Ecumenical Dimension of Theological Method
Summary
The article deals with the theme of the ecumenical dimension of theological method. Since the union of Christians should be based on looking for the fullness of Christian truth, each good theologian undertakes his work recognizing its ecumenical character. He is open to the Holy Spirit, the Bible, the voice of the Hierarchical Magisterium and the sense of the faithful. He wants to understand in a systematic and methodical way the common faith of all Christians. In consequence, to be a Christian theologian means to be ecumenical.
In der wissenschaftlichen katholischen Dogmatiktheologie werden vier methodologische Haupttypen angewandt: historischer, positivistischer, systematischer (spekulativer) und personalistischer. Darüber hinaus treten zahlreiche fragmentarische oder reduktionistische Methoden auf: hermeneutische, narrative, kerygmatische, intuitive, linguistische, strukturalistische und andere. Die grundsätzlichen methodologische Typen streben danach, nicht nur die Glaubenssätze, sondern die gesamte religiöse Wirklichkeit zu erfassen.
The purpose of the article is to systematize the main issues related to the encounter of Christianity with Latin American cultures. The study is based on both Latin American theological publications and various documents of the Roman Catholic Church. In the first part the problem of Christianity’s encounter with cultures of this region from historic perspective is discussed by pointing out to its negative, ambiguous and positive aspects. The second part is devoted to classification of culture circles, significant from the point of view of evangelization and inculturation (cultures of urban agglomeration, rural regions, Indian and Afro-Latin American cultures, poverty, elites, cyber culture and popular culture). In the final section we paid attention to the issue of up-coming culture and its trends (modernism and postmodernism, secularism, socio-political ideologies, the role of mass media, the tensions between globalization process and appreciation of local traditions).
The organization of graduate and postgraduate studies at the Faculty of Theology of the Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński University in Warsaw reveals the specificity of the theology in Warsaw. In the future, the Faculty of Theology should pay a special attention to the high level of the specialisations within the scope of the classical theology, but on the other hand should care about new specialisations, which should be more attractive.
Biblical studies, fundamental theology, dogmatic theology, moral theology are at the very heart of theology. It is necessary to foster doctoral and habilitation thesis in the field of these specialisations and to care for their high, world-class level. Considering the needs of the Church, the development of the liturgical studies and catechetical studies needs to be supported.
As far as future career opportunities for graduates of the Faculty of Theology are concerned, new specializations should be promoted, such as media education and journalism, theology of culture, tourism in biblical countries. A scientific reflection on the role of mass media and on the relations between theology and culture is also very important. Th ere should be place for vetera et nova at university, for the theology conceived in the traditional way and for attempts at practising theology in a new way.
Der Autor antwortet auf die moderne Einwände gegen das Heimatrecht der Theologie in der Universitas litterarum (Peter Hünermann). Es geht um bleibende säkulare Anfragen, um pragmatische und postmodernistische Einwände und nicht zulezt um Bekenntnis- und Magisterium Ecclesiae-gebundenheit der Theologie.
Numerous films, especially reinterpretations of the Gospel, can be read as loci theologici. Nevertheless, it’s important to recognize that the commercially motivated interest of filmmakers has its theological consequences: a resulting challenge is the catechetical use of apocryphal films in the pastoral praxis of the Church. The paper recalls main documents of the Church, relating to the cinema, stressing the absence of official teaching on the cinema in the last 20 years. Films, produced with commercial motivation, are often kitsch; it’s a result of tendencies to gain the possibly large audiences and to fulfill their expectations. An analysis of selected films (e.g. The Passion of the Christ and Son of God) indicates that the kitschy audiovisual apocrypha, superficial, emotional and lacking of authenticity, become a false filmic transformation of the message of the Bible. The paper postulates the need of constructing a theology of film: its object could be audiovisual texts, which extra-ecclesial theologies influence religious imagination and thinking of the viewers.
The methodology used in patrology - patristics results from its classification into purely theological disciplines. Before Vaticanum II the term patrology was used in a historical-philosophical sense, which led to perceiving patrology as a historical field of study. The study dealt with the old Christian writings from the chronological and literary point of view. This approach implied using research methodology typical of historical sciences. Since the Vatican Council II patrology has been considered a branch of theology and the name patristics has been used more often. Gradually its close association with dogmatics has been observed. The aim of patristics is to present theological thoughts of the Church Fathers. To achieve this objective a researcher has to carry out a thorough analysis of the Church Fathers’ writings by means of theological and literary criteria within the historical context. By resorting to the teaching of the Church Fathers patristics should show the development of theological thinking without identifying itself with Church history, the history of dogmas or ancient Christian literature.
Ecclesiologie fondamentale
Sommaire
L’auteur s’interroge dans cet article sur la gense, la nature et la structure méthodologique de l’ecclésiologie fondamentale. Il démontre que l’originalité de cette discipline théologique consiste en l’exploration de la conscience que l’Eglise a d’ellememe sous l’angle de la crédiblité. Cette exploration doit avoir un caractre rationnel et empirico-historique et non confessionnel-dogmatique ou confessionnel-apologetique. A la fin le pére Seweryniak consacre ses réflexions aux modes de l’argumentation dans l’ecclésiologie fondamentale (viae: paradoxae, notarum, historica, aujourd’hui encore: dialogica, communionis, ethica) et ses thmes principaux.
The article presents a relation between a word and a picture against a background of art theology developing in Christianity. Such an assumption releases from the presentation of a selection of illustrations to biblical texts. Assumed deliberations have a form of an outline illustrated by the examples from the field of miniature painting and engraving, depicting in a literal sense a transformation of a word into a picture. The studies from the field of a word function in faith tradition created the whole theological and biblical literature. On the other hand analyses of the analo- gical role of a picture in Christianity are relatively new and only seldom are they conducted by theologians or art historians.
The title of the present dissertation constitutes a travesty of a sentence announced by St. John in the prologue of his Gospel: "And the Word was made flesh" (1:14). When John is talking about the Logos it means in our perspective a written word, that is the Revelation described in the Bible. Based on what St. Paul said in the Letter to the Romans (10:14-18) the expression: Fides ex auditu started to be used in theology. The question of the role of a picture in religion can be encapsulated in a paraphrase of this expression, as: Fides ex visu. Certain people in specific circumstances acquire faith through the sense of sight, through image.
The Prophets attributed to pictures magic forces and the power of influencing human souls. Therefore they pushed them into the field of magic and witchcraft, into the world of dark forces, using signs. According to their teaching a real cult does not need any material signs. A monotheistic religion wants to remain a religion based on reading and not watching „suspicious" pictures. Rejecting visual representations, the Old Testament favours verbal symbols. And not only has the image of a false godbecome the idol, but also a false image of the true God. The invisible God can be described, but not painted. Art is too weak to show the greatness of God. The undescribed God remained invisible. He made himself known to people only through the revealed word and depicting Him in paintings was forbidden because it was a threaten to the primary Plan of Salvation. In such an approach a word becomes a power and the rejected picture becomes weak because it is useless and even harmful. This was well expressed by Re'gis Debray, who wrote that art with its altars, paintings and figures was too heavy to be carried by the Jew, this eternal wanderer, on his way. Thus he took the book.
Despite strict bans we can find in the Old Testament statements containing human longing for watching God, either during the sleepas in the case of patriarch Jacob, or in a „face-to-face" meeting as Moses at Mount Sinai, or in a prophetic seeing as it was experienced e.g. by Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, or the other ones „seeing".
The situation changed in the New Testament, when the eternal Logos - the son of God became a man. It was possible to see God through the incarnate Word, as Jesus Christ became the most ideal icon of God. The incarnation gave a possibility of depicting the one that was so far Invisible. This can be contained in a sentence that „the Word was made a picture". The Mystery of the Incarnation was invoked by the iconodules at the Second Council of Nicea, in 787.
Christianity is a religion of a word and a picture, but Protestants are different from Catholics in their approach to pictures. Taking a doctrinal assumption on the sole primacy of a word (sola Scriptura), certain sections of the Reformation rejected a picture as a form of superstition. The specific character of Protestant art became the custom of placing citations from the Bible on paintings, or even placing the sole citations or the sentences of the Reformation in altar reredos.
The main aim of this article is to present necessary relations between the Bible (and biblical studies) - understood as a source of theology - and theology. At the beginning the author has shown a wide historical perspective of the main problem, which is changes in the ways of understanding the Bible and theology and relations between them. Than he has said about some modern ways of resolving this difficult problem, mostly from methodological perspective. He included also the reality of the Divine Revelation, the Church and her Tradition.
In his article, the author attempts at pointing out the initial conditions of inter-religious dialogue and the conditions under which it can be fruitful as a method of pursuing truth in Catholic theology. The initial conditions on the Christian part follow from the fact that dialogue is understood here as a form of love (agape), and from methodological assumptions of theology. On the one hand, what the author means is the capacity to witness to Christianity as a good in which all people should participate to the extent in which it is a gift of God. On the other hand, the author means humility with which the Church should perceive her historical limitations and weaknesses in receiving and expressing this gift. Such an attitude enables you to understand that the partner in dialogue may adopt a similar attitude to your own religion. The author emphasizes that although a symetry of initial assumptions of all the partners in dialogue is their natural desire, practically, the nature of a partner's distinctness may also comprise a distinct understanding of the aims and principles of dialogue. The least possible partner ship, according to the author, includes serious treatment of the partner and of the very issue of dialogue; it alsoincludes being representative and properly prepared along the principles of the given religion, readiness to listen and willingness to learn (at least to some extent) from the Christian partner. In the course of the dialogue, attention is given to sincerity and honesty in listening and presenting a subject, in asking and answering questions, and to the important role of the breaks between the meetings, necessary for ruminating and communicating the fruit of interreligious meetings at the forum of one's own theology, in the circle of one's fellow believers. Furthermore, the author points it out that - from the Christian point of view - we may expect results coming asa gift from God the depth of which supercedes what could result from learning truth from each other by the earthly partners of the dialogue. This possible gift brings about a human obligation to accept, express and share it with the brethren as suitablyas possible. One of the features of theology is unpredictability of its results. Application of interreligious dialogue as a method, and, especially the effects of its application are still, basically, an issue of the future of theology. However, one can mention some of them that can already be noted despite the scarcity of the initial steps made in this field so far: these include attempts at breaking stereotypes in thinking about other religions, questions asked with all seriousness about the role of other religions in God's plans for humanity, appreciation of ideas drawn upon from beyond Christianity, not only from the classical Greek philosophy.
Pontifical Faculty of Theology in Wrocław has inherited Leopoldinum Academy, which has been in existence since 15 November 1702, run by Jesuits and transformed into the University of Wrocław in 1811. Aft er the Second World War, the Department of Catholic Theology did not reappear at the University but started its independent existence, firstly at Priests’ Seminar as an Academic Theological Centre, and since 1974 as Pontifical Faculty of Theology, recognized by the Apostle’s Capital as the follower of the University of Wrocław. The Faculty conducts uniformed Master of Art studies and Doctorate studies. Moreover, it is in possession of the right to bestow habilitation. Th ere are 25 departments at the Faculty, which are grouped into 4 institutes, 33 independent University workers and 38 Assistant Professors lecture there. There are almost 1900 students studying in the daily system, extramural system, in PHD studies and post-graduate studies.
Lessing’s question about knowing God (the Absolute) in history has been a con-stant challenge for modern theology. The article collates views of Joseph Ratzinger and Walter Kasper on this subject. A clear difference was noticed: Kasper decidedly gives priority to history and revelation in it, whereas Ratzinger puts stress on the idea of the priority of God and in its light interprets revelation and history. Two different types of theology emerge here. They manifest themselves in different ways of present-ing Christology. The former originates from the historical witness to Jesus and on this basis strives to construct a coherent picture of the incarnated Son of God’s identity. The latter originates from – resulting from the Church’s faith – an assumption about the unity of the Scripture and presents in this light the witness of the Gospel to Jesus. A thesis is proposed that both types of theology need each other, although it is not possible to harmonize them.
Sulla metodologia di omiletica
Sommario
L’omiletica fa parte della teologia pratica. Essa ĺ una riflessione scientifica sulla predicazione della parola di Dio nella situazione d’oggi. L’omiletica viene suddivisa in fondamentale, materiale, formale e particolare. L’oggetto di studio omiletico sono: testi della Sacra Scrittura, documenti della Chiesa, testi teologici ed anche i testi delle omelie, prediche e conferenze, come anche, pi raramente, i dati dell’esperienza umana. I metodi della ricerca sono quelli applicati nelle scienze non teologiche; ále conclusioni derivati da questa ricerca hanno per sempre un carattere teologico.