A Hermeneutical Challenge in the Fight against hiv and aids in the Johane Marange Apostolic Church

Exchange ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 42 (3) ◽  
pp. 252-266 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard Tafara Nenge

Abstract This paper addresses the unique religious beliefs and practices of a prominent church in Zimbabwe, the Johane Marange Apostolic church. The Johane Marange Apostolic Church resists internationally accepted biomedical practices and social-cultural interventions in the fight against hiv and aids. The church resists these practices and interventions primarily because of its traditional Biblical interpretation. This paper argues that the church’s rejection of biomedicine and its promotion of deleterious marriage practices hamper Zimbabwe’s fight against aids. It advocates for a paradigm shift in the religious beliefs and practices of the Johane Marange Apostolic church including the valuing of girls’ and women’s education as part of the solution to overcome aids.

1938 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 231-246 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Minton Batten

The Negro church presents an important field of investigation to students of American social history. Many slaves found in Christianity a substitute for primitive African religious beliefs and practices and a source for the satisfaction of their religious longings. The churches offered to the American Negro his first opportunities for participation in organized group life in a new environment. Experience in church organization and activity trained thousands of slaves for the larger fields of effort which were opened to them after emancipation. Approximately one-tenth of the present total membership of the American churches belongs to this race. For more than three centuries the church has served as the most important factor in typing the institutions and ideals of our largest minority racial group.


2018 ◽  
pp. 335-345
Author(s):  
Gohar Sergeyi Mkoyan

This article discusses the level of preservation of religious beliefs in modern Armenian society. The Church is carrying out targeted activities to increase its ranks, which it could not do during the Soviet era. The Armenians have always maintained their faith without the mediation of the church. This article examines the role of the Armenian Apostolic Church in the formation of moral and spiritual values in our society between two generations. The government used to take care of all social groups and created conditions enabling  Armenian society to function within its country, to develop their culture and values, and to refrain from other ideas and values.


2012 ◽  
Vol 105 (2) ◽  
pp. 189-222 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zachary Matus

“Since you have commanded me to write on the wisdom of philosophy, I shall cite to your Clemency the opinions of the sages, especially since this knowledge is absolutely necessary to the Church of God against the fury of Antichrist.”1 So wrote Roger Bacon to Clement IV. The pope had commanded Bacon to send writings of which Roger had spoken when Clement was still Cardinal Guy Folques.2 Clement's letter does not mention Antichrist, nor does it specify the subject matter of the aforementioned conversation. Still, since Bacon mentions Antichrist in what was likely a prefatory letter to either the Opus maius or Opus minus,3 the specter of Antichrist that lurks throughout Bacon's Opera and other works may not have come as a surprise. Yet, amid the clamor of Joachite apocalypticism that quickly coiled itself around the Franciscan Order in the latter half of the thirteenth century,4 Roger Bacon's own apocalyptic opinions remain underappreciated. This is not to say that Bacon's apocalypticism has gone unrecognized. Scholars have long agreed, as Brett Whalen has said recently, that Bacon “layered his writings with a sense of apocalyptic expectation.”5 Yet the historiographical tendency to separate Bacon's scientific writings from his religious beliefs and practices appears to have obscured Bacon's own radical ideas about the end of days.6


2010 ◽  
Vol 73 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-24
Author(s):  
Hans Raun Iversen

Secularization can be seen as a part of the modern differentiation of spheres in society or as a result of a regression of religious beliefs and practices among common people. According to Taylor’s opus magnum A Secular Age (2007) the process of secularization has four tracks of development: Most fundamental is (1) disembodiment, social disembeddedness and thereby the excarnation of religion. To this is added (2) a shift from porous to buffered selves, (3) the dissolution of holiness and (4) the existential acceptance of an immanent frame. For the individual, secularization means moving from a religiously authorized, integrated world into an open world with broken horizons for human identity. Secularization is thus not primarily about the disappearance of religion but about radical new conditions for human life – and hence for thework of the church. This applies in specific ways to the specific case of Denmark.


Author(s):  
Adriano Sousa Lima ◽  
Jaziel Guerreiro Martins

O artigo reflete sobre o tema “Teologia e pós-modernidade: apontamentos para o discurso teológico relevante”. Tendo como objetivo discutir se a teologia pode sobreviver como discurso, como logos e quais seriam as suas chances, bem como alguns dos caminhos que ela poderia trilhar, o artigo enfrenta questões fundamentais para o debate religioso, no sentido amplo, e teológico, no sentido específico. Trata-se da busca de respostas para indagações antigas, mas sempre relevantes: a religião cristã e a teologia são pertinentes na pós-modernidade? Quais seriam os novos desafios para a teologia nesse contexto? Quais seriam os rumos da teologia na época pós-moderna? Para responder tais questionamentos, os autores analisam a literatura mais relevante e atual sobre o tema, visando contribuir no âmbito acadêmico, eclesial e social. Ao final, os autores destacam que para sobreviver num tempo pós-moderno, é fundamental que a teologia se lance à tarefa de decifrar as implicações da pós-modernidade para ela e para a igreja. A teologia precisará ainda desconstruir os paradigmas modernos da interpretação do texto bíblico, a fim de responder com mais consistência os questionamentos teológicos da pós-modernidade. Assim, os autores concluem que a pós-modernidade não é um mal a ser combatido, mas um período a ser discernido e ao mesmo tempo, enriquecedor e propositivo para a experiência religiosa e para o discurso teológico relevante.Palavras-chave: Teologia; Pós-Modernidade; Religião; Experiência. THEOLOGY AND POSTMODERNITY: NOTES FOR A RELEVANT THEOLOGICAL DISCOURSEAbstractThe article adresses the topic “Theology and post-modernity: notes for a relevant theological discourse”. It discusses if Theology may thrive as a discourse, as a logos and what are its chances, such as some ways that Theology may walk. This present research deals religious debate fundamental issues in broader and strict senses. So, it is about the search for answers to ancient, but always relevant questions: are Christian religion and Theology pertinent in post-modernity? Which are the new challenges for Theology in this context? Which are the possible paths for Theology in contemporary times? In order to answer these interrogations, the text analyses the most relevant and current literature on the topic, aiming to contribute in academic, ecclesial, and social environments. Finally, so that it may survive in post-modernity, it is paramount for Theology to engage the task of deciphering the implications of postmodernity for Theology itself and for the Church. Theology will need to deconstruct modern paradigms of biblical interpretation, so that it may consistently respond to postmodern theological issues. This way, postmodernity is not and evil to fight against, but a period that has to be discerned with wisdom and responsibility. It is an enriching propositional time concerning to religious experience and relevant theological speech.Keywords: Theology; Postmodernity; Religion; Experience.


Author(s):  
Adibah Binti AbdulRahim

ABSTRACT Secularism is the most serious challenge of modernity posed by the West. Its main ideology is to liberate man from the religious and metaphysical values and expel religion from the practical aspect of man’s life. It clearly presents its materialistic viewpoint which is cut off from Divine, Transcendent or Supernatural principles and does not refer to and is isolated from Revelation. In terms of its intensity and scope as well as its discernable effects upon people’s mind, the repercussion of secularism is so pervasive and universal. It gives a great impact on every facet of life including individual and family lives as well as educational, political, economic and social-cultural realm. Most importantly, secularism affects the very tenets of traditional religious beliefs and practices. This paper tries to focus on the danger of secularism and its principles which are contradict to the religious worldview.  


Author(s):  
Adrian Curtis

Knowledge of the religion of ancient Syria has increased significantly in recent years thanks to key archaeological discoveries. Particularly important have been those from Ras Shamra (ancient Ugarit), which may offer the best window available for an understanding of Canaanite religious beliefs and practices. Excavations have revealed structures of religious significance, such as temples, sanctuaries, and tombs, as well as numerous texts. Of special interest are those mythological texts which tell the exploits of Baal, El, and the other great gods. There are also legends, sacrifice lists, pantheon lists, and prescriptions for various rituals. Some of these, notably the legends of Keret, and of Danel and his son Aqhat, provide evidence for beliefs about the religious status and significance of the king. This material enables a more considered understanding of ideas and practices that may have impacted upon Israelite religion.


Religions ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 7
Author(s):  
Kim Harding ◽  
Abby Day

In Great Britain, “religion or belief” is one of nine “protected characteristics” under the Equality Act 2010, which protects citizens from discrimination in the workplace and in wider society. This paper begins with a discussion about a 2020 ruling, “Jordi Casamitjana vs. LACS”, which concluded that ethical vegans are entitled to similar legal protections in British workplaces as those who hold philosophical religious beliefs. While not all vegans hold a philosophical belief to the same extent as Casamitjana, the ruling is significant and will be of interest to scholars investigating non-religious ethical beliefs. To explore this, we have analysed a sample of YouTube videos on the theme of “my vegan story”, showing how vloggers circulate narratives about ethical veganism and the process of their conversion to vegan beliefs and practices. The story format can be understood as what Abby Day has described as a performative “belief narrative”, offering a greater opportunity to understand research participants’ beliefs and related identities than, for example, findings from a closed-question survey. We suggest that through performative acts, YouTubers create “ethical beliefs” through the social, mediatised, transformative, performative and relational practice of their digital content. In doing so, we incorporate a digital perspective to enrich academic discussions of non-religious beliefs.


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