Theological Thinking Research Articles

Art and Meaning. Messiaen Influences on Romanian Composition Universes

Abstract In this paper, we will tackle several dominant Messiaen influences, as concerns ideas and/or technical approaches, on important Romanian composition systems, with reference to concepts such as musical character, number, Time/time, repetition. We will refer to characters as structures, characters as tuning systems and characters as musical/cultural paradigms as they occur in Aurel Stroe’s creation, and then we will turn our attention to Ștefan Niculescu’s melody-musical character with memory. Surprising but/and natural, objective but/and inspired, Niculescu opens up different perspectives on the personality of musical character as well. Numbers (what is fascinating is that they are mainly just figures) prove to be an example of simplicity as they comprise in a condensed manner technical information, emotions and musical inspiration. We will prove/illustrate this relying on three technical/semantic perspectives: poetry of numbers-duration in Liviu Glodeanu’s creation, numbers defining dodecaphonic series cells in Roman Vlad’s work, or numbers-foundation for the whole modal edifice in Vieru’s perspective. As for time/Time, which is the main character of Messiaen’s (and actually everyone’s, even humanity’s) musical, poetic, philosophical and theological thinking, we will only dwell on two hypostases, namely Stroe’s and Niculescu’s perspectives. Stroe conceives time as an element integrated in the sphere of memory and identity, as the recurrence in the present time of slices of memories involves the superposing of slices of time. For Niculescu, time is foundation, a condensation of the fact that syntax relies on two temporal categories, succesivity and simultaneity. We will dwell on the repetition “character” in the context of Aurel Stroe’s mobiles, or in parts of monodies of periodicities, screens and loops in Anatol Vieru’s creation. The conclusions will naturally follow the line of art and meaning.

Epistemic origins of neo-scholastic interpretation of ontological proof of divine existence and discussions concerning ontologism

Журнал «Вопросы теологии» — международный академический журнал по теологии. Журнал ориентирован на развитие всех направлений и областей, входящих в исследовательскую отрасль «Теология», прежде всего в том варианте, в каком она развивается в светских вузах и научно-исследовательских структурах, а также в духовных академиях.

On Divine Providence

Abstract Naṣīr al-Dīn al-Ṭūsī (1201–1274), the most eminent Muslim thinker of thirteenth-century Iran occupies a unique place among the Muslim polymaths of the Middle Ages who have gained recognition both in the East and West. In the West, he is recognised as a scientist whose contribution to astronomy, trigonometry and mathematics influenced the course of scientific developments, and in the East as a supreme teacher who contributed significantly to the application of metaphysical argumentation and philosophical terminology in Sufism, Ismaili and Twelver Shiʿi theology, bringing the Ismaili humanistic and ethical tradition of philosophers into the centre of Islamic ethical discourse. The renown of his commentary on Avicenna’s “Hints and Indications” (al-Išārāt wa-l-tanbīhāt) seems to have gained him the position of the foremost master of Avicennian philosophy. From another aspect al-Ṭūsī can be considered a partisan of Nizārī Ismaili theological thinking, a doctrine that in his opinion was somehow in harmony with Avicennan philosophy when he equates Necessary Existence with God. However, while commenting on Avicenna’s theorem of Divine Providence, al-Ṭūsī finds the Avicennan position unacceptable. The conclusions reached in this paper uphold the influence of Nizārī Ismaili philosophical deliberations on the nature of the Divine and His knowledge, not only on al-Ṭūsī and al-Šahrastānī but also on Avicenna himself. Needless to say, the wide scope of the subject prevents us from reaching definitive answers to all the questions raised and this attempt endeavours to lay the ground for further investigations to reach a clearer understanding of the subject.

God in Systematic Theology after Barth: Trends and perspectives

The article gives an overview of the state of scholarship on God in Systematic Theology since Karl Barth. The aim is to identify trends and to raise the question about the possibility of new insights generated in theological research. The pluralistic nature of Systematic Theology is highlighted. Having mapped the crucial insights articulated by Barth, the author identifies five trends in theological thinking on God: the Trinitarian Renaissance, the rethinking of the attribute tradition, the irruption of the other, the coming of global Christianity, and the quest for interdisciplinarity. The article concludes with an evaluation of the developments and registers critical shifts in the reflection on God in Systematic Theology.

Relevansi Pemikiran Teologi Islam Muhammadiyah Dengan Pemikiran Pembaharuannya

The spirit of renewal voiced by modernists in the Middle East is so strong that it affects K.H. Ahmad Dahlan to establish the Muhammadiyah organization. Muhammadiyah was established to accommodate and transform ideas for renewal to the people of Indonesia. Muhammadiyah emerged among Indonesian people who experienced anxiety and social, religious, and moral concerns. In understanding the texts of the Koran and hadith and looking for community-oriented values, this organization uses proportional reasoning. However, the appreciation he gave to reason was not as high as the Mu'tazilah as a rationalist. Therefore, Harun Nasution called this organization adhering to the traditional theology style of Ash'ariah. Muhammadiyah's theological thinking is relevant to his renewed thinking. The relevance of his theological thinking with the thought of renewal is seen in two aspects, namely: first, style. Theological thinking and thinking of renewal in the field of law are both traditional in style. The style of his theological thinking is also relevant to his renewed thinking in the religious field which is characterized by revivalism, fundamentalism and purification. Second, the substance of thought. Muhammadiyah's theological thinking about the position of reason, the function of revelation, the concept of faith, free will and predestination, the sending of apostles, sunnatullah, and the anthropomorphism verses are relevant to the thought of renewal in the religious field about ijtihad, criticism of taklid, calls back to the Qur'an and hadith. Muhammadiyah's theological thinking about the position of reason and the sending of the apostle are relevant to the thinking of renewal in the field of education.

Biblia i filozofia w konfrontacji Bazylego Wielkiego z apolinaryzmem

This article presents the role played by philosophy and biblical exegesis in controversy with Apollinarius of Laodicea. First of all it tries to present the gene­ral context of the dispute, then to develop Basil’s theological thinking and apply it to the problematic Christological field, where Apollinarius directed his challenge. Faced with the anthropological-soteriological problem relating to the defence of the integrity of Christ’s human nature, Basil draws on Stoic and Neoplatonic phi­losophical tradition. Then, this paper focuses attention on Basil’s interpretation of some biblical passages in the confutation of Apollinaris’ doctrine. Basil had star­ted the controversy by describing Apollinarius as supporter of fabulous theories, which are not based on the Scriptures, and of Judaizing ideas which concerned the eschatological renewal. Generally, the Cappadocian prefers to distance himself from Apollinaris and does not intervene in complete manner on the theological de­bate. The bishop – monk tries to unmask the errors of the opponents’ theories star­ting with the correct interpretation of the scriptural passages used by Apollinarius. In some points of his works, the Cappadocian insists that the Savior had a soul capable of feeling and suffering. According to the bishop of Caesarea some of anthropological and philosophical principles used by Apollinaris, along with the distorted reading of biblical texts, revealed the ambiguities and the inconsistencies of his arguments.

Toward a Theology of Cosmic Hope: From Theo-anthropology to Theo-cosmology

Summary This article seeks to lay a more solid foundation for the contemporary paradigm shift in the Christian theological thinking – that is, from theo-anthropology to theo-cosmology. In the new paradigm cosmic hope for the completion of the trinitarian project of creation, instead of human redemption from sin and death, comes to the fore as the most comprehensive horizon of Christian thinking. For this purpose the author reconstructs the underlying logic of the biblical faith in a narrative form from creation to eschatology.

Herman Bavinck’s ‘Yes’ and Karl Barth’s ‘No’: Constructing a Dialectic‐in‐Organic Approach to the Theology of General Revelation

AbstractBy grounding theology in God’s revelation, Herman Bavinck (1854‐1921) and Karl Barth (1886‐1968) take differing attitudes to general revelation, which is widely accepted in the circle of Reformed theology. Bavinck firmly says ‘Yes’ to the existence of the knowledge of God in creation. In contrast with him, Barth holds fast to the Christocentric view of God’s revelation, and thus says ‘No’ to general revelation in the universe. This divergence is primarily due to their different theological thinking and concerns. Bavinck deploys organic thinking in revelation and focuses on God’s creation, which seems to blur the distinction between general and special revelation. By contrast, Barth makes use of dialectical thinking and preoccupies himself with divine‐human reconciliation, which subordinates creation to God’s redemption. To this extent, both bring about disparities within God’s revelation. This essay proposes a dialectic‐in‐organic approach to general revelation, which affirms the disclosure of the knowledge of the Triune God in creation, recognises the independent value of creation, and maintains the diversity‐with‐parity within the revelation of the Triune God.

Role žalmů v díle Klementa Alexandrijského

Clement of Alexandria quotes the Book of Psalms more than any other Old Testament book and does so more frequently than any other early Christian author apart from from Origen. The aim of this article is to examine Clement’s use of the Psalter in his works. First, it demonstrates how Clement quotes from the Psalms, specifically what sort of introductory wording he uses. It is apparent that the Book of Psalms has many different functions for Clement: a tool of evangelisation, the word of God himself educating human beings, a Christian book of prayer, prophetic writing, a source of theology (providing evidence of God’s characteristics), and a model of morality. Second, the article attempts to characterize the specific role of the Psalms in individual works by Clement. It concludes that the Greek Psalter is quoted in all works except the homily Quis dives salvetur? Finally, the article highlights the verses of the Psalms or the particularly frequent and common themes of the Psalter that are key to Clement’s theological thinking (these are Ps 1:1–6; Ps 18/19, especially v. 5; Ps 33/34:9; Ps 81/82:6; the theme of the “new song” and the image of “the rod of punishment”).

The Theological Thought of Fazlur Rahman: A Modern Mutakallim

The Theological Thought of Fazlur Rahman: A Modern Mutakallim

The Theological Thought of Fazlur Rahman: A Modern Mutakallim

The Theological Thought of Fazlur Rahman: A Modern Mutakallim

A Theologian in His Workshop: Christopher Butler and The Downside Review

Butler honed his theological skills in a wide-ranging series of reviews and articles in the pages of The Downside Review, starting with his first review in 1931 and concluding with an article in 1966, the articles only drying up during the years that he had other demands on his time as Head Master in the school. He reviewed volumes of Biblical studies in French, German and English, and here laid the foundations of his work on the priority of Matthew. Strangely, two of the most important influences in his theological thinking are not dealt with in any detail here. For a discussion of the influence of Newman and of Lonergan, we have to look elsewhere. Nevertheless, there are also some very generous and open-minded reviews of works on the doctrine of the Church by non-Catholic writers, sewing the seeds of future important work in ecumenism.

A Christian Response to the Conflicting Relationship Between Slave and Master in A Christian Household

Abstract This paper seeks to investigate Paul’s response – based on his theological thoughts on love – on the conflicting relationship between Christian master and slave. With the aid of New Institutional Economics (NIE), two major characteristics of the relationship between a master and slave will be explained, namely objectifying and manipulating the relationship. Then, this paper will try to read Paul’s response to the conflicting relationship in the letter to Philemon – how he used different rhetoric to persuade Philemon to change his relationship with his slave in different levels, namely, theological perspective, core values and practical concern.

The Church, Authority, and Foucault: Imagining the Church as an Open Space of Freedom. By Steven G. Ogden. Routledge New Critical Thinking in Religion, Theology, and Biblical Studies. London: Routledge, 2017. x + 180 pp. $160.00 hardback; $28.98 e-book.

The Church, Authority, and Foucault: Imagining the Church as an Open Space of Freedom. By Steven G. Ogden. Routledge New Critical Thinking in Religion, Theology, and Biblical Studies. London: Routledge, 2017. x + 180 pp. $160.00 hardback; $28.98 e-book.

Dante e la cultura teologica delle confraternite

This article examines the relationship between Dante -in particular, the Divine Comedy - and the theological thinking of the late mediaeval Florentine confraternities. Particular attention is dedicated to Manuscript 1738 from the Biblioteca Riccardiana in Florence, which includes a series of religious texts written in the vernacular. The study first sets out to demonstrate that this codex was created by assembling texts produced by and/or circulating amongst a Florentine confraternity during the late thirteenth century. The focus then moves on to an analysis concerning the possible ties between these texts and some passages in the Divine Comedy.

Let the bird fly: Somatic practice and Sufi hadra performance, the embodied experience

Abstract Based on an ethnographic case study conducted amidst the Sufi women of the Naqshbandi group in Cape Town South Africa in 2013/14, this article discusses and analyses Sufi women’s verbalized ideas of the embodied ritual practice named hadra. From their experience with the ritual I argue that body and mind can somatically co-habit in a relationship in Sufi religious ritual practice. I challenge Sufi women’s ideas of an ‘outside of the body’ and ‘inside of the body’ experience during the fan’a, or final stage of the ritual. This article argues that when body and mind are connected within ritual praxis, an embodied experience is generated; this holistic experience goes beyond current Sufi theological thinking. This theory is evidenced in my research through an analysis of how dancers make sense of their own body and movement experience.

Bare Lives in the Shadow of Empires: Jesus, Comfort Women, and Theology of Resistance

This article delves into the biopolitical dimension of Jesus and Korean comfort women by engaging with the insight yet to be gleaned from Giorgio Agamben’s notion of bare life. Seen through this biopolitical prism, Jesus in the passion narratives of the Gospels can be understood as a paradigmatic bare life in his sheer ambiguity, which swings back and forth between terrestrial and celestial dominions. Similarly, Korean comfort women, albeit in a different historical and sociocultural context, can also be viewed as bare lives under ruthless Japanese colonial rule (1910–1945). My contention here is that, through the process of theological thinking, the reconfiguration of Jesus as a subversive bare life offers fresh insight into the agency of Korean comfort women in the sense that their bare lives have so far resisted the unjust world in their search of human rights and dignity. In spite of his tribulations between the Jewish and Roman authorities, Jesus unsettles these sovereign powers in such an ambiguous space. In a similar fashion, Korean comfort women have broadcast the atrocious brutality of Japanese colonial rule in the ambiguous zone beyond the juridical realms—Korean, Japanese, or otherwise—at the national and international levels. The foremost point to remember is that a commemoration of Jesus’ life as the most paradigmatic example of bare life can inspire Korean comfort women to deal with their agony in assuming bare life in the unswerving hope of justice yet to be served through divine intervention in the terrestrial sovereignty in liminal space and time.

Genetic Enhancements and Relational Autonomy: Christian Ethics and the Child’s Autonomy in Vulnerability

Technical advances in genome editing methods raise the question how autonomy should figure in theological ethical debates about genetic enhancements. Thinking primarily of the parents’ reproductive autonomy, several secular and theological thinkers argue parents should be allowed to ‘enhance’ an embryo genetically. Jürgen Habermas’s critique of enhancements in the name of the child’s autonomy, meanwhile, has been met with a critique of autonomy in theology. This article argues that theological views about God’s relationship to the creature provide strong theological grounds for a new appropriation of autonomy. A liberal maximisation of individual choice is to be viewed critically, but more recent discourses on relational autonomy see certain forms of vulnerability contribute to a communal understanding of autonomy. This view dovetails with Habermas’s argument, according to which enhancements create too strong a temptation towards overly directive parenting—less in modifying an embryo than in the ensuing relationship to the child.

Nowhere is Better than Here: The Strengths and Weaknesses of Early Sixteenth Century Utopias

Abstract This article examines the utopian vision present in the eponymous work by Thomas More and in the early Anabaptists. In the light of the discussion on the power and dangers of utopian thinking in liberation theology it seeks to show how More struggled with the tension between the positive possibilities of a different world and the destructive criticism of the present reality. A similar tension is found in early Anabaptist practices, especially in terms of their relationship to the state and their practice of commonality of goods. The article shows that that all attempts to reduce visions of a better world to a particular setting end up as ideological.

Escritura-Tradición en Petavio y Tomasino

The author attempts in this study to show the nature of Tradition as related to Scripture according to the theological points of view of D. Petavius and L. Thomassinus, outstanding figures of the so called "positive theology" school. Thomassinus was a follower of Petavius and both were authors, respectively, of extremely important works, which are titled "Dogmata Theologica". The present study is concerned with these figures, concentrating especially on the theological methodology of both and on the perspective of their theological knowledge. I. Petavius represents an important landmark in the theology of Tradition, notably because of his decisive influence on the socalled Roman School of Theology; which would borrow, among other things, his classification of the traditions, going from there -above all through J. B. Franzelin- to the habitual theological teaching on the subject. To know his posture it is decisive to be familiar with his interpretation of the celebrated text of Saint Basil, which was included among the "auctoritates" of the Council of Trent. In this commentary, Petavius' position in regard to tradition is perfectly clear: Tradition has a double role in regard to Scripture: on one hand it clarifies and explains the truths obscurely expressed in SCripture, and on the other, it transmits truths which we could not otherwise know through Scripture alone. Petavius insists and affirms that there are truths of faith, not merelyrites and customs, which have come down to us through apostolic tradition. However, he does not defend the theory of "two sources", but affirms, nothing more -in response to the protestants- that we cannot know through Scripture alone all of revealed truth; that tradition is necessary. For Petavius, as for Thomassinus afterwards, there is no doubt -and his theological manner demonstrates this- concerning the "foundation" in Scripture of all the truths of the faith, a different matter than "knowledge" of these truths only through the Holy Bible. But Petavius is aware that the authentic problem does not rest on the two-fold questions of Scripture-Tradition; the root and center of the problem lies in recognizing or not the teaching power of the Church, which has as its mission the interpretation of Scripture and Tradition. II. Although Thomassinus reflects, relative to Petavius, more differences in his theological thinking than are habitually noted, there is substantial agreement between the two on the theme which we are concerned at present. According to Thomassinus, Tradition, in its deepest sense, is truth and supernatural life revealed and given by Christ to his Apostles and their successors and through them to the whole Church by the coming of the Holy Spirit: in this sense, Scripture along with the traditions constitute Tradition. This concept would, at a future date, have repercussions in the theology of J. A. Möhler and, through him, in the Roman School. But, in so far as it is distinct from Scripture, Tradition has a dual role: it formally completes Scripture, endowing it with its true sense; it also completes it materially, relative to the question the prostestants had given rise to: that is to say, we do not know all of the truths of the faith through Sacred Scripture alone, and consequently, we need Tradition. This fact leads the Catholic Church to give the same prestige to the one as to the other. But the key to the relation between Scripture and Tradition, for Petavius and Thomassinus as well, is the Church which, thanks to a special divine assistance, safeguards and transmits both Tradition and Scripture. III. By way of resuming, we might add that the study of these two great theologians does not permit leaving out the concept of "completive" or "constitutive" tradition, which is its very basis.