Repository index

The Missiological [re]Interpretation of Abraham’s Offering, As a Potential Paradigm-Shift in [post]Modern Philosophical and Theological Reasoning. Consideration has to be taken in new view of the striking and in many ways mysterious and scandalous narrative of Abraham’s offering his son, Isaac on the mountain of Moriah. It was with Kierkegaard that this Old Testament story came to the forefront of philosophical investigations. The Danish philosopher marvelled on the obedience of the Patriarch in not even wavering (although certainly accepting the deadly burden of the angst which entails this action) to act without really understanding why Yahweh has asked for such a terrible sacrifice.

The Relationship of the Eucharist and Reconciliation in the Didaché. The author analyzes the relation of the Eucharist and reconciliation through one of the well-known writings of the Early Church – The Lord’s Teaching to the Nations Through the Twelve Apostles. Christianity has evolved from Judaism, and despite many differences there are still numerous similarities, overlaps as the feast, liturgy, prayer, Holy Communion and the renewal of the covenant. The meaning and content of the Eucharist went through several changes during the history of the Church, and differences of opinion on this point exist even in our days. The Eucharist is an important part of Christian faith which lives in the Parousia, through this Christians are in ongoing relation with the resurrected Lord. As a result of the reconciliation of Christ, the participation of Christians in the Eucharist enforces their relation to each other.

The Life-work Which Reveals the Delusion of Christianity, the Kierkegaardian Criticism of the Church and Christianity. Entropy is a main characteristic of the human world; consequently the Church also has a similar tendency. Criticism is in symbiosis with Christian life. One of the most important critical analysis of Christianity is made by Kierkegaard. To understand his life-work from the point of view of criticism, we have to deal with three important aspects: a) The religious influence in his childhood. His family comes from the Moravian tradition; he had the opportunity to examine the dark side of this tradition as wel. b) His relationship to other personalities belonging to the golden age of Denmark. This period is characterized by the intensive reception of Hegel. Kierkegaard could not agree with the Danish Hegelians, because his consequent subjectivity was in permanent polemics with the objectivity of speculative theology.

Theodoret of Cyrus: Haereticarum Fabularum Compendium – On Simon Magus. Here we publish a passage concerning Simon Magus from the Haereticarum Fabularum Compendium by Theodoret of Cyrus. The person of Simon Magus fades within the obscurity of legends. The published sources concerning him may be divided in three groups: the New Testament (Acts 8,5–25), the writings of the Church Fathers and the legends which arose concerning his person. All the Church Fathers present him as arch-heretic. In the introduction of this translation we will follow the way of Simon in the New Testament and in the writings of the scholars of the Early Church from his youth to his death. After having presented his life we will try to sketch out his teaching based on the available secondary sources. While Simon wrote no book from which we could reconstruct his teaching, we are acquainted with his doctrine only from the above mentioned writings.

The Passion of Christ in the Early Christian Creeds. In this short paper I present a pending question of the Christological passage of the Apostolic Confession. According to the teaching of the Bible, the passion of the Lord could not be summarized in this sentence: “he suffered under Pontius Pilate”, because the Lord has not suffered only under Pontius Pilate, but in his whole life, as we read it in the Epistle of Paul to the Philippians: “but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men” (Phil 2,7). So, the passion of Christ begins with his “keno/sij”, and his whole life can be summarized in this word: “he suffered”.