We kindly inform you that, as long as the subject affiliation of our 300.000+ articles is in progress, you might get unsufficient or no results on your third level or second level search. In this case, please broaden your search criteria.
This article is a critical assessment of a book by Tadeusz Bartoś entitled Koniec prawdy absolutnej (The End of Absolute Truth). Bartoś’s intention is to free Aquinas from Thomists’ overly scholastic interpretation of his work and to present the medieval theologian as a precursor of postmodernism. Bartoś’s relationship to Saint Thomas is ambivalent. Although he affirms the genius of Aquinas, and in particular the value of his apophatic theology, Bartoś criticizes Thomas for, among other things, the inconsistency and even failure of the synthesis he attempted. Bartoś cares about reaching the contemporary person, who has a postmodern sensibility. He thus denounces Thomists and, more generally, the abuses which arise from the belief that one can possess absolute truth. Bartoś affirms the value of the leading postmodernist thinkers and the notion of the end of metanarratives. This article’s critique of Bartoś’s book focuses on the weaknesses of the postmodern worldview he adopts. To Bartoś apply all of the observations that A. Bronk has made of the methodological and substantive problems of postmodernism. The foremost of these is a lack of critical perspective on postmodernism’s own philosophical postulates. Bartoś does not undertake such critical reflection, nor does he seem to recognize the need for it. He appears unaware that his own critique of others’ positions, which is often ambiguous and authoritarian, emerges from a dogmatic position not subject to the radical relativity and impermanence he applies to others’ views. Bartoś tries to assert general truths and make assessments of the history of Thomism that are in some sense objective while denying others the right to do the same. The ideas advanced by Bartoś could lead, in practice, to an uncritical acceptance of the worldwide cultural revolution now being carried out in the name of postmodernism, which, as M. Peeters has pointed out, is driven by ideology and threatens human freedom and culture in the broad sense. Bartoś’s book is an interesting example of a superficial reading of Saint Thomas. Its arguments may become part of the eclectic mix of postmodern ideas. Yet it is essentially a deconstruction of the theology of Aquinas and his belief in the truth revealed by Christ. Any ultimate truth is submerged by Bartoś in the quicksand of apophatic skepticism. He attempts to convince his readers of the necessity of rejecting a priori any possibility of the revelation of ultimate truth. That would include, among other things, the mystery of the Incarnation.
More...
The thesis of the decisive influence of Catholic theology on so-called Orthodox “school” theology in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in the seventeenth century has long been established in the historiography of the subject. Less attention has been paid to the genesis of specific texts of the Western tradition, which were not only a source of inspiration for writers from the Orthodox world, but were literally translated, only to be considered in later years as homegrown Orthodox works. When carrying out word-for-word translations it was necessary for Orthodox writers to develop translation techniques that could effectively ”mask” what they had borrowed. An interesting example of this sort of translation is the first handbook for confessors, entitled Mir s Bogom čeloveku (Kiev 1669), which was prepared by the Kiev Lavra archimandrite Innocenty Gizel (d. 1683). This work is mostly a compilation of three treatises by the Polish Dominican Mikołaj Mościski (1559–1632): Elementa ad S. Confessiones (1603), Examen approbandorum ad S. Confessiones excipiendas (post 1621) and S. Artis poenitentiariae tyrocinium (1625), complemented by excerpts from the Summa of Theology of Thomas Aquinas, the decree ”On justification” of the Council of Trent, the Roman Catechism, the Decree of Gratian, and various essays of the seventeenth-century Catholic moralists. Mir s Bogom was the first attempt in the Orthodox literature of the Metropolate of Kiev to present the basics of Christian teaching. It stressed the practical aspects of the faith. It was novel in its attempt to create and standardize terminology dealing with the sacraments and the doctrine of sin. The work of Gizel gained great popularity in Russia and formedthe basis for a number of manuscripts and printed manuals on how to celebrate the sacraments. Through Mir s Bogom, many fragments of the works of Western theologians were incorporated into Orthodox literature.
More...
The “False Donation of Constantine” (Latin, Donatio Constantini), or more correctly, the “Decree of Constantine” (Constitutum Constantini) was regarded throughout the entire Middle Ages as an authentic act of the Roman Emperor Constantine I “the Great” (306–337), transferring the prerogatives of imperial power and some unspecified western territories of the Empire to the possession of the Papacy. This document, at different stages of its functioning, was used by the Frankish higher clergy (who were responsible for its fabrication) in its efforts to become independent from local monarchic powers (IX century), the Papacy fighting for primacy in Christendom with the Empire (XI–XIII centuries), as well as by the French legists demonstrating independence of the Kingdom of France from the Papacy (XIV century). Only in the first half of the XV century did humanists such as Nicholas of Cusa and Lorenzo Valla question the authenticity of the Donation on the grounds of its stylistically awkward use of the Latin language, internal contradictions, and logical shortcomings. The forgery comprises two parts: the first part (§1–10) includes the statement of the Christian faith professed by the Emperor and a personal account of the circumstances of his conversion; the second one (§11–20) describes in detail the elements of emoluments (i.e., payments for offices) and powers granted by the Emperor, elevating the Pope and the Church to the highest rank within the Empire. The Latin text of the original document is presented in the article alongside its Polish translation.
More...
In the article one of Stephen Langton’s Quaestiones theologiae is published in a critical edition. Ļe quaestio is devoted to the problem Vtrum homo licite possit uelle contrarium eius quod scit deum uelle and occupies position n° 18 in an index of Langton’s Quaestiones found in MS Cambridge, St. John’s College Library, C 7. In fact, if we were to order Langton’s Quaestiones as if they were discussing the topics found in Peter Lombard’s four books of Sentences, this quaestio would belong to Book I, more precisely to a section of the work where some attributes of the one God are discussed (after an account of the mystery of the Trinity has been given). Ļe problem arises from the consideration of the divine attribute “will”, where such questions occur as whether divine will is always fulŀlled, or whether man is bound to will all that God wants (given that God’s will is known by man). Ļe article consists of a text-critical introduction followed by an edition of the three preserved versions of the quaestio. In the introduction it is argued that the three versions transmitted in the manuscript tradition all depend upon a unique disputation presided over by Langton in his school. Ļe presence of three versions is explained by assuming that the disputation was recorded by two different scribes (reportatores), giving origin to two different written records of it (reportationes). Ļe ŀrst reportatio (= reportatio b) has been elaborated into a text transmitted by a ŀrst textual family (= family φ); the second reportatio(= reportatio a) has been elaborated into two different texts, one transmitted by a second textual family (= family ψ) and one transmitted by a single MS. Ļe different versions are published according to the strict rules of critical edition, without trying to produce a unique text harmonizing the three reportationes, but rather leaving them as the manuscript tradition has delivered them to us, in the conviction that each version represents a reception of the single oral performance that, in its actual wording, is irreparably lost.
More...
The interest of scholars toward the medieval notion of modus is mainly focused on the so called Grammatica speculativa. There are some other philosophical contexts where modus plays a very important role. This paper is focused on the importance of this notion in some XIIIth and XIVth Century philosophers beginning with St. Thomas Aquinas, who deals with modus in some texts where Augustine’s threefold expression ordo, species, modus is quoted and discussed. St. Thomas resorts to modus either for confirming God’s transcendence and infinity or to state the difference inside the category of quality. According to Remy of Florence modus can be considered a sort of quality, and on this basis he relies on this notion to strengthen the power of language in rendering the complexity of beings. For Remy modus refers not only to the finite nature of created beings, but also to their different dispositions, which permit to enlarge the ontological panorama without increasing the number of the Aristotelian categories. Giles of Rome turns to modus for solving some crucial problems such as the real distinction between esse et essentia, the plurality of forms and the transubstantiation. The partecipatio formae has to be considered for him not a third ontological state in addition to form and matter, but only a modus. Godfrey of Fontaines blames Giles’ solution as untenable, because there is no need to add a third element to matter and to form in order to deal with substances. The importance given to the modi risks according to Godfrey to attribute the main role in ontology to an accidental aspect the; he thinks that many problems raised by such position could be solved applying to semantics, reducing the modi essendi to modi significandi. Gerald from Siena support Giles’s solution and replies to Godfrey’s censures, to which Alphonsus Varga seems well inclined in his criticism against Gerald’s interpretation of Giles’ philosophy.
More...
1. Le commentaire anonyme des Sentences, dit Utrum Deus gloriosus, avait été rédigé à Prague dans les années 1377–1387. Tout au long du XVe et du XVIe siècle il a servi de manuel à l’enseignement théologique de Cracovie, où cependant il eut quelques rivaux appartenant, comme lui, à l’école réaliste. 2. L’UDG représente la théologie réaliste praguoise de la période préhussite. Cela se voit par la solution du problème des Idées divines qu’il souhaite harmoniser avec la doctrine du Pseudo Denys connue directement ou/et par l’intermédiaire d’Alexandre de Halès et de Bonaventure. 3. On a prétendu que l’UDG accuse quelques tendences nominalistes. L’analyse détaillée des arguments et celle de la situation historique de l’Université de Prague ne confirment pas cette opinion. 4. La théologie de l’UDG est déclarative. En effet, l’anonyme ne cherche pas à construire une science théologique selon les rigueurs de la logique aristotélicienne. Tout comme Matthieu de Cracovie, son contemporain, il remplace les raisons nécessaires par des arguments probables venus de la rhétorique.
More...
One of the inherent elements of each edition is the research apparatus, consisting of a philological apparatus and a source apparatus. With respect to the source apparatus, this element of the edition has not hitherto been reflected upon in any depth. Therefore, the author, having analysed contemporary editions of the works of St. Thomas Aquinas (prepared primarily by members of the Leonine Commission), briefly presents here several structural models of the source apparatus. In the editions discussed here, he points out two types of source apparatus: 1) the primary source apparatus, and 2) the specialist source apparatus. The purpose of primary source apparatus is to identify the sources which have been explicitly signalled in the text of the edition as well as those which, in all probability, were the inspiration for the medieval author himself. Adding any other commentaries (such as historical and doctrinal analyses, parallels to other writers, and so on) is unnecessary and indeed undesirable. After all, it is the work itself that is important, and the editor and his erudition should remain in the background. This type of source apparatus was prepared, among others, by A. Dondaine, P.-M. Gils, L.-J. Bataillon, H.-F. Dondaine, L. Reid and J.-P. Torrell. In its identification of sources that have been explicitly or implicitly signalled in the work being edited, the specialist source apparatus actually fulfils the same function as the primary source apparatus. The differences between the two types are apparent, though, at the level of substantive content as well as in the structure of the apparatus. In preparing a specialist source apparatus, the editor becomes an educator: he shares his own reflections on the text with the reader. The specialist source apparatus contains an extensive network of references to other writers, a wide historical and doctrinal context, an extensive Latin commentary, a wealth of fragments from both manuscripts and printed texts, and numerous comments and suggestions. It is possible to point out two sub-types of specialist source apparatus, which vary in structure and in the method used to present editorial commentary: the single-level and double-level apparatus. R.-A. Gauthier is regarded as the main promoter of the specialist source apparatus.
More...
Mieczysław Albert Krąpiec (1921–2008), domenicano polacco, ex-Rettore dell’Università Cattolica di Lublino, creò il sistema filosofico, di cui la filosofia del diritto è parte. L’Autore presenta il pensiero di Krąpiec nei suoi aspetti più salienti: il concetto della filosofia del diritto; il fatto (esistenza) del diritto inteso come relazione; la base oggettiva del diritto, cioè il debitum, il bene e la persona. L’Autore delinea l’essenza del diritto: la distinzione tra ius (il diritto) e lex (la legge), offrendone una definizione e tratta del primato dell’essere del diritto. In seguito, egli mette in rilievo la particolare attenzione che la filosofia del diritto di Krąpiec riserva al concetto di giusnaturalismo neotomista. Analizza, inoltre, il diritto positivo, nella dinamica di relazione con il diritto naturale. La filosofia del diritto di Krąpiec potrebbe essere chiamata come una filosofia del diritto dei filosofi, una metafisica giusnaturalistica neotomista.
More...
In presenting the evolution of the concept of grace in patristic and medieval theology, Otto Herman Pesch reveals a misunderstanding underlying the Lutheran-Catholic dispute over justification. Grace as habitus and qualitas was introduced to Christian theology to raise a final barrier against Pelagian temptations. With the passage of time, and contrary to the original intention, a transformation of the concept of grace took place in theory as well as in pastoral practice, so that people began to believe that it was necessary for man to perform, by natural means, a meritious act (meritum de congruo) in order to receive the grace necessary for salvation. This led Luther to oppose the concept of grace as habitus – for the same reason, ironically, for which this concept was introduced (that is, he opposed a Pelagian model of salvation). After having explained the historical misunderstandings involved in this theory of grace, it can be asserted, as the author argues, that there is no contradiction between the actual teaching of the Council of Trent and Luther’s famous thesis, Sola gratia. ‘Only grace’ surely stands at the foundation and the beginning of man’s relationship to God. This, however, does not contradict the fact that God’s influence produces a real effect in creation and brings to the individual an experience of reconstituted freedom – that is, an experience of completely personal freedom that is, at the same time, entirely the result of God’s grace.
More...
La théologie morale orthodoxe reste toujours un domaine peu présent dans la littérature théologique polonaise. Or, les défis moraux qui se dressent devant le christianisme dans le monde contemporain nous obligent à aborder cette problématique aussi bien dans le cadre du dialogue oecuménique. L’article traite de l’histoire de la présence de la théologie morale orthodoxe dans les oeuvres catholiques. Il est possible d’y distinguer trois périodes. La première englobe les oeuvres antérieures à la deuxième guerre mondiale et se caractérise par une attitude comparative. Les oeuvres soulignent la différence entre l’éthique catholique et l’éthique orthodoxe. La seconde période a commencé avec le renouveau apporté par le Concile Vatican II et se caractérise par une attitude oecuménique ; les auteurs tendent alors à souligner les ressemblances. La troisième période ne fait que commencer dans la littérature polonaise. Elle a pour but une analyse critique de la théologie morale orthodoxe elle-même. L’article est basé essentiellement sur les oeuvres du théologien italien Basilo Petrà. Pour considérer la théologie morale orthodoxe de façon critique l’auteur préconise l’analyse des questions suivantes : les sources de la théologie morale, avec une prise en considération particulière de l’interdépendance entre la liturgie et l’éthique ; la relation entre la théologie morale et l’autorité ecclésiale ; la question de «l’économie ecclésiale» ; une nouvelle compréhension de la théologie morale comme d’une éthique qui n’est par une éthique autonome mais bien une éthique chrétienne de par sa nature. Ces sujets, étudiés de façon critique, ont pour vocation de servir à créer une communauté de discours dans le sein de la théologie orthodoxe, ce n’est qu’alors que cette éthique pourra entrer en dialogue avec d’autres confessions et sera à même de soulever les défis du monde moderne.
More...
At least in its mystical traditions, Indian philosophy tends to “look down” at human condition, considering it either illusory (māyā) either “accidental” (āgantuka) and seeing its suppression as the soteriological goal. The present paper tries to “redeem” human experience showing how, in Yogācāra Buddhism, it represents the condition for the perpetuity of the cosmic manifestation. Human drama, through the karmic impressions it lives within the cosmic consciousness (ālayavijāna), represents the condition for the perpetuity of the Universe. The existence of the cosmic manifestation is thus somehow subordinated to human affliction. Yogācāra Buddhism distinguishes two major types of “obstructions” (āvaraa) specific to human condition: the obstructions of the afflictions kleśāvara) and the obstructions of the knowable (jeyāvara). Both of them are necessarily involved in the production of new karmic impressions, hence the faults of human beings representing conditions for the continuity of the universal manifestation. The second part of the paper discusses the two major processes undergone by the cosmic consciousness, the outflow (niyanda) and karmic maturation (vipāka), showing that the outflow can’t ensure more than a limited continuity of a particular manifestation of the store-house consciousness. The perpetuity of cosmic consciousness necessarily requires the karmic maturation processes which always involve human affliction. Therefore, human drama is not something “accidental” in the Universe, is not something which only happens to be, but is the reason to be of the Universe. Human beings and the Universe are in an intrinsic relation of mutual conditioning, the Universe not being the “place” where human experiences happen but rather the cosmic outreach of human drama.
More...
Jan Kowalik spent his emigration years in northern California, where he improved his professional skills. His life is inextricably linked with the history of the very diverse Polish diaspora over the San Francisco Bay and ethnic pastoral care. The article describes the Polish diaspora in California, which began to arrive in San Francisco Bay in the 1840s. Then, as a “labor emigration,” being the core of the Polish diaspora in California, it reached its peak in the 1920s, and was powered after the Second World War. In addition, the article shows the importance of the Catholic Church and pastors, especially the Society of Christ, to migrants.Jan Kowalik became a chronicler of parish life and launched many initiatives promoting Polish culture. The most visible form of his activity was publishing activity. As the editor of “St. Adalbert Catholic Parish Bulletin” (published since April 23, 1976), in 1977 he began publishing his own column, “Polish Traces over the Bay,” dedicated to the past of Poles in California. In January 1979, he started to publish “God's Sowing.” The author of the article broadly discusses both publications, pointing out their authors and editorial collaborators.
More...
The psalter consists of 150 psalms, but only the psalms 148-150 have been chosen for wall paintings in Orthodox churches. The fact has been ascribed to the liturgical use of these psalms, either in the morning service or in obsequies. The hypothesis is probed by a cross-check: Restriction to the last psalms is observed in the Gothic psalter in Munich which is not Orthodox and was never in liturgical use and whose miniatures are not wall paintings. The miniatures illustrate all verses of the three psalms quite literally. The wall paintings do not exhibit additional features which point to an influence of liturgy. It is concluded that the proposed explanations, though not ruled out, are not supported by internal evidence.
More...
The paper considers a particular variety of artistic manifestations in Slavonic manuscripts of the Byzantine heritage – that of the Byzantine epoch proper and that of the time, coinciding with the Ottoman rule on the Balkans. Illuminated manuscripts and iconographical patterns from some local centres of manuscript production are selected in order to discuss and estimate the present state of research and its perspectives. In view of a recent monograph on the 16th and 17th century Serbian miniatures, the examples from Balkan centres concern either less studied manuscripts or controversial topics. This is mostly an outline, which inevatibly bears on the depth and scope of the conclusions.
More...
The article aims to present new ideas about the interaction of the languages, mainly Greek and Slavic, in the churches with mixed type of inscriptions from the period of the Byzantine and post-Byzantine Balkan Christian art. This phenomenon is usually called ‘bilingualism’ and is dependent on specific historical, geographic or other sociolinguistic conditions: regions with bilingual population (also called ‘bilingual audience’), itinerant teams of painters, to mention just a few. The analysis is divided into two separate fields – historical and functional, which is necessary for acquiring a complex and accurate viewpoint on this matter
More...
This article develops a general conceptual model of the relationship between the structure of human historical consciousness, the multidimensional experience of time, and human agency and possibility. It includes a discussion of the ways that events that change the structure of historical consciousness affect temporal experience, ontological security, and narratives of self-identity. The experience of trauma disrupts the ontological security that is required for the continuity of identity. Trauma reorganizes our sense of time and possibility. Events that impact us negatively are more likely to remain in individual and collective memories. Traumatic events change our understanding of the past and transform our hopes for the future. They often become the pivotal points for reconfiguring narratives of personal and collective identity. The conceptual model that is developed is applied to an analysis of different strategies that selected characters in Don Delillo’s 2007 novel, Falling Man, adopt in order to rebuild their narratives of self-identity after the shattering of history and the disruption of temporal experience in the wake of the events of September 11th, 2001.
More...
This paper deals with the issue of the function and meaning of eating for the members of the Hare Krishna movement and follows the question what cultural specifics of eating are significant for this movement. In this paper there are also presented topics such as symbolism of food, the principles of sacrifices which are related to the principles of purity, eating habits, sacredness of cows or food sovereignty.
More...