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John Barclay offers a capacious and helpful framework for reflection on large swathes of the history of the theology of grace with his notion of the six ways of ‘perfecting the gift’. In this article, I extend his analysis to a consideration of certain typical differences between Catholic and Protestant conceptions of grace. Where Protestant theology tends toward a juxtaposition of grace with sin, Catholic theology often considers grace in relation to nature, and each side, I suggest, has its own characteristic proclivity towards paradox.

The Sacred Scriptures narrated the marvelous deeds of God. It is divided into the Old Testament, which narrates God's preparation for humankind's salvation, and the New Testament, which fulfills His promise. The Gospels serve explicitly as a witness to the divine realities as it records the life and mission of Jesus Christ that He truly exists for humanity's sake. The other epistle writings found in the New Testament foretold the beginning and growth of the Church in following Christ. This paper seeks to look at the relation between the Dogma of the Theotokosand Mark 6:3 on Jesus as the Son of Mary. In presenting the said theme, the following parts are discussed: first, A Short History of the Dogma of the Theotokos by looking into the context which leads to the promulgation of the teaching; second, the Inseparability of Mary with Jesus by tackling the connection between the Mother and Son; and third, the Dogma of the Theotokos and Mark 6:3 by relating the teaching on Mark's Gospel account which is an affirmation of Catholic theology regarding the person of Jesus.

The article analyzes the basic concepts of Christology in modern Catholic theology, which determine the Church's desire to protect the biblical teaching of the doctrine of the person of Jesus Christ by modernizing religious doctrines on the basis of modern terminology.This approach has led to the emergence of contemporary models of Christological doctrine, which have demonstrated the development and need of the Roman Catholic Church not to be aloof from contemporary political and social processes.Recent trends in Christological topics have their own peculiarities, reflecting the millennial existence of the Church. Religious analysis of the key problems of theological discourse in the Christological teachings of the representatives of Catholic theology led to the transformation of ideological orientations: from enlightenment, which justified belief in the human mind and scientific and technological progress, to the existential, defining a human as the personality-dialogical phenomenon;revealing the deep connection of Christology and soteriology as interdependent aspects of one phenomenon of salvation in the context of understanding the earthly existence of Jesus, the historical recollection of the Passions, the Death and Resurrection of Christ, and the psychological and ontological content of Jesus' consciousness through the prism of the ecology of Christ through the lens of Christ. It is established that a large number of theologians belonging to different Christian denominations are refining already existing or generating new concepts in understanding Christ as Savior of the world or historical Person, opening the boundary between the nature of Christ and His ministry.This contributed to the formation of Christological models that meet the urgent needs of the development of modern theology: evolutionary, existential-transcendental, monistic, liberation, eschatological, personal and spiritual.This approach promotes the search for common moments of Christological doctrines, which gives reason to speak as a perspective for the future, about the Christological basis of modern dialogue.However, the traditional doctrinal differences between Christian denominations are moving away from unity on a Christian basis.

Old Catholic theology is the theology that is characteristic of the Old Catholic Churches of the Union of Utrecht. Old Catholic Theology: An Introduction, authored by Peter-Ben Smit, an acknowledged expert in the field, outlines the main characteristics of and influences on Old Catholic theology, as well as the extant ecumenical relationships of the Old Catholic Churches. In doing so, it covers what may be called ‘mainstream’ Old Catholic theology, while paying attention to extant diversity within the Old Catholic tradition. Particular attention is given to the hermeneutical approach to theology, ecclesiology, sacramental theology and ecumenical theology. Old Catholic theology has come to be characterized by a sacramental understanding of the church. This is the result of ecumenical dialogue and the basis upon which the Old Catholic Churches engage in ecumenical rapprochement. Hermeneutics of Scripture and tradition plays an important role as well, given that Old Catholic Churches have developed their own form of a hermeneutics of communion.

The study maps the attitudes of Italian Catholic theologians publishing in the prestigious journal La Civilta Cattolica on the issue of the evolutionary origin of the human body from 1850–1980. The strict rejection of the so-called Mivart‘s thesis lasted up to the beginning of the 1940s when things began to change gradually. It is noteworthy that German and Italian Jesuits used different strategies. The former approached Mivart‘s thesis in an increasingly liberal way as of the 1890s, while the latter remained in opposition up until the 1940s. Czech Catholic theology followed the German more closely, rather than the official Italian pattern.

The main question discussed in this paper is: Can we say that, in the light of orthodox Catholic theology, woman is an image of Christ in a way equal to man? How Jesus and His Mother should be treated as examples for imitation for Christians of both sexes on this ground? The first part of the article explains the terms imago Dei and imago Christi, and connection between them in their biblical, dogmatical, and contemporary theological-anthropological context, the last one understood strictly as anthropology in documents of the Catholic Magisterium published during and after II Vatican Council. The second part concerns the problem of Jesus and Mary as models for men, and/or women in the present day, on the basis of Church documents, especially Mariological ones. The third part considers the problem of women as imago Christi in the light of Catholic feminist theology. Conclusions are proposed at the end of the paper.

Wie andere aufgeschlossene Fachvertreter seiner Generation hat der kanadische Jesuit Bernard Lonergan (1904–1984) dazu beigetragen, die katholische Theologie umfassend zu erneuern. Angesichts der offenkundigen Grenzen der Neuscholastik, die sich im Laufe des 19. Jahrhunderts als das Modell durchgesetzt hatte, suchte er schon früh nach einer Alternative. Bei aller Skepsis gegenüber dem herrschenden Thomismus schätzte er Thomas von Aquin in hohem Maß. Das betraf insbesondere dessen Bemühen, die damals aktuellen wissenschaftlichen und methodischen Erkenntnisse einzubeziehen. Lonergan wollte dies ebenso tun. Es ging ihm darum, der katholischen Theologie eine neue Richtung zu geben, also von der Neuscholastik abzurücken. Denn diese berücksichtigte weder das erkennende Subjekt noch das zu erkennende Objekt hinreichend.

The quest for knowledge regarding life after death is indispensable and paramount to most cultures and religions, including African spiritualties and mystery cults. Fr Augustine Urayai was a Roman Catholic priest and exorcist and this paper critically examines his theological reflections on death and life after death, particularly his idea of the “liminal/transitional phase” in the upward movement of spirits from earth to heaven for restoration and re-unification with God. The compulsory “liminal phase” or “zones” (magedhe) where all spirits pass through before their fate is ascertained comprises the resting, treatment, judgment, and feasting respectively. The article first examines the milieu in which Fr Urayai’s theology emerged and developed. As a way of analysis, it explores the age-old question of the immortality of the soul and its link with other religions, cultural and philosophical traditions. As it probes deeper, the article critically examines the ramifications and impact of Fr Urayai’s new theology on the Zimbabwe Christian landscape. The main argument developed in this article is that, even though Fr Urayai’s theory of life in the hereafter appears to be a breakaway from celebrated mainstream theological formulations, it has the potential to hatch useful insights into possible new areas of theological reflection in the ongoing discourses on the link between Christian anthropology and different African spiritualties.

The cue for this article is human rationality being the cornerstone in Wentzel van Huyssteen’s thinking, and Alister McGrath’s scepsis about the feasibility of a postfoundational transversality in particular. This article does not intend to juxtapose Van Huyssteen’s postfoundational rationality to McGrath’s enterprise of a ‘rational consilience’ but contends that a transversal approach to rationality engages social ramifications as well. Subsequently, a liberal Catholic theologian’s take on rationality is presented here as such an offering from the social sciences contributes to a bricolage of unintegrated pieces of knowledge and discernments emerging from various disciplinary or social viewpoints on reality. Vito Mancuso continues to focus on human rationality which, in his view, provides humanity with the hope of eternal life or life from the perspective of eternity. Such a conviction is in line with his horizontal understanding of human rationality, in addition to the human being’s first challenge to understanding reality. Intradisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: The reason d’être of this article is to call for a discussion partner to the notion of human rationality from the social sciences (indicated as one of the neglected fields in the theology and science discourse). Vito Mancuso, for one, brings the pragmatic and transformative (even revolutionary) dimension to the table. A transversal approach to rationality must integrate such social practices as well.

It has been said that little or no Catholic philosophy of education has been articulated since about 1980, suggesting that it has been subsumed under more general philosophical conceptions of education. This implies that there is nothing particularly distinctive about a Catholic conception of education that would enable us to distinguish it from a nonreligious conception of education. There is no doubt that a philosophy of Catholic education shares many of the features of liberal education. The roots of a Catholic philosophy of education are grounded in Catholic theology. That is, the great Mediaeval Christian commentators articulate their conceptions of education and its purposes informed by a Christian theological understanding of the nature of human beings, their relationship to God, and to their common, final end. Without theology to articulate how human knowledge, purpose, and fulfillment are connected, education is incomplete and reduces to training and the gaining of skills for the workforce. It is theology that enables us to understand how training and gaining of skills is connected to the final end of human beings, which is God. A philosophy of education that is Christian cannot be separated from theology.

Resumen El hombre siempre está en relación, no puede no estarlo. Su mera existencia implica la relación con Dios, consigo mismo, con los demás y con el cosmos. Si bien la modernidad invita al individualismo, también existe la posibilidad de fomentar un ser más abierto a relacionarse conscientemente para reconocer todo lo que lo rodea y entenderlo como bueno para sí mismo. El presente artículo problematiza el concepto de amor como modo primordial de la existencia humana a partir de un diálogo con distintos autores de la tradición filosófica y teológica, mediante una metodología hermenéutica y en el marco del diálogo entre la filosofía clásica, la teología católica y el personalismo filosófico, integrados por una cosmovisión cristiana en la que el amor es uno de los conceptos fundamentales. Como punto de partida y, a manera de introducción, se ofrece al lector un marco del concepto de amor y la justificación de la noción de amor como modo primordial. Posteriormente, se dedica un apartado a distintas concepciones del amor en la historia del pensamiento y se explica la importancia de la razón como facultad humana en la experiencia del amor contra visiones irracionalistas muy propias de la posmodernidad. En lo sucesivo, se sustenta la existencia del modo amor en la relación del hombre consigo mismo y en el marco de la alteridad, con base, principalmente, en la propuesta personalista. Por último, se define el amor como modo de relación con el cosmos, considerando que amar y cuidar el mundo que se habita es una de las características del hombre que vive el amor como modo primordial de la existencia. Abstract Human beings are always in a relationship, they cannot avoid it. Just their existence involves a relationship with God, with themselves, with the others and with the cosmos. Though Modernity invites to individualism, there is also the possibility to promote human beings that are more open to consciously interact with others, to recognize everything that is around them and see it as a good to themselves. The article addresses the concept of love as a fundamental way of being human based on several authors of the philosophical and theological traditions, and following a hermeneutic method framed within the conversation of classical philosophy, catholic theology and philosophical personalism, which are brought together by a Christian worldview in which love is a fundamental concept. As a starting point and as a form of introduction, the article presents a framework of the concept of love and a reason for love as fundamental way of being. It then presents several ideas of love throughout the history of thought and explains why reason is a key human faculty for the experience of love, contrary to some views of postmodernism. Afterwards, it suggests love as mode of the relationship of human beings with themselves within the frame of alterity, based particularly on personalism. Finally, it establishes love as a mode of the relationship with the cosmos, considering that loving and taking care of the world is one of the features of the human beings who live love as a fundamental way of being.

Since the time of its institution, the Catholic Church has consistently and unequivocally condemned direct, intentional termination of pregnancy at any stage or abortion as a gravely immoral and sinful act and a deplorable affront to human life and dignity. However, an incomplete understanding of Catholic theology and the interplay between various internal Church structures has led some to assert either that the Church has changed her position over time or that the morality of the question hinges on the subjective beliefs and circumstances of the individuals involved. This chapter aims to clarify the philosophical, theological, and structural distinctions that give rise to this erroneous interpretation of the Church’s teaching.

In times of climate change, population growth and international land speculation, soil protection is of special importance for sustainable development. The multiple functions of soil are endangered worldwide by a creeping process of degradation. From an ethical point of view this has to be answered by a paradigm shift towards nature-compatible agriculture and area planning. This shift touches upon not only some aspects of agricultural policy, development cooperation and consumption habits but also requires a deep transformation of values. In consequence theology is challenged to rediscover forgotten aspects of creation theology in which soil plays an astonishingly crucial role. For instance, the bible dubs the first human adam, “earthling” (cf. adamah, soil): he belongs to earth and soil, he is made from it. Soil protection is a question of culture. Against this background, the following theses infer ten ethical guidelines for soil protection.

The article analyses the recent history and development of Catholic biblical scholarship in Poland. It points to the role of the pastoral situation and activity of the Catholic Church in this development. It presents the current situation of Catholic biblical scholarship in Poland. It describes notable recent achievements of Polish Catholic biblical scholars, especially those published in English. It also presents some innovative hypotheses, put forward by Polish Catholic biblical scholars.

The philosophy of religion constituted one of the main fields of research by Prof. Józef Herbut. He created an original version of the analytical philosophy of religion. With the use of logical means, he analysed various dimensions of religion, primarily religious language. During the last period of his work, Herbut included ecumenical issues in his philosophical research. His research on these issues consisted of two stages. During the first stage, Herbut tried to create a specific logic of ecumenism. He hypothesised that the reason for the crisis of ecumenical dialogue consists in the lack of a clearly defined goal. Using the logical set theory, Herbut constructed possible models of doctrinal unity of different denominations. These models were constructed a priori, without reference to actual dialogues. During the second stage of his project, Herbut focused on the content of Catholic and Evangelical doctrines presented in catechisms. Here, he also put forward a research hypothesis that the languages of Catholic and Evangelical theology are different because they include different philosophical assumptions. These assumptions reach back to the medieval problem of universals. The language of Catholic theology is heavily influenced by moderate realism, and the language of Evangelical theology is influenced by moderate nominalism (these are two of the four standpoints in the problem of universals). Herbut's research project is original and innovative in terms of Polish philosophical and theological literature. However, in foreign language literature it is possible to find ones analogous to Herbut's project (József Fuisz, Charles Morerod).

In his 1966 book The Church Inside Out, J. C. Hoekendijk noted that various churches allow intercommunion in what are considered abnormal situations. The traditional language that applied to such practices was for situations considered to be “in extreme.” (in extremis). Roman Catholic theology traditionally applied the notion of in extremis to situations near death where one had passed a point of no return, but Hoekendijk noted that the concept was also applied to missionary contexts and to times of social crisis. Hoekendijk went on to argue that the current social context was such a situation of in extremis that called for us to engage in ecclesiastical actions otherwise considered irregular. Following Hoekendijk’s own arguments elsewhere in the book, however, I argue that it is not the times we are living through that are in extremis. Rather, it is the nature of the Gospel itself to render any age or context in extremis.

REV. ANDRZEJ PRONIEWSKI – is a priest of the Archdiocese of Bialystok and Professor and Director of the Department of Catholic Theology at the University of Bialystok; Director of the Theology Studium in Bialystok; and Editor of the Annual of Catholic Theology and Studies on Dogmatic Theology. His research focuses on dogmatic theology, hermeneutics, anthropology, the theology of suffering, the theology of Karl Rahner, the theology of Ratzinger/Benedict XVI, ecology, and interreligious dialogue.

In the last thirty years, theologians such as Milbank and Hauerwas have allowed ecclesiology to play a fundamental role in theology. This move is grounded in their conviction that the meaning of Christianity consists primarily not in its theory and doctrine but in its lived form, which is the church. Interestingly, this contemporary 'turn to the church' in many ways resembles an earlier revival of ecclesiology in the beginning of the twentieth century in Roman Catholic theology. In this paper, I will focus on the work of Henri de Lubac, and demonstrate how the particular way in which he develops his idea of the church might offer valuable insights for contemporary theology. First, I sketch how his particular understanding of the church as the social and historical embodiment of God's gracious action immediately implied an embrace of the social and historical world. Second, I argue that notwithstanding all his emphasis on the church, his particular understanding of the church as springing from the Eucharist means that the church is never idolized but always points beyond itself to God. I conclude by relating these insights to the contemporary turn to the church.

REV. LESZEK MARIUS JAKONIUK – was born in 1976. He obtained his Masters Degree in Theology and a Licentiate of Theology from the Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski University in Warsaw. From 2002-2005, he completed a special course in catechetics (pedagogie de la foi) at the Catholic University of Paris and obtained a diploma in DSET (Diplome Superieur d’Etudes Theologiques). In 2010, he completed his third degree doctoral studies at the University of Strasbourg in France. Since 2014, he has worked in the Department of Catholic Theology at the University of Bialystok and served as the Editorial Secretary of the publication Annual of Catholic Theology and as the Editorial Secretary of Studies on Dogmatic Theology. Since 2018, he has been a member of the Association of Polish Catechists. Since 2019, he has served as the President of the Mess’AJE Association of Poland, which promotes adult biblical catechesis in Poland, as well as the Vice Director of the Metropolitan Curia of Bialystok’s Department of Catechesis. He has authored and co-authored many articles inter alia: L’Exultet – La Bonne Nouvelle chante e (2012), L’Exultet – une catechese vecue (2013), Wspo lnota z Taize – wspolczesna forma zycia monastycznego na Zachodzie (2014), The French and Polish Versions of the Catechism of the Catholic Church: An Examination of Certain Passages of the Catechism’s Teaching on the “Mysterium Ecclesiae” from a Philological and Translational Perspective (2017), Numbers 748 and 749 of the French and Polish Versions of the Catechism of the Catholic Church from a Translational Perspective: An Example of the Theological Effects of Translation (2018), Archbishop Edward Kisiel: The “Primary Catechist” of the Diocese (2018), Songs of Taize (2018). His research interests include: the dimensions of the liturgy and catechesis that are conducive to the growth of the Church as a community, ecclesial identity in a united Europe, subjectivity in intercultural and interfaith dialogue, and adult biblical catechesis.