Search Results (7)

Trinitarian ontology represents a dynamic and fast-evolving field of research in the scope of philosophical theology with a focus on the influence of Trinitarian doctrine on the development of the Western philosophical tradition. Within this framework, this article aims to make a probe into the specific question of freedom within the Christian tradition and Trinitarian teaching. For this purpose, it examines the notion of freedom as it is presented in the work of American philosopher and theologian David C. Schindler. It pursues two lines of argumentation. Firstly, it analyses Schindler’s notion of Christian freedom (as presented in Freedom from Reality and Retrieving Freedom) and brings them into dialogue with other authors grounded in Trinitarian ontology. The key concepts of this part of the paper are the metaphysics of the gift and the primacy of actuality over potency, which both acquire their true meaning in the context of the Trinitarian mystery. The final part of the essay analyses the implications of the Trinitarian ontology of freedom for the life of the political community (as presented in The Politics of the Real and in other texts) and shows how it calls us to the inner of transformation of thought not only at the personal but also at the social level. Here, the full Christian notion of freedom is contrasted with the reductive liberal approach. It analyses the limits of political life based on the autonomy and self-determination of the modern subject and also shows how Schindler’s more original and fuller notion of freedom might contribute to the further development of the project of a Trinitarian ontology and its social and political implications. Full article

The Triune God is not indifferent to the human condition. This article, “The Trinitarian Koinōnia and Its Socio-Economic Implications,” intends to reflect on the inspiration and the critique of the Holy Trinity on human society. It aims at contributing to improving the socio-economic life of the last, the lost, and the least of society. Faith in the mystery of the Holy Trinity can influence human socio-economic relations. On the one hand, the theoretical framework used in this article is that of the classical Catholic method, which reflects on theological pillars (loci theologici). First, the article will reflect on the “theological pillar” (locus theologicus) of the Bible. It will discuss the biblical foundation of the Trinitarian koinōnia. It will then discuss another theological pillar (locus theologicus) of the human context concerning the Trinitarian koinōnia. On the other hand, another theoretical framework to be used is the deductive method. This article will examine whether there are particular socio-economic applications from the general Trinitarian koinōnia. The basic hypothesis is that there is a practical implication to the Christian faith in the Triune God. The Trinitarian oikonomia, when properly understood through, inter alia, Trinitarian koinōnia, can be the icon of the ideal human economics (oikonomia). In this article, we will privilege a systematic and systemic approach. Full article

The document of the International Theological Commission, “Synodality in the Life and Mission of the Church” (2018), sanctions an idea that has been gaining ground in recent decades: synodality is a structural dimension of the church. This essay assesses the biblical foundation that this document offers in terms of this constitutive rather than operational understanding of synodality. To fit all the theological pieces of the synodality puzzle together and give them biblical consistency, this article takes two steps. The first focuses on exploring the theological welding between the church understood from the Trinitarian Mystery (LG 1–8) and the church as the people of God (LG 9–17). Second, this propaedeutic operation builds a solid framework that allows us to justify why the ITC document brings up certain biblical quotations, to fit them into a coherent reflection and at the same time to present other passages that are absent in the document. Full article

The purpose of this article is to give a historical and reasoned overview of the phenomenon of emergence according to the various authors involved, with particular emphasis on its openness to the dimension of the mystery of the real, which can lead the scientist to humility in scientific research. The evidence, the curiosity and then the study of this concept, which is so pervasive in the complexity of cosmic dynamics, in fact requires an investigation that must be extended not only to different disciplines, but through them. In fact, the cross-disciplinary method enriches the quality of this research, giving reason to both the unity and the complexity of reality. The phenomenon of emergence is particularly concerned with this cross-disciplinary scientific approach, which transcends any reductionism in favour of a network of meanings specifically nourished by the possibility of conjunctive explanations involving empirical science, philosophy, metaphysics and theology. Faced with this perspective offered by emergence, science discovers the mystery of the cosmos in a new light, thereby opening the door to an ever deeper understanding and new avenues of research. An essential characteristic of this revised scientific method, inspired by cross-disciplinarity, is thus humility, which allows, on the one hand, a deeper relationship between disciplines and persons and, on the other hand, a heightened awareness of the depth of reality, as a complex and intelligible gift of a Trinitarian God, revealed as Logos in Jesus Christ. Full article

In some of the earliest Chinese works written by Catholic missionaries in the late Ming Dynasty, St. Augustine became associated with the mystery of the Trinity. When explaining the Trinity to Chinese believers, missionaries would often use an analogy of the mens (mind) and its activities in Augustine’s theory of Imago Dei, drawing parallels between “the One” and “the Three”. In the Ming and Qing periods, Augustine’s mental analogy gave rise to two approaches: the “Augustinian-Ignatian” and the “Augustinian-Thomistic”. The former, which was the mainstream interpretation, linked “Mind: memory-understanding-love” to “God: the Father-the Son-the Holy Spirit”, using “the word generated by memory” to represent “the Son begotten by the Father” and “love proceeded from memory and understanding” as an analogy to “the Holy Spirit proceeded from both the Father and the Son”. The latter, more of a minority interpretation, correlated “mind-understanding-love” to “the Father-the Son-the Holy Spirit”, using “word generated by mind” to represent “the Son generated by the Father”, and “love proceeded from mind and word” as an analogy to “the Holy Spirit proceeded from both the Father and the Son”. The former was mainly adhered to by the Jesuits and the Augustinians, while the latter was favored by the Dominicans. This article examines both approaches and critiques of Augustine’s theory of the Trinitarian image in Ming and Qing China. Full article

Among the important tasks of Trinitarian theology today is the need to rethink its basic conceptual coordinates. This contribution is a proposal for a phenomenological and existential approach to Trinitarian theology. The starting point is the analysis of three essential existential operators, by means of which the depth of the filial experience of Jesus is expressed. These operators are: being, having, and entering into relations. Their analysis in light of the data of the Gospel narrative allows us to create an interesting conceptual framework for a new articulation of the Trinitarian discourse. The article builds on the conviction that the concrete shapes and modalities of Jesus’ life are essential moments of the revelation of the Trinity. Before it is simultaneously closed and opened in concrete historical forms of discourse and in concrete metaphysical concepts, it is accomplished in the categorical decisions, actions, and words of Jesus, in which his filial consciousness is revealed. The ambition of the text is to reintroduce metaphysics into theology, however, from a different perspective than was conducted, for example, by classical scholasticism. It is about the existential recovery of metaphysical potential in theology. Revelation takes place in history and in the concrete of life. The metaphysics that theology needs must realize this and, above all, be up to the task of pointing to the living, historical center of Revelation and all theology. The article argues that such an existential deepening of metaphysics for Trinitarian theology can be conducted through collaboration with phenomenology. In such a perspective, the fragments of Jesus’ life, especially his way of being, having, and entering into relations, are ways in which the Trinity reveals itself in history. In this way, Trinitarian theology ceases to be a mere intellectual puzzle, becoming an existential paradigm, and the fragments of Revelation reveal an impressive structure in which speculation and life become integral paths toward the Mystery. On the formal side, the text argues for the integration and use of both metaphysics and phenomenology in Trinitarian theology to enhance its existential impact. This in turn implies a rethinking of how metaphysics, phenomenology, and theology itself are usually understood as well. Full article

The topic of the article “The Pedagogical and Religious Dimensions of the Rites of the Sacrament of Baptism for Children” deals with the sacraments in the Catholic Church, particularly baptism as the first of the seven sacraments. As signs, sacraments are also meant to instruct, and indeed they do, for the meaning and grace of baptism are made clear in the rites of its celebration Union with Christ leads to confession of faith in the One God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The profession of faith, closely related to baptism, is eminently Trinitarian. The Church baptises: “In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Matt. 28,19), the Triune God to whom the Christian entrusts his life.The basis for analyzing the rites of baptism will be the Order of Baptism for Children during mass, which contains very important instructions that can be grouped into three points: (1) instructions about God the Father, (2) instructions about the essence of baptism and its importance for the parish and the baptized, (3) instructions about the duties of the baptized and their parents and godparents. In the sacraments God occupies the central place, and the sacrament of baptism, by instructing about God the Father, the first issue, brings closer three fundamental truths about God: (a) God’s initiative in the salvation for man, (b) God’s omnipotence (universal, loving and mysterious), and (c) God’s goodness. The second issue deals with: (a) the essence of baptism based on the terms given in the Rite of Receiving the Children (baptism, faith, the grace of Christ, admission to the Church, and eternal life); (b) the meaning of infant baptism for the parish community; and (c) the meaning of baptism for the child. Likewise, the third issue is also divided into two parts, with an instruction (a) on the duties of the baptized and (b) the duties of baptized children, parents and godparents. Full article