scholarly journals Personalistic Ecclesiology of Czeslaw Stanislaw Bartnik

2016 ◽  
pp. 108-115
Author(s):  
Richard Gorban

In this article by Richard Gorban «Personalistic Ecclesiology of Czeslaw Stanislaw Bartnik» the author considers the concept of Personalistic Ecclesiology of Czeslaw Stanislaw Bartnik, a modern Catholic philosopher and theologian, the follower of theological Personalism of Karol Wojtyla. The author found out that, according to Bartnik’s Ecclesiology, the Church consists primarily of prosopoistic constituents: the Personality of Christ, Christ, Holy Spirit, community of persons, the world of the personality and consequently becomes the Personality itself. In conformity with the Polish thinker’s interpretation, the Church is a community of personalities, founded in a real way, by means of individual relations-bonds (relatio) with the Personality of Christ as the one that performs His mission and perceives a special dimension of the subject’s existence in the process and prospects of salvation. The philosopher-personalist treats nature and peculiarities of the Church based on the idea that it is a product of religious commitment, the phenomenon of personal character. The structures of the Church and religious commitment are distinguished by prosopoistic relations (relatio), that is why the personality should be seen as not only the factor, which creates bonds with the Church, but is its fundamental structure. Based on human nature and common Christian community, the Church manifests itself as a religious-social Personality. From the point of view of realistic Universal Personalism of Stanislaw Bartnik, it takes form of a communal character, following the principles of other kinds of a community person. As long as, the Church becomes the community whole, it must realize and really fulfils its Personality, becomes truly its self, furthermore it serves and realizes not only its own existence as a personality, but the existence of a single human being in its aspirations to its own fullness.

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (14) ◽  
pp. 92-97
Author(s):  
Edvica POPA ◽  

The notion of divine image is generously described by the patristic literature, each of the authors trying to identify the content of this special characteristic of human being, considered (in different positions) the defining element of the created rational being, indicating the possibility of opening to God not through something external, but from the inside of the human being. Since when they speak of God, the Church Fathers do not consider the reality of the one being, but that of the three persons, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, as well as when the question of the image of God is raised, they emphasize that this the image by which human nature is conformed is the image of the Son, or the image of the Word. In this article I set out to draw some points on this patristic feature of the Eastern Fathers.


2019 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
pp. 95-114
Author(s):  
Andrzej Pastwa

In the communio Ecclesiae reality, of a unitarian, charismatic, and institutiona structure, the crucial concepts of participation and co-responsibility are firmly anchored in the juridical and canonical discourse. This is the way in which the horizon of the subject matter reveals itself, the study of which — from the point of view of the title triad: synodality — participation — co-responsibility — will never lose its relevance. What is, at the same time, important is the idea of “synodality,” which is adequately recognized as the sacra potestas of a sacramental origin (ontological aspect), which gains the dynamism of libertas sacra (existential and dynamic aspect) through the charisms of the Holy Spirit, thus leading to the inseparability of its personal and synodal aspects. Therefore, in the attempt to illuminate the determinant of the aggiornamento of the Church law in this study, it was appropriate, on the one hand, to consistently refer to the essence of the idea of the communio hierarchica, according to which Christ makes selected servants participate in his authority by means of an office, the exercise of which always remains a diaconia in the community of faith. On the other hand, in reference to the contemporary understanding of communio fidelium, the axis of scientific reflection was to be the communion-creative phenomenon of charisms — gifts of the Holy Spirit that awaken in the People of God synodal co-responsibility for the good of the entire Church community. In both cases — without losing sight of the obvious truth that, in the sacramental structure of the Church (communio), both hierarchical and charismatic gifts converge in the service of the bishop, who updates — according to the logic of the Vaticanum II aggiormamento and the ecclesiological principles of the Council: collegiality, the title synodality and subsidiarity — the fullness of Christ’s service: as Prophet, Priest, and King.


Author(s):  
J. H. Roberts

The threat to the church in Colossae The variety of opinions on the matter of the Colossian error is illustrated by means of a brief overview of some of the most important contributions, taking into account a number of more recent discussions. The testimony of the text on the matters raised by the previous section is then discussed from the point of view of Colossians' distinctive textual form, as well as the stress on confessional material in the letter. Under this last heading the contents of the confessional pronouncement in 1: 13—20 is summarised, followed by a characterisation of what is now called the threat to the Christian community and which was found to be a Jewish mystical group outside of the community. In conclusion it is suggested that an interpretation along these lines can help to solve the problems of eschatology and Holy Spirit in Colossians.


2019 ◽  
Vol 76 (1) ◽  
pp. 17-25
Author(s):  
Terri Martinson Elton ◽  
Richard Osmer

Confirmation is a ministry aimed at strengthening young people's understanding of faith, deepening their experience in Christian community, and equipping them to discern their calling to join in God's mission in the world. As the church engages in confirmation, young people encounter the gospel anew and congregations bear witness to the redemptive love of God and the covenant of grace into which all Christians are baptized. Learning from and with each other, within and across denominations, enhances confirmation as a discipleship ministry for young people. But it does more than that. As the body of Christ comes together to help young people encounter the gospel anew, lives are changed and become open to the Holy Spirit. Embracing our call to share the gospel and cultivate faith within young people not only serves the church today, it invests in the future.


Author(s):  
Adelajda Sielepin

Terminology and metaphors of space in liturgy The goal of the following study is to present the vocabulary denoting space and their meaning in the Mystery of Christ and the Church as applied in liturgy. The investiga-tion is based on the liturgical texts, mainly the euchologies of the Missal of Paul VI and the Marian Missal. First several basic terms indicating God’s dwelling were an-alysed, which evince the fact of God’s intention and actual coming to individuals and making them His home and temple. Another point was to establish and specify certain factors contributing to creating the holy space of God’s and human encounter. Two kinds of such were distinguished: pneumatological and initiational. Both prove, that becoming God’s dwelling is a process of assuming an adequate attitude of heart and requiring the intervention of the Holy Spirit. The last section of the article was dedicated to some selected, most popular theological and existentional equivalents of liturgical space, such as: faith, liturgy, Word of God, silence, which are of great importance in establishing and maintaining the Mystery of God and man happening in temporality. It is worth noticing that all analysed words and phrases confirm the fact that, this is God, who is inclined to dwell in human beings and that through the Mystery of Incarnation He has inhabited human nature, and sustains His presence through Christ in the Holy Spirit in liturgy, mainly in the Eucharist. The unique at-tribute of Christianity lies in this incarnational aspect of God’s location, sacramental spatiality. Mary, Mother of God was the first, who experienced this grace, and re-mains the impeccable model for every single being called for being God’s dwelling. Therefore the majority of the studied material was taken from the Marian euchologies. Terminology of space in liturgy is entirely metaphorical, and eventually refers to God and to a human being, as announced by the Johannine idioms of communion in the Fourth Gospel.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anthony Ikechukwu Ezeogamba

Jesus, the head of Christianity, left few adherents mainly from among the Jews. He urged his disciples (those he had already made his followers) as he was about leaving the world to go into the world and make disciples of all nations, ordering them to "Baptize them, In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit" ( Matt 28:19). This admonition coupled with the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, vivified the disciples in their missionary enterprise to the extent that Christianity embraced various nations with their various cultures and natural inclinations. In Acts 15:1-35 the meeting of different cultures brought about controversy which nearly rocked the Gentile mission and indeed the entire missionary enterprise. Peaceful resolution of the misunderstanding brought about proper definition of what Christianity is all about (which is salvation by faith in Jesus Christ) and subsequent universal development of the church. It was as a result of the harmonious resolution of that controversy that made both the Jews and Gentles to feel welcomed in the one family of Christ hence the innumerable number of Christians today. In our society today, integrated development is hindered because of various unresolved controversies. This article aims at identifying the reason why there is no integral development in very many societies and organizations and proffering solution to that effect. It argues that if the leaders of various organizations and societies were to understand properly the actions of the apostles, elders and the church in Acts 15:1-35 and imbibe it, then integral development would be assured. The method we shall adopt is library research which is mainly an exegetical analysis of Acts 15:1-35.


2015 ◽  
Vol 71 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Kotze ◽  
C.J.P. Niemandt

This article deals with the importance of a missional approach to the funeral and bereavement counselling process in congregational praxis in the midst of a context of secularisation. The creation of a missional perspective on the funeral and bereavement counselling could support the nature and praxis of a congregation in a secular society, especially if the congregation finds its relevance in the expression of the missio Dei. The basic theoretical research for missional ecclesiology, which is the systematic study directed toward greater knowledge of the fundamental aspects of missional ecclesiology (National Science Foundation 1953:38), is based on the premise that God is the source of all missions. The expression missio Dei means to join God in the mission he is already busy with in the world. As the one who sends, God the Father sends the Son, the Son sends the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit sends the church. The church only participates in the mission God is already busy with. It is a mission that uses both words and deeds and brings hope in the midst of tragedy. It is the hope of the kingdom of God and the incarnation of Christ that can already be experienced and expressed in the present. It is also the hope of the transformation of everything to form a new heaven and earth. Hope and mission can therefore not be separated. The concretisation of the expression of the kingdom of Christ in the world is hope, and a strong emphasis is therefore placed on mission as action in hope. Hope must be present where tragedy reigns, and the funeral and bereavement counselling can be used as a vehicle for this hope. Hope can then become an instrument of healing. The church can thus participate in God’s mission in the midst of tragedy and make an impact on society by taking on a missional character of hope.


2019 ◽  
Vol 79 (1) ◽  
pp. 127-140
Author(s):  
Marija Pehar

This paper theologically articulates the Immaculata-doctrine of the Church and its dogmatic implications through Mariology and Ecclesiology. Moreover, the paper is following the soteriological relevance of the Christian dogmas, according to which they speak of revealed truth about affirmation of the human being. Accordingly, through theology we are able to get an insight to content significant for the Christian anthropology, which then also point back to theology as its authentic ground. It is primarily about the theological content of the dogma of Mary’s Immaculate Conception, according to which Mary, mother of Jesus, is holy and immaculate (sancta et immaculata). Although the Immaculate-doctrine firstly concerns Mary, it was theologically accepted from a very early stage as a doctrine of the Church that had an emphasis in anthropological implications. This paper brings to question these anthropological implications as well, especially the contemporary relativization of sin and human sinfulness, where Immaculata-doctrine is seen, not in contrast to human nature, but as the one that deeply belongs to it. In that context, the old doctrine and its content can now be seen as precious and has a valuable meaning even in modern times, especially if accepted as the key of the new awoken evangelization.


Author(s):  
ARTHUR MATEVOSYAN

The problem of the relationship between divine and human natures in the person of Christ began to interest the Church as early as the 4th century, but Christological problems became particularly relevant in the next, 5th century due to the emergence of Nestorian and Arian heresies, which were rejected and condemned by the Church. The Council of Chalcedon had an essential role in the approval of Christological dogma and its decisions were not adopted by the majority of the Eastern Churches, and among them the Armenian Church. During the long struggle against Chalcedonian Christology, the Armenian Church developed its own Christological conception, which is distinguished by consistency and convincingness. According to this onception, Christ is the Logos, who adopted the perfect human nature. After incarnation, the divine and human natures in Christ formed unspeakable and unmixed unity, as a result of which all attempts to explain this great mystery of faith are doomed to failure, because the mind is unable to understand the inseparable unity of ontological opposites, each of which retains its qualitative definition. The Logos became incarnate of St. Virgin, whose nature the Holy Spirit had previously purified from original sin, so that the Son of God would be free from its consequences. The divine nature of the Logos was initially inextricably linked with the human nature of Jesus, so that the fact that St. Cyril of Alexandria called "the one nature of God the Word incarnate."


2018 ◽  
Vol 57 ◽  
pp. 25-39
Author(s):  
Tomasz Sajnóg

“Despite such great virtues of our sex, we rule the world but we are ruled by women.” The male and female points of view in Enlightenment poetryThe article, the title of which includes Ignacy Krasicki’s aphorism “Despite such great virtues of our sex, we rule the world but we are ruled by women.”, deals with a different — from the one assumed by the traditional Enlightenment poetics — view on poetry, seen not only from the male, but also from the female point of view. As part of apreliminary investigation of Enlightenment writings from agender perspective, the author discusses two poems presenting very different views on literary oeuvres of women.The analysed texts constitute acontribution to the discussion about the place of women’s poet­ry in the deeply patriarchal society of eighteenth-century Poland. Anna Chreptowicz’s piece shows that awoman, in addition to being a wife and amother — an image firmly rooted in the Church and society — is also capable of writing poetry. She also stands up to the patriarchal moral system of her time, asystem that favoured male superiority and domination, as is expressed in the piece by her opponent in the discussion, Andrzej Chreptowicz.Both eighteenth-century texts presented here demonstrate that in such apatriarchal society, in which writers were predominantly men, there was nevertheless room for poetry written by women, who sought to the change the perception of the world, hitherto seen only from the perspective of patriarchal domination. Anna Chreptowicz’s poem is one of the first attempts in Poland to oppose such patriarchal views.


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