New Evidence of the Controversy About Whether the Humanity of Christ Can Contemplate His Divinity

2019 ◽  
pp. 250-264
Author(s):  
Максим Глебович Калинин
Keyword(s):  
Human Nature ◽  
Present Article ◽  
Positive Answer ◽  
Divine Nature ◽  
Knowledge Of God ◽  
Church Of The East ◽  
Vision Of God ◽  
New Evidence ◽  
The Church

В статье опубликован фрагмент анонимного комментария на «Главы о ведении» раббана Афнимарана, восточносирийского мистика VII века. Этот фрагмент представляет большой интерес, поскольку содержит новые сведения о богословской полемике, развернувшейся в Церкви Востока в VIII в. Эта полемика, сопоставимая по масштабам и значимости с паламитскими спорами в Византии, касалась проблемы границ богопознания и прежде всего вопроса о том, способна ли человеческая природа Христа созерцать Его божественную природу. Сведений об этой полемике сохранилось относительно мало, что делает новое публикуемое свидетельство особенно ценным. После краткой характеристики «Глав о ведении» раббана Афнимарана в статье предлагается перевод комментария на главу 90 и анализ этого текста. Особое внимание уделяется термину yaddūʕtānā, «знающий», который раббан Афнимаран использует применительно к человеческой природе Христа. Комментарий на главу 90 - важное свидетельство того, что тезис о способности человеческой природы Христа созерцать Его Божество был характерным для восточносирийского мистического движения (или, по крайней мере, для одной из монашеских традиций внутри этого движения). The aim of the present paper is to introduce new data concerning the polemic that took place in the VIII century C.E. and was related to the mystical movement in the Church of the East. This data are provided by an anonymous commentary on «Chapters on the Knowledge» which belong to rabban Aphnīmāran, an 7th century mystical writer. Among the problems the aforementioned polemic was related to, was the question on whether the humanity of Christ can see His divinity. For the positive answer on this question, John of Dalyāthā, a prominent mystical writer of the 8th century, was condemned by Catholicos Timatheos. In the commentary on the 90th chapter of rabban Aphnīmāran, an anonymous interpreter claims that the vision of God is the knowledge of God. As rabban Aphnīmāran calls the human nature of Christ «knowing» (yaddūʕtānā), the humanity of Christ inevitably knows His divinity, the author of the commentary concludes. In the present article, the text of this commentary is published and analyzed. One may see that the thesis on Jesus’ ability to contemplate the divine nature was not a particular opinion of John of Dalyāthā. This opinion was representative of East Syriac mystical movement (or at least of one of monastic traditions within this movement).

scholarly journals Why Catholic Theology Needs Metapshysics: A Christological Perspective

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 41-62
Author(s):  
Thomas Joseph White
Keyword(s):  
Human Nature ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Divine Nature ◽  
Catholic Theology ◽  
Human Reason ◽  
Son Of God ◽  
The One ◽  
Human Intellect ◽  
To Receive ◽  
The Church

The Chalcedonian confession of faith asserts that Christ is one person, the Son of God, subsisting in two natures, divine and human. The doctrine of the communication of idioms is essential to the life and practices of the Church insofar as we affirm there to be properties of deity and humanity present in the one subject, the Word made flesh. Such affirmations are made without a confusion of the two natures or their mutually distinct attributes. The affirmation that there is a divine and human nature in Christ is possible, however, only if it is also possible for human beings to think coherently about the divine nature, analogically, and human nature, univocally. Otherwise it is not feasible to receive understanding of the divine nature of Christ into the human intellect intrinsically and the revelation must remain wholly alien to natural human thought, even under the presumption that such understanding originates in grace. Likewise we can only think coherently of the eternal Son’s solidarity with us in human nature if we can conceive of a common human nature present in all human individuals. Consequently, it is only possible for the Church to confess some form of Chalcedonian doctrine if there is also a perennial metaphysical philosophy capable of thinking coherently about the divine and human natures from within the ambit of natural human reason. This also implies that the Church maintains a “metaphysical apostolate” in her public teaching, in her philosophical traditions, as well as in her scriptural and doctrinal enunciations.

The Christology of Martyrius-Sahdona

2019 ◽  
pp. 140-171
Author(s):  
Максим Судаков
Keyword(s):  
Roman Empire ◽  
Present Article ◽  
Manuscript Tradition ◽  
Church Of The East ◽  
In Christ ◽  
The Church

В статье представлен анализ христологии Мартирия-Сахдоны, епископа Церкви Востока и автора известных аскетических сочинений. Он примечателен тем, что принял халкидонитское утверждение об одной ипостаси Христа, за что подвергся лишению кафедры и отлучению, впоследствии перейдя из Церкви Востока в Церковь Римской империи. В статье предпринимается попытка установить, насколько учение о соединении природ во Христе у Мартирия-Сахдоны согласуется с православной христологией. Для исследования взят фрагмент написанного Сахдоной аскетического трактата («Книга совершенства») - глава «Об истинной вере…». Проводится филологический и контекстуальный анализ богословских терминов, а также рассматриваются выразительные средства, характерные для сирийского языка и антиохийского богословия. Высказывания Сахдоны, относящиеся к христологии, сопоставляются с текстами православных святых отцов. Приводятся свидетельства рукописной традиции и исторические факты, которые отчасти проясняют догматическую позицию Сахдоны и отношение к нему и к его сочинениям со стороны православных. В итоге делается вывод о том, что его богословская терминология и используемые им характерные метафоры не вступают в противоречие с православным вероучением, но неприемлемыми для православных представляются отдельные выражения, в которых явно проглядывает несторианство. Современное отношение православных к Мартирию-Сахдоне неоднозначно. Данная статья рассчитана на то, чтобы в некоторой мере помочь дать правильную оценку его богословию. In the article the analysis of the Christology of Martyrius-Sahdona is presented. He was a bishop of the Church of the East and an author of the famous ascetic writings. He is known by recepting the Chalcedonian statement about one hypostasis of Christ, for what he was deprived of his see and excommunicated. After that he joined the Church of the Roman Empire. The author of the article tries to clear up, to what extent the Sahdona’s teaching about the union of the natures in Christ agrees with the Orthodox Christology. For the research a fragment of Sahdona’s ascetic treatise «The Book of the Perfection» is taken. This fragment is the chapter «About the Truly Faith…». The theological terms are analysed from a philological standpoint and with respect to the context. Also the expressive means, peculiar to the syriac language and the antiochian theology, are considered. The Sahdona’s speakings, relating to Christology, are compared to the texts of the Orthodox Saint Fathers. There are represented the data of manuscript tradition and the historical facts, which in some measure clear up a dogmatic position of Sahdona and an attitude of the Orthodox to him and to his writings. In the conclusion is resumed, that his theological terminology and metaphors, usual for him, aren’t disagree with the Orthodox doctrine, but single expressions, which evidently have a tingle of the Nestorianism, are unacceptable to the Orthodox. The contemporary attitude of the Orthodox to Martyrius- Sahdona is controversial. The aim of the present article is to help to provide a correct value to his theology.

The Cognitive Science of Religion and Islamic Theology: An Analysis Based on the Works of al-Ghazālī

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aria Nakissa
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Science ◽  
Human Nature ◽  
Present Article ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Cognitive Science Of Religion ◽  
Islamic Theology ◽  
Islamic Studies ◽  
Knowledge Of God ◽  
Science Of Religion ◽  
The Universe

Abstract Specialists in Islamic studies have taken virtually no interest in the influential emerging field of cognitive science of religion (CSR). The present article addresses this problem by considering how insights from CSR can be used to reconceptualize classical Islamic theology. The article analyzes a number of theological topics, including predestination and the uncreated Qurʾān. However, it focuses on five key Islamic theological claims, namely (1) God is a single first cause who brings the universe into being; (2) God lacks an anthropomorphic body; (3) it is possible to arrive at some knowledge of God independently of scripture through human nature (fiṭra) and reason; (4) God is a bringer of benefit and harm, thereby rewarding, punishing, testing, and blessing human beings; and (5) prophethood exists and it is proven through miracles. In analyzing the preceding theological issues, the article utilizes the Arabic writings of the renowned medieval theologian Abū Ḥāmid al-Ghazālī.

Identity of Catholic Schools in Multi-religious Contexts

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 183-194
Author(s):  
Edmund Kee-Fook Chia
Keyword(s):  
Present Article ◽  
Catholic Schools ◽  
Religious Pluralism ◽  
Religious Communities ◽  
Educational Institutions ◽  
The Church

The phenomenon of religious pluralism is a fact that needs no further discussion. How society and institutions are negotiating its impact, however, certainly needs further scrutiny. Schreiter's call for the construction of local theologies invites us to explore how the preaching of the Gospel has to adapt to the realities of new situations. The present article focuses on Catholic educational institutions and how they are dealing with the multi-cultural and multi-religious communities that are now found not only outside of the schools and universities but also within them as well. Its concern is with how the identity and mission of these Catholic institutions are expressed and measured in the new contexts, taking seriously the teachings of the Church on the role they play in its evangelizing mission.

Circumscription

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Torstein Theodor Tollefsen
Keyword(s):  
Human Nature ◽  
Divine Nature ◽  
Modern Term

The concept of circumscription is central to the iconoclast argument against the icons: if the icon is a true image of Christ, it must represent his divine as well as his human nature. If it cannot do that, the image is an idol. The divine nature is uncircumscribed, therefore an image cannot be made of it. This is the challenge Theodore tries to counter. He develops a detailed Christological position in order to show that Christ somehow must appear in this world in a concrete (circumscribed) and visible form. The chapter presents an interpretation of both iconoclast Christology and Theodore’s Christology. Theodore manages to define his Christological position in such a way that he can show how Christ may be a subject of painting. The concepts of the eidos (appearance) and likeness allow Theodore to work out a doctrine of painting that is almost phenomenological, to use a modern term.

The Repton Stone

1985 ◽  
Vol 14 ◽  
pp. 233-292 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Biddle ◽  
Birthe Kjølbye-Biddle
Keyword(s):  
Present Article ◽  
Anglo Saxon ◽  
The Church

In August 1979 a large sculptured stone was discovered, broken and upside down in a pit immediately outside the eastern window of the Anglo-Saxon crypt of the church of St Wystan at Repton in Derbyshire (pl. V). The scenes depicted on the two surviving faces of the stone are without direct parallel in Anglo-Saxon sculpture and have so far eluded definitive interpretation. The purpose of the present article is to place on record a detailed description of the stone, and some preliminary thoughts on its date and possible significance, in the hope that wider discussion may lead to a more satisfactory understanding of what must be, on any judgement, one of the more important surviving examples of pre-Conquest sculpture.

Relations between the Russian Empire and the Orthodox Church of the East as Exemplified in the Collection of Greek Engravings of The Church Archaeological Museum at the Moscow Theological Academy

2020 ◽  
pp. 61-77
Author(s):  
Анна Леонидовна Краснова
Keyword(s):  
Russian Empire ◽  
Orthodox Church ◽  
Church Of The East ◽  
Holy Places ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Russian Empire ◽  
The 19Th Century ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The Church ◽  
Made In

В XVIII в. на основании общего интереса к святыням Востока, а также единой тенденции для крупных монастырей изготавливать гравюры на память для паломников, многие греческие гравюры свидетели русско-афонских отношений попадают на территорию Российской Империи. Сохранились такие гравюры и в Церковноархеологического кабинете Московской духовной академии, собрание которых насчитывает 29 эстампов. Пять гравюр из этого собрания имеют надписи на греческом и на славянском языке. Надписи свидетельствуют о месте и времени создания гравюры, о граверах и заказчиках, являются источниками кратких исторических сведений. В статье приведены выявленные дополнительные факты об этих гравюрах, которые свидетельствуют о наличии церковных, экономических и политических отношений на базе культурных связей между Российской Империей и странами православного Востока. The Russ has always been supporting the relationship with the Orthodox Church of the East. As a result of these connections, we have a lot of icons and other gifts from The Mount Athos, The Saint Catherine’s Monastery and others holy places. There are five Greek engravings in the collection of The Museum of Church Archaeology at the Moscow Theological Academy, which have inscriptions in Greek and Slavic. These engravings were to be spread in Slavic countries. They are dated from the 17th to the 19th century. Some of them were made in Moscow. The images and the inscriptions of the engravings are the subject of a research presented in this article.

The CouncilS of Trent and Vatican I

2018 ◽  
pp. 629-650
Author(s):  
Christian D. Washburn
Keyword(s):  
Knowledge Of God ◽  
Vatican I ◽  
The Status ◽  
The Many ◽  
Modern Era ◽  
The Church

This chapter considers two important ecumenical councils of the Church in the modern era: Trent (1545–63) and Vatican I (1869–70). The chapter examines in detail the key teachings of each council. The reform decrees of Trent will only be discussed in so far as they touch upon dogmatic decrees. In the case of Trent the chapter identifies the key documents from the many sessions of the council over its twenty-year history, offering a clear guide to ways in which its teachings on revelation, grace, and justification offered a precise Catholic response to the emergent theologies of Protestantism. Vatican I’s key teachings on revelation, the knowledge of God, and the status of the papacy are similarly treated.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document