Search

In our present times, a search for widespread certainty over a sound understanding of ecumenism must be acknowledged. While questions on the vision for communion among the Christian churches or on the commitment to witness and to social justice are more than justified, the appeal to “turn to God” reverberates strongly throughout the witness of (ecumenical) prophets today as it did in the past. Although a real process of entering into spiritual communion with one another takes time to happen until it becomes real and visible, ecumenism must continually start afresh from God. Ecumenism is above all God’s will that “all may be one” (John 17:21). All human efforts in the ecumenical movement are to find their origin and inspiration from God alone. The aim of this paper is a modest one. It seeks to place all ecumenical discourse in the light of the mystery of God who is the source of communion. In this light, recent discourse on reception, recognition, and spirituality should be grounded in God’s very nature and call to become one in him. This article features four main steps: 1. to contextualise the quest for Christian unity in postmodern times, 2. to emphasise the necessity of a relationship between ecumenism and Christian mysticism, 3. to learn from central concepts of the mysticism of the Church Fathers, and 4. to reconfigure ecumenism on prayer, trust and hospitality., peer-reviewed

For Thomas Aquinas, the imagination, being one of the “inner senses”, is a doorway to attain true knowledge. In this paper, we first analyze his lexicon in this regard (imaginatio and phantasia). Second, we discuss imagination as the subject matter of the intellectual virtues, which facilitate cognition and judgment. The development of imagination is the foundation of his vision of education not only on the natural but also on the supernatural level. Third, we explore Aquinas’ moral assessment of imaginative art and finally its influence on shaping the character. This influence occurs on two levels: it is assessed from the perspective of charity, justice, prudence and purity, namely to what extent the art serves these values, whereas the second criterion is beauty.

La Communion se presente elle-meme comme un constant defi dans le champ de l'oecumenisme. Elle demande a etre re-visitee et comprise dans le dessein de nous aider a repondre a l'appel de Dieu de nous trouver unis dans la diversite. Le processus lui-meme d'interpretation de «communion» par un discours, une sensibilite et une formation theologique contribue indubitablement a un dialogue oecumenique et le rehausse. Il n'y a pas une interpretation unique de la communion. Mais plutot, les differentes approches vers une communion ecclesiologique, poursuivies par des theologiens appartenant a differentes traditions chretiennes, different et se rencontrent simultanement. Ici une etude comparative entre le dominicain francais catholique Yves Congar, l'orthodoxe grec John Zizioulas et le lutherien Jurgen Moltmann a ete entreprise. Un tel exercice theologique met non seulement en evidence les richesses d'une telle ecclesiologie, mais en plus consolide le dynamisme fort necessaire pour consolider sa croissance vers une communion complete dans la foi et la charite.

Pope Francis’ double-invitation to embrace God’s love and to be its witnesses requires human beings to have a spiritual readiness that reflects the grammar and the logic of being Christian. This paper aims to re-propose a fresh discourse on Christian witness. This is particularly imperative in the light of recent acts of heroic witness of those Christians who courageously stand up to hatred, even when it means giving up their lives. This paper proceeds in three steps. First, there is a contextualisation of Christian witness with an emphasis on the need to appreciate the fullness and the meaning of the Christian faith. Secondly, the paper sets out to discuss the grammar of witness particularly in the light of the Gospel of John. Lastly, there follows a presentation of the logic of being Christian despite often described as folly by those who have not yet know to know of God’s love in real terms. Becoming Christian witnesses is a demanding process, which whenever undertaken, it leads the Christian to be a living-expression of God’s unconditional love to all.