Psalms,the Scripture and the Church

Abstract

Hurrying in rain,

Jumping to evade puddles

I sprained my ankle;

Life is rushing amid tears,

Dodging ills, we still suffer     

《诗篇》:世俗世界中神圣的守护者

一般抒情诗的抒情者为"我",常以第一人称形式出现.也有以第二、第三人称出现的,但其实系第一人称的变式.在一般抒情诗中,"我"居于抒情言说的中心,抒情言说乃一"我"独语.一般抒情诗文体上的这种人类中心主义源于人想"像上帝一样"的自大情结.同为抒情诗,<诗篇>的抒情者虽亦为"我",但"我"却不居于言说之中心,中心乃神圣之"你"耶和华,抒情言说乃"我-你"之互语.这种表现人自甘为卑、神圣者在人之上的文体语言,应是在世俗化世界对神圣者的一种守护.     

The fool of the Psalms and religious epistemology

International Journal for Philosophy of Religion -     

Communities of the Converted: Ukrainians and Global Evangelism

Russia and the other states that were created from the Soviet Union have developed, under the conditions of the re-emergence of religion in the public sphere, a set of patterned relations between the state and religious institutions that we may call the post-Soviet religious model. This paper identifies the primary characteristics of this model as it has been put into place in the region (excluding the Baltic states, Armenia, Georgia and Ukraine, which have substantially different situations from the other post-Soviet states) and explores reasons for the formation of a common post-Soviet religious model. The model has three characteristic features: formal and legal secularity; development of the category of ‘traditional’ religions; and the subordinated position of religious institutions in their (usually mutually beneficial) relation with a state, accompanied by a ‘licence to preach’. The model is not fully developed: it is in statu nascendi, and it may develop further in several directions. In this context, the article points to some variations among CIS countries in the application of the model.