scholarly journals DIVINE HIDDENNESS AND HUMAN CONSCIOUSNESS

2021 ◽  
pp. 20-31
Author(s):  
Pavel Butakov
Keyword(s):  
Religious Experience ◽  
Cognitive Abilities ◽  
Human Consciousness ◽  
Divine Presence ◽  
Epistemic Situation ◽  
Relationship With God ◽  
Divine Hiddenness ◽  
New Strategy ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Loving Relationship

The paper offers a new strategy for refuting the atheistic hiddenness argument. For that, the argument is modified on the account of the actual epistemic situation in our world. As a result, the success of the modified argument hinges on the truth of the supposition that divine-human loving relationship depends on whether the human had a convincing religious experience of the divine presence and whether the human possesses the capability to recognize this experience as their participation in the relationship with God. This supposition, however, is shown to be unfounded. Moreover, this supposition entails that many people who lack the necessary cognitive abilities to be conscious of their relationship with God are thus unfit for this relationship, which disagrees with the idea of all-encompassing divine love. A successful rebuttal of this supposition results in a refutation of the hiddenness argument.

scholarly journals Divine Openness for Physical Relationship

2021 ◽  
Vol 69 (3) ◽  
pp. 141-161
Author(s):  
Pavel Butakov
Keyword(s):  
Natural Theology ◽  
Human Freedom ◽  
Conscious Awareness ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Relationship With God ◽  
Physical Relationship ◽  
Divine Hiddenness ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Loving Relationship

The success of the atheistic hiddenness argument depends on the “consciousness constraint” it imposes on the divine-human loving relationship: namely, that this relationship requires human conscious awareness of being in the relationship with God. I challenge the truth of this proposition by introducing the concept of a physical relationship with God that is not subject to this constraint. I argue, first, that a physical relationship with God is metaphysically possible; second, that its plausibility is supported by natural theology; and third, that a perfectly loving God would prefer physical relationships with human beings over consciousness-constrained relationships, because a perfectly loving God would prefer to preserve the integrity of human freedom of participation and allow inclusion of all people regardless of their natural cognitive capabilities. I also offer an interpretation of apparent divine hiddenness in the light of the idea of God’s openness for physical relationships.

Divine Presence in a Material World

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael C. Rea
Keyword(s):  
Religious Experience ◽  
Divine Presence ◽  
Material World ◽  
Plausible Account ◽  
Important Decision ◽  
Divine Hiddenness ◽  
Decision Points ◽  
Divine Encounters

This chapter, together with Chapter 6, presents a theory about encounters with God according to which experience of God’s presence is much more widely available than is typically credited in the literature on divine hiddenness. The present chapter further develops the account sketched in Chapter 6 and, in so doing, locates the account in relation to a few important decision points in the literature on religious experience. The chapter concludes with some reasons for thinking that the view of divine encounters sketched here is the most plausible account of how creatures like us might experience divine presence in a material world.

Russian Philosophy of the Name and John of Kronstadt: Name – Icon– God

2020 ◽  
Vol 102 ◽  
pp. 712-726
Author(s):  
Elena S. Mahler
Keyword(s):  
Point Of View ◽  
Russian Philosophy ◽  
Divine Presence ◽  
Relationship With God ◽  
Religious Symbols ◽  
Divine Name ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Ontological Relationship ◽  
Name Of God

The article examines the ideological connection of the name glory and Russian philosophy of the name with the theology of father John of Kronstadt, which allows us to speak of him as one of the main precursors of this direction in Russian thought. The article offers the analysis of the most revealing references to father John by the name praisers - first of all, Hilarion (Domrachev), Anthony (Bulatovich) and metropolitan Veniamin (Fedchenkov), who justified the name praising using the views of father John and demonstrated his succession to the traditional patristic heritage. Also the author investigates the most illustrative references of the imyabortsy to father John’s ideas - first of all, the synodal theologians Nikon (Rozhdestvensky) and Sergey Troitsky, for whom the onomatodoxy statements of father John were the problem that required analysis and different interpretation. The ideological relationship between the teachings of John of Kronstadt with the Russian philosophy of the the name - Florensky, Losev and Bulgakov is examined using the example of two topics that reveal their main substantive coincidence and difference. This is the theme that was identically understood by them, the theme of the relationship between the Name and the God - the ontological connection expressed in the main onomatodox formula of father John: “the Name of God is God Himself”, accepted and expanded by each of the representatives of the philosophy of the name. And also the theme of the relationship between the name and the icon that they understand differently - the ontological relationship between the divine name and the icon. From the point of view of father John of Kronstadt, these categories, like all religious symbols, are in essence equal places of the divine presence; while from the point of view of the philosophers of the name, the category of the name, as the divine energy or the place of its residence, ontologically exceeds the icon, as the material phenomenon that receives sanctification and relationship with God through the name.

Developing an Alternative to the Standard Options

2019 ◽  
pp. 245-288
Author(s):  
R. Zachary Manis
Keyword(s):  
Religious Experience ◽  
Simple Function ◽  
Eastern Orthodox ◽  
Divine Presence ◽  
Divine Hiddenness ◽  
Orthodox Theology ◽  
The Way

This chapter introduces the basic idea of the divine presence model, briefly tracing its roots in Eastern Orthodox theology, and then turning to the task of making the positive philosophical case for the view. The author argues that the problem of divine hiddenness is intertwined with the problem of hell, and reflection on the problem lends support to the divine presence model even as it reveals critical weaknesses in its competitors. The chapter then explores the way that the divine presence model receives further support from a classic treatment of the phenomenology of religious experience. In closing, the author considers the way that the model rejects the claim that the purpose of hell is retribution, yet still manages to accommodate the traditional idea that the punishment of hell is inflicted upon the damned, rather than being a simple function of the choices of those who are finally lost.

Songs of the Sabbath Sacrifice, Song Thirteen: Ambiguity, Mysticism, and Cognitive Neuroscience

2019 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Annette Evans
Keyword(s):  
Religious Experience ◽  
Cognitive Neuroscience ◽  
Previous Article ◽  
Divine Presence

A striking characteristic of Songs of the Sabbath Sacrifice is the lack of clarity as to when the participants are human and when angelic. Scholarly opinion has been divided on the question. Fletcher-Louis, for instance, argued for an “angelomorphic” theology in Songs of the Sabbath Sacrifice. Scholars regard this text as an example of mysticism at Qumran, but the root of the term “mystic” (to conceal) warns of the difficulties inherent in any analysis of mystical texts because such texts arise from religious experience of a transcendent divine presence only accessible subjectively. In a previous article on ambiguity in the First Song it was argued in support of Fletcher-Louis that the text was deliberately constructed to create ambiguity between angelic agents and sectarian participants for rhetorical purposes. This article resorts to insights from cognitive neuroscience in order to reconsider current scholarly opinion on this matter.

TAFSIR AYAT-AYAT ZAKAT SEBAGAI PENGUAT KONSEP FILANTROPI EKONOMI KEUMMATAN (Tafsir Verses Of Zakat As The Booster Of Public Economic Philanthropy Concept)

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 117-137
Author(s):  
Mustaqim Makki
Keyword(s):  
Economic Crisis ◽  
Human Life ◽  
Minimum Level ◽  
Relationship With God ◽  
Public Economic ◽  
Close Relationship ◽  
Vertical Relationship ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Very High ◽  
Functional Content

Zakat merupakan salah satu sendi pokok ajaran Islam. Urgensi zakat yang merupakan anjuran agama Islam untuk menunaikan zakat dan memberikannya kepada yang berhak dengan ketentuan mencapai nishabnya, (kadar minimum harta tertentu) mempunyai nilai sangat signifikan dalam kehidupan manusia. Seorang insan yang sarat akan segala permasalahan pada fitrahnya menuntut untuk selalu berinteraksi kepada sesama, baik berupa materi maupun non materi. Zakat merupakan maliyah ijtima’iyyah yang mengandung nilai-nilai filantropi yang sangat tinggi, karena ketika mengaplikasikan kewajiban zakat kita telah membantu sesama serta mengurangi kesenjangan yang disebabkan beberapa sifat manusia diantaranya adalah sifat kikir, dengki dan iri hati. Menguatnya kembali harapan banyak kalangan terhadap implementasi filantropi Islam, baik dalam bentuk zakat, infak, sedekah, dan wakaf, memiliki keterkaitan erat dengan kondisi bangsa yang belum sepenuhnya bangkit dari keterpurukan sebagai dampak dari krisis ekonomi yang berkepanjangan. Kondisi ini berakibat kesenjangan penguasaan perekonomian antar warga negara menjadi kian lebar. Pada saat itulah, ziswaf (zakat, infak, sedekah, dan wakaf) kembali dilirik dan diharapkan menjadi alternatif solusi terhadap problem kemiskinan umat. Manusia sebagai khalifah fil ardh dalam Al Qurán menekankan muatan fungsional yang harus diemban oleh manusia dalam melaksanakan tugas-tugas kesejarahan dalam kehidupannya di muka bumi. Kaitan dengan konsep tersebut, ada dua fungsi manusia. Pertama: Manusia sebagai hamba (ábid), dituntut untuk sukses menjalin hubungan secara vertikal dalam hal ini hubungannya dengan ketuhanan (Teologis). Kedua adalah manusia sebagai khalifah, dituntut untuk sukses menjalin hubungan secara horizontal dalam hal ini hubungan terhadap manusia.Kata kunci: tafsir ayat zakat, filantropi, ekonomi keummatanAbstract:Zakat is one of the main points of Islamic teachings. The urgency of zakat which is suggested by Islam to fulfill and give it to those who are referred to with the provisions to reach their nishab, (minimum level of certain assets) has a very significant value in human life. A person who is full of all problems in his/her natural demands will always get interaction with other people, either material or non-material. Zakat is maliyah ijtima’iyyah which contains very high philanthropic values, because when applying the obligation of zakat we have helped others and reduced the gaps caused by some human traits including miser, jealousy and envy. The reinforcement of the expectations (estimation) from any levels on the implementation of Islamic philanthropy, which in the form of zakat, donation, alms and endowments, has a close relationship with the condition of the country that has not fully risen from bad economic adversity due to economic crisis. This condition causes a widening of the economic mastery among the citizens. At that moment, ziswaf (zakat, infaq, alms, and waqf) was again given a serious attentition and expected to be an alternative solution to the problem of poverty among citizens. Humans as khalifah fil ardh in the Qur'an emphasize the functional content that must be carried by humans in carrying out historical tasks in their lives on earth. In accordance with this concept, there are two human functions. First: Humans as servants (ábid), are required to succeed in establishing a vertical relationship in this case the relationship with God (Theological). Second, humans as caliphs, are required to succeed in establishing horizontal relationships in this case the relationship to humans.

Civilizations of the Supernatural: Witchcraft, Ritual, and Religious Experience in Late Antique, Medieval, and Renaissance Traditions

2020 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Religious Experience ◽  
Late Antiquity ◽  
Late Antique ◽  
Erotic Love ◽  
Cultural Traditions ◽  
Early Christian ◽  
Christian Culture ◽  
The Relationship

Civilizations of the Supernatural: Witchcraft, Ritual, and Religious Experience in Late Antique, Medieval, and Renaissance Traditions brings together thirteen scholars of late-antique, medieval, and renaissance traditions who discuss magic, religious experience, ritual, and witch-beliefs with the aim of reflecting on the relationship between man and the supernatural. The content of the volume is intriguingly diverse and includes late antique traditions covering erotic love magic, Hellenistic-Egyptian astrology, apotropaic rituals, early Christian amulets, and astrological amulets; medieval traditions focusing on the relationships between magic and disbelief, pagan magic and Christian culture, as well as witchcraft and magic in Britain, Scandinavian sympathetic graphophagy, superstition in sermon literature; and finally Renaissance traditions revolving around Agrippan magic, witchcraft in Shakespeare’s Macbeth, and a Biblical toponym related to the Friulan Benandanti’s visionary experiences. These varied topics reflect the multifaceted ways through which men aimed to establish relationships with the supernatural in diverse cultural traditions, and for different purposes, between Late Antiquity and the Renaissance. These ways eventually contributed to shaping the civilizations of the supernatural or those peculiar patterns which helped men look at themselves through the mirror of their own amazement of being in this world.

The Problem of Divine Hiddenness

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael C. Rea
Keyword(s):  
Problem Of Evil ◽  
Philosophical Discussion ◽  
Detailed Characterization ◽  
The Past ◽  
Divine Hiddenness ◽  
The Problem Of Evil ◽  
The Relationship

This chapter provides a detailed characterization of the various meanings of the term “divine hiddenness,” carefully and rigorously articulates the version of the problem of divine hiddenness that has dominated contemporary philosophical discussion for the past twenty-five years, and then explains the relationship between that problem and the problem of evil.

The Varieties of Religious Experience

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
William James
Keyword(s):  
Religious Experience ◽  
Religious Belief ◽  
Asking Questions ◽  
The Difference ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Urgent Necessity

‘By their fruits ye shall know them, not by their roots.’ The Varieties of Religious Experience (1902) is William James’s classic survey of religious belief in its most personal, and often its most heterodox, aspects. Asking questions such as how we define evil to ourselves, the difference between a healthy and a divided mind, the value of saintly behaviour, and what animates and characterizes the mental landscape of sudden conversion, James’s masterpiece stands at a unique moment in the relationship between belief and culture. Faith in institutional religion and dogmatic theology was fading away, and the search for an authentic religion rooted in personality and subjectivity was a project conducted as an urgent necessity. With psychological insight, philosophical rigour, and a determination not to jump to the conclusion that in tracing religion’s mental causes we necessarily diminish its truth or value, in the Varieties James wrote a truly foundational text for modern belief. Matthew Bradley’s wide-ranging new edition examines the ideas that continue to fuel modern debates on atheism and faith.

scholarly journals A ΔSOC-based equalization strategy applied to industry

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maonan Wang ◽  
Chun Chang ◽  
Feng Ji
Keyword(s):  
Open Circuit ◽  
Battery Pack ◽  
Battery Management System ◽  
Battery Management ◽  
Battery Cell ◽  
New Strategy ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Relative Errors ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Battery Cells

Abstract The voltage-based equalization strategy is widely used in the industry because the voltage (U) of the battery cell is very easy to obtain, but it is difficult to provide an accurate parameter for the battery management system (BMS). This study proposes a new equalization strategy, which is based on the difference between the state of charge (SOC) of any two battery cells in the battery pack, that is, a ΔSOC-based equalization strategy. The new strategy is not only as simple as the voltage-based equalization strategy, but it can also provide an accurate parameter for the BMS. Simply put, using the relationship between the open circuit voltage and the SOC of the battery pack, the proposed strategy can convert the difference between the voltage of the battery cells into ΔSOC, which renders a good performance. Additionally, the required parameters are all from the BMS, and no additional calculation is required, which makes the strategy as simple as the voltage-based balancing strategy. The four experiments show that the relative errors of ΔSOC estimated by the ΔSOC-based equalization strategy are 0.37%, 0.39%, 0.1% and 0.17%, and thereby demonstrate that the ΔSOC-based equalization strategy proposed in this study shows promise in replacing the voltage-based equalization strategy within the industry to obtain better performance.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document