Is the Pastoral Ministry Bad for One’s Spiritual Health?

2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 39-52
Author(s):  
Eric Sorenson

It was a universal conviction among the leaders of the ancient church that vocational ministry is attended by certain spiritual hazards that threaten to undo the very soul of the minister. This notion is revived in William Paley’s 1795 sermon, “Dangers Incidental to the Clerical Character.” The pastoral ministry, he warns, is comprised of “dangers inherent to the very nature of our profession.” In this ordination sermon, Paley not only identifies certain spiritual hazards, but he traces their roots to the unique context and responsibilities of daily ministry. A close reading of Paley’s sermon highlights its clear relevance to ministers in the twenty-first century, who, like all ministers throughout the history of the church, are constantly exposed to the spiritual dangers lurking in ministry itself. Such a close reading also reveals practical means by which today’s minister can be constantly vigilant to overcome these dangers.

2014 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 245-274 ◽  
Author(s):  
BETTINA VARWIG

AbstractThis article considers the twentieth- and twenty-first-century practice of presenting Johann Sebastian Bach's Passion compositions on stage, in light of recent debates about performativity, presence and liveness. By tracing the history of such stagings from Ferruccio Busoni's plans in the 1920s to contemporary versions by Peter Sellars, Alain Platel, and others, I explore the increasing tendency to turn these canonical works into politically or aesthetically relevant events. Through a close reading of the critical reception of each production, I show how stagings have the capacity to challenge productively our easy familiarity with these pieces outside their initial liturgical setting. Unlike a standard concert presentation, staged performances tend to confront audiences more immediately with the violent imagery and spiritual demands of the Passions, thereby continually renewing the dialogue between Bach's works and later audiences. The article thus offers a contribution to an anthropological enquiry into the present-day cult of Bach and the particular forms of aesthetic pleasure that classical music affords its twenty-first-century devotees.


2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 27-60
Author(s):  
Uwe Schütte

O tema deste artigo é um texto apócrifo de W. G. Sebald, o ensaio "Europäische Peripherien" [Periferias Europeias], baseado em uma palestra proferida em fevereiro de 1992, em Tübingen. Esse ensaio ocupa um lugar especial na obra de Sebald, pois nele o autor se expressa mais resolutamente do que em qualquer outra ocasião sobre questões políticas, no que diz respeito tanto ao processo de unificação europeia quanto aos problemas fundamentais das sociedades ocidentais na transição para o século XXI. A partir de uma leitura mais atenta, chego à conclusão de que esse ensaio, supostamente secundário, revela-se um importante pilar para reconstruir a interpretação profundamente melancólica que Sebald faz da história com base no conceito de uma “história natural da destruição”. Ao mesmo tempo, “Europäische Peripherien” permite reconhecer a importância de Mutation der Menschheit [Mutação da Humanidade], de Pierre Bertaux, como influência fundamental, até então não reconhecida, para o desenvolvimento da obra de Sebald.Palavras-chave: W.G. Sebald. Europa. “História natural da destruição”. Pierre Bertaux. AbstractThis article discusses the essay "Europäische Peripherien", a hitherto overlooked text by W.G. Sebald based on a lecture given in Tübingen in February 1992. The essay occupies a special position in Sebald's oeuvre, as the author positions himself more pronouncedly than anywhere else on political issues, both with regard to the process of European unification and to fundamental challenges of Western societies in the transition to the twenty-first century. In my close reading the supposedly insignificant essay proves to be an important text for a reconstruction of Sebald's deeply melancholic view of history as expressed in the concept of a "natural history of destruction". At the same time, "European Peripheries" allows us to acknowledge the importance of Pierre Bertaux’ Mutation der Menschheit as an undiscovered influence on the development of Sebald's oeuvre.Keywords: W.G. Sebald. Europa. “Natural history of destruction”. Pierre Bertaux. ORCIDhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-4825-1912


Author(s):  
Brian Stanley

This concluding chapter argues that the twentieth century was indeed a period of extraordinary and sustained Christian growth in sub-Saharan Africa and parts of Asia. Yet it also witnessed a serious recession from Christian faith in most of Europe, Australasia, and parts of North America; the continuance and even intensification of serious obstacles to the progress of Christianity in the Islamic world and in most of India; and an accelerating and tragic exodus of Christians from those parts of West Asia and the Middle East that had once constituted the heartlands of Christianity. In some of its manifestations that have become increasingly prominent since the 1980s, the fabric of Christian doctrine and spirituality has been so fundamentally redesigned in the interests of the pursuit of individual material prosperity that the question becomes whether Christianity has converted indigenous religionists or whether indigenous religious and cultural perspectives have succeeded in converting Christianity. The Christian history of the twenty-first century may provide an answer. If the gravest challenge faced by Christianity in the twentieth century was the repeated subversion of Christian ethics by a series of tragic compromises between Christianity and ideologies of racial supremacy, the most serious challenge confronting the religion in the twenty-first century looks likely to be the preparedness of some sections of the church in both northern and southern hemispheres to accommodate the faith to ideologies of individual enrichment.


Author(s):  
William G. Rusch

This chapter describes how Lutheranism has viewed, responded to, and contributed to the ecumenical movement. It defines the nature of Lutheranism and the ecumenical movement. It traces the history of the relationship of Lutheranism to other Christians and their churches from the sixteenth until the twenty-first century. Thus it shows how Lutherans developed their views of the unity of the Church and of its importance. The initial response of Lutheranism to the rise of the ecumenical movement in 1910 was one of caution and fear of doctrinal compromise. During the twentieth century, Lutheran reflection about and involvement in all aspects of the ecumenical movement increased dramatically. One result is that global Lutheranism as represented by the Lutheran World Federation is now a major partner on the ecumenical scene.


2018 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Joel Kamsen Tihitshak Biwul

The paradigm shift in pastoral ministry in contemporary Nigeria is detrimental to the church and the gospel. This article examines the emerging trends as well as the motivating factors and implications of this shift. It argues that the emerging distortions are rooted in a lack of basic knowledge of the biblical, theological and ethical foundations and established traditions of the ministry, and argues for an honest return to those foundations.


Author(s):  
Jan Moje

This chapter gives an overview of the history of recording and publishing epigraphic sources in Demotic language and script from the Late Period to Greco-Roman Egypt (seventh century bce to third century ce), for example, on stelae, offering tables, coffins, or votive gifts. The history of editing such texts and objects spans over two hundred years. Here, the important steps and pioneering publications on Demotic epigraphy are examined. They start from the beginning of the nineteenth century, when Napoleon’s expedition to Egypt found the Rosetta stone, until the twenty-first century.


1999 ◽  
Vol 63 (3) ◽  
pp. 712
Author(s):  
Clark G. Reynolds ◽  
James L. George

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