A theological reading of Hilary's ‘autobiographical’ narrative in De Trinitate I.1–19

2006 ◽  
Vol 59 (3) ◽  
pp. 249-262
Author(s):  
Carl Beckwith

Hilary of Poitiers begins his treatise De Trinitate with what appears to be an autobiographical narration of his journey to the Christian faith. Scholars, though taking different approaches to explain this narration, have overlooked its significance for Hilary's treatise. In the following essay, I argue that Book I is a reflection on sources of knowledge about God, the role of faith and reason in theological inquiry, the proper approach to scripture, and the soteriological context of any discussion on the mystery of God. These methodological reflections guide the reader through Hilary's treatise and make Book I crucial to understanding his purpose in De Trinitate.

2016 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-25
Author(s):  
Tarmo Toom

AbstractThis article studies the role of theological preunderstanding in interpreting the text of Scripture in the middle of the fourth century CE. It investigates Hilary of Poitier’s use of Scripture in Trinitarian controversies, his hermeneutical approach in his


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francesco Rigoli

Research has shown that stress impacts on people’s religious beliefs. However, several aspects of this effect remain poorly understood, for example regarding the role of prior religiosity and stress-induced anxiety. This paper explores these aspects in the context of the recent coronavirus emergency. The latter has impacted dramatically on many people’s well-being; hence it can be considered a highly stressful event. Through online questionnaires administered to UK and USA citizens professing either Christian faith or no religion, this paper examines the impact of the coronavirus crisis upon common people’s religious beliefs. We found that, following the coronavirus emergency, strong believers reported higher confidence in their religious beliefs while non-believers reported increased scepticism towards religion. Moreover, for strong believers, higher anxiety elicited by the coronavirus threat was associated with increased strengthening of religious beliefs. Conversely, for non-believers, higher anxiety elicited by the coronavirus thereat was associated with increased scepticism towards religious beliefs. These observations are consistent with the notion that stress-induced anxiety enhances support for the ideology already embraced before a stressful event occurs. This study sheds light on the psychological and cultural implications of the coronavirus crisis, which represents one of the most serious health emergencies in recent times.


Author(s):  
Robert V Randolph ◽  
Hanqing ‘Chevy’ Fang ◽  
Esra Memili ◽  
Dilek Zamantili Nayir

This article will critically analyse the sources and the role of knowledge diversity in informing causation logics in family firms. Family firms rely on knowledge resources from both intra-family and extra-family sources, which may require different approaches to effectively manage. We argue that as family firms acquire greater knowledge diversity, family-centred effectuation processes become limited and they will increasingly rely on formal causation logics to coordinate these resources. However, we expect this relationship to differ when knowledge diversity is sourced from either family or non-family sources. Empirical analyses of 242 small- and medium-sized family firms indicate that knowledge diversity positively affects a firm’s reliance on causation logics, regardless of the source of that diversity. This suggests that the affinity of family firms to leverage effectuation logics may not be characteristic of family firms in general, but instead may be an artefact of firm reliance on knowledge capital concentrated in family owners.


Author(s):  
Rik Van Nieuwenhove

Contemplation, according to Thomas Aquinas, is the central goal of our life; yet a scholarly study on this topic has not appeared for over seventy years. This book fills that obvious gap. From an interdisciplinary perspective this study considers the epistemological and metaphysical foundations of the contemplative act; the nature of the active and contemplative lives in light of Aquinas’s Dominican calling; the role of faith, charity, and the gifts of the Holy Spirit in contemplation; and contemplation and the beatific vision. Key questions addressed are: What is contemplation? What is truth? How can we know God? How do faith and reason relate to one another? How does Aquinas envisage the relations between theology and philosophy? What role does charity play in contemplation? Throughout this book the author argues that Aquinas espouses a profoundly intellective notion of contemplation in the strictly speculative sense, which culminates in a non-discursive moment of insight (intuitus simplex). In marked contrast to his contemporaries Aquinas therefore rejects a sapiential or affective brand of theology. He also employs a broader notion of contemplation, which can be enjoyed by all Christians, in which the gifts of the Holy Spirit are of central importance. This book should appeal to all those who are interested in this key aspect of Aquinas’s thought. It provides a lucid account of central aspects of Aquinas’s metaphysics, epistemology, theology, and spirituality. It also offers new insights into the nature of the theological discipline as Aquinas sees it, and how theology relates to philosophy.


2007 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 63-81
Author(s):  
David Ford

AbstractThis article recognises both the need for wisdom for the flourishing of public life and the value of the contribution that Christian wisdom, founded on Scripture, has to offer. However, this article also notes that the contemporary world is a complexly religious and secular environment, and hence if Christian wisdom is to realise its potential, there is a need for the creation and nurture of attitudes, groups and institutions within which fruitful dialogue between faiths and ideologies in public life can occur. The article observes that Britain currently has a particular opportunity to work towards this kind of wisdom-embracing religious and secular society, and the practice of scriptural reasoning is explored as an exemplary practice that promotes the kind of inter-faith collegiality, collaboration and friendships that enhance public life. Finally, the article offers some brief reflections on Job and the role of wisdom in an authentic and biblical Christian faith.


2021 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 221-238
Author(s):  
Tamara Batalova

Within the framework of Pavel Medvedev’s sociological poetics, the article identifies and studies the features of the narrative in Fyodor Dostoevsky’s Notes from a Dead House, and examines the role of these features in expressing the key idea of this novel, namely the desire of convicts for freedom, for “resurrection from the dead”. From this point of view, the author examines the significance of the narrator’s duality (Goryanchikov and Goryanchikov-Dostoevsky) and the juxtaposition of the characters in the narrative (positive and negative). He also analyzes the compositional function of the XI chapter of the first part of Notes from a Dead House, “Presentation”, in the plot. The Christian faith plays the vital role in the expression of the essential idea of the work. An open-minded attitude to people, a friendly, Christian approach towards them is a distinctive feature of Goryanchikov-Dostoevsky and all the positive characters in the book. Inspired by the celebration of the Nativity of Christ, the convicts staged a theatrical performance, which alters the moral state of both the actors and the audience, fortifies their sense of self-esteem required to resist the prison orders that “deaden” people, and strengthens the prisoners’ desire for freedom, for “resurrection from the dead”. The article concludes that Notes from a Dead House is the beginning of aesthetic and artistic changes that manifested themselves in Dostoevsky’s post-prison works.


2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 38-46
Author(s):  
Mesirawati Waruwu ◽  
Yonatan Alex Arifianto ◽  
Aji Suseno

The limitless development of social media, its meaning and function have begun to shift, no longer as a means of establishing relationships, communication, but at the stage of losing the role of ethics and morals, even disputes have occurred triggered by debates from communicating in social media. The purpose of this study is to describe the role of Christian ethics education in relation to the impact of social media development in the era of disruption. Using descriptive qualitative methods with literature literature can find solutions for believers in facing moral decadence due to social media abuse by knowing the era of disruption and ethical challenges from the wrong use of social media can affect moral decadence so that Christian ethics education on a biblical basis can bring modern humans. Believers in particular have become bright in social media and their use in accordance with Christian faith in this era of disruption.


1992 ◽  
Vol 49 (2) ◽  
pp. 225-238
Author(s):  
Howard Clark Kee

“[T]he vitality of the church is regained when it recovers the revolutionary insights of its founders, Jesus and Paul. In the Protestant Reformation of the sixteenth century and in the renewal movements that have taken place in both Roman Catholic and Protestant circles in the present century, it has been the fresh appropriation of the insights of Jesus and Paul about the inclusiveness of people across ethnic, racial, ritual, social, economic, and sexual boundaries that has restored the relevance and vitality of Christian faith and has lent to Christianity as a social and intellectual movement a positive, humane force in the wider society.”


Author(s):  
Teresa Obolevitch

Chapter 6 shows the presence of the topic of the relationship between faith and science in the thought of the most influential literature figures, such as Fedor Dostoevsky and Lev Tolstoy. Although Dostoevsky stressed the role of faith, his account by no means was a mere fideism. Dostoevsky respected natural science, even if he definitively marked the limits of the scientific explanation. Hence, he strove for an integral attitude embracing faith and reason in a single spiritual unity. By contrast, Lev Tolstoy was concerned about the absolute comprehensibility and rational obviousness of Christian truths, yet denied the significance of natural science.


Author(s):  
Teresa Obolevitch

Chapter 3 is dedicated to the so-called academic philosophy which was a unique Russian phenomenon. Russian theological academies were the place of the development of philosophical investigations, including those connected with the question of the role of science for theology. The proponents of this way of philosophizing elaborated the interesting project of the so-called scientific and natural apologetics which enabled them to protect religion from atheist attacks. Academy professors interpreted particular scientific theories in the spirit of the reconciliation between faith and reason, which they broadcast, although that position often existed at the expense of not abiding by the competence of science and subordinating its facts to the unbending dogmas of Christianity.


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