John of Damascus was among the first to respond to the emerging religion of Islam in a literary manner at the beginning of the eighth century. Although he is known in church history primarily as a lover and defender of icons, his controversial and hateful statements influenced first the relationship of the Byzantine Church with Muslims and later, during the expansion of the Arab empire, also the Western stream of Christianity. His interpretation of the hundredth heresy in the third part of the book The Fount of Knowledge is still a cornerstone of polemics and a source of offensive statements against the Islamic religion. In the article we will explore the environment in which John of Damascus grew up. We find the struggle of the Syrian Church, thrown after centuries of triumphant victory against a wave of Arab invaders preaching a strange mixture of Christianity, Judaism and the original Arab religion, from which Christianity's competitor Islam is born. In the end, we can follow the reaction of an increasingly lonely Christian monk to the storm of historical changes caused by the power, political and religious ambitions of the Arab tribes.
Christian doctrine of Holy Trinity of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit seems to many as theoretical and unimportant. The inspiration for writing this article was analysis of personal confessions of faith of students at the Evangelical Theological Seminary of Prague (ETSP) which proved that students in majority do not consider God’s Trinity as personally important, encouraging, relevant for personal life, ministry or for their community.
As a response to this need the article brings six practical outcomes of trinitarian doctrine in life of an individual or a community, which we can find in a selected authors. The article starts with the work of Stanley Grenz and adds to him others like C. V. Pospíšil, M. J. Erickson, D. L. Migliore. These practical outcomes are: definition of Christian faith and apology, trinitarian prayer, Christian life and community, trinitarian mission, trinitarian ethics for all creation, and human being as an image of God.
The experience and the evidence of baptism in the Holy Spirit in history of classical pentecostal movement
(Michael Buban)
The classical Pentecostal doctrine of baptism in the Holy Spirit with the initial evidence of speaking in tongues is driven by the so-called experiential evidentialism, i.e. proving the doctrine by experience. This feature can be traced back to John Wesley and his theological method known as the Wesleyan Quadrilateral. The evidential role of experience was manifested in the Wesleyan Holiness Movement of the 19th century, then in the events of early Pentecostal revivals in Topeka and on Azusa Street, and finally in the doctrinal development the Assemblies of God, which became the largest classical Pentecostal denomination. With the doctrine of initial evidence as an example, this article shows that the evidential role of experience has always been central to Pentecostal theology. It is suggested that it will continue to be so in the future.
Baptism, Eucharist and Ministry (BEM): Documents of ecumenical convergence after four decades
(Pavel Černý)
For the ecumenical movement, the year 2022 is associated with the very significant 40th anniversary of the Lima document known as Baptism, Eucharist and Ministry (BEM), which has been called the document of ecumenical convergence. It could be said that we are celebrating a forgotten “holiday” of the Christian faith. Despite that, many ecumenical leaders and scholars regard this document to be the most developed ecumenical consensus ever prepared and agreed upon. BEM is especially valuable because it was worked out together by Protestant, Orthodox and Roman Catholic theologians. For some Christians, BEM is considered a compromise and for others it is a very important breakthrough in ecumenical dialogue. This article reflects on reception of BEM in the Roman Catholic Church, the Church of England and among the evangelicals, from a 40-year perspective.