Culture & christianity

Wie sieht es mit den sogenannten Kulturwirkungen des Christentums aus? Spielen religiöse Dimensionen in der Geschichte eine Rolle und wenn ja, welche? Dies abstrakt zu diskutieren, hat wenig Sinn. Daher ist es eine sinnvolle Entscheidung des vorliegenden Büchleins 1 des Kirchenhistorikers Christoph Strohm, der Frage anhand von zwei Beispielen nachzugehen, die ganz andere Schwerpunkte setzen. Während im ersten Falle, der viel besprochenen und publikumswirksam lancierten Stauffenberg-Biographie von Thomas Karlauf, 2 die religiöse Dimension des Lebens seines Studienobjekts stark heruntergespielt wurde, setzt der Ägyptologe Jan Assmann mit seinem Buch Totale Religion gerade auf eine starke These hinsichtlich der (negativen) Kulturwirkung bestimmter christlicher bzw. biblischer Texte und Motive. Strohm verfolgt im einzelnen die Frage, was an der Deutung von Karlauf letztlich defizitär bleiben muß, wenn sie moralische und weitgehend auch religiöse Aspekte aus ihrer Darstellung ausblendet. Zwar kann es durchaus als ein sinnvoller Ansatz erscheinen, die vor allem in der Nachkriegszeit sehr lange beliebte Deutungsform des Widerstands als eines "Aufstands des Gewissens" zu relativieren. Aber bei Karlauf wird zu stark der Akzent auf eine rein militärische Motivation gelegt, auch wenn dann noch die bekannte Tatsache der Verbindungen Stauffenbergs zum George-Kreis stark betont wird. Das führt dann zu übertriebenen Zuschreibungen, in Stefan George selbst gleichsam den "geistigen Urheber" der Tat vom 20. Juli 1944 zu sehen (S. 16). Bei Karlauf komme es, so Strohm, "zu einem eigentümlichen Schillern zwischen einer Erklärung des Widerstands (…) durch Rück-

The choice of musical repertoire for the celebration of the sacrament of marriage has become the subject of more frequent and widespread discussions. Media publications on the subject which provide suggestions for the choice published in the media and promoted cultural solutions for music attest to the existence of a problem and the urgent need to arrive at some form of resolution. In this article, the issue of music and songs at church weddings is presented in three parts: the first clarifies the existing problem; the second shows the cultural factors which have led to the existence of the problem; the third part demonstrates the urgent need to formulate a rightful solution regarding the choice of music within the context of Christian liturgy. Suggestions for this choice put forward in the mass media, together with current cultural trends, do not always advocate appropriate choices. The guidelines given to the bridal couple in order to assist them in their choice of music should always be in keeping with liturgical law. The rules and regulations which govern liturgical law lead to a deeper understanding among the faithful of the true meaning of sacramental rituals and their Christian significance. Consequently, they can never be subject to personal taste alone. Observance of these regulations ensures the Christian authenticity of the liturgy as ordained by Christ and the Christian community, and it enhances the aesthetic aspect; indeed, every bridal couple wishes their nuptial Mass to be beautiful. Consequently, they should be made acquainted with the Church’s teaching on liturgical musical settings. Adherence to prescribed norms not only guarantees the essential holiness of the liturgical celebration, but also ensures that their sanctity is not undermined, and allows for inclusive participation in the liturgy.

Este libro muestra cuáles fueron los personajes decisivos y los hitos

culturales decisivos en torno a los cuales Europa llegó a ser lo es, o lo que era. Fueron personajes que lucharon por hacer de un mundo caído un mundo más agradable a los ojos de Dios. No fueron personajes portentosos. En la cotidianidad de una vida marcada por la oración, el amor a Dios y al prójimo y la conciencia clara del fin último, ellos fueron capaces de construir una cultura floreciente en el saber y en las artes, que pervivió en Occidente hasta los albores de la Revolución de 1789.

"Sean knows what it's like to face the impossible. Twice he beat unbeatable odds. At age thirteen he came down with Hodgkin's disease. The doctors didn't think he would survive, but he did. When he was sixteen, he contracted Askin's sarcoma, a rare cancer that attaches itself to the walls of the chest. The prognosis is never optimistic, and its treatment has horrible side effects. Sean may be the only person alive to have suffered both of these cancers. For sure, no one has gotten them both in such a short span of time. Doctors say that the odds of him overcoming both were the equivalent of winning four lottery tickets in a row using the same numbers. He survived his second cancer by being put in an induced coma for a year. At one point his parents were told that he had only two weeks to live, and a priest read his last rites. When he miraculously came out of that coma, he had only one functioning lung. Yet as he lay in his hospital bed watching the Ironman World Championship triathlon on television, he vowed that he would one day compete in it.

The article refers to the classical category of hierophany in the religious studies of Mircea Eliade. Hierofania is a kind of a historical document or a "holy fact" in the history of religion. Related categories of theophany and epiphany are also associated, which are also used in Christian thought. The French researcher of myths Gilbert Durand believed that in the history of religion and culture the conceptual thinking dominated most of the time. It was only in the second half of the twentieth century that picture thinking was renewed. A related view occurred in the considerations of William Mitchell, who wrote about the visual reversal in the humanities. The text attempts to translate these concepts into the ground of religious studies. A propositional concept of memophany was also proposed as part of these considerations. This is a new form of hierophany, in relation to the phenomenon of religious memes present in the space of online resources. Although the processes of strengthening pictorial thinking in Christianity are not unequivocally positively received by the Catholic Church, they are something that can permanently change the image of religious culture in contemporary Catholicism.

Post-faktickú dobu sme spoznali o desaťročie neskôr ako bola definovaná v práci Ralpha Keyesa. Ide v nej o odlišný prístup k pravde i hodnotám. Jedna krátka a pútavá informácia nasleduje po druhej, pričom je dôležité najmä zaujať. Ako na túto situáciu má reagovať kresťan? Odpoveď nachádzame vo svätom písme, nie je však jednoduchá na realizáciu.

Неке сегменте античке трдиције веридбе и венчања хришћанство је наследило од Јелина и Латина али њиховом уградњом у Свету Тајну брака, они бивају пречишћени и примењивани, задобијајући сасвим другачију суштину. Утицај хрићанске праксе на начин одевања, тј. свадбени костим јесте последица искуства литургијског живота верног народа.
RESSUME
Based on the study of the development of the matrimonial customs and wedding attire through history, we can track the evolution of awareness of the faithful people about God, as every person with its insatiable need for adoration wants to express it in any way. Also we can reveal how certain Ancient matrimonial practices have been adopted by the Christian Serbs, who came in contact with Christianity and Ancient matrimonial traditions of the Greeks and the Romans through the Byzantine Empire. The matrimonial customs became part of the Serbian liturgical life while the alternative links to earlier tradition of pre-Christian autochthonic cultures were incorporated in Christian praxis yet out of primary context.

Sažetak Tema kršćanskih korijena Europe i njezinog jedinstva bila je vrlo aktualna u vrijeme donošenja Europskog ustava (2004.). Međutim osim iznošenja političkih stavova gotovo da i nije bilo povjesničara u rangu engleskog apologeta Christophera Dawsona (1889.-1970.) koji bi stali u obranu kršćanske kulture kao integrativne snage u Europi. Zato je nužno vratiti se Dawsonovim tekstovima u kojima on promiče danas rijetko viđeno i proklamirano katoličko viđenje povijesti jedinstva Europe, što će se prikazati u ovome radu. Tezu o integrativnoj snazi kršćanske kulture Dawson najjasnije zagovara u knji-zi The Making of Europe: An Introduction to the History of European Unity (1932.) u kojoj je u predvečerje Drugoga svjetskog rata prikazao kako je tek srednjovjekovno kršćanstvo pod Karlom Velikim oblikova-lo Europu i omogućilo joj da postane svjesna same sebe. Za Dawsona religija je nužna sastavnica kulture i bez nje nije moguće razumjeti početke europskog jedinstva, nije moguće razumjeti Europu. Na tu činjenicu valja neprestano podsjećati jer preambula Europskog ustava dokazuje koliko je ona pala u zaborav. Zato Dawson predlaže temeljit studij kršćanske kulture kao put k oživljavanju pamćenja na kršćanske korijene Europe.

The Christian roots of Europe and its unity were a topical issue at the time of the European Constitution adoption (2004). But apart from presenting political views there were almost no historians in rank of English apologist Christopher Dawson (1889-1970) who would spring to defence of Christian culture as an integrative force in Europe. Therefore, it is necessary to return to Dawson’s texts in which he promotes today rarely seen and proclaimed Catholic visi- on of the history of European unity, which will be presented in this paper. Dawson promotes the thesis about the integrative power of Christian culture most clearly in his book The Making of Europe: An Introduction to History of European Unity (1932). In it, in the eve of the Second World War, he shows that it was just the medieval Christianity under Charlemagne that shaped Europe and enabled it to become self-aware. For Dawson religion is an essential compo- nent of culture and without it, it is not possible to understand the beginnings of European unity, it is not possible to understand Euro- pe. This fact should be constantly pointed out, since the preamble of the European Constitution demonstrates just how much this fact has fallen into oblivion. Therefore Dawson proposes a thorough study of Christian culture as a way to revive the memory of Christian roots of Europe.

Človek je v istom slova zmysle podmienený kultúrnou a civilizačnou úrovňou. Kultúra je vnímaná ako najvyššia ľudská aktivita, v tesnom vzťahu s náboženstvom. Pod pojmom kresťanská kultúra môžeme rozumieť určitú špecifickú esenciu. Tento článok sa sústredí na vybrané parametre kresťanskej kultúry a jej vplyv na organizáciu spoločnosti. Ekumenizmus ako proces môžeme chápať negatívne i pozitívne. V negatívnom slova zmysle ohrozuje čistotu cirkevného učenia, v pozitívnom by nám mohol pomáhať vytvárať spoločnosť ako stretávací bod rôznych sociálnych skupín, založený na kresťanských hodnotách.

Josef Pieper's "Leisure as the Basis for Culture" offers penetrating insight into the errors by which we become victims and slaves of the work of our own hands.  Pieper's analysis of modern culture reminds us that an authentic human culture, one that prizes the transcendentals, truth, goodness and beauty, derives from a "cultus" in which humans transcend the world of work and their daily grind, making contact with divinity and eternity.  Christians have lost their patrimony in our secular and consumeristic society.  One important stand can be made in the home where families once again rediscover who they are as an ecclesia domestic.  These family are rebuilding a Christian culture that gives witness to all that true and good and beautiful.

The title of this book certainly catches one’s attention. Sexual abuse needs urgent attention, and all the more if it happens in the context of church life where trust and power often produce psychologically precarious situations. This issue prompted former U.S. President Jimmy Carter to contribute with a four-page prologue to the book.