Wolfhart Pannenberg’s Semiotic Doctrine of the Church: A Peircean Corrective

This paper aims to explore and critique Wolfhart Pannenberg’s use of semiotic concepts in his understanding and explanation of the church. He defines the church as “the fellowship of individual believers,” and a “sign of the future fellowship of humanity under God’s reign,” i. e. the future Kingdom of God. As he continues to articulate his doctrine of the church, Pannenberg employs semiotic concepts to articulate this notion of the church as a sign of the Kingdom of God. In this paper, I aim to explore Pannenberg’s use of semiotic concepts as they concern his understanding of the church and provide critique and a new way forward of understanding the church as a sign of the Kingdom of God. Though Pannenberg is right to employ semiotic concepts and terminology to expound upon and clarify this concept, he is wrong in the semiotic model of the sign and approach he chooses to employ. In what follows, I first summarize and explicate Pannenberg’s semiotic understanding of the church, and then I provide a critique and corrective of his semiotic preferences with the semiotic work of American philosopher Charles Sanders Peirce.

The Theology of Hiddenness: J. L. Schellenberg, Divine Hiddenness, and the Role of Theology

The paper explores Pascal’s idea according to which the teachings of the Church assume the hiddenness of God, and, hence, there is nothing surprising in the fact of the occurrence of nonresistant nonbelief. In order to show it the paper invokes the doctrines of the Incarnation, the Church as the Body of Christ, and the Original Sin. The first one indicates that there could be greater than nonbelief obstacle in forming interpersonal bonds with God, namely the ontological chasm between him and human persons. The assumption of the human nature by the Son of God could be seen as a cure for this problem. The doctrine of the Church shows it as an end in itself, and in order for the Church to have meaning and to exist there has to be nonbelief in the world. Finally, the dogma of the Original Sin shows that there is no category of purely nonresistant nonbelief. The paper also addresses Schellenberg’s “accommodationist strategy” from the perspective of the Christian theology and in the last part it investigates what should be the influence of the fact of the hiddenness on theology’s take on the divine revelation.

Whatever happened to God’s holiness? The holiness of God and the theological authenticity of the South African neo-Pentecostal prophetic activities

The controversial activities of the neo-Pentecostal prophets (NPPs) in South Africa raise many theological questions. From a systematic theological perspective that affirms the importance of Christian doctrines in regulating church worship and practice, this article uses God’s holiness to evaluate the theological authenticity of the NPPs’ controversial activities. The research question answered in the article is: how can an understanding of the holiness of God empower Christian believers to respond meaningfully to the controversial practices? The article begins by describing the theoretical framework of God’s holiness. This is followed by describing the NPPs’ shift from prophecy focusing on holiness to one focused on human needs. Furthermore, this shift among the NPPs from holiness to human needs is attributed to celebrity cultism through which the prophets thrust themselves as powerful figures who are able to solve people’s problems. Afterward an analysis is made of how the holiness of God is violated by the NPPs’ controversial practices. Finally, some steps are suggested for NPPs and their followers to take to align their activities with God’s holiness. The contribution of the article lies in highlighting the importance of God’s holiness as a standard of measuring the Christian authenticity of the controversial activities of the NPPs in South Africa.Intradisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: The article uses insights from the doctrine of God’s holiness, the role of biblical prophecy and the doctrine of the church, to critique the controversial activities of the NPPs in South Africa.

Theological views of A. V. Kartashev on the Chalcedonian Definition

This article analyzes the works of A. V. Kartashev not as a historian, but as a Christian theologian. In the attempt to determine the sources of theological views of A. V. Kartashev on the Chalcedonian Definition, the author established his ideological connection with V. S. Solovyov. The analysis of general religious ideas of V. S. Solovyov and A. V. Kartashev underlines particular importance of the idea of divine-humanity for the latter. Analyzing Kartashev's reflections on the Chalcedonian Definition, the author distinguishes the three theological directions in his interpretation: doctrine of the Church, doctrine of Ecumenical Councils, and doctrine of Biblical Revelation. The heritage of the prominent A. V. Kartashev, namely his works on the history of the Church, currently enjoy great popularity.  However, there are yet no critical studies on most of the theological views of A. V. Kartashev, as well as the research of the origin of these ideas. A detailed analysis of each vector of comprehending divine-humanity in the texts of the theologian reveals contradiction of the views of A. V. Kartashev to the patristic Orthodox theology. It is demonstrated that leaning on the interpretation of the Chalcedonian Definition of V. S. Solovyov, A. V. Kartashev developed the ideas that contradict the doctrine of the Orthodox Church. In his works, the author introduced and proliferated the new Christian theology, which replaced previous traditional foundations of the Orthodox theology. The acquired results contribute to further critical studies of the works of A. V. Kartashev.

Antropología cristiana, desarrollo humano y Escuela Austriaca: un diálogo interdisciplinar

The article suggests an interdisciplinary dialogue among Christian anthropology, the social doctrine of the Church, the human development para-digm of the UN and the economics of the Austrian school. It emphasizes that the main difference between them is that Christian anthropology is based on transcendental personalism, but there are methodological points in common. In Christian thought and Austrian liberalism, human development is dynamic, inte-gral (of the whole man and for all men), solidary (under the subsidiarity princi-ple). But under the Christian view, the universal destination of goods limits pri-vate property, freedom is not absolute and the person is a social being, not just an individual. In addition, the Christian idea of development centers and culmi-nates in charity that goes beyond altruism and common good is done in com-munity discernment where the option for the poor is a priority, the option for justice is inescapable if the professed faith is true. Spontaneous order and dis-persed knowledge, the possibility of entrepreneurial profit as an engine of wealth creation are shared by Catholic doctrine, though with obvious nuances principles. The article shows that it is possible to cross-fertilization between disciplines as diverse, but to have a foundation in ethics and anthropology, which should never be absent from the economy. The outright rejection of libe-ralism and Catholic doctrine is an anachronism that should be overcome. Key words: love, development, poverty, wealth, spontaneous order, Austrian school JEL Classification: A13, B53, Z12, O1. Resumen: El artículo pone en diálogo interdisciplinar la antropología cristiana, la doctrina social de la Iglesia, el paradigma del desarrollo humano de Nacio-nes Unidas y la economía de la escuela austriaca. Enfatiza que la principal diferencia entre ellas es la antropología cristiana fundamentada en el persona-lismo trascendental, pero que existen puntos metodológicos en común. En el pensamiento cristiano y el liberalismo austriaco, el desarrollo humano es diná-mico, integral (de todo el hombre y para todos los hombres), solidario (bajo la subsidiariedad). Pero en la visión cristiana, el destino universal de los bienes limita la propiedad privada, la libertad no es un absoluto y la persona es un ser social, no sólo individuo. Además, el desarrollo cristiano se centra y culmi-na en el amor de caridad que supera el altruismo y la búsqueda del bien co-mún se hace en comunidad de discernimiento, donde la opción por el pobre se hace prioritaria, la opción por la justicia es ineludible si la fe profesada es verdadera. El orden espontáneo y el conocimiento disperso, la posibilidad de ganancia empresarial como motor de la creación de riqueza son principios compartidos por la doctrina católica, aunque con evidentes matices. El artículo muestra que es posible el enriquecimiento mutuo entre disciplinas tan diversas, pero que al tener un fundamento en la ética y en la antropología, que nunca deben estar ausentes de la economía, el rechazo frontal entre liberalismo y doctrina católica es un anacronismo que debe ser superado. Palabras clave: amor, desarrollo, pobreza, riqueza, orden espontáneo, Escue-la austriaca

Roman Catholic Church in the political life of modern Poland

The chapter describes the influence of the Roman Catholic Church on the domestic and foreign policies of Poland from the signing of the Treaty of May 1989 between the government and episcopate to the parliamentary elections of 2019. The author shows the interaction of the clergy and parties sharing the social doctrine of the church, in particular the Law and Justice Party, and the role of the personality and views of John Paul II in current Polish politics. Finally, the author considers the disputes and conflicts within Polish Catholicism.

The Problem of Democracy against the Background of the Theory of Origin and Authority in the Social Doctrine of the Church Fathers and St. Thomas Aquinas

"e modern social doctrine of the Catholic Church supports all of the abovementionedviews with the exception that it treats some of its elements as theso-called “signs of the times” in which the creators of these views lived andwrote. "erefore, we cannot say that they became somehow time-barred. "eyhave entered the tradition of the social doctrine of the Church. Similarly, onecannot reasonably claim that the basic theses of the socio-political theoriesof Saint Augustine or Saint "omas Aquinas are obsolete in philosophical terms.At the most, one can disagree with them or try to correct them. Nevertheless, itseems that there are no better analyses of the nature of authority and its originfrom God. Considering these issues from the perspective of historical applicationsof the theories, especially the one coined by St. "omas, it is impossible notto notice the significant analogies of the reflections of Doctor Angelicus and theidea of a “nobles’ democracy” implemented in the First Polish Republic threehundred years later. It is also difficult to believe that a$er the creation of thescientific community of the Jagiellonian University in the fi$eenth century, theydid not affect the minds of Polish politicians at a time when the foundationsof this democracy were formed. Moreover, it seems that these considerationswere widely applied in the centuries-old process of crystallizing other modernand contemporary democratic system.

Martin Bucer’s Kingdom of Christ

Martin Bucer’s Kingdom of Christ [De Regno Christi] was written while he was in exile in England. It served as advice to King Edward VI (ruled 1547–53) on how to pursue more effectively reform of the English Church and commonwealth, and as constructive criticism of what had been done. The treatise was a summary of Bucer’s thinking on the relationship between church and society, and on how the Gospel should influence every aspect of life, resulting in the establishment of the rule of Christ in this world. The treatise is in two books; the first describes what constitutes the Kingdom of Christ, the second is a plan of action built on fourteen laws for reform of church and all of society. Though it is not a theological treatise in a narrow sense, the work makes substantial contributions to the doctrine of the church, church–state relations, and the conduct of the Christian life (especially church or Christian discipline).

Eclesiological Communitarism of Miroslav Volf

The article analyzes the features of the doctrine of the church of the outstandingProtestant theologian of the early XXI century Miroslav Volf. Volf's understanding of the church as a reality that preceded the emergence of the individual as a Christian means a radical break with liberal Protestant ideas of the church community as created by the voluntary decision of individuals. But Volf does not share the collectivist idea of ​​the church as an organism in which the individual is completely subjugated to the whole. It is established that Volf creates a communitarian model of the church, in which the church community is understood as the unity of diversity. Unity itself has the character of interpersonal relations. Individuals with different charisms in the community interact with each other like the fellowship of the Three in God. Communitarianism in Volf's ecclesiology as a "middle way" between liberal individualism and total collectivism has all the hallmarks of postliberal theological theory. It is proved that Volf's communitarianism became a creative development of Christian personalism of the XX century with its emphasis on the existential freedom of the individual and the importance of interpersonal relations. Volf succeeded in building ecclesiological communitarianism not so much because of his many specific speculations about the organization of church communities, but because of his vision of personalism. Namely, as we noted above, Volf combines the idea of ​​personality as dependent on its relations with other personalities (here he develops Ratzinger's theory) with the vision of personality as an apophatic secret that is higher than all its properties and charisma (here he creatively interprets the theory Zizioulas). Accordingly, a personality that exists in absolute openness to the influences of other personalities on the one hand, and is absolutely unique on the other, makes possible the existence of a communitarian church community. Volf emphasizes that the catholicity (completeness and completeness) of the individual Christian personality is as necessary as the catholicity of the whole church community. The characterization of the individual as a conciliar presupposes not only the traditional ideal of the integrity of all faculties and the charisma of the individual in his intention to communicate with God, but also the vision of the legitimacy of the inner diversity of the individual. The possible complexity of the identity of the individual is almost infinite, and the willingness to accept it in the community - the main feature of Volf's communitarianism. Similarly, every ecclesial community must be ready to accept as Christian all other ecclesial communities, whatever the peculiarities of their identity. It is clear that such an understanding of catholicity is possible only in Protestantism. As Volf rightly points out, Catholicism presupposes that the ecclesial community must be the local embodiment of the common ecclesial identity of the whole structure, and Orthodoxy emphasizes that a separate community is necessarily identical in identity to the common identity of the church through the Eucharist. Volf's communitarianism allows us to describe church communities and their associations as network structures in which all individuals are active actors whose abilities and charisms are important for the constitution of communities.