Teilhard De Chardin's Spirituality of the Cross

Horizons ◽  
1976 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-15
Author(s):  
Robert Faricy
Keyword(s):  
Jesus Christ ◽  
Theology Of The Cross ◽  
Christian Life ◽  
Dead End ◽  
Spiritual Theology ◽  
The World ◽  
Pierre Teilhard De Chardin ◽  
The Cross

AbstractThis article studies the spiritual theology of the cross in the writings of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin. In Teilhard's books and articles the accent falls on the cross as a symbol of progress. The cross stands for Jesus' positive act of saving the world through his death; it represents, too, Christian life as a sharing in the cross of Jesus through the labor and pain of human progress. In his spiritual notes, however, Teilhard takes a different perspective. His own meditations on the cross center not on the cross as a positive symbol of personal and collective progress through struggle, but rather on death as the ultimate fragmentation, and as an apparent dead end that is the final passage to Jesus Christ.

The Cross and the Theologia Crucis

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert C. Saler
Keyword(s):  
Theology Of The Cross ◽  
Total Thickness ◽  
Christian Life ◽  
Knowledge Of God ◽  
The Core ◽  
The World ◽  
Full Picture ◽  
The Cross ◽  
Scholarly Attention

While the term theologia crucis itself is most prominent in Luther’s early works, the later texts bear up the scholarly contention that the fundamental contrast between “cross” and “glory,” with its various methodological and theological implications, remains and is in fact amplified throughout Luther’s later writings. Indeed, considered topically, Luther’s treatment of virtually every significant theological locus throughout his canon—e.g., revelation, ecclesiology, and ethics is impacted by his understanding of the cross. “Theology of the cross” in Luther does not refer to a bound set of theological statements but rather a methodological stance in which epistemological fidelity to the modes in which God chooses to reveal himself—in suffering, death, and contradiction to expectation—marks the whole of the theologian’s orientation to knowledge of God and the world. While the theology of the cross in Luther’s deployment certainly touches on sociopolitical and ecclesial realities within his time, it is crucial for readers of Luther to understand that for him the motif was bound up within the total “thickness” of Christian life—the sacraments, prayer, discipleship, etc. In contrast to the temptation to treat the notion as a critical principle that can be detached from this total picture of Christian existence, scholarly attention to Luther must take seriously the ecclesiastically embedded character of theologia crucis—with all of the interweaving strands of inquiry that such embeddedness necessitates—in order to get the full picture of how Luther understood the cross’s impact on theology and the Christian life. The cross is also crucial theologically for Luther because it gets at the core of what he sees the theological project being able to do—deal with God in God’s self-revelation, under the confusing and sometimes seemingly paradoxical terms by which God chooses to engage humanity. Theologia crucis thus stands as the theological putting to death of the Old Adam—who is aligned, for Luther, with theologies of glory—so as to allow the theologian to hear and proclaim the gospel apart from pretension or undue speculation.

Jesus Christ in Martin Luther’s Theology

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Johannes Zachhuber
Keyword(s):  
Human Nature ◽  
Jesus Christ ◽  
Theology Of The Cross ◽  
Central Focus ◽  
Catholic Faith ◽  
Justification By Faith ◽  
In Christ ◽  
The Cross ◽  
The Trinity

Luther’s theology is strongly Christocentric, but Christology is rarely the central focus of his writings. In some of his most considered summaries of his own faith, he presents Chalcedonian Christology alongside the church’s teaching on the Trinity as the uncontroversial foundation of the Catholic faith, which he shared with his opponents. At the same time, it is evident that Luther’s most celebrated theological innovations, including his teaching on justification by faith, his theology of the cross, his soteriology, and in particular his doctrine of the Eucharist, had considerable Christological implications that sometimes seem at variance with received orthodoxy. Luther’s Christology must therefore be largely reconstructed from these various strands in his thought. The result is a distinctive albeit not systematic Christology that is focused on the paradoxical unity of divine and human in Christ. In this, Luther often appears close to the teaching of the Alexandrian fathers, but with a much fuller emphasis on the concrete humanity of the savior. His historical debt to late scholasticism is most evident in his few, albeit consequential, attempts to enter into the field of technical Christological doctrine, especially his affirmation in his controversy with Zwingli of the ubiquity of Christ’s human nature after the ascension.

scholarly journals The problem of theodicy and the theology of the cross

2007 ◽  
Vol 41 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
N. Vorster
Keyword(s):  
Theoretical Approach ◽  
Theoretical Framework ◽  
Human Experience ◽  
Theology Of The Cross ◽  
Theoretical Argument ◽  
The World ◽  
Christian Understanding ◽  
The Cross ◽  
Point Of Departure ◽  
The Way

Theodicy is the attempt to justify God’s righteousness and goodness amidst the experience of evil and suffering in the world. This article discusses Karl Barth’s Christological and Jürgen Moltmann’s eschatological approach to the problem of theodicy. The central theoretical argument is that the problem of theodicy poses a major hermeneutical challenge to Christianity that needs to be addressed, since it has implications for the way in which theology defines itself. Questions that arise are: What are the boundaries of theology? What are the grounds on which the question of theodicy must be asked? Is the Christian understanding of God’s omnipotence truly Scriptural? The modern formulation of theodicy finds its origin in the Enlighten- ment that approaches the problem from a theoretical framework based on human experience. This theoretical approach leads, however, to further logical inconsistencies. Theology must rather approach the problem in the same way as Scripture does, by taking the cross, resurrection and parousia of Christ as point of departure. The cross and resurrection are a sign that suffering is not part of God’s plan and at the same time an affirmation of God’s victory over suffering and evil.

The Future of Mission in the World Council of Churches: The Dialogue between Lesslie Newbigin and Konrad Raiser

2004 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 97-111
Author(s):  
Michael Goheen
Keyword(s):  
Jesus Christ ◽  
Holy Spirit ◽  
World Council Of Churches ◽  
The World ◽  
The Future ◽  
The Holy Spirit ◽  
World Council ◽  
The Cross ◽  
General Secretary

AbstractIn this article, Michael W. Goheen summarizes and evaluates a debate between ecumenical pioneer Lesslie Newbigin and former WCC general secretary Konrad Raiser. Raiser exemplifies a trinitarian approach to ecumenism and mission that recognizes the universal presence of the Holy Spirit among all peoples and religions, and so would cease to have a Christocentric focus. For Newbigin, while a trinitarian approach to ecumenism and mission is of paramount importance, an abandonment of the centrality and universality of Jesus Christ is something that cannot be abandoned. In the end, says Goheen, the differences between Raiser and Newbigin are differences revolving around the meaning of Jesus Christ and his atoning work on the cross.

Towards an Indigenous Theology of the Cross

1976 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 153-168
Author(s):  
Douglas John Hall
Keyword(s):  
North American ◽  
Theology Of The Cross ◽  
The World ◽  
The Cross

The task of North American theology is to formulate and engage the question whether there is a gospel which, without offering unbelievable earthly answers or unacceptable heavenly ones, will nevertheless make it possible to live with open eyes in the world as it is without ultimate despair.

scholarly journals Die 'verleentheid' van die teoloog voor die teodiseeprobleem

1988 ◽  
Vol 44 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
I. W.C. Van Wyk
Keyword(s):  
Original Sin ◽  
Theology Of The Cross ◽  
Human Suffering ◽  
The World ◽  
The Cross ◽  
God's Grace

Embarrassment of the theologian concerning the theodicy problem Questions concerning human suffering need not be embarrassing to the theologian. The absence of God should not be a problem for the believing sufferer. God is never absent. His v/rath over sin is just another aspect of his presence in the world. The cross is the proof of this statement. God is also not an unjust God, His righteousness comes forth from his grace, not from the rev^rarding of deeds. God's grace can aslo only be known through the theology of the cross. Suffering cannot be led back to God's punishment of specific sins. Suffering is due to the original sin and therefore the communio peccatorum needs the communio sanctorum desperately.

Martin Luther

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Kolb
Keyword(s):  
Jesus Christ ◽  
Martin Luther ◽  
The Body ◽  
Theology Of The Cross ◽  
Church Community ◽  
Relationship With God ◽  
External Sign ◽  
The Cross ◽  
The Church

This chapter examines Martin Luther’s theology of the sacraments. Luther maintained that sacraments were a form of the Word instituted by Christ that conveyed the forgiveness of sins, and were connected with an external sign—and as such were a powerful way for believers, many of whom were illiterate, to experience firsthand and personally the grace of God. He identified Baptism and Eucharist as sacraments, and occasionally Confession (Penance) as well, though not as a separate sacrament but as an extension of the sacrament of Baptism. Baptism marked not only the establishment of one’s relationship with God, but also identification as part of the church community, and was therefore a sign of oneness in God. Regarding Eucharist, Luther rejected transubstantiation and the idea of Christ being “re-sacrificed” at the Mass, and yet he took Christ’s words of institution literally in identifying the bread and wine as the Body and Blood of Christ, and thus, “food of the soul.” As connected to Luther’s “theology of the cross,” by which believers are utterly dependent upon the grace of God in Jesus Christ, sacraments are a means by which believers can receive and be nourished by that grace.

‘Evil, Love and the Left Hand of God’: The Contribution of Luther’s Theology of the Cross to an Evangelical Theology of Evil

2002 ◽  
Vol 74 (3) ◽  
pp. 215-234
Author(s):  
Veli-Matti Karkkainen
Keyword(s):  
Theology Of The Cross ◽  
The Real ◽  
Left Hand ◽  
Human Love ◽  
Real Presence ◽  
God's Love ◽  
The World ◽  
The Problem Of Evil ◽  
The Cross ◽  
Evangelical Theology

Luther’s leading theological idea, the theology of the cross, is based on his distinctive view of God’s love and its relationship to suffering and evil. Luther argues that God’s actions in the world are ‘crossformed’. The new Finnish Luther interpretation offers methodologically and thematically fresh perspectives on Luther’s understanding of God’s love and its relation to human love and to evil. The idea of the ‘real’ presence of Christ in the believer receives special highlight. On the basis of these considerations, this essay attempts to open up new perspectives for Evangelical theology on the problem of evil and God’s love.

CHRIST CRUCIFIED: Lutheran Missiological Themes for a Post-Christian Century

2003 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 94-116
Author(s):  
Mark Thomsen
Keyword(s):  
Missio Dei ◽  
Theology Of The Cross ◽  
Lutheran Theology ◽  
The World ◽  
God's Mission ◽  
In Christ ◽  
The Cross ◽  
Reign Of God ◽  
Christian Century

AbstractDespite the fact that Lutheran theology is molded by the medieval theological context, argues Mark Thomsen in this article, its central reality of a theology of the cross offers a surprising "potential for constructing a dynamic foundation for a contemporary vison of the Missio Dei." What this theology of the cross is not is neither "a glorification of suffering and death," a simple repetition of the Anselmian doctrine of atonement, nor is it a doctrine of the atonement at all. Rather, a Lutheran theology of the cross is one with mission at the center. It means dying to oneself for the sake of the vision of the Reign of God. It means being in solidarity with the suffering peoples of the world. It means recognizing the almost overwhelming power of evil, and God's struggle in Christ with that power. Finally, a theology of the cross points to God's vulnerability in the world. Christians participate in God's mission by themselves taking up the cross, recognizing God's gracious commitment to offering abundant life to the entire creation.

scholarly journals “Hopeful Gradualness” and Ecclesial Mission

Lumen et Vita ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lucas Briola
Keyword(s):  
Jesus Christ ◽  
Precise Meaning ◽  
Humanae Vitae ◽  
The Family ◽  
The World ◽  
The Law ◽  
The Cross ◽  
The Church

On October 13, 2014, the remarkable midterm Relatio post Disceptationem of the 2014 Synod on the Family invoked the legge di gradualità on four occasions. This “law of gradualness” would later be dropped from the final Relatio Synodi, though inarguably its vestiges remained. Simultaneously the locus of disappointment, apprehension, and excitement, the term’s precise meaning remained and continues to remain unclear. Taking the principle to be what Ladislas Orsy would term a “seminal locution” and thus in need of further explication, this paper will examine the law of gradualness through a diachronic lens. It will trace the term’s evolution from its initial emergence around Humanae vitae during the late 1960s and early 1970s, to its reserved acceptance into ecclesiastical parlance in the 1980 Synod on the Family and Familiaris Consortio, to its unique use this past October at the 2014 Synod. It is the contention of this paper that the 2014 Synod marked a new expansion of the term, away from its previously primary, if not exclusive, contentious identification with Humanae vitae. Though maintaining many of its previous connotations, seen in light of Francis’s papacy, the law of gradualness has become fundamentally a foundation and spirituality for the church’s mission to the world. Reflecting God’s own pedagogy revealed most clearly in Jesus Christ, the law of gradualness requires an ecclesial lens of hope. It is a hope that a merciful and authentic encounter with people where they actually are can prompt genuine conversion and growth. The church, as sacrament, is dauntingly tasked to imitate this divine logic that balances the acceptance of the Incarnation with the demands of the Cross. Ultimately then, applying gradualness to the church’s own pilgrim life, this is an eschatological hope that likewise stimulates ongoing ecclesial conversion and so enables authentic growth, accompaniment, dialogue, and mission.

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