Roczniki Teologii Dogmatycznej

The Encyclical „Lumen fidei”

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The encyclical “Lumen fidei” sketched by Benedict XVI, with some reflections by Pope Francis, is the first document by the Magisterium that is devoted as a whole to the issue of faith seen from the theological point of view. It deals with faith not only in the aspect of accepting the revealed truths by the mind, but also as the existence in Christ in all dimensions. It does not give a synthetic definition of faith, but on the basis of the presented elements faith probably may be defined as Christification of a man, an individual and a community, done by Christ’s Gift in cooperation with the human person in the aspect of reality of the revelation, redemption and salvation.

The Holy Spirit as our Advocate?

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Is the Holy Spirit our Advocate, who intercedes for us? Rom 8, 26-27 seems to say just this. Various translations of the Bible and commentaries to its text do not give an unambiguous answer. It is the same with Biblicists who were consulted about this question: Romaniuk, Jankowski, Stachowiak, Langkammer; some, like Gaugler, cannot see any problems here at all; also Martin Luther does not see such a problem in his Commentary on Romans. John Paul II interprets the Holy Spirit’s intercession as supporting us in our prayer; similarly St Augustine, who explains the words concerning the Holy Spirit interpellat pro sanctis as interpellare Sanctos facit. The author of the article shares St Augustine’s position, as he does not think it is possible that the Holy Spirit could pray for us and be our Advocate in such a meaning. Incidentally, in a way, the author brings up the problems of intercession and appealing to the saints, as they are manifested in liturgy and in extra-liturgical piety. He quotes examples that are worrying with respect to theological correctness or indeed incorrect.

A Symphonic Thought. The Theology of Joseph Ratzinger

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In these lines we offer a synthesis on the theology elaborated by the current bishop of Rome. We begin at the centre, with the central nuclei: Christ present in the Scripture and the liturgy, and his closeness to the Church and Mary. Later we deal with the theological and ontological pillars of his thought, in which we find love, truth, beauty and hope. Regarding the announcement of the Christian message, Ratzinger insists on faith and reason, and in this relationship we can deduce his ideas on theology, catechesis and preaching. Finally, with regard to the mission, his statements about the ministry and the Eucharist (here an ecumenical theology can be deduced), creation, other religions and the relationship between the Church and the world are of some note.

Jesus Christ - The Life-Giving Truth

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The article Jesus Christ – the life-giving truth considers the personalistic and Christological conception of truth, whose theoretical foundations can be found in St John the Evangelist’s writings. This discovery of a typically Christian definition of truth in the 1980s has not been taken full advantage of for building bridges between orthodoxy and orthopraxy. In the article we can find suggestions to practice theology in such a way that, on the one hand, it would be able to analyze present events, and on the other it could maintain a sufficient distance to assess them. The work and Person of Jesus Christ became a model of this combination, as he preached truth with His word and His life in order to lead people to salvation.

“Since there is only one Bread...” Eucharistic Ecclesiology of J. Ratzinger/Benedict XVI

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In a specific way, while making a synthesis of various aspects of theology of the Eucharist, J. Ratzinger/Benedict XVI leads us deep into the reality, towards the final truth of the world which was created by God as good and which was redeemed. As the realization of the unity of what is spiritual, internal, personal and what is physical, external, social, the Eucharist shapes the Church, which – in turn – enables it, assumes and exists on the basis of its gift, as one and universal (Catholic). The thought of J. Ratzinger/Benedict XVI combines biblical hermeneutics, patristic interpretations, dogmatic findings, spirituality, morality, liturgy and social science. This integrity, manifested through the Passion and Paschality of Christianity, where such notions and terms as Body of Christ, Communion, Eucharist, participation in the Body and Blood, participation in the prayer of Jesus not only explain each other, but also add meaning to one another, shows what sacramental consciousness can be and how to approach the great mystery of faith.

The Holy Trinity in Modern Catholic Theology

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Of all the truths of faith and Christian life the truth about God in the Trinity of Persons is the most basic one. The truth in its entirety is revealed by God, but the interpretation of it has a long human history. The Christian teaching about God as a Trinity is the most perfect expression of human religious and theological awareness. The history of the Trinitarian dogma is as long as Christianity itself. It is rooted in the Old Testament, which spiritually and mentally prepared people for the revelation of the Holy Trinity in the New Testament. Jesus Christ in a comprehensive way revealed the truth about God as a personal triad, as a Holy Community, as a personal communion mystery. The essence of this truth has its source in the whole event of Jesus Christ, that is in His eternal existence, in the history of Redemption and in His word. Only later was it defined as a peculiar revelation of God that allows experiencing His essence, translating itself into existence, into everyday life, spirituality, morality, Christian practice, and with years also into the religious doctrine. Modern Catholic Trinitarian theology is developed on two merging planes; that is, the teaching of the Magisterium and teaching of outstanding theologians. A return to the historical-salutary understanding of God’s Trinitarian mystery, but considered in the personalistic light, is a characteristic novelty of modern trinitology. It is a personalistic-communion approach. Many Catholic theologians think that the Trinity makes itself present in a man by way of grace; it is the charitological approach. Also the problem of the Trinity that is immanent to the world, and at the same time transcendent, is considered. The position suggested by K. Rahner is right here: the historical-salutary Trinity is identical with the transcendent Trinity. The truth about the Holy Trinity is fundamental and basic for the understanding of man himself, of the meaning of his existence and of the meaning of the existence of anything. The Holy Trinity is the original model and at the same time a task for any human community – that is, any kind of human community should be realized according to the model of the Divine community.

Between the Sign of the Cross and the Symbol of the Heart Hermeneutics of Christ’s Divine and Human Love

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The mystery of Jesus’ Heart cannot be separated from the mystery of His cross. They both illustrate, but also realize God’s incomprehensible love for man – its realism and fact. They both also depict the divine-human dimension of salvation effected in the person of Christ. In this way the paradox of this love reaches its peak. Although they both express the same love, they are in a way beside each other, and they need each other so that the love could be expressed, be voiced. What happened on the cross is in a way complemented and consolidated in the image of the Heart. The core of this hermeneutics is: the act of Jesus’ Heart becomes clear in the cross, and the cross in the love of the Heart. At the same time in Jesus’ Heart – Jesus as the God and a man – the act of God’s love is joined in one thing, where human love is a reply to the priority of loving on the side of God; it is in it that it is fulfilled and verified. God’s love – the one that was crucified and wounded with the spear – only explains the significance of human love.

Nature and the Person. The Personalistic Approach to Human Nature According to Karol Wojtyla

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The article, based on Karol Wojtyła’s texts from the years 1957-1978, discusses the context of the appearance of the terms “person” and “nature” and their significance. Next the article reflects on the morality of the human person and shows, in a very synthetic mode, the apparent conflict between the person and the natural law. This conflict is based on the foundation of the mistaken opposition of the person and nature. Finally, the article discusses the question of the integration of the person and nature. Text analysis of Wojtyla’s texts allows a deeper understanding of how human nature and the law, which is depicted in the context of this nature, are means of the interpersonal dialogue of the Creator and the man.

The Human Nature and the Influence of Satan

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The Revelation of God, concerning the nature of evil spirits and their influence on man, it is only a setting of the manifestation of God’s love, of His concern for man and of the necessity of live in the sanctifying grace. Thanks to it the human life shines brightly of the beauty and of the goodness of creation. Entire knowledge about Satan and other evil spirits should bring oneself closer to God, inspiring to living in His grace and keeping control of oneself.

The article considers the influence of Satan and the other fallen spirits on man. First it describes Adam’s sin, to which persuaded him the devil. Then, it attempts to define the limits of influence of demons on man who is free and intelligent creation. In the last two sections it reflects on the relation of Divine Providence to evil and the action of God’s grace, to which the faithful have access through the ministry of the Mother-Church.

Humanism of the Chalcedonian Dogma

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The article discusses the relevance of the Chalcedonian dogma of Christian anthropology. The context of the discussion is the Western theologians’ pursuit of new forms of expression of the faith. However, the Chalcedonian Christological doctrine is not outdated. The truth of faith that Jesus Christ is True God and True Man has its important anthropological implications. This dogma constitutes the foundation of the Christian teaching on the human dignity.

Gnoseological and Teaching Value of the Chart-Graphic Method in Theology

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In the contemporary postmodernist culture that more and more becomes the “culture of the picture”, the demand of visualization should also be addressed to theology that is inclined to use the traditional forms of verbal message. In the light of the principle of accommodation accepted by the Vaticanum II the imperative expressed there should be considered “urgent” for the present moment. Among the new propositions promoting graphical-pictorial approaches in theology a new method called chart-graphic or geometrical method worked out by Rev. Prof. Franciszek Drączkowski deserves a special attention.

The starting point of the chart-graphic method is the figure of the circle in which an equilateral triangle has been inscribed that is a symbolic image of the triune God.

The value of geometry in cognition and comprehension of truth was seen in the past by many outstanding scholars, who considered the use of geometry, logic and algebra to be necessary in the process of cognition of the universe (Descartes, Pascal, Clement of Alexandria).

Geometry also for Rev. Drączkowski becomes something that is indeed necessary in the process of cognition of the eternal Truth and of transmitting this knowledge to others. He accepts the ancillary role of geometry, transferring it to the ground of theology.

“The Way of Beauty” (Via pulchritudinis) and the Realization of the Church’s Mission according to B. Forte

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“The way of beauty” in Bruno Forte’s view appears to be experienced faith or life in the horizon of faith. Beauty, as a category connected with the attitude of love, is a moving, dynamic value. Understood in this way beauty of love till the end can be discovered in the icon of the Beautiful Shepherd – the Crucified Christ. In this personal fragment of history the entirety of the Mystery comes to us – God, who is Love (cf. 1 John 4, 8.16). The love that is cognized is the driving force: love demands a reply of gratefulness. This responsorial character of love that should be characteristic of every Christian, can be first of all seen in Mary – All Beautiful, a transparen Icon of the Mystery. Contemplation of Christ’s face (following Her example of in Her), to which Blessed John Paul II encouraged the faithful (cf. NMI 25), leads to a transformation of the person and the world of persons, as it is entering the way of beauty, whose end is beauty of the person and beauty of the world. For “beauty will save the world” (F. Dostoyevsky).

The Conception of the Creation of Man at the Beginning of the 21st Century

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The great variety of conceptions of the genesis of man and the world is amazing. Even their classification is an extremely difficult thing, not to mention an attempt to assess their conformity to the teaching of the Church. According to the key accepted in the present article strictly theological theories (theological and biblical creationism) and progressive creationism aspire to be in conformity with the Catholic teaching. Theistic evolutionism also could be accepted on certain conditions and understood in a certain way, although the author expresses his skeptical attitude as to the possibility of presenting such an interpretation of it that still would not be progressive creationism, and would overcome all the aporias indicated in the analysis.

The Actualization of the Teaching of Reverend Vincent Granat, Connected with the Charismatic Organization of the Church

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The Holy Spirit lead the way for the Church in every epoch and equipped believers with multiple spiritual faculties. Owing to the Holy Spirit, the Demos of God is still preserved in the aspic of His juvenescent viability. Nowadays, charismas and charismatic movement are often spoken about. Coming up to the history of the Church, one should mention that the faith of the Christians, who lived in the first centuries, was marked with the great experience of the Holy Spirit as the Power, through whom the risen Christ is present in the history of the world. This fact was the cause that they were comprehending the Church as a real and spiritually-charismatic world. Unfortunately, the strict connection between the Holy Spirit and the Church was forsaken for plenty of centuries. This question started experiencing its second juvenility after the Vatican Council II.

John Paul II emphasized that there is neither such a contrast in the Church, nor a variance between the institutional and charismatic aspects. Both aspects are equally significant elements in the organization of the Church. The paper presents the topicality of the teaching of Rev. Vincent Granat, which is connected with the charismatic organization of the Church. The exposition of the professor from Lublin is mainly based on St. Paul’s texts, but it also refers to the teaching of the Vatican Council II. The Council pictured in its documents all good theological tendencies with regard to the question concerning charismas, which are one of a few manifestations of the redemptive presence of the Holy Spirit in the Church of Christ.

Ks. Piotr Roszak, Wiarygodność i tożsamość. Teologia wiary św. Tomasza z Akwinu i współczesność, seria: Myśl Teologiczna, nr 73, Kraków: WAM 2013

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Katarzyna Anna Parzych-Blakiewicz, Teologia historiozbawcza w dogmatyce polskiej XX wieku, seria: Biblioteka Wydziału Teologii Uniwersytetu Warmińsko-Mazurskiego w Olsztynie, Olsztyn 2010

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