Faith and Culture

A theological exploration of the potential of non-liturgical instrumental music for the transmission of religious Christian faith experience, based on a hermeneutical tool drawn from Jean-Jacques Nattiez as applied to Arvo Pärt's Spiegel im Spiegel. The article explores musical composition, reception, as well as the piece of music in itself, to discover common traits and keys to understanding its "meaning", and relate it to current thought and development in theology; in particular to themes of creativity, theological aesthetics, the Ascension, the artistic vocation and meaning-making in contemporary culture, through music and films.

A term paper in Theological Research, this study analyzed the Filipinos' "Sampalataya" (Faith).  Borrowed the idea of Ptr. Rei Lemuel Crizaldo about defining "sampalataya" by using the concept of "Pagsabit sa Jeepney," this study explored the Filipinos' "Sampalataya" with regards to the Philippine socio-cultural context and Filipino psyche.  With this idea, Ptr. Crizaldo saw how the Filipino understanding of faith is different from the English definition of it.

    The study shows that the Filipino understanding of faith is different from the general or common definition of faith (western concept).  For Filipinos, “sampalataya” is not just believing in a certain person or things, it not just putting trust and have hope that it will happen – for Filipinos, “sampalataya” means you need to put your trust and willingness to take a risk.  Filipinos’ faith is not just a condition in mind but is a way or action, an attitude, or we can say it as a way of life.  The reason why Filipinos have a different understanding or approach on faith is related to what Florentino Timbreza wrote, “What is uniquely Filipino are the ways by which Filipinos arrive at decisions and conclusions which are based more on their values systems rather than on logical principles.”  Filipinos understanding of faith is unique because they based it more on their values systems.

Studies at Maryhill School of Theology (MST). 1 I prepared myself to undergo further honing in theological analysis and to acquire a basic knowledge of anthropological field research-something needed to get a picture of the folks' religion. An additional training in theology was a task within the familiar field; the field research, however, proved to be not only an unfamiliar work but also one that required throwing myself into unfamiliar territories.

Conmemoramos que hace diez años comenzó su tarea la Comisión diocesana de diálogo con la cultura. Recuerdo sus inicios y la ilusión con la que se emprendió esta tarea. Ahora es momento de reflexión y balance, al mismo tiempo que también es tiempo de mirar hacia el futuro y asumir nuevos retos.

Het islamdebat in Nederland is een trigger voor emotie geweest. De uitspraken van Ayaan Hirsi Ali -symbool van dit publieke debat -troffen de moslimgemeenschap tot buiten de landsgrenzen. In het bijzonder raakten ze de moslimvrouwen. Ook al is het niet nadrukkelijk opgevallen: veel moslima's hebben op de uitspraken gereageerd met een intrigerend weerwoord. Wat behelst hun argument? Wat is hiervan de emotionele en genderspecifieke component? En wat betekent het voor de vrouwen qua kennis en zelfbewustzijn? Om deze vragen te kunnen beantwoorden bekijk ik de situatie van moslima's in samenhang met hun reacties op twee niveaus. De theorie van Olivier Roy 2 en zijn beschrijving van 'Globalizing Islam' belicht moslims en hun discours vanuit globaliseringsperspectieven. Voor het nationale perspectief vergelijk ik mijn eigen bevindingen uit 2006 met die van andere onderzoekers. 3

The University of Westminster in partnership with the RIBA is hosting a groundbreaking two-day conference, which examines the boundaries between the sacred, spiritual and secular in modern British architecture. The conference will explore contemporary approaches to the design, use, stewardship and conservation of buildings across all faiths and will feature presentations from leading architects, academics, heritage professionals, commissioners and clients. The conference will include panel discussions and presentations, with contributions from key figures and practices in the field including

Looking at the themes of the world, memory and the ultimate fulfilment, the book seeks to recover the symbolic languages which can assist a dialogue and mutual learning on the boundaries between theology, politics and arts.
Contents:
Preface
Introduction: Culture as a Theological Theme
PART I: THE WORLD
Chapter One: Images of the World in Karel Čapek and Isaac Bashevis Singer
1. The Transcendent in the Ordinary
The World as a Factory
The World as a Garden
The World as an Open Horizon
2. A Vanished Past in the Mosaic of the Present
Roots that Were Moved
Shadows of Hope
Forces Playing in the Universe
3. Concluding Remarks
Chapter Two: Theologies of the World
1. What Lies beyond Secularisation?
2. The World as a Gift
All that is Seen and Unseen
Cosmic Nature and Humanity
The Image of God
The Fall and Renewal
3. The World as a Task
Divine – Human Cooperation
Utopia as a Symbolic Mediation of Hope
The Journey of Deification
4. Concluding Remarks
PART II: MEMORY
Chapter Three: Heritage of Totalitarian Cultures in Folk Music
1. Vladimir Vysotsky: Interplay of the Historical and the Archetypal
Losers’ Point of View
The Tragic Human Condition
Tell Me Where Is the Land Lit with Icon-Lamp Light
2. Jaromír Nohavica: Breaking and Healing in Retrospective
Memory as a Burden
God, Where Have You Been?
Glimpses of Redemption
3. Concluding Remarks
Chapter Four: Redemptive Memory in Theology
1. Victimhood as a Positive Identity
2. Remembering God
Christ as the One Who Remembers
Redemptive Re-Membering
God Siding with the Victim
Doctrine versus Experience?
3. Giving Back the Past
Liturgical Remembering
Historical Remembering
Two Eschatological Horizons
4. Concluding Remarks
Part III:  THE ULTIMATE FULFILMENT
Chapter Five: Figuring the Ultimate Fulfilment in Central European Cinema
1. Guiding Desires in extremis according to István Szabó and Vladimír Michálek
Mephisto
Forgotten Light
2. Kieślowski’s Journey towards What is Real
Liberty
Equality
Fraternity
3. Concluding Remarks
Chapter Six: Love as the Ultimate Fulfillment in Theology
1. Estrangement of Love or Ambiguity of Conversion?
2. The Spirit as the Giver of Love
Human Freedom without Love
Love outside and inside of the Body of Christ
Kenosis of the Spirit
Two Hands of the Father
3. The Spirit as the Giver of Conversion
Disordered Inclinations in the Light of Love
Discernments of the Spirits
Restored Communion
4. Concluding Remarks
Conclusion
Bibliography
Index

The biblical word appears in the history as a religious instance that also concerns human culture in all its displays. Certain moments of the history of Israel and of the first Christian communities show the power of renewal of the divine logos for the human culture: the biblical
word, due to its dimension of “truth”, is able to renew all relative to human leading it to its splendor, according to the logic of incarnation.

This paper brings together the thinking of the best of contemporary missiologists, Andrew Walls, and emergent theologians, Rob Bell and Ray Anderson. Walls shows that the Christian faith makes itself at home in different cultures in quite different ways, and that theology must be local in character. Because of this no group of Christians has any right to impose their assumptions upon another group of Christians. Rather, we are likely to find theologies arising out of other cultural contexts puzzling, even disturbing. Anderson demonstrates that the ‘work of God’ helps us interpret the ‘Word of God’. For example, the Apostle Paul used the fact that God poured his Spirit out on uncircumcised Gentiles (that is, a work of God) to reinterpret the Word of God – and he found an interpretation of the Word of God that was in line with that new reality. Anderson then gives two contemporary examples of something similar going on. Bringing together these two strands of thought, this paper argues that in any culture, even contemporary Western culture, we need to be alert to the work of God by his Spirit as we explore how to be culturally relevant, while true to our faith. This is risky business, always running the risk of taking one small step too far into ‘heresy’ (Bell) or ‘blasphemy’ (Walls). The current debate about the blessing of homosexual couples is an example of this process.

(Note: this is identical to the version of this paper uploaded earlier, but this version includes the date of writing.)

A theological exploration of the potential of non-liturgical instrumental music for the transmission of religious Christian faith experience, based on a hermeneutical tool drawn from Jean-Jacques Nattiez as applied to Arvo Pärt's Spiegel im Spiegel. The article explores musical composition, reception, as well as the piece of music in itself, to discover common traits and keys to understanding its "meaning", and relate it to current thought and development in theology; in particular to themes of creativity, theological aesthetics, the Ascension, the artistic vocation and meaning-making in contemporary culture, through music and films.