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Reception of the Teachings of the Second Vatican Council on the Christocentricity in the Post-Conciliar Renewal of Moral Theology
Full text linkKatolička moralna teologija nakon Drugoga vatikanskog koncila predstavila se svijetu u obnovljenoj viziji svoga poslanja i djelovanja. Obnova čitave katoličke teologije koju je pokrenuo Koncil naišla je na plodno tlo i snažnu primjenu, osobito u godinama neposredno nakon završetka Koncila. Iznijela je na vidjelo jasnije nego u prijašnjim vremenima svoje neiscrpno bogatstvo moralne tradicije. Snažnije je istaknula središte kršćanskog moralnog nauka, a to je osoba i spasenjsko djelo Isusa Krista. Stavila je u središte moralnog izlaganja Crkve Sveto pismo, Božju riječ. Koncilska vizija moralne teologije bitno je kristocentrički strukturirana u svom polazištu i dolazištu. Moralni nauk Crkve stavlja glavni naglasak na kristološko načelo moralnoetičkog djelovanja. Time je istaknuto kristološko obilježje antropologije. Antropologija svoje ispunjenje nalazi samo u kristologiji. Naše istraživanje doktorskog rada temeljilo se na kršćanskoj antropologiji kako ju izlaže Pastoralna konstitucija Gaudium et spes o Crkvi u suvremenom svijetu. Kršćansku antropologiju donešenu u Gaudium et spes promatrali smo u odnosu s ostalim dokumentima Koncila, osobito u odnosu s tri ostale konstitucije Koncila, Sacrosanctum concilium, Dei Verbum i Lumen gentium, kao i njezinu primjenu i provedbu u poslijekoncilskoj obnovi moralne teologije, kako u crkvenim dokumentima tako i u djelima relevantnih moralnih teologa. Krist je novi i savršeni čovjek u kojem smo postali nova stvorenja. Ta je činjenica od presudne važnosti za ostvarenje kršćanskog poziva i života u Kristu snagom Duha Svetoga. Od Krista, Novog Adama polazi i kristološko utemeljenje moralne antropologije u Pastoralnoj konstituciji Gaudium et spes. Obnova katoličke moralne teologije, kako ju je usmjerio Koncil, nalazi svoje ostvarenje u kristocentrički strukturiranoj moralnoj antropologiji, odnosno u konkretnom moralnom djelovanju koje se ostvaruje nasljedovanjem Krista i evanđelja. U koncilskoj kristološkoj antropologiji, čije obrise nalazimo u svim dokumentima Koncila, osobito u Gaudium et spes, možemo pronaći glavne uvide i temeljna usmjerenja za obnovu katoličke moralne teologije i antropologije. Koncil donosi sve relevantne i bitne teme vezane za obnovu moralne teologije u kristocentričkom ključu, a to su moral Kraljevstva Božjega, moral milosti, moral vjere, nade i ljubavi, nasljedovanje Krista, Novi zakon ljubavi i slobode, zakon Duha Svetoga. Kršćanski moral ima svoje utemeljenje u osobi Isusa Krista, koji je jedini odgovor na svako moralno-etičko pitanje, kao i na pitanje svih pitanja, a to je ono: što je čovjek? Ne samo da je Krist odgovor na svako moralno-etičko pitanje, nego on je jedino mjerilo i kriterij moralno-etičkog ponašanja. On je egzemplarni čovjek i objava autentičnog čovještva koje se može otkriti samo u svjetlu kristologije. Krist je tumačenje svakog aspekta kršćanske antropologije i antropologije općenito. On je jedina i jedincata norma čitave moralne stvarnosti. Moralni zahtjevi koji proizlaze iz čovjekovog uzvišenog poziva u Kristu, a koje je reflektirala koncilska kristološka antropologija, ostvaruju se u Crkvi, otajstvenom tijelu Kristovu. Otajstvo Crkve u sebi čuva otajstva Kristova života. Ta otajstva Kristova života se u Crkvi posadašnjuju snagom i djelovanjem Duha Svetoga. To osobito dolazi do izražaja u euharistijskom otajstvu. Sveti sakramenti, posebno krštenje i euharistija, omogućuju kršćanima da žive kao djeca Božja ispunjena Duhom Svetim te da preobražavaju ovaj svijet evanđeoskim moralnim vrednotama. Kristov Novi zakon ljubavi kriterij je kršćanskog moralnog nauka i djelovanja. Čovjekov cjeloviti poziv zrcali se u življenju Novoga zakona ljubavi u kojem se potvrđuje da je čovjek biće vjere, nade i ljubavi. Življenjem božanskih kreposti očituje se život u Kristu i u Duhu, što je specifičnost kršćanskoga morala. U kršćanskom moralnom djelovanju potvrđuje se temeljna istina kršćanske antropologije, a to je da je čovjek stvoren na sliku Božju i otkupljen na sliku Kristovu. U teologiji stvaranja potvrđuje se već ustrojstvo čovjeka kao nove kvalitete u redu stvaranja iz kojeg se zrcali čovjekov cjeloviti poziv na koji ga Bog u Kristu poziva. Krist u svijetu počinje novi život i poziva nas da ga slijedimo kako bismo imali zajedništvo s Bogom. On nam daruje spasenje i milost kako bismo moralno živjeli i djelovali u ovome svijetu. Isusov moralni nauk ukorijenjen je u Tradiciji Crkve te stoji kao izvor i temelj moralnog učenja Crkve. Katolička moralna teologija u svjetlu Koncila stoji kao putokaz za ispravno moralno djelovanje u skladu s Evanđeljem i za neprestano produbljivanje i oblikovanje kršćanske egzistencije kao novog života u Kristu snagom Duha SvetogaThe title of this dissertation Reception of the Teachings of the Second Vatican Council on the Christocentricity in the Post-Conciliar Renewal of Moral Theology speaks about the specificity of the title and of the approach taken to it. The Christian anthropology of the Second Vatican Council, specifically displayed in the Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et spes about the Church in the modern world, with its centre in Jesus Christ or with its Christocentricity, is an important and crucial guideline for the entire Catholic moral theology and especially for moral anthropology. The Council did not expressis verbis displayed the doctrine of the Christocentricity of moral theology, but in its exposition of Christian anthropology it brought forth the main and fundamental determinants of the teachings of Christocentricity. In that sense, we can speak of the Christological Conciliar anthropology, which is at the centre of the research and exposition of the Christocentricity of moral theology in this dissertation. In the Croatian speaking area, this issue, but especially this approach, has not been systematically worked up to date, although significant steps have been made and important impulses have been given to systematically address this issue. This also tells a little bit about the motive and purpose of the doctrinal work that is of course unattainable in one such research. But, because of the importance and significance of the actuality of the theme, it is at least worth a try to dare go on that conceived theological endeavour and to embark on this steep yet sweet theological path. With this modest doctoral research, we want to contribute to the enrichment of Croatian moral theology and especially to its renewal in the light of the Council. This reconstruction has already been initiated by the Croatian moral theologians in our speaking area, without which incentives, orientation, and contributions this dissertation would not have been possible. In our research, we will consistently try to hold to our main subject, which is the doctrine of the Christocentricity of moral theology, which we can read in the conciliar texts, especially in Gaudium et spes, which, before expressly speaking about Christian anthropology, in the Prologue already establishes a dialogue with the contemporary world. The Church addresses all people and the whole world, and that will also formulate the methodology of the Pastoral Constitution, as well as questions about the starting point, the method of presentation and the structure of the document itself. The Council, therefore, did not only present the teachings of the Church (Lumen gentium), but also determined the Church's position in relation to the contemporary world and man, and defined the essential directions of its action and practice. This in the history of ecumenical concerts is something new and unprecedented in terms of the character and expression of the document, points out Walter Kasper, as well as many other theologians. The method of scientific research and presentation in this doctoral thesis will be a peculiar method of theological theology in general, but in this work the theological method will be adapted to the demands of the moral-theological method, primarily inherent in the basic moral theology, in particular, which examines and analyses the sources and foundations of the Christian calling and life in Christ. In achieving the intended goal, we will mainly use an analytical-critical method that will enable us the displaying and analysis of the main texts contained in the sources and literature. The exception is the fifth chapter of the doctoral dissertation, in which we will rely more on the synthetic method that enables us to present the results of the doctoral research, which we will formulate in the form of theses. In this research work we will primarily use the sources, namely the Holy Scriptures and documents of the Second Vatican Council, in particular the four great constitutions (Sacrosanctum concilium, Lumen gentium, Dei Verbum and Gaudium et spes), around which the identity of the entire Council will be structured, especially the Christocentricity of the whole Catholic theology. We will use relevant commentaries and interpretations, primarily that of the Post-Conciliar Church, and then of course of the relevant theologians in general and moral theologians in particular. The doctoral dissertation will largely rely on immeasurable contributions to the rebuilding of moral theology of moral theologians of the German speaking area such as: Häring, Fuchs, Böckle, Auer, Demmer and Mieth, but also on other relevant moral theologians, especially of the Italian speaking area and those whose works are written or translated into Italian, and, to a lesser extent, to the moral theologians of the Englishspeaking area. Certainly, we will also heavily rely ourselves on Croatian moral theologians, of which we mention Marijan Valković, Ivan Fuček, Stjepan Baloban, Vladimir Dugalić and Tonči Matulić. The list of our source literature will be given at the end of the doctoral dissertation. This list cannot be comprehensive, but we believe it is more than indicative and sufficient to explore the teaching of the Christocentricity of moral theology in the light of the Second Vatican Council. This research also refers to some modern dogmatic and fundamental theologians who, by their theological works, were heralds of theological thought, and some of them also participated in the Council and gave inevitably important incentives in the preparation of conciliar documents, and post-conciliar renewal of theology in general and moral theology in particular. The sources used, the primary and secondary literature will be mentioned in the notes at the bottom of the page. Each chapter will have a separate list of notes, so it will start with the number one (1). All the changes of the contemporary world that the Council emphasized in the introductory exposition to Gaudium et spes are a challenge to the human moral action, and thus challenge to the moral theology. It is evident that profound social, historical, cultural and social changes to a large extent shape men and their moral consciousness. The moral and ethical issue has become a radically anthropological issue today, in its origin it is an unavoidable metaphysical and ontological question, and in the light of the Church's Christian anthropology becomes the most eminent Christological question, which is theological question par excellence. The Second Vatican Council initiated the rebuilding the whole of theology and defined all the theological disciplines in the Christocentric way. The identity of theology is formed on this Christocentric path, and today more than ever before, the identity of moral theology. The main emphasis of the Church's teachings on Christian moral theology reveal the sources and foundations of a Christian call in Christ, or more specifically, they are developing a Christocentric structured moral anthropology and area also responding to the challenges of contemporary anthropological questions that can no longer be based on an outdated model of education and mentality. It is necessary to demonstrate the essential theological and Christological demands of Christian practice or Christian morality in the world of evolutionary-dynamical processes that carry an unquestionable awareness of the history, autonomy and self-consciousness of a man as a moral subject. It is our purpose to show that the renewal of moral theology should start from the main sources that provide insight into the value or ontological-ethical richness of a man as a person created in the image of God and redeemed to the image of the true God and the perfect man of Jesus Christ. The structure of the doctoral dissertation consists of five major sections or chapters. At the beginning of the first chapter, we give a brief overview of Catholic moral theology before the Second Vatican Council, which also explains the title of the doctoral thesis, that is, the key question, which is why it was necessary to renew the moral theology. Of that necessity, many moral theologians were speaking and writing even before the Council, which confirmed justification for doing that and even brought the basic guidelines for it. The demand for a renewal of the moral theology can be found in the Council's documents, especially in the four major constitutions. The first chapter is bringing in the outlines identity of moral theology related to the four great Constitutions of the Congregation, particularly in the novelty of the selfunderstanding of the Church exemplified by Gaudium et spes, and this also influences the understanding of Christian moral teachings. All the topics in the outlines of the first chapter are elaborated in the other chapters in the Christocentric key and have their centre in Jesus Christ, the Son of God. The Christocentric identity of moral theology has been linked with the basic elements of the conciliar moral anthropology, which indicates that the doctrine of Gaudium et spes must necessarily be related to the doctrine presented in the other three constitutions, as well as with other Council documents. The Christocentricity of moral theology essentially implies its origin, which is the person of Jesus Christ, the revelator of God of Triune Love, which shows that Christian moral teaching is based on and follows from God's revelation, which is interpreted by Dei Verbum Dogmatic Constitution about the divine revelation. Christian revelation is the source of all the supreme moral truth and moral doctrine. The second chapter begins with the recognition of the main tasks of moral theology in general and of moral anthropology in particular, and the most important task is to rediscover the centre and foundations of that discipline. Renewal of moral theology should start from this most important task that contains the New Law of the Spirit as a source of Christian calling and life in Christ. In this context, we can also talk about the conciliar pneumatological Christology on which the moral doctrine of the Church is based. The Holy Spirit, who is the Spirit of Christ, introduces the whole Church into the mysteries of the life of Christ, from which all moral norms and laws arise, and that flow into Christ's commandment of love for God and his neighbour (Mt 22: 37-40). According to the teachings of the Council, the New Law of Christ's Commandments of Love is the centre of moral anthropology developed by the fundamental numbers of Christian anthropology in Gaudium et spes. The talk of Christian anthropology begins with the number 10 of Gaudium et spes, which is, according to Thomas Gertler, Christological credo of the Pastoral Constitution. That credo also demands a clearer definition according to the New Law of Love, which is the law of the Spirit, which Christians are able to accomplish for the Christian calling and life in Christ, who is the only law and the norm of Christian moral teaching and action. The third chapter, which is the central chapter of the doctoral dissertation, brings out the Christological organization of moral anthropology and its moral demands for the Christian calling and life in Christ, as implicitly contained in numbers 10, 12, 22, and 45 of the Pastoral Constitution in connection with other Council documents, especially with the Dogmatic Constitution Lumen Gentium on the Church. At the heart of this chapter is the fundamental Christian truth of a man as a person created on the image of God of Triune Love, with the central importance of the person of Jesus Christ as the true God and the perfect man. Jesus Christ is the culmination of God's revelation, a revelator of the whole truth about the creation of man in the image of God and about the ontic unity of the entire history of salvation. The central thought of a man as the image of God is at the same time the central category of the Council’s Christian anthropology. The talk of Christ – the new Adam, the eschatological picture of God – is a characteristic of the Council’s Christian anthropology and determines the essential connection between anthropology and Christology. This has immense implications for the interpretation of moral anthropology as the basis of the moral requirement of Christian calling and life in Christ. This moral requirement is realized by imitating Christ and by living the evangelical Blessings, which is a program of Jesus’s proclamation of the kingdom of God, which results from Jesus’s moral doctrine: the moral of mercy, faith, hope and love. In number 22 of Gaudium et spes we find something that we can call the Christological synthesis of anthropology, which began with the Christian credo in number 10 and by speaking about the image of God in number 12. The crown of the entire first part of the Pastoral Constitution is number 45, in the centre of which is the person of Jesus Christ, the God-Man as the Saviour and the Redeemer of human nature. This is consequently a necessary source of a Christian structured moral anthropology, because it expresses the fundamental moral demands of Christian calling and life in Christ. In the fourth chapter, we bring forth and explain the conciliar doctrine of the Church in the Dogmatic Constitution Lumen gentium. The Council has begun restoring the Church; therefore, the renewal of ecclesiology is a prerequisite for the renewal of all theological disciplines, and that also means moral theology. The Church is the Mystical Body of Jesus Christ who is its Head, and all members of the Church are his limbs. Christian moral life and action are accomplished in the Church by the power of the sacred sacraments through which the Holy Spirit gives Christians grace and divine virtues. Christians are called to the sacredness of life and the proclamation of the gospel in the contemporary world, society and culture so that they socially advocate for the evangelical values contained in the Church's social teachings, which are also Christocentric in its fundamental settings. In the last, fifth chapter, the synthetic presentation is formulated in the form of six (6) theses of the main research results. The theses outline the guidelines for a conciliar inspired and guided renewal of Catholic moral theology, both in the present and in the future. In the doctoral research of the teachings of the Second Vatican Council on Christocentricity in post-conciliar renewal of moral theology, we conclude that the Council with its renewal guidelines has a permanent and rich inspiration, and can also serve as a source of understanding and interpretation of a crystocentric shaped and structured moral theology and anthropology. At the heart of the renewal of moral theology lies the Christology of the Incarnation and the Paschal Mystery of Jesus Christ. The Council develops the Christological moral anthropology as the basis for the practical fulfilment of the moral requirement of Christian calling and life in Christ. The Council wanted to give basic guidelines for the development of the biblical foundation of morality. It was a conciliar imperative to overcome the orientation that prevailed in Catholic moral theology before the Council, and this orientation was a view of the natural law in which the word of God was simply lacking. Christian moral teaching should be based on the person of Jesus Christ and on the mysteries of his life. The conciliar moral doctrine is displayed as the Christocentric and as such has become an unavoidable task of post-conciliar moral theology. Our research has also touched on contemporary challenges and problems, moral issues and doubts that affect and bother modern man, resulting from the advancement of science and technology. The Council has dealt with these moral challenges and issues not only critically but also self-critically, by offering help to the modern world in resolving all moral-ethical issues and doubts in all areas of human life and action. In our doctoral work, our aim was to explore and demonstrate in the contours, the understanding of Catholic moral theology in a christocentric structured conciliar moral anthropology, which has a person of Jesus Christ as its starting point and purpose. It is a sign that Christology stands at the center of moral anthropology, that is, that moral anthropology is the most eminent theology in its most radical sense. If we want to be honest, and we want that, more than 50 years have passed since the end of the Council, and we have to ask the question: Was the Christocentricity of moral theology carried out both in theory and in practice? The answer to that question cannot simply be offered with the words “yes” or “no”. In front of the contemporary moral theology is still a task set out by the Christocentric way and orientation of the Second Vatican Council, for the Council has given strong and vital incentives and inspirations that remain the permanent heritage of the whole Church, as well as its theology in general and moral theology in particular. Moral theology has gone through t
Particularities of the communitarian dimension of contemplative life according to the work The Cloud of unknowing
No full textAnonimni spis Oblak neznanja nastao je u drugoj polovici četrnaestoga stoljeća u sjeveroistočnoj Engleskoj. Riječ je o svojevrsnom priručniku u epistolarnoj formi za uvođenje u kontemplativnu molitvu, čiji je formalni okvir kontemplativni život. Ovaj rad u četiri poglavlja analizira zajedničarsku dimenziju kontemplativnoga života i istražuje njezine osobitosti. Prvo poglavlje donosi pregled dosadašnjih istraživanja. Ona su malobrojna i sadržajno oskudna, a zajedničarska dimenzija kontemplativnoga života posve je neobrađena tema. Drugim se poglavljem, nakon odbacivanja "mističnoga problema" (kojim je izričito ili implicitno kontaminirana literatura o Oblaku neznanja) kao relevantnoga pristupa temi ovoga rada, definiraju terminologija i metodologija govora o zajedničarskoj dimenziji kontemplativnoga života. Kontemplativni se život također razgraničuje od puno užega i ograničujućega samotničkoga života. Potom se razmatra mjesto kontemplativnoga života unutar kršćanskoga poziva, njegovo oblikovanje te dvije metode zahvaljujući kojima mu naš spis daje razlikovno i specifično obilježje, a to su oblak zaborava i oblak neznanja. U trećem se poglavlju komunitarnost kontemplativnoga života promatra u odnosu prema Bogu, koji je njegovo počelo, a također i zajedništvo sȃm u sebi. Dioništvo kontemplativca u božanskom zajedništvu tumači se pomoću teologalnih kreposti, te se tvrdi da je čak i tama neznanja oblik zajedništva kontemplativca s Bogom. Četvrto poglavlje analizira zajedničarsku dimenziju kontemplativnoga života u međuljudskim odnosima. Pritom se izdvajaju tri oblika njezina ostvarenja. Prvi je oblik eklezijalna komunitarnost, po kojoj je kontemplativac neodvojiv od Crkve: ispovijeda njezinu vjeru, sudjeluje u njezinoj liturgiji, olakšava patnju trpeće Crkve i umnaža radost proslavljenoj Crkvi. Drugi je oblik institucija duhovnoga vodstva, očitovanje istodobno eklezijalne i pojedinačne, osobne komunitarnosti. Treći je oblik najzad socijalna komunitarnost. Djelatna je ljubav plod kontemplativne ljubavi: kontemplativac je upućen na širu zajednicu kojoj pripada. Ona proviđa njegove egzistencijalne potrebe, a on svojim duhovnim iskustvom, te po potrebi i konkretnim iskazivanjem milosrđa, svjedoči uzvišenost kontemplacije, čežnje za Bogom poradi njega sámoga, ogoljene od svakoga stvorenja. Po njoj se sjedinjuje s Bogom u duhu, ljubavi i volji, te sve ljude ljubi onako kako ih ljubi Bog, što kontemplativni život čini vrhunskim sebedarnim, to jest komunitarnim životom.The Cloud of Unknowing is an anonymous work written in the second half of the fourteenth century in north-east England. It is an epistolary-form guide to contemplative prayer, which is deeply connected to contemplative life as its formal framework. Through its four chapters, this paper analyses the communitarian dimension of contemplative life and examines its particularities. The first chapter provides an overview of previous research. Not only is there a lack of previous research on this topic, but the scope of issues covered by the studies that do exist is very limited. In addition, the issue of communitarian dimension of contemplative life has been completely bypassed. In the second chapter, after discarding the concept of “mystical problem” as a relevant approach to the issue dealt with in this paper (which either directly or indirectly represents the focus of scientific literature on the work The Cloud of Unknowing), we define the terminology and methodology used to address the issue of the communitarian dimension of contemplative life. Contemplative life is also differentiated from solitary life, a form of life that is narrower and more limited. Furthermore, we then consider the place that contemplative life occupies within the context of the Christian call, its formation as well as two methods – the cloud of forgetting and the cloud of unknowing – which, according to the anonymous author, endow the contemplative life with its distinct and specific features. In the third chapter, we analyse the communitarian dimension of contemplative life with respect to God, who represents the very source of contemplative life and who is also a communion within Himself. Participation of a person practicing contemplative prayer in the divine union is interpreted through theological virtues; in addition, it is argued that even the divine darkness of unknowing represents a form of union between that person and God. The fourth chapter analyses the communitarian dimension of contemplative life with respect to interpersonal relationships. These relationships can take three forms. The first form is ecclesiastical communitarianism, which implies that the person living a contemplative life is inseparably connected to the Church: professes its faith, participates in the liturgy, eases the hardships of the Church Suffering and multiplies the joy of the Church Triumphant. The second form is the institution of spiritual direction, which is a simultaneous expression of ecclesiastical and individual, i.e. personal communitarianism. The third form is social communitarianism. Charity is the fruit of contemplative love: a person practicing contemplative prayer is focused on the wider community to which he or she belongs. The community satisfies his or her existential needs, whereas the person practicing contemplative prayer through their spiritual experience and, if necessary, through concrete expressions of divine mercy, demonstrates the sublime nature of contemplation – naked desire for God Himself, detached from all things created. It is thorough this kind of prayer that he or she unites with God in spirit, love and will, loving all people with the same love that God has for everyone, which in turn makes contemplative life a supreme form of self-giving communitarian form of life
Augustine's understanding of God in so-called semi-pelagian discussion and comparison with his opponents' teaching on God
No full textRad je usmjeren i ograničen na teološki nauk, tj. nauk o Bogu koji sv. Aurelije Augustin (354.-430.) iznosi u četiri spisa pisana tijekom rasprave s tzv. polupelagijancima, tj. monasima iz afričkoga Hadrumentuma i Južne Galije, te na usporedbu s njihovim naukom o Bogu. Četiri spisa jesu De gratia et libero arbitrio, De correptione et gratia, De praedestinatione sanctorum i De dono perseverantiae. Sržna je tema tih djela odnos Božje milosti i ljudske slobodne volje s glavnim naglaskom na obrani potpune, prethodne, trajne i posvemašnje gratuitivnosti milosti naspram pelagijanskoga nauka o zasluživosti milosti. Cilj rada podijeljenog u pet poglavlja jest sintetički i sadržajno sustavno predstaviti i analizirati tekstove i stavove monahâ i Augustina te steći što cjelovitiji uvid u njihov nauk o Bogu i pojedinim teološkim temama razvijanima tijekom rasprave. Kroz analizu Augustinova razumijevanja Boga i usporedbe sa stavovima protivnika smjera se vidjeti koja su i kakva bila čija polazišta, kakvo se razumijevanje Boga na temelju njih razvilo, do kakvih je teoloških, antropoloških i eklezioloških posljedica čije teološko i antropološko stanovište vodilo, te razumjeti zbog čega je Augustin zauzimao i neke osporavane teološke pozicije. Metode korištene u radu jesu povijesno-kritička metoda kad je riječ o povijesnim okolnostima u kojima su se odvijale pelagijanska i tzv. polupelagijanska rasprava, zatim sustavna i sintetička teološka metoda tijekom predstavljanja pojedinih teoloških tema, te analitička metoda kao način svojevrsne procjene i osvrta na rečeno. U radu se došlo do zaključka da je Augustinovo razumijevanje Boga u velikoj mjeri točno te je i prihvaćeno od Crkve. Osobito je njegov nauk o nezasluženosti milosti i početku vjere ključan za pobijanje pelagijanizma. Djelovanje Isusa Krista i Duha Svetoga sagledava u novome svjetlu te milost Kristovu vidi kao jedinu snagu kadru vratiti čovjeku slobodu, sposobnost činjenja dobrih i zaslužnih djela i voditi ga spasenju. Njegov se inovativan govor o predodređenju kojega je razvio na temelju svojega specifičnog poimanja Božje svemoći, predznanja, nepobjedivosti Božje volje, gratuitivnosti milosti, te istočnoga grijeha i čovjekove izručenosti zlu pokazuje u nekim pozitivnim postavkama kao točan, no u nekim se uključnim ishodima i posljedicama razotkriva kao manjkav: ima veoma negativne popratne posljedice na situaciju nepredodređenih odnosno odbačenih, a ograničava i uloge Sina i Duha Svetoga. Iako Augustin nije usmjeren na nauk o odbačenima nego o izabranima, ti sporni momenti uvelike opterećuju sliku Boga uznemirujućim implikacijama zbog kojih se ne može u cijelosti prihvatiti sve aspekte njegovog poimanja predodređenja i njegova nauka o Bogu.This doctoral thesis studies Augustine's teaching on God or his theology as exposed in his four writings against so-called semi-pelagians ie. monks from Hadrumentum and from Suthern Gaul, and makes comparisons of these two doctrines. The work aims at the synthetic and meaningful presentation and analysis of the monks' and Augustine's texts and views, and at the obtaining of the complete insights into their doctrine on God and on the particular theological themes developed throughout their discussions. By analyzing Augustine's understanding of God and comparing it with his opponents’ opinions, the author wants to enlighten their starting points, the theological and anthropological consequences of their theological and anthropological premises, and to comprehend the reasons of Augustine's controversial theological positions. The work is divided into five chapters. The first chapter analyses the historical course and context of pelagian and so-called semi-pelagian discussion. The second chapter brings fort the Augustine’s teaching on God the Father and compares it with the teaching of so-called semipelagians. In the same way, the third chapter presents the teaching on God the Son, while the fourth chapter speaks about the Holy Spirit. The fifth chapter discusses different disputed theological topics of Augustine’s four writings, especially the theme of God’s omnipotence and invincibility of his will, and the themes of predestination, election and reprobation. The conclusion summarizes and presents the research results, offering the final synthesis and assessment. Concerning the method of the work, the historical-critical method is used while talking about historical circumstances of the pelagian and so-called semi-pelagian discussion, the systematic and synthetic method while presenting particular theological themes, and the analytic method as the way to evaluate and to review the stated propositions. The work has come to the conclusion that Augustine's understanding of God is to a large degree correct and accepted by the Church. His doctrine on gratuitousness of grace and on the beginning of faith is essential for the refuting of pelagianism. The agencies of Jesus Christ and of the Holy Spirit are viewed in the new light. Augustine sees the grace of Christ as the only force capable of bringing man back to the freedom, restoring man's capacity of good and meritorious deeds, and leading him to salvation. His innovative discourse on predestination, developed on the basis of his specific understanding of God's omnipotence, foreknowledge, invincibility of God's will, gratuitousness of grace, the original sin and of man's subjection to evil, is correct in certain positive postulates, but in certain implicit outcomes and consequences it appears to be defficient. The reasons are the additional negative repercussions on the situation of the reprobates, as well as the limits it brings to the agencies of the Son and the Holy Spirit. Although Augustine is not focused on the reprobates but on the elect, these controversial moments largely effect the image of God he depicts burdening it with the disturbing implications which cause it impossible to accept all the aspects of his understanding of predestination and of his doctrine on God
RELIGIOUS-SOCIAL MISSION OF THE CHURCH IN THE CULTURAL-HISTORICAL CONTEXT OF ANTIOCH ACCORDING TO JOHN CHRYSOSTOM’S HOMILIES ON THE STATUES
Full text linkAutor u ovom radu istražuje religiozno-društveno poslanje Crkve prema homilijama O statuama Ivana Zlatoustog. Prije početka istraživanja središnje teme objašnjava kulturnopovijesni kontekst Antiohije u kojem homilije nastaju. Povezujući konkretni društveni kontekst i homilije autor objašnjava poslanje Crkve te provodi teološku sintezu poslanja Crkve. U tom smislu rad je podijeljen na tri cjeline. U prvoj cjelini se kroz tri poglavlja obrađuje kulturno-povijesni kontekst. Istražuje se život Ivana Zlatoustog, grad Antiohija i značajnost događaja rušenja carskih statua koje su povod nastanku homilija. Druga cjelina donosi istraživanje poslanja Crkve. Crkva u konkretnom društvu ima društveno i religiozno poslanje. U prvom poglavlju se pokazuje kako kršćanska mudrost doprinosi rješenju situacije. Drugo poglavlje obrazlaže odvajanje Crkve od drugih religijskih skupina prikazujući tako da ona može postati uzor u gradu koji će izmoliti oprost. Treća cjelina jest teološka sinteza poslanja Crkve i podijeljena je na četiri poglavlja. Prvo poglavlje prikazuje Crkvu koja skrbi za vjerodostojnost kršćanskih zajednica, drugo poglavlje prikazuje Crkvu u odnosu prema društvu i društvenim pitanjima, treće poglavlje prikazuje utjecaj kršćanske misli na društvo u kojem homilije nastaju, posljednje poglavlje donosi dvije ključne pretpostavke za ostvarivanje poslanja Crkve.Introduction
John Chrysostom preached The Homilies on the Statues during lent of 387. The name of the homilies is the main event that happened during that lent. Emperor Theodosius announced new tax for the whole Empire. Citizens of Antioch assumed that they could not pay the tax, so they started a riot. It took place on the statues and the paintings of the Emperor. After the riot on the statues, the Emperor could destroy the city. The great existential crisis started in the city. Meanwhile John Chrysostom started to preach his famous homilies. This theme is recent for the research for three reasons. First reason is John Chrysostom who was one of the greatest patristic preachers and this research will be about one of his first homilies Second reason is that this research is the sequence of the author’s licentiate thesis. Third reason is the theme of the mission of the Church which is one of the themes of fundamental theology. The methodology of the research is to start from cultural-historical context of Antioch which includes the life of John Chrysostom, the city of Antioch and the importance of the riot of the statues. The object of the research is to present how John Chrysostom views the mission of the Church in the particular context. The research lies on analytic and descriptive methods. The context is analyzed. Descriptive method is used for the homilies. Parts in homilies which are about ecclesiology or the mission of the Church are searched and separated. According to methodology the research is divided in three main chapters. The first chapter is about cultural-historical context, the second chapter about description of the mission of the Church and the third chapter puts this particular mission of the Church in a wider context of John Chrysostom’s ecclesiology.
The Cultural-Historical Context of the Homilies On the Statues
Before examining the cultural-historical context, the research begins with a brief explanation of Late Antiquity. The chapter is divided into three subchapters. In the first one, analyzed is John Chrysostom, the date of his birth and his education. John Chrysostom preached the homilies when he was 38 years old. He was educated in the rhetorical school of Libanius and in the Antiochene theological school. The subchapter explains the influence these schools had on John Chrysostom’s life. The second subchapter examines late antique Antioch. Antioch was the third biggest city in the Roman Empire. It was a multicultural and tolerant city where many immigrants came. The subchapter describes the city of Antioch during the period of late antiquity, starting from Libanius’ orations about the beauty of the city, the importance of the city during the wars with Persia. Special emphasis is put in the years of Theodosius’ reign and on his response to economic crisis, which affected social classes, public activities and trade, the themes that John Chrysostom preached about different classes, and about the crisis which caused immigration and relocation of trade from the East to the Mediterranean. The last part of the second subchapter is about the religion in the city. Paganism was slowly abandoned, and Christianity was on the rise. The tension between the two religions grew stronger every day. The last subchapter deals with the riot in which the statues where destroyed. It brings which persons were responsible for the event. However, interpretations of John Chrysostom and Libanius differ. The statues could have been pulled down by a theatrical claque, pagans, Christians or foreigners. The destruction of the statues is a damnatio memoriae, which literally means the “damnation of memory” or destroying the memory of important persons, such as emperors. That disrespectful event led to desire of emperor Theodosius to destroy the city. The judges came from Constantinople to investigate the situation. The bishop Flavian went to the emperor to beg for forgiveness while John Chrysostom stayed in the city where preached. He preached 22 homilies trying to calm down the citizens who wanted to flee.
Mission of the Church according to The Homilies of the Statues
The central part of the research is the description of the mission of the Church. It is separated in three wider groups which are the main themes of the three subchapters. The Church answered to the existential crisis in the city. The homilies gave the answer how to behave in this specific situation. Then first subchapter is about Christian wisdom. Christians have specific behavior from their belief. They could use the specific Lenten period to solve the existential crisis in the city. The subchapter brings how John Chrysostom taught the Christians about fasting, bringing together different economical classes and finally how Christian could have example behavior in the city. The second subchapter is about differences between Christians, pagans and Jews. John Chrysostom separates Christians from pagans by forbidding them to visit any kind of pagan places such are theatres and hippodromes. On the other side he forbids them to use the oath because it is something that is familiar to pagans and Jews. Christians do not need to go the theatre because the theatric claques started the riot. The oaths are useless when people trust to each other only by true speak.
Theological Synthesis of the Mission of the Church
This research needs to have a theological synthesis of the mission of the Church. The second chapter brings only descriptive method of the mission of the Church according to The Homilies of the Statues. Last chapter put previous chapters in the ecclesiology of the John Chrysostom. He is the undoubted famous theologian who used his knowledge to bring people to God. Ecclesiology of The Homilies of the Statues is a part of his theology. The research collects the elements of the mission of the Church in these homilies. It brings them together with his other works. The chapter is divided in four subchapters. First three subchapters are about the synthesis of the mission of the Church and last subchapter brings the presumptions for this synthesis. The subchapters about the mission of the Church are separated according to the internal or external mission of the Church. John Chrysostom was attentive for credibility of the community. He wanted to move their inner spiritual life near Christ, sacraments and church life. The Church could not stay away from the society especially when there was existential crisis which he used as a pedagogical instruction. Authentic Christian behavior could deal with the crisis and get the God’s forgiveness. John Chrysostom wanted to shout down the sinners who curse on the Emperor. The Christians got the moral lesson. If the Christians had obeyed to God’s commands, crisis would not have started. The Christian way of thinking has important part in the life education. During the existential crisis many families were shut in the houses. The people in the city were worried about consequences. Therefore, John Chrysostom advised them to live simpler and humble life, like monks as he was. The ascesis could help Christians to stay calm. The last subchapter concludes why the mission of the Church in these homilies is similar to other ecclesiological themes of John Chrysostom’s preaching. The Church is always connected to the God’s word. John Chrysostom did not say some other theology than what he could understand from the tradition, past and the Scriptures. Second is the place where he preached. He preached in the church, and the occasion is always the same. He preached during the liturgy. His homilies are always connected to the church and Christian practices. The chapter concludes that the mission of the Church is the same and stabile. The most important is that the ecclesiology is independent from the temporary existential crisis.
Conclusion
In the end of this research it is concluded that The Homilies of the Statues have strong expression of the mission of the Church. The existential crisis brought it up because John Chrysostom wanted from community to behave in God’s plan. John Chrysostom preached to the community about specific Christian way of living. The Christians are separated from pagans and Jews, they had their Christian wisdom. The Church and the city society are not the same. The existential crisis helped John Chrysostom to sharp the mission of the Church but still it is the same mission as in his other works
Theological-Bioethical Evaluation of Transhumanist Anthropology
Full text linkRazvoj suvremenih znanstveno-tehničkih postignuća nedvojbeno je doveo čovječanstvo do velikih promjena i poboljšanja životnih uvjeta na Zemlji. Svaka tehnologija postaje prilika za poboljšanje čovjeka. No, u tome nije novost promatramo li povijest razvoja tehnika i tehnologija. Novost se pojavljuje u trenutku kada eksponencijalni razvoj tih tehnologija postaje prilika za umreženje raznih tehnoloških grana (nanotehnologija, biotehnologija, informatičke i kognitivne znanosti – NBIC) pod vodstvom novog pokreta zvanog transhumanizam. Premda je to pokret mnogostrukog značenja (jer čas promiče poboljšanje čovjeka pomoću suvremenih tehnologija, čas želi okončati sve moguće ljudske granice, čas želi uspostaviti utopijsko društvo ravnopravnosti, čas se smatra religioznim pokretom bez transcendencije, čas obećava besmrtnost), važno je primijetiti da ne gleda na tehnologije kao prilike za poboljšanje životnih uvjeta, već sredstva za nadilaženje prirode, za preoblikovanje, poboljšanje i nadograđivanje čovjeka sve do stvaranja novog više nego ljudskog „čovještva“. Fizičko-morfološki, psihičkokognitivni nedostatci, proces starenja, više nisu prihvatljive i samorazumljive dinamike ljudskog života, već granice koje treba po svaku cijenu nadilaziti i u konačnici „eutanazirati“ samu smrt, najveću čovjekovu neprijateljicu. Spajanjem tih tehnologija s medicinom događa se paradigmatska promjena u samom poimanju ljudskog rađanja, razvoja i starenja. Stoga globalna tehnološka medikalizacija ljudske egzistencije, s jedne strane, se nameće kao znak napretka, dok s druge strane, budi neopisiv nemir i neizvjesnost. Tehnologija nije više kao pomoćno sredstvo, već zbiljnost koja je postala sebi svrhom zahvaljujući utjecaju sekularnih i relativizirajućih ideja o etici. Polako se gubi svijest o objektivnoj moralnosti i etičnosti u znanstveno-tehničkim istraživanjima. Ovdje se rađa etički relativizam, duh korisnosti i vladavina materijalističko-redukcionističkog poimanja čovjeka, a sama je etika lišena transcendencije. Način ophođenja sa životom sve više ostavlja dojam da je čovjek promašeno iskustvo koje treba popraviti, poboljšati i dovoditi do novog stanja, tj. transhumanog, odnosno posthumanog. Takvo ophođenje zadire u samu ontološku i identitetsku dimenziju čovjeka čija je narav svedena na puku evolucijsku činjenicu bez uporišta i konzistentnosti. Transhumanističke i posthumanističke ideologije odriču se ontologije subjekta, tiho i snažno nameću neku drugu antropologiju, odnosno vode ka post-antropologiji. Želja da se otkupljenje i blaženstvo čovjekova tijela događa po tehnologijama (o)stavlja ga u tjeskobu iz koje se ne može izvući bez Boga Stvoritelja i Otkupitelja. U takvoj dinamici, jasno je da se transhumanističko poimanje ljudske osobe nužno odudara od tradicionalne filozofsko-teološke koncepcije. Naime, transhumanistički antropološki model vidi čovjeka kao otvoreni sustav podložan raznim promjenama i manipulacijama pomoću tehnologija. Time čovjek ulazi u logiku proizvodnje i posljedično zastarjelosti. Teološko-bioetička antropologija postaje okosnica koja poziva na praćenje razvoja i osoba, na ispravno vrjednovanje ljepote ljudskog života unatoč patnjama, poteškoćama, hendikepima. Zdravlje i tehnologija potrebni su čovjeku, ali u novoj trasnhumanističkoj konstelaciji i koncepciji, zdravlju i tehnologiji je potreban izgrađen čovjek. U svjetlu tradicije crkvenog Učiteljstva i teoloških promišljanja, ovo doktorsko istraživanje nastoji aktualizirati drevne, nepresušne i nepovredive istine o čovjekovom dostojanstvu, o njegovoj otajstvenoj stvorenosti na sliku Božju, o njegovoj oslobađajućoj ovisnosti o Stvoritelju, o njegovoj nesvodivosti na puku materiju, o ljepoti i vrijednosti njegovih prirodnih granica, o stupovima čovječnosti kao što su čovjekovo „nadnaravno“ porijeklo i horizont, njegova drugost. Glavni izvor istraživanja ostaje objava dana u Svetom pismu, osobito u njenoj punini u osobi Isusa Krista, pravoga i savršenog čovjeka. Tehnološki skok kojim transhumanizam želi stvoriti hibridnog „čovjeka“, pokazatelj je gubitka smisla za život, i odraz unutarnjeg nezadovoljstva i umora. Teologija i bioetika nanovo su pozvane u takvoj tehnološkoj kulturi aktualizirati spomenute istine o čovjeku, jer je glavni izazov prije svega spasiti čovjeka, a to iziskuje integralnu ljudsku ekologiju i etiku granice.The title of this doctoral thesis Theological-bioethical evaluation of transhumanist anthropology wants to stimulate critical thinking about a new paradigm of modern scientifictechnological society in which the human loses control over the speed of his own achievements that are becoming more and more uncontrollable. We are facing a new territory where the challenge for theological speech is growing, not so much about God but about the human himself. It is about a postmodern transhumanist movement that for many may still seem as a science fiction. While Christian theology tries to actualize ancient, inexhaustible and irrefutable truth about human dignity, about the mystery of his creation in God’s image, about his liberating dependence on the Creator, about his irreducibility to a mere matter, about the beauty and the value of his natural boundaries, about the pillars of the humanity, such as the human’s „supernatural“ origin and the horizon, his otherness, etc., transhumanism ignores almost all that and reaches for social Darwinism, but through technological jump by which it wants to create a new type of human, i.e. a hybrid being. Due to different views, tendencies and the development of the movement itself, nowadays it is more correct to talk about the transhumanism, because first they promote the improvement of the human through modern technologies, then they want to eliminate all possible human boundaries, then they want to establish a utopian society of equality, then they consider themselves as a religious movement without transcendence, and then they promise immortality. Because of such a wide scope, through this thesis we decided to reflect on their vision of the human. This approach does not exclude sporadic and partial review of different views of this movement. There is no doubt that transhumanism strongly impacts changes in the traditional anthropological paradigm from philosophical or theological perspective, and consequently brings many ethical and social challenges. Modern technological innovations under the transhumanism enforce a vision of the world which sees the Creature as a mere reality that needs to be demythologized. The devastating impact of such perception of human history is obvious. It creates a reductionist understanding of every being, especially the human who is reduced to a genetic form. Consequently, the human is exposed to all kinds of manipulation all the way to hybridization, i.e. cybernetics. From corporeality to reason, from feelings to intellect, from art to philosophy, all is reducible to a „gene“. The human is dispersing in matter from which he was accidentally created Such reductionist comprehension of the human being and his future through possibilities offered by various technologies clearly is not guided by the idea of technology as a functional and auxiliary tool for better life on Earth, but is consumed with a firm attitude toward a human as useless being that needs to be transformed, enhanced, improved and upgraded through technology. This is the movement that intrudes the ontological and identity dimension of the human. A new anthropology or post-anthropology of the transhumanism appears, and technology is its main hermeneutical key for understanding of the human and life. Theology as a science, especially in its moral-bioethical branch, draws its source from the proclamations of the Scripture, especially its fullness in the person of Jesus Christ, the true and perfect human. For this reason, moral theology cannot remain indifferent toward this radical reductionist comprehension of the human. Transhumanist ambitions of creating more than a human man, already in itself contains certain „theological“ implications. Of course, moral theology tries to accurately evaluate and accept every good and noble achievement in all areas of human activity, including technology. But, because of the dignity and the wellbeing of the human himself, moral theology tries to deepen awareness and awake conscience about the primacy of the person over objects, about the primacy of the spirit over matter, and about the primacy of ethics over technique, therefore, about the impossibility of technological creation of a superhuman without destroying the human himself. In other words, left to itself or under the influence of various scientological movements, the scientific-technological paradigm under the influence of transhumanism carries the danger of destruction of the human and the world, as well as depriving the human of his transcendental stronghold. Every progress is a result of human desire for better life. But in scientific-technological sense, does better life always mean life fulfilled with meaning? There is no doubt that the main fulfilment of the human is not achieved by the triumphalist achievements of the technological sciences, or by blind moralism without faith, or by fundamentalism without love, but by the ability to experience and receive life as a precious gift from God the Creator and Redeemer. Besides, the true essence of the scientist and believer (theologian) is not the possession of undeniable truths, but tireless longing for the truth and the source which always escapes our control and opens the way to the mystery of the creation and the Creator. And the faith in the person of Jesus Christ is the main source of happiness and immortality for which transhumanist movement strives for. That faith is the main motive and raison d'être for this doctoral thesis. Structure of the doctoral thesis includes four main chapters. The research method is characteristic for moral-theological science in general, particularly the moral-bioethical science. It questions and analyses the sources and foundations of Christian anthropology.Considering the complexity and the width of the topic of this thesis, the emphasis is on interdisciplinarity with the analytical-critical method from various sources. That interdisciplinarity opens a path toward other scientific fields – such as sociology, biotechnology, psychology, biomedicine, robotics, philosophy, ecology, etc. – and leads us to a theological-bioethical explanation of their contents. The first chapter of doctoral theses titled “Main achievements in scientific-convergent technologies”, starts from semantic analysis and transitional dynamics of the term technique into technology. Then it tries to illuminate some significant scientific-technological achievements, the areas of application of these technologies and expected perspectives according to “prophetic” announcements of transhumanism supporters. Areas that are in our focus are nanotechnology, biotechnology, neurosciences and computer sciences. The reason for choosing these four fields is grounded in the fact that transhumanism aspires to merge these areas in order to accomplish its own anthropological views. The achievements used by this movement include various financial challenges. The desire to improve the human life on Earth includes an insatiable desire for interest, that is, benefit. Furthermore, one of the main characteristics of the modern world functioning is the speed that controls life. While that speed, on the one hand, wants to provide a decent living standards for humans as soon as possible, on the other hand, it insults the dignity of the human through the promise of the possibility of immortal life on Earth. That immortality is possible thanks to future brain research which accelerates the development of artificial intelligence. But, is such intelligence that would first reach and then overcome human intelligence possible? Is it even possible to perceive the complexity of the human brain? All these possibilities are calling for urgent and awake theological and ethical judgment. The second chapter “Basic ideas and the main features of transhumanist anthropology” draws attention to the central motive of this thesis: anthropology of the transhumanism. Transhumanism, as a movement that stirs up the desire for better and enhanced human life, is a complex reality. Therefore, in the research we maintain its basic understanding of the human and its promise about enhancement which should create more than a human. Basic features of the transhumanism are at the same time basic features of the postmodern society which stands out by its secularism and relativism. The exposure of these features leads to a deeper understanding of the transhumanism as a movement of the relativization of human life, and removing every sense of holiness and transcendence. In the embrace of transhumanism, the human is subjected to different shapes and types of manipulation, with intension of improving biological, genetic, cognitive and psychological functions. The intent of a radical change of human life is followed by the view of human nature that is dissipating and represents no more safe and permanent ground for understanding human as is. The disappearance of the human nature from the horizon of transhumanist opinion exacerbated the disappearance of natural moral law as inherent fact in the human nature itself. Human nature is reduced to a mere evolutionary fact that prevents the observation of the human as an ontological being. In place of ontology comes technology, and this gives transhumanist anthropology a “weapon” for creating more than a human or, in other words, a superhuman. A human with technologies in his hands replaces the dignity of the co-creator with dignity of the true creator who wants everything he can get with the help of technologies. In fact, transhumanism emphasizes the eternal idea of improving the human present from the Enlightenment through humanism until today. But, the peculiarity of the modern state lies in the transhumanist promise of the eternal youth and longevity. The third chapter “Philosophical-ethical background of transhumanist anthropology” continues with the analysis from the previous chapter with a brief description of philosophy and metaphysics of technology. This chapter deals with a sort of return to the source. In order to better understand the logic of transhumanism which assumes a realized technological society that we are already in, attention must be paid to the historical-epistemological development of technologies with the intent of deeper philosophical-theological understanding of technology, whose main characteristic is anthropological and ethical ambivalence. Such understanding casts the light on challenges (of the transhumanist movement) encountered by a modern human. These challenges draw their strength from various philosophical reflections that deny the ontological and transcendent value of the human and his fundamental calling. The promise of immortality and the struggle against vulnerability are becoming eminent themes of theologicalbioethical reflections and call for a critical analysis of main bioethical implications of the “new religion” of transhumanism seeking its roots in Christian authors and imposes its credo of redesigning the child, permanent emotional bliss, human genome management, longevity, etc. The fourth chapter “Transhumanist anthropology in the light of conciliar and postconciliar anthropology” is the most extensive part of the thesis for a reason. First of all, it explores the transhumanist anthropology of immortality in the light of biblical doctrine. Then it shows how such anthropology is permeated by a dualistic approach that denies the value and the importance of the human body. The theology of the Ecclesiastical Mystery thus becomes the source for a correct understanding of a human as a united whole whose fullness is in telos of creation, that is, in Christ. It is a notorious fact that from the moment of conception till natural death, a human finds himself facing existential challenges that reveal his vulnerability and fragility. However, nothing that hurts him or makes him vulnerable does not diminish his dignity whose source comes from the fact that he is created in the image of God. This research chapter is focused on the post-conciliar anthropology as a criticism of the modern transhumanist anthropology. In that sense, the emphasis is on the view and the analysis of the Second Vatican Council doctrine, more accurately, on the Pastoral constitution on the Church in the modern world Gaudium et spes which is the most fruitful conciliar source for our topic. Through it we come to the main points of the theological-biblical anthropology in the context of technological development. There are two fundamental determinants of theology of technology in this chapter. First, we analyse transhumanist movement in the light of the mystery and theology of incarnation as a way of humanizing the human. Second, in the light of the Paschal mystery we are examining the path of realization of fundamental human hope and bliss that endlessly surpasses the technological vision of happiness and bliss. The moral doctrine of Church in various papal documents is deepened and actualized in relation to the challenges of transhumanist anthropology. Papal teaching documents take important place. Human enhancement necessarily invokes, on the one hand, an anthropological understanding that encompasses all dimensions of human life, and on the other hand, it invokes ethic of a border as a precondition for cooperation between Christian faith and transhumanist movement. Under the tempting promises of technological development, the human is in danger of hurting his fundamental dignity. This is why this doctoral research makes sense if it wants to theologically and bioethically point to the importance of human dignity, the full development of the human and the true revolution of “human ecology” as an important sources for returning human to himself and to God who is his Creator. In this research we want to show that the search for God and the search for human is part of the same logic. That logic admits and respects the dignity of Logos who stands in the foundation of the entire reality and enables recognition of the secret of human that overcomes him infinitely. Without relying on the deepest mystery of the human, for which Council teaches that is discovered only in the incarnation of eternal Logos, the human is exposed to the danger of losing meaning and freedom. Therefore, the more transhumanism resists the correct and complete understanding of the human and the place of God in human, the more the human is trapped in materialism and immanentism. The denial of the fundamental spiritual and transcendental dimension of the human diminishes him to the “logic of the machine” which can be technologically unlimitedly repaired and allegedly improved, but in fact he is diminished to a mere object condemned to inhuman technological manipulations.The final aim of this thesis is a critical analysis and evaluation of anthropological vision of transhumanism. The character of this research is eminently interdisciplinary. It wants to show that human divine dignity does not depend on technological progress, but it was given to him by God as a task and responsibility due to the fact that he is created in the image of God and redeemed in the image of Jesus Christ. We want to contribute to both, the development of interdisciplinarity of bioethics in general and the interdisciplinarity in relation to moral theology. Furthermore, this research seeks to highlight the positive and praiseworthy dimensions of technological development with basic restriction that its use from the perspective of transhumanist anthropology carries with it the threats to the wholeness and dignity of the human. The aforementioned final aim goes through our fundamental hypothesis that states that the transhumanist anthropology, in its essence, contrasts the traditional philosophical and theological anthropology, and this is best seen in the field of modern bioethical challenges. That hypothesis excludes epidermique and negative attitude towards technological development which contributes to the prosperity and quality of human life. Our hypothesis includes a critical attitude by which the technological advancement in the embrace of transhumanist movement turns into its own opposition, therefore it becomes a regression because the human is degraded to a mere object. Transhumanism recognizes in technologies the basis for its ideas and practice, ignoring the misuses that are harmful for the human and his inviolable dignity. It will be possible to conclude that in the foundation of transhumanist anthropology the idea of the human as failed experience or meaningless creature is built, who should restore his meaning and happiness by means of technology. That approach rejects the traditional ontology and the truth which is promoted by Christian anthropology. Because of that, the transhumanist anthropology deserves theological and bioethical critical attention. Theology as a science has its role as guardian of the holiness and integrity of the human life in every sense. As such, it encourages us – through the texts of the Scripture, Church documents and deliberation of theologians and bioethicists – to continuously and in a new way actualize the mystery of the human in the light of the mystery of the Trinity God. The sources of this research are primarily the Scripture and already mentioned document of the Second Vatican Council, Pastoral constitution on the Church in the modern world Gaudium et spes, documents of the Ecclesiastical Tea
Holiness as realized humanity in the doctrine of John Paul II
No full textDisertacija obrađuje temu svetosti kao ostvarene čovječnosti u nauku sv. Ivana Pavla II. iz egzistencijalno-duhovne i evangelizacijsko-antropološke perspektive. Takav pristup ovoj temi pruža specifičan doprinos teološkoj znanosti, na poseban način njenoj konkretnijoj dušobrižničkoj zauzetosti, te stoga može pružiti svoj obol životodavnom razvoju i usmjerenju teologije, od epistemologije putem tipično ljudske dijalektike otvorenosti i istinoljubivosti vjere i razuma pred izazovima različitih filozofskih i religijskih paradigmi sve do misionarskog poslanja Crkve čiji je glavni put čovjek u njegovoj realnoj i aktualnoj situaciji. Rad je uostalom svojevrstan odgovor na apel Ivana Pavla II. u kojemu je i teologija pozvana odgovorno prepoznati hitan poziv i bitan zadatak da pruži čovjeku ovoga vremena, uz omogućenu bliskost i pristupačnost smjerokaza i sredstava, jasne i snažne, utemeljene i sudbonosne razloge i motive za postizanje svetosti kao najizvrsnijeg puta uistinu smislenog i sretnog ostvarenja čovjekovog života.This thesis deals with holiness as accomplished humanity in life and doctrine of St. John Paul II from an existential-spiritual and evangelizational-anthropological perspective. Such an approach to this subject gives a specific contribution to theological science, in particular to its more concrete pastoral care. Therefore, it can contribute to development and orientation of theology, from epistemology through typical human dialectics of openness and veracity of faith and reason in front of challenges of different philosophical and religious paradigms, up to missionary calling of the Church whose main concern is man in his real and concrete situation. Besides, the thesis is a kind of response to the appeal of John Paul II in which theology is called to responsibly recognize urgent call and essential task, which is to provide the man of this time, by closeness and accessibility of pathways and means, with clear and strong, grounded and understandable, contemporary and fateful reasons and motives for reaching sanctity as the most splendid way of really sensible and fortunate fulfilment of human life. The layout and the structure have been set up simply on purpose so as to show the importance and connection at the same time, as well as the internal interlacement of certain topics. Therefore, bearing thoughts and answers are already present implicitly or explicitly in the titles of different chapters. In the first chapter it can be clearly perceived through details, especially from the whole perspective, how the merciful providence, through joyful and painful life circumstances, was embedding and developing the holy personality of Karol Wojtyla, from the beginning to the end of his earthly pilgrimage. The second chapter depicts in a wider context, without considering the documents of John Paul II, the background and calling, reasons and content, characteristics and modes, uniqueness and diversity of the gift of holiness and responsibility of saints as the clearest pointers and the strongest support on the way to perfection, as opposed to some apparentness and evil ways. The third chapter shows how man as an invited person of God, who is the source, inspiration and the aim of holiness, with his existential response achieves his own sense and happiness, achieving in an ordinary and/or extraordinary way that natural and transcendental plan his Creator has for him. Answering the life calling man devotes himself to serving through life and coexistence, and sanctifies himself through serving in the Church and society. The fourth chapter represents man as the one who, touched by announced and rebuilding complaisance in this visible and invisible world, has entered into the salvational union (which once was broken by calamitous unfaithfulness) with the Trinity, who is the Truth which shows the Way in blessed Life. That Truth can be discovered and acquired through humble and reasonable faith that humanizes, unlike glaring and captivating delusions that dehumanize the spiritual and sensual dimension of the person with regard to his vocation within the community. The fifth chapter as a climax and completion puts in the centre the man, marked and convinced by generous and effective holiness of the Lord, who became manlike God for the godlike man. On this journey he matures through authentic reverence of self-giving Eucharistic God, through assimilation to his salvational cross, and through wholehearted and versatile solidarity with neighbours. The best model is the most generous among all creatures, Blessed Virgin and Mother Mary, who received everything, but also gives everything. Therefore, she is capable of causing a man to surrender to Christ and his releasing and enriching leadership within the Church. Such a surrender is absolutely essential and urgent because it leads to the holy transformation of man. Through this dissertation is shown that personal holiness of man is not a product of his efforts to realise himself “as he wishes”, i.e. through mere development of some potentials by obstinate and worldly manner, to which modern mentality is inclined dominantly, while spreading his peacockish ambitions etc., but inversely, man can come to real fulfilment only through personal consecration, with grace and collaboration in truth and love, i.e. in humble realisation of the present image and likeness of Him, who with love created and saved man and called him to perfection
UNDERSTANDING AND FULFILLMENT OF THE MISSION OF WOMEN RELIGIOUS IN CROATIA TODAY
Full text linkDisertacija se sastoji od teorijskoga i empirijskoga dijela. U teorijskom dijelu, dinamizam poslanja posvećenoga života propituje se u svjetlu suvremene teološke, trinitarno-ekleziološke paradigme razumijevanja poslanja. Temeljna polazišna točka u potrazi za odgovorom na pitanje što poslanje redovničkoga života jest u sebi, odnosno što sve čini njegov opseg, jest crkveni nauk, ali i daljnji razvoj naputaka Crkvenoga učiteljstva u aktualnoj teološkoj literaturi i literaturi o zajednicama posvećenoga života. Sukladno tomu, teorijski okvir istraživanja iznosi temeljne smjernice poimanja poslanja u koncilskim i pokoncilskim dokumentima službene Crkve, u pravilima i konstitucijama redovničkih zajednica te u teološkoj misli suvremenih autora.
Na temelju navedene literature, poslanje posvećenoga života promatra se u domeni esencijalnosti, a ne isključivo u domeni funkcionalnosti. Ukoliko se poslanje promatra kao ključ za razumijevanje posvećenoga života u njegovoj cjelovitosti, moguće je govoriti o četiri dimenzije poslanja: molitvenoj, svjedočkoj, pashalnoj i djelatnoj. Višedimenzionalni pristup poslanju bolje osvjetljava dijalektički odnos molitve i rada u redovničkom životu, a ujedno afirmira ideju u kojoj se poslanje promatra kao način življenja zajednica posvećenoga života.
Empirijsko istraživanje provedeno je u dvije etape. Cilj prve etape bio je prikupiti sociodemografska obilježja dvadeset i četiriju ženskih redovničkih zajednica sa sjedištem u Hrvatskoj, a u drugoj etapi upitnikom su se ispitivali stavovi redovnica o poslanju ženskih redovničkih zajednica u Hrvatskoj, poslanju vlastite družbe te o osobnom poslanju.
U tom smislu u istraživanju se identificira paradigma prema kojoj pripadnice ženskih redovničkih zajednica shvaćaju poslanje, analizira se vrijednosni sustav redovnica s obzirom na dijalektički odnos među dimenzijama poslanja, provjerava se povezanost individualnih sociodemografskih karakteristika ispitanica s poimanjem poslanja, opisuju se razlike između razumijevanja i ostvarivanja poslanja u ženskim redovničkim zajednicama, otkriva se koliko sociodemografska obilježja redovničkih zajednica utječu na ostvarivanje poslanja, ispituju se pretpostavke redovnica glede djelovanja redovničkih zajednica u budućnosti i utvrđuje u kojoj mjeri redovnice u Hrvatskoj pokazuju otvorenost za suradnju s drugim crkvenim i društvenim subjektima u ostvarivanju poslanja svoje zajednice.Religious life emerged as an expression of the creative power of the Spirit of God in times of crises and turning points in the Church. Due to the passage of time, distance from the initial fervour, Gospel radicalism, and insistence on inappropriate structures, consecrated life is, however, always in danger to lose its original strength and role within the Church and in its relationship towards society and the world. Documents of the Church Magisterium show that the renewal of the Church is often perceived as being in close correlation with the renewal of religious life. As the current bearer of the supreme power in the Church, Pope Francis decided to proclaim the church year, lasting from November 30, 2014 until February 2, 2016, as the “Year of Consecrated Life”. In the Apostolic Letter promulgated on the occasion of its opening, he expressed his expectation for all forms of consecrated life to reflect on what God, the Church, and the world expects from them and how they are responding to new current issues (cf. no. 5).
The topic of religious life is, therefore, current and important in the Church and its theology. At the same time, one has an impression that this age is not the golden age of religious life. This is particularly true for women religious communities of apostolic direction. Many indicators such as old age, insignificant intake of new members, disorientation in regards to new interpretation of their charism and priority areas of activity, insufficiently clear identity in the Church and in society, all point to the need for a deeper engagement with the fundamental issue of purposefulness and goals of such consecrated apostolic life in women religious communities. Transformations that are affecting religious life on the global scale are also affecting religious communities in Croatia. Although the circumstances in Croatia are specific, due to the transitional processes that are taking place in the society, the confusion within religious communities is merely a part of global metamorphoses of consecrated life in the world today.
The primary focus of this study is the mission of religious life and this allowed the study to touch upon all the issues mentioned above. Seen as the founding element of religious life, the mission of religious life is not simply a component of religious life, something that could be torn out of its integral whole and studied separately. Similarly, the mission of religious life cannot be taken out of its social ambient; social-cultural determinants and characteristics of the context exert a tremendous influence on religious life and activity.
The dimension of time is also very important. Religious communities need to be engaged permanently in rediscovery of signs of the times and reflection on how to live their own charism in current social and ecclesial circumstances. Each time has its own signs, that is, needs. It is expected of religious communities to possess a sufficient amount of Gospel shrewdness in discerning those signs and sufficient courage and skill in responding to them. The study focuses primarily on the period of democratic changes in Croatia, but its results need to be interpreted while having in mind the dimensions of the past, present, and future. Namely, the current state of understanding and realising the mission of religious life among female religious communities of apostolic direction in regard to its place and role in the Church and in society, can be integrally understood only in relation to previous historical periods. The history of religious communities testifies in favour of an exceptional ability of these communities to adapt to various historical changes. Furthermore, the current state of women religious communities will certainly have repercussions on the future of these communities.
The study consists of two parts: theoretical and empirical.
I. THE THEORETICAL PART
The theoretical part presents contemporary theological, Trinitarian-ecclesiological foundation of the mission of religious life and then proceeds with a study of how the mission has been understood in conciliar and post-conciliar documents of the Church Magisterium and rules and constitutions of women religious communities whose administrative offices are located in Croatia.
1. The Trinitarian-Ecclesiological Foundation of the Mission of Consecrated Life
The first chapter studies the dynamics of the mission of consecrated life in the perspective of contemporary theological, Trinitarian-ecclesiological paradigm of understanding the mission. The name of this paradigm itself shows that it consists of two foundational points: missio Dei and missio ecclesiae that emerge from fundamental directives of conceptualising the mission in conciliar and post-conciliar documents of the official Church and in current theological thought of contemporary authors.
After the reflection on the mission of the Holy Trinity and the mission of religious life in the light of that mystery, the chapter proceeds with a reflection on the mission of the Church and defines the identity of consecrated life within the frame of the Church; that is, it reflects on the place of consecrated life in the Church and its role in relation to other members of the People of God. Ecclesiality is co-natural constituent of consecrated communities and there are multiple ways in which consecrated persons participate in the mission of the Church.
2. The Mission of Religious Life in Documents of the Church Magisterium and Religious Communities
The Trinitarian-ecclesiological approach to the mission of consecrated life allows one to observe the mission in the domain of being, that is, the domain of essentiality, and not exclusively in the domain of functionality. In that sense, documents of the Church Magisterium and rules and constitutions of religious communities reveal that the mission encompasses everything that consecrated life is in its totality. The mission is a way of life of consecrated communities. Hence, one can enumerate four dimensions of the mission: dimension of prayer, dimension of witness, paschal dimension, and dimension of work. The study considers each of these dimensions and their key points on the basis of contents of above mentioned documents of the Church Magisterium and religious communities.
In relation to the dimension of prayer, the study points out the primacy of prayer, reflects on the dialectical relation between prayer and work, and analyses characteristics of so-called apostolic spirituality. The dimension of witness springs already from the religious consecration and encompasses absolutely every element of religious way of life, while it manifests itself especially in living of vows and in the life of the community. The dimension of witness is in the service of eschatological signification of consecrated life. The paschal dimension is, similarly to the dimension of witness, interwoven into each part of religious life; from the religious consecration through ascetic exercises and sacrifices demanded by living a life in a community, all the way to suffering that is closely related to fruitful work. In the context of their discourse on the dimension of work, documents call, firstly, to faithfulness to the spirit of the founder, discernment of the signs of the times, and reflection on work. This is followed in the documents by concrete guidelines for the formation for active service and a discourse on the dialectical relation between being and doing.
The idea on the multidimensionality of the mission is able to emphasise better dialectical relations between these various dimensions of the mission, especially between the dimensions of prayer and work and dimensions of witness and work.
II. THE EMPIRICAL PART
In the area of theology of consecrated life a very limited amount of empirical research has been carried out so far, especially in the Croatian language. When it comes to religious communities, the need of empirical research is beyond doubt, especially when one takes into account that religious communities emerge, exist, and are active in a specific social context.
The purpose of the empirical part of the dissertation is to show, analyse, and interpret results of a quantitative study of the mission. The study has been conducted by using the method of questionnaire in 24 women religious communities whose administrative offices are located in Croatia. The empirical part consists of three chapters.
1. The Starting Points of Research on the Mission of Women Religious Communities whose Administrative Offices are Located in Croatia
The first chapter sketches the starting points of research and this includes the description of the historical-social and scientific-research context, defining of goals and hypotheses of research, and the description of method used in carrying out research.
The historical-social context reveals that most women religious communities arrived to the geographic area of today´s Croatia in the second half of the 19th century or the beginning of the 20th century. Only few of them emerged in Croatia, while others came from Western European countries. The scientific-research context provides an insight into a few existing similar studies in Croatia and on the international scale.
The general goal of research is to analyse the current understanding and realisation of the mission of members of women religious communities whose administrative offices are located in Croatia and to create a base of social-demographic data on religious communities (number of members, their age, level of education, employment, etc.). Hypotheses, which will be tested through research, are the following:
H1: Members of women religious communities whose administrative offices are located in Croatia understand their mission in a multidimensional way.
H2: In the dialectical relation between two dimensions of mission, dimensions of prayer and work, members of women religious communities understand prayer as having a higher value.
H3: Social-demographical characteristics of women religious do not have a significant influence of the understanding of their mission.
H4: In women religious communities there are differences between understanding and realising the mission.
H5: Social-demographical characteristics of religious communities do influence the realisation of the mission.
H6: Concerning the dimension of work, women religious in Croatia tend towards narrowing of the scope of their work and shifting emphasis on social and spiritual-pastoral forms of work of communities.
H7: Women religious in Croatia are open for cooperation with other ecclesial and social subjects in realisation of the mission of their communities.
The third subsection describes the method of research (participants, instruments, procedure, and planned methods of analysing data). As mentioned earlier, participants come from 24 women religious communities whose administrative offices are located in Croatia. The sample includes members of such communities of different age, level of education, work status, and engagement in various kinds of work. Instruments used in this research are two questionnaires. The purpose of the first questionnaire is to gather data on social-demographic characteristics of religious communities. The second questionnaire was used to get an insight into attitudes of women religious on the mission of consecrated life. Concerning the process of research, it consisted of two phases and its conduction has been adapted to possibilities of each religious community. For the analysis of gathered data IBM Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) programme has been used.
2. Results of Research: An Analysis and Interpretation
The second chapter of the empirical part presents results of research and their analysis and interpretation in the perspective of the Trinitarian-ecclesiological foundation of the mission and hypothetical framework of research.
The first part of the analytical-interpretative procedure is focused on social-demographical characteristics of religious communities in Croatia, of population and of the sample. Statistical data for each individual community that has been included in research and that have been gathered with assistance of sisters superiors of these communities, are not very encouraging. These numbers reveal: a small number of persons that are currently undergoing formation, high age of members, closing down of local communities, narrowing of area of work, retreat from job positions, etc. The average age in religious communities included in research is between 60 and 70. Taking into account trends in statistical data on the number of members of women religious communities through the period of ten years reveals that the total number of members has diminished by 14,0%. All indicators that have been taken into account do not predict flourishing of religious life in the near future.
However, these indicators have to be interpreted within the wider social context. External factors of the small influx of new members can be related to the small natural population surplus within society, higher life standard, changed status of women within society, bigger possibilities of education and employment, etc. The high age of women religious is related to the fact that people live longer in general. Furthermore, the high age is also affected by the fact that the average age of entering into a community has been increasing, which is also related to the increasing average age of entering into a marriage. Social-demographic characteristics of women religious communities in the Republic of Croatia need to be interpreted within the context of the total population of Croatia, which is also aging. Furthermore, when one compares social-demographic characteristics of women religious communities in the Republic of Croatia with women religious communities in some other European countries, in which the majority of communities did not have a young candidate joining a community for decades, then one can reach the conclusion that religious communities in Croatia are still showing significant signs of vitality.
The second part of analysis focuses on questions and replies of participants that reflect their understanding of the mission. Obtained results of research confirm the correctness of hypothesis that predicted that members of women religious communities whose administrative offices are located in Croatia understand their mission in the multidimensional way. The multidimensional way of understanding the mission, substantiated in conciliar and post-conciliar documents of the Church Magisterium, the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, and in rules and constitutions of religious communities, is also present in the current understanding of the mission among women religious. All four dimensions, prayer, witness, paschal dimension, and work have been recognised as forms of the mission of consecrated life. This also reveals that for members of women religious communities whose administrative offices are located in Croatia the mission is an aspect of being, i.e. it encompasses their whole existence and not just their work.
The analysis of the value system of women religious in terms of the dialectical relation between dimensions of the mission, leads to the conclusion that women religious, as predicted by one of the above mentioned hypotheses, value the dimension of prayer of their religious life more than the dimension of work. Furthermore, they also value the dimension of witness and paschal dimension more than the dimension of work. The issue of the relation of women religious towards their mission is a small part of a much larger context. On the one hand, the pressure of society for efficiency is getting stronger and this necessarily has an effect within religious communities where it manifests in exaggerated activism and subtle careerism, followed by pronounced individualism. On the other hand, it seems that the society has still not overcame the characteristic attitude from the time of socialism, based on the idea of minimal engagement for maximal profit, which is not entirely absent from women religious communities either. In the future, one ought to be aware of both of these tendencies of overemphasising and underemphasising work, in order to avoid both of these extremes and to nurture a healthy attitude towards work activities and efforts that work demands.
Results obtained through the statistical analysis of data lead to the conclusion that women religious communities are fairly monolithic in regard to how they understand their mission. Regardless of social-demographic determinants of questionnaire participants (age, place of origin, level of education, job position, temporary/final vow, affiliation with a community whose administrative office is located in/outside of Croatia), they gave similar answers to the question concerning the understanding of the mission of religious life. Calculation of correlations or differences among groups showed that results were not statistically significant or that the correlation/difference was weak/small.
In the third part the analytical procedure is directed to the realisation of the mission. It has been determined that social-demographical characteristics of religious communities (number of members, average age, and professional competence) largely affect the realisation of the mission in all its dimensions. Among other things, these determinants are one of the most important factors causing the shift in emphasis from one dimension to another. Concerning the dimension of work, women religious in Croatia expect narrowing of their area of work and shifting of emphasis to social and spiritual-pastoral forms of activity of communities. In the questionnaire participants had a number of chances to express their opinion on the dimension of work of the society to which they belong, as it concerns their presence and their future. In replies to these questions, two kinds of activities were mentioned the most and these are the same ones predicted by the sixth hypothesis: social and spiritual-pastoral. The importance of this hypothesis in the future perspective is manifested primarily in the warning not to separate social activity from spiritual-pastoral and vice versa. Their mutual relationship and interpenetration is extremely important when it comes to women religious communities of apostolic direction. Spirituality without charity work is like empty words without works, theory without testimony.
The seventh hypothesis considered the issue of openness for cooperation of women religious in Croatia with other ecclesial and social subjects in the realisation of the mission of the religious community to which they belong. The hypothesis has been tested also through the questionnaire that gathered statistical data on communities as well as through the questionnaire that inquired into their attitudes. On the basis of the following data on – affiliated membership, employed lay people in their convents/institutions, founding of or cooperation with civil associations or institutes, cooperation with other women religious communities, number of women religious who are active in parishes and o
The Sources of Moral Konwledge in the Light of the Teaching of the Second Vatican Council
Full text linkDrugi vatikanski koncil potakao je obnovu moralne teologije a samim time i obnovu izvora moralne spoznaje polazeći od izvora božanske objave u čijem početku, središtu i koncu stoji osoba Isusa Krista. Koncilska obnova moralne teologije i izvora moralne spoznaje treba se odvijati prema nacrtima i smjernicama Koncila. Iako, Koncil ne govori izričito o izvorima moralne spoznaje, ali se čitav koncilski nauk može razumijevati i tumačiti kao i nauk o izvorima moralne spoznaje. Koncil je u središte obnove stavio Božju riječ koja je kao duša čitave teologije pa se i teološko istraživanje nadahnjuje i usmjerava u svjetlu Božje riječi kao poticaj i vrelo iz kojega i u kojem dublje razumijemo otajstvo Boga i čovjeka. Otkrivanje izvora moralne spoznaje stoji u živom i jedinstvenom odnosu s osobom Isusa Krista kao jedincatim moralnim izvorom u kojem se rasvjetljuje temeljni kršćanski moralni poziv vjernika u Kristu kao i obnova ljudskog dostojanstva stvorenog na sliku Božju, a obnovljenog na sliku Kristovu. U ovom istraživanju držimo se temeljnog izvora, a to je nauk sadržan u dokumentima Koncila, posebno u četiri velike konstitucije: dogmatskoj o božanskoj objavi Dei Verbum, dogmatskoj o Crkvi Lumen gentium, pastoralnoj o Crkvi u suvremenom svijetu Gaudium et spes i konstituciji o božanskoj liturgiji Sacrosanctum concilium te u deklaraciji Dignitatis humanae. U ovim koncilskim dokumentima istražujemo što i kako Koncil naučava o spoznaji istine i dobra kao i ključnim elementima moralne spoznaje. U središtu našeg istraživanja je vrijednost i dostojanstvo moralne spoznaje u svjetlu Objave i vjere kao objektivnih i subjektivnih izvora moralne spoznaje. Čovjekovo dostojanstvo razuma i uma po kojima čovjek ima udjela u samom svjetlu božanskog uma i spoznaje otkriva da ljudska razumska narav traga za dubljom istinom, nadilazeći puku materijalnu stvarnost. Sposobnost razumske spoznaje u objektivnim i subjektivnim izvorima moralne spoznaje omogućava čovjeku da prodre do duboke duhovne i transcendentne zbilje. Svaka ljudska spoznaja treba se hraniti znanjem i crpiti nadahnuća iz izvora božanske Objave kao autentičnom izvoru moralne spoznaje. Koncil je obnovu moralne teologije obvezao Svetim pismom i osobom Isusa Krista te se ove teološke činjenice ponovno nude u svjetlu podudarnosti izvora moralne spoznaje sa samim izvorima moralne teologije. Božanska Objava, tj. Pismo i Predaja, je mjesto iz kojega se crpi božanska spoznaja istine i dobra koji su u sebi nepromjenjivi u povijesnim uvjetima. Već je i sam Koncil događaju dubljeg prodiranja u božansku spoznaju istine i dobra pa je nužno učiti od Koncila kako trajno i dublje ponirati u božansku spoznaju istine i dobra i učiniti ih hranom duhovnog i moralnog života vjernika. Koncil je u samo središte obnove izvora moralne spoznaje stavio sadržaje nadnaravnih izvora moralne teologije a koji su istovremeno i izvori same moralne spoznaje. Koncil je pored toga snažno naglasio praktičku i pastoralnu usmjerenost kršćanskog nauka te time rasvijetlio i naravne izvore moralne spoznaje, osobito moralni zakon, savjest i ljudsko iskustvo.The title of this doctoral thesis Izvori moralne spoznaje u svjetlu nauka Drugoga vatikanskog koncila (The Sources of Moral Knowledge in the Light of the Teaching of the Second Vatican Council) indicates a specific approach to and study of the teaching of the Second Vatican Council. As opposed to fundamental moral theology, the Council did not expressis verbis formulate a teaching on sources of moral knowledge. However, in its systematic exposition of the Christian teaching on Revelation, i.e., the Scripture and Tradition, Church Magisterium, the Church, theology, liturgy, the human being, the dignity of the human being, conscience, and on many other relevant topics, it has, in our opinion, fundamentally illuminated, deepened, and widened our traditional insights on the sources of moral knowledge. There is no doubt that nowadays the conciliar efforts to renew the Church are facing new and much more complex challenges. This fact is widely recognised in the moral domain that is immersed in a deep crisis and threatened by relativism. Because of this, the conciliar mandate and demand to renew moral theology imposes itself with new emphases and one of these is certainly the need for renewal of sources of moral knowledge that are, at the same time, sources of moral theology. In this study we will consistently focus on the fundamental source of our topic, the teaching that has been systematically presented in all documents of the Council, especially in the four constitutions: the Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation Dei verbum, the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church Lumen gentium, the Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World Gaudium et spes, and the Constitution on Divine Liturgy Sacrosanctum concilium. We believe that on the basis of the comprehensive conciliar teaching we can confidently develop and deepen essential theses of the teaching on sources of moral knowledge and, on this basis, offer a valuable contribution to their better understanding, on the one hand, and their renewal as an important contribution to the renewal of moral theology, on the other hand. That the teaching of the Second Vatican Council can be studied and interpreted in the light of sources of moral knowledge is proven by the fundamental orientation of the Council itself that, on the one hand, aimed at the integral renewal of the Church and the teaching and, on the other hand, at the integral renewal of the human being and society in the Christocentric key. The method of research and presentation in this doctoral thesis follows the method of moral theology. Our doctoral research and its results will be presented in five chapters. In the first chapter we will critically present cultural and anthropological characteristics of our times that reveal a deep moral crisis and, consequently, a crisis of moral knowledge. The presentation will not proceed abstractly, but will instead confront the concrete reality in which human life, of both believers and non-believers, is immersed today and in which the fundamental knowledge of good and evil is immersed. The concrete reality of human life today often manifests itself as a radical deconstruction of the human being that reaches its culmination in the reign of instrumental reason and epistemological relativism concerning the good and the truth. In that sense, instead of the idea of transcendence of the human being, the reason separated from the transcendence dominates; instead of the dignity of the human being as a unique being composed of body and soul, a truncated anthropology reigns; instead of objective knowledge of good and evil, subjectivism and moral relativism dominate. Our study will, therefore, show how tragic radical separation of reason from faith created an atmosphere of epistemological relativism that denies the possibility of objective knowledge of the good and the truth. In order to show in which concrete sense our doctoral study presupposes the traditional moral-theological teaching, the second chapter will present a short overview of the development and understanding of the traditional theological-moral teaching on sources of moral knowledge. The method of presentation will rely more on synthetic than analytic approach, which might leave an impression of being incomplete. However, this chapter merely aims at demonstrating essential deficiencies of pre-conciliar moral theology, especially its casuistic and legalistic character and its understanding of sources of moral knowledge. These deficiencies will be demonstrated by using a number of examples of manuals of moral theology. When we talk about types and nature of moral knowledge we are presupposing moral good the human being faces as a demand. Moral knowledge is revealed in objective and subjective reality of moral good towards which the human being is at the same time open and directed through his/her reason and will. Knowledge of the good comes forth from the indicative demand, i.e. from within the human being and his/her freedom to do good and avoid evil. We will try to demonstrate that objective knowledge of moral good manifests itself in subjective knowledge in the way of objectivising plunging into the centre of the human person and his/her relatedness with the transcendence and not in the conflict between objective and subjective moral knowledge or in the supremacy of one over and at the expense of the other. In the third chapter we will, finally, focus on the study and presentation of the conciliar teaching on objective and supernatural sources of moral knowledge as these were, in our interpretation, exposed in the Dogmatic Constitution Dei Verbum on Divine Revelation, the Dogmatic Constitution Lumen gentium on the Church, and in the Constitution Sacrosanctum concilium on Divine Liturgy. Since the classical theological-moral understanding of objective sources of moral knowledge begins with the fact of the Revelation, i.e. the Scripture and the Tradition, it will be of utmost importance to go beyond the preconciliar understanding of the Revelation as the transmission of decrees (decreta) and to recognise and accept renewed conciliar understanding of the Revelation in a fuller and comprehensive sacramental sense (sacramentum), i.e. as an act of God’s self-revelation and self-giving to the human being. The Revelation has reached its fullness and pinnacle in the event of the person of Jesus Christ, God-human being, who is the incarnated Word of God in whom shines forth the fullness of Christian knowledge of God and the human being. Hence, in the centre of Christian moral knowledge we ought to put the person of Jesus Christ in whom the mystery of God and the human being has been revealed to us perfectly and moral theology ought to be inspired by the person of Jesus Christ in whom the mystery of the Revelation as a supernatural and objective source of moral knowledge has been shown to us. On the basis of this we will be able to show more clearly and strongly the conciliar incentives for the renewal of moral theology that needs to be vivified and inspired by the written and transmitted Word of God from which it ought to draw its main orientation and inspiration for the renewal of Christian moral life. The Word of God has been entrusted to the Church for keeping, interpretation, and as the source of nourishment for the life of believers, because it is inspired by the Spirit of God. The understanding of the human being begins with the understanding of the Word of God as the objective source of moral knowledge that clarifies the mystery of the human being through knowledge of the mystery of Jesus Christ and knowledge of the Divine law. In order to understand moral knowledge it will be important to clarify the relation between faith and reason because reason is, in the conciliar understanding, the reflection of the image of God in the human being. An act of faith is a kind of moral knowledge of love through which the human being freely, with his/her whole being, adheres to God, who reveals Himself to him/her as love. Hence, knowledge of faith goes to the very centre of moral knowledge, because the latter ought to be formed according to the objective demands of knowledge of good and evil in the light of faith. In the continuation of this chapter, we will present the mutual relationship between the Church and the Word of God as the source from which deep moral knowledge and the transformation of Christian moral life and the life of the whole Christian community develop. The complete transformation of the human being is possible only when one keeps in sight supernatural objective sources of moral knowledge. In the light of these the true value of subjective moral sources that are discovered in the human being as the bearer of moral good is revealed. In the fourth chapter we will present the conciliar teaching on natural and subjective sources of moral knowledge. Although the Council does not expound, expressis verbis, the teaching on the natural moral law that the traditional teaching presents as the natural and objective source of moral knowledge, we will still try to sketch the conciliar vision of the natural moral law found in the conciliar teaching on the human being in general and conscience in particular. In the conciliar renewal of source of moral knowledge conscience and the law written in the human heart, knowledge, freedom, and the dignity of the human person are key concepts around which the whole discourse on natural sources of moral knowledge is structured. The Council begins with the renewed vision of the human being within which it points out the fundamental Christian truth about the human being created in the image of God. Next to this fundamental truth, the Council did not fail to mention the truth about sin that has wounded the human being and, consequently, his/her moral knowledge. The human being as a rational and free being is capable to know God despite the fact of sin. In Jesus Christ the human dignity has been renewed and raised up to new heights and this includes the human being’s moral knowledge. In this chapter we will try to present the integral conciliar vision of the human being that includes the vision of natural and subjective sources of moral knowledge. In the fifth and last chapter of this study we will present a synthesis of the conciliar teaching on objective and subjective and supernatural and natural sources of moral knowledge. We will show that the person of Jesus Christ, as the universal concrete norm of Christian morality, is at the centre of Christian moral knowledge. Next to this important truth expounded in the conciliar teaching, we will also point out the truth on the dignity of the human being and the dignity of conscience and freedom in the light of Christian understanding of the human being. Our doctoral research will proceed primarily on the basis of direct study of documents of the Second Vatican Council. For the purpose of better understanding of the conciliar teaching we will also utilise relevant theological and moral literature that will be fully listed at the end of the dissertation. That list certainly does not include all relevant literature, but we believe the consulted literature was sufficient for the purposes of our study. At the end of this study on sources of moral knowledge in the light of the teaching of the Second Vatican Council, we are able to conclude that the Council is truly a wealthy and fertile source of inspiration, contents, and orientation for the integral renewal of these sources that are, at the same time, sources of moral theology. This renewal is, therefore, not external or cosmetic, but the renewal of the very identity of moral theology. Our study has revealed the drama of contemporary crisis of morality whose causes are theoretical and practical demands of the modern anthropocentrism. The Council initiated a dialogue with the modern world by admitting that modern developments were not just bad and wrong, but that they also had positive aspects such as the dignity of the human person, autonomy, human rights, historicity, dialogue, solidarity, interdependency, and the common good. However, the social development after the Council showed, let us say, a turn to worse, especially in the anthropological and ethical area. Hence, in the first chapter of our study we identified some dimensions of the contemporary moral crisis and especially its causes related to the radical anthropocentrism that separates the human being from transcendence and interprets him/her in a purely subjectivist sense. Such social developments were not known before the Council, but we saw that the Church and moral theology can respond to contemporary challenges of the moral crisis only through the power of inspiration, contents, and renewing guidelines of the Second Vatican Council. The second chapter of our doctoral thesis brought forth deficiencies of pre-conciliar moral theology. These deficiencies did not concern so much sources of moral knowledge in terms of essential inspirations and emphases of theological-moral expressions. We determined that pre-conciliar moral theology was structured in an overly casuistic and juridical way. However, we also determined that there was a whole line of individual attempts to renew moral theology on different grounds than casuistic and juridical, starting from the second half of the 19th century. Therefore, at the end of this historical process the Council sealed and legitimised these attempts by accepting what was valuable and positive in them and by integrating these in its integral teaching on the Revelation, Church, liturgy, theology, and Christian life in general. The Council left us with a heritage of letter and spirit that demand formation of moral knowledge and moral practice in accordance with essential contents of the Christian teaching. In the third and fourth chapter of this doctoral thesis we have demonstrated that the renewal of sources of moral knowledge needs to find inspiration in the conciliar teaching expounded in the Constitution Dei verbum as the objective supernatural source of moral knowledge, the Constitution Lumen gentium for its understanding of ecclesial and social dimension of morality, the Constitution Sacrosanctum concilium for its mysterious and sacramental dimension of Christian life, and in the Constitution Gaudium et spes for its Christian anthropology, the dignity of human person and individual and social dimension of human life. The presentation of the teaching of these constitutions and some other documents, such as the Declaration Dignitatis humanae, brought forth renewed approaches in the interpretation of fundamental Christian truths. The Council, therefore, did not expound some new teaching, but instead it made possible new views and new approaches to the millennia-old teaching of the Church. Precisely in this we recognised important and precious incentives for the renewal of source of moral knowledge. Reading and interpreting the conciliar teaching in the key of renewal of sources of moral knowledge allowed us to recognise the wealth of the moral teaching of the Council, although we are aware that the Second Vatican Council was not a “moral Council”. The statement that the Council was pastoral needs to be understood in terms of its orientation and approach, insofar as it aimed at expounding the Deposit of Faith in a pastorally reflected and directed way. This directedness of the Council to what is concrete allowed it to have a greater influence on the renewal of sources of moral knowledge or moral theology that needs to be in a more profound contact with the life of concrete people. The wealth of the conciliar moral teaching or its inspiring and orientating influence of the formation of the moral teaching and on the building up of Christian moral life has been, to an extent, presented and deepened in the third and the fourth chapter of this doctoral thesis. In the fifth chapter we proceeded with a synthesis of results of our study of the conciliar teaching on the renewal of sources of moral knowledge in the usual schematic way: a synthesis of the conciliar teaching on objective sources of moral knowledge; a synthesis of the conciliar teaching on subjective sources of moral knowledge. The conciliar renewal of sources of moral knowledge presupposes the transformation of and liberation from casuistic and juridical conceptions of moral theology. The Council abandoned casuistic and juridical paradigms and tried to deepen the Christian moral life that is faithful to the message of the Gospel, i.e. to the person of Jesus Christ. Our study also showed the wealth and beauty of the conciliar teaching, as well as how far the renewal of moral theology came until now. The conciliar renewal of moral theology has initiated fruitful research efforts among moralists in the interdisciplinary perspective. On the basis of this we can conclude that the Council allowed fruitful and multifarious development of moral theology that ought to be positively evaluated. The balance-sheet of the post-conciliar development of moral theology is, as Marciano Vidal points out, positive, because the crucial transformation in self understanding of moral-theological work took place and this opened up a possibility to take up new topics, new approaches, new goals, and new perspectives.1 The Council initiated a fruitful dialogue with the modern world. Moral theology accepted that dialogue with the modern society by calling upon all people of good faith to join their efforts in common building up of a better and more humane society. Without doubt, the conciliar renewal of sources of moral knowledge needs to get back to authentic theological sources and this means, primarily, to the Word of God, which needs to be the soul of all moral theology. In that sense, it is necessary to continue deepening moral knowledge in relation to Biblical and theological sources, as well as in relation to interdisciplinary research. The conciliar renewal of sources of moral knowledge has re-initiated the process of bringing closer together moral and dogmatic theology, since pre-conciliar moral theology relied too heavily on juridical and canonical conceptions. These certainly diminished the presence of rich Biblical and dogmatic contents in moral theology. The renewal of sources of moral knowledge as presented here, needs to continue developing in accordance with the principles of the living Church Tradition. In that sense, the post-conciliar renewal of sources of moral knowledge has a responsible task of building up further and developing authentic theological identity of moral theology. The con
Mistagogy in Parish Catechesis of Adolescents
Full text linkDoktorski rad pod nazivom „Mistagogija u župnoj katehezi adolescenata“ promišlja složen put uvođenja mladih osoba u iskustvo vjere unutar župne zajednice. Prvi dio doktorskog rada pruža teološko-katehetska polazišta. Spomenuta polazišta odnose se na pastoralno-katehetsku problematiku vezanu uz katehezu krizmanika i vrijeme nakon primanja potvrde. Također, polazišta uključuju središnje pojmove problematike, kao i ključne indikatore mistagoškog pristupa. Drugi dio doktorskog rada vezan je uz vlastito kvalitativno istraživanje gdje se predstavljaju odgovori adolescenata na pitanja otvorenog tipa u grupnom razgovoru u osam zagrebačkih župa. Treći dio doktorskog rada donosi usmjerenja katehetsko-mistagoškog rada. Sastoji se od temeljnih smjernica i prijedloga za mistagošku obnovu župne kateheze, uz predloške rada s adolescentima, te njihove odgovore i komentare na katehezu. Opći cilj istraživačkog rada teži upoznavanju i vrednovanju odgovora adolescenata u odnosu na njihovu percepciju duhovno-vjerničkog iskustva u kontekstu liturgije, dijakonije, koinonije i martirije. Analizirajući ovaj cilj kroz specifične ciljeve istraživanja pokazalo se da su adolescenti koji su sudjelovali u istraživanju senzibilni za otajstvenu dimenziju vjere, da su u razumijevanju i izricanju ljudskog i vjerničkog iskustva spontani, otvoreni, iskreni, subjektivni i neposredni. Iskustvo Boga najviše vežu uz granične situacije života i nadahnuća, uz iskustvo zajedništva u katehezi i obitelji, te uz duhovne obnove i klanjanja. O sakramentima najviše govore u kontekstu vlastite ispunjenosti i mira, u obliku molitve i osnaženja za život. Svjesni su problematike izvanjskog, formalnog i komercijalnog odnosa društva prema sakramentima. Upozoravaju na problem prerane dobi za primanje sakramenta kršćanske zrelosti – potvrde. Adolescenti također upozoravaju na osporavanja i poteškoće na koje nailaze zbog svoje vjere. Na temelju kvalitativnog istraživanja koje dopušta veću slobodu u osobnom i stvaralačkom izražavanju, prikupljeni su mnogi korisni izričaji koji potvrđuju većinu postavljenih ciljeva, s napomenom da su dosadašnja znanja i formulacije produbljene i proširene raznolikošću i složenošću odgovora adolescenata. Iz mnoštva odgovora nazire se potreba za drukčijem odnosu prema katehezi koja bi trebala biti kvalitetna, životna, poticajna, osobna i mistagoška, integrirajući ljudsko i vjerničko iskustvo, sve dimenzije crkvenosti, praktičnu primjenu vjere, te mogućnosti i potrebe današnjih adolescenata."Mistagogy in Parish Catechesis of Adolescents" is the dissertation which discusses and analyzes the reality of introducing sacramentally initiated believers into the reality of Christian spirituality and faith. The aim of mystagogy is to become more conscious about the meaning and symbolism of the sacraments. It helps us to become an adult, mature and responsible believer. Moreover, mystagogy aims to connect faith and life. Sacramentally initiated believers open up themselves to the Holy Spirit and His sacred gifts. They are encouraged to serve the Church and their fellows, and to give a testimony of faith in a place where they live. Adolescence is a period of intense maturation, seeking self and the meaning of life, one’s identity and one’ life path. It occurs just after the end of receiving the sacraments of Christian initiation. It is precisely in this sensitive and crucial period of life in which mystagogy should be lived and realized. The context in which mystagogy should be practiced is faced with the challenge of growing up, with the crisis of authority, disorientation regarding values, and with the search for one's Self. Adolescents (young people of high school age) are faced with a number of factors and lifestyles - they are especially under the influence of social media, peers, fashion and the wider environment. The question is, to what extent and in what way is mystagogy implemented within parish communities? To what extent it is present in today's parishes? Is this significant dimension of upbringing practiced within the framework of catechetic initiation process? Questions also gain weight when we take into account the actual situation of a certain number of young people who distance themselves from the ecclesial and parish community after receiving the sacraments of Christian initiation. After receiving and celebrating the sacraments of Christian initiation - baptism, confirmation, and the Eucharist it is expected intense growth in faith, incorporation into the life of the parish community, attending Sunday Mass, witnessing and defending faith and Christian values. However, to some young people happens just opposite - they distance themselves from what they have recently promised and accepted in the sacrament of confirmation. Consequently, we ask ourselves, whether we have done sufficiently in catechesis and preparing for the celebration of the sacraments? Have we done enough in the formation of faith and mystagogy? The challenge to discover possibilities and the meaning of mystagogy for young people is to be found in twenty years of experience of working with adolescents. Ph.D researcher works for twenty years as a high school teacher, meets every day young people from various parish communities, with different motivations and knowledge about faith, different life situations and life directions. Based on the previous work with young adolescents, he recognizes the necessity to explore mystagogy - profound and experiential learning about faith, and need to embed oneselves into the live faithful community - a parish in which the center is the Sunday Mass. The general aim of this research work is to understand and evaluate responses of adolescents concerning their perception of spiritual-religious experience within the context of liturgy (worship and the sacraments), diakonia (serving the people in need), koinonia (communion in faith) and martyrdom (testimony of faith) within parish catechesis. The general objective of the research, deployed through more specific research goals, is realized through the qualitative research conducted among adolescents from Zagreb. The study of mystagogy in catechesis of adolescents can be found within the framework of the dissertation which consists of three central parts. In the first part theological-catechetical starting points are presented. The second part is related to our own qualitative research and to the assessment of research results. In the third part, directions and suggestions for catecheticalmystagogical work with adolescents are discussed. The first part of the doctoral dissertation introduces challenging and problematic issues, and provides theoretical outlines and starting points for a further reflection and for the analysis of the mystagogical reality. The pastoral-catechetical issues, which are connected to the current difficulties of the catechetical-initiation process of distancing a certain number of young people from the Church, are depicted. Moreover, the dominance of the traditional-external and material-formalistic dimensions of the approach to the sacrament of confirmation and to the other sacraments are discussed. As possible causes for the current situation can be mentioned the following examples – the current approach within the parish community, which is sometimes old fashioned and narrow, the turmoil in society and disorientation in values, the media, the example of parents, families and peers. The absence of mystagogy is significant, as well as the lack of the fundamental conversion that should precede acceptance of the sacraments and completion of the initiation process. It is important to know the basic concepts at least to a sufficient extent. The concept of mystagogy is analyzed in the dissertation, starting with the New Testament examples, the teachings of the Church fathers and the medieval theologians, and continuing with the recent theological reflection, the conciliar and post-conciliar ecclesiastical documents. In this regard, it is unquestionable that mystagogy, as a concept and practice, has reached its peak at the time of the Church fathers. In that period, mystagogy represented both experience of faith which was interpreted, and an interpretation which led to experience of faith. Bible examples were compared with the mysteries which were celebrated. The various understandings and interpretations of mystagogy were evident among the Church fathers. However, there was one common feature of mystagogy - an introduction in experience of faith by the gift of the sacraments. The sacraments carry the transformative power for the new quality of life of Christ's disciples - witnesses of faith. Although in the Middle Ages mystagogy was to a certain extent forgotten, nevertheless, reflections of the theologians mystics are valuable and they may even indirectly assist people in their journey for deepening faith. The emphasis is placed on the person’s inner world, especially the soul, while silence, prayer and penance are considered as essential. Theologians mystics highlight experience of divine love and need to unite with God. Modern theological reflections consider mystagogy as closely related to liturgy, everyday life, meditation, prayer, and service to the fellows. The Conciliar and Postconciliar documents concisely contemplate mystagogy within the context of evangelization and catechesis. It is evident a desire to rebuild the institution of catechumenate from the early centuries of Christianity. Additionally, it is noticeable a return to mystagogy in practice and in the life of the Church. The first part of the dissertation analyzes not only the concept of mystagogy, but the concept of catechesis as well. Specifically, it discusses the fundamental characteristics of catechesis, the relation between catechesis and a parish community, evangelization, experiences, reevangelization, and mystagogy. It is expected from the contemporary parish to invest effort in the creative reevangelization, reinitation and recatechesis. The mentioned reality of catechesis occurs while educating and serving contemporary adolescents. When dealing with the world of adolescence, the focus of our assessment is the identity and a personality of adolescents, youth developmental processes, peer influence, the influence of mass media, the system of values, adolescents’ religiosity, and catechesis intended precisely for this young age. The focus of catechesis should be directed towards the conversion of adolescents - from the transition from myself or I to God and to my neighbors. In addition to the key terms contained in the title of this project, the first part of the dissertation elaborates crucial ecclesiastical indicators (liturgy, diakonia, koinonia and martyrdom). These indicators will be helpful especially for the later phase of the research work when we will discuss mystagogy in catechesis of adolescents. Ecclesiastical indicators are reflected in relation to mystagogy and its meaning. A profound connection between liturgy and mystagogy can be observed, in particular when we examine liturgical celebrations. Precisely speaking, mystagogy achieves its actualized expression and strength through liturgy. Liturgical and mystagogical goal is to bring the mystery of salvation to all people. Mystagogy is easier recognized and accepted among the faithful, especially the young, when it is pervaded with the diaconal dimension of service to the neighbors, especially those in need. A realized communion in the parish provides a space for mystagogical learning. The focus is placed on the new quality of relationships - the relationships of God's children, fraternal-sister relationships in the Church as a community of God's people. Finally, mystagogy takes place through martyrdom – a testimony for Christ and the Church through experience. In the openness and in the obedience to the Holy Spirit, an authentic testimony can arise that grows into the proclamation. In the first part of the doctoral project we discuss various understandings and interpretations of mystagogy. We consider possibilities of application and actualization of mystagogy in specific situations and in the education of the youth. All of these issues become a challenge and the subject of the research in the second part of the doctoral project. The qualitative research with the corresponding assessment of results is divided into three chapters. First is presented the methodology of the research. Afterwards are displayed results and the evaluation of the adolescents’ responses. Finally, insights and comments concerning the research and new findings are discussed. In addition, possibilities and suggestions for further research projects and applications in catechesis are provided. With regard to a methodology, it was chosen the method which seemed to be the most appropriate for the theme of the doctoral dissertation. Mystagogy occurs inside the heart of a young person, and captivates the most deepest human and religious experiences. For this reason, the qualitative research was selected for the encounter with adolescents. The qualitative research is helpful for exploring personal and subjective dimensions in adolescents, their questions, doubts, comments, and observations. The general aim, which is operationalized through specific goals, is related to the spiritual-religious experience of interviewed adolescents within the framework of ecclesiastical indicators. Moreover, the specificity of young people’s upbringing, and comparison of their own faith in childhood and now in adolescence is taken into consideration. The hypotheses have not been formulated due to the nature of the qualitative research which is conducted on a relatively small sample. Concretely, the intention is not to achieve generalization of the results but to gain a fundamental insight into a particular problem. The qualitative research was carried out with the help of research questions which are articulated in a personal way and are focused on crucial human and religious experiences of young believers. The questions are actual and close to the life of adolescents, and are related to the previously mentioned youth relations to the church (parish) community, to the sacraments, to experience of God and His proximity, experience of liturgy, especially the Eucharist, experience of charity, the Church, a parish community and to witnessing faith to others. Questions are formulated in the form of semi-structured interviews in focus groups. Eight focus groups from eight matching parish communities from different parts of the city of Zagreb participated in this research. The number of participants in groups ranged between 4 and 8 persons. The group conversations lasted between 60 and 90 minutes, involving 46 adolescents - 28 girls and 25 young men. The research was conducted between 2013 and 2014, in agreement with parish priests and parish vicars who most often animate parish catechesis. After transferring recorded audio to a written form, relevant quotes (places) are selected which are related to the content (thematic) of the conversation. In the outline of research results an equal number of citations and their interpretation (discussions) are displayed. Quotations are analyzed for themselves, but also in the relation to other focus groups and in the relation with the matching theme. To put it briefly, the adolescents who participated in the research stated that the problem is the inadequate, most often premature age for receiving the sacrament of confirmation, the influence of society and media on the youth population, the growing impact of commercialization and superficial attitudes towards the sacraments (material presents), the lack of time for further gatherings and practicing faith in the parish community. Participants asserted that their parents had the greatest impact on the formation of their faith. In addition, they acknowledged a positive role of various parish activities in which they were involved. Participants’ reflections of the ecclesiastical indicators are examined in various ways. When it comes to liturgy and a prayer life, the focus of their interest is the Eucharist. The meaning of the Eucharist is associated with experience of God's proximity, spiritual empowerment, and experience of freedom and inspiration. In regard to charity and Christian solidarity toward the disadvantaged people, participants are aware that not many of their peers are involved in charitable activities. There is still a lack of a stronger link between faith and the diaconal dimension of service, especially systematic introduction to that experience. In contrast to diakonia, experience of koinonia is encouraging - experience of communion, friendship and belonging to the community within the framework of catechesis and gatherings in the parish. Although both the natural-worldly and Christian-ecclesiastical dimension of communion appear, the living dimension of communion is particularly hopeful. According to adolescents, it is indeed unique and significant for them. Through their experience of catechesis and encounters, they become aware of beauty of the church and the parish community. Those adolescents who were interviewed are delighted with beauty of friendship and communion in catechesis, but at the same time, they are aware of the seriousness of life in faith. Faced with martyrdom - witnessing faith in society, they point out problems and difficulties which they encounter - from negative experiences, such as cursing God to the marginalization which they experience due to their Christian worldview and practicing Christian values. When thinking about experience of God and His proximity in adolescents’ lives, they spontaneously mention in their focus groups the limitations of life situations, traffic accidents, various spiritual renewals, the Mass, a pilgrimage, inspiration, friendship and family experience. Moreover, natural and religious motives are significant for adolescents’ experience of the indescribable closeness of God. The interest in the question of experience of God has shown the openness of young believers with regard to the experiential dimension of faith. Planned goals are largely accomplished while taking into account the specificity of the research, participants, and the theme, which, with its depth, breadth and complexity, touches upon the personal and internal questions of young believers during their religious formation and the development. In addition to planned goals and expectations from the research, some new insights and ideas during the meeting with our focus groups have occurred. One of the greatest values from the empirical research are quotations - adolescent thoughts, their expressions, their way of reasoning, their ideas, suggestions and comments. Some wonderful expressions and statements were created during free and creative communication, for instance, concerning the sacraments or certain situations in life. It is impossible to summarize or generalize these expressions, thus, we rather want to personally reflect, evaluate and explore them in their essence, structure, symbolism, and in their message. Group interviews (multiview) demonstrated the value of conversations in the group, the value of exploring life themes which deal with profound experiences - human and religious questions. It is visible need for themes focused on spirituality, experience, on what is essential and vital for faith and Christian life. There is also evident need for addressing difficulties which occur when one wants to live faith and be a witness of faith (e.g. doubts, disputes, injustice, misunderstandings). Adolescents’ conversations in the focus groups were immediate, dynamic, narrative, vivid and emotionally enriched with various examples. When comparing their speech with mystagogy from the early centuries of Christianity, it can be recognized a similarity in seeking authentic spiritual experience as well as the narrative of speech. Some new research projects can be proposed which are based on the multiplicity of citations and on the course of communication which has taken place in religious communities. In addition, as a proposal can be considered preparations for catechetical encounters which will stimulate the dynamics of the group, and formation of a lively community of young believers in learning and work. In the third part of the doctoral dissertation the fundamental guidelines of catecheticalmystagogical work with adolescents are presented. These guidelines are related to theologicalcatechetical starting points, and to the qualitative research carried out among adolescents. The first chapter of this part refers to the basic proposals for concrete work in the parish. The second chapter provides practical examples and worksheets for parish catechesis for adolescents. When analyzing basic suggestions for work in parish catechesis, we recognize need to know interests, motivation, faith status and other circumstances of the young believers. From the beginning, it is necessary to get acquainted as much as possible with the candidates for the sacraments, their parents, their godfathers and godmothers. It is important to develop relationships of trust, sincerity and open communication. Catechesis, which includes mystagogy, requires from believers to develop a practical dimension of faith and give authentic witness. A change of mentality is sought not only from adolescents, but even more from presbyters, and lay teachers of Catholic education. Catechesis should encapsulate all ecclesiastical indicators, and include all dimensions of personality and learning - cognitive, affective, conative and operative. In the preparation of adequate worksheets for mystagogical catechesis and parish gatheri
THEOLOGY OF THE LAND IN METAPHORS OF THE PROPHET HOSEA
Full text linkU ovom se radu polazi od osnovne pretpostavke da je tema zemlja središnja tema Starog zavjeta i da se iza te teme krije teologija zemlje koja daje da se čitav biblijski tekst razumije kao koherentna i dinamička cjelina koja donosi jasne Božje upute za rješavanje egzistencijalnih poteškoća vjerničkog života i svjedočenja na području političkog, etičkoekološkog, ekonomskog ili općenito moralnog ponašanja. U prvom poglavlju, nakon ukazivanja potrebe za proučavanjem biblijske teme zemlja, prikazuje se povijesni razvoj teološkog pristupa zemlji u biblijskim tekstovima. Temeljna istraživanja i spoznaje o Knjizi proroka Hošee utvrđuju, kako je pokazano u drugom poglavlju, da je taj tekst izvršio snažan utjecaj na razvoj teme zemlja u drugim biblijskim knjigama. Stoga smo Hošeinoj knjizi pristupili kao prototipu proročke literature, a Hošei kao idejnom začetniku novog teološkog promatranja teme zemlja. Originalni hošeanski pristup zemlji i teološke poruke koje su oblikovane u Hošeinom metaforičkom govoru o zemlji prikazane su u trećem poglavlju ovoga rada. Zaključci nakon proučavanja metafora o zemlji, prikazani u četvrtom poglavlju, otkrivaju da se, u kontekstu posvemašnje krize što se događala u Hošeinoj domovini, Hošein metaforički govor predstavlja kao dekonstrukcija tadašnjih shvaćanja pojma zemlja, a konstrukcija njegova novog značenja. Promičući istinu vjere o životvornoj povezanost Boga, sudbine naroda i njihove zemlje Hošea metaforama o zemlji oblikuje novo viđenje, novu strukturu uvida i iskustva stvarnosti života u/na zemlji koja je izgubila svoju prijašnju teološku, a i realnu vrijednost. Hošeinom tekstu smo pristupili koristeći se dostignućima suvremene egzegetske znanosti i saznanja s područja drugih biblijskih znanosti, a napose biblijske metaforologije. Istraživanje sadržaja pojma zemlja u metaforama kojima se služi Hošea obuhvaća ispitivanje tripartitnog odnosa čovjek-zemlja-Bog u svijetlu religioznih, političkih i ekonomskih vidova života Izraela u vrijeme djelovanja proroka Hošee. Ovo istraživanje Hošeine metaforike o zemlji utvrđuje da transkulturalna i transtemporalna moć njegovih metafora o zemlji još uvijek ima snagu promijeniti suvremene svjetonazorske poglede. Hošeine metafore o zemlji su komunikativni kanal putem kojega i do nas može doći Božja poruka o zemlji. Egzistencijalni karakter pojma zemlja otvara mogućnost prenošenja teološkog sadržaja i teološke vrijednosti teme zemlja iz vremena i okolnosti nastanka Knjige proroka Hošee u sadašnje vrijeme i današnje povijesno-političke i religiozne okolnosti.The basic premise of this dissertation is that the land theme is the central theme of the Old Testament and that behind this theme stands entire theology of the land which makes whole biblical text coherent and dynamic. Reading biblical text as theology of the land opens an ability to understand more clearly God's instructions in deliberations on solving existential problems of religious life and to find a way of its moral testimony in religious behavior: political, ethical, ecological, economic and ritual. In the first chapter, after pointing out the need and importance of the land theme, historical development of theology of the land is explained and shown. The basic research and knowledge about Hosea, as shown in the second chapter, confirms that his book made a strong impact on the development of the land theme in other biblical books. For that reason the book of Hosea was considered as a prototype of the prophetic literature, and Hosea, as the initiator of a new theological view on the land theme. Original approach to the land theme and theological messages that are designed by means of Hosea’s metaphorical speech on the land is elaborated in the third chapter of this dissertation. The conclusions after studying the land metaphors, presented in the fourth chapter, reveal that, in the context of overwhelming crisis that occurred in Hosea homeland, Hosea’s metaphorical speech can be understood as a deconstruction of the concept of land present in minds of his hearers and construction of its new meaning. By promoting the truth of faith about life-giving connection between God and the fate of the Israel and their country, through the metaphors about land Hosea develops a new vision, a new structure of insight and new experience of reality of life in/on the land that has lost its former theological, and a real value. In the approach to the text of the Book of Hosea used in this dissertation the achievements of modern exegetical science and knowledge in the field of other biblical sciences, and especially biblical metaforology is well used. Investigation of the concept of the land in the metaphors used by Hosea includes examining tripartite relation man-God-land in the light of religious, political and economic aspects of life in Israel during the activity of the prophet Hosea. This research of Hosea’s metaphors on the land reveals that, because of cross-cultural and trans-temporal power of the metaphor, and existentiality of the land concept, those metaphors still have the power to change the worldviews of contemporary people. Hosea’s metaphors on the land are communicative channel through which a God’s message about the land can get to us. The existential character of the land concept opens up the possibility of transferring its theological meaning and theological values of the land theme from time and circumstances of Hosea at the present time and present historicalpolitical and religious circumstances