Bøger udgivet af Anthony Vento

Our understanding of God is as God standing far above our feelings, experiences and thoughts. God cannot resemble man because He is powerful, omniscient, perfect. It is quite logical to think of Him as standing unaffected by and far from all our weaknesses and shortcomings. The Christian understanding of God differs diametrically from the ancient Greek account of the Olympian gods. These gods were seen as full of human emotions and passions. They were described as capable of hatred, jealousy, and envy. On the other hand, the God of the Bible is described as having love and sympathy for people, yet as an entity that cannot be defined in words. His description is possible only through analogy, symbols, and apophatic language. We cannot enter into His essence.All this leaves us in a position where we see God as transcendent, distant from us and from all creation. Here we will consider an approach that challenges this understanding. According to Abraham Heschel, God is constantly with us and always loves us; He feels what we feel. We cannot suffer without Him suffering with us; He is always here and present in all our sufferings and troubles. This chapter will examine this conception and check if it can change our understanding of God.

Can we rely on Christianity to solve various problems arising from earthly existence? Can we create a "Christian economy"? It seems that this is a contemporary utopia. Christianity is mostly concerned with morality. We must strive for good. And the economy is a realm that does not deserve special research on the part of theologians.And yet, Christianity takes a definite stand on some economic theories. It is strictly opposed to socialism and communism, to the attempt to deprive people of their land and property. It does not take kindly to the state's attempt to control everything in a society. Christianity argues in favor of more freedom for individual communities, and especially religious ones.Private initiative and economic freedom are invariably linked to the idea of individual freedom of religion. The state's attempt to intervene in the economy logically leads to interference in the religious sphere. This interference should not be permitted.On the other hand, there is a temptation for the Church to commercialize itself. It can attract more believers if it becomes more "interesting." Holding a number of entertainment events will indeed attract many people, but they will be anything but believers. The way for the Church to return more believers to its bosom is different - this will happen by giving strength and support to the believers. In a complicated world full of global crises, wars, and acts of terror, the Church must be a pillar for all. It should give comfort, hope, faith, and be our connection with our Creator. A commercial or globalized Church will stand very far from the covenants of Christ.

The current book aims at demonstrating significant similarities between some doctrines found in the Holy Bible and given philosophical teachings of famous philosophers and psychologists from the second half of the XIXth and from the first half of the XXth century. As it seems, in the Holy Bible we could find all the wisdom of mankind; therefore, it is not by accident that many analogies could be drawn between the Book of Ecclesiastes and the philosophy of Ancient Greece, for instance, or between St. Paul's philosophy of love and Viktor Frankl's logotherapy. Interestingly enough, there are two very special places in the Holy Bible where three types of philosophy are presented: the Parable of the Good Samaritan, and the Last Supper. As the story of the Good Samaritan (The King James version, Luke 10.25-37) tells us that he is a man who helped someone who had been attacked by robbers. The Good Samaritan is example for love towards the neighbor and for unselfishness. Our Lord tells the parable within the context of his message of love, to love our neighbors as ourselves, and to love God in the same way. This conception will be analyzed in the third chapter. Now, all we could say is that the robbers are example of a philosophy which will be referred to as philosophy of the will to power: they want to possess, to exploit, and to appropriate. This philosophy is well elaborated by the German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, a controversial and harshly criticized thinker. The opposite of the will to power is the will to love which includes altruism, unselfishness, and love towards the others. The Good Samaritan is ready to help and to make sacrifices (to give his own money) just to help one stranger. He sees neighbor, and not stranger, in the wounded man. The will to love is presented by St. Paul's doctrine of agape as infinite love towards the others and God. This philosophy is intermingled with another philosophy which here is referred to as philosophy of the will to meaning, and is endorsed by the philosopher and psychologist Viktor Frankl. For that reason, we shall look upon the both philosophies as the two parts of one whole. In the current book we shall use the term philosophy of meaning, but this implies that the philosophy of love as well will be addressed. The Good Samaritan demonstrates the basic principles of both philosophies, thus combining love and meaning.

Education is the symbol of the modern era. The contemporary system of education has emerged as an outcome of the fast industrial development of recent centuries; factories needed workers, and these workers had to gain some special skills to work with machines. In the course of time, various new professions appeared which required developing new skills and abilities. Besides, the old approach to knowledge was transformed into the Baconian approach, knowledge is power. To know means to control, to be able to act properly. Whereas prior to F. Bacon knowledge had been perceived rather as wisdom (important principles related to how to live righteously, or how to avoid dangerous situations, etc.) than as an instrument for achieving certain goals, the modern times established the principle of knowledge as power. Only by knowing the world which surrounds them, human beings are capable of controlling it. This principle was not the only one emerging in modernity. The modern era brought about a special feeling of optimism about mankind's future. It envisaged our common future as times of universal social equality, nice and pleasant jobs, reconciliation and peace at the international level. Philosophers like Descartes, Kant, Hegel, SaintSimon, and others preached that the intellect is the main human instrument for achieving eternal peace and common well-being. Cartesian rationalism (the philosophy of Descartes) aspired for comprehending the universal truth, the truth which would unite the whole of mankind and overcome all religious divisions.

Every religion is a robust and stable whole constituted of various well-integrated parts: dogmas, practices (including ceremonies), ethics, social hierarchy, and others. Religion is not merely the dogmas taught by theologians; it is not the ceremonies and rituals conducted by the clergy; it is far from merely representing given ideas about the world and humankind. "Religion" is so complex and contains so many interwoven elements that one cannot properly analyze it by putting stress only on one of them. Therefore, if we are to analyze the essence of Christianity, more precisely in its Catholic form, which is the truest form of Christianity, we cannot merely refer to a set of dogmas and work only with them. We have to take into consideration all the Sacraments, all practices, all moral principles. This is not an easy task. Hence, the present book will try to elucidate the fundamental dogmas and principles of Christianity, but it will not go as deep as to deal with particular practices (with the exception of several Sacraments which will be discussed). As the present book is focused mainly on dogmas, we will try to analyze Christianity in a dogmatic and theoretical context. The current chapter is dedicated to the history of Christian dogmatics and on the central dogmas of Christianity. Both things should be examined together since Christian dogmas did not appear out of nothing. They had a certain basis- the teaching of Christ Himself, the epistles and sermons of the Apostles, the works of the early Fathers of the Church.

The Battle of Lepanto was a decisive victory for the Holy League, and marked the reestablishment of the Christian Empire in the Levant.Don Juan and Doria led the battle to retake Tunis from the Ottomans in 1573. The Ottomans retook Tunis in 1574 and remained in power there.In 1576, Don Juan was appointed Governor General over the Hapsburg Netherlands. He led the capture of the city of Namur in 1577, and defeated the Protestants in the Battle of Gembloux in 1578. After his victories, he was defeated at Rijmenam near present day Brussels. After this defeat his health began to deteriorate and he succumbed to a fever, dying on Sunday, October 1, 1578. He was 31 years old.Doria went on to lead expeditions against the Barbary States in 1601. He also served as Commander of the Order of Santiago, the Marquis of Tursi, and Prince of Melfi.Venier was elected Doge of Venice in 1577, at the age of 81. He died on March 3, 1578. His remains now rest at the Basilica di San Giovanni e Paulo.

There are some people in this world that just seem to "get" it. This phrase might seem a bit cliché or trite. Yet it becomes clear to those who experience this type of person that a close connection with the Creator and fresh perspective on life are the keys to this holy kind of contentment.