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Imago Dei, Imago Trinitatis, the Person in Community – a Divine Reality and Human Inspiration

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Imago Dei, Imago Trinitatis, the Person in Community – a Divine Reality and Human Inspiration Imago Dei, Imago Trinitatis, the Person in Community – a Divine Reality and Human Inspiration by Matthew Charlesworth A Thesis submitted to the Faculty of Regis College and the Graduate Centre for Theological Studies of the Toronto School of Theology. In partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Theology awarded by Regis College and the University of Toronto © Copyright by Matthew Charlesworth 2018 Imago Dei, Imago Trinitatis, the Person in Community – a Divine Reality and Human Inspiration Matthew Charlesworth Master of Theology Regis College and the University of Toronto 2018 Abstract Using the work of B. Lonergan and H.U. von Balthasar to enhance our understanding of the individual within the community, I argue that the African notion of Ubuntu enriches our understanding of humanity through recognizing the role and importance of community. I use Lonergan to show that awareness of another’s humanity leads to a deeper awareness of one’s own and that the ultimate form of being-in-relationship is a being-in-love which requires authenticity and self-transcendence. I argue that Ubuntu is another way of naming self- transcendence from an African perspective. Drawing on the works of Balthasar, theologically this recognition of community not only enhances our understanding of humanity but alludes to the profound theological recognition that the Imago Dei in the other is most profoundly an Imago Trinitatis. Since God cannot be God out of relationship with God, human persons require community, and the ecclesial community to be most fully human persons. ii Acknowledgments I am first of all grateful to God for calling me into the Society of Jesus and for constantly drawing me closer to Him, especially during this time of theological studies. I am grateful to Fr David Smolira, S.J. for originally missioning me to Toronto, and to his successor, Fr David Rowan, S.J. and the Jesuits of the South African Region of the Society of Jesus for giving me the time and space to start and finish this degree. I am especially grateful to my supervisor, Professor Gill Goulding, C.J. of Regis College, for her unfailing support, encouragement, and advice throughout my work on this thesis; and to my Rector Fr Conlin Mulvihill, S.J. and Fr Matthew Dunch, S.J. for their help and support, especially during the final stages of submitting this thesis. I am also grateful to other Regis College Professors: Gilles Mongeau, S.J. and, at the time, Jeremy Wilkins, for their unwavering support and who offered me classes and seminars at Regis College. I shall be forever grateful to all three of them for introducing me to Hans Urs von Balthasar, Bernard Lonergan, S.J. and Thomas Aquinas and for so passionately teaching me and modelling what a Theology Professor should be like. I am also very thankful for all of their friendship, generosity and encouragement during this process. Regis College will forever have a special place in my heart. To the other faculty, staff and students, especially Eric Mabry and Brian Bajzek, whom I had the privilege of befriending and collaborating with, thank you for creating such a wonderful academic environment. I am especially grateful for the community and friendships generated in the many social activities and for the opportunity to serve on the Student Council and Academic Board. I am also grateful to the broader community of the Toronto School of Theology especially in the persons of Professor Thomas Reynolds of Emmanuel College, Professor Michael Vertin of the iii University of St Michael’s College, Professor Joseph Mangina of Wycliffe College, and Professor John Dadosky of Regis College whose courses I enjoyed and whose subjects, whilst not directly appearing in this thesis, no doubt, indirectly inspired some of this work. I am honoured to have done this research in such an ecumenical environment and am grateful to the Graduate Centre for Theological Studies for offering me the opportunity to do this degree. I also wish to record my thanks to my fellow members of the TST Graduate Students’ Association whose company I enjoyed during my degree and whose friendships enriched my time in Toronto. I acknowledge with thanks the financial and spiritual support of the Society of Jesus. I am also grateful to the Jesuit communities in which I lived as I worked on this thesis, first at the Regis College Community in Toronto and then at St Ignatius House in Johannesburg, South Africa, and to Fathers Winston Rye, S.J. and Peter Bisson, S.J. who were a constant source of encouragement and whose senses of humor picked me up during the cold winters and provided the perspective and motivation to carry on. During my studies I was ordained to the Deaconate and wish to thank the community and parish of St Thomas Aquinas at the Newman Centre. The pastoral experience enriched my theological reflection. This was further enhanced after my ordination to the priesthood during my year as an Assistant Pastor and Assistant Chaplain at Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Braamfontein, South Africa, and I would like to thank these communities for encouraging me. I am finally also grateful to my mother, Jenny Charlesworth, for agreeing to proof-read a final draft of this thesis, and to Fr Anthony Egan, S.J. for his advice and support during the final stages of completing this thesis in South Africa. Fr Matthew Charlesworth, S.J. iv Table of Contents Chapter 1 A contextualization and statement of the African understanding of Persons and Communities and how a person’s mission is defined in relation to their community .... 1 1.1 Introduction ....................................................................................................... 1 1.2 An explanation of ‘person’ ................................................................................. 2 1.3 Persons as understood in Africa ......................................................................... 5 1.4 Ubuntu ............................................................................................................... 9 1.5 Notions of mission and community .................................................................. 12 1.6 Conclusion ....................................................................................................... 15 Chapter 2 The Western Tradition’s understanding of Person and Communities ......................... 18 2.1 Introduction ..................................................................................................... 18 2.2 The human person in the Western Tradition ..................................................... 19 2.3 Etymology of Person ........................................................................................ 21 2.4 Other views on the Human Person? .................................................................. 27 2.5 How Lonergan’s Cognitional Theory contributes to the understanding of a Human Person.................................................................................................. 32 2.6 How has the Divine Person been understood in the Western Tradition?............ 37 2.7 Can ‘Divine Person’ be commonly understood? ............................................... 40 2.8 ‘Person’ as relation .......................................................................................... 40 2.9 Lonergan’s Understanding of the Trinity of Divine Persons ............................. 41 2.10 Conclusion: the Divine Life of the Trinity as a model for the Communitarian Life of Human Persons..................................................................................... 42 Chapter 3 How Ubuntu contributes to Theology and in particular to the understanding of Humanity and Community being in relationship ........................................................ 44 3.1 Introduction ..................................................................................................... 44 3.2 What makes a community? .............................................................................. 46 v 3.3 Ubuntu as a political and a theological concept ................................................ 48 3.4 The Theology of Ubuntu .................................................................................. 51 3.5 A particular feature of the African understanding of community ...................... 53 3.6 Life and the Divine Persons ............................................................................. 58 3.7 Conclusion ....................................................................................................... 58 Chapter 4 Lonergan’s enrichment of Ubuntu and the Trinitarian Community of Divine Persons ..................................................................................................................... 60 4.1 Introduction ..................................................................................................... 60 4.2 Lonergan’s Cognitional Theory ........................................................................ 61 4.3 Community and Inter-subjectivity .................................................................... 64 4.4 Inter-subjectivity, relations and Ubuntu ............................................................ 67 4.5 Being-in-love ................................................................................................... 70 Chapter 5 The communitarian dimension has a magisterial principle at its heart. ....................... 84 5.1 The theological meaning of Persons ................................................................
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