Does God Manifest Himself in the World in Trickles of Music?

2006 ◽  
Vol 63 (1) ◽  
pp. 55-65
Author(s):  
Calvin Stapert
Keyword(s):  
Social Construction ◽  
Christian Theology ◽  
The World

The reception of Mozart's music is rife with extravagant claims that connect it to the divine and see it as a source of hope and comfort. Although that aspect of Mozart reception is still alive and well, recent demystification projects have tried to reduce his music to “social construction.” Christian theology goes some distance with those projects, but it also gives reason to believe that human artifacts can give glimpses of transcendence and reason for hope. Further, it guides our response to them between the dangers of idolatry and ingratitude.

scholarly journals Humans created God in their image? An anthropomorphic projectionism in the Old Testament

2018 ◽  
Vol 74 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ndikho Mtshiselwa ◽  
Lerato Mokoena
Keyword(s):  
Social Construction ◽  
Old Testament ◽  
Main Question ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Social Construct ◽  
Ancient Israel ◽  
The World ◽  
Genesis 1 ◽  
History Of ◽  
Old Testament Studies

The Old Testament projects not only a Deity that created the world and human beings but also one that is violent and male. The debate on the depiction of the God of Israel that is violent and male is far from being exhausted in Old Testament studies. Thus, the main question posed in this article is: If re-read as ‘Humans created God in their image’, would Genesis 1:27 account for the portrayal of a Deity that is male and violent? Feuerbach’s idea of anthropomorphic projectionism and Guthrie’s view of religion as anthropomorphism come to mind here. This article therefore examines, firstly, human conceptualisation of a divine being within the framework of the theory of anthropomorphic projectionism. Because many a theologian and philosopher would deny that God is a being at all, we further investigate whether the God of Israel was a theological and social construction during the history of ancient Israel. In the end, we conclude, based on the theory of anthropomorphic projectionism, that the idea that the God of Israel was a theological and social construct accounts for the depiction of a Deity that is male and violent in the Old Testament.

scholarly journals The social construction of HIV/AIDS

2003 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Natalie Goldstein ◽  
H G Pretorius ◽  
A D Stuart
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Social Construction ◽  
Full Text ◽  
Aids Epidemic ◽  
The Social ◽  
The World ◽  
Hiv Aids

An in-depth look is taken at the specific discourses surrounding the debilitating HIV/AIDS epidemic sweeping South Africa and the world. Opsomming Hierdie artikel poog om ‘n indiepte ondersoek te loods na die spesifieke diskoerse rondom die MIV/VIGS epidemie in Suid-Afrika en die wêreld. *Please note: This is a reduced version of the abstract. Please refer to PDF for full text.

scholarly journals Releasing Dependency on Western Culture in Efforts to Contextualize

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yudhy Sanjaya
Keyword(s):  
Christian Education ◽  
Western Culture ◽  
Christian Theology ◽  
Western World ◽  
Asian Society ◽  
The World

Contextualization in theology is an interesting thing to observe because the development of theology cannot be separated from culture. And nowadays western thoughts greatly influence theology in the world, including in Asia. This is due to the large number of theologians from parts of the western world who pour their main thoughts in books that are made into literature by theologians today in theology and in the world of Christian education. This paper tries to look from a different perspective where Christian theology and education should be based on the culture that has developed in Asian society. It is hoped that the ideas of local theologians will emerge who have influenced the development of theology in Asia. Through the method of studying literature from Asian theologians and observing the phenomena that occur, the writer tries to give the idea that in doing theology and developing Christian education it is necessary to explore Asian local wisdom and release the dependence on Western theology

scholarly journals A FÉ CRISTÃ NA CONTEMPORANEIDADE: RUMOS E DESAFIOS

2010 ◽  
Vol 41 (115) ◽  
pp. 345
Author(s):  
Maria Clara Lucchetti Bingemer
Keyword(s):  
Christian Theology ◽  
Christian Faith ◽  
Human Being ◽  
Belief In God ◽  
Religious System ◽  
The World ◽  
Important Trend ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Constituent Elements

Diante do panorama extremamente complexo do campo religioso hoje o documento de Aparecida declara estar o ser humano do século XXI em meio a uma “mudança de época”. Ao lado do processo de secularização, que leva o ser humano a não temer declarar sua ausência de crença em Deus e sua não pertença a qualquer sistema religioso, está igualmente o revival” religioso anárquico e selvagem que fez eclodir seitas e novas propostas “espirituais” dos mais variados perfis, questionando em profundidade a decantada supremacia do monoteísmo cristão no Ocidente. A proposta neste artigo é, depois de uma breve análise da situação da religião no mundo e especialmente no Brasil hoje, refletir sobre a diferença entre fé e religião e como esta reflexão, tomada em sua radicalidade, leva a uma compreensão renovada do que seja a fé cristã e sua identidade no mundo atual. Para chegar a isto, são analisados três elementos constitutivos da fé cristã: a historicidade, a experiência e o testemunho, no desejo de traçar um perfil aproximado de uma tendência importante na teologia cristã hoje, que prefere definir o Cristianismo mais como uma revelação do que como uma religião.ABSTRACT: Before the extremely complex panorama of the religious field today the document of Aparecida declares the human being of the XXI century to be in the mist of an “epoch change”. On the side of the secularização process, that leads the human being not to fear in declaring his lack of belief in God and his not belonging to any religious system, there is also the religious anarchical and wild “revival” that brought out sects and new “spiritual” proposals of the most varied profiles, questioning in depth the decanted supremacy of Christian monotheism in the Occident. The proposal of this article is, after a brief analysis of the situation of religion in the world and especially in Brazil today, to reflect on the difference between faith and religion and how this reflection, taken in its radicality, leads to a renewed understanding of what Christian faith is and its identity in the current world. To arrive at this, three constituent elements of the Christian faith are analyzed: the historicity, the experience and the witness, in the desire to trace a profile that approaches an important trend in the Christian theology, which prefers to define Christianity more as a revelation than as a religion.

scholarly journals Releasing Dependency on Western Culture in Efforts to Contextualize Christian Theology and Education in Asia

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Septerianus Waruwu
Keyword(s):  
Christian Education ◽  
Western Culture ◽  
Christian Theology ◽  
Western World ◽  
Asian Society ◽  
The World

Contextualization in theology is an interesting thing to observe because thedevelopment of theology cannot be separated from culture. And nowadays westernthoughts greatly influence theology in the world, including in Asia. This is due tothe large number of theologians from parts of the western world who pour theirmain thoughts in books that are made into literature by theologians today intheology and in the world of Christian education. This paper tries to look from adifferent perspective where Christian theology and education should be based onthe culture that has developed in Asian society. It is hoped that the ideas of localtheologians will emerge who have influenced the development of theology in Asia.Through the method of studying literature from Asian theologians and observingthe phenomena that occur, the writer tries to give the idea that in doing theologyand developing Christian education it is necessary to explore Asian local wisdomand release the dependence on Western theology.

scholarly journals Membaca Fenomena Shalat Sebagai Sebuah Tanda

2017 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Aris Fauzan
Keyword(s):  
Social Construction ◽  
Religious Tradition ◽  
Spiritual Experience ◽  
Semiotic Approach ◽  
The World

This paper attempts to read the phenomenon of prayer as a sign by placing prayer as a result of social construction. This is triggered by the emergence of the assumption that some people who try to simplify prayers by replacing them with other activities such as recall (in any condition) and do good. Furthermore the author asks the question as follows: What is the meaning of prayer in the religious tradition? How to understand prayer in the reading of dialectics-normative and social sign? To answer the question, the writer uses normative dialectic reading pattern and semiotic approach (signology). The results of the study of the authors do is: first, physically lahiriyah, prayer directs the perpetrators into a knot (an important point) on the universal website that unites between Muslims wherever they are and from whatever madhhab he embraces. Second, spiritually spiritual, prayer builds personal reinforcement that is in the primordial realiatation with the continuous reality of sharia. This continuity not only connects to the spiritual experience of fellow Muslims around the world, but also connects the experience of a Muslim with the spirituality of Abraham and Muhammad. Third, that shalat and shahadah are two things inseparable spiritually and physically, both in essence and shari'a

scholarly journals WORLD GEOGRAPHY OF JOKES

Mercator ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 19 (2020) ◽  
pp. 1-17
Author(s):  
Herve Thery
Keyword(s):  
Social Construction ◽  
Ad Hoc ◽  
Social Constructions ◽  
World Geography ◽  
The World ◽  
Bottom To Top

Jokes between countries are useful to reveal the ethnotypes existing in each of them, to represent them in cartographic form allows to perceive their distribution and the spatial projection of mockery: who are we laughing at, who are the scapegoats for the inhabitants of each country? Based on the analysis of an ad hoc database covering more than 60% of the countries and territories of the world and 90% of its population, the text shows that these jokes are social constructions, have a temporality and are divided basically in two categories, from top to bottom and from bottom to top. Keywords: jokes, ethnotypes, social construction, stupidity, arrogance

Phenomenology of Interior Life and the Trinity

2020 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 71-88
Author(s):  
Robert Farrugia
Keyword(s):  
Conscious Experience ◽  
A Priori ◽  
The Self ◽  
Christian Theology ◽  
Inner Life ◽  
The World ◽  
Doctrine Of The Trinity ◽  
Michel Henry ◽  
The Trinity ◽  
Static Nature

Michel Henry radicalises phenomenology by putting forward the idea of a double manifestation: the “Truth of Life” and “truth of the world.” For Henry, the world turns out to be empty of Life. To find its essence, the self must dive completely inward, away from the exterior movements of intentionality. Hence, Life, or God, for Henry, lies in non‑intentional, immanent self-experience, which is felt and yet remains invisible, in an absolutist sense, as an a priori condition of all conscious experience. In Christian theology, the doctrine of the Trinity illuminates the distinction between the immanent Trinity (God’s self‑relation) and the economic workings of the Trinity (God‑world relation). However, the mystery of God’s inmost being and the economy of salvation are here understood as inseparable. In light of this, the paper aims to: 1) elucidate the significance of Henry’s engagement with the phenomenological tradition and his proposal of a phenomenology of Life which advocates an immanent auto‑affection, radically separate from the ek‑static nature of intentionality, and 2) confront the division between Life and world in Henry’s Christian phenomenology and its discordancy with the doctrine of the Trinity, as the latter attests to the harmonious unity that subsists between inner life and the world.

Wisdom in Christian Theology

2021 ◽  
pp. 254-272
Author(s):  
Paul S. Fiddes
Keyword(s):  
Practical Wisdom ◽  
Two Dimensions ◽  
Christian Theology ◽  
Wisdom Literature ◽  
Modern Culture ◽  
Presence Of God ◽  
The World ◽  
Triune God ◽  
Lady Wisdom ◽  
Late Modern

This article argues that the concept of wisdom in modern Christian theology, to be most effective, should draw on two dimensions of wisdom that are present within Hebrew Wisdom Literature. These are wisdom as careful observation of the world, and wisdom as participation in the presence of God in the world, the latter expressed in the personification of “Lady Wisdom.” These two aspects are reflected in the duality between practical wisdom (Aristotelian phronēsis) and sophia in Christian tradition, though for Christian theology participative wisdom will be engagement in the relational love of a triune God. This two-fold approach to wisdom illuminates doctrines of creation, the Trinity, and Christology, and produces a theology which aims to articulate the relation of God to the world in creation and redemption, while taking seriously the awareness in late modern culture of the dangers of a human self that attempts to dominate the world around it.

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