Theological Crisis Research Articles

“Open Sobornicity” in Dumitru Stăniloae’s Theology—Christian Orthodox Creeds in the Context of Contemporary Ecumenical Relationships

This study analyses several of the key principles of Father Dumitru Stăniloae’s conception of Orthodox ecumenical theology. It considers the foundations, the possibilities, and the type of ecumenical manifestation, specifically regarding the relationships between Orthodox Christians and Christians of different denominations and traditions. This is a necessity as the result of the profound actual theological crisis and the lack of clarity of principles of faith at the ecumenical level across the whole Christian world. This study fills this gap by seeking to identify the doctrinal principles that define Orthodox Christian life in an ecumenical context and the manner in which such theology can be practically applied.

Losing Salvation

This essay argues that critiques of redemption in contemporary black theory necessitate a rethinking of black theology in terms of loss so as to upend the political theological order of redemption and damnation that justifies antiblack governance of thought and existence. Through an immanent reading of political theology's appearance in ostensibly secular black feminist thought, the article shows how these wayward metabolizations of black theology's internal and external contradictions—specifically, those that illuminate a fundamental crisis of meaning at its heart—reveal black theology's abjection and alienation from its own stated desires for redemption. The article argues that this debasement of black theology opens onto its significance for black thought. As a form of black thought, black theology and its ongoing crisis of meaning crystallize the political theological crisis of illegitimacy and alienation generated by the failed announcement of redemption in racial slavery's wake. Through a reading of Saidiya Hartman and Christina Sharpe's work, the article shows how a wayward form of black theology is immanent in the ostensibly secular work of these and other radical black theorists. Taking their critiques of the redemptive theology that undergirds antiblackness as instructive, the article argues that a wayward, rather than confessional, form of black theology is already operative in realms of black studies that might be called nontheological. Recasting black political and theological desire for the coherence of redemption as a failure, the article proposes a loss of salvation and heretical appropriation of Christian theological materials as a demand for black thought. By critically reoccupying the sense of damnation that marks blackness, radical black reproductions of theological knowledge can insist on a disinherited procedure of thought—a rebellious gnosis in blackness—that disfigures the romance of redemption.

The crisis of western theology: the idea of the «death of God» in the teachings of H. Yannaras and T. Altitser

The article is devoted to understanding the phenomenon of the crisis of modern theology in the context of the doctrine of the death of God. A comparative analysis of the theological concepts of Christos Yannaras and Thomas Altitzer is carried out in order to explain the theoretical differences in understanding the event of the death of God in modern Orthodox and Western theology. The thesis is substantiated that the Orthodox and Western versions of the crisis theology are post-metaphysical in nature and philosophically proceed from the theological reception of the teachings of G.V.F. Hegel, F. Nietzsche and M. Heidegger.

Is it a Tenebrae Moment Again?: On Crisis in Liturgical Theology as an Opportunity for Renewal

Is it a Tenebrae Moment Again?: On Crisis in Liturgical Theology as an Opportunity for Renewal

The Contributions of John O’Malley, SJ, to the Ongoing Reception of Vatican II

The article analyzes the major contributions of John O’Malley, SJ, to the reception of the Second Vatican Council, especially thanks to his book What Happened at Vatican II (2008) but also in the context of his other books on the council of Trent (2013) and on Vatican I (2018). O’Malley’s contributions are particularly important in the context of what can be called a crisis of reception of Vatican II and of an ecclesial disruption. But it is relevant for Catholic theology and Catholic higher education because the current ecclesial and theological crisis has, among its causes, also a lack of sense of history and of historical understanding of the Church and of the theological and magisterial tradition.

“As If Nothing Had Happened”: Karl Barth’s ‘Responsible’ Theology

Adolf Hitler’s rise to power in early 1933 precipitated an ecclesial and theological crisis in the life of the German churches. Karl Barth responded to the crisis in his treatise Theological Existence Today, calling the German church to steadfast faithfulness in the face of increasing pressure to compromise the central commitments of its faith. This essay provides an exposition of Barth’s treatise, exploring his understanding of theological existence, and evaluating his rather infamous assertion that he would “carry on theology, and only theology, now as previously, and as if nothing had happened”. It finds that Barth called his peers to ‘responsible’ theology, the practice of which required a particular ethos and specific methodological commitments. Such responsibility was critical if the church was to retain both its integrity as the people of God, and its ministry, during this crisis.

Erik H. Erikson, Young Man Luther: A Study in Psychoanalysis and History (1958)

Abstract As part of NTT JTSR’s series on Key Texts, the present article discusses Erik H. Erikson’s interdisciplinary, psychohistorical study of the young Martin Luther, its reception, and its relevance for today. Erikson showed how Luther’s own identity crisis – emerging from the troubled relationship with his father – converged with a crisis in late medieval society and theology, and how being a talented homo religiosus helped Luther to solve both crises at the same time, presenting a “religiosity for the adult man” in accordance with the Renaissance need for autonomy. It is argued that during his psychosocial study of Luther and the latter’s cultural context, Erikson developed a general, existential theory of religion that is also relevant for an understanding of the search for identity and religion in modern times.

Теология в постсекулярном контексте: истоки, проблемы и перспективы

The article reconstructs the cultural conditions of the possibility of theology as a specific intellectual practice. The author proceeds from the understanding of the divine as non-anthropic, that is, beyond the control of man, but at the same time exerting an irresistible influence on him. In this context, the divine appears as unintelligible, which casts doubt on the project of theology as a form of cognition of the divine. However, despite this, in the ancient Greek Poleis, the divine becomes the subject of theology as a contemplative practice; it is the contemplative attitude to the deity that allows making the divine an object of cognition. A contemplative attitude to the divine has accompanied theology throughout its history. However, it is supplemented by a practical (liturgical) attitude. The secularization of Western European culture led to the separation of theology from religious practice. In modern times, there is a specific form of theology (crypto-theology) that allows thinking about the divine and its attributes, regardless of the experience of communion with God. Besides, extra-institutional theology is being formed, free from dogmatic restrictions and even a kind of amateurish theology, whose representatives did not have special, "school" training. All these transformations eventually led to the crisis of theology and the decline of its influence. At the same time, at the beginning of the XIX century, there were conditions for the emergence of a "modern theology" that responds to the challenges of secularism. In the second half of the twentieth century, the topic and problems of modern theology were also influenced by the programs of "overcoming metaphysics" (M. Heidegger) and "deconstruction" (J. Derrida). Modern theology basically positions itself as post-metaphysical and generates more or less radical projects of phenomenological theology (J.-L. Marion, J. Manoussakis) and negative theology (J. Derrida).

Crisis in Black Theology: Reasserting a future based on spiritual liberative praxis

This study explores the contemporary crisis in Black Theology and its present moribund complexion. The author, a well-known black theologian, argues that Black Theology as an academic discipline has struggled with an identity crisis emerging from its origins as a pragmatic response to the existential struggles evinced in the lives of black people and not as an intellectual movement in the first instance. As sociopolitical contexts have changed, a number of scholars have posed the question as to whether there is a continued need for Black Theology. This study outlines the nature of the semantic challenges facing Black Theology and reflects on the importance of Black spirituality (an important theme in the work of Vuyani Vellem) as a means of enabling this form of liberative praxis to better connect to the lived experiences of ordinary black people. Contribution: This article contributes to the ongoing development of black liberation theology across the world. The article focuses on three historic locations where Black theology has traditionally flourished, these being the United States, the United Kingdom and South Africa. In response to the necessity for Black Theology to better relate to the practical realities of ordinary underprivileged black people this article proposes that greater attention should be given to liberative, spiritual praxis.

Encyclical Letter Humanae Vitae in the Course of Time

The content of Humanae Vitae (1968) caused an ongoing debate all over the world. It has also stirred up factual crisis of moral theology. The crisis has caused subjectivity of morality and this has caused further crisis. The most serious feature of the crisis seems to be an effort to accept moral pluralism inside the Catholic Church. The renewal of moral theology the Second Vatican Council talked about has been left blocked. A couple of years after the Second Vatican Council, but before publishing Humanae Vitae, warning of St. Paul VI calls for continuity with moral tradition as a criterion for the autonomy of Catholic moral theology. In spite of much opposition of some bishops, theologians, and laypeople, the teaching of the encyclical letter has priceless value. The truth about marital love and value of life is in its center. It is proclaimed in an overview of the teaching of the Catholic Church from Humanae Vitae to Evangelium Vitae. In its nature, family is invited to fullness of love and, at the same time, it is the heart of civilization of love. Unfortunately, current family has found itself between the two civilizations—civilization of love on the one hand and civilization of death and uncontrolled pleasure on the other. The teaching of the encyclical Humanae Vitae is a constant guide when protecting true marital love and family in the course of time.

THE BIRTH OF THE MECHANISTIC WORLDVIEW (AND CONSEQUENTLY: THE REDUNDANCY OF THE GOD CONCEPT)

Western civilization, dominated by modern technology, finds itself in a theological crisis, because of the experience of the redundancy of God as far as the efficient functioning of the world is concerned. The article traces the origin of this development to the astronomer Johannes Kepler. His successful critique of Aristotelian physics is particularly illustrated by his laws of elliptical planetary movement, challenging the Aristotelian teaching that heavenly bodies must move in circles. The further significance of Kepler’s work lies in its breaking of the century-old ontological bond between theology and science, which subjected scientific knowledge to the alleged supreme judgement of theology and teleological speculation. By giving natural sciences a dignity on a par with that of theology and metaphysics, the result was a bitter conflict between science and theology – a conflict of which the search for a solution is only lately showing signs of being taken seriously.

Joseph Ratzinger as Doctor of Incarnate Beauty

This paper argues that Joseph Ratzinger is a theologian with the stature of a Church Doctor, notwithstanding the fact that he did not develop a theological system in the manner of other ‘big name’ theologians of the twentieth century such as Karl Barth, Karl Rahner and Hans Urs von Balthasar. The author argues that it is Ratzinger’s manner of responding to the contemporary crisis in fundamental theology that is his outstanding intellectual contribution to the life of the Church, along with his effect of a Christocentric turn in magisterial theology and his defence of beauty within his theology of culture.

Theodicy and the Cross of Christ: A New Testament Inquiry

This volume examines the death of Jesus as a source of NT theodicy thinking (1) by exploring its multivalent relevance and (2) by supplementing what is lacking in biblical exegetical scholarship on the topic. In ch. 1 (pp. 1–16), Holmén introduces his exegetical approach, reviews the modern philosophic-theological research, and surveys the central interpretation of the death of Jesus in the NT. He categorizes the various themes relating to the death of the Jesus in three divisions—“Soteriology,” “Identification,” and “Social Function” (pp. 13–15).The core content of the book focuses on the theodicean concepts prior to the cross in order to lay a foundation to bring to light the thinking of the early followers of Jesus, particularly the theological conflict that they wrestled with in relation to Christ’s suffering. In ch. 2 (pp. 17–55), Holmén investigates Greco-Roman and OT Jewish concepts concerning theodicy, establishing a repertoire of motives. More specifically, in the OT, theodicean ideas are viewed through the covenant, revealing a providential God who changes human beings so that they follow his will, resulting in blessing rather than suffering.In ch. 3 (pp. 57–80), Holmén analyzes the level of theological crisis that the early believers had. He finds that a novel hermeneutic of the cross emerges as a solution to the incongruence between Christ’s crucifixion and his vindication (in essence, “vindication” leads to the theodicy problem; p. 79). In ch. 4 (pp. 81–127), the Jewish theodicean leitmotif of the covenant (from ch. 2) is analyzed in relation to an understanding of the theodicy of the cross (from ch. 3). Holmén deduces that (1) the NT teaches that those with whom God sides suffer innocently; (2) after the cross, doing God’s will does not serve a theodicean purpose—especially in light of Paul’s theology where believers obey instinctively and become part of God’s saving act through Christ; and (3) the NT authors uphold the continuance of the theodicy of the covenant.In ch. 5 (pp. 129–59), specific conclusions are offered in response to six practical approaches to the death of Jesus with respect to coping with suffering. Temporary suffering is understood within the context of an eschatological perspective. Holmén emphasizes that the NT authors proclaim that Christ died for the sinfulness of humankind and not to save the world from distress—as some modern thinkers hold.For the most part, the author makes valuable contributions to the NT perspective on theodicy. For example, based on primary-source material, Holmén draws attention to the silence with reference to the curse in Deut 21:22–23 (“anyone hung under a tree is under God’s curse). He demonstrates the lack of positive interpretation of crucifixion accounts and brings awareness concerning the Jewish perspective that God did not vindicate crucified people (p. 69). Thus, the followers of Jesus Christ were “deeply engaged in the theodicean problem!” (p. 79). The main focus of Holmén’s theological considerations seem to focus on Paul’s understanding, particularly from Romans, leading to a somewhat vague discussion of election, where all are included on an “equal basis, according to the election of grace” (p. 165). But this is the difficulty in addressing the whole NT, narrowing the discussion to the most relevant passages. Tom Holmén writes descriptively with clarity without pressing his conclusions, acknowledging that the theodicy of the cross is discernible sometimes only by combining a number of discrete elements. His assessment is honest, challenging, and worth reading.

Theodicy and Black Theological Anthropology in James Cone’s Theological Identity

This article’s underlying objective is to reassess James H. Cone’s theological vision and meaning, with a special interest in his theological anthropology, Christology, and his efforts to articulate cogently an adequate response to the crisis of black theodicy in the United States. Cone’s theological identity is framed within the discourse of the greater African American intellectual (radical) tradition, the Black Consciousness movement, as well as within the historical trajectories of the crisis of American white theology and the segregated white Church. While Cone’s theological corpus is associated with the emergence of a constructive theology of emancipation in the Americas, his theological knowledge and political theology evoked the American democratic tradition and ideals. Cone insisted that African Americans should also be beneficiaries of the promises of democracy and the nation’s future possibilities. Yet Cone, as a fierce critic of the American democracy and white supremacy, was not optimistic about the willingness of the American government to provide liberative political interventions to black theodicy and suffering; rather, he sought an alternative, one that is abstract and theoretical but experimental and psychological: the cross of Christ as a possible solution to the crisis of black theodicy. Hence, Cone could develop a Christology of appropriation to deal symbolically with the burden of black history of suffering and pain in relation to the historic suffering and agony of Jesus Christ. For Cone, the theological is implicated in the political and the cultural; while the political is not cathartic, the theological may provide a mental relief to black folk.

The Catholic Sexual Abuse Crisis as a Theological Crisis: Emerging Issues

The sexual abuse crisis has long-term consequences: not only on the victims and survivors of abuse, but also on the theological standing and balance of the Catholic Church throughout the world. Theological rethinking in light of the abuse crisis is necessary: not only from the lens of those who have suffered, but also from the lens of the changes caused by this global crisis in the history of the whole Catholic community. The article examines the consequences of the abuse crisis on different theological disciplines, with particular attention to the history of the Catholic Church, liturgy, ecclesiology of reform, and church–state relationships.

Hope in Exile: In Conversation with Ezekiel

The question of hope in dark times, though topical, is not new. The Babylonian Exile (597/587–539 BCE) is commonly recognised as perhaps the most profound, yet also most fruitful crisis in biblical (Old Testament) times. It involved the total breakdown of all religious and political structures and institutions that previously had provided meaning and protection, yet it led to significant theological progress, laying the foundations for both Judaism and Christianity. Today the metaphor of exile is sometimes used with reference to the present; however, the connection is usually not further explored. This article examines a biblical exilic voice, the book of Ezekiel, which offers an initial prophetic response to the theological, political and identity crisis of the early Babylonian Exile. While resisting both optimism and despair, Ezekiel arrives at an original, if peculiar, imagination of hope, founded solely on theological conviction. The article outlines this process by discussing select texts of the book as examples, and opens it up to conversation with the present. The logic of Ezekiel’s theocentric hope is bound to ultimately remain foreign to modern thinking. However, while it cannot be directly transferred into our times, the article aims to demonstrate that theological reflection on Ezekiel still yields valuable and transferable impulses for thought.

Words Fail Me

ABSTRACT The integrity of the psalmic move from complaint to praise, from suffering to salvation, is founded on the conviction that Israel’s words receive a divine hearing. Yet, in the midst of a book that so elevates the efficacy of human speech, Ps 73 presents an alternative experience of this salvific transition, one in which the psalmist’s initial response to theological crisis is explicitly unvoiced. These verses underscore the communicative value of verbal restraint as an often unacknowledged but integral aspect of the dialogue that we hear throughout the Psalter.

Theology and the Idea of University

This article analyses the genealogy of the university from the perspective of its three defining characteristics: freedom, self-government and universality. The Author suggest that the universalising tendency of university is theologically derived, while the tradition of autonomy is of relatively secular origin. Hence, in addressing the question of the current crisis of theology within the university, we may be addressing the question of the current crisis of the university as such.

La crisis modernista y la encíclica «Pascendi» en la novela Jean Barois (de R. Martin du Gard)

La novela Jean Barois, del premio Nobel Roger Martin du Gard, refleja en sus páginas algunas de las controversias más importantes de la crisis modernista: los dogmas como simples símbolos de los valores religiosos; el conflicto entre ciencia y fe; el positivismo histórico y los problemas que plantea a la existencia de una revelación objetiva; la experiencia y el sentimiento religiosos. Para su autor, discípulo del modernista Marcel Hébert, la raíz intelectual de esta crisis teológica coincide con la que Pío X señala en Pascendi: el agnosticismo filosófico e histórico, que encierra la fe en el dominio del sentimiento, de lo subjetivo y relativo.

The Crisis of Theology is the Crisis of Philosophy

The Crisis of Theology is the Crisis of Philosophy