Marcus Plested
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- January 2005
- ISBN:
- 9780199267798
- eISBN:
- 9780191602139
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199267790.003.0007
- Subject:
- Religion, Early Christian Studies
The work of Diadochus of Photice emerges as a profound synthesis of the Evagrian and (especially) Macarian legacies. Diadochus indubitably draws on Macarius for some of the key elements of his ...
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The work of Diadochus of Photice emerges as a profound synthesis of the Evagrian and (especially) Macarian legacies. Diadochus indubitably draws on Macarius for some of the key elements of his teaching, not least his anti-Messalian critique. Like Mark, he also ‘corrects’ Macarius on a number of key points, e.g. the coexistence of sin and grace in the intellect of the baptized – something Diadochus held to risk implying the deficiency of baptismal grace.Less
The work of Diadochus of Photice emerges as a profound synthesis of the Evagrian and (especially) Macarian legacies. Diadochus indubitably draws on Macarius for some of the key elements of his teaching, not least his anti-Messalian critique. Like Mark, he also ‘corrects’ Macarius on a number of key points, e.g. the coexistence of sin and grace in the intellect of the baptized – something Diadochus held to risk implying the deficiency of baptismal grace.
Aviad Kleinberg
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- May 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780231174701
- eISBN:
- 9780231540247
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Columbia University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7312/columbia/9780231174701.003.0007
- Subject:
- Religion, Philosophy of Religion
Where we first hear about these senseless senses and realize their many uses.
Where we first hear about these senseless senses and realize their many uses.
Ewert Cousins
- Published in print:
- 2000
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195097030
- eISBN:
- 9780199848805
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195097030.003.0006
- Subject:
- Religion, World Religions
This chapter explores several aspects of the relationship between mysticism and scripture in Christianity, focusing chiefly on the patristic and medieval periods. It begins with an exposition of the ...
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This chapter explores several aspects of the relationship between mysticism and scripture in Christianity, focusing chiefly on the patristic and medieval periods. It begins with an exposition of the patristic worldview derived from scripture, since the early fathers of the church saw scripture as providing an all-encompassing environment. In such a context, it is not surprising to find that they identified theology with scripture. Such an understanding of scripture differs sharply from the perceptions of later periods. In this context, the chapter gives examples of how the patristic and medieval writers explored the mystical dimensions of this all-encompassing worldview. It focuses on the emergence of the fourfold sense of scripture, beginning with the literal level and moving into the three mystical levels. To bring this to its completion, the five spiritual senses of the soul are examined, which are activated as one progresses in the spiritual journey and which are often awakened by reading scripture.Less
This chapter explores several aspects of the relationship between mysticism and scripture in Christianity, focusing chiefly on the patristic and medieval periods. It begins with an exposition of the patristic worldview derived from scripture, since the early fathers of the church saw scripture as providing an all-encompassing environment. In such a context, it is not surprising to find that they identified theology with scripture. Such an understanding of scripture differs sharply from the perceptions of later periods. In this context, the chapter gives examples of how the patristic and medieval writers explored the mystical dimensions of this all-encompassing worldview. It focuses on the emergence of the fourfold sense of scripture, beginning with the literal level and moving into the three mystical levels. To bring this to its completion, the five spiritual senses of the soul are examined, which are activated as one progresses in the spiritual journey and which are often awakened by reading scripture.
Marcus Plested
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- January 2005
- ISBN:
- 9780199267798
- eISBN:
- 9780191602139
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199267790.003.0009
- Subject:
- Religion, Early Christian Studies
The final chapter looks at the palpable Macarian dimension of the great Byzantine synthesis of Maximus the Confessor. Maximus is shown to have integrated into his teaching a number of key themes and ...
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The final chapter looks at the palpable Macarian dimension of the great Byzantine synthesis of Maximus the Confessor. Maximus is shown to have integrated into his teaching a number of key themes and concepts inherited from the Macarian legacy. The Macarian legacy plays a key role in Maximus’ theological and spiritual vision and is indeed essential to an understanding of that vision. Maximus’ creative appropriation of that legacy confirms and seals its place at the heart of the Eastern Christian tradition.Less
The final chapter looks at the palpable Macarian dimension of the great Byzantine synthesis of Maximus the Confessor. Maximus is shown to have integrated into his teaching a number of key themes and concepts inherited from the Macarian legacy. The Macarian legacy plays a key role in Maximus’ theological and spiritual vision and is indeed essential to an understanding of that vision. Maximus’ creative appropriation of that legacy confirms and seals its place at the heart of the Eastern Christian tradition.
Timothy F. Bellamah
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199753604
- eISBN:
- 9780199918812
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199753604.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, History of Christianity
A Dominican friar and regent master at Paris during the mid-thirteenth century, William of Alton was an important representative of university exegesis at a time of remarkable intellectual ...
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A Dominican friar and regent master at Paris during the mid-thirteenth century, William of Alton was an important representative of university exegesis at a time of remarkable intellectual development. Though he is less well known than his contemporaries Albert the Great, Bonaventure, and Thomas Aquinas, the writings ascribed to him, consisting of biblical commentaries and sermons, are of great interest to the history of biblical interpretation. And yet, they have attracted very little study, in part because they have never been printed and in part because they pose numerous problems of attribution. This study proposes to move beyond the resulting ambiguity by considering heretofore unexamined sources of information, specifically, by supplementing available external manuscript evidence with the indications of each commentary’s methodology and style. Rather than pretend to make definitive determinations with respect to every commentary’s authorship, this inquiry sets for itself the more modest task of constituting a list of works whose authenticity can be a matter of confidence and thus providing a basis for studying William’s exegesis. The establishment of a sound bibliography brings into view a broad picture of his work, which falls squarely within the genre of university exegesis. Even by the standards of his time, William was particularly attentive to the author’s intention. To discern it, he made use of an extensive range of procedures for textual, linguistic, and rhetorical analysis. At the same time, he remained attentive to the spiritual senses and to the demands of assimilating the diverse elements of the exegetical and theological tradition of which he was a part.Less
A Dominican friar and regent master at Paris during the mid-thirteenth century, William of Alton was an important representative of university exegesis at a time of remarkable intellectual development. Though he is less well known than his contemporaries Albert the Great, Bonaventure, and Thomas Aquinas, the writings ascribed to him, consisting of biblical commentaries and sermons, are of great interest to the history of biblical interpretation. And yet, they have attracted very little study, in part because they have never been printed and in part because they pose numerous problems of attribution. This study proposes to move beyond the resulting ambiguity by considering heretofore unexamined sources of information, specifically, by supplementing available external manuscript evidence with the indications of each commentary’s methodology and style. Rather than pretend to make definitive determinations with respect to every commentary’s authorship, this inquiry sets for itself the more modest task of constituting a list of works whose authenticity can be a matter of confidence and thus providing a basis for studying William’s exegesis. The establishment of a sound bibliography brings into view a broad picture of his work, which falls squarely within the genre of university exegesis. Even by the standards of his time, William was particularly attentive to the author’s intention. To discern it, he made use of an extensive range of procedures for textual, linguistic, and rhetorical analysis. At the same time, he remained attentive to the spiritual senses and to the demands of assimilating the diverse elements of the exegetical and theological tradition of which he was a part.
Mark McInroy
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- August 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780199689002
- eISBN:
- 9780191768095
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199689002.003.0003
- Subject:
- Religion, Theology, Religious Studies
This chapter investigates Balthasar’s reading of the spiritual senses in the medieval and early modern periods. Bonaventure is most significant for Balthasar among medieval expositors of the ...
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This chapter investigates Balthasar’s reading of the spiritual senses in the medieval and early modern periods. Bonaventure is most significant for Balthasar among medieval expositors of the doctrine, and Ignatius of Loyola for Balthasar’s reading of the early modern period. As was true in his reading of patristic authors, Balthasar again celebrates the material dimension to perception in the medieval and early modern figures he examines, drawing from those versions of the doctrine the most positive reading of the physical senses that he can credibly summon. This chapter also demonstrates that Balthasar finds in Bonaventure one who regards the spiritual senses as possessed of an explicitly aesthetic dimension, an attribute that has obvious affinities with Balthasar’s project and his own appropriation of the doctrine. And, again: this chapter provides further evidence that it is first and foremost Rahner who transmits the doctrine of the spiritual senses to Balthasar.Less
This chapter investigates Balthasar’s reading of the spiritual senses in the medieval and early modern periods. Bonaventure is most significant for Balthasar among medieval expositors of the doctrine, and Ignatius of Loyola for Balthasar’s reading of the early modern period. As was true in his reading of patristic authors, Balthasar again celebrates the material dimension to perception in the medieval and early modern figures he examines, drawing from those versions of the doctrine the most positive reading of the physical senses that he can credibly summon. This chapter also demonstrates that Balthasar finds in Bonaventure one who regards the spiritual senses as possessed of an explicitly aesthetic dimension, an attribute that has obvious affinities with Balthasar’s project and his own appropriation of the doctrine. And, again: this chapter provides further evidence that it is first and foremost Rahner who transmits the doctrine of the spiritual senses to Balthasar.
Mark McInroy
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- August 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780199689002
- eISBN:
- 9780191768095
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199689002.003.0002
- Subject:
- Religion, Theology, Religious Studies
This chapter examines Balthasar’s reading of patristic figures on the spiritual senses. The most distinctive feature of Balthasar’s approach to patristic writers on the spiritual senses involves the ...
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This chapter examines Balthasar’s reading of patristic figures on the spiritual senses. The most distinctive feature of Balthasar’s approach to patristic writers on the spiritual senses involves the positive reading he gives to the corporeal senses to which the spiritual senses are analogous. Many patristic authors are read as articulating a ‘dualist’ model of the doctrine whereby the spiritual senses are disjuncted from their corporeal counterparts. This chapter, however, shows that Balthasar repeatedly interprets patristic authors as valuing the corporeal dimension to perception in addition to its spiritual correlate. As a result of this concern, Balthasar occasionally advances a somewhat hermeneutically massaged reading of patristic sources. It will also be shown, however, that Balthasar does not push this positive reading of the body as far as might be expected, given his concern with corporeality. Additionally, this chapter argues that Rahner mediates the doctrine of the spiritual senses to Balthasar.Less
This chapter examines Balthasar’s reading of patristic figures on the spiritual senses. The most distinctive feature of Balthasar’s approach to patristic writers on the spiritual senses involves the positive reading he gives to the corporeal senses to which the spiritual senses are analogous. Many patristic authors are read as articulating a ‘dualist’ model of the doctrine whereby the spiritual senses are disjuncted from their corporeal counterparts. This chapter, however, shows that Balthasar repeatedly interprets patristic authors as valuing the corporeal dimension to perception in addition to its spiritual correlate. As a result of this concern, Balthasar occasionally advances a somewhat hermeneutically massaged reading of patristic sources. It will also be shown, however, that Balthasar does not push this positive reading of the body as far as might be expected, given his concern with corporeality. Additionally, this chapter argues that Rahner mediates the doctrine of the spiritual senses to Balthasar.
Mark McInroy
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- August 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780199689002
- eISBN:
- 9780191768095
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199689002.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Theology, Religious Studies
In this study, Mark McInroy argues that the ‘spiritual senses’ play a crucial yet previously unappreciated role in the theological aesthetics of Hans Urs von Balthasar. The doctrine of the spiritual ...
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In this study, Mark McInroy argues that the ‘spiritual senses’ play a crucial yet previously unappreciated role in the theological aesthetics of Hans Urs von Balthasar. The doctrine of the spiritual senses typically claims that human beings can be made capable of perceiving non-corporeal, ‘spiritual’ realities. After a lengthy period of disuse, Balthasar recovers the doctrine in the mid-twentieth century and articulates it afresh in his theological aesthetics. At the heart of this project stands the task of perceiving the absolute beauty of the divine form through which God is revealed to human beings. Although extensive scholarly attention has focused on Balthasar’s understanding of revelation, beauty, and form, what remains curiously under-studied is his model of the perceptual faculties through which one beholds the form that God reveals. McInroy claims that Balthasar draws upon the tradition of the spiritual senses in order to develop the means through which one perceives the ‘splendour’ of divine revelation. McInroy further argues that, in playing this role, the spiritual senses function as an indispensable component of Balthasar’s unique, aesthetic resolution to the high-profile debates in modern Catholic theology between Neo-Scholastic theologians and their opponents. As a third option between Neo-Scholastic ‘extrinsicism’, which arguably insists on the authority of revelation to the point of disaffecting the human being, and ‘immanentism’, which reduces God’s revelation to human categories in the name of relevance, McInroy proposes that Balthasar’s model of spiritual perception allows one to be both delighted and astounded by the glory of God’s revelation.Less
In this study, Mark McInroy argues that the ‘spiritual senses’ play a crucial yet previously unappreciated role in the theological aesthetics of Hans Urs von Balthasar. The doctrine of the spiritual senses typically claims that human beings can be made capable of perceiving non-corporeal, ‘spiritual’ realities. After a lengthy period of disuse, Balthasar recovers the doctrine in the mid-twentieth century and articulates it afresh in his theological aesthetics. At the heart of this project stands the task of perceiving the absolute beauty of the divine form through which God is revealed to human beings. Although extensive scholarly attention has focused on Balthasar’s understanding of revelation, beauty, and form, what remains curiously under-studied is his model of the perceptual faculties through which one beholds the form that God reveals. McInroy claims that Balthasar draws upon the tradition of the spiritual senses in order to develop the means through which one perceives the ‘splendour’ of divine revelation. McInroy further argues that, in playing this role, the spiritual senses function as an indispensable component of Balthasar’s unique, aesthetic resolution to the high-profile debates in modern Catholic theology between Neo-Scholastic theologians and their opponents. As a third option between Neo-Scholastic ‘extrinsicism’, which arguably insists on the authority of revelation to the point of disaffecting the human being, and ‘immanentism’, which reduces God’s revelation to human categories in the name of relevance, McInroy proposes that Balthasar’s model of spiritual perception allows one to be both delighted and astounded by the glory of God’s revelation.
Michael J. McClymond and Gerald R. McDermott
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199791606
- eISBN:
- 9780199932290
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199791606.003.0011
- Subject:
- Religion, Theology
Edwards's exclusively exegetical works fill nearly five volumes in the Yale edition. As an eighteenth-century exegete, his approach may be distinguished from the Enlightenment thinkers, Roman ...
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Edwards's exclusively exegetical works fill nearly five volumes in the Yale edition. As an eighteenth-century exegete, his approach may be distinguished from the Enlightenment thinkers, Roman Catholics, and radical evangelicals. Central to Edwards's approach to Biblical interpretation was the “sense of the heart.” The same divine illumination that caused the saint to perceive the beauty of God amid the wonders of the natural world also caused the saint to see both the surface level and the deeper meanings contained in holy writ. Without abandoning the foundational role of the literal sense, he showed a tilt toward the spiritual sense. Identifying the spiritual sense of scripture ultimately allows the interpreter to place all the pieces of the Old and New Testaments into a coherent whole.Less
Edwards's exclusively exegetical works fill nearly five volumes in the Yale edition. As an eighteenth-century exegete, his approach may be distinguished from the Enlightenment thinkers, Roman Catholics, and radical evangelicals. Central to Edwards's approach to Biblical interpretation was the “sense of the heart.” The same divine illumination that caused the saint to perceive the beauty of God amid the wonders of the natural world also caused the saint to see both the surface level and the deeper meanings contained in holy writ. Without abandoning the foundational role of the literal sense, he showed a tilt toward the spiritual sense. Identifying the spiritual sense of scripture ultimately allows the interpreter to place all the pieces of the Old and New Testaments into a coherent whole.
Daniel J. Harrington, S.J.
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- January 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780199863006
- eISBN:
- 9780199979967
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199863006.003.0002
- Subject:
- Religion, Biblical Studies
Written by Harrington from a Catholic perspective, this chapter notes the presence of the so-called Apocrypha in the Catholic (and Orthodox) Old Testament. Next it explains modern Catholic biblical ...
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Written by Harrington from a Catholic perspective, this chapter notes the presence of the so-called Apocrypha in the Catholic (and Orthodox) Old Testament. Next it explains modern Catholic biblical interpretation in light of official documents from popes (Divino afflante Spiritu), church councils (Dei verbum) and the Pontifical Biblical Commission. Then it shows how Catholics have come to accept biblical criticism as indispensable (but within limits), while insisting also on the importance of the spiritual sense of Scripture, the patristic tradition, and the challenges posed by actualization and inculturation. It illustrates the Catholic approach with reference to Exodus 3–4.Less
Written by Harrington from a Catholic perspective, this chapter notes the presence of the so-called Apocrypha in the Catholic (and Orthodox) Old Testament. Next it explains modern Catholic biblical interpretation in light of official documents from popes (Divino afflante Spiritu), church councils (Dei verbum) and the Pontifical Biblical Commission. Then it shows how Catholics have come to accept biblical criticism as indispensable (but within limits), while insisting also on the importance of the spiritual sense of Scripture, the patristic tradition, and the challenges posed by actualization and inculturation. It illustrates the Catholic approach with reference to Exodus 3–4.
Mark McInroy
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- August 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780199689002
- eISBN:
- 9780191768095
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199689002.003.0005
- Subject:
- Religion, Theology, Religious Studies
This chapter describes Balthasar’s highly creative version of the spiritual senses as deployed in his theological aesthetics. Most distinctively, Balthasar grafts the spiritual senses onto a ...
More
This chapter describes Balthasar’s highly creative version of the spiritual senses as deployed in his theological aesthetics. Most distinctively, Balthasar grafts the spiritual senses onto a ‘personalist’ anthropology. According to this reconfigured understanding of the doctrine, the interpersonal encounter with the neighbour functions as the paradigmatic arena within which one receives the spiritual senses. Additionally, drawing on the non-dualist anthropology he finds among his contemporary interlocutors, Balthasar interweaves spiritual and corporeal perception with each other such that spiritual perceiving simply cannot occur without its bodily counterpart. Also, whereas the spiritual senses have traditionally been interpreted as pertaining to a ‘mystical’ encounter with God reserved for a few, Balthasar repositions the doctrine such that the spiritual senses are granted to all Christians among the general gifts of grace. Last, Balthasar gives the spiritual senses an aesthetic dimension such that they are capable of perceiving and appreciating beauty.Less
This chapter describes Balthasar’s highly creative version of the spiritual senses as deployed in his theological aesthetics. Most distinctively, Balthasar grafts the spiritual senses onto a ‘personalist’ anthropology. According to this reconfigured understanding of the doctrine, the interpersonal encounter with the neighbour functions as the paradigmatic arena within which one receives the spiritual senses. Additionally, drawing on the non-dualist anthropology he finds among his contemporary interlocutors, Balthasar interweaves spiritual and corporeal perception with each other such that spiritual perceiving simply cannot occur without its bodily counterpart. Also, whereas the spiritual senses have traditionally been interpreted as pertaining to a ‘mystical’ encounter with God reserved for a few, Balthasar repositions the doctrine such that the spiritual senses are granted to all Christians among the general gifts of grace. Last, Balthasar gives the spiritual senses an aesthetic dimension such that they are capable of perceiving and appreciating beauty.
Mark McInroy
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- August 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780199689002
- eISBN:
- 9780191768095
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199689002.003.0004
- Subject:
- Religion, Theology, Religious Studies
This chapter examines the influence of Balthasar’s contemporaries on his version of the spiritual senses, with special attention to Karl Barth, Romano Guardini, Gustav Siewerth, and Paul Claudel. The ...
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This chapter examines the influence of Balthasar’s contemporaries on his version of the spiritual senses, with special attention to Karl Barth, Romano Guardini, Gustav Siewerth, and Paul Claudel. The chapter shows that Balthasar is actually discontent with the traditional versions of the doctrine. Most importantly, all four of the modern figures upon whom Balthasar draws equip him with an understanding of the human being as fundamentally united in body and soul. He then uses this non-dualist anthropology to frame the doctrine of the spiritual senses such that spiritual and corporeal perception occur in a single unified act. With modern figures as his guide, then, Balthasar unites spiritual and corporeal perception to a degree not achieved in his examination of traditional figures. Additionally, Balthasar draws from the ‘personalism’ of Barth and Siewerth to claim that the ‘definitive arena’ within which one receives one’s spiritual senses is encounter with the neighbour.Less
This chapter examines the influence of Balthasar’s contemporaries on his version of the spiritual senses, with special attention to Karl Barth, Romano Guardini, Gustav Siewerth, and Paul Claudel. The chapter shows that Balthasar is actually discontent with the traditional versions of the doctrine. Most importantly, all four of the modern figures upon whom Balthasar draws equip him with an understanding of the human being as fundamentally united in body and soul. He then uses this non-dualist anthropology to frame the doctrine of the spiritual senses such that spiritual and corporeal perception occur in a single unified act. With modern figures as his guide, then, Balthasar unites spiritual and corporeal perception to a degree not achieved in his examination of traditional figures. Additionally, Balthasar draws from the ‘personalism’ of Barth and Siewerth to claim that the ‘definitive arena’ within which one receives one’s spiritual senses is encounter with the neighbour.
James W. Jones
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- March 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780190927387
- eISBN:
- 9780190927417
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780190927387.003.0006
- Subject:
- Religion, Religious Studies, Philosophy of Religion
An embodied approach to human understanding can ground the case for a “spiritual sense” and for understanding religious knowledge as a form of perception, especially if proprioception (and not just ...
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An embodied approach to human understanding can ground the case for a “spiritual sense” and for understanding religious knowledge as a form of perception, especially if proprioception (and not just ordinary sense perception) is used as an analogue. The long-standing tradition of the existence of a spiritual sense is brought up to date by linking it to various contemporary neuroscientific theories. An embodied-relational model offers several avenues for understanding our capacity to transform and transcend our ordinary awareness. Two classical Christian theological texts on religious experience—the Cloud of Unknowing and Scheiermacher’s The Christian Faith—are also discussed.Less
An embodied approach to human understanding can ground the case for a “spiritual sense” and for understanding religious knowledge as a form of perception, especially if proprioception (and not just ordinary sense perception) is used as an analogue. The long-standing tradition of the existence of a spiritual sense is brought up to date by linking it to various contemporary neuroscientific theories. An embodied-relational model offers several avenues for understanding our capacity to transform and transcend our ordinary awareness. Two classical Christian theological texts on religious experience—the Cloud of Unknowing and Scheiermacher’s The Christian Faith—are also discussed.
Mark McInroy
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- August 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780199689002
- eISBN:
- 9780191768095
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199689002.003.0006
- Subject:
- Religion, Theology, Religious Studies
This chapter advances the central claim of this study: Balthasar’s theological aesthetics calls for perception of the ‘form’ (Gestalt), and the form consists of both sensory and ‘supersensory’ ...
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This chapter advances the central claim of this study: Balthasar’s theological aesthetics calls for perception of the ‘form’ (Gestalt), and the form consists of both sensory and ‘supersensory’ aspects (i.e., a material component and a ‘spiritual’ dimension, species and lumen, forma and splendor). Therefore, some account of the way in which this human perception exceeds the material realm is absolutely essential to the success of Balthasar’s project. In other words, it is precisely because the form itself has both sensory and supersensory aspects that the perception of that form must be both sensory and supersensory. Balthasar’s theological aesthetics thus clamours for a doctrine of the spiritual senses; in fact, one could go so far as to claim that if such a doctrine did not already exist, then for purposes of his theological aesthetics Balthasar would need to invent it.Less
This chapter advances the central claim of this study: Balthasar’s theological aesthetics calls for perception of the ‘form’ (Gestalt), and the form consists of both sensory and ‘supersensory’ aspects (i.e., a material component and a ‘spiritual’ dimension, species and lumen, forma and splendor). Therefore, some account of the way in which this human perception exceeds the material realm is absolutely essential to the success of Balthasar’s project. In other words, it is precisely because the form itself has both sensory and supersensory aspects that the perception of that form must be both sensory and supersensory. Balthasar’s theological aesthetics thus clamours for a doctrine of the spiritual senses; in fact, one could go so far as to claim that if such a doctrine did not already exist, then for purposes of his theological aesthetics Balthasar would need to invent it.
Michelle Voss Roberts
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- January 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780823257386
- eISBN:
- 9780823261536
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Fordham University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5422/fordham/9780823257386.003.0006
- Subject:
- Religion, Theology
Bernard of Clairvaux and Rūpa Gosvāmin are both ambivalent about the relation of the devotee's body to the eroticism of scripture; and this ambivalence is directed against “others” of their ...
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Bernard of Clairvaux and Rūpa Gosvāmin are both ambivalent about the relation of the devotee's body to the eroticism of scripture; and this ambivalence is directed against “others” of their communities, particularly women and rival religious groups. This chapter argues that traditional claims about the allegorical nature of the divine-human love relationship attenuate the liberative social potential of devotion centered on the sentiment of love. The religious emotion of love is impoverished by concerns with proper (aucitya) behavior, especially insofar as these concerns define the boundaries and margins of religious communities. The chapter concludes by reclaiming the notion of propriety alongside the sensory aspects of rasa theory for a holistic notion of the spiritual senses.Less
Bernard of Clairvaux and Rūpa Gosvāmin are both ambivalent about the relation of the devotee's body to the eroticism of scripture; and this ambivalence is directed against “others” of their communities, particularly women and rival religious groups. This chapter argues that traditional claims about the allegorical nature of the divine-human love relationship attenuate the liberative social potential of devotion centered on the sentiment of love. The religious emotion of love is impoverished by concerns with proper (aucitya) behavior, especially insofar as these concerns define the boundaries and margins of religious communities. The chapter concludes by reclaiming the notion of propriety alongside the sensory aspects of rasa theory for a holistic notion of the spiritual senses.
Mark McInroy
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- August 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780199689002
- eISBN:
- 9780191768095
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199689002.003.0007
- Subject:
- Religion, Theology, Religious Studies
This chapter explores the far-reaching implications of the claim made in Chapter 5 by looking at Balthasar’s engagement with the pressing theological issues of his day. It demonstrates that many of ...
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This chapter explores the far-reaching implications of the claim made in Chapter 5 by looking at Balthasar’s engagement with the pressing theological issues of his day. It demonstrates that many of Balthasar’s critiques of Neo-Scholasticism, Catholic Modernism, Rahner, and Barth all actually have, at their core, his version of the spiritual senses. By examining topics such as the nature of faith, natural theology, apologetics, aesthetic experience, and the relationship between nature and grace, we shall see that the spiritual senses comprise an integral component of the Balthasarian solution to the problems encountered in these debates. Therefore, the treatment of the spiritual senses in this chapter offers ways of advancing theological discussion, not only for Balthasar scholarship, but, more broadly, for a recurrent set of challenges presented to modern theology.Less
This chapter explores the far-reaching implications of the claim made in Chapter 5 by looking at Balthasar’s engagement with the pressing theological issues of his day. It demonstrates that many of Balthasar’s critiques of Neo-Scholasticism, Catholic Modernism, Rahner, and Barth all actually have, at their core, his version of the spiritual senses. By examining topics such as the nature of faith, natural theology, apologetics, aesthetic experience, and the relationship between nature and grace, we shall see that the spiritual senses comprise an integral component of the Balthasarian solution to the problems encountered in these debates. Therefore, the treatment of the spiritual senses in this chapter offers ways of advancing theological discussion, not only for Balthasar scholarship, but, more broadly, for a recurrent set of challenges presented to modern theology.
Hans Boersma
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- May 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780199641123
- eISBN:
- 9780191751066
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199641123.003.0004
- Subject:
- Religion, Early Christian Studies, Theology
Chapter 3 (‘Gendered Body’) argues that Gregory depicts gender as something ultimately unstable. This instability is the result not of a non-essentialist (postmodern) questioning of heteronormativity ...
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Chapter 3 (‘Gendered Body’) argues that Gregory depicts gender as something ultimately unstable. This instability is the result not of a non-essentialist (postmodern) questioning of heteronormativity but of an anagogical, upward journey away from gender and sexuality altogether. In Canticum canticorum contrasts the temporary (post-lapsarian) ‘tunics of hide’ (which will not enter into the adiastemic paradisal future) with the holy garb of Christ and contrasts the bodily senses with the spiritual senses. In De hominis opificio, Nyssen explains that embodiment and gender do not belong to the image of God, and if any procreation would have taken place in Paradise, it would have been an angelic, non-sexual kind of procreation. In Vita s. Macrinae, Gregory depicts his sister, Macrina, as someone who through virginity reaches the angelic life and so in Christ overcomes gender.Less
Chapter 3 (‘Gendered Body’) argues that Gregory depicts gender as something ultimately unstable. This instability is the result not of a non-essentialist (postmodern) questioning of heteronormativity but of an anagogical, upward journey away from gender and sexuality altogether. In Canticum canticorum contrasts the temporary (post-lapsarian) ‘tunics of hide’ (which will not enter into the adiastemic paradisal future) with the holy garb of Christ and contrasts the bodily senses with the spiritual senses. In De hominis opificio, Nyssen explains that embodiment and gender do not belong to the image of God, and if any procreation would have taken place in Paradise, it would have been an angelic, non-sexual kind of procreation. In Vita s. Macrinae, Gregory depicts his sister, Macrina, as someone who through virginity reaches the angelic life and so in Christ overcomes gender.
Brian P. Dunkle, SJ
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- November 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780198788225
- eISBN:
- 9780191830181
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198788225.003.0003
- Subject:
- Religion, Early Christian Studies, Religion and Literature
Ambrose’s catechetical preaching is presented as the background for the bishop’s pastoral use of hymnody. Ambrose’s view of the relationship between the temporal and the eternal aims to awaken in his ...
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Ambrose’s catechetical preaching is presented as the background for the bishop’s pastoral use of hymnody. Ambrose’s view of the relationship between the temporal and the eternal aims to awaken in his congregation a sensitivity to the transcendent significance of liturgical rites and the Scriptures. Ambrose understands his project as a biblically based effort to “sensitize” his congregation’s spiritual senses, a vision that draws on the Christian tradition of the “eyes of the heart,” which allow the initiates to perceive what is otherwise invisible. Ambrose employed distinctive rhetorical techniques such as repetition and indexicals to achieve this sensitization, which perceived according to pro-Nicene theology. The chapter concludes with a review of the polemical occasion for the spread of Ambrose’s hymns in the basilica crisis of 386 and Ambrose’s own account of his hymns as a “charm.”Less
Ambrose’s catechetical preaching is presented as the background for the bishop’s pastoral use of hymnody. Ambrose’s view of the relationship between the temporal and the eternal aims to awaken in his congregation a sensitivity to the transcendent significance of liturgical rites and the Scriptures. Ambrose understands his project as a biblically based effort to “sensitize” his congregation’s spiritual senses, a vision that draws on the Christian tradition of the “eyes of the heart,” which allow the initiates to perceive what is otherwise invisible. Ambrose employed distinctive rhetorical techniques such as repetition and indexicals to achieve this sensitization, which perceived according to pro-Nicene theology. The chapter concludes with a review of the polemical occasion for the spread of Ambrose’s hymns in the basilica crisis of 386 and Ambrose’s own account of his hymns as a “charm.”
Boyd Taylor Coolman
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- February 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780199601769
- eISBN:
- 9780191773167
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199601769.003.0008
- Subject:
- Religion, Theology, Church History
This chapter treats the apex of the mystical ascent for Gallus, namely, the ecstatic, affective cognition of God, which he associates with the Seraphim in the angelic hierarchy, and which is made ...
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This chapter treats the apex of the mystical ascent for Gallus, namely, the ecstatic, affective cognition of God, which he associates with the Seraphim in the angelic hierarchy, and which is made possible by the power of the Holy Spirit and coincides with nuptial union between the soul-bride and Christ the Bridegroom. This affective cognition is higher than intellectual cognition, which he associates with the lower ranks of the Thrones and the Cherubim. In order to capture least inadequately the nature of this affective cognitio Dei, Gallus has recourse to a teaching on the spiritual senses of the soul, by which she experiences God in the manner of spiritual taste, touch, and smell.Less
This chapter treats the apex of the mystical ascent for Gallus, namely, the ecstatic, affective cognition of God, which he associates with the Seraphim in the angelic hierarchy, and which is made possible by the power of the Holy Spirit and coincides with nuptial union between the soul-bride and Christ the Bridegroom. This affective cognition is higher than intellectual cognition, which he associates with the lower ranks of the Thrones and the Cherubim. In order to capture least inadequately the nature of this affective cognitio Dei, Gallus has recourse to a teaching on the spiritual senses of the soul, by which she experiences God in the manner of spiritual taste, touch, and smell.
Boyd Taylor Coolman
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- February 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780199601769
- eISBN:
- 9780191773167
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199601769.003.0011
- Subject:
- Religion, Theology, Church History
The conclusion recapitulates the foregoing under three primary headings: the principle of plenitude, hierarchic anthropology, and the finality of love. Under the first, it argues that the deep ...
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The conclusion recapitulates the foregoing under three primary headings: the principle of plenitude, hierarchic anthropology, and the finality of love. Under the first, it argues that the deep intuition animating Gallus’ entire theological vision is a notion of plenitude, expressed in the language of the self-diffusive nature of goodness. Here, especially in his understanding of divine plenitude, Gallus both synthesizes the thought tradition of Dionysius and Richard of St. Victor, while also appearing to anticipate the thought of Bonaventure. Under the second, the chapter especially stresses the way that Gallus’ hierarchical anthropology enables him to conceive of the soul as in some sense naturally capacitated for ecstatic self-transcendence. Under the third, finally, it draws together the various aspects of Gallus’ distinctive teaching on affective cognition to argue that it enables the soul to have a meaningful and experiential perception or sense of God, even as God remains essentially unknown.Less
The conclusion recapitulates the foregoing under three primary headings: the principle of plenitude, hierarchic anthropology, and the finality of love. Under the first, it argues that the deep intuition animating Gallus’ entire theological vision is a notion of plenitude, expressed in the language of the self-diffusive nature of goodness. Here, especially in his understanding of divine plenitude, Gallus both synthesizes the thought tradition of Dionysius and Richard of St. Victor, while also appearing to anticipate the thought of Bonaventure. Under the second, the chapter especially stresses the way that Gallus’ hierarchical anthropology enables him to conceive of the soul as in some sense naturally capacitated for ecstatic self-transcendence. Under the third, finally, it draws together the various aspects of Gallus’ distinctive teaching on affective cognition to argue that it enables the soul to have a meaningful and experiential perception or sense of God, even as God remains essentially unknown.
