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Second Diocesan Synod of Djakovo and Srijem : brought to life Social Doctrine of the Church by pastoral structures in Archdioceses Djakovo-osijek
No full textCrkva đakovačka i srijemska, u namjeri da intenzivnije nastavi vlastitu obnovu u duhu Drugog vatikanskog sabora, održala je od 1999. do 2008. godine Drugu biskupijsku sinodu đakovačku i srijemsku. Također, svjesna da ozbiljnost pastoralnih izazova proizašlih iz velikih društveni, gospodarskih i političkih promjena i Domovinskoga rata s početka devedesetih godina dvadesetoga stoljeća ne dopuštaju pasivnost, započela je s procesom sinodske obnove već tijekom sinodskih zasjedanja (2000.-2002.), to jest prije objave završnog sinodskog dokumenta Izjave i odluke Druge biskupijske sinode đakovačke i srijemske (2008.).
Kako je u okviru procesa sinodske obnove s jedne strane naglasak početno stavljen na strukturnu obnovu te kako je s druge strane socijalni nauk Crkve tek u Izjavama i odlukama u punini primijenjen kao temeljno evangelizacijsko sredstvo i sadržaj, do danas su u evangelizacijskom smislu ostala otvorena tri vrlo važna pitanja: (1) Je li čitav proces sinodske obnove mjesne Crkve sveden tek na puku strukturnu obnovu postojećih i osnivanje novih pastoralnih struktura? (2) Jesu li obnovom obuhvaćeni i evangelizacijski sadržaji na način da su obnovljeni/prožeti sa socijalnim naukom Crkve? Te (3) što je još potrebno učinit kako bi u nastavku obnove socijalni nauk bio bolje primjenjivan?
U namjeri da doprinesemo traganju za odgovorima na navedena pitanja u doktorskom radu pod naslovom Druga biskupijska sinoda đakovačka i srijemska. Oživotvorenje socijalnoga nauka Crkve po pastoralnim strukturama u Đakovačko-osječkoj nadbiskupiji provedeno je socijalno-etičko istraživanje primjene socijalnog nauka Crkve u procesu sinodske obnove župa i laičkih udruženja kao onih pastoralnih struktura koje su u Izjavama i odlukama prepoznate kao posebno pogodne za pouku, odgoj i oživotvorenje socijalnog nauka.
Rad je podijeljen na dva dijela. U prvom dijelu rada izrađen je teorijski okvir za socijalno-etičko istraživanje. Naime, kako induktivno-deduktivna metoda socijalnog nauka Crkve, a napose njezin metodološki korak prosuditi zahtjeva prosuđivanje stvarnosti u odnosu na vrijednosnu ljestvicu koju naviješta Evanđelje te kako do sada nije sustavno istražena primjena socijalnog nauka na Sinodi prije socijalno-etičkog istraživanja, u prvom dijelu Rada istraženo je sinodsko učenje o socijalnom nauku, a napose u odnosu obilježja socijalno-evangelizacijskog potencijala župa i laičkih udruženja. Slijedeći metodološki trokorak (vidjeti, prosuditi i djelovati) induktivno-deduktivne metode socijalnog nauka Crkve u drugom dijelu Rada provedeno je socijalno-etičko istraživanje primjene socijalnog nauka Crkve u procesu sinodske obnove župa i laičkih udruženja. Drugi dio Rada, naslovljen Stanje i perspektive korištenja socijalno-evangelizacijskog potencijala župa i laičkih udruženja, podijeljen je na dvije cjeline. U prvoj cjelini, usporedno su slijedeći metodološke korake vidjeti i prosuditi, predstavljeni i prosuđeni rezultati empirijskog istraživanja iskorištenosti socijalno-evangelizacijskog potencijala župa i laičkih udruženja pod vidom primjene socijalnog nauka u procesu njihove strukturne i evangelizacijsko-sadržajne obnove. U tu svrhu postavljene su, provjerene i potvrđene četiri hipoteze: 1) U Crkvi đakovačko-osječkoj postoje brojne pastoralne strukture koje imaju značajan socijalno–evangelizacijski potencijal za oživotvorenje socijalnog nauka Crkve; (2) Župe Crkve đakovačko-osječke kao primarne pastoralne strukture ne koriste vlastiti socijalno–evangelizacijski potencijal; (3) Laička udruženja koja djeluju u Crkvi đakovačko-osječkoj ne koriste vlastiti socijalno–evangelizacijski potencijal; Te (4) župe i laička udruženja koja djeluju u Crkvi đakovačko-osječkoj ne koriste u pouci i odgoju svojih članova socijalno-evangelizacijski potencijal Ureda za promicanje socijalnog nauka Crkve i društvena pitanja. U drugoj cjelini, u svjetlu dobivenih rezultata provjere hipoteza te temeljnih načela socijalnog nauka Crkve i socijalno-etičkog načela stvarnost je važnija od ideje predložene su praktične smjernice za bolje korištenje socijalno-evangelizacijskog potencijala župa i laičkih udruženja u poučavanju, odgoju i oživotvorenju socijalnog nauka Crkve, a posljedično i uspješniji nastavak sinodske obnove čitave mjesne Crkve đakovačko-osječke.
Na temelju svega istraženog zaključeno je slijedeće: (1) Socijalni nauk Crkve je u posljednjih dvadesetak godina u Crkvi đakovačkoj i srijemskoj, danas đakovačko-osječkoj prošao put od najskrivenije do najbolje čuvane tajne za najveći broj njezinih vjernika. (2) Razloge zbog kojih socijalni nauk Crkve nije (u punini) primijenjen u sinodskim savjetovanjima, zasjedanjima i u sinodskoj obnovi, a u punini je primijenjen u oblikovanju sinodskih Izjava i odluka moguće je cjelovito razumjeti tek u svjetlu tog istoga nauka. (3) Zahtjeve izrečene u Izjavama i odlukama moguće je cjelovito razumjeti i u djelo provesti tek u svjetlu socijalnog nauka Crkve. (4) U provedbi predloženih praktičnih smjernica potrebno je imati u vidu već učinjene propuste i pogreške u dosadašnjem procesu sinodske obnove. (5) Korištenje socijalno-evangelizacijskog potencijala župa i laičkih udruženja jest važan preduvjet i pokazatelj prerastanja Sinode iz započetog i završenog događaja u trajno sinodalno događanje mjesne Crkve. (6) Sustavna i trajna prosudba učinjenog na području promicanja i oživotvorenja socijalnog nauka Crkve je važan i neizostavan dio provedbe predloženih praktičnih smjernica, a posljedično tomu je i bitan preduvjet za prerastanje Sinode iz započetog i završenog događaja u trajno sinodalno događanje mjesne Crkve. Te (7) trajno upoznavanje, prihvaćanje i oživotvorivanje socijalnog nauka Crkve po pastoralnim strukturama je temeljno polazište za ostvarivanje sinodalnog načina života mjesne Crkve đakovačko-osječke.The Church of Đakovo and Srijem, with the intention of continuing its renewal in the spirit of the Second Vatican Council more intensively, held the Second Diocesan Synod of Đakovo and Srijem from 1999 to 2008. Furthermore, aware that the seriousness of pastoral challenges resulting from major social, economic, and political changes and the Homeland War from the beginning of the 1990s do not allow passivity, it began the process of synodal renewal already during the synodal sessions (2000-2002), that is, before the publication of the final synodal document Statements and Decisions of the Second Diocesan Synod of Đakovo and Srijem (2008).
Because within the process of synodal renewal, the emphasis was, on the one hand, initially placed on structural renewal, and, on the other hand, the social teaching of the Church was not fully applied as a principal evangelizing tool and content until the Statements and Decisions, in terms of evangelization, three very important questions have been left open: (1) Is the entire process of the synodal renewal of the local Church reduced to a mere structural renewal of existing and establishment of new pastoral structures? (2) Does the renewal include evangelization contents in a way that they are renewed/imbued with the social teaching of the Church? (3) What else needs to be done in further renewal to apply the social doctrine better?
To help answer the above questions, as part of the doctoral thesis titled Second Diocesan Synod of Djakovo and Srijem. Brought to life Social Doctrine of the Church by pastoral structures in Archdioceses Djakovo-Osijek, social-ethical research was conducted on the application of the Social Doctrine of the Church in the process of the synodal renewal of parishes and lay associations as those pastoral structures recognized in the Statements and Decisions as particularly suitable for instructing, educating, and bringing to life the social doctrine.
The work is divided into two main parts. The first part develops a theoretical framework for social-ethical research. Namely, as the inductive-deductive method of the Social Doctrine of the Church and, in particular, its methodological step to judge requires judging reality according to the value scale proclaimed by the Gospel, and as the application of social doctrine at the Synod has not been systematically investigated before this social-ethical research, the first part examines synodal teaching on the social doctrine, especially regarding the features of the social-evangelizing potential of parishes and lay associations. Following the methodological three-step (see, judge, act) of the inductive-deductive method of the Social Doctrine of the Church, the second part bring the social-ethical research on the application of the Social Doctrine of the Church in the process of the synodal renewal of parishes and lay associations. The second part of the work, titled State and Perspectives of using the social-evangelizing potential of parishes and lay associations is divided into two units. In the first unit, following the methodological steps to see and judge, we present and judge the results of empirical research on the utilization of the social-evangelizing potential of parishes and lay associations under the aspect of the application of the social doctrine in the process of their renewal both structural and regarding their evangelizing content. For this purpose, four hypotheses were set, tested, and confirmed: (1) In the Church of Đakovo-Osijek, there are numerous pastoral structures that have a significant social-evangelizing potential for bringing the Social Doctrine of the Church to life; (2) The parishes of the Church of Đakovo-Osijek as primary pastoral structures are not utilizing their social-evangelizing potential; (3) Lay associations operating in the Church of Đakovo-Osijek are not utilizing their social-evangelizing potential; and (4) Parishes and lay associations operating in the Church of Đakovo-Osijek are not utilizing the social-evangelizing potential of the Office for the Promotion of the Social Doctrine of the Church and Social Issues in instructing and educating their members. In the second unit, in light of the results of the hypotheses testing as well as the basic principles of the Social Doctrine of the Church and the social-ethical principle that reality is more important than the idea, we propose practical guidelines for better utilization of the social-evangelizing potential of parishes and lay associations in instructing, educating, and bringing to life the Social doctrine of the Church, and consequently a more successful continuation of the synodal renewal of the entire local Church of Đakovo-Osijek.
Based on everything researched, we concluded the following: (1) In the last twenty years, the Social Doctrine of the Church in the Church of Đakovo and Srijem, today Đakovo-Osijek, has gone from the most hidden to the best kept secret for the largest number of its believers. (2) The reasons why the Social Doctrine of the Church was not (fully) applied in synodal consultations, sessions, and the synodal renewal, but was fully applied in designing synodal Statements and Decisions, can be fully understood only in light of that same doctrine. (3) The requirements stated in the Statements and Decisions can be thoroughly understood and put into practice only in light of the Social Doctrine of the Church. (4) In implementing the proposed practical guidelines, it is necessary to consider the omissions and mistakes already made in the process of the synodal renewal so far. (5) The utilization of the social-evangelizing potential of parishes and lay associations is an important precondition and indicator of the Synod’s transformation from an event that started and ended into a continual synodal development of the local Church. (6) A systematic and continuous assessment of what has been done in promoting and bringing to life the Social Doctrine of the Church is an important and indispensable part of the implementation of the proposed practical guidelines and, consequently, it is an essential precondition for the Synod’s transformation from an event that started and ended into a continual synodal development of the local Church. (7) Continuous familiarization, acceptance, and realization of the Social Doctrine of the Church across pastoral structures is the fundamental starting point for bringing about the synodal way of life of the local Church of Đakovo-Osijek
O međureligijskom dijalogu iz katoličke perspektive : uvid u osnovne pojmove i naučavanje Crkve
No full textKnjiga O međureligijskom dijalogu iz katoličke perspektive. Uvid u osnovne pojmove i naučavanje Crkve želi prikazati opća načela koja su važna za razumijevanje i prakticiranje međureligijsko dijaloga, temeljeći se na polazišta katoličke teologije religija i službenom naučavanju Katoličke Crkve. Knjiga je podijeljena u četiri dijela. U prvom dijelu daje se širi uvid u temeljne pojmove koji su usko povezani s međureligijskim dijalogom, a to su tolerancija pod njezinom pozitivnom formom, dijalog kao dinamičan oblik komunikacije, višeznačan pojam religije s naglaskom na njezin antropološki i unutarnji, tj. duhovni aspekt i, napokon, sama sintagma međureligijski dijalog te sve što ona podrazumijeva i uključuje. Ove pojmove autor uzima kao epistemološki okvir koji postavlja glavne filozofsko-teološke i komunikološke odrednice nezaobilazne u aktivnom razumijevanju međureligijskog dijaloga. Drugi dio knjige podrobnije obrađuje naučavanje Katoličke Crkve o međureligijskom dijalogu, polazeći iz teoloških i pastoralnih odrednica Drugog vatikanskog koncila, kojim se
Katolička Crkva otvorila suvremenom svijetu želeći uspostaviti bratski dijalog i suradnju sa svim ljudima dobre volje. Nakon isticanja ključnih teoloških i drugih premisa koncilskog govora o dijalogu i religijama, autor posebnu pozornost posvećuje deklaraciji Nostra aetate o odnosu Crkve prema nekršćanskim religijama. Nakon toga podsjeća na novost i veliki doprinos koji je enciklika Ecclesiam suam pape Pavla VI. dala crkvenom promišljanju dijaloga te pruža pregled glavnih inicijativa i dokumenata poslijekoncilske Crkve o religijama i međureligijskom dijalogu. Posebna pozornost posvećena je važnom doprinosu triju posljednjih papa – Ivana Pavla II., Benedikta XVI. i pape Franje – u promicanju međureligijskog dijaloga. U trećem dijelu autor ukratko iznosi dijaloške smjernice Katoličke Crkve prema sve raširenijoj potrebi međukulturalnoga dijaloga. Zadnji dio knjige posvećen je međureligijskom dijalogu u Hrvatskoj, pružajući zaokruženi pregled glavnih društvenih i religijskih čimbenika, aktera i inicijativa na području međureligijskog, te donekle ekumenskog i međukulturalnog dijaloga. Na kraju knjige donosi se tematska bibliografija o međureligijskom dijalogu na hrvatskom jeziku. Ovom jezgrovitom knjigom autor je želio na znanstvenoj i praktičnoj razini pridonijeti razvoju teologije međureligijskog dijaloga, koja je danas veoma važna i raširena u svijetu, a koja gotovo posve nedostaje u Hrvatskoj i široj regiji. Ujedno ovom knjigom najavljuje jedno puno opširnije znanstveno istraživanje o međureligijskom dijalogu, koji je u pripremi.The book About interreligious dialogue from a Catholic perspective. An insight into the basic concepts and teaching of the Church aims to present the general principles that are important for understanding and practicing interreligious dialogue, based on the starting point of the Catholic theology of religions and the official teaching of the Catholic Church. The book is divided into four parts. In the first part, a broader insight is given into the basic concepts that are closely related to interreligious dialogue, namely tolerance in its positive form, dialogue as a dynamic form of communication, the ambiguous concept of religion with an emphasis on its anthropological and internal, i.e. spiritual aspect and, finally, the main notion of interreligious dialogue and all that it implies and includes. The author takes these concepts as an epistemological framework that sets the main philosophical-theological and communicological determinants indispensable in the active understanding of interreligious dialogue. The second part of the book deals in more detail with the teaching of the Catholic Church on interreligious dialogue, starting from the theological and pastoral guidelines of the Second Vatican Council, by which the Catholic Church opened itself to the modern world, wanting to establish fraternal dialogue and cooperation with all people of good will. After highlighting the theological keys and other premises of the Council’s speech on dialogue and religions, the author pays special attention to the declaration Nostra aetate on the Relation of the Church with Non-Christian
religions. After that, he recalls the novelty and great contribution that is the encyclical Ecclesiam suam of Pope Paul VI. contributed to the Church’s reflection on dialogue, and provides an overview of the main initiatives and documents of the Post-conciliar Church on religions and interreligious dialogue. Special attention is paid to the important contribution of the three last popes – John Paul II, Benedict XVI and Pope Francis – in promoting interreligious dialogue. In the third part, the author briefly presents the dialogue guidelines of the Catholic Church towards the increasingly widespread need for intercultural dialogue. The last part of the book is dedicated to interreligious dialogue in Croatia, providing a rounded overview of the main social and religious factors, actors and initiatives in the field of interreligious, and to some extent
ecumenical and intercultural dialogue. At the end of the book, there is a thematic bibliography on interreligious dialogue in the Croatian language. With this concise book, the author wanted to contribute on a scientific and practical level
to the development of the theology of interreligious dialogue, which is very important and widespread in the world today, but which is almost completely lacking in Croatia and the wider region. At the same time, this book announces much more extensive scientific research on interreligious dialogue, which is in preparation
The Contribution of Religious Education to the Creation of Responsible Citizens: European and African Perspectives
No full textIn recent times, education for responsible citizenship has become a very important social, political, educational, and religious topic. At the level of educational policies, the need for citizenship education arises from the desire for the school to be a place that trains students to play an active role in society, teaching them how to live responsibly in increasingly diverse democratic communities of a globalised world. In the last 30 years, and earlier, numerous countries have introduced citizenship education into school programmes, either as a separate subject or more often as cross-curricular content that is mediated through different school subjects and extracurricular activities. In Europe, the religious dimension of citizenship education and the contribution of religious education to responsible citizenship is highlighted at the level of educational policies and religious pedagogical research, especially after the war in the former Yugoslavia, and even more decisively after the terrorist attack on the United States of America on 11 September 2001. It then became clear that the Western societies, after the increasing trend to privatise religion, must re-evaluate its public role. This includes an educational confrontation with religious content, interpretations, and views, as well as the use of religion as a resource for humanising people and society. Viewed from a religious perspective, questioning the religious contribution to more responsible civil coexistence and social cohesion is certainly not the main role of religion, but it surely brings to light one of its important impacts. In the present time of 6 The Contribution of Religious Education to the Creation of Responsible Citizens great geopolitical tensions in the world, economic crises, growing global mistrust as well as the existential health and climate crisis, the school must open young people to hope and a meaningful life. It must educate them for active and responsible citizenship so that they will not fall victims to the powers of the economy, politics and media, including their comprehensive surveillance. The Church and its theology, reflecting on the role of religious education in schools, has the opportunity to show its ability for dialogue and a prophetic-constructive participation in public discourse. Through religious narratives and values, the religious perspective can contribute to the acquisition of the skill of critical thinking in democratic societies. The African continent remains more religious than Europe. Africa faces many challenges for which it needs to strengthen citizenship education. For example, there are ethnic and tribal conflicts, interreligious conflicts, corruption, and inequality. In this context, religious education in schools is called upon to go beyond the catechetical goals in order to integrate citizenship issues. In this perspective, religious education could contribute to citizenship education in Africa by teaching peacebuilding, tolerance, justice, equality, and other civic values, that are also Christian values. The present proceedings contain papers of the International Scientific Symposium, that was organised by the Catholic Faculty of Theology of the University of Zagreb from 14 to 17 July 2022, in Zagreb, Croatia, on the same topic as the title of this book. 13 Catholic theologians, educationalists, and philosophers from several African and European countries tried to deepen the issue from different points of view. One more author was, unfortunately, not able to elaborate his paper for publishing. The symposium focused on the contribution of Catholic religious education to the education for responsible citizenship in both public and Catholic schools. Historical and cultural background of the discourse on citizenship, different views on citizenship, the national and global dimensions of it, as well as the challenges to citizenship education in the modern world, came to the fore. Civic education relates to human rights as values and is therefore a normative concept that includes moral and value education, also questioning the relationship between religion and human rights. The relationship between citizenship education and advocacy of the common good is also highlighted. Empirical research has shown that the goals of citizenship education can be understood differently; therefore, its success is related to the general orientations of the school system. Didactic aspects prove to be very important, and they include not only the acquisition of knowledge and development of skills but also the creation of attitudes. The gender aspect of religious and citizenship education is discussed and presented, as well as the possible contribution of religious education to interreligious and intercultural knowledge and dialogue. The need to create an open and dialogical identity, the contribution of religious education to peacebuilding, as well as different understandings of relations
between the state, Church and society are also presented. In addition, the contributions elaborate various other related topics and elements, such as political issues and the issues of power, virtue education, social education, pedagogy of recognition, inclusion, and interdisciplinary approaches. The papers are grouped into three units: Perspectives and Discourses (related to citizenship and religious education), Tasks and Dimensions (of citizenship education within religious education), and Places and Contexts. The specific contribution of religious education to citizenship education, observed from the perspective of the two continents and different contexts, was notably at the centre of the Symposium
Praxis, Theoria and Theosis as Fundamental Determinants of a Mystic Path to Christian Perfection on the East and its Theological Context
No full textPraxis, theoria i theosis temeljne su odrednice mističnog puta kršćanskog savršenstva na Istoku i teološki uvjetovane stvarnosti. One predstavljaju inkarnaciju teologije kršćanskog Istoka koja je po sebi negativna (apofatička), iako ne apsolutno. Praxis, theoria i theosis su, bez daljnjega, danas konceptualno najbliži i najsvojstveniji fanarskom i slavenskom pravoslavlju, ali ipak i zajednička baština svih kršćana čiji, ne samo korijeni, već i izdanci, sežu u vremena bogate raznolikosti, ali i nepodijeljenosti kršćanskog svijeta. Praxis (podvig) označava kršćansku borbu protiv loših strasti i nastojanje oko stjecanja vrlina. Cilj praxisa je apatheia (bestrasnost), koja nipošto ne znači neosjetljivost i ravnodušje. Apatheia omogućuje theoriju (sozercanije), mistično motrenje Boga u njegovom nestvorenom Svjetlu, najčešće i najredovitije tijekom molitvenog tihovanja (hesychia). Upravo iz tog razloga hezihazam predstavlja „mjesto“ na kojem se theoria i praxis, ali i theosis, susreću, tvoreći jednu cjelinu. Vrhunac theorije jest theosis (oboženje) čovjeka, modus mističnog sjedinjenja svojstven istočnom kršćanstvu. Praxis, theoria i theosis kao stvarnosti određene su partikularnim (svaka zasebno) i skupnim teološkim kontekstom. Partikularni teološki kontekst praxisa jest duhovna kozmologija, hamartiologija i demonologija; theorije, hezihazam i teologija srca a theosisa, palamizam – energizam i soteriologija. Skupni teološki kontekst praxisa, theorije i theosisa jest istočnokršćanska teologija u najširem smislu riječi.
Pored vidno i čisto kršćanskih determinanti, praxis i theoria kao pojmovi imaju korijene u stoicizmu, novoplatonizmu i Aristotelovoj misli, no unutar istočnokršćanske mistike, kroz povijest, dobivaju potpuno kršćanski i pravovjeran sadržaj. Posao posvemašnje „kristijanizacije” praxisa i theorije, kojega su grčki oci započeli, do kraja je doveo Grgur Palamas. Upravo su zato, praxis implicitno a theoria i theosis eksplicitno, u bitnome određeni, osim posebnošću teologije istočnih otaca, i energizmom - palamizmom. Istočnokršćanska mistika po mnogočemu se razlikuje od ostalih mističkih izričaja, bilo drugih religija, bilo samoga kršćanstva. Sve navedeno, uz činjenicu institucionalizacije istočnokršćanske mistike, posve otklanja mogućnost da se o njoj govori kao o „naravnoj religijskoj“, odnosno „univerzalnoj nadreligijskoj“ mistici.Praxis and Theoria represent the incarnation of the Eastern Christian theology that is negative in itself (apophatic), but not in an absolute sense. Praxis (practice, accomplishment, action) designates the Christian struggle against harmful/evil passions and an endeavor to acquire the necessary virtues. The goal of praxis is apatheia (impassibility, dispassion), which does not necessarily mean insensitive (insensibility) and indifference. Apatheia enables Theoria (sozercanije, reflection, contemplation), which is a mystical contemplation of God in his uncreated Light during the prayerful silence (hesychia, stillness). Theoria reaches its climax in Theosis (deification) of a person that involves the mystical union, so characteristic of eastern Christianity. It needs to be said that besides visible and clear Christian origin, the term praxis stems also from the Stoic philosophy, as the term Theoria stems from the Neo-Platonism philosophy. However, as in the Eastern Christian mysticism, throughout history, they have acquired a fully Christian and orthodox meaning. The process of Christianization of the Praxis and Theoria, started by the Greek church fathers, was completed by St. Gregory Palamas. It is for this very fact that the Praxis and Theoria are essentially determined, a side for a distinctive theology of the Eastern church fathers, by an energism and Palamism. Praxis, Theoria and Theosis as realities are determined by the specific (each one separately) and collective theological context. The specific theological context of Praxis is spiritual cosmology, hamartiology and demonology; of Theoria: hesychasm and theology of the heart; and of Theosis: Palamism - energism and soteriology. The collective theological context of Praxis, Theoria and Theosis is an Eastern Christian theology in the broadest sense of the word. It is important to notice that the Eastern Christian mysticism is in many ways different from other mystical expressions, whether from other religions or Christianity itself. All the above mentioned, including the institutionalization of Eastern Christian mysticism, completely eliminates the possibility that we are dealing with „natural religious” or „universal hyper-religious” mysticism. Praxis, Theoria and Theosis determine the path of Christian perfection in the East. This path is „mystical” only from a western perspective, while for Christians of the East itself, it is regular, „canonical” and the only path of sanctification to man. The Christian perfection in the East is completely differently conceived to the one in the West. Christian, that is, spiritual perfection in the East has never been burdened with moralism or pietistic manifestations, as was the case in the West. In the East, becoming a good and virtuous Christian, by the grace of God, it does not yet mean holiness, neither salvation. Theosis is not a divinization (apotheosis), but a deification. Man does not get divinized, but instead he is deified. God is the initiator and executor of this process, which is why Theosis is phenomenologically deeply determined by divine passive. Theosis finally determines the Eastern Christian view on salvation, which is different from the one in the West. In this sense, for the Christian East, Praxis represents a basis, Theoria a prerequisite (condition) and Theosis a mere content of Christian perfection, holiness, that is, salvation itself. The last chapter of this Thesis, which although at first glance could be seen as an unnecessary addition, was in fact its most important part, because only through comparison of the Eastern Christian mysticism with other mystical paths, was it made possible, within the Hesychast experience of Theosis, to notice the strong and eloquent presence of ontological differentiation and dialectic, the respect for the conceded (donated) otherness, and the highlights of the existential duality in the relationship man - God, even in this kind of the most intimate „mystical union” in Theosis, to which Praxis and Theoria bring. All these things, within mystical paths, which are compared to hesychasm, are or too discreetly and too implicitly present, or dangerously, completely imperceptible
Sant’Ilarione, “nudo e armato in Cristo” : concordanze bibliche della Vita S. Hilarionis di san Girolamo
No full textJeronimovo djelo Vita S. Hilarionis, napisano između 386. i 396. godine, pripada njegovoj trilogiji o životima trojice svetih monaha: Vita S. Pauli, Vita S. Hilarionis i Vita S. Malchi. Autorica knjige naslovljene Sant’Ilarione, “nudo e armato in Cristo”. Concordanze bibliche della Vita S. Hilarionis di san Girolamo, obrađuje tu hagiografiju pod specifičnim vidom, pokazujući da je Jeronim, pišući Vita S. Hilarionis, toga sveca hotimice prikazao kao vrlo slična Isusu Kristu. To je učinio tako da je u opis Hilarionove osobe, života, preokupacija, riječi i djela, ali i u opis onih s kojima se tijekom svojeg života svetac susretao te u opis događaja s kojima se suočavao, utkao brojne elemente iz svetopisamskih, posebno novozavjetnih, a sasvim osobito evanđeoskih tekstova. U razradi ove teme autorica uzima u obzir uvide drugih autora o toj problematici te im dodaje svoje vlastite uvide. Svakom od trideset i tri poglavlja Vita S. Hilarionis pristupa na isti način: prvo ukratko prikazuje njegov sadržaj a potom detaljno ukazuje na paralelizme između Jeronimova pripovijedanja i svetopisamskih događaja ili citata.
Prije glavnoga dijela, u knjizi se nalaze Predgovor autorice, Predgovor Bazylija Degórskog te opširan Uvod u kojem su iznesene opće informacije o Vita S. Hilarionis te o mogućim Jeronimovim nadahnućima za pisanje toga djela. U Zaključku se pokazuje da je autorovo aludiranje na Sveto pismo, s ciljem prikazivanja svetog Hilariona kao izvrsnog nasljedovatelja Isusa Krista gotovo do posvemašnjeg poistovjećivanja s njime (alter Christus), razvidno u više slojeva: na razini strukture djela, u opisima Hilarionovih čudesnih djela, njegovoj brizi za pogane i socijalnoj osjetljivosti, u naznakama svečevih triju službi koje podsjećaju na Isusa Krista svećenika, proroka i kralja, u opisu Hilarionova odnosa prema učenicima, u vrstama oboljenja koja je liječio ali i u riječima i gestama ljudi koji su bili potrebiti njegove pomoći te u njihovim reakcijama prema svecu. Osim toga, u Vita S. Hilarionis moguće je vidjeti poticaj kršćanima svih vremena i svih prostora.La Vita S. Hilarionis di san Girolamo, scritta fra il 386 e il 396, appartiene alla sua trilogia sulla vita di tre santi monaci: Vita S. Pauli, Vita S. Hilarionis e Vita S. Malchi. L’autrice del libro intitolato Sant’Ilarione, “nudo e armato in Cristo”. Concordanze bibliche della Vita S. Hilarionis di san Girolamo tratta questa agiografia sotto un punto di vista specifico, mostrando che Girolamo nella stesura della Vita S. Hilarionis aveva ritratto deliberatamente questo santo come molto simile a Gesù Cristo intrecciando nella delineazione numerosi elementi della Bibbia, fattispecie del Nuovo Testamento, e in particolare dei testi evangelici per quanto riguarda la descrizione della persona, della vita, delle preoccupazioni, delle parole e dei fatti di Ilarione, ma anche nella descrizione di coloro che il santo ha incontrato durante la sua vita e nella descrizione degli eventi cui ha dovuto far fronte. Nell’elaborare questo argomento, l’autrice tiene conto delle osservazioni di altri autori che trattano questa tematica e aggiunge le proprie osservazioni. A ciascuno dei trentatré capitoli della Vita S. Hilarionis l’autrice si avvicina allo stesso modo: dapprima delineandone brevemente i contenuti e poi indicando in dettaglio i parallelismi tra la narrazione di Girolamo e gli eventi o le citazioni bibliche.
Prima della parte principale, il libro contiene una Prefazione dell’autrice, una Prefazione di Bazyli Degórski e un’ampia Introduzione in cui vengono presentate informazioni generali sulla Vita S. Hilarionis e sulle possibili osservazioni di Girolamo nella stesura di quest’opera. Nella Conclusione dell’autrice è evidente che l’allusione di san Girolamo alle Scritture, con lo scopo di ritrarre sant’Ilarione come un eccellente seguace di Gesù Cristo, quasi fino alla completa identificazione con Lui (alter Christus), è evidente a più livelli: a livello strutturale della opera, nella descrizione di sant’Ilarione come taumaturgo, nel suo impegno verso i pagani e nella sua sensibilità sociale, negli accenni ai tre ministeri del santo che ricordano Gesù Cristo sacerdote, profeta e re, nella descrizione del rapporto di Ilarione con i suoi discepoli, nei tipi di malattie da egli curate ma anche nelle parole e nei gesti delle persone che avevano bisogno del suo aiuto e nelle loro reazioni alle opere del santo. Inoltre, nella Vita S. Hilarionis è possibile vedere l’incoraggiamento ai cristiani di ogni tempo e luogo.Jerome’s work Vita S. Hilarionis was written between 386 and 396 and it belongs to his trilogy on lives of the three holy monks: Vita S. Pauli, Vita S. Hilarionis, and Vita S. Malchi. The author of the book, titled Sant’Ilarione, “nudo e armato in Christo”. Concordanze bibliche della Vita S. Hilarionis di san Girolamo, analyses this hagiography from a particular angle and shows that while writing Vita S. Hilarionis, Jerome has portrayed this saint deliberately as very similar to Jesus Christ. He accomplished that by interweaving many elements from Scriptural, especially New Testament and Gospel, texts into the description of Hilarion’s person, life, preoccupations, words, and deeds, as well as into the description of those persons whom the saint has met during his life, and in the description of events with which he had to deal with. In her further elaboration of this topic, the author takes into account insights of other authors and adds to them her own insights. She approaches each of the thirty-three chapters of Vita S. Hilarionis in the same way: she first offers a concise overview of its contents and then she proceeds by pointing out in detail parallels between Jerome’s narration and Scriptural events or citations.
The main part of the book is preceded by a Foreword written by the author, a Foreword written by Bazyli Degórski, and an extensive Introduction containing general information on Vita S. Hilarionis, as well as an analysis of possible influences on Jerome as he was composing this work. The conclusion shows that Jerome’s allusions to the Scriptures, aimed at portraying St. Hilarion as a superb disciple of Jesus Christ to the extent of complete identification with the latter (alter Christus), are evident on multiple levels: on the level of the structure of the work, in descriptions of Hilarion’s miraculous works, through his care for pagans and his social sensitivity, in hints to the saint’s three offices that remind one of Jesus Christ as the priest, the prophet, and the king, in the description of Hilarion’s attitude towards his disciples, through kinds of illnesses he healed others from, but also through words and gestures of people who were in need of his help and in their reactions towards the saint. Apart from that, Vita S. Hilarionis is inspirational for Christians of all times
Value of Freedom as Anthropological Term by Early St. Augustine
No full textRazvoj 'znanosti' i tehnologije pomiče granice naše slobode. Katoličko, pak, poimanje slobode nije sklono čestim ili bilo kakvim promjenama i podrazumijeva samo jedan Put, određene zabrane ili precizne upute, što dovodi do paradoksa kada se takvu slobodu pretpostavlja onoj koja pred čovjeka ne postavlja nikakve granice. Cilj je ovoga rada propitati vrijednost slobode kao antropološkoga pojma koja proizlazi iz katoličkoga pogleda na čovjeka polazeći od promišljanja sv. Augustina iz njegova ranoga razdoblja, tj. razilaženja s maniheizmom. Osvrnuli smo se kod toga na duhovno-intelektualni životopis Augustina s obzirom na to da on svoju misao ne gradi samo na temelju teoretski naučenoga, nego o svemu promišlja iz stečenoga iskustva u kontekstu ondašnjega svijeta u čije se pore uvukao fatalizam kojega nije bio pošteđen ni Augustin, barem u svojim najranijim danima. Donosimo tako i kratak pregled fatalističkih i determinističkih sustava antike te Augustinovo sazrijevanje u kontekstu filozofskih pravaca njegova vremena koji su na ovaj ili onaj način ostavili na njega snažan utjecaj. Prije svih, u negativnu smislu, maniheizam. Slijedimo potom Augustinov put do utemeljenja shvaćanja slobode po kojem ona čovjeku nije dana da bi ovaj po njoj griješio. Prevladavao bi kritičko-analitički pristup (kontekst vremena Augustinova sazrijevanja, utjecaj filozofskih škola na njegovu misao, mogući utjecaj njegova tumačenja slobode na život pojedinca...). S obzirom na to da je u korijenu fatalističkih sustava poricanje duha, čini se da se Augustin svojim pristupom uspješno razračunao sa svakim oblikom fatalizma i determinizma.Augustine's idea of freedom developed in the context of the world of that time, into the pores of which fatalism had crept, which Augustine was not spared either. Of these youthful experiences, he has always been intensely interested in the problem of freedom, the understanding of the final human determination, and the value of human actions in relation to that determination. Philosophical schools and directions with which St. Augustine met, and which left a strong influence on him with their fatalistic determinism did not provide him with sufficient answers to questions about man and his freedom.
The idea, though not thematic, of human freedom existed within the fatalistic and deterministic systems of ancient philosophy, which confirms the existence of practical philosophy or ethics in which man was reckoned as a being responsible for his actions. The problem at that time was that only social and political freedom was in their consideration. However, experience has shown both that a socio-politically free man can feel a certain captivity and that a socio-politically captive man can feel a certain level of freedom in himself. There is thus another completely different level of freedom from the external one, which the ancient thinkers failed to reach in an adequate way in their time. The problem was how to reach this perceived inner freedom, imagine it as an object of theoretical knowledge, define it and get acquainted with its nature. This is a task that Augustine would try to solve with his method of immersion in the human interior and why his concept of freedom seems interesting to observe.
The inability of ancient thinkers to adequately dive into the depths of the human being resulted in a rather disordered and somewhat spontaneous reflection on freedom. Due to its transcendent nature, freedom escapes their socio-politically oriented views and creates a thinking chaos. Augustine was more interested in understanding the final human determination and thus sought the final answers. Prone to numerous coups, the socio-political level could not offer such enduring answers and Augustine finally decided to look for them in an eternal and unchanging being, God. Such a firm reliance on God's existence in the search for the truth about man raises the question of how unconditional Augustine was in his thinking in the Christian thought in which he was raised, which may call into question the objectivity of his method. Augustine was aware of the Christian heritage and did not hesitate to put inherited beliefs under the scrutiny of critical questioning. After all, he himself, through a good period of his life, rejected Christianity as unworthy of philosophy.
After a long search, the method of "immersion" was the one that marked the thought of St. Augustine. It revealed to him that the meaning and answers to fundamental human questions should be sought within oneself. In this way, with his introspective approach to man, Augustine had centuries earlier preceded Freud's psychoanalysis in every way and paved the way for it. Freud in his practice, however, rejected the transcendent as such, while in Augustine the fundamental feature of human nature is its transcendence.
Ancient philosophical thought is imbued with fatalism and determinism. There are a number of different conditions and causes in ancient theoretical philosophy on the basis of which it is concluded that the fate of the world and man is fatalistically determined. However, in antiquity there would be a number of moral and state laws and regulations that provide for penalties or rewards from which one can sence an inlking of human freedom. The freedom to respect or disobey these laws is a condition of the existence of rewards and punishments and the law itself. Ancient thinkers clearly felt this natural unconditionality of the human being as far as his final destiny was concerned, but they did not penetrate beyond the encroachment into everyday social freedom. Thus, none of the ancient philosophical directions gave Augustine sufficient answers to questions about man and his freedom. Because of this, he himself, unable to understand the meaning and purpose of human life, fell into skepticism in his youth. He found a way out of this vicious circle by penetrating the depths of human personality, discovering the difference between form and content that man can only distinguish with his mind. For the external senses, therefore, two mutually exclusive realities can be identical in form. Thus, for example, both good and evil feel the tendency to live without fear. However, the difference is in the interior where the good ones distract love from those things that they cannot possess without the danger of losing them, and the evil ones, in order to safely enjoy them, try to remove obstacles with a criminal life. So Augustine strives for the nature of freedom that cannot be lost against his will, because if the pursuit of things that can be lost against the will is called evil desire, then freedom, if it is natural to man, should be such that it cannot be lost against man's will. Freedom and freedom of will are one and the same for him.
With his approach, Augustine seems to have succeeded where many philosophers find difficulties, which is to grasp and to present free will as a subject of theoretical knowledge. However, the methodological problem, from the perspective of philosophy, is that Augustine takes God's existence as a starting point. His upbringing in the Christian spirit had a great influence on him and Augustine himself does not hide it. Yet he was free to question and compare Christian doctrine with the philosophical directions of his time. And through a good period of his life he rejected his inherited faith along with the Scriptures as unworthy compared to philosophers like Cicero. In the end, remaining disappointed with the philosophy of his time, he began to cautiously return to his Christian roots. The concept and value of Augustine's view of freedom, after all his wanderings, derive almost exclusively from the plantings and experiences of the Catholic faith and man as a transcendent being. This is perhaps the most special aspect of his personality.
The freedom of Augustine's youth is best suited to the definition of freedom and free will according to which Augustine's action x was free if and only if Augustine could have done otherwise, when he was able to choose on the basis of which desires he would act, largely excluding an attempt to understand his own actions and any possible moral perspective. Over time, however, he began to realize that he cannot control his desires and choices. He recognized that he is not their master but a slave. While he lived unfettered and free on the outside, at the same time he felt considerable captivity on the inside. External bodily actions could not bring him liberation from this kind of captivity. He set out to seek his liberation through philosophy. Cicero's thought delighted Augustine and broadened his horizons, giving him a sense of values and pleasures above the apparent reality. From this point on, he considered only truth to be worth exploring. In search of true wisdom, Augustine set out to study the Scriptures once again. The unskilled to know the depths of the contents of the biblical message is disappointed by it. Cicero did not ignite Augustine for this or that philosophical school or current, but for wisdom itself, for striving to understand its existence. His thirst for the knowledge of immortal wisdom led him to the Manichaeans, a Gnostic-dualist sect, who were attracted by their loud and vain inflated notions of truth, wisdom and the name of Christ. The Manichaeans interpreted the Scriptures unscientifically. As a result, Augustine later did not spare the Manichaeans and their approach to Scripture and reality in general, speaking of his hopelessness, dissatisfaction, and disappointment during his stay among them. Manichaeism is marked by the syncretism of Judeo-Christianity, Iranian dualism and Eastern religions, with an emphasis on dualism in every respect: moral, anthropological and metaphysical. Dualism consists of good or light on the one hand and of evil or darkness on the other as basic principles. Augustine, who holds evil to be the absence of good, considers this position that evil is a basic principle alongside good to be a misconception, whereas Manicheans and many others hold that a state in which any reality is absent is just as real, and not the absence of reality. Darkness is not something but the absence of light.
Influenced by the Manichean materialist image, Augustine could not imagine God as an immaterial spiritual being. He no longer imagined God in human form, but he could not imagine him other than in material form. His thought of an infinite God encounterd obstacles in the form of evil as the Manichaeans taught that evil is an entity in itself, opposed to God and of course also material. Therefore, God extends in all directions, but only to the space where evil resides in its matter, which would mean that God is not infinite. Unable to solve this problem, he fell into skepticism about the possibility of knowing the truth, and to him this fact seemed like a wasted life.
It was not difficult for him to follow the skeptics, because after the bloated Manichaeans, who claimed to know everything, they seemed credible and moderate, claiming that they knew nothing, i.e. that everything should be doubted and that the truth could not be known. With his fatalism about the possibility of any knowledge, skepticism deeply affected Augustine, which would encourage him to free his mind of skepticism, which instilled hopelessness in many people by teaching that the truth cannot be found. In 384 in Milan, Augustine met and listened to the sermons of Bishop Ambrose in which the spiritual meaning of the Holy Scriptures is emphasized. Encouraged by Ambrose's sermons, he began to read and study the Scriptures again. Studying the Holy Scriptures under this spiritual perspective, the earlier contradictions of certain texts, as well as the contradictions of the Old and New Testaments, began to fall away. By accepting the spiritual approach of reality, faith and reason were revealed to him as complementary, which later played a crucial role in understanding the relationship between man and his freedom. He begins to study Plato and the Neoplatonists. Studying the books of academics was a balm for Augustine's soul. They restored his hope that the truth could be known. Simplician, a very pious priest, would later praise him for reading Plato because he refers to the One God, that is, to the spiritual support where Augustine would place his thought on the freedom of man. Augustine himself, as a priest and bishop, would greatly appreciate Plato and the academics. In the work On the city of God, he writes about them as those who fully deserved to enjoy their fame and glory over other philosophical currents and how, of all philosophers, they came closest to the Catholic faith. The academics, with their teaching on God, brought Augustine back to the very threshold of Christianity, and it was to Augustine's credit that he dared to step beyond that threshold. Crossing this threshold, he learned that the Principle of the world was a personal and rational reality, not some blind force. Impressed by materialism, he was tormented by the thought that this Principle of the world, if it had no body, would be nothing. He was freed from this thanks to a mystical experience when he heard in a clear inner voice how the spiritual God presented himself to him as the Principle of the world with the words: "I am who I am" (Exodus 3:14). The essence of this principle is that it is, and that it is intangible, spiritual and personal as well. God in himself will remain elusive, but he had definitely been freed of the skepticism about the possibility of knowing the truth and understanding reality. Just knowing all that was not enough. Will and knowledge are two different powers, Seneca said, and Augustine had a chance to see for himself. The will was not ready to follow the insights of reason, but the memory of the deeply lived experience of God strengthened his will in the struggle with his sensual habits. Augustine realizes that the goal of meeting God is not in ecstatic experiences but in liberation from sin, without which there is no liberation of man or understanding of his final destiny. Man himself is responsible for his sins, not, as the Manicheans claimed, some evil principle in him. Augustine clearly feels his inability to regain his inner freedom. The one who could help him in this would have to be God, i.e. someone who is above the weakness of our nature, but also someone who has the experience of living in a human body. It is Jesus Christ, God and man. However, with Christ he was confused by the change of mood, the need to eat and drink, to sleep and rest... All this was incompatible with the unchangeable God, the Principle of the world. Inspired by Ambrose's sermons and spiritual understanding of the Scriptures, he embraced the readings of St. Paul. This time he managed to understand the deeper meaning of the epistles and not only did he realize that St. Paul did neither contradict himself, nor the Law, nor the Prophets, but revealed that everything he read in the Platonists was here as well, but here still enriched by the presence of Christ. Despite all this experience, he still did not follow the knowledge of reason, and Augustine never broke through himself nor did he take that step and follow what reason dictated to him, i.e. God. Augustine did not interpret the experiential fact of disobedience of his own will like the Manicheans as two natures of two souls in man. For him it is all one will, but divided in itself. This division of the human will for Augustine, therefore, is not a miracle but a disease of the soul that does not have enough strength to ascend. It is attracted and exalted by the truth by nature, but it is restrained by sin and sinful habits, which is the reason why people seem to have two wills.
Given his Christian approach, where spiritual reality is viewed as transcendent, more authentic, and more enduring than material, his philosophical method would "provoke" philosophy itself. On the other hand, the question may be whether he was really opposed to philosophy or whether he had opened new horizons to philosophy and paved the way to the eternal and unchanging principles on which philosophy itself rests and is inspired, although it may not be aware of it. By penetrating spiritual reality, Augustine has before his eyes eternal and unchanging principles, and from this position he speaks of concrete material realities which, by their instability, themselves lead to often contradictory conclusions in relation to the spiritual approach. These two approaches can be reconciled if one recognizes and accepts that when speaking from a spiritual perspective one speaks of immutable principles while the material approach speaks of the variability of the concretization of these eternal principles and not of the principles themselves.
For a human to be perfectly arranged means to be in harmony with the eternal law and this is one of the conditions for the realization of personal freedom. In order to conclude how man should be arranged so as to be in accordance with eternal law, Augustine seeks to rationally substantiate the concept of man as a spiritual being. Thus, freedom as one of the basic characteristics of man should be of a spiritual nature.
For Augustine, the psychic dimension that emerges first when we look up from the human body is not authentically human, and animals have it too. Therefore, St. Augustine recognizes the spiritual dimension as that by which man transcends animals. That man transcends animals is obvious by the fact that man is able to tame animals so that they give their instincts and habits to the service of man's will. On the other hand, it is inconceivable that animals, although they surpass us in many of their abilities, would try to subdue man in the same way. What is it that makes a man rise above an animal so that no animal can command him, while he can command many? The mind. The mind that Augustine also calls the spirit would be what makes man superior to animals while the rest of his being has something in common with animals. It follows that this spirit should rule not only over animals but also over the animal part of man. And that would be the perfect order for a man. However, there are spiritual and psychic characteristics that are not present in animals, but are not the highest in humans, such as the pursuit of fame, rule, etc., and it is not appropriate to put them above everything and allow them to govern man. These lower aspirations, if not subjected to reason, make man unhappy. Man should not give up that part which is common to him with plants and animals, but should submit those parts to reason. When man is arranged in this order, then he is in accordance with the eternal law, which is what being free means. And when the higher in man rules over the lower, then man is said to be wise. So, being free or being wise is one and the same. A mad man would not be one who has no spirit, but a mad or unfree man is one in whom spirit or reason has no power over the rest of his being. To Augustine, this is proof that man is a spiritual being, which he concluded by observing how foolish people tame animals, which would not be possible if they did not possess a spirit. Since they possess the spirit, but behave as if they did not have it, it is obvious that they have subordinated the spirit to the lower aspirations of their being. Man, however, is not wise in himself. He draws strength for power over the rest of his being from eternal and unchanging wisdom, God.
Augustine recognizes that something eternal and unchangeable exists by observing the rule and truth of numbers that everyone learns and adopts with their own reason because that is equally available to everyone. In doing so, he distinguishes the number perceived by the mind from that received by the bodily senses. With his mind, man is capable of judging whether mathematical operations are in accordance with truth and the rule of number, or whether a whole is properly and harmoniously composed. The fact that man has the power to judge a reality confirms his transcendence of that reality. So the number, though spiritual and unchangeable, cannot be that ultimate principle because man transcends it since he judges it.
It is in the nature of man to want to be wise and blissful, and everyone feels this aspiration for themselves without anyone else telling them. Everyone realizes with their spirit that one should strive for wisdom. He who is able to know what should be subordinated to something and what to presuppose to something and does and lives in accordance to that, and whom no punishment or intimidation can distract from that life, is wise. Thus, everyone strives for a blissful life as the highest good, and as long as they accord themselves to that aspiration, they are not mistaken. In error are those who strive for bliss, but follow a path that does not lead them to that goal.
Now that he holds that he has proved the existence of an immutable truth, Augustine wonders whether that ultimate truth in relation to our reason is lower, equal, or higher than him? If it is lower, then we would not judge by it but about it, because we do not judge eternal truths that transcend us, and we do not speak of what they should be, but reveal them as they are. We do not correct them but rejoice in their discovery. Further, immutable truth cannot be equal to our reason because it would not be unchangeable but changeable like our reason. All that remains is that this unchanging truth is higher than our mind, by which Augustine showed the possibility that there is something above our spirit, reason and / or mind and thus opened the space for the development of his thoughts on freedom. In this light, he observed that free will is not given to man to
Theological and moral evaluation of eugenics and its new aspirations in contemporary medicine
No full textTema ovog rada je eugenika odnosno teološko-moralno vrednovanje eugenike od njezinih početaka pa sve do danas kada je ona neizravno prisutna, ali svakako djelatna unutar suvremene (bio)medicine. U radu je riječ o dvije temeljne manifestacije ideje eugenike. Radi se o takozvanoj staroj ili prvoj (klasičnoj) eugenici koja je službeno započela sa Francisom Galtonom te nesumnjivo bila i ostala na zlu glasu pošto je u svojoj praksi koristila prisilne metode interveniranja nad pojedincima radi poboljšanja gena populacije te o novoj varijanti zapravo jednog te istog nauka koji se ponovno rađa i razvija, ali ovoga puta ne tako eksplicitno i u nešto znanstvenijem ruhu – takozvanoj novoj eugenici. Takozvana stara eugenika je povijesno egzistirala do kraja Drugoga svjetskoga rata. Nakon 1945. godine usporedno sa razvojem genetike nastavila je egzistirati kao kriptoeugenika, a djeluje i dan danas u suvremenoj medicini uz svekoliku podršku suvremenih (bio)tehnologija na području molekularne biologije odnosno humane genetike i reprodukcijske medicine. Pragmatičko-utilitaristički mentalitet i primat instrumentalne racionalnosti unutar (bio)medicinske kliničke prakse te različiti medicinski i bioetički stavovi o početku ljudskog individualnog života i ljudskoj naravi problematiku dodatno kompliciraju i stvaraju plodno tlo za neke eugeničke prakse i razno-razne manipulacije čovjeka u nastajanju koji je bitno osoba i to od začeća, a u teološkom smislu je i slika Božja.The topic of this paper is eugenics, that is, the theological-moral evaluation of eugenics from its beginnings until today when it is indirectly present, but certainly active within contemporary (bio)medicine. The paper deals with two fundamental manifestations of the idea of eugenics. It is about the so-called old or the first (classical) eugenics, which officially started with Francis Galton and undoubtedly was and remains notorious since in its practice it used coercive methods of intervening on individuals in order to improve the genes of the population, and secondly about a new variant of one and the same science which is being born and developed again, but this time it is not so explicit and is in a somewhat scientific guise – the so-called new eugenics. The so-called old eugenics historically existed until the end of World War II. Since 1945, along with the development of genetics, it has continued to exist as cryptoeugenics, and it is still active today in contemporary medicine with the full support of modern (bio)technologies in the field of molecular biology, i.e. human genetics and reproductive medicine. Pragmatic-utilitarian mentality and the primacy of instrumental rationality within (bio)medical clinical practice and different medical and bioethical positions on the beginning of human individual life and human nature further complicate the issue and create fertile ground for some eugenic practices and various manipulations of the human being who is essentially a person from the moment of conception, and is in the theological sense the image of God itself
Christological Revelation as an Introduction to the Theology of Cognition : a Theological-historical Contribution to Dogmatics According to Erik Peterson
No full textDie vorliegende Lizenziatsarbeit mit dem Titel: „Eine christologische Offenbarungslehre als Einführung in die theologische Erkenntnislehre – ein theologiegeschichtlicher Beitrag zur Dogmatik nach Erik Peterson“ wurde mit dem Ziel verfasst, einen Beitrag zur theologischen Forschung im kroatischen Sprachgebiet zu leisten, in der nachwievor zuwenig erforschten wissenenschaftlichen Recherche über das theologische Werk von Erik Peterson. Insbesondere im Fach Dogmatik innerhalb der systematischen Theologie will diese wissenenschaftliche Arbeit eine Grundlagenforschung zur theologischen Fragestellung nach dem Begriff und Gegenstand der Theologie leisten als auch die Theologie als Wissenschaft, des weiteren der Begriff und die Einteilung des Dogmas sowie die Entwicklung des Dogmas. Das Forschungsvorhaben leistet folglich eine dogmengeschichtliche Vorarbeit zur Dogmatik. Das erste Kapitel: „Erik Petersons Konzeption der Theologie“ erarbeitet eine domgatische Konzeption der Theologie auf Grundlage eines wissenschaftlichen Essays auf Anlass einer wissenschaftlichen Diskussion der protestantischen Theologie des 20. Jahrhunderts in der Fragestellung nach der theologischen Konzeption innerhalb des politisch- theologischen Kontexts. Erik Petersons theologische Konzeption lässt sich als Gegenentwurf zur dialektischen Theologie auffassen, deren Verhältnisbestimmung von Offenbarung und Dogma eine Grundlage bildet zur dogmenorientierten Theologie nach den wissenschaftlichen Kriterien einer kirchlichen Lehre. Das zweite Kapitel: „Erik Petersons Forschungsbeiträge zur wissenschaftlichen Theologie“ gründet mit den dargestellten Forschungsergebnissen in der Fragestellung nach dem Wesen und dem Inhalt der Theologie. Die Kenntnis der antiken Religionsgeschichte sowie die methodischen Ansätze der religionsgeschichtlichen Schulen stellen entscheidende theologische Grundlagen der wissenschaftlichen Forschung dar: von form- und begriffsgeschichtlichen sowie textkritischen Fragestellungen bis hin zu religionsgeschichtlichen, patrologischen und liturgiegeschichtlichen Untersuchungen als Nachweis der kirchlichen Traditionslehre: Theologie, Schrift und Tradition beinhaltet theologiegeschichtliche, begriffsgeschichtliche und historische Forschungsergebnisse, die in Einklang zu den Verlautbarungen des kirchlichen Lehramts sowie den Schrift- und Vätertexten stehen. Das dritte und letzte Kapitel der Arbeit: „Eine christologische Offenbarungslehre als Einführung in die theologische Erkenntnislehre“ erarbeitet eine wissenschaftliche Anwendung zur theologischen Erkenntnislehre als theologiegeschichtlichen Beitrag der systematischen Theologie. Erik Petersons theologische Konzeption der Dogmatik erstellt eine hermeneutische Vorlage zur Einheit der Theologie im Formalobjekt. Die Logos- Offenbarung als geschichtlicher Wahrheitsbegriff bildet das theologische Erkenntnisprinzip in der Zuordnung der Einzeldisziplinen in Form einer impliziten christologischen Offenbarungslehre zur hermeneutischen Erkenntnisstruktur der dogmatischen Aussagen. Die Logos- Offenbarung lässt sich nach der theologischen Hermeneutik als methodische Vorgehensweise einer Dogmenhermeneutik auslegen.This licentiate work under title: “Christological teaching of revelation as an introduction to theological epistemology – a contribution from historical theology to the field of dogmatics according to Erik Peterson” was written as a contribution to theological research in the Croatian-speaking area, in the under-researched scholarly area on the theological work of Erik Peterson. Especially in the field of dogmatics within systematic theology, the aim of this scientific work is to carry out basic research on theological questions about the concept and object of theology, as well as theology as a science, the concept and the classification of dogma and the development of dogma. This research thus provides a preliminary study on the history of dogma for the field of dogmatics.
First chapter: “Erik Peterson's Concept of Theology” elaborates on the concept of theology based on the scientific essay that resulted from a scientific discussion of 20th century Protestant theology exploring the question of the concept of theology in the political and theological context. Erik Peterson's concept of theology can be understood as an alternative to dialectic theology, whose relationship between revelation and dogma forms a basis for dogma-oriented theology according to the scientific criteria of Church’s teachings.
Second chapter: “Erik Peterson's Research Contributions to Scientific Theology” presents research results on the questions of the nature and content of theology. Knowledge of the ancient history of religion as well as the methodological approaches of the History of Religions School represent crucial theological foundations of scientific research: from questions relating to the history of form and concepts as well as critical texts to research into the history of religion, patristics and the history of liturgy as evidence of the Church's traditional teaching: theology, scripture and tradition comprise research results from theological history, conceptual history as well as historical research results that are in harmony with the pronouncements of Catholic Church's Magisterium as well as the Scriptures and Fathers' texts.
The third and last chapter of the work: "A Christological doctrine of revelation as an introduction to theological epistemology" elaborates on the application of science in theological epistemology as a contribution from historical theology to the field of systematic theology. Erik Peterson's theological concept of dogmatics creates a hermeneutic template for the unity of theology in the formal object. The revelation of Logos as a historical concept of truth forms the theological principle of knowledge in the classification of individual disciplines in the form of an implicit Christological revelation teaching on the hermeneutic structure of knowledge of dogmatic statements. According to theological hermeneutics, the revelation of Logos can be interpreted as a methodical approach to dogmatic hermeneutics
The Role and Importance of Religious Education within Intercultural Education
No full textCilj je ovoga rada sustavni prikaz ključnih dokumenata Vijeća Europe o religijskoj dimenziji interkulturalnog obrazovanja i definiranje teorijskog okvira za prikazivanje uloge i važnosti religijskog obrazovanja u odgoju i formaciji djece i mladih za ophođenje s religijskom pluralnošću. Rad se temelji na metodi sustavne analize dokumenata Vijeća Europe o religijskoj dimenziji interkulturalnog obrazovanja koja nije zastupljena u dosadašnjim radovima o ovoj problematici u Hrvatskoj. Rad je analizom dokumenata afirmirao sljedeće teze: religijsko obrazovanje doprinosi razvoju pozitivnih obrazaca ponašanja i religijska dimenzija interkulturalnog obrazovanja doprinosi ciljevima interkulturalnog obrazovanja (učenju za suživot u kulturnoj raznolikosti, stjecanju znanja o kulturnoj raznolikosti i osposobljavanju za dijalog). Uloga i važnost religijskog obrazovanja u ostvarenju interkulturalnih ciljeva primarno su prepoznati u pojavi negativnih obrazaca ponašanja, stereotipa, predrasuda i nasilja koje je svoje uzroke imalo u neznanju i nedostatku religijske pismenosti djece i mladih, kasnije odraslih članova društva. Tako je uloga i važnost religijskog obrazovanja prepoznata na tri razine: kognitivnoj, ponašajnoj i afektivnoj. Postavljenim teorijskim okvirom ovaj rad je pokazao da religijsko obrazovanje, u nekonfesionalnim i konfesionalnim oblicima, ima sposobnost doprinijeti učenju za suživot u kulturnoj raznolikosti, usvajanju znanja za život u kulturnoj raznolikosti i osposobljavanju učenika za dijalog i otvorenost prema religijskoj raznolikosti. U prvom dijelu rad donosi kontekst nastanka i temeljne odrednice interkulturalizma. Opisom društvenih procesa dvadesetog i dvadeset i prvog stoljeća u Americi i Europi diferencira se multikulturalno od interkulturalnog obrazovanja. Pojam interkulturalnog obrazovanja i njegove definicije su predmet drugog dijela rada koji definira cilj i ulogu interkulturalnog obrazovanja kroz njegove faze razvoja u povijesti. Definicije se oslanjaju na dokumente međunarodnih organizacija o interkulturalnom obrazovanju. Izazovi implementacije interkulturalnog obrazovanja promatraju se i u hrvatskom kontekstu. Posljednji, treći dio rada je usmjeren na religijsku dimenziju interkulturalnog obrazovanja koja se povezuje s religijskim obrazovanjem. Analiza dokumenata Vijeća Europe je temelj za izgradnju teorijskog okvira o ulozi i važnosti religijskog obrazovanju u odnosu na ciljeve interkulturalnog obrazovanja.The main goal of this paper is to present the systematic analysis of the Council of Europe's key documents on the religious dimension of intercultural education and to define a theoretical framework on the role and importance of religious education in the context of upbringing and formation of children and youth when interacting with a religious plurality. The methodology of this paper is based on the content analysis of the Council of Europe's policy papers. Policy papers are related to the religious dimension of intercultural education which has not been presented in the published works on this topic in Croatia. The content analysis has confirmed the following thesis: religious education contributes to the positive patterns of behavior, and the religious dimension of intercultural education contributes to the goals of intercultural education (coexistence in cultural diversity, knowledge about cultural diversity, and skills for intercultural dialogue). The importance and role of the religious dimension of intercultural education have been recognized through the removal of negative patterns of behavior such as stereotypes, prejudices, violent forms of behavior. All of these have been related to a lack of religious literacy and knowledge among children and youth. The role and importance of religious education have been acknowledged on three levels: cognitive, behavioral, and emotional. Based on this theoretical framework the paper has confirmed that religious education, both in confessional and non-confessional form, contributes to the coexistence in a multicultural society by deepening religious knowledge and enabling students for dialogue as well as openness towards religious plurality. In the first part, the paper presents the origins and main elements of interculturalism. The second part introduces sociopolitical events in the 20th and 21st centuries in America and Europe which have led to differentiation of multicultural and intercultural education. The main focus of the second part is to define the term intercultural education, its goals, and role during the historical changes. International organizations and their policy papers are the main source of information to the goal. The challenges of intercultural education have been related to Croatian policy framework and educational system. The focus of the third part is the religious dimension of intercultural education which has been related to religious education. Analysis of the Council of Europe's policy papers is the main resource for building the theoretical argument on the role and importance of religious education within goals of intercultural education
Theological-pastoral relevance of web portal for the evangelization mission of the Church
No full textDoktorski rad „Teološko-pastoralna relevantnost internetskoga portala za evangelizacijsko poslanje Crkve“ analizira utjecaj Bitno.net-a na čitatelje i pri tome vrednuje sadržaj o papi Franji objavljen na istom. Rad se sastoji od četiri dijela. U prvom dijelu rada vrednujemo utjecaj interneta kao novog sredstva društvene komunikacije na Crkvu i svijet. Kroz drugi dio rada analiziramo bitne oznake teološko-pastoralnog govora pape Franje kako bi postavili temelje za vrednovanje članaka objavljenih na portalu o njemu. Treći dio rada posvećen je vrednovanju portala Bitno.net. Kroz intervjue s pojedincima angažiranim na portalu nastojimo prikazati kako je Bitno.net formiran, koja je njegova misija i vizija te na koji način redakcija portala vrednuje svoju ulogu unutar hrvatskog medijskog prostora. Četvrti dio rada podijeljen je u dva dijela tj. radi se o dva zasebna istraživanja. Prvo istraživanje provedeno je u obliku ankete među čitateljima na portalu Bitno.net. Ono se fokusira na ispitivanje čitateljskih navika, stavova i vjerničkog angažmana izvan portala Bitno.net. Pri tome ukazuje na postojanje pozitivnog utjecaja portala Bitno.net na informiranost čitatelja o vjeri i vjerskim temama, formaciji vjerskih stavova te aktivnijeg življenje vjerničkog života prema njihovoj vlastitoj samoprocjeni. U vrednovanju svih navedenih aspekata dobivene rezultate uspoređujemo rezultatima prethodno provedenih istraživanja na portalu, kao i drugim relevantnim istraživanjima. Drugo istraživanje na portalu Bitno.net usmjereno je prema analizi sadržaja članaka s oznakom #papaFranjo. Kroz kvantitativnu i kvalitativnu analizu sadržaja u četiri aspekta (evangelizacijski, odgojni, dijaloški i teološko-pastoralni) ukazujemo na to u kojoj se mjeri redakcija portala oslanja na izvanjske izvore te na koji način izvještava o papi Franji. Pri analizi članaka osvrćemo se također na veće tematske cjeline kao i na pojedinačne slučajeve izvještavanja redakcije portala Bitno.net o papi Franji. Na ovaj način želimo utvrditi kakvu teološko-pastoralnu sliku jedan konkretni internetski portal formira o papi Franji te na koji način pridonosi evangelizacijskom poslanju Crkve unutar digitalnog prostora.
Ovo je prvo istraživanje takve vrste na nacionalnoj razini koje pokušava analizirati utjecaj interneta i konkretnog vjerskog portala Bitno.net na čitatelje s fokusom na članke o papi Franji. Aktualnost ove teme raste s razvojem sredstava društvene komunikacije i pojavom novih katoličkih medija unutar hrvatskog medijskog prostora.Doctoral disertation „Teological-pastoral relevance of an web portal for the evangelization mission of the Church“ analyzes the impact of the Bitno.net on its readers and evaluates the content on Pope Francis published on it. The paper consists of four parts. In the first part we evaluate the impact of the Internet as new means of social communication on the Church and the world. In the second part we analyze important features of theological-pastoral speech of Pope Francis in order to establish grounds for evaluation of the articles published on web portal Bitno.net about the pope. Third part of this dissertation is dedicated to the web portal Bitno.net. Through interviews with individuals engaged on portal we have tried to present how web portal Bitno.net has been formed, it's mission and vision, as well as the way its editorial staff valuates its role within Croatian media space. Fourth part of this paper is divided into two separate parts,
i.e. two separate research. First research was done in a form of survey amongst readers of web portal Bitno.net. Research was dedicated to investigate the reading habits of it's users, their attitudes and religious engagement outside the web portal. This research indicates a positive influence of website Bitno.net on reader awareness on religion and religious topics, formation of religious attitudes, and more active religious life according to their own self-evaluation. While evaluating all aspects we compare it to previous research on this portal, as well as the other relevant research. In the second research we analyse articles with hashtag #popeFrancis on Bitno.net portal. Through quantitative and qualitative analysis of the content in four aspects (evangelizational, educational, dialogical and theological-pastoral), we indicate to what extent the editorial staff of the portal relies on external sources and in what way it reports on Pope Francis. While analyzing the articles, we also look at larger thematic units as well as individual cases of reporting by the editorial staff of the Bitno.net portal on Pope Francis. In this way, we want to determine what kind of theological-pastoral image a concrete Internet portal forms about Pope Francis and in what way it contributes to the Church`s evangelistic mission within the digital space.
This is the first research of its kind at the national level that attempts to analyze the influence of the Internet and the specific religious portal Bitno.net on readers with a focus on articles on Pope Francis. The topicality of this topic is growing with the development of means of social communication and the appearance of new Catholic media within the Croatian media space