Sacramentum Mundi Online

At the end of the 2nd century the capital of Egypt, Alexandria, with its scientific traditions, proved to be the most favourable situation for the development of Christian theology. The first Ptolemies, by installing famous libraries, had already created the conditions which made possible the intellectual ferment which was to affect all branches of science in the Hellenistic era. Classical scholarship and philosophy, of neo-Platonist tinge were particularly stimulating for Christian thinkers. It…

Americanism in the context of theology and Church history has two senses, akin but not identical: one dogmatic and one historical. 1. In the dogmatic sense, Americanism is a theoretical system that was outlined and condemned by Pope Leo XIII in his letter Testem Benevolentiae, addressed to James Cardinal Gibbons, Archbishop of Baltimore (U. S. A.), on 22 January 1899 ( Acta Sanctae Sedis 31 [1898–99], cols. 470–9; cf. D 1967–1976). Americanism is a doctrine on the relations between Catholicism and its cultural environment. Briefly, the Apostolic Letter summarizes…

A. Introduction In the exercise of its freedom and knowledge, the human spirit stands in the light of what is unconditional, yet attains the plenitude of this latter only in and through the finite. By its very nature, therefore, it is subject to the law of analogy. Hence analogy is decisively located in the ontological relation between God and finite being and in the cognitive relation between the finite mind and each of these. In all this, analogy must not be regarded from the start as a derivative compromise and half-way house between univocity and equivocity. It mu…

1. The expression analogia fidei is taken from the Bible, where it occurs only once, Rom 12:6, meaning “what is in proportion to (a man’s) faith” (ἀναλογία της πίστεως). It is the equivalent of the “measure of faith” mentioned just before in Rom 12:3 (μέτρον πίστεως). The notion is introduced to warn charismatics, especially those endowed with the gift of prophecy, not to indulge their charism too exuberantly and to avoid heady enthusiasms. Since prophecy in particular must be tested for its genuine…

Part of Angel: 1. Problem and History of Angelology 2. Doctrine of Angels A. Introduction The great danger at the present time is that affirmations about angels in the teaching of the Christian faith will be rejected as a mythology which is no longer credible, and so succumb to demythologization. In all particular statements about the angels it must, therefore, be kept clear that such assertions are meant as elements of a theological anthropology and Christology. In other words, it is the insertion of the ange…

Part of Angel: 1. Problem and History of Angelology 2. Doctrine of Angels A. Problem of Angelology The doctrine of the angels, even where it inalienably belongs (when placed in its correct context) to the content of the Christian message, meets with special difficulties at the present time. People nowadays in fact, though without justification, do not like to be told to look beyond the range of elementary immediate experience. Furthermore, even in their knowledge of what concerns salvation, they see no reason to…

“The Anglican Communion is a fellowship of those duly constituted Dioceses, Provinces or Regional Churches in communion with the See of Canterbury, which have the following characteristics in common: “a. They uphold and propagate the Catholic and Apostolic faith and order as they are generally set forth in the Book of Common Prayer as authorized in their several Churches. “b. they are particular or national Churches, and, as such, promote within each of their territories a national expression of Christian faith, life and worship. “c. They are bound together not by a central leg…

The sacramental anointing of the sick today holds little pastoral appeal. Sick people send for the doctor, not for the priest. Only when medical science and skill fail, do they ask for the sacrament of the sick. This sacrament is considered as the herald of coming death, and people keep away from it as long as possible. Even when presented as the sacrament of the sick, if not of healing, rather than as the sacrament of the dying, people find it hard to appreciate its precise role in the Christia…

Part of Anthropomorphism: 1. Philosophical 2. Biblical Human attributes are often ascribed to Yahweh in the ОТ. He has hands, feet, eyes, lips, mouth, tongue, face, head, heart and inward parts, and is represented as a man (Exod 15:3; 22:19; Is 30:27; Ezek 1:26); be retains human traits even in prophetic visions (Is 6:1; Dan 7:9). This way of thinking of God is also characterized by the frequency with which human reactions are attributed to God: he laughs (Ps 2:4), is angry and whistles (Is5:25f.), sle…

Part of Anthropomorphism: 1. Philosophical 2. Biblical To think of God with human form and qualities (anthropomorphism) appears at first sight merely as an instance of the general structure of knowledge, which is to assimilate the thing known to the knower (“quidquid recipitur ad modum recipientis recipitur”), with all the attendant risks and benefits. The advantage is that man draws closer to God, whom be knows not just as a vague and unattainable being or perhaps as the silence or demonic strangeness…

No single and consistent portrayal of the eschatological figure of “Antichrist” is to be found in Scripture and tradition. It varies alike in the manner in which it is presented and in the characteristics ascribed to it and in the significance attached to it. In the course of the Church’s history the idea has been so much bandied about in ecclesiastical controversies both between hostile sects and between warring factions within the Church itself; under the impulse of hatred or fear it has so of…

As the third city of the Roman Empire, Antioch offered the development of a Christian theology a cultural basis comparable to that of the capital of Egypt. Antioch stood more in the philosophical tradition of Aristotle whereas Alexandria inclined to Plato; and these philosophical differences were soon revealed in the theologizing of the schools of both cities. The methods of rabbinic Judaism dominated scholarship at Antioch; in Alexandria the scientific approach of Hellenistic Judaism was prefer…

A. Concept Antisemitism is a very wide term, popularized by Wilhelm Marr in Germany since 1879 and then passing into other languages. It means in fact being anti-Jewish. The term is inexact since it does not refer to all Semites, which would include the Arabs, but only designates opposition to Jews, for religious, national or racial reasons. Antisemitism takes the form of 1) hostile popular sentiment and demonstrations, 2) discriminatory legislation, 3) expulsion and 4) extermination. Different forms of antisemitism are often combined. B. History 1. Pre-Christian antiquity. As an …