Посланица Цариградске Патријаршије Чесима из 1451. године

The study and translation of the Epistle of the Patriarchate of Constantinople to the Czechs from 1451 aims to present the relations between the Hussites and the Orthodox Church, more precisely the Patriarchate of Constantinople in the middle of the 15th century. The translation of the Epistle provides answers to some questions that arose from the perception of historical events of the 15th century in the Church History in Western Church.

Inter-Confessional Church History: East Syrian Christian Identity and Islam in the Ecclesiastical History of Kitāb al-Maǧdal

Kitāb al-Maǧdal is a large East Syrian theological treatise that was composed in Arabic, probably in the late tenth or early eleventh century CE. One section of the work is an ecclesiastical history of the Church of the East. This essay argues that close analysis of this section reveals that elite East Syrian identity in the period overlapped to a significant extent with contemporary Muslim identity, at the level of vocabulary and conceptions of revelation and communal history. In this sense, the work represents a kind of “inter-confessional” history writing. The essay aims to contribute to recent studies of Middle Eastern Christian identity and historiography, which have focused of Syriac sources and/or late antiquity rather than Arabic sources for the Islamic middle periods.

Christians in and from the Middle East: Lessons from the World Christian Encyclopedia

This article considers the history and contemporary reality of Middle Eastern Christianity in light of new demographic information available from the World Christian Encyclopedia. For readers interested in church history and World Christianity, it identifies key lessons to be learned about Christians in and from the Middle East today. It focuses on understanding the region’s Christian diversity, the complexities of recent demographic decline, the relationship between Middle Eastern and global Christianity, and the interreligious realities of Christian life in the region.

The praxis of Adversus Praxeam: Tertullian’s views on the Trinity

Tertullian was an African, living in Carthage during the 2nd and 3rd centuries CE. He grew up a pagan, then became a Catholic Christian, after which he moved on to the sect of Montanus, referred to as the New Prophecy in this article, where he became the leader in Carthage. While he was still a pagan, he studied and became an advocate and when he was converted to Christianity, he became a prolific writer of Christian treatises, mostly apologies in Latin. There was a heretic movement in Carthage with Praxeas as the leader, and Tertullian opposed this heresy, especially on the level of the Trinity, as most of the Christians in Carthage – the so-called simplices – were impressed by that heresy. Being ante-Nicene, Tertullian’s arguments should be understood within his time and in light of the Catholic Rule of Faith, as he was very orthodox. The question may well be asked whether something new can still be said about Tertullian or about his Adversus Praxeam? This article is a critical appreciation of Adversus Praxeam with the aim to gain more insight into Trinitarian’s point of view, specifically with reference to the Trinity. Hopefully, in this way something ‘new’ can be said about a well-known Church Father and his well-known treatise.Intradisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: Adversus Praxeam was a heretical treatise (modalist), mostly in line with the Catholic Rule of Law of the time, aimed at the Monarchianist heresy. Church History, Systematic Theology and a little Practical Theology are employed to discuss this early-3rd-century treatise within its time, specifically centred around the Trinity.

Sources for the history of Saints Peter and Paul Garrison Church (the former Jesuit Church) discovered in the funds of Vasyl Stefanyk National Scientific Library of Ukraine in Lviv

The article analyzes the sources on the history of Saints Peter and Paul Garrison Church (the former Jesuit Church) discovered in the funds of Vasyl Stefanyk National Scientific Library of Ukraine in Lviv. In particular, the documents that are of practical importance for the process of church revitalization as the building remained closed from 1946 until 2011 are distinguished. The significant corpus of sources concerning the church history is the archive of Vasyl Stefanyk National Scientific Library of Ukraine in Lviv, the depository of which was located in the church until the end of 2011. With these documents, it is possible to trace the history of the church building during the Soviet time and the changes that happened during this period. Moreover, the collection of photographic materials with the depiction of different parts of the church constitutes a significant corpus of sources. This information is valuable for the conservation professionals working on the renewal of church exteriors and interiors. Particularly, the photographs that show the process of the roof restoration in 1959 offer an opportunity to assess the degree of the ceiling destruction during the Second World War. Photographs of the frescoes in the main nave demonstrate the state of the ceiling and frescos as of the beginning of the 20th century and therefore give an insight into the progress of conservation works during the interwar period. The analysis of the photograph of the altar of Saint Stanislaw Kostka makes it possible to understand what one of the three chapels in the church looked like. The other two chapels (of the Virgin Mary and Saint Stanislaw Kostka) will be restored in course of time. As for the third chapel of Saint Benedict the Martyr, important documents concerning the restoration of this chapel at the beginning of the 20th century are stored in the funds of the library. With these documents, it is possible to specify the appearance of the chapel and the peculiarities of its decorations, as the chapel does not belong to the church nowadays. To sum up, it can be stated that the funds of Vasyl Stefanyk National Scientific Library of Ukraine in Lviv contain a relatively small amount of materials on the history of Saints Peter and Paul Garrison Church (the Jesuit Church). At the same time, some of them are important for the studies of the history of the church, so they deserve attention from the researchers.

The The Understanding of the Image of God in the Early and Medieval Church History

It is only in the Bible whereby precise details in regards to humanity's origin from the conservative Christian point of view, are recorded. The Bible clearly states that in God's image, man was made (Gen 1:27). This statement reflects the belief that the essence of human beings was created in the likeness of God, and demonstrated that man did not merely turn out to be in God's image but was carefully crafted to be so. However, despite the exalted position of man among creatures, theologians still have questions and debates about the image of God is, and what does it consists of. Many scholars have wrestled with the precise sense of the image of God from the time of the Early Church until the Medieval Era. This research uses qualitative method, whereby the early works of the fathers of the medieval church are analyzed. The research is carried out on a descriptive basis. It is the aim of this research to offer a structural and systematic understanding of the image of God, based on the perception of the early church and medieval church fathers. As a result, a conclusion is formed.