Jan N. Bremmer

Religious Pluralism and Diversity in the Ancient World: Herodotus, the Roman Republic and Late Antiquity

Karel Šimr

Vztah lásky k Bohu a lásky bližnímu: Bonhoeffer, Rahner, Pannenberg

Eliška Vančová

Žehnání párům stejného pohlaví v Českobratrské církvi evangelické

Michal Balcar

Sobota jako znamení věrnosti Bohu. Adventisté sedmého dne ve střetu s totalitními režimy 20. století v Československu

Ondřej Macek

Politické kázání. Impuls k diskusi

Ondřej Kolář

Review: Ondřej Macek a kol.: Cesty k lidem. Kapitoly z duchovní péče

Jan Thümmel

Review: Christian Danz – Werner Schüßler (eds.): Paul Tillich in Dresden. Intellektuellen-Diskurse in der Weimarer Republik

Jana Nechutová

Review: Marcela Andoková: Čierna som, a predsa krásna. Tyconiov výklad Piesne piesní 1,5

Author:

Jan N. Bremmer

Abstract:

The subject of religious pluralism and diversity is much debated today, but has attracted much less attention in discussions of ancient Greek and Roman religion. In my contribution, I first look at the genealogy of the term ‘religious pluralism’ and differentiate it from diversity as being more normative. Subsequently, I look at Herodotus’ view of Persian religion as an example of religious diversity. I note that this Greek author, himself from a multicultural background, would today be considered a relativist. In his time, though, there was not yet a specific term for religious deviancy, which, as noted, started to emerge in the later fourth century BC (§ 1). I continue by looking at the Roman Republic and the early Principate. From a quantitative analysis, it is clear that the Roman term religio becomes more important in the first century BC and also acquires the meaning of a system of religious observances that can be regulated, which is an important step towards its later meaning ‘religion’. At the same time, we note the rise of the concomitant term superstitio as the wrong religio. Still, the Roman elite tolerated a wide variety of new cults outside civic religion and basically practised diversity (§ 2). After this, I will turn to the demise of religious diversity and pluralism in Late Antiquity, where we start to see religious persecutions for the very first time (§ 3). I conclude with some final considerations on the necessity of dialogue in negotiating religious differences.

Cite As:

BREMMER, Jan. "Religious Pluralism and Diversity in the Ancient World: Herodotus, the Roman Republic and Late Antiquity." Teologická reflexe/Theological Reflection. 29/2 (2023): 105-136.

Keywords:

Religious pluralism, diversity, tolerance, superstition, market place of religions, persecutions, dialogue

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DOI:

https://doi.org/10.14712/27880796.2023.2.1

published: 23. 01. 2024

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).

Author:

Karel Šimr

Abstract:

The Relationship between Love to God and Love to One’s Neighbor: Bonhoeffer, Rahner, Pannenberg

The study deals with the relationship between love to God and love to our neighbour in the context of the so called double commandment of love that is regarded as a key biblical motive for the conceptualisation of the relation between faith and action. The study asks the question whether to understand this relation causally, implicatorically or simultaneously, and it discusses it on the example of three ways of the grasping of this problem in the 20th century theology. The causal approach is documented from a Christocentric point of view by the evangelical theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Implicative is the antropologically oriented argumentation of the Catholic theologian Karl Rahner. Finally, the simultaneous perspective is seen at the example of Wolfhart Pannenberg’s theology, who in Trinitarin context overcomes the previous views and their one-sidedness and preserves both inner unity of both commandments of love and at the same time their relative autonomy.

Cite As:

ŠIMR, Karel. "Vztah lásky k Bohu a lásky bližnímu: Bonhoeffer, Rahner, Pannenberg." Teologická reflexe/Theological Reflection. 29/2 (2023): 137-153.

Keywords:

Double commandment of love, faith and action, Bonhoeffer, Rahner, Pannenberg

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DOI:

https://doi.org/10.14712/27880796.2023.2.2

published: 23. 01. 2024

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).

Author:

Eliška Vančová

Abstract:

Blessing Same-sex Couples in the Evangelical Church of Czech Brethren

As part of the efforts to protect minorities, the issue of the social status of intimate relationship between two people of the same sex has come to the fore in recent years. This article examines how the Evangelical Church of Czech Brethren (hereafter ECCB) deals with same-sex couples in its liturgical life. Because of the lack of relevant data, the presentation of the practice of blessing same-sex couples in the ECCB in this article is based on research. The research consists of two parts. The first one is a questionnaire survey examining how widespread the blessing of samesex couples in the Church is and what factors play a role. The second part, in the form of a case study, shows what a worship gathering on this occasion might look like in practice.

Cite As:

VANČOVÁ, Eliška. "Žehnání párům stejného pohlaví v Českobratrské církvi evangelické." Teologická reflexe/Theological Reflection. 29/2 (2023): 154-173.

Keywords:

Blessing same-sex couples, Evangelical Church of Czech Brethren, LGBTQ, liturgy

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DOI

https://doi.org/10.14712/27880796.2023.2.3

published: 23. 01. 2024

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).

Author:

Michal Balcar

Abstract:

Seventh-day Sabbath as a Sign of Christian Loyalty: The Seventh-day Adventists in the Conflict with Totalitarian Regimes in the 20th Century Czechoslovakia The subject matter of this article is to describe and analyse the conflict between the Seventh-day Adventists and totalitarian regimes in Czechoslovakia. It explains the reasons why the clash occurred, with specific emphasis on the role the Sabbath (Saturday) observance plays in the Adventist theology, and eschatology in particular. There are some cases of persecution due to the Sabbath observance during the time of National socialism, however the conflict intensified especially during the 50s and 60s, when a number of Adventists were imprisoned. There were two points of conflict, namely mandatory military service and school attendance. The school attendance issue disappeared in 1968 when two-day weekend was introduced in Czechoslovakia, however Adventist soldiers struggled even in the 70s and 80s. The whole problem disappeared only after 1989.

Cite As:

BALCAR, Michal. "Sobota jako znamení věrnosti Bohu. Adventisté sedmého dne ve střetu s totalitními režimy 20. století v Československu." Teologická reflexe/Theological Reflection. 29/2 (2023): 174-188.

Keywords:

Seventh-day Adventists, Sabbath (Saturday) observance, totalitarian regimes, national socialism, communism, persecution

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DOI:

https://doi.org/10.14712/27880796.2023.2.4

published: 23. 01. 2024

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).

Author:

Ondřej Macek

Abstract:

A Political Sermon. An Impulse for Discussion

The author points to the fact that in the Czech Protestant environment, there has not yet been a professional discussion on how to reflect contemporary political issues at the pulpit. He points to Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s thesis that the church must be able to pronounce the word of God here and now, from knowledge of the political matter, getting to the core. Building particularly on contemporary German literature, he not only summarizes the arguments for “political sermons” and suggests what form they might take, but he also discusses the risks involved. Finally, he stresses that preaching is part of a worship service in which people pray for politicians and good governance and also celebrate the Eucharist – experiencing the new world and carrying parts of it into the present one.

Cite As:

MACEK, Ondřej. "Politické kázání. Impuls k diskusi." Teologická reflexe/Theological Reflection. 29/2 (2023): 189-200.

Keywords:

Political sermon, audience, religious reflection on the political, the form of political sermon, the dangers and problems of political sermon

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DOI:

https://doi.org/10.14712/27880796.2023.2.5

published: 23. 01. 2024

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).

Author:

Ondřej Kolář

Cite As:

KOLÁŘ, Ondřej. "Review: Ondřej Macek a kol.: Cesty k lidem. Kapitoly z duchovní péče." Teologická reflexe/Theological Reflection. 29/2 (2023), s. 201-203.

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DOI

https://doi.org/10.14712/27880796.2023.2.6

published: 23. 01. 2024

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).

Author:

Jan Thümmel

Cite As:

THÜMMEL, Jan. "Review: Christian Danz – Werner Schüßler (eds.): Paul Tillich in Dresden. Intellektuellen- Diskurse in der Weimarer Republik." Teologická reflexe/Theological Reflection. 29/2 (2023): 204-211.

Full text (pdf)

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.14712/27880796.2023.2.7

published: 23. 01. 2024

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).

Author:

Jana Nechutová

Cite As:

NECHUTOVÁ, Jana. "Review: Marcela Andoková: Čierna som, a predsa krásna. Tyconiov výklad Piesne piesní 1,5." Teologická reflexe/Theological Reflection. 29/2 (2023): 212-214.

Full text (pdf)

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.14712/27880796.2023.2.8

published: 23. 01. 2024

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).