scholarly journals Being Alive, Living a Life. The Unity of the Concept of Life in Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite

Verbum Vitae ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 39 (3) ◽  
pp. 1007-1024
Author(s):  
Tomasz Stępień
Keyword(s):  
Main Principle ◽  
Dionysius The Areopagite ◽  
The Times ◽  
The One ◽  
Ontological Sense ◽  
Pseudo Dionysius ◽  
The Universe ◽  
The Trinity ◽  
Platonic Tradition

The writings of Corpus Dionysiacum present a concept of life which is different from the one that we profess nowadays. Its view is backed up mainly by the Platonic tradition, which since the times of Plato has tended to see life as an intellectual principle. Therefore, in the Neoplatonic system we can find the conviction that life, in its fullest sense, is intellectual and at its peak is a vision of the One. In the system of Proclus, life, apart from being a principle, is also a god and the main principle of the whole world of intellectual and intellective gods. Pseudo-Dionysius in his writings exploits the concept of the unparticipable and participable principle, and since God is for him Trinity completely beyond participation and knowledge, the divine names play the role of participable henads. However, for Dionysius, names are neither hypostases nor living gods, which is clearly visible in case of the name of Life. All things participate in the name of life and in this name God is the only principle of life in the universe. However, life is not a property to own, but rather a constant struggle to approach the Trinity. Therefore, by committing a sin, an angel or a man loses life, which in the case of a man can be regained through sacramental activity. An analysis of the thoughts of Pseudo-Dionysius reveals a conception of life which is unified contrary to its shattered modern understanding. While biological, mental, moral lives fundamentally differ for us, for Dionysius those are merely aspects of the same thing, and therefore in his view life can be lost and regained not only in the metaphorical, but also the ontological sense.

Immutability, Necessity and Triunity: Towards a Resolution of the Trinity and Election Controversy

2012 ◽  
Vol 65 (1) ◽  
pp. 64-81 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kevin W. Hector
Keyword(s):  
Current Discussion ◽  
Modest Contribution ◽  
The One ◽  
Heating Up ◽  
Proper Interpretation ◽  
The Trinity

AbstractThe controversy sparked by Bruce McCormack's 2000 essay, entitled ‘Grace and Being: The Role of God's Gracious Election in Karl Barth's Theological Ontology’, shows little sign of waning; it seems, in fact, only to be heating up. In this article, I hope to make a modest contribution to this debate, one which will hopefully move it towards a resolution. My proposal is twofold: on the one hand, I will argue that we can do justice to McCormack's motivating concerns, without rendering ourselves liable to criticisms commonly raised against his view, if we accept two propositions: first, that God does not change in electing to be God-with-us, and second, that election is volitionally, but not ‘absolutely’, necessary to God. (By ‘absolutely necessary’ I mean something like ‘true in all possible eternities’, as will become clear.) I will try to demonstrate that this is Karl Barth's own position on the matter, which demonstration, if successful, would mean that the controversy should no longer be centred on the proper interpretation of Barth. This brings me to the second, shorter, part of my proposal, in which I argue that McCormack's position is innocent of some charges frequently brought against it. My hope is that these arguments, taken together, will advance the current discussion and contribute to its resolution.

“Remaining” as the Natural Expression of the Ontological Monism in Proclus and Pseudodionysius the Areopagite

2019 ◽  
Vol 43 (3) ◽  
pp. 2-19
Author(s):  
Christos Ath. Terezis ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Production Process ◽  
Comparative Investigation ◽  
The State ◽  
Middle Phase ◽  
Dionysius The Areopagite ◽  
The One ◽  
Natural Expression ◽  
Pseudo Dionysius

This study is a comparative investigation of Proclus’ and Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite’s positions about “remaining” as demonstrative of the ontological monism. Focusing the attention, first of all, to the Neoplatonist philosopher, who represents polytheism, it comes that “remaining” indicates the state of standstill and unchangeability of those beings which are able to function as productive principles. Thus, a transcendental and a productive plane are identified, a parameter which combines the apophatic with the affirmative approaches. The theory about “unparticipated-participated-participating” brings to the light a middle phase between “remaining” and “procession”, in order the relation “one-multitude” to develop. In Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite, “remaining” appears in two planes: a) the transcendent One, which does not take part in the production process, b) the One which includes all the beings in the form of archetypical reasons. Note that this is not an eternal co-existence or an ontological identification of the beings with the One’s substance or a transition from the first One to the second, as Proclus suggests. Pseudo-Dionysius just describes the providential function of the One, which is manifested owing to its goodness. In conclusion, the main difference between the two thinkers is how they conceive the notion of “metaphysical multitude”: in Proclus, it indicates a hierarchy of beings, while, in Pseudo-Dionysius, it expresses the inner richness of the unity. In both the worldviews though, the ontological prospect which is formed is actually an optimistic one.

Qurʾānic Interpretative Latitude and Human Evolution: A Case Study

2014 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 95-114
Author(s):  
DS Adnan Majid
Keyword(s):  
Human Evolution ◽  
Scientific Theory ◽  
Modern Science ◽  
The Other ◽  
Religion And Science ◽  
Age Of The Universe ◽  
The One ◽  
The Universe

Muslims today employ various and often conflicting strategies to mitigate contradictions between traditional Islamic teachings and modern science, especially in matters related to the age of the universe and the origin of humans. On the one hand, any scientific theory deemed problematic might be rejected outright; on the other, Islamic texts may be reinterpreted to fully support a novel scientific theory. There is, however, an alternative hermeneutical approach that uses intra-textual analysis to acknowledge “interpretative latitude” in the Qurʾān and other Islamic texts – the possibility that these texts allow for ambiguity and multiple interpretations that may or may not agree with modern science. In this paper, human evolution will serve as a case study of the implementation of this approach via a structured discussion of common Muslim objections to the theory. The paper will conclude with a discussion of the implications of this approach on defining the role of the Qurʾān and on the boundaries of religion and science.

Neoplatonism

Classics ◽  
2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah Klitenic Wear
Keyword(s):  
Late Antique ◽  
Medieval Period ◽  
Basic Principles ◽  
Language And Thought ◽  
Philosophical Movement ◽  
Wide Group ◽  
The One ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Pseudo Dionysius ◽  
The Universe

Neoplatonism (also called “Platonism”) refers to the school of philosophical and religious thought, beginning with the philosopher Plotinus (b. 204–d. 270 ce), which is marked by certain metaphysical teachings on Plato and Aristotle. After Plotinus, the three major periods of Neoplatonism include: the writings of Plotinus’s student, Porphyry (b. 232–d. 305); Iamblichus and the school of Calchis (d. 326); and the 5th- and 6th-century schools of Athens and Alexandria, including Syrianus (d. 437), Proclus (b. 412–d. 485), Damascius (b. 458–d. 538), and Olympiodorus (b. c. 500–d. 570). Each of these three major movements also includes a great many other writers, particularly the last phase of late antique Neoplatonism, which was marked by a pronounced interest in commentaries on the works of Plato and Aristotle, with commentaries on the latter being particularly prevalent in 5th- and 6th-century Alexandria. Moreover, while “Neoplatonism” generally refers to the writings of pagans, the movement was heavily influential among Christian, Jewish, and Arabic thinkers, who adopted terminology and metaphysical principles well into the medieval period. As an extreme example of this, the Christian thinker Pseudo-Dionysius (fl. 500?) not only adopted much of Proclus’s language and thought, but parts of his treatises have been found to be a word for word copying of Proclus’s writing. Although Neoplatonism represents a wide group of authors, styles, and interests certain trends can be found throughout members of the philosophical movement; namely, Neoplatonists believe that the One is the principle of unification and source of all creation; all things emanate from the One and all things return to the One. Below the One is the level of Intellect, which houses the forms, followed by the Soul. One, Intellect, and Soul are all related to each other, with Intellect in some way emanating from the One, and returning to the One, and Soul, which emanates from and returns to Intellect. In Neoplatonic thought, the individual soul of man in some way returns to the One, by means of contemplation of the One and, for some authors, through sacramental practices known as theurgy. While Neoplatonists have these basic principles in common, authors vary in their understandings of the structure of the universe. Later authors, moreover, tend to introduce a greater number of intermediary entities. Because of the breadth of this subject matter, the bibliography will need to be limited to general works on Neoplatonism, works on particular topics, and works on only a handful of key authors who are considered to be key figures in the Athenian and Alexandrian schools of Neoplatonism: Plotinus, Porphyry, Iamblichus, Syrianus, Proclus, Pseudo-Dionysius, Damascius, and Olympiodorus. For other authors, see the section General Overviews.

On Making a Difference

PEDIATRICS ◽  
1991 ◽  
Vol 87 (5) ◽  
pp. 712-718
Author(s):  
Morris Green
Keyword(s):  
Best Interests ◽  
Traditional Role ◽  
Children And Parents ◽  
Rapid Changes ◽  
Privileged Status ◽  
Making A Difference ◽  
The Times ◽  
The One ◽  
Special Risk

A question being much discussed today, here and elsewhere, is how to be helpful to all children and their families, especially those who are highly vulnerable and at special risk. It is a question that also intrigued Abraham Jacobi, a vigorous advocate for children and a vocal opponent of practices and conditions he viewed as inimical to their best interests. Now, as in Jacobi's day, the privileged status that society confers on the professions carries implicitly, and increasingly explicitly, the charge that they remain responsive to the needs of the times. In the case of pediatricians, there is the expectation that we will do whatever is in our individual or collective power to help children and their families master the rapid changes and risks that confront them today. Pediatricians are being challenged increasingly to become involved in social as well as biomedical issues and to promote healthy adaptation as well as growth and development. PEDIATRICS AND ADAPTATION These remarks on the potential role of pediatricians in promoting adaptation to developmental, social, educational, and psychosocial issues call for an extension of their traditional role in helping children and parents cope with biomedical problems.1,2 As exemplified in Table 1, such adaptation may be biomedical or psychosocial and prospective, concurrent, or rehabilitative. For successful adaptation to occur, the child or adolescent must advance from the "Risk" box in Figure 1 to the one labeled "Mastery." Those who end in the box labeled "Maladaptation" are life's losers, penalized by symptoms, poor functioning, and unhappy families.

scholarly journals Simulation centre as a strategic instrument of medical education quality improvement

2019 ◽  
Vol 2019 (2 (127)) ◽  
pp. 76-79
Author(s):  
Khachatryan Robert ◽  
Ashot Avagimyan
Keyword(s):  
Medical Education ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Educational Institution ◽  
The Times ◽  
The One ◽  
Simulation Centre ◽  
Medical University

In the 21st century, medicine alongside with medical education, is a dynamically developing industry, and is experiencing a real renaissance of its development. New technologies are gradually replacing the old methods, which undoubtedly increases the quality of provided services, reducing the probability of medical errors, and favourably affects the mortality rate (for example, echocardiography, both transthoracic and intra-oesophageal, has replaced percussion and heart palpation). However, relatively old methods, for example, such as auscultation of the heart, still do not lose their significance or effectiveness, in particular, it is worth noting the high information content of this instrumental examination when dealing with valvular pathologies of the heart (for example, critical aortic stenosis). It is known that any educational institution, in particular, a medical one, must keep abreast of the times and correspond to modern needs. The management of medical universities, making long-term strategies for their development, in order to increase competitiveness, both their own and the one of their students, should maximally provide their clinics with the latest equipment, which will undoubtedly allow preserving its niche, perhaps at the regional or world level. For example, the Yerevan State Medical University named after Mkhitar Heratsi is of inter-regional importance, being the leading medical educational institution among the countries of the Caucasus and the Anterior Asia. In the process of introducing new technologies among students of medical universities, a competence-based approach is the opening of highly equipped imulation centres, where the future doctor and/or a certain doctor will be given a unique in the medical world chance, a chance for error, since it is well-known that a doctor’s mistake can cost life of the whole people. This article is devoted to the pivotal role of the simulation centre within the modern educational system of medical universities as well as the strategy for its construction. Keywords: medical education, doctor, simulation centre.

Pseudo-Dionysius (fl. c. AD 500)

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hannes Jarka-Sellers
Keyword(s):  
Middle Ages ◽  
Religious Orientation ◽  
World View ◽  
Sixth Century ◽  
Dionysius The Areopagite ◽  
The World ◽  
Literary Device ◽  
Pseudo Dionysius ◽  
The Universe ◽  
Christian World View

‘Pseudo-Dionysius’ was a Christian Neoplatonist who wrote in the late fifth or early sixth century and who presented himself as Dionysius the Areopagite, an Athenian converted by St Paul. This pretence – or literary device – was so convincing that Pseudo-Dionysius acquired something close to apostolic authority, giving his writings tremendous influence throughout the Middle Ages and into the Renaissance. The extant four treatises and ten letters articulate a metaphysical view of the cosmos, as well as a religious path of purification and perfection, that are grounded in the Neoplatonism developed in the Platonic Academy in Athens. Although this strand of Neoplatonist thought, in contrast to that developed at the school in Alexandria, was deliberately pagan in its religious orientation, Pseudo-Dionysius used its conceptual resources (drawing especially on Proclus) to give precision and depth to the philosophical principles of a Christian world view. Cardinal points of Pseudo-Dionysius’ thought are the transcendence of a first cause of the universe, the immediacy of divine causality in the world and a hierarchically ordered cosmos.

Christian Theologies of Salvation

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Justin S. Holcomb
Keyword(s):  
Jesus Christ ◽  
Church History ◽  
Christian Theology ◽  
Christian Tradition ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
The One ◽  
The Trinity ◽  
Historical Periods

This book introduces the reader to the great variety of distinctive interpretations within the Christian tradition regarding theologies of salvation, distinctive interpretations expressed by a wide range of Christian theologians. Christian theology is reflection on the one whom Christians confess as Lord and Savior. This reflection has been informed by the interest in salvation. The role of soteriology is to show why and how Jesus is significant. All Christian theologians would agree that Jesus Christ is the one through whom salvation comes, but to explain what that means has been debated throughout the tradition. Various contributors from a wide variety of Christian traditions address theologies of salvation, each bringing his or her own expertise to bear on theologies of the salvation as expressed in the work of specific theologians and in historical periods of church history, as well as cultural and sociological perspectives of the present. The theologies of the salvation are addressed from several angles—theological, historical, pastoral, and others. While there are many different perspectives regarding theologies of salvation, the recurring unifying theme is the role of the Trinity and the focus on the person and work of Jesus Christ.

scholarly journals Reading dermatology in the Victorian newspaper. The performance of medical vocabulary in The Times correspondence column

2017 ◽  
Vol 16 (03) ◽  
pp. A12
Author(s):  
Diana Garrisi
Keyword(s):  
Marketing Strategy ◽  
Corporal Punishment ◽  
The Other ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
Medical Vocabulary ◽  
The Times ◽  
The One

This contribution concerns the role of the Victorian newspaper correspondence column in advancing knowledge of dermatology in relation to corporal punishment. It explores The Times' coverage of an inquest into the death by flogging of a British soldier. I argue that on the one hand, The Times participated in the debate about flogging in the army by bringing forward skin anatomy as an argument against corporal punishment. On the other hand, the paper might have used the publication of letters with medical content as a marketing strategy to maintain its authority and credibility against accusations of sensationalism.

scholarly journals ISLAM MITOS INDONESIA (KAJIAN ANTROPOLOGI-SOSIOLOGI)

Kodifikasia ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 61
Author(s):  
Sardjuningsih Sardjuningsih
Keyword(s):  
The Other ◽  
Traditional Religion ◽  
Community Group ◽  
The Social ◽  
Islamic Religion ◽  
The One ◽  
The Universe ◽  
Holy Book ◽  
The Invisible

The Muslims in Indonesia, appreciated the tradition’s value so much, remarkably, the one which becomes the part of the religiousity practices and becomes one with it. Therefore, the Islamic religion manifestation in every community group is different, because of the tradition’s differences cover it; the position of tradition and the ancestors precepts which are placed equally with religion, it is toward the invisible matter or supernatural. Their exiatences are worshipped, honored, respected and even considdered cult, treated as the God in religion. Supernatural is often anthropomorphic, it means that the supernatural is often treated as the other creatures which have the ability and characters like human, animals, or plants. The community divinity concept and perception is not purely monotheism, but it is monopluralistic. Tradition which is accomodated in their religious practices is often connected to the myth existence. The myth truth is the community faith matter, emotion and mental. All of the religion processes related to doctrine, history and its development can not be separated from the existence of the myth, included religion which is claimed as the revelation religion. The myth element becomes very important in this contextual Islam, because the myth knowledge is considered as the holy story, the primordialic event about the universe genesis, the past time, and the other life. Frazer described that the myth position in the community religion is like the holy book in the modern religion. In every tribe and group who claim as Muslim, they have the myth practices which become the base in arrenging local Islamic practices. In the study of anthropology and sociology, the function and the role of myth, religion, and tradition can not be substancially distinguished, since every one contains the invisible element. The myth as a story which is considered sacred as like the holy book which is able to describe the transendental primordial event. Myth is related to the traditional religion and the holy book is related to modern religion. The Sociology defines that myth is as the social stucture in creating the community condition. As a belief which is able to strengthen the community mystical side in order to be able to conserve the adhesive social values in the community.

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