John M. McManamon
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- May 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780823245048
- eISBN:
- 9780823252787
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Fordham University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5422/fordham/9780823245048.003.0003
- Subject:
- Religion, History of Christianity
The chapter opens by analyzing the change in direction that Ignatius made on the Mount of the Ascension, leading him to study at various universities in order to help souls. The charismatic elements ...
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The chapter opens by analyzing the change in direction that Ignatius made on the Mount of the Ascension, leading him to study at various universities in order to help souls. The charismatic elements of pilgrimage helped enable Ignatius to discern a calling to an apostolic life in which education was seen as a Gospel ministry. Ignatius discovered the congeniality of humanist principles of education and humanist inspiration for schools as ministry. There were, moreover, eight different occasions on which the Inquisition investigated Ignatius, and, each time, Ignatius insisted on his innocence. He came to see a contrast between the dynamism of apostolic evangelizing and the stasis of closed-minded zealotry. The memories of his life after leaving Jerusalem unwound for Ignatius on parallel trajectories of his gathering companions for apostolic ministries and his being persecuted by zealous Church authorities for doing so.Less
The chapter opens by analyzing the change in direction that Ignatius made on the Mount of the Ascension, leading him to study at various universities in order to help souls. The charismatic elements of pilgrimage helped enable Ignatius to discern a calling to an apostolic life in which education was seen as a Gospel ministry. Ignatius discovered the congeniality of humanist principles of education and humanist inspiration for schools as ministry. There were, moreover, eight different occasions on which the Inquisition investigated Ignatius, and, each time, Ignatius insisted on his innocence. He came to see a contrast between the dynamism of apostolic evangelizing and the stasis of closed-minded zealotry. The memories of his life after leaving Jerusalem unwound for Ignatius on parallel trajectories of his gathering companions for apostolic ministries and his being persecuted by zealous Church authorities for doing so.
John M. McManamon, S.J.
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- May 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780823245048
- eISBN:
- 9780823252787
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Fordham University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5422/fordham/9780823245048.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, History of Christianity
Scholars now concur that the text Ignatius Loyola dictated late in life should not be labeled an autobiography: the existing text does not cover Ignatius's entire life, and he did not write it. ...
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Scholars now concur that the text Ignatius Loyola dictated late in life should not be labeled an autobiography: the existing text does not cover Ignatius's entire life, and he did not write it. Jerónimo Nadal (1507-80), Ignatius's most trusted Jesuit collaborator, urged that the text be titled Acts as the word is used in Luke's Acts of the Apostles. Recent monographs by Marjorie O’Rourke Boyle and John W. O’Malley have characterized Ignatius's Acts as a “mirror of vainglory” and “a mirror of apostolic religious life” respectively. This study argues that an appreciation of the two Lukan New Testament writings likewise helps interpret the theological perspectives of Ignatius. The geography of Luke's two writings and the theology that inspired Luke's redactional innovation assisted Ignatius in remembering and understanding the crucial acts of God in his own life. It also argues that one only appreciates the book by moving forward to Ignatius and his times through the Renaissance, not by viewing backwards through the Reformation. The world-affirming style of holiness to which Ignatius discerned God calling him had much in common with directions born in Italy during the Renaissance. Ignatius's commitment to education, appreciation for the Incarnation and desire for rebirth of the apostolic age reveal a dialogue with the world of Renaissance humanism. The meaning of Ignatius's Acts is best appreciated, then, in the context of the language that he dictated, the events that he chose to include or not include, and the cultures that helped to shape his expression and understanding.Less
Scholars now concur that the text Ignatius Loyola dictated late in life should not be labeled an autobiography: the existing text does not cover Ignatius's entire life, and he did not write it. Jerónimo Nadal (1507-80), Ignatius's most trusted Jesuit collaborator, urged that the text be titled Acts as the word is used in Luke's Acts of the Apostles. Recent monographs by Marjorie O’Rourke Boyle and John W. O’Malley have characterized Ignatius's Acts as a “mirror of vainglory” and “a mirror of apostolic religious life” respectively. This study argues that an appreciation of the two Lukan New Testament writings likewise helps interpret the theological perspectives of Ignatius. The geography of Luke's two writings and the theology that inspired Luke's redactional innovation assisted Ignatius in remembering and understanding the crucial acts of God in his own life. It also argues that one only appreciates the book by moving forward to Ignatius and his times through the Renaissance, not by viewing backwards through the Reformation. The world-affirming style of holiness to which Ignatius discerned God calling him had much in common with directions born in Italy during the Renaissance. Ignatius's commitment to education, appreciation for the Incarnation and desire for rebirth of the apostolic age reveal a dialogue with the world of Renaissance humanism. The meaning of Ignatius's Acts is best appreciated, then, in the context of the language that he dictated, the events that he chose to include or not include, and the cultures that helped to shape his expression and understanding.
