Ecclesiastical Connections of Medieval Мatarcha: New Finds of Byzantine Lead Seals

Introduction. Matarcha was the cathedral city of the Diocese of Zichia of the Patriarchate of Constantinople. It was a major religious and missionary center in the Northwestern Pre-Caucasus. The priests of this autocephalous archdiocese took an active part in the church life of the Byzantine Empire. In this context, among the most important sources on the history of the Byzantine Matarcha, a special place is occupied by the monuments of Byzantine sphragistics. Methods. The paper examines three Byzantine church seals of the 11th–12th centuries, discovered during the research of the Taman settlement (medieval Matarcha was the center of the diocese of Zichia of the Patriarchate of Constantinople). The owners of the seals were: deacon Michael, monk Ignatius and nun Euphemia. Analysis. The article provides information about the previously known 19 seals belonging to the church hierarchs of Zichia and other representatives of the clergy. Similar finds of seals in the Crimean urban centers (Cherson and Sughdea) are indicated. Results. The few details that relate to the ecclesiastical history of the diocese of Zichia emphasize the exceptional value of each new find of seals, and the evidence of direct contacts and established correspondence between the Orthodox clergy once again shows that, in addition to the cleric – deacon, the monastic brotherhood also played a significant role in the development of relations between the church and society. To a certain extent, this could also be facilitated by the trips of the city’s residents to pilgrimage sites, as evidenced by the brought relics, the finds of which are known.

A theological approach to mitigating the impacts of the SARS CoV-2 pandemic

Objective:Investigate the hardships caused by the SARS CoV-2 pandemic in the social domain, and especially church life in Croatia. Additionally, the study aimed to study the guidelines for the faithful and society at large established by the Catholic Church. Further, guidelines are proposed to improve specific pastoral practices in the context of the pandemic. Methods:This paper uses the scientific research method of pastoral judgment developed by the Lateran School (Lanza, 2008;Čondić, 2013;Vranješ, 2013). Results:Following a theological and pastoral analysis of the impacts of the SARS CoV-2 pandemic, particularly in the ec- clesiastical domain, as well as a study of the guidelines is- sued by both the universal and local Church and prominent theologians, guidelines for improving the existing practice were proposed in six areas: Discovering the meaning of suf-fering (life); To reject suffering is to reject love; Where am I in the era of the SARS CoV-2 pandemic?; Liberating men from fear; Paying attention to the collocutor; and The parish com- munity is a space for everyone. Conclusion:Despite being taken by surprise by the initial outbreak of the SARS CoV-2 pandemic, the Catholic church in Croatia has considerable potential and has engaged in a wide scope of activities to mitigate the impact of the pandemic. This primarily has to do with bolstering the spiritual dimension in the faithful. Faith overcomes fear, gives meaning to suffering, and acts as a life force that may help heal the whole of society through fellowship and tangible support to those at-risk during the pandemic.

ON THE CHURCHNESS OF THE POPULATION OF THE KALININ REGION IN 1930-1950 (FROM MEMORIES OF «CHILDREN OF WAR»)

В статье представлены предварительные результаты исследования в рамках проекта: «Церковная жизнь в советском обществе в 1940-1950-гг.: религиозные практики населения в Калининской области в воспоминаниях «детей войны». Обыденная религиозность рассматривается сквозь призму восприятия представителей постреволюционного поколения, рожденных в СССР в 1928-1945 гг. и проживающих в настоящее время на территории Тверской области. Для анализа их религиозного опыта привлекались материалы анкетирования, которые содержат социокультурные характеристики респондентов, отражают их личные воспоминания, семейные предания. Показано, что в условиях упадка церковной жизни семья приобретает черты социального звена, которое имеет сакральное значение: в его пределах протекает религиозная жизнь, совершаются религиозные ритуалы. He article presents the preliminary results of the study accordingly the project: «Church life in the Soviet society in 1940-1950: the religious practices of the population of the Kalinin region in the memories of «children of war». Ordinary religiousness was examined through the prism of perceptions of the postrevolutionary generation, born in the USSR in 1928-1945 and lived on the territory of the Tver Region at present. In order to analyze their religious experience the materials of the questionnaires, which contain sociocultural characteristics of the respondents, reflect their personal memories and family traditions, were used. It is shown that in the conditions of the decline of parochial life a family acquires the features of a social link that has a sacral meaning: religious life and rituals take place within it.

Preservation and Protection of the Cultural Heritage of Religious Purposes in Ukraine

The article deals with the current issues of preservation and protection of the cultural heritage of religious purpose in Ukraine at the modern stage and attempts to formulate legal problems and propose their solutions. The authors conclude that the proper preservation and protection of cultural heritage is fraught with the following legal obstacles. The first is the question of terminological certainty, the question of the unification of concepts. The second problem is the revision of the classification of landmarks into species and the separation of such species as religious landmarks (religious and church-life). The third problem is the lack of a generalized methodology for determining the modes of use and monitoring of the landmark depending on its type and kind, as well as the imperfection of legislation governing administrative liability for violations of cultural heritage.

Kedudukan Perempuan dalam Gereja

Abstrack: This article will discuss the role or position of a women in the life of the Church. Often found sentences that men are higher in terms of power that women. But in the Bible many examples can be explored regarding eduality between men and women before God, one thing is certain that God makes differences between men and women in terms of leadership. Women are not weak creatures, but because of a lack of self-confidence so that women do not stand out in terms of leadership in church life, men and women are equal before God because they are given a great responsibility by God to care for the earth and the whole world, it contains God has appointed men to be leaders for women long ago, at the time of creation, in the Christian family, also in the life of the church. But that does not mean that women are slaves to men.

The Sermon on the Mount and Christian Ethics in the Nazi Bible

In 1939, scholars associated with the pro-Nazi Thüringian German Christian movement founded a research institute dedicated to the task of removing the legacy of Judaism from Christianity. The mission of the Institute for the Study and Elimination of Jewish Influence on German Church Life was to render Christianity acceptable within the antisemitic and militarized climate of National Socialism. This task required purging Christian theology of Jewish influence, a feature evident in the Institute's version of the New Testament titled The Message of God. This publication aimed to transform the religious experience of ordinary German believers and would eventually sell over 200,000 copies. This article examines material in this text as it relates to the Sermon on the Mount and concludes that, despite the apparent incongruity between Nazi ideology and New Testament ethics, the editors of the so-called ‘Nazi Bible’ believed their task to be guided by Christian ethical principles.

A Critical Investigation into the Role of Widows in Early Church Life

A critical question to be asked in the modern world is whether or not women should have leadership roles in churches. Saint Paul teaches us that we should have a vision of a church that is unified and which embraces diversity. When he discusses the various gifts of grace within the church in Ephesians (4:11), he is by no means suggesting that the roles of the gifted are linked to gender. It is however also clear from the holy scriptures that no woman was selected to be an apostle. Nonetheless, the Eastern Orthodox Church recognizes that there were a number of woman who were equal in status to the apostles, inter-alia, Saint Helena and Saint Mary Magdalene. In the Graeco-Roman world of New Testament Palestine, religion operated in a highly paternalistic and patriarchal society in which there was often much debate on issues of sexuality and the belief that women per se were not suitable to serve in ecclesial roles was commonplace. When it came to widows however, they enjoyed somewhat of a special status and were able to serve in a particular manner which was deemed to be acceptable. The widows in the early Church provide a thought-provoking Christian character, which springs from their innate desire to do good deeds and from their austere practices that point to solid Christian discipleship even though they functioned honorifically. This article investigates what the Didascalia Apostolorum has to say concerning the status and function of widows in early church life. The Order of Widows which existed in the early Church decayed in importance at the advent of the fourth century, as numerous of its functions were adopted by deaconesses. If we accept that human beings have natures which are created in the imageo Dei, then women are invariably equal in their humanity to men. Why is it then that they are precluded from serving as priests or other ecclesial orders in various denominations? A historical-critical methodology was employed in this brief study making use of literature emanating from academic journals, theological books, early church documents and a range of online sources. This article hopefully enables the reader to develop a great understanding of early Christian widows as consecrated women, serving the Church and God.

Nyanyian sebagai media pembelajaran pendidikan agama Kristen di sekolah

The effectiveness of learning of Christian Religious Education at school needs some media. Song, as a part of musical activity, is one of the media that is used by Christian Religious Education teachers to teach the Christian faith effectively. The aim of this article is to affirm the important role of the song as one of the learning media of Christian Religious Education at school. This Article is written in qualitative method with literature study approach and observation as its approach. This article explains the nature and the purpose of Christian Religious Education, music in church life, music in the history of thinking and practicing of Christian Religious Education, and the use of song as media in the learning of Christian Religious Education at school.