Issue 102/1 (2021) of the magazine “Gregorianum” is available, quarterly published by the Gregorian University. 

ARTICULI

Vincenzo Cuffaro, Sap 8,19-20: un modello antropologico disputato. Un tentativo di bilancio

Abstract - The article focuses Sap 8,19-20 with the aim of drawing an assessment of the underlying anthropological pattern. The recent scholarship, in the last fifty years, has given different interpretations concerning the relationship between soul and body, namely the binomial σῶμα – ψυχή. Having drawn the status quaestionis, it appears clear that scholars are divided by the interpretation of the anthropological model to which pseudo-Salomon refers. Some believe that Sap 8,19-20 reflects the dichotomic model of ellenistic thought; others connect it to the biblical anthropology. Philological analysis leads to the conclusion that the author chooses a third anthropological model, which is built on the biblical basis, but with significant variations: the binomial σῶμα – ψυχή describes the whole man in two respects and has a finalistic feature on the background of divine creation. Moreover, jewish anthropological monism was not able to express the transcendence of human being, that in this third model is connected to the ψυχή, component which summarises reasoning and emotion.

Keywords: anthropology, soul, body, immortality, creation, transcendence

 

Lancy Monteiro, S.I., Jesus Christ: Manmade God or God Made Man?

Abstract - Beginning with their association with Jesus of Nazareth, although in a rudimentary form, the disciples’ faith has always been that he was ‘God who became man’. After their experience of Jesus’ resurrection, the same faith takes clearer expression and explication. In recent times, however, with the dawn and significance of historical-critical method in ‘Jesus Research’ coupled with a greater awareness of the presence of world religions, there have been attempts by theologians to negate this faith and to see it purely as human creation. Simply said, the attempts view Jesus as ‘Manmade God’ and not as ‘God becoming Man’. This essay, on the one hand, presents the arguments of John Hick that support the former, and on the other, viewpoints that uphold the latter.

Keywords: John Hick, Jesus Christ, Divinity, Humanity, Jesus of history, Christ of faith, Son of God, Son of David, Faith, Sensus Fidei.

 

Lech Wołowski, The paradox of mercy as the greatest attribute of God

Abstract - In this paper we consider the problem of the possibility of introducing a theologically legitimate gradation within God’s attributes. We focus on the attribute of mercy and ask if the claim, originally stated by Sr. Faustina Kowalska, indicating mercy as the greatest attribute of God, can be justified on systematic theological grounds. We first examine two classical attempts to solve the problem, proposed by M. Sopoćko and I. Różycki, taking into account their specific theological-historical context. Then, we propose two new solutions, which we call contemporary approaches as they are based on philosophical-theological considerations of H. U. von Balthasar and J. Tischner regarding an analogous question considered by them in the context of transcendentals. Finally, we conclude by presenting yet another interpretation of the solvability of this problem based on the exploration of its paradoxical character.

Keywords: attributes of God, mercy, paradox.

 

Gabriel Mmassi, S.I., A centenary of ecclesiological itinerary at the Pontifical Gregorian University (Part 2). Toward Legitimate diversity and Transmission of Revelation in the Church: a view by Francis Sullivan, Angel Anton, Salvador Pié-Ninot, William Henn, and Dario Vitali

Abstract - The second part of this commemorative article considers the theme of ecumenism and transmission of faith in the Catholic Church. Like its previous counterpart, it draws on several of the articles in the Gregorianum, but this time from both former and current ecclesiologists. Composed of two main sections, the first deals exclusively with ecumenism, while the second treats of the delicate, theological processes of public opinion and sensus fidelium, and how they contribute to the transmission of faith.

Keywords: Legitimate diversity, sensus fidelium, transmission of faith, Ut unum sint

 

Paul Mercier, Pourquoi une philosophie de la veille ? Introduction a une experience possible de la veille grâce aux pensees de Gabriel Marcel et Pierre Boutang

Abstract - In this article, we deal with the experience of watchfulness, which has been forgotten, or even erased by the omnipresence of surveillance. This passage from watchfulness to surveillance would amount to a reduction of Reason to Understanding (in the philosophy of Descartes, for instance): therefore, how can we watch, if it is the «exosomatisation» of understanding which monitors our everyday life? After exposing as much as we can what opposes the modern to the postmodern, we propose a a reading implying both a progress of the mind and a spiritual return: this movement specific to the watcher, but also to the Christian viator, has been incarnated in the thought of two twentieth-century philosophers: Gabriel Marcel and Pierre Boutang. In doing so, we propose a general plan for the possibility of a philosophy of watchfulness that includes four kinds of watchfulness: the personal watchfulness, the analogical one, the intersubjective one and the eonian one.

Keywords: Watchfulness, Vigilance, Surveillance, Marcel, Boutang, Viator, Transcendance

 

Michael A. Conway, Maurice Blondel on the Mystic Life: Exchanges with Laberthonnière

Abstract - It is well recognized in the secondary literature that Maurice Blondel made an exceptional contribution to the discussion of the mystical in the early years of the twentieth century in French circles. This article studies a particular forum in which Blondel developed his core ideas; namely, in his correspondence with his friend, Lucien Laberthonnière. The personal dimension to this exchange gives it a resonance that is particularly striking in terms of a contemporary appropriation of his thought.

Keywords: abnegation, abuse, Blondel, Laberthonnière, mortification, mysticism, supernatural

 

Yolanda Rodríguez Jiménez, FMVD, La persona y el mundo natural. Un estudio comparativo entre Lynne Rudder Baker y Robert Spaemann

Abstract - The question on the relationship between the philosophy of man and other empirical sciences, and the place that the person has in the natural world, takes its importance before the need to respond to some current ideologies, and their implications in bioethics and religion. To put in dialogue two different philosophical methods and cultural contexts, highlights the necessary elements to sustain a non-reductive vision of the person and his/her unique ontological place in the natural world. The article exposes two alternate answers against ontological naturalism. A comparative analysis of both, emphasizing the possible complementarity between them, offers us an anthropological vision that responds to the problems of modernism, represented here by reductive physicalism.

Keywords: Person, Nature, Naturalism, Reductionism

 

Anthony Crescio, Making all Things New: the Laity as Transfigurers of the World

Abstract - The Second Vatican Council resulted in significant developments in multiple areas of the study of theology, including ecclesiology, the theology of the laity, and moral theology.  Moral theology has experienced a renewal in virtue and exemplarist ethics, yet generally continues to operate in isolation from ecclesiology and sacramental theology.  In this essay, the work of Johann Adam Möhler is drawn from to articulate an ethics of virtue rooted in ecclesiology and the Church’s liturgical celebration, which is then used to discuss Christian exemplarity through the laity’s baptismal participation in the threefold office of Christ as priest, prophet and king.

Keywords: Johann Adam Möhler, virtue, exemplarity, ecclesiology, theology of the laity, priest, prophet, king

 

Denis Kim, S.I., Migration and the Church’s Social Mission in East Asia

Abstract - This paper aims to explore the Church’s social mission regarding migration in East Asia (Korea, Japan, and Taiwan). For this purpose, it examines the migration flows in these countries, which have undergone a double transformation from emigration to immigration, and from a homogenous to a multi-ethnic, multi-cultural society. The study highlights the general ignorance of the situation of asylum seekers, the feminization of migration, and the emerging racial hierarchy in the context of nationalism. In response, the Church’s ministry for migrants has developed from its initial focus on pastoral and social service to advocacy. Despite its contributions, however, the Church needs to pay more attention to institutional and cultural reforms in this region. This paper therefore suggests that the Church’s social mission needs to play the roles of mother, prophet, teacher, and bridge-builder. In its pastoral and social service, the Church manifests its role as mother; in its efforts for institutional reform to promote migrants’ rights, it fulfills its role as prophet; in its ability to help correct racism, it fulfills its duty as teacher; and finally, in its ability to serve as a bridge between natives and migrants and between pro- and anti-migrant forces, it realizes its potential as bridge-builder.

Keywords: social mission, migrants, racial hierarchy, East Asia

 

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