Allegorie und Figuration. Figuraler Realismus bei Heinrich Seuse und Erich Auerbach

Paragrana ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 36-46
Author(s):  
Niklaus Largier
Keyword(s):  
Negative Theology ◽  
Spiritual Tradition ◽  
Divine Truth

Abstract In this essay I discuss the ways in which a Christian spiritual tradition negotiates the challenges of negative theology and the impossibility to access divine truth through the use of images and allegories. This use of images, however, remains paradoxical since it negates the representational character of the – seemingly highly mimetic and concrete – images in order to produce a specific presence of the divine word below the horizon of meaning and semantics. “Figural realism” refers to this practice of figuration, as it can be found, among others, in the writings of Henry Suso.

The Vocabulary of Revelation: Divine Intent and Self-Disclosure in the Qur'an

2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 192-215
Author(s):  
Asma Afsaruddin
Keyword(s):  
Divine Revelation ◽  
Self Disclosure ◽  
Islamic Theology ◽  
Direct Communication ◽  
Written Text ◽  
Arabic Word ◽  
Key Concepts ◽  
Divine Mercy ◽  
Divine Truth

This article explores how the uniqueness of the Qur'anic revelation has been perceived by primarily Sunnī Muslim commentators through time in the context of four main analytical aspects of revelation: (i) revelation as communication between God and humans that links language to divine truth; (ii) revelation as both oral and written text that points to complementary modes of divine discourse; (iii) revelation as purposeful manifestation of divine mercy and justice; and finally (iv) the idea of revelation as beautiful and inimitable text that invites the human recipient to ponder the aesthetics of divine self-disclosure which becomes reflected in Islamic theology as the doctrine of iʿjāz al-Qurʾān. These aspects are indicated by certain key concepts and terms derived from the Qur'anic vocabulary itself and are discussed in detail in order to illuminate the nature of the Qur'anic revelation—as adumbrated within the Qur'an itself and as elaborated upon by its human exegetes. The Arabic word for the phenomenon of revelation is waḥy and is, strictly speaking, applied to the Qur'an alone. In the Qur'an, the term wahy and its derivatives frequently occur with reference to God and His communication with humankind, although exceptions exist. Tanzīl is another Qur'anic lexeme that refers uniquely to God's direct communication with humanity. In the understanding of a number of influential commentators, both these terms also imply linguistic and rhetorical excellence as a component of divine revelation recognisable in all four of the aspects identified here.

Феномен «путешествия в поисках знания» в османской культуре

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
N.R. Krayushkin
Keyword(s):  
Ottoman Empire ◽  
North Africa ◽  
Intellectual Life ◽  
Special Significance ◽  
Cultural Experience ◽  
Cultural Centers ◽  
Arab Muslim ◽  
Direct Spread ◽  
Spiritual Tradition ◽  
Basic Characteristics

Abstract In the 16th and 17th centuries Ottoman Turks conquered most countries of the Middle East and North Africa and reached Vienna. As а result, the power of Istanbul was established in the heterogeneous spaces of the Mediterranean. The seized territories in Europe became part of Dar al-Islam, increasing the area of direct spread of the Arab-Muslim spiritual tradition. In this context, the journey in search for knowledge (rihla) acquired special significance it contributed to the intensification of cultural and intellectual life of the Ottoman society and establishment of its ideological unity. The author examines the materials from the treatises of Medina theologian Muhammad Kibrit, Istanbul explorer Evliya Celebi and Damascus Sufi Abd al-Ghani al-Nablusi, who travelled through the territory of the Ottoman Empire in the 17th century, to explore the main pilgrimage routes and cultural centers of the region. The goal of this article is to analyze the content of civilizational exchange and to identify basic characteristics of new Ottoman cultural experience.

Montaigne on Truth and Skepticism

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jan Miernowski
Keyword(s):  
Good Faith ◽  
Negative Theology ◽  
The World ◽  
Pyrrhonian Skepticism

The incipit of the Essays presents it as a book of good faith. The truthfulness of this claim has traditionally been seriously called into question given how extensively ironic and deeply self-contradictory Montaigne’s text is. In this article I argue that Montaigne’s opening statement about good faith should not be understood as the author’s claim, but rather as a dramatic call addressed to the reader. According to Montaigne, truth is beyond our reach since we deal only with our own “phantasies” about God, the world, and ourselves. Most notably, Montaigne’s Pyrrhonian skepticism, ontologically framed by Cusanus’s negative theology, is also merely a “phantasy.” The solution to such radical epistemological negativity is neither the indefinite irresolution of Montaigne’s discourse nor his resignation to the spontaneous flow of life. The solution may only come from the reader who is asked to trust in a book intended as a “dissimilar sign” of truth.

Philosophy and Theological Rationalism

2021 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 123-144
Author(s):  
Gabriela Tănăsescu ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Natural Science ◽  
Biblical Interpretation ◽  
Critical Reception ◽  
History Of Ideas ◽  
Negative Theology ◽  
History Of

The paper aims to circumscribe, through a specific history of ideas approach, the relevance of Benedict Spinoza’s theological rationalism to the major debate which generated the Early Enlightenment, the radical conception on the new status of philosophy in relation to theology, on libertas philosophandi and rational philosophizing. The main lines of Spinoza’s theological rationalism are sustained as being inspired and encouraged by Hobbes’ “negative theology,” the only theology considered consonant with the “true philosophy.” The paper also indicates the originality of Spinoza’s theological criticism and the reasons under which Hobbes—despite the radicalism of his biblical interpretation and of his thesis of separating the philosophy (natural science) from theology—Hobbes enjoyed an attenuated critical reception compared to that one applied to Spinoza and the “acute” tone of which was set by Leibniz.

Mental illness, personhood, and transcendence: Spiritual and religious assistance in Catholic psychiatric contexts

2021 ◽  
pp. 136346152110596
Author(s):  
Tiago Pires Marques
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Integrative Approach ◽  
Spiritual Needs ◽  
Global Dynamics ◽  
Central Concept ◽  
Psychiatric Institutions ◽  
Whole Person ◽  
Spiritual Tradition ◽  
Catholic Hospital ◽  
Fragmentation Of Care

In recent decades, there have been many calls for the inclusion of spirituality and religion (S/R) in therapeutic contexts. In some contexts, this has been an institutionalized form of spiritual and religious assistance (SRA). This article examines the concepts and practices involved in SRA services at three psychiatric institutions in Portugal, a country with strong Catholic roots but increasing efforts at secularity and recognition of religious diversity. The case of a user who contacted the SRA service allows us to better grasp this new practice in action. Although some SRA practices have similarities with mindfulness, a systematic comparison allows us to explore the links between SRA and the global dynamics related to S/R in mental health and the particularities of Catholic spirituality. In the contexts observed, the transition from the Catholic hospital chaplaincy system to the SRA model is developing through the integration of features of the Catholic spiritual tradition with concepts and practices drawn from the psychology of religious experience. The accompaniment of the ‘whole person’ emerges as the central concept of this form of SRA. Spirituality gains significance as an integrative approach to the subjectivity fragmented by the illness and the fragmentation of care across multiple clinical specialties. Furthermore, the prioritization of the spiritual needs expressed by users suggests that SRA combines well with the individualistic rationales and the technification of care in the field of mental health.

Ontological Perception of Reality in Prose at the Turn of the 19th–20th Centuries (A.P. Chekhov, I.A. Bunin)

2021 ◽  
pp. 263-268
Author(s):  
Victoria T. Zakharova
Keyword(s):  
Remarkable Feature ◽  
Spiritual Tradition ◽  
Nineteenth And Twentieth Centuries

This article is devoted to the study of Chekhov’s and Bunin’s prose at the turn of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, the works in which Russian life is shown through the prism of Orthodox spirituality. It is revealed that the most remarkable feature of the artistic consciousness of these authors is the perception of being in the indivisible integrity of the national religious mentality, defined by the “living life” of the centuries-old spiritual tradition.

‘If I Could Just Touch the Hem of His Garment’

2021 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 20-29
Author(s):  
Chris E.W. Green
Keyword(s):  
Divine Power ◽  
Means Of Grace ◽  
Spiritual Tradition

Abstract This article proposes an ontology and praxis of mediation for the sake of ecumenical dialog, showing that the Pentecostal theological and spiritual tradition does not necessarily deny mediation or challenge its goodness, even if it does decry clericalism and ‘ecclesio-monism’. Instead, Pentecostals hold to confidence in the freedom of God to work however and whenever is best for us, always so that ‘the means of grace’ prove to be more than mere instruments or channels of divine power.

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