Series:Teologia

Divine, human. Four studies of the poetic experience of God

Boskie, ludzkie. Cztery studia o poetyckim doświadczaniu Boga

Author(s): Katarzyna Niesporek-Klanowska / Language(s): Polish

Keywords: Jerzy Liebert; Władysław Sebyła; Tadeusz Różewicz; Wilhelm Szewczyk; Divine; human; God; angel; church; passions; religiosity; metaphysical

Divine, human. Four studies of the poetic experience of God is a book presentingdifferent ways of expression of an individual’s stance on “metaphysicality” in the lyric poetry of the interwar period and the first years of World War II. They mean, as Józef Czechowicz put it, “a confluence of thoughts and predispositions accompanied by emotions underlying an artist’s world view”. In the presented studies, this world view does not refer only to orthodox religiousness but first of all, it considers the “metaphysical system of the world’s interpretation”. Hence, the dominant experience is the quest for the Absolute and for what is transcendental and sacred of this world, which is marked and desecrated by war, anguish, solitude, disease and death. The opening study concerns Jerzy Liebert’s poetry. The author’s companions in his spiritual struggle are beings from the sphere of sacrum. Their doings are described especially in the two poems: Anioł Żalu and Anioł Pokoju, which are compared to the poems: Próby, Kuszenie, Jeździec and Boża noc devoted to the “internal experiences of man who took the road of atonement in his journey towards God”. The heavenly messengers perform a function of intermediaries, guides and teachers. Their presence proves the existenceof the Absolute and puts the lyrical subject in a state of ecstatic rapture. The study of Jerzy Liebert’s angelic poems, pointing to the presence of the celestial being in the juvenile poems of the author of Kołysanka jodłowa, further develops, so to speak, the deliberations on angels in his poetry found in Maria Szczepan-Wojnarska’s and Piotr Nowaczyński’s books.Part two discusses the autonomous images of the Absolute, emerging from Władysław Sebyła’s work permeated with despair and fear, of God present and absent, powerful and weak, holy and human. What the author of Pieśń szczurołapa has in common with Jerzy Liebert is not only the same generation, time of debut, Skamander fascinations and rebellions, but also the region they come from (let us remind that the first was born in Kłobuckin 1902 and the latter in nearby Częstochowa two years later). However, the subject of the author of Nokturny is definitely a homo metaphysicus whose road leads from hope to despair, yet, he does not deny the existence and presence of God. A continuation of deliberations on the lyric poetry of the interwar period is the study of Tadeusz Różewicz’s juvenilia. His early poems have a religious background. Between 1938 and 1939, the poet published seven poemsin the Sodality of Our Ladys’s magazine “Pod Znakiem Maryi”. Years later, he confessed that his poetic experience had originated from a metaphysical experience. Alongside religious lyrics he wrote a few other poems, including erotic ones. The article reflects on these literary beginnings of the later author of Niepokój. As is known, his religious orientation was weakened during the war, although later the poet oftentimes alluded to metaphysical questions. There is little literature on the subject, whereas it seems to be significant for the understanding of Tadeusz Różewicz’s literary development. The book closes with an attempt at an interpretation of the series of lyric poems Pasje strasburskie by a Silesian author Wilhelm Szewczyk. Only seven out of ten poems were officially published in the volume Posągi from 1945. The other three sonnets have been transcribed from an autograph andpublished by Marian Kisiel in “Śląsk” on the occasion of the 85th birthday of the author of Poemat górniczy. This collection of studies on the experience of “metaphysicality” in selected lyric poems from the interwar period and the first years of World War II reveals an image of the incessantly clashing divine and the human. The studies demonstrate an individual dimension of experiencing the revealed truths, which led some to the profession of faith and others to spiritual despair in an “empty church”, and still others to a more profound experience of existential anguish.

The Witness of the Father in the Fourth Gospel. An Exegetical-Theological Study

Świadectwo Ojca w czwartej Ewangelii. Studium egzegetyczno-teologiczne

Author(s): Dawid Ledwoń / Language(s): Polish

Keywords: The Witness; God Father; The Gospel of Sts. John; biblical theology; works; signs

From among the four canonical Gospels, the Johannine rendering is the one most focused on Jesus’ Father – God. In the Gospel according to John, the basic means of expressing (revealing) the said truth is witness (μαρτυρία) along with, related thereto, the act of bearing witness (μαρτυρέω). The notion of witness contains speaking, arguing for, convincing, and asserting that Jesus was the Son of God sent so that whoever believes in Him shall have eternal life (John 3:15–16).The theme of witness of the Father as a cohesive research subject had gone unnoticed in global biblical studies until the half of the 20th century. Also, it had not been perceived as a crucial element of teaching about God the Father. Only 1950s brought about radical change in biblical theology. What began to be stressed back then was the relationship between Christology, emphasised strongly in the Gospels, and the reflection about presence and the work of the remaining Persons of the Holy Trinity. The Johannine Gospel appears to be an especially valuable subject of research due to the theme of God’s fatherhood – in particular, giving witness to the Son – present therein, which constitutes a structure of the fourth Gospel and remains critical for its interpretation. Another important aspect of the witness indicated in John is: unveiling the internal life of Jesus and the interrelations within the Trinity.This monograph aims at determining features of the witness that God gives about His Son; to subsequently indicate places and manners in which the said witness is actualized in the fourth Gospel, in addition to providing an answer to the question regarding the possibility of the human participation in the witness of the Father and where it eventually finds its fulfillment. The book’s extensive introduction contains a presentation of the current state of research as well as a justification of an assumed research method. A synchronic approach is a basic device of analysing the Gospel according to John in its canonical form. Chapter One of the book contains a study of the witness of the Father in the fourth Gospel against the backdrop of the Old Testament. Two subsequent chapters present a detailed analysis of the pericopes John 5:31–47 and 19:31–37 which follows the same pattern: the text delimitation, the text criticism, the translation and philological remarks, presentation of the text structure, and finally, the analysis thereof in context. The concluding remarks are included in particular summaries. The final, fourth chapter pinpoints, in turn, the places where the witness of the Father occurs in the narratives about Jesus’ resurrection. Due to the extent of research scope into the witness of the Father in John 20 and 21, the translation of the mentioned chapters in their entirety has been abandoned. In this part of the monograph, the analysis concerns the descriptions of the empty tomb and of characters’ reactions and attitudes present in the Gospel narratives; most of all, however, it is focused on the descriptions of the Christophany and Jesus’ speeches. Conclusions of the book present the synthesis of the research findings.

History of Spirituality: The Time of the Church Fathers

Historia duchowości. Czas ojców Kościoła

Author(s): Jan Słomka / Language(s): Polish

Keywords: Christian antiquity; spirituality; monasticism; virginity; Church Fathers

History of Spirituality attempts to capture the basic elements constituting the spiritual life of Christians in the initial five centuries of the Church’s existence. Since Christianity was born at the intersection of two worlds, Jewish and Greek-Roman, it seems indispensable to first briefly characterize the spiritual life of the said two cultural areas. This very topic is the subject of Chapter One. The subsequent chapter, in turn, discusses foundations of Christians’ spiritual life: baptism, which defines the Christian identity, the Holy Eucharist, the place occupied by the Holy Bible in the life of Christians, as well as prayer and fasting. The chapter which follows outlines the two spiritual traditions developed in the early days of the Church. First of them was for the most part eschatologically-oriented, praising martyrdom, and treating what is earthly and worldly as a mere transition period unworthy of our undivided attention. The second tradition aims to edify human spirituality based on the promise of resurrection. It likewise sees the readiness for martyrdom as Christianresponsibility, but at the same time underscores achieving perfection here on Earth. Besides, this tradition draws upon the Greek philosophy and values the state structures, thereby indicating that a Christian, exactly by virtue of adhering to his faith, is supposed to be a good citizen. Among the representatives of the foregoing tradition the book enumerates and particularly discusses Clement of Alexandria and Saint Ambrose of Milan. What is specific to Christian spirituality are the ideals of virginity and celibacy, the spiritual bases of which and the way it is enrooted in Christian life, are discussed in the subsequent chapter. Next, there are presented two spiritual doctrines of the Church Fathers who had the greatest impact on the forming of Christian spirituality, namely the ones of Origen and Augustin. From the beginnings of the fourth century onwards, the Christian spirituality becomes dominated by monasticism. Initially, it was an individual version thereof, the hermitic monasticism. Thus,in order to comprehensively discuss monastic spirituality, one has to begin with indicating the most important, specific features of anchorites’ spirituality. The spirituality of communal (coenobitic) monasticism is best described by its rules. Therefore, four representativemonastic rules are discussed, arranged by two main lines: the first including Pachomian and Benedictine monastic rules, and the second the Rule of St Basil (Basilian) and the Augustinian rule. Each of the foregoing rules has its own, clearly distinguished spiritualcharacteristics. The book’s final chapter presents two of the many erroneous spiritual paths that can be found in the early ages of Christianity: Pelagianism and Manichaeism. They were selected as warnings, for the contemporary world abounds in spiritual “offers” which arequite similar.

Towards an inclusive anthropology: Profound intellectual disability and humanity. A study in Catholic theology of disability

W stronę antropologii inkluzywnej: głęboka niepełnosprawność intelektualna a człowieczeństwo. Studium z zakresu katolickiej teologii niepełnosprawności

Author(s): Anna Maliszewska / Language(s): Polish

Keywords: anthropology; theology of disability; intellectual disability

The specifically defined subject of analyses contained in the present study is a notion of humanity of persons with profound intellectual disabilities. It comes down to answering the following question: Are persons with a form of profound intellectual disability in fact considered human persons? And if so, are they human persons to the exactly same extent as the remaining representatives of the Homo sapiens species? Are we able to offer a “definition” of humanity that would encompass all human beings? And whom, eventually, should we include amongst the said human beings? This project, however, aims not to create an anthropology of intellectual disability that would adequately describe persons with profound intellectual disabilities but would not be suitable for all human persons. Therefore, the title refers to an inclusive anthropology, namely, one that would account for all individuals, regardless of their condition and stage of their life development. What is intended herein, then, is such a wording of the humanity “definition”, so that there is no need for “exceptions” and persons with profound intellectual disabilities are not left out in, or even outside, the margins of humanity. What is more, the inclusive anthropology means that people with intellectual disabilities – as fully-valid human beings – are capable of revealing to us the truth about humanity in a way that would be hardly feasible, or impossible, without them. As indicated by the title, it is a theological work, which means it originates from within faith, particularly Catholic faith. So, for the questions asked, concerning humanity of persons with intellectual disabilities, the answers are also sought within faith. The treatise’s purpose is, moreover, to contribute to advancement of Catholic theology of disability, which on the one hand makes the teaching of the Catholic Church along with its anthropology a departure point, and on the other hand, the hitherto achievements in theology of disability serve herein as a reference point. The said purpose points to the sources referred to and cited in the work, which are, mostly, documents of the Church’s Magisterium, as well as works on theology of disability. The analyses are ceaselessly accompanied by the fundamental theoretical claim and practical aim stemming from theology of disability: persons with intellectual disabilities are absolutely equal to fully-abled individuals. Such a claim is, however, not a mere ideologically-assured assumption, yet finds its justification in the faith of the Church – originating form God’s Revelation – in unconditional equality of all human beings (Romans 2.11, Acts 10.34, Galatians 3.28). The very fact of the research being conducted from a vantage point of theological anthropology or, to be more precise, from a standpoint of Catholic theological anthropology, translates, first of all, into full appreciation of doctrinal messages of the Magisterium of the Catholic Church relating to the human nature, and secondly, into an attempt to interpret this teaching in a way that would reveal the full humanity of persons with intellectual disabilities. Statements by the Magisterium ecclesiae often stress that human nature involves rationality, more precisely “rational spirit” (cf. among others Council of Vienne 1311–1312, Fifth Council of the Lateran 1513), which may cause quite significant issues if we apply such statements to an individual lacking “the use of reason”. It is worth noticing, at the same time, that the Church Magisterium uses descriptions of this kind when speaking of very particular individuals, namely children who have not attained the use of reason. Here we reach quite a bit of paradox, since the Church, on the one hand, does not deny the humanity of small children, foetuses, or persons with intellectual disabilities, on the other hand, however, the Church claims that rationality determines human nature. The present publication does not consider the teaching of the Catholic Church pertaining to rationality and freedom of human being as discriminatory against or oppressive towards persons with intellectual disabilities, and by the same token, does not reaffirm the thesis – supported by some theologians – that the mentioned teaching should be discarded and relativized, but rather takes a completely different path. As a result of the analyses undertaken, it is concluded that the outlooks displayed relating to the capabilities of persons with intellectual disabilities should be altered, and reversely – the fundamental truths regarding human beings should be perpetuated to keep their incessant presence in the tradition of the Church and its teachings. Resultantly, it is assumed that those persons, alike any other human beings, are fully equipped to know and love God (or to exercise their freedom of choice and reject God), to love other people and world, and even to – in their very particular way – rule over the world. Those claims do not require any empirical proof, because by their very nature they are empirically unverifiable, which also applies to individuals fitting the so-called intellectual norm. The discussed, absolutely fundamental, facets of being human, are not restricted to biochemical reactions in the human brain, even though they may cause them. Therefore, while claiming that persons with profound intellectual disabilities are capable of knowing (and loving), it is concurrently acknowledged that the notion of “knowing” itself must be reworded or reformulated, in order to no longer be associated with the Enlightenment reason or IQ. Genuine human “knowing” is not restricted to what can be observed and measured, akin to humanity itself, which cannot be restricted to what is empirically verifiable. The above notwithstanding, this work assumes some “empirical” criterion of humanity (of what constitutes being human). In the proposed take on the topic, the only observable condition of being considered human, is the origin from human parents: an individual is a human being (and therefore, a rational and free entity, so capable of loving) by sole virtue of having human ancestors. This statement has its roots not only in the ancient philosophy, but also in biblical image of the human being. Accepting a fundamental claim by the Catholic Church concerning the humanity of persons with intellectual disabilities along with teaching on rationality and freedom of human person, this treatise simultaneously rejects the substantiation for it provided in respective Church documents that consists in ascribing to some individuals (foetuses, persons with profound intellectual disabilities) specifically human capabilities as a mere potential. For this kind of discernment establishes a kind of “double anthropology,” and through it, a fundamental inequality amongst human beings, of which some actively explore a range of essentially human possibilities, while others possess them only as potential. What is more, through the above-mentioned claim, persons characterised by the said untapped potential are reduced to the remainder of visible creation, not in the least able to decide on the path to its own salvation. Another notion discussed in the present work, which is both hard to implement in the case of persons with profound intellectual disabilities and representative of the major anthropological Christian tradition, namely imago Dei, is connected to the question of uniquely human possibilities. Based on the claim regarding rationality and freedom of persons with profound intellectual disabilities, a relational interpretation of God’s image in human being has been built. Also in this case, there has been perpetuated the traditional, and prominent in documents of the Magisterium, understanding of the image of God, and at the same time, the thinking about persons with intellectual disabilities has been changed. In the proposition of understanding imago Dei put forward herein three most widely disseminated theological opinions are taken into account that consider the essence of the image of God in human person (uniquely human capabilities, relationality, ruling over creation). To briefly summarize the final conclusions: each and every person, due to his or her innate capabilities (rationality and free will) enters into relation of love freely, thanks to which he or she becomes similar to God – the Trinity of Persons loving one another, which is not without any impact on the surrounding material world (the facet of ruling over the creation). The reflection undertaken in the present monograph does not come down to “adjusting” the persons with profound intellectual disabilities to the established and dominant narrative of the Church (a human person as imago Dei, as a rational, free being that rules over creation), but rather – on the basis of Divine Revelation and experiences of people accompanying persons with profound intellectual disabilities on their life paths – it is proposed to view human being as fragile, dependant, unique, and called to praise and celebrate. Thus, the reflection undertaken herein does not consist solely in showing difficult traditions (present within Christian thought) which demand re-interpreting and specifying in the context of persons with profound intellectual disabilities, but also in showing Church traditions that may be perceived as liberating for those people. Seeing humanity through a prism of fragility and dependency of a human being, uniqueness of each and every human, and eventually being called to praise and celebrate becomes a reason to treat persons with profound intellectual disabilities not as incomplete human beings, but rather those who in especially compelling way exemplify the truth of what it means to be human, at least in some aspects of it. An anthropology built around the said facets of humanity not only does not exclude those people, but also renders persons with profound intellectual disabilities as representative individuals of the human species. Acknowledging persons with profound intellectual disabilities as capable of personal choice to accept or reject God is a step outside the dominant Church vision of those individuals as “innocent saints” and it implies a much more serious approach to the question of their access to sacraments. For if persons with intellectual disabilities, as any other human being, struggle to attain sainthood and salvation, the Church cannot deny to them the access to sacraments – the basic “means” of salvation. So, it seems necessary to reform the sacramental practice of the Church build upon anthropology which “quietly” strips the persons with profound intellectual disabilities of their humanity or considers them some kind of “exceptions” – that is, marginal cases of humanity. The thesis that persons with profound intellectual disabilities are in fact fully human leads to a conclusion that is only natural, namely, that those persons are simultaneously eligible to be full members of the Church. In the present work it is assumed that they should have the widest possible access to sacraments, even if it might cause a slight deviation from the standard administration of sacraments. This work’s main thesis – namely, assuming the rationality and freedom of persons with profound intellectual disabilities – is controversial and, if treated with due seriousness – may bring about far-reaching changes in Church practice. Nevertheless – despite a kind of folly behind it – it seems to be the most reasonable. For we are on the safe side when we treat those human beings as rational and free, rather than to assume something that is quite the opposite. When undertaking the questions of the persons with profound intellectual disabilities’ presence in the Church community, one must conclude that this issue affects not only the said people and treating them with due justice. Those questions pertain to all of the Church members who, by isolating “the persons who are unable to meet adequate standards,” are denied the opportunity to tap into the source of wealth persons with profound intellectual disabilities have to offer. Therefore, they are indispensable for the “fully-abled” Church.

An introduction to Catholic theology

Wprowadzenie do teologii katolickiej

Author(s): Jan Słomka / Language(s): Polish

Keywords: Catholic theology; theological method; modernity; postmodernism; the conflict between science and religion

This very Introduction to Catholic theology is separated into two distinctive parts. First of them constitutes a discussion of theology in the Catholic Church. Therein, the field of theology itself – substantially different from religious studies due to the prerequisite of belief – is presented. Next, the pillars of Catholic theology are comprehensively described: Tradition, represented by the Magisterium of the Catholic Church as well as its documents and Divine Revelation in the world.What is distinctively outstanding is the God’s revelation in Jesus Christ, hence Christianity is a religion of the person, namely, the person of Jesus Christ. It is Jesus alone who indicates the Holy Scripture as a revealed text. Therefore, the Holy Scripture remains only a resultant topic together with its divinely inspired character and rules of interpreting the Scripture valid in the Catholic Church. As an associated topic, the fundamentalism in reading the Bible is also addressed, wherein the author points out why such an interpretative mode is at odds with Catholic approach to the Bible and explains what exactly is the fallacy of fundamentalist understanding of the Scripture. The following section of the book is devoted to the role of authority in theology, and then, owing to special character of this relation, the close relation of theology and philosophy is presented. Part two entitled “Theology in the university” depicts the situation of theology as one of the academic fields practiced at modern universities. Particularly: sources and origins, aims, as well as the theological method and scholarly methods utilised while practising theology were discussed. Especially close attention was given to specificity of language used by theologians. Modern academia, not unlike the entire modern European culture, is heavily influenced by the Enlightenment heritage. What, therefore, necessitated the author’s analysis was Catholic theology’s attitude towards the Enlightenment breakthrough and, cursorily, towards the latter’s contemporary ramifications, that is, postmodernism. Amongst the crucial problems investigated by theologians of the modern era is the mutual relationship of theology and experimental sciences. Due to the so-called conflict between science and religion, stemming from the dissemination of the theory of evolution in the world of knowledge, theological references to earth sciences and human sciences gain their weightiness. The study is concluded with the discussion of major theological disciplines: fundamental, dogmatic, moral theology, spirituality theology, and practical theology. The said disciplines’ research areas are described, along with their methodological specificity and relations to philosophy and modern sciences.

Bishop Józef Gawlina as a Protector of Polish Emigrants

Biskup Józef Gawlina jako opiekun Polaków na emigracji

Author(s): Damian Bednarski / Language(s): Polish

Keywords: Bishop Józef Gawlina; pastoral care for emigrants; Polish Catholic Missions; protector of Polish Emigration

In this monograph the author aims to depict the role of bishop Józef Gawlina as a spiritual leader of Polish emigrants after the Second World War. Bishop Gawlina, who came from the diocese of Katowice, was a pre-war Field Bishop of the Polish Army. He accompanied Polish soldiers outside Poland during the Second World War. After 1945, he remained abroad and when living in Rome he coordinated the life of Polish Catholics, who for different reasons lived outside of their home country. The Pope Pius XII nominated him Protector of Polish Emigrants, a role he served for fifteen years (from 1949 to 1964). Relying on publicly available sources as well as on information which has not yet been widely known, found in Polish and foreign archives, the author explains and specifies the scope of the Church jurisdiction of this hierarch in the consecutive years of his service, and presents his contribution to the pastoral work with emigrants, highlighting that he formed its specific character. Bishop Gawlina’s major achievement was that he developed the structures of pastoral care for Polish emigrants after World War II. Therefore, a big part of the monograph is dedicated to this aspect of his ministry: establishing centres of the Polish Catholic Mission, appointing their rectors and coordinating their work. Setting the time frame presented in the thesis was dictated by the papal decisions and Church decrees, which several times extended and specified the scope of bishop Gawlina’s mission. In this thesis, the author aims to present, as fully as possible, the activity of bishop Gawlina in the field of pastoral care for Poles living abroad. A serious challenge was to document the consecutive stages of the extension of his jurisdiction, which originally covered only Polish soldiers on the territory of Poland and during the peak period it concerned Poles living in many countries on different continents. This was the situation when bishop Gawlina was appointed an ordinary of the Polish Catholics who were leaving Russia. Later, he was appointed an ordinary of Poles in Germany and Austria. The situation changed a bit after 1949, when he became the protector of emigration. For the sake of accuracy, it is worth mentioning that in this capacity he did not have the jurisdiction the ordinaries had. Nevertheless, Gawlina felt his responsibility for the whole clergy and all lay Catholics who maintained their Polish identity while living abroad. He fulfilled these duties with deep commitment until the very last moment of his life. The author refers to bishop Gawlina as “the protector of Poles living abroad”, claiming that it is the most suitable title to describe the mission entrusted to him. The Latin word protector is translated as “a person who shelters, a defender, a carer”. This term was used in the decree assigning responsibility for Polish emigration to Gawlina. The author used analytic-synthetic method in his research. The thesis is divided into five chapters according to the problems. The source documents were found in several archival institutions in Poland and abroad, which were connected with bishop Gawlina’s ministry. Among references, it is especially worth to mention Diaries, which bishop Gawlina wrote during almost the entire time of his ministry. The author found valuable materials in the Archives of the Central Emigration Pastoral Centre in Rome, the Pontifical Institute of Ecclesiastical Studies in Rome, Archives of the Polish Catholic Mission in England and Wales, the Polish Institute and Sikorski Museum in London, Archives of the Archdiocese of Katowice, Archives of the Archdiocese of Warsaw, Archives of the Institute of National Remembrance in Warsaw, and Archives of the Polish Catholic Mission in France. Supplement of the thesis confirms great commitment of bishop Gawlina and it includes tables with the list of visited countries, the list of the Polish Catholic Missions and their rectors, the lists of hierarchs whom bishop Gawlina met during his ministry and the list of his published addresses. The monograph includes also several dozen reference documents from various archives showing the ministry of the bishop of Polish emigrants. The thesis is the first attempt to present comprehensively the role of archbishop Józef Gawlina in organizing the structures of the pastoral care for Poles living abroad and forming the model of pastoral work of the Polish clergy among emigrants after the Second World War.

Proclaiming the word of God in a secularized environment

Głoszenie słowa Bożego w środowisku zsekularyzowanym

Author(s): Leszek Szewczyk / Language(s): Polish

Keywords: preaching;secularization;

Preaching Gospel to people living in a specific historical context in the major task of the Church. Preaching the word of God adequately to the contemporary conditions requires knowledge of living conditions, existential and spiritual needs of contemporary listeners. Such a preaching derives its content from the Holy Scriptures and observation of the world in which the contemporary man lives and creates. Listeners should feel that it is them who are at stake in preaching, because they are able to find answers to their existential questions. The task of preachers is to establish a connection between the preached word of God and the contemporary world in which this word takes a specific shape. A preacher of the word of God can not fulfill his mission in isolation from the changes that take place in the world. A contemporary context of preaching the word of God is the phenomenon of secularization that contributes to the fact that many people abandon God and religion. In Poland, too, a growing number of addressees of preaching the word of God are indifferent and sometimes even unbelieving. Therefore preaching the word of God should increasingly take into account the need to evoke and develop faith and, as the consequence, encounter Christ. Such preaching should be opened to the needs of evangelization and reevangelisation in the environment of non-believers, pagans and lapsed Christians in need of conversion. The major purpose of this study is to describe a contemporary state of preaching the word of God and the degree of its adjustment to secularisation processes in progress and to show influence of Ecclesial structures on a factual shape of the preaching service. Based on considerations on preaching the word of God in the secularised environment it should be concluded that the initial purpose of the study was met. At every stage of the study a critical analysis of the current state of preaching was carried out together with the degree of its adjustment to the secularized environment as well as individuals no longer involved in faith and religion. At the beginning of the study the existing research and sociological, philosophical and theological literature concerning dominant trends in the contemporary culture and civilization were analyzed. Also, the emphasis was put on impact of secularisation processes on suppressing religiousness, especially ecclesial religiousness, as well as secularization factors in individual behavior and beliefs. Postmodernism, globalism and nihilismtrends that dominate the contemporary culture and civilisation and have a direct impact on listeners of the word of God. Polish religiousness is going through a peculiar metamorphosis. What can be observed is a transfer from inherited religiousness to religiousness by choice. At the same time listeners of the word God are not only believers, but also non-believers who came to listen to the word of God by accident. This is why preaching, although meant mainly for the faithful, should also have the character of preaching to „pagans”. In the homiletic theology, especially the West European one, a systematic shift from the former paradigm of secularization to the paradigm of evangelization can be observed. Also in Poland revival of preaching the word of God in the secularised environment should be inspired by assumptions and program if the new evangelization. The study includes a critical analysis of initiatives seeking to directly reach unbelievers and secularized believers. Precious inspiration in search for adequate content and form of preaching to secularized listeners can be found in documents of local Churches, especially documents of Conferences of Episcopates of Italy, France and Poland, an initiative of a dialogue with non-believers, foe example „the court of the gentiles” and „the court of dialogue” and a latter of pope Francis to a non-believer. The following part of the study points at a mission of preachers of the word of God in the secularised world. The teaching of the Church on the role and tasks of a priest as a preacher of the Word in the secularized environment was presented and changes in perception of a preacher in the environment was surveyed. Moreover, pastoral postulates were formulated concerning formation of current and future preachers who are getting ready to preach among those far from the faith and religion. Efficiency of preaching the word of God depends largely on a preacher’s personal testimony, knowledge of the preached message and problems experienced by listeners and skills related to use of the word. A priest in the secularized environment should be characterized by a friendship with Christ, prayer and a humble service with respect to the word of God. If he wishes to be a leader of the people of God and the man’s friend he has to master the skill of a careful „listening”. Many contemporary listeners of the word of God can not follow the fast pace of changing reality and do not understand the contemporary man sufficiently. Therefore many priests are tempted to separate from those who live outside an active and involved part of the community of the Church. A special task of a preacher in the environment of non-believers is evoking in their hear the desire to meet Christ. Preaching the word of God by the authority and in the name of the Church requires courage to defend integral teaching of the Church in spite of unfriendly condition and numerous dangers. A contemporary preacher has to have a clearly defined hierarchy of actions, in which priority should be given to measures that bring the man closer to God efficiently. A basis o formation of future and current preachers is acquisition of substantial philosophical and theological knowledge, knowledge of psychology and rhetoric and appropriate spiritual development. All this should contribute to an open dialogue with people of good will, cooperation with the lay faithful, sensitivity of problems of the faithful, spiritual support and advice in problem solving. The next part of the monograph concentrates on research into the major directions of changes in the content preaching the word of God in the secularized environment. The service of preaching consists of conveying the same and unchanging truths, for the Good News revealed to us by God remains ever the same, however living conditions of listeners and their existential problems change systematically. This is why in the secularized environment it is necessary to change emphasis put on certain content and from the treasury of God’s revelation choose content that should be especially emphasized and presented to listeners. The major content of preaching the word of God is the good news about Jesus Christ, the Lord and Saviour. This preaching is rooted in the Bible and observation of the world in which the contemporary man lives and creates. In the secularized environment, without giving up the above mentioned sources, a preacher should emphasise kerygmatic message and lead to faith that is a personal encounter with Jesus Christ and has a personal and dialogue-oriented character. Showing God and Jesus Christ - the only Saviour of the man should be linked with an attempt to give answers to human questions and desires. Also today kerygma is the major part of ecclesial preaching and is addressed to various listeners. It is necessary, however, to devise kerygma adjusted to individual needs and expectations of the contemporary man who is either a non-believer of a lapsed believer. If by kerygma in the strict sense we understand the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus combined with the call to conversion, and by a kerygma in a broader sense we understand everything that is taught by the Church, which is the words and deeds of Jesus confirmed in the Bible, then in preaching the word of God in Poland preaching kerygma in the strict sense should be interpenetrated by preaching kerigma in the broader sense. Non-believers and secularized believers should be preached most of all kerygma in the strict sense, for its purpose is the initial conversion and preparation for baptism and entering the community of the Church. An ordinary preaching of the Church taking place during homilies should remain a broad kerygma, whereas preaching kerygma in the strict sense, which is a call to a fundamental conversion to Christ, should be addressed to the secularized and take place in exceptional circumstances. These circumstances are the most important moments of Christian life, such as baptism, weddings, funeral and Easter and Christmas homilies. Preaching addressed to the secularized should refer to human experience, failures of human searches and solutions and point at a solution of problems through opening to the Christian revelation. Such preaching that refers to the anthropological method seeks to evoke the hunger for God. Major topics of the preaching addressed to the secularized can not omit such issues as a human person and his dignity, freedom renewed by the cross and resurrection of Christ, the sense of life, love, happiness, sickness and suffering. The content of preaching addressed to non-believers may be universal and all-human values among which three transcendentals, truth, goodness and beauty, are dominant. In the final part of the monograph a formal side of a preaching utterance addressed to the secularized environment was analyzed. Preaching the word of God requires searching for the most efficient form of reaching people at the margins of faith and the Church. In the face of progressive secularization preaching the word of God requires courage and enthusiasm as well as boldness in searching for a language capable of conveying a deepmeaning of beauty of the experience of love. This search should be accompanied by awareness that preaching is the word of God (theological sphere) and the word of man (anthropological sphere). Renewal of a form of communicating the Good News calls for reformulation of a language of expressing one’s faith in a way that would be adequate to a cultural awareness of an environment in which it is preached. Precise verbal formulas, dogmatic definitions and teaching faith through memorising truths from the Catechism is beyond the grasp of many contemporary people. Preaching the word of God in the secularised environment should refer to the richness of the Bible and have a simple form. A preacher should make his statements more contemporary, since for many listeners the gap between the language of preaching and the language that would use on daily basis is too big. Listening to opinions of listeners of the word of God far from God and the Church allows for introduction of a language that would be communicative for contemporary people, an existential language of faith. It is absolutely necessary in preaching the word of God in the secularized environment to use a language of suggestion, dialogue, respect and empathy. A prudent use of imagery in preaching can introduce listeners to the world that so far has been unknown to him. It is advisable to use persuasion and broad argumentation that refer to an intellectual, emotional and volitional sphere of listeners of the word of God. Moreover, one should avoid boarder attitudes, which is willingness to adjust to colloquial speech of listeners of the word of God on the one hand and a persistent use of a hermetic, obscure language of theology on the other. Such attitudes should be overcame by seeking to keep sacrum in preaching utterances. The research carried out proved further research into the state of preaching in Poland is necessary. Growing secularization processes have a significant impact on homiletic theology. Its task is to devise – in the light of the analysis of the current situation – rules and directives thanks to which the Ecclesial service of the word might conduct its mission efficiently. The need of a constant perfection of preaching results from requirements of priests in the contemporary world which is adjustment of pastoral methods to constantly changing living conditions of the community of the faithful. The process of programming preaching can not omit systematically growing secularized environment.

Covenant. Fundamental premises of marriage legislation of the Roman Catholic Church and Evangelical Churches

Przymierze. Fundamentalne założenia prawodawstwa małżeńskiego Kościoła rzymskokatolickiego i Kościołów ewangelickich.

Author(s): Monika GWÓŹDŹ / Language(s): Polish

Keywords: covenant; marriage; sacrament; ecumenism;canon law;

This publication is an analysis of the fundamental premises of marriage legislation of the Catholic Church and Evangelical Churches. In chapter one, starting from the etymology of basic terms, the biblical idea of covenant and the idea of marital covenant are presented. In chapter two, citing the statements of the Fathers of the Church and Christian authors, the development of the doctrine in this regard is described, whereas the next chapter is devoted to the evangelical idea of marriage arising in the sixteenth century. The analysis is preceded with a presentation of the profiles of select main reformers. Given the fact that the Catholic Church’s response to reformers’ teachings was an announcement of the dogma of the sacramentality of marriage, the development of the Catholic doctrine is discussed in chapter four. The monograph is completed with an analysis of the issue on the plane of theological anthropology, wherein common elements are recognized, making it possible to enter an ecumenical dialogue.

Hebraica studies. Commemorative book. Biblical Hebrew Knowledge Seminar dedicated to Professor Kamilla Termińska

Studia hebraica. Księga pamiątkowa. Seminarium Wiedzy o Hebrajszczyźnie Biblijnej dedykowana Pani Profesor Kamilli Termińskiej

Author(s): / Language(s): Polish

Keywords: Biblical Hebrew; Judaism; Jewish culture and literature

Charbel. The Road to Perfection. Contemporary view on the early Christian philosophy of asceticism

Szarbel. Droga doskonałości. Współczesne oblicze wczesnochrześcijańskiej filozofii ascezy

Author(s): Aleksander R. Bańka / Language(s): Polish

Keywords: eremitism; asceticism; Maronites; spirituality; hermitage;monasticism;

Charbel: The Road to Perfection is the first Polish-language monograph on the life and spirituality of Charbel Makhlouf, a Lebanese monk and eremite, who is regarded as the most important modern continuator of early Christian ascetic philosophy. It is a study of his life, the most significant threads of his spirituality, and the philosophical foundations of his asceticism. The volume consists of three chapters, a preface, an introduction, concluding remarks, bibliography, and a personal index. Chapter 1 opens with a presentation of the broader context of Charbel Makhlouf ’s life. It outlines the short history of the Maronite Church, of which Charbel was a member, and the history of the Maronites, beginning with the early stage when the community was forming, until the turmoil of war, which cast a shadow over the early period of his life. This broader context makes it possible to carry out a detailed analysis of facts that comprise this part of Charbel’s life (before he entered the novitiate in Mayfouq) and to propose a chronological and factographic reconstruction of his childhood, which is the main task of Chapter 1. The motivation for this approach comes from the fact that the first period of Charbel’s life is poorly documented, giving rise to many conjectures and speculations that need verification. Both contexts — the historical background and Charbel’s childhood and youth — are presented in the first chapter of this volume as a unique substratum for his developing monastic vocation and his future ascetic practice. Although Charbel’s spirituality was a continuation of the main ideas of the ascetic practice of the Egyptian desert fathers and early Christian Syrian ascetics, at the end of the 19th century, this Lebanese eremite was able to shape it in a way that was novel and unprecedented in the modern understanding of the past Christian ascetic tradition. Thus, apart from providing a detailed analysis of facts that comprise the second period of Charbel’s life (before he became an eremite), Chapter 2 of this volume attempts to present the evolution of the main elements of his spirituality, in particular, of the fundamental aspects of the so-called philosophy without philosophy (the way of working and praying, faithfulness to the rule, the idea of monastic obedience, and the devotion to liturgy). The last period of Charbel Makhlouf ’s life comprises almost 24 years spent in the hermitage in Annaya. It is during that time that the unique elements of Charbel’s eremite life became recognisable and that the strong impact his attitude had on society became visible. This influence, which intensified following his death and triggered many socio-cultural transformations both in Lebanon and in other parts of the Middle East, stems from an extremely radical interpretation and practice of the profoundest ascetic ideals of the Christian tradition. Chapter 3 attempts to demonstrate how these ideals manifested themselves in Charbel’s mature years and in what way they were transposed to his contemporaneous cultural context. For this reason, the analysis presented in Chapter 3 is not limited to historical findings related to the final period of Charbel’s life (establishing facts and verification of biographic data up to the time of his death in the Annaya hermitage) but also aims to reconstruct a complete picture of his spirituality. The volume ends with extensive concluding remarks, which systematically and succinctly present the effects of Charbel’s life, his influence on the shape of Middle East Christianity, and the development of his cult in the modern Catholic Church. This monograph is addressed not only to researchers and students but also to readers who, through the prism of Charbel’s life, wish to gain more insight into Christian eremitism and Christian spirituality in the Middle East and, above all, to discover the modern face of early Christian ascetic philosophy.

“In a collision with nature – holiness of Brother Albert” The natural conditions of the spiritual life of Saint Albert Chmielowski

W zderzeniu z naturą – świętość Brata Alberta. Naturalne uwarunkowania życia duchowego świętego Alberta Chmielowskiego

Author(s): Krzysztof Matuszewski / Language(s): Polish

Keywords: Saint Albert Chmielowski; natural conditions; spiritual life; psychophysical conditions; socio-cultural determinants

The work is a study of the role of natural factors (psychophysical and socio-cultural) that influenced the shape of the spiritual life of Saint. Albert Chmielowski (1845–1916). Although the first cause of his spiritual life was supernatural grace, natural factors also influenced to some extent the way it was manifested. In the analysis of psychophysical factors affecting the spiritual life of Brother Albert, in which psychological theoretical models have been used (RB Cattell’s sixteen-factor model, P. Costa and R. McCrae’s five-factor model, GW Allport’s criteria of personality maturity and the K. Dąbrowski’s theory of positive disintegration), showed their influence on some areas of Saint. Albert’s spiritual life. Similarly, socio-cultural factors (including the role of the family environment, participation in the armed struggle, artistic activity, and the impact of culture and society at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries in Poland and in the world) influenced in a bottom-up manner on creating Chmielowski’s spiritual profile. The richness of his nature (artistic talents, various experiences, and especially experienced suffering) bore fruit thanks to the cooperation with grace, deep spiritual life, which was a synthesis of active service with a contemplative life, the centre of which was Humble Christ (Ecce Homo). The thesis, referring to the theological axiom: “grace builds on nature and improves it”, shows the complex and broad influence of various natural dynamisms which God uses to develop human’s talents, bringing him to holiness.For the people interested in Saint Albert’s spirituality and Polish spirituality in the late 19th and early 20th centuries the publication can help to understand the process of developing the spiritual life against the background of an epoch. The study can also serve the congregations founded by Saint Albert for which a deepened study of their founder’s spiritual personality and its psychophysical and environmental conditions is always valid. The research on the determinants of the spiritual life can also be useful for monastic, seminary teachers or the leaders of religious groups showing that for spiritual formation it is crucial to take the human development into account (e.g. the knowledge of personality features and alumni’s typical conditions). The work can also be used by psychologists, psychotherapists and teachers that take into consideration the spirituality in developing some attitudes and working on the integral development of others. Both the historians and art historians making a research into Adam Chmielowski’s artistic biography can find some hints referring to the connections between the culture, art and the spiritual life.

The world of avifauna v in Polish and Czech translations of the Holy Bible – crane and ostrich

Świat awifauny V w polskich i czeskich przekładach Pisma Świętego. Żuraw i struś

Author(s): Lubomir Hampl / Language(s): Polish

Keywords: avifauna; Holy Bible

As in previously published volumes (I–IV) of Świat awifauny w czeskich i polskich przekładach Pisma Świętego (The World of Avifauna in Czech and Polish translations of the Holy Bible), the basis for my research are the socalled sixteen basic translations of the Holy Bible into Polish and Czech languages. This means that the following version of the Czech and Polish biblical translations have been excerpted from the presented work.Consequently, the eight fundamental Czech biblical translations have been thoroughly studied, which includes two Old-Bohemian translations, namely the best-known Protestant Bible Kralická bible, in particular its last edition from 1613, and the Catholic Olomoucká bible dated 1417, as well as six contemporary Czech translations of the Bible (representing different canons and Christian denominations and religious communities): Český ekumenický překlad (Czech ecumenical translation), Český studijní překlad (Czech research translation), Bible překlad 21. století (Bible translation of the 21st century), Překlad nového světa (New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures)), Jeruzalémská bible (The Jerusalem Bible), and Slovo na cestu (Word on the road). Moreover, in the case of the Polish-language editions of the Bible, the author also ensured that the criteria relating to the place and time of publication and similarly belonging to different Christian enominations and religious communities match those of the corresponding Czech-language editions. Eight basic editions were examined, including two Old-Polish editions: Protestant Biblia gdańska from 1632 and the Roman Catholic translation by Jakub Wujek from 1599, in addition to six contemporary translations: Nowa Biblia gdańska, Biblia Tysiąclecia (The Millennium Bible), which is also called Tyniecka; Biblia warszawsko-praska (The Warsaw-Prague Bible), translated by a single person, Fr. Bishop Kazimierz Romaniuk, Biblia warszawska colloquially called Brytyjka (‘the British Bible’), Biblia poznańska, and Jehovah’s Witnesses’ Przekład Nowego Świata (New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures).In order to broaden the scope of research, the supplementary material (clearly supporting the knowledge in question) was also a partly selective presentation of ten biblical editions (four Czech and six Polish translations of the Holy Bible – see additionally compiled statements in the main text).From Czech translations I used translations made only by a single person, that is, the three-volume edition of Bible česká translated by Jan Hejčl, from the beginning of the 20th century and Pavlíkův studijní překlad (Pavlík’s research translation) by Miloš Pavlík as the most recent instance of the modern translation of the Holy Bible, which currently broadly available on the Czech publishing market, since2014. The Old-Bohemian Bible drážďanská (The Dresden Bible) from the 14th century (unfortunately extant only in a few fragments) and Old-Bohemian Litoměřicko-Třeboňská Bible (Třeboň Bible) published from the beginning of the 15th century, were also referred to.In addition, I used the Polish-language supplementary translations, such as: the Old-Polish Calvinist edition of Biblia brzeska (The Brest Bible), also called Biblia Radziwiłłowska (The Radziwiłł Bible) after the founder of this translation or Biblia pinczowska (The Pinczów Bible) after the place of its publication, and examples from the Old-Polish edition of Biblia Szymona Budnego (Szymon Budny’s Bible), also known as Biblia nieświeska. The following modern editions were additionally used: Biblia jerozolimska (The Jerusalem Bible), Biblia Paulistów (The Paulist Bible), Biblia ekumeniczna (Ecumenical Bible) and an interlinear translation with grammatical codes and transliteration repared by Anna Kuśmirek titled Hebrajsko-polski Stary Testament. Prorocy (Hebrew-Polish Old Testament of Prophets). In addition to these basic and supplementary editions of the Holy Bible, many other Czechand Polish-language editions of the Bible were used from different historical periods.

Between „Sensus Catholicus” and „Christianised Nationalism”. Art of the Roman-Catholic Church in Upper Silesia and National Discourses

Między „sensus catholicus" a „uchrześcijanionym nacjonalizmem”. Sztuka Kościoła rzymskokatolickiego na Górnym Śląsku wobec dyskursów narodowych

Author(s): Jerzy Gorzelik / Language(s): Polish

Keywords: Catholicism; Upper Silesia; nationalism; church art

The book addresses the much-neglected topic of permeating of nationalist ideas into spaces of Catholic worship and of Catholic-nationalist discourses being monumentalised by means of church art. The field of research is Upper Silesia - an area of competition between supporters of various identity programs. The author shows how from the beginning of the 20th century to modern times the elites of the Church, supported by artists and public authorities, used art to build nations and other imagined communities. Moreover, he analyzes iconographic programs and narratives, associating themes and motifs with myths, symbols and historiosophical constructs. The book gives an image of the dilemmas faced by Catholics in the era of intensive nation-building processes.