Journal articles on the topic 'Views on sanctification'

AbstractThe attribution of holiness to various sites in antiquity was confined neither to a particular ethnic or religious group, nor to one particular geographical locale, but was rather practiced by a wide range of groups vis-à-vis many locations. Contrary to these views, the rabbis made a very clear and sharp statement regarding the sanctity of Jerusalem and the Temple Mount and negated the idea of the existence of holy places outside Jerusalem. The rabbis struggled against the sanctity of the biblical “holy mountain,” as well as against sites that could have been regarded as holy on the basis of the biblical narrative. The discovery of this polemic illuminates and offers an explanation for many surprising passages in early rabbinic literature that belittle high mountains and biblical “memorial sites” in the Land of Israel. The examples, drawn from the various strata of early rabbinic literature, demonstrate surprising rabbinic consensus on this issue.

In this article, traces of ancient devout beliefs within the views of the peoples of the Jizzakh oasis on childbearing are displayed in the following cases; that is, within the rites and ceremonies held in the holy shrines and shrines; within the sanctification of certain attributes, in the traditions and ceremonies organized by the bakhshis in the homes of the people, and in the advantageous encounter with Islamic conventions indeed today, it is explained on the basis of ethnographic information obtained in the course of field investigate. At the same time, there are well known sees that epitomize the appearances of antiquated religious convictions that have been preserved in these traditions and ceremonies; the transformational forms in them and the ethnolocal aspects of the ceremonies performed are proved.

RESPONSIVE BECOMING: Moral Formation in Theological, Evolutionary, and Developmental Perspective by Angela Carpenter. New York: T&T Clark, 2020. 200 pages. Paperback; $39.95. ISBN: 9780567698162. *Carpenter, in this well-written, methodologically astute, and thought-provoking study on moral formation rubs several unusual sticks together: Reformed theologies of sanctification, extended evolutionary synthesis theories, and current offerings in developmental psychology. The result is a wonderful fire that sheds much light on all these areas. This study is sure to be an important conversation partner for those interested in the ongoing dialogue between theology and the social sciences, as well as those interested in the doctrine of sanctification and its relationship to understandings of moral formation. We are in Carpenter's debt for such stimulating interdisciplinary work. *The subtitle lists Carpenter's three main interlocutors. In her first three chapters, she begins with a theological analysis of the views of sanctification of John Calvin (chap. 1), John Owen (chap. 2), and Horace Bushnell (chap. 3), in which she uncovers several "recurring questions and difficulties" in the Reformed tradition (p. 3). These difficulties include, first, the extent to which sanctification should be dependent upon "a particular cognitive-affective state" (p. 36)--namely that the believer trusts in God as a loving parent such that one's good works flow from this state of "faith." This can prove to be an unstable foundation given the "unreliability of subjective awareness" (p. 152). A second question centers on the extent to which God's trinitarian sanctifying action should be understood to work through, or alternatively totally displace, "intra-human sources of formation" (pp. 37, 152). Calvin's theology is filled with tension in these areas, tensions which are resolved in one direction in John Owen's theology as he reacts against "Pelagian" threats in his day and upholds "the integrity of grace" (p. 3) in a certain way. Owen emphasizes the objective work of God in sanctification, such that human cognitive-affective states do not matter much, nor is sanctification seen to be mediated through any human formative influences. Bushnell, responding against revivalist accounts of sanctification in his day, takes the opposite tack, and emphasizes both the human subjective response to God and formative processes such as the nurture of children by Christian parents, so much so that "the activity of the Spirit cannot be considered apart from the natural means through which it operates" (p. 87). I learned much from Carpenter's appreciative yet incisive exposition and analysis, not least of which are the ways that typical Protestant views of sanctification, such as those of Calvin and especially Owen, can pull one in the opposite direction from much of the recent revival of virtue theory and discussions of formative practices in Christian ethics and practical theology. *The key link between these chapters and the following ones is the importance of the parent-child metaphor for the relationship of the Christian to God. "God as a loving parent and the faithful person as the adopted child of God" (p. 5) is a common and important image for Calvin, and indeed for the Christian tradition as a whole, as attested by the first two words of the Lord's Prayer. This raises questions about the extent to which the divine-human parent-child relationship has dynamics that are analogous to human-human parent-child relationships, and the extent to which natural processes of human moral formation are related to the process of sanctification through the gracious activity of God, our heavenly parent. *She pursues these and other questions through a deep dive into the intricacies of current discussions of evolutionary theory (chap. 4) and developmental psychology (chap. 5). In both these chapters, a recurring motif is that relationships of care, affect, and social acceptance bring about important changes in humans. The "niche construction" of systems of affect, attachment, and "concern for the emotions and welfare of others" (p. 111) plays a key part in our evolutionary history, and "early and affective social acceptance" (p. 129) plays a key part in the moral development of children. One can see how important moral changes that these natural processes create in human beings resonate with descriptions of sanctified human behavior that result from the parental love of God. Could these processes, especially when seen in light of trinitarian accounts of the work of Christ and the Spirit, help us better understand God's sanctifying work, without reducing God's gracious action to simply these natural processes? Could such an account help one move through the tensions within doctrines of sanctification in the Reformed tradition? This is the direction of Carpenter's questioning and answering throughout the text and especially in her constructive account of sanctification in chapter 6, "Sanctification Revisited." *I have so much admiration for this excellent study, and there is so much to respond to in this rich text. One key lesson I gained was that love, here understood primarily as an affective relationship of social acceptance and care, is not some added luxury in human life, but rather is a foundational component for human evolution and moral formation. As a theologian this will change the way I think about "justification," which was interestingly not a word highlighted in the text. Carpenter pushes me to anchor my Protestant understanding of justification deeply within the realm of a relationship of acceptance and care between a human and God, rather than seeing it primarily as a juridical status. Carpenter shows there are important "sanctifying" aspects of this relationship; the two theological concepts are linked in important ways. *I also came away with two primary sets of questions, especially regarding her proposals for a revisited doctrine of sanctification. The first has to do with the description of sanctification itself. What does a sanctified or holy life look like? Carpenter emphasizes aspects of sanctification that are direct results of being adopted as a child of God; in this way one becomes a "new being" in Christ (p. 153). This relationship with God satisfies "affect hunger" (p. 158) and provides a social context in which a "new heart" can develop (p. 158). Instead of focusing on an examination of one's own heart (p. 161), or alternatively on following rules or examples outside of oneself, such as the example of Jesus understood "legalistically" (p. 158), Carpenter emphasizes that the Christian life of sanctification is an ongoing repentance from alienation from the creator (p. 162); vivification occurs when one turns again and again to the loving arms of God (p. 163). My wonder here is whether increasing conformity with clear models of God's holy intentions for human life that go beyond the activity of continual repentance and returning to God should also be emphasized. Carpenter certainly talks about conformity to Christ, but the pattern of Christ is usually talked about in terms of "repeated returning" (p. 161) and "perfect fellowship with the Father" (p. 162). I sense perhaps an overemphasis on Spirit, and not enough on Word or the patterns that sanctified life takes: in Calvin's trinitarian theology, "Word" (related to attributes of form, pattern, or way of life) and "Spirit" (related to the energy by which that form is achieved; see Institutes 1.13.18) must go together. While the law and prophets hang on the command to love God and neighbor, such love is fleshed out in a variety of holy ways of life that God intends for humanity. Carpenter's wariness about virtue ethics seems to go hand in hand with this reticence to name behaviors, virtues, or practices other than repentance, acceptance, and positive affectivity. It is unclear to me whether this is simply a matter of scope and focus--"focus on the relationship with God, rather than on one's inner life or outer behaviors" is a clear and salutary message throughout the text--or is a feature of her total understanding of sanctification. *I also wonder whether Carpenter's description of God's activity in sanctification could be improved by considering different ways that God relates to the world. Both Karl Barth and especially David Kelsey (in Eccentric Existence) have taught me to consider that God's activity toward all that is not God takes three primary shapes or "trinitarian taxes" in God's work of creation, reconciliation, and in drawing all that is not God to eschatological consummation. Carpenter's important insights about the foundational nature of affective relationships might find greater sharpness through a distinction between (1) God's creational work (which would be mediated generally through evolutionary processes which include human parent-child relationships), (2) God's reconciling work (which many would claim is mediated primarily and more particularly through the people of God), and (3) God's "kingdom" work (mediated through Spirit-inspired renewed ways of life). This might create greater space for talk of justice and vocation, as well as greater distinctions between God's activity in Christian communities and elsewhere. All three avenues of God's activity and human response to it involve the intertwined, yet unified, sanctifying work of God that is based upon affective acceptance; however, by noting these distinctions, greater space might be created both for greater specifications of holy living and for distinctions between God's more particular and more general work in the world. *None of these wonderings should detract from the seminal nature of Carpenter's work. Her emphasis on the importance of intra-human and divine-human affective relationships in moral formation and sanctification provides an important foundational structure to discussions of sanctification. Carpenter's methodologically careful, insightful, and thought-provoking work will surely be a voice of continuing importance in ongoing discussions of sanctification within theology and in the needed intra-disciplinary dialogue between theology and the social sciences. *Reviewed by David Stubbs, Professor of Ethics and Theology, Western Theological Seminary, Holland, MI 49423.

AbstractThere are two different hermeneutical principles between the views of the fallen and unfallen humanity of Christ. Scholars who deny Christ's assumption of corrupted human nature emphasise that, due to a fallen humanity, Christ would have inevitably committed sin in the context of the original sin. However, theologians who are in favour of Christ's fallen humanity explain the issue in the person and work of Christ himself. Here, I present John Calvin's biblical views on the body of Christ as the vicarious humanity for all of us. With regard to the biblical truth that the Word became flesh without ceasing to be the eternal of God, Calvin describes the paradoxical character of the event in scripture. Although Calvin never supports the fallen nature of Christ at a literal level, he is inclined to accept the view of Christ's fallen nature at the level of interpretation, because Calvin has no hesitation in saying that Christ assumed a mortal body like us. Calvin is in line with the views of Christ's fallen human nature, for he uses the biblical concept of Christ's mortal body and the principle of sanctification in his own body through the Holy Spirit, except in that Calvin denies Christ's assumption of the sinful nature of Adam after the Fall. Calvin's opinions not only provide us with the common biblical ground with which the two theological camps would agree, but also demonstrate that Christ assumed fallen humanity for us. In this article, I will explain how the view of Christ's unfallen humanity has logical errors and how it distorts the integrity of the Gospel. Next, in order to demonstrate how Christ's assumption of fallen humanity accords with the orthodox faith in Reformed theology, I examine Calvin's biblical arguments of Christ's assumption of our true humanity. Then, I explain that without assumption of our mortal body by Christ there is no vicarious humanity of Christ in Calvin's christology. Particularly, in order to understand the original and biblical arguments for the humanity of Christ, I will use a dialectical approach to both the Institutes of Christian Religion (1559) and Calvin's commentaries, as the best way to grasp the essence of Calvin's theology.

The article examines the ideological connection of the name glory and Russian philosophy of the name with the theology of father John of Kronstadt, which allows us to speak of him as one of the main precursors of this direction in Russian thought. The article offers the analysis of the most revealing references to father John by the name praisers - first of all, Hilarion (Domrachev), Anthony (Bulatovich) and metropolitan Veniamin (Fedchenkov), who justified the name praising using the views of father John and demonstrated his succession to the traditional patristic heritage. Also the author investigates the most illustrative references of the imyabortsy to father John’s ideas - first of all, the synodal theologians Nikon (Rozhdestvensky) and Sergey Troitsky, for whom the onomatodoxy statements of father John were the problem that required analysis and different interpretation. The ideological relationship between the teachings of John of Kronstadt with the Russian philosophy of the the name - Florensky, Losev and Bulgakov is examined using the example of two topics that reveal their main substantive coincidence and difference. This is the theme that was identically understood by them, the theme of the relationship between the Name and the God - the ontological connection expressed in the main onomatodox formula of father John: “the Name of God is God Himself”, accepted and expanded by each of the representatives of the philosophy of the name. And also the theme of the relationship between the name and the icon that they understand differently - the ontological relationship between the divine name and the icon. From the point of view of father John of Kronstadt, these categories, like all religious symbols, are in essence equal places of the divine presence; while from the point of view of the philosophers of the name, the category of the name, as the divine energy or the place of its residence, ontologically exceeds the icon, as the material phenomenon that receives sanctification and relationship with God through the name.

The aim of this research is to explain and describe the relationship between reformed theology and the reform of European Christians' views on the nature of the church in life as followers of Jesus. The aim of this research is to explain and describe the relationship between reformed theology and the reform of European Christians' views on the nature of the church in life as followers of Jesus. The research method used is qualitative with data collection techniques, literature studies and data analysis is descriptive qualitative. The results showed that Luther's theology of vocations in all areas of life and Calvin's theology of predestination, sanctification, and justification became the basis for changes in the work ethic of European society at that time. They see work and the results of work are part of faith, therefore they work hard, value time, and appreciate the results of work or material. Therefore, work and work are part of the life of faith. In later developments, there was an excessive appreciation of material or capitalism because of the secularization of work culture, which was originally part of faith. In fact, this Capitalism is not in accordance with Christian ethics. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk menjelaskan dan mendeskripsikan hubungan antara teologi reformator dengan pandangan orang Kristen Eropa reformasi tentang hakikat gereja dalam kehidupan sebagai pengikut Yesus. Tujuan dari penelitian ini adalah untuk menjelaskan dan mendeskripsikan hubungan antara teologi reformator dengan pandangan orang Eropa Kristen tentang hakikat gereja dalam kehidupan sebagai pengikut Yesus. Metode penelitian yang digunakan adalah kualitatif dengan teknik pengumpulan data, studi kepustakaan dan analisis data adalah deskriptif kualitatif. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa teologi panggilan Luther di segala bidang kehidupan dan teologi predestinasi, pengudusan dan pembenaran Calvin menjadi dasar perubahan etos kerja masyarakat Eropa saat itu. Mereka melihat kerja dan hasil kerja adalah bagian dari iman, oleh karena itu mereka bekerja keras, menghargai waktu dan menghargai hasil kerja atau materi. Jadi bekerja adalah bagian dari kehidupan iman. Dalam perkembangan selanjutnya, terjadi apresiasi yang berlebihan terhadap material atau kapitalisme karena sekularisasi budaya kerja yang semula merupakan bagian dari keimanan. Padahal, Kapitalisme ini tidak sesuai dengan etika Kristen.

The issue of how we understand nature and operate with it goes beyond the scope of ecology or economics and directly affects the ontological-anthropological foundations of culture. The subject-object model that dominates today claims universal validity, but many thinkers challenge its universality. Representatives of the European continental conservative thought of the 20th - early 21st centuries focus on the already accepted forms of natural knowledge and nature relations, which do not imply the objectification of nature or its reduction to an economic resource. These cultural forms belong to the historical past, which raises the question of the possible return to them by the contemporary man or of their possible return to his life. The article starts with the analysis of the nature-knowledge that dominated, according to the mentioned conservative thinkers, before the modern ‘objectification’ of nature. The author considers two related but non-identical approaches to the ‘traditional’ understanding of nature developed by these thinkers. The first approach claims the ‘sanctification of nature’, i.e., the natural world is not objectified but understood as a single reality that includes the man and has a sacred status. The second approach is represented by the metaphysically oriented conservatists and considers the natural world primarily through its function of symbolizing the transcendent supernatural world. Then the author considers the conservative thinkers’ views on the ‘nihilism’ of the last centuries, which led to the current subjectobject relationship with nature, and focuses on their perception of the Christian understanding of nature. The article concludes with the hypothesis that the recognition of each culture’s ‘right to its own nature’ (the essence of the contemporary cultural pluralism) can help to overcome the universalization of a specific understanding of nature by choosing a different model known to this culture in past epochs.

This study seeks to look at the meaning and significance of Glossolalia 1 in the Apostolic Faith Mission in Zimbabwe. 2 This paper has also been influenced by debates surrounding speaking in tongues in most of the Pentecostal churches in general and the Apostolic Faith Mission in Zimbabwe in particular. It was the Apostolic Faith Mission (AFM) that brought Pentecostalism to Zimbabwe. 3 The paper situates the phenomenon of glossolalia in the Zimbabwean socio-economic, spiritual, and cultural understanding. The Pentecostal teachings on the meaning and significance of speaking in tongues have caused a stir in psychological, linguistics, sociological, anthropological, ethnographical, philological, cultural, and philosophical debates. Yet those in the Apostolic Faith Mission in Zimbabwe argue that their concept of glossolalia is biblically rooted. Surprisingly non-glossolalist Christians also use the Bible to dismiss the pneumatic claims by Pentecostals. The emphasis on speaking in tongues in the AFM has rendered Zimbabwean ‘mainline’ churches like Anglicans, Catholics and Methodists as meaningless. This is the same with African Indigenous Churches which have also been painted with ‘fault-lines’, giving an upper hand to AFM in adding up to its ballooning number of followers. This is as a result of their restorationist perspective influenced by the history of the Pentecostal Churches that views all non-Pentecostal churches as having fallen from God's intentions through compromise and sin. The AFM just like other Pentecostal churches in Zimbabwe exhibit an aggressive assault and intolerance toward certain aspects of the African culture, which they label as tradition, 4 for example, traditional customs, like paying homage to ancestral spirits (Kurova Guva or bringing back the spirit of the dead ceremony), and marriage customs (polygamy, kusungira or sanctification of the first born ritual). The movement has managed to rid itself of the dominance of the male adults and the floodgates were opened to young men and women, who are the victims of traditional patriarchy. Besides glossolalia being one of the pillars of AFM doctrines, the following also bear some importance: personal testimonies, tithing, church weddings, signs/miracles, evangelism and prosperity theology.

Bone china is a product made of porcelain which contains bone ash, kaolin, and cornish stone. The mixture of these materials produced bone china of high quality. The existence of animal’s bone ash in products made of bone china spurs up doubt among the muslims society upon its usage. This is partly due to two main reasons, firstly the types of animals use, and the slaughtering method. The research aims to clarify the concept of bone china and explain in detail in processes involved in manufacturing it, and more importantly it discusses the Islamic principles that are of relevant in determining the ruling relating to the usage of bone china. This research also summarizes the suitable law toward the issue regarding bone china based on Islamic law principles methodology. To achieve the objective of this research, methodologies that have been used from literature review are documentation method and historiographical methods. In addition, this research also used survey method which are interview and observation methods and data analysis using inductive and deductive method. This research concludes that the usage of bone china can be formulated in two main views. The first view, is of the Hanafi’s and Maliki’s who permit the usage of bone china among muslim consumers as they accept the method of isti ha lah as a means of sanctification instrument in Islam. However, the second view, which of the Syafii’s and Hanbali’s prohibit the usage of bone china as they consider that no isti ha lah has taken place in the process of bone china. Keywords: Bone china, isti ha lah, fatwa, hukum. Abstrak Bone china adalah produk porselin yang mengandungi abu tulang, kaolin, dan Cornish Stone. Campuran ketiga-tiga bahan ini menghasilkan Bone china yang amat berkualiti. Adanya abu tulang haiwan dalam produk Bone china menimbulkan keraguan masyarakat Islam terhadap kehalalan penggunaannya. Produk-produk yang berasaskan haiwan sememangnya banyak menimbulkan keraguan. Hal ini kerana ia bersangkutan kepada dua perkara yang utama iaitu jenis haiwan yang disembelih dan cara penyembelihan haiwan tersebut. Penyelidikan ini menghuraikan konsep Bone china, proses-proses pembuatannya secara terperinci, dan lebih pentingnya membincangkan kaedah-kaedah syarak yang sesuai diguna pakai dalam penentuan hukum ke atas penggunaan Bone china. Kajian ini juga seterusnya merumuskan hukum yang bersesuaian terhadap isu-isu penggunaan Bone china berasaskan kepada prinsip-prinsip hukum syarak. Untuk mencapai objektif kajian ini, metodologi kajian yang telah digunakan hasil daripada kajian perpustakaan adalah metode dokumentasi dan metode historis. Tambahan itu juga, kajian ini menggunakan kajian lapangan iaitu metode temubual dan observasi, serta analisis data menggunakan metode induktif dan deduktif. Hasilnya, hukum penggunaan Bone china dapat dirumuskan berpandukan dua pandangan utama. Pandangan pertama, mazhab Hanafi dan mazhab Maliki mengharuskan penggunaan Bone china bagi pengguna-pengguna Islam kerana mereka menerima kaedah istihalah sebagai instrument penyucian dalam Islam. Namun demikian, menurut pandangan kedua, yakni pandangan yang didominasi oleh mazhab Syafii dan Hanbali, keduanya tidak mengharuskan penggunaan Bone China. Ini kerana mereka menganggap tidak berlaku istihalah dalam penghasilan Bone China. Kata kunci: Bone china, Istihalah, Fatwa, Hukum

The relevance of the research topic is due to the fact that in the era of information technologies, the dangers associated with the consumption of destructive information are often underestimated. Among the various vulnerable social groups in this study, the focus is on people with a Christian worldview. After all, the ratio of new information from the mass media and information related to the fundamental foundations of Christian ideology in the modern digital world is unequal. The main problem of the study is the specificity of the phenomenon of sanctification in the religious life of various denominations, including Christians. However, apart from the latter, the article clearly defines that in the modern world every country has its own traditional religion. That is why the stated problem is considered through the prism of a number of examples, namely the peculiarities of the understanding of sanctification in Judaism, Hinduism, Christianity, and Islam. This is due to the fact that each religion interprets this term differently. In the course of the research, this topic is considered objectively on the example of its interpretation in Protestantism, in particular, by the Seventh-day Adventist Church. In the actual understanding of this denomination, sanctification is understood as a phenomenon that, with the help of God’s grace, enables a person to harmonize his life with the principles of God’s holy Law. The article states that a person who does not strive for perfection, who does not reach for Christ, cannot be sanctified. After all, there is no point in the fact that a person was consecrated two days ago or a month ago, if he is now defiled. This approach is not traditional for many denominations, but its biblical origins analyzed in the study indicate that the phenomenon of sanctification can be understood in this way. According to the results of the scientists’ work, it is determined that the process of sanctification or purification is accomplished only with the help of Christ’s merit and only with a wide heart. In a person who is not purified, the Spirit of God cannot reside, and if He does not reside, then a person cannot be God’s channel for others. Thus, the problem of understanding the phenomenon of sanctification in view of its own debatable nature requires actual thorough research, in which parallels would be drawn between the way of life of modern Christians and its conformity to the creed.

According to a widely held view of the New Testament teaching on sanctification; the Holy Spirit brings about a significant moral transformation in the character of every true believer. This claim about Christian moral transformation (CMT) has empirical implications. Thus, its truth can be evaluated from a scientific perspective. Sociological and psychological data on the relationship of religion and morality suggests that (Christian) religion is negatively correlated with undesirable moral behavior such as alcohol and substance abuse, criminal behavior, domestic abuse, and nonmarital sex, and positively correlated with desirable behavior such as helping. While these correlations are consistent with CMT, they do not necessarily serve as good evidence for it, for they can be more naturally explained by situational factors than by character differences between religious and nonreligious people. Some scientific findings serve as evidence against CMT. Religious believers engage in dishonest behavior and porn viewing at least as much as others. There is also a positive correlation between prejudice and conservative Christian beliefs. These correlations cannot be explained by situational factors as easily as the link between religion and desirable moral behavior. Sociological and psychological research; therefore, provides at least a mild challenge for the truth of CMT.

The article reveals the Sufi meaning of the word “water” used in the Lives of Muslim Saints, or manakibs that appeared in Transoxiana in the 16th century. Water is widely used in the ritual practice of Sufis. Water is also important in spiritual searches, both as a purifying substance and as a source of life energy. The role of holy sources is exceptionally great in Sufism, people come to these holy places to purify themselves spiritually and worship holy images, both Sufis and ordinary people come there. The concept of “water” and its specific reflection in the manakibs indicates its importance in Sufism. In addition, typologically common features are found in people's attitude to water and to the sanctification of water in almost all world religions and cultures.

Abstract Some scholars have contrasted Calvin’s and Edwards’s understanding regarding the third use of the law. They believe that Calvin emphasized the third use of the law for believers’ sanctification and that there is no room for virtue ethics in Calvin’s theology, while Edwards’s ethics is virtue ethics and there is no room for the third use of the law in Edwards’s theology. In contrast, this article uncovers that both Calvin’s and Edwards’s ethics combine features of both virtue ethics and divine command ethics. Accordingly, Edwards holds the same view as Calvin regarding the third use of the law.

Puritanism and Scotland Puritanism influenced the church in England, but had a more profound and lasting effect on religion in Scotland. In the process the Scottish church made some gains - the stress of the centrality of Scripture and preaching, the emphasis on true piety and pure life, the quest for renewal and the constant awareness of God’s providence. The church also suffered losses - a preoccupation with subjective sanctification and self-examination, the emergence of a scholastic federal theology, the overstress of the imperative, a subtle kind of legalism and an impoverished view of the sacraments. Scottish clergymen who came to South Africa during the nineteenth century can be associated with the evangelical faction of Scottish puritanism.

The key themes of sanctification and regeneration in Ezek 36.25-27 make it an important and well-known passage among theologians and exegetes. However, the translation of מים טהורים in v. 25 as “clean water” in most English versions obscures the rhetorical force of the allusion to certain liturgical practices within the religious context of the source language. This paper considers the semantic connotations of מים טהורים by trying to understand the author’s rhetorical intentions. Historical-liturgical criticism is used to examine the religious context of the source text with a view to suggesting the most accurate English translation of this technical term which would convey its closest range of meanings to a contemporary English-speaking audience.

This article explores the opposition expressed by fans of the Beitar Jerusalem football club to the presence of Arab players on their team. I suggest that instead of suspecting that fans’ behavior originates in false consciousness, we suspend suspicion and reconstruct the meanings they bring to their actions. Narrative analysis of fan interviews reveals the communitarian logic underlying their points of view. By appropriating sacred spheres in Judaism that demarcate the boundaries of the Jewish community, and identifying them with Beitar as opposed to signifying Arab players as defiling Beitar, fans delineate boundaries between Jews and Arabs. Through the sanctification of Beitar, the fans define Jewish collective boundaries and thereby preserve their worldview and identity while maintaining a hierarchy that grants Jews advantages in Israel.

Let me begin by observing that many Pauline interpreters share with me a fundamentally participatory view of Paul's gospel, understanding salvation as a pneumatological incorporation into Christ's death and resurrection. This is arguably an irreducibly proto-trinitarian account as well, so recently Michael Gorman has rightly emphasised theosis within its description. This view holds further that the only effective ethic for a sinful humanity is generated by divine action, essentially in terms of inaugurated eschatology; humanity must be transformed in Christ in order to act well. Hence Douglas Moo clearly shares this articulation. Indeed, I do not know of an Evangelical who does not affirm everything that has just been said; but it tends to be arranged under the rubric of ‘sanctification’, and hence treated in second position in any account of Paul's gospel. And this brings us to the nub of the problem, and to the solution, that I articulate in my book The Deliverance of God: An Apocalyptic Rereading of Justification in Paul.

Using data from the 2014 Baylor Religion Survey, we examine the relationship between various aspects of religion and parenting satisfaction. Results confirm prior research findings that personal religiosity is positively associated with parenting satisfaction. We also find that religious heterogamy among couples is associated with lower odds of being a satisfied parent. Furthermore, parents who view their parenting as holy or sacred have much higher odds of reporting being satisfied as parents, and the observed relationships between religiosity and parenting satisfaction at both the individual and couple levels are no longer statistically significant in models controlling for parenting sanctification. The religiously unaffiliated have higher odds than evangelical Protestants of having high parenting satisfaction, suggesting the possible presence of parenting pressures within religious communities with a strong emphasis on family life.

AbstractModern economic history has been dominated by the neo-classical economic model which has produced contemporary 'market society' with its all permeating commodifying logic. Contrary to the traditional capitalist priority of economic self-interest, Christian spirituality of social transformation upholds the necessity of covenantal civil society that prioritizes the wellbeing of the other as an indispensable part of a just global future.In view of that, the present work offers an exploration of the theological foundations of the Pentecost model of communal ecological economics and its underlying spirituality as following the pattern of God's generous redemptive self-sharing with humanity and the rest of creation. It further examines the relationship between Pentecost, sanctification and moral economic responsibility, and explores the function of the Eucharist in the faith community as a pedagogy of disciplining desires and teaching reverent consumption.

AbstractThe Pentecostal and Charismatic movements have assisted many denominations, including Lutherans, with the call to mission by challenging them with a new view of the Holy Spirit. A full immersion in these movements along with a firm grounding in the tradition will lead to a fuller grasp of what the Spirit is doing in the world. This article reviews two prominent Lutheran theologians who have shaped a whole generation of leaders concerning the Holy Spirit: Robert Jenson and Larry Christenson. In response to their work, I will explore how the work of the Spirit can be understood when framed within God's mission (the missio Dei). The call to mission is central. The church emerges as it engages in the missionary activity of witness and sanctification. This is the story of Acts. It is the story of the Spirit. The church's missionary call is to speak in tongues.

AbstractHorton Foote is neither a rhetorical nor a polemical writer. He is a story-teller who uses his home place, Wharton, Texas, as the basis of his plays and films. But Foote instinctively uses the point of view of his religious tradition, Christian Science, in the subtext of many of his works. In the film Tender Mercies, for example, God's will is expressed as the peace and order found in shared love, like that of Rosa Lee for Mac. The goal of such divinity is a human community based on passionate, selfless care for others, as imagined in the feelings of the town toward Beth in the play The Carpetbagger's Children. Even when such mutuality is unrealized, grace remains as the spiritual presence which comforts John at the end of the teleplay Alone. Such an interpretation of grace follows the view of Christian Science that God is never manipulative, punishing, or violent. It places Foote in a tradition which emphasizes sanctification rather than justification, as defined by Reinhold Niebuhr. Closest theologically to Paul Tillich, Teilhard de Chardin, and especially Karl Rahner, Foote imagines time as the means by which God expresses infinite love.

This article aims to investigate the epic aspects that permeate the literary life of Francisco Félix de Souza, a central figure in the transatlantic slave trade in the first half of the 19th century, both in the work The Viceroy of Ouidah (1982), by the English writer Bruce Chatwin, as well as in its adaptation for Cobra Verde (1987), a cinematographic product written and directed by Werner Herzog. Exploring the “literary” level, the focus of the investigation is to identify the presence of the hybrid character of the “historical” and “wonderful” levels present in the adaptations, in addition to recurring epic themes such as the hero’s identity – sanctification and anthropological vision of the myths that embrace him –, the spatial displacement and, mainly, Bahia as a metaphor of a lost paradise, unreachable by the protagonist himself, and even by all his descendants. Chatwin and Herzog rewrite Francisco Félix de Souza’s life from different points of view, but still in an epic way, giving him a new name and completing his story.

Abstract In prison, Bonhoeffer reads the Old Testament over and over again. Implicitly, by doing that, he struggles for a new theological evaluation of Judaism of whose present fate he is well aware. In view of this, it is questionable whether Bonhoeffer's new theological insights can really be read from a dogmatically fixed Christology oriented solely on the New Testament. The examples of erotic love and blessing rather show that Bonhoeffer's idea of »all earthly life being utilized to testify« for God is entirely based on the diverse spectre of the Old Testament voices. When Bonhoeffer focuses on »who Christ actually is for us today«, or how central concepts of Christian soteriology such as »repentance, faith, justification, rebirth, sanctification« are to be interpreted »in a worldly sense« - and that means to him: »in the Old Testament sense« - then he does not read the Old Testament any longer with the lenses of a fixed Christology, as he has done for long in the shadow of Barth. Rather, he anticipates the basic insight of the later Jewish-Christian dialogue that the New Testament is essentially related to the Old Testament and Christianity thus stays dependent on Judaism and its truth.

AbstractBaptized in the Spirit: A Global Pentecostal Theology is essentially my effort to develop the early Pentecostal focus on the chief vocation of humanity to bear the divine Spirit in the image of Jesus Christ. I have sought to expand the horizons of this focus on the divine indwelling in order to view it as an eschatological reality that will end in the entire creation becoming the dwelling place of God. I attempt within this pneumatological context to understand the Pentecostal breakthrough experiences of conversion to Christ, sanctification, and empowerment (with signs following). It is also within this context that I utilize Pannenberg's understanding of the divine monarchy (reign) of God as mediated by the mutually-dependent communion of persons (a mutual indwelling), which ends in the divine indwelling of creation (and creation in God) as the Son and the Spirit submit themselves to the will of the Father in overcoming the reign of sin and death by the reign of the divine righteousness and life. Spirit baptism is the organizing principle for looking at various doctrinal loci from the vantage point of the divine indwelling and the eschatological reign of the divine life throughout all of creation.

In this essay, I explore how Christians can relate to the Sabbath in a way that adequately expresses Christian traditions about sacred time while showing respect for distinctly Jewish practices. My basic claim is that a Christian sanctification of the Sabbath presents an entirely new challenge for a Christianity that does not view Judaism as superseded or outdated. Thus, I ask: What should be the meaning of the Sabbath commandment for Christians? How can Christians sanctify the Sabbath while affirming it as a sign of the Jewish people’s living covenant? First, I will lay out the questions that are raised for Christian theology when affirming Jewish Sabbath observance as part of practiced Judaism, that is, as lived Torah and as a tradition passed on from generation to generation. Next, I will consult contemporary Jewish literature on the topic, then look for Christian accounts of the Sabbath in Christian systematic theologies. I will ask: What happens when Christians affirm that Sunday does not abrogate the Jewish Sabbath, while also asserting their own commitment to the Bible’s holy day? I will subsequently sketch an outline of a Christian theology of Shabbat that acknowledges distinctive Jewish legal traditions as well as its own connectedness to Biblical temporal structures.

For decades, Turkish Islamists have failed to attract the votes of large sections of society and remained marginal. As a result of this failure to come to power, and due to domestic and international constraints and windows of opportunities, they have declared that they have jettisoned Islamism. Many Turkish Muslims whose religious disposition was shaped by the pluralistic urban Ottoman experience and small-town Anatolian traditionalism, and by the contesting currents of cosmopolitan pluralism and rural social conservatism, voted in favour of these former Islamists who have become “Muslim Democrats”. This paper elaborates on the genealogy of Turkish Islamists and their political trajectories and argues that when the forces and constraints of domestic and external social, political and economic conditions disappeared and the opportunities derived from being Muslim Democrats no longer existed, the former Islamists easily returned to their original ideology, showing that despite assertions to the contrary their respect for democracy and pluralism had not truly been internalised. This paper also aims to demonstrate that similar to other authoritarian populists, Erdoganists perceive the state and its leader as more important than anything else and as being above everything else, which has culminated in a personality cult and sanctification of the state. As long as Turkey’s economy continued to boom, almost everyone was happy that Turkey could readily market the “Muslim Democrats” story to the whole world for a long period as a major success story, or as an “exemplary Muslim country” or “model”. Yet, Middle Eastern elites and Western forces got carried away and learnt the hard way just how naive their view was in perhaps the first great transformation movement of the twenty-first century – the Arab Spring. Likewise, the Turkish Spring turned all too quickly towards autumn and then winter.

AbstractFor decades, Turkish Islamists have failed to attract the votes of large sections of society and remained marginal. As a result of this failure to come to power, and due to domestic and international constraints and windows of opportunities, they have declared that they have jettisoned Islamism. Many Turkish Muslims whose religious disposition was shaped by the pluralistic urban Ottoman experience and small-town Anatolian traditionalism, and by the contesting currents of cosmopolitan pluralism and rural social conservatism, voted in favour of these former Islamists who have become “Muslim Democrats”. This paper elaborates on the genealogy of Turkish Islamists and their political trajectories and argues that when the forces and constraints of domestic and external social, political and economic conditions disappeared and the opportunities derived from being Muslim Democrats no longer existed, the former Islamists easily returned to their original ideology, showing that despite assertions to the contrary their respect for democracy and pluralism had not truly been internalised. This paper also aims to demonstrate that similar to other authoritarian populists, Erdoganists perceive the state and its leader as more important than anything else and as being above everything else, which has culminated in a personality cult and sanctification of the state. As long as Turkey’s economy continued to boom, almost everyone was happy that Turkey could readily market the “Muslim Democrats” story to the whole world for a long period as a major success story, or as an “exemplary Muslim country” or “model”. Yet, Middle Eastern elites and Western forces got carried away and learnt the hard way just how naive their view was in perhaps the first great transformation movement of the twenty-first century – the Arab Spring. Likewise, the Turkish Spring turned all too quickly towards autumn and then winter.

Purpose. The purpose of the paper is to reveal archaic matrilocal and the cult of fire, areal, shaman and late Buddhist symbols in wedding traditions of the Buryats and Tuvans. A comparative ethnographic method is applied in the research according to which the symbols are considered and compared in terms of synchronic and diachronic aspects. The paper is current due to representation of unity of nomadic family-tribal orientation based on the example of similarities in wedding traditions of Turk and Mongol peoples. High interest in wedding rituals in traditional society is connected with religious and magical elements that represent praying to local spirits for tribal development and safety. Results. As a result, the authors come to the following conclusions: firstly, similarity of many elements of wedding ceremonies is defined by nomadic traditions and ideals of a family tribal structure by northern Buryats to Turk peoples and southern Tuvans to Mongolia. Secondly, the late arrival of Buddhism to Barguzin valley and Tuva was a reason of preservation of archaic cults of shamanism. Conclusion. In summary, it is important to note that comparative analysis of wedding traditions among the Tuvans and the Buryats helps to reveal historical evolution and transformation not only in wedding traditions but in their traditional world view in general. Similarities in diachronic elements of the ritual show unity of many cults that point to tight interactions between the Tuvans and the Mongols, Buryats and the Turk neighborhood. For instance, archaic cults of mother and fire are similar among the Tuvans and the Buryats. Many Shaman and Buddhist cult symbols do not change in Tuvinian and Buryat culture because their philosophies have not been changed on their corresponding territories for a long time. To conclude, comparative research of wedding traditions of Turk and Mongol peoples offers rich material for future research of historical evolution of many cults because the wedding, as one of the most important stages in humans’ life, is always connected with religious rituals of initiation, safety and sanctification.

As a prominent Church father, mystical theologian and incisive polemicist, St. Gregory Palamas has realized a «Summa Theologica» of his epoch, but one that has surpassed not only the thinking of contemporaries, but remained, to this day, a synthesis of philosophical and theological knowledge, at least for the Eastern Christianity. He pointed out with clarity the independence of theology from philosophy or from any other field of research. One of the most important instruments with a view to knowing God is prayer and Palamas began to write under the pressure of defending the hesychastic method of prayer. He proves that true communion with God was possible through sanctification and that God's vision through prayer was a sign of this spiritual communion. In Palamas' very coherent theological thinking, Christology corresponds to his anthropology, and both to his mysticism. St. Gregory strongly depreciated the value of intellectual effort, maintaining the primacy of direct illumination over scientific reasoning. Thus, prayer and asceticism engender love, which leads to illumination by God and participation in the divine life. He tries to make sense of mystical experience in the scientific and philosophical language of his day. Paradoxically, almost every attempt arrives at establishing that the spiritual cannot be grasped by man's natural intellectual capacity, nor expressed in philosophical language. But the spiritual man can be the partaker of this experience through the experience of grace, as divine uncreated energy, the true "face" of God accessible to human contemplation. The Archbishop of Thessaloniki, who realized a synthesis of Science, Theology, and Spirituality outlines the relation between them as follows: Science explores the world and leads to technological inventions; Theology interprets reality within the Christian framework, evidencing the glory of God as reflected throughout his creation; and Spirituality is the privileged path toward personal transformation. The debate about Palamism is likely to continue for some time. His version of theosis (deification) was enshrined in Orthodox teaching as a result of his canonization, but among the intellectuals for whom it was intended it remained controversial, despite its grandeur.

AbstractIn his 1923–4 lectures on the theology of Friedrich Schleiermacher, Karl Barth offered a strikingly negative verdict on Schleiermacher's doctrine of justification, lamenting that it was radically discontinuous with the theology of the Reformation. The core purpose of this article is to assess this verdict in detail. The introduction presents in outline Barth's criticism of Schleiermacher's doctrine of justification from these lectures. The first section of the article provides a summary of the doctrine of justification as it is found in Schleiermacher's mature work, The Christian Faith, together with a brief consideration of the related doctrines of conversion and sanctification, and an exposition of the dogmatic location and inter-relation of the three loci. In the second section, the article proceeds to investigate closely whether three of the central criticisms of Barth pertaining to Schleiermacher's doctrine of justification reflect an accurate reading and adjudication of the underlying material. The criticisms explored are: that for Schleiermacher there is no justification as a free act of God but only a justification which takes place according to the law of nature; that in the event of justification Schleiermacher considers both God and the human being to be active; and that the doctrine of Schleiermacher repeats the heresy of essential righteousness after the fashion of Andreas Osiander. The common theme underlying each charge is that Schleiermacher has departed significantly (and lamentably) from the tradition of the Reformation. The third section of the article proceeds to explore these charges carefully in light of a close reading of Schleiermacher's dogmatic work on justification and related doctrines. In the case of each of the criticisms directed at his doctrine of justification, it is argued that there are strong grounds for asserting that Barth's concerns may be rather misplaced and that – true to his word – Schleiermacher indeed remains in broad dogmatic continuity with the Reformation tradition. In the conclusion, two further theological possibilities are noted. First, it is suggested that, far from leaving the Reformation tradition behind, Schleiermacher's work on justification resonates strongly with one particular reading of Calvin's work which has much currency in contemporary theology. And second, it is suggested that, far from Schleiermacher being the one to depart from the Reformation tradition on justification, it might actually – ironically – be Barth who is more guilty of that charge in view of his own doctrine of justification in the Church Dogmatics.

AbstractThe doctrine of the incarnation suggests that Christ is necessarily like us in some respects, and also unlike us in others. One long-standing debate in modern christology concerns whether Jesus’ human nature ought to be regarded as ‘fallen’ – as conditioned by the effects of the Fall – despite the fact that he himself remained without sin (Heb 4:15). Is fallenness a condition which is necessary in order for Christ to sympathise with human beings, to represent them, and so to reconcile them to God? Is fallenness logically separable from sinfulness? Recent literature has suggested an increasing intractability on both sides of this debate. This article seeks to bring clarity to the question of the fallenness of Christ's human nature by identifying areas of common ground between advocates and opponents of this position. It engages the work of representatives from both sides – Oliver Crisp in opposition and Karl Barth in support – in order to determine the different ways in which they approach the matter of Jesus’ fallenness and impeccability, and to locate points of potential consensus. Crisp argues that fallenness cannot be detached from sin and guilt – i.e. Augustine's notion of both original sin and original corruption, in which sin is an inevitability. Barth, on the other hand, is critical of the Augustinian view and takes as his point of departure Jesus’ unity and sympathy with fallen creatures. Yet the fallenness of Jesus’ humanity does not mean that sin was a real possibility for him.In this article the christological doctrine of anhypostasis – a way of speaking exclusively of human nature apart from its hypostatic union with God the Son – is suggested as the primary way forward. Advocates of the fallenness position seem to have this qualifier in mind when describing Jesus’ human nature as ‘fallen’: it is true of the assumed nature only when considered in itself, apart from the hypostatic union. There are logical and historical grounds for opponents to accept fallenness strictly on these terms, as well. Beyond this, I argue that anhypostatic fallenness should be acceptable to both sides because it is never without a corresponding sanctification of Jesus’ human nature by its encounter with God. Though Jesus’ humanity was conditioned by the fall, by virtue of the communicatio gratiarum it was not left in a state of peccability.

Summary: The article is devoted to the problem of religious ritualism as a constituent and factor of family life in its past and present. The purpose of the article are the substantiation of religious rituals as values in the life of the family, the definition of its role through the prism of freedom of conscience and beliefs, the reflection of socio-cultural transformations of the relationship of religious rituals and family values in the unity of tradition and modernity. The use of the historical method in the work allowed us to determine the cultural-historical, civilizational circumstances that determine the content and structure of religious rituals in conjunction with the development of the family and family values in the unity of traditions and novtions. The scientific novelty of the work lies in the definition and justification of the unconditional value of the emotional-aesthetic atmosphere of the family and existential communication, which is achieved between members of the family community in the process and under the influence of religious ritual. Religious and ritual communication both within and outside the family is a process of exchange of certain feelings and knowledge of its members. This is only possible if the family members (in the system: parents – children – grandchildren), who make such communication, establish not only mutual understanding but also the unity of thought about the religious and emotional content of a ritual act, when the convictions of communicators coincide on the results of this spiritual activity recognized as values (ideas, thoughts, ideals, feelings, mood, etc.). By displaying such values with the help of symbolic means that affect the emotional and sensory sphere of both adults and younger family members, rituals stimulate the emergence and development of feelings, experiences and moods that meet these values. In communicative communication during the various ritual actions (joint daily prayers, reading prayer texts, funeral ceremonies, baptism, wedding, sanctification of housing, etc.), family members enter into a specific kind of relationship between themselves. The processes of their communication and relations are realized through such socio-psychological mechanisms as suggestion, persuasion, imitation and stereotyping. The shared experiences significant for family members in communication greatly contribute to their spiritual unity and rapprochement, the establishment and strengthening of internal and external relations (within and outside the family). The family as a social and, at the same time, the ritual community lives according to the laws of group psychology, which is characterized by strengthening of the mood in the feelings of "We". It is under the influence of jointly performed ritual that the formation and objectification of religious consciousness in the activity of the family and its members takes place as a connection of freedom and responsibility, holistic and partial, general and separate. The family and family religious ceremonies remain one of the most important values in human life and community. Appeal to the family traditions of religious culture allows us to find spiritual foundations for the further development of society in the modern post-industrial era. The prospect for further research is the justification from the point of view of religion of traditional family values and their socio-cultural transformations in the present.

At the turn of the nineteenth century “purity” movements, like those practiced at the Seventh-day Adventist Battle Creek Sanitarium, were an outlet for individuals striving to reconcile their health with heterodox religious views about the Second Coming of Christ. This article examines the letters and writings of professed prophet Ellen G. White and Adventist promotional materials for the Battle Creek Sanitarium as they relate to broader health reforms at the time. In pamphlets, catalogues, and menus, the Sanitarium promised patients/patrons the latest medical advances to help restore their bodies, while White also hoped to save their souls. According to White, sanctification was possible through austerities in diet and health reform, making “the San” and its offshoots religiously significant players in the spiritual and health marketplaces of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

This article explores the apparent discrepancy that exists between religious claims concerning personal salvation and actual behavior among the many different kinds of Protestant Christians in Kenya and asks the question, how can a religion which seems to make such exalted claims of personal religious experience and status appear to make so little actual difference in how many of these Christians live their lives? And this in spite of the clear moral mandate contained in the Scriptures these churches and their members claim to believe. Hypocrisy, of course, is a reality in every religious system. But what seems to be occurring in Kenya (and throughout sub-Saharan Africa) goes far beyond anything that could be attributed to ordinary hypocrisy. And the question that comes to mind is Why? What is going on here? The country where this study has been undertaken is Kenya, and the observations that are made are not scientifically gathered, but rather are self-reported by Kenyan church leaders themselves. Their evidence is thus not determinative, but supportive of the central claim of the article. It is the argument of this article that the core issue facing Kenyan Christians and Kenyan churches behind this discrepancy is a theological and systemic one, namely how salvation is understood and preached by different Kenyan Christian leaders and the role that sanctification plays (if at all) in the contemporary Kenyan Christian understandings of what it means to be “saved” and thus what it means to be “Christian”. The sampled views of Kenyan Christian leaders are explored. Conclusions are drawn and recommendations offered to help Christian leaders begin to address the gap between “salvation” as it is understood and proclaimed and sanctification as it is experienced and lived in the ordinary Christian life.

Different views have long been expressed about poetry, its essence and purpose. Poetry and the environment, together, are constantly changing and being influenced by each other. Poetry as a social necessity has always been a tool to promote worldly and spiritual purposes. Nasser Khosrow and Sanai, bipolar poets whose dark thoughts and ideas could not be found in the dark pole of their poetry and thought, and as a result of their inner intellectual and revolutionary awakening, marked a turning point in the history of culture and literature of this rich border. They figured out and made the poem, which they had previously employed in their worldly needs and lowly interests, as a means of spreading morality and religion, and they were epoch-making. Regardless of some of the intellectual contradictions that result from going through different mental states, their poetry has been a mirror of their society's pain and aspirations. This study, while explaining the characteristics of good and committed poetry and its mission, deals with the subject of intellectual awakening, its causes and contexts in the poetry and thought of these two poets, and examines the effect of this awakening on their intellectual orientation, whether it is possible between dark and light poles. Their thought was absolutely different, or this demarcation - in terms of their intellectual contradictions - is merely the result of views based on prejudice, absolutism and sanctification.

Holiness is studied from the lens of Biblical Spirituality. Situated in the Divine-Huma relational process, the movement from being un-holy to holy; from being unclean to Divine Purity is given close attention. God as the רק קדוש, draws his people into Himself through purification and in intimacy with Him. The human reality responds with respect and reverence not only to God but to his people as well. However, God has a special preference for the poor and helpless for the clothes them with Himself like a soldier wears his armor. Through a spiritual reading of Exodus 3 and other related Scriptural narratives, these understanding of holiness is surfaced specifically, in the lived experience of Holiness, its nearness in day-to-day life. References Aquinas, Thomas. Summa Theologica, Prima Pars. __________. Summa Contra Gentiles. Carmody, Denise and John Carmody. Mysticism, Holiness East and West. New York: Oxford University Press, 1996. Ciorra, Anthony. Everyday Mysticism. Cherishing the Holy. Spring Valley: Crossroad Publishing Company, 1995. Christian Spirituality. Five Views of Sanctification. ed. Donald Alexander. Illinois: InterVarsity Press, 1988. Sheldrake, Philip. Images of Holiness, Exploration in Contemporary Spirituality. US: Ave Maria Press, 1988. Sproul, R. C. The Holiness of God. Illinois: Tyndale House Publishers, 1998. The Holy Bible, New Revised Standard Version. UK: Bible Society Resources Ltd., 2011. Waaijman, Kees. Spirituality: Forms, Foundations, Methods. Leuven: Peeters, 2002. __________. Holiness in Spirituality, HTS Teologiese Studies/Theological Studies, 72:4 (2016), a3463. http://dx.doi.org/10.4102/hts.v7214.3463 Welzen Huub. Contours of Biblical Spirituality as a Discipline, Acta Theologica, 15 (2011), 37-60.

Sanctification is an important phenomenon and should be of keen interest to those studying religious and spiritually oriented coping. Oddly enough, this phenomenon has not received a great deal of attention. One reason may be that sanctification does not directly apply to institutional religious involvement. Moreover, the sacred cannot easily be discerned in people’s coping experience. On important issue is also the lack of attention to the role of culture in coping. One of the researchers who has paid considerable attention to the concept of sanctification and has developed it from different perspectives is Kenneth Pargament. The aim of this article is give rise to a vital discussion on the role of sanctification in coping from a cultural perspective. In doing this, we will first introduce Pargament’s approach to religion and spirituality and then his view on sanctification and then we will put forward our own critique of some discussions on this subject, concluding with our own view.

The prayer in Daniel 9 theologically paved the way for prayers in the later synagogue. In this chapter the Daniel tradents linked a traditional penitential prayer to an apocalyptic narrative. Through this combination their view that man has to wait upon God to change history, is extended into a life of sanctification, teaching, fasting and the offering of penitence. As these tradents were estranged from the temple, they had to find somewhere else to conduct their liturgical services. Their apocalyptic mythological view of the temple enabled them to constitualise holy space away from the material temple. In this way they paved the way for the synagogue as house of prayer in later times.

The problematic use of ‘sacrificial and purifying love’ in the metaphor of the bride and bridegroom (Eph 5:22–33). The sacrificial love expected of the bridegroom in Ephesians 5:22–33 is a totally foreign idea in the culture of the first-century Mediterranean world in which the first Christians lived. An argument can be made that the working of the Holy Spirit within the believing men infiltrated the cultural boundaries and expectations with new values such as sacrificial love. However, ‘cleansing love’ as expressed in Ephesians 5:25–28 is an unfamiliar idea, even in our contemporary culture. How can the husband’s love cleanse his wife as Christ cleanses the church? To what extent can the metaphor of the bride and bridegroom be applied to the marital relationship between the present-day man and woman? This article examines the problematic ‘cleansing love’ as portrayed in the metaphor of the bride and bridegroom in Ephesians 5:22–33. A critical investigation is done into the symbolic importance of the bride and bridegroom metaphor for contemporary culture. Schüssler Fiorenza’s (2001) application of the approach of suspicion is followed to interpret the cultural roles assigned to female and male believers from a feminist point of view. The critical feminist approach and its meaning and application to the ancient context of the early Christians in Ephesus serve as the hermeneutical model of this article. Although certain aspects of the bride and bridegroom metaphor, representing Christ as bridegroom and the church as bride, can be applied to the relationship between a Christian bride and bridegroom, there are also aspects of Christ’s relationship with the church, such as his ‘cleansing love’, which cannot realistically apply to the Christian marriage. The husband’s love cannot purify and sanctify the wife (Eph 5:27). Everyone is responsible for his or her own salvation and sanctification. The wife does not need the love of her husband to be in a relationship with Christ, her heavenly bridegroom. Christ’s love cleansed the church, which consists of male and female believers. The love that Jesus demonstrated on the cross, should result in equality among all people.Contribution: The sacrificial and cleansing love of the bridegroom as portrayed in the metaphor of the bride and bridegroom in Ephesians 5 is problematic regarding the gender roles in contemporary marriages. A critical interpretation of the relevant metaphor respects the integrity of the text, but also sees the underlying message of gender inequality.

Պոպուլիզմը՝ որպես քաղաքական երևույթ, ի հայտ է գալիս մարդկության պատմության ողջ ընթացքում՝ այն հասարակություններում, որտեղ անհրաժեշտություն կա ստանալու քաղաքացիների աջակցությունը: Սովորաբար այդ երևույթը ներկայացվում է բացասական երանգավորմամբ, սակայն քաղաքագիտության տեսանկյունից դա ուսումնասիրության օբյեկտ է, որն ինքնին չպիտի առաջացնի գնահատողական դատողություններ: Պոպուլիզմն իր տարատեսակներով հատուկ է բազմաթիվ պետությունների քաղաքական կյանքին՝ անկախ այդ պետությունների զարգացածության աստիճանից: Քաղաքական ուղերձը քաղաքացիներին հասցնելու այս ձևը ենթադրում է մասնակցային և հպատակային քաղաքական մշակույթների համատեղում. մի կողմից, այն պահանջում է քաղաքացիների մասնակցություն (քվեարկության, քաղաքական միջոցառումներին ներկայանալու տեսքով), մյուս կողմից՝ քաղաքական առաջնորդի «սրբադասման» տարրեր: Այստեղից էլ բխում է պոպուլիզմի հիմնական առանձնահատկությունը՝ «հակաէլիտիզմը», որն իր հերթին ենթադրում է առաջնորդի ու քաղաքացիների անմիջական կապ, որը միջնորդավորված չէ քաղաքական, քաղաքացիական և պետական ինստիտուտներով: Популизм как политическое явление наблюдается на протяжении всей истории человечества, в тех случаях, когда возникает необходимость получить поддержку граждан. Обычно данное явление представляется в отрицательном свете, однако с точки зрения политологии это объект исследования, который сам по себе не должен вызывать оценочных суждений. Популизм с его разновидностями характерен для политической культуры многих стран, вне зависимости от степени их развития. Этот способ донесения политического послания до граждан предполагает совмещение активистской и под-даннической политических культур: с одной стороны, он требует участия граждан (в виде голосования, присутствия на политических мероприятиях), с другой – определенных элементов «сакрализации» лидера. Отсюда вытекает основная особенность популизма – «антиэлитизм», который в свою очередь предполагает прямую связь между лидером и гражданами – связь, не опосредованную политическими, гражданскими и государственными институтами. Populism as a political phenomenon appears throughout human history in those societies where there is a need to receive the support of citizens. This phenomenon, usually, is presented negatively, but from the point of view of political science, it is an object of study that shouldn’t cause evaluative judgments. Populism with its variety is specific to the political life of many states regardless of the degree of development of those states. This way of delivering the political message to the citizens implies the combination of participant and subject political cultures: on one hand, it requires the participation of citizens (voting, attending political events), on the other hand, it also requires elements of "sanctification" of the political leader. "Anti-elitism", the main future of populism, comes from here. It implies a direct connection between the leader and the citizens, which is not mediated by political, civil, and state institutions.