Theological Research, 2014, Vol. 2, No. 1
Stały URI dla kolekcjihttps://theo-logos.pl/handle/123456789/3709
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Pozycja Immutability of God in Christian TermsDrzyżdżyk, Szymon; Kosińska, Zuzanna (The Pontifical University of John Paul II in Krakow, 2014)This article deals with the issue of the immutability of God in Himself. What is meant by “immutability” and why God should (or must) be immutable? Doesn’t He – whom Christians preach – contradict His immutability by showing interest in man? These questions, taken by a number of philosophers and theologians have appeared more or less frequently throughout history. The article is devoted to the immutability of God as one and the Holy Trinity on the grounds of Christianity. The article quotes the thoughts of representatives from the Church in the West and in the East – Tertullian and Origen. This thought formed in an era when Trinitarian heresy flourished and had a significant impact on the further development of theological reflection. Then the theological and philosophical position of Thomas Aquinas is taken into account as one who in his investigations on the nature of God used the components of ancient Greek philosophy.Pozycja Ethique et PolitiqueBruguès, Jean-Louis (The Pontifical University of John Paul II in Krakow, 2014)The lecture engages the debate concerning the relation between politics and ethics. Ethics is the guardian of good practice and policy the guardian of the quality of life in the community. The author discusses their mutual historical development paying special attention to two dates. First in 1789, when the Bastille was demolished and the Republic founded with a slogan of ethical content (“Liberty, Equality, Fraternity”), but only in order to control it. The second date is 1989, the year in which the Berlin Wall fell, constitutes a turning point and the dominance of ethics over politics promoted by the triad: democracy, accountability, and human rights, which undoubtedly belong to the highest value. The problem with this is that ethical values can be used in an ideological way. In the final section, the Christian position on the proper relationship between ethics and policy and vice versa is discussed.Pozycja Monastic Exegesis and the Biblical Typology of Monasticism in the Patristic PeriodKasprzak, Dariusz (The Pontifical University of John Paul II in Krakow, 2014)Monastic exegesis of the Bible in the Patristic period was characterized by ascetic pragmatism, reminiscence and meditation of the canonical text and at the same time its extra-verbal literal and spiritual interpretation. The consequence of such a manner of reading the text of the Bible was to acknowledge the monastic way of life as the royal path (via regia) and the monk as the one possessing certain spiritual knowledge and living faith. Systematic ignoring of the original Hebrew text by ancient monks, as well as by the Fathers of the Church, in using literal – spiritual and anagogical exegesis led to every biblical text being understood in a spiritual manner, i.e. as a text leading a monk to salvation. The biblical typologies of the monastic life also started to be derived from the theological rule of the Testaments. Those typologies resulted from the formerly adopted Christocentric theological premise assuming that the whole Bible tells about Christ and leads to Christ. They were the spiritual interpretation of the biblical text and were aimed at accounting for monasticism as the biblical form of life.Pozycja Christian Anthropology Versus the New Anthropology and the Quest for Human PerfectionKraj, Tomasz (The Pontifical University of John Paul II in Krakow, 2014)In the current debate, we witness a conflict between the Christian concept of man vs. concepts that justify in vitro fertilization (IVF), genetic enhancement, or the reassignment of sexuality. Modern concepts cannot disregard the historic perspective of the consistent doctrines that the Catholic Church has maintained throughout her 2000-year history and which constitute the precursors of contemporary bioethics. Although she has adjusted specifics occasionally to address new developments, she has always based doctrine on immutable core principles. The current conflict lies neither in the novelty of the new proposals, nor in a conflict between religious and lay worldviews, but rather in concepts of man and human perfection. Some human traits may be regarded as disordered and incompatible with a particular concept of human perfection. The new proposals tend to involve physical changes based on technological manipulation, with a goal of developing a superior being, while Christian proposals do not seek to manipulate man’s being, but to develop his existing potential within criteria of acceptable reason. The new proposals rely on a Cartesian view which constitutes a human as his mind (cogito ergo sum), which has dominion over his body including authority to reengineer it according to any project that mind conceives. In contrast, the Christian concept views the human subject as a unity of mind and body, which may not be reshaped to meet a questionable goal of human perfection. The technological tools within the new concepts are in no way superior to the more personal attributes like virtues, perfection of the human will, prayer, and ascesis within the Christian concept.Pozycja Natura Pura: A Concept for the New EvangelizationSeiler, Christopher M. (The Pontifical University of John Paul II in Krakow, 2014)This article explores the concept of Natura Pura. It addresses its aspects both from the point of Scholastic thought as seen especially in the thinking of Thomas Aquinas. It also addresses the metaphysical question in relation to the thought of Aquinas and Henri de Lucbac.Pozycja Life as Relation: Classical Metaphysics and Trinitarian OntologyMaspero, Giulio (The Pontifical University of John Paul II in Krakow, 2014)Life is a theological and metaphysical problem, because it constitutes the apex of the realm of being. The Aristotelian Unmoved Mover was identified with Life as the act of thinking. Christian doctrine affirms that God is triune just as Life, but here identified both with Logos and Love. The ontology of the First Principle is different in Classical metaphysics and in Trinitarian theology. The question discussed in the paper is how this difference affects the understanding of the relationship between God and the world. Having recourse to the theological framework developed by the Cappadocian Fathers in the discussions that lead to the formulation of the Trinitarian dogma in the 4th century, free and mutual relation is presented as the key concept that was used in theology to overcome the limitations of the metaphysics of the time and to extend it in order to develop a new ontology that is an ontology of life. Trinitarian ontology may also aid our understanding of created life, because it is not simply meta-physics, i.e. a description of man and God according to the category of necessity, but is ana-physics: life is understood from above with suitable categories for free beings.Pozycja The Necessity of Faith in the Church in the Age of SecularizationNapiórkowski, Andrzej (The Pontifical University of John Paul II in Krakow, 2014)This article explores the causes and shifts of the ever-growing secularization in the modern world. It also examins and the idea that Christ can be discovered without the Church as well as, how the faith of the Church can be explored, experienced, and understood in relation to God.