Institution Kirche

Swedenborg's Principles of Usefulness highlights Emanuel Swedenborg's (1688-1772) widespread influence on an impressive host of historical figures--from poets and artists to philosophers and statesmen--and reform movements whose contributions to the evolution of self and society have resonated throughout time and into the present. As evidenced in the self-reliance of the great Ralph Waldo Emerson, who went so far as to refer to the early part of the nineteenth century as the age of Swedenborg, the socialist tendencies of Henry James, Sr., and the pragmatic philosophy of his highly esteemed son William James, Swedenborg has had a powerful impact on a number of prominent individual thinkers and their lasting traditions. With love for one's neighbor sharing pride of place among his ideas, it comes as no surprise that Swedenborg's outlook on human interaction worked its way into the various social reform movements that vitalized the American landscape during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. From the more politically oriented single-tax movement of Henry George to the utopian aspirations of Charles Fourier and the more spiritually inclined social gospel and pastoral clinical movements, those who took Swedenborg's principles of usefulness to heart sought ways to reflect the divine design in human society. John Haller's treatment of the era draws a magnifying glass to those intellectual titans whose fortitude in the face of psychological and social adversities stands as a testament to the robustness of Swedenborg's concept of usefulness. As James F. Lawrence, Dean of the Center for Swedenborgian Studies at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, California, so aptly states in his foreword, "this book tells stories and builds perspectives that will prove without a doubt to be very useful."

Ordinary people of antiquity interacted with the supernatural through a mosaic of beliefs and rituals. Exploring everyday life from 200 BCE to the end of the first century CE, Robert Knapp shows that Jews and polytheists lived with the gods in very similar ways. Traditional interactions provided stability even in times of crisis, while changing a relationship risked catastrophe for the individual, his family, and his community. However, people in both traditions did at times leave behind their long-honored rites to try something new. The Dawn of Christianity reveals why some people in Judea and then in the Roman and Greek worlds embraced a new approach to the forces and powers in their daily lives.<BR><BR>Knapp traces the emergence of Christianity from its stirrings in the eastern Mediterranean, where Jewish monotheism coexisted with polytheism and prayer mixed with magic. In a time receptive to prophetic messages and supernatural interventions, Jesus of Nazareth convinced people to change their beliefs by showing, through miracles, his direct connection to god-like power. The miracle of the Resurrection solidified Jesus's supernatural credentials. After his death, followers continued to use miracles and magic to spread Jesus's message of reward for the righteous in this life and immortality in the next.<BR><BR>Many Jews and polytheists strongly opposed the budding movement but despite major setbacks Christianity proved resilient and adaptable. It survived long enough to be saved by a second miracle, the conversion of Emperor Constantine. Hand in hand with empire, Christianity began its long march through history.

This study argues that the local eucharistic community (LEC) is an essential unit of life in the Orthodox Church. The LEC is understood as the community of people who are bound together by weekly participation in the Divine Eucharist around the same altar, in which they are united to Christ and one another, and who choose to live in deep intentional community, growing in the life of Christ together, caring for one another, and witnessing to the world. The author presents a framework for the study and nurture of LECs based on eight attributes, which are: eucharistic life, community life, Christian formation, stewardship, governance, evangelism, philanthropy, and cultural incarnation. To gain a deeper understanding of LECs, their life is studied in the first century with some attention to the trajectory of their later development. Field research in the United States provides contemporary experience to supplement the understanding of healthy LECs. This research is supplemented by study of eucharistic ecclesiology, Orthodox missiology, and the Church Growth Movement to better understand how LECs should function and thrive in the twenty-first century. The new model of ministry presents a vision of healthy LECs as it has been developed in Albania and a practical plan for sharing this vision in other ecclesial contexts in the twenty-first century

Heinrich F. E. Schmid (1811-1885) was a professor of theology at Universitat Erlangen in Nuremburg, Germany. Joseph Seiss called The Doctrinal Theology of the Evangelical Lutheran Church "altogether one of the most ready helps and one of the most successful attempts" to gather "a library of our old dogmaticians." This English translation was produced in 1875.

Questo è il mistero della preghiera: la varietà di parole, espressioni, posture e silenzi con cui noi e Dio restiamo in un dialogo d'amore fondato sul rispetto della reciproca libertà. Un dialogo tanto misterioso per chi crede di non averne mai fatto esperienza, quanto familiare per chi ha già imparato a immergersi in esso con la spontaneità del cuore. Le pagine di questo libro vogliono essere un umile e utile strumento di iniziazione a un'arte di cui oggi, forse più che in altri tempi, si avverte una profonda nostalgia e un rinnovato interesse. Quando è compresa e vissuta per ciò che deve essere, la preghiera è l'ultima libertà di cui il cuore umano ha desiderio. Fermarci e prendere del tempo per sintonizzarci con il senso più profondo della nostra vita è il gesto più libero e necessario che possiamo compiere. La preghiera è l'unica cosa di cui c'è veramente bisogno, ma non può che essere un'esperienza assolutamente gratuita, libera da qualsiasi costrizione. La parte più bella della vita, a cui nessuno può costringerci, da cui nessuno ci può separare. Das Urheberrecht an bibliographischen und produktbeschreibenden Daten und an den bereitgestellten Bildern liegt bei Informazioni Editoriali, I.E. S.r.l., oder beim Herausgeber oder demjenigen, der die Genehmigung erteilt hat. Alle Rechte vorbehalten.

A lively and challenging exploration of things the contemporary Church needs to learn from monastic communities, things it has lost and needs to rediscover.

This book comprises all of the known articles Carol Robinson wrote for The Lone Star Catholic which was the official newspaper for the Diocese of Austin, Texas. The founding editor was Dale Francis (1917-1992), a former Methodist pastor and convert to the Catholic Faith, who had a distinguished career in journalism. He was a good friend of Carol Robinson and she was invited to write a column which she did for a year from April 1958 to April 1959.