Sin, Penance And Confession From A Protestant Perspective

Although the reality of evil and moral weakness belongs to the most commonhuman experience, only rational analysis does not allow for the rightful understandingof these aspects of the human condition. Christianity comes to man’said here when it sheds supernatural light on its essence and Divine origin, and atthe same time on weakness and the need of grace. In view of the entire Christiantradition, Protestantism appears as an important and serious tradition, howeverevaluated sometimes as unilateral or extremely pessimistic. "e Reformationalassumptions and multi-century subsequent history of theological thought andsacramental-pastoral practice, particularly in Lutheran, Calvinist and Anglicantradition, demand careful studies and analyses, so that this aspect of humanfate and supernatural destiny should be comprehensively understood.

An Axiological Analysis of the Bylinas About Dunay and Potyk

<p align="center">Based on an axiological analysis of the bylinas about Dunay Ivanovich and Mikhailo Potyk, the article reveals a number of epic motifs which are interpreted as a semantic unity of the hero&rsquo;s motivation, his deed, and its consequences. The article brings to light how the epic singer renders the spiritual laws connecting the motivation for a certain act with its consequences (i.e., the hero&rsquo;s punishment and his subsequent penance or perdition); and formulates cognitive ethical meanings belonging to each of the bylina&rsquo;s motifs. For each motif, the author identifies the following components: the hero&rsquo;s particular moral weakness or passion which captures him, evoking thus, sympathy&nbsp;&mdash; or the so-called &laquo;compassion&raquo;&nbsp;&mdash; in the listeners; the moment when the hero is overcome by his sin; the moment of the crime; and the punishment as a natural consequence of the hero&rsquo;s deeds. Also, the difference between axiological coordinates of every act&nbsp;&mdash; before and after its commission, in the evaluation of either the hero or the listener&nbsp;&mdash; is determined in the present paper. The motifs of the mentioned bylinas are classified here on the basis of their type and their involvement into parallel structures with similar motifs, or by the presence&nbsp;&mdash; or absence&nbsp;&mdash; of their antithetical counterparts. The result of the present study is a denial of the widespread theory according to which Russian bylinas should be described as &laquo;meaningless&raquo;, as having controversial diachronous semantics, as damaged&nbsp;&mdash; in terms of the content&nbsp;&mdash; during their existence in this or that social milieu (peasant, skomorokh, minstrel or Cossack one), as presupposing allegedly &laquo;extraneous&raquo; and &laquo;recent&raquo; Christian concepts and ideologemes.</p>

Al-Ġazālī e il “buon mercante”

Medieval economic thought broke down the boundaries set by the natural economy and placed the merchant on a higher level than the farmer or the artisan. Rich merchants represented a powerful and respected class in Islamic world, near power without ever acquiring the capacity to manage or condition it. Merchant behaviour was considered the correct (or at least partially correct) way to use money. Trading meant putting money (and wealth in general) in circulation; so like charity and alms, it guarantees the virtuous circulation of goods within the community. Taking clearly stimulus from Abū Ṭālib al-Makkī (d. 996), al-Ġazālī (d. 1111) represents the moral weakness and ambiguity of the merchant and his constant hovering in society as a figure lying between selfish greed and public usefulness. This is not the author’s aversion to earnings and trade; on the contrary he considered the merchant to be part of the “natural order” of things. Only through “exchange” can man satisfy all his needs, and the market/merchant is the link between the producer (farmer and artisan) and consumer. In this way a complex society is created in which the accumulation of wealth is essential for further development and where the market itself – the law of supply and demand – defines the “fair price”. Thus al-Ġazālī recognises the importance of trade in the economy of the Muslim world and, like Abū Ṭālib al-Makkī, he dictates the rules for behaviour for a “good merchant”.

In or Out? The Existential Dilemma of Homosexuals in Iris Murdoch’s A Fairly Honorable Defeat

A Fairly Honorable Defeat is one of Iris Murdoch&rsquo;s best acclaimed novels. Critics generally regard it as a triumph of the evil over the good, as embodied in characters Julius King and Tallis Browne. It could also be read from a different perspective as a fairly honorable defeat of the heterosexual love by the homosexual love. But Simon and Axel only win a narrow victory. Their non-normative sexuality still entangles them in gender, social and moral dilemmas. A detailed and close reading of the novel shows Murdoch&rsquo;s concern not only about how the existential dilemma of homosexuals has shaped their gender identity and limited their moral vision and choice, but also about the underlying social problems of power and violence. By bringing into conversation Goffman&rsquo;s theory of stigma, Butler&rsquo;s theory of gender performance and Foucault&rsquo;s view of male friendship, the article argues that Simon and Axel have to struggle between secrecy and disclosure of their sexual identity because of the large homophobic social environment. The insecurity and anxiety engendered by their sexual identity makes it difficult for them to associate with others in sincerity. Their moral weakness and failures are largely occasioned by the social environment.

Moral Problems in the Major Characters of George Eliot’s Adam Bede

Adam Bede (1859) is the first full length novel written by George Eliot. In this hovel both Hetty and. Arthur suffer for their violating moral principles. Poignant tragedy ensues because of their being creatures of weak moral fibre. This moral weakness results in sin and this is followed by punishment and intense suffering. The Arthur -Hetty story traces the movement from weakness to sin and from sin to nemesis. Hetty’s tragedy is woven through certain episodes that spring from her moral weakness. In the light of these moral issues that the novel, Adam Bede is to be read.

Apocryphal Acts of the Apostles

The chapter examines the feminization of elite pagan men in Apocryphal Acts of Andrew. It argues that the ancient author constructs ascetic Christianity as the ideal realization of masculinity, whereby male and female converts control their passions and appetites. Simultaneously, elite pagan men are portrayed as appetitive, passionately emotional, and lacking self-control. Such ethical weakness was commonly thought to be characteristic of women. While attributing such ethical “femininity” to pagan men trades on ancient notions that women are prone to moral weakness, the author’s portrayal also dislodges ethical character from biological sex. Thus, men and women who take up Christianity in its ascetic forms are superior in ethics and gender, compared to those who reject ascetic Christianity.

PERAN PENDIDIKAN BUDI PEKERTI DALAM MENANGKAL PEMEROSOTAN MORAL DALAM DUNIA PENDIDIKAN

ABSTRAK : While this much-needed moral education along with the moral weakness of the next generation. The purpose of giving moral education in part to improve the character of the young generation. Not only teachers manners alone can provide an understanding of the importance of manners. Another teacher can also give examples in everyday life . In modern times many younger generations are less noble character. We can see in the high school / vocational often brawl to take the life. This thing we need to realize that the value of ethical values to the next generation is getting weaker. If continuous and repaired the Indonesian nation to be a nation that is immoral and unethical. The entry of moral education in kindergarten or early childhood is important, because it's moral education should be given from the beginning of the school age children. Keep in mind the future of these children, a child is an active impersonator then should we as older people should be guided and directed to the good stuff anyway.

THE EXISTING POLICY ON PROSTITUTION IN INDONESIA: A RETROSPECTIVE EVALUATION

This paper presents the policy on prostitution existing in the last ten years of the period of the New Order Regime. By using qualitative analysis, in the frame of rationality and coherence, author describes of the policy on prostitution and its results. The practice that was done by the government to tackle the prostitutes tended to be unjust, while the implication of the Indonesian Criminal Codeas the one of the national law saved a discrimination. The spirit of the law saved a moral weakness to endorse the creation of good life for Indonesian having the way of life Pancasila. Linked to the policy, the government tended frontally to tackle the prostitutes. As the policy made by the government was based on unhistorical and unsubstantial views, the governmental intervention to them has been more bringing problems than solutions. The inconsistency of the local governtments in managing the localization of prostitutes has compounded the problem. The governmental policy could not grasp the goals: rehabilitation and resosialization. The policy has empowered the institutionalization of prostitution and pimps. The government has been tacitly the institution of serving pimps. Key words: policy, prostitution, pimps

Landscape

The first section of this chapter considers the physical landscape of Languedoc, the governance of its cities and towns, the growing population and pauperization of the period, outbreaks of plague, and the growth of Protestantism, before examining the wars of religion in the Languedoc, especially in Nîmes, in some depth. The second section reviews the sixteenth century’s notions about women’s physical and moral weakness and their consequent lack of formal access to power. It also examines the practical realities of their lives: life cycle, age at marriage, pregnancy and childbirth, mortality rates and widowhood, wealth and poverty, wages and standard of living, social hierarchies, types of work, and understanding of time. Both parts are designed to set the cases that follow in context.

The existential drinker

Drinking to excess has been a striking problem for industrial and post-industrial societies – who is responsible when a ‘free’ individual opts for a slow suicide? The causes of such drinking have often been blamed on heredity, moral weakness, ‘disease’ (addiction), hedonism, and Romantic illusion. Yet there is another reason which may be more fundamental and which has been overlooked or dismissed, and it is that the drinker may act with sincere philosophical intent. The Existential drinker looks at the convergence of a new kind of excessive, habitual drinking, beginning in the nineteenth century, and a new way of thinking about the self which in the twentieth century comes to be labelled ‘Existential’. A substantial introduction covers questions of self, will, consciousness, authenticity and ethics in relation to drinking, while introducing aspects of Existential thought pertinent to the discussion. The Existential-drinker canon is anchored in Jack London’s ‘alcoholic memoir’ John Barleycorn (1913) where London claims he can get at the truth of existence only through the insights afforded by excessive and repeated alcohol use. The book then covers drinker-texts such as Jean Rhys’s interwar novels, Malcolm Lowry’s Under the volcano, Charles Jackson’s The lost weekend and John O’Brien’s Leaving Las Vegas, along with less well-known works such as Frederick Exley’s A fan’s notes, Venedikt Yerofeev’s Moscow-Petushki, and A. L. Kennedy’s Paradise. The book will appeal to anybody with an interest in drinking and literature, as well as those with more specialised concerns in drinking studies, Existentialism, twentieth-century literature, and medical humanities.