Church Tradition Research Articles

Ересь и адиафора в лютеранской догматике

This article is a historical, philosophical, and religious analysis of the reception of the concepts of "heresy" and "adiaphora" in Lutheran dogmatics. There is tension between the condemnation of heresies in Lutheran confessional books and the unconditional recognition of heresies as such by all Lutheran denominations. The problem of understanding the term "heresy" among Lutherans is considered, and a conclusion is made about the similarity of the terminological reception of the Reformation period with the era of the early church, when the lack of a clear definition of the concept of "heresy" did not prevent it from being used in a polemical sense, loading it with negative connotations in order to emphasize the unity of true Christian teaching. Such Lutheran confessional books as "Augsburg Confession", which is a sufficient basis for confessional self-determination and is recognized by all conservative and liberal Lutheran denominations, and the "Formula of Concord", which strictly defines the boundaries of Lutheran confessional identity, are studied. A number of historical examples of heresies mentioned and condemned by Lutheran theologians in the corpus of religious confessional writings are considered. The fact of the practical acceptance of church tradition by confessional Lutherans, in particular the results of the first ecumenical councils, the patristic tradition as evidence of faith and understanding of Holy Scripture, as well as a number of other significant aspects of church heritage, is emphasized. The change in the context of the use of the concept of "adiaphora" is analyzed, a conclusion is made about the preservation of the semantics of the term "adiaphora" in essence, and it is proved that the ethical context of its use among the Stoic philosophers and in the patristic tradition is transformed into a dogmatic one in Lutheranism. It is emphasized that this paradigm contributes to the formation of a tolerant attitude among Lutherans towards dissent and heterodoxy, which opens up opportunities for interreligious dialogue and the development of interchurch communication. A generalizing conclusion is made about the role of discussions of early Lutheranism in the formation of key tenets of Lutheran teaching and Lutheran confessional identity.

Optics and Visio Dei: Interpretations of Female Mystic Art

Religious visions are personal experiences in which individuals have a sensory experience that is in some way supernatural or divine. In the context of medieval Christianity, true visionaries were understood to have received revelations directly from God, without mediation from priests. In the tradition of the medieval Church and society, women were relegated to a subordinate role; thus, when the mystic who experienced a vision from God was a woman, the situation required careful interpretation, for in bypassing the intermediary authority of the priest, the woman was potentially subverting a hierarchy which itself was considered to have been established by God. This paper will analyze one of the most important medieval mystics, Hildegard von Bingen (1098–1179), and examine her writings and her images produced in Scivias. It is hypothesized that the medieval ideas of optics and biblical exegesis worked in harmony to structure Hildegard’s experiences and to legitimize those experiences to others at the time. In this paper, key images created by Hildegard were analyzed to interpret the descriptions of her experiences and their rendering in visual form in relation to the medieval theories of vision and theology itself.

Still I Rise: Baptism, Liberation, and White Supremacy

Abstract There is no life without water. Covering three-fourths of the earth, water is necessary for sustaining life and represents the purification of all creation. Water motifs, likewise, figure prominently throughout the biblical narrative in which God cataclysmically intervenes through water into history and the human affairs of marginalized and oppressed peoples. God utilizes and reveals the transformative power of water as a symbol of freedom, liberation, emancipation, renewal, refreshing, righteousness, new birth, and new life. This symbolism is experienced through water baptism, the “sacrament of initiation” for all Christians. However, within the black Christian Church tradition, “the ritual of baptism is a crucial means of nurturing an embodied awareness of a self-identity that God values and affirms.” While white supremacists have sought to eradicate black bodies’ self-identity in God by legally mutating the meaning and efficacy of baptism, through their “dogged strength,” the black Christian Church tradition must reclaim the waters of liberation as a fundamental basis for locating their story, identity, and solidarity in God’s story.

Ecology and the Eucharist: Pope Francis’s Liturgical Theology of Caring for Our Common Home

Ten years into his papacy, this article explores Pope Francis’s concern for ecology and the environment in relation to the church's liturgy and sacraments, especially the eucharist. How Christians pray liturgically, especially at the eucharist, should inform Christian ethics, including our care for our common home. Drawing from Francis’s Laudato Si’ and Desiderio Desideravi, as well as from various works by liturgical and sacramental theologian Kevin Irwin, this article aims to demonstrate the close connection that exists in Francis’s thought between the church's liturgy and the church's relationship with the natural world. Though it has been particularly emphasized in recent decades, care for creation can be grounded theologically in the church's tradition, especially in its liturgical prayer and sacramental theology. As Francis writes, “It is in the Eucharist that all that has been created finds its greatest exaltation” ( Laudato Si’, 236).

Opera Performance Principles and Their Definition in the Context of the Ukrainian Vocal Schoolgenesis

The process of formation of the main principles in opera performance, which is embodied in today's life, is considered from the point of view of the phenomenon of the evolutionary development that was going on in Ukrainian vocal school taking into account the conditions of the genesis of European musical culture. The relevance of this search is justified through integrative approaches to various vocal systems with the possibility of their gradual convergence and assimilation.It is necessary to creatively rethink Ukrainian traditions and foreign innovations in the aspect of their organic synthesis when training an opera singer in today's realities. The researched origins and formation of the basic foundations of vocal art prove that it acquired characteristic features at various stages of the historical development of European musical culture. The author clearly cites the contributing sources to formation of the national vocal school. The article indicates the specifics of the Ukrainian tradition of folk, church and secular singing, as well as their echoes and manifestations in home-bred opera works.The author analyzed the process of formation of the Ukrainian system of opera performance with the establishment of certain stages of its development and the acquisition of specific properties. Conceptual methods of training an opera singer are considered in the context of the specifics of the Ukrainian vocal school. Attention is paid to significant aspects of the methodology of teaching opera singing, which is based on the creative interaction of domestic and Western European vocal systems. Considerable considerations are involved in highlighting the features of the meaningful content of the process of forming the professional qualities of an opera singer, which is formed in the conditions of intercultural ties of Ukrainian and foreign musical theater. Certain prospects for further scientific research are outlined in order to identify problems related to the optimization of the national and cosmopolitan components in the vocal training of opera performers.

HOLY INTERCESSION CATHEDRAL, OKHTYRKA: BETWEEN THE PAST AND THE FUTURE

The article attempts to investigate the history of the construction of the Intercession Cathedral in the city of Okhtyrka, Sumy region, which was built in 1753–1768 during the Ukrainian Baroque era. Studying new documents from various archival funds helped reveal changes in the plans of this sacred building aimed at observing the Ukrainian tradition of a three-story church. It is shown that the artistic decoration of the cathedral continued in the 19th century, and the masters of carving, sculpting, wall painting, etc., performed their work without the participation of the architect, which did not interfere with the integrity of the artistic decision. It is confirmed by archival photo documents of the general appearance and interior design of the temple, which are introduced to the scientific circulation for the first time. Some names of the masters who worked on the artistic design of the cathedral in different periods of its history before the Soviet era have been identified and introduced into scientific circulation. Emphasis is placed on the unique regional stylistic features of this Sloboda Ukraine landmark of the Ukrainian Baroque era. An analysis of its condition during Soviet times, when it was used as a wine-vodka warehouse, is accompanied by corresponding photos, which are presented for the first time. In the description of the current state of the Cathedral, already used for divine services, for the first time a number of photos are given, fixing the results of the reconstruction. The need to create a unified state management system for the protection of cultural monuments is emphasized, which is especially relevant under modern conditions, when the aggressor country of the Russian Federation, having attacked Ukraine, mercilessly destroys the objects of our cultural heritage. It is emphasized that due to the lack of state support, local communities, which are trying to restore a sacred building abandoned during the Soviet era, are unable to create a comprehensive program of reconstruction or restoration, and therefore resort to stylization according to a certain historical era, losing their relevance to the individual uniqueness of the artistic image of the lost monument, as can be seen on the example of the reconstruction of the Holy Intercession Cathedral, Okhtyrka. The results of the study have the prospect of continuation and can be used in the future to match the lost identical image of this important sacred monument for Ukrainian culture.

Redniowieczne nazwy pierwszej niedzieli po Wielkanocy w Kociele zachodnim

The article focuses on analyzing the medieval names for the first Sunday after Easter, specifically examining the Latin names and only occasionally including those derived from national languages. The main objective of the study is to identify culturally determined areas of meaning that served as the basis for deriving the different types of names. Linguistic analyses allowed for the identification of three such areas: 1. The Paschal Octave, 2. The Liturgy of Baptism, and 3. The way Sundays were identified in medieval church tradition. The largest number of names were created in the first area (e.g. Dominica Conductus Paschae, Dominica in Octava Paschae,Dominica Clausum Paschae), with only a few emerging in the second (e.g. Dominica in Albis) and third (e.g. DominicQuasimodo) areas.

Bevans Revisited: Reflections on Stephen Bevans’s Models of Contextual Theology

Stephen Bevans’s six models of contextual theology have been helpful in sorting out different styles of understanding and practicing both historical theology and contemporary contextual theology. While briefly addressing the models themselves, the primary focus of this article is to update the original spectrum utilized by Bevans. Specifically, it seeks to clarify the primary axis to indicate the level of contextualization to a given local context. Second, it adds an additional axis, dividing the models based on relationship to the status quo of the given cultural assumptions, whether of the host culture or established church tradition.

Lviv Early Music Festival: Stages of Development

The International Lviv Early Music Festival is one of the largest and most prominent art forums in Ukraine, as well as in Central and Eastern Europe. The program of the festival is based on the current trends of historically informed performance and on the history of early music. It brings together Ukrainian and foreign musicians who have extensive experience in performing on historical instruments and playing music from different eras. Part of the program of each forum represents Ukrainian early music. Since the first festival, the organizers have been striving to present as diverse a program as possible, including not only works of the High Baroque, familiar to Lviv audiences from concerts at the Organ Music Hall and the Philharmonic but also music of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. Ukrainian early music is mainly represented by the choral church tradition performed by such ensembles as Kalofonia, ACappella Leopolis, Sarmatica, and the Chorea Kozatska, etc. In addition to concerts, the festival hosts academic conferences on the history of music with the participation of prominent Ukrainian and European scholars, as well as roundtables, where festival participants discuss the interpretation of early music and the development of historically informed performance in Ukraine. The festival’s educational program has had a significant impact on professional performance in Lviv.

TRADITION AND MODERNISM IN THE SACRED ART OF IGOR ZILINKO

The article explores the directions of contemporary Ukrainian sacral art in the work of the painter I. Zilinkо, his contribution to the development of sacred art of the temples of Ternopil region. The main directions of stylistic orientation in the formation of modern sacral art, the evolution of paintings from realistic tendencies of Ukrainian sacral painting of the seventeenth century to experiments with stylization of iconic figures in search of greater spirituality of the face, the introduction of our own modern iconography, based on tradition. The article explores the directions of contemporary Ukrainian sacral art in the work of the painter I. Zilinkо, his contribution to the development of sacred art of the temples of Ternopil region. Sacred art is the object of study of many scientists, historians, archivists, art historians, local historians, journalists. Among them, in particular, D. Stepovyk, M. Golubets, K. Moskalets, V. Sventsitska. However, the issue of the development of the modern sacred art of Ternopil region (1990–2018) requires additional study. The purpose of the article is to highlight the main directions in the work of Igor Zilinka, to specify the formation of the sacral and artistic environment of the churches of the city of Ternopil, to study the temples with modern interiors, to analyze the observance of traditions in icon painting and the search for modern aesthetic forms. After the revival of the Ukrainian Church, the construction of new temples began. The construction of churches led to the search for masters who could carry out their interior decoration. Famous Ternopil painter Igor Zilinko has become a “sacred” artist who has been successfully working in this field for many years. One of the first works of Igor Ivanovich was the decoration of the church of the Sacred Heart of Christ in the village of Veluky Gai, Ternopil district (1920). The murals of the church are classic paintings that date back to the works of the famous master of Ukrainian icon painting of the seventeenth century Ivan Rutkovych. It is the only church that reflects the realistic trends of Ukrainian sacral painting of the seventeenth century. Here the traditions of folk art are combined with creative bold search for new content and form. Next was the work on painting the temples in the villages of Petrykiv, Pronyatin, Kupchintsy, in the Ternopil region. On the initiative of Fr. Pavel Repely, the parish priest of the church of the village of Petrykiv, the painter was oriented to the heritage of Byzantine-Ukrainian icon painting. It is the first church in the Ternopil region that depicts the Eastern traditions of icon painting. Igor Zilіnko later managed to form his own style in the contemporary Ukrainian icon, following the Byzantine iconographic tradition. Particularly noteworthy is the iconostasis created by Igor Ivanovich for the Cathedral of the Archangel Michael in Ternopil in 2007. The artist very responsibly approached the choice of plots, taking as a basis the traditional composition of Ukrainian iconostases. The author has preserved the foundations of Ukrainian church traditions and has reflected the saints of the Ukrainian Church. An interesting development in the decoration of the spatial environment of the temple is the Church of St. Sophia of the Wisdom of God in Ternopil. For the decoration of the church, the parish priest Fr. dr. Vitaliy Kozak invited the already known master of sacral painting Igor Ivanovich Zilinko, who at that time developed his own iconographic style. The figures of the saints are exaggerated, unnatural in height, reflecting the idea of an invisible celestial world, without a realistic image. Creativity of Igor Zilinko is one of the most striking pages of contemporary Ukrainian art culture, evokes joyful aesthetic experiences, encourages contemporaries to creative pursuits to create monumental images that combine tradition with the actual spiritual needs of modern society.

The anti-eternal functional subordination versus the eternal functional subordination

This article is a follow-up of an article that describes the proponents of the eternal functional subordination (EFS). This evangelical movement was introduced by George Knight in 1977. The EFS refers to the relationship between God the Father and God the Son as an eternal authoritative position held by the Father, while the Son occupies an eternal subordinated position. This is not the position held by the mainline Protestant churches. The proponents of the EFS find the origin of their premise in the Bible as well as the tradition of the early church. Just like the Protestants, they refer to the Creeds and the Councils, as well as the Church Fathers to verify their arguments. Although the differences between the mainline Protestants and the EFS are seemingly insignificant, it can lead to interpretations that are detrimental for the growth of the church. In this article, the main opponents of the EFS are critically discussed in order to lay bare the shortcomings of the EFS and, to a lesser degree, the shortcomings of the anti-EFS proponents. Naturally, the scholars who are opposing the EFS, do not always speak from the same mouth, as each proponent has their own point of view. This emphasises the fact that a constant debate on the holy Trinity is imperative.Intradisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: The EFS movement proposes the eternal submission of Jesus to the Father – contra the Christian Creeds. Anti-EFS proponents are opposing this movement, indicating the equality between the three Persons of the Trinity on both the ontological and/or immanent and the economic and/or functional side. Practical Theology, Church History and New Testament (NT) disciplines are utilised.

From the ‘naked Spirit’ to a Nusantara contextual theology formula

Many contextual theology models have been shared, but no formula applies to all contexts, because each culture has specific and unique features. Indonesia shares a complex context and requires a proper approach for precise landing. This study aimed to formulate a contextual theology model on the Spirit suitable for Indonesians. It moves from the ‘naked Spirit’, a term provided by Vincent Donovan, originally ‘naked gospel’, highlighting the essence of the scripture or Spirit itself, to the Nusantara contextual formula. The Nusantara model is a promising formula that could contribute inputs to the tension. The local contextual model is a bright sketch that could help Indonesians to engage with pneumatology in the church traditions. This study analysed and described articles, journals and other related sources with a sensitive approach. Additionally, it proposed argumentations and provided a prospective contextual theology model for the Spirit. The findings showed that the Nusantara formula is a significant model for the Spirit to engage in an Indonesian context.Contribution: Through the examination of contextual theology model globally, and especially speaking of the ‘naked Spirit’ insight, the study provided an alternative contribution to the contextual theology model. The result showed that the Nusantara contextual theology formula offers an alternative contribution to an Indonesian context.

The Gospel according to civic engagement

AbstractThe author of this passage suggests that hospitality is at the heart of both Christianity and politics. They draw on the writing of Martin Luther, who argues that Christians do not live in themselves but in Christ and their neighbor. This paper invites us to consider that Christian relationships should not be individualistic, as this removes them from the community and movement that Jesus established. Rather, Christians must act collectively to combat societal issues and oppression. By choosing to get involved civically, whether through elections, community organizing, or advocacy, individuals can choose to side with either self‐interest or radical hospitality. The author suggests that choosing radical hospitality is the way to live in Christ and our neighbor, and to truly demonstrate authentic love for those around us. The author is reflecting on their decision to engage in local politics after witnessing civil unrest and racial injustices in their community. They highlight the importance of public witness as a prophetic act, grounded in faith and a desire for justice. The author draws on the teachings of Martin Luther and the tradition of the Black church as inspiration for their political engagement, which they see as a way to serve their neighbors and demonstrate their love and teachings. They also acknowledge the challenges and complexities of political leadership, especially in the face of corruption and unethical practices. Overall, the author's message is one of hope and a commitment to working towards a more equitable and hospitable community for all.

A History of Contemporary Praise and Worship: Understanding the Ideas That Reshaped the Protestant Church by Lester Ruth and Lim Swee Hong

Reviewed by: A History of Contemporary Praise and Worship: Understanding the Ideas That Reshaped the Protestant Church by Lester Ruth and Lim Swee Hong Paul Westermeyer A History of Contemporary Praise and Worship: Understanding the Ideas That Reshaped the Protestant Church. By Lester Ruth and Lim Swee Hong. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Academic, 2021. 420 pp. Ruth is professor of Christian worship at Duke University, and Hong is Professor of Sacred Music at Emmanuel College of Victoria University. They wrote Lovin' on Jesus: A Concise History of Contemporary Worship (Nashville: Abingdon, 2017) and call the title of this book a "neologism" (xvi) to encompass two theologies which flowed together. "Praise & Worship" emphasized "praise as the pathway to God's presence," and "Contemporary Worship" was a "strategic approach" to evangelism. The authors see this book work as a comprehensive, detailed, sympathetic, descriptive, and scriptural history, not theological in the sense of what God was or was not doing, [End Page 110] and told from a North American standpoint (xiv–xv). They see its distinction from other studies in its focus on how "these Christians wrestled with the foundational text of their religion, the Bible" (307) which allows them "to see this history as part of a long-standing approach in Protestantism called the Free Church tradition" (308). This is a carefully researched and detailed study. Part 1 gives the history of praise and worship, part 2 the history of contemporary worship, and part 3 the confluence of the two. Subheads proceed historically: 1, headwater, 1946–65; deepening the channel, 1965–85; increasing currents, 1965–85; and a swollen river, 1985–95; 2, subterranean stirrings, pre-1965; first wave of contemporary worship, 1965–85; and second wave, 1985–mid-1990s; 3, the new liturgical normal, late 1990s. An appendix summarizes the two histories in parallel columns of small print (311–313). Lutherans will see works righteousness in the assertion that praise leads to worship and brings us into God's presence (84), that God "inhabits"—"is enthroned"—on our praise and is "liberated to act mightily" (91). In this view, our work gets God to do something. Lutherans will note further that when Protestants adopted bands without the praise and worship theology, another kind of works righteousness emerged with music becoming a tool to sell Christianity. We, not God, sustain the church, by selling it with music that will attract customers (176). Worship is marketing (224). Lutherans and others may see "new measures" here as the German Reformed theologian John Williamson Nevin saw their nineteenth century roots (see 172 and 206)—a "Montanist Phrygian dance" (The Anxious Bench [1844], 27–9). The book discusses trends from Youth for Christ, church growth movements, and business models with numerical quotas as well as inculturation efforts with popular musical styles intended to close perceived generational and other gaps between the church and our society's culture. As might characterize a Free Church movement, word and sacraments are not discussed except to indicate that "a musical worship leader" in this tradition is "not a minister of the Word of God or of the sacraments, i.e. a pastor." A paradox nonetheless emerges that church musicians are "typologically" [End Page 111] associated "with the priestly [italics mine] musicians of David's tabernacle" (133). Another paradox, though not treated as a paradox, is that this form of attracting people led to worship wars (284–5) and exacerbated divisions. Orthodox, Roman Catholics, and Protestants who view themselves as evangelical catholics will object to the liturgical iconoclasm present in these movements. Inculturation strongly linked to secular musical forms and instruments troubles Orthodox and others with the early church's concerns about associations of idolatry and immorality. Various people, among them youth and seekers, say that this music is "manipulative, insulting, and makes me sick to my stomach," notwithstanding the large crowds it drew. This book will evoke strongly different reactions from readers. It will help both groups—those who agree and those who disagree—to understand the movements it describes and their influences. The authors have attempted to explain them sympathetically and accurately without committing to them. The book's detail takes sustained effort, but is worth reading. Paul Westermeyer...

The Loíza Feast and Oral Histories

Abstract The issue of violence against women is no stranger to the people of Puerto Rico, which currently has the highest per capita rate in the world of women over 14 killed by their partners. Coming from a Puerto Rican heritage, the author presents findings that can move us toward a Pentecostal Puerto Rican way to reflect theologically on this issue, (Agustina Nuñez’s Loíza feast metaphor for example), while highlighting the stories of Puerto Rican women like Rev. Leoncia Rosado Rosseau and others, whose work in Pentecostal and other church traditions have addressed violence against women. The author also presents ways Nuñez’s metaphor and these stories go along with practice of the Eucharist. These elements challenge readers to address and push back ideas that promote violence against women while contributing to the Pentecostal and global conversation on violence against women.

The Specifics of Sacred Music of the Transylvanian Space. The Context. The Course. Representative Figures

The political, social and even religious context in which the Transylvanian musical culture developed beginning with the second half of the 19th century until the 20th century, led to the shaping of a special artistic landscape, with specific identitary sounds, different from the other historical provinces of the country. Ethnical and confessional mosaic generated influences regarding sacred singing, for the Eastern Church Byzantine music representing the secular analogion chant, integrated and framed into the church tradition, which was touched by the regional influences that created the musical ethos of a particular cultural area.

Pentecostal preaching and Christology: An empirical study

Preaching is an important part of congregational worship in various church traditions globally. Through the years, there has been vast literature on preaching but not much about the phenomenon as it happens specifically in the Assemblies of God (Back to God). This article sought to explore factors affecting preaching, and its Christological aspects, in Pentecostal churches of the Western Reef Region of the Assemblies of God (Back to God), South Africa. The article aimed at contributing to research in this area and suggesting improvements where necessary. This article presented a qualitative study conducted in the churches of the aforementioned region by applying the analysis of sermons and semistructured interviews with some preachers in the region. The study revealed some extent of Christ-centred preaching and a fair understanding of concepts of Pentecostalism, preaching and Christology by participants. Also, the study showed that there are various factors affecting preaching in the region, resulting in a generally unsatisfactory level of preaching and Christology not being sufficiently expressed in the preaching.Contribution: This article aimed to contribute to research in the practice of preaching in Pentecostal churches. It is hoped that this article will also contribute to improvement in preaching in the Assemblies of God (Back to God) churches.

Inkulturasi Dan Pemaknaan Misa Imlek Dalam Gereja Katolik

The focus of this research is the Inculturation and meaning of Chinese New Year in the Catholic Church. The population of Indonesia consists of various tribes, religions and races. This shows the heterogeneity in Indonesia. Among the ethnic groups in Indonesia is the Chinese. In Chinese culture, the author discusses the meaning of thanksgiving for Chinese New Year celebrations. Thanksgiving is contained in the celebrations such as: the meaning of chinese new year mass in liturgy, the meaning of eating together, the meaning of chinese new year in the catholic church, and the church gives space; chinese new year inculturation. New year celebrations in China are symbolic rituals that adherents believe can bring blessings and happiness in the coming year. The purpose of the study was to determine the location of the inculturation of the celebration of Chinese New Year mass in the Catholic Church, understanding the meaning of inculturation and understanding of the celebration of Chinese New Year in the Eucharist. The findings in this research are contained in a framework that describes the reality of the meaning of the Inculturation of Chinese New Year Mass in the Catholic Church as a celebration of gratitude. The results of this study form the basis for the implementation of the Catholic Incutoration today. The author hopes to help, add human insight to Chinese New Year culture. The way of viewing and responding to an event spiritually has long existed and is part of the cultural tradition in Asia. So that Inculturation gives life to the Church filling and edifying with the light of faith, of Christ in the unity of Church tradition. This research is very relevant to today's situation, especially for the younger generation to get to know the various cultures that are integrated into the Church tradition as a unique and meaningful unity of faith.

Sacramental Concelebration: Historical and Theological Perspectives on Contemporary Practice

Sacramental concelebration has become increasingly common in the Roman Rite since the Second Vatican Council and today it is the regular form of Mass at clergy meetings and for priests living in community. This article first offers a brief overview of historical evidence for sacramental concelebration in the Church's tradition. Secondly, I look at the discussions on the subject around the time of the council and at the post-conciliar development of the rite of concelebration up to the present liturgical norms. This will allow me, thirdly, to consider some of the important theological, liturgical, and spiritual questions raised by the current practice.

Via pulchritudinis nella tradizione della Chiesa: La bellezza come mezzo per la salvezza secondo Dostoevskij e Balthasar

The Via pulchritudinis in Church Tradition Beauty as a Way to Salvation in Dostoevsky and Balthasar The purpose of this article is to provide an analysis of the concept of beauty in the Bible, in Church tradition and in the thought of F. Dostoevsky and the Swiss theologian, Hans Urs von Balthasar. We can see how the via pulchritudinis, beginning with the very simple experience of the encounter with the beauty that arouses wonder, can open the way to the search for God and dispose the heart and mind to the encounter with Christ. The article shows what Dostoevsky means when he says that beauty will save the world and what role the concept of beauty plays in the thought of Hans Urs von Balthasar.