Religion Commons^™

Hagia Sophia, Religious Freedom, And The Destruction Of The Christian Cultural Heritage In Turkey, Ina Merdjanova

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

A lot has happened in the last 10 years in Turkey. The Gezi Park protests in the summer of 2013 started as a peaceful citizens’ demonstration against the government’s plans to demolish a park in Istanbul city center in order to open space for the building of an Ottoman-themed mall and a new mosque, and after disproportionate police violence, turned into a mass movement against an increasingly authoritarian rule. The 2015 break-up of the Kurdish-Turkish peace process botched hopes for ending the 40-year conflict in the country’s Southeast. The failed coup in 2016 lead to ferocious crackdown on oppositional politicians, …

Sacred Architecture And Interreligious Dialogue In The Concept Of The “Russian World”, Oleksandr Lukyanenko

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

The article continues a series of studies illustrating the formation of the idea of the “Russian world” in the religious discourse of Orthodox Russia. The main attention is paid to ideological stamps used by Patriarch Kirill of Moscow during sermons and public speeches. The study summarizes the idea of the exclusivity of the Russian spiritual path in contrast to the West, which supports the annexation geopolitical policy of Vladimir Putin. The article provides examples of falsification of historical facts in the religious and political spheres in order to create a powerful propaganda background in the conditions of the Russian-Ukrainian war. …

Oppression In American, Islamic, And Jewish Private Law, Rabea Benhalim

University of Colorado Law Review

American, Islamic, and Jewish law all limit the enforcement of private law agreements incases of oppression and exploitation. But each system uses a different justification. The common thread among the three legal systems is the opposition from jurists to enforce contracts with a fundamental aspect of oppression. The reasoning for preventing oppression within the law is distinct to each legal system. The American legal system roots the justification in preserving free will and ensuring actual consent to contract. Islamic l provides justifications based on the divine vision for an equitable and just society articulated in the Quran. Jewish law argues …

Ritual, Spectacle, And Theatre In Late Medieval Seville (Chapter 1), Christopher B. Swift

Publications and Research

From the fall of Islamic Išbīliya in 1248 to the conquest of the New World, Seville was a nexus of economic and religious power where interconfessional living among Christians, Jews, and Muslims was negotiated on public stages. From out of seemingly irreconcilable ideologies of faith, hybrid performance culture emerged in spectacles of miraculous transformation, disciplinary processionals, and representations of religious identity. Ritual, Spectacle, and Theatre in Late Medieval Seville reinvigorates the study of medieval Iberian theater by revealing the ways in which public expressions of devotion, penance, and power fostered cultural reciprocity, rehearsed religious difference, and ultimately helped establish Seville …

A Critical Look At Modern Graduate Education Through The Lens Of Ancient Textbooks, Oliver Glanz

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Challenges Of Depression: Biblical Background And Impact On The Dynamics Of Family Relationships, Anna Galeniece, Eriks Galenieks

Faculty Publications

Today we are witnessing a global epidemic of rapidly spreading mental health problems among all age groups. However, a growing mental health crisis among youth is of particular concern. According to the World Health Organization, “1 in every eight people in the world live with a mental disorder.”1 The informative data are more than impressive. For many reasons, the accurate picture of various mental health disorders is much more widespread than the latest accessible information indicates. The fundamental question revolves not only around the mental health challenges of the afflicted but especially around its practical aspect: How can ordinary people …

Luther On Sabbath & Eschatology, Trevor O'Reggio

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Writing, The Bible & Me, Trevor O'Reggio

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Divorce Recovery, Trevor O'Reggio

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Frontmatter (Volume 43, Issue 1), Paul B. Mojzes

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

No abstract provided.

Frontmatter (Volume 43, Issue 2), Paul B. Mojzes

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

No abstract provided.

Social Mission Of Orthodox Churches In The Conditions Of 2022 Russian Invasion Of Ukraine, Vitalii Turenko

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

The article reveals the peculiarities and specifics of the implementation of the social mission of key domestic Orthodox denominations in the context of Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine. The key aspects of providing assistance and support to the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (hereafter OCU) and Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Hereafter UOC) for both the military and the civilian population were analyzed. Differences in the provision of aid between the Orthodox churches were revealed: if the former helps through volunteers by providing and purchasing weapons, the latter is limited to the purchase of transport, the provision of basic necessities and food and …

Manipulative Christianity: (Pseudo) Historical And Cultural Codes In The Concept Of "Russian World", Oleksandr Lukyanenko

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

The article illustrates the formation of the idea of the “Russian world” in the religious discourse of Orthodox Russia. The study summarizes the data on the use of ideological stamps by the Patriarch of Moscow Kirill during sermons with the aim of forming support for Vladimir Putin’s policies. The research cites examples of dirty propaganda, falsification of history, falsification of historical facts in religious and political battles in the conditions of the Russian-Ukrainian war. Kirill Gundyaev continued to assert the line of the President of the Russian Federation regarding non-recognition of the separateness of the Ukrainian people, assertion of its …

Finnish Response To Nato - Views From The Evangelical Lutheran Church And Christians In Finnish Politics, Miro Leporanta

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

Excerpt:

Finland placed an application for NATO in May of 2022, together with Sweden, with whom Finland’s foreign policy goals had been aligned for years.

Finnish Christianity and Finnish Churches have offered a variety of responses to the end of Finland’s non-military alignment. Of historical institutions in Finland, the Finnish Evangelical Lutheran Church (hereafter FELC) has a prominent social influence and is regarded as an institution that represents that country's values. This applies to Finnish defense policy as well. The church is a prominent player in the Finnish army and conscript service. On the FELC website, the Church states that: …

Representation Of Religious Minorities In Lithuanian Confessional Education, Iveta Klimavičiūtė

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

This article analyzes the situation of religious minorities in a Christian dominated sociopolitical environment in Lithuania through the confessional religious education (RE) system. Representation of religious minorities based on confessional model thus raises questions on majority and minority religions’ coexistence, whilst the latter neither legally, nor normatively experience such linkage with the State as majorified religion does. The empirical part of the study, based on content analysis of curricula and teaching aids, reveals that although tolerance of other religions is mentioned, there is also a visible hegemony of the Roman Catholic Church, and of Christianity in general. Non-traditional religious communities …

Belarus: Religious Freedom Survey, January 2023, Forum 18 Https://Www.Forum18.Org/Archive.Php?Article_Id=2806

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

Forum 18's freedom of religion and belief survey analysis of Belarus notes continuing violations of this freedom and of interlinked freedoms. These include a web of "legal" restrictions on which communities can meet, where, who they are led by, and what literature they may use. These restrictions make the exercise of freedom of religion and belief dependent on state permission. Violations have worsened since fraudulent presidential elections in August 2020, and the regime's support for Russia's renewed invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.1

Uccro Statement On Russian Terrorist Attacks On The Cities Of Ukraine, - Ukrainian Council Of Churches And Religious Organizations

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

No abstract provided.

In Double Jeopardy: For Ukrainian Orthodox Church, A War On Two Fronts, Geraldine Fagan

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

The Ukrainian Orthodox Church faces trouble from its own government as well as its Russian brethren.

Frontmatter (Volume 43, Issue 4), Paul B. Mojzes

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

No abstract provided.

Russian Orthodox Church As Apologist For The Current Russian Aggression, Valentyn Krysachenko, Alina Zadorozhnya, Yulia Lebedeva, Yuriy Figurnyi

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

The article analyzes the criminal character of the Russian Orthodox Church as an apologist for Russian imperial aggression. The concept of canonical territory is the ideological basis for the intervention of the Russian Orthodox Church in the internal affairs of independent states. Historically, the creation and growth of the network of the Russian Orthodox Church structures on its territory took place by illegal means, and the concept of canonical territory as a political trend was introduced in 1989 as a means of maintaining its own dominance in the post-Soviet states. The concept of “canonical territory” in the interpretation of the …

Militarism In The Spiritual Code Of The Modern Orthodox “Russian World, Oleksandr Lukyanenko

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

The article continues the series of research illustrating the formation of the idea of the “Russian world” in the religious discourse of Orthodox Russia. It pays special attention to the manipulations made by the Patriarch of Moscow, Kirill (Gundyaev), while preaching and giving public speeches. The study summarizes the idea of the “new martyrdom for Russia” recently promoted by the hierarch. The paper illustrates his support of Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 by the formation of the social opinion by the spiritual leader. Kirill uses the images of different wars to draw historical parallels with Russia’s current war …

Book Review: Orthodoxy In Two Manifestations: The Conflict In Ukraine As Expression Of A Fault Line In World Orthodoxy, By Bremer, Brüning, And Kizenko, Paul Crego, Paul B. Mojzes

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

A review of Thomas Bremer, Alfons Brüning, and Nadieszda Kizenko (eds). Orthodoxy in Two Manifestations: The Conflict in Ukraine as Expression of a Fault Line in World Orthodoxy. Peter Lang, 2022.

ISBN: 9783631886991

Introduction To Open Letter To Ekd And Wcc, Katharina Kunter

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

While the WCC continues to focus on dialogue with the Moscow Patriarchate, the Conference of European Churches (CEC), which has often been in the shadow of the WCC, is moving in a different direction. CEC is increasingly and more visibly focusing on an "honest" church stocktaking, pushes the involvement of civil society actors, and is supporting political reform processes in Ukraine.3 This is a remarkably different approach from that taken by the WCC.

Still Sticking To The Big Brother: History, German Protestantism, And The Ukrainian War, Katharina Kunter

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

It has often been revealed, in the great historical upheavals of contemporary history, that a quick, situational ad-hoc assessment and reaction is not the strength of German Protestantism. This was the case after the collapse of Imperial Germany (Kaiserreich) and the sovereign church regiment (Landesherrliches Kirchenregiment; summus episcopus) in 1918, as well as after the end of the Second World War, when German Protestantism was long at odds with democracy and Adenauer's ties to the West.4 The Peaceful Revolution in the GDR in 1989 (during the civic uprisings of 1989/90 in the other Central European countries) also surprised the leaders …

The Repressive Policy Of The Soviet Totalitarian Authorities Towards The Evangelical Baptist Christians Of Ukraine, Oksana Vysoven, Larysa Kapitan, Yuriy Fihurnyi, Oleksii Lukashevuch, Ihor Haidaienko

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

The punitive and repressive machine of the totalitarian regime worked to destroy politically hopeless citizens of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, and essentially religious people who made any sacrifices for the sake of their beliefs. A large part of them died in Stalin's concentration camps from diseases and malnutrition, as well as from difficult working conditions. Many prisoners were sentenced to be shot. Their families were harassed by law enforcement agencies, harassed in the press, at work. During the Khrushchev period, after the announcement of the anti-religious campaign and before the collapse of the Soviet Union, the children and …

Conflicts In The Families Of Parish Priests In 18th Century Ukraine, Oleksandr Lukyanenko, Vitaly Dmytrenko, Vita Dmytrenko

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

The study demonstrates how the religious worldview of early modern man influenced the formation of family values and relationships in the families of church and clerics. The paper is based on the analysis of religious texts that were the basis of the contemporary Orthodox idea of the ideal family, comparing them with notes on the daily life of religious figures of the early modern period and with archival sources. The thesis analyses the conflicts in priests’ families in Ukraine in the early modern society that was lenient with the “dosed” violence of the father in the family. The priest chose …

The World Council Of Churches At The 11th General Assembly On The War In Ukraine, Petja Kopperoinen

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

The 11^th Assembly of the World Council of Churches (WCC) in 2022 published a statement about the war in Ukraine, War in Ukraine, Peace and Justice in the European Region. The statement raised quite a lot discussion in the assembly, mostly about its failure to make any concrete suggestions in order to achieve peace. This essay provides a summary of the statement and of the discussion in the assembly. The essay points out a few flaws in the statement and shows the historical frame in which the statement was written.

Analysis Of The Contributions To The Statement On The War In Ukraine Of The World Council Of Churches 2022, Kia Peränen

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

This essay is structured around a review and analysis of the statement "War in Ukraine, Peace and Justice in the European Region" discussed at the 11th General Assembly of the World Council of Churches in Karlsruhe, Germany in 2022 in Business Session 6. The material for the essay will include both the written statement and the related discussion that took place at the discussion on the topic. My intention is to draw on both the statement and the discussion to highlight strong and useful points, but also to try to bring to the surface the weaker or somewhat flawed arguments …

A Discourse Of Modernization Of Religion In The Soviet Ukrainian Study Of Religion, Oleg Kyselov

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

The paper explores the Soviet scientific atheism discourse on the evolution of religion in the modern world. The author argues that the modernization of religion was a key concept for Soviet scholars, which was used to criticize religious trends of that time.

The article focuses on the published works of Soviet Ukrainian scholars, which discussed the definition of modernization of religion, its reasons, and the spheres of its manifestation. The current research focuses on the modernization of religion and the peculiarities of scientific atheism in Soviet Ukraine.

The author argues that there were no differences between religious modernism and modernization …

Confession As A Multifunctional Holy Sacrament Of The Ukrainian Orthodox Population Of The 17th-19th Centuries, Olena Borodenko, Vasyl Fazan

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

Цель. Статья посвящена проблеме многофункционального исследования конфессиональной обрядности мировоззрения и религиозной принадлежности украинского православного населения XVII-XIX вв.

Методы исследования . Междисциплинарный интеллект строится с преимуществом формально-логического метода познания в истории религии, социально-религиозной истории и интегрируется с избранными направлениями психологии и философии.

Основные результаты.Святое Таинство Исповеди представлено как проявление искреннего покаяния верующего в своих грехах, с верой в Бога-Творца, в Его милость, с надеждой на исправление жизненных проступков через отпущение грехов священником. По признанию, одним из побудительных факторов можно считать страх и набожность человека. Главной целью религиозного обряда было укрепление соблюдения в обществе христианских нравственных норм нравственности и гражданского права. …