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Modern analogies to healing claims within the Gospels render them plausible as historical experiences. Such experiences are widespread today. Philosophic and theological explanations of such experiences vary, but the emergence of patterns of such experiences in theistic contexts helps support the case for a theistic explanation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study considers how Joseph Ratzinger focusses the whole of theology in a Christocentric way. His Christocentrism is not opposed to its being theocentric, because when the believer contemplates Jesus Christ in his works and actions and attitudes, he finds, indeed he sees, not only the concrete, material, historical humanity of Jesus, but his true identity as the Son of God in the Spirit. One learns to read the mystery of God in the very history of Jesus. The study presents a series of moments in the life of Jesus in Ratzinger's work Jesus of Nazareth (2007-2013): the miracles, the kingdom of God, the prayer of Jesus, the Sermon on the Mount and conversion, the Baptism of Jesus and his temptations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This is a study of the Qurʾanic revelation theology of al-Muʾayyad fī l-Dīn al-Shīrāzī (d. 470/1078), the highest-ranking Fatimid dāʿī and Ismaili philosophical theologian of his era. Al-Muʾayyad's theory of Qurʾanic revelation features the following distinctive elements: (1) he distinguishes three levels of God's speech to challenge the views of Sunnī kalām; (2) he reinterprets the popular belief of the Qurʾān's pre-existence in the Guarded Tablet through Ismaili Neoplatonic thought to posit the Universal Intellect and Universal Soul as Revelatory Principles; (3) he argues for the nonverbal and spiritual nature of divine inspiration (waḥy) granted to the Prophets and situates the Prophet Muhammad as the actual composer of the words of the Qurʾān; (4) he defends the literary inimitability of the Arabic Qurʾān while denying the existence of miracles in the physical world; (5) he posits two earthly manifestations of Qurʾanic revelation – the Silent Scripture (the Qurʾān as a recited text) and the Speaking Scripture (the Imam of the time); (6) he situates Ismaili Qurʾanic hermeneutics known as taʾwīl as a revelatory exegesis that decodes the symbolic meaning behind the Qurʾān and facilitates the spiritual reintegration of the believer's soul to the celestial words of God in the spiritual world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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This document provides an overview of the work of Ḥasdai Crescas, a medieval Jewish philosopher and religious polemicist. It focuses on his most significant contribution, the book "Or Hashem," which critiques Maimonides' hermeneutics and presents an alternative cosmology to Aristotelian physics. The document also explores Crescas' critique of Christian doctrine, particularly the concept of original sin, and its influence on later Jewish thinkers. It discusses the connections between Crescas' work and the exiled Sephardic Jewish community and concludes with an analysis of his treatment of certainty in his writings. [Extracted from the article]

Al-Khaṭīb al-Baghdādī (d. Baghdad, 463/1071) adhered to the Shāfiʿi school of law and suffered for his adherence to the Ashʿari school of theology. As a littérateur, he collected amusing stories of misers and spongers. However, his principal importance lies in the fields of hadith and biography. As for hadith, he was a major systematizer; in biography, he left what is usually referred to as Tārīkh Baghdād , a hugely useful dictionary of over 7,000 persons who lived or at least passed through Baghdad. I propose to review those identified as renunciants (zuhhād, nussāk), worshippers (ʿubbād), and Sufis, or at least are associated with famous renunciants, worshippers, and Sufis. A useful list of them was abstracted by Balsam Baṣrī ʿIzzat (2004) from the new edition of Bashshār ʿAwwād Maʿrūf (also 2004), his supervisor, although I would add or subtract some names. It is useful to have them profiled by someone outside the Sufi tradition himself; e.g., so that we read of al-Qushayrī as an Ashʿarī, not a Sufi. Al-Khaṭīb also to some extent documents the continuation of the old renunciant tradition into the Sufi period. However, classical Sufism originated in and spread from Baghdad, and al-Khaṭīb's heavy dependence on earlier biographers testifies partly to how thoroughly that tradition took over the literature of otherworldly piety. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper maintains that at the heart of the post-Reformation debates over the extra Calvinisticum lies the question of what it means to name God's presence in the world – that is, to say where God is. Because the Lutheran position insists that there can be no proper identification of God's presence in the world that does not take its bearings from talk about Jesus' presence, it serves as a means of preventing Christian God-talk from becoming detached from the flesh-and-blood realities of human existence. In this way, the denial of the extra Calvinisticum is a corollary of a theology of the cross – that is, the principle that talk about God is normed by the concrete reality of Jesus. At the same time, the Lutheran genus maiestaticum is rejected as making just the sort of move to which Luther himself objected in the doctrine of transubstantiation: a metaphysical explanation of Jesus' presence in the world rather than a simple appeal to miracle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article introduces Frank D. Macchia's book, "Introduction to Theology: Declaring the Wonders of God," and highlights its significance as a defining benchmark for a college-level or seminary introductory textbook in systematic theology from Pentecostal perspectives.Topic include The book covers various theological topics through the lens of a trinitarian narrative, emphasizing the relevance of patristic sources and their connection to contemporary Pentecostal challenges.

People of the Pentecostal faith are a grouping of Protestant Christians. Pentecostals are a growing group not only in the United States, but also worldwide. This article focuses on the Pentecostal beliefs and spiritual practices in North America and their implications in the clinical environment. As the population of this faith group continues to grow, palliative care clinicians will need a basic understanding of the values and practices of Pentecostal spirituality and its potential impact on goals-of-care discussions. This article offers 10 recommendations for clinicians to better understand and support Pentecostal patients and families. These overarching concepts of Pentecostal faith and practices are presented as a point of initiation for further exploration of the support that may be needed, and not as a comprehensive guide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

I report and analyze the administration of a survey investigating students' beliefs about the relationship between science and theology at a college in the young-earth or old-earth creationist tradition. Using a previously established survey, science-theology paradigms were identified. With 221 responses, there was enough statistical power to identify some links between the science-theology paradigms and other beliefs in areas of epistemology of science, theology, and preferred model of creation or evolution. Results showed that these paradigms are often interconnected, not allowing for tidy classifications of students' beliefs about faith and science. Results suggest that students who are more religious and know more science are more likely to match with at least one science-theology paradigm. And, those with more constructivist epistemological views on the nature of science are more likely to view science and Christian faith in harmony. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores three understudied Middle English versions of the popular anti-Judaic Marian miracle tale of Theophilus. I demonstrate how these versions of Theophilus draw upon widely known medieval imagery of Ecclesia and Synagoga to depict Theophilus's journey as one of soteriological regression. A comparative analysis of the two related Northern Homily Cycle versions of Theophilus demonstrates how Synagoga is evoked in the portrayal of Theophilus's despair, which is shown to be a supersessionist issue in his misunderstanding of the Holy Spirit and Trinitarian theology. These two versions then depict Theophilus engaging with Davidic lineage in relation to Marian power, the manner of which unsettles the Christian supersessionist project of the texts and, I argue, earns him physical retribution. I show how these insecurities are resolved in the later Rawlinson version of Theophilus with an invocation of Synagoga in her "return" to Christianity, taken from eschatological readings of Song of Songs 6:13. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Anales del Seminario de Historia de la Filosofía is the property of Universidad Complutense de Madrid and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Ingenium: Revista Electrónica de Pensamiento Moderno y Metodología en Historia de las Ideas is the property of Universidad Complutense de Madrid 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.)

Purpose of this article is to investigate the role that the "miraculous" – that is, everything that goes beyond “natural” – plays in the worldview of Western man. Methodology. I do not consider “miracles” as the facts of nature, but as the facts of culture, so in this article I am not talking about specific cases of violation of “laws of nature”, but about the place of “miraculous” in the view of the world of Western man and those transformations, that occur with this element outlook influenced the development of information technologies. Novelty. It has been proved that miracles should be sought in mind, because the “miraculous” event does our attitude towards it. Moreover, it is impossible to determine the “true miracle”, while we are “inside” the reality. It has been demonstrated that influenced the development of society is transformed representations of gods and miracles. It has been discovered fundamental shift associated with the transition from mythology-as-faith to mythology-as-show. However, even within the latter remains a need for miracles, though, and goes to a completely different level. Conclusions. The term "miracle" has no meaning outside of accepted socio-cultural settings. The last set as the “natural” conditions and admissibility (inadmissibility) of its violation. And these installations are formed by social institutions, which in this age and at this time have a weight sufficient to impose their views to all the congregation or the greater part. Any extraordinary event can be explained by the action of internal agents unknown to us, and their ability to alter the reality is not necessarily superior to even our own capabilities. The only thing we can not do – is to change the source code of being (e.g., fundamental physical constants). This could make only creatures that are not spelled out in these source codes. However, people have not seen anything like it, and scarcely become witnesses of such events.

Purpose of the article is to study the Western worldview as a framework of beliefs in probable supernatural encroachment into the objective reality. Methodology is underpinned with the idea that every cultural-historical community envisions the reality principles according to the beliefs inherent to it which accounts for the formation of the unique “universes of meanings”. The space of history acquires the Non-Euclidean properties that determine the specific cultural attitudes as well as part and parcel mythology of the corresponding communities. Originality consists in the approach to the miracle as a psychological need in a religious authority, expressed through the religious and non-religious (scientific) worldviews, which are interconnected by invariant thinking patterns deeply inside. It has been proven that the full-fledged existence of the religion is impossible without a miraculous constituent. It has been illustrated that the development of society causes a transformation of beliefs in gods and in miracles they do. The theological origins of the scientific beliefs stating the importance and regularity of the natural processes have been outlined. Conclusions. Religion suggests emotional involvement and reasoning which is realized by means of a miracle. The modern science reproduces the theological concept of the permanence of God and His will at own level. Through the history of humankind not only the nature of miracle (whereof the common tendency belongs to the daily reality expansion) underwent changes but also its suggested subject (wherein abstraction is in trend).

This paper considers the conceptual background of an anonymous curialist document discussing Thomas of Hereford’s miracles. The document offers a unique insight into the internal deliberations of the Holy See that preceded canonisation. Intriguingly though, the document displays a conceptual tension and even inconsistency. Passages adopting a stern, critical, empirically-minded evaluation of miracles alternate with passages in which miracles are almost accepted uncritically. Explanations for this inconsistency have appealed to historical contingencies and more generally to credulity and scepticism attributed to the higher clergy vis-à-vis the wonders produced by prospective saints. This paper suggests another explanation, which looks at the level of the models of authority at work in the document. The tension in the manuscript reflects a corresponding conceptual tension between the traditional account of miracles - influenced by Augustine and having the wondrous dimension of miracles at its core - and the emerging Scholastic account, influenced by Aristotle, and propounding criteria to differentiate the supernatural dimension of wonders from natural phenomena. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article provides a response to John Perry and Sarah Lane Ritchie's article, "Magnets Magic, and Other Anomalies: In Defense of Methodological Naturalism." In so doing, it provides a defense of some of the arguments I made in my article, "Should a Christian Adopt Methodological Naturalism?" I begin by addressing some of the confusion about my position. However, it is not simply my intention to address confusions. There remain some fundamental differences between my position and Perry and Ritchie's. It is on these differences that I wish to focus––differences that enable me to maintain my critique of methodological naturalism without falling prey to the problems they raise. Constructively, I advance the argument that the Christian scientist should be open to the possibility of theology‐engaged science, as well as the science‐engaged theology that Perry and Ritchie advocate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent critiques of methodological naturalism (MN) claim that it fails by conflicting with Christian belief and being insufficiently humble. We defend MN by tracing the real history of the debate, contending that the story as it is usually told is mythic. We show how MN works in practice, including among real scientists. The debate is a red herring. It only appears problematic because of confusion among its opponents about how scientists respond to experimental anomalies. We conclude by introducing our preferred approach, Science‐Engaged Theology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Responding to Mark Harris, I reflect on his tantalizing question whether the provision of naturalistic explanations for biblical miracles renders the narratives more, or less, credible. I address his "reversal," in which professional scientists now feature among defenders of a literalistic reading, while professional biblical scholars are often skeptical. I suggest this underlines the ambivalence of scientific naturalism from the standpoint of Christian theology. Historical examples are adduced to show that, until the mid‐nineteenth century, naturalistic and theistic explanations were commonly regarded as complementary. Accordingly, the primacy often accorded to scientific progress in accounts of secularization is questionable. Two concluding questions are raised. If a methodological naturalism inheres in biblical scholarship, as in the sciences, how do biblical scholars decide whether the historical trajectories they construct for the composition of biblical texts are destructive or affirmative of faith? Second, when the miracle is the Resurrection of the dead Christ, does not the scientific impossibility of this foundational event remain sacrosanct? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Observations such as the importance of the miraculous for Jews among Paul's peers, Paul considering the eschaton had come at least in part, that he saw himself in the tradition of the scriptural prophets, that the miraculous was important in the Christianity Paul initially encountered, and that his own experience included the miraculous, lead to a predisposition to finding the miraculous important in Paul's ministry. In turn, passages that have been at the centre of discussions about Paul's ministry and the miraculous show that his gospel was a combination of his speaking and the miraculous. However, instead of claiming to perform miracles, Paul most often described himself as 'gospelling' rather than preaching, assigning God the credit for the miraculous. The miraculous was, then, part of Paul's ministry not because he was a person of spiritual power, but because the power of God worked through his weakness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Miracles are not only not denied by the rabbis, but are taken and understood by them as divinely intended and significant. They are interpreted literally as heavenly signs and messages exceedingly louder, clearer, and simpler than God's spoken or written word. Divine miracles are by nature neither subtle nor understated. Their sheer unpredictability and jolting abruptness command the attention of those who witness them to the intervening immediacy of their message. And yet, while fully aware and cognizant of their significance and divine import, the rabbis are known to flatly reject miracles in ways they would never reject a verse. The classical example, to which this article is devoted is the widely cited rabbinic legend of the "oven of Akhnai"--a story that, I argue, holds a key to the Talmud's unique theological and religious enterprise. However, to understand it as such requires attending first to another widely cited Talmudic legend, on which, the article argues, the story of the oven builds, and with which it boldly contends--to the equally well-known account of the foundational dispute between the Houses of Hillel and Shammai, and their infamous heavenly resolution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

On the basis of both philosophical arguments and the theological perspectives of Eastern Orthodox Christianity, a critique of two beliefs that are common within the mainstream science-theology dialogue is outlined. These relate to critical realism in understanding language usage and to naturalistic perspectives in relation to divine action. While the naturalistic perspectives on the history of the cosmos that are predominant within the dialogue are seen as generally acceptable from an Orthodox perspective, it is argued that they require theological expansion. This expansion suggests an understanding other than the 'causal joint' model commonly adopted in relation to 'special' divine action. This alternative model renders the distinction between 'special' and 'general' divine action redundant, and is based on what has been called a 'teleological-Christological' understanding of the cosmos, rooted in the fourth gospel's notion of the divine Logos. The relevance of this critique to scholars outside of the Orthodox community is urged. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the 1990s William Stoeger, S.J., contributed major essays on the laws of nature to the series of conferences on divine action that were cosponsored by the Vatican Observatory and the Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences at the Graduate Theological Union Berkeley, CA. He argued that the laws of nature are to be seen as approximate models rather than as complete descriptions of nature, and that they are descriptive rather than prescriptive. These essays, Denis Edwards proposes, are an important legacy for 21st-century theology and offer creative possibilities for a renewed theology of divine action that builds on the Thomist tradition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The task given to us for this article was to offer theological responses to, "Can modern biology interpret the mystery of the birth of Christ?" by Giuseppe Benagiano and Bruno Dallapiccola. We are female Protestant theologians and respond to the issues from this perspective. The Christian confession of the virgin birth of Jesus (stated within the Apostles and Nicene creeds) is a statement of faith that God became incarnate through the power of the Holy Spirit in the flesh of the human Jesus and, likewise, that God continues to become incarnate in our flesh and in the messy details of our lives. The mystery and miracle of the birth of Jesus has much more to do with the incarnation of God in human flesh and in God's spirit at work in and with Mary, than to do with Mary's gynecological or parthenogenical mechanisms. The language of mechanism and miracle, in the ways used by the authors, can reduce the mystery and power of the incarnation. Consequently, we would like to offer a theological interpretation of the birth of Jesus and the role of Mary that expresses the mystery and grace of God's incarnation not only in human nature, but also in all of nature. Our world is God's home. We cannot comprehend all the ramifications of what is happening in the sciences and technologies of reproduction and development. However, what we do know is that we cannot stop asking questions, seeking answers, and remaining open to being both critical of, and appreciative of, what the sciences are teaching us about being human and creatures of God. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article is comprised of a dialogue between Pentecostal-Charismatic and Process-Relational theologies on the perennial issue of miracles. The language of supernaturalism, widely employed by Pentecostal-Charismatic theologians, is contrasted with the metaphysical naturalism of Process-Relational theology; it is pro- posed that a philosophically and scientifically sensitive theology of miracles is possible through a synthesis of both traditions. Themes such as nonmaterialism over materialism, spiritual experience, and prayer for healing miracles are explored. A theology of miracles, mutually informed by both Pentecostal-Charismatic and Process-Relational theologies, may focus less on whether or not miracles are possible, but instead focus more on what kind of miracles human beings might value most. By mutually engaging a theology of nonsupernatural, metaphysically grounded miracles, Pentecostal-Charismatic and Process-Relational theologians may collaborate to establish the groundwork for creative scientific enterprises, especially in the non- Western world where Pentecostalism continues to experience its most rapid growth, Such perspectives may eventually lead to cutting-edge discoveries about the fundamental nature of, and God's interaction with, reality itself. Implications for future research are proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The scholars haven't given too much attention to the function of the Word of God in the report of the miraculous catch of fish in Luke, at the literary and theological level. Thus, the objective of this paper was to analyze the pericope of Luke 5:1-11, with emphasis on the Word of God proclaimed in Jesus and through Him. The methodology used was the analysis and interpretation of texts, focusing on the historical-critical method and its essential elements, besides the use of other methods, based on the science of language. It's possible to say that the Word of God occupies a central place in the plot, giving cadence to the report and elucidating the theological sense that Luke wanted to print, which is evidenced by the changes he has made in the original report. In the pericope of the miraculous catch of fish, the Word is proclaimed by Jesus in a performative way; it makes the miracle happen, leads Peter to conversion and gives him a new mission. In Luke's theology, one hears the echo of primitive communities, born around the word of the Lord. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this article is to study the multiplication of loaves and fishes miracle scene narrated by the four gospels of the New Testament. After briefly presenting the nature of the gospels, the main studies which involve them, and the history and features of the Greek dialect used in the composition of these texts (the koine or biblical Greek), the corpus is translated in order to recognize both the syntactic structures and lexicon used by the authors. In addition, the narrative categories of the miracle, namely, the history, the narrative, the characters, the time, the space, the focalization, and the narrator are briefly analyzed. Furthermore, the article focuses on the descriptive and comparative study of the direct and indirect speeches featured in the narratives, which has led to the conclusion that the direct speech takes a key role in organizing the scene as a whole, i. e., in the preservation of Christ's speeches, in the constitution of the characters, and in the reconstitution of the miracle inside the narrative. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The overt subject of this paper is Terry Eagleton's theological turn, but its implicit subject is the trend of turning to the Christian tradition and theological sources in contemporary Western academia, particularly left-wing thinkers, in order to come to terms with the social reality and theoretical issues in the so-called postmodern period. To this end, this paper intends to find certain particular implications of Eagleton's theological turn by tracing the development of his thought and analyzing key concepts in his theorizing. Included amongst them are the theoretical sources and grounding, the main content and significance, and their) relation to Western Marxism or left-wing theological thought of this theological turn. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Looking at a number of passive verbs that have been labeled divine passives in Markan scholarship, this essay will demonstrate that Mark does not always record passives to score theological points about divine activity. At times, while the passive voice assumes that God is the initiator, the action is in fact carried out by other agency, while other times passive forms can have intransitive meaning without any implication of another agent involved. Passive verbs are also employed to emphasize certain actions and to suppress the identity of the responsible agents when they are irrelevant in the unfolding narrative. In the miracle tradition there is little indication of divine passives in operation, and the passive voice is used to express Jesus' actions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article explains process theology as a new religious way of thinking for interpreting Christian doctrines among modern and postmodern people. Two crucial postmodern concerns, it says, that are being addressed by process theology include freedom in the pragmatically scientific worldviews and the overarching metaphysical principle of evolution. It also notes the process philosophy of Alfred North Whitehead, and its seven core doctrines such as panexperientialism and their biblical evaluation.

Copyright of Studii Teologice is the property of Studii Teologice 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.)

In volume 27, number 2 (2011) we invited readers to submit responses to Robert Larmer, 'Miracles, Divine Agency, and the Laws of Nature'-the Jay Newman Inaugural Address delivered at the Canadian Theological Society, when it met at the Learned Societies Congress, Fredericton, NB, June 2010, and published in said issue. What follow are three responses and a reply: [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the relationship between reason and faith in the work of German Enlightenment philosopher Christian Wolff. It considers the position of theology in his metaphysics relative to ontology, psychology, and cosmology. It also considers Wolff's idea of the conditions of possibility of divine revelation and his advocacy of the theory that the Bible was composed both by divine inspiration and by mortal human beings. The author also discusses Wolff's understanding of divine miracles and his critique of philosophical mechanism.

In this article I argue that Christian theology, in order to be sufficiently coherent, should claim that miracles, like those described in the New Testament, do occur . I discuss first an argument by Wolfhart Pannenberg that any theory of God must be based on revelation, and suggest an improvement to Pannenberg's line of reasoning. Presupposing that Christian theology must hold that God has revealed himself decisively through Christ, I then discuss whether or not Christian theology can reject that miracles happen. Based on arguments from the discussion of Pannenberg, I argue -- against scholars like David Griffin and Arthur Peacocke -- that Christian theology should accept that miracles occur in order to be sufficiently coherent. The reason for this is that if miracles do not happen it is more coherent to believe that God is not revealed decisively through Christ, than to believe that he is. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

I take the APA publication A Spiritual Strategy for Counseling and Psychotherapy (Richards and Bergin 2005), along with a devoted issue of Journal of Psychology and Theology (Nelson and Slife 2006), as a paradigmatic example of a trend. Other instances include the uncritical use of “Eastern” philosophy in Humanistic and Transpersonal Psychology, almost normative appeal to the “Sacred” within the psychology of spirituality, talk of “God in the brain” within neurological research, the neologism entheogen referring to psychedelic drugs, and calls for new specializations such as neurotheology and theobiology. In response to the legitimate ethical requirements of respect and openness regarding clients' religious worldviews, the trend is to make God an essential component in psychological theory. The argument is that God is active in the universe and especially in human affairs to such an extent that any accurate account of strictly psychological matters, not just a comprehensive, interdisciplinary purview that could include a distinct theological dimension, must include God as an explanatory factor. Less nuanced than standard theological thought about divine intervention—including a range of opinions from supernaturalism, to occasionalism, to providential and deistic naturalism—this trend would blur the epistemological differences between religion and science by appeal to claimed knowledge sources such as inspiration and revelation and thus undermine the achievements of evidence-based science and establish particularistic religious beliefs as standard explanatory accounts. The concern to include a spiritual, in contrast to a religious or theist, dimension in psychological theory is welcome; but elaborated approaches, such as my own and those of Roberto Assagioli, Viktor Frankl, and Ken Wilber, open to varied theological applications, already exist. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Both demonology and medical learning wanted to define what material proofs they were to use in order to alleviate the politically rooted disease symptoms of the early modern period. Finding the proper therapeutic treatment required the appropriate description of the pathology, revealing the causes and consequences and making the right diagnosis. Several key questions were formulated concerning these requirements. Most of the questions formulated in this way are based on a formal syllogism that meets the normative requirements of disciplines that include law, theology and medicine and whose formal elements became valid within the systems of fulfilment of these disciplines themselves. In this paper I shall attempt to introduce the scholarly literature based on these formal logical criteria that address material proofs, omens, prophecies, oracles and miracles. I shall then outline how this debate in European secondary literature has been received in Hungarian scholarship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Throughout the centuries, the search for God has been performed in two different gnoseological registers: the former has included concepts and logics; the latter has resorted to miracle, faith and revelation. There were several attempts, both in theology and philosophy, to find a complementarity between the two. The present study investigates the way in which the Romanian poet St. Aug. Doinas succeeds in finding this complementarity, in a volume of religious poetry, namely Psalms, published in 1997. In his poems, the poet seeks God in every element of the phenomenal world and in the epiphanies the sacred books directly reveal to him. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the evolution of the concept of a miracle in Christian thought, especially from the time of Augustine of Hippo, the early Christian theologian from the Roman period, to that of the medieval theologian Thomas of Aquinas. Later views are also addressed. Among other topics described are the development of the definition of a miracle used in theology and philosophy, views expressed by Augustine in his book "De civitate Dei", and various Christian views to the 12th century.

In this paper, I draw out a tension between miracles, prophecy, and Spinoza's assertions about Moses in the Theological-Political Treatise (TTP). The three seem to constitute an inconsistent triad. Spinoza's account of miracles requires a naturalistic interpretation of all events. This categorical claim must therefore apply to prophecy; specifically, Moses' hearing God's voice in a manner which does not seem to invoke the imagination or natural phenomena. Thus, Spinoza seemingly cannot maintain both Moses' exalted status and his account of miracles. I consider some possible solutions, but find that they are either untrue to Spinoza's position, or would undercut his categorical argument against miracles. I therefore conclude that Spinoza leaves an unresolved tension in the TTP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Eastern Christian concept of the cosmic implications of the “Fall” is explored, and the relevance of this concept to current discussions about the problem of evil and divine action are outlined. It is argued, in particular, that divine action—including those aspects of it that are usually expressed in terms of the miraculous—may be interpreted in terms of a framework in which the Eastern notion of a cosmic Fall may be seen as complementing a strong theistic naturalism of a contemporary Western kind. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]