Among the most important Jewish encounters with other cultures and civilizations, the encounter with Islamic culture was, in our view, the most important. This encounter was in some aspects like their encounter with the ancient civilization, but the impacts were more valuable and constructive. Under Islamic rule, the Jews not only had a sense of security but also enjoyed a relatively satisfacto...

I NVITED TO REFLECT ON THE RELATIONSHIP between theology and ecology, and to explore why that relationship might seem to have 'lost its appeal', I decided to look at the Christian theological tradition and the demands that a fruitful and appropriate relationship with ecology might make on it. Do theology's anthropological postulates encourage the kind of theological freedom needed to respond to...

both positive and negative; in the medieval world, however, it held a precise meaning, often also referred to as “contemplation” or “the contemplative life.” The mysticism of this period had some merits, but also some serious flaws in both theology and practice. In many respects, the mysticism of the medieval world derived from early Latin mysticism, which in turn evolved from an amalgamation o...

on tabatabai`s viewpoint, human being is of a particular nature leading to special manner of life and way that is ended to god. , that he is certain that led to the lord is leading and specific traditions and way of life. calvin's theology is based on the acknowledgment of god in the depths of the human mind. it is a theory one may not acquire by common education, rather it is something th...

Peter Balla is the Lecturer and Head of the New Testament Department of the Faculty of Theology of the Károli Gáspár Reformed University, Budapest, Hungary. He received his Master of Theology (1988) and Ph.D. (1994) from University of Edinburgh. His Habilitat ionsschrif t was accepted by the Lutheran Theological Universit y in Budapest in October 2001. Dr. Balla’s doctoral dissertation, Challen...

This study undertakes a narrative reading of the text of Acts 15:1-31 and develops the construct of implicit theology, defining it as generic, usually unspoken ideas about the theological realm that have a measurable effect on individual and congregational behavior. The reading of the Jerusalem council narrative (Acts 15:1-31) highlights three points of view regarding law, grace, and fellowship...

The article analyzes the relation between philosophy and theology in Thomas Aquinas context of difference light active intellect faith. faith perfects strengthens natural light; because that, reason is subservient to higher faith, cannot contradict it has submit it. Theology uses first principles that are presuppositions all thinking; theological reflection correct defend against its inherent d...

Karl Barth’s gender perspective is often analysed with reference to his so-called “theoethics” or “creational theology”. This perspective perpetuates an asymmetry in gender relations that was prevalent in Biblical times, throughout Christianity and to some extent still is visible today. He based his view on the subordination of women on an exegesis of Genesis 1:27 as “intertext” of Ephesians 5:...

This paper draws attention to the remarkable closing words of Isaac Newton’s Optice (1706) and subsequent editions of the Opticks (1718, 1721), and tries to suggest why Newton chose to conclude his book with a puzzling allusion to his own unpublished conclusions about the history of religion. Newton suggests in this concluding passage that the bounds of moral philosophy will be enlarged as natu...

Joseph Selling proposes a contemporary revision of natural law ethics, making it more person-centered. Earlier James Gustafson insisted that natural law ethics was too egoist or anthropocentric, so his work proposed theocentrism as a corrective. Richard Gula in turn proposed an ethics that centers on imitating God’s relationships. This essay combines the merits of all three with the author’s ow...