Corina Matei
Corina Matei, PhD in Philosophy from the University of Bucharest, is an associate professor at "Titu Maiorescu" University and a Christian journalist. In addition to her work at "Semnele timpului", she hosts the show "Evening Talks" on Speranța TV and contributes to the "Alice in Wonderland" section of the online magazine "Femei de 10". She is the author of the books: ”Ordinea și dezordinea simbolurilor” ("Order and Disorder of Symbols"), ”Morală, educație, comunicare în era focului rece” ("Morality, Education, Communication in the Era of Cold Fire"), and ”Postmodernity’s Fugitive Truths”.
The neighbour and the farthest
Could it be that, beyond economic, political or geostrategic difficulties, there are obstacles to the ideal of the common good that are inherent in human nature? And if something specific to human nature stood in the way of achieving this ideal, would it not lead to failure, regardless of overcoming all other difficulties?
Is God with me?
"When I was little, I felt that God was with me, but now I feel so lonely! I wonder if God really was with me back then".
Boredom: how many ways can you scratch an itch?
"All of humanity's problems stem from man's inability to sit quietly in a room alone" (Blaise Pascal).
What is the use of general knowledge?
"No man can be called friendless who has God and the companionship of good books." (Elizabeth Barrett Browning, British poet)
How much are we worth as human beings?
Each day we are confronted with situations that make us wonder how human life can have such a low value in the eyes of some of our contemporaries—those contemporaries who live in freedom and (at least feigned) democracy, who are educated and socialised in the same civilisation as ours, often even in the same community or under similar civil laws and with broadly...
Why be moral?
“No doubt equality of goods is just; but, being unable to cause might to obey justice, men have made it just to obey might. Unable to strengthen justice, they have justified might; so that the just and the strong should unite, and there should be peace, which is the sovereign good....” (Blaise Pascal, Thoughts)
The conditions for courage (I)
Motto: "Fear is a reaction. Courage is a decision." (Winston Churchill)
The revival of Christian morality
"With architecture we build buildings, with mechanics we build machines; is there no place among the sciences for one dedicated to human beings? Ethics is capable of working out the principles according to which a person must be 'built' in order to be truly human" (Traian Herseni).
The Bible as a sign of offence
“‘The days are coming,’ declares the Sovereign Lord, ‘when I will send a famine through the land—not a famine of food or a thirst for water, but a famine of hearing the words of the Lord. People will stagger from sea to sea and wander from north to east, searching for the word of the Lord, but they will not find it’” (Amos...
The decline of intelligence
"You cannot recognise the wisdom of a wise man whom you have not tested" (Papyrus Insinger, XII, 15).
Loving your neighbour | “And who is my neighbour?”
“And Who Is My Neighbour?” asked a Jewish teacher of the Law when Jesus Christ told him that eternal life entails observing two commandments: to love God and to love one’s neighbour.
The theology of the cross and the “theology” of the coming of age
When we try to understand our fellow human beings, to grasp their thinking, the reasons behind their decisions, and the purpose of their actions, a familiar adage from popular wisdom comes to mind: “Put yourself in their shoes.”
From martyr to student, or how to be a superficial viewer
It is said that the intelligent and cynical Talleyrand, a French diplomat and Catholic priest who was later secularised, said to Napoleon when asked to devise a political message: "Sir, give me the idea and I'll find the arguments myself..." If such an intellectual attitude is cynical and unscrupulous in politics, let's imagine the consequences in the religious sphere.
How the soul breathes
“We need a bigger vision in prayer. We need God’s vision! Let’s keep praying and daring to ask for more—for God’s glory, that the gospel may go into all the world, into all nations, that Jesus may come!”
The problem with chronic desiderative thinking
“Yeah, I understand what you’re saying about Christianity. I’ve been there, a long time ago, but now that I’ve moved on, I have a different relationship with the universe and things are going much better for me on all levels.”