scholarly journals The leadership challenges of Paul’s collection for the saints in Jerusalem: Part II: Overcoming the obstacles on the side of the recipients and of Paul

2017 ◽  
Vol 38 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Christoph W. Stenschke
Keyword(s):  
Authentic Leadership ◽  
Leadership Theory ◽  
Leadership Challenges ◽  
Political Situation ◽  
Early Christian ◽  
Christian Churches ◽  
Christian Leader ◽  
Current Leadership ◽  
Jewish Christians ◽  
The Church

Paul tried to convince the predominantly Gentile Christian churches to contribute to a collection for the impoverished Jewish Christians of Jerusalem. While Paul is best known as a theologian, missionary and pastor, his collection project also shows his skills as an early Christian leader. Part II of this article describes what obstacles Paul had to overcome on the side of the Jewish Christian recipients of the collection, how he did so and how he proceeded in preparing and organising the actual collection, the transport and presentation of the funds in Jerusalem. It also discusses what obstacles were involved for Paul personally in this project and how he dealt with them. In closing, the article relates the portrait of Paul the leader as it emerges in this enterprise to modern leadership theory. Paul’s leadership evinces elements of servant leadership, authentic leadership and adaptive leadership.Intradisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: The article indicates to what extent early Christianity was affected by and had to interact with the political situation of its day. It also shows the complexities of Paul‘s life and ministry and his relations to the church in Jerusalem. It also provides an example of how Paul can be related to current leadership theory and suggests that awareness of this discourse sheds fresh light on Paul.

scholarly journals The leadership challenges of Paul's collection for the saints in Jerusalem: Part I: Overcoming the obstacles on the side of the Gentile Christian donors

2015 ◽  
Vol 36 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Christoph W. Stenschke
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Fund Raising ◽  
Christian Leadership ◽  
Apostle Paul ◽  
Leadership Challenges ◽  
Early Christian ◽  
Christian Churches ◽  
Course Of Action ◽  
Christian Leader ◽  
A Charge

In addition to many other activities, the Apostle Paul was involved in a large-scale fund raising project. Following a charge he once had received in Jerusalem to remember the poor (Gl 2:10), Paul tried to convince the predominantly Gentile Christian churches which he had founded to contribute to a collection for the impoverished Jewish Christians of Jerusalem. For the potential donors it was far from obvious that they should be involved in benefaction for people far away and unable to reciprocate to their would-be �patrons�, to name but one obstacle. Whilst Paul is best known as theologian, missionary and pastor, his collection project also indicates his determination and skills as an early Christian leader. In this quest, Paul combined a broad salvation historical perspective, skilful persuasion and rhetoric, the notions of honour and shame, exemplary transparency and other aspects. This article describes what obstacles Paul had to overcome on the side of the Gentile Christian donors, how he did so and how he proceeded in preparing and organising the actual collection, the transport of the funds to Jerusalem and its presentation in Jerusalem. In closing, the article suggests applications for today�s Christian leaders.Intradisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: The article indicates that already in early Christianity Christian leadership involved the use of several skills and was controversial. Far from being able to simply demand a certain course of action, early Christian leaders such as Paul had to convince others to lead by their own example and had to be involved themselves in what they demanded of others. This challenges some contemporary notions of Christian leadership. Following the portrayal of Paul�s leadership as it emerges from his collection project will lead to more effective Christian leadership.

Religious Traditions in Politics: Catholicism

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lawrence C. Reardon
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Abuse ◽  
Roman Empire ◽  
Catholic Church ◽  
Pope Francis ◽  
Religious Traditions ◽  
Christian Churches ◽  
Protestant Churches ◽  
External Threats ◽  
Jewish Christians ◽  
The Church

Traveling from Galilea and Judea 2,000 years ago to the far reaches of the Roman Empire, Jewish Christians gradually transformed their small gatherings of believers into a major European Catholic State-Church, which eventually became today’s Global Catholic Church-State. Popes throughout the centuries have adapted strategies to deal with internal religious challenges, including the Great Schism of 1054, which separated the Eastern and Western Christian Churches, and the European Reformation of 1517, which created separate vibrant Protestant Churches. The popes have also dealt with external threats from Islam, nationalism, and communism that sought to control or eliminate the pope’s autonomy to lead the Church. With a universal church of over 1.3 billion members in the developed and developing world, Pope Francis continues to adapt Church policies while tackling its greatest challenge to its legitimacy, the sexual abuse scandals.

scholarly journals Celebrating the feasts of the Old Testament in Christian contexts

2006 ◽  
Vol 62 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Magdel Le Roux
Keyword(s):  
Old Testament ◽  
Religious Experience ◽  
Catholic Church ◽  
Roman Catholic ◽  
Roman Catholic Church ◽  
Early Christian ◽  
Christian Churches ◽  
Protestant Churches ◽  
The Reformation ◽  
The Church

Many early Christian churches incorporated a number of non-biblical, even “pagan” symbols and rituals into their liturgy (e. g. the origin of Christmas). They were contextualized into the church by a brand new Christian content to them. From its first inception Christianity attempted to slander and suppress the pagan myths and rituals in the name of its own message. This, however, does not alter the fact that the church also sought some connections in the sphere of myth. Since the Reformation many Protestant churches have tended to “cleanse” the church from all forms of symbols and rituals that could be reminiscent of its earlier connection with the Roman Catholic Church. The article argues that this left an emptiness, a longing for symbols and rituals which usually form an essential part of a normal religious experience. The Old Testament has both a “deficit” and a “surplus” which might have an abiding significance for Christians. It has become clear from archaeological discoveries that Jewish societies formed an integral part of early Christian societies.

Review of: Sacred Architecture of Byzantium. Art, Liturgy and Symbolism in Early Christian Churches. London; New York: I. B. Tauris & Co Ltd, 2014. 446 p. ISBN 978-1-78076-291-3

2020 ◽  
pp. 351-356
Author(s):  
Юлия Николаевна Бузыкина
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Church And State ◽  
Sacred Art ◽  
Sacred Architecture ◽  
Early Christian ◽  
Christian Churches ◽  
Byzantine Architecture ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The Church ◽  
Historical Periods

Книга Николаса Н. Патрикиоса («Сакральная архитектура Византии: искусство, литургия и символизм в раннехристианских церквях») представляет собой обобщающую работу о византийской архитектуре от эпохи Константина до падения Константинополя. Важность её заключается не только в том, что автор проработал огромный массив материала — 370 памятников, разделив их на семь типов (с. 48) и проследив эволюцию каждого из них и в целом и в деталях, но и в том, что автор учитывает взаимосвязь между архитектурной типологией и наполнением здания, демонстрируя, как особенности литургии в разные исторические периоды соотносятся с архитектурной эволюцией, а также с образным наполнением церковного пространства. Эта отличительная черта работы сообщает ей необходимую полноту. Для Патрикиоса архитектура, литургия и священное изобразительное искусство представляет собой единое целое. Чтобы учесть все компоненты целого, автор делит повествование на следующие главы: церковь и государство; сакральная архитектура; великолепные церкви; духовное искусство; литургия и Евхаристия; символизм в архитектуре и искусстве. The book by Nicholas N. Patrikios ("Sacred Architecture of Byzantium: Art, Liturgy and Symbolism in Early Christian Churches") is a generalizing work on Byzantine architecture from the era of Constantine to the fall of Constantinople. Its importance lies not only in the fact that the author has worked through a huge array of material - 370 monuments, dividing them into seven types (p. 48) and tracing the evolution of each of them in general and in detail, but also in the fact that the author takes into account the relationship between the architectural typology and the content of the building, demonstrating how the features of the liturgy in different historical periods correlate with the architectural evolution, as well as with the figurative content of the church space. This distinctive the feature of the work gives it the necessary completeness. For Patrikios architecture, liturgy and sacred art of constitutes a single whole. To take into account all the components of the whole, the author divides the narrative into the following chapters: church and state; sacred architecture; magnificent churches; spiritual art; liturgy and Eucharist; symbolism in architecture and art.

scholarly journals Pitfalls in �Biblical� leadership

2013 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Volker Kessler
Keyword(s):  
Leadership Theory ◽  
Christian Leadership ◽  
Vision Statements ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Biblical Leadership ◽  
Transforming Leadership ◽  
Christian Leader ◽  
Rule Of Benedict ◽  
Biblical Sources ◽  
The Church

This article is about the pitfalls involved in writing a Christian handbook on leadership. By analysing some elements of the Rule of Benedict it is argued that it is impossible to write such a handbook without using non-Biblical sources. Moreover, there are typical pitfalls when authors attempt to develop a pure Biblical leadership theory. The first pitfall is typical of Christians representing Niebuhr�s type of �Christ against Culture�. As early as 1951, Niebuhr claimed that in the field of leadership in particular the radical exclusive Christians reintroduced rules from non-Christian cultures. Examples from the last decade support Niebuhr�s observation. The second pitfall, referred to as reconstruction, is typical of those authors who are open to secular sources but who seek to give Biblical evidence for their leadership theory. This pitfall is illustrated by analysing the process in which the secular concepts of transforming leadership and vision statements found their way into evangelical books on Christian leadership. Reconstruction typically consists of four steps: Perception (a secular model of leadership becomes popular), Acceptance (this model is examined and accepted for the context of the church) Assimilation (it is claimed that leaders in the Bible worked exactly as described in the model, books are written about Biblical leadership, exemplifying the model. The secular source becomes obsolete.) and Standardisation (this model of leadership is declared to be the Biblical norm for every Christian leader). I argue that step 3 is at least problematic and step 4 is a fatal error.

Morning salutationes and the Decline of Sympotic Eucharists in the Third Century

2014 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Clemens Leonhard
Keyword(s):  
Roman Empire ◽  
Middle Ages ◽  
Late Antiquity ◽  
Social Institution ◽  
Early Morning ◽  
Early Christian ◽  
Christian Churches ◽  
Last Supper ◽  
The Church ◽  
The Middle Ages

AbstractIn late antiquity and the middle ages, many expositors compare the liturgy of the Eucharist (or the mass/the Divine Liturgy) with the accounts of Jesus’ Last supper claiming continuity and identity for a tradition in whose early phases diversity and change were abound. This essay departs from five issues regarding aspects of change between the early Christian sympotic celebrations of the Eucharist and the state of affairs in the middle ages: first, the quantity and quality of food to be consumed; second, the combined (as against separate) blessing or consecration of bread and wine; third, the timing of the celebration in the afternoon and evening versus the early morning; fourth, its compulsory combination with a liturgy of the word that is, moreover, performed preceding the Eucharist and not following the meal as it would be customary in ancient Greece and Rome; fifth, the later reservation of the presidency to clerics of the church. At least these five aspects of change in Eucharistic celebrations can be explained with recourse to the Roman custom of patrons receiving their clients almost every morning in the framework of the morning salutatio. Thus, it is indicated how the churches of Carthage moved from Eucharistic celebrations in the style of dinner parties and communal meals towards distributions of gifts to clients at a meeting with their bishop as patron of the church. This thesis explains why the loss of prandial Eucharists began long before Constantine. It explains when and why Christian churches in the Roman Empire abandoned a celebration that lent itself to the spontaneous interpretation as a mimetic celebration of the Last Supper thus creating the need to emphasize-eventually as part of the ritual itself in the form of the recitation of institution narratives-that the Eucharist is still the same, although it lost most of its mimetic allusions to its alleged pattern in the first century. The gradual adoption of the social institution of the morning salutatio also explains the parallel existence of different forms of Eucharistic celebrations: Its adoption and adaptation is an answer to the growth of the churches in certain places which could remain unimportant for others.

Christus Virgo

2012 ◽  
Vol 41 (2) ◽  
pp. 22-27
Author(s):  
Sissel Undheim
Keyword(s):  
Moral Status ◽  
The Other ◽  
Late Antique ◽  
Church Fathers ◽  
Early Christian ◽  
Female Sex ◽  
The One ◽  
The Church

The description of Christ as a virgin, 'Christus virgo', does occur at rare occasions in Early Christian and late antique texts. Considering that 'virgo' was a term that most commonly described the sexual and moral status of a member of the female sex, such representations of Christ as a virgin may exemplify some of the complex negotiations over gender, salvation, sanctity and Christology that we find in the writings of the Church fathers. The article provides some suggestions as to how we can understand the notion of the virgin Christ within the context of early Christian and late antique theological debates on the one hand, and in light of the growing interest in sacred virginity on the other.

A.I. Solzhenitsyn Apropos of Russia’s Future: Specific Outlook Features Depending on Different Historical Context

2019 ◽  
Vol 66 ◽  
pp. 327-334
Author(s):  
Inga V. Zheltikova ◽  
Elena I. Khokhlova
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Context ◽  
Historical Context ◽  
The Political ◽  
Social Stability ◽  
Political Situation ◽  
The Future ◽  
Pessimistic Attitude ◽  
Personal Qualities ◽  
Images Of The Future ◽  
The Church

The article considers the dependence of the images of future on the socio-cultural context of their formation. Comparison of the images of the future found in A.I. Solzhenitsyn’s works of various years reveals his generally pessimistic attitude to the future in the situation of social stability and moderate optimism in times of society destabilization. At the same time, the author's images of the future both in the seventies and the nineties of the last century demonstrate the mismatch of social expectations and reality that was generally typical for the images of the future. According to the authors of the present article, Solzhenitsyn’s ideas that the revival of spirituality could serve as the basis for the development of economy, that the influence of the Church on the process of socio-economic development would grow, and that the political situation strongly depends on the personal qualities of the leader, are unjustified. Nevertheless, such ideas are still present in many images of the future of Russia, including contemporary ones.

Dreams Give Birth to Reality”. Engraving Austroseraphicum Coelum as an Attempt to Create a New Reality by the Spanish Habsburgs Dynastic Propaganda / Sny rodzą rzeczywistość…”. Grafika Austroseraphicum Coelum jako próba kreowania nowej rzeczywistości za pomocą propagandy dynastycznej Habsburgów hiszpańskich

2014 ◽  
Vol 39 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jan Kurowiak
Keyword(s):  
Seventeenth Century ◽  
The Netherlands ◽  
General Condition ◽  
Symbolic System ◽  
Political Situation ◽  
Mission Of God ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
The World ◽  
The Church

AbstractAs a work of propaganda, graphics Austroseraphicum Coelum Paulus Pontius should create a new reality, make appearances. The main impression while seeing the graphics is the admiration for the power of Habsburgs, which interacts with the power of the Mother of God. She, in turn, refers the viewer to God, as well as Franciscans placed on the graphic, they become a symbol of the Church. This is a starting point for further interpretation of the drawing. By the presence of certain characters, allegories, symbols, we can see references to a particular political situation in the Netherlands - the war with the northern provinces of Spain. The message of the graphic is: the Spanish Habsburgs, commissioned by the mission of God, they are able to fight all of the enemies, especially Protestants, with the help of Immaculate and the Franciscans. The main aim of the graphic is to convince the viewer that this will happen and to create in his mind a vision of the new reality. But Spain was in the seventeenth century nothing but a shadow of former itself (in the time of Philip IV the general condition of Spain get worse). That was the reason why they wanted to hold the belief that the empire continues unwavering. The form of this work (graphics), also allowed to export them around the world, and the ambiguity of the symbolic system, its contents relate to different contexts, and as a result, the Habsburgs, not only Spanish, they could promote their strength everywhere. Therefore it was used very well as a single work of propaganda, as well as a part of a broader campaign

Prophetic Leadership Model: Conceptualizing a Prophet’s Leadership Behaviour, Leader-Follower Mutuality and Altruism to Decision Making Quality

2015 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 93
Author(s):  
Nik Maheran Nik Muhammad
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Social Network ◽  
A Priori ◽  
Complex Function ◽  
Spiritual Leadership ◽  
Leadership Theory ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Leadership Model ◽  
Leadership Behaviour ◽  
Current Leadership

This article advocates that research is lacking on the connection between leadership theory and social network theory. To date, little empirical research has been conducted on leadership and social networks. Thus, the proposition of this article goes beyond traditional leadership models to advocate for a fuller and more integrative focus that is multilevel, multi-component and interdisciplinary, while recognizing that leadership is a complex function of both the organisational leaders and the followers who perform tasks, all of which subsequently leads to decision making qualities. Indeed, the current leadership model focuses on leadership behaviour and the ability to gain followers mutuality, to achieve decision making quality involving the integration of leadership and social network theories. Given the apparent mutable palette of contemporary leadership theory, this emergent construct of the leadership paradigm can expand the poles of the leadership continuum and contribute to a richer and deeper understanding of the relationships and responsibilities of leaders and followers as they relate to decision making qualities. This new construct, which is termed prophetic leadership, explores the literature of the life experiences of the prophet in the ‘Abrahamic Faith’ religion. Drawing on a priori links between the personality trait and spiritual leadership that has recently garnered the interest of scholars, the present study asserts a normative leadership theory that links the personal quality of a leader, posture and principal (based on the Prophet’s leadership behaviour) to synergy and decision making quality. Altruism is proposed to enhance relationships between leadership behaviour and decision making quality. For future research, much work needs to be done specifically aiming to (a) achieve greater clarity of construct definitions, (b) address measurement issues, and (c) avoid construct redundancy.

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