Deeper Magic: Re-engaging the Virtues in School and Parish

2015 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 215-229 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alison Milbank

AbstractThis essay argues that modern society lacks a vision of the common good, which prevents education from having an adequate telos or goal. It calls for a restoration of the language of virtue and the ethical tradition of Aristotle and Aquinas. The Anglican parish and the church primary or elementary school are examined as sites where virtue ethics is still active: particularly in the intercessory work of parish prayer, and in the mimetic approach to learning employed with younger children. The article then addresses ways in which these institutions depend upon what C.S. Lewis called ‘deeper magic’ of a transcendent reality, and ways in which the school especially might develop further a pedagogy of the virtues using J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter stories as exemplars. Finally, it argues for a dimension of the beautiful in a recovery of an education in Christian virtue.

Horizons ◽  
2002 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 128-134
Author(s):  
Patrick T. McCormick

ABSTRACTMany oppose the mandatum as a threat to the academic freedom of Catholic scholars and the autonomy and credibility of Catholic universities. But the imposition of this juridical bond on working theologians is also in tension with Catholic Social Teaching on the rights and dignity of labor. Work is the labor necessary to earn our daily bread. But it is also the vocation by which we realize ourselves as persons and the profession through which we contribute to the common good. Thus, along with the right to a just wage and safe working conditions, Catholic Social Teaching defends workers' rights to a full partnership in the enterprise, and calls upon the church to be a model of participation and cooperation. The imposition of the mandatum fails to live up to this standard and threatens the jobs and vocations of theologians while undermining this profession's contribution to the church.


1910 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
pp. 131-150 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Alfred Faulkner

There are two facts to be borne in mind in regard to Luther's whole attitude to social and economic questions. The first is that ordinarily this was a territory to be confined to experts, in which ministers should not meddle. He believed that a special knowledge was necessary to deal with some of these matters, and that they had better be left to those to whom Providence had assigned them, whether the jurists, those clever in worldly knowledge, or the authorities. The other fact is that the Church after all has social duties, and that Church and clergy must fight flagrant abuses and try to bring in the Kingdom of God on earth. The Church must use the Word of God against sin and sinners, and so by spiritual ministries help the needs of the time. The authorities on their part shall proceed by strict justice against evil doers. But there is another fact here which it is necessary to mention to get Luther's whole attitude, viz., that the State's function is not simply to administer justice, but to secure the general weal. They shall do the very best they can for their subjects, says Luther. “The authorities shall serve their subjects and use their office not petulantly [nicht zu Mutwillen] but for the advancement of the common good, and especially for the poor.” The princes shall give laws which shall limit as far as possible social misery and national dangers. They should listen to the proposals of the Church to this end, and on the ground of wise counsels of churchmen, do away with old laws and make new ones.


Author(s):  
Paul J. Griffiths

The secular state, the church, and the caliphate are associations that each hold universal aspirations, at least implicitly. While the universal aspirations of the church and caliphate may be obvious enough, every state seeks dominion over the whole world. (“Secular” describes states that limit their vision to this world, as opposed to the transcendence to which both the church and caliphate appeal.) As an essay in Catholic speculative theology, Griffiths asks two questions: Whether Catholic theology supports or discourages the variety of political orders, and whether these orders could be ranked in terms of goodness from a Catholic perspective? In response to these questions, Griffiths appeals to two aspects of St. Augustine’s political thought: Political rivalries serve the common good; and the principal indicator of the degree to which a state serves the common good is its explicit service to the god of Abraham. The United States (a secular state) is compared with ISIS (an attempted caliphate).


Author(s):  
Giorgio Mion ◽  
Renzo Beghini

Purpose This paper aims to present and discuss an interdisciplinary educational approach to business ethics, based on a virtue ethics framework and the common good paradigm. This approach addresses the challenges that businesses face in building legitimacy and creating shared values. Design/methodology/approach The paper presents a case study of an experience of an interdisciplinary postgraduate course, discussing both the design of the program and its first results. Findings The paper focuses on the theoretical and practical reasons for the interdisciplinary nature of business ethics education and contributes to the literature on business ethics education as well as training and educational practices in academic and professional contexts. Practical implications This paper can positively influence business education practices by sharing a replicable educational model and fostering virtuous practices that contribute to renewing the perception of the purpose of firms. Social implications Improving business ethics education can positively affect the social performance of firms contributing to the common good. Originality The paper presents an innovative interdisciplinary educational program that, to the best of our knowledge of the current literature, can be consider an original contribution.


Vox Patrum ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 62 ◽  
pp. 511-539
Author(s):  
Mariusz Terka

In Saint Augustine’s teaching, salvation is always an act of God’s grace given to man through the agency of Christ. For this reason, the space of granting this grace is the Church, understood as a component of the structure of totus Christus. The Bishop of Hippo stresses, therefore, the need for belonging to the Church and the importance of baptism in the sanctification and salvation of man, because good deeds done without God’s grace have no value deserving salvation. The Church is, above all, a spiritual community in which a factor decisive to man’s communication with God, besides God’s grace, is primarily the love of God; and what closes up the human heart to this grace is pride. Therefore, aside from the visible community of Christians, there are also those just, who are among the saved. They include also those, who cure the disease of pride with the love of other people and service for the common good.


2012 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 400-407
Author(s):  
Christopher Hill

In the Archbishop of Canterbury's Foreword to the findings of the Anglican Communion Legal Advisers' Network, Rowan Williams argues that law is a way of securing two things for the common good: equity and responsibility. Law is against arbitrariness and for knowing who is responsible for this or that. Law in the Church is also about equitable life in the communion of the Body of Christ and the mutual obligations of our interdependence. As Convenor of the Legal Advisers' Network, Canon John Rees observes that their work, which emerged as The Principles of Canon Law Common to the Churches of the Anglican Communion, is not a quick fix to the contemporary problems of the Anglican Communion. Nor is it a covert device for the introduction of a universal canon law for the whole Anglican Communion with an aim to impose covenantal sanctions for churches which do not toe the line.


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