FOUNDATIONS in ECCLESIOLOGY I Joseph A

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

FOUNDATIONS in ECCLESIOLOGY I Joseph A I \ I ~ , .. ,I I I I I FOUNDATIONS I IN ECCLESIOLOGY I I I I I I I I Joseph A. Komonchak I I I '. I I I I I I FOUNDATIONS IN ECCLESIOLOGY I Joseph A. Komonchak I I I I I I I Supplementary Issue of the Lonergan Workshop Journal I Volume 11 Fred Lawrence, editor I • \ I 1../ I I I, I I I I I I I I I I I I I Copyright © 1995 Boston College I I Printed in the United States of America I on acid-free paper I I ,I I I I EDITORIAL NOTE I Joseph A. Komonchak belongs to a generation of Catholic theologians formed in what was essentially the pre-Vatican II system I of seminary education. This system combined the very forces of renewal that made the Council possible with the drawbacks of I closedness and downright aridity that made Pope John XXIII's fresh air necessary. If he was exposed to much in the seminary and church that needed reform, he also had the opportunity to have solid scholars I teaching him, such as Myles M. Bourke for scripture, in his New York diocesan seminary, and equally respectable men like Rene Latourelle and Juan Alfaro in Rome, not to mention the person who exerted the I most influence upon him, Bernard Lonergan. In one of the most trenchant passages he ever ,wrote Lonergan I said: The breakdown of classical culture and, at least in our day, I the manifest comprehensiveness and exclusiveness of modern culture confront Catholic philosophy and Catholic theology with the gravest problems, impose upon them mountainous tasks, I invite them to Herculean labors. ... Classical culture cannot· be jettisoned without being replaced, and what replaces it c~nnot but run counter to classical expectations. There is bound to be I formed a solid right that is determined to live in a world that no longer exists. There is bound to be formed a scattered left, captivated by now this, now that new possibility. But what will I count is a perhaps not numerous center, big enough to be at home in both the old and the new, painstaking enough to work out one by one the transitions to be made, strong enough to I refuse half-measures and insist on complete solutions even though it has to wait. I There is a widely shared conviction among respected theologians that Joseph A. Komonchak belongs to Lonergan's "perhaps not I numerous center." I would like to stress that whereas today anyone starting out in theology who desires to be "big enough to be at home in both the old and the new" has to go to out of his or her way to attain I any deep knowledge of the old, Komonchak's generation was lucky I I III I I enough to experience the old and the new in a single life-span. Before then the seminary student of the post-1815 Roman Catholic regime so brilliantly adumbrated in Komonchak's historical studies would have I had to go to extraordinary lengths in order to "be at home in the new." This is what Komonchak's heroes did - people like John Courtney I Murray and Bernard Lonergan on this continent, and Henri de Lubac, Marie-Dominique Chenu, Yves Con gar, Hans Urs von Balthasar, Karl Rahner, Edward Schillebeeckx, and the Joseph Ratzinger who was a I very influential peritus at Vatican II in Europe. These theologians embodied the 'perhaps not numerous center' during his formative I period, and he spent years understanding, assimilating, and emulating their achievements in his own work. Among the group of philosophically inclined American theologians I formed by Lonergan, including people like John Dunne, Ben F. Meyer, David Burrell, David Tracy, Matthew Lamb, and Robert Doran (to I name but a few), only Joseph Komonchak took up the challenge implied in Lonergan's statement in the Epilogue to Insight about the need for a contemporary "treatise on the concrete universal that is I mankind in the concrete and cumulative consequences of the acceptance or rejection of the message the Gospel (473)." Komonchak I was preoccupied with the question of a systematic theology of the church long before doing his doctoral dissertation tracing John Henry Newman's changing views of the church. Yet the dissertation'gives us I a clue to a major characteristic of Komonchak's cast of mind. Besides being a tough-minded systematic thinker, Komonchak is equally if not I more gifted as a historian. This is evidenced in his articles and lectures devoted to discovering what happened to the church's life and theology at the Second Vatican Council. I Needless to say, the vast historical work needed for adequate ecclesiology today makes tip no small portion of the ('mountainous I tasks" and "Herculean labors" indicated by Lonergan in the earlier citation above. Ironically perhaps, Komonchak'stalent and penchant for history together with his conscientious awareness of the immense I historical background demanded for a historically minded ecclesiology have set up the risk that his unique work in the systematic theology of I the church might be prevented from seeing the light, of day. Nevertheless, an adequate contemporary ecclesiology must also confront the perhaps even more challenging 'grave problems' that I pertain to the functional specialty Foundations. It is no accident that I IV I I I . :E{omonchak has chosen to give this collection the title Foundations in , Ecclesiology. I Many readers will recall that foundational theology thematizes the horizon within which theological discourse in doctrines, I systematics, and communications makes sense. On top of articulating the basic orientation of one's theological horizon as provided by religious, moral, and intellectual conversion, foundational theology is I concerned with working out the general and special categories that condition the theologians' horizon as they do doctrines and I systematics. Thus, Komonchak's articles linking Lonergan and the task of ecclesiology and his essays on ecclesiology and the human sciences are engaged in discovering the general and special categories I needed for a theology of the church. His St. Michael's Lectures both further elaborate and begin to apply those general and special I categories to a systematic account of church. Anyone confused or overwhelmed by their awareness of the complexities attending a genuinely conte~porary ecclesiology will find I immeasurable help and solace in this collection of writings. One would be hard pressed to find a clearer or deeper contribution towards an explanatory theology of the church, to use a favorite phrase borrowed I by Lonergan from Ortega y Gasset, 'on the level of our times.' The Lonergan Workshop is enormously privileged and proud to publish I such seminal work by the church's finest ecclesiologist since Con gar. The four first chapters have appeared in print before: I 1. "History and Social Theory in Ecclesiology," Lonergan Workshop, vol. 2 (Chico, CA: Scholars Press 1981) 1-53. I We are grateful for permission to reprint: 2. "Lonergan and the Tasks of Ecclesiology," in Creativity and Method: I Essays in Honor of Bernard Lonergan, S.J. (Milwaukee: Marquette University Press 1981) 265-273. I 3. "Ecclesiology and Social Theory: A Methodological Essay," The Thomist 45 (1981) 262-283. 4. "The Church," in Desires of the Human Heart: An Introduction to the I Theology of Bernard Lonergan (New York: Paulist Press 1988) 222- I 236. I v I I I We also thank Kevin McGinley, SJ, Director of the St. Michael's Institute at Gonzaga University for permission to publish "Part II: Some Foundations for Ecclesiology." I Finally, our deepest thanks to Anne O'Donnell for all she has done to get these articles into print as a Supplementary Issue of Lonergan Workshop. I Fred Lawrence I Boston College I I I I I I I I I I I I I VI I ·..•.··1 I I PREFACE I The essays collected in this volume concentrate on questions of method in ecclesiology and approach them from a perspective heavily I influenced by the thought of Bernard Lonergan. Colleagues and students have suggested the usefulness of gathering them in one place I and I am grateful to Fred Lawrence for providing a place for them in the supplementary volumes of the Lonergan Workshop. I began teaching ecclesiology at St. Joseph's Seminary, I Dunwoodie, in the fall of 1967. It took me some time to grasp what the real questions in the area were and more time still to begin to grope >1 towards a critical method for addressing them. My studies under Father Lonergan in Rome had given me some idea of what a real theological question is and some sense of how to go about answering it. I But questions vary with the area under consideration, and questions arose in ecclesiology that Lonergan himself had not explicitly addressed. Similarly, the critical sophistication of the different I theological disciplines varied considerably, and in the late 1960s .by this criterion ecclesiology did not rank high. Everyone knew that one I couldn't do ecclesiology as the authors of the manuals had done it­ Vatican II had pretty well shattered the old paradigm - but there was little agreement about what was to take its place. I Over several years I became convinced that one of the chief challenges was to bridge the gap between the lofty theological I language which the Council had restored to the center of ecclesiology and the concrete reality of the Church as realized in communities of believers. Were 'People of God,' 'Body of Christ: 'Temple of the Holy I Spirit' concepts the ecclesiologist must deal with simply because the Scriptures and tradition require it, or did they also describe I dimensions which one could identify and help others to identify in the concrete reality of the Church? When the Council declared that the Church is a single complex reality composed of a divine and a human.
Recommended publications
  • Sin. Systematic Theology.Wayne Grudem
    Systematic Theology Wayne Grudem Chapter 24! SIN What is sin? Where did it come from? Do we inherit a sinful nature from Adam? Do we inherit guilt from Adam? EXPLANATION AND SCRIPTURAL BASIS A. The Definition of Sin The history of the human race as presented in Scripture is primarily a history of man in a state of sin and rebellion against God and of God’s plan of redemption to bring man back to himself. Therefore, it is appropriate now to consider the nature of the sin that separates man from God. We may define sin as follows: Sin is any failure to conform to the moral law of God in act, attitude, or nature. Sin is here defined in relation to God and his moral law. Sin includes not only individual acts such as stealing or lying or committing murder, but also attitudes that are contrary to the attitudes God requires of us. We see this already in the Ten Commandments, which not only prohibit sinful actions but also wrong attitudes: “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor” (Ex. 20:17 NIV). Here God specifies that a desire to steal or to commit adultery is also sin in his sight. The Sermon on the Mount also prohibits sinful attitudes such as anger (Matt. 5:22) or lust (Matt. 5:28). Paul lists attitudes such as jealousy, anger, and selfishness (Gal. 5:20) as things that are works of the flesh opposed to the desires of the Spirit (Gal.
    [Show full text]
  • “Only a Trinity Can Save
    “Only a Trinity Can Save Us” Ephesians 3:14-21 14 For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, 16 in order that he might grant you according to the riches of his glory to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in the inner man, 17 that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, being rooted and established in love, 18 in order that you might be strengthened to comprehend with all the saints what is the length and width and height and depth, 19 and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, in order that you might be filled with all the fullness of God. 20 Now to him who is able to do exceedingly more than anything that we could ask or imagine, according to the power that is being worked within us, 21 to him be glory in the Church and in Christ Jesus for all generations, forever and ever. Amen. In the Name of God: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen. 1. Introduction. When I was studying in England, I was enrolled in a Theology Seminar led by, let’s say, a “noteworthy conservative theology scholar.” There was nothing immediately alarming about the class or the instructor on paper, but then on day two, we began our study of the Trinity. The Professor explained that the word “God” was not so much a noun as an adjective to be applied to each Person of the Trinity.
    [Show full text]
  • Gerald O'collins, Saint Augustine on the Resurrection of Christ: Teaching
    Gerald O’Collins, Saint Augustine on the Resurrection of Christ: Teaching, Rhetoric, and Reception (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2017), 121 pages. Reviewed by Gary R. Habermas, Liberty University Over decades studying the resurrection of Jesus, it always appears odd that there are comparatively few contemporary works treating the centuries of great church fathers who have addressed Christianity’s center. Many treasured gems have grown dusty and remain too-seldom remembered. We are the worse for that. Why this research lacuna? This little volume features well-known researcher Gerald O’Collins entering this void on a subject he knows well, addressing Augustine’s thoughts on Jesus’ resurrection and teaming with perhaps the world’s most respected academic publisher. Who besides Augustine is more erudite, speaks to the entire church, and does so in the classical rhetorical style, providing a magnificent choice? O’Collins begins his Preface by acknowledging the need for this study. Other major church leaders like Athanasius, Cyril of Alexandria, and Leo the Great wrote major Christological works before and after Augustine, yet, the latter surprisingly did not do so. Augustine’s longest treatment of Christology is The Trinity 4:1-5, though he still presents many reflections on Christology in his sermons, letters, and other works (v). Since “Preaching the message of Christ constituted the central core of Augustine’s ministry” (vi), the absence of an extended treatment is surprising. This absence encouraged his commentators to concentrate on other themes, like Scripture, the Trinity, original sin, free will, and grace. It remains the case that today, few commentators treat Augustine’s message: “we still lack studies precisely on Christ’s own resurrection from the dead.” O’Collins continues: “This study aims to fill this important gap.” (vi) 1 Towards this goal, O’Collins’ five chapters are devoted to key subjects strewn throughout Augustine’s writings.
    [Show full text]
  • Re-Imagining Ecclesiology: a New Missional Paradigm for Community Transformation
    Digital Commons @ George Fox University Doctor of Ministry Theses and Dissertations 4-2021 Re-Imagining Ecclesiology: A New Missional Paradigm For Community Transformation Michael J. Berry Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.georgefox.edu/dmin Part of the Christianity Commons GEORGE FOX UNIVERSITY RE-IMAGINING ECCLESIOLOGY: A NEW MISSIONAL PARADIGM FOR COMMUNITY TRANSFORMATION A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF PORTLAND SEMINARY IN CANDIDACY FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF MINISTRY BY MICHAEL J. BERRY PORTLAND, OREGON APRIL 2021 Portland Seminary George Fox University Portland, Oregon CERTIFICATE OF APPROVAL ________________________________ DMin Dissertation ________________________________ This is to certify that the DMin Dissertation of Michael J. Berry has been approved by the Dissertation Committee on April 29, 2021 for the degree of Doctor of Ministry in Leadership in the Emerging Culture Dissertation Committee: Primary Advisor: W. David Phillips, DMin Secondary Advisor: Karen Claassen, DMin Lead Mentor: Leonard I. Sweet, PhD Copyright © 2021 by Michael J. Berry All rights reserved ii DEDICATION To my wife, Andra and to our daughters, Ariel and Olivia. iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Special thanks for everyone’s support and assistance to get me through this process: Dr. Len Sweet, Donna Wallace, Dr. David Phillips, Dr. Loren Kerns, Dr. Clifford Berger, Dr. Jason Sampler, Rochelle Deans, Dr. David Anderson, Dr. Tom Hancock, Patrick Mulvaney, Ray Crew, and especially Tracey Wagner. iv EPIGRAPH The baptism and spiritual
    [Show full text]
  • Sin and Its Consequences
    VZ Mar. ’09 Sin and ConsequencesOVoittonen Sin and Its Consequences The boundary between right and wrong, between that which is permitted and that which is forbidden, has dimmed to a great extent in the way people commonly think about matters today. At the same time, people’s morals have become relative. Many are of the opinion that sin no longer has significance for modern man. The question regarding sin and release from its guilt, however, is at the same time the most painful problem of life for many people. Sin closely connects with the concept of man and his salvation. The Perfection of Life Was Broken According to Scripture, God created man in His own image. He gave a mind, will, and conscience to man. Man received everything from God and lived in unity with Him. Everywhere there was perfection, harmony: everything was good (Gen. 1:27, 31.) Man had three basic relationships: a relationship with God, a relationship with other people and a relationship with nature. Man’s committed sin broke the harmony. In the fall into sin he became attracted to evil, he wanted to become as God and thus broke God’s will. When he consented to commit sin, man did not care about what God had said. The image of God in man was corrupted and he lost the peace of conscience. He lost his righteousness, his free will, and immortality. Accusations and distrust arose in the relationship between Adam and his spouse. The ground became cursed: Creation groans in pain (Rom. 8:19–22). The “law of sweat” descended upon man’s being, the sweat and furrows of the brow (Gen.
    [Show full text]
  • Introduction to the Afterlife
    A Traveler’s Guide to the Afterlife A Bible Literacy Study Guide on the Eternal Destiny of the Individual Dr. Timothy Gordon Introduction to the Afterlife Copyright © 2004-2021 Tim Gordon. All Rights Reserved. 1 Introduction to the Afterlife • Afterlife Series, Book Cover and Diagram • Afterlife Definitions • Eschatology Defined • Millennial Views • Significant Scriptures • Common Questions • Christian Beliefs About the Afterlife • George Barna on the Afterlife • Salvation, Faith, and Merit • Is There Life After Death? • Afterlife as a Belief • Afterlife as an Individual or Collective Existence • Afterlife as Reward or Punishment • Abrahamic (Monotheistic) Religions • The Dead as Angels in Heaven • Unimportance of Mortal Life • Doomsday • Afterlife in Modern Science • Afterlife as Reincarnation • The Afterlife and Science Fiction • New Age Beliefs • Universalism • History of Afterlife Beliefs • Questions for Discussion • References Copyright © 2004-2021 Tim Gordon. All Rights Reserved. 2 A Traveler’s Guide to the Afterlife • Introduction to the Afterlife • Death and the Mortality of Man • The Immortality of the Soul • The Intermediate State of the Dead • The Second Coming of Christ • The Resurrection of the Body • The Day of Judgment and Rewards • Hell and Eternal Destruction • Heaven and Eternal Life Copyright © 2004-2021 Tim Gordon. All Rights Reserved. 3 Copyright © 2004-2021 Tim Gordon. All Rights Reserved. 4 Copyright © 2004-2021 Tim Gordon. All Rights Reserved. 5 Afterlife Definitions • A generic term referring to a continuation of existence, typically spiritual, experiential, or ghost-like, beyond this world, or after death. • Continuation of conscious personal existence after death. • For Christians, the hope for life after death rests on God's promise of the resurrection of the body, though personal existence continues between death and the resurrection in some "intermediate state," in which those who are saved are with God.
    [Show full text]
  • Nestorians Jǐngjiàotú ​景教徒
    ◀ Neo-Confucianism Comprehensive index starts in volume 5, page 2667. Nestorians Jǐngjiàotú ​景教徒 Nestorians refer to Christians who follow Nestorians first translated their scriptures into Chinese Nestorius, a leader of an early Eastern Chris- and established a Nestorian church in Chang’an. After tian tradition. Persecution for heresy forced the that many Nestorians came to China either by land from Nestorians toward Central and East Asia, includ- Central Asia or by sea from Persia (Iran). The Nestorian Stele was erected in 781, a time of relative prosperity for ing China. As the first generation of Christians Chinese Nestorianism. It is said to have been inscribed coming to China, they arrived in the Tang court by a Nestorian priest named “Adam” (“Jingjing” in Chi- in the early seventh century, and remained in the nese) with the sponsorship of a larger congregation. The country for two hundred years. stele offers a brief but thorough history of Nestorianism in Tang China. According to manuscript sources, the Ne- storian leader Adam translated about thirty-five​­ scriptures hristianity was introduced to China during the into Chinese. Several of these translations survived as the Tang dynasty (618– 907 ce) and became widely manuscripts from Dunhuang; one of them is identified as known as “Jingjiao” (Luminous Teaching) dur- Gloria in excélsis Deo in Syriac texts. However, after 845 ing the Tianqi period (1625– 1627) of the Ming dynasty the Nestorians virtually disappeared in Chinese sources, (1368– 1644) after the discovery of a luminous stele (a having suffered political persecution under the reign of carved or inscribed stone slab or pillar used for commem- the Emperor Wuzong.
    [Show full text]
  • Sin: Not the Way It's Supposed to Be
    SIN: NOT THE WAY IT’S SUPPOSED TO BE Cornelius Plantinga Jr.1 “Everything’s s’pposed to be different than what it is here.” –Simon (Danny Glover) in Grand Canyon In the 1991 film Grand Canyon, an immigration attorney breaks out of a traffic jam and tries to drive around it. He doesn’t know where he’s going and he’s alarmed to note that each street seems darker and more deserted than the last. Then, a nightmare. His fancy sports car stalls. He manages to call for a tow truck, but before it arrives, five local toughs surround his car and threaten him. Just in time, the tow truck shows up and its driver—an earnest, genial man— begins to hook up to the sports car. The toughs protest: the driver is interrupting their meal. So the driver takes the group leader aside and gives him a five-sentence introduction to sin: Man, the world ain’t s’pposed to work like this. Maybe you don’t know that, but this ain’t the way it’s s’pposed to be. I’m s’pposed to be able to do my job without askin’ you if I can. And that dude is s’pposed to be able to wait with his car without you rippin’ him off. Everything’s s’pposed to be different than what it is here. The driver’s summary of the human predicament is just about perfect. He understands the way things are supposed to be. They are supposed to include friendly streets that are safe for strangers.
    [Show full text]
  • When Christology Intersects with Embryology 855
    DOI 10.1515/bz-2020-0037 BZ 2020; 113(3): 853–878 Dirk Krausmüller When Christologyintersects with embryology: the viewpointsofNestorian, Monophysite and Chalcedonian authorsofthe sixth to tenth centuries Abstract: The notion that the soul comes into existencesimultaneouslywith the bodyatthe moment of conception was originallyintroduced into the Patristic discourse as an alternative to the Origenist notion of apre-existing soul. Yet from the sixth century onwards it was itself regarded as an Origenisttenet. Now it was claimedthat onlythosewho believed the soul to be created after the bodyweretrulyorthodox. The present article examines the links between this development and the Christologicalconversies. Adresse: Dr.Dirk Krausmüller,Gratian-Marx-Str.8/25, 1110 Wien, Österreich; [email protected] In Patristic literature the ensoulment of the embryoisexplainedinthree differ- ent ways:the soul either pre-exists the bodyand enters it at the moment of con- ception (prohyparxis), or comes into being at the moment of conception (synhy- parxis), or appears after the bodyhas been formed (methyparxis). From the late fourth century onwardsthe first option, which had once been proposed by Ori- gen, met with increasingresistence since manyconsidered it to be irreconcilable with the Christian faith. By contrast, the second and third options werewidely regarded as equallyorthodox. Their proponents disagreed but did so without rancour as nothing much was at stake. This situation, however,changed in the middle of the sixth century when two developments took place. On the one hand, not only prohyparxis but also synhyparxis was now widelysuspected This article is partofthe project “Reassessing ninth century philosophy.Asynchronic approach to the logical traditions” (SALT)that hasreceivedfunding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the EuropeanUnion’sHorizon research and innovation programme (grant agreement No.
    [Show full text]
  • Heaven & Earth
    DOWNLOAD THIS STUDY GUIDE AND THE VIDEO AT JOINTHEBIBLEPROJECT.COM HEAVEN & EARTH STUDY GUIDE This study guide will be most helpful if you work through it slowly with an open Bible looking up all the references. Grab some friends and do it together! STUDY GUIDE FOR HEAVEN & EARTH 1 In the Bible the word “heaven” is used in different 1 ways depending on the context. GENESIS 1:1 It can refer simply to “the sky.” PSALM 68:34 PSALM 148:13 DEUTERONOMY 26:15 It can refer to “God’s space,” using the sky as PSALM 2:4 a metaphor to describe God’s transcendence PSALM 115:2-3 over all things. ISAIAH 66:1 God’s space is in contrast with “earth/land” PSALM 115:16 which is human space. There is also recognition that God isn’t literally 1 KINGS 8:27 located in the sky, but rather his presence fills ISAIAH 6:3 all creation. JEREMIAH 23:24 STUDY GUIDE FOR HEAVEN & EARTH 2 Heaven and earth are depicted as distinct 2 but overlapping dimensions of divine space and human space. Check out the following biblical stories that explore or assume this overlap: MOSES’ ENCOUNTER MOSES’ ENCOUNTER JACOB’S DREAM WITH GOD AT THE WITH GOD’S PRESENCE OF ANGELS AT BETHEL BURNING BUSH ON MT. SINAI GENESIS 28:10-17 EXODUS 3:1-6 EXODUS 19:9-12 Notice how the place Notice in 3:5 how the Note the descriptions of he lies down becomes space around the bush God’s presence that are a ‘connecting point’ is called “holy ground,” appearing on earth! between heaven and i.e.
    [Show full text]
  • Jean-Paul Sartre: Mystical Atheist Or Mystical Antipathist?
    JEAN-Paul Sartre: Mystical Atheist or Mystical Antipathist? Kate Kirkpatrick University of Oxford Abstract. Jean-Paul Sartre is rarely discussed in the philosophy of religion. In 2009, however, Jerome Gellman broke the silence, publishing an article in this journal in which he argued that the source of Sartre’s atheism was neither philosophical nor existential, but mystical. Drawing from several of Sartre’s works – including Being and Nothingness, Words, and a 1943 review entitled ‘A New Mystic’ – I argue that there are strong biographical and philosophical reasons to disagree with Gellman’s conclusion that Sartre was a ‘mystical atheist’. Moreover, I question the likelihood of drawing any definitive conclusions regarding the sources of Sartre’s ambiguous atheism. Given his status as one of the best-known atheists of the twentieth century, it is hardly surprising that little research has been dedicated to Sartre and mysticism. It is an area, however, that deserves greater scholarly attention. To date there have only been two brief studies published in English: a chapter in Jacques Salvan’s 1967 The Scandalous Ghost and a more recent contribution from Jerome Gellman in 2009 – an article in this journal in which he argues that Sartre was a ‘mystical atheist’.1 Though he is not the first to apply this epithet to Sartre,2 Gellman finds so much evidence in favour of mysticism in Sartre’s works as to suggest that the latter’s atheism is neither philosophical nor existential, but mystical – that is, rooted in a mystical experience of the non-existence of God. 1 One might also wish to include Hazel Barnes’ introduction to Being and Nothingness, which includes a brief comparison of Sartre’s ontology and mysticism.
    [Show full text]
  • The Doctrine of Sin
    Liberty University DigitalCommons@Liberty University The orF bidden Fruit File Theological Studies 5-2018 The oD ctrine of Sin Harold Willmington Liberty University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/forbidden_fruit Part of the Biblical Studies Commons, Christianity Commons, and the Religious Thought, Theology and Philosophy of Religion Commons Recommended Citation Willmington, Harold, "The octrD ine of Sin" (2018). The Forbidden Fruit File. 1. http://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/forbidden_fruit/1 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Theological Studies at DigitalCommons@Liberty University. It has been accepted for inclusion in The orF bidden Fruit File by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@Liberty University. For more information, please contact [email protected]. THE DOCTRINE OF SIN INTRODUCTION Man calls it an accident; God calls it an abomination. Man calls it a blunder; God calls it a blight. Man calls it a defect; God calls it a disease. Man calls it a chance; God calls it a choice. Man calls it an error; God calls it an enmity. Man calls it a fascination; God calls it a fatality. Man calls it an infirmity; God calls it an iniquity. Man calls it a luxury; God calls it a leprosy. Man calls it a liberty; God calls it lawlessness. Man calls it a trifle; God calls it a tragedy. Man calls it a mistake; God calls it a madness. Man calls it a weakness; God calls it a willfulness. What is this mysterious thing, so downplayed and on occasion actually denied by man, but utterly denounced by God? By actual count it is referred to over 700 times in the Word of God.
    [Show full text]