scholarly journals Symbolika księżyca w Enarrationes in psalmos św. Augustyna

Vox Patrum ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 69 ◽  
pp. 735-753
Author(s):  
Brunon Zgraja

The present article proves that Augustine, explaining in Enarrationes in Psal­mos the texts of Psalms, does not treat references occurig in them, to the moon merely as a part of the descriptions of beauty of the created world, but tries to perceive in it a hidden meaning, the disclosure of which serves the interpreation of different theological questions. For the bishop of Hippo, the moon is a meta­phor of God the Creator, of Christ, of the Church and of the human being. With reference to God the Creator, the moon is to remind Christians, that God creating everything as being good and beautiful, He himself is the Good and the Beauty. Furthermore, the motive of the moon is to point to God’s self-sufficiency, his freedom and independence. The moon as metaphor of Christ, in turn, allows to perceive in Him the true God who, through the event of Incarnation, revealed to the human being the eternal plan of salvation. The ecclesiological dimension of the symbolism of the moon, however, introduces the concept of the beginnings of the Church, points out to its persecutions and to the presence of sinful people in it. What’s more, the moon-Church is the mystical Body of Christ and Christi s its Head. It is, furthermore, a Glorious Church that will be reigning with Christ for ever. Through the antropological dimension of the figure of the moon, Augustine exposes to the listeners of his sermons the truth about human fragility, corporality and mortality, moral inconstancy and a necessity for gaining more and more per­fection with the suport of the Holy Spirit. The moon is salso to direct the human thinking at the truth of resurrection.

Author(s):  
Tom Greggs

This chapter examines Bonhoeffer’s account of the church and advocates that throughout Bonhoeffer’s corpus there remains a desire to explicate the reality of the church in terms of its structural being with and for the other. This structure exists both internally in terms of its members’ relation to each other, and externally as the church relates as a corporate body to the world. The chapter considers Bonhoeffer’s ecclesiological method; the visibility of the church; vicarious representation; the church as the body of Christ; the agency of the Holy Spirit; preaching, the sacraments, and the offices of the church; and the question of the church in a religionless age.


Vox Patrum ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 59 ◽  
pp. 113-127
Author(s):  
Agnieszka Bastit-Kalinowska

Although Peter seems to echo the opinion commonly held when he says that Jesus „went about doing good” (Act 10, 38), Jesus was accused of „casting out demons by Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons” (Mt 12, 24). In answer, he pro­poses a very short parable, the one of the „Strong one” tied up to seize his goods (Mt 12, 29). The present article studies the influence of this verse in the early Christian literature. The victory of the Saviour over evil is interpreted as the result of a cosmic fight (Origen) or as the merciful redemption of the human being and his restoration and vivification by the Holy Spirit (Irenaeus).


2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (14) ◽  
pp. 92-97
Author(s):  
Edvica POPA ◽  

The notion of divine image is generously described by the patristic literature, each of the authors trying to identify the content of this special characteristic of human being, considered (in different positions) the defining element of the created rational being, indicating the possibility of opening to God not through something external, but from the inside of the human being. Since when they speak of God, the Church Fathers do not consider the reality of the one being, but that of the three persons, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, as well as when the question of the image of God is raised, they emphasize that this the image by which human nature is conformed is the image of the Son, or the image of the Word. In this article I set out to draw some points on this patristic feature of the Eastern Fathers.


Author(s):  
Minggus M. Pranoto

Abstract This article highlights a critical question: why is Pentecostal-Charismatic leadership vulnerable to various scandals? This model of leadership often exposes the dark side of leadership characterized by the issues of money, sex, and power. This study suggests that Pentecostal-Charismatic leaders are often trapped in the model of personalized charismatic leadership that is based on misinterpretation of the doctrine of being Spirit-filled. The method used in this article is that of practical theology relating the framework of socialized charismatic leadership to the theological concept of the church (ekklesia) as the body of Christ and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit.   Abstrak Tulisan ini menyoroti pertanyaan kritis: mengapa kepemimpinan Pentakostal-Karismatik rentan terkena berbagai skandal? Model kepemimpinan ini acap kali memunculkan sisi gelap kepemimpinan yang ditandai oleh masalah-masalah keuangan, seksual, dan kekuasaan. Kajian ini mengungkapkan bahwa para pemimpin Pentakostal-Karismatik seringkali terjebak dalam model personalized charismatic leadership yang didasari oleh penafsiran yang keliru atas doktrin being Spirit-filled. Metode tulisan ini termasuk dalam ranah teologi praktis yang mengaitkan kerangka berpikir socialized charismatic leadership dengan konsep teologis tentang gereja (ekklesia) sebagai tubuh Kristus dan persekutuan Roh Kudus.


2019 ◽  
Vol 76 (1) ◽  
pp. 17-25
Author(s):  
Terri Martinson Elton ◽  
Richard Osmer

Confirmation is a ministry aimed at strengthening young people's understanding of faith, deepening their experience in Christian community, and equipping them to discern their calling to join in God's mission in the world. As the church engages in confirmation, young people encounter the gospel anew and congregations bear witness to the redemptive love of God and the covenant of grace into which all Christians are baptized. Learning from and with each other, within and across denominations, enhances confirmation as a discipleship ministry for young people. But it does more than that. As the body of Christ comes together to help young people encounter the gospel anew, lives are changed and become open to the Holy Spirit. Embracing our call to share the gospel and cultivate faith within young people not only serves the church today, it invests in the future.


2014 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 73-101
Author(s):  
Constantin Prihoancă

Abstract This article is a critical engagement with D. Stăniloae’s and J. Ratzinger’s ecclesiological thought as shaped by the description of church as the body of Christ and the Trinitarian roots of this ecclesiology. Starting from practical problems of prayer and living a Christian life, the authors argue that God’s relationship to the Christian community has primacy over God’s relationship to individual believers. When one conceives of the Christian community as being the body of Christ, one can uphold the elevated Christian ideal of Eucharist Communio without making it unattainable. The authors show that the being of the church is given to the Christian community not as a possession or property, but as a task to be fulfilled through the power of Christ and of the Holy Spirit. One can discover that in becoming the church, the Christian community is elevated to the Trinitarian life in communion. Communion ecclesiology has the potential to bridge the divide between the Orthodox and Catholic churches.


Author(s):  
Adelajda Sielepin

Terminology and metaphors of space in liturgy The goal of the following study is to present the vocabulary denoting space and their meaning in the Mystery of Christ and the Church as applied in liturgy. The investiga-tion is based on the liturgical texts, mainly the euchologies of the Missal of Paul VI and the Marian Missal. First several basic terms indicating God’s dwelling were an-alysed, which evince the fact of God’s intention and actual coming to individuals and making them His home and temple. Another point was to establish and specify certain factors contributing to creating the holy space of God’s and human encounter. Two kinds of such were distinguished: pneumatological and initiational. Both prove, that becoming God’s dwelling is a process of assuming an adequate attitude of heart and requiring the intervention of the Holy Spirit. The last section of the article was dedicated to some selected, most popular theological and existentional equivalents of liturgical space, such as: faith, liturgy, Word of God, silence, which are of great importance in establishing and maintaining the Mystery of God and man happening in temporality. It is worth noticing that all analysed words and phrases confirm the fact that, this is God, who is inclined to dwell in human beings and that through the Mystery of Incarnation He has inhabited human nature, and sustains His presence through Christ in the Holy Spirit in liturgy, mainly in the Eucharist. The unique at-tribute of Christianity lies in this incarnational aspect of God’s location, sacramental spatiality. Mary, Mother of God was the first, who experienced this grace, and re-mains the impeccable model for every single being called for being God’s dwelling. Therefore the majority of the studied material was taken from the Marian euchologies. Terminology of space in liturgy is entirely metaphorical, and eventually refers to God and to a human being, as announced by the Johannine idioms of communion in the Fourth Gospel.


2000 ◽  
Vol 60 (237) ◽  
pp. 76
Author(s):  
Antônio Alves de Melo

A Igreja deve ser aberta à massa ou acolher apenas minorias? Esta é a pergunta que inspira o presente artigo. Em resposta a ela, o autor entra numa série de questões; massa e minorias como componentes da condição humana; a acolhida, o espaço e a compreensão histórica para a pertença da massa e das minorias à Igreja; a relatividade da diferença entre o herói, o santo, o gênio e as pessoas comuns; o fundamento desta relatividade na vocação universal à santidade. Da pertença da massa e das minorias à Igreja se origina a figura da Igreja composta de círculos concêntricos a se movimentarem irregularmente em relação ao centro, que é Jesus Cristo presente no Espírito. A pertença à Igreja se dá através de uma grande diversidade de realizações, o que desafia a ação pastoral a uma maior elasticidade e a uma maior criatividade, de modo que massa e minorias sejam atingidas por ela. A pastoral de massa no Brasil requer, de modo particular, a articu-lação entre as redes de comunidades e o catolicismo popular.Abstract: Must the Church be open to the masses or welcome only minori- ties? This question inspires the present article. In oíder to answer it, the Autor addresses a series of subjects: masses and minorities as components of human condition; the welcome, the space and the historical understandingfor the Church membership of masses and minorities; the relativity of the difference between the heroe, the saint, the genius and ordinary people; the rootedness of this relativity in the universal call to holiness. From the Church membership of the masses and minorities arises the image of a Church made up of concentric circles that move irregularly in relation to the center, which is Jesus Christ present in the Holy Spirit. Church membership happens through many different forms; and this challenges the pastoral work to a greater resilience and a greater creativity, so that masses and minorities be attained by this work. The pastoral of masses in Brazil requires particularly an articulation between the networks of communities and popular catholicism.


2006 ◽  
Vol 59 (2) ◽  
pp. 140-158
Author(s):  
Steffen Lösel

Recent ecumenical dialogues have focused on the question of ecclesiastical offices. At the heart of this debate lies the question of how to relate the Holy Spirit's guidance of the church to its structures. Two alternative visions frame the debate. The Roman Catholic Church insists on the authority of the church's teaching office, as the channel through which the Holy Spirit guides the church. In contrast, Protestant churches emphasize the self-sufficiency of scripture, the normative function of the Gospel vis-à-vis the church, and the freedom of the Holy Spirit in, with, and over against all ecclesiastical structures. My essay engages this ecumenical debate through fundamental ecclesiological reflections on the relation between the Holy Spirit on the one hand, and the scriptural witness and ecclesial authority on the other. I argue that no ecclesial structure must be identified undialectically with the voice of the Holy Spirit, but that the church must discern the guidance of the Spirit in the context of the Christian assembly, as it emerges ever anew from the “gaps” left open in the assembly's juxtapositions of texts, bath, and shared meal. In order to develop my thesis, I first retrieve Karl Barth's christological foundation of ecclesiology, his definition of divine freedom over against the church, and his introduction of scripture as the critical principle for the church's permanently needed self-reform. Second, I discuss Walter Kasper's insistence on the incarnational and sacramental nature of the church and his threefold understanding of the church's apostolicity in terms of succession, tradition, and communion. Finally, I develop Gordon Lathrop's reading of the Christian assembly of worship in terms of liturgical juxtapositions for my ecclesiastical purposes.


2016 ◽  
Vol 50 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian A. DeVries

This article examines the use of spiritual gifts for church growth, particularly in relation to the sovereign work of the Holy Spirit. The article begins with a definition of spiritual gifts and by highlighting their purpose for growing the church. This is followed by two practical considerations: How should Christian believers use spiritual gifts for church growth, and how should church leaders motivate gift use for this purpose? Since the Holy Spirit works though believers to build up the body of Christ, advocates of biblical church growth should seek to employ his means to motivate spiritual giftedness in the church.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document