A search for salvation Catchpole, Jessica
The Lancet,
04/2023, Volume:
401, Issue:
10384
Journal Article, Book Review
Peer reviewed
...living with mental health conditions is no cosy holiday. The novel references overwork and inadequate funding for mental health care, but the Netflix series makes the message starker. Daniele's ...overblown homophobia towards Gianluca and casual racism about nurse Alessia, neither present in the book, and the addition of Nina, a woman on another ward in the hospital. Like Daniele, many of us who live with mental health conditions inwardly pray “Holy Medicine, please watch over me and guide me, make me become normal, make me be worthy of my home.
In interpreting the secularising tendencies in 19th and 20th century Europe, we should look not only at the impact of secularist movements or of social change. We should consider how movements which ...were not intrinsically irreligious, and may even have begun with a religious rationale, could come to take over many of the functions of religion, and could be seen as offering new forms of salvation, superseding older forms. This article focuses on the ever-growing place of sport in European societies and its relationship with religion. The crucial development in the 19th century was the claim that practising sports was not only enjoyable but it was virtuous: sport made for better people and better societies. The article starts with the relationship between salvation and nationalism, from the time of the German gymnastic movement in the 1810s, and with the role of sport in education, beginning in 1850s England. It then discusses football fandom from the 1890s to now, the cult of running from c.1970, and the ‘Olympism’ of Coubertin with his claim that sport could contribute to peace,. It concludes by analysing the relationship between sport and secularisation, as well as the continuing of more positive connections between sport and religion.
The economic situation in contemporary Ghana makes everyone yearn for economic progress. In Ghana, like many other parts of Africa, religion is responsible for providing the economic, spiritual, and ...health needs of its adherents. The predominantly Christian population in Ghana makes many people look up to Christianity to provide the road map to the country’s success. In this regard, the prosperity theology/gospel is the most dominant approach to seeking health and wealth among Ghanaian Christians. Though very persuasive, prosperity theology prompts so much debate about its influence on the religious and socio-economic life of Christians and the society at large. On the one hand, it is considered as promoting unethical behaviour and failing to yield qualitative growth for the church. On the other hand, it is considered as attracting a large following to the Christian faith. The need to evaluate the impact of this type of teaching is an urgent theological and pastoral concern because it is the most appealing Christian approach to socio-economic breakthrough for contemporary Ghanaian Christians. This paper, therefore, sought to address the problem of the lack of a balanced assessment of the prosperity gospel and how its weaknesses can be addressed. The study is a literature-based research that gathered data from publications on the subject matter. Through a critical analysis and evaluation of the information gathered, the authors evaluated the overall impact of the prosperity theology on the holistic life (social, spiritual, economic and political) of its adherents and having noted some pitfalls, recommended how this popular theology can be refined. Apart from providing guidelines for addressing the challenges associated with the prosperity theology, the paper also has the potential of yielding ethical renewal for people to live responsibly as they work toward improving their socio-economic and spiritual lives.
Keywords: Prosperity, Christianity, Ghana, Salvation
Almost all Christians believe that the satisfaction rendered by the death of Christ was in itself enough for the salvation of humanity. Yet, there is no consensus among Christians on the question of ...the beneficiaries of Christ’s atoning sacrifice. The question of whether Christ’s suffering and death benefited all humanity or only an elected few has triggered much debate among Christian scholars. The different responses to the question of the extent of the atonement can be categorized broadly into two, namely; particular atonement (that is, the view that Jesus Christ died only for the elect) and universal atonement (that is, the idea that Christ died for all persons). The significance of the debate and the rise in interest in this subject in recent times has prompted this literature-based research which critically reviews and analyzes publications (including books, journal articles, and dissertations) on the extent of Christ’s atonement to see how one might make meaning of the ongoing debate. The paper first presents a survey of the evidence adduced for both views; it then considers Calvin’s view on the subject and ends with the author’s position that the atonement is unlimited in scope in that the offer of salvation is for all people; yet it is limited in effect because only those who believe in Jesus are truly saved.
This specialist work in historical theology deals with the doctrine of salvation in the early theology of Richard Hooker (1554-1600) from the perspective of the concept of faith and with Hooker's ...connections to the early English Reformers (W. Tyndale, J. Frith, R. Barnes, T. Cranmer, J. Bradford and J. Foxe) in crucial teachings such as justification, sanctification, glorification, election, reprobation, the sovereignty of God, and salvation of Catholics. The study proves that Hooker's theology is firstly Protestant (to counter the views which picture it as Catholic) and secondly Calvinist.
