ABSTRACT Love Itself Is Understanding: Balthasar, Truth, and the Saints Matthew A. Moser, Ph.D. Mentor: Peter M. Candler, Jr., P
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HOLY BEAUTY a Reformed Perspective on Aesthetics Within a World of Unjust Ugliness John W. De Gruchy Much of My Theological Ende
HOLY BEAUTY A Reformed Perspective on Aesthetics within a World of Unjust Ugliness John W. de Gruchy Robert Selby Taylor Professor of Christian Studies Director of the Graduate School in Humanities University of Cape Town Much of my theological endeavour over the years has focussed on the struggle against apartheid in South Africa. During the past decade my focus has shifted to the relationship between Christianity and democratic transformation and, more recently to theological aesthetics and to the role of art in transformation. This latter interest has clearly not meant a lessening of concern for theological engagement with public life. That remains constant both out of the conviction that theology and ethics cannot be separated, and the fact that the struggle against the legacy of apartheid and injustice more generally remains. The transition to democracy requires an ongoing struggle for social transformation. My interest in theological aesthetics, then, is not an opting out of a commitment for social justice but an attempt to address a set of issues that have previously been neglected by those of us who were engaged as theologians in the struggle against apartheid. To emphasise this point let me say that I wrote these words in the midst of a workshop of `Christianity, art and healing’ where the focus was on the new holocaust facing sub-Saharan Africa, the HIV/AIDS pandemic. Nadine Gordimer, the celebrated South African novelist, has noted that art is `at the heart of liberation.’1 The struggle against apartheid certainly produced an artistic creativity of a remarkable kind and intensity.2 It is remarkable, then, that theologians engaged in the struggle did not take this into account in doing theology. -
The Intermediate World: a Key Concept in Beautiful Thinking
Open Philosophy 2018; 1: 50–58 Dorthe Jørgensen* The Intermediate World: A Key Concept in Beautiful Thinking https://doi.org/10.1515/opphil-2018-0005 Received February 28, 2018; accepted April 25, 2018 Abstract: The term ‘the intermediate world’ is a key concept in Den skønne tænkning (Beautiful Thinking) and the metaphysics of experience presented by this book. The metaphysics of experience is about the experiences of transcendence and beautiful thinking that take place in the intermediate world. In the article “The Intermediate World,” this subject is introduced through a discussion of thoughts and concepts formulated by Paul Klee (Zwischenwelt), Alexander Gottlieb Baumgarten (beautiful thinking), Aristotle (phantasia), Immanuel Kant (expanded thinking), Mark C. Taylor (imagination), and Eugenio Trías (the limit). The text depicts the intermediate world as the level of experience at which the understanding does not yet distinguish between subject and object. The intermediate world is thus not a realm between human and world, nor is it something outside the world we know. The intermediate world is rather the present world in its most original state: the ‘place’ where we find the source of all experience and cognition, a source called ‘basic experience’ characterized by sensation, faith, and comprehension. In this realm, imagination is active and takes the form of an objective force rather than a subjective mental power. Imagination opens mind and world, thus allowing not-yet- actualized possibilities to become perceivable. Keywords: experience, metaphysics, Klee, aesthetics, imagination, Baumgarten, sensitivity, Trías, limit, thinking 1 Introduction The expression ‘beautiful thinking’ derives from §1 in Alexander Gottlieb Baumgarten’s Aesthetica. -
Thomas Merton and Zen 143
Thomas Merton and Zen 143 period of years I talked with Buddhists, with and without interpreters, as well as with Christian experts in Buddhist meditation, in Rome, Tokyo, Kyoto, Bangkok, and Seoul. Then, in 1992, I came across a book on Korean Zen. I do not have the patience for soto Zen. And I had dab bled in rinzai Zen, with the generous and kind help of K. T. Kadawoki at Sophia University in Tokyo; but I was a poor pupil, got nowhere, and gave up quickly. Thomas Merton and Zen I found Korean Zen, a form of rinzai, more aggressive; it insists on questioning. Sitting in the Loyola Marymount University library in Los Angeles, reading a book on Korean Zen, I experienced en Robert Faricy lightenment. And it lasted. Later, my library experience was verified independently by two Korean Zen masters as an authentic Zen en lightenment experience. In the book Contemplative Prayer 1 Thomas Merton presents his In the spring of 1993, after several months of teaching as a mature thought on Christian contemplation. The problem is this: visiting professor at Sogang University in Seoul, I went into the moun Merton's last and most important writing on contemplation can be, tains not far inland from Korea's southern coast to a hermitage of the and often is, misunderstood. Contemplative prayer, as described by main monastery of the Chogye order, Songwang-sa, for three weeks of Merton in the book, can appear solipsistic, self-centered, taking the Zen meditation. It was an intensive and profound experience. Among center of oneself as the object of contemplation, taking the same per other things, it brought me back to another reading of Contemplative son contemplating as the subject to be contemplated. -
Beauty As a Transcendental in the Thought of Joseph Ratzinger
The University of Notre Dame Australia ResearchOnline@ND Theses 2015 Beauty as a transcendental in the thought of Joseph Ratzinger John Jang University of Notre Dame Australia Follow this and additional works at: https://researchonline.nd.edu.au/theses Part of the Philosophy Commons COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA Copyright Regulations 1969 WARNING The material in this communication may be subject to copyright under the Act. Any further copying or communication of this material by you may be the subject of copyright protection under the Act. Do not remove this notice. Publication Details Jang, J. (2015). Beauty as a transcendental in the thought of Joseph Ratzinger (Master of Philosophy (School of Philosophy and Theology)). University of Notre Dame Australia. https://researchonline.nd.edu.au/theses/112 This dissertation/thesis is brought to you by ResearchOnline@ND. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses by an authorized administrator of ResearchOnline@ND. For more information, please contact [email protected]. School of Philosophy and Theology Sydney Beauty as a Transcendental in the Thought of Joseph Ratzinger Submitted by John Jang A thesis in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of Master of Philosophy Supervised by Dr. Renée Köhler-Ryan July 2015 © John Jang 2015 Table of Contents Abstract v Declaration of Authorship vi Acknowledgements vii Introduction 1 Structure 3 Method 5 PART I - Metaphysical Beauty 7 1.1.1 The Integration of Philosophy and Theology 8 1.1.2 Ratzinger’s Response 11 1.2.1 Transcendental Participation 14 1.2.2 Transcendental Convertibility 18 1.2.3 Analogy of Being 25 PART II - Reason and Experience 28 2. -
The Proof of Beauty: from Aesthetic Experience to the Beauty of God
ISSN 1918-7351 Volume 2 (2010) The Proof of Beauty: From Aesthetic Experience to the Beauty of God John D. Dadosky I was feeling part of the scenery I walked right out of the machinery My heart going „boom boom boom‟ “Hey” he said “Grab your things I‟ve come to take you home.” Peter Gabriel, “Solsbury Hill” Introduction Hans Urs Von Balthasar (1904-1986) decries the forgetting of beauty in contemporary philosophy and theology. The loss of transcendental beauty implies a separation and collapse of the other transcendentals: unity, truth and goodness. According to Balthasar, Thomas Aquinas represents the climax of Western philosophy as one who is able to ground a philosophy of beauty for a theological aesthetics. Balthasar eschews any contemporary attempts to transpose Aquinas within a post-Kantian context and as a result, Balthasar‟s magnificent attempt to restore beauty within his multi-volume trilogy, Herrlichkeit, Theodrama, and Theologik, is not able to speak to those outside of the Christian narrative. This is because of his prior philosophical presuppositions that rely specifically on special categories (those specific to Christian theology) that do not give enough attention to general categories (those shared with other disciplines).1 For Bernard Lonergan (1904-1984), general categories are derived from human intentional consciousness. Consonant with Balthasar‟s suspicion of the philosophical turn to the subject, Lonergan labored to respond to the same turn with Insight: A Study of Human Understanding2 and provides a Catholic 1 Concerning this issue, see Robert M. Doran, “Lonergan and Balthasar: Methodological Considerations,” Theological Studies 58 (1997): 61-84. -
Understanding Von Balthasar's Trilogy*
doi: 10.11144/javeriana.tx67-184.uvbt Understanding Comprensión de la trilogía de Hans Urs Von Balthasar Von Balthasar’s Resumen: El artículo expone la estruc- Trilogy∗ tura de pensamiento de Hans Urs Von Balthasar a partir de la síntesis que este logró en su “Trilogía teológica”: “Estética Rodrigo Polanco∗∗ teológica”, “Teo-dramática” y “Teo- lógica”. Debido a que la Trilogía está basada en los tres trascendentales del ser (belleza, bondad y verdad), este estudio, RECIBIDO: 24-12-16. APROBADO: 08-03-17 luego de revisar las fuentes e influencias que recibió Von Balthasar a lo largo de su vida, describe su comprensión de la Abstract: The article presents the structure relación entre filosofía y teología y ex- of Hans Urs Von Balthasar’s thought from the pli ca cómo toda la revelación trinitaria synthesis he achieved in his “Theological Trilogy”: se puede expresar muy bien a partir de “Theological Aesthetics,” “Theo-Drama,” and la manifestación (belleza), donación “Theo-Logic”. Because the Trilogy is based on the (bondad) y comprensión (verdad) de Dios. three transcendentals of Being (beauty, goodness, Palabras clave: Hans Urs Von Balthasar, and truth), this study—after reviewing Balthasar’s trilogía teológica, influencias de Von influences throughout his life—describes his Balthasar, pensamiento de Von Balthasar, understanding of the relationship between teología de Von Balthasar. philosophy and theology and explains how the trinitarian revelation can be aptly expressed through God’s manifestation (beauty), bestowal (goodness), para citar este artículo: and comprehension (truth). Polanco, Rodrigo. “Understanding Von Key words: Hans Urs Von Balthasar, Theological Balthasar’s Trilogy”. Theologica Xa veriana Trilogy, Balthasar’s Influences, Balthasar’s Thought, 184 (2017): 411-430. -
Great Cloud of Witnesses.Indd
A Great Cloud of Witnesses i ii A Great Cloud of Witnesses A Calendar of Commemorations iii Copyright © 2016 by The Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society of The Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America Portions of this book may be reproduced by a congregation for its own use. Commercial or large-scale reproduction for sale of any portion of this book or of the book as a whole, without the written permission of Church Publishing Incorporated, is prohibited. Cover design and typesetting by Linda Brooks ISBN-13: 978-0-89869-962-3 (binder) ISBN-13: 978-0-89869-966-1 (pbk.) ISBN-13: 978-0-89869-963-0 (ebook) Church Publishing, Incorporated. 19 East 34th Street New York, New York 10016 www.churchpublishing.org iv Contents Introduction vii On Commemorations and the Book of Common Prayer viii On the Making of Saints x How to Use These Materials xiii Commemorations Calendar of Commemorations Commemorations Appendix a1 Commons of Saints and Propers for Various Occasions a5 Commons of Saints a7 Various Occasions from the Book of Common Prayer a37 New Propers for Various Occasions a63 Guidelines for Continuing Alteration of the Calendar a71 Criteria for Additions to A Great Cloud of Witnesses a73 Procedures for Local Calendars and Memorials a75 Procedures for Churchwide Recognition a76 Procedures to Remove Commemorations a77 v vi Introduction This volume, A Great Cloud of Witnesses, is a further step in the development of liturgical commemorations within the life of The Episcopal Church. These developments fall under three categories. First, this volume presents a wide array of possible commemorations for individuals and congregations to observe. -
Herman Bavinck's Theological Aesthetics: a Synchronic And
TBR 2 (2011): 43–58 Herman Bavinck’s Theological Aesthetics: A Synchronic and Diachronic Analysis Robert S. Covolo PhD candidate, Fuller Theological Seminary In 1914 Herman Bavinck wrote an article for the Almanak of the Vrije Universiteit entitled, “Of Beauty and Aesthetics,” which has recently been translated and republished for the English-speaking world in Essays on Religion, Science, and Society.1 While this is not the only place where Bavinck treats the subject of beauty, this article stands out as a unique, extended glimpse into Bavinck’s theological aesthetics.2 In it we see that Bavinck was conversant with philosophical aesthetics and aware of the tensions of doing theological aesthetics from both a small “c” catholic and a distinctly Reformed perspective. There are many ways to assess Bavinck’s reflections on aesthetics. For example, one could look at the intimations in Bavinck’s works of the aesthetics formulations of later Dutch Reformed writers such as Rookmaker, Seerveld, or Wolterstorff.3 1. Herman Bavinck, “Of Beauty and Aesthetic” in Essays on Religion, Science and Society, ed. John Bolt, trans. Harry Boonstra and Gerrit Sheeres (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2008), 245–60. 2. See also Herman Bavinck, Reformed Dogmatics, vol. 2, God and Creation, ed. John Bolt, trans. John Vriend (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 2004), 252–55. 3. This in itself would prove to be a very interesting study. In one section of the essay Bavinck entertains an idea by a “Mister Berland” who maintains “the characterization of an anarchist situation in the arts.” See Bavinck, “Of Beauty and Aesthetics,” 252. -
Glory Over Sublimity: Karl Barth'S Theological Aesthetics
HeyJ •• (2016), pp. ••–•• GLORY OVER SUBLIMITY: KARL BARTH’S THEOLOGICAL AESTHETICS SCOTT A. KIRKLAND Trinity College, Melbourne, Australia INTRODUCTION: DISPLACING THE SUBJECT OF SUBLIME INTUITION My contention is that Barth deliberately reframes theologically the Kantian conditions for per- ception of the beautiful and the sublime by dispossessing the subject of the normative universal- ity she maintains in Kant’s system of knowing. Barth frames beauty and sublimity instead in terms of the givenness of divine being for us in the form of the Son of God incarnate. Beauty no longer is a subjective apriori; it is rather a product of divine self-giving. Barth therefore finds ways to speak of creaturely participation in this beauty through the playful language of ‘joy’ and ‘happiness’ in the Spirit. We shall focus on Church Dogmatics [hereafter CD] paragraph 31.3, on divine glory; it is here that Barth enters into one of the few explicit discussions of theological aesthetics in the CD. Barth seeks to heal the disjunction created between the beautiful and the good in the second and third critiques by re-thinking the relationship between divine action and divine beauty, see- ing God’s beauty as his action. Beauty [Schon€ ], derived from divine glory [Herrlichkeit], is the crowning moment of CD II.1, the final perfection to be explicated. This is significant, as glory is seen as the exposition of the form of God’s coming in its superfluousness. Glory is God’s hiddenness as it is the revelation of his fullness in a dizzying light. Throughout CD II.1, each of the perfections serves to illuminate another; with none seen in isolation, each is continually destabilised by the excess of God’s revelatory activity. -
The Cloud of Unknowing Pdf Free Download
THE CLOUD OF UNKNOWING PDF, EPUB, EBOOK Anonymous | 138 pages | 20 May 2011 | Aziloth Books | 9781908388131 | English | Rookhope, United Kingdom The Cloud of Unknowing PDF Book He writes in Chapter But again, in this very failure of understanding, in the Dionysian formula, we know by unknowing. A similar image is used in the Cloud line and Book Three, poem 9, of Boethius's Consolation of Philosophy, where the First Mover calls back the souls scattered throughout the universe "like leaping flames" trans. In the end, as The Cloud's author insists: " If you want to find your soul, look at what your love"--and, I would add, at who loves you! Nought occurs also in Chapter Eighteen, lines , as a term derogatorily applied to contemplation by those who do not understand it; and, in Chapter Forty-four, by recommending to the contemplative a sorrow connected with the fact that he simply exists or is line , the author evokes a deeply ontological variation of this "nothing" that suggests the longing of contingency for absolute being. Perhaps my favorite thing about this book, however, is the anonymous writer. The analysis of tempered sensuality, motivated by reflections on the resurrection and ascension, is the author's last treatment of the powers of the soul, knowledge of which keeps the contemplative from being deceived in his effort to understand spiritual language and experience lines In the first mansion of the Temple of God which is the soul, understanding and affectivity operate naturally in the natural sphere, although helped by illuminating grace. Whether we prefer Ignatius' way of images or the image-less way of The Cloud, all prayer is a simple reaching out to God what The Cloud calls ' a naked intent for God' and allowing God to reach back to us. -
Von Balthasar's Ideal Theology
APPENDIX VON BALTHASAR'S IDEAL THEOLOGY It is well known that von Balthasar spent the early years of his theological career studying the patristic period of Christianity. I When one considers the dominant view in that period of what an ideal theology, as well as what an ideal theologian, should consist in, it soon becomes apparent how great is the patristic influence on his thought. Certainly, both his ideal theology and his conception of what a Christian theologian should be clearly show the influence that the patristic period had on him. In this appendix, I first draw out some of the features of the dominant view held within the patristic period2 of an ideal theology and an ideal theologian-a view which had such a marked effect on von Balthasar. I then discuss his proposals for the way forward in theology-proposals which incorporate the specific ideal which he draws from the patristic period. Thus, in this appendix, I shed further light on von Balthasar's appeal for a return to a more integrated approach to theology. (a) The Early Centuries If we are to gain any further insight into von Balthasar's conception of what both theology and theologians ought to be, then we must take into considera tion what, for him, was the definitive period of Christian theology-namely, the early centuries of Christianity. The most relevant feature of this period, 1 Indeed, von Balthasar's ·fIrst significant theological pUblications were in Patristics. See Hans Urs von Balthasar, Kosmische Liturgie. Hohe und Krise des griechischen Weltbilds bei Maximus Confessor (Freiburg: Herder, 1941); Hans Urs von Balthasar, Die Gnost ischen Centurien des Maximus Confessor (Freiburg: Herder, 1941); and Hans Urs von Balthasar, Presence et Pensee. -
Four Perspectives on Karl Rahner's Theological Aesthetics, by Peter Joseph Fritz Judith Wolfe University of St
Marquette University e-Publications@Marquette Theology Faculty Research and Publications Theology, Department of 1-1-2017 Review Symposium: Four Perspectives on Karl Rahner's Theological Aesthetics, by Peter Joseph Fritz Judith Wolfe University of St. Andrews Gesa Thiessen Trinity College Robert Masson Marquette University, [email protected] Mark F. Fischer St. John's Seminary, Camarillo, CA Accepted version. Philosophy & Theology, Vol. 29, No. 2 (2017): 485–506. DOI. © 2017 Philosophy Documentation Center. Used with permission. Marquette University e-Publications@Marquette Theology Faculty Research and Publications/College of Arts and Sciences This paper is NOT THE PUBLISHED VERSION; but the author’s final, peer-reviewed manuscript. The published version may be accessed by following the link in the citation below. Philosophy & Theology, Vol. 29, No. 2, (2017): 485-506. DOI. This article is © Philosophy Documentation Center and permission has been granted for this version to appear in e- Publications@Marquette. Philosophy Documentation Center does not grant permission for this article to be further copied/distributed or hosted elsewhere without the express permission from Philosophy Documentation Center. Contents I. .................................................................................................................................................................... 2 II. ..................................................................................................................................................................