The Exhortation to Candidates for Ascetical Vows at Baptism in the Ancient Syriac Church

1974 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 59-80 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Murray
Keyword(s):  
Nag Hammadi ◽  
The Core ◽  
Married People ◽  
Jewish Christianity ◽  
Subsequent Discussion ◽  
Basic Concepts ◽  
The Church ◽  
The Way

Throughout the present century historians of Christian asceticism, especially in the Syriac-speaking area, have returned repeatedly to the problem posed by a passage in Aphrahat's seventh Demonstration, the natural implication of which seems to be that in his day baptism was reserved for those who consecrated themselves to Christ in virginity or by renouncing marital intercourse, to become members of the ‘Covenant’ (qyāmâ) which was evidently regarded as the core or heart of the Church. The question was raised provocatively by F. C. Burkitt (1899, 1904) and taken up by R. H. Connolly, with an intervening reply by Burkitt, in 1905–7. Connolly rightly argued that by Aphrahat's time (fl. 336–45) married people must have been regarded as members of the Church, and that the ‘penitents’ discussed by Aphrahat were Christians who had ‘fallen’ after baptism, but he overplayed his hand in identifying the Bnay Qyāmâ simply as ‘monks’. An undertone of denominational controversy remained throughout the subsequent discussion, continued by (among others) H. Koch (1911), K. Müller (1927) and E.J. Duncan (1945). It was A. Vööbus who showed the way out of the impasse by his perceptive suggestion that the exhortation in Dem. VII is a liturgical text which had survived into Aphrahat's day but whose restrictive implications were no longer in force. At the same time, under the powerful impetus of the discoveries of the Qumran, Nag Hammadi and Manichaean documents, with consequently increasing understanding of early Jewish Christianity in its many varieties, and realization that Syrian asceticism was not derivative from Egypt but probably earlier, the basic concepts and terminology of asceticism were being studied anew by A. Adam, E. Beck, G. Kretschmar, P. Nagel, M. Black, J. Gribomont, A. Guillaumont and others. Study of early Syriac asceticism continues, as is shown by G. Nedungatt's recent articles but there still remains more to be done to follow up Vööbus's hint about the genre of the exhortation quoted by Aphrahat in Dem. VII.

The Myth of a Descending-Ascending Redeemer in Mediterranean Antiquity

1976 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 418-440 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles H. Talbert
Keyword(s):  
Fourth Gospel ◽  
Church Fathers ◽  
Nag Hammadi ◽  
The Church ◽  
The Way

In spite of its popularity, the contention that the Christian conception of Jesus as a descending-ascending saviour figure was derived from the gnostic redeemer myth faces serious problems. Three are widely noted; another needs attention. (I) The sources from which our knowledge of the gnostic myth comes are late: e.g. the Naassene hymn, the hymn of the Pearl, the Mandean materials, the Manichean evidence, the accounts in the church fathers, and the Nag Hammadi documents. Sources from Chenoboskion like the Paraphrase of Shem, the Apocalypse of Adam, and the Second Logos of the Great Seth do contain a myth of a redeemer that is only superficially christianized. Hence the gnostics may not have derived their myth from Christians. It does not follow, however, either that Christians got it from gnostics or that it is pre-Christian. (2) A redeemer myth is not essential to gnosticism. Though gnosticism may contain a redeemer myth (e.g. the Naassene hymn), it may exist without one. In Carpocrates' system, for example, Jesus' soul remembered what it had seen in its circuit with the unbegotten God. The Ophites in Origen'sAgainst Celsusknow of no descending-ascending redeemer. They look to an earthly being who fetches gnosis from heaven. InPoimandres, the writer is the recipient of a vision in rapture. He then teaches the way of salvation. Indeed, the proto-gnosticism of Paul's opponents in I Corinthians apparently did not contain a redeemer myth. Such evidence demands that a distinction be drawn between two issues: (a) whether or not there was a pre-Christian gnosticism, and (b) whether or not there was a pre-Christian gnostic redeemer myth. Since a redeemer myth is not constitutive for gnosticism, the existence of a pre-Christian gnosis is no guarantee for the presence of a gnostic redeemer myth. (3) In the Christian sources where the gnostic myth has been assumed to be influential (e.g. the Fourth Gospel), there is no ontological identity between Christ and the believers as in gnosticism. There is, in the Christian writings, no pre-existence of the soul or redeemed redeemer. Given these difficulties, why the attractiveness of the gnostic hypothesis?

scholarly journals Demistifikasie van die metafoor “die kerk as bruid”

2007 ◽  
Vol 63 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Annelie Botha ◽  
Yolanda Dreyer
Keyword(s):  
Human Beings ◽  
Women's Lives ◽  
The Church ◽  
Culture And Language ◽  
The Way

Demystification of the methaphor “the church as bride” Because of the important role language, imagery and metaphors plays in the lives of human beings, it is necessary to explore the origins and implications of metaphors that could be potentially harmful to the quality of women’s lives. The metaphor that is the focus of this article, is that of “the church as bride”. This metaphor is an example of how metaphors and language have an impact on women’s self-understanding and subject quality of their lives. It is an example of how patriarchal structures, culture and language affect the lives of women. In a follow-up article the way in which this metaphor is used in the marriage formulary of the Nederduitsch Hervormde Church of Africa is investigated. This formulary is specifically based on Ephesians 5:21-33 in which the metaphor of “the church as bride” is found.

AUX FONDEMENTS DE L’INSTITUTION ECCLÉSIALE: LA POSITION DE SAINT PIERRE PARMI LES APÔTRES (MT 16, 13–20) ET SON RETENTISSEMENT Á L’ÉPOQUE APOSTOLIQUE ET PATRISTIQUE

2016 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 91-105
Author(s):  
Jacek Wojda
Keyword(s):  
Special Role ◽  
Church Community ◽  
Special Place ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Church ◽  
The Way

Big activity passed Popes, with the least Francis Bergoglio, is a question about receptiontheir lives and action, especially in times of modern medium broadcasting. Sometimes presentedcontent could be treated as sensation, and their receptiveness deprived of profound historical andtheological meaning. This article depends of beginnings of the Church, when it started to organizeitself, with well known historically-theological arguments. Peter confessed Jesus as the Christ andgot special place among Apostles. His role matures in young Church community, which is escapingfrom Jewish religion.Peter tramps the way from Jerusalem thru Antioch to Rome, confirming his appointing to thefirst among Apostles and to being Rock in the Church. Nascent Rome Church keeps this specialPeter’s succession. Clement, bishop of Rome, shows his prerogatives as a successor of Peter. Later,bishop of Cartagena, Cyprian, confirms special role both Peter and each bishop of Rome amongother bishops. He also was finding appropriate role for each of them. Church institution, basedon Peter and Apostles persists and shows truth of the beginnings and faithfulness to them innowadays papacy.Methodological elements Presented in the introduction let for the lecture of Gospel and patristictexts without positivistic prejudices presented in old literature of the subject.

‘To wise for a woman’

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicola Clark
Keyword(s):  
Marital Problems ◽  
The Core ◽  
The Family ◽  
Made In ◽  
The Way

While there were clear strategic aims in the way that marriages were made in the Howard dynasty during this period, the family was only unusual in that it operated at the very top of the aristocratic hierarchy and was therefore able to use marital alliances to successfully recover and bolster both status and finances. Where they were different, however, was in the experience of some of these women within marriage. By and large, the marriages made by and for members of the family, including women, seem to have been as successful as others of their class. However, three women close to the core of the dynasty experienced severe marital problems, even ‘failed’ marriages, almost simultaneously during the 1520s and 1530s. The records generated by these episodes tell us about the way in which the family operated as a whole, and the agency of women in this context, and this chapter therefore reconstructs these disputes for this purpose.

Systematicity and Normative Justification

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kevin Thompson
Keyword(s):  
Political Philosophy ◽  
Unique Form ◽  
The Core ◽  
The Creation ◽  
Normative Justification ◽  
The Way

This chapter examines systematicity as a form of normative justification. Thompson’s contention is that the Hegelian commitment to fundamental presuppositionlessness and hence to methodological immanence, from which his distinctive conception of systematicity flows, is at the core of the unique form of normative justification that he employs in his political philosophy and that this is the only form of such justification that can successfully meet the skeptic’s challenge. Central to Thompson’s account is the distinction between systematicity and representation and the way in which this frames Hegel’s relationship to the traditional forms of justification and the creation of his own distinctive kind of normative argumentation.

The Doctrine of the Sacraments

2019 ◽  
pp. 239-251
Author(s):  
Gordon S. Mikoski
Keyword(s):  
Digital Age ◽  
Word Of God ◽  
Holy Communion ◽  
Christian Initiation ◽  
The Core ◽  
Reformed Church ◽  
The Church

This chapter maps the essential contours and points of dialogue or contention pertaining to the sacraments among Presbyterian denominations. First, the chapter examines the distinctively Presbyterian understanding of sacraments in general. The chapter then explores in detail the theological meaning and practices of the two Presbyterian sacraments: baptism and Holy Communion. For Presbyterians, baptism serves as the rite of Christian initiation. The chapter also explains why Presbyterians practice paedobaptism. While baptism is for Presbyterians the sacrament of initiation into the church, the sacrament of Holy Communion is at the core of the church’s corporate life and work. The chapter next examines several contemporary issues related to the sacraments for Presbyterians. In the spirit of “the Reformed church always being reformed according to the Word of God,” the chapter concludes by posing several provocative questions for Presbyterian denominations and the sacraments in the digital age.

scholarly journals A framework for the evaluation of patients with congenital facial weakness

2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Bryn D. Webb ◽  
Irini Manoli ◽  
Elizabeth C. Engle ◽  
Ethylin W. Jabs
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Counseling ◽  
Genetic Testing ◽  
Patient Population ◽  
Clinical Care ◽  
Diagnostic Algorithm ◽  
Accurate Diagnosis ◽  
Facial Weakness ◽  
The Core ◽  
Follow Up Studies

AbstractThere is a broad differential for patients presenting with congenital facial weakness, and initial misdiagnosis unfortunately is common for this phenotypic presentation. Here we present a framework to guide evaluation of patients with congenital facial weakness disorders to enable accurate diagnosis. The core categories of causes of congenital facial weakness include: neurogenic, neuromuscular junction, myopathic, and other. This diagnostic algorithm is presented, and physical exam considerations, additional follow-up studies and/or consultations, and appropriate genetic testing are discussed in detail. This framework should enable clinical geneticists, neurologists, and other rare disease specialists to feel prepared when encountering this patient population and guide diagnosis, genetic counseling, and clinical care.

Kierkegaard, Metaphysics, and Love

2013 ◽  
Vol 2013 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
George Pattison
Keyword(s):  
Sense Of Self ◽  
The Self ◽  
The Other ◽  
Gabriel Marcel ◽  
The Core ◽  
The Dead ◽  
Alternative Reading ◽  
The Way

AbstractNoting Heidegger’s critique of Kierkegaard’s way of relating time and eternity, the paper offers an alternative reading of Kierkegaard that suggests Heidegger has overlooked crucial elements in the Kierkegaardian account. Gabriel Marcel and Sharon Krishek are used to counter Heidegger’s minimizing of the deaths of others and to show how the deaths of others may become integral to our sense of self. This prepares the way for revisiting Kierkegaard’s discourse on the work of love in remembering the dead. Against the criticism that this reveals the absence of the other in Kierkegaardian love, the paper argues that, on the contrary, it shows how Kierkegaard conceives the self as inseparable from the core relationships of love that, despite of death, constitute it as the self that it is.

scholarly journals Die roeping van die kerk

2013 ◽  
Vol 69 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jaco Beyers
Keyword(s):  
The World ◽  
God's Call ◽  
The Church ◽  
The Way

The calling of the church. The question as to the calling of the church is not a practical but a theological issue. The church can easily keep itself busy with activities that seem important. However, are these activities really the motivation behind God’s call to the church? This article investigates the calling of the church as perceived from various relationships: church and world, church and culture and church and church. Church and world addresses the age-old argument that the church is in the world but not of the world. The church does have an obligation in the world towards politics and ecology. Another factor addressed in the article is the way in which the church copes with the secularised society. Regarding culture, the premise is that the church has no obligation towards culture. Culture merely becomes a means to an end for the church. The church wants to exist in a ‘free culture’, as Barth suggests. When discussing the calling of the church, an ecclesiology of some sorts is in fact presented. This is reflected in the paragraph on church and church. The church is always seen in relationship with God’s intention with the community He assembles. This might be the true calling of the church: to be a community that calls others to community.

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