The Historical Jeremiah

Jeremiah scholars are generally cautious in drawing assumptions about the historical reliability of the material found in the book of Jeremiah. Yet the sources within the book possess literary patterns that provide oblique information to create a broad-stroke outline of what was known and remembered about the prophet himself. Approached with an eye to cultural memory, three features of the Book of Jeremiah provide ways to recover some dimensions of the historical prophet: the rhetorical shape of chapters 1–25 (in both the MT and LXX traditions), the book’s points of contact between the Levites and the Deuteronomistic tradition, and the unique characterization of scribes and scribalism within the book in relation to oracles ascribed to Jeremiah. These avenues of inquiry enable us to cautiously arrive at a tentative understanding of the Jeremiah of history.

Alexander Samokhvalov's picture frames : tradition and innovation

In recent years, two contradictory trends related to the study and display of picture frames have emerged in Russian museums. On the one hand, these works have at last caught the attention of scholars leading to publications on the evolution of art framing in Russia. However, the framing of paintings in museums is still not carried out on the basis of conducted research. In the light of a rapidly developing frame market, art historians and art critics have been increasingly replacing historical frames with massproduced ones, while disregarding historical reliability and authenticity of the frames, or the need to follow the author’s conception. Meanwhile, it is known that artists of different eras, as a rule, paid great attention to the selection of picture frames, with some among them, like A. N. Samokhvalov, creating their own. Thus, the purpose of the article is to examine the frames made by Samokhvalov, as well as to draw attention to the question of the author’s original picture framing. Samokhvalov’s frames are characterized by their unique design, which greatly affects the perception of the painting. Despite the fact that there exists a considerable body of art historical studies dedicated to the artist’s work, none of the researchers took notice of the problem of the picture framing. The article is the first to provide a scholarly introduction of designs and drawings of Samokhvalov’s frames, as well as works of art created on their basis. The artist’s frames from the collections of various museums have been attributed according to a comparative analysis. Likewise, traditional and innovative features in the works of Samokhvalov have been revealed as a result of stylistic assessment and comparison of frames produced by the artist with picture frames of the 17th – 20th centuries. The article illuminates the unexplored facet of the artist’s work presenting it in a new light. The research will not only allow to further preserve the unique frames of Samokhvalov in Russian museums, but also exhibit his works in accordance with the author’s intention.

M.I. GAVRILENKO’S SCIENTIFIC PROGRESS IN 1940–50s

Summary. The purpose of the research is to reveal the peculiarities of the naturalist M.I. Havrylenko (1889‒1971) research work during the 40’s ‒ 50’s years of the twentieth century; to show his personal ability to study nature in terms of the tendency attitude to the scientist in the postwar period, due to the peculiarities of the biography. The research methodology is based on the principles of historical reliability, objectivity, systemcity, multifactoriality, scientificity and comprehensiveness; use of general scientific research methods (analytical, synthetic, logical, classification); historical (problem-chronological, comparative-historical, historical-genetic, retrospective) and interdisciplinary. The scientific novelty lies in the fact that it is the first time in modern history the scientific heritage of the zoologist M.I. Havrylenko on the basis of his published works during the 40’s ‒ 50’s years of the twentieth century is learned. It is established that, despite the negative attitude of society to the scientist, he continued working productively. To form scientifically reliable results of studying different classes of animals, he used the methods of zoology, as well as botany, anatomy, osteology, physiology, physical geography, geology, paleontology, ecology, biocenology and other sciences. Conclusions. After almost twenty years’ study of the vertebrate fauna of Poltava region, the scientist obtained several fundamental results: 1) identified changes in species quantity, 2) deepened the knowledge of little-known animal species, 3) studied the herpetofauna of Poltava region, thus expanding his own scientific interests, 4) clarified the issue of zoogeography of black grouse in historical retrospect, 5) conducted a comparative species analysis of birds of the genus Ocheretyanka for different ecotopes in the biogeocenosis, 6) conducted an analysis of new and little-known bird species in the Poltava region in the space-time continuum (1929‒1958), 7) continued the formation of a unique ornithological collection, importantly. In general, it is emphasized that the scientific progress of the zoologist M.I. Havrylenko during this period was productive and effective.

Ancient Biography in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries

This chapter examines presences of ancient biography in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The popularity of biography in seventeenth-century Europe was mainly due to the numerous translations of Plutarch’s Parallel Lives. Conversely, Suetonius, whose Lives of the Caesars were extremely influential in the early modern period, was less read in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Meanwhile, Diogenes Laertius’ Lives of Eminent Philosophers contributed to the rise of literary and philosophical biography. However, the more life-writing is considered as a literary practice, the less its historical reliability is valued. If, in the seventeenth century, Lives were generally regarded as a historical genre, eighteenth-century philosophers criticized the historical interest of biography, at a time in which history began to be studied as a science more than as a pedagogical device.

Genocide and the Hispanic-American Dilemma

The reasoning behind Hispanic-American colonization was that the indigenous people were rational vassals, who could be embraced by Christianity, and must, therefore, be protected and well-treated, though judiciously recruited to serve the interests of the Spanish Empire. Eyewitnesses and studies conducted on the Indian issue since the early sixteenth century found that the preservation-exploitation policy gradually became extremely destructive. Raphael Lemkin, in an unpublished study on Hispanic-American colonialism, was the first to call its damaging consequences genocide. The objective of this article is to explore the historical reliability of Lemkin’s controversial claim, and how it might tally with the Spanish Crown’s manifested caring approach toward the Indians. The study is based on a broad range of documents, many of them personal and unpublished until recently, making these sources highly reliable. We believe that the research will shed light on the historical dilemma of Hispanic-American colonization.

The Doctrine of the Christian Faith

Chapter 11 provides an account of Strauß’s main work on Christian theology, his 1840 Die christliche Glaubenslehre. This work was Strauß’s critique of Christian dogma and therefore concerned more than the historical reliability of the New Testament. But the work was marred by a deep ambivalence: Strauβ‎’s work was meant as a compendium and therefore needed to provide the student with an introduction to Christian dogma; but Strauß also had deep personal reservations about Christianity which resurface in the text. The work contains a severe critique of the Christian beliefs in miracles, immortality, the trinity, and incarnation; but it also provides a demonstration of the existence of God. Though Strauß now distances himself from Hegel, he still does not completely disavow him.

Twenty Years of Amos Research

This article is a selective survey of the last twenty years of Amos research, which has witnessed robust discussion in multiple directions. It groups these trends into five very broad areas: (1) the possibility of positing an eighth-century setting for the prophet and the historical reliability of the book, (2) work on the redaction of the book and potential connections to the history of the composition of the Book of the Twelve, (3) theological themes of particular contemporary interest, (4) recent insights into the translation techniques of LXX Amos, and (5) the reception of Amos across the centuries, with a special focus on the views of women and minority and global communities. There is a range of scholarly positions in several of these areas and new questions being asked, all of which portends continued vitality in Amos research in the foreseeable future.

Are the Gospels “Historically Reliable”? A Focused Comparison of Suetonius’s Life of Augustus and the Gospel of Mark

Are the Gospels historically reliable? Authors of ancient historical literature had objectives for writing that differed somewhat from those of modern historians. Consequently, the literary conventions that were in play also differed. Therefore, it is difficult to speak of the historical reliability of ancient texts without certain qualifications. In this essay, a definition for the historical reliability of ancient texts is proposed, whereby such a text provides an accurate gist, or an essentially faithful representation of what occurred. Four criteria that must be met are then proposed. Suetonius’s Life of the Divine Augustus and the Gospel of Mark, are then assessed by using the criteria. Suetonius was chosen because he wrote more closely than his peers to how modern biographers write, and the Augustus was chosen because it is the finest of Suetonius’s Lives. The Gospel of Mark from the Bible was chosen because it is probably the earliest extant account of the “Life of Jesus.” The result of this focused comparison suggests that the Life of Augustus and the Gospel of Mark can be said to be historically reliable in the qualified sense proposed. However, an additional factor challenging this conclusion is described, and further discussion is needed and encouraged.

Ewangelie jako prawdziwe świadectwo Słowa Wcielonego

The article develops the concept of true witness of the four canonical Gospels to Jesus Christ the Incarnated Word. The starting point is presentation of the teaching of the Pontifical Biblical Commission (PBC) in the document The Inspiration and Truth of the Sacred Scripture (2014) about the witness of the Bible, especially the Gospels. The canonical Gospels are considered in it as main witness of the life and teaching of the Incarnated Word. The article demonstrates that the PBC repeats here the teaching of the conciliar constitution Dei Verbum (1965). Argumentation in the article emphasizes the historical reliability of the transmission of the life and teaching of the historical Jesus in the Church tradition: historical Jesus – eye witnesses – written Gospels – authoritative interpretation in the Church. The canonical Gospels are not primarily literary texts but a truthful registration of the witness of faith of Jesus’ believers. Consequently, the hermeneutic of faith is the only methodology that is apt to explain and understand the true nature of the Scriptures.