Religious Thought, Theology and Philosophy of Religion Commons^™

Friendship, Mysticism, And Resistance: Review Of Kindred Spirits: Friendship And Resistance At The Edges Of Modern Catholicism, William J. Collinge

The Journal of Social Encounters

No abstract provided.

The Life Of An American Catholic Radical: Review Of Christian Anarchist, Ammon Hennacy, A Life On The Catholic Left, William L. Portier

The Journal of Social Encounters

No abstract provided.

Just Peace Framework: A Brief Primer, Eli S. Mccarthy

The Journal of Social Encounters

This short primer will describe the basic components of a just peace framework. Then I will describe the recent trajectory of Catholic and Christian discourse on just peace, as well as engage a related discourse at the United Nations on sustaining peace.

Dangerous Religious Ideas As Threats To Solidarity: Review Of Dangerous Religious Ideas: The Deep Roots Of Self-Critical Faith In Judaism, Christianity, And Islam, John C. Merkle

The Journal of Social Encounters

No abstract provided.

Religion And Global Solidarity: Review Of Toward A Global Civilization? The Contribution Of Religions, James Malarkey

The Journal of Social Encounters

No abstract provided.

A Christian Case For Racial Reparations, Daniel Philpott

The Journal of Social Encounters

National healing for the persistent wounds of racism, America’s original sin, can be advanced through a national apology, reparations and forgiveness. The frequent practice of apologies and reparations around the world in the past generation provide precedent for such measures. Christianity’s teaching of reconciliation and accompanying notions of sin, repentance, forgiveness, and atonement provide a strong moral basis for these measures and resonate with the rationales through which the United States’s greatest champions of civil rights and equality have fought against racism and slavery. Because racism and slavery were supported with the sanction of the state, in the name of …

Ecological Solidarity And Sustainable Development In Africa, Ambrose Esigbemi Umetietie

The Journal of Social Encounters

Today we are faced with a challenge that calls for a shift in our thinking, so that humanity stops threatening its life support system. We are called to assist the Earth to heal her wounds and in the process heal our own ... This will happen if we see the need to revive our sense of belonging to a larger family of life (Maathai, 2010). According to John Paul II, the “threat of ecological breakdown is teaching us the extent to which greed and selfishness - both individual and collective - are contrary to the order of creation, an order …

The Nature And Importance Of Christian Spirituality, Gilbert Perez

Obsculta

This short work is a meditation on Exodus 3:11, where Moses asks God who he is to do what God has commanded. Spiritual Theology has to do with the persons' interior life and its importance to theology and Christian life as a whole. Many Christians cannot explain in detail about their spirituality and it poses many problems as much as many opportunities what it can mean for Christian life if it is better understood.

Blessed, Broken, And Shared, Joseph Penny

Obsculta

This paper seeks to boldly confront the evils of racism while simultaneously pointing to a renewed baptismal ecclesiology and a praxis of radical communion as a way forward. Venturing into the unknown, we will persevere onward to the road less traveled by briefly charting the Catholic Church's historical cooperation with White Supremacy. We will also celebrate the wisdom gleaned from Black and Latin American communities and their seemingly mundane yet deeply sacred rituals.

The Fall And Natural Suffering, Andrew Banacos

Obsculta

Evolutionary theory poses several questions for Christian notions of origins: 1) common ancestry of all creatures rather than monogenesis; 2) the violent history of evolution as a challenge to the notion of a fall from paradise into sin, death, and suffering; and 3) the relationship between suffering and evil in light of evolutionary process. This paper seeks to address the concept of the fall in the context of dialogue between evolution and the Christian faith.

Teresa Of Avila's Inward Journey To Spiritual Growth, Anne Cahill

Obsculta

This essay describes the basic structure of Teresa's understanding of spiritual growth as depicted in her seven "dwelling places" in the Interior Castle. It places emphasis upon where God invites our cooperation (cooperative grace) and where God acts alone(operative grace). It includes how this spiritual growth affects our prayer, and our relationships with other people.

The Role Of Darkness And Trial In Spiritual Growth As Described In The Cloud Of Unknowing, Carrie O'Neil-Smith

Obsculta

This essay was written in Professor Michael Rubbelke's class titled "Growing into God: Spiritual Development in the Christian Tradition." The piece looks at darkness and trial and three resulting fruits of spiritual growth: humility, knowledge of one's true nature, and an experience of God's pure love as described in the fourteenth century work The Cloud of Unknowing.

How To Talk About God: Origen And Gregory Of Nazianzus On Divine Transcendence And Theological Language, Coleman S. Kimbrough

Obsculta

This article discusses the doctrine of God of the early Church Fathers Origen and Gregory of Nazianzus. According to these two theologians, the tension between God's transcendence and God's immanence conditions the language we use to name and describe God. Such "God-talk" is necessarily limited by the ontological divide between the human and the divine. Using Origen and Gregory as reference points, I examine how the precise and careful use of apophatic, cataphatic, and analogical language is necessary to properly account for both God's eternal nature and God's work in the material world.

Keeping Covenant: The Story And Scholarly Scrutiny Of David And Goliath, Peter Tran

Obsculta

The story of David and Goliath is a tale of courage, duty, and faith in God. What is taken for granted, however, is whether or not David was actually the one who killed Goliath. Some critical scholars have begun to question the long-standing claim that David defeated Goliath. So, who really killed him and what are the theological implications? A thorough examination will shed light on this question.

Self-Revelation Of God In Jesus Christ As Love And The Kingdom Of God In Walter Kasper's Jesus The Christ, Hang T.H. Nguyen Op

Obsculta

This article is an examination of the Christology of Walter Kasper, a German Catholic cardinal and theologian. Through his work of Jesus the Christ, Kasper shows God’s self-revelation as love in the person Jesus Christ – the earthly and the exalted Jesus, who brings to human beings the message of his Kingdom, in which they can attain salvation, joy, peace, and justice.

Book Discussion - Violence And Peace In Sacred Texts: Interreligious Perspectives, Maria Power, Helen Paynter

The Journal of Social Encounters

No abstract provided.

Bishops Of Peace, Daniel Philpott

The Journal of Social Encounters

No abstract provided.

Our New Moment: Renewing Catholic Teaching On War And Peace, Robert W. Mcelroy

The Journal of Social Encounters

No abstract provided.

The Autobiography Of An American Peace Bishop, Jens Mueller

The Journal of Social Encounters

No abstract provided.

Cardinal Cahal Daly: A Vatican Ii Bishop Seeking The Kingdom Of God, Maria Power

The Journal of Social Encounters

Cardinal Cahal Daly (1917-2009) was the only member of the Catholic hierarchy in Ireland to hold office from the beginning of the conflict there in 1969 to the paramilitary ceasefires in 1996. He was well known for his pronouncements on the causes of the conflict and his use of Catholic social teaching to offer solutions. Political structures have played a key role in stabilising Northern Ireland since 1998 and Daly used Catholic concepts of democracy and statecraft to explore alternative possible futures for Northern Ireland in the years prior to their implementation. This article will show how much of his …

Peace Bishops: Ugandan Catholic Archbishop John Baptist Odama, John Ashworth

The Journal of Social Encounters

Archbishop John Baptist Odama of the Archdiocese of Gulu is widely known for his courageous efforts to bring an end to the Lord's Resistance Army conflict in northern Uganda through the interfaith Acholi Religious Leaders Peace Initiative, and increasingly for his participation in the Catholic Nonviolence Initiative and his willingness to share his experience with others. This essay explores not only these aspects of his life, but also earlier influences and experiences of ministry which helped to form him as a “peace bishop” who values the life and dignity of a human being above everything.

‘No Longer A European Export’: How The Church Became Truly Global, John T. Mcgreevy

The Journal of Social Encounters

No abstract provided.

Bishops In The Catholic Peace Tradition, Ronald G. Musto

The Journal of Social Encounters

This brief survey takes a historical perspective on the role of Catholic bishops in global peacemaking. Building on my previous work 1 and more recent research, it focuses on the roles of bishop as teacher, ruler, and minister of the sacraments and on the interplay between prophetic protest and institutional authority. It covers the origins of the bishop’s office, the development o f prophetic protest and rule in episcopal peacemaking in the early church and Middle Ages, including the Peace and Truce of God. It then turns to early modern peacemaking and the influence of humanist thinkers on Latin American …

Call For Papers - Special Issue "Solidarity In Theory And Practice"

The Journal of Social Encounters

No abstract provided.

Review Of Faith-Based Organizations In Transnational Peacebuilding, Timothy Seidel

The Journal of Social Encounters

No abstract provided.

Review Of Social Justice And Subsidiarity: Luigi Taparelli And The Origins Of Modern Catholic Social Thought, William J. Collinge

The Journal of Social Encounters

No abstract provided.

Classics Revisited Review Essay: The Prophets By Abraham Joshua Heschel, John C. Merkle

The Journal of Social Encounters

No abstract provided.

Review Of Joseph Bernardin: Seeking Common Ground, William Droel

The Journal of Social Encounters

No abstract provided.

Bishop Thomas Gumbleton And Pax Christi Usa's Contribution To The 1983 United States Catholic Bishops’ Pastoral Letter, "The Challenge Of Peace: God's Promise And Our Response", Joseph J. Fahey

The Journal of Social Encounters

This essay is a personal reflection on the contribution that Bishop Thomas Gumbleton and Pax Christi USA made to the creation of the U.S. Bishops’ 1983 pastoral letter on peace. It begins with the early history of Pax Christi USA and discusses activities through the years that led to the U.S. Bishops’ letter on peace in 1983. These activities include: Call to Action 1976; Bishops’ Masses for Peace; the Pax Christi USA Disarmament Commission; a discussion of the debate on May 1-3, 1983 on the letter that resulted in a 238-9 vote in favor of the letter; pastoral letters published …

The Fierce Urgency Of The Slow: How Pope Francis Is Calling Us To Save The Planet, Gerald W. Schlabach

The Journal of Social Encounters

Addressing the urgent issues facing humanity today, in his recent encyclical on social friendship, Fratelli Tutti, Pope Francis reminds us that it is “all the more urgent that we rethink our styles of life, our relationships, the organization of our societies and, above all, the meaning of our existence” (no. 33). In this and in his previous encyclical on care for creation, Laudato Si’, Francis makes clear that we do not have a moment to waste. None of his diagnosis should “be read as a cool and detached description of today’s problems” (no. 56).

Before an onslaught of urgency backfires …