Translation or Divination? Sacred Languages and Bilingualism in Judaism and Lucumí Traditions

I compare the status of a sacred language in two very different religious traditions. In Judaism, the Hebrew language is the language of liturgy, prayer, and the Written Law. The traditional way of reading Torah passages involved translating them into Aramaic, the everyday language of communication in the Middle East in the first half of the first millennium CE. Later, other Jewish languages, such as Yiddish, played a role similar to that of Aramaic in the Talmudic period, constituting a system referred to as the “Traditional Jewish Bilingualism”. Hebrew lexemes had denotations related to the realm of Biblical texts, while Aramaic/Yiddish lexemes had everyday references. Therefore, the act of translation connected the two realms or domains. The Lucumí (Santería) Afro-Cuban religion is a syncretic tradition combining Roman Catholicism with the Ifá tradition, which does not have a corpus of written sacred texts, however, it has its sacred language, the Lucumí (Anagó) language related to the Yoruba language of West Africa. While the Spanish-Lucumí bilingualism plays an important role in Santería rituals, the mechanisms of reference are very different from those of the Hebrew-Yiddish bilingualism in Judaism. In Santería, divinations about the meaning of Lucumí words play a role similar to the translations from Hebrew in Judaism. I further discuss the role of ritual dances in Santería for the transition from the sacred to the secular domain and a function of Hebrew epitaphs to connect the ideal world of Hebrew sacred texts to the everyday life of a Jewish community.

Wobec tajemnicy i skandalu zła – teodycea Karola Ludwika Konińskiego

The article presents religious and philosophical views of journalist and writer Karol Ludwik Koniński (1891–1943), which he included in his intimate journal, written mostly during the war and the occupation period. He intertwines his observations of daily dramatic events with reflections on the metaphysical and ethical status of evil present in the world. Koniński was inspired in his theodicy, trying to reconcile the image of merciful God with the severity of evil present in the world, the views of Gnostics and Origen. He took the view that God was not fully omnipotent, and emphasized that on a cosmic scale the process of overcoming multiform evil by God, who is Love, is constantly taking place. Koniński’s theodicy therefore constitutes religious evolutionism. He combined Gnostic sensitivity to the presence and severity of evil with the belief in the ultimate, full apocatastasis. Koniński’s reflection does not accept some of the dogmas of Roman Catholicism, it also includes a critique of the views of St. Augustine and scholastic theology. The author of the article puts forward a thesis that Koniński, due to his in-depth analysis of the subject of evil and his sensitivity to the dramatic dimension of human and non-human existence, can be attributed to a particular current of the philosophy of the heart, in Pascal’s understanding of this concept.

Criminal Offences of Turning and Conversion to Roman Catholicism in Dušan’s Code

Dušan’s Code is the most important monument of Serbian medieval law. It contains a large number of provisions relating to Orthodoxy, the church, the clergy and monasticism. The first 38 articles are directly dedicated to the faith and the church. The Code also prescribes various criminal offences against Orthodoxy, and the most numerous are offences of Roman Catholic proselytism. The introductory part of the paper contains a brief analysis of the position of Roman Catholics in medieval Serbia, the relationship between Serbian rulers and popes, and especially emphasizes the role of Roman Catholic propaganda and the conversion of the Orthodox to Roman Catholicism, which was most prevalent during the reign of Tsar Dušan. The subject of the author’s legal-historical analysis is those provisions of Dušan’s Code that incriminate turning and conversion to Roman Catholicism. So far, it has been indisputably established in science that these are Articles 6, 7, 8, 9 and 21. In Article 6, the Code of Emperor Stefan Dušan proclaims: „And concerning the Latin heresy: Christians who have turned to the use of unleavened bread shall return to the Christian observance. If any fail to obey and do not return to Christian Orthodoxy, let them be punished as is written in the Code of the Holy Fathers.” Article 7 provides: „And the Great Church shall appoint head priests in all market towns to reclaim from the Latin heresy those Christians who have turned to the Latin faith, and to give them spiritual instructions, so that each one of them returns to Christianity.” Article 8 punishes the Latin priest: „And if a Latin priest is found to have converted a Christian to the Latin faith, let him be punished according to the Law of the Holy Fathers.” Article 9 prohibits mixed marriage: „And if a half-believer is found to be married to a Christian woman, let him be baptized into Christianity if he desires it. But if he refuses to be baptized, let his wife and children be taken from him, and let a part of his house be allotted to them, and let him be driven forth.” Finally, Article 21 prescribes: „And whoever shall sell a Christian into another and false faith, let him be crippled and his tongue cut out.” In the concluding remarks, the author points out the basic causes of prescribing these crimes, as well as certain historical data on Emperor Stefan Dušan’s anti-Catholic politics.

Introduction

Why are Protestant societies more competitive and less corrupt than Roman Catholic ones? This book explains the hegemonic and emancipatory religious forces contributing to these disparities between 65 countries in Europe and the Americas. It argues that the uneven contributions of Roman Catholicism and Protestantism to prosperity are grounded in their different historical and institutional foundations and in the theologies that are pervasive in their countries of influence. This introduction establishes the historical context of the controversy and includes the aims, contributions, and shortcomings of this study.

c) Cuba: A Sui Generis Case Study (Communist Proxy)

The anti-clerical elements of the Revolution helped Cuba succeed in various indicators (e.g. education quality and coverage, equality, health). The Cuban regime seized, dismantled, and limited the institutional influence of Roman Catholicism on these areas of public life. However, a strong cultural influence of a highly syncretised Roman Catholicism persists in Cuba even if its institutional influence has been curbed. Also, the Communist regime, by adopting Marxism, “threw the baby out with the bathwater” through persecuting all types of religion, including Protestant liberals. Finally, the Cuban regime conveniently turned to Rome to legitimise itself after the collapse of the Soviet Union and to silence Protestantism with a corporatist strategy. The socialist legal tradition had an effect opposite to its claims (e.g. lack of freedom, corruption), even if its anti-clerical element was an advantage. Comparing the Cuban experience to other Latin American countries with leftist dictatorships (e.g. Venezuela) helps understand their failure to achieve the Cuban indicators (e.g. education). The crucial factor in this regard is whether or not the power and influence of the Roman Church-State are reduced.

Integrative Conclusions

This chapter presents general conclusions based on integrating the theory and the results obtained from all methods. It also offers seven specific conclusions for each of the prosperity determinants considered.Combining three main factors accounted for uneven socio-economic and institutional performance in Europe and the Americas. These factors are: 1. Religion: 1.1) Historical Protestantism and its positive influence on law, institutions, and language (highest performance); 1.2) anti-clericalism (medium-high performance); 1.3) Roman Catholicism or Orthodoxy (medium-low performance); 1.4) Syncretism (low performance). 2. Political non-religious influences: 2.1) Communism (low performance). 3. Geography and environment, which modulate overall performance.

Research Setting

How does Protestantism influence competitiveness and transparency compared to Roman Catholicism in Europe and the Americas? This book answers the research question by applying a “Mixed Methods approach to Grounded Theory” (MM-GT). This chapter expands on the research aims, research question, hypotheses, and research model in this study. The research model synthesises understanding and serves as a rationale for the entire book. The model exhibits the main exogenous theoretical determinants of corruption and prosperity, which are tested empirically.