Autor: Haaland, Janne Matlary

Buch: Veruntreute Menschenrechte

Titel: Veruntreute Menschenrechte

Stichwort: Theologie der Enthüllung (theology of disclosure); patristische Theologie; Th. - Philosophie

Kurzinhalt: The Fathers, in their Neoplatonic style, accepted the display of Christian things as part of the subject of their theology. Emanation, splendor, presence ... It is this aspect of Christian reflection that the theology of manifestation is to recover ...

Textausschnitt: 10a The three scientific forms of theology that we have distinguished—the speculative, positive, and phenomenological— have arisen within the cultural developments of the past thousand years. The first millennium of Christian thought was dominated by "Patristic" theology, which is named after the writers who practiced it and not the methods that it used. Patristic theology was a more immediate reflection on faith. The historical and the speculative were not yet clearly distinguished, and appearances were not subject to the suspicion that would later be raised against them. The second millennium of Christian thought introduced specialization and a self-conscious use of methods, but so long as the speculative and the positive were the sole major forms of theology, the wholeness of Patristic thought could not be critically restored. The Fathers, in their Neoplatonic style, accepted the display of Christian things as part of the subject of their theology. Emanation, splendor, presence, concealment, and imaging were spontaneously accepted and vividly described. It is this aspect of Christian reflection that the theology of manifestation is to recover, but in a manner appropriate to our day and age and with recognition of the contributions of both speculative and positive theology. (Fs; tblStw: Theologie)

10b In recent years many theologians have discussed the issue of the appearance of Christian things; in this book we will draw especially on the writings of Hans Urs von Balthasar and Dom Anscar Vonier, O.S.B.1 We will try to offer a philosophical instrumentality for the work of such theologians. The term "philosophical instrumentality" may at first seem to be an oxymoron, since it suggests that philosophy, which in the natural order is an end in itself, can become a means and an instrument for purposes beyond itself. But part of the sense of Christian belief is that everything natural is understood to have been created, so the theological context of Creation allows even what is ultimate in the human order to become subordinated to the theological. The manner of subordination, however, is distinctive: philosophy is ancilla theologiae in a way different from the manner in which things function as instruments for ends and purposes in the natural order. The service that philosophy provides in theology is not like the service it might be called upon to provide, say, for a particular political society, a task that would turn philosophy into an ideology.2 Philosophy does not become ideological in Christian theology; it continues to function as a contemplative activity. It is not meant to establish Christian belief but to be involved in its understanding. (Fs)

Fußnote 2: 4. The prepolitical communities described by Aristotle are not based on argument or logos; the relationships between husband and wife, parents and children, and master and slave do not need justification by speech. Political society is based on argument; those who rule over others in the political order have to give a justification for their claim to rule. If philosophy were to become involved in providing this justification (as it does in Hobbes), it would cease to be contemplative and would become instrumental and ideological. The distinction between political and prepolitical society as regards the need for justification was made for me by Francis Slade.

11a Philosophy can be elevated into this theological service without losing its integrity because of the unique new setting that is introduced through the Christian distinction between the world and God; this distinction is not like any of the distinctions that are drawn within the world. The Christian distinction opens up an entirely new understanding of the whole. It permits a transposition of senses in which some claims that might seem contradictory in the natural order can be understood as coherent and consistent in the theological; mysteries like those of the Incarnation and grace can be accepted as mysteries and not as contradictions when they are understood within the setting of the Christian distinction. Likewise, the subordination of philosophy to biblical revelation does not destroy the preeminence and ultimacy of philosophy in the natural order.1 Indeed, philosophy can flourish as a human activity in this new religious setting. (Fs)

12a I have discussed the Christian distinction in a book entitled The God of Faith and Reason. That book deals with the widest and ultimate context of Christian belief, the context of Creation and the dependence of the world on God's creative choice. It also treats more particular issues, such as the sacraments and the Christian moral life, but it treats them in a derivative way. In the present volume, I will try to develop the same themes but will approach them from the other extreme. Instead of beginning with what is first in itself, I begin with what is first for us: the eucharistic action and eucharistic devotion that are a tangible part of the ordinary Catholic life, part of the things we encounter daily. We will explore how the Eucharist appears, the presentational forms through which it is given. But we will also explore the deeper levels revealed in sacramental life: the mysteries of the Incarnation and Redemption, the mystery of the God who creates out of freedom, wisdom, and love, and the mystery of the Holy Trinity. These dimensions are refracted and disclosed to us in the Eucharist, and exploring them is not tangential but essential to the study of eucharistic presence. (Fs)

Our theological reflection will focus on the appearance of Christian things. Before speaking further about the theology of disclosure, let us develop some thoughts concerning the Eucharist. The issue of appearance is obviously essential to this Christian mystery. We will return intermittently to the theology of disclosure to explain more fully how it is to be understood, and we will discuss it again systematically in Chapter 13. (Fs)