ASSOCIATIVISMO RELIGIOSO E OS IMIGRANTES AFRICANOS: O caso do Campo Missionário Congoangolano da Assembleia de Deus na cidade do Rio de Janeiro

Esta pesquisa faz uma análise do Campo Missionário Congoangolano da Assembleia de Deus, localizado no bairro de Brás de Pina - Zona norte da cidade do Rio de Janeiro. Procura identificar a função desta comunidade religiosa para os imigrantes congoleses e angolanos que a ela pertencem. Desse modo, visa refletir sobre a formação de um espaço territorial religioso consolidado por elementos da religiosidade africana e do pentecostalismo assembleiano e sua imbricada associação com a formação de redes de apoio e de coesão social em torno da manutenção e sustentação de um espaço identitário. Esse espaço é marcado por elementos que expressam símbolos e signos dos países de origem de seus integrantes - Congo e Angola - ao utilizarem a liturgia africana em seus cultos. A pesquisa leva em consideração as demandas que norteiam o processo migratório, as leis que regem esses imigrantes e o quanto tal processo contribui para práticas associativas que envolvem fatores inerentes a inserção e integração sociocultural e econômica no interior do campo missionário.

O MISTICISMO JUDAICO E APOCALÍPTICO NO APOCALIPSE DE JOÃO CAPÍTULOS 4 E 5 ASCENSÃO E VIAGEM CELESTIAL NO CRISTIANISMO PRIMITIVO

Esta dissertação tem por objeto analisar os textos do livro do Apocalipse capítulos 4 e 5. As fontes de pesquisa pertencem às tradições do Misticismo Judaico. Esta linha, hoje ecoa em estudos do misticismo apocalíptico e do êxtase visionário relativo ao contexto do judaísmo e cristianismo primitivos, em autores tais como: Christopher Rowland, Alan Segal, C. R. A. Morray-Jones e John Ashton, John Collins, Adella Collins, Jonas Machado, Paulo A. S. Nogueira, Carol Newsom, David E. Aune, Philip Alexander, Crispin H.T. Fletcher-Louis, Florentino García Martínez dentre outros; sendo que, estes autores se alinham aos resultados das pesquisas iniciais de Gershom Scholem sobre o Misticismo Judaico, e aos desenvolvimentos mais recentes neste âmbito. Nogueira1 menciona que foi Scholem quem realmente usou este misticismo para produzir a chave das histórias de ascensão celestial presentes nos apocalipses dos últimos dois séculos a.C. e dos primeiros dois séculos d.C. Foi Scholem, na verdade, quem iniciou a discussão acadêmica dos místicos judaicos em seu livro Major Trends in Jewish Myticism - Principais Tendências no Misticismo Judaico em 1941. Corroborando com a tradição destes estudos se encontram as descobertas dos manuscritos de Qumran, como a dos Cânticos do Sacrifício Sabático, uma composição de treze cânticos, também chamada de liturgia angélica, e que tem contribuído para o desenvolvimento das pesquisas, bem como sustentado os argumentos de Scholem. Dentre os manuscritos de Qumran há um fragmento de hinos denominado 4Q405, que trouxe ao conhecimento a terminologia Merkaváh, em que anjos louvam a imagem do Trono da Carruagem citado no primeiro capítulo do livro de Ezequiel. Identificou-se nestes o sincretismo da comunidade de Qumran acerca do canto dos anjos com outras ideias sobre os deveres dos mesmos, sendo uma característica comum às tradições da Ma asseh Merkaváh - (Trabalhos do Divino Trono/Carruagem). 1 NOGUEIRA, Sebastiana M. Silva. 2 Coríntios 12 e o Misticismo Judaico (Os Quatro que Entraram no Pardes). Oracula, 2012 p.04. Assim, a pesquisa segue os pressupostos de Rowland2, de que os textos do Apocalipse 4 e 5 possuem em sua narrativa uma semelhança básica com a liturgia descrita nas tradições do misticismo apocalíptico do judaísmo no I século, bem como em textos de Qumran, principalmente no fragmento 4Q405. Conforme Nogueira3 Ezequiel capítulo 1 é considerado chave desta tradição mística do judaísmo, sendo, também um elemento central do Apocalipse de João, o principal visionário do cristianismo. Assim, a pesquisa inclui a aproximação dos textos considerados fundantes, sendo: (Isaías 6; Ezequiel 1; Daniel 7; I Enoque 14), junto aos textos de Qumran, como o complexo dos 13 Cânticos Sábaticos relacionados ao culto no santuário celestial. A apocalíptica pode ser assim compreendida como um tipo de literatura mística, cujas imagens se conjecturam nos escritos que, por meio da ascensão do visionário aos céus e a contemplação do trono de Deus, descortinam uma determinada tradição do judaísmo antigo. Desta forma podemos também interpretar os capítulos 4 e 5 do Apocalipse como texto místico, de conteúdos similares aos dos textos apocalípticos judaicos, e talvez até com um tipo de experiência religiosa análoga.

O Misticismo Judaico e Apocalíptico no Apocalipse de João Capítulos 4 e 5 Ascenção e Viagem Celestial no Cristianismo Primitivo

Esta dissertação tem por objeto analisar os textos do livro do Apocalipse capítulos 4 e 5. As fontes de pesquisa pertencem às tradições do Misticismo Judaico. Esta linha, hoje ecoa em estudos do misticismo apocalíptico e do êxtase visionário relativo ao contexto do judaísmo e cristianismo primitivos, em autores tais como: Christopher Rowland, Alan Segal, C. R. A. Morray-Jones e John Ashton, John Collins, Adella Collins, Jonas Machado, Paulo A. S. Nogueira, Carol Newsom, David E. Aune, Philip Alexander, Crispin H.T. Fletcher-Louis, Florentino García Martínez dentre outros; sendo que, estes autores se alinham aos resultados das pesquisas iniciais de Gershom Scholem sobre o Misticismo Judaico, e aos desenvolvimentos mais recentes neste âmbito. Nogueira1 menciona que foi Scholem quem realmente usou este misticismo para produzir a chave das histórias de ascensão celestial presentes nos apocalipses dos últimos dois séculos a.C. e dos primeiros dois séculos d.C. Foi Scholem, na verdade, quem iniciou a discussão acadêmica dos místicos judaicos em seu livro Major Trends in Jewish Myticism - Principais Tendências no Misticismo Judaico em 1941. Corroborando com a tradição destes estudos se encontram as descobertas dos manuscritos de Qumran, como a dos Cânticos do Sacrifício Sabático, uma composição de treze cânticos, também chamada de liturgia angélica, e que tem contribuído para o desenvolvimento das pesquisas, bem como sustentado os argumentos de Scholem. Dentre os manuscritos de Qumran há um fragmento de hinos denominado 4Q405, que trouxe ao conhecimento a terminologia Merkaváh, em que anjos louvam a imagem do Trono da Carruagem citado no primeiro capítulo do livro de Ezequiel. Identificou-se nestes o sincretismo da comunidade de Qumran acerca do canto dos anjos com outras ideias sobre os deveres dos mesmos, sendo uma característica comum às tradições da Maasseh Merkaváh Trabalhos do Divino Trono/CarruagemAssim, a pesquisa segue os pressupostos de Rowland2, de que os textos do Apocalipse 4 e 5 possuem em sua narrativa uma semelhança básica com a liturgia descrita nas tradições do misticismo apocalíptico do judaísmo no I século, bem como em textos de Qumran, principalmente no fragmento 4Q405. Conforme Nogueira3 Ezequiel capítulo 1 é considerado chave desta tradição mística do judaísmo, sendo, também um elemento central do Apocalipse de João, o principal visionário do cristianismo. Assim, a pesquisa inclui a aproximação dos textos considerados fundantes, sendo: (Isaías 6; Ezequiel 1; Daniel 7; I Enoque 14), junto aos textos de Qumran, como o complexo dos 13 Cânticos Sábaticos relacionados ao culto no santuário celestial. A apocalíptica pode ser assim compreendida como um tipo de literatura mística, cujas imagens se conjecturam nos escritos que, por meio da ascensão do visionário aos céus e a contemplação do trono de Deus, descortinam uma determinada tradição do judaísmo antigo. Desta forma podemos também interpretar os capítulos 4 e 5 do Apocalipse como texto místico, de conteúdos similares aos dos textos apocalípticos judaicos, e talvez até com um tipo de experiência religiosa análoga.

UMA ANÁLISE DOS CÂNTICOS ENTOADOS PELA COMUNIDADE CARISMA E SUAS INFLUÊNCIAS, NO INDIVIDUAL E NO COLETIVO, DIANTE DA TRANSFORMAÇÃO SOCIAL

A curiosidade do que acontece com os cânticos entoados pela comunidade carisma e a maneira com que toca as pessoas, no âmbito individual e no coletivo foi o que gerou essa pesquisa. A associação do significado das letras dos cânticos relacionado à transformação social que acontece dentro do trabalho e missão social urbana da Comunidade Carisma acabou sendo o foco desse trabalho. Sabe-se que a música tem um poder imenso de atuar na área emocional e nas experiências do ser humano, atuando tanto no individual, quanto no coletivo da pessoa. Então, até que ponto, música não é uma alienação, mas sim um instrumento de despertar individual e coletivamente - para a transformação e a aplicabilidade de todo este envolvimento social que a Comunidade Carisma vive? Dentro do que é a base teológica da comunidade, a ordem do culto e toda a sua liturgia, foi feito um levantamento de toda estrutura da mesma. E como se processa o louvor e o significado das letras dos cânticos compostos por membros deste ministério, com a ação que começa no individual, reporta-se ao coletivo e que gera transformação social dentro e fora da comunidade.(AU)

Orthodox Christianity and Nationalism:an introduction

On the morning of January 5, 1859, at the end of the liturgy in the Orthodox cathedral in Iaşi, the capital of the principality of Moldavia, Father Neofit Scriban addressed the congregation. He had given many sermons in the cathedral; however, on this par tic u lar date Father Neofit faced an unusual audience. Among the faithful who regularly worshipped at the relics of Saint Parascheva, the protector of Moldavia, were the members of the assembly who would decide the future of the principality. They had a specific mission: to elect a new prince, a key figure in their plan to unite Moldavia with the neighboring principality of Wallachia. Father Neofit, a supporter of the unionist cause and fully aware of the significance of the moment, stated: Brethren, Jesus Christ has said that "For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst." You, Brethren, are not two, or three, but a real gathering in the name of God. God is in your midst. You are here in the name of the Romanian nation [and] the Romanian nation is in your midst. On the flag under which you have assembled, the flag of the Romanian nation, great events, the Romanian faith, unity, are written in large letters. The church, which is founded on faith, blesses the flag of this faith⋯. You, Brethren, through the faith of the Romanian nation, by remaining faithful to this flag, will find the same strength as the church [finds] in its own saints. The faith of the Romanian nation was not, is not, and will not be anything else, but the unity of all Romanians in a single state, the only anchor of salvation, the only port in which the national boat could be saved from surrounding waves. You, Brethren, have gathered here in the church of Stephen the Great; looking at the altar that he raised to the God of your parents, I think that, through this [altar], you will be able to enter into the wishes of this hero of our nation. You, [remember that] by leaving this place, you are leaving [in order to fulfill] a great gesture that for many centuries has been lost for us; you are about to elect a successor to this great hero; therefore, as his true sons, you could not be anything other than the true expression of his wishes. Myself, [as] last year, from this altar, I said and I will continue to say that this great hero has told us that "the God of our parents will send us a Redeemer who will heal our wounds and accomplish our wishes." May your chosen leader today be the redeemer expected by the Romanian nation. May he heal its wounds and achieve its wishes. Therefore, Brethren, may your election today be that of a real Messiah of Romania. God and the world are looking at you, the church is blessing you and the whole Romanian nation is waiting for you!1 A few hours after Father Neofit's sermon, the assembly elected Alexandru Ioan Cuza to be the prince of the principality of Moldavia; a few days later, on January 24, 1859, the assembly of the neighboring principality of Wallachia decided that Cuza should also be their prince, thus confirming the unification of the two states. A new country was inscribed on the map of Southeastern Europe, titled "The United Principalities of Wallachia and Moldavia," also known as "The United Romanian Principalities".

Five times daily: the dynamics of prayer worship among Muslim immigrants in St. John's, NL

This thesis explores the ritual of prayer among Muslim immigrants in the city of St. John's, NL. Immigration across national, cultural, religious, and ethnic borders is a moment in an individual's life marked by significant change. My premise is that in such contexts the relatively conservative nature of religious ritual can supply much-needed continuity, comfort, and consolation for individuals living through the immigrant experience. As well, ritual forms are often put under stress when transferred to a considerably different place and cultural context, where “facts on the ground” may be obstacles to traditional and familiar ritual forms. Changes to the understanding or practice of ritual are common in new cultural and geographic situations, and ritual itself often becomes not merely a means of social identification and cohesion, but a practical tool in processing change - in the context of immigration, in learning to live in a new community. St. John's is a lively and historic city and while Muslim immigrants may be a small group within it they nevertheless contribute to the city's energy and atmosphere. This thesis endeavours to better understand the life stories of ten of these newcomers to St. John's, focusing on their religious backgrounds and lives. In particular, this thesis seeks to better understand the place of prayer in the immigrant experience.

Knowing The Way: Scriptural Imagination and the Acts of the Apostles

In this dissertation, I offer a pedagogical proposal for learning the Christian Scriptures guided by respect for the nature of the reader and the integrity of the biblical text. Christian educators have profitably developed recent theoretical interest in the body’s role in human meaning with regard to worship and praxis methodologies, but the implications of this research for communal study of the biblical text merit further development. I make the case for adopting scriptural imagination as the goal of pedagogically constructed encounters with the Christian Scriptures. The argument proceeds through a series of questions addressing both sides of the text/reader encounter.

Chapter one considers the question “what is the nature of the reader and, subsequently, the shape of the reader’s ways of knowing?” This investigation into recent literature on the body’s involvement in human knowing includes related epistemological shifts with Christian education. On the basis of this survey, imagination emerges as a compelling designator of an incorporative, constructive creaturely capacity that gives rise to a way of being in the world. Teachers of Scripture who intend to participate in Christian formation should account for the imagination’s centrality for all knowing. After briefly situating this proposal within a theological account of creatureliness, I make the initial case for Scriptural imagination as a pedagogical aim.

Imagination as creaturely capacity addresses the first guiding value, but does this proposal also respect the integrity and nature of the biblical text, and specifically of biblical narratives? In response, in chapter two I take up the Acts of the Apostles as a potential test case and exemplar for the dynamics pertinent to the formation of imagination. Drawing on secondary literature on the genre and literary features of Acts, I conclude that Acts coheres with this project’s explicit interest in imagination as a central component of the process of Christian formation in relationship to the Scriptures.

Chapters three and four each take up a pericope from Acts to assess whether the theoretical perspectives developed in prior chapters generate any interpretive payoff. In each of these chapters, a particular story within Acts functions as a test case for readings of biblical narratives guided by a concern for scriptural imagination. Each of these chapters begins with further theoretical development of some element of imaginal formation. Chapter three provides a theoretical account of practices as they relate to imagination, bringing that theory into conversation with Peter’s engagement in hospitality practices with Cornelius in Acts 10:1-11:18. Chapter four discusses the formative power of narratives, with implications for the analysis of Paul’s shipwreck in Acts 27:1-28:16.

In the final chapter, I offer a two-part constructive pedagogical proposal for reading scriptural narratives in Christian communities. First, I suggest adopting resonance above relevance as the goal of pedagogically constructed encounters with the Scriptures. Second, I offer three ways of reading with the body, including the physical, ecclesial, and social bodies that shape all learning. I conclude by identifying the importance of scriptural imagination for Christian formation and witness in the twenty-first century.

English Cathedrals: Events and Spiritual Capital

This paper investigates the recent trend for cathedrals in England to develop a wider and more ambitious scope to their event and activity programmes. It sets out to explore the types of events now hosted at cathedrals, to consider barriers to such ambitions and the opportunities presented by event programming to develop new audiences and grow attendances. The research focuses on the 42 Anglican cathedrals of England and has involved a review of recent reports published by church and cathedral organisations, supported by an in-depth review of event activity and objectives at five selected cathedrals in southern England. Despite declining general church attendance in England, cathedrals have enjoyed two decades of attendance growth both as places of worship and as tourist attractions, partly a reflection of a more complex contemporary search for multi-faceted types of spirituality. The paper explores how events can tap into the realm of individual spiritual capital and demonstrates the rich diversity of events now being hosted by cathedrals. The paper offers a new categorisation of ecclesiastical/liturgical events, cultural and community events and openly commercial event activity. Barriers remain but key facilitating factors have been new investment in event expertise and professionalism, encouragement to experiment by key funding bodies such as the Heritage Lottery Fund and the embracing of new forms of spirituality. The diversity of cathedral events reflects a new found growth in the nurturing of “spiritual capital” amongst both worshippers and tourists.

Cultural valuation and biodiversity conservation in the Upper Guinea forest, West Africa

The cultural valuation of biodiversity has taken on renewed importance over the last two decades as the ecosystem services framework has become widely adopted. Conservation initiatives increasingly use ecosystem service frameworks to render tropical forest landscapes and their peoples legible to market-oriented initiatives such as REDD+ and biodiversity offsetting schemes. Ecosystem service approaches have been widely criticized by scholars in the social sciences and humanities for their narrow focus on a small number of easily quantifiable and marketable services and a reductionist and sometimes simplistic approach to culture. We address the need to combine methods from each of the “three cultures” of natural science, quantitative social science, and qualitative social science/humanities in conceptualizing the relationship between cultural valuation and biodiversity conservation. We combine qualitative data with forest inventories and a quantitative index of cultural value to evaluate the relationship between cultural valuation and biodiversity conservation in Upper Guinea forest in Liberia, West Africa. Our study focuses on “sacred agroforests,” spaces that are associated with Mande macro-language speaking groups such as the Loma. We demonstrate that sacred agroforests are associated with different cultural values compared with secondary forests. Although biodiversity and biomass are similar, sacred agroforests exhibit a different species composition, especially of culturally salient species, increasing overall landscape agro-biodiversity. Sacred agroforests are also shaped and conserved by local cultural institutions revolving around ancestor worship, ritual, and the metaphysical conceptual category “salɛ.” We conclude that to understand the relationship between cultural valuation and biodiversity conservation, interpretivist approaches such as phenomenology should be employed alongside positivist ecosystem service frameworks.

The Auld Alliance: Organ music from Scotland and France.

CD recording of the Rieger organ of St Giles' Cathedral Edinburgh, performed by Michael Harris, with music from Scottish composers, and composers based in Scotland, as well as French organ music from the seventeenth to twentieth centuries. Works by James MacMillan, Thomas Wilson, Kenneth Leighton, Alfred Hollins, de Grigny, Guilmant, Fleury and Franck.

A shadow replaced by realities: the theme of temple in relation to Christology, Pneumatology and Ecclesiology in John's Gospel

This dissertation seeks to examine the role of the temple in relation to Christology, Pneumatology, and Ecclesiology in John’s Gospel. The Jerusalem temple, which was believed to be the shadow of the true temple in the heavens, was destroyed in A.D. 70. John, writing his Gospel after its destruction, presented the person of Jesus as the new cultic center of Judaism, in whom the more transcendent reality of the heavenly temple was truly embodied. The eschatological Spirit would animate the new worship inaugurated in the messianic temple, so that the believers could worship the Father in spirit and in truth. The living water of the Spirit was expected to flow from the heavenly temple, which is the glorified Jesus, throughout the earth via the mission of the ecclesial community – a community now constituted as the sacred temple. In this way, the Fourth Gospel presents Israel’s temple and its cult replaced by new realities: the temple of Jesus’ body and the temple of the church. The former is incarnated as the temple, while the latter is transformed into the temple by the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit.

A VOICE OF THEIR OWN: MUSIC AND SOCIAL COHESION IN TURKISH ALEVI LIFE

This dissertation examines the role that music has played in the expression of identity and revitalization of culture of the Alevis in Turkey, since the start of their sociocultural revival movement in the late 1980s. Music is central to Alevi claims of ethnic and religious difference—singing and playing the bağlama (Turkish folk lute) constitutes an expressive practice in worship and everyday life. Based on research conducted from 2012 to 2014, I investigate and present Alevi music through the lens of discourses on the construction of identity as a social and musical process. Alevi musicians perform a revived repertoire of the ritual music and folk songs of Anatolian bards and dervish-lodge poets that developed over several centuries. Contemporary media and performance contexts have blurred former distinctions between sacred and secular, yet have provided new avenues to build community in an urban setting. I compare music performances in the worship services of urban and small-town areas, and other community events such as devotional meetings, concerts, clubs, and broadcast and social media to illustrate the ways that participation—both performing and listening—reinforces identity and solidarity. I also examine the influence of these different contexts on performers’ musical choices, and the power of music to evoke a range of responses and emotional feelings in the participants. Through my investigation I argue that the Alevi music repertoire is not only a cultural practice but also a symbol of power and collective action in their struggle for human rights and self-determination. As Alevis have faced a redefined Turkish nationalism that incorporates Sunni Muslim piety, this music has gained even greater potency in their resistance to misrecognition as a folkloric, rather than a living, tradition.