As the basis for human life, nature presents itself as both resource and threat. Mankind's challenge is to subdue nature, make it useful, and understand it. This has occurred through cultural, scientific, and technical practices as well as through
The contributions ask about what sort of a challenge the knowledge of existence of a "beyond" constituted for the individual person, for a group, for a society and how it was encountered. They present a broadly comparative approach that spans cultures and historical epochs.
Exploring ten centuries of Christian monastic life, this book traces its evolution from the deserts of Egypt to medieval European monasteries. It highlights significant religious changes during the eleventh and twelfth centuries and the ensuing reforms of the later Middle Ages. By intertwining individual and community experiences with institutional developments, it presents a comprehensive view of monasticism as a pivotal force in shaping European history and a crucial element in the transition towards modernity.
The central question of the book is as follows: To what extent does the community present a challenge in the life of the individual? Well-known international Philosophers, historians, anthropologists, political scientists, theologians and sociologists attempted to find explications by intercultural comparison.
Die Klöster der Franziskaner im Mittelalter. Die Mendikantenorden veränderten das Religiosentum des Hochmittelalters in
Life Configurations focuses on the analysis and reflection on the various forms in which human beings imagine, design, conjecture, and plan their “becoming”, that is to say their lives. Case studies written by an interdisciplinary circle of well-known academics explore how the capacity of designing life, the concept of free will, and the methods to calculate the future have been changed and adopted in different societies and in different ages.
„Charity“ as a Christian and, in particular, also monastic virtue was a complex phenomenon in the Middle Ages. The present volume outlines, albeit with broad strokes, the field of charity in the monastic form of life. The collected essays endeavour to approach the subject from different angles, which present themselves as especially significant. The focus is placed both upon older communities oriented towards separation from the world as well as upon those open to the world and interested in interaction with all people, so that insights can be gained into mutual fraternal charity within the convents as well as into charity towards all. Additionally, the volume attempts to touch upon the wide spectrum of the communication levels of charity. Not least, attention is given to the pivotal point of charity - the systemic embedding of charity between people in the love of man for God, which leads to assimilation with Him. In doing so, the purpose was to draw attention to the fertility of the subject and to outline its importance for the history of the vita religiosa.