scholarly journals Spirituality and belief: Implications for study and practice of Christian spirituality

2018 ◽  
Vol 74 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Diana L. Villegas
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Context ◽  
Spiritual Practice ◽  
Christian Spirituality ◽  
John Hick ◽  
Multiple Sources ◽  
Beliefs And Practices ◽  
Human Culture ◽  
Theoretical Function ◽  
Quest For Meaning ◽  
Sociological Studies

The aim of this article is to show the inherent connection between spirituality and belief and the significance of this for the study and practice of Christian spirituality. John Hick, a scholar of religion, argues that religions arose in human culture in order to offer beliefs and practices that respond to the human quest for meaning and transcendence. Assuming spirituality refers to consciously living life in terms of such beliefs and rituals, then religion’s function in culture is to provide a spirituality. Based on the latter theory, I argue for the importance of theological or confessional reflection regarding contemporary belief, given that theology reflects on the beliefs of a religion and at its best helps persons understand and integrate their beliefs into the living of life at a particular historical-cultural moment. In our contemporary globalised, pluralistic culture the influence on spiritual practice of multiple sources of wisdom is common, as shown by sociological studies discussed in this study. This cultural context calls for identification, understanding and interpretation of the beliefs of Christians, as well as study regarding how these beliefs fulfil the purpose of religion in human culture, namely offering ways of living with suffering, evil and questions about the meaning of life. I argue such study fulfils both practical and theoretical function

Faith and Culture

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jude Ezimakor
Keyword(s):  
Jesus Christ ◽  
Cultural Context ◽  
Christian Faith ◽  
Everyday Experience ◽  
Human Culture ◽  
Cultural Life

How do faith and culture interact? Using the example of the Igbo tribe in Nigeria, Jude Ezimakor explains their interplay and shows how the Christian faith can connect with human culture to give an authentic testimony of faith in concrete everyday experience. In particular, he explores the question of who Jesus Christ is for a particular community of believers and what meaning he can convey in their contemporary lives and their particular cultural life situations. In this way, Christology begins to merge Orthodoxy and Orthopraxis with the question: How does faith come alive in a particular social-cultural context in order to develop it?

scholarly journals THE SYMBOLISM OF THE VISUAL IMAGE IN THE PHILOSOPHICAL CONCEPTIONS OF E. CASSIRER AND C. LANGER: THE CULTURAL CONTEXT

2017 ◽  
pp. 52-55
Author(s):  
S. P. Stoian
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Context ◽  
Continuous Production ◽  
Visual Image ◽  
Natural World ◽  
Human Existence ◽  
Human Culture ◽  
Symbolic Forms ◽  
Essential Components ◽  
Symbolic Reality ◽  
Philosophy Of Symbolic Forms

It’s mentioned that the European atmosphere of increased interest in the problems of symbol and symbolism in the cultural space, giving rise in the second half of the XIX century to the registration of symbolism in art direction also contributes to a number of philosophical studies to the rethinking of the functioning of the cultural sphere, as well asthe whole of human existence from the standpoint of symbolism.A powerful concept that gives us an understanding of the global symbolic basis of culture is the theory of E. Cassirer, which he outlines in his work "The Philosophy of symbolic forms", expanding these issues infurther series of works collected under the title "An Essay on Man". Cassirer’s views are one of the main methodological foundations in our research, because the human culture has deeply symbolic character and consists of various symbolic forms, among which art takes a special place. Culture is not something predetermined; it is created by a person who is gradually separated from the natural world precisely because of its ability for continuous production of symbols. Along with the myth Cassirer distinguished such symbolic forms as language, art, science, through which the essential components of the symbolic reality of man are also produced. In work "Philosophy of Symbolic Forms", the art is mentioned in the context of consideration of the specificity of these symbolic realms and researcher focuses on myth, language and the problem of scientific knowledge. The philosopher indicates the communicative function of art, which becomes extremely important in the twentieth century in the context of the active involvement of the viewer in the process of co-creation. One of the main characteristics of symbolism about art that it distinguishes the concept from the previous Cassirer's symbolic concepts, particularly medieval, in his opinion, that art is really symbolic, but the symbolism of art should be understood not in transcendental but immanent sense. S. Langer in "Philosophy in a new key: A Study in the Symbolism of Reason, Rite, and Art", continuing the Cassirer's line on the recognition of the symbolic nature of human existence and the view of man as the "symbolic animal", along with an analysis of the symbolism oflanguage, which it defines as discursive, consider the symbolism of visual forms, which he calls presentations, or rediscussion, referring to him the sphere of art. Analyzed concepts demonstrate strong scientific interest to the question of symbolism in human culture, and emphasize the relevance of treatment to this issue.

ІСИХАЗМ В ДУХОВНІЙ КУЛЬТУРІ ВІЗАНТІЇ ТА КИЇВСЬКОЇ РУСІ

2020 ◽  
pp. 8-14
Author(s):  
Admink Admink ◽  
Ольга Сапожнік
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Context ◽  
Church Music ◽  
Spiritual Practice ◽  
Musical Culture

Розглянуто ідею транспозиції ісихазму у світоглядну і музичну культуру православ’я Київської Русі; окреслено зв’язок культур Візантії та Київської Русі в царині християнського культурного контексту й релігійно-мистецького світогляду. Означено сакральні сенси транспонування духовної практики ісихії в мистецтво та естетосферу православ’я, зокрема, їх прояв у художньо-символічних та образно-евокативних формах, зокрема й церковних музичних практиках, що забезпечує вкорінення естетики ісихазму в архетипах і метаобразах етнокультурної ідентифікації українців. The transposition of hesychasm into the worldview and musical culture of Kyivan Rus Orthodoxy has been considered. The connection between the Byzantine and Kyivan Rus cultures in the realm of Christian cultural context and religious and artistic worldview has been outlined. The sacral meanings of the transposition of the hesychasm spiritual practice into the art and aesthetic sphere of Orthodoxy have been determined, in particular, their manifestation in artistic, symbolic and figuratively evocative forms, including church music practices, which ensures the rooting of the hesychasm aesthetics in archetypes and meta-images of ethnocultural identification of Ukrainians.  

Michel Henry and the Prospect of a Christian Spiritual Inactivism

2021 ◽  
pp. 193979092110361
Author(s):  
Steven Nemes
Keyword(s):  
Spiritual Practice ◽  
Christian Spirituality ◽  
Phenomenological Philosophy ◽  
Presence Of God ◽  
Present Essay ◽  
Spiritual Activism ◽  
Michel Henry

Christian spirituality is often “activist.” It consists in the performance of various actions through which a faithful person attempts to secure the presence of God. The argument of the present essay is that spiritual “activism” cannot actually accomplish this goal. For this reason, it is necessary to seek a foundation for all spiritual activism in spiritual “inactivism.” This means that all Christian spiritual activity must be reconceived as a response to and celebration of a prior presence of God that comes before any performance. The phenomenological philosophy of Michel Henry makes it possible to appreciate how God is so present in the very fact of being alive. This can make the whole of Christian spiritual practice a Eucharist—a perpetual thanksgiving.

Decolonizing African Christian Spirituality

Utafiti ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 77-92
Author(s):  
Evaristi Magoti Cornelli
Keyword(s):  
Meaning In Life ◽  
Cultural Beliefs ◽  
Christian Spirituality ◽  
Religious Orders ◽  
African People ◽  
Quest For Meaning ◽  
Long Time ◽  
Critical Methods ◽  
Do So ◽  
Cultural Hybrid

Africa is mired in problems and has been so for a very long time. In their attempts to rescue the situation, our forefathers took upon themselves the task of decolonization. Although this process began in earnest in the early 1960s, it has since stalled. Today there are few Africans, either in the secular realm or in religious orders, who dare to speak about decolonization. It is as if the continent is in a coma, its attendants paralyzed. We all seem to have reached the conclusion that the current worldview, provided by the neo-conservatives in Washington and London, is an unassailable universal, a definitive and final creed. This paper is an attempt to break the deadlock of the world’s current commitment to a monoculture. Focusing on the religious domain, in particular prayer, and using historical and critical methods, I argue that African Christians are alienated from their cultural beliefs, and as such their quest for meaning in life is eschewed. I maintain that the spirituality of individualism characterising Christianity is detrimental to Africa and as such it has to be replaced by the ‘spirituality of community’, which is grounded in African traditions and cultures. I conclude by suggesting that if African people want to find meaning in their life and existence here on earth, then they must do so by looking very carefully into their own cultures and traditions, and not disappear into alien cultures, or into some mono-cultural hybrid we witness today.

scholarly journals Cura animarum as hope care: Towards a theology of the resurrection within the human quest for meaning and hope

2014 ◽  
Vol 70 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel J. Louw
Keyword(s):  
Social Status ◽  
Basic Assumption ◽  
Christian Spirituality ◽  
Human Suffering ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Cultural Discourses ◽  
New Creation ◽  
Quest For Meaning ◽  
State Of Mind ◽  
Pastoral Caregiving

The following critical questions are posed: is hope the antidote of dread and despair or a kind of escapism from the harsh realities of anguish and suffering? What is meant by hope in Christian spirituality and how is hope connected to a theology of the resurrection? Is resurrection hope merely a kind of cheap triumphantalism and variant of a theologia gloriae? The basic assumption is that the notion of the resurrection can contribute to ‘the thickening of alternative stories of faith’. A theologia resurrectionis is about the reframing of life by means of a radical paradox: ‘Where, O death is your victory? Where, O death is your sting?’ If pastoral caregiving is indeed about change and hope, the resurrection describes an ontology of hope by which human beings are transformed into a total new being. Beyond the discriminating and stigmatising categories of many social and cultural discourses on our being human, resurrection theology defines hope as a new state of mind and being. The identity of human beings is therefore not determined by descent, gender, race or social status, but by eschatology (new creation.) Hope care is primarily about a new courage to be. It opens up different frameworks for meaningful living within the realm of human suffering.

scholarly journals Reflection on the Production of Knowledge: From Postmodernism to Pseudoscience

2017 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 3
Author(s):  
Daud Aris Tanudirjo
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Cultural Context ◽  
Higher Education Institutions ◽  
Education Institution ◽  
Higher Education Institution ◽  
Human Culture ◽  
World University Rankings ◽  
The Status ◽  
The Impact

In the last few years, the Indonesian government has impelled academics and higher education institutions as the centre of knowledge production to publish their works in reputed international journal. This policy is necessary to elevate the position of Indonesian higher education institution in the World University Rankings. In fact, such a policy will not only have impact on the status of the higher education institution but also in the course of human culture and society. This article tries to reflect on the impact of the implementation of the policy in the wider cultural context. Predictably, new knowledge will only be circulated among the elite academics and the higher education institutions will become inaccessible ivory tower for the society. On the other hand, the society will tend to consume more pseudoscientific knowledge which is more attractive and easier to understand. Ultimately this will have a significant impact on the course and quality of human culture.

Culture, or the Meaning of Meaning Making

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Ian Borer
Keyword(s):  
Everyday Life ◽  
Cultural Context ◽  
Meaning Making ◽  
Social Forces ◽  
Beliefs And Practices ◽  
Do So

The exploration and investigation of culture is nothing short of complex since the term itself is used in many ways by both academics and lay publics. Symbolic interactionists and “fellow travelers” tend to approach the study of culture from the position of those who experience and practice it. That is, they focus on the cultural context of practices and interaction and often do so by illuminating the activities of individuals and groups in everyday life. The meanings that people give to their actions and interactions are of utmost importance for scholars interested in the culture as a social forces and a shared collection of beliefs and practices.

Introduction

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Jerryson
Keyword(s):  
Southeast Asia ◽  
East Asia ◽  
South Asia ◽  
Central Asia ◽  
Cultural Context ◽  
Beliefs And Practices

This Handbook examines the transformations to Buddhists, their beliefs, and practices throughout the nineteenth, twentieth, and twenty-first centuries. Over the centuries, Buddhism changed with modernity. These changes accelerated in diverse manners during the colonial and postcolonial periods. As each tradition offers its own distinctive historical and cultural context, Part I in the Handbook reviews the development of specific traditions. There are seven subsections that demarcate the regions from which various traditions emerged: South Asia, East Asia, Central Asia, Southeast Asia, Europe/Americas, Southern, and Global. Part II tracks patterns and themes that relate to the diverse Buddhist traditions. In this section, chapters address the modes or manners in which Buddhist traditions manifest in the contemporary age.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document