Contextualizing the Muslim Other in Medieval Christian Discourse

2011 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Christian Discourse

Inherited Crypts of the Wife/Mother: Ang Lee's Hulk Meets Zechariah 5:5–11 in Contemporary Apocalyptic Discourse

2006 ◽  
Vol 14 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 127-142
Author(s):  
Erin Runions
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
The Political ◽  
Biblical Text ◽  
Repetition Compulsion ◽  
Biblical Allusion ◽  
Letting Go ◽  
Conservative Christian ◽  
Conservative Christians ◽  
Christian Discourse ◽  
Lost Object

AbstractThis paper puts the political concerns expressed by secular apocalypse in Ang Lee's Hulk (2003) into conversation with the political concerns expressed by religious apocalypse in conservative Christian discourse. The film sets a revised version of the Akedah, in which the wife/mother is killed instead of the son, at the heart of its plot and of its critique of U.S. foreign policy. Set within Lee's apocalyptic analysis of repressed trauma, this quasi-biblical allusion points toward the repeating biblical tradition of the murdered wife/mother. One such repetition of this originary trauma can be found in what Diana Edelman has argued to be Yahweh's murder of his wife Asherah in Zechariah 5:5-11, a text which can be read in the same psychoanalytic terms that the film evokes. Both film and text represent the missed encounter of trauma and the entombment of the lost love object. In both film and text, the lost object, the mother, is entombed, encrypted and forgotten. But because this proto-apocalyptic text is one that conservative Christians take up in their defence of the war on Iraq as the precursor to the doomed Whore of Babylon, this text, uncannily, brings the film into contact with its religious apocalyptic roots. But where the biblical text is read in ways that only increase a violent repetition compulsion, the film models mourning and letting go as a way of working through the trauma. Thus, the film offers an alternate way of reading the biblical text in culture.

scholarly journals Exile and Petrarch’s Reinvention of Authorship

2016 ◽  
Vol 69 (4) ◽  
pp. 1217-1256 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laurence E. Hooper
Keyword(s):  
Literary Creation ◽  
Christian Discourse

AbstractThis article demonstrates a systematic connection between the novelty of Petrarch’s authorship and his self-definition as an exile. Petrarch employs the unusual termexilium/esilioto substantiate his unprecedented claim that literature is a legally validofficium(civic role). Following Dante, Petrarch grounds his exilic authorship in the Christian discourse ofperegrinatio:life as pilgrimage through exile. But Petrarch’s newofficiumallows him a measure of control over literary creation that no prior Italian writer had enjoyed. This is especially true of the “Canzoniere,” Petrarch’s compilation of his vernacular lyrics, whose singularity functions as a proxy for its author’s selfhood.

scholarly journals “Whatever gain I had ...”: Ethnicity and Paul’s self-identification in Philippians 3:5-6

2008 ◽  
Vol 64 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dennis Duling
Keyword(s):  
Rhetorical Criticism ◽  
Early Christian ◽  
Ethical Norms ◽  
Christian Discourse

This study is not an exercise in Vernon Robbin’s groundbreaking socio-rhetorical criticism as put forth in his impressive The Tapestry of Early Christian Discourse and Exploring the Texture of Texts. It does have much in common with his “social and cultural texture”. It also touches “inner texture” in relation to Paul’s implied argument, “intratexture” with respect to the implied importance of scripture for Paul, and “ideological texture” in relation to Paul’s statements about the righteousness of God, millennial hopes, and ethical norms in contrast with his ethnic identify. These suggestions only scratch the surface of possibilities for using socio-rhetorical criticism to interpret ethnicity in Philippians. Social-rhetorical critics, I trust, will see even more socio-rhetorical potential for this subject than I have mentioned. Indeed, I hope that it stimulates such analysis.

scholarly journals Misreading and re-reading: interpretation in comparative religion

1999 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 87-98
Author(s):  
René Gothóni
Keyword(s):  
Subject Matter ◽  
The Other ◽  
Personal Beliefs ◽  
The Social ◽  
Marco Polo ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Holistic Conception ◽  
Sinhalese Buddhism ◽  
The Buddha ◽  
Christian Discourse

Religion should no longer only be equated with a doctrine or philosophy which, although important, is but one aspect or dimension of the phenomenon religion. Apart from presenting the intellectual or rational aspects of Buddhism, we should aim at a balanced view by also focusing on the mythical or narrative axioms of the Buddhist doctrines, as well as on the practical and ritual, the experiential and emotional, the ethical and legal, the social and institutional, and the material and artistic dimensions of the religious phenomenon known as Buddhism. This will help us to arrive at a balanced, unbiased and holistic conception of the subject matter. We must be careful not to impose the ethnocentric conceptions of our time, or to fall into the trap of reductionism, or to project our own idiosyncratic or personal beliefs onto the subject of our research. For example, according to Marco Polo, the Sinhalese Buddhists were 'idolaters', in other words worshippers of idols. This interpretation of the Sinhalese custom of placing offerings such as flowers, incense and lights before the Buddha image is quite understandable, because it is one of the most conspicuous feature of Sinhalese Buddhism even today. However, in conceiving of Buddhists as 'idolaters', Polo was uncritically using the concept of the then prevailing ethnocentric Christian discourse, by which the worshippers of other religions used idols, images or representations of God or the divine as objects of worship, a false God, as it were. Christians, on the other hand, worshipped the only true God.

scholarly journals An Orthodox perspective on hamartology and ecology: Assessing John Chryssavgis’ contribution to current discourse

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Newton Cloete
Keyword(s):  
Theological Reflection ◽  
Ecological Crisis ◽  
Current Debate ◽  
Contemporary Debate ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Concise Overview ◽  
Christian Understanding ◽  
Christian Discourse

This article is a sequel to my earlier paper entitled ‘Hamartology and Ecology: An assessment of Aruna Gnanadason’s contribution to the contemporary debate’. Christian ecotheology presents a Christian critique of ecological destruction while also offering an ecological critique of Christianity. It entails a reinterpretation of all the classic Christian symbols, in this case the doctrine of sin, specifically the nature of sin, explored in the light of ecological discourse. Considering the contemporary ecological crisis, this article highlights Orthodox theologian John Chryssavgis’ contribution to the current debate. Following a concise overview on Christian discourse on ecology, as well as the Christian understanding of the nature of sin and the ways in which it is re-described in contemporary ecotheological terms, this article explores John Chryssavgis’ position on ecotheological discourse through a discussion of anthropocentrism, domination in the name of differences of species, consumerist greed, alienation of humans from the earth community as well as denial and disdain. The Orthodox tradition is an important factor in the formulation of his ecotheology. The method employed here encompasses ecclesial scrutiny, namely Chryssavgis’ assessment of the Christian tradition’s role in contributing to the contemporary crisis, followed by theological reflection on his interpretations of ecological sin and finally, alternative courses of action to appropriately address the issues in question. In closing, the article offers an assessment of Chryssavgis’ overall contribution to current ecotheological discourse.

scholarly journals Disease and the Christian Discourse of Jewish Death in "De Excidio Hierosolymitano" 5, 2

Vox Patrum ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 78 ◽  
pp. 157-182
Author(s):  
Carson Bay
Keyword(s):  
Fourth Century ◽  
Major Aspect ◽  
History Of ◽  
Christian Discourse

The late-fourth century work called On the Destruction of Jerusalem (De Excidio Hierosolymitano), or “Pseudo-Hegesippus”, records the history of the Roman-Jewish War (66-73 CE) and particularly the destruction of Jerusalem and its Temple by the Romans in 70 CE. As a Christian version of this history based largely upon Flavius Josephus’ earlier Jewish War, De Excidio understands himself to be telling the story of the effective death of the Jews in history. One major aspect of this narrative, I argue, is a discourse of Jewish disease, wherein Ps-Hegesippus portrays the Jews as “sick” with the plague of civil insurrection and sedition. But this discourse goes much further as well, cutting to the very core of De Excidio’s narrative logic. Here I argue that this discourse of Jewish disease finds its most powerful expression in one particular chapter of the work, Book 5, Chapter 2. I show that De Excidio 5.2 epitomizes the work’s rhetoric of Jewish contagion, which can nevertheless be traced throughout the entirety of the work.

scholarly journals BEAR WITNESS: Dua Wacana Tentang Kesaksian Dan Kebenaran

2015 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 60
Author(s):  
Karen Campbell Nelson
Keyword(s):  
Transitional Justice ◽  
Feminist Theology ◽  
Legal Discourse ◽  
Women's Experience ◽  
Judicial Discourse ◽  
History Of ◽  
Multiple Meanings ◽  
Christian Discourse ◽  
Bear Witness

The meaning of testimony and truth play an important role in both a legal/judicial discourse and a religious, particularly Christian discourse. I trace the history of testimony in legal discourse, beginning with the Hammurabi Code and its influence on ancient legal codes of Mesopotamia, including that found in the Pentateuch and continue with a discussion of multiple meanings of testimony in Augustine and French philosopher, Paul Ricœur that begin to lay the groundwork for bridging the two discourses. Contributions from feminist theology, particularly the validation of women’s experience as a source of theology, the role of immanence, and the shift from understandings of power as “power over” to “power with” as well as a transitional justice framework help make the case for dialog between these two discourses so they can enhance and strengthen each other. I include in sections of the article my own narrative to accent the theme of testimony. Keywords: Kesaksian, kebenaran, konteks hukum, pengadilan, konteks iman, hermeneutik.

scholarly journals "Uw lijden is mijn' pijne."

1970 ◽  
Vol 62 ◽  
pp. 251-271
Author(s):  
Christophe Van der Vorst
Keyword(s):  
Literary Work ◽  
Church Fathers ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Christian Discourse

The long consolatory poem for the blind, Ooghentroost, written by the Dutchseventeenth-century poet, Constantijn Huygens, looks like an intricate webof dialogues. The text is first of all a letter from Huygens to Lucretia vanTrello, an older friend of the author who suffered from cataract. One canregard this poem also as a collection of links between the lines in Dutch andthe margin of the poem, a subtext of references to the oeuvres of diverseauthorities such as playwrights (Euripides, Seneca, ... ), philosophers (Plato,Cicero, ... ), poets (Homer, Ovid, ... ), Church Fathers and the Bible. In thispaper I examine one specific dialogue - a conversation between Huygens andLucius Annaeus Seneca. Huygens frequently refers to Seneca's philosophicaland literary work but his entretien with the Roman writer is not in the leastunproblematic. To fit Seneca's stoic ideas into his own Christian discourse onthose who are morally blind the poet cannot but manipulate the words of hisillustrious interlocutor.

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