Showing papers on "Divinity published in 1997"

The Religion of Technology: The Divinity of Man and the Spirit of Invention

Abstract: Are religion and science really at war with one another? Not according to David F. Noble, who argues that the flourishing of both religion and technology today is nothing new but rather the continuation of a 1,000-year-old Western tradition.The Religion of Technology demonstrates that modern man's enchantment with things technological was inspired by and grounded in religious expectations and the quest for transcendence and salvation. The two early impulses behind the urge to advance in science, he claims, are the conviction that apocalypse is imminent, and the belief that increasing human knowledge helps recover what was lost in Eden. Noble traces the history of these ideas by examining the imaginings of monks, explorers, magi, scientists, Freemasons, and engineers, from Sir Isaac Newton to Joseph Priestley to Wernher von Braun. Noble suggests that the relationship between religion and technology has perhaps outlived its usefulness. Whereas it once aimed to promote human well-being, it has ultimately become a threat to our survival. Thus, with The Religion of Technology, Noble aims to redirect our efforts toward more worldly and humane ends.

Pentecostalism: Origins and Developments Worldwide

Abstract: One of the premier interpreters of Pentecostalism, Walter J. Hollenweger has written what is in many ways a sequel to his magisterial "The Pentecostals" (1972). This volume assesses the origins of perhaps the fastest-growing religious phenomenon in this century in light of its current development. Hollenweger contends Pentecostalism is at a critical crossroads in its evolution. Focusing on the theological stories of the Pentecostal movement within the contexts of its "Black Oral Root," "Catholic Root," "Evangelical Root," "Critical Root," and "Ecumenical Root," Hollenweger calls our attention to the significance of this movement for religion, politics, and, indeed the future of the world."I know of no one else who has the breadth of knowledge, the depth of understanding, or the grasp of such a broad base of scholarship to be able to write this book. . . . This fascinating book is at times playful, at times deadly serious, and at times simply informative. It will stretch the thinking of all who care to be taught, and challenge the hypocrisy of those who think they know it all. And it will help us all to understand better than we have before, the roots that have nurtured one of the most vital Christian movements in the twentieth century."" Cecil M. Robeck, Jr., Professor of Church History and Ecumenics, Director of the David du Plessis Center for Christaian Spirituality, Fuller Theological Seminary"Pentecolstalism is the fastest growing and most vital Christian movement on the globe today. What great news that the esteemed elder statesman of Pentecostal studies has now given us this comprehensive and absorbing account of how it started and why it is growing."" Harvey Cox,Thomas Professor of Divinity, Harvard University

Islam: A Very Short Introduction

Abstract: 1. Islam, Muslims, and Islamism 2. The Quran and the Prophet 3. Divinity Unicity 4. The Shar'ia and its Consequences 5. Women and Family 6. The Two Jihads Appendix: The Five Pillars of Islam Citations and Further Reading Index

Anam Cara : A Book of Celtic Wisdom

Abstract: St. Patrick first came to Ireland in the 5th century AD, he encountered the Celts, a unique race of people who found divinity all around them: in the rivers and hills, the sea and sky and in every kind of animal. Surviving to this day, the Celts' reverence for the spirit in all things, and their celebration of the continuous mysteries of everyday existence is a vibrant spiritual legacy unique in the Western world, one that has captured the imaginations of thousands of Americans rediscovering the wisdom of the past. In "Anam Cara" (Gaelic for "soul friend"), O'Donohue takes readers into a world where God's passionate side is celebrated and the Fates are not feared. Exploring themes such as the divinity of solitude, the spirituality of the senses, the mystery of friendship, the beauty of aging and the concept of death in the Celtic tradition, it aims to help readers reconnect with the world around them and awaken the power hidden in their souls.

Clergywomen Of The Pioneer Generation: A Longitudinal Study

Abstract: Women who entered Master of Divinity programs leading toward ordination in the 1970s were part of the first generation of women to enter Protestant ministry in large numbers. Utilizing a framework suggested by the work of Everett Hughes on contradictions and dilemmas of status, this paper examines these women's experience of going first, of combining gender and work in a new way, particularly in settings of congregational ministry. The analysis is longitudinal, based on interviews in the 1970s with a sample of 30 women then enrolled in a United Methodist and a Lutheran seminary in the United States, and on interviews with the same sample of women 15 years later.

The postmodern God : a theological reader

Abstract: Notes on Contributors. Acknowledgements. Introduction or, A Guide to Theological Thinking in Cyberspace: Graham Ward. Part I: Selected Texts:. 1. Georges Bataille (1897-1962): Introduction. Bataille Text: From Theory of Religion: Craig James (University of Cambridge). 2. Jacques Lacan (1901-1981): Introduction. Text: The Death of God: Cleo McNelly Kearns (Rutgers University and New Brunswick Theological Seminary). 3. Emmanuel Levinas (1906-1995): Introduction. Text: God and Philosophy: Robert Gibbs (University of Toronto). 4. Roland Barthes (1915-1980): Introduction. Text: Wrestling with the Angel: Textual Analysis of Genesis 32: Valentine Cunningham (Oxford University). 5. Rene Girard (b.1923): Introduction. Text: The God of Victims: Gerard Loughlin (University of Newcastle-Upon-Tyne). 6. Michel Foucault (1926-1984): Introduction. Text: From The History of Sexuality:Mary McClintock Fulkerson and Susan J. Dunlop (Both Duke Divinity School, North Carolina USA). 7. Michel de Certeau (1925-1986): Introduction. Text : How is Christianity Thinkable Today? and White Ecstasy: Frederick Christian Bauerschmidt (Loyola University, Baltimore USA). 8. Jacques Derrida (b.1930): Introduction. Text: From How to Avoid Speaking: Kevin Hart (Monash University). 9. Luce Irigaray (b.1930): Introduction. Text: Equal to Whom?: Grace M. Jantzen (University of Manchester). 10. Julie Kristeva (b.1941): Introduction. Text: From In the Beginning was Love: Pamela Sue Anderson (University of Sunderland). Part II: Selected Essays: . 11. From Patriarchy into Freedom: A Conversation between American Feminist Theology and French Feminism: Rebecca S. Chopp (Emory University, Georgis USA). 12. Liturgy and Kenosis, from Experience et Absolu: Jean-Yves Lacoste. 13. Postmodern Critial Augustinianism: A Short Summa in Forth-two Responses to Unasked Questions: John Milbank (Peterhouse, Cambridge). 14. Metaphysics and Phenomenology: A Summary for Theologians: Jean-Luc Marion (University of Paris X Nanterre). 15. Asyndeton: Syntax and Insanity. A Study of the Revision of Nicene Creed: Catherine Pickstock (Emmanuel College, Cambridge). 16. New Jerusalem, Old Athens, from The Broken Middle: Gillian Rose (late of the University of Warwick). 17. Saintliness and Some Aporias of Postmodernism, from Saints and Postmodernism: Edith Wyschogrod (Queens College, City University of New York). Index.

Theological lexicon of the Old Testament

Abstract: An indispensable and incomparable reference work, this translation of the "Theologisches Handworterbuch zum Alten Testament" makes accessible for the first time in English a wealth of theological insight. In these volumes outstanding scholars provide in-depth and wide-ranging investigations of the historical, semantic, and theological meanings of Old Testament concepts.Well-organized and clearly written articles analyze a significant portion of the Old Testament vocabulary. This reference work can serve a wide audience, from professors and researchers to pastors and students of the Bible. Even readers with little or no knowledge of Hebrew can use it profitably.Whereas traditional lexicons do little more than offer possible translations in the light of etymological and grammatical evidence, "The Theological Lexicon of the Old Testament" goes further, evaluating each term's theological relevance by clearly describing its actual usage in the language. In the process, it makes available to readers in many form- and tradition-critical insights hitherto buried in scattered commentaries, monographs, Old Testament theologies, journal articles, etc. Thus the individual articles serve as concise, well-structured histories of research with conclusions, discussion of controversies, and references to the most important literature.The methodological repertoire of the "TLOT" is deliberately broad because today it is generally agreed that no single approach can fully illuminate a term's meaning. Assumptions that led to ill-advised short-cuts--e.g., the chimera of a basic meaning from which all other meanings developed--have given way to a methodological pluralism, that considers a term's significance from several points of view and thus does more justice to actual usage.Words were included because of their importance within the Hebrew Bible, not their suitability as elements of a secondary system of Old Testament theology. Since the entries are generally ordered according to roots--the traditional and sensible approach for Semitic languages--and many words are treated as derivatives, synonyms, or antonyms of the terms listed in the article titles, thousands of words can be considered in about 330 articles. These other words can easily be found in the index. Besides examining the key verbs, nouns, and adjectives, the "TLOT" examines theologically noteworthy pronouns and particles in their own entries."Like a diamond, highly prized for its fine cut, sparkle, setting, durability, utility, and symbolism, Jenni-Westermann's Theological Lexicon of the Old Testament has enormous value for a variety of reasons. Its rich data range from the historical to the theological, from the earliest occurrence of a particular word to its post-biblical use, from its distribution in the canon to its attestation in other literature from the ancient Near East, from its grammatical and syntactical peculiarities to its religious nuance. The contributors retain their individual perspectives, which give freshness and excitement to the whole. I have long wished for an English translation of this important work so that my divinity students would have access to it. Now, thanks to Hendrickson Publishers, that whish has been granted."--James L. Crenshaw, Robert L. Flowers Professor of Old Testament, Duke University

Super, Natural Christians: How We Should Love Nature

Abstract: A former dean at Vanderbilt University's Divinity School, Sallie McFague calls Christians down to earth. In a readable and available style, alive with concrete imagery and autobiographical material, McFague crafts a Christian spirituality centered on nature as the focus and locus of our encounter with the divine. She helps us see all life as created in the image of God.

Caretakers of Our Common House: Women's Development in Communities of Faith

Abstract: Recent studies in the area of theology and gender have made some groundbreaking insights into the ways in which traditional theology influences--in sometimes harmful ways--the cognitive, emotional, and spiritual development of women. As a result of such studies, efforts are being made to incorporate women's experiences into theological construction. This is being done on two fronts: women's experience of caring and connecting is being recovered as a voice in theology; and patterns of faith socialization overemphasizing caring and connection (to the exclusion of self-care and self-assertion) are being challenged for their role in thwarting female development. Both of these efforts have important implications for practice in communities of faith. Specifically, Carol Lakey Hess argues the importance of the integration in communities of faith of women's need for separation and connection through what she calls "hard dialogue and deep connections." In Caretakers of Our Common House, she envisions and advocates the significance of an educational process for girls and women in communities of faith which will nurture them towards being caretakers of their "own house" (self) and at the same time of our "common house" (the community of faith). "This highly readable study asks whether the Church can make a difference in the development of young women in a culture that destroys the self-esteem of girls. Caretakers of Our Common House should be required reading for all those involved in theological education and ministry. A truly engaging book." --Elisabeth Schussler Fiorenza, Krister Stendahl Professor of Scripture and Interpretation, Harvard Divinity School

The Signs of a Prophet: The Prophetic Actions of Jesus

Abstract: This book, dedicated to the memory of David Stacey, Morna Hooker's late husband, is an expanded version of the Shaffer Lectures delivered at Yale Divinity School in February 1995. It is more than just a commemoration, however, since it also carries on David Stacey's work on Prophetic Drama in the Old Testament, published by Epworth Press in 1990, and contains as an appendix his ideas for a second volume, outlined in a lecture on 'The Last Supper as Prophetic Drama'. Professor Hooker begins by reviewing the prophetic actions in the OId Testament and compares them with the way in which prophetic figures behaved in Jesus' day, in particular John the Baptist and the so-called sign prophets. Then she turns to Jesus himself and considers those actions which can be described as prophetic signs or dramas. She discusses the sign of Jonah, the refusal to perform signs, the miracles and other prophetic actions like the renaming of Simon, Jesus' eating with tax-collectors and sinners and the prophetic signs associated with Jerusalem, reaching a climax in the Last Supper. A final chapter examines the different ways in which the four evangelists interpreted Jesus' prophetic actions. Here is a fascinating study which contributes much to our understanding of the Gospel tradition and shows that biblical theology is still alive and flourishing. Morna Hooker was Lady Margaret's Professor of Divinity in the University of Cambridge and Fellow of Robinson College.

Hurrying toward Zion: Universities, Divinity Schools, and American Protestantism

Abstract: PREFACE INTRODUCTION: Visions and Strategies of Influence Part 1 SPECIALIZATION Chapter 1: Strategies for a System of Education Chapter 2: Educating to Understand the Other Chapter 3: Theological and Religious Sciences Part II PROFESSIONALIZATION Chapter 4: Theory and Practice Chapter 5: Two Yokes of Responsibility Part III FORMATION AND REFORM Chapter 6: Social Class and Social Gospel Chapter 7: Formation and the Heritage of Revolt Part IV PLURALISM Chapter 8: The Challenge of Social and Cultural Diversity Chapter 9: The Challenge of the Multiversity CONCLUSION: The Ambiguities of a Heritage NOTES INDEX

Russian Religious Thought

Abstract: As Russia entered the modern age in the nineteenth century, many Russian intellectuals combined the study of European philosophy with a return to their own traditions, culminating in the novels of Tolstoy and Dostoevsky and in the religious philosophy of their younger contemporary, Vladimir Soloviev. This book explores central issues of modern Russian religious thought by focusing on the work of Soloviev and three religious philosophers who further developed his ideas in the early twentieth century: P. A. Florensky, Sergei Bulgakov, and S. L. Frank. The essays place these thinkers in the contexts of both Western philosophy and Eastern Orthodoxy, presenting a substantially new perspective on Russian religious thought. The work of these four philosophers, this volume demonstrates, influenced virtually all aspects of twentieth-century Russian culture, and indeed, many aspects of Soviet culture as well, but also represents a rich philosophical tradition devoted to issues of divinity, community, and humanity that transcend national boundaries and historical eras. Included in "Russian Religious Thought" is an introduction, brief biographical information on Soloviev, Florensky, Bulgakov, and Frank, and an Afterword by scholar James Scanlan, who elaborates on the volume s aim to provide a thoughtful corrective, both to unexamined assumptions of past scholarship and to nationalist readings currently popular in post-Soviet Russia. "Russian religious philosophy, banned under the Soviets, has been marginalized in the Western academy as well. This interdisciplinary volume helps explain why this body of thought has remained for so long at the center of Russian culture." Caryl Emerson, Princeton University"

Who inspired Panini ? Reconstructing the Hindu and Buddhist counter-claims

Abstract: In the surviving tradition of Paninian grammar, there is a pervasive belief that the founding grammarian Panini was inspired by the divinity Siva to formulate his grammar and that it was Siva who revealed to him the so-called Sivasutras. The tradition is neither aware of the origins of this belief, nor of the existence of any competing claims from other religious traditions. This paper traces the emergence of this belief, its connections to particular religious shrines and local traditions, its transmission, and its role in providing a distinctive theological frame to the Papinian grammar and its interpretation. It also traces the competition of this Saivite claim with claims of the Buddhists, and points out that the competing claims on behalf of Siva and Avalokitesvara can be best understood as originating in specific local traditions in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, where the same local divinity was recognized by the Saivas and the Buddhists as Siva and Avalokitesvara, respectively. Starting from such local origins, these ideas then spread to other parts of the subcontinent where they were brought into connection with other religious motifs. Eventually, the Buddhist claims withered away in India with the disappearance of Buddhism, though they survived in Tibet. It is suggested that the participation of the Buddhists in the transmission and interpretation of the Paninian grammar eventually led the Paninian grammarians gradually to separate the Vedic rules from the rules for colloquial Sanskrit, and that this resulted in an attenuation of interest in the Vedic rules, and greater prominence for colloquial rules

A vision for the Church : studies in early Christian ecclesiology in honour of J.P.M. Sweet

Abstract: What is the Church? Perhaps more importantly, what is it meant to be? How did ti's earliest members understand this body of which they had become a part? How did they envisage what it ought to be and might become? This collection of fifteen early essays by an international group of New Testament experts is made in honour of John Sweet. They bring together in one volume a dynamic range of perspectives on how the early Christians viewed the Church: its origin, purpose and relation to the Jewish Scriptures and to Jesus Christ; its place in the world and in God's plan; its community life and worship, both in theory and in practice. The concluding chapter draws together the various recurrent strands of early Christianity's relationship with Judaism. Concise and accesible, with reading lists for each chapter, the book covers every New Testament author and ranges in time from the Greek Old Testatment to the Apostolic Fathers. Markus Bockmuehl is University Lecturer in Divinity and Fellow and Tutor of Fiztwilliam Collge, Cambridge. Michael B. Thompson is Director of Studies and Lecturer in New Testament at Ridley Hall, Cambridge.

The Prayer Closet as a "Room of One's Own": Two Anglican Women Devotional Writers at the Turn of the Eighteenth Century

Abstract: A reading of the devotional works of two Anglican women from opposite ends of the political spectrum supports the surprising contention that gains in early modern women's roles owe something to the rather staid piety of the Restoration Church of England. Both Susanna Hopton (1627-1709) and Elizabeth Burnet (1661-1709) had access to ample fortunes through inheritance and marriage; their spirituality provided them with the ideal of devotional retirement in the privacy of a "prayer closet." Although their writings are unlikely sources of feminist spirituality, there are glimmers of a devotional life that might motivate women to find their voice and move beyond societal and ecclesiastical expectations—as these two did by immersing themselves in "practical divinity," writing, and publishing.

Authorial Divinity in the Twentieth Century: Omniscient Narration in Woolf, Hemingway, and Others

Abstract: The authorial withdrawal Gustave Flaubert enjoined at the end of the nineteenth century was premised on the analogy: "The author in his work ought to be like God in the universe, present everywhere and visible nowhere." This book explores theological implications in their subsequent practice of omniscience, particularly in the works of Ernest Hemingway and Virginia Woolf.

New Divinity School of the Prophets, 1750-1825: A Case Study in Ministerial Education.

Abstract: Scholars have long recognized the Great Awakening (circa 1735-45) as an important moment in the history of American higher education. As increasing numbers of young men experienced conversion and entered the ministry, leaders seized the opportunity to establish educational insti? tutions that furthered the aims of the revival. Within a generation after the Awakening, prorevivalist groups founded four new colleges: the Col? lege of New Jersey at Princeton by Presbyterians in 1746, Rhode Island College (renamed Brown University) by Baptists in 1764, Queen's College (renamed Rutgers) by Dutch Reformed in 1766, and Dartmouth College by the Congregationalist Eleazar Wheelock in 1769. Less well known yet crucial to our understanding of ministerial edu? cation from 1750 to 1825 was the emergence of a distinct group within New England Congregationalism associated with Jonathan Edwards and his disciples, the so-called "New Divinity" men.1 Identifying themselves as Calvinists and heirs of the Puritan tradition, they sought to revise or "improve" traditional Calvinist doctrines. Critics tarred them with the brush of innovation, claiming that they had devised a "new divinity," but the Edwardseans responded that they were recontextualizing their Puri? tan heritage to meet the intellectual challenges of the day. Despite the rel? ative diversity of New Divinity thought, the Edwardseans shared a great deal of theological unity and collegiality. In brief, their distinctive views turned upon two fundamental convictions: First, they upheld Edwards's

Die oorspronge van die belydenis 'Jesus is God' in die vroegste Christendom: In Ondersoek na metodes en kriteria

Abstract: The origins of the confession 'Jesus is God' in earliest Christianity: A quest for sound methodology and criteria. In this study an argument is made for reopening the debate on one of the most central and crucial confessions of Christianity, namely 'Jesus is God'. In current Christological research there is an apparent discepancy concerning the divinity of Jesus if the results of recent historical Jesus research is compared with the Constantine Confessions (Nicea and Chalcedon). Moreover, prominent scholars today point out that there are traces of a process of development within the writings of the New Testament that can boil down to a possible 'process of divinization' of Jesus in early Christianity. No conclusions concerning these matters are drawn in this study. The research problem is identified and it is shown that the theme is highly relevant. Examples are given of multiple and discordant conclusions of scholars who dealt with this problem in the past. Against this background, it is argued that sound methodology and criteria are necessary in trying to reach a justifiable conclusion.

Christian Theology and World Religions

Abstract: One of the great facts dominating the religious scene today and offering an immeasurable challenge to Christian theology is the new meeting of the religions, largely a post World War II phenomenon which has only recently begun to seep into the consciousness of lay Christians, I shall not presume to say how the religions other than Christianity are reacting to the present encounter. I can speak with more confidence concerning my own faith.

The Political Sermons of John Preston

Abstract: John Preston was born in 1587, son of a ‘decayed’ gentleman farmer of Northamptonshire. His father died when John was 12 years old, but (like Hobbes) he was educated by a wealthy maternal uncle, who was several times mayor of Northampton.1 After a successful career at Cambridge, Preston contemplated various professions — trade, diplomacy, philosophy, medicine. The picture we get of him at this stage is of an able and ambitious young gentleman of declining family. But around 1611 he was converted by a sermon of John Cotton’s: and henceforth devoted himself to divinity. He was a very successful tutor and lecturer, and also proved himself no mean academic politician, managing at the age of 27 to snatch the mastership of his college (Queens’) for the Calvinist John Davenant from the greedy maw of George Mountain, Dean of Westminster and later Archbishop of York.

Maiestas in Thomas More's political thought

Abstract: Maiestas, especially as the word applies to the king, occupies a place of importance in Thomas More’s reflection upon man’s relation to God within the human community. The term originated with the greatness of the Roman people and then became attached to the emperor who had assumed a divine stature. More tempers the awesome sweep of this notion and resists the prince’s inclination towards divinity by linking the meaning of maiestas to the mind of the populace. Royal majesty ceases to function when the sovereign loses the respect of the people he is meant to serve.

"The Divinity School Address": Emersonian poetry and personality

Abstract: In this paper we propose to consider the role played by the concepts of poetry and personality in the `Divinity School Address.' From these concepts, a clearer picture will emerge of both Emerson and nineteenth-century Unitarianism. The Divinity School Address,' far from a declaration of war on Unitarianism, was an extension of the decades long Unitarian plea for fervor from the pulpit. Far from rebelling from the Unitarian sensibility and worldview, Emerson was expanding and fulfilling it. The `Divinity School Address' presented to a very sensitive audience Emerson's building rejection of the idea of a 'personal' God. This departure hito modernism was the most radical element of the address. Emerson gradually formulated a theory of the synonymous nature of God and the soul. Mis doctrine of the soul was a doctrine of criticism, and the soul must finally be understood as the insatiable passion for the Better, which enfolded a perpetual sense of the unachieved.

The thinker as artist : from Homer to Plato & Aristotle

Abstract: In an attempt to subject representative texts of a dozen ancient authors to a more or less Socratic inquiry, the noted scholar George Anastaplo suggests in The Thinker as Artist how one might usefully read as well as enjoy such texts, which illustrate the thinking done by the greatest artists and how they "talk" among themselves across the centuries. In doing so, he does not presume to repeat the many fine things said about these and like authors, but rather he discusses what he himself has noticed about them, text by text. Drawing upon a series of classical authors ranging from Homer and Sappho to Plato and Aristotle, Anastaplo examines issues relating to chance, art, nature, and divinity present in the artful works of philosophers and other thinkers.

Isma’il Raji Al-Faruqi (1921–86)

Abstract: Faruqi was born in Palestine in 1921. He graduated from the American University of Beirut in philosophy. He joined the civil service in British Mandate Palestine in 1945, and later became the last Governor of Galilee. The occupation of Palestine brought him to the United States. There he obtained two masters degrees in philosophy from Indiana and Harvard Universities, and completed his PhD in 1952 ‘On Justifying the Good: Metaphysics and Epistemology of Value’. In search of the classical Islamic heritage, he studied at Al-Azhar from 1954 to 1958. A year later, at the invitation of Professor Cantwell Smith, he joined the Faculty of Divinity, at McGill University, Montreal, where he studied Judaism and Christianity and produced his major academic work, Christian Ethics. For two years, 1961–63, on the advice of Dr Fazlur Rahman, he joined the Institute for Islamic Research, Karachi. On his return to America he joined, as visiting professor, the Divinity School at the University of Chicago. He accepted an Associate Professor’s post in Syracuse University in the Department of Religion, where he developed an Islamic Studies programme. From 1968 until his death on 17 May 1986, he was professor in the Department of Religion at Temple University, where he also established an Islamic Studies section. He was the first Muslim scholar in America who devoted himself to the study of comparative religion and Islam.

Your Adventure in Ministry : Receding or Re-Seeding?

Abstract: I have a confession to make. I never intended to be a minister. Sometimes I am tempted to think the good Lord pulled a decades-long trick on me. I entered Western Seminary primarily to get my own spiritual questions answered. My concerns were well-addressed, but I also experienced a sense of call, even though I did not want it. After graduation from Western I escaped to Calcutta for graduate school. That was about as far away as I could get from anything resembling pastoral ministry. When I finally accepted God's call to a congregation, I spent several years trying to prove to myself that I could fulfill the role of pastor. I learned much from God's people there who without a divinity degree possessed a good deal of saintly wisdom.

Monastische memoria als denkform in der viten- und offenbarungsliteratur aus süddeutschen frauenklöstern des spätmittelalters

Abstract: The article deals with the concept of ›memoria‹ in the Sister-Books written in Dominican convents of the fourteenth century. On the one hand the texts establish a specific kind of commemoration of the dead which places both the sisters and their communities within a tradition of sanctity. On the other hand the Sister-Books show the influence of St. Augustine’s theory of memory. They exemplify how to annihilate one’s ›exterior‹ memory by different ways of remembering God in order to become a mirror of divinity.

La divinité du Christ est-elle une question centrale dans Ie procés de Jésus rapporté par les Acta Pilati?

Abstract: Reconsidering G. ~ H. Lampe's study on the trial of Jesus in the Acta Pilati, thi,~ article shows that it is not the question of Christ's divinity which constitutes the central motive of this part of the text (Acts of Pilate, greek version A, 1-9) but the theme of his royalty. The author concludes that only a literary analysis of the whole of the Acts of Pilate, which takes in account all the different literary levels and devices, will allow a better appreciation of the different parts of the narrative. To conduct this study scholars need a new, reliable editil?n of the Acta Pilati.