Introduction: The Beguiling World of Meditations on the Tarot Valentin Tomberg (d. 1973) was a Ro... more Introduction: The Beguiling World of Meditations on the Tarot Valentin Tomberg (d. 1973) was a Roman Catholic theologian who shared a general opinion held by many today: organized religion in the West is undergoing a prolonged crisis of authority due to its forgetful disregard of its own traditions of prayer and spiritual discipline. Human beings created by God to eat and drink the eternal love of trinitarian communion, but starved of spiritual guidance by the Christian churches, will seek their nourishment in different foods from other tables. The cultural vacuum created by Christianity's forfeiture of its spiritual and mystical heritage is being filled by a vast panoply of esoteric religious discourses offering to guide the spiritually perplexed into long-lost, or long-suppressed, "secret" paths to "hidden" mystical wisdom. 1 There is a widespread assumption that Christianity either does not have a spiritual or mystical tradition, or if it does that tradition is pernicious in myriad ways. Christian leaders have become more attentive to these trends, and they have been wrestling with how to respond to them. 2 The question of whether it is possible or desirable to re-establish normative theological standards for defining Christian spirituality and mysticism has become extremely pertinent. 3 Tomberg saw all these trends emerging in mid-twentieth century Europe, and he had a profound grasp of the sincere
This article discusses the pro-environmental theology of two contemporary Christian
leaders. The... more This article discusses the pro-environmental theology of two contemporary Christian
leaders. The first is the current ecumenical patriarch of Constantinople, Bartholomew
I. The second is Roman Catholicism’s Pope Francis. Both leaders seek to support
members of their respective churches who are working to protect the environment, and also to speak globally across cultural and religious lines. Both Bartholomew and Francis believe the crisis of climate change has deep roots in modern culture’s anthropocentric ethos, and hence there must be an “apocalypse” or an unveiling of this ethos as a betrayal not only of nature but also of God the Creator. Contrary to some religious environmentalists, therefore, both Bartholomew and Francis are careful to distinguish cosmocentric theology (pantheism and animism) and theocentric cosmology (monotheism centered on the Incarnation of the Trinity in creation). Francis in particular aims for a retrieval of Saint Francis of Assisi’s relationship to the natural world as it was expressed by Saint Bonaventure, and later developed by Saint Ignatius of Loyola into a discipline (ascesis) of learning to see all created things as expressions of God’s glory. In rivalry with the ascesis of modern capitalism, which could be described as “disciplined avarice inaction,” Bartholomew and Francis advocate the classical monastic-Franciscan-Ignatian spiritual ethos of “disciplined contemplation in action.”
Reestablishing a constructive relationship between theological, cosmo-logical, and anthropologica... more Reestablishing a constructive relationship between theological, cosmo-logical, and anthropological discourses is central to Hans Urs von Balthasar's entire intellectual project. This relationship is one in which theology has a regulative but noncoercive role in guiding cosmology and anthropology toward understanding the creation and humanity's place in it according to Christocentric and Trinitarian patterns of relationality. 1 Von Balthasar's grand intellectual ideal is a Chalcedonian symbiosis of
This chapter considers the extensive corpus of Hans Urs von Balthasar by treating two architecton... more This chapter considers the extensive corpus of Hans Urs von Balthasar by treating two architectonic themes in his thought: remembrance and beauty. In the first instance, Balthasar sees theology in modernity-especially in the form of neo-scholasticism-as marked by a failure to remember appropriately some essential principles of Christian tradition, most importantly the inseparability of theology and spirituality in an anti-Gnostic key. In the second instance, the theme of theological aesthetics is treated, initially by placing Balthasar's conception of a true seeing of natural forms against the background of Goethe's philosophy. The epiphanic nature of all created being, able to reveal to us the glory of God, and yet obscured from us by sin, lies at the heart of Balthasar's theology. Ultimately, this theology is Christocentric: the crucified and risen Christ-form becomes a permanent sacramental vehicle of divine grace, restoring our sight of natural form and divine glory.
... truthfully speak of the glorious revн elation of God's love in salvation history without... more ... truthfully speak of the glorious revн elation of God's love in salvation history without ... of aestheticism."9 Aesthetic theology cannot count as propн erly aesthetic because of its existential ... But unlike all other forms, the Christ-form overcomes dissolution through being raised from the ...
This essay contends that René Girard is not a philosopher or a scientist whose ideas are open to ... more This essay contends that René Girard is not a philosopher or a scientist whose ideas are open to theological appropriation. Instead, contrary to his assertions to the contrary, the Girard corpus ought to be read as if it were articulating a form of theology whose primary intellectual home can ultimately be found on a theological map. As the field of Girardian theology grows, it becomes more evident that we need some theological lenses for examining the theology already lying waiting-sometimes inchoately, sometimes not-in Girard's texts, and also for examining how theologians use and misuse his texts. If we can see that he is already doing theology then a theological critique becomes plausible and valid in principle, and indeed becomes an internal critique. Applying good interpretive lenses will provide some rigorous criteria analyzing the degree to which Girardian theologians are following the internal logic of Girard's thought in their appropriations of it. The interpretive lenses I propose using on Girard are first the theology of Hans Urs von Balthasar (d. 1988) and then the theology of John Cassian (d. circa 435). These two theologians provide us with lenses that help us see that Girard is fundamentally a Catholic theologian involved in resisting the speculative re-writing of Christianity by proponents of "false gnosis" and that he belongs within the category of theologians who advocate spiritual transformation and "true gnosis." 1
... Methodological naturalism means therefore that theology and metaphysics have no cognitive val... more ... Methodological naturalism means therefore that theology and metaphysics have no cognitive value whatsoever ... gift of creation and, ultimately, in the gift of the Incarnation through which ... their Creationism's Trojan Horse: The Wedge of ID (New York: Oxford University Press, 2003 ...
and correcting symbiosis of the spiritual, theological, and hierarchical dimensions of Christian ... more and correcting symbiosis of the spiritual, theological, and hierarchical dimensions of Christian faith.
Introduction: The Beguiling World of Meditations on the Tarot Valentin Tomberg (d. 1973) was a Ro... more Introduction: The Beguiling World of Meditations on the Tarot Valentin Tomberg (d. 1973) was a Roman Catholic theologian who shared a general opinion held by many today: organized religion in the West is undergoing a prolonged crisis of authority due to its forgetful disregard of its own traditions of prayer and spiritual discipline. Human beings created by God to eat and drink the eternal love of trinitarian communion, but starved of spiritual guidance by the Christian churches, will seek their nourishment in different foods from other tables. The cultural vacuum created by Christianity's forfeiture of its spiritual and mystical heritage is being filled by a vast panoply of esoteric religious discourses offering to guide the spiritually perplexed into long-lost, or long-suppressed, "secret" paths to "hidden" mystical wisdom. 1 There is a widespread assumption that Christianity either does not have a spiritual or mystical tradition, or if it does that tradition is pernicious in myriad ways. Christian leaders have become more attentive to these trends, and they have been wrestling with how to respond to them. 2 The question of whether it is possible or desirable to re-establish normative theological standards for defining Christian spirituality and mysticism has become extremely pertinent. 3 Tomberg saw all these trends emerging in mid-twentieth century Europe, and he had a profound grasp of the sincere
This article discusses the pro-environmental theology of two contemporary Christian
leaders. The... more This article discusses the pro-environmental theology of two contemporary Christian
leaders. The first is the current ecumenical patriarch of Constantinople, Bartholomew
I. The second is Roman Catholicism’s Pope Francis. Both leaders seek to support
members of their respective churches who are working to protect the environment, and also to speak globally across cultural and religious lines. Both Bartholomew and Francis believe the crisis of climate change has deep roots in modern culture’s anthropocentric ethos, and hence there must be an “apocalypse” or an unveiling of this ethos as a betrayal not only of nature but also of God the Creator. Contrary to some religious environmentalists, therefore, both Bartholomew and Francis are careful to distinguish cosmocentric theology (pantheism and animism) and theocentric cosmology (monotheism centered on the Incarnation of the Trinity in creation). Francis in particular aims for a retrieval of Saint Francis of Assisi’s relationship to the natural world as it was expressed by Saint Bonaventure, and later developed by Saint Ignatius of Loyola into a discipline (ascesis) of learning to see all created things as expressions of God’s glory. In rivalry with the ascesis of modern capitalism, which could be described as “disciplined avarice inaction,” Bartholomew and Francis advocate the classical monastic-Franciscan-Ignatian spiritual ethos of “disciplined contemplation in action.”
Reestablishing a constructive relationship between theological, cosmo-logical, and anthropologica... more Reestablishing a constructive relationship between theological, cosmo-logical, and anthropological discourses is central to Hans Urs von Balthasar's entire intellectual project. This relationship is one in which theology has a regulative but noncoercive role in guiding cosmology and anthropology toward understanding the creation and humanity's place in it according to Christocentric and Trinitarian patterns of relationality. 1 Von Balthasar's grand intellectual ideal is a Chalcedonian symbiosis of
This chapter considers the extensive corpus of Hans Urs von Balthasar by treating two architecton... more This chapter considers the extensive corpus of Hans Urs von Balthasar by treating two architectonic themes in his thought: remembrance and beauty. In the first instance, Balthasar sees theology in modernity-especially in the form of neo-scholasticism-as marked by a failure to remember appropriately some essential principles of Christian tradition, most importantly the inseparability of theology and spirituality in an anti-Gnostic key. In the second instance, the theme of theological aesthetics is treated, initially by placing Balthasar's conception of a true seeing of natural forms against the background of Goethe's philosophy. The epiphanic nature of all created being, able to reveal to us the glory of God, and yet obscured from us by sin, lies at the heart of Balthasar's theology. Ultimately, this theology is Christocentric: the crucified and risen Christ-form becomes a permanent sacramental vehicle of divine grace, restoring our sight of natural form and divine glory.
... truthfully speak of the glorious revн elation of God's love in salvation history without... more ... truthfully speak of the glorious revн elation of God's love in salvation history without ... of aestheticism."9 Aesthetic theology cannot count as propн erly aesthetic because of its existential ... But unlike all other forms, the Christ-form overcomes dissolution through being raised from the ...
This essay contends that René Girard is not a philosopher or a scientist whose ideas are open to ... more This essay contends that René Girard is not a philosopher or a scientist whose ideas are open to theological appropriation. Instead, contrary to his assertions to the contrary, the Girard corpus ought to be read as if it were articulating a form of theology whose primary intellectual home can ultimately be found on a theological map. As the field of Girardian theology grows, it becomes more evident that we need some theological lenses for examining the theology already lying waiting-sometimes inchoately, sometimes not-in Girard's texts, and also for examining how theologians use and misuse his texts. If we can see that he is already doing theology then a theological critique becomes plausible and valid in principle, and indeed becomes an internal critique. Applying good interpretive lenses will provide some rigorous criteria analyzing the degree to which Girardian theologians are following the internal logic of Girard's thought in their appropriations of it. The interpretive lenses I propose using on Girard are first the theology of Hans Urs von Balthasar (d. 1988) and then the theology of John Cassian (d. circa 435). These two theologians provide us with lenses that help us see that Girard is fundamentally a Catholic theologian involved in resisting the speculative re-writing of Christianity by proponents of "false gnosis" and that he belongs within the category of theologians who advocate spiritual transformation and "true gnosis." 1
... Methodological naturalism means therefore that theology and metaphysics have no cognitive val... more ... Methodological naturalism means therefore that theology and metaphysics have no cognitive value whatsoever ... gift of creation and, ultimately, in the gift of the Incarnation through which ... their Creationism's Trojan Horse: The Wedge of ID (New York: Oxford University Press, 2003 ...
and correcting symbiosis of the spiritual, theological, and hierarchical dimensions of Christian ... more and correcting symbiosis of the spiritual, theological, and hierarchical dimensions of Christian faith.
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leaders. The first is the current ecumenical patriarch of Constantinople, Bartholomew
I. The second is Roman Catholicism’s Pope Francis. Both leaders seek to support
members of their respective churches who are working to protect the environment, and also to speak globally across cultural and religious lines. Both Bartholomew and Francis believe the crisis of climate change has deep roots in modern culture’s anthropocentric ethos, and hence there must be an “apocalypse” or an unveiling of this ethos as a betrayal not only of nature but also of God the Creator. Contrary to some religious environmentalists, therefore, both Bartholomew and Francis are careful to distinguish cosmocentric theology (pantheism and animism) and theocentric cosmology (monotheism centered on the Incarnation of the Trinity in creation). Francis in particular aims for a retrieval of Saint Francis of Assisi’s relationship to the natural world as it was expressed by Saint Bonaventure, and later developed by Saint Ignatius of Loyola into a discipline (ascesis) of learning to see all created things as expressions of God’s glory. In rivalry with the ascesis of modern capitalism, which could be described as “disciplined avarice inaction,” Bartholomew and Francis advocate the classical monastic-Franciscan-Ignatian spiritual ethos of “disciplined contemplation in action.”
leaders. The first is the current ecumenical patriarch of Constantinople, Bartholomew
I. The second is Roman Catholicism’s Pope Francis. Both leaders seek to support
members of their respective churches who are working to protect the environment, and also to speak globally across cultural and religious lines. Both Bartholomew and Francis believe the crisis of climate change has deep roots in modern culture’s anthropocentric ethos, and hence there must be an “apocalypse” or an unveiling of this ethos as a betrayal not only of nature but also of God the Creator. Contrary to some religious environmentalists, therefore, both Bartholomew and Francis are careful to distinguish cosmocentric theology (pantheism and animism) and theocentric cosmology (monotheism centered on the Incarnation of the Trinity in creation). Francis in particular aims for a retrieval of Saint Francis of Assisi’s relationship to the natural world as it was expressed by Saint Bonaventure, and later developed by Saint Ignatius of Loyola into a discipline (ascesis) of learning to see all created things as expressions of God’s glory. In rivalry with the ascesis of modern capitalism, which could be described as “disciplined avarice inaction,” Bartholomew and Francis advocate the classical monastic-Franciscan-Ignatian spiritual ethos of “disciplined contemplation in action.”