Ecclesiology

The Oxford Handbook of Mystical Theology ◽

10.1093/oxfordhb/9780198722380.013.30 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 585-606

Author(s):

Gemma Simmonds

Keyword(s):

Mystical Tradition ◽

The Church

Holiness is as crucial an element within the Church’s authentication as union, universality, apostolic origin, and outward dynamism. This holiness originates not in the Church’s members but in the holiness of the Spirit of God dwelling within the community. The tradition of holiness within the Church is essential to its very life and sustainability and must be viewed within an eschatological perspective that acknowledges the fallen nature of all believers and the reality of sin while affirming that all are called without exception to be faithful to the Spirit alive within the community. The mystical tradition, while including its noted proponents and practitioners, is part of the universal baptismal vocation to holiness. A tension between hierarchy and charism, holiness and authority, has existed since the Church’s foundation. Despite this inevitable tension, where sin abounds universally within the Church so grace also abounds by God’s mercy throughout its history.

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Erfaring av pasjonshistorien til salig liv.

Dansk Teologisk Tidsskrift ◽

10.7146/dtt.v82i3-4.121702 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 82 (3-4) ◽

pp. 121-135

Author(s):

Bernt T. Oftestad

Keyword(s):

Spiritual Care ◽

Religious Life ◽

Eternal Life ◽

Biblical Text ◽

Biblical Narrative ◽

Mystical Tradition ◽

The Reformation ◽

Passion Of Christ ◽

The Church

In the Twin Realms of Denmark-Norway the king was also responsible for the religious life of his subjects. Kirkeritualet [The Church Ritual] of 1685 was an expression of the king’s care for his subjects. It included even guidelines for the priest’s spiritual care for those condemned to death. A “pious repentance”, rooted in the mystical tradition, became an important aspect of Lutheran Christianity following the Reformation. A reckoning with sin, conversion, and the interiorization of faith, following the Order of Salvation, was the path to a new and eternal life. It was by interiorizing the biblical narrative – for those condemned to death, the Passion of Christ – that one took part in such a sanctifying process. The spiritual advisor made the biblical text affective and present, using rhetorical means, in order to transform the heart. After uniting with Christ in the Eucharist the condemned could go to his death on the path to eternal life.

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Spiritual Healing, Sick Kids and the Law: Inequities in the American Healthcare System

American Journal of Law & Medicine ◽

10.1017/s0098858800002847 ◽

2003 ◽

Vol 29 (2-3) ◽

pp. 269-299

Author(s):

Janna C. Merrick

Keyword(s):

Medical Science ◽

Spiritual Healing ◽

Best Interests ◽

Legal Rights ◽

High Tech ◽

Divine Love ◽

Religious Minority ◽

Human Need ◽

East End ◽

The Church

Main Street in Sarasota, Florida. A high-tech medical arts building rises from the east end, the county's historic three-story courthouse is two blocks to the west and sandwiched in between is the First Church of Christ, Scientist. A verse inscribed on the wall behind the pulpit of the church reads: “Divine Love Always Has Met and Always Will Meet Every Human Need.” This is the church where William and Christine Hermanson worshipped. It is just a few steps away from the courthouse where they were convicted of child abuse and third-degree murder for failing to provide conventional medical care for their seven-year-old daughter.This Article is about the intersection of “divine love” and “the best interests of the child.” It is about a pluralistic society where the dominant culture reveres medical science, but where a religious minority shuns and perhaps fears that same medical science. It is also about the struggle among different religious interests to define the legal rights of the citizenry.

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Ideas and Leaders in Contentious Politics: One Parish Priest in El Salvador's Popular Movement

Behavioral and Brain Sciences ◽

10.1017/s0140525x13009862 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 38 (01) ◽

pp. 76-101

Author(s):

PETER M. SANCHEZ

Keyword(s):

Collective Action ◽

El Salvador ◽

Liberation Theology ◽

Contentious Politics ◽

Religious Leaders ◽

Political Movement ◽

Parish Priest ◽

Historical Moment ◽

Resource Mobilisation ◽

The Church

AbstractThis paper examines the actions of one Salvadorean priest – Padre David Rodríguez – in one parish – Tecoluca – to underscore the importance of religious leadership in the rise of El Salvador's contentious political movement that began in the early 1970s, when the guerrilla organisations were only just beginning to develop. Catholic leaders became engaged in promoting contentious politics, however, only after the Church had experienced an ideological conversion, commonly referred to as liberation theology. A focus on one priest, in one parish, allows for generalisation, since scores of priests, nuns and lay workers in El Salvador followed the same injustice frame and tactics that generated extensive political mobilisation throughout the country. While structural conditions, collective action and resource mobilisation are undoubtedly necessary, the case of religious leaders in El Salvador suggests that ideas and leadership are of vital importance for the rise of contentious politics at a particular historical moment.

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