| Chapter II. The Predicament of the Christian Historian Veritas non erubescit nisi abscondi. – Leo XIII «Christianity is a religion of historians.» 1 It is a strong phrase, but the statement is correct. Christianity is basically a vigorous appeal to history, a witness of faith to certain particular events in the past, to certain particular data of history. These events are acknowledged by faith as truly eventful. These historic moments, or instants, are recognized as utterly momentous. In brief, they are identified by faith as «mighty deeds» of God, Magnalia Dei. The «scandal of particularity,» to use the phrase of Gerhard Kittel, 2 belongs to the very essence of the Christian message. The Christian Creed itself is intrinsically historic. It comprises the whole of existence in a single historical scheme as one «History of Salvation,» from Creation to Consummation, to the Last Judgment and the End of history. Emphasis is put on the ultimate cruciality of certain historic events, namely, of the Incarnation, of the Coming of the Messiah, and of his Cross and Resurrection. Accordingly, it may be justly contended that «the Christian religion is a daily invitation to the study of history.» 3 Now, it is at this point that the major difficulties arise. An average believer, of any denomination or tradition, is scarcely aware of his intrinsic duty to study history. The historical pattern of the Christian message is obvious. But people are interested rather in the «eternal truth» of this message, than in what they are inclined to regard as «accidents» of history, even when they are discussing the facts of the Biblical history or of the history of the Church. Does not the message itself point out beyond history, to the «life of the Age to come»? There is a persistent tendency to interpret the facts of history as images or symbols, as typical cases or examples, and to transform the «history of salvation» into a kind of edifying parable. We can trace this tendency back to the early centuries of Christian history. In our own days we find ourselves in the midst of an intense controversy precisely about this very matter. |
| However, he foresaw that 70 years later, the Church would again shine. In 1990, his relics and personal items were found in Petersburg and were brought to Diveevo. Today, 250 nuns live in Diveevo, who practice the sleepless prayer, just as of St. Seraphim directed. Another renown monastery is Valaam, located on the evergreen islands of Lake Ladoga. Monastic life began there during the twelfth century. Initially, the central monastery was built and around it many sketes. It's a quiet and beautiful place. Another very important one is the monastery of Optina, which played a catalytic role in Russia's spiritual life during the nineteenth century. Within 100 years, it unveiled 15 saints; they are the famous starets. Thousands of people went to them, including intellectuals and scientists of that era. In Western Ukraine lies the Pochaev monastery, a blessed spot, where the Virgin Mary appeared and where her footprint remains on a rock. This monastery was a bulwark for the Orthodox and against the Uniates. We now come to 1877. St. Luke was born on April 14, known in the world as Valentin Voino-Yasenetsky. His earthly motherland was Kerch, the ancient Greek-Pontian area in Crimea. During the ninth century in this area, the Greeks built the famous church of St. John the Baptist, one of Crimea's most important monuments. Today, St. Luke's bust also sits in front of the Church. The saint's father was a pharmacist. However, the pharmacy was not doing well so he decided to leave it. He then worked as a civil servant. The saint's mother was Maria Kudrim, distinguished for her philanthropic works. Apart from St. Luke, the couple Voino-Yasenetsky had four other children, three boys and two girls in total. Because the family's financial situation was worsening, the parents decided to move to Kiev, the cradle of Russian Christianity. It is a very beautiful and exceedingly green city, with the Dnieper River running through it. The first Christian prince, St. Vladimir, baptized his people in this river in the year 988, and established the Orthodox faith in the Russian land. The Voino-Yasenetsky family lived in a house in the city centre, on Kresatic Street. Young Valentin did not seem to be unique as a child. They all considered him average and said, " nobody can expect this child to do anything significant with his life. " However, he did stand out due to his seriousness, honesty, morals, and sensitivity. From a very early age, he manifested his talent in art. While in secondary school, he also studied in Kiev's academy of fine arts. At the age of 15, he took part in an art contest and won first prize. |
| A wide ranging faculty has been assembled, having an average teaching experience of over 15 years; and, all classes are taught by a faculty who have earned terminal degrees in their academic field. Most have already become distinguished scholars. The college staff at St. Katherine has enough know how to help the incoming students with the traditional on boarding issues and other needs students have at college; including a very enthusiastic Orthodox priest who understands something about the trials and tribulations of linking college studies to professional careers. Most importantly the college has the qualified faculty to offer an arts and sciences curriculum. Yes, theology and biblical studies are offered, but the College is to be known as a College of Arts and Sciences. The Vision: A New Pedagogical Philosophy As with all start-up ventures, the entrepreneur always begins with a very high aim to solve a problem and fill a unique market niche with either a product or service. It seems that St. Katherine’s vision does just that! St. Katherine offers a participatory academic culture, small class sizes, and high-caliber professors. But beyond this, the college has a unique approach to curriculum and organization. Typical colleges and universities are organized around departments, in order to allow specialization to occur within each of the academic disciplines (i.e. biology, chemistry, literature, etc.) Though this allows for specialization of knowledge, it also contributes to building overhead bureaucracy and self-promoting interests of the departments, generally at the expense of the student’s ability to build and follow their own path to inquiry and learning. Frank and Eve have in mind a different method. They have evolved an integrated method of pedagogy, a method that has its roots in the lyceums of the Socratic Greeks. The basic liberal arts course curriculum are being offered, however, it includes a matrix approach to course delivery that promotes the students ability to reach out to different areas of knowledge and inquiry of their own interests; rather than fitting the student into a “pigeon holes” that traditional academic departments usually force on them. Rest assure, the student is getting the liberal arts and science education needed to become well-rounded and to prepare them, if they so chose, to go on to professional education in graduate school. |
| Shmuel Khan died on the 3rd of March 1918 (according to the Julian calendar, which Assyrians used then; 16 March according to the Gregorian calendar) together with the Assyrian Catholicos Mar Shimun XIX. During the First World War, His Holiness the Catholicos had communication with Emperor Nicholas II through Grand Duke Nicholas Nikolaevich and conveyed words of support to the Emperor in the war with the Ottoman Empire. The Assyrian people were then living in the Ottoman Empire and were fighting for autonomy. Nicholas II responded by conveying words of gratitude for the support and expressed his hope that the Russian people would free the Turkish Christians fr om oppression. When the Russian Civil War broke out in 1918, the Assyrian people were still resisting the Turks, but the Entente countries pressured the Catholicos to negotiate with the Kurds. Catholicos Mar Shimun was invited to a reception with the Kurdish leader Simko Shikak. Shmuel Khan accompanied him. It was the Saturday before Lent: he warned the Catholicos that there might be provocations, and he was right. Almost all the Assyrians at the reception were shot, more than a hundred people were killed, and among them were the Catholicos and my great-grandfather. In 2014, a monument to Patriarch Mar Shimun XIX was unveiled on the grounds of the Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary ( " Mat Maryam " ) in Moscow. Shmuel Khan " s son Avimalek is also connected with Russia: he studied here, became an officer and commanded an Assyrian cavalry unit of two hundred horsemen fighting on the Russian side on the southern flank of the Caucasus Front in Persia. His niece Florence is my mum. Given that my ancestors lived in Russia, I have a special appreciation for Russian culture. The personality of Emperor Nicholas II, who had contacts with my predecessor, and his family are of great interest to me. Of Russian writers, L. Tolstoy is of particular importance. In his novels he analysed the spirituality of Russia, of the average believing Russian, and I find that very interesting. |
| The Dogmas of the Post-Christian World: Obstacles to Evangelism Every culture lives by dogmas—that is, by moral presuppositions and habits of mind so ingrained that they are rarely openly asserted, much less examined or defended. Few people examine their fundamental presuppositions; rather these presuppositions form the prism through which they examine everything else. To people these presuppositions as so self-evident that they scarcely need examination or defense. In the modern West there are a number of these presuppositions that impede the Church’s work of evangelism and make it difficult for the average westerner to accept the Church’s view of Scripture. These reigning dogmas of the modern West include the following. 1) Truth is relative . The modern West allows for a multitude of competing and mutually incompatible worldviews and for the open practice of many religions. This is a good thing, for tolerance of contrary opinion allows for personal growth and charity. But our political pluralism which found room for many different religions has morphed into a tacit agreement that there is no one true religion—or at least that if there is, society as a whole is incapable of discovering it. One now therefore hears expressions like “That is your truth” or “What is true for you is not necessarily true for me”. These assertions are not just admissions that opinions differ, but the more radical view that an absolute truth, discoverable and available to all, does not exist. In this understanding, religious pluralism in society is not merely political inevitable; it is also philosophically necessary. There can be no national commitment to a particular faith because it is impossible for the nation to discover which religion is true. This presupposition that society should not opt for a dominant religion is ingrained, and is never examined or questioned. That is why we look back in history upon societies which did make a religious choice with studied incomprehension, if not with a fair bit of revulsion. For example, just as pagan Rome insisted on a public honouring of their gods as the state cult, so also the Christians ejected the old gods and substituted the worship of Christ when they came to power. Their logic was clear: the old gods were demons and worshipping them would mean forfeiting divine favour. Therefore, the old gods had to go and a different choice be made for state allegiance. It took some time: the altar to the goddess Victory was not cleared out of Rome until 382 by the Emperor Gratian. Two years later when Symmachus, the senator and prefect of Rome, wrote to the next emperor asking to have it restored, his request was strenuously opposed by St. Ambrose, who succeeded in having the request denied. |
| What Else Causes Blood Clots Sinus thrombosis of the dura mater (the full name of the revealed pathology) is a long-known, albeit rare disorder. According to the calculations of specialists from the Paul Ehrlich Institute, in the absence of external factors during the period of vaccination with the drug from AstraZeneca one case should have been identified in the population, on average. In other words, this pathology was observed seven times more often than usual, which prompted scientists to suspect a connection with vaccination. Even so, sinus thrombosis of the dura mater remains an extremely unlikely event: more than 1.6 million people have received the AstraZeneca vaccine in Germany. The reasons why some people – by the way, mostly young ones – form blood clots in the vessels that drain blood from the brain are unclear. It is believed that a combination of several risk factors leads to this: a tendency to form thrombosis, including genetically determined ones, female gender, recent childbirth, taking hormonal drugs, some infections, or head injuries. Indirectly, the assumption of an individual predisposition to the development of this complication – whatever its cause – reinforces the fact that six out of seven patients were relatively young women (age 20 to 50). The seventh patient was a man and his symptoms were slightly different. Although, of course, it is impossible to draw statistically reliable conclusions on such a small sample. Other European countries, which suspended vaccination with the AstraZeneca vaccine until all the circumstances were clarified, did not specify which thrombotic pathologies aroused suspicions among specialists. Interestingly, thrombocytopenia of an unclear nature was also observed in the United States, where people are inoculated with mRNA vaccines. There, too, we are talking about isolated cases for tens of millions of injected doses. In general, a drop in the number of platelets as an extremely rare complication after vaccination has been known for a long time – it is characteristic of vaccination against measles-mumps-rubella, but the frequency of this pathology cannot be compared with the frequency of thrombocytopenias developing as a consequence of these infections themselves. |
| Гозий высоко отозвался о сочинении, выразив, однако, опасение, что некоторые высказывания Скарги могут оскорбить русинов 1109 . Из этого еще раз хорошо видно, что в вопросах унии Скарга продолжил линию именно Гозия, а не Ожеховского, о чем пойдет речь в заключительной части книги. Промежуточные выводы Рассмотрев данные о том, как уния понималась католиками в эпоху Брестской унии, мы приходим к троякому заключению. Во-первых, уния мыслилась не как союз двух церквей, тем более не как их равноправное объединение в рамках общего церковного организма, а как практически безоговорочная инкорпорация православной церкви в церковь римскую. Соответственно уния осмысливалась в категориях централизации, унификации, полного подчинения Риму и принятия всех особенностей католического вероисповедания. Во-вторых, и концепция, и сами категории мышления об унии католической стороны оказываются иными, чем представления и категории мышления православных. Вместе с тем видно, что ни те, ни другие не осознавали в конце XVI в., насколько глубоки различия двух конфессий и стоящих за ними традиций. В-третьих, католические представления об унии не могли быть иными, потому что они отвечали самым глубинным и принципиальным особенностям католической традиции – особенностям специфически католического религиозного менталитета. 901 Левицкий О. Кирилл Терлецкий, епископ Луцкий и Острожский//Памятники русской старины в западных губерниях. Т. VIII. СПб., 1885. С. 308–341; Левицкий О. Южнорусские архиереи в XVI–XVII вв.//Киевская старина. 1882. С. 57–100; См. также: Коялович 1859. Т. 1. С. 62–64, 77–83. Ср. отзывы О. Халецкого о Терлецком: «versatile and dynamic Terlecki», «optimistic Terlecki» (Halecki 1968. P. 279, 280). 903 Левицкий О. Кирилл Терлецкий. С. 325. О. Халецкий проигнорировал собранный О. Левицким материал (ср.: «It is easy to point out that this clever and energetic man was not free from personal ambitions, but morally and intellectually he was much superior to the average members of the contemporary Ruthenian hierarchy» (Halecki 1968. P. 236). Решение Терлецкого начать переговоры об унии О. Халецкий считает продуманным, взвешенным и ответственным: «in any case, a man like Terlecki must have made his momentous decision of that year in full consciousness of his responsibility»; и поскольку Терлецкий оставался верен принятому решению, несмотря на все препятствия, «it is only fair to consider it as expression of serious religious conviction» (Halecki 1968. P. 237). |
| We finally arrived in the small town of Kayanga located in the district of Karagwe in the northwestern tip of Tanzania, which was to be our temporary home. Karagwe is near the scenic southwestern shore of Lake Victoria. Our task was twofold: first, to teach courses on Orthodox faith and theology to one hundred students of various ages at a special seminar organized by the local Metropolitan, Jeronymos of Mwanza; and secondly, to be ‘eambassadors of good will’ to the people of Tanzania as we travelled with the Metropolitan to various communities throughout his diocese. Under the inspired leadership of Metropolitan Jeronymos, this particular region of Tanzania is experiencing an incredible thirty percent annual growth rate, with a new seminary, churches, clinics and schools. Metropolitan Jeronymos was born in Uganda and educated in Athens and is fluent in both Greek and English. It was a great honor to work with this man and his devoted staff in such a unique and blessed ministry. Our teaching mission was only one segment of the longer seminars organized by the Metropolitan, where he gathers selected young people, and future leaders and teachers from various villages of his diocese. Nurses, educators, tradesmen and other professionals are invited to provide workshops on agriculture, construction, economics, health and hygiene. The students return home and pass their newly acquired knowledge and skills to their fellow villagers, improving the overall quality of life in their village. The poverty we encountered was incredible. Tanzania is one of the poorest places on earth. Many homes in the rural areas are constructed out of mud-bricks and bamboo sticks. The average life expectancy for Tanzanians is only around fifty years. Many suffer from malaria and yellow fever, and in many areas there is no clean water or adequate sanitation. Despite such extreme poverty, the people were still so joyful and dignified. Most memorable were the smiling faces and joyful voices of the young children who would often flock around us wherever we went, with wide smiles spread across their eager- eyed faces shouting ‘Mzungu!’, ‘Mzungu!’, which means ‘White-man’ in Swahili. |
| He also hoped that Westerners would not “forget our brothers and sisters whose faith is, quite literally, under fire; not to forget the unimaginable barbarity”. “He’s very conversant with the issues,” John Pontifex says. “We’ve been very impressed by his knowledge. He has a great deal of understanding. He’s aware of the sensitive issues between the different communions. His understanding is far greater than the average person might expect.” He adds: “In a world marked by religious illiteracy and which lacks confidence in talking about religion, here is a figure who does get it, and the role Christianity plays as a bridge-builder. He’s hastened the day when you can truly say we have woken up to the reality of the situation.” Charles is a deeply religious man. When he ascends to the throne he will be arguably England’s most theologically literate monarch since the union. While his faith is not straight-down-the-line Anglicanism, it isn’t as esoteric or wacky as the press has long made out. Born to be supreme governor of the Church of England, Charles was baptised in the Music Room at Buckingham Palace 30 days after his birth by the then Archbishop of Canterbury, Geoffrey Fisher. At university in Cambridge he corresponded with the Anglican Bishop of Southwark, Mervyn Stockwood, a leading liberal who spoke of “the Saviour’s oneness with nature” and encouraged clergy to wear jeans in public. Later Charles was influenced by the mysticism of his great mentor, the South African writer Laurens van der Post, who encouraged the Prince “to see the old world of the spirit”. The Prince’s formative years gave him awide-ranging interest in religions and what unites them. Cardinal Vincent Nichols has said that Prince Charles seems “thoroughly at home” in Westminster Cathedral and that “when he is abroad he happily goes to Mass, and is at peace with that”. Charles is also fascinated by Judaism and, especially, Islam. He believes that “the future surely lies in rediscovering the universal truths that dwell at the heart of [Abrahamic] religions”. |
| 2. 9. Выводы 4. 3. Представления о материи в сочинениях свт. Григория Богослова 4. 3. 1. Обзор литературы 4. 3. 2. Учение о воскресении и об обожении плоти 4. 3. 3. Онтологический статус материи, телесности и плоти 4. 3. 4. Грехопадение Адама как нарушение меры и порядка созерцания 4. 3. 5. Терминология обновления творения 4. 3. 6. Евхаристический реализм 4. 3. 7. Выводы 4. 4. Представления о материи в сочинениях свт. Григория Нисского 4. 4. 1. Обзор литературы 4. 4. 2. Свт. Григорий и его философское знание 4. 4. 3. Творец и творение – различие природ 4. 4. 4. Разнообразие и гармония материального мира 4. 4. 5. Апофатика в богословии материального мира 4. 4. 6. Отрицательные характеристики вещества 4. 4. 7. Антропология свт. Григория 4. 4. 8. Происхождение зла и его действие в природе человека 4. 4. 9. Древо познания и кожаные ризы 4. 4. 10. Восстановление первичной гармонии 4. 4. 11. Изменения природных стихий в природе 4. 4. 12. Анализ контекстов употребления глаголов «μεταποιω» и «λλοιω» и их производных 4. 4. 13. Анализ употребления глагола «μεταστοιχειω» и его производных 4. 4. 14. Анализ терминологии, использованной для описания воскресших тел 4. 4. 15. Выводы 4. 5. Представления о материи в сочинениях свт. Кирилла Александрийского 4. 5. 1. Обзор литературы 4. 5. 2. Творец и творение 4. 5. 3. Учение о космосе и его частях 4. 5. 4. Анализ употребления термина «λη» 4. 5. 5. Учение о материальной природе человека до и после грехопадения 4. 5. 6. Учение свт. Кирилла о животворящем Теле Христа 4. 5. 7. Евхаристический реализм свт. Кирилла 4. 5. 8. Терминология обновления свт. Кирилла 4. 5. 9. Выводы Глава 5. Представления о материи в ареопагитском корпусе и у преп. Максима Исповедника 5. 1. Сакраментально-антропологический аспект учения о материи в Ареопагитиках 5. 1. 1. Краткий обзор литературы 5. 1. 2. Общие определения и свойства материи, согласно Ареопагитикам 5. 1. 3. Негативные свойства материи 5. 1. 4. Антропологические (нравственно-аскетические) аспекты 5. |
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