Letteratura scientifica selezionata sul tema "Holiness Union"

Humans be created in the image of God. All people are called to holiness, that is to perfection, just as the Father in heaven is perfect. The theme called to holiness is first placed in the frame of the Basic Diocese of Surabaya which deals with the great theme of the Disciples of Christ. The theme of holiness contains elements about: what, when, where, who, why and how. The Kipling method or the 5W-1H method helps the writer in describing this holiness theme. Being called to holiness in context has the same meaning as being called to be holy. Holiness itself has a charge as perfect love. Holiness and love are two inseparable things, because God is both Holy and Love. Human union with God is the essence of holiness. Holiness has a relationship with the perfection of love, so holiness cannot be understood separately from one's attitude and actions towards God through his actions towards the poor who suffer. Holiness is a lifestyle that is connected with daily life according to the Beatitues that Jesus conveyed to His disciples.

In Divine Holiness and Divine Action Mark Murphy seeks to establish four key claims: first, that divine holiness consists in a supreme desirability of creaturely union with God and a commensurately supreme creaturely unfittingness for that union; second, that this holiness-concept is grounded in a value-gap between God and creatures which by default motivates God to withdraw from creatures rather than love us or seek our welfare; third, that the love and concern for creaturely welfare exhibited in God’s creating and redeeming is a contingent and freely chosen override of the default stance of holiness; and fourth, that God should be thanked and emulated in virtue of exhibiting a kind of humility in overriding the demands of holiness for our sakes, though not worshipped or praised for this humility, since these latter attitudes should be reserved for necessary rather than contingent features of God. I argue that each of these four claims is mistaken, and further that it is a good thing they are mistaken, because if Murphy’s account were right the appropriate response to God would be neither worship nor thanks but rather abject despair.

In modern times, the understanding of holiness is often overshadowed by notions of achievement in various areas of human existence, and holiness could be understood as merely human commitment in the moral realm. Therefore, within the Christian tradition there are discussions of a call to holiness and not only to moral perfection, where holiness rests above all on the fact of God’s chosenness, to which the Christians respond by changing concrete lives. This article shall highlight several main characteristics of holiness as a model of Christian existence important to the Church in the third millennium. Firstly, a biblical-theological account of holiness shall be presented as a landmark of understanding holiness in the Church and in theology. Then, the fundamental dimension of holiness shall be introduced which is the principle of giftedness, opposed in a certain contrast to the widely present principle of achievement and perfection. The third part shall highlight the exemplary character of holiness, which has the ability to attract others, thus realizing in the life of the Church its main character of holiness that comes from God Himself. In their response to God, Christians find a model among the saints who have accepted various means of consecration within the Church and given God an answer to His call to holiness. Finally, the importance of a personal response to the call to holiness shall be indicated. The goal of Christian holiness is to unite with God, and on the way to this union, the effort of every individual who manifests himself primarily in accepting God’s gifts and His grace is also needed. Moral and sacred life is not primarily the adventure of spiritual giants of tried and tested moral behaviour and virtues, where these behaviours and virtues are only the result of their own endeavour and humanistic aspirations, but rather holiness is a response to God to his great love, which he expressed in the history of salvation and in the lives of people.

AbstractThe doctrine of the Holy Trinity is the product of divine revelation, and is a doctrine of divine worship. The expressions of this doctrine come out of worshipful response to divine revelation demonstrating the social nature of the Trinity and God's incorporating the human creature in His own sociality and personal pluralism. The perfect social union between God and the man and woman that he had created was disrupted by human sin. God redeemed the fallen creature, and at the heart of this redemptive experience lies the doctrine of Holy Trinity, with the Holy Spirit as the communing agent of all the experiences of salvation. The Spirit is especially active in the provision and fulfillment of sanctification, which is presented here as the continuum of 'holiness-unity-love'. He produces the graces of the Holy Spirit – the fruit of the Spirit. He implants the Seed of the new birth which is the word of God. He purifies by the blood of Jesus. He establishes union and communion among believers and with God through His Son Jesus. This is holiness.

This essay sets forth a précis of the Reformed doctrine of sanctification explaining the doctrine and its relationship to the rest of the order of salvation, especially justification. The key to the Reformed doctrine of sanctification is to recognize that holiness and sanctity finds its source in union with Christ but also to recognize the priority of justification over sanctification. Greater sanctity in the Christian life is found, not in the believer’s good works, but in seeking Christ by faith alone through the means of grace (word, sacraments, and prayer). The essay also interacts with and critiques the doctrine of definitive sanctification as espoused chiefly by the late John Murray.

The study analyzes the significance of paradox in the ecclesiological vision of Henri de Lubac (1896-1991) based on some of his writings. The French theologian presents paradox in an original way in order to find ways of drawing on biblical and patristic insights and to address the issues raised by the modern world for the Church. Paradox allows one to see the union of opposites while maintaining their individual distinctions. From the paradoxical point of view, de Lubac defines the Church as a mystery, keeping her human and divine elements in tension. This Church is relational in the divine, mystical, sacramental, historical, and social dimension. In it, there arise and live the paradoxes of the natural and supernatural dignity of man, of individual and collective salvation, of his temporal-eternal and visible-invisible aspect, of holiness and sin. The “paradoxical” Church is the missionary Church on the road to holiness – the Church that proclaims God’s salvation to all.

When the Wesleyan, Primitive and United Methodist Connexions combined in 1932 to form the Methodist Church of Great Britain, much was made of their shared evangelical heritage. The doctrinal clause of the founding Deed of Union affirmed that the Connexion ‘ever remembers that in the Providence of God Methodism was raised up to spread Scriptural Holiness through the land by the proclamation of the Evangelical Faith and declares its unfaltering resolve to be true to its Divinely appointed mission.’

This research aims to find out the basic meaning of the traditional ritual of Basaru 'sumangat in the context of batalah for Dayak Kanayatn people, the meaning of baptized sacrament in the Catholic Church, the relationship between Adat basaru' sumangat in the context of Batalah Kanayatn traditions with baptized sacrament Catholic Church. Using a qualitative approach, data were obtained from the results of in-depth interviews which focused on the village of Nangka, Landak district. The results of the research analysis show that: First, the basic meaning of the Batalah tradition of the Kanayatn Dayak people in Nangka Village is a ceremony that allows a newborn to gain safety. According to Kanayat Dayak belief in Nangka Village by carrying out the batalah ceremony, all bad things in the baby's body are removed thanks to the prayers delivered by the panyangahatn priest to Jubata or God, and by carrying out this batalah ceremony the existence of a baby will be recognized in society. Second, the meaning of the batalah tradition is almost the same as the tradition of the baptismal ceremony in the Catholic Church, which focuses on the appreciation of union with Jesus Christ which leads to holiness and salvation. Third, the relationship between the basaru 'sumangat ceremony in the context of the Batalah Dayak Kanayatn tradition with the sacrament ceremony of baptism in the Catholic Church is the path of holiness to salvation and the initiation of salvation. The path of holiness to salvation means that the holiness received through baptism or through the bat ceremony brings a person to salvation. Whereas the initiation of salvation is intended as a process that initiates a person into belonging to those who have safety. Both as members of the community (in babies who are questioned) and as members of the Church (in people who are baptized).

No other period in the history of the Kyiv Orthodox Metropolis gives rise to such contradictory opinions as to the history of the first half of the 17th century. The struggle to preserve the Orthodox identity after signing of the Union of Brest in 1596 and the need to represent the Orthodox way of salvation in anti-Catholic polemics sparked a keen interest in the idea of holiness and saints. This interest, however, did not trigger the canonization of contemporary figures, but rather a reminder of the former hagiographic and historical heritage.

The Christian spiritual life, the essence of which is holiness, needs an example that sheds clear light on the path of love for God and neighbor. In her teachings, Bl. Bolesława Lament indicates that the example of the Holy Family of Nazareth’s life is especially helpful in for man’s spiritual development. The Holy Family’s example can help shape the spiritual life of believers according to the Incarnation. The essence of the Holy Family’s example is its deep focus on the mystery of Incarnation and, thus, union with Christ, the Incarnate Word. Moreover, the hidden life of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph provides a solid foundation on which apostolic life can take on form.

Applied research project (D. Min.)--School of Theology and Missions, Oral Roberts University, 2003.
Includes abstract and vita. Translated from Korean. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 141-150).

From the middle of the 19th century onwards the number of protestant missionaries in China increased tremendously. The evangelical revival movement played an important role in this development with pioneers like J. Hudson Taylor and his China Inland Mission (CIM) on the frontlines. The Swedish Holiness Union (SHU) decided to join CIM in the northern parts of China were the union established its missionary field in 1890. This essay aims to explore changes in how other religious practices, groups and subjects are constructed within SHU missionary letters from China published 1891-1950. The source material consists of missionary letters published in the Unions own periodical Trons Segrar 1891, 1928 and 1950. By basing the analysis on Laclau’s and Mouffe’s discourse theory the study will explore how different discursive formations change, affirm or undermine each other and how different religious practices, groups and subjects are constructed and characterized within a discursive framework.

In Natal and Zululand Swedish missions had precedence through the Church of Sweden Mission from 1876 on, the Swedish Holiness Mission from 1889 on, and the Scandinavian Independent Baptist Union from 1892 on. Between 1876 and 1902, thirty-six women were active in these South African missions. The history of all these women are explored on an individual basis in this, for the most part, empirical study. The primary goal of this dissertation is to find out who these women missionaries were, what they worked at, what positions they held toward the colonial/political situation in which they worked, and what positions they held in their respective missions. What meaning the women’s mission work had for the Zulu community in general, and for Zulu women in particular are dealt with, though the source material on it is limited. Nevertheless, through the source material from the Swedish female missionaries, Zulu women are given attention. The theoretical starting points come, above all, from historical research on women and gender and from historical mission research about missions as a part of the colonial period. Both married and unmarried women are defined as missionaries since both groups worked for the missions. In the Swedish Holiness Mission and in the Scandinavian Independent Baptist Union the first missionaries in Natal and Zululand were women. The Church of Sweden Mission was a Lutheran mission were women mostly worked in mission schools, homes for children and in a mission hospital. Women were subordinated in relationship to male missionaries. In the Swedish Holiness Mission and in the Scandinavian Independent Baptist Union women had more equal positions in their work. In these missions women could be responsible for mission stations, work as evangelists and preach the Gospel. The picture of the work of female missionaries has also been complicated and modified.

This study explores the challenges posed by the HIV-AIDS epidemic on the Holiness Union Church leadership in Pietermaritzburg KwaZulu-Natal: towards a holistic Pastoral care model. South Africa has the highest prevalence rate of HIV infection in Sub-Sahara Africa and the province of KwaZulu-Natal is the epicentre of the epidemic. This motivated the researcher to investigate the role of the HUC-PMB leadership in the struggle against the HIV-AIDS epidemic within and outside the Church. The Church leaders in this context of the HIV-AIDS are expected to play a significant role, so that the campaigns of HIV prevention, intervention, care and support for those living with the HIV-AIDS should have positive impact in the Church and the community. The literature review argues that this can be achieved when church leaders are well trained and equipped with all necessary skills and acquire comprehension information about the HIV-AIDS. The study adopted an empirical research using qualitative using interview schedule, focus group discussion and church archives for data collection. Five Church leaders and four church members participated in the study. The investigations were led by the following research question: What are the challenges posed by the HIV-AIDS epidemic on the HUC leadership in Pietermaritzburg KwaZulu-Natal? In order to address the main question of this study, the following questions were formulated. What is the current situation of the HIV-AIDS epidemic in the HUC-PMB? How is the HUC-PMB leadership response to the HIV-AIDS epidemic? What kind of Pastoral care model that would enhance the HUC leadership holistic response to the HIV-AIDS epidemic? The study findings show that the Church leaders at HUC-PMB do not officially engaged in the struggle against the HIV-AIDS epidemic in the church and in the local community. This implies that the HUC-PMB has limited spiritual and support work for those who are HIV infected and affected within and without the church. The study thus recommends that knowledge on the HIV-AIDS epidemic is vital to all people especially the church leaders; and the church must use its pastoral approach to pursue this goal; the leaders must be thoroughly educated and equipped on the HIV-AIDS related issues, so that to be able to minister (w)holistically in the light of the HIV-AIDS epidemic; the Church and its leaders is also recommended and called to be HIV-competent in terms of their belief approach in dealing with epidemic and stigma within and outside the church context.
Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2013.

No presente texto, partindo da afirmação de que o ser humano é, desde a sua origem, um ser religioso, procura-se fundamentar a existência da disciplina de EMRC, como resposta aos desafios contemporâneos da iliteracia religiosa, da ausência de sentido e do pluralismo. Depois de uma reflexão cuidada sobre a Prática de Ensino Supervisionada, a partir da história do dogma e da Tradição, apresentando Jesus como libertador e inspirado pela Palavra de Deus, procurase traduzir o conceito teológico de salvação como libertação. Deste modo, afirma-se que as aulas de EMRC devem ser humanizadoras, recentrando-se na hermenêutica bíblica e procurando traduzir para uma linguagem contemporânea conceitos teológicos complexos. Conclui-se, por isso, que a salvação que Jesus realiza e oferece é a libertação do ser humano e a concretização plena da sua vocação para ser livre.
The present text, based on the assertion that the human being is, from his origin, a religious being, seeks to justify the existence of the EMRC discipline, in response to the contemporary challenges of religious illiteracy, lack of meaning and pluralism. After a careful reflection on the Supervised Teaching Practice, starting from the history of dogma and Tradition, presenting Jesus as liberator and inspired by the Word of God, we seek to translate the theological concept of salvation as liberation. In this way, it is affirmed that the classes of EMRC must be humanizing, refocusing on biblical hermeneutics and trying to translate complex theological concepts into a contemporary language. It is concluded, therefore, that the salvation that Jesus accomplishes and offers is the liberation of the human being and the full realization of his vocation to be free.

Holiness is the attribute most emphatically ascribed to God in Scripture. But there has been little attention devoted to characterizing and considering the entailments of divine holiness. This book defends an account of holiness indebted to Rudolf Otto’s description of the experience of the holy as that of a mysterium tremendum et fascinans. God’s being holy consists in God’s being someone with whom intimate union is both extremely desirable for us and yet something for which we—and indeed any limited beings—are unfit. This notion of divine holiness is useful for addressing disputed theological questions regarding divine action. In contrast to standard accounts of divine action that begin with assumptions regarding God’s moral perfection or God’s maximal love, the appeal to divine holiness supports a rival framework for explaining and predicting divine action—the holiness framework—according to which God is motivated to act in ways that are a response to God’s own value by keeping distance from that which is deficient, defective, or in any way limited in goodness. The book exhibits the fruitfulness of a reorientation from the morality and love frameworks to the holiness framework by showing how such a reorientation suggests distinct approaches to perennial problems of divine action regarding creation, incarnation, atonement, and salvation. From the treatment of these perennial problems, a general theme regarding divine action emerges: that God’s interaction with the world exhibits a radical sort of humility.

According to traditional Christian doctrine that there are two possible final destinations for humans: Heaven or Hell. With respect to Heaven, the holiness framework understands entrance of humans into union with God in Heaven to be an act of gracious contingent love bestowed by God, limited by the extent to which that human exhibits the imperfection that make even more intimate union unfitting. Everlasting heavenly life, on this view, is a continual perfecting of the human in a way that makes even closer union with God more fitting, which in turn makes further transformation toward perfection possible. With respect to Hell, the holiness framework makes intelligible why universalism could be false: persons who are confirmed in sin have settled themselves on evil, and thus are not only unfit for intimate union with God—their unfitness is so extreme as to preclude God’s appropriately even acting so as to aid effectively in their transformation. Holiness considerations can also be invoked to explain the falsity of annihilationism.

This chapter defends an argument from divine holiness to divine perfection. Primary holiness presupposes a value gap between the holy being and others—it is the greatly superior value of the holy being that makes union with that being desirable for other beings, and makes intimate unity with the holy being at some level unfitting. A necessarily holy being will have to be infinitely and unqualifiedly valuable. For otherwise there will be beings other than God that approach the holy being’s value, at least in certain contexts, in such a way that union with God will not be overwhelmingly desirable and extremely intimate union will not be unfitting. As the God of Scripture must be thought of as absolutely holy, the connection between absolute holiness and absolute perfection underwrites a new argument from Scripture to Anselmian perfect being theology.

The chapter contrasts what we should expect and require from a theory of Atonement if we take divine action to be governed by the holiness framework and if we do not. The primary foil is Eleonore Stump’s unqualifiedly and exclusively love framework account of the Atonement. Stump’s way of categorizing theories of the Atonement based on whether the obstacle to union with God is in us or in God is inadequate; rather, the appropriate distinction is between views that take the obstacle to be psychological (as Stump’s own view does) or normative (as satisfaction and penal substitution views do). By Stump’s own lights, the way in which past sin is an obstacle to union with God requires a normative treatment, and the holiness framework provides a plausible explanation of this: so long as such past sin is not dealt with, it normatively precludes the fuller unity with God that is constitutive of our good.

This chapter begins by charting the failure of Herbert Asbury’s conversion, using this as a point of departure to review two classical ways to provide a taxonomy of divine action for the Christian life, especially the experience of the Holy Spirit. The Christian tradition imparts a variety of concepts like sanctification, theosis, holiness, baptism in the Spirit, and union with Christ to speak of the experience of the Christian believer. Furthermore, the tradition speaks of the action of the church and the action of other believers on Christians. By attending to the concepts of divine and human agency, this chapter provides a way forward through this debate.

While the appeal of ‘civilisational dialogue’ is on the rise, its sources, functions, and con- sequences arouse controversy within and between faith communities. Some religious lead- ers have attempted to clarify the religious foundations for such dialogue. Among them are Jonathan Sacks, the Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of Britain and the Commonwealth, Edward Idris, Cardinal Cassidy of the Catholic Church, and Fethullah Gülen. The paper compares the approach of these three religious leaders from the Abrahamic tra- dition as presented in their scholarly works – Sacks’ The Dignity of Difference, Cardinal Cassidy’s Ecumenism and Interreligious Dialogue, and Gülen’s Advocate of Dialogue. The discussion attempts to answer the following questions: Can monotheistic traditions accom- modate the dignity of followers of other monotheistic and polytheistic religions as well as non-theistic religions and philosophies? Is a belief in the unity of God compatible with an acceptance of the religious dignity of others? The paper also explores their arguments for why civilisational and interfaith dialogue is necessary, the parameters of such dialogue and its anticipated consequences: how and how far can dialogue bridge the claims of unity of God and diversity of faiths? Islam’s emphasis on diversity and the Quran’s accommodation of ear- lier religious traditions put Islam and Fethullah Gülen in the best position to offer a religious justification for valuing and cherishing the dignity of followers of other religions. The plea for a dialogue of civilizations is on the rise among some policymakers and politi- cians. Many of them believe a dialogue between Islam and the West has become more urgent in the new millennium. For example following the 2005 Cartoon Wars, the United Nations, the Organization of the Islamic Conferences, and the European Union used a joint statement to condemn violent protests and call for respect toward religious traditions. They pled for an exchange of ideas rather than blows: We urge everyone to resist provocation, overreaction and violence, and turn to dialogue. Without dialogue, we cannot hope to appeal to reason, to heal resentment, or to overcome mistrust. Globalization disperses people and ideas throughout the world; it brings families individuals with different beliefs into close contact. Today, more than any period in history, religious di- versity characterizes daily life in many communities. Proponents of interfaith dialogue claim that, in an increasingly global world, interfaith dialogue can facilitate mutual understanding, respect for other religions, and, thus, the peaceful coexistence of people of different faiths. One key factor for the success of the interfaith dialogue is religious leaders’ ability to provide an inclusive interfaith theology in order to reconcile their commitment to their own faith with the reality of religious diversity in their communities. I argue that prominent leaders of the Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam) are already offering separate but overlapping theologies to legitimize interfaith dialogue. A balanced analysis of multi-faith interactions is overdue in political science. The discipline characterises religious interactions solely from the perspective of schism and exclusion. The literature asserts that interactions among believers of different faiths will breed conflict, in- cluding terrorism, civil wars, interstate wars, and global wars. According to this conven- tional depiction, interfaith cooperation is especially challenging to Judaism, Christianity, and Islam due to their monotheism; each claims it is “the one true path”. The so-called “monothe- istic exclusion” refers to an all-or-nothing theological view: you are a believer or you are an infidel. Judaism identifies the chosen people, while outsiders are gentiles; Christians believe that no salvation is possible outside of Jesus; Islam seems to call for a perennial jihad against non-Muslims. Each faith would claim ‘religious other’ is a stranger to God. Political “us versus them” thinking evolves from this “believer versus infidel” worldview. This mindset, in turn, initiates the blaming, dehumanizing, and demonization of the believers of other reli- gious traditions. Eventually, it leads to inter-religious violence and conflict. Disputing this grim characterization of religious interactions, scholars of religion offer a tripartite typology of religious attitude towards the ‘religious other.’ They are: exclusivism, inclusivism, and pluralism. Exclusivism suggests a binary opposition of religious claims: one is truth, the other is falsehood. In this dichotomy, salvation requires affirmation of truths of one’s particular religion. Inclusivism integrates other religious traditions with one’s own. In this integration, one’s own religion represents the complete and pure, while other religions represent the incomplete, the corrupted, or both. Pluralism accepts that no religious tradi- tion has a privileged access to religious truth, and all religions are potentially equally valid paths. This paper examines the theology of interfaith dialogue (or interfaith theology) in the Abrahamic religions by means of analyzing the works of three prominent religious lead- ers, a Rabbi, a Pope, and a Muslim scholar. First, Jonathan Sacks, the Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of Britain and the Commonwealth, offers a framework for the dialogue of civilizations in his book Dignity of Difference: How to Avoid the Clash of Civilizations. Rather than mere tolerance and multiculturalism, he advocates what he calls the dignity of difference—an active engagement to value and cherish cultural and religious differences. Second, Pope John Paul II’s Crossing the Threshold of Hope argues that holiness and truth might exist in other religions because the Holy Spirit works beyond the for- mal boundaries of Church. Third, the Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen’s Advocate of Dialogue describes a Muslim approach to interfaith dialogue based on the Muslim belief in prophecy and revelation. I analyze the interfaith theologies of these religious leaders in five sections: First, I explore variations on the definition of ‘interfaith dialogue’ in their works. Second, I examine the structural and strategic reasons for the emergence and development of the interfaith theologies. Third, I respond to four common doubts about the possibility and utility of interfaith di- alogue and theologies. Fourth, I use John Rawls’ overlapping consensus approach to develop a framework with which to analyze religious leaders’ support for interfaith dialogue. Fifth, I discuss the religious rationales of each religious leader as it relates to interfaith dialogue.