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The designation of Diego Maradona's 'handball' goal, that it was an intervention by God himself, brings the phenomena of sport and religion into an interrelationship. The basic thesis of this paper is that, despite many of their phenomenal similarities, explicit religion is not, and cannot be, substantially related to sport, as the two manifest themselves in different ways of being. This thesis is supported by arguments from three philosophical areas: 1. The ontological dimension of the manifestation of the sacred in the profane through the process of hierophany in sport does not refer to a specific deity or God, and is therefore not a presentation but an indirect representation of the sacred; 2. The epistemological perspective of the intentional relation of consciousness to religious ritual justifies the necessity of situating them in an overall horizon of references and meanings to the horizon of the lifeworld; 3. The existential and experiential aspects of transformative sport experiences transform the horizon of meanings of empirical reality, but lack the sacramental perspective. Implicit religion as a possibility of transition on a continuum of complementary existential states is a suitable explicative framework for analyzing the phenomenal similarities and essential differences of religion and sport. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Martin Luther's notion of freedom, as presented in De servo arbitrio, is often interpreted as a denial of free choice wi God (salvation) and as an affirmation of free choice in earthly life. This article questions this twofold distinction and argues that in De servo arbitrio Luther's notion of freedom is set into epistemic discourse in which he distinguishes between different perspectives or perceptions and reality. The article demonstrates that for Luther, freedom denotes human perception, misperception, and deception. This indicates that beneath the free choice debate lies a fundamental question of human ability to understand reality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

According to many philosophers, “the meaning of life” refers to our cosmic purpose, the activity that we were created by God or a purposive universe to perform. If there is no God or teleology, there is no such thing as the meaning of life. But this need not be the last word on the matter. In this paper, I ask what the benefits provided by a cosmic purpose are, and go on to argue that thinking of our lives in a particular way—in terms of a unified life narrative—can supply us with many of those benefits. We might lose little if there is no such thing as the meaning of life, since there is still something that can provide much of what is valuable about it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

What has Broadway to do with Jerusalem? This article discusses the relation between drama and theology. Firstly, I outline five different uses of drama (usus dramatis) and define dramatic theology in its own right, as well as in relation to narrative theology. Secondly, I offer a trinitarian typology of dramatic theology by distinguishing between a dramatic theology of the Father (God as author), of the Son (God as actor), and of the Holy Spirit (God as director). Thirdly, I explicitly deal with the question of the relation between drama and theology by discussing drama as a praeambula fidei or ancilla theologiae and by dealing with the question of an analogia dramatis, focusing especially on the direction of the analogical flow. Lastly, I outline the main benefits of using drama as a framework for theology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This interpretation of Eccl 4:17-5:6 (Eng. 5:1-7) challenges a common scholarly conclusion--that Qoheleth emphasizes divine transcendence. Qoheleth's articulation of divine transcendence may initially seem clear: "God is in the heavens and you are on the earth" (5:1). But this statement appears within a tightly structured passage that focuses squarely on human attempts to relate to God and various problems that beset such attempts. We offer a novel formal analysis of this pericope, demonstrating that it describes the religious consequences of the distance that separates what people say from what they do. This distance between human words and human deeds underlies Qoheleth's counsel against certain rituals and religious practices, as well as his commendation at the end of the passage to "fear God," and thus may be understood as the distance between earth and heaven that Qoheleth asserts in 5:1. In this passage's reception history, we find three distinct interpretative trajectories, which we indicate with the three homonyms in the title. Some interpretations affirm God's heavenly, holy transcendence, whereas others, perhaps surprisingly, view this text as affirming God's immanence on earth. A third interpretation considers instead the limits and fractures of human life on earth as manifestations of the heavenly divine. While most interpretations of this passage align with the first or second readings, we argue that the third trajectory aligns most closely with Qoheleth's teachings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The heavens declare (mesaprim) the glorf Un, 04 of God, firmament trakiah) relates (magid) His handiwork. Day to day makes utterance, night to night speaks out. There is no utterance, there are no words, whose sound goes unheard. Their voice carries throughout the earth, their words to the end of the world. He placed in them a tent for the sun, who is like a groom coming forth from the chamber, like a hero, eager to run his course. His rising-place is at one end of heaven, and his circuit reaches the other; nothing escapes his heat. The teaching of the LORD is perfect, renewing life; the decrees of the LORD are enduring, making the simple wise; The precepts of the LORD are just, rejoicing the heart; the instruction of the LORD is lucid, making the eyes light up, The fear of the LORD is pure, abiding forever; the judgments of the LORD are true, righteous altogether (Psalm 19: 2 - 10). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses the experiences of 12 survivors of domestic violence, 9 women and 3 men, regarding how their congregations responded and how that affected their views of God. These qualitative interviews were part of a larger mixed-methods study on domestic violence and the church that sought to provide further insight into the intersection of faith, domestic violence, and church response. Domestic violence occurs in religious families, just as it does in the general population. In these cases, the victims of abuse often first reach out to their pastors or clergy members for assistance. Using transcendental phenomenology, the authors sought to understand the survivors' experiences in disclosing abuse to their faith communities. The findings show that despite numerous painful experiences with the church, the survivors' faith and views of God largely stayed intact. Further domestic violence education, connection to resources, and attention to congregational policies and practices are vital in the faithful response to abuse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Spiritual struggles are common for religion-affiliated and non-affiliated individuals, religious skeptics, agnostics, and atheists. They gain particular importance for people under significant stress, such as those who are alcohol dependent. This study examined the role of positive religious coping and God's support in the spiritual growth and recovery of alcohol-dependent individuals participating in Alcoholics Anonymous (AA). The study was cross-sectional. The participants were 115 alcohol-dependent individuals from Poland who were members of AA. A path analysis statistical method was used. The research emphasized the beneficial role of strong God's support in the relationship between positive religious coping and spiritual growth, abstinence, and happiness. The mechanism underlying the relationship between positive religious coping, God's support, spiritual growth, and recovery was confirmed. God's support was a moderator in the relationship between positive religious coping and spiritual growth. In a group with stronger God's support, positive religious coping was positively related to spiritual growth, which in turn was associated with a happy and alcohol-abstinent life for alcohol-dependent individuals participating in AA. Among individuals with weak God's support, positive religious coping was not directly related to spiritual growth, nor was it indirectly related to recovery through spiritual growth. Theoretical and practical implications of the results are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The idea of 'Christian doctrine' has become sundered over time from its spiritual roots as part of the formative Christian life shaped by a vision of the whole that sees everything in integral and open‐ended relation to God. This review article explores some of the reasons behind this severing of Christian doctrine from everyday Christian practice. It then unpacks how the unity between Christian doctrine and spiritual formation is retrieved in three recent publications that variously explore the nature of Christian doctrine. Together, they offer a vibrant account of Christian doctrine, its formative power and its calling to be humbly confident as a form of life under God. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This review article explores two recent works on Paul Ricœur, A Companion to Ricoeur's The Symbolism of Evil, edited by Scott Davidson, and Ricœur at the Limits of Philosophy: God, Creation, and Evil by Barnabas Aspray. Both works focus on Ricœur's early works, before the 'hermeneutical turn'. In this review, I show how both works demonstrate Ricœur's applicability to contemporary theological thought, especially concerning the symbols of creation and evil. Ultimately, both works show the depth and complexity of Ricœur's early work and his continued importance for understanding how the symbols of creation, existence, finitude and God are deep and multifaceted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers information on Catholic personalist philosophy and its views on gratitude as a path to understanding our relationship with God and the cosmos. Topics discussed include how gratitude manifests through wonder, joy and festivity; how it contrasts with justice in human interactions; its ultimate expression in the Eucharist; the relationship between gratitude and justice; and the influence of personalist thought on Catholic teachings.

This article explores the way in which two modern Reformed theologians, Charles Hodge and Herman Bavinck, articulate their theologies of divine incomprehensibility and the knowability of God in radically different ways, against the backdrop of post‐Kantian epistemology. This contrast will draw attention to why the doctrine of divine incomprehensibility has diminished in influence in modern Reformed theology, while also making some suggestions as to how it can be retrieved in order to supplement and strengthen contemporary discussions on the doctrine of God in the Reformed tradition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Though Calvin is averse to theological speculation, he is the first to claim that Christ is Mediator and Head of Angels. This often‐overlooked office is present consistently throughout the various editions of the Institutes and can be found in his treatises, commentaries, catechism, and various sermons. This paper argues that Christ's mediation of angels is a form of ontological mediation that serves as the logical foundation for his redemptive mediation of the Elect. Sin is an intensification of a preexisting problem that requires the Son to be the medius and Mediator between God and creation because of his unique position in the Trinitarian taxis as the begotten one. This overlooked office places Calvin's theology of mediation in a greater cosmic context where the triune God is uniting all things to himself typified in the angels and the Elect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the goal of explaining the maldistribution of evil in the world, Asha Lancaster-Thomas has recently (2023) expounded upon the idea of a fluctuating maximal God (FMG) that she and others developed (Jeffrey et al. (2020)) from the idea of a maximal God originally proposed by Yujin Nagasawa (2017). Lancaster-Thomas uses this model to answer what I and my co-author, Daniel Linford, have called the problem of geography (Linford and Patterson (2015)). The problem of geography points to the geographically unequal distribution of suffering in the world and argues that this aggravates the original problem of evil (POE) and undermines the primary theodicies offered as solutions to it. I subsequently (2021) added to this problem by pointing out that evil is also maldistributed across race, gender and time. This larger problem may be referred to as the problem of the distribution of evil (PODE). Lancaster-Thomas argues that the FMG, especially under her modified version, is not susceptible to the problem of geography or to temporal inequalities of well-being. In this article I will demonstrate how the FMG, even on Lancaster-Thomas? updated model, fails to undermine either the problem of geography or the more broadly conceived PODE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Avicenna holds that since God has existed from all eternity and is immutable and impassible, he cannot come to have an attribute or feature that he has not had from all eternity. He also claims for the simultaneous causation. A puzzle arises when we consider God's creating this world. If God is immutable and impassible, then his attributes associated with his creating this world are unchanging. So, God must have been creating the world from all eternity. But then God's creative act, one might object, seems to be no different from a matter of natural necessity. This is a threat to divine freedom, for God would then have no choice concerning his creative action. Anthony Ruffus and Jon McGinnis argue that this puzzle can be solved in such a way that Avicenna can consistently affirm divine freedom along with divine simplicity. They suggest that Naṣīr al-Dīn Ṭūsī's interpretation might help to show that it is false that Avicenna's God cannot choose absolutely. For it is still open to him to choose either to create eternally or to refrain from creating anything at all. Ruffus and McGinnis argue that since creating or not creating anything at all do not correspond to two distinct concepts, Avicenna's account of divine simplicity, which denies any multiplicity in divine mind, is safeguarded along with divine freedom. I claim that God's omnirationality requiring that he always acts for reasons is a serious threat to such an interpretation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

From the earliest nineteenth-century studies to even the most recent scholarship, Richard Rolle has persistently been treated as an eccentric figure: a singular individual who fled from the world to live as a hermit and who promoted a distinctive understanding of mystical rapture based on his personal experiences. Such a view of Rolle has been supported by an autobiographical reading of certain passages in his writings where the hermit cantankerously defends himself against his critics or offers his own acerbic attacks on those whom he considers feigned lovers of God. This essay presents an alternative to the longstanding view of this material as more revelatory of the "real" Rolle, arguing instead that the eccentric persona developed in such passages was one of the hallmarks of eremitic sanctity in the later Middle Ages, an indication of outsider status that was itself, perhaps counterintuitively, wholly conventional. Drawing on various vitae of hermit-saints, including some that seem to have been known to Rolle himself, I argue for an approach to Rollean idiosyncrasy as itself a self-consciously conventionalized voice, one that served, among other things, to shore up the hermit's authority and to demonstrate his place in a tradition of eremitic sanctity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most scholars have interpreted Acts 17:28a–c ("for in him we live and move and are") within the context of the Aratus quotation in 17:28e. Yet in doing so, they overlooked the precise meaning of this statement and how it fits within the argument. This article considers the philological aspects and motifs contained in Acts 17:28a–c within their context. Thus, the statement expresses dependence on God by use of the Greek phrase ἔν τινι εἶναι , which appears widely across Greek literature. By taking the evidence from these sources into consideration, it becomes clear that the concise statement of Acts 17:28a–c bundles up various ideas of the Areopagus speech into one thought. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475–1564) presented some of the most spectacular artworks of all times in frescos on the ceiling and behind the altar of the Sistine Chapel. While Michelangelo's presentations depict events described in the Bible, there is broad consensus that Michelangelo was conveying his knowledge and theoretical ideas gleaned from his experiences with anatomic dissection. Michelangelo appears to have communicated several ideas about the brain in the images of the Days of Creation and the Last Judgment. Taking the Days of Creation and the Last Judgment together, Michelangelo appears to be symbolizing that God is in the brain, specifically the brainstem, and the brain performs mental functions. The five images on the ceiling of the chapel showing Days of Creation may be interpreted as reflecting the course of vertebrate brain evolution. There are further suggestions about brain function, including perceiving light and complex images and giving spirit to Adam. Furthermore, on the front wall of the Sistine Chapel behind the altar, within the work titled the Last Judgment, the central ellipse, in which Jesus is sitting, appears to represent a midcoronal cross section of a human brain, suggesting that it is the brain that renders judgments about good and evil. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the article, mainly based on the reference to the entries in the diary of Th. Dobzhansky, a geneticist and one of the founders of the "synthetic theory of evolution", examines how Dobzhansky tried to combine science, primarily evolutionary theory, and religion. It is argued that although Dobxzhansky was a believer during whole his life, he became a peculiar believer who revised for himself and for others the former, primarily religious answers to the "ultimate questions" of existence, and posed these questions in a new, evolutionary way. Even more, he tried to substantiate and justify religion and his belief in God through the evolutionary theory, to demonstrate that science and religion are not incompatible, and to offer his believe in the usefulness of science and religion to each other. This Dobzhansky's attempt was perceived and evaluated ambiguously by both scientists and religious figures. In addition, Dobzhansky owing to his search for these answers, made a number of world outlook and general cultural conclusions for himself and presented these conclusions in articles and books written not only for colleagues in the scientific community, but also for other people. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite differences, Georges Bataille, theorist of non-knowledge and atheology, and Ludwig Wittgenstein, the Austrian logician, share specific parallels regarding their understandings of language and mystical experience. For both, mystical experience pushes beyond conventional discourse. Using analogous elements of critical and mystical discourse, each express rather antiphilosophical, spiritual visions. Still, Wittgenstein’s deeply private and agnostic Christianity sharply contrasts Bataille’s own atheological experience of the death of God. Where Bataille’s mysticism challenges rationality, Wittgenstein’s instead expresses the numinous world as such, shedding light on the dark night of Bataille and the specific character of ‘inner experience’. Where Wittgenstein advocates either clarity of expression or silence, however, the transgressive and poetic syntax of Bataille, alongside his evocative and erotic usage of imagery and metaphor, instead presses precisely against the impossibility for words that Wittgenstein’s thinking forecloses. Silence, like evil and poetry for Bataille, is active and imperative to communication, opening itself against the closure of reason. Relative to Wittgenstein and Christianity’s ascent to knowledge and awareness then, Bataille instead dives down deep into the body and night of nonknowledge. In this way, paradoxically, Bataille’s atheological writings approach a new summit of communication only attainable in the absence of God. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Georges Bataille made no secret of the importance Friedrich Nietzsche’s life and work held for him. But Bataille’s encounter with Nietzsche remained paradoxical: he rejected or ignored most of Nietzsche’s major concepts while nevertheless insisting on the value of Nietzsche’s thought and experience as a necessary counterpoint to the political, religious, and social currents of modernity. This paper demonstrates the extent to which Bataille owes the content and to some degree also the form of his idiosyncratic reading of Nietzsche to the influence and example of the Russian emigré philosopher Lev Shestov (1866–1938). In 1925, Georges Bataille published a translation of Shestov’s The Idea of the Good in Tolstoy and Nietzsche: Philosophy and Preaching, co-signed with Shestov’s daughter Tatiana Beresovski-Chestov. The translation was the product of a period during which Bataille also spent time with the older man and benefited from his tutelage. It was Shestov’s interpretation of the meaning of the death of God in Nietzsche’s life and thought that would have the most decisive influence on Bataille’s own life and work and make him, in his turn, a philosopher of tragedy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Theodicy is often rejected because a suffering person is hardly interested in abstract arguments—even if these arguments were convincing, they might not change the suffering she is experiencing. I propose a twofold theodicy. First, Christians are invited to promote positive apologetics—they should show the internal consistency of divine revelation, which recommends that they should alleviate suffering and promote flourishing. Second, Christians should develop negative apologetics and show the untenability of objections to the Christian view of evil and suffering, including the seemingly uncontroversial objection that a world without innocent suffering would be better in terms of justice than the one we live in. My argument is that in both positive and negative apologetics believers should be guided by devotion and commitment to God. The more they love and trust God, and consequently believe what God has revealed, the more they are expected to encourage both flourishing and rational confrontation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper shows that Spinoza went through a drastic change in his view on divine teleology, and that this change is worth paying attention to. In the Short Treatise (KV), Spinoza endorsed a version of divine teleology. As is widely recognized, however, he explicitly rejects divine teleology in the Ethics. I argue that this marks a significant change in his view. To illustrate the significance, I argue that Spinoza consistently maintains the following two premises in both the KV and the Ethics: (1) human beings act on account of some end; (2) human actions are actions of God. While the endorsement of divine teleology is consistent with these two, the rejection of divine teleology results in a trilemma. The trilemma, to be sure, can be resolved by introducing referential opacity to divine action contexts. I argue, however, that it is worth asking why Spinoza revised his view in this way. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

My purpose in this article is to defend the goodness of Whitehead's God against two recent critics: Pierfrancesco Basile and Peter Sjöstedt-Hughes. I will both rely on Whitehead's own statements regarding God's goodness and offer a metaphysical interpretation of these statements in relation to his "axianoetic" universe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main aim of this article, which is to express the essence of du'a, starts with a question: what is du'a, and doesn't it constitute a gap in the system of causality and rational structure of the creation of the world? A definition of the essence of du'a and its dynamics is given through the presentation of the essential basis of the creation of the world according to some Quranic verses, as well as Islamic speculative Gnosticism according to which the world is based on desire and demand (talab). On this basis, the ontological status of du'a and the fact that it does not contradict God's wisdom is underlined. The second part of the study is based on an interpretation of a Quranic verse according to which the reality of du'a is made possible only thanks to God and through His creation of an innate divine human nature, which naturally searches its God and addresses its demands to Him. From this point of view, the special status of man in respect to all the other creatures who, through his supplications, is responsible of defining his ontological status in this world and the hereafter, is also presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Panentheism and pantheism represent one of the most profound, even startling parallels across the world's great metaphysical traditions about which the present article seeks to explore and carry out a comparative study of certain Eastern and Western philosophers with special reference to the views of two chief exponents of Advaita Vedanta of Indian philosophy, Shankara and Ramanuja. Both these terms, touch on the relation of God and the universe with the difference that the former seems to be rigid, motionless, and abstract and lacks a kind of religious fervor in its approach, while the latter is presumed to be concrete and palpable and seeks to reconcile philosophical thinking with the demands of religious feelings as well. God in pantheism is compared to the God of Spinoza, the Neutrum of Schelling, and Shankara's concept of indeterminate Brahman. In contrast, in the West Hegelian Absolute, and Ramanuja's qualified Brahman in Indian tradition, both are accredited with panentheism in which a personal God, identity-in-and-through-difference, has all auspicious qualities. Though these philosophers are from totally different temperaments and cultures, their philosophical method has certain similarities that have been examined in this work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Does Hegel embrace pantheism? He faced accusations from his orthodox peers who adhered to Pantheism, a phrase that was commonly associated with atheism during his day. This study presents a counterargument to the assertion made by several contemporary orthodox contemporaries that Hegel is pantheistic. Hegel can be classified as a semi-pantheist. The manuscript is divided into three distinct sections. In the initial segment, I examine pantheism as posited by Spinoza, the pioneering contemporary pantheist whose contributions exerted a profound influence on other German thinkers, including Hegel. In the subsequent part, an examination of Hegel's pantheism will be conducted through an analysis of the concept of God or the Absolute. In the third section, an analysis is conducted on Hegel's notion of the features of the Absolute, and a comparison is made with Spinoza's God or Nature in order to ascertain if Hegel can be classified as a pantheist. It is believed that Hegel has a dissenting stance towards conventional pantheism, particularly that of Spinoza. Therefore, it can be inferred that Hegel's pantheism differs from Spinoza's. Hegel can be classified as a semi-pantheist. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, I focus on Kant’s notion of God, showing that his critical philosophy changed the meaning and function of traditional concepts. Then I move on to consider a philosopher of the contemporary Arab world, al-Jabri, who has been influenced by Kant: the author of the Critique of Arab Reason shares with Kant a dissatisfaction regarding a certain use of reason which does not inquire about its boundaries. Philosophy must confront its tradition, free it from prejudices, search for reasons and investigate the origin and uses of its concepts, but critically analysing tradition does not imply that the past cannot help charting the path of the future. A fresh reading of tradition could help modernize Islam without losing the cultural elements of identity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Seeking to demonstrate that Isa. 10.5–19 was influenced by the Song of Moses (Deut. 32), this article first examines the links between the two texts, primarily their common theological perspective, and then proceeds to substantiate the argument by evincing that Isaiah son of Amoz develops and adapts the Song's description of God sending an adversary to punish Israel who fails to understand the role he is assigned (Deut. 32.26–30). The discussion focuses on the way the prophet employs the Song in order to present his theology of the Assyrian enemy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The apocalyptic vision of God commanding his prophet to serve the leaders of Judah the cup of his divine wrath in Jeremiah 25.15–17 and 27–28 has sparked heated theological debate. Multiple interpretations have been proposed based on intra-biblical analyses. This imagery, however, has never been compared to extra-biblical material. For example, a 7th-century BCE Assyrian incantation prayer for the patient's social reintegration attributes his vomiting and staggering to a poisoned drink and diagnoses his curse as the result of his gods' wrath. The depiction of the cup of God's wrath in Jeremiah 25 may have drawn upon the Mesopotamian anti-witchcraft tradition to portray Yahweh as an exorcist who counter-curses his people. By compelling the leaders and the people of Judah to consume the same poisonous elixir, presented symbolically as the poisonous speech they had recklessly spread throughout the land, Yahweh causes his people to disgorge their internal toxicity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nietzsche's declaration of "God is dead" signifies not only the collapse of classical metaphysical systems in philosophy but also shifts in the psychological structure of individuals and society after the secularization of Christianity. A philosophical reading is crucial to understanding its whole process and real-world ramifications. We first delineate the fundamental meanings and historical context of the term "God" or "Absolute" and expound upon the mechanisms of spiritual functioning under it, highlighting the significance of God, or the Absolute, as the highest object of spiritual operation. Next, we analyze the death of God, i.e., the retreat of the Absolute, in the realms of reason and faith, exploring its causes and repercussions, particularly the disruption of the operation of the spirit. Then, building upon this analysis, we conclude that the metaphysical life supported by Kant and Hegel faces failure in the present age, because the Absolute has ceased to be the foundation. The roots of spiritual operation are no longer secure; the return to the Absolute points to emptiness, and exit without return creates disruptive division between subject and substance, essence and phenomenon, reason and reality. Meanwhile, the departure of God and the development of capitalism are intertwined, calling for a resurgence in the form of secularization, heralding a renewed human judgment of God. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is a growing body of literature on the Islamic theology and philosophy of salvation. This literature can be loosely grouped into three main groups: there are those that link the right path of salvation to a specific Muslim group, others that link it to believing in the Prophet Muhammad regardless of the theological group that a Muslim may follow, and there are those that link it to the belief in God and doing good. Despite this variety, what largely unites those various interpretations is that they all emphasize the "rightness" of one's theological path, i.e., asking the question, what is the "right" track to God? However, what received scant attention so far is the question of "uprightness" as opposed to "rightness", i.e., Is salvation primarily about being "right" (muḥiqq), or rather about being "upright" (ṣādiq/mukhliṣ)? Drawing on Q. 5:116-119, which presents a conflict between "rightness" and "uprightness" embodied in Jesus' conversation with God regarding the fate of those who did not have the right theology, and taking its cues from Abū Ḥāmid al-Ghazālī (d. 1111) who attempted to rejuvenate Islamic theology through spirituality, this article takes "uprightness" as the primary requisite for one to attain salvation and argues that the Quran, despite the emphasis it places on pursuing the "right" path, gives primacy to the "uprightness" of one's position instead. Uprightness in the article is used in reference to the quality of being honest, responsible, and moral, as opposed to being merely "right" or "correct" theologically. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Comprehending Fear and Trembling is no small task: the best that can be done is to pull at one thread at a time to slowly illuminate the whole. One such thread is the Fatherhood of God. Kierkegaard gave the pseudonymous Fear and Trembling with his left hand and the Upbuilding Discourses with his right hand. What can we conclude about the interplay between Fear and Trembling and these discourses? One outcome is a movement toward the Fatherhood of God. The anxiety of walking with Abraham to Moriah is supposed to lead the reader to maturely consider what it might mean to live in the world confident of the presence and purpose of God the Father. I propose we see Abraham holding not an "eschatological faith", but a faith in Fatherly providence. Kierkegaard understood his own complex life as held together by the Fatherly kindness of God or God's Governance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, I propose a collaborative preaching model for healing collective trauma. It begins with the preaching context of a society in the grip of collective trauma after a traumatic event. Taking the May 1998 tragedy in Jakarta, Indonesia, as a case study and employing descriptive, historical, and analytical methods, this study argues that the Church is called to respond to collective trauma in its ministries as part of God's mission. The research focuses specifically on the ministry of preaching and explores theories of trauma-aware preaching to affirm that preaching can indeed be a medium for healing collective trauma. I then present a collaborative preaching model for collective trauma healing by integrating a conversational preaching approach with the local Indonesian traditions of gotong-royong and musyawarah-mufakat. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The conflict over Jesus Christ, the 'Son of God', is not new. Thousands of years ago, the disciples faced similar trials; however, the challenge to solve this tension was not based on debates or natural theology but rather to show the works of Christ. This researcher argues that various studies on Christology have already been conducted. However, the Pakistani perspective demands the fullness of Christ in a unique way to reimagine Him in the context of socio-economic, political, and religious challenges. On the one hand, though the traditional way of doing Christology highly emphasizes the personhood of Christ, explaining Him from the eschatological perspective (though it is important), on the other hand, it makes Christ an aloof Jesus who has no concern for the current issues. As a result, this kind of Christological articulation does not explain Christ's presence in our struggles today. This piece further demonstrates that the context is not above Christ in finding who He is in the midst of such a grave situation; rather, contextual realities provide the Pakistani Punjabi Church an opportunity to demonstrate the works of Christ. Furthermore, this study also argues that the real struggle is not being a minority in this context, but rather, being marginalized (economically, politically, and religiously) is the real challenge. This study further argues that the core issue is the ecclesiastical responsibility to overcome all the issues in this context. The researcher employs quantitative methodology to evaluate the socio-political, socio-economic, and religious perspectives and equips grassroots communities using an evangelical contextual missiological approach. As a result, 'Apologetic Evangelical Contextual Christology' is proposed as seeing Christ in all His fullness in the Islamic Context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Additional interpretations of Genesis 3:16 have often translated God's words to the woman as a punishment, even a curse, brought upon the woman as the result of her disobedience. Moreover, this so-called curse of the woman has been read by many interpreters as final and irreversible, given that God himself had decreed it. Interestingly, however, no curse is uttered at all in this passage. Moreover, Genesis 3:16 is itself preceded by a divine blessing, given in Genesis 1 to the human couple. As a blessing, it constitutes a divine decree that can neither be overturned nor challenged. The purpose of this essay will be to go back to this divine blessing in Genesis 1, knowing that such a decree will be irrevocable no matter what the future holds for the human couple. This will in turn shed a revealing light on how we are to read and interpret Genesis 3:16. Not only do the words of God to the woman in Genesis 3:16 not constitute a curse, but Genesis 3:16 must be read against the backdrop of the blessing given in Genesis 1. This of course radically alters how this passage has hereto been interpreted as well as profoundly nuances its teaching on gender relations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article offers some reflections on Christina Van Dyke's Hidden Wisdom , using the opportunity to make some suggestions as to possible lines of influence between the world of scholastic theology and that of the female medieval mystics in what Van Dyke considers their 'annihilationist' mode: that the goal of the spiritual life is transformation into God in some sense. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article expands my previous work on omnisubjectivity, the divine property of having a complete and perfect grasp of the subjective states of all beings who have such states. By a subjective state I mean a conscious state as that state is experienced by the one who has it. I argue that only a being with subjectivity can be omnisubjective, and therefore, God has subjective states. The article explores the subjectivity of God as it applies to the Christian doctrines of the Trinity and the Incarnation, focusing on the important difference between a person and an instance of a nature. I propose that the uniqueness of persons is grounded in their unique subjective states, not their objective nature. Each person of the Trinity has a unique point of view and unique subjectivity even though they share an objective divine nature instantiated in a single divine being. The Son has a single set of subjective states before, during, and after the Incarnation. Each member of the Trinity is omnisubjective and fully grasps the unique subjective states of each other person of the Trinity. The perfect comprehension of each other while remaining unique persons is a model of perfect love within a community of persons. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article looks at the question of whether and how there can be a theistic expansive naturalism. In light of Fiona Ellis's work, I will identify a crucial issue for this research programme moving forward, namely, the question of 'which God?'. Ellis seeks to develop a metaphysical framework that offers a rationale for incorporating theism into naturalism, and the acceptance of God comes through a reflection on our relation to value. Offering a sympathetic interpretation of her position, the article will suggest that Ellis's conception of God has been significantly modified in her more recent writings, moving from a rather 'thick' conception of God to more a modest account. I will suggest a move toward a 'less thick' position is preferable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article critically engages Christina Van Dyke's interpretation of 'annihilation' in Marguerite Porete's Mirror of Simple Souls. Van Dyke's interpretation – well in accord with the consensus line among Porete scholars – emphasizes the alienness of Porete's understanding of union with God, and so seemingly guts the challenge of Porete's text. In other words, if Porete is saying what Van Dyke takes her to be saying, it is no wonder that anyone would find her vision alien, her posited end of Christian life undesirable, and the challenge to attain it inert. In this article, I describe and defend an alternative reading of the Mirror , one that makes the goal of 'self-annihilation' surprisingly more palatable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Assuming the existence of God and divine commands, it makes sense to ask to what end God issues commands. This question has been raised in recent philosophical literature in the context of whether there can be a divine command to believe in, or to worship, God. In this article, I argue that the answers proposed to this question fail to appreciate the wide range of possible purposes of divine commanding. In particular, I argue that commands that cannot be conformed or complied with may still have purpose. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How and under what conditions do religious factors explain the militarization of interstate territorial disputes? We argue that inconclusive findings in previous studies stem from inadequate consideration of the interaction between challenger state religiosity and the domestic constituencies actually invested in religiously salient territorial claims. To address this gap, this article differentiates between secular regimes, which provide minimal support to their state's dominant religion and religious regimes, which strongly support their dominant religion. It also considers narrowly salient coreligionist populations, which appeal almost exclusively to religious audiences, versus broadly salient contested sacred sites, which appeal to much broader constituencies. We argue that the interaction between these two factors produces very different patterns of interstate conflict behavior. Secular regimes avoid escalation over narrowly salient religious claims because they do not depend upon religious constituents for support. However, they lack the necessary religious legitimacy to manage outbidding challenges that frequently arise over more broadly salient claims. Religious regimes, by contrast, enjoy high domestic religious legitimacy, enabling more peaceful engagement with broadly salient religious claims. Yet their political dependence upon religious constituencies incentivizes conflict when disputes involve narrowly salient religious claims. We test these propositions utilizing original data on the religious salience of interstate territorial disputes in the post-Cold War era, from 1990 to 2010. Analyses, using both dichotomous and continuous measures of regime religiosity, confirm these inferences and contribute to highly nuanced understandings of how state-religion policy and religious salience interact to influence patterns of interstate violence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Good fortune can be attributed to many sources, including other people, personal efforts, and various theistic and nontheistic supernatural forces (e.g., God, karma). Four studies (total N = 4,579) of religiously diverse samples from the United States and the United Kingdom investigated the distinct emotional reactions to recalled positive experiences attributed to natural and supernatural benefactors. We found that the hallmarks of interpersonal gratitude (e.g., thankfulness, admiration, indebtedness) were reported when believers attributed their good fortune to a personal, benevolent God. However, a distinct emotional profile arose when participants attributed good fortune to the process of karmic payback, which was associated with relatively less gratitude but with higher scores for feelings of pride and deservingness. These results were partially explained by participants' attributions of positive experiences to an external agent (e.g., God) versus a universal law or internal factors as in the case of karma. We conclude that diverse spiritual beliefs influence causal attributions for good fortune, which, in turn, predict distinct emotional responses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to demonstrate the differences in the interpretation of the relationship between the concepts of matter and spirit in the works of St. Gregory of Nyssa and Pierre de Chardin. The author analyzes this problem from the point of view of Gregory's and Chardin's vision of the end of the universe, which is only apparently identical and it implies the union of everything that exists with God. What unites Grigory and Chardin is not only the fact that they base their philosophical (in Chardin's case scientific) explanations on their religious beliefs but also an attempt to overcome the dualism between matter and spirit. The author believes that the way in which they try to overcome this dualism is crucial in differentiating their conceptions of the end of the universe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

According to Leviticus 7:12–15, the sacrifice of thanksgiving involved three kinds of unleavened bread (Lev 7:12), and prohibited anyone from leaving any of its flesh until morning (Lev 7:15). This article proposes that this dual requirement was intended to provide a symbolic link to the Passover meal (Exod 12:8–10), which acknowledged God's salvation of his people from bondage and slavery. This symbolic significance is confirmed through an examination of the use of the term »the sacrifice of thanksgiving« in the Psalter, in which the thanksgiving offering usually serves as a response to God's rescue from distress and as an expression of praise for God's salvation. This comparison aids our understanding of the symbolic significance of the thanksgiving offering in relation to the remembrance of the Exodus event. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Code Smell is a term that indicates flaws in design and coding practice. God Class is a type of code smell that shows an irregular distribution of functionalities in large-sized classes. God Classes are less cohesive and more coupled in nature, thereby increasing software maintenance efforts and costs. Refactoring all such classes can disturb other related classes with code smell instances, puzzle the developers, and increase the refactoring budget. This paper proposes an automated method to prioritize God Class smell-associated classes with the fuzzy inference system. The fuzzy inference system is used to fuzzy the selected criteria—number of code smell instances, type of code smells, and changes in history. For effective refactoring, first, we moderate the dataset with the CodeMR tool and then highlight that the prioritization criteria are imperative after detecting code smells. Using five metric-based heuristics, a comparative result analysis is done to determine the fore reason for correlation (40–43%) with our results and the gravity of our prioritization criteria. Finally, we provide a severity index of classes with five type classifications and evaluate runtime performance (in seconds) to improve quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]