Eschatological Awareness without Apocalyptic or Millenarian Expectations: Facing the Future in the Ottonian World (from the 10th to the Early 11th Century)

2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 204-250
Author(s):  
Stefano Manganaro

Abstract This article reconstructs the perception of the future in Ottonian culture by investigating a variety of sources produced within the chronological and geographical framework of the Roman–Germanic Empire (Germany, Italy, and Lotharingia) at the time of Saxon kings and emperors (919–1024). Traditional scholarly interest in end times at the turn of the first millennium is here intertwined with a more recent transdisciplinary perspective that focuses on the notion of contingency. Ottonian sources provide evidence of how a real concern about historical contingencies, which affect this-worldly future events, could coexist with an eschatological awareness that induced patterns of thought and behavior in view of eternal salvation, in connection with the belief that the last age of the world had already begun long ago. This belief, not to be confused with speculations about the imminence of the end, should be properly understood and contextualized, and a clear distinction among eschatology, apocalypticism, and millenarianism is therefore required. Although each Ottonian author had a particular approach toward the future, influenced by various circumstances and different authorial intentions (doctrinal reflection, pastoral responsibilities, devotion, political reasons, rhetorical purposes, and propaganda), the analysis of these sources reveals an appropriation of Augustinian themes and teachings that seems to have been widespread, deep, and genuine. What emerges is a complex picture of how prominent Ottonian authors conceived and coped with the future, passing from the cosmic to existential dimension, from spiritual commitment to ordinary business, and from the uncertainty of terrestrial future to the transcendent certainty of the Last Things.

Aethiopica ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 21 ◽  
Author(s):  
Getatchew Haile

The main themes of the text, occasionally ascribed to Ezra (Salathiel), are the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, the end of the world, the future rulers of Ethiopia, and the honouring of the Sabbaths. It is cast in the spirit of 4 Ezra, quoting it and Jubilees occasionally and extensively. As in 4 Ezra, its author is interested in knowing and declaring the future to call the faithful to observe the law and the ordinances. Reckoning the time by cycles, aqmar, provides him the revelation of future events ‘with exact dates’. The text, composed before the sixteenth century, is one more source of Gǝʿǝz apocalyptic literature. The article is an edition and translation of it as preserved in EMML 6429, fols 9v–39r.


Caminhando ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 19
Author(s):  
Matthias Grenzer - Translation of João Batista Ribeiro Santos

The Pentateuch is a cultural heritage of Humanity. The world narrated in it belongs to the second millennium B.C., and the narratives, poems, and sets of laws contained therein were composed during the first six centuries of the first millennium B.C. On the one hand, by bringing together epic, lyrical, and legal poetry, the one hundred and eighty-seven chapters constitute, in the form of five books, a masterpiece in the history of literature. On the other hand, it is literature that proposes to cultivate memory, either in relation to the narrated world, or in view of the period of its composer, sometimes narrating, sometimes legislating, sometimes singing. Moreover, as literature aimed at history, the texts of the Pentateuch promote enormous theological reflection. The main goal seems to be to think God. Thus the first five books of the Jewish Bible and the Christian Bible, with their narrated models of faith and behavior, turned into poems and defined by legal formulations, became the foundational reference for the religion of ancient Israel, of which Judaism was born and, from the latter, Christianity. Also Jesus of Nazareth, in the four New Testament Gospels, is presented in relation to Abraham and Moses, and stands out as a unique teacher with regard to the laws contained in the Pentateuch.


2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 124-151
Author(s):  
Ivan Vladimirovich Lupandin ◽  

The problems of contingency, free will, omniscience and omnipotence of God, possible worlds, posed by the famous representative of the second scholasticism, the Spanish philosopher Francisco Suarez (1548–1617) in his work “On God’s knowledge of future contingent events” are discussed in the historical, philosophical and theological context. Suarez (unlike, for example, Spinoza) recognizes the existence of contingent events in the world, shows that the existence of contingent events does not diminish the omnipotence of God. Suarez, following Thomas Aquinas, shows how it is possible to reconcile the existence of free will, the main source of contingency, with the omniscience of God. As Luis Molina, Suarez recognizes God’s knowledge not only of real, but also of possible future. The originality of Suarez manifests itself in solving the question of how God knows possible future events and, accordingly, possible worlds. Attention is paid to the influence of Suarez’s philosophy on the philosophy of modern times, including Descartes and Leibniz. The reader is also offered a translation of the first chapter of the second part of the essay of the Spanish philosopher and theologian Francisco Suarez “On God’s knowledge of future contingent events”, in which Suarez on the basis of the hermeneutics of the Biblical texts proves the thesis about God’s knowledge of future contingent events, which could have happened, but in reality had not happened and will not happen in the future, disproving the arguments of Catholic theologians Ambrogio Catarino Politi (1484–1553) and Jansenius of Ghent (1510–1576), who questioned the assertion that God possesses such knowledge. The translation is provided with comments, an introductory article and a list of references.


Author(s):  
Craig Callender

In early childhood we come to model the world as having a special present that carves the world up into a past, present, and future. We regard the past as fixed and the future open, and we feel that this structure updates itself, or flows. The core features of this conception of time—manifest time—appear to be virtually universal, and they pervade our language, thought, and behavior. Yet manifest time seems to conflict with time as understood by physics. This conflict worried Albert Einstein, but the philosopher Rudolph Carnap pointed toward a way forward.


Author(s):  
Mostafa Rahimi Rad

Temporal references have been the subject of many studies around the world. Futurity is specially an elusive concept really difficult to perceive and describe. The present study tries to launch an investigation regarding the variability of future tense in Farsi. 130 sentences extracted from 8 interviews have been explored along with age, gender, presence or absence of temporal adverbial and animacy of the subject. 5 possible variabilities for expressing futurity are considered in the present study. Future time is especially difficult to perceive and in fact it might not occur. This forces us when it comes to the modality in which statements about the future may be interpreted. Not only do we just talk about those future events which are planned, but also that is the only (natural) modality that we can ascribe to those events. Following Fleischman (1982) and Comrie (1985), we suggest that the notion of future tense or futurity marking is a second class function, and the means available to futurity marking are typically borrowed from other constructions in the language However, before a further discussion of the circumstances giving rise to the idea, as well as some facts that seem to follow from this constraint on modality, we would like to give a brief sketch of some ways that futurity is expressed in different languages.


2002 ◽  
Vol 50 ◽  
pp. 1-17
Author(s):  
Jan Faye

Over the last forty years, philosophers have argued back and forth about backward causation. It requires a certain structure of time for something as backward causation to be not only possible but also to take place in the real world. In case temporal becoming is an objective feature of the world in the sense that the future is unreal, or at least ontologically indeterminate, it is impossible to see how backward causation can arise. Th e same difficulty does not hold with respect to forward causation. For even though it is assumed according to one dynamic view of time, the instant view or presentism, that merely present events exist—and past events therefore are no longer real or have become ontologically indeterminate—such a view can still maintain that past events once were there to cause present events. Future events, however, are still to come, and being indeterminate or nothing at all, they cannot cause any events in the present. In other words, causation backwards in time can occur only if we think of time as static; that is, no objective becoming exists, and the world consists of tenselessly occurring future events that exist in the same sense as past and present events. Backward causation requires the so-called full view, or possibly the half-full view, of time.


China and the World is the most comprehensive, up-to-date scholarly assessment of China’s foreign relations and roles in international affairs. Students, scholars, practitioners, and publics worldwide will benefit from the information and insights contained herein. Written by sixteen leading international specialists, it covers China’s contemporary position in all regions of the world, with all major powers, and across multiple arenas of China’s international interactions. It also explores the sources of China’s grand strategy, how the past shapes the present, and the impact of domestic factors that shape China’s external behavior. As the world evolves in increasingly unpredictable directions, the impact of China will be one of the key determinants of the future global order. No country or society can escape China’s reach—indeed, many seek its embrace. China brings benefits to many but is also a problematic interlocutor for others. Overall, public opinion surveys indicate that China’s reputation around the world is mixed, with as many societies viewing China favorably as unfavorably. This volume explores the sources of this ambivalence. As China becomes a leading global power, and its footprint continually expands on different continents, understanding the parameters of its international presence, and what motivates China, is imperative for others. This volume digs deep inside China’s multidimensional “toolbox” to explore the instruments that Beijing uses around the world: economic, diplomatic, cultural, military, media, and other elements. China and the World provides many insights into China’s calculations and behavior and identifies a number of challenges China will face in the future.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 39
Author(s):  
Mamdouh M.A. Sobaihi

The city streets and spaces have for the duration of the city’s existence provided an area where people may trade and enjoy food. In the twentieth and twenty-first millennium, this activity is changing in form and conception. The food-truck industry is growing throughout the world and in particular in North America. This paper reviews the growth, its origins, its existing situation and prospect. Through a literature review of existing regulations governing the food-truck industry a compilation of these regulations will be made. After a description of the food-truck industry status in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia a comparison of the previously compiled regulations to the regulations that exist in Jeddah will be made. These comparisons have highlighted some issues with the regulations that exist in Jeddah. Main finding is the relatively insufficient regulations in place to govern the industry in the city, which may hinder the growth and prosperity of the industry and all those involved. Thus one of the main aims of the paper is to provide a basis upon which future regulations for the city of Jeddah may be created. Further discussions on the future of the food-truck industry in the city of Jeddah and beyond are put forth in the concluding section.


2017 ◽  
Vol 225 (4) ◽  
pp. 324-335 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dimitrios Barkas ◽  
Xenia Chryssochoou

Abstract. This research took place just after the end of the protests following the killing of a 16-year-old boy by a policeman in Greece in December 2008. Participants (N = 224) were 16-year-olds in different schools in Attiki. Informed by the Politicized Collective Identity Model ( Simon & Klandermans, 2001 ), a questionnaire measuring grievances, adversarial attributions, emotions, vulnerability, identifications with students and activists, and questions about justice and Greek society in the future, as well as about youngsters’ participation in different actions, was completed. Four profiles of the participants emerged from a cluster analysis using representations of the conflict, emotions, and identifications with activists and students. These profiles differed on beliefs about the future of Greece, participants’ economic vulnerability, and forms of participation. Importantly, the clusters corresponded to students from schools of different socioeconomic areas. The results indicate that the way young people interpret the events and the context, their levels of identification, and the way they represent society are important factors of their political socialization that impacts on their forms of participation. Political socialization seems to be related to youngsters’ position in society which probably constitutes an important anchoring point of their interpretation of the world.


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