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Francois-Xavier Amherdt (ed.). Vatican II: Quel avenir? Evangile et culture, paroisses et ministeres (What future? Gospel and culture, parishes, and ministries), collection Theologie pratique en dialogue, 42. Fribourg: Academic Press, [...]

Juha Pihkala. Faith and Love: Shared doctrine reached on the basis of the dialogue of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland and the Russian Orthodox Church. Helsinki: Press of the [...]

Due to the fact that in the last time spirituality has become an important and used topic that it is often used outside of the Christian space, where it has the roots, we will try there to show what it means and should mean for this area. Also, we will present its relationship with the hesychasm, important mystical current and we will speak about the way how it could contribute to a potential reconfiguration of the theological discourse from nowadays and which should be its landmarks. The definition of spirituality from the Christian space having Biblical and Patristic roots will be therefore accompanied by the one of the hesychasm. The two ones will be also analysed in an attempt to offer a complex overview on the complex phenomenon that they define. The way how the two ones can be found in the ascetical and the monastic practices will be also emphasized there. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the first volume of the Oxford History of Modern German Theology, which focuses on the period from 1781 to 1848. The book fills a gap in contemporary historiographical research and offers a synthesis dedicated to this important topic. The volume is divided into five parts and covers various aspects of German theology during this time, including Protestantism, Catholic theology, German pietism, Protestant Enlightenment, historical criticism, and German-Jewish religious thought. The book provides a comprehensive understanding of the dynamics of religious life in Germany during this period, including the intersection of religion and politics. [Extracted from the article]

The article discusses two books: "On the Human Image of God" by Gregory of Nyssa and "Christian Emperors and Roman Elites in Late Antiquity" by Rita Lizzi Testa. The first book, edited by John Behr, provides a new edition of Gregory of Nyssa's work, accompanied by a comprehensive introduction and analysis of the author's ideas. The second book explores the relationship between Christianity and power in Late Antiquity, specifically focusing on the interaction between Christian emperors, the Senate, and Roman elites. Both books offer valuable insights into their respective topics and are relevant for both theological and secular research. [Extracted from the article]

The article discusses the book "Catholic Social Teaching in Practice: Exploring Practical Wisdom and the Virtues Tradition" by Andrew M. Yuengert. The book examines the relationship between the principles of Catholic Social Teaching and practical wisdom, focusing on topics such as the virtue of practical wisdom, prudence, lay formation, and the dialogue between Catholic Social Teaching and economics. Yuengert aims to show how the virtues can be applied in practical life and provide practical and pragmatic analysis. The book offers interdisciplinary perspectives and practical solutions for improving people's lives through the application of Christian principles. [Extracted from the article]

Using documents, books and articles written by Nicola Velimirović during World War I, this article investigates his attitude towards this conflagration and shows how his Christian views influence his outlook on this topic. Shared during his visits to the USA and England and via lectures given in venues like Westminster Abbey or Oxford University, his ideas make him a militant for peace and, at the same time, a man who defends his country's cause in front of the AustroHungarian abuses. Investigating his writings from this point of view is important because he manages to show a different face of the future Serbian bishop and brings to the fore his concerns regarding his contemporary society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Often accused that feminine voices are not heard, the Orthodox Church has much to do in order to truly value the contribution of women. Nevertheless, there have been important feminine voices who have not only promoted its spirituality and life but also contributed greatly to the theology of this Christian tradition. In this paper, we will identify the most important feminine representatives from the twentieth century Romanian context and their main works in order to recall their contribution to the promotion of Orthodoxy. We will also present the ecumenical aspects of their publications, setting them in the original context in which they were written. The investigation's aim is to show that, despite the difficulties experienced by Romanians during the aforementioned century, there were important women who offered valuable contributions to understanding the spirituality, life and theology of the Eastern Orthodox Church from the Romanian perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Author of more than 80 studies and articles of theology and bibliotheconomy and of the book: Cenzurarea presei ortodoxe în comunism ( The Censorship of the Orthodox press during the communist period) (Nedelcu 2019), but alsoPhD in philology and member of important associations and cultural institutions, Silviu-Constantin Nedelcu is already a name known in the Romanian cultural space. His recent book, entitled: O scurtă istorie a bibliotecilor byzantine (A short history of the Byzantine Libraries) (Nedelcu 2020), published by the acclaimed Lumen Publishing House from Iassy, comes to offer a new testimony of the quality of his investigations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Review of Ioan Chirilă (coord.), Enciclopedia Imaginariilor din România. IV. Imaginar religios [The encyclopaedia of the imaginary from Romanian space. IV: Religious imaginary], Iași: Editura Polirom, 2020. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the spiritual autobiographies written by two important theologians and monks from Catholic and Orthodox space, namely Thomas Merton and Saint Silouane the Athonite, the author speaks in this research about peace as a leitmotiv of their works. Part of a bigger project whose aim is to bring again into attention the aforementioned genre and to underline its actual aspects, this text comes also to show how the spiritual autobiographies could create bridges among spiritualties and contribute to the visibility of the Christian faith in the social field. Influenced by Silouan, but also by important personalities from other spiritualties, like the Buddhist one, Thomas Merton will come close to their ideas and shows how a monk, despite his mystical vocation, can be a militant and one who understands the world, its evolution and the risks that can come with the misunderstanding of the life and of the human purpose. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Review of Ioan C. Teşu, Ortodoxia, în dialog [Orthodoxy, in dialogue], (Iaşi: Editura Sfântul Mina, 2019). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although ecology is an important contemporary topic, influencing the economic, ethical, philosophical and religious area, among others, there are still aspects which are not highlighted enough by contemporary researchers as far as its role and the potential consequences of its misunderstanding are concerned. Knowing this, we will try to emphasise why ecology should be considered an important issue of the 21stcentury and which are the perspectives of the Orthodox and Catholic Churches regarding this topic. Both Churches share a common vision and their leaders are deeply committed to the vision of a future society where the environment is protected and respected. Therefore, we will try to emphasise the visions of several charismatic leaders such as the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople or Pope Francis regarding this aspect and to show which are the main points of their conception. We will also try to present them in the context of their times and of their confession and to analyse the way in which they continue the directions assumed by their confessional area, being part of the current Christian message. At the same time, we will try to underline the common points of their perception and to see the pragmatic grounds on which they base it and the practical proposals they put forward. Topics such as integral ecology and aspects such as the anthropological basis of ecological crises will be analysed on the basis of documents, including the pastoral letters of Patriarch Bartholomew and the Encyclical letters of the current Pontiff, among which Laudato Si. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

IN THIS ARTICLE, AUTHOR PRESENTS THE WAY HOW, DURING THE HISTORY, MORALS AND LAW INTERFERED IN ROMANIAN CONTEXT AND SHOWS HOW IN DIFFERENT MOMENTS OF HISTORY, CHURCH WAS THE ONE WHICH, THROUGH THE MORALS ALSO CONTROLED THE CIVILE LAW. IT ALSO EMPHASIZES THE PROCESS OF DEVELOPMENT OF CIVILE LAW AND ITS SEPARATION FROM THE MORALS IN THE HISTORY AND IT SPEAKS ABOUT THE CONTEMPORARY SITUATION, BUT ALSO ABOUT SPECIAL MOMENTS OF THE ROMANIAN HISTORY LIKE THE COMMUNIST PERIOD. AREAS LIKE POLITICAL THEOLOGY, MEDIAEVAL HISTORY, RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CHURCH AND STATE AND FIRST ONE'S CONTRIBUTION TO THE APPARITION AND DEVELOPMENT OF MODERN STATE, ARE ALSO FACED THERE, INSIDE AN ARTICLE THAT AIM IS TO BE AN OVERVIEW OF THE WAY HOW MORALS, PRIVATE AND CIVILE LAW INTERFERED DURING THE CENTURIES AND INFLUENCED THE HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF ROMANIAN SPACE. IN HIS DEMARCHE, THE AUTHOR USES INFORMATION PROVIDED BOTH BY HISTORICAL, THEOLOGYCAL OR LAW SOURCES, BUT IT DOES NOT NEGLEGTS OTHER SOURCES THAT, AD LEAST PARTIALLY, APPROACH HIS TOPIC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Review of Ioan Chirilă, A învăța să trăiești veșnicia. Un dialog cu Sandu Frunză [To learn how to live the eternity. A dialogue with Sandu Frunză], Cluj-Napoca: Editura Şcoala Ardeleană, 2019. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite of its importance and of the multiple possible outcomes, spiritual autobiography has not been enough valorised until now by the theological, philological, philosophical or historical research. Conscious on this fact, we will try there to bring into attention an important work of the genre, namely the spiritual autobiography of Mother Teresa of Calcutta (1910-2003), founder of the famous Congregation of Catholic sisters, "Missionaries of Charity." Moreover, we will investigate there a relevant aspect not only for the style and content of her work, but also for the contemporary society, namely the education and its role. We will try to emphasize there the multiple forms of education that can be found and to see what is the relationship between education, revelation and act according to the Catholic religious. We will also try to see the similitudes and differences between the investigated text and other coming from the same or from different confessional backgrounds and to create, where it will be possible, bridges between spiritualties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using documents provided by the Bistriþa-Nãsãud branch of the Romanian National Archives, but also from other sources, the author tries in this research to investigate the way in which the image of the Great Union of 1 December 1918 is reflected in the memoirs written by people from that area. He analyzes the writings of Dr. Pavel Tofan, who played an active part in the organization of the Romanian National Guards of Bistriþa, of Albert Porkoláb, also an important participant to those events, and those of Gustav Zikeli, a Saxon from Bistriþa. The investigation provides an interethnic perspective on the reception of the event and it also brings to attention the way in which the intellectuals from the aforementioned space saw the union of Transylvania with Romania, also offering to the reader new information about some uninvestigated sources and aspects of the topic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

USING INFORMATION FOUND IN GÂNDIREA JOURNAL, AN IMPORTANT ROMANIAN PUBLICATION FROM THE INTERWAR PERIOD, THAT NICHIFOR CRAINIC DIRECTED FOR ALMOST TWO DECADES, THE AUTHOR EMPHASIZES IN THIS ARTICLE THE MOST IMPORTANT ASPECTS OF ANTI-SEMITIC VIEWS OF HIM. IMPORTANT ROMANIAN PERSONALITY FROM THE AFOREMENTIONED PERIOD, PERSECUTED AND IMPRISONED LATTER BY THE COMMUNISTS FOR HIS PREVIOUS ATTITUDE, HE LEFT IMPORTANT WORKS ON SPIRITUALITY, MYSTIQUE AND PHILOSOPHY. BESIDES THESE THEMES, HE ALSO DEVELOPED IDEAS RELATED WITH POLITICAL AREA, THAT WE WILL INVESTIGATE THERE. THE APPROACH WHICH WILL BE A KIND OF REVIEW OF LITERATURE, WILL TAKE INTO ACCOUNT THE NUMBER OF ARTICLES PUBLISHED BY HIM THERE, THEIR THEMATIC REPARTITION (BECAUSE HE PUBLISHED THERE TEXTS OF THEOLOGY, PHILOSOPHY, LITERATURE, POLITICAL ARTICLES, CHRONICLES OR BOOK REVIEWS), BUT ALSO THE ASPECTS OF ANTI-SEMITISM AND THE WAY HOW AUTHOR MOTIVATES HIS ATTITUDE. WE WILL ALSO USE THE PREVIOUS RESEARCHES DEDICATED TO HIM OR HIS WORK, SHOWING HOW THEY CONTRIBUTE TO THE RECEPTION OF CRAINIC FOR NOWADAYS RESEARCH. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using information provided by the spiritual autobiographies of Saint Faustina Kowalska and Saint Teresa of Calcutta, two exponential personalities of Catholic spirituality, the author tries there to emphasize the way how spiritual autobiography developed in this confessional area during the 20th century. Mystical experience, its forms and role in the transformation of the author is underlined there while the way how the context of life and work contributed to the change of the two personalities it is also presented.The research also tries to show how they defined their selves and their call according to the intrinsic relationship with God, but also to create bridges between spiritualties from different confessional space by bringing into attention the common points of the genre that can be found in the investigated works. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Important and, in the same time, controversial personality of interwar period and the later one, Nichifor Crainic was in the same time poet, theologian, philosopher and politician. He published many articles, book reviews, chronicles, meditation and theological studies in books and journals like Gândirea or Ramuri (the first one founded by him). In the same time, he was the first professor of mystical theology in a Romanian Faculty of Theology, the one of Bucharest. His theological ideas are still relevant today for the theological space and this make them to be analysed, referred to and quoted. In the same time, some of them have influenced his political attitude, making them to become exponential for Romanian Nationalism during the interwar period, to see, as others (for example Nae Ionescu) of being Orthodox as linked with national identity, and also to be closed with far-right movement during the aforementioned period, but also during the Second World War. Using his ideas expressed, both in his books of poetry or theology or in journals like the ones already named, but also information from the books and articles dedicated to him, we will try there to see how his theological ideas and the influence of theology and Orthodox Church upon him, have influenced the Romanian writer in his political actions. We will also see how his ideas are reflected in his work as politician and writer and we will analyse the influence that he had upon other personalities of his time with same concerns and political orientation. The research will therefore bring again into attention the profile and work of the Romanian theologian, offering a new approach of the relationship between his ideas and works and a reevaluation of his ideas and their actuality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article titled "The Oxford Handbook of Religion and Europe" is a review of the book coordinated by Grace Davie and Lucian Leuștean. The manual addresses the relationship between religion and Europe throughout history, geopolitics, and the cultural and spiritual life of the continent. The book is divided into five sections and presents studies written by different authors who explore the complexity of this contemporary issue. The aim of the book is to provide a useful tool for understanding the role of religion in Europe. [Extracted from the article]

Using information provided by former Securitate Archives, the author tries in this research to investigate the way how the literary activity of Virgil Gheorghiu, one of the most important writers of Romanian exile from France were presented in the informative notes written by the agents of that institution. Their way of understanding his work and ideas, the errors of their perception but also other aspects are therefore emphasized there. Also, their attitude towards his anti-communist perceptions and the value of his novels is presented there together with their attempts to get closer to him using the Romanian Orthodox Patriarch Justinian Marina, his parents who were living in Neamţ county, other relatives and some of the Securitate agents, in order to convince him to visit Romania. The way how his bad relationships with the other members of the exile have influenced his image is also a topic developed in this research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

IN THIS RESEARCH, BASED ON THE WORKS OF JOHN R. MOTT - IMPORTANT THEOLOGIAN FROM THE PROTESTANT SPACE OF THE19TH AND 20TH CENTURIES - BUT ALSO BASED ON OTHER PUBLICATIONS (DEDICATED TO TOPICS LIKE THE 1ST WORLD MISSIONARY CONFERENCE HELD IN EDINBURG IN 1919), THE AUTHOR TRIES TO PRESENT THE VISION ABOUT MISSION OF THE AFOREMENTIONED WRITER AND TO OFFER FIVE REASONS THAT DEMONSTRATE WHY HIS OPINION WAS NOT POSSIBLE FOR IMPLEMENTATION. BECAUSE OF THE RELEVANCE OF HIS WORK AND OF HIS PERSONALITY, MOTT'S IDEAS (LATER HE WILL RECEIVE ALSO A NOBEL PRIZE FOR THEM), WILL CONSTITUTE THE LEITMOTIV OF THE NAMED EVENT, FIRST FROM A BIG SERIES. THEREFORE, PRESENTING HIS VISION, IT IS FIRSTLY AN ATTEMPT TO BRING AGAIN INTO THE ATTENTION OF READERS HIS LIFE AND ACTIVITY, WHILE OFFERING 5 REASONS THAT PROVE WHY HIS VISION WAS WRONG. THIS RESEARCH REPRESENTS A WAY TO REALIZE A THEOLOGICAL ANALYSIS OF HIS WORKS BUT ALSO A POSSIBILITY TO OFFER ANOTHER PERSPECTIVE ON HIS APPROACH. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]