scholarly journals Pelagius’ View of Ideal Christian Women in his Letters

Scrinium ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 67-88
Author(s):  
Nozomu Yamada
Keyword(s):  
Free Will ◽  
Married Woman ◽  
Image Of God ◽  
Church Fathers ◽  
Christian Women ◽  
Ideal Woman ◽  
John Chrysostom ◽  
Women Disciples ◽  
The Image Of God ◽  
The Ideal

Abstract The Pelagians’ ascetical practices were aiming at neither a kind of elitism nor perfectionism, rather, they simply tried to instruct their women disciples on the physical and spiritual care management in Eastern Christian ascetic manners. Pelagius emphasized the free will of women and their dignity as being in the image of God. This was quite different from the negative evaluations of women’s free will by Jerome, Augustine, and later Western priests, but quite similar to the affirmative perspectives of women’s freedom of will by Eastern Church fathers like John Chrysostom. In this presentation, I would like to focus on the letters to Demetrias from Jerome, Pelagius, and Ps. Prosper; Pelagius’ letters to a widow and a married woman; and Chrysostom’s letter to Olympias. Critically considering the previous research on the letters to Demetrias (by A.S. Jacobs 2000, A. Kurdock 2003 and 2007, and K. Wilkinson 2015), I would like to evaluate the unique perspective that Pelagius offers of the ideal woman as described in the letters to Christian women, from an Eastern theological viewpoint.

scholarly journals A Meatless Dominion: Genesis 1 and the Ideal of Vegetarianism

2017 ◽  
Vol 47 (3) ◽  
pp. 144-154 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ryan Patrick Mclaughlin
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Context ◽  
Image Of God ◽  
Moral Ideal ◽  
Near Eastern ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Genesis 1 ◽  
Unique Manner ◽  
The Image Of God ◽  
Enuma Elish ◽  
The Ideal

I argue that a strand of biblical tradition, represented in Genesis 1:26–29, depicts a nonviolent relationship between humans and nonhumans—indicated by the practice of vegetarianism—as a moral ideal that represents the divine intention for the Earth community. This argument is supported by four claims. First, the cultural context of Genesis 1 suggests that the “image of God” entails a democratized royal charge of all humans to make God present in a unique manner in the created order. Second, this functional role must be understood in light of the unique deity (Elohim) in Genesis 1, a deity whose peaceful and other-affirming creative act is distinctive from violent creative acts of deities in other ancient Near Eastern cosmologies such as the Enuma Elish. Third, Genesis 1 provides an exegesis of humanity's dominion over animals in verse 29, which limits humanity's food to vegetation. Finally, juxtaposing Genesis 1 with Genesis 9 reveals a nefarious shift from human dominion, which is meant to be peaceful and other-affirming, to something altogether different—a relationship that is built upon terror.

RELASI DAN EKSISTENSI LAKI-LAKI DAN PEREMPUAN SEBAGAI GAMBAR RUPA ALLAH MENURUT KEJADIAN 1:26-28

2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 34-44
Author(s):  
Grecetinovitria Merliana Butar-butar
Keyword(s):  
Image Of God ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
Female Image ◽  
The Image Of God ◽  
The Ideal

Abstract The P Source tells us that God created man in His image and likeness (Gen 1: 26-27), which makes man different from other creations. In understanding the position of men and women, it is necessary to understand the great difference between the ideal picture (perspective) and the factual state. By that difference, this becomes the background of this research, the writer uses method Library Researc method and build a hypothesis "man and women as the Image of God is the ideal relationship embodied in its duties and responsibilities ". Keywords: Male, Female, Image of God.

scholarly journals The mercy of God as the foundation of charity of the Church

Diacovensia ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 27 (4) ◽  
pp. 637-651
Author(s):  
Wiesław Przygoda
Keyword(s):  
Jesus Christ ◽  
Image Of God ◽  
Church Fathers ◽  
Pope Francis ◽  
Pope Benedict Xvi ◽  
Benedict Xvi ◽  
The Bible ◽  
1 John ◽  
The Image Of God ◽  
The Church

Charity diaconia of the Church is not an accidental involvement but belongs to its fundamental missions. This thesis can be supported in many ways. The author of this article finds the source of the obligation of Christians and the whole Church community to charity service in the nature of God. For Christians God is Love (1 John 4, 8.16). Even though some other names can be found, (Jahwe , Elohim, Adonai), his principal name that encapsulates all other ones is Love. Simultaneously, God which is Love showed his merciful nature (misericordiae vultus) in the course of salvation. He did it in a historical, visible and optimal way through his Son, Jesus Christ through the embodied God’s Son, Jesus Christ, who loved the mankind so much that he sacrificed his life for us, being tortured and killed at the cross. This selfless love laid the foundations for the Church, which, in essence, is a community of loving human and God’s beings. Those who do not love, even though they joined the Church through baptism, technically speaking, do not belong to the Church since love is a real not a formal sign of belonging to Christ’s disciples (cf. John 13, 35). Therefore, charitable activity is a significant dimension of the Church’s mission as it is through charity that the Church shows the merciful nature of its Saviour. A question that needs to be addressed may be expressed as follows: in what way the image of God, who is love, implies an involvement in charity of an individual and the Church? An answer may be found in the Bible, writings of the Church Fathers of and the documents of Magisterium Ecclesiae and especially the teachings of Pope Benedict XVI and Pope Francis.

scholarly journals MAN AND HIS QUALITY AS AN IMAGE OF GOD IN PATRISTIC THINKING

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (14) ◽  
pp. 92-97
Author(s):  
Edvica POPA ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Human Nature ◽  
Holy Spirit ◽  
Image Of God ◽  
Human Being ◽  
Church Fathers ◽  
Patristic Literature ◽  
The Holy Spirit ◽  
The One ◽  
The Image Of God ◽  
The Church

The notion of divine image is generously described by the patristic literature, each of the authors trying to identify the content of this special characteristic of human being, considered (in different positions) the defining element of the created rational being, indicating the possibility of opening to God not through something external, but from the inside of the human being. Since when they speak of God, the Church Fathers do not consider the reality of the one being, but that of the three persons, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, as well as when the question of the image of God is raised, they emphasize that this the image by which human nature is conformed is the image of the Son, or the image of the Word. In this article I set out to draw some points on this patristic feature of the Eastern Fathers.

scholarly journals Przebóstwienie człowieka w pismach Jana Kasjana

Vox Patrum ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 63 ◽  
pp. 185-197
Author(s):  
Arkadiusz Nocoń
Keyword(s):  
Free Will ◽  
Image Of God ◽  
Original Sin ◽  
Relationship With God ◽  
Resurrection Of The Dead ◽  
The Dead ◽  
John Cassian ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The Image Of God

One of the principal ideas in oriental anthropology is that of the divinization of man. The author studies this idea in John Cassian and draws the conclusion that not only was it known to Cassian, but indeed it is the filter through which he views the question of grace. The author arrives at this conclusion, above all, by underlin­ing oriental monasticism as the original context of the theology of divinization. Cassian was trained as a theologian and monk in this very ambience. All of the elements of the concept of divinization are present in the writings of Cassian and the two biblical models for the qšwsij of man – its creation of man in the image and likeness of God (Gen 1: 26-27) and the Transfiguration on Mount Tabor (Mt 17: 1-8; Mc 9: 2-8; Lc 9: 28-36) – are widely commented on by Cassian and form the basis of his theological and ascetical teaching. Cassian’s doctrine on grace, which is deeply penetrated by the concept of divinization, propounds the idea that, after original sin, the likeness of God in man is destroyed, but the image of God in man – reason, free will, and conscience – remains. The grace of God, perceived through the prism of divinization, in Cassian implies not a “resurrection” of the dead nature of man, but a strengthening of his relationship with God, a passage from the condition of “slave” to that of “friend”. This teaching, characterized as it is by a salvific optimism which is typically oriental, according to the author, should no longer be regarded as a form of semipelagianism. Rather, but with due qualification, it should be regarded as a valid and interesting way of speaking on the perennially difficult quaestio of the relationship between grace and free will.

scholarly journals The The Understanding of the Image of God in the Early and Medieval Church History

2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (6) ◽  
pp. 5-11
Author(s):  
Franklin Hutabarat ◽  
Reymand Hutabarat ◽  
Deanna Beryl Majilang
Keyword(s):  
Church History ◽  
Image Of God ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Early Church ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Church Fathers ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Medieval Church ◽  
God's Image ◽  
The Image Of God

It is only in the Bible whereby precise details in regards to humanity's origin from the conservative Christian point of view, are recorded. The Bible clearly states that in God's image, man was made (Gen 1:27). This statement reflects the belief that the essence of human beings was created in the likeness of God, and demonstrated that man did not merely turn out to be in God's image but was carefully crafted to be so. However, despite the exalted position of man among creatures, theologians still have questions and debates about the image of God is, and what does it consists of. Many scholars have wrestled with the precise sense of the image of God from the time of the Early Church until the Medieval Era. This research uses qualitative method, whereby the early works of the fathers of the medieval church are analyzed. The research is carried out on a descriptive basis. It is the aim of this research to offer a structural and systematic understanding of the image of God, based on the perception of the early church and medieval church fathers. As a result, a conclusion is formed.

Przymioty i zadania żony według Jana Chryzostoma

Vox Patrum ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 53 ◽  
pp. 113-121
Author(s):  
Tatiana Krynicka
Keyword(s):  
The Other ◽  
Church Fathers ◽  
Ancient Greek ◽  
Christian Women ◽  
Greek Poetry ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
John Chrysostom ◽  
High Esteem ◽  
Christian Men ◽  
Physical Beauty

Like many others Church fathers John Chrysostom considers virginity prefe­rable to marriage. At the same time, being an interpreter of Saint Paul’s doctrine, he repeats that marriage is a splendid God’s mystery (Ephesians 5, 31-33). That is why he explains to the Christian men what kind of women they have to marry in order to become happy husbands, as well as draws Christian wives’ attention to their duties. According to Chrysostom, a man who seeks a wife should follow example of the servant, sent by Abraham back to his homeland to get a bride for his son, Isaac. First of all, he must aim to find a righteous woman. Bride’s wealth, as well as physical beauty are able to make her husband happy only provided that she lives faithfully serving God. Saint John teaches that God expects married Christian women to submit to their husbands, to live a chaste life, to take care of household while the man is about his public business, to be modest in their appearance and manners. Many ti­mes he sharply points out women’s vices and faults. On the other hand he holds in high esteem their virtues and sensibility, as well as demands that husbands should love their wives, treat them with respect, be loyal to them. Analyzing female cha­racters pictured by John Chrysostom, we often come across the types well-known through ancient Greek poetry.

Byzantine Visual Culture: Conditions of “Right” Belief and Some Platonic Outlooks

Numen ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 63 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 210-244
Author(s):  
Anne Karahan
Keyword(s):  
Visual Culture ◽  
Fourth Century ◽  
Culture Conditions ◽  
Image Of God ◽  
Human Condition ◽  
Church Fathers ◽  
Dionysius The Areopagite ◽  
The Image Of God ◽  
Maximus The Confessor ◽  
The Church

Monumental picture programs of Byzantine churches exist within a spatial and liturgical setting of rituals that depend on circumstances that create a distinction from profane to sacred. The core theme is the epic narrative of the holy drama of the incarnated son, i.e., the image of God (eikon tou theou), acknowledged as indivisibly as much human as divine. In a Byzantine religious sense, images of Christ prove the incarnation, yet human salvation depends on faith in the incarnation but also in the transcendent unknowable God. From the perspective of visual culture, the dilemma is that divine nature is, in a religious sense, transcendent and unknowable, beyond words and categorizations, unintelligible, as opposed to human nature, which is intelligible. This article concerns the strategy of Byzantine visual culture to weave together expressible and inexpressible in order to acknowledge “right belief,” without trespassing the theology and mode of thought of the church fathers on the triune mystery of the Christian God and the incarnation. In a Byzantine religious sense, circumscribed by time and space, the human condition is inconsistent with cognition ofwhat God is. Nonetheless, salvation depends on faith inthat God is, a “fact” acknowledged through holy images. Particular theoretical and methodological focus will be on how the three fourth-century Cappadocian fathers and Dionysius the Areopagite, but also Maximus the Confessor discuss God’s unintelligibility but also intelligibility, with some comparative Platonic outlooks.

scholarly journals Nauczanie św. Grzegorza z Nyssy o wszechmocy Bożej na podstawie "In illud: tunc ipse filius"

Vox Patrum ◽  
2004 ◽  
Vol 46 ◽  
pp. 511-525
Author(s):  
Elżbieta Kotkowska
Keyword(s):  
Free Will ◽  
Human Nature ◽  
Image Of God ◽  
Typical Representative ◽  
Present Discussion ◽  
Gregory Of Nyssa ◽  
First Approximation ◽  
The One ◽  
The Image Of God ◽  
The Church

Analyzing the work of St Gregory of Nyssa, in the first approximation we can say that he is a typical representative of his age. In the theology of the 4th century the power of God as the absolute ruler was emphasized more than his other attributes, so the image of God did not show him as the One who reigns through humility. In this regard, it is worthwhile to draw attention to a small, polemic treatise In illud: tunc ipse filius of St Gregory, in which his understanding of God's omnipotence receives a deeper dimension that appears to the modern man. In his work, this Father of the Church comments on one verse from the Letter of St Paul to the Corinthians: „And when everything is subjected to him, then the Son himself with be subject in his tum to the One who subjected alt things to him, so that God may be all in all" (1 Cor 15, 28; KJ). The problem which preoccupied Gregory of Nyssa, was the incorrect opinion or heresy of Arius and his followers. According to them, the Son is subjected to God, by the rule of creation, so He cannot be equal to God the Father and, in this way, He is not God. One from the crown arguments, which the Arians used were St. Paul’s words from his Letter to the Corinthians. However, the Bishop of Nyssa shows, that exactly this quotation, from the historical-salvific perspective, emphasizes the divinity of Christ. He portrays to us the Son who is subjected to God's vivifying power and the Father who receives the Son's subjection in His human nature. So, in this way, God is omnipotent on the cross, as a humble man. The image of God, which emerges from Gregory's theology, allows us to include his voice into present discussion of God's omnipotence and man's free will.

Montaigne on Justice and Law

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Valérie M. Dionne
Keyword(s):  
Human Dignity ◽  
Natural Law ◽  
Image Of God ◽  
Divine Justice ◽  
The Law ◽  
Law And Justice ◽  
The Image Of God ◽  
Alternative Solutions ◽  
The Ideal

This article examines the distinction that Montaigne makes between law and justice, between the words of the law and the ideal of justice. In refuting the concepts of divine justice and natural law, he demystifies justice and hopes to humanize law. He does not criticize the force of the law, but he condemns violence in the name of justice, and illustrates that justice as an ideal is problematic because impartial judgment is all but impossible to attain. Courts must not imagine that they operate in the image of God as purveyor of an absolute justice. Rather the authority of the law derives from usage alone. Judges must therefore uphold human dignity by recognizing the impossibility of judicial certainty and moderate the severity of their sentences accordingly. Montaigne lays the groundwork for modern views of alternative solutions to punishment, and for understanding the fallibility of the ideal of justice.

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