Újragondolt istenkép

"God’s Image Revisited. God said to Moses, “I am who I am” (Exodus 3,14). Although Christian churches seek to present the New Testaments’ image of God, the loving, caring, and merciful God, yet the idea of a punitive, strict, and fearsome God lives stronger in many. Our image of God not only determines the nature of our relationship with God, but it also influences our personality, actions, self-concept, mindset, and social relations. It acts within and through us. Although everyone has an image of God – regardless of whether one is a believer or not –, how we experience God’s relation to us is manifold. But why do we experience God’s relationship with us in so many ways? What circumstances shape and influence our image of God? It is not unusual that even believers of the same congregation give accounts of diverse images of God. Why? These questions are answered by calling upon psychological insights. Keywords: image of God, images of mother and father, attachment, mental health "

Attitudes toward Civil Human Rights among Italian Students of Sociology: The Effects of Religion and Theology

Connecting with and building on the research tradition established by The International Empirical Research Programmes in Religion and Human Rights, this study explores the power of two measures shaped within empirical theology (the Theology of Religions Index that distinguishes seven ways in which religions may be viewed and the New Indices of God Images that distinguishes between the God of Grace and the God of Law) to predict individual differences in attitude toward civil human rights among students of sociology under the age of thirty who had lived in Italy all their lives, after taking into account the effect of baptismal status (Catholic or not Catholic) and frequency of mass attendance. Data provided by 1046 participants demonstrated that more positive attitudes toward civil human rights are associated with being male, with not being baptised Catholic, with not attending mass, and with the God of Grace, but not with the God of Law. Five of the positions identified within the framework of the theology of religions are significant predictors of attitude toward civil human rights: the most positive attitude is associated with atheism and the least positive attitude is associated with exclusivism.

Childhood Trauma and Experience in Close Relationships Are Associated with the God Image: Does Religiosity Make a Difference?

Religiosity and spirituality (R/S) and some of their specific aspects are associated with health. A negatively perceived relationship with God, which has adverse health outcomes, can be formed by human attachment both in childhood and adulthood. The aim of this study was to assess the associations of childhood trauma (CT) and experience in close relationships (ECR) with the God image in a secular environment by religiosity. A national representative sample of Czech adults (n = 1800, 51.1 ± 17.2 years; 43.5% men) participated in a survey. We measured CT (Childhood Trauma Questionnaire), ECR (Experiences in Close Relationships-Revised Questionnaire), image of God (questions from the 2005 Baylor Survey) and religiosity. Our results showed associations of CT and ECR with God images. Respondents who experienced CT were less likely to describe God as loving, always present and forgiving. Religious respondents were less likely to report positive God images with odds ratios (ORs) from 0.78 (0.66–0.94) to 0.95 (0.91–0.99), nonreligious respondents reported negative God images with ORs from 1.03 (1.00–1.06) to 1.22 (1.08–1.37). We found CT and problems in close relationships in adulthood are associated with a less positive God image, especially in nonreligious people. Understanding these associations may help prevent detrimental health outcomes.

God’s spirit (of wisdom) has been sent into the world, not Covid-19: A contextual systematic-theological perspective

How are we to make theological sense of the Covid-19 pandemic? In response to the viewpoint of Wilhelm Jordaan as expressed in a popular newspaper that it is foolish to understand Covid-19 as God’s punishment or nature’s way for restoration, it is critically argued that Jordaan mostly helps us with what not to think, but not so much with what to think of the current situation from a Christian theological perspective. The theological perspective that is presented in response to Jordaan takes as the vantage point a different interpretative line of an image of God (as ‘regretting/sorrow God’) over against more popular and established lines of God images such as God the Almighty. It is argued that the different God image of a ‘silent God’ and the need for wisdom that is prompted by the image challenges us here and now with an invitation to take (self)responsibility for the Covid-19-pandemic before a silent (distanced) God.Contribution: This article represents original systematic-theological reflection on the doctrine of God and anthropology within contemporary theology-science discourses. It focuses on a Christian biblical neglected God image of a ‘regretting/sorrow God’ (Genesis) in relation to embodied personhood within the current Covid-19 pandemic. It proposes a newly formulated understanding of a ‘silent God’ on the one hand and human self-responsibility and the seeking of wisdom on the other hand.

Iconography «The Immaculate Conception of the Virgin» on the Materials of Ukrainian Icons of the Mother of God, XVIII-XIX Centuries

Настоящая публикация посвящена одной из актуальных проблем культурного и духовного взаимодействия Украины и Запада. Данное исследование направлено на выявление истоков новых иконографий, а также видоизменения традиционных иконографий Богоматери на Украине в XVIII-XIX вв. Поднят и рассмотрен вопрос об опосредованном влиянии западноевропейской культуры XVIII в. на духовную и художественную жизнь Украины на примере появления и развития иконографии образа Богоматери «Непорочное Зачатие». В контексте исторического положения рассмотрено проникновение католического понимания зачатия Девы Марии в сознание православных иерархов Украины. В свою очередь это повлекло появление иконографии «Непорочного Зачатия». Распространение в XVIII в. этой западной иконографии Богоматери отражало изменение общественного понимания данного образа. Выделены основные иконографические особенности типа «Immaculata Conceptio» и рассмотрены на примерах украинских Богородичных икон XVIII-XIX вв. В статье публикуются неизвестные широким массам изображения Богородичных икон редкой иконографии. Систематизация знаний в области изучения икон Богородицы данного периода на Украине поможет лучше представить общую картину развития иконографии Богоматери. Данная статья может дополнить знания в области изучения памятников церковного искусства Нового времени и послужить иконографическим материалом для иконописцев и историков церковного искусства. The article is devoted to one of the topical №s of cultural and spiritual interaction between Ukraine and the West. This research is aimed to identify the origins of a new iconography as well as some modifications of a traditional iconography of the Mother of God in Ukraine in the XVIII-XIX centuries. It raises the question of an impact which the Western European culture had on a spiritual and artistic life in Ukraine in the XVIII century and how it mediated the creation and development of the iconography of the «Immaculate Conception» image of the Virgin. In the context of a historical situation, the penetration of the Catholic understanding of the conception of Virgin Mary in the minds of Orthodox Ukrainian hierarchs is considered. In its turn, it led to the formation of the «Immaculate Conception» iconography. The spread of a Western iconography of the Mother of God in the XVIII century reflected a change in public understanding of this image. The main iconographic features of the «Immaculata Conception» type are shown through the examples of Ukrainian icons of the Mother of God of the XVIII-XIX centuries. The article presents images of some rare dipterous icons whose iconography isquite unknown to the masses. Structuring the knowledge of Ukrainian icons of the Mother of God in the mentioned period might help to present more fully a process of iconographic development of the Mother of God images. This article could also complement to the research done in the field of studying modern Church art monuments and serve as an iconographic material for icon-painters and Church art historians.

Himmelfortellinger i barnelitteratur. Hvordan fremstilles Gud i møte med døden?

This chapter takes its starting point in two books for children, Sommerlandet (Skeie, 1987) and Mor og far i himmelen (Walgermo, 2009), which tell about intense grief and challenge easy and commonplace ways to talk about the Christian hope for eternal life. I discuss the metaphors used to provide comfort and hope to children, youth and adults, and how the authors approach existential issues related to death, grief and hope. I also ask how these concepts of God influence people’s images of God when grieving, and especially how children, through their logical reasoning, challenge the common Christian comfort of eternal life in heaven as an answer to grief. I argue that metaphorical theological language may convey notions of God’s transcendent world because it is open to different interpretations of life. Metaphorical models of “heaven”, “God images, “God’s family” and “heavenly reunion” are centered. I conclude that both children and adults share a common, often anthropomorphic, understanding of God metaphors, and the wish for a continued life in heaven is desirable to many people, not only practicing Christians.