El papa S. Juan Pablo II, en Veritatis splendor, situaba la bondad y gravedad del acto en el lado objetivo de la acción, sin subestimar el papel de la conciencia y de las circunstancias. El papa Francisco, en Amoris laetitia, sin olvidar la justificación del acto, inaugura un modo nuevo de afrontar pastoralmente los problemas morales, integrando el discernimiento de las circunstancias atenuantes que inciden en la responsabilidad del agente. Este artículo muestra que la doctrina moral de los atenuantes, que había sido olvidada, cobra relevancia con el papa Francisco. Observa como la polarización del objeto, ha llevado a un reduccionismo en la valoración moral. Destaca la aportación de Amoris Laetitia, que integra de forma plena los atenuantes en el discernimiento moral e impulsa en situaciones donde la ley resulta insuficiente, la búsqueda de caminos nuevos que posibilitan, en medio de los límites, el crecimiento en la gracia y en la caridad.
Abstract: Abstract: Pope S. John Paul II, in Veritatis splendor, placed the goodness and seriousness of the act on the objective side of the action, without underestimating the role of conscience and circumstances. Pope Francis, in Amoris laetitia, without forgetting the justification of the act, inaugurates a new way of facing moral problems pastorally, integrating the discernment of extenuating circumstances that affect the responsibility of the agent. This article shows that the moral doctrine of mitigations, which had been forgotten, becomes relevant with Pope Francis. He observes how the polarization of the object has led to reductionism in moral assessment. The contribution of Amoris Laetitia stands out, which fully integrates the extenuating factors in moral discernment and promotes in situations where the law is insufficient, the search for new paths that allow, in the midst of limits, growth in grace and in charity.
This article takes Asian American Christianity to be an analytically productive religion for advancing a theory of Christian doctrine. This is in large part due to the trans-Pacific character of Asian American Christians who, by virtue of their racialization, make explicit the different social circumstances—from Anglo-European Christians—as well as shared ends in which Christian doctrinal commitments operate. Asian American Christians problematize the conventional wisdom assumed in the academic and public discourses concerning Christianity in the US. One of the primary set of categories in the discourses about Christianity in the US is the theological difference between evangelical and mainline Protestants. Moreover, these theological and doctrinal categories are taken to describe and define these two social groups of Christians. By centering empirical studies of Asian American Christian faith and practice, this article claims that doctrinal similarity and doctrinal difference, such as that between evangelical and mainline Protestants, do not simply explain social group similarity or difference as assumed by conventional wisdom. Instead, these Asian American case studies point to the need for a new theory of Christian doctrine that can explain the normative significance of doctrinal similarity and difference in terms of the uses of doctrine.
La teología ha reflexionado desde sus inicios sobre el misterio de la fe, que ha considerado siempre como una virtud teológica, es decir infundida por la gracia divina. Sin embargo, en fechas recientes, surgen otros intentos en ambiente científico que tratan de comprender mejor cómo se forman las creencias y el papel que juegan en varias áreas del conocimiento y la acción. También estamos comprendiendo mejor su carácter imprescindible en la configuración de sistemas sociales, de las relaciones personales y en la percepción de la propia identidad y del sentido de la vida. Esta claro que estos estudios tienen una gran relevancia para la teología de la fe, y también para otros campos relacionados, como el de la relación entre fe y razón. El artículo explora las posibilidades abiertas de interacción y lo que la teología puede aportar en ese diálogo enriquecedor.
Abstract: Theology has always reflected on the mystery of faith, which it has considered as a theological virtue, that is, infused by divine grace. However, recently, other attempts have emerged in the scientific environment that try to better understand how beliefs are formed and the role they play in distinct areas of knowledge and action. We are also better understanding their essential character in the configuration of social systems, of personal relationships and in the perception of one’s own identity and the meaning of life. These studies have great relevance for theology of faith, and also for other related fields, such as the relationship between faith and reason. The article explores the open possibilities of interaction and how theology can contribute to this enriching dialogue.
The spiritual model of the family is built upon the "sacred books"—the Old and New Testaments—which contain a set of moral and ethical requirements for marital and family relationships, as well as moral and social obligations of spouses toward each other.
Conversion – the turning from one religion, belief, or way of life to another informed by the saving activity of Christ – is a central theme of Christianity. From a theological perspective, conversion, the human experience of salvation, is distinguished from regeneration, the hidden, divine work of God. Although conversion is often associated with a particular strand of modern Christianity (evangelical) and a particular kind of experience (a sudden, shattering, complete event), it is, when examined over two millennia, a phenomenon far more complex than any one-dimensional profile would suggest.
This entry examines Christian conversion from the perspective of the biblical record, scholarly approaches toward the phenomenon, historical episodes of conversion, and recurring themes and issues in the history of conversion.
In Christian theology, the term ‘analytic theology’ refers both narrowly to a particular kind of scholarly activity and more broadly to an overall style or approach to doing theology. It may also refer to what some characterize as an intellectual culture – ‘a rough grouping within a particular intellectual discipline, such as philosophy or theology, that identifies itself as having a distinctive approach to its subject matter’ (Crisp, Arcadi, and Wessling 2019: 10). As an activity, analytic theology involves bringing the rhetorical style, theoretical methods, and literature of analytic philosophy to bear on theological topics. As a style or approach to doing theology, analytic theology is a self-consciously interdisciplinary enterprise that treats both the methodological virtues prioritized by analytic philosophers, as well as the theoretical developments available in the literature of analytic philosophy, as valuable tools and resources for theological theory-building.
As an activity, analytic theology has its origins in the work of analytically oriented philosophers like Alvin Plantinga, Richard Swinburne, Robert Adams, Marilyn McCord Adams, Nicholas Wolterstorff, Eleonore Stump, and others who, in the latter half of the twentieth century, played a major role in the revival of philosophy of religion and the growth of philosophical theology within academic philosophy. But the concept of analytic theology and the overall approach to which it refers is of more recent origin, a product, in the first instance, of conversations and work by Oliver Crisp and Michael Rea that resulted in (among other things) the edited volume, Analytic Theology: New Essays in the Philosophy of Theology (2009), the decade-long series of Logos Workshops in Philosophical Theology at the University of Notre Dame, and the founding of the Journal of Analytic Theology. The intellectual culture of analytic theology has grown up in connection with these activities, as well as a wide variety of others undertaken by scholars in the United Kingdom, Germany, Austria, Finland, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and elsewhere.
Representatives of contemporary Christian apologia evaluate enlighten-ment in different ways. Three basic trends developed among them. One of them, the trend of negation, rejects the age of reason as such, emphasizing, above all, the disastrous consequences of the ideologies that derive from it. Another trend of acceptance emphasizes the Enlightenment sources of the idea of human rights and the democratic system. Finally, the trend of balance combines both approaches, developing a reflection on the errors of the age of reason, yet not avoiding the need for dialogue. The aim of the work is to present these three concepts, indicating the last one as adopted by the new apologia whose renaissance we are currently observing.
El articulo tiene como objeto estudiar la relación entre espiritualidade (lo vivido) y teologia (lo pensado) desde la metodología desarrollada por un nuevo paradigma para interpretar la tradición cristiana e ignaciana desde el contexto actual de post-cristiandad: el de la vida cristiana ignaciana. Para ello en la primera parte se ofrece una síntesis del mencionado paradigma, centrando la atención en la relación entre moción, emoción y decisión en el proceso de toma de decisiones (decision-making), mientras que en la segunda parte se desarrolla la importancia de la noción de transformación desde la formulación de San Ignacio de Loyola y San Juan de la Cruz. En la tercera y última parte de la investigación se exponen las consecuencias para la teología del planteamiento de las dos partes precedentes: se concluye la conveniencia de asumir la noción de ‘vida cristiana’ para expressar holísticamente la experiencia de la revelación cristiana y plantear la ‘teología experiencial’ como renovación de la teologia espiritual.
PALABRAS-CLAVE: Experiencia. Teología. Espiritualidad. Espiritualidad ignaciana. Decisión.
themes, but by including them alongside justification, despite their obvious connections, the chapter is given too much to accomplish in the space available. The conclusion offers a summary of the principal arguments of the preceding chapters. Given the significance of this book, I would have liked to have read something more substantial and synthetic by way of a finale, and therefore more rousing. Still, Never Doubt Thomas is an impressive work of ecumenism, worked out in a theological register. It also offers perceptive discussions of the handful of doctrinal topics it addresses, most of all by revealing divergent philosophical assumptions underlying consequently diverging theological positions, and turning to Aquinas to suggest a way forward.
The life of the Church from the very beginning is connected with searching for Her own identity which has its expression in the forming of the profession of faith. The testimonies of this fact can be found already in the Old Testament, which is shown in multifarious doctrinal formulas which are handed over by the apostolic proclamation which is based on them. In a relatively short time these formulas were gathered as a whole, first in the profession of faith used during the right of Baptism and later, especially in a profession of faith which is called the Apostles’ Creed. It has preserved its significance and superior role in theology and preaching to this day although in reality its role has been diminished especially in preaching. This paper recommends the return to the Apostles’ Creed and to its inspiring role. The most important thing is to present its doctrinal message which highlights the need for the holistic, Trinitarian and Christological perspective in reference to theological issues. Today, the Apostles’ Creed can play the same role in the organisation of Church proclamation, which admiring the so called original kerygma falls into short-sighted interpretations and restrictions, resulting in the weakening of Christian identity.
The beginnings of a distinctive Christian theology lie in the conviction that human beings had been granted a new level of access to or presence to the God of Israel through the death and rising of Jesus: they were introduced into the heavenly sanctuary and accorded the dignity of priests and the intimacy of access to God as sons and daughters of the Father of Jesus. This prompts both doctrinal definition and definitional reserve: some new things must be said about God, but there is an intensified sense of what cannot be said of God, and of the truth that God cannot be an object among others. This becomes a central tension in the tradition of ‘mystical’ writing and reflection, but is congruent with central theological affirmations about the encounter of finite and infinite action in Christ and in Christ’s people. In both individual and corporate prayer, this is understood as a present anticipation of eternal relatedness, so that the ‘mystical’ is essentially an eschatological category.
This article raises issues surrounding the theology of spirituality as a relatively new theological focus. It argues that, faced with a changing world and numerous new (or perceived as new) phenomena, the theology of spirituality, as a scholarly area examining spiritual experience, is becoming a branch of theological research of increasing importance. The first part of this article focuses on the ever-growing areas of interest found within the theology of spirituality, a growth stemming from the core of the field itself (agere sequitur esse). The second part emphasizes the newer areas of interest within the theology of spirituality. These new horizons arise from the pluralism of theology itself and the criteria used in differentiating theological disciplines, such as ethno-geographic, doctrinal, and ascetic-practical concerns. In particular, amid a fast-changing world in which information and mutual contact have become incredibly accessible, the interpenetration of cultures and traditions can not only be of great value but also carry the dangers of a chaotic eclecticism. As this accessibility becomes ever easier and more pervasive, contemporary human beings can thus become confused, not only about their worldviews but also concerning their spiritual and religious beliefs. Thus, research into the theology of spirituality is becoming increasingly more important.
In order to know a scientific discipline or to establish a scientific major, it is necessary to study and identify the epistemological geometry of that discipline or major. This includes categories such as definition, purpose, subject, duties and responsibilities, methods and issues. It seems necessary to establish the major of “social theology” in the science of “Islamic theology”, aiming at “presenting the social dimensions of doctrinal teachings”, “analyzing new social issues related to doctrinal principles” and “responding to the mass of social misconceptions about religious teachings”. The present paper explains and analyzes the epistemological geometry of Islamic social theology.
En el proceso de redacción de Gaudium et spes emergió una novedad metodológica que, finalmente, estructuró la Constitución Pastoral. En el discernimiento de los signos de los tiempos reside «el alma del esquema» afirmó entonces Marie-Dominique Chenu; se trata del «enfoque empírico-teológico» (M. McGrath) que «marca una nueva época de la teología» (H.-J. Sander). El presente artículo examina la recepción de dicha transformación metodológica en bibliografía de Estados Unidos. Varias preguntas guían el trabajo, ante todo, la verificación de la existencia de una conciencia del cambio metodológico, también el análisis acerca de la conceptualización y las fuentes bibliográficas utilizadas, las perspectivas hermenéuticas que fundamentan los diversos planteos. El trabajo permite esbozar algunas peculiaridades fuertemente condicionadas por el contexto lingüístico.
The problem of method (methods) in theology is connected to the understanding of theology as a science as well as to the understanding of its identity. In theology understood as a science there is no single scientific method, because there are many theological disciplines and each of them uses its own methods. Therefore, we speak in fact of the pluralism of the theological methods. In this paper the Author limited the analysis of the methodological issues of theological studies to showing the basic methodological elements: first, to those which are common to all theological disciplines and second, he presented one of the most important hermeneutic methods, i.e. the linguistic one, which is a method of analysing texts, used mainly in biblical, liturgical and patristic sciences. In the last part of the paper he refers to some of the newest works concerning the methods used in different theological disciplines.
El presente artículo indaga acerca del desarrollo sistemático y bíblico de la noción de conversión para confluir en el análisis del tratamiento teológico particular efectuado en el evangelio de Marcos. Se hallará que la conversión en este evangelio, aunque anunciada, no es narrada explícitamente como acción realizada durante el ministerio público de Jesús, pero sí es prefigurada como eventualidad a partir del encuentro con el crucificado-resucitado; tal encuentro, por producir una transformación integral en la persona por medio de la gracia, constituye una condición sine qua non de un auténtico seguimiento de Cristo, que coincide con la noción lonerganiana de conversión religiosa.
In the last two decades of Robert Jenson’s career, he turned his attention to the doctrine of Scripture and its theological interpretation. This article explores the dogmatic structure and reasoning that underlie Jenson’s thought on this topic. After summarizing his theology of Scripture as the great drama of the Trinity in saving relation to creation, the article unpacks the doctrinal loci that materially inform Jenson’s account of the Bible and its role in the church. Ecclesiology and pneumatology emerge as the dominant doctrines; these in turn raise questions regarding Jenson’s treatment of the church’s defectability: that is, whether and how, if at all, the church may fail in its teaching and thus in its reading of Scripture.