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Teologinen
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In this number 2010Tiivistelmät / Abstrakter / Abstracts 2010Uudet tiivistelmät / Nya abstrakter / New abstracts6/2010TOMMI LEHTONEN This article presents a new classification system for the Christian doctrine of atonement called ”the houses of reconciliation”, whose categories are the courthouse, the shopping centre, the home, the hospital, the theatre and the church. These ’houses’ are used metaphorically to represent different ways of conceptualising reconciliation. Theological considerations of different versions of the doctrine of atonement tend to adopt a minimalist or maximalist tendency. The minimalist or reductionist tendency aims to choose one of the houses of reconciliation and to justify this choice. The maximalist or pluralistic tendency aims to occupy several houses. SANNA LEHTINEN The article discusses how religion manifests itself in project collaboration undertaken by an Evangelical-Lutheran parish. ESF project collaboration is religion-neutral local action governed by the EU. The research question is discussed through the dimensions of religion defined by Hinde: doctrinal, ritual, moral and social. The ritual and doctrinal dimensions of religion are marginal in project collaboration, representing individual choices that are irrelevant for the project as a whole. They do, however, offer an interface for traditional church practices from the parish point of view. By contrast, the moral and social dimensions are very important. Being less private, they enable the politicising and publicising of religion. Research findings indicate that a parish distinguishes itself from all other actors in project collaboration through its cultural capital, a tangible manifestation of religion. This cultural capital is the most valuable resource that a parish has in an increasingly multicultural and secular society. HARRI MERONEN One of the most influential philosophers of the 20th century, Paul Ricoeur (1913–2005), made a significant contribution to Biblical and theological hermeneutics. This article presents an analysis of his interpretation of Psalm 22. Ricoeur explains why this psalm, and the Psalms in general, recur as a focus for prayer with extraordinary vigour. He also interprets the theological and ”theologoumenon” meanings of the psalm and explains what important roles these have in the cluster of theologies and the scriptures of the Old Testament, and also in the New Testament and in canonical reading of the Bible. KATRIINA JÄRVENPÄÄ Publishing a death notice in a newspaper is a cultural practice, a means of informing friends and acquaintances of the deceased. A death notice is also a means for expressing and processing the loss experienced by family members and organisations. This article discusses death notices as a means of religious expression, exploring changes in death notices between 1998 and 2008 in the Turun Sanomat daily newspaper and seeking to determine how these death notices illustrate the role of religion and how it has changed in the media.
5/2010HANNA SALOMÄKI Membership of revival movements among people studying for jobs in the Church has decreased since the 1960s. This article discusses membership of revival movements among Church employees today and changes in support for revival movements in the 2000s in general. The article also explores revival movement backgrounds that Church employees may have had at home. The conclusion is that the percentage of Church employees who are members of revival movements has clearly decreased in the 2000s: three out of five employees were members in 2009, in most cases members of the Revivalist or Evangelical movements. Typically, Church employees may feel that their thinking has been influenced by the movements even if they do not feel themselves to be members. Movements where the commitment of members is typically shallow have at times lost members very rapidly. HENRIETTA GRÖNLUND & ANNE BIRGITTA PESSI The roles of the international aid, diaconal work, and missionary work of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland, as well as the roles of other church-related actors in these fields, have been much discussed in recent years. The present article concentrates on the views of salaried Church employees concerning international aid, aid organisations, and the relationship between missionary organisations and Finn Church Aid. More generally, the article explores the attitudes of Finns to international aid, Finn Church Aid and other aid organisations. The data for the article come from questionnaire replies from salaried Church employees, collected in 1999, 2004 and 2008. The findings indicate that Finns in general and Church employees in particular have great confidence in Finn Church Aid. Finally, the article discusses the roles of Finn Church Aid in multiple contexts in the Church and in society at large. TIINA HUHTANEN In his apologetic theology, Walter Kasper pursues a dialogue between Christianity and modern secular society. For the dialogue to succeed, the participants must know who they are. In order to ensure this, Kasper first gives the historical outlines of modern atheism. Secondly, he explicates the Christian position in the dialogue. Since the Biblical notion of God is Trinitarian, he develops a Christian answer to the challenges of modern atheism from this Trinitarian perspective. Kasper’s main point can be summarized as follows: in opposition to the modern and horizontal concept of freedom, Christianity calls on people to enjoy freedom that is vertical and absolute. MIKA HYNNINEN & NINA PEHKONEN Apostle Paul had a rather uneasy relationship with the Jerusalem community. The present article reviews this relationship from the perspective of rhetorical criticism. The letters of Paul come across as thoroughly one-sided in his relationship with the Jerusalem community, and the contradictory statements that he makes are examined here. The article offers a new reconstruction of the history behind the rhetorical texts.
4/2010VIRPI MÄKINEN Many scholars have argued that the Protestant Reformation changed the structures of poor relief and charity in various ways which were important to the subsequent development of the welfare state in northern Europe. These changes were based, for instance, on the expansion of state (or lay) engagement in poor relief, the centralization of resources and the rationalization of functions. The scholars also maintained that the development was due to differences between Catholic and Protestant religious motivation. This article aims to demonstrate that none of these changes had much to do with the Reformation, since the processes had begun much earlier. TUIJA LAINE The article explores the terms for describing poverty, hunger and infirmity in the Rucousciria (Prayer Book, 1544) of Agricola and how they are used. In the context of prayers with a scriptural origin, Agricola was dependent on the meanings of texts in the Bible, and here the terms ’poor’, ’hungry’ and ’infirm’ are used in their concrete meaning. By contrast, in prayers for private devotions and in liturgical prayers Agricola often uses these concepts more freely and in some cases allegorically. ESKO M. LAINE At the beginning of the modern era, poverty was a growing problem particularly in towns and cities. However, it is difficult to find reliable estimates on how many beggars there actually were. This article, related to the ”Books in transition” project of the Academy of Finland, discusses how Ericus Erici Sorolainen, Bishop of Turku, viewed poverty. The basis for this discussion is the sermon on the Gospel story of the blind beggar at the gates of Jericho (Luke 18:31–43) published by Sorolainen in his Postilla of 1621–1625, compared with his sources – 16th-century and early 17th-century German postillas, particularly the extensive Gospel postillas of Nathanael Tilesius of Silesia, Johannes Avenarius (Habermann) of Bohemia and Siegfried Saccus, a preacher at Magdeburg Cathedral; and the apocryphal books of Sirach and Tobit quoted by Sorolainen. These sources reflected and supported the movement prompted by the Reformation in Germany aimed at eradicating poverty through communal responsibility and community chests to help the poor, and by declaring that begging in public was improper. It was emphasized in this movement that paupers who were genuinely unable to survive on their own were to be helped by the community, but that these had to be distinguished from ”false paupers” whose misery was considered self-inflicted. In some postillas, poverty was reduced to a spiritual metaphor. Differences of emphasis between postillas may be detected. Sorolainen, like some of his sources, considered the blind man in the Gospel story a ”true pauper” who could not make a living without his eyesight. Therefore he would have been entitled to poor relief from the citizens of Jericho. Sorolainen’s interpretation relies heavily on the theological message of the Gospel story (trust in the potential of God), but poverty also retains its concrete meaning. Sorolainen’s sermon is thus both a theological and a concrete statement in social ethics focusing on the dilemma of poverty in early Lutheranism. PÄIVI RÄISÄNEN Studies of the Baptist movement and radical Reformation have not been particularly fashionable in recent years. In Finland, there is practically no tradition of Baptist research. This article discusses the present state of Baptist research worldwide and opens up perspectives for future research. New approaches are provided by micro-history, gender studies and forensic history relying on court records. Expanding the source base, hitherto consisting of a rather narrow range of printed sources, also broadens horizons, as certain recent studies demonstrate. This can serve to help Baptist research, often regarded as marginalia, enrich the mainstream research on the early modern era. JOUKO TALONEN In the study of Finnish ecclesiastical history, the birth of the Prayers religious movement was until 1976 traced back to an ecstatic religious revival that emerged in Kalanti in 1756, centred around a herdsgirl named Liisa Eerontytär. In 1976, however, Harri Heino published a dissertation where he claimed that the Prayers movement in its modern form emerged from the ”jumping revival” (hyppyherätys) of the early 19th century. The key figure in this movement was Juho Uusikartano, a blacksmith who was active at Honkilahti Chapel in Eura. Heino’s findings prompted public debate. Certain authorities in the Prayers movement, unwilling to accept this new view, continued to argue that the movement could trace a continuous history back to the 18th century. In 1978, a surprising endorsement of the traditional view within the Prayers movement was published in the Historiallinen Aikakauskirja journal by Mikko Juva, a distinguished Church historian and newly appointed to the Archdiocese of Turku from the post of Chancellor of the University of Helsinki. Heino’s claim thus remained disputed. The various strands of the Prayers movement continue to date their history from the folk revival in Kalanti in 1756. Professor Irma Sulkunen highlighted the importance of Liisa Eerontytär in her brief monograph of 1999. Historical gender research has thus reinstated Liisa as an important figure in Finnish ecclesiastical history. 3/2010PÄIVI PÖYHÖNEN The Role of the Church in the Context of Transforming Care In Finland, church social work already covers certain public sector tasks, and its importance has increased in recent years. The state-centred welfare model is struggling to provide enough care for the elderly, and the central government is redirecting resources and emphasizing the importance of the family. This article discusses how church social work concerning the elderly has developed in relation to changes in society and the generation contract. MATTI MYLLYKOSKI The Book of Elchasai and the baptist sect that used it was much better known in eastern Christianity than in the West. Origen describes the influence of the Elcahasaites in mid-3th century Palestine. Epiphanius, by contrast, discusses Jewish and Christian movements in Palestine and Transjordania in his extensive heresiology, including the adherents of Elchasai. The Elchasaites had a curious kind of Christology, and their adherence to law, astrological practices and ritual baptisms in particular were an interesting and unusual trend among eastern Christian sects. JUSSI KOIVISTO The Interpretation of the Fall in Early Lutheranism The Fall of mankind, depicted in chapter 3 of Genesis, is one of the best known Biblical stories in the Christian tradition. Early Lutherans emphasized that the Devil was the actual cause for the fall and that the first humans were his victims. This article discusses in detail how this notion developed between 1535 and 1580. The article also presents new and radical approaches to chapter 3 of Genesis and early Lutheranism. 2/2010VISA IMMONEN Making a Crosier for the Archbishop of Finland in 1931 In 1931, Juhani Rinne, the State Archaeologist of Finland, designed a crosier for the Archbishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church modelled on a Medieval staff at Turku Cathedral. It was commissioned by the Minister of Education, Paavo Virkkunen. The crosier was presented to the new Archbishop Lauri Ingman, prompting a public outcry, since bishops’ staves had not been used in Finland since the 16th century. Its introduction combined the ecumenical interests of Virkkunen with the antiquarian vision of Rinne. LIISA LAMPELA Using Vammala Parish as a case study, the article discusses the struggle ongoing in the Evangelical-Lutheran Church of Finland in the 2000s concerning who is allowed to officiate in the Church and on whose terms. The approach is sociological, viewing the Church as a social field and power space as per Bourdieu’s theory of power. The struggle for power and leadership is considered as a research problem from the point of view of the parish leadership. The article discusses how the Church defends its doxy and how revival movements that reject the priesthood of women attack the doxy of the Church, thereby methodically reinforcing their heterodoxy. Tolerance seems to be an inalienable value in the Church doxy, supporting the concept of a national church. PÄIVI VÄHÄKANGAS In the Old Testament, many patriarchs and kings are said to have had several wives. Early Christian theologians struggled to explain away these polygamous references in Scripture. When they argued for the union between one man and one woman, their concept of monogamy came to be understood in a strict sense: it means one single marriage during one’s lifetime. Widows were encouraged to abstain from second marriages. Christian understanding of the Roman univira ideal became the symbol for the virtue of monogamy. 1/2010ELINA JUNTUNEN & MARJUKKA LAIHO & ANNE BIRGITTA PESSI Increasing immigration to Finland and societal changes towards welfare pluralism have challenged religious organisations to develop new welfare services for immigrants. This article introduces a case study from Lahti. It concentrates on services provided by the Evangelical-Lutheran Church, the Pentecostal Church and the Salvation Army. The key questions are: What are the main values reflected in the welfare work? Furthermore, what kind of views on acculturation are prevalent in the religious organisations? MIRA-IRANA HELIMÄKI This article explores a Dionysian view of holiness. Key findings indicate that the concept of ”holiness” according to Dionysius is built into the essence of being. The fact that holiness is not perceived as a fundamental category of being is explained as an absence of awareness. Creation, being an ontological entity, is inevitably party to holiness, according to Dionysius, because it is anchored in the foundation of holiness. The process from non-awareness to awareness of holiness as a latent dimension that is present everywhere and in all things that exist is a key component of the spiritual growth of a human being in Dionysian thinking. Dionysius considered that holiness always manifests itself through the reality of the senses, and therefore holiness as a category of being is veiled in symbols. The article discusses the symbolic nature of being as part of the system of grace. KARI LATVANEN This article discusses how the basic text of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) supports the process of assigning meaning that is part of the rehabilitation of an alcoholic. The writer interprets the AA text as framing a ”trial” where witnesses testify to the healing power of God and demonstrates how the text draws on rhetorical devices to paint a picture of a world where alcoholism is an ”illness” from which one can only recover by the grace of God. The writer further illustrates how the book invites its reader to participate in a hermeneutic process through which he/she will learn to assign meaning to his/her relationship to alcohol, himself/herself, other people and God in a new way. JÜRGEN RÖMER In the media and in everyday conversation, religious fundamentalism is usually seen to be the same kind of thing regardless of its cultural context. This study shows that there is not just one kind of religious fundamentalism but several fundamentalisms that share a family resemblance. Principally, the study describes fundamentalism as conservative politico-religious activism. Fundamentalisms differ from one another for instance in their views of theocracy and democracy. The study also aims to chart universal fundamentalist features, which is problematic because in each specific case the general features constitute an indivisible ”package”. In studying fundamentalism, it is important to determine what kind of fundamentalism we are discussing. This will help avoid generalisations and stereotypes which give a false impression of these phenomena.
Translation: Jaakko Mäntyjärvi |
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