressiveness and psychological characterisation of the face of St. Nicholas in the central image. The combination of the themes of the Theotokos and St. Nicholas in the Ferapontov Cathedral was a manifestation not only of the Byzantine tradition but also of the idea of special closeness of St. Nicholas to the Mother of God characteristic for the Russian religiosity. The iconographic program of Cathedral’s sanctuary with the image of John the Baptist and the consecration of the sacristy to St. Nicholas, was unusual for the Russian tradition, but echoed mosaic decorations of side apses with a similar dedication in the Cathedral of the Assumption of the Virgin in Daphne (circa 1100). The custom of having a side church in the sacristy was widely spread in Byzantium and was also adopted in Medieval Russia. When examining the frescoes of St. Nicholas chapel, scientists did not pay sufficient attention to the principles of placement and order of scenes running in the space of the apse in two tiers, but not in a chronological order. In this regard, a hypothesis was formulated about the influence of the hagiographic icons of St. Nicholas on the spatial composition of the paintings in St. Nicholas chapel. This paper discusses both strong and weak sides of this hypothesis with a purpose to further the study of the problem. When studying the location of the episodes of the cycle, we found that a few scenes were placed relative to each other in a similar manner. In addition, it turned out that the main principle governing the placement of the episodes was the principle of pairing. Within the pair, scenes and images were selected in accordance with iconographic similarity or a thematic relation. The axis of symmetry of the apse was of crucial importance. The compositions were distributed in the space of the sacristy with visual and semantic balance relative to this axis. The very principle of the spatial design, where thematically related scenes were placed opposite to each other endowed the entire composition with completeness and integrity, being quite different from a linear historical narrative with a more primitive visual conception. В статье рассматривается самый ранний из сохранившихся в стенописях Руси цикл Жития святителя Николая Мирликийского, представленный в южной апсиде собора Рождества Богородицы Ферапонтова монастыря и состоящий из 12 композиций. Храм был расписан артелью московского иконописца Дионисия в 1502 году. Фрески Никольского придела (диаконника) и центральный образ святителя Николая, расположенный в конхе алтарной апсиды, неоднократно привлекали внимание исследователей. В меньшей степени внимание уделялось принципам размещения и последовательности сцен, идущих в пространстве апсиды двумя ярусами, но с нарушением хронологического порядка. В связи с этим высказывалась гипотеза о влиянии на пространственное решение росписи Никольского придела житийных икон святого. Автор статьи, выявив в гипотезе как сильные, так и слабые стороны, ставит своей целью продолжить исследование данной проблемы. При изучении местоположения сюжетов цикла обнаружилось, что ряд сцен оказались объединены друг с другом сходными композиционными решениями. Кроме того, выяснилось, что главным принципом, по которому размещались сюжеты житийного цикла святителя, оказался принцип парности. Внутри пары сцены и образы отбирались помимо иконографического подобия, по тематическому соответствию и ходу (направлению) календарной памяти. Решающее значение имела ось симметрии апсиды, относительно которой композиции располагались в пространстве диаконника, что обеспечивало живописной декорации визуальное и смысловое равновесие. Сам принцип оформления пространства, где пару составляли сцены, размещённые напротив друг друга и объединённые общей темой (либо её развивающие), обладал завершённостью и, своего рода, целостностью. Это существенно отличало его от линейного, исторического типа повествования, более простого для восприятия и изобразительной концепции.

This paper explores the life and art of Svyatoslav Voinov (1890–1920), a modernist painter and a drawing artist from St. Petersburg, barely remembered today but nevertheless a remarkable example of both art and spirituality of his time. Both paintings and drawings of Voinov lay bare a distinctive character of the period when symbolism and modernism crossed ways. His art offers a glimpse on a unique creative atmosphere of the period of the Russian Revolution and the Civil War (1917–1922), the time when his most significant work was done. Voinov’s art is typical for religious currents in the Russian art of early 20th century. It is closely linked to their preceding formative period but was also influenced by the modernist discovery of the aesthetic value of Russian icons. Voinov’s art is rooted in a complex synthesis of traditional icon-painting and symbolism grafted with newer expressionistic and futuristic trends, such a synthesis being typical for quite a few Russian artists of the period. What makes Voinov and his art unique is that he aspired to cross the boundaries of purely secular spirituality and offered an original and effective example of how modern visuality can work together with ancient tradition of icon painting. Voinov transcends the contours of narrative formulas of religious themes and boldly moves towards the theology in paint. The drawings and compositional sketches of Svyatoslav Voinov were examined by the author in the collections of the State Russian Museum (St. Petersburg, Russia). Some of the drawings are published here for the first time. Статья посвящена творчеству Святослава Владимировича Воинова (1890–1920), петербургского живописца и графика, малоизвестного сегодня, но яркого представителя искусства 1910‑х годов. Цель статьи – вернуть забытое имя оригинального религиозного художника эпохи модернизма, на основе архивных материалов реконструировать его художественное мировоззрение и рассмотреть ряд наиболее значительных произведений с помощью комплекса традиционных искусствоведческих методик в контексте религиозного направления конца XIX – первой трети XX веков. Задачи статьи – проанализировать живопись и графику Святослава Воинова, выявить специфику художественных процессов, которые на рубеже XIX–XX вв. шли в русском искусстве на пересечении символизма и модернизма, наметить специфическую ситуацию в искусстве эпохи Гражданской войны (1917–1922), в период которой были созданы наиболее значительные произведения художника. Святослав Воинов является представителем религиозного направления в отечественном искусстве начала ХХ века и продолжает традиции предшествующего периода его развития. Но он и прокладывает новые пути, связанные с модернизмом и произошедшим во второй половине XIX – начале XX веков открытием эстетической ценности древнерусской иконы. В статье рассматриваются факты биографии художника, культурный и общественный контекст его творчества, живописные и графические произведения, хранящиеся в Государственном Русском музее. Искусство Воинова основано на сложном синтезе искусства иконы, символизма и новейших направлений: футуризма, экспрессионизма, что в целом характерно для ряда отечественных мастеров рубежа XIX–XX вв. Уникальность творчества Святослава Воинова в том, что оно выходит за рамки сугубо светского религиозного искусства. Предлагая оригинальный и актуальный на тот момент пример синтеза древних церковных традиций и современной визуальности, выработанной к началу ХХ века, Воинов преодолевает границы сюжетного решения религиозной темы и устремлён к богословствованию в красках.

The focus of this paper is on the glorification of the Romanov house in early Modern times in the art of Yaroslavl. The city of Yaroslavl was closely involved in the chain of events leading to the enthronement of the reigning Romanov dynasty and that is why much attention was paid in the city to their glorification in church worship and ecclesiastical art. Images of holy princes on temple pillars and the consecration of cathedrae in honor of tsars and princes have become a tradition in Yaroslavl. Our study of the iconography of murals in Yaroslavl churches confirms that the lives and destinies of each Romanovs’ generation were reflected in Yaroslavl’s monumental painting, including images of princes who died in infancy. For contemporaries, a death of an heir to the throne was a great loss and an omen of coming tribulations. The long life of the tsar and his family was, conversely, seen as a promise of stability and abundance in the country. To ensure longevity and well-being of royal figures the intercession of patron saints of the royal family was evoked. Their images were widely disseminated both in icons and in wall painting. The highest point of their glorification was the unique fresco composition “May the Tsar and His family be blessed”, representing the genealogy of the Romanov dynasty, ascending from the holy princes and crowned by numerous tsareviches (tsar’s sons). Based on the analysis of this composition the interplay of reality and fiction in popular perception of the ruling house is discussed. Статья посвящена особенностям прославления представителей царского дома в эпоху позднего русского Средневековья и Нового времени в ярославском искусстве. Ярославль сыграл важную роль в возведении на престол царствующей династии и уделял большое внимание церковному прославлению дома Романовых. Изображения святых князей на храмовых столпах и освящение храмовых престолов в честь святых покровителей царей и царевичей стало устойчивой традицией в Ярославле. Изучение сюжетов и программ ярославских стенных росписей позволило утверждать, что в монументальной живописи Ярославля нашли отражение судьбы каждого поколения Романовых, включая образы царевичей, умерших в младенчестве. Для современников смерть престолонаследника была большой потерей, обещанием тяжёлых времен. Поэтому долгая жизнь царя и царевичей были гарантией стабильности и благополучия в государстве. Это достигалось молитвенным обращением к святым покровителям царской семьи и широким распространением их изображений в иконописи и монументальной живописи. Наивысшей точкой этого прославления стала уникальная фресковая композиция «Род царствия да благословится», представляющая генеалогию дома Романовых происходящей от святых князей и увенчанной многочисленными царевичами. Анализ этой композиции позволил говорить о воплощении в ней реальных и идеальных представлений о правящем доме.

Researchers cannot agree on the interpretation of the programme of the murals in the Borgia apartments executed by Pinturicchio in the 90s of the 15th century. Egyptian subjects, Turkish motifs, the theme of the salvific role of the Church, the Aragonese origin of the customer, etc., are on a display in the interior of the apartments in the Apostolic Palace. The frescoes were commissioned by Alexander VI (Rodrigo Borgia), one of the most odious Popes of the Renaissance. This paper focuses on the political aspect of the frescoes, particularly on the theme of the triumph of the Church as an institution. Pinturicchio’s painting was used to visualize the public image of Rodrigo Borgia with dominant motifs of Pope’s leadership in the Christian world. The pontificate of Alexander VI, the ‘warrior of Christ’, in whose hands both spiritual and secular powers were united, was glorified in the church history, and it is presented here as Borgia’s triumph. Such a public image was in line with other representations of Roman pontiffs and secular rulers of Western Europe. It was created in the context of political confrontation of the Holy See with powerful royal houses of Italy, French kings, etc. We can thus talk not only about the visual programme of the apartments per se, but also about its connection with other imagery presenting Popes as political figures and created for Alexander VI’s predecessors as well as for his successors. Относительно интерпретации программы росписей в апартаментах Борджиа, выполненных Пинтуриккьо в 90-х годах XV века, у исследователей нет единого мнения. Египетские сюжеты, турецкие мотивы, тема спасительной роли Церкви, арагонское происхождение заказчика и т. д. – всё это находит отражение в интерьерах апартаментов Апостольского дворца, расписанных по заказу одного из самых одиозных пап эпохи Ренессанса – Александра VI (Родриго Борджиа). В данной статье в основу интерпретации положена политическая составляющая визуального ряда апартаментов, в частности, триумфа Церкви как института. На примере росписи Пинтуриккьо рассматривается визуализация публичного образа Родриго Борджиа с доминирующим мотивом ведущей роли папы в христианском мире. При этом понтификат Александра VI, «воина Христа», в руках которого соединяются как духовная власть, так и светская, с одной стороны, подчёркнуто вписывается в общую церковную историю, а с другой, представляется пиком торжества Церкви, что ставится в заслугу Борджиа. Подобный публичный образ был близок к репрезентации как римских понтификов, так и светских правителей Западной Европы, и создавался, в том числе, в контексте политического противостояния не только самого Родриго Борджиа, но и Римского престола в целом с представителями правящих домов в Италии, французскими королями и т. д. Это позволяет говорить не только об общей программе апартаментов, но и о её связи с изображениями, созданными как при предшественниках Александра VI, так и при его преемниках, в контексте политической репрезентации римских пап.

This study examines theological aspects of a particular group of illuminated Renaissance manuscripts, known as “Chronicles in Pictures”. Miniatures in this codex group, stored in different museums, private collections and libraries date back to the lost “Uomini famosi” mural in Giordano Orsini’s palace in Rome (1432, attributed to Masolino da Panicale). Following the fresco cycle of Sala Theatri, the world history was represented through images of “famous people” from different times. This collection of figures formed a distinctive view of a “universal chronicle”. The article explores characteristic features of the Crespi Chronicle, the Cockerell Chronicle and their later copies, and focuses on the construction of the narratives and on the characterization of individual images. Particular attention is paid to textual sources of the tradition to present universal history as a realization of God’s plan of salvation. The visual narrative begins with a symbolic representation of the creation of the world through the symbols of four primary elements, then traces the periodization of history into Six Ages, widely used in the imagery of the manuscripts. The paper further discusses some peculiar interpretations of biblical imagery, including figures of saints and church fathers. A special place in the artistic language of “Chronicles in Pictures” was occupied by attributes and gestures, which helped viewers to appreciate main semantic lines and contexts of the narrative. Желание осмыслить историю как общий процесс, объединяющий судьбы различных народов, отражено во множестве различных по содержанию, способу повествования и объёму текстов от поздней Античности и раннего Средневековья до эпохи Возрождения. Общей для создания западноевропейских «универсальных хроник» стала провиденциальная концепция бытия человечества как истории его спасения Творцом. Своеобразным способом визуализации частной версии всемирной истории, показанной в образах, стали манускрипты «Хроник в картинах», история которых началась с копирования в миниатюрах изображений фрескового цикла, созданного ок. 1432 г. в римском дворце кардинала Джордано Орсини. Статья посвящена анализу теологической основы программы «истории в лицах», включавшей свыше 300 фигур. В тексте уделено внимание принятой в изображениях манускриптов концепции разделения истории на шесть эпох, особенностям выбора и трактовки ветхозаветных и евангельских образов, фигур святых и деятелей Церкви. Иконографические особенности изображения ключевых для христианской картины мира фигур рассматриваются на примерах рисунков «Хроники Креспи» и близких ей памятников.

The article describes the experience of compiling and classifying an extensive, but poorly unified terminological base used by researchers in the field of iconography. We are not talking about terms used to put the content of images into words, but about key theoretical terms, such as “sample”, “model”, “original”, “copy”, “quote” and other similar concepts employed in iconographic thought. The paper discusses the usage of these terms by both classical and modern authors, such as N. V. Pokrovsky, A. Grabar, F. Bruno, G. Svartsensky, J. Alexander, etc. Further, we propose to arrange the concepts into four classes: (1) definitions referring to an entire image and its components; (2) definitions relating to the content of a single work or a cycle in their entirety or divided into units of meaning; (3) terminology around a “sample – copy – quote” type of relationship between individual images and the copying process itself; (4) the terms describing the visual toolkit of a particular master or a group and ways of its transmission both within and outside his workshop, including guides, manuals and instructions for craftsmen. In each class, the terms are listed in the order from basic and elementary to more complex and sophisticated. The classification is not complete and requires further work. Статья посвящена опыту обобщения и систематизации обширной, но мало унифицированной терминологической базы, применяемой исследователями в сфере действия иконографического метода. Термины, предлагаемые в этой статье, раскрывают не способы изображения сюжетов христианской иконографии, а теорию использования самого метода. Авторы рассматривают такие ключевые понятия, как «образец», «модель», «оригинал», «копия», «цитата» и другие. Также в этой статье приведены примеры использования данных понятий в исследованиях различных авторов как классических, так и современных трудов (таких как Н. В. Покровский, А. Грабар, Ф. Брюно, Г. Сварценский, Дж. Александер и др.). Классификация, предлагаемая в этой статье, подразумевает объединение понятий в группы. Перечислим их кратко: во-первых, определение целостного варианта изображения и его отдельных частей разной степени изменяемости; во-вторых, определение содержательной программы произведения или цикла в целом и в отдельных единицах-носителях смысловой нагрузки; в-третьих, вопросы отношений типа «образец – копия – цитата» между отдельными изображениями и варианты самого процесса копирования; в-четвёртых, визуальный багаж конкретного мастера или группы мастеров и способы его передачи внутри мастерской и шире, в частности, варианты специальных руководств и инструкций для мастеров. В каждой группе термины перечислены в порядке “усложнения”: от более простых к комплексным. Данная классификация не является исчерпывающей и требует дальнейших уточнений.

Preaching is a daring undertaking. Whether through music, sermons, reading scripture, or personal conversation, speaking of God is an interpretive act. One never quite knows how what one plays, says, writes, or depicts is received. The distance between minds is vast. And given that every set of eyes may read the same words differently and each set of ears hear each interpretive utterance differently, hoping to communicate meaningfully with those watching and listening is nothing short of audacious. Among these challenges, one of the most delicate is preaching on Judaism and Jews. Yet Christians cannot avoid it. Judaism and Christianity are one another’s nemeses. Some biblical texts lend themselves to anti-Jewish attitudes and stereotypes that may be unrecognized so deep is Christian contempt for Jews and Judaism. This paper offers suggestions for avoiding anti-Jewish preaching. To do that effectively it will be necessary to awaken a sensibility to the concern that pervades and penetrates Christian thought. That requires slogging through some “unprettiness.” The paper first illustrates anti-Jewish preaching by interrogating a popular text, Luke’s story of the Pharisee and the tax collector. It then briefly considers Christian hymns and sacred choral music and then focuses on four sermons: The Letter to the Hebrews, Melito of Sardis’s On Passover, Augustine’s sermon 122 on John 1:48-51, and a recent sermon on Galatians 3:23-29. It concludes with suggestions for preachers, musicians and congregations and includes guidelines for preaching on Jews and Judaism and a bibliography for further study.

In this paper, the question of whether Christian preaching is implicated in the growing movement of populism is posed. The paper has identified three critical issues that call for investigation in homiletical hermeneutics. The first issue addresses the problem of biblical interpretation for homiletic practice. The second issue has to do with the impact of social media that often distorts the truth. Alarming dependence on the smart phone suggests that the task of the preacher in this rapidly changing visual and high tech culture is to deliver sermons that are critically aware of visual culture rather than literary culture. Finally, the paper calls for an approach to preaching that seeks to reveal missing, hidden and distorted truth as a way to speak against the demonic power of the profit-driven capitalism and the epidemic of gender-based violence against women and sexual minorities.

The paper discusses and systematically analyses the term μετάνοια (most commonly translated with the word repentance), and the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament. The general introductory part of the article explores the etymological and semantic meaning of the term μετάνοια in the original Greek language and classical Greek literature, as well as a brief history of the translation of this term into modern languages. The second part of the paper deals with the Hebrew biblical concepts ≫naham≪ ( נחם ) and ≫šub≪ ( שׁוּב ), which are related to the term metanoia, with an overview of their translation into Greek (LXX) and other modern languages, while the third, last part analyses the use of the term μετάνοια/μετανοεῖν in the New Testament, with particular emphasis on Luke's two-volume work (Gospels and Acts), which mostly uses these terms.

This paper outlines the genesis of hierotopy, a notion serving to conceptualize the creation of sacred spaces as a particular form of human art. The concept encompasses the entirety of the multifarious components employed in Byzantine sacred spaces and analyzes the ways in which their cooperative interaction results in the formation of a 'spa-tial icon', or a kind of sacred ambiance. The very notion of a 'spatial icon' draws upon the central place of icons and iconicity in the Eastern Christian worldview. In Byzantium, icons were seen as windows opening out onto an otherworldly reality, or, rather, as doors opening up a two-way communication; in this way, the icon was understood as a means or a place, of immediate contact with the divine, or a sort of platonic chora, in which ideal divine forms assimilated material contours. Within the context of a sacred space, the icon appeared not only as a principal meaning-making agent, but also as a conceptual key for understanding the way in which other components, as well as the sacred space as a whole, effectively worked; each component was thus understood and experienced as being 'iconic', or icon-like, in the sense of providing other points (or, rather, spaces) of contact between the earthly and the divine. As this paper recounts, Alexei Lidov made his first steps towards forging the concept of hierotopy while studying the design, as well as the perception, of Byzantine iconographic programs; as his studies revealed, icons acted not simply as images, but also with the full deployment of their wonder-working potential evincing a powerful expression of religious meaning, particularly when purposefully employed together with wonder-working relics. Lidov's next step was to realize the fully performative nature of spatial icons by taking into account the crucial role played by the surrounding liturgical context, in which each beholder, or liturgical participant, played an active role in giving life to the spatial icon. Hierotopy was thus discovered (and formally defined) as a special form of art involving the performative creation of spatial icons. The paper also discusses the concept of 'image-paradigms' as multimodal units of meaning within sacred spaces, or as compound mental constructs combining together dogmatic ideas, imagery and holistic emotive components (so-called atmospheres).

Chiara ZuanniThis paper aims to examine the values of born-digital heritage. It focuses on the impact on museum and heritage practices of digital data as consti-tuting heritage objects. Digital technologies are now deeply entangled with human communication and social relations. If heritage is socially con-structed in the interactions between humans and objects and places, how do the algorithms that shape human experiences of it affect the production of heritage values? The characteristics of each online platform, from web-sites to social networking sites, influence the way heritage is construct-ed, discussed, and valued in online interactions. This paper will therefore first unpack the construction of heritage knowledge in the digital sphere, by analysing – with the support of posthumanist approaches – the entan-glement of human and technological processes that shape the production of contemporary heritage. Secondly, the paper will explore how big data and algorithms challenge boundaries in the heritage field, such as those between representation and simulation. The paper will question the role of these non-human actors in shaping contemporary heritage production and values. Finally, the paper will discuss how born-digital heritage is ar-chived, analysed, preserved, retrieved and represented in digital collecting projects. The paper will argue that these interactions have consequences both on the production of new social values in relation to heritage arte-facts and on the construction of new 21st century heritage. By exploring the application of posthumanism to digital heritage, this paper will consider emerging borders within cultural and digital heritage, and how heritage values and practices are affected by these developments.

The paper starts with general considerations concerning the relevance of space for the constitution of social events. In doing so, we refer to theoretical concepts developed within the field of multimodal interaction analysis in the past few years. For multimodal interaction analysis, two concepts are of central relevance: “architecture-for-interaction“, and “social topography“. The starting point of the notion of “architecture-for-interaction” is the motivated relationship between the architecture of a given space und possible forms of interactions taking place in this space. We interpret the architecture of a given space as ‘built answers’ to recurrent problems of social interaction, aiming to support the interaction. The concept focusses on possibilities of spatial use prior to interaction, offered by the architecture only (such as walk-ability, observe-ability, hear-ability, linger-ability, touch-ability). Social topography in contrast points to the social knowledge of the users of space. Here the focus does not lie on the potential of spatial use prior to interaction. What is relevant for the notion instead is the precise and situated use of space. This use of space is analysed in relation to socially based normative expectations. Both participants and analysts interpret uses of space that obviously ignores or varies these normative expectations as a case of a motivated choice or a wilful alternation. While – for example – architecture-for-interaction ‘offers’ the sanctuary as a possible walk-able territory, it is the social topography that triggers the choice of church attendants not to walk there during church service. After a short remark on functional spaces developed in a given society, we present the history of the so-called Alpha church service, celebrated in Rimbach/South Hesse since 2001. The church interior, specifically arranged for Alpha church services, functions as a visually perceivable expression of this modern church service format. The architectural arrangement of the church interior will be the subject of our further considerations. We start by comparing the traditional church interior with the Alpha interior in Rimbach. We then reconstruct in detail the specific structure of the Alpha interior, focussing primarily on the sanctuary. In doing so, we also pay attention to the modifications which are carried out in reaction to certain situational requests. These requests lead to a modification of the key concepts of the Alpha-specific architecture-for-interaction. We finish our paper by reflecting on the arrangement of the church interior in the Alpha service as a visible expression of key aspects of this modern church service. We point out the following aspects as crucial: the “horizontalisation“ of the architecture-for-interaction, the democratisation of the church interior, the visibility of the ones who perform the church service, the transparency of the format’s enforcement, and the interactivity of the church service. Der Beitrag beginnt mit generellen Überlegungen zur Bedeutung des Raums für die Konstitution sozialer Ereignisse. Wir referieren hier theoretisch-konzeptionelle Entwürfe und empirische Ausarbeitungen, wie sie in den letzten Jahren in der multimodalen Interaktionsanalyse entstanden sind. Als konzeptionelle Grundlagen der multimodal-interaktionistischen Raumanalyse spielen vor allem die Vorstellungen zu „Interaktionsarchitektur“ und „Sozialtopografie“ eine zentrale Rolle. Ausgangspunkt der Überlegungen zur Interaktionsarchitektur ist der motivierte Zusammenhang zwischen der Architektur eines Raumes und möglichen Formen von Interaktion, die in diesen Räumen stattfinden sollen. Die Architektur eines Raumes wird verstanden als gebaute Antwort auf wiederkehrende Probleme sozialer Interaktion. Das Konzept fokussiert Möglichkeiten der Raumnutzung, die interaktionsvorgängig alleine durch die Architektur ermöglicht bzw. im Sinne von „Benutzbarkeitshinweisen“ angeboten werden (beispielsweise: Begehbarkeit, Sichtbarkeit Hörbarkeit, Verweilbarkeit, Berührbarkeit). Mit Sozialtopografie zielen wir hingegen auf das sozial fundierte Wissen von Raumbenutzern ab. Hier geht es nicht um interaktionsvorgängige Benutzungspotenziale, sondern um die konkrete, situative Nutzung des Raumes. Diese Raumnutzung wird von uns im Sinne sozial erwartbarer und sozial verträglicher Normalformerwartungen interpretiert und verstanden. Wird bei der Raumnutzung von solchen Normalformerwartungen erkennbar abgewichen, wird dies in Kategorien gewollter Markiertheit oder bewusster Abweichung verstanden. Während die Interaktionsarchitektur beispielsweise den Altarraum als grundsätzlich begehbaren Bereich ausweist, ist die Sozialtopografie des Kirchenraumes dafür verantwortlich, dass Gläubige den Altarraum während des Gottesdienstes in der Regel nicht begehen. Nach einer kurzen Ausführung zu gesellschaftlichen Funktionsräumen stellen wir die historische Entwicklung des Alpha-Gottesdienstes dar, wie er seit 2001 in Rimbach/Südhessen gefeiert wird. Visuell wahrnehmbarer Ausdruck dieses modernen Gottesdienstes ist ein besonders hergerichteter Kirchenraum, der im weiteren Verlauf unsere Ausführungen im Mittelpunkt steht. Nach einem Vergleich des traditionellen Kirchenraums und dem Alpha-Kirchenraum in Rimbach, geht es um die detaillierte Rekonstruktion der interaktionsarchitektonischen Spezifik des Kirchenraums im Alpha-Gottesdienst. Dabei werden auch die Modifikationen des Alpha-Raumarrangements erfasst, die in Reaktion auf besondere situative Anforderungen entstehen. Diese Anforderungen führen dazu, dass das interaktionsarchitektonische Kernkonzept in jeweils spezifischer Weise modifiziert wird. Zum Abschluss des Beitrags reflektieren wir die Gestaltung des Raums im Alpha-Gottesdienst als sichtbaren Ausdruck zentraler Aspekte dieses modernen Gottesdienstformats. Dabei werden vor allem die „Horizontalisierung“ der Interaktionsarchitektur, die damit einhergehende Demokratisierung des Kirchenraums, die Sichtbarkeit der Macher des Gottesdienstes und die Transparenz der Vollzugsgrundlagen des Formats sowie die Interaktivität des Gottesdienstes als zentrale Aspekte deutlich.

The paper engages Wentzel van Huyssteen’s lifelong fascination and occupation with thinking, for him particularly thinking as problem-solving. Responding to Van Huyssteen’s own invitation, it brings Hannah Arendt’s thinking on thinking in conversation with his own thinking by considering five crucial characteristics of the ways in which she both described and practised thinking over decades. These characteristics include: her thinking as responsibility, thinking in dark times, thinking without banister, thinking in public and thinking as thanksgiving. In the process the paper revisits all her well-known books and essays on these themes, whilst also pointing to some of the roots of her thinking in the similarly classic thinking on thinking of her mentor Martin Heidegger. It concludes by pointing to the major conflict between philosophical traditions concerned with rational problem-solving and unravelling puzzles, respectively, exemplified by the reputedly shocking ‘poker’ encounter between Karl Popper and Ludwig Wittgenstein, and expresses hope for ongoing conversation about this seeming conflict over thinking with Van Huyssteen and his work. Intradisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: Thinking about thinking, the essay addresses methodological questions in public theology, in interdisciplinary conversation with philosophy and political theory. Distinguishing faculties of the mind – thinking, willing, judging – it challenges which kinds of questions belong to public theology, with particular implications for doctrinal theology, theological ethics and political theology.

The practice of Military Chaplains has been studied from various angles (sociological, historical, ethical) except from an empirical homiletical perspective. What do military chaplains do when they preach, if ‘preaching’ is the correct label for their (religious) speeches. This paper provides a first introduction to study the actual sermons of military chaplains in order to contribute to homiletical theory. It presents the outline of a research design and presents some of its initial results. The paper is based upon 10 sermons by army and naval chaplains within the context of peacekeeping missions. Three concepts emerge from these data, focussing upon the homiletical activity of military chaplains. They redefine the liturgical conditions for preaching, they witness to sources of wisdom, and they dignify the individual soldier in the presence of Christ. The paper closes with a proposal to understand religious discourse in the military context by presenting a tentative typology that is based upon the ceremonial setting of discourse and its religious referentiality.

The search for truth becomes a challenging theological task in a world of lies and propaganda, being exhibited more and more openly. Inspired by two “Museums of Lies,” this paper aims to show how lies can be used to uncover a more profound truth by exposing them through a truth-seeking lens. While the homiletical task of “preaching the truth” is more complicated than it would seem at first glance, it is accompanied by the anthropological question, ‘Whether it is true’ (Karl Barth), and the theological question: ‘What is truth?’. The argument is that by observing what Martin Luther called “theologia crucis,” the task of preaching truth becomes dependent on the means and ways in which the Bible itself uncovers truth within our world of lies and by acknowledging that the discovery of truth can only be described as a process, at the beginning and end of which Jesus’ answer to Pilate may provide reassurance.

Karl Barth’s doctrine on “Jesus Christ, the True Witness,” in Church Dogmatics IV/3, is an extremely rich and complex text which – strangely enough – still awaits proper reception within both systematic theology and homiletics. Therefore, this paper introduces Barth anew to us, and then in essence explores this well-kept secret in Barth’s oeuvre. In doing so, it provides a few important keywords which may reveal some deeper truth(s) in Barth’s doctrine of reconciliation and the question of preaching toward truth.

In this paper, the author examines the earliest Christian treatise, Athanasius’ De incarnatione, in the light of the subsequent development of theological thought on the incarnation, and more specifically on the causes of the incarnation. The medieval scholastic reflections on the Logos’ incarnation as a good in itself, or as the means of the consummation of our salvation, applied to Athanasius’ work, do not represent a methodological shortcoming of anachronism, but rather help better understand the text itself. Indeed, a close analysis of the text shows that through two key passages in Athanasius’ work (On the Incarnation 1.3; 4.2-3) we can trace the two schematic aspects that would later be highlighted and developed by scholastic theology.