scholarly journals Armenian Apostolic Church and Spiritual Values of Two Generations in the Modern Armenian Societ

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.

1989 ◽  
Vol 45 (3) ◽  
pp. 363-381
Author(s):  
Arthur R. Liebscher

To the dismay of today's social progressives, the Argentine Catholic church addresses the moral situation of its people but also shies away from specific political positions or other hint of secular involvement. At the beginning of the twentieth century, the church set out to secure its place in national leadership by strengthening religious institutions and withdrawing clergy from politics. The church struggled to overcome a heritage of organizational weakness in order to promote evangelization, that is, to extend its spiritual influence within Argentina. The bishop of the central city of Córdoba, Franciscan Friar Zenón Bustos y Ferreyra (1905-1925), reinforced pastoral care, catechesis, and education. After 1912, as politics became more heated, Bustos insisted that priests abstain from partisan activities and dedicate themselves to ministry. The church casts itself in the role of national guardian, not of the government, but of the faith and morals of the people.


Author(s):  
Koos Vorster

This research deals with the question of whether an ecumenical ethics can be developed in South Africa that at least will be applicable in the field of political ethics and that can assist the various ecclesiastical traditions to ‘speak with one voice’ when they address the government on matters of Christian ethical concern. The research rests on the recognition of the variety of ethical persuasions and points of view that flow from the variety of hermeneutical approaches to Scripture. However, within this plethora of ethical discourses, an ‘overlapping’ ethics based on a proposed set of minimum theological ideas can be pursued in order to reach at least an outline of an applicable ecumenical political ethics conducive to the church–state dialogue in South Africa today. The article concludes that a ‘minimum consensus’ on the role of revelation in the moral discourses is possible and is enriched by traditional ideas such as creation and natural law, the reign of God and Christology, and it can provide a suitable common ground for an ecumenical ethics applicable to the moral difficulties in the political domain in South Africa today.


Theology ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 120 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-10
Author(s):  
James Jones

In 1989, 96 Liverpool Football Club supporters were killed at the Hillsborough Stadium in Sheffield. It was the biggest sporting disaster in British football. The original inquests returned a verdict of ‘accidental death’. For over 20 years the families of the 96 and the survivors campaigned against this verdict. In 2010 the government set up an Independent Panel with myself as its Chair. Its remit after consultation with the families and survivors was to access and analyse all the documents related to the disaster and its aftermath and to write a report to add to public understanding. The Panel’s Report was published in 2012 and led to the quashing of the original verdicts and the setting up of fresh inquests. After two years and the longest inquests in British legal history, the jury gave its determination of ‘unlawful killing’. Here I reflect theologically on the public and pastoral role of the Church of England and its mission to wider society.


1984 ◽  
Vol 35 (2) ◽  
pp. 177-187 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. R. Sommerville

Although much has been written about Hooker's thought in recent years, particularly since the preparation of the Folger edition of the Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity, surprisingly little has appeared on the relationship between Hooker's ideas and those of contemporary defenders of the Elizabethan establishment. Hooker's Laws was a controversial work, and we can expect to learn much about its meaning by comparing it with the works of his fellow controversialists. The aim of this article is to demonstrate the insight that can be gained from a comparison of his thought with that of his contemporaries, by examining one major problem in its exegesis – that is, his attitude to the role of bishops in the government of the Church.


2008 ◽  
pp. 70-77
Author(s):  
N. Gavrilova

The activities of religious organizations are aimed primarily at augmenting spiritual values, but are also relevant to the needs of a person's social life. For many centuries, social issues have been important, and they remain relevant today. Right now, they are receiving special attention, because the level of social life in Ukraine is not the best. In this case, the role of the Church as a social institution is ancillary to the healing of society.


2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (s1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Elysabeth Sinulingga ◽  
Agung Waluyo

Background: Karo District is one of the districts in North Sumatera province where from 2016 to 2018 the number of HIV sufferers increased dramatically to 384 people and then it increased to 775 people up to September 2020. The aim of this study was to explore the experiences of people with HIV/AIDS and the experiences of the church members regarding people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA).Design and Methods: Qualitative research design with descriptive phenomenology approach. Data collection was carried out by interviewing 34 participants in Karo District. The data analysis in this study used the Collaizi technique.Results: Five themes were obtained from the results of the study, namely the responses of the participants diagnosed with HIV/AIDS, health problems faced by PLWHA, stigma and discrimination, the support of family and church members given to PWLHA, and family/church members' expectations toward PLWHA.Conclusions: Based on the findings of the themes, the role of the National AIDS Commission of Moderamen Karo Batak Protestant Church (GBKP) in responding to HIV and AIDS cannot be optimally implemented because of some obstacles namely, localization which is a determinant of the spread of cases, the unavailability of service and ARV in all health centers, lack of sectoral cross-cooperation, very insufficient financial support from the government, the role of nurses played only in the hospitals and the stigmatism to those people with HIV/AIDS due to lack of knowledge of HIV and AIDS.


2004 ◽  
Vol 38 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
C.F.C. Coetzee

South Africa is known as one of the most violent countries in the world. Since the seventeenth century, violence has been part of our history. Violence also played a significant role during the years of apartheid and the revolutionary struggle against apartheid. It was widely expected that violence would decrease in a post-apartheid democratic South Africa, but on the contrary, violence has increased in most cases. Even the TRC did not succeed in its goal to achieve reconciliation. In this paper it is argued that theology and the church have a great and significant role to play. Churches and church leaders who supported revolutionary violence against the apartheid system on Biblical “grounds”, should confess their unbiblical hermeneutical approach and reject the option of violence. The church also has a calling in the education of young people, the pastoral care of criminals and victims, in proclaiming the true Gospel to the government and in creating an ethos of human rights.


2018 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 74-86 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adisaputri Gianisa ◽  
Loic Le De

Purpose Over the last few years, there has been an increase of research interest on the role of religion in disaster. While some emphasize the positive role of religions during and after disasters, others rather point out that religion may lead to low perception of risk and create a fatalistic attitude in the face of such events. The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the vivid debate on the role of religious beliefs and practices in disaster response and recovery, using the earthquake that hit Padang city in Indonesia in 2009. Design/methodology/approach A review of reports and policy documents published by the government and non-government organizations was done to understand external aid provided during and after the 2009 earthquake. Fieldwork was conducted from April to May 2016 in Padang city. Interviews were done with religious followers and leaders of the Muslim community, as the main religion in the country, and Confucians community, as the biggest minority in the area. Findings Drawing on interviews done with religious followers and leaders, the study highlights that religious beliefs and practices bond local people together and contributed to successful coping with disasters. It also emphasizes that religious communities can fill response and recovery gaps, such as when external intervention is limited. Practical implications Religious beliefs and practices, combined with other mechanisms, should be integrated within disaster risk reduction disaster management and activities as this would help build more resilient communities. Originality/value Indonesia is a country where religion is very important, being the biggest Muslim country worldwide. It is also highly vulnerable to natural-hazards related disasters. Yet, little research has been done in Indonesia on the role of religion during and after disasters. This paper aims to explore the role of religious beliefs and practices in disasters in the area where religion plays an important role in people’s everyday life.


Exchange ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
pp. 68-85 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fortune Sibanda ◽  
Tompson Makahamadze ◽  
Richard Shadreck Maposa

AbstractThe paper discusses the socio-economic and religious impact of Operation Murambatsvina on Johane Marange Apostolic Church in Masvingo, a city and Zvishavane, a mining town. It adopts a comparative approach in order to demonstrate the extent to which this phenomenon impacted on the religious and socio-economic activities of this movement in the two urban centres. While the majority of the church members were negatively affected, there are some who unintentionally benefited from this operation. The church was threatened numerically and theologically as some members were forced to translocate to rural areas. It is argued that in spite of the continued disruptions by the government and municipal authorities, the Vapositori of Marange continue to operate their informal business and missionary activities without necessarily compromising their traditions. The paper uses the 'hawks and doves' metaphor to demonstrate the relationship between the marauding government and municipal police and the vulnerable Vapositori during and in the post-Murambatsvina era.


Modern Italy ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 459-471
Author(s):  
Barbara Taverni

Following the political stabilisation achieved with the victory at the election in 1948 of the Christian Democrat Party, De Gasperi's leadership had to deal with new domestic and international dynamics. The government dialogue with the ‘laical’ parties did not end with the reconstruction of the identity of a nation divided by the Fascist phenomenon, nor did it solidify along the lines of an ideologically driven anti-Communist design. De Gasperi's leadership was interwoven with profound changes in the role of the Church, the economic system and political organisation, founded upon new party and government systems. The national and European dimensions influenced one another in this conjuncture, resulting in a new set of equilibria: in the stability of the executive, within the limits set by the primacy of the parliamentary institutions and the organisational role of the party as a focus for political support; in economics, with a revision of classical economic liberalism; and in a unique synthesis of the secular tradition with social Catholicism, with a new interpretation of the 1948 Constitutional model.


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