Theological Discourse Research Articles

Research-Based Practices to Engage Youth in a Vibrant Catholic Church: The Case for Implementing Sacred Listening Practices

This article explores the theological and practical implications of Sacred Listening, a concept developed in response to the Synod on Synodality initiated by Pope Francis. The Synod emphasizes the church’s call to a more relational and participatory ecclesial life, rooted in listening, dialogue, and accompaniment. Sacred Listening is proposed as a theologically grounded practice designed to rebuild trust and foster deeper connections within the faith community, particularly in a low-trust environment. Drawing on the theological principles of Imago Dei, as well as contemporary social science research, the article presents Sacred Listening as a means to move beyond traditional modes of institutional authority toward relational trust and authentic engagement. The article further introduces practical tools that operationalize these principles, providing concrete strategies for religious leaders to engage with their communities more effectively. This work contributes to the ongoing theological discourse on synodality and offers a framework for creating a more inclusive and responsive church in today’s complex social landscape.

Analysis of Patristic Interpretation of the “Shema” in Deuteronomy 6:4-5

The Patristic period stands as a pivotal era in the development of Christian doctrine, marked by profound theological and philosophical debates. Amidst these discussions, the Shema in Deuteronomy 6:4-5 retains its central importance for both Jewish and Christian faith traditions, offering insights into the nature of God. This paper explored the Patristic interpretation of the Shema, highlighting the perspectives of the Alexandrian and Antiochene Schools of thought. Key theological issues addressed include the monotheistic concept of God, the symbolic significance of Israel, the unity of God, and the Trinitarian debate. A historical approach was used where the views of selected theologians were explored within their socio-cultural and political settings. Drawing from African perspectives, the study reflected on the enduring relevance of these theological inquiries for contemporary society. Ultimately, the theological insights garnered from Patristic interpretations continue to inform and enrich modern theological discourse, bridging the gap between ancient wisdom and contemporary understanding. Keywords: God, Patristic Era, Shema, Trinity

Toward a Theology of Trans Opacity: Trans Studies’ Critique of Queer Theory in Conversation with Karl Barth’s Doctrine of Revelation

While it is generally known that the disciplinary origins of feminist and queer religious studies are enmeshed with the production of anti-trans feminisms, theological legacies of this historical entanglement remain largely unaddressed. Although later feminist and queer theologies might not explicitly take up these anti-trans positions, trans identity is still often instrumentalized in its incorporation into queer and feminist theological discourse for rhetorical and methodological gain without attention to the subjectivity and self-understanding of trans people themselves. This article argues that the theology of Karl Barth, when read with his feminist and queer critics, provides resources for critiquing this kind of trans instrumentalization in his doctrine of revelation and critique of natural theology. Moving beyond either reactionary dismissal or instrumentalized incorporation, this article instead argues for a right to opacity for trans people in Christian theology and practice resourced from Barth’s theology.

Theological Science in the Thought of Thomas F. Torrance: The Integration of Natural and Revealed Theology and Its Implications for Kataphysical Knowledge

In this article, the notion of “theological science” is examined in the thinking of Thomas F. Torrance (1913–2007), with particular attention paid to his synthesis of revealed and natural theology and its consequences for kataphysical knowledge—the comprehension of God via divine self-disclosure. Torrance redefines natural theology as the logical intra-structure that is crucial to theological reasoning, not as a separate field of study. Natural theology creates a full framework for comprehending divine revelation when combined with revealed theology. This research shows how Torrance’s technique reconciles human reason with God’s self-revelation, resulting in a coherent theological methodology. It analyses his reconstruction of natural theology within its proper intellectual and philosophical settings. The paper also discusses Torrance’s theological model’s applicability to Indian Christian contexts, contending that his integrated method provides an essential means of fostering a more profound theological comprehension in modern Indian churches. It becomes clear that pursuing kataphysical knowledge in the way that Torrance does is essential to promoting theological discourse and participation, especially in contexts that are pluralistic and diversified. As a result, this essay presents Torrance’s ideas as a vital addition to the current theological conversation and as a template for addressing the difficulties of faith and knowledge in a multicultural environment.

Examining Filipino Popular Piety in the light of Vatican II’s <i>Directory of Popular Piety and the Liturgy</i>: Principles and Guidelines

Celebrating popular piety in different regions reflects the vibrant, diverse, and festive culture of the Philippines. The innumerable religious practices through rites and ceremonies show the intensity and vibrance of Filipino Catholic spirituality. It is part of theheritage and unique identity of the Filipino Catholic Church to the extent that it also impacts the local liturgical calendar. Given this distinctive characteristic of popular piety, finding its harmony with the liturgy is challenging. The focus on the ritual aspect of popular piety diverges from orthodoxy, raising conflict between its praxis and Church teachings, which allows for misinterpretation and syncretism. This paper will employ a descriptive research design to assess the reception of Vatican II’s Directory of Popular Piety and the Liturgy: Principles and Guidelines (DPPL), using the method of critical reflection. It comprehensively analyzes the reception of DPPL and its profound impact on Catholicism in the Philippines. This study aims to establish an understanding of popular piety as a valid form of worship through analysis and evaluation of the process of inculturation to foster a deeper understanding and appreciation of these practices. It enriches theological discourse on the realm of inculturation, which leads to the preservation of cultural heritage and the understanding that popular piety is an encounter of evangelization and culture that should be treated with profound respect and mutual understanding.

Relations of Moturidi and Samarkandi

This article highlights the relationship between Moturidi and Samarkandi, with a focus on the work “Kitab as-savod al-azam” and its significant theological elements. The study explores the connection between the two scholars, investigating whether Hakim Samarkandi was a disciple of Moturidi or merely a contemporary. The article also examines the impact of “Kitab as-savod al-azam” on Moturidi theology and its relevance to traditional Hanafi doctrine. The research delves into the theological discourse between the two scholars, addressing conflicting views on various theological issues.

Islam and the Ethics of War: Deconstructing Jihad through the Principle of Humanism in Theological Discourses

Islam and the Ethics of War: Deconstructing Jihad through the Principle of Humanism in Theological Discourses

Unveiled: Proclaiming the Essence and Message of the Gospel with Clarity, Consistency, and Conviction

In theological discourse, the gospel is the singular epicenter, the radiant core, and the transcendent blueprint of divine intentionality. This article delves into the profound assertion that the gospel represents not merely a fragment of sacred text but is the ultimate plan and proclamation encapsulating all that God has been, is, and will ever be within the expansive tapestry of the universe. The gospel's prominence transcends theological boundaries as it emerges as the pulsating heart of the Bible, casting an indelible shadow over every page and parable. It beckons us to recognize that within the sacred scriptures, every narrative, every verse, and every doctrine is unequivocally linked to one of three overarching categories: preparation for the gospel, presentation of the gospel, or participation in the gospel. Our journey through these sacred texts unveils an awe-inspiring continuum of divine action—stretching from the timeless recesses before creation to the grand crescendo of restoration in a future yet to unfold. Indeed, the Bible, we contend, is not a mere anthology of ideas but a meticulously recorded account of God's myriad acts.

The Position of the General Chapters of the Dominican Brothers Towards the Teaching of St. Thomas Aquinas and the Question of Immaculate Conception

The doctrine of Thomas Aquinas was formally adopted as the official teaching of the entire Dominican Order. Throughout the 13th and 14th centuries, general chapters placed significant emphasis on the importance of adhering to Aquinas’ views. They were deemed essential not only to maintain continuity within the orthodox tradition of the Church but also to foster unity within the entire order. Among the topics that sparked debate among medieval theologians was the conception of Mary. While Bernard of Clairvaux and the Dominicans rejected the idea of Mary’s immaculate conception, the Franciscans, led by figures like John Duns Scotus, advocated for it. This article highlights the stance taken by the Dominican general chapters in defence of Thomas’ views. Initially, in the 14th century, there were general indications supporting the maculistic understanding of Mary’s conception, but this stance shifted over time. By the 15th century, the Dominicans were compelled to embrace the immaculistic concept. The delayed promulgation of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception of Mary in the mid-19th century underscores the complexity and unresolved nature of theological discussions throughout the medieval period.

The Philosophical Playing Field of the Book, “The Prospect of a Humanitarian AI”, by Carlos Montemayor

The Prospect of Humanitarian Artificial Intelligence (The Prospect of HAI) encapsulates the vast and intricate landscape of Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) with both theoretical and practical nuances. Carlos Montemayor (Carlos) artfully paints a complex picture, presenting a realm of profound philosophical interest. While abstract, the book navigates the terrain crucial for AGI development, successfully capturing its multifaceted nature. This review focuses on the alignment problem, probing its epistemic and moral dimensions. Imperfect as we are, aligning AGI presents challenges: discerning viable solutions remains uncertain. The epistemic aspect of alignment of the AGI seems to be impossible for the goals Carlos is proposing for the nascent industry of AI. The moral, political, and legal aspects of alignment offer a challenging panorama, mirroring parallels between the Philosophy of AI and theological discourse. Drawing parallels with our experience in moral alignment, especially in guiding children, underscores the idea that this problem is older and more widespread. The Prospect of HAI serves as an inaugural exploration in this realm. Future endeavors should delve deeper into technical intricacies while maintaining a broad philosophical scope. It stands as a compelling precursor to the burgeoning field of philosophy of AI. Carlos should go for the 2nd edition.

Debates about belief in the western Muslim area, the exemple of Al Baji's exchange with the christian monk

Praise is due to Allah, The Unique, The One who is not in need of anything or any creature, Whom no one is God except Him, Whom is exalted and beyond having a son. Everything bears witness that He is Unique. May God raise the rank of Prophet Muhammad, whose coming was foretold in the Torah and the Evangel. May Allah elevate the status of our beloved Prophet's kin and noble companions. There has been controversies and debates between Western Islamic scholars and others throughout the ages. The ways of their debates and their writings varied. Their fatwas are based on the multiplicity of people of desires, sects, and beliefs. Some of them responded to the Christians, some of them to the Jews, and some of them provided arguments against the people of the whims such as the anthropomorphic, the Shiite, the Zahiri, the Mu’tazila, the Bakriyah, the philosophers, and others who disagreed with the Sunnah and others who deviated from the sunni tradition and consensus. Abu al-Walid al-Baji is considered one of the most prominent theologians of the Almoravid era. During my exploration of his work titled "Theological Discourse in the Almoravid Period: Characteristics and Manifestations, with a Realization of Some Examples," I was struck by his theological debates with his adversaries and his strong responses to them, including his rebuttal of the French monk and others.

SEJARAH INTELEKTUAL ISLAM: KONTRIBUSI DAN PENGARUH PEMIKIRAN Al-GHAZALI TERHADAP DUNIA ISLAM ABAD KE 11 M

This research discusses al-Ghazali's contribution and thoughts to the Islamic world in the 11th century M. The focus of the study includes al-Ghazali's success in integrating the teachings of Sufism into the mainstream of Islamic thought, reforming Islamic education, and providing criticism of philosophy that enriches Islamic theological discourse. The aim of this research is to explore the contribution and influence of al-Ghazali's thought on the development of the Islamic world, in three main aspects, namely, Islamic spirituality, the Islamic education curriculum, and the development of Islamic philosophy. Researchers use historical research methods which consist of four stages, namely, heuristics, criticism, interpretation, and historiography with a literature review approach by collecting data in the form of books, journals, documents, as well as sources of data and information relevant to the study. This research found that al-Ghazali's main contributions, such as reforms in Islamic theology, criticism of philosophy, and his influence on education and religious thought. In addition, al-Ghazali's intellectual legacy not only enriches Islamic traditions but also offers relevant perspectives in facing contemporary challenges, making his work an important reference in modern Islamic studies today.

The Body as a Battlefield: A Feminist Interpretation of Mulan as a Source of Theology in the Face of Gender-Based Violence

This study delves into the intricate interplay between cinema, theology, and gender-based violence through a feminist lens. It centers on the film Mulan as a unique source of theological reflection in addressing cases of gender-based violence. The title, “The Body as a Battlefield,” encapsulates the core theme of this research, emphasizing the body as a contested terrain where power dynamics and societal norms converge. Through a meticulous feminist interpretation of the film, we explore how Mulan’s narrative challenges traditional gender roles, illuminates the resilience of the female body, and offers a fresh perspective on theological discourse. By bridging the realms of film analysis, feminist theology, and social justice, this study contributes to a deeper understanding of how popular culture can serve as a resource for theological engagement in the pursuit of gender equality and the eradication of gender-based violence.

Conceptions Of Reason And Revelation In Discourses Mu'tazilah, Asya'riyah, And Maturidiyah (Samarkhan And Bukhara)

Humans are the most perfect creatures of Allah, and they try their best to achieve the highest degree of piety, either through knowledge initiated by reason or by carrying out obligations initiated by revelation, although in the process it gives rise to heated debate as to which one dominates more, between reason and revelation so that various theological discourses emerged in Islam. So this research aims to describe the concept of reason and revelation in Mu'tazilah, Asya'riyah, and Maturidiyah (Samarkhan and Bukhara) discourses. The method used is qualitative with a literature study approach technique and then concluded descriptively. The results of the research show that the conception of reason and revelation in each school is different, they have their intensity, where the intensity of the use of reason is dominated by the Mu'tazilah school which places reason in the highest position, followed by the next school is the Maturidah Samarkand, then continued by the next school, namely the Maturidiah Bukhara and finally is the Asy'ariah school which is dominated by God's revelation while reason is given the smallest portion compared to the previous three schools.

Revelation and Communion: A Contextual Theological Approach to Diversity and Dialogue in World Christianity

Abstract Theology in world Christianity not only features theological discourse that scrutinizes the colonial legacy of Christianity, pointing out the ways in which Christian doctrines are cast in colonial power, but also presents theology from the indigenous concerns to appropriate the Christian faith. Nonetheless, the present challenge to doing theology in world Christianity extends to not only making Christianity a dialogic-livable faith but also sustaining the relationship between universality and indigeneity. This article grapples with the task of decolonizing revelation, salvation, and dialogue in world Christianity using the insights from Ecclesiam Suam (1964) and Elochukwu Uzukwu’s wholeness-oriented approach to revelation and diversity. Particularly, it reexamines the meaning of salvation in the context of a narrative and proposes that the indigenous approaches could overcome the hurdles—not reinscribe highly problematic relations between the so-called center and margins through inculturation and contextual theology—taking note that theological discourse on revelation and salvation stands in need of scrutiny.

The Church’s Role in the Social Integration of Physically Handicapped Individuals: A Theological Perspective

For a very long time, the Church has been a major force in creating a sense of belonging and support for underprivileged populations, including people with physical impairments. This paper examines the theological underpinnings of the Church’s support of social integration and how these ideas have been applied to assist those who are physically disabled. Based on theological discourse, ecclesiastical concepts, and biblical teachings, the study emphasizes the Church’s moral duty to advance inclusiveness, equality, and dignity. It examines different Christian faiths’ past and current endeavours to create outreach campaigns, programs, and structural modifications to accommodate people with disabilities. In addition, the study looks at how the Church might work with governments and civil society organizations to build inclusive and sustainable communities. Through this investigation, the research hopes to provide a theological and practical framework for enhancing the social integration of people with physical disabilities within the Church and the larger community.

Exploring Christian Lutheran theological framings that shape men’s perpetration of domestic violence through pastor perspectives

ABSTRACT The inclusion of theological beliefs and practices in the analysis of domestic violence is needed, hence this paper explores how Christian theological framings shape men’s perpetration of domestic violence. Through engagement with the Lutheran Church of Australia, interviews and a survey with Pastors found that gender was dominant in the themes and provided a framework for how Pastors understood domestic violence and how they articulated their explanations for why they perceived a denial of domestic violence in their religious contexts. The interviews in this study brought out the capacity of gendered theological discourse and the truth valency of scripture to both inform domestic violence and potentially be part of the solution, while at the same time the narratives express the inherent tensions and the resistance to change in the religious culture. The paper argues for the coming together of sociological, feminist, theological and spiritual understandings of gender identity to shape responses to domestic violence in Christian contexts.

The Sublime Divinity: Erotic Affectivity in Renaissance Religious Art

In the context of the Catholic Reformation serious concerns were expressed about the affective potency of naturalistic depictions of beautiful, sensuous figures in religious art. In theological discourse similar anxieties had long been articulated about potential contiguities between elevating, licit desire for an extraordinarily beautiful divinity and base, illicit feeling. In the later fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries, in the decades preceding the Council of Trent, a handful of writers, thinkers and artists asserted a positive connection between spirituality and sexuality. Leonardo da Vinci, and a group of painters working under his aegis in Lombardy, were keenly aware of painting’s capacity to evoke feeling in a viewer. Pictures they produced for domestic devotion featured knowingly sensuous and unusually epicene beauties. This article suggests that this iconography daringly advocated the value of pleasurable sensation to religiosity. Its popularity allows us to envisage beholders who were neither mired in sin, nor seeking to divorce themselves from the physical realm, but engaging afresh with age-old dialectics of body and soul, sexuality and spirituality.

Animals as Intentional Political Agents and God’s Warriors in Sign-Themed Qurʾānic Narratives

Abstract Taking its cue from the Islamic Ecological Paradigm, deeply rooted in Islamic religious traditions, which emerged more than 1400 years ago, this paper reimagines the human-nonhuman relationship against the backdrop of the arguably assumed superiority of mankind in (Islamic) theological discourses. Using Qurʾānic narratives as a key point of divergence in the natural superiority of man within the idea of vicegerency, we argue that the Qurʾān’s egalitarian ethos presents animals as ‘intentional political agents’ (Pepper 2021: 30) independent of human intercession. This agency enables them to be key players in deciding the outcomes of political conundrums; in so doing, it also rebuts and destabilises arrogant anthropocentric presuppositions associated with the idea of vicegerency. We particularly read, in ‘signs themed’ Qurʾānic narratives, a dynamic relationship between humans and animals through the animal’s role as Allah’s warriors and agents against human oppressors and transgressors. Drawing on the Islamic Ecological Paradigm, Angie Pepper’s idea of intentional political agency and Sarra Tlili’s de-anthropocentric reading of the Qurʾān, we suggest that the Qurʾān robustly invites humans to reflect on the animal world by foregrounding animals as political agents while epitomising human accountability and responsibility towards them instead of establishing a relationship of dominance.

Paul Tillich and Photography

Paul Tillich did not consider photography to be a form of art and, therefore, rarely talked about it. In this paper, I discuss what he said publicly about photography in relationship to Tillich’s own understanding of art and in conversation with some of his contemporaries in Europe. This discussion will include reasons as to why he was reluctant to admit photography to be art and how his thoughts could have been changed. Premised upon the belief that Tillich’s theological analysis of art is still relevant for contemporary theological discussions of art, this paper will try to situate Tillich’s theology of art in the midst of the visual culture of the early 20th century. I will further make two related claims: (1) there were moments of his intellectual career when Tillich could have reflected on photography in a deeper way; (2) the examination of Tillich’s reluctance can be fruitful for future theological reflection on photography.