Academic literature on the topic 'Christiian life'

John Bunyan was longing for Religion. Author makes the use of Allegory as a literary device which gives him more space to explore his Didactic aims. This religious fiction has given as an autobiographical element. Christian is protagonist. Knowledge is gained through travel by portraying Christian and his companions learning from their mistakes. Whenever Christian puts up with problems and difficult, he prays God Christian carries load on his back. He goes the place where is fenced on both side with wall which is called ‘Salvation’. Christian’s Wife Christiana also struggles in the second part. Not only Christian in his life struggles to attain salvation, but also his wife comes across problems like her husband. She thinks that Christian goes over the river. Christiana tells to her four children about her father and his struggle. Children fall into tears. Christiana prepares to follow her husband. The life of Christian and his struggle is to attain salvation. Though he comes across many problem, he is stubborn his religious goal. He comes across many struggles. It powerfully expresses the truth that the present life is a kind of Pilgrimage. Jesus Christ liberates a sinner from the power of sin when a man shows life time faith and devotion to him. The path of the Christian life is riddled with many problems hurdles and Obstacles. Christian fights against evil powers and gets victory.

The importance of Morality for Christian life. In this article, the author talks about how to be a Christian with good morals, love others, and of course have an impact on the lives of the surrounding community. In this case, the author invites Christians not only to care about the people around them but how Christians care, embrace marginalized people who have nothing. Apart from that, as Christians, we must play an important role in the sense that we are to be examples for our neighbors. This study of Deuteronomy discusses how a Christian can love his fellow human beings. In this article, the author also uses the legal interpretation method. The research result of this article is a Christian who loves others and obeys God. Which of course is reflected in the life of these Christians. For this reason, every Christian must obey and follow the commands that God has given to His people. Because God sees the obedience of each person in maintaining his covenant with God.

Christians recognize that the earthly Jesus can never be captured fully by historical scholarship. They recognize as well that Christian faith is not based on historical reconstructions. These recognitions notwith-standing, Christians insist that some elements of Jesus' life, which are open to historical research, are of central concern to Christian faith.

This article discusses the development of the Charismatic church on the Christians life in Semarang City in 1970-2015 using historical methods and using social religion approach. Since its inception in 1970, the Charismatic church in the city of Semarang has had a major influence on the Christian life in the city. A series of innovations in worship and evangelism that are adapted to the times have made the Charismatic church much in demand by Christians in big cities, one of them is Semarang. Christian interest in the Charismatic church can be seen from the development of the number of Charismatic churches in the city of Semarang. One of the Charismatic churches that is experiencing rapid development is JKI Injil Kerajaan. In the beginning, there were 25 people in the congregations. One decade later it reached 3,557 people and continued to increase to 13,324 people on the next decade. This rapid development has brought significant changes to the Christians life in the city of Semarang. It can be seen, among others, from the increasing number of churches that are full of Charismatic churches at worship services. But on the other hand, the presence of Charismatic church with a new pattern of worship caused less harmonious relationship between non-Charismatic churches and charismatic churches as the result of the high increasing number of original church people who moved to the Charismatic church. It is because Christians in Semarang are mostly more interested in taking worship in the Charismatic church.

The implementation of sharia in Aceh has have given a complex impacts to several aspects of life of the Christian, economically, culturally, politically and any other aspects of social life. Unlike other Indonesian Christian in different parts of archipelago, the Christian women in Aceh are experiencing the life that regulated by the sharia. Based on the experience in Langsa, some of them (especially teachers, employee, and students) were appealed to wear headscarf (hijab) in their appearance in Islamic public sphere. Those who reside in Aceh Singkil experienced difficulties in establishing church, beyond any difficulties that experienced by Christians in other part of Indonesian region. However, in Southeast Aceh, the Christian live the life of religious harmony among the Muslim majority who implement the Islamic sharia. This article shows that strong encouragement among the Muslim circle to implementing Islamic sharia through political approach could generate difficulties to certain Christians, while to some others it doesn't give any significant negative impact. This article aims to highlight some issues that experienced by Christians who live amid the Muslim majority who implement Islamic sharia. Data were collected during ethnographical studies conducted in the year 2013-2015 in Langsa, Aceh Singkil and Southeast Aceh. Finally, this article proposes significant policy options for managing Muslim-Christian relations in Aceh, Indonesia. Education is crucial for promoting interreligious harmony, religious freedom, and respect for people of different traditions and religion.

There are several business sectors that disturb the tranquility of Christian life, types of business: producers of prayer paper, producers of hio or incense to hold ritual worship of gods, the making of statues of gods of worship. If the businessman is a non-Christian then it will certainly not cause problems, but if the businessman is a Christian then bring him into a dilemmatic state. What is the attitude of Christians towards life for this business of prayer equipment. First, it is indicated the problem of how the character of Christian businessmen is viewed from Christian Ethics. Christian business ethics in highlighting all business activities of Christians, including the production of prayer equipment should also be reviewed from the basis of devotion. The basis of devotion from biblical excavation in the context of devotion to mammon or to God is the basis for important considerations for Christians in conducting these business activities. Second, it is indicated that the problem of whether the business engaged in by Christians who produce prayer equipment fulfills the Great Commission of the Lord Jesus. The business of prayer equipment if it is a contextualization of the gospel into the business area that is a means of preaching the gospel, it will be a separate consideration, because in the business the prayer equipment becomes a forum for the implementation of the great Commission. Which resulted in the conclusion of the study answering the study regarding the title of this study.

The Lisu people of southwest China have reimagined Christian discipleship to emphasize various shared practices. Lisu Christian practices, such as singing hymns together, attending Christian festivals, abstaining from smoking and drinking alcohol, interceding for one another in prayer, and greeting one another with the traditional salutation and handshake, are less personal and more communal, less inward and more outward, less emotional and more embodied. Embedded in every practice are meaning, significance, and worldview; the practices are not empty. This article shows how Lisu Christians have transformed their faith into a life rhythm of practice–oriented discipleship appropriate for the agrarian context of this communal people.

The phenomenon of Christian calendars in Hebrew has largely been ignored in modern scholarship; yet it points to an important dimension of Jewish-Christian relations, and more specifically Jewish attitudes towards Christianity, in late medieval northern Europe. It is also evidence of transfer of religious knowledge between Christians and Jews, because the Hebrew texts closely replicate, in contents as well as in layout and presentation, the Latin liturgical calendars, which in many cases the Hebrew scribes must have used directly as base texts. Knowledge of the Christian calendar was essential to Jews for dating documents, especially (but not exclusively) those intended for Christians, for understanding dates in documents, for scheduling business or other meetings with Christians, and in short, for effectively coordinating their socio-economic activities with the rhythms and structure of Christian medieval life.

Christian missionaries found Vietnam a spiritual country, and many Vietnamese converted to Christianity. On the other hand, during history, the Christian religious identity has brought various tensions due to the issues of colonialism, nationalism, and communism. Most Vietnamese Christians lived in pure Christian villages (lang cong giao toan tong) or mixed villages with Christians accounting for about a half of the population (lang cong giao xoi do). They have played an important role in the social, economic and cultural life of these villages. This article presents the historical background of a mixed village called Phung Khoang, contrasting the Christian vs. non-Christian cultural-religious views, and then discussing both the collaboration and tension played out over various historical periods.

This essay proposes that the Reformed theology of ordinary life has promising principles that can be applied to the recent challenges of the digital age. It first examines how contemporary scholars have grappled with the challenges posed by virtual life, highlighting their Advantages and disadvantages. Then, it suggests that the Reformed attitude for sanctifying ordinary life leads Christians inevitably to embrace discipline in their use of technology. The author recommends digital resistance and digital intentionality as judicious parameters for Christian engagement in a digital age. KEYWORDS: Theology of common life, Christian vocation, technology, digital technologies, Christian life, Reformed worldview

This research project is an investigation into the lives of bisexual men and women who are also Christian. It is a sociological exploration of their identity and the negotiations which they undertake against the backdrop of a religion that sees their sexuality as a choice and fails to fully grasp the complexity of bisexuality, and a society that does not understand their sexuality. Bisexual Christians are an under-researched group, yet researching such a group can speak to sociological understandings of identity, sexuality and religion. This research project has found that identity is a complex negotiation between the private, public but also the situational/the context in which it occurs. Identity is a project of reflexive choice but within these confines and always with regard to the context in which they are being negotiated and done. Such negotiations take place around a ‘core’ identity which helps the respondents to feel grounded throughout. Bisexuality itself is misunderstood both within the secular and religious spheres. The research calls for bisexuality to be understood in terms of ‘dimensions’ of sexuality which carry different weightings for individuals, rather than producing a universal definition. Bisexuality challenges both monosexism and heterosexism that exists within secular and religious society. In terms of their religious lives the research has found that religious individualism and the ‘Turn to Life’ (Heelas and Woodhead 2005, Woodhead 2001) is more heightened within the lives of bisexual Christians because of the points highlighted above. Without any guidance and both a society and a religion which does not understand bisexuality, the respondents are left to creatively understand and give life and meaning to both their religious faith and their sexuality.

Thesis (M. Div.)--St. Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary, 1992.
Includes "The Seven letters of St. Anthony the Great," translated by Derwas J. Chitty, 1975. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 77-80).

Thesis (D.Min.)--Central Baptist Theological Seminary, 2005.
Computer printout. At time of cataloging, Dr. Coats is Dean of Men at Northland Baptist Bible College. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 154-158).

This chapter examines Gregory of Nyssa’s anthropology as it is evident in three of his ascetic works: De Professione Christiana, De Perfectione, and De Instituto Christiano. Previous research has tended to use these as evidence for Gregory’s spirituality or his instructions concerning the truly Christian life, while his anthropology has been studied from his De Anima et Resurrectione and De Hominis Opificio. However, his concept of the truly Christian life seems to rely on some basic anthropological ideas which one can see in the ascetic treatises—especially in Gregory’s use of the language of ‘formation’ or ‘shaping’ the Christian and in metaphors relating to those concepts. Such language emphasizes the unity of the human being, her working together with God (the concept of sunergeia), and the imitation of Christ. It perhaps also suggests traces of hylomorphism in Gregory’s anthropology.

According to James 2:17,18, “faith without works is dead”; in other words, biblical theory without practice consistent with it is useless to God. For this reason, a religious organization that calls itself Christian, but that does not practice its own teachings in full, is not truly Christian. This does not mean being perfect, 100% correct in everything, because all Christians are imperfect and sinners, which is why we all make mistakes, we sin, whether in words or in actions. . But the continuous effort to maintain an unblemished conduct inside and outside religion, honest, ethical, moral and spiritually approved by God, is a fundamental Christian duty. That said, this work has the general objective of presenting the theocratic practices and procedures of Jehovah's Witnesses around the world. To this end, a bibliographical and narrative documentary review is carried out, under the Giftedean neoperspectivist paradigm, reasoning according to the hypothetical-deductive method. It concludes that for Christian religious teachings and practices to become an acceptable conduct, an acceptable way of life, approved by the Creator God Jehovah, and healthy psychically, spiritually and socially speaking, it is necessary to learn to live at the intersection between biblical knowledge and knowledge scientific. Because failing to follow the first in favor of the second leads to lacisism or atheism, and failing to follow the second in favor of the first leads to religious fanaticism, as is present among Jehovah's Witnesses today.

This article addresses the issue of conflict between religious communities that cause enmity amid society. Hostilities must be overcome and resolved in accordance with the call of Christianity to live in love and peace. The study used the qualitative paradigm as the method of the research and the descriptive-analyses as the writing method by describing the research problems based on data collected from related publications.One of the powerful messages of Jesus's teaching is "Love your enemies." It’s one of the greatest challenges in life. Jesus Christ gave an important doctrine about loving the enemy because love is more powerful than evil, hurtful deeds. Loving the enemy means canceling hostilities and violence, but instead, it promises acceptance of each other. The title of this study is "love your enemies": A Christian Response to Embrace Others. As the title of this study is "love your enemies," the reason for the selection of this article is because the author sees that "loving the enemy is a commandment from God that must be obeyed. This research question emphasizes how to realize "loving the enemy" amid hostility. This paper argues that Jesus's command to love the enemy is a proper Christian lifestyle choice in the midst of hostility. We use CS Song thoughts, which elaborated with other scholars' views on theology, loving, and embracing others. The purpose of the research was to gain understanding and build a theological reflection on Jesus' commandment to love the enemy. In this article, we first briefly discuss the portrait of life among religious people in Indonesia. Secondly, we discuss the conflict between religious people in Indonesia. Finally, we apply the command of Jesus to love our enemy as a Christian lifestyle in the midst of hostility to construct harmony amid hostility. We propose the command of Jesus to ‘love your enemy’ as a response to establishing sustainable peace by embrace others. Finally, the Christians must become a loving community because God so loved us, and we also ought to love and embrace others.

Крайняя малочисленность связанных с христианством находок и их неравномерное распределение во времени создает значительные трудности при восстановлении истории Фанагорийской христианской общины. Восполнить лакуны до некоторой степени помогают имеющиеся сведения об истории христианства в других центрах Северо-Восточного Причерноморья, неотъемлемой частью которого являлась Фанагория. Несомненно, новая религия проникает в Фанагорию, как и в другие центры Боспорского царства, в последней четверти 3 в. из Малой Азии, откуда готы, возвращаясь из своих пиратских набегов, привозили пленных христиан. Именно к периоду после морских походов варваров относятся первые зафиксированные на Боспоре признаки христианства: различные вещи с христианскими символами, христианские участки на некрополе в Керчи. Незначительное количество раннехристианских памятников говорит о том, что в этот период распространение религии в регионе происходило, главным образом, благодаря деятельности миссионеров, и число приверженцев христианства было невелико. С включением Боспора в сферу влияния Византийской империи церковь и государство предпринимают совместные усилия по христианизации региона: скорее всего, именно в это время по обе стороны Керченского пролива строятся церкви, в Фанагории учреждается епископская кафедра и строится христианский храм, внутреннему убранству которого, скорее всего, принадлежали два мраморных резервуара для воды, сигмовидный стол и рельеф с изображением Орфея, найденные при раскопках на «Нижнем городе». Форма и материал, из которого изготовлен один из найденных резервуаров, позво ляет интерпретировать его как крещальную купель. Причем небольшая глубина найден ной емкости не означает, что в ней крестили только детей, поскольку в большинстве случаев крещение совершалось без полного погружения: стоявшего в купели крещаемого просто обливали водой. Однако уже с 4 в. при крещении начали использовать стоячую воду, а наполнять купель предписывалось вручную. Поэтому объяснить назначение двух отверстий в фанагорийском резервуаре в случае его использования в качестве купели трудно. Лучше объясняет наличие двух отверстий другой возможный вариант использования резервуара: в качестве реликвария, в котором хранились мощи, их частицы или какие-то другие реликвии. Через верхнее отверстие в реликварий на хранящиеся в нем мощи наливали масло, которое выливалось через отверстие в нижней части. Что касается чаши с ручками-выступами вдоль края, то подобные емкости, как правило, определяют либо как купели для крещения детей, либо, чаще, как чаши для освященной воды, которую в раннехристианское время использовали для ритуального омовения рук перед входом в храм. Известные автору точные аналогии фанагорийскому сосуду происходят исключительно с территории провинций Мезия Секунда и Фракия. Не исключено, что именно оттуда фанагорийская емкость была привезена войсками, присланными на Боспор Юстинианом для подавления восстания против ставленника Византии Грода. Мраморный сигмовидной стол с арочной каймой также мог входить в состав инвентаря христианского храма. В церковном обиходе использование таких столов было вторичным, взятым из светской жизни и идет от раннехристианской традиции совместных поминальных трапез, совершавшихся над могилами мучеников. Позже их использовали в храмах в качестве престолов и столов для приношений, а также в трапезных монастырей. Несмотря на то, что сигмовидные столы, в частности столы с арочной каймой, использовали как в светском, так и христианском обиходе, их находки вне контекста обычно связывают с христианскими храмами. Однако в подобных случаях нельзя исключать возможность их использования и в качестве обычного обеденного стола. Наконец, с христианством может быть связана мраморная плитка с изображением Орфея, образ которого перешел в христианскую иконографию из языческого искусства. Незначительные размеры и сильная потертость фанагорийского фрагмента, к сожалению, не позволяют уверенно определить религиозный статус изображения, который, как правило устанавливают по составу «слушателей» и контексту. Строго говоря, из перечисленных находок только одну, мраморную чашу с вырезанным крестом, можно отнести к предметам интерьера христианского храмового комплекса безусловно. Сигмовидный стол могли использовать и в христианском культе, и по его прямому назначению – в качестве обеденного стола. Образ Орфея одинаково использовался как язычниками, так и христианами. Разным целям мог служить и мраморный резервуар. Но среди аргументов за и против их использования в христианском культе, все же превалируют первые. Кроме того, обнаружение всех предметов на довольно небольшом участке «Нижнего города» позволяет надеяться на то, что в ходе будущих раскопок здесь будет открыт христианский храм, и таким образом подтвердится предложенная интерпретация найденных предметов. Храм, к которому, возможно, относились перечисленные находки, по-видимому, был разрушен в середине 6 в. Тогда же, скорее всего, прекратила существование и Фанагорийская епархия. Какие-либо сведения о фанагорийских христианах более позднего времени полностью отсутствуют, но, судя по информации о христианских общинах, имевшихся в других центрах региона, а также в городах Хазарского каганата, были они и в Фанагории, которая в этот период, скорее всего, входила в состав Зихийской епархии. У нас нет сви детельств о притеснениях христиан в городах Хазарского каганата. Наоборот, согласно сведениям, содержащимся в письменных источниках, жизнь христиан там протекала до вольно спокойно. О благосклонном отношении хазарской элиты к христианству говорят и браки с византийским императорским домом, в частности брак Юстиниана II и сестры кагана Феодоры, после заключения которого он «уехал в Фанагорию и жил там с Феодорой» (Theoph. Chron. 704–705; пер. И.С. Чичурова). 2 Что же касается археологических свидетельств, то число связанных с христианством находок 8–10 вв. чрезвычайно мало, и их невозможно связать непосредственно с христианским населением Фанагории. Extremely low amounts of finds related to Christianity and their uneven distribution over time presents difficulties in reconstructing the history of the Phanagorian Christian community. The information on the history of Christianity in other centres of the North-Eastern Black Sea, a region where Phanagoria played a crucial part, can help fill the blanks to a certain extent. Without any doubt, the new religion arrived to Phanagoria, as well as to the other centres of the Bosporan kingdom, in the last quarter of the third century AD from Asia Minor, when the Goths brought Christians as captives from their pirate raids. The first recorded signs of Christianity in the Bosporos belong to the period after the sea campaigns of the “barbarians”. These include personal possessions with Christian symbols and Christian burial plots in the necropolis in Kerch. A small number of early Christian monuments points to the fact that during this period the spread of Christianity in the region heavily relied on the activities of missionaries, while the number of christians was still small. Later, after the inclusion of the Bosporos in the sphere of influence of the Byzantine Empire, the church and the state were making joint efforts to Christianize the region: most likely, it was at this time that Christian churches were built on both sides of the Kerch Strait, an episcopal chair was established in Phanagoria and a Christian church was built, decorated with two marble water tanks, a sigmoid table and a relief depicting Orpheus. All this was found during the excavations in the “Lower City” trench. 2 Чичуров 1980, 62. Христианство в Фанагории. Археологические свидетельства 71 The shape and material from which one of the found tanks is made allows for its interpreta tion as a baptistery. The small depth of the found container does not necessarily mean that only children were baptised in it, since in most cases baptism was performed without complete immersion. The baptised stood in the font and water was poured over him. However, from the fourth century AD stagnant water was used for baptism, and the font had to be filled manually. It is, therefore, difficult to explain the purpose of the two holes in the Phanagorean reservoir if it was used as a font. Their presence is better explained by another possible use of the tank – as a reliquary. Oil was poured into the reliquary through the upper opening to cover the relics stored in it, and then came out through the opening in the lower part. Regarding the bowls with protruding handles along the edge, such vessels are considered to serve either as fonts for child baptism, or, more often, as bowls for consecrated water, which, during the early Christian times, were used to wash hands before entering the temple. Their exact analogies, known to the author, come exclusively from the provinces of Moesia Secunda and Thrace. It is possible that it was from there that the Phanagorian container was brought by the troops, which were sent to the Bosporos by Justinian to suppress the uprising against the Byzantine ruler named Grod. A marble sigmoid table with an arched border could also be part of the inventory of a Christian church. In church life, the use of such tables was secondary. It comes from secular life, from the early Christian tradition of communal meals served on the graves of martyrs. Later they were used in temples and monasteries as thrones and tables for offerings. Despite the fact that sigmoid tables, particularly those with an arched border, were used both in secular and Christian everyday life, they are usually associated with Christian churches when found out of context. However, one cannot exclude the possibility of them being used as a regular dining table. Finally, a marble tile with the image of Orpheus, which came to the Christian iconography from pagan art, can also be associated with Christianity. Unfortunately, due to its insignificant size and severe damage, this fragment does not allow us to determine the religious status of the image with any degree of certainty. Usually such assumptions can be made based on the amount of depicted listeners and the find’s context. Strictly speaking, only one of the listed finds, a marble bowl with a carved cross, can be attributed to the items from the interior of the Christian temple. The sigmoid table could be used both in the Christian cult and for its original purpose, as a dining table. The image of Orpheus was used by both pagans and Christians. A marble tank could possibly also serve different purposes. However, between the arguments “for” and “against” its use in a Christian context, the former prevail. In addition, the discovery of all the objects together in a rather small area of the “Lower City” excavation site allows us to hope that, during future excavations, a Christian church will be discovered here, confirming our interpretations. The temple to which the finds may have belonged was apparently destroyed in the middle of the sixth century AD. At the same time, most likely, the Phanagorian diocese also ceased to exist. There is no information on Phanagorian Christians during later periods, but, judging by the information about the Christian communities that existed in other centres of the region, as well as in the cities of the Khazar Khaganate, Christians were present in Phanagoria, which, during this period was likely a part of the Zikhia diocese. So far, we have no evidence of the oppression of Christians in the cities of the Khazar Khaganate. On the contrary, according to the information from written sources, the life of Christians there was a rather calm one. The favourable attitude of the Khazar elite towards Christianity is also evidenced by marriages with the Byzantine imperial family. Of particular interest is the marriage of Justinian II and the sister of the Khagan, Theodora, after which he “left for Phanagoria and lived there with Theodora”. As for archaeological evidence, the number of finds associated with Christianity from the 8th to 10th centuries AD is extremely low, and it is impossible to connect them directly with the Christian population of Phanagoria.

The article notes that with the beginning of Russia's military aggression and its insidious attack on Ukraine on February 24, 2022, we have new accents in our approaches to understanding the phenomenon of happiness. Ukrainian churches and religious organizations have given a proper assessment of the war waged by Russia against Ukraine. At the same time, solving the problem of happiness is not relevant and, in general, characteristic of the Christian tradition, in which the category of holiness is analogous to the perception of the happy way of life of the individual. In this article, the author compares the concepts of happiness and holiness through the phenomena of holiday, sin. The author considers new theological approaches to understanding "social" and "collective" sin. Understanding holiness as the ability to overcome suffering, to affect, allows us to distinguish two types, ascetic and corporeal. Holiness as a life-affirming principle (ability to live) is reflected in the phenomenon of the folk type of holiness, the origin of which is attributed to the seventeenth - nineteenth centuries, associated with the active process of desacralization of all spheres of life. Modern theologians speak of the need for a positive, optimistic perception of the surrounding reality in order to fulfill the individual mission of Orthodox believers, linking the implementation of this mission with the acquisition of a special state of holiness. There is a "theology of earthly realities" that overcomes the gap between the sacred and the secular, postulates the need for a conscious faith that loves the world and makes people happy. Key words: holiness, holiday, folly, sin, happiness

The Gülen movement, or hizmet, is often misunderstood, and this is in large measure because it is unlike anything else in the Muslim world, though the Muhammadiyah and Nahdlatul Ulama mass-based organisations of Indonesia do bear some resemblance. However, there is no good reason to limit comparisons to the Muslim world. As a social movement motivated by religious values and the ideals of selfless service, engaged in philan- thropic endeavour and active in the civil sphere, the Gülen hizmet deserves comparison with other such movements around the globe. This paper looks outside the geographic and cultural context of the Muslim world to demon- strate that the Gülen hizmet shares much in common with many Western, Christian, philan- thropic initiatives in education and public discourse of the past three centuries, particularly in North America. The utility of this comparison is that it helps us to understand better aspects of the Gülen hizmet that cannot be easily understood in the limited context of the Muslim world. It also helps break down some of the ‘us and them’ barriers that divide Christians and Muslims, and east and west, by allowing us to recognise common concerns, values and shared experiences. The paper also explores the concept of civil religion in the twenty-first century, examines ways in which religious philanthropic activity can contribute to the development of non- exclusivist civil religion and apply these insights to the Gülen hizmet to argue that the hizmet models an interesting modern Islamic alternative to Islamism.

The paper approaches Maximus the Greek’s polemical work both from the text-critical and functional perspectives. The text-critical case study reveals a new, refi ned and most complete attribution of biblical and patristic quotations and their thematic division. Restructuring quotations so that they form the “Salvation Ladder” demonstrates presence of the main imperative of Christian culture in the text.

Abstract Serial killers, rapists, terrorists, and other notorious criminals are often labeled "criminals forever." Recovery for this group is unusual, according to post-positivist studies. However, positive spiritual psychology says differently. In Christian theology, Saul, a notorious mass murderer, went to Damascus and became Paul, a righteous man. Hence, this study unraveled the breakthrough stories of real-life Pauls, or formerly convicted notorious criminals before, during, and after adhering to the Christian faith. Through narrative inquiry, ten purposively selected samples were assessed through Psychology's triad of affect, behavior, and cognitions (ABC). Thematic analysis revealed that participants were chronic malefactors with vile and remorseless compulsions for victimization before adhering to the Christian faith. Egotistical convictions drove their actions. Uniformly, a similar epiphany occurred through their spiritual encounters with the Divine. From then on, they insouciantly live with rectitude, compassion, and selfless credo, which is deemed undoable with their willpower but doable with God's might. The revolutionary study reveals that individuals repented, resisted compulsions, repaired harms, and recovered right after being changed, contrary to nonlinear relapses of recidivists. The study highlights the penumbra that "change can happen even to the worst of the wicked." No matter how notorious one can be, the power of spirituality can transcend beyond human understanding onward the inner workings of the mind, body, and spirit. Based on these results, the research suggests studying Quantum Change, an underutilized concept in psychology. Still, it has been linked to effective holistic transformations. KEYWORDS: Transformation, Quantum change, epiphany, notorious criminals, divine, spirituality

The article deals with the leading issues in the children's literature of the Ukrainian Diaspora writers. Among the key themes are the following such as historical, patriotic, religious and Christian topics, which are considered through the image of “The Self”. This concept includes the image of the Motherland, historically native land, prominent figures (Taras Shevchenko, hetmans of Ukraine), the family line, national symbols (the flag, the trident) and religious and Christian symbols (the church, the blessing). The idea of preserving the cultural identity and the national identity of Ukrainians is prevalent through the concept of “The Self”.

The article considers the history, thematic range of expression and a number of authors and publicists of the newspaper «Christian Voice» (with the frequency of a fortnightly). It has been published in Munich by nationally conscious groups of migrants since 1949 as a part of the «Ukrainian Christian Publishing House». The significance of this Ukrainian newspaper in post-Nazi Germany is only partly comprehended in the works of a number of diaspora press’s researchers. Therefore, the purpose of this article is to supplement the scientific information about the «Christian Voice» in the postwar period, in particular, the yearbook for 1957 was chosen as the principal subject of analysis. In the process of writing the article, we used such methods: analysis, synthesis, content analysis, generalization and others. Thus, the results of our study became the socio-political and religious context in which the «Christian Voice» was founded. The article is also a concise overview of the titles of Ukrainian magazines in post-Nazi Germany in the 1940s and 1950s. The thematic analysis of publications of 1957 showed the main trends of journalistic texts in the newspaper and the journalistic skills of it’s iconic authors and publicists (D. Buchynsky, M. Bradovych, S. Shah, etc.). The thematic range of the newspaper after 1959 was somewhat narrowed due to the change in the status of the «Christian Voice» when it became the official newspaper of the UGCC in Germany. It has been distinguished two main thematic blocks of the newspaper ‒ social and religious. Historians will find interesting factual material from the newspaper publications about the life of Ukrainians in the diaspora. Historians of journalism can supplement the bibliographic apparatus in the journalistic and publicistic works of the authors in the postwar period of the newspaper and in subsequent years of publishing. Based upon the publications of the «Christian Voice» in different years, not only since 1957, journalists can study the contents and a form of different genres, linguistic peculiarities in the newspaper articles, and so on.

This paper reflects on the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on religious life in Bulgaria, especially in the Orthodox Church, and on the sphere of academic teaching. The picture that emerges against the background of the moderate COVID-19 measures and the non-closure of churches is rather disturbing, given the aggressive attacks by non-believers against ecclesial practice. It testifies to widespread superstition and deep theological ignorance even among those who designate themselves as ‘Orthodox Christians’. The compromise of university education during the COVID-19 panic and the radical changes to the social way of thinking go—as a basis of the perplexity of the social mind—hand in hand with the destruction of the democratic world order by Russia’s war against Ukraine.

In Latin America, clientelism pervades civil services; bureaucrats entrusted with critical areas of national life are often hired more for their political value than professional competence. This issue of IDEA was prepared by Steven Ambrus and Rita Funaro, and is based largely on research conducted at the IDB on governance issues. The articles presented in this newsletter are based on the research of Paulo Bastos, Paolo Buonanno, María Franco Chuaire, Daniel Gingerich, Enrique Kawamura, Sebastián Miller, Virginia Oliveros, Sebastián Saiegh, Carlos Scartascini, Christian Schuster, Jorge Streb, and Juan Fernando Vargas.

This paper aims to identify the most famous Yazidi heritage industries in the town of Bashiqa, in Nineveh governorate. It explores the economic, social and cultural reality of three non-material industries (the manufacture of al-rashi, olive oil and soap) in the town of Bashiqa by comparing how they were manufactured in the past with how they are manufactured in the present, and assessing the impact of ISIS gangs on these industries. Finally, the paper puts forward proposals for how these industries can be developed to maintain their heritage and sustainability. The research also aims to invoke the cultural and scientific heritage of the local community to draw inspiration from their sources of strength to plan how local production of the traditional heritage industries can be revitalised after the destruction caused by ISIS. The paper also explores the attachment of the Yazidi community in Bashiqa to the traditional industrial crafts and the extent of their influence on social and economic life, especially given that the city of Mosul is famous for its craft activity, in addition to the cultural and religious differences among the local population of Bashiqa, which comprises several components of Iraqi society (Yazidi, Catholic and Orthodox Christians, and the Muslim Shabak – Sunni, Shiite, and Kurdish) and thus affect the community’s view of the traditional crafts.

Introduction: Advancements and increase in access to healthcare have increased the life expectancy in India from 32 years in 1947 to almost 70 years currently. Due to robust vaccination and basic health programs, most of the communicable diseases are kept under control. The disease burden is now skewed towards non-communicable diseases. It is an established fact that body mass index (BMI) is a reliable predictor of cardiovascular disease (CVD) later in life. Early prediction can decrease the disease load and enable early preventative measures. A more novel approach of connecting it with blood groups would yield profound results in predictability and subsequent management. This study was done to see correlation between BMI and known blood groups in order to predict the potential incidence of CVDs in medical students. Material and Method - A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted in Bhaskar Medical College from September 2022 - November 2022. The sample population included 150- 1st year medical students chosen by Randomized sampling method. BMI was calculated based as weight in kilograms divided by the square of the height in meters (kg/m2). Discussion - Many studies conducted on the association of Blood groups with BMI yielded mixed and inconclusive results. On analysis of the data obtained from this study, O- positive blood group showed the highest inclination towards obesity i.e. 30 of the total participants. A-positive and B- positive blood groups were shown to have a lesser association with obesity i.e. 11 participants of the 150. These results were in accordance with a study done among female students by Shireen Javad et.al, nding blood group O to be the most prone to obesity.8 Incompatible to our results, a study conducted by Samuel Smith Isaac Okai et.al. found no signicant association between blood groups and BMI.10 Another study conducted by Christina Ravillo et.al. found that blood group O had the highest and blood group AB with lowest prevalence of obesity9. These ndings were similar to the results obtained in our study. To study the correlation of BMI with ABO blood group and Cardiovascula AIMS and OBJECTIVES Aim: - r risk among medical students. 1. Calculate and segregate the participants according to BM Objectives: - I using the standard formula provided by the WHO. 1. Determine Blood group using antisera 2. Evaluation of Lipid prole in obese individuals