Vol 8 No 2: Transformations of Identity and Space in the Middle East and North Africahttps://www.doria.fi:443/handle/10024/1652662024-03-29T04:48:06Z2024-03-29T04:48:06ZPrayer practices among Palestinian Christians in Occupied Palestinian TerritoryParkkinen, Mari Johannahttps://www.doria.fi:443/handle/10024/1652782021-08-31T09:56:52Z2018-12-18T13:01:12ZPrayer practices among Palestinian Christians in Occupied Palestinian Territory
Parkkinen, Mari Johanna
Arab Palestinian Christians face many challenges living in the Occupied Palestinian Territory; restrictions of movement, a poor employment situation and rising emigration. According to previous research, religion and prayer provide strength and hope in the midst of the ongoing conflict. This research has used qualitative methods and the data was collected in the occupied Palestinian Territory in February–April and November 2017. Thirty-five participants were interviewed about their practice of prayer. The interviews were semi-structured. The aim of this paper is to examine how prayer is utilised among the Palestinian Christians to cope in stressful life situations and how prayer types are utilised across generations. Content analysis revealed four prayer types: petitionary, ritualistic, meditative and thanksgiving. The results suggest that prayer is major coping device and the utilisation of prayer varies across the generations.
2018-12-18T13:01:12ZAgency and the roles of Southern Jordanian Bedouin women on pilgrimage and visiting holy sitesMiettunen, Päivihttps://www.doria.fi:443/handle/10024/1652772021-08-31T12:28:26Z2018-12-18T12:58:13ZAgency and the roles of Southern Jordanian Bedouin women on pilgrimage and visiting holy sites
Miettunen, Päivi
In the Islamic world, numerous shrines shape and define its spiritual landscapes. While some of the shrines are tombs and memorials of major religious and historical figures, a majority of the sites are dedicated to ancestors of the local families and tribes. They function as centres of the religious community, but they also provide a secluded location for private spiritual visits and individual prayers. Women have participated in public rituals also, but it is in the private religious sphere that the women have created a space for independent religious action, connected, and yet separate from their mundane roles.
2018-12-18T12:58:13ZThe early history of religion (dis)proving its truthSeppälä, Serafimhttps://www.doria.fi:443/handle/10024/1652762021-08-31T12:26:51Z2018-12-18T12:54:17ZThe early history of religion (dis)proving its truth
Seppälä, Serafim
The first Church father writing in Arabic, Theodore Abu Qurrah, and the first Muslim author to compose a systematic refutation of Christianity, ʿAbd al-Jabbar, both apply the historical argument in order to prove or refute the truth of Christianity. Both agree that the first followers of a religion represent an ideal way of following their religion. Abu Qurrah argued that Christianity is the true religion because its first followers were persecuted, poor and non-violent; ʿAbd al-Jabbar argued to prove that Islam is the true religion because its first followers had the divine authority to conquer and plunder. However, he had to reconstruct the history of early Christendom thoroughly to prove that it is a violent, immoral and thus a false religion. At times, Abū Qurrah and ʿAbd al-Jabbār look at the same facts from opposing perspectives; at times, they appear to have a similar perspective, but to be looking at different facts.
2018-12-18T12:54:17ZSinging of divine identities in a liturgical space? John Damascene's treatise on the Trisagion and his anti-heretical polemicsOlkinuora, Damaskinoshttps://www.doria.fi:443/handle/10024/1652742021-09-01T10:55:58Z2018-12-18T12:50:41ZSinging of divine identities in a liturgical space? John Damascene's treatise on the Trisagion and his anti-heretical polemics
Olkinuora, Damaskinos
John Damascene, one of the most productive Greek theologians of the Middle Byzantine era, also composed a treatise on the Trisagion hymn, or how it should be sung correctly and why; a text that has been little discussed in contemporary scholarship. The present paper provides an overview of the work – with special reference to the notion of identity in John’s description of the Trinitarian doctrine. It also examines the treatise especially in the context of anti-heretical polemics. The author argues that John’s approach to the question of the correct way of singing the hymn is gentle: instead of using pejorative language, he even praises the object of his reproach.
2018-12-18T12:50:41Z