Cercetarea interdisciplinară, un demers absolut firesc - Journal for ...
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<strong>Journal</strong> <strong>for</strong> Interdisciplinary Research on Religion and Science<br />
Center <strong>for</strong> Advanced Interdisciplinary Research on Religion and Science<br />
„Dumitru Staniloae” Faculty of Orthodox Theology<br />
„Al. I. Cuza” University of Iasi
<strong>Journal</strong> <strong>for</strong> Interdisciplinary Research<br />
on Religion and<br />
Science<br />
Issue No. 2, January 2008<br />
This Issue is fully supported by<br />
The Metropolitanate of Moldavia and Bucovina, ROMANIA<br />
ISSN 1843 – 4142
JOURNAL FOR INTERDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH<br />
ON RELIGION AND SCIENCE<br />
The journal is an international and inter‐confessional <strong>for</strong>um <strong>for</strong><br />
interdisciplinary research on religion and science.<br />
Publisher<br />
Center <strong>for</strong> Advanced Interdisciplinary Research<br />
on Religion<br />
and Science<br />
“Dumitru Stăniloae” Faculty of Orthodox Theology,<br />
Iaşi<br />
“Al. I. Cuza” State University, Iaşi, Romania<br />
REVUE DE RECHERCHE INTERDISCIPLINAIRE<br />
RELIGION ET SCIENCE<br />
La revue est <strong>un</strong> <strong>for</strong>um international et interconfessionnel, pour la<br />
recherche interdisciplinaire en religion et science.<br />
Editeur<br />
Centre de Recherche Interdisciplinaire Avancée Religion et<br />
Science<br />
Faculté<br />
de Théologie Orthodoxe “Dumitru<br />
Stăniloae”, Iaşi<br />
Université<br />
“Al. I. Cuza”, Iaşi, Roumanie<br />
DIE ZEITSCHRIFT FÜR INTERDISZIPLINÄRE FORSCHUNG IN<br />
RELIGION UND WISSENSCHAFT<br />
Die Zeitschrift ist ein internationaler <strong>un</strong>d interkonfessioneller<br />
Ausgangsp<strong>un</strong>kt für die interdisziplinäre Forsch<strong>un</strong>g im Bereich Religion<br />
<strong>un</strong>d Wissenschaft.<br />
Herausgeber<br />
Das Zentrum für Fortgeschrittene Interdisziplinäre Forsch<strong>un</strong>g Religion<br />
<strong>un</strong>d Wissenschaft<br />
Die Orthodoxe Theologische Fakultät “ Dumitru<br />
Stăniloae”, Iaşi<br />
D ie Universität “Al. I. Cuza “ Iaşi, Rumänien<br />
Contact<br />
Center <strong>for</strong> Advanced Interdisciplinary Research on Religion and Science<br />
"Al. I. Cuza" University of Iasi, “Dumitru Stăniloae” Faculty of Orthodox Theology,<br />
Closca Street, No. 9, 700066, Iaşi, ROMANIA, Tel/fax 0040<br />
332101 800/0040 332 101801<br />
Guide <strong>for</strong> Authors ‐ http://www.jir rs.org/en/policy.html<br />
Submission of articles ‐ submission.jirrs@gmail.com,<br />
Contact ‐ contact.jirrs@gmail.com<br />
On line ‐ www.jirrs.org
JOURNAL FOR INTERDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH<br />
ON RELIGION AND SCIENCE<br />
His Beatitude Dr.<br />
Daniel CIOBOTEA<br />
Patriarch of<br />
the Romanian Orthodox Church<br />
Dr. Charles HARPER<br />
Senior Vice President, John Templeton<br />
Fo<strong>un</strong>dation, USA<br />
Prof. Dr. Pierre BUHLER<br />
Faculty of Theology, University of<br />
Zurich,<br />
Switzerland<br />
Prof. PhD Philip CLAYTON<br />
Professor of Philosophy and Religion,<br />
Claremont Graduate University,<br />
USA<br />
Prof. Dr. Jurgen MOLTMANN<br />
Eberhard‐Karls‐Universität Tübingen,<br />
Germany<br />
Prof. Dr. Basarab NICOLESCU<br />
Member of Romanian Academy,<br />
President,<br />
Le Centre International<br />
de Recherches et Etudes<br />
Transdisciplinaires, Paris,<br />
France<br />
ADVISORY BOARD<br />
His Eminence Dr.<br />
Kallisto s WARE<br />
B ishop of Diokleia,<br />
United<br />
Kingdom Prof. PhD Willem B. DREES<br />
Faculty of Theology,<br />
Leiden University, Nederland<br />
President,<br />
European Society <strong>for</strong> Studies Science<br />
and Theology<br />
Prof. Dr. Andrée BIRMELE<br />
Université “M. Bloch“ Strasbourg,<br />
France<br />
R ev. Prof. PhD John BRECK<br />
Institut de T héologie Orthodoxe<br />
“Saint Serge”, Paris,<br />
France<br />
Prof. Dr. M. Eric GAZIAUX<br />
Universite Catolique de Louvain,<br />
Belgium<br />
Prof. PhD Antje JACKELEN<br />
Director,<br />
The Zygon Center <strong>for</strong> Religion and<br />
Science, Chicago,<br />
USA
JOURNAL FOR INTERDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH ON RELIGION<br />
AND SCIENCE<br />
Rev. Prof. PhD<br />
Gheorghe POPA<br />
Department of<br />
Theology,<br />
"Al. I. Cuza" University<br />
EDITORIAL BOARD<br />
EDITORIAL DIRECTORS<br />
Prof. PhD<br />
Stefan AFLOROAEI<br />
Department of<br />
Philosophy,<br />
"Al. I. Cuza" University<br />
Prof. PhD<br />
Gel u BOURCEANU<br />
Department of<br />
Physical‐Chemistry,<br />
"Al. I. Cuza" University<br />
EXECUTIVE EDITOR<br />
Deacon Adrian Sorin MIHALACHE<br />
Center <strong>for</strong> Advanced Inte rdisciplinary Research on Religion and Science<br />
“ Al. I. Cuza” University<br />
Authors in present Issu e<br />
Ştefan AFLOROAEI<br />
Roland BENEDIKTER<br />
Carmen BOLOCAN<br />
Alessandro CORDELLI<br />
Constantin CUCOŞ<br />
J án MIŠCOVIČ<br />
Iulian MOGA<br />
Patrik PAUL<br />
Gheorghe POPA<br />
Anne L. C. RUNEHOV<br />
Proof readers<br />
Ştefan MERA<br />
Maria GOGONEA<br />
Web Master<br />
Giani IANAU<br />
Online<br />
POSITIVE MEDIA srl.<br />
PROJECT ASSISTANT<br />
Vlad ENACHE<br />
Department of Theoretical Physics,<br />
"Al. I. Cuza" University<br />
Issue Editor<br />
Ştefan MERA<br />
George CO LIBABA<br />
Translation Coordinator<br />
Prof. Dr. Anca ALBU<br />
Text Revisor<br />
George COLIBABA Nicolet a LEON<br />
Translators<br />
E nglish language<br />
Sorina CHIPER<br />
Anca PETRARU<br />
Andreea Mihaela TAMBA<br />
Art Design<br />
Giani IANAU<br />
Magda RAȚĂ
<strong>Journal</strong> <strong>for</strong> Interdisciplinary Research on Religion and Science,<br />
No. 2, January 2008<br />
CONTENT<br />
EDITORIAL<br />
ENGLISH….... .....................………………………………………………………………………………..... 3<br />
FRENCH…..........................………………………………………………………………...…....………...... 6<br />
GERMAN..........................…………………………………………………………………………………....9<br />
Education and the academic life<br />
Patrick PAUL<br />
LA QUÊTE DE SENS COMME RECHERCHE DE LIENS<br />
ENTRE APPROCHES FORMELLES ET INFORMELLES DANS LA PROBLEMATIQUE<br />
DES HISTOIRES DE VIE………………………....................................................................13<br />
Carmen BOLOCAN<br />
LE RAPPORT CATECHESE‐THEOLOGIE‐PEDAGOGIE DANS LA PERSPECTIVE DE<br />
L’ENSEIGNEMENT RELIGIEUX ACTUEL.......................................................................................37<br />
Cons tantin CUCOŞ<br />
THE IMPACT OF THE CURRENT TECHNOLOGIES ON THE YOUTH`S PERSONALITIES<br />
CREATION ………………..............................................................................................................…...61<br />
1
CONTENT<br />
Science, Philosophy an d Religion<br />
Rev. Gheorghe POPA<br />
THEOLOGY AND ECOLOGY. HERMENEUTICAL INSIGTS FOR A CHRISTIAN ECO‐<br />
THEOLOGY …………………............................................................................……………...……...…97<br />
Alessandro CORDELLI<br />
THE REAL DISTINCTION BETWEEN ESSENCE AND EXISTENCE AND THE RELATION<br />
BETWEEN INFORMATION AND ENERGY……....................................................................…..129<br />
Anne L. C. RUNEHOV<br />
N<br />
C<br />
2<br />
EUROSCIENTIFIC EXPLANATIONS OF RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE ARE NOT FREE FROM<br />
ULTURAL ASPECTS…................................................................................………………………141<br />
Ştefan<br />
AFLOROAEI<br />
D<br />
ISTINCT WAYS OF THINKING AND DISTINCT EXPERIENCES OF TRUTH...............157<br />
Religion, Politics and Hermeneutics<br />
Roland BENEDIKTER<br />
POLITIK UND RELIGION. ZUR GEGENWÄRTIGEN NEU‐ANNÄHERUNG ZWEIER<br />
GESELLSCHAFTLICHER FELDER........................…………………………...……..................189<br />
Ján MIŠCOVIČ<br />
CHANGES<br />
OF RELIGIOUS PLURALISM WITH REGARD TO CONDITIONS IN CZECH<br />
LANDS….................................……………………………………………………………………………<br />
209<br />
Iulian MOGA<br />
L<br />
E SOLEIL DE JUSTICE DANS LE NOUVEAU TESTAMENT ET LES OUVRAGES DES<br />
ECRIVAINS<br />
ECCLESIASTIQUES…..........................................................................………………231<br />
JOURNAL<br />
DESCRIPTION<br />
E NGLISH..........................……………………………..………………………………………….…….251<br />
FRENCH..........................……………………………...………………………………………………...<br />
253<br />
GERMAN..........................…………………………….…………………………………………………255
Editorial<br />
<strong>Journal</strong> <strong>for</strong> Interdisciplinary Research on Religion and Science,<br />
No. 2, January 2008<br />
To begin with, the journal’s first section consists of studies on<br />
education and academic life. In the first study of the section, “The quest <strong>for</strong><br />
meaning as the quest <strong>for</strong> links between <strong>for</strong>mal and in<strong>for</strong>mal approaches on<br />
issues related to life history”, Patrik Paul considers that the subject faces<br />
three obstacles that help to reveal the self i.e. of “corporalisation” (at the<br />
biological level), of socialization (at the psychological level) and finally the<br />
“subjectification” (at the spiritual level). In other words, the identity quest<br />
involves overcoming three different areas of resistance be<strong>for</strong>e being able to<br />
experience the always evasive reality of a transcendental subject, due tot its<br />
imaginary <strong>for</strong>m, which is obviously concealed but experienced<br />
phenomenologically as<br />
a the place where spirit is embodied and the body is<br />
spiritualised.<br />
The focus is on the phenomenological approach, as the will to<br />
connect « res cognitans» and «res extensa », in order to bring together the<br />
sensitive and the intelligible and also on the epistemological approach,<br />
which requires that knowledge stemming from science should not be<br />
separated from the life history, which is viewed as a place of reconstruction.<br />
In the second study Carmen Bolocan invites us to look into the The<br />
Relation: Catechesis – Theology – Pedagogy from the Perspective of the<br />
Current Religious Education. The author focuses on the connection which<br />
has existed and must continue to exist between theology, catechesis and<br />
pedagogy, from the point of view of the current religious education.<br />
Catechesis is, at its origins, a narrative, a story, transmitted from one<br />
believer to another. The theological act is lived as an attempt at<br />
interpretation that strives to talk about God’s Word depending on a<br />
determined culture. The interaction pedagogy – content is essential within<br />
the relationship that exists<br />
between the theological act and the catechetic<br />
one.<br />
In the third study “The Impact of Current Technologies on the Creation<br />
of the Personality of Yo<strong>un</strong>g Persons”, Constantin Cucos argues that rejecting<br />
technology, in the name of a number of so‐called <strong>absolut</strong>e theoretical values,<br />
would mean not paying attention to reality and discarding it. The best thing<br />
to do would be to subdue technology, to humanise and spiritualise it,<br />
assigning<br />
it practices where the complementarity of values should be<br />
present.<br />
The second section in the current issue includes studies located at<br />
the frontier between science, philosophy and religion. In the first paper of<br />
the section, “Theology and Ecology. Hermeneutical Insights <strong>for</strong> a Christian<br />
EcoTheology”, Gheorghe Popa points out that nature has always “longed <strong>for</strong><br />
salvation”, nowadays more than ever, because man has abused Nature,<br />
separated it from God and used it <strong>for</strong> his own selfish purposes. He considers<br />
3
EDITORIAL<br />
that re‐establishing patristic thought ‐ based on a Christo‐centric vision of<br />
Creation – could be essential <strong>for</strong> the <strong>un</strong>derstanding and resolution of the<br />
present state of crisis. He outlines<br />
a few hermeneutical insights <strong>for</strong> a<br />
possible dialogue between contemp orary ecology and Christian theology.<br />
In the second contribution, “The real distinction between essence and<br />
existence and the relation between in<strong>for</strong>mation and energy”, Alessandro<br />
Cordelli considers that in the Thomistic development of the Aristotelian<br />
metaphysics a central role is played by the actual distinction between the<br />
essence (i.e. the totality of characteristics and capabilities) and the concrete<br />
existence of any being. Even if these two components of the being of any<br />
thing are truly distinct, nevertheless they are not separable, since one<br />
cannot observe the existence if not within the essence of a determined<br />
thing, nor the essence if not in a concrete existing object. The paper is<br />
intended to investigate this analogy, which bridges the gap between natural<br />
science and metaphysics. In the third work of the section, “Neuroscientific Explanations of<br />
Religious Experience are Not free from Cultural Aspects” Anne R<strong>un</strong>ehov<br />
emphasizes that neuroscientific research on religious phenomena such as<br />
religious experiences and rituals <strong>for</strong> example has increased significantly the<br />
last years. Neuroscientists claim that neuroscience contributes considerably<br />
in the process of <strong>un</strong>derstanding religious experiences, because neuroscience<br />
is able to measure brain activity during religious experiences by way of<br />
brain‐imaging technologies. No doubt, those results of neuroscientific<br />
research on religious experiences are an important supplement to the<br />
<strong>un</strong>derstanding of some types of religious experiences. However, some<br />
conclusions drawn from neuroscientific research on religious experiences<br />
are arguable. For example, one such conclusion is that a person’s religious<br />
experiences actually derives from some ultimate reality, meaning that<br />
religious experiences<br />
are real. It is the latter assertion that will be analysed<br />
in the present paper.<br />
In the last contribution of this section, Stefan Afloroaei brings into<br />
discussion in “Distinct Ways of Thinking and Distinct Experiences of Truth”<br />
three issues that are not necessarily new but that have received little<br />
consideration in current philosophical discussions. First, one can notice that<br />
the space of freedom that thinking has is much larger than the one<br />
described by Kant in his first critical work. This new space of freedom is no<br />
longer strictly delimited by the classical principle of non‐contradiction, on<br />
the one hand, and by sensitive intuition, on the other. Second, one can<br />
distinguish different modes of thinking without believing that we would be<br />
situating ourselves outside reasonable and meaningful thinking. Such are,<br />
<strong>for</strong> instance, the thinking that strictly observes the logic of non‐<br />
contradiction and the thinking that exceeds this logic. He considers the fact<br />
that the thinking that exceeds the logic of non‐contradiction induces<br />
another image of the world in which we are situated and can describe other<br />
experiences of truth (to use Gadamer’s expression), such as symbolic and<br />
religious experience. Consequently, we have reasons to believe that one can<br />
talk about alternative in another, stronger and more radical sense of the<br />
4
<strong>Journal</strong> <strong>for</strong> Interdisciplinary Research on Religion and Science,<br />
No. 2, January 2008<br />
word a s well, as can be seen with authors and ages that had a disposition <strong>for</strong><br />
genuinely alternative visions.<br />
The third section includes articles which focus on the relationship<br />
between religion, politics and hermeneutics. In the first study entitled<br />
“Politics and religion. Presenting the new convergence approach of two<br />
social fields”, Roland Benedikter For the vast majority of intellectuals in the<br />
now emerging first world society there can be no doubt that religion has<br />
gained a rapidly increasing political significance since the fall of the Berlin<br />
Wall in 1989, since the collapse of comm<strong>un</strong>ism in 1991 and the terrorist<br />
attacks of 11 September 2001. This increase in importance of religion is<br />
linked to the three other big end‐movements of our time: 1 the end of the<br />
era of the "new world order" in the field of politics, 2 the end of the era of<br />
"neo‐liberalism" in the field of economics, 3 the end of the era of "post‐<br />
modernism" in the field of culture. These three ends are largely related to<br />
the symptom‐date (not cause‐date!) of 11 September 2001, but have their<br />
origins in developments in the second half of the 1990s. The global<br />
"renaissance of the religions" since then increasingly permeates all three<br />
core social fields and their typological macro logic and discourse practices ‐<br />
both visible and invisible. The rise of religious logic to the center of politics<br />
occurs no longer only in co<strong>un</strong>tries in the so‐called "third" and "second", but<br />
also in creasingly the "first" world, being one of the decisive long‐term shifts<br />
of ideas<br />
of the present era.<br />
In the second text of this section “Changes of Religious Pluralism with<br />
Regard to Conditions in the Czech Lands”, Ian Miscovic discusses the issue of<br />
religious pluralism and its progressive emergence first in the Czech society<br />
then in the Churches themselves. Its first modern expressions translated<br />
into religious tolerance, which officially was sanctioned in the 17<br />
holic. The result has b the fragmentation of theology into a great<br />
number of branches.<br />
In the article entitled “The S<strong>un</strong> of Justice in the New Testament and<br />
the Works of the Ecclesiastic Writers”, Iulian Moga considers that in the<br />
Christian sources, whether we speak about the New Testament or the works<br />
of the Apostolic Fathers, those of the Apologetic ones or of all the Church<br />
writers up to John of Damascus – and we can include here the ones<br />
belonging to Asia Minor and the Cappadocian Fathers –, the concept of S<strong>un</strong><br />
of Justice, which strictly refers to one of the personae of the Holy Trinity or<br />
to the concept of divinity as a whole, acquires new meanings. It emphasizes<br />
most of the doctrinal aspects from the Nicaean credo much be<strong>for</strong>e the first<br />
two Ecumenical Synods. The article there<strong>for</strong>e aims to present the context in<br />
th century<br />
by the local king but genuinely established two centuries later. Ecumenism,<br />
one of the <strong>for</strong>ms of religious pluralism, was echoed in the Czech context<br />
particularly after the Second World War. The conclusions of the second<br />
Vatican Co<strong>un</strong>cil constituted a key step towards the establishment of<br />
pluralism among the Catholic clergy. The changes in the political system of<br />
Central and Eastern Europe and simultaneously the beginning of the<br />
globalisation process have given an impetus to pluralism. Against the<br />
backgro<strong>un</strong>d of these trans<strong>for</strong>mations, pluralism has reached a certain stage<br />
and has taken concrete shape amid the different groups of clergy, including<br />
the Cat een<br />
5
EDITORIAL<br />
which the expression occurs at the Holy Fathers, providing examples up to<br />
the second half of the fourth century, in order to <strong>un</strong>derline its importance<br />
with direct reference to the economy of redemption.<br />
6<br />
Éditorial<br />
Editorial Directors<br />
Pour commencer, la première section du journal est destinée aux<br />
études sur l’éducation et la vie académique. Dans le premier article de la<br />
section, “La quête de sens comme recherche de liens entre approches<br />
<strong>for</strong>melles et in<strong>for</strong>melles dans la problématique des histoires de vie”, Patrik<br />
Paul considère que la question du sujet rencontre au total trois obstacles<br />
révélateurs de soi: celui de la « corporalisation » (le biologique), celui de la<br />
socialisation (le psychologique) et enfin celui de la « subjectivation » (le<br />
spirituel). Autrement dit, la quête identitaire supposerait de traverser trois<br />
zones de résistance différentes avant d’espérer d’expérimenter la réalité<br />
toujours fuyante d’<strong>un</strong> sujet transcendantal, grâce à sa <strong>for</strong>me imaginale,<br />
certes cachée mais expérimentée phénoméno logiquement comme <strong>un</strong> lieu<br />
où s’incarne l’esprit et où se spiritualise le corps.<br />
L’ensemble insiste sur l’approche phénoménologique, comme<br />
volonté de jonction entre « res cognitans » et «res extensa », ceci afin de<br />
rapprocher le sensible et l’intelligible et sur l’approche épistémologique qui<br />
demande de ne pas séparer la connaissance issue des sciences de l’histoire<br />
de vie, considérée comme lieu de reconstruction.<br />
Dans la seconde étude, Carmen Bolocan nous propose d’analyser Le<br />
Rapport Catéchèse – Théologie – Pédagogie de la perspective de<br />
l’enseignement religieux actuel. L’auteur se concentre sur le rapport entre<br />
théologie, catéchèse et pédagogie qui a existé et doit continuer à exister, du<br />
point de vue de l’enseignement religieux actuel. La catéchèse est, à l’origine,<br />
<strong>un</strong> récit ou <strong>un</strong>e histoire, qui est transmise d’<strong>un</strong> fidèle à l’autre. Le fait<br />
théologique est vécu comme <strong>un</strong>e tentative d’interprétation s’ef<strong>for</strong>ce de faire<br />
parler la Parole de Dieu en fonction d’<strong>un</strong>e culture déterminée. L’interaction<br />
pédagogie ‐ contenu est essentielle à la découverte de la relation<br />
qu’entretiennent l’acte théologique et l’acte catéchétique.<br />
Dans la troisième étude, « L’influence des technologies actuelles sur<br />
la <strong>for</strong>mation de la personnalité des je<strong>un</strong>es », Constantin Cucos souligne le<br />
fait que le refus de la technologie, au nom de soi‐disant valeurs théoriques<br />
absolues, signifierait ne pas faire attention à la réalité et la rejeter. La<br />
meilleure option serait de soumettre la technologie, de l’humaniser et la<br />
spiritualiser et de lui attacher des pratiques là où la complémentarité des<br />
valeurs est présente.<br />
La seconde section de ce numéro inclut des études qui se situent à la<br />
frontière de la science, la philosophie et la religion. Dans la première<br />
contribution, intitulée «Théologie et Ecologie. Esquisses herméneutiques<br />
pour <strong>un</strong>e écothéologie chrétienne », Gheorghe Popa souligne que la nature a<br />
toujours « désiré le salut », aujourd’hui plus que jamais, vu que l’homme a
<strong>Journal</strong> <strong>for</strong> Interdisciplinary Research on Religion and Science,<br />
No. 2, January 2008<br />
abusé la Nature, en la séparant de Dieu et l’utilisant pour ses fins égoïstes. Il<br />
considère que le rétablissement de la pensée des Pères de l’Eglise – basée<br />
sur <strong>un</strong>e vision Christocentrique de la création – s’avèrerait essentielle pour<br />
la compréhension et la résolution de la situation de crise actuelle. Il trace<br />
quelques lignes d’<strong>un</strong> possible dialogue entre l’écologie actuelle et la<br />
théologie<br />
chrétienne.<br />
Dans la seconde étude, “La distinction réelle entre l’essence et<br />
l’existence et la relation entre in<strong>for</strong>mation et énergie », Alessandro Cordelli<br />
est d’avis que dans le développement Thomiste de la métaphysique<br />
Aristotélicienne, <strong>un</strong> rôle clé est joue par la distinction réelle entre l’essence<br />
(c’est‐à‐dire la totalité des caractéristiques et des capacités) et l’existence<br />
concrète de tous les êtres. Même si ces deux composantes de n’importe quel<br />
être sont tout à fait distinctes, pourtant elles ne sont pas séparables, car on<br />
ne pourrait pas observer l’existence à l’extérieur de l’essence d’<strong>un</strong>e chose<br />
déterminée, ni l’essence à l’extérieur d’<strong>un</strong>e chose existant concrètement.<br />
L’étude se propose d’explorer cette analogie qui relie la distance<br />
entre la<br />
science naturelle et la métaphysique. Dans la troisième étude de la section, « Explications<br />
neuroscientifiques de l’expérience religieuse ne sont pas détachées des aspects<br />
culturels », Anne R<strong>un</strong>ehov affirme que la recherche sur des phénomènes<br />
religieux comme par exemple les expériences religieuses et sur les rituels<br />
s’est considérablement développée les dernières années. Les<br />
neuroscientifiques soutiennent que la neuroscience contribue<br />
considérablement au processus de compréhension des expériences<br />
religieuses, car la neuroscience est capable de mesurer le niveau d’activité<br />
du cerveau au cours des expériences religieuses grâce à l’utilisation des<br />
techniques d’imagerie cérébrale. Sans doute, les résultats de la recherche<br />
sur les expériences religieuses constituent <strong>un</strong>e contribution importante<br />
pour la compréhension de certains types d’expériences religieuses.<br />
Pourtant, il existe des controverses autour de certaines des conclusions de<br />
la recherche neuroscientifique. Par exemple, <strong>un</strong>e de ces conclusions est que<br />
les expériences religieuses d’<strong>un</strong>e personne dérivent en fait d’<strong>un</strong>e réalité<br />
ultime,<br />
ce qui implique que les expériences religieuses sont réelles. C’est sur<br />
cette affirmation que s’appuie l’étude présente.<br />
Dans la dernière contribution de cette section, Stefan Afloroaei<br />
introduit dans le débat autour Les Différents manières de penser et les<br />
différentes expériences de la vérité, trois aspects qui ne sont pas<br />
nécessairement nouveaux mais qui n’ont pas été suffisamment considérés<br />
dans les débats philosophiques actuels. Premièrement, on peut observer<br />
que l’espace de liberté dont dispose la pensée est beaucoup plus vaste que<br />
celui que décrivait Kant dans sa première œuvre critique. Ce nouvel espace<br />
de liberté n’est plus strictement délimité par le principe classique de non‐<br />
contradiction, d’<strong>un</strong>e part, et par l’intuition sensible, d’autre part.<br />
Secondement, on peut distinguer de différents modes de pensée sans<br />
considérer qu’on se placerait de cette façon a l’extérieur de la pensée<br />
raisonnable et significative. C’est le cas de la pensée qui respecte<br />
strictement la logique de la non‐contradiction et la pensée qui dépasse cette<br />
logique. Il considère le fait que la pensée qui dépasse la logique de la non‐<br />
7
EDITORIAL<br />
contradiction induit <strong>un</strong>e autre image du monde ou on se situe et peut<br />
décrire d’autres expérience de la vérité (pour utiliser l’expression de<br />
Gadamer), comme l’expérience symbolique et religieuse. Par conséquent, on<br />
a des raisons pour croire qu’on peut parler de l’alternative, dans <strong>un</strong> sens<br />
distinct, plus <strong>for</strong>te et radicale du mot, comme le prouvent les auteurs et les<br />
temps<br />
8<br />
qui avaient <strong>un</strong>e disponibilité à des perspectives alternatives<br />
véritables.<br />
La troisième section comprend des articles qui se concentrent sur le<br />
rapport entre religion, politique et herméneutique. Dans la première étude,<br />
intitulée “Politique et religion. La nouvelle approche actuelle de deux champs<br />
sociaux”, Roland Benedikter remarque que pour la grande partie des<br />
intellectuels des pays qui actuellement sont en train d’accéder dans le<br />
premier monde il est certain que la religion a gagné <strong>un</strong>e importance<br />
politique croissante depuis la chute du Mur de Berlin en 1989, depuis<br />
l’effondrement du comm<strong>un</strong>isme en 1991 et les attaques terroristes de 11<br />
septembre 2001. L’importance croissante de la religion est liée à trois<br />
autres mouvements terminaux de notre époque : 1. la fin de l’ère du ‘nouvel<br />
ordre mondial’ dans le domaine politique, 2 la fin de l’ère du<br />
‘néolibéralisme’ dans le domaine économique, 3 la fin de l’ère du<br />
‘postmodernisme’ dans le domaine culturel. Ces trois fins sont largement<br />
liés à la date symptomatique (non pas la date cause !) de 11 septembre<br />
2001, mais leurs origines remontent aux développements de la seconde<br />
moitié des années 1990. La ‘renaissance de la religion” au niveau mondial<br />
depuis cette période‐là s’est progressivement diffusée dans tous les trois<br />
domaines sociaux majeurs et dans leurs macro logique et pratiques<br />
discursives typologiques –celles visibles et invisibles également. L’avance<br />
de la religion vers le centre de la politique se produit désormais pas<br />
seulement dans des pays appartenant soi‐disant « deuxième » ou<br />
« troisième » monde, mais progressivement du « premier » monde,<br />
constituant l’<strong>un</strong>e des mutations des idées décisives à long<br />
terme de l’ère<br />
contemporain e.<br />
Dans la seconde contribution de cette section, “Changements du<br />
pluralisme religieux dans le contexte des Pays Tchèques », Ian Miscovic<br />
aborde la question du pluralisme religieux, de la façon dont il est<br />
progressivement apparu d’abord dans la société puis dans les Eglises elles‐<br />
mêmes. Ses premières manifestations modernes se sont traduites par la<br />
tolérance religieuse, officiellement confirmée au XVII ème siècle par le<br />
souverain, mais véritablement instaurée seulement deux siècles plus tard.<br />
Une des <strong>for</strong>mes du pluralisme religieux, l’œcuménisme, a trouvé <strong>un</strong> écho<br />
dans le contexte tchèque, surtout après la seconde guerre mondiale. Les<br />
conclusions du Concile Vatican II constituèrent <strong>un</strong> pas marquant vers<br />
l’établissement du pluralisme au sein du clergé catholique. Les changements<br />
des systèmes politiques en Europe centrale et orientale ainsi que,<br />
parallèlement, la mise en marche des processus de globalisation, ont donné<br />
<strong>un</strong>e impulsion au pluralisme. En toile de fond à ces changements, le<br />
pluralisme est arrivé à <strong>un</strong> certain stade et s’est exprimé concrètement dans<br />
les différents clergés, dont le clergé catholique. Il y a aussi comme résultat le
<strong>Journal</strong> <strong>for</strong> Interdisciplinary Research on Religion and Science,<br />
No. 2, January 2008<br />
morcellement de la théologie en <strong>un</strong><br />
grand nombre de branches et partie liée<br />
à cela son pluralisme.<br />
Dans l’article intitulé, “Le Soleil de Justice dans le Nouveau<br />
Testament et les ouvrages des écrivains ecclésiastiques”, Iulian Moga<br />
montre que dans les sources Chrétiennes, que l’on parle du Nouveau<br />
Testament ou des écrits des Pères Apostoliques, des Apologétiques ou des<br />
tous les écrivains de l’Eglise jusqu'à Jean de Damas – y compris les auteurs<br />
de l’Asie Mineure et Cappadocie ‐, le concept de Soleil de Justice, qui fait<br />
référence à <strong>un</strong>e des personæ des la Sainte Trinité ou au concept de la<br />
divinité dans l’ensemble, acquiert de nouvelles significations. Il souligne la<br />
majorité des aspects doctrinaires du Credo de Nicée bien en avant des deux<br />
premiers Synodes Œcuméniques. L’auteur se propose de présenter le<br />
contexte ou l’expression apparaît chez les Pères Saints, en se limitant à des<br />
exemples allant jusqu'à la deuxième moitie du IVe siècle, afin de souligner<br />
son importance pour l’économie du salut.<br />
Leitartikel<br />
Directeurs Editoriaux<br />
Der erste Abschnitt der Zeitschrift besteht aus Beiträgen zum Thema<br />
Erzieh<strong>un</strong>g <strong>un</strong>d akademisches Leben. Patrik Paul denkt in dem ersten<br />
Beitrag des Abschnittes, “Die Frage des Sinns <strong>un</strong>d die der Bezieh<strong>un</strong>g zwischen<br />
<strong>for</strong>mllen <strong>un</strong>d in<strong>for</strong>mellen Ansätzen zu Aspekten bezüglich der Geschichte des<br />
Lebens”, dass das Subjekt drei Hindernissen in der Selbstoffenbar<strong>un</strong>g<br />
begegnet: dem der “Verkörperlich<strong>un</strong>g” (auf biologischer Ebene), der<br />
Sozialisation (auf psychologischer Ebene) <strong>un</strong>d endlich dem der<br />
“Subjektivation” (auf geistiger Ebene). Mit anderen Worten setzt die<br />
Identitätsfrage drei <strong>un</strong>terschiedliche Widerstandsebenen vor der Erfahr<strong>un</strong>g<br />
der immer evasiven Wirklichkeit des transzedentalen Subjektes voraus,<br />
wegen seiner imaginären Form, die offensichtlich verborgen ist, aber<br />
phänomenologisch als Ort experimentiert wird, wo der Geist verkörpert ist<br />
<strong>un</strong>d der Körper vergeistigt ist.<br />
Der Schwerp<strong>un</strong>kt liegt auf dem phänomenologischen Aspekt, als der<br />
W<strong>un</strong>sch, «res cognitans» <strong>un</strong>d «res extensa» zu verbinden, um Empfind<strong>un</strong>g<br />
<strong>un</strong>d Vern<strong>un</strong>ft zusammenzubringen. Dafür sollte man die Erkenntnis, deren<br />
Wurzeln in der Wissenschaft liegen, von der Geschichte des Lebens nicht<br />
trennen,<br />
die als Ort der Rekonstruktion gesehen wird.<br />
Im zweiten Beitrag lädt <strong>un</strong>s Carmen Bolocan ein, in das Thema Die<br />
Bezieh<strong>un</strong>g: Katechese – Theologie – Pädagogie aus der Perspektive der<br />
aktuellen religiösen Erzieh<strong>un</strong>g hineinzuschauen. Die Autorin befasst sich mit<br />
der schon seit früh existierenden Verbind<strong>un</strong>g, die auch heute bestehen<br />
sollte, zwischen Theologie, Kathechese <strong>un</strong>d Pädagogie aus dem<br />
Gesichtsp<strong>un</strong>kt der heutigen religiösen Erzieh<strong>un</strong>g. Katechese bedeutet eine<br />
Erzähl<strong>un</strong>g, eine Geschichte, die von Gläubigen zu Gläubigen übermittlet<br />
wird. Der theologische Akt wird als ein Interpretationsversuch gelebt, der<br />
über Gottes Wort zu sprechen strebt, in Abhängigkeit von einer bestimmten<br />
9
EDITORIAL<br />
Kultur. Die Interaktion zwischen Pädagogik <strong>un</strong>d dem Inhalt ist wesentlich<br />
innerhalb der Bezieh<strong>un</strong>g<br />
zwischen dem theologischen <strong>un</strong>d dem<br />
kathechetischen Akt.<br />
Im dritten Beitrag “Die Folge der aktuellen Technologien auf die<br />
Bild<strong>un</strong>g der Persönlichkeit bei Jugendlichen” bestreitet Constantin Cucos die<br />
Tatsache, dass die verwerfende Technologie im Namen von einigen<br />
sogenannten <strong>absolut</strong>en theoretischen Werten bedeuten würde, die<br />
Wirklichkeit nicht zu berücksichtigen <strong>un</strong>d sie wegzuwerfen. Die Lös<strong>un</strong>g<br />
dazu wäre, die Technologie zu <strong>un</strong>terwerfen, sie zu humanisieren <strong>un</strong>d<br />
spiritualisieren, indem dieser Praktiken zugewiesen werden, in denen die<br />
Komplementarität der Werte vorhanden ist.<br />
Der zweite Abschnitt zum vorliegenden Aspekt schließt Beiträge ein,<br />
die sich an der Grenze zwischen Wissenschaft, Philosophie <strong>un</strong>d Religion<br />
befinden. Im ersten Beitrag “Theologie <strong>un</strong>d Ökologie. Hermeneutische<br />
Einblicke in eine christliche ÖkoTheologie” hebt Gheorghe Popa hervor, dass<br />
“die Natur sich immer nach Rett<strong>un</strong>g sehnte” <strong>un</strong>d heutzutage mehr als je,<br />
weil der Mensch die Natur vergewaltigt <strong>un</strong>d sie von Gott getrennt hat, um<br />
sie für seine eigennützigen Zwecke zu verwenden. Er ist der Mein<strong>un</strong>g, dass<br />
eine Neubetracht<strong>un</strong>g der patristischen Gedanken – die auf der<br />
christozentrischen Vision der Schöpf<strong>un</strong>g basieren ‐ für das Verständnis <strong>un</strong>d<br />
Lös<strong>un</strong>g der aktuelle Krise wesentlich sein könnte. Weiterhin werden einige<br />
hermen eutische Richt<strong>un</strong>gen für einen möglichen Dialog zwischen der<br />
heutigen Ökologie <strong>un</strong>d der christlichen<br />
Theologie <strong>un</strong>terstrichen.<br />
Im zweiten Beitrag, “Der wirkliche Unterschied zwischen Wesen <strong>un</strong>d<br />
Dasein <strong>un</strong>d die Bezieh<strong>un</strong>g zwischen In<strong>for</strong>mation <strong>un</strong>d Energie” meint<br />
Alessandro Cordelli, dass in der Thomistischen Entwickl<strong>un</strong>g der<br />
Aristotelschen Metaphysik eine Hauptrolle dem aktuellen Unterschied<br />
zwischen dem Wesen (d. h. die Gesamtheit aller Charakteristika <strong>un</strong>d<br />
Fähigkeiten) <strong>un</strong>d dem konkreten Dasein jedes Wesens zugewisen wird.<br />
Selbst wenn diese zwei Komponenten im Wesens jedes Dinges<br />
<strong>un</strong>terschiedlich sind, sind sie jedoch nicht ternnbar, solange man das Dasein<br />
eines bestimmten Dinges nicht wahrnehmen kann, weder dessen Wesen, als<br />
nur in einem konkret existierenden Ding. Die Studie befasst sich mit der<br />
Analyse der Analogie, die die Lücke zwischen<br />
Wissenschaft <strong>un</strong>d<br />
Methaphysik<br />
überbrückt.<br />
In der dritten Studie des Abschnittes “Neurowissenschaftliche<br />
Erklär<strong>un</strong>gen der religiösen Erfahr<strong>un</strong>gen sind nicht frei von kulturellen<br />
Aspekten” betont Anne R<strong>un</strong>ehov, dass sich die neurowissenschaftlichen<br />
Forsch<strong>un</strong>gen von religiösen Phänomenen, wie zum Beispiel den religiösen<br />
Erfahr<strong>un</strong>gen <strong>un</strong>d Ritualen in den letzten Jahren erheblich erweitert hat. Die<br />
Neurowissenschaftler behaupten, dass die Neurowissenschaft zum<br />
Versändnis der religiösen Erfahr<strong>un</strong>gen beitragen kann, da sie die Tätigkeit<br />
des Gehirns während der religiösen Erfahr<strong>un</strong>gen mittels der Technologien<br />
des Brain‐Imaging (Bildgeb<strong>un</strong>g des Gehirns) messen können. Die Ergebisse<br />
solcher neurowissenschaftlichen Forsch<strong>un</strong>gen der religiösen Erfahr<strong>un</strong>g sind<br />
zweifellos ein bedeutender Beitrag zum Verständnis einiger Arten von<br />
religiösen Erfahr<strong>un</strong>gen. Einige Schlussfolger<strong>un</strong>gen der<br />
neurowissenschaftllichen Forsch<strong>un</strong>g sind jedoch bestreitbar. Es ist der Fall<br />
10
<strong>Journal</strong> <strong>for</strong> Interdisciplinary Research on Religion and Science,<br />
No. 2,<br />
January 2008<br />
der Ansicht, dass die religiöse Erfahr<strong>un</strong>g einer Person einer letzten<br />
Wirklichkeit entstammt, was bedeuten soll, das die religiösen Erfahr<strong>un</strong>gen<br />
wirklich sind. Die Behaupt<strong>un</strong>g wird ans chließend in diesem Beitrag<br />
analysiert.<br />
In dem letzten Beitrag dieses Abschnittes, “Unterschiedliche<br />
Denkarten <strong>un</strong>d <strong>un</strong>terschiedliche Wahrheitserfahr<strong>un</strong>gen” befasst sich Stefan<br />
Afloroaie mit drei Aspekten, die nicht <strong>un</strong>bedingt neu sind, die aber in der<br />
aktuellen philosophischen Debatte wenig Beacht<strong>un</strong>g fanden.<br />
Zuerst kann man feststellen, dass der Freiheitsraum des Denkens viel<br />
größer als der von Kant in seinem Kritischen Werk beschriebene ist. Dieser<br />
neue Freiheitsraum wird nicht mehr ausschließlich durch die Prinzipien der<br />
Non‐Kontradiktion, einerseits <strong>un</strong>d der sinnlichen Intuition andererseits<br />
abgegrenzt. Zweitens kann man zwei Denkarten <strong>un</strong>terscheiden, ohne zu<br />
glauben, dass wir <strong>un</strong>s außerhalb des vernünftigen <strong>un</strong>d sinnvollen Denkens<br />
befinden. Diese sind diejenigen, die ausschließlich die Logik der Non‐<br />
Kontradiktion beachtet <strong>un</strong>d das Denken, das die Logik übersteigt. Der Autor<br />
ist der Mein<strong>un</strong>g, dass das Denken, das die Logik der Non‐Kontradiktion<br />
überschreitet, ein anderes Bild der Welt, in der wir leben, herbeiführt <strong>un</strong>d<br />
andere Wahrheitserfahr<strong>un</strong>gen beschreiben kann (um Gadamers Ausdruck<br />
zu verwenden), wie die symbolische <strong>un</strong>d religiöse Erfahr<strong>un</strong>g. Folglich gibt<br />
es Gründe zu behaupten, dass man über Alternative in einem stärkeren <strong>un</strong>d<br />
radikaleren Sinn des Wortes sprechen kann, so wie man schon bei<br />
bestimmten Autoren <strong>un</strong>d in bestimmten Zeitaltern mit einer echten<br />
alternativen Gesinn<strong>un</strong>g bemerken kann.<br />
Der dritte Abschnitt umfastt Artikeln, die sich auf der Bezieh<strong>un</strong>g<br />
zwischen Religion, Politik <strong>un</strong>d Hermenueitk konzentrieren. Roland<br />
Benedikter behauptet in der ersten Studie mit dem Titel “Politik <strong>un</strong>d<br />
Religion. Darstell<strong>un</strong>g des neuen Konvergenzansatzes von zwei sozialen<br />
Feldern”, dass für die Mehreit der Intelektuellen in der jetzt<br />
hervorkommenden ersten Weltgesellschaft keinen Zweifel besteht, dass der<br />
Religion eine schnell wachsende politische Bedeut<strong>un</strong>g seit dem Fall der<br />
Berliner Mauer 1989, dem Zusammenbruch des Komm<strong>un</strong>ismus 1991 <strong>un</strong>d<br />
den terroristischen Angriffen vom 11. September 2001 zugewiesen wird.<br />
Diese Z<strong>un</strong>ahme der Bedet<strong>un</strong>g von Religion ist mit anderen drei großen<br />
Endbeweg<strong>un</strong>gen <strong>un</strong>serer Zeit in Verbind<strong>un</strong>g zu bringen: die erste ist das<br />
Ende des Zeitalters der „Neuen Weltordn<strong>un</strong>g“ in der Politik, die zweite ist<br />
das Ende des Zeitalters des „Neuliberalismus“ in<br />
der Wirtschaft <strong>un</strong>d die<br />
dritte ist das Ende des Zeitalters der „Postmoderne“ in der Kultur.<br />
Diese drei Ende werden hauptsächlich mit dem Symtom‐Datum<br />
(nicht Ursache‐Datm) vom 11. September 2001 in Verbind<strong>un</strong>g gebracht, sie<br />
haben aber ihre Ursprünge in den Entwickl<strong>un</strong>gen aus der letzten Hälfte des<br />
90‐Jahren. Die seit damals z<strong>un</strong>ehmende globale "Renaissance der<br />
Religionen" breitet sich in allen drei sozialen Hauptfeldernaus <strong>un</strong>d ihrer<br />
Makrologik <strong>un</strong>d ihren typologischen Diskurspraktiken – sowohl in den die<br />
<strong>un</strong>sichtbaren als auch in den sichtbaren. Der Austieg der religiöse Logik<br />
zum Zentrum der Politik tritt nicht nur in den sogenannte „dritten“ <strong>un</strong>d<br />
„zweiten“ Ländern auf, sondern auch in der „ersten“ Welt <strong>un</strong>d ist einer der<br />
maßgebenden langfristigen Ideenwandeln in <strong>un</strong>serem Zeitalter.<br />
11
EDITORIAL<br />
Im zweiten Text dieses Abschnittes “Änder<strong>un</strong>gen des religiösen<br />
Pluralismus in Bezug auf die Beding<strong>un</strong>gen in den Tschechischen Ländern“<br />
behandelt Ian Miscovic den Aspekt des religiösen Pluralismus <strong>un</strong>d seinen<br />
progressiven Aufkommen erstens in der tschecischen Gesellschaft <strong>un</strong>d dann<br />
in den Kirchen selbst. Sein erster moderner Ausdruck wurde durch religiöse<br />
Toleranz übersetzt, die offiziel im 17. Jh. Durch den dortigen König<br />
Bewillig<strong>un</strong>g fand <strong>un</strong>d in Wirklichkeit sich zwei Jahrh<strong>un</strong>derte später<br />
durchgesetzt hatte. Ökumenismus, eine der Formen des religiösen<br />
Pluralismus fand einen besonderen Echo im tschechischen Kontext nach<br />
dem Zweiten Weltkrieg. Die Schlussfolger<strong>un</strong>gen des Zweiten Vatikanischen<br />
Konzils bedeuteten ein wichtiger Schritt für die Erricht<strong>un</strong>g des Pluralismus<br />
im katholischen Klerus. Die Wende in den politischen Systemen im Mittel‐<br />
<strong>un</strong>d Osteuropa <strong>un</strong>d der gleichzeitige Beginn des Globalisier<strong>un</strong>gsprozesses<br />
gaben den Anstoss für den Pluralismus. Vor dem Hintergr<strong>un</strong>d von diesen<br />
Umwandl<strong>un</strong>gen hat der Pluralismu ein bestimmtes Niveau erreicht <strong>un</strong>d<br />
konkrete Form innerhalb der verschiedenen Gruppen des Klerus<br />
angenommen, einschließlich der Katoliken.<br />
Das Ergebnis war die<br />
Fragmentier<strong>un</strong>g der Theologie in eine g roße Zahl von Zweigen.<br />
In dem Artikel mit dem Titel “Der Sohn der Gerechtigkeit in dem<br />
Neuen Testament <strong>un</strong>d in den Werken der Kirchenschriftsteller” meint Iulian<br />
Moga, dass in den christlichen Quellen, sei es das Neue Testament oder die<br />
Werke der Apostolischen Väter, die der Apologetiker oder von allen<br />
Kirchenschriftstellern bis zu Johannes von Damaskus‐<strong>un</strong>d hier können auch<br />
die Kirchenschriftsteller aus Asia Minor <strong>un</strong>d die Kappadokischen Väter<br />
genannt werden– gewinnt der Begriff von Sohn der Gerechtigkeit, der sich<br />
ausschließlich auf eine der Personen der Dreiheiligkeit oder auf die Gottheit<br />
als ein Ganzes bezieht, neue Bedeut<strong>un</strong>gen. Mit diesem Begriff werden die<br />
meisten doktrinarischen Aspekte aus dem Bekenntnis von Nizäa schon vor<br />
den zwei Ökumenischen Synoden akzentuiert. Das Ziel des Artikels ist es,<br />
den Kontext darzustellen, in dem der Ausdruck bei den Heiligen Vätern<br />
erscheint, indem Beispiele bis zur zweiten Hälfte des vierten Jahh<strong>un</strong>derts<br />
geliefert werden, um dessen Bedeut<strong>un</strong>g mit direktem Bezug zu der<br />
Ökonomie der Erlös<strong>un</strong>g hervorzuheben.<br />
12<br />
Leitartikel Direktores
<strong>Journal</strong> <strong>for</strong> Interdisciplinary Research on Religion and Science,<br />
No. 2, January 2008<br />
La quête de sens comme recherche de liens<br />
entre approches <strong>for</strong>melles et in<strong>for</strong>melles dans la<br />
problématique des histoires de vie<br />
Patrick PAUL *<br />
* Université François Rabelais, Tours, Laboratoire des sciences de l’éducation,<br />
E‐mail Address: docppaul@wanadoo.fr<br />
Abrégé ‡<br />
La question du sujet rencontre donc au total trois<br />
obstacles révélateurs de soi : celui de la<br />
« corporalisation » (le biologique), celui de la<br />
socialisation (le psychologique), celui enfin de la<br />
« subjectivation » (le spirituel). Autrement dit, la quęte<br />
identitaire supposerait de traverser trois zones de<br />
résistance différentes avant d’espérer expérimenter la<br />
réalité toujours fuyante d’<strong>un</strong> sujet transcendantal, grâce<br />
ŕ sa <strong>for</strong>me imaginale, certes cachée mais expérimentée<br />
phénoménologiquement comme <strong>un</strong> lieu oů s’incarne<br />
l’esprit et oů se spiritualise le corps.<br />
L’ensemble insiste sur l’approche phénoménologique,<br />
comme volonté de jonction entre « res cognitans » et «res<br />
extensa », ceci afin de rapprocher le sensible et<br />
l’intelligible et sur l’approche épistémologique qui<br />
demande de ne pas séparer la connaissance issue des<br />
sciences de l’histoire de vie, considérée comme lieu de<br />
reconstruction.<br />
‡ Le résumé a été rédigé par l’éditeur en utilisant des<br />
fragments du texte de l’étude.<br />
La recherche de sens dans la problématique de<br />
histoires de vie supportées par <strong>un</strong>e approche<br />
phénoménologique configure la sensation, le ressenti,<br />
l’émotion ‐ c’est à dire les expériences vitales essentielles,<br />
marquantes ‐ selon <strong>un</strong>e intentionnalité et des significations<br />
qui peuvent se trouver différentes selon les moments. Mais<br />
toujours le sens s’appréhende comme signe et direction<br />
sitôt que le sens perçu, comme manifestation visible, révèle<br />
d’autres dimensions, cachées mais cependant présentes, de<br />
la personne.<br />
13
PAUL ‐ La quête de sens comme recherche de liens entre approches <strong>for</strong>melles<br />
et in<strong>for</strong>melles dans la problématique des histoires de vie<br />
La <strong>for</strong>mation, comme action de <strong>for</strong>mer ou de se <strong>for</strong>mer,<br />
prête (il n’est qu’à lire l’énoncé du dictionnaire Larousse sous<br />
ce mot) à de nombreuses interprétations. Parmi ces dernières,<br />
l’approche philosophique retient la <strong>for</strong>mation comme<br />
signifiant le principe d’organisation interne et d’<strong>un</strong>ification de<br />
l’être, la succession des degrés de finalisation de la <strong>for</strong>me<br />
correspondant au processus de perfectionnement de l’être.<br />
Le problème de la relation de l’être et de la <strong>for</strong>me, celui<br />
de ces trans<strong>for</strong>mations successives suppose du paradoxe de<br />
l’articulation contradictoire entre principe <strong>for</strong>mel, moule de<br />
l’apparence configurant transitoirement la contingence comme<br />
traces, et la réalité in<strong>for</strong>melle de l’être, son insaisissabilité<br />
d’essence transcendant nécessairement toute <strong>for</strong>me. Il est donc<br />
<strong>un</strong> jeu, tant dialectique que contradictoire, entre <strong>for</strong>mel et<br />
in<strong>for</strong>mel, ce dernier exprimant la subjectivité de chac<strong>un</strong> au<br />
cours de l’apprentissage et de l’expression <strong>for</strong>melle et <strong>un</strong><br />
incessant passage entre l’<strong>un</strong> et l’autre impliquant les concepts<br />
de trans<strong>for</strong>mation, d’in<strong>for</strong>mation. L’in<strong>for</strong>mel dans ce contexte,<br />
comme abstraction réfutant les représentations classables et<br />
reconnaissables devient alors le niveau de réalité sans doute le<br />
plus à même de favoriser l’accès à <strong>un</strong>e expérimentation, certes<br />
voilée, mais « simple » de l’être.<br />
Si la <strong>for</strong>me correspond au principe d’organisation<br />
interne des apparences, l’in<strong>for</strong>mel renvoie ainsi à son<br />
dépassement ce qui, en quelque domaine que ce soit, pose<br />
à la fois d’<strong>un</strong> côté la question des normes (biologiques,<br />
psychologiques, sociétales…) et de leur transgression,<br />
inhérente à leur réalité et de l’autre la relation entre le<br />
régime de l’illusion <strong>for</strong>melle, témoin d’idolâtrie et de<br />
fantasmagories, et la <strong>for</strong>me révélatrice des traces<br />
in<strong>for</strong>melles de la présence, construction<br />
phénoménologique de l’esprit. Le récit, l’image, le symbole<br />
deviennent ainsi les signes d’<strong>un</strong>e réalité cachée, ils<br />
témoignent d’<strong>un</strong>e dimension in<strong>for</strong>melle dont la réalité nous<br />
échappe. L’exploration du <strong>for</strong>mel présuppose ainsi d’<strong>un</strong>e<br />
part invisible, agissante et agente, de même nature afin de<br />
recomposer l’<strong>un</strong>ité. La relation entre <strong>for</strong>mel et in<strong>for</strong>mel dès<br />
lors, à finalité éthique, se déploie identiquement à celle du<br />
multiple et de l’<strong>un</strong>, des valeurs <strong>un</strong>iverselles et des<br />
impératifs personnels.<br />
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<strong>Journal</strong> <strong>for</strong> Interdisciplinary Research on Religion and Science,<br />
No. 2, January 2008<br />
Le rapport des relations entre <strong>for</strong>mel et in<strong>for</strong>mel<br />
pourrait s’entendre comme celui des relations entre<br />
l’apparent (zâhir) et le caché (bâtin) dans la théologie<br />
mystique chiîte dont traite abondamment H. Corbin. Mais<br />
s’il existe des sens multiples non exclusifs les <strong>un</strong>s des<br />
autres, c’est par <strong>un</strong> cheminement, <strong>un</strong>e trans<strong>for</strong>mation<br />
intérieure que leur élucidation intellective s’opère. Cette<br />
posture, d’évidence herméneutique est tout autant<br />
phénoménologique dans la mesure où la phénoménologie<br />
ressort bien du dévoilement de la sensation, de ce qui est<br />
caché sous l’apparence objective des choses considérées<br />
comme des phénomènes (G. Lacaze, 2000, p. 52) :<br />
« derrière le phénomène, derrière le sens apparent,<br />
manifeste, il s’agit pour le phénoménologue herméneute,<br />
de dévoiler le sens caché, ce qui n’apparaît qu’à celui qui<br />
est capable de le recevoir » dans la mesure où <strong>un</strong> lien<br />
existe entre modes de comprendre et modes d’être, entre<br />
épistémologie et ontologie dans la phénoménologie. Le<br />
monde des phénomènes, organisé et connu par les<br />
différents degrés de la raison dans sa progression logique,<br />
joue avec le déterminisme et le savoir. Mais il postule dans<br />
<strong>un</strong>e dynamique relationnelle et paradoxale <strong>un</strong> non<br />
déterminisme, <strong>un</strong> non savoir (le monde du noumène) à<br />
jamais antinomique.<br />
1) Une phénoménologie de l’être dans l’espace et<br />
le temps<br />
L'histoire de vie se conçoit donc comme recherche et<br />
construction de sens à partir de faits temporels personnels<br />
(G. Pineau ; J‐L Le Grand, 1996). Ce qui importe, c’est que<br />
l’espace et le temps sont des <strong>for</strong>mes certes distinctes (G.<br />
Durand, 2003, pp. 24‐27,) mais dont la possible<br />
ré<strong>un</strong>ification change le nature même de ces deux entités en<br />
leur donnant <strong>un</strong> sens. L’être – là (Dasein) est à entendre<br />
comme « être‐au‐présent » de nous‐mêmes, comme<br />
manière d’être dans l’instant, comme « présence ». Dès lors<br />
l’anamnèse comme récurrence, récursivité du temps<br />
devient <strong>un</strong>e manière de retrouver, dans la relation à<br />
15
PAUL ‐ La quête de sens comme recherche de liens entre approches <strong>for</strong>melles<br />
et in<strong>for</strong>melles dans la problématique des histoires de vie<br />
l’espace et au temps qui lui est conjoint, <strong>un</strong> certain type<br />
d’expérience au présent, relation à la base du sens. C’est<br />
donc le phénomène du sens qui est support de la fondation<br />
ontologique, les modes de l’intelligence (les niveaux<br />
logiques), sous‐jacents aux modes phénoménologiques de<br />
la perception et les modes de l’essence devenant les deux<br />
faces indissociables du réel. Le temps, sitôt qu’il redevient<br />
« kairos » en se reliant à l’espace (topos), laisse<br />
transparaître l’individuation comme figure temporelle de<br />
l’espace, récit visionnaire (H. Corbin). Ce renversement du<br />
temps en espace emblématique 1 accessible à l’imaginatio<br />
vera, devient récital d’images, M<strong>un</strong>dus imaginalis, récit et<br />
« récital » englobant d’images (G. Durand, 2003, p. 40).<br />
Mais réciproquement, sitôt que l’histoire devient image, le<br />
lieu des épiphanies plurielles et concrètes engendre le<br />
temps de l’âme, la pérégrination « exodique » de l’exilé (G.<br />
Durand, 2003, p. 40). Les aires qui signalent les « topoi »<br />
sont des aires de signification sémantique, des matrices qui<br />
ordonnent le temps au sein d’<strong>un</strong> même ordre spatial.<br />
L’espace et le temps, dès lors qu’ils ne sont plus disjoints,<br />
deviennent les deux faces d’<strong>un</strong> processus d’<strong>un</strong>ification et<br />
de signification de l’être qui se dévoile dans et par le temps<br />
mythique et spatialisé du récit.<br />
C’est dans la direction de l’individuation ici soulevée<br />
qu’il faut aller si l’on souhaite comprendre et légitimer le<br />
courant des histoires de vie. La naissance même de ce<br />
courant, dès le 4 ème siècle avant J.C en Grèce, en témoigne.<br />
Un groupe peu discipliné, se considérant "philosophe",<br />
lance en effet l'aventure des "bios". Ce sont les socratiques,<br />
qui en font <strong>un</strong>e pratique pédagogique (nous dirions<br />
aujourd'hui <strong>un</strong>e méthodologie), tentant de répondre aux<br />
préceptes de Delphes "connais‐toi toi‐même et tu<br />
connaîtras l'<strong>un</strong>ivers et les Dieux". Pour parler de cet art<br />
naissant, Socrate, fils de sage‐femme, parle de maïeutique,<br />
d'accouchement de soi par les idées logées en soi (le bios :<br />
maïeutique). Comme le souligne G. Gusdorf (1990), le<br />
vecteur temporel de l'autobiographie n'est ni rétrospectif<br />
1 Voir dans la médecine traditionnelle chinoise les relations entre<br />
les systèmes emblématiques du Hetu et Luoshu<br />
16
<strong>Journal</strong> <strong>for</strong> Interdisciplinary Research on Religion and Science,<br />
No. 2, January 2008<br />
ni projectif mais inchoatif, ouvrant sur des<br />
commencements, des genèses, des naissances. Entre la<br />
chronologie des histoires et l'achromie des lois et des<br />
modèles, les histoires de vie ouvrent <strong>un</strong>e tierce voie<br />
orientée vers la recherche des sens.<br />
Nous pouvons établir d’autres filiations entre les<br />
approches contemporaines des histoires de vie et divers<br />
courants plus anciens comme celui de la "bild<strong>un</strong>g‐<br />
<strong>for</strong>mation" au XIXème siècle mais qui s’enracine, de façon<br />
plus lointaine encore, chez Maître Eckhart au 15 ème siècle<br />
ou chez Chrétien de Troyes, au 13 ème siècle (P. Paul, 2002).<br />
Le courant de la bild<strong>un</strong>g, en particulier, est en<br />
Allemagne intégré au courant des sciences de l’esprit et se<br />
traduit par « éducation de soi ». Référant, en premier lieu, à<br />
Goethe il a été initié par Diltey. L’interrogation du récit de<br />
<strong>for</strong>mation, d’ordre à la fois anthropologique et spirituel,<br />
pose la question de la structure et de la trans<strong>for</strong>mation de<br />
la conscience individuelle et de son rapport au social. Le<br />
récit de vie, dans ses fondements, s’apparente à <strong>un</strong>e<br />
ontogenèse qui interroge la façon dont <strong>un</strong> individu devient<br />
c qu’il est. Mais par sa racine étymologique même la<br />
bild<strong>un</strong>g, comme image (bild), renvoie à la façon dont la vie,<br />
à la fois révèle l’image archétype qui se love dans l’intime,<br />
au plus profond de l’intériorité de chac<strong>un</strong> (l’Imago Dei) et à<br />
la façon dont nous pouvons vivre, au quotidien, de la<br />
manière la plus adéquate à cette image (P. Paul, 2005). Il<br />
s’agit donc de <strong>for</strong>mer son âme à l’image de cette réalité<br />
intérieure et cachée qu’il s’agit, par le processus de<br />
<strong>for</strong>mation et par le cheminement de vie qui s’y associe, sur<br />
différents niveaux de réalité, de se révéler à soi‐même afin<br />
d’en porter témoignage. La question de la bild<strong>un</strong>g, comme<br />
construction identitaire et quête du Nom, interroge les<br />
dispositions qui se découvrent puis qui sont fixées au fur et<br />
à mesure du chemin, en correspondance avec des valeurs<br />
d’invariabilité, d’inaltérabilité et ainsi de trouver sa juste<br />
place au sein de notre environnement humain. Nous<br />
ignorons, au départ, ces dispositions. C’est l’expérience de<br />
confrontation aux divers niveaux qui composent notre<br />
17
PAUL ‐ La quête de sens comme recherche de liens entre approches <strong>for</strong>melles<br />
et in<strong>for</strong>melles dans la problématique des histoires de vie<br />
réalité humaine qui fait découvrir, par l’action, ce pour<br />
quoi l’on est fait ou pas fait. Goethe illustre cette thèse<br />
dans le « Wilhem Meister » en insistant sur les crises,<br />
conversions, révélations articulant providence et destinée.<br />
Ce modèle d’intelligibilité biographique est donc lié à <strong>un</strong>e<br />
téléologie donnant du continu dans les discontinuités de la<br />
vie. Le sens de nos existences ne s’acquiert que dans la<br />
mesure de la prise de conscience de la trajectoire qui fixe,<br />
de façon inaltérable, nos qualités et capacités. Notre<br />
histoire, quel que soit le passé qui l’enracine, a donc <strong>un</strong><br />
sens en termes de futur. Pour citer Merleau‐Ponty (1945 p.<br />
471) « dès que j’introduis l’observateur, qu’il suive le cours<br />
du ruisseau ou que, du bord de la rivière, il en constate le<br />
passage, les rapports au temps se renversent. Dans le<br />
second cas, les masses d’eau déjà écoulées ne vont pas vers<br />
l’avenir, elles sombrent dans le passé ; l’à‐venir est du côté<br />
de la source et le temps ne vient pas du passé. Ce n’est pas<br />
le passé qui pousse le présent, ni le présent qui pousse le<br />
futur dans l’être ; l’avenir n’est pas derrière l’observateur,<br />
il se prémédite au devant de lui, comme l’orage à l’horizon.<br />
Si l’observateur, placé dans la barque, suit le fil de l’eau, on<br />
peut bien dire qu’il descend avec le courant vers son<br />
avenir, mais l’avenir, ce sont les paysages nouveaux qui<br />
l’attendent et le cours du temps, ce n’est plus le ruisseau<br />
lui‐même ».<br />
L’être se <strong>for</strong>me et se trans<strong>for</strong>me en conséquence selon<br />
<strong>un</strong> modèle interne ayant sa propre finalité. C’est donc faire<br />
<strong>un</strong> mauvais procès que de nier les reconfigurations<br />
cherchant à donner sens aux évènements puisque la réalité<br />
cognitive n’est pas antérieure ou concomitante mais<br />
postérieure aux situations vécues, le sens étant toujours<br />
<strong>un</strong>e mise en rapport entre le vécu et la <strong>for</strong>me implicite. S’il<br />
y a <strong>un</strong>e histoire et <strong>un</strong> sens, associé à la révélation de<br />
l’Imago Dei, ce potentiel caché, qui demande comme tout<br />
trésor à être découvert, postule d’au moins deux niveaux<br />
de réalité et de la problématique de leur séparation,<br />
rarement <strong>for</strong>mulée. Le principe d’<strong>un</strong>ification qu’ils<br />
présupposent tisse le lien entre niveaux de réalité, les<br />
thèmes de l’identité et de la <strong>for</strong>mation qui en résultent, en<br />
18
<strong>Journal</strong> <strong>for</strong> Interdisciplinary Research on Religion and Science,<br />
No. 2, January 2008<br />
tant qu’auto reconnaissance de sa propre histoire, révélant<br />
au fur et à mesure du chemin les valeurs supportées par<br />
l’Imago Dei à la condition de bien distinguer l’image réelle<br />
(l’identité) de l’image attendue (l’identification). Cette<br />
tension contradictoire et <strong>un</strong>ificatrice tout à la fois<br />
interroge l’herméneutique et l’ésotérique au‐delà des<br />
modèles socio‐historiques prégnants qui tendent, avant<br />
tout, à la reproduction de motifs préexistants et non à la<br />
production de sens. La finalité, aujourd’hui très oubliée, du<br />
modèle de la bild<strong>un</strong>g est en fait initiatique, son canevas<br />
articulant les singularités de l’<strong>un</strong>ique avec les généralités<br />
de l’<strong>un</strong>iversel. Il s’agit de faire jaillir du visible l’invisible,<br />
de l’apparent le caché, le supra‐perceptible de la<br />
perception, le fixé de l’activité. La compréhension du sujet<br />
s’explicite au mieux dans la dialectique sujet/monde<br />
situant le sujet en action dans le monde. Mais pour qu’il y<br />
ait <strong>for</strong>mation et initiation, il ne suffit pas de vivre <strong>un</strong>e<br />
expérience. Il faut qu’il y ait, associée à la dimension<br />
subjective de l’expérience vitale, <strong>un</strong>e mise en<br />
problématique de l’expérientiel de façon à favoriser la<br />
reconnaissance des intentionnalités <strong>for</strong>matrices. Mais les<br />
rapports du singulier et de l’<strong>un</strong>iversel reposent sur <strong>un</strong>e<br />
double incomplétude de la dialectique sujet/monde. Auc<strong>un</strong><br />
sujet ne peut prétendre en effet à <strong>un</strong>e totale réalisation en<br />
tant que sujet d’autant que le cheminement propre à la<br />
quête identitaire procède par résistances et ruptures ou<br />
par effacements et désidentifications successives. Auc<strong>un</strong><br />
sujet ne peut affirmer sa totale identité au monde, quel que<br />
soit son cheminement puisqu’il ne s’agit pas d’<strong>un</strong>e<br />
accumulation d’expériences et de savoirs mais bien de la<br />
découverte des dispositions, des vertus propres à chac<strong>un</strong>.<br />
La bild<strong>un</strong>g relève ainsi d’<strong>un</strong> savoir herméneutique d’ordre<br />
réflexif qui fait passer du sensible (du vécu) à l’intelligible<br />
(le sens) par auto‐connaissance. Si cette intelligibilité est,<br />
comme l’âme et les Idées platoniciennes, préexistante à<br />
l’existence, ce n’est qu’à la fin de la quête que le secret de<br />
la vie apparaît pleinement. Devenir ce que l’on est, en<br />
vérité, sans doute de toute éternité suppose ainsi d’<strong>un</strong><br />
19
PAUL ‐ La quête de sens comme recherche de liens entre approches <strong>for</strong>melles<br />
et in<strong>for</strong>melles dans la problématique des histoires de vie<br />
retour vers soi‐même, d’<strong>un</strong>e aptitude à dérouler le fil de<br />
son histoire dans <strong>un</strong>e temporalité libre du continu et du<br />
discontinu de façon à « réaliser » le plan, le projet,<br />
l’intentionnalité propre à notre « Image », ce qui, plus<br />
habituellement, ressort de la construction identitaire.<br />
Une des plus grandes critiques opposées à la<br />
méthodologie des histoires de vie concerne la<br />
configuration, la re‐figuration et reconfiguration des<br />
histoires de vie (essentiellement la problématique du sens<br />
et le présupposé de l’illusion et de la dé<strong>for</strong>mation).<br />
L'approche psychanalytique considère en effet (P. Paul,<br />
2003) que ce processus peut être l'objet d'illusions, de<br />
dé<strong>for</strong>mations, de manipulations, dans la mesure où n'est<br />
pas tenu en compte l'inconscient, via les théories de<br />
refoulement, de la névrose, du transfert… Ce<br />
questionnement a été l'objet de ma recherche de doctorat<br />
en mettant en parallèle repères diurnes et nocturnes, récits<br />
de <strong>for</strong>mation et récits de rêves, conscient et inconscient,<br />
<strong>for</strong>mel et in<strong>for</strong>mel tant dans le questionnement identitaire<br />
que dans la méthodologie des histoires de vie.<br />
2) Histoire de vie, entre approche consciente et<br />
inconsciente.<br />
L'histoire de vie, sous la <strong>for</strong>me d'<strong>un</strong> récit oral et/ou<br />
écrit, est la narration, avons nous dit, qu'<strong>un</strong> individu fait de<br />
certains événements marquants de sa vie. Mais le récit, soit<br />
naturellement, soit en liaison avec la problématique d'<strong>un</strong>e<br />
recherche, procède par sélection, réorganisation,<br />
structuration.<br />
Autrement dit, toute approche en histoire de vie<br />
devrait s'interroger tout autant sur la parole énoncée (le<br />
récit, logos) que sur les silences, les non‐dit (le récit,<br />
muthos) ou les sélections, les reconfigurations, ce qui<br />
postule <strong>un</strong>e dialectique <strong>for</strong>melle/in<strong>for</strong>melle, su/insu,<br />
rationalité/imagination, conscient/inconscient, qu'il<br />
conviendrait d'approfondir. Ricoeur (1983) avance le<br />
couple « mimèsis‐muthos » comme opérant sur le<br />
dynamisme de toute analyse. Si la mimèsis se comprend<br />
comme re‐présentation, imitation (le dire du récit), il est<br />
20
<strong>Journal</strong> <strong>for</strong> Interdisciplinary Research on Religion and Science,<br />
No. 2, January 2008<br />
<strong>un</strong>e mise en intrigue des faits qui ressort du muthos (de<br />
leur agencement) et qui fait que c’est l’intrigue, bien plus<br />
encore que la représentation de l’action, qui devrait<br />
interpeller. L’action devient le corrélat de l’activité<br />
mimétique régie par l’agencement des faits. L’étymologie<br />
du mot « mythe », précisément « muthos » en grec, renvoie,<br />
certes, à la « parole » (muthein : « parler »), mais celle‐ci<br />
réfère, d’évidence, à <strong>un</strong>e parole intérieure, à <strong>un</strong>e dimension<br />
organisatrice, légendaire, à <strong>un</strong> récit lié aux grands<br />
archétypes de l’âme et qui manifesteraient l’inconscient<br />
rendu conscient, précisément par le récit dès lors que le<br />
narrateur/auteur a effectué le chemin permettant d’en<br />
découvrir la « mise en intrigue » et « l’agencement » sous‐<br />
jacent donnant toute leur intelligibilité aux actes.<br />
Cette percée ouvre <strong>un</strong> espace d’expériences et <strong>un</strong><br />
horizon illimité à effet anthropo<strong>for</strong>mateur. L’apport de<br />
cette expression, surtout s’il s’agit d’approches auto‐<br />
référentielles, en faisant entrer des personnes qui parlent<br />
pour devenir sujets, interroge frontalement le paradigme<br />
scientifique disciplinaire. Le verdict d’illusion<br />
biographique, que nous avons réfuté, peut se résoudre à la<br />
condition d’introduire d’autres logiques de pensée. Ce sont,<br />
en particulier, ces autres compréhensions du monde qui<br />
peuvent construire <strong>un</strong>e connaissance tant <strong>for</strong>melle<br />
qu’in<strong>for</strong>melle. Celles‐ci, d’<strong>un</strong> contenu autant<br />
anthropologique qu’épistémologique, appèlent donc des<br />
approches radicalement nouvelles, ce que la<br />
transdisciplinarité rend présentement possible.<br />
L’articulation entre <strong>for</strong>mel et in<strong>for</strong>mel, analogue à diurne<br />
et nocturne, pose deux temps de la <strong>for</strong>mation que G. Pineau<br />
(1998) nomme <strong>for</strong>mation <strong>for</strong>melle et expérientielle. La<br />
dimension <strong>for</strong>melle et diurne s’enracine de façon<br />
dominante dans le champ de l’hétéro<strong>for</strong>mation à la<br />
différence de la <strong>for</strong>mation expérientielle qui supporte bien<br />
plus les valeurs de l’auto<strong>for</strong>mation. Ces deux temps<br />
prennent en compte la dimension temporelle dans son<br />
hétérogénéité, ils se succèdent et imposent leur<br />
reconnaissance, tant dans la <strong>for</strong>mation que dans la<br />
21
PAUL ‐ La quête de sens comme recherche de liens entre approches <strong>for</strong>melles<br />
et in<strong>for</strong>melles dans la problématique des histoires de vie<br />
méthodologie des histoires de vie. La mise en tension et en<br />
relation de ces deux temps anthropo<strong>for</strong>mateurs,<br />
radicalement autres l’<strong>un</strong> de l’autre, supporte la<br />
théorisation de la <strong>for</strong>mation de la personne, inscrite dans<br />
la dualité des temps mais dans la continuité du devenir. Les<br />
essais de compréhension des effets <strong>for</strong>mateurs,<br />
dé<strong>for</strong>mateurs et trans<strong>for</strong>mateurs interpelle les histoires de<br />
vie par la transdisciplinarité en ce sens que les relations<br />
épistémologiques de la seconde croisent les<br />
préoccupations méthodologiques de la première.<br />
Dans le cadre de l'histoire de la personne en effet, la<br />
méthodologie des histoires de vie nous offre <strong>un</strong>e <strong>for</strong>me qui<br />
renvoie à la narration d'<strong>un</strong> supposé vécu. Elle est <strong>un</strong>e<br />
enquête sur ce que l'on veut conserver car considéré<br />
comme signifiant. Mais le récit figuré, avons nous dit à<br />
propos de l’histoire, est toujours icône visible et opérateur<br />
de l'absence tout à la fois, nous y reviendrons, postulant<br />
d’autres réalités cachées de l’humain. L'histoire de vie offre<br />
à reconnaître dans ce que l'on dit ce que l'on voit au<br />
moment présent ou ce dont on souhaite pouvoir témoigner.<br />
Ce dire constitue ou destitue <strong>un</strong>e pensée signifiant l'être ou<br />
sa parodie.<br />
Nous rejoignons en ces propos l'approche<br />
phénoménologique de M. Foucault (1966) pour qui<br />
l'histoire est à considérer comme le lieu même de la<br />
reconstruction et celle de Merleau‐Ponty (1945) qui<br />
considère nous l’avons dit, l'avenir du côté de la source du<br />
fleuve bien plus que du côté de l'océan. Car le temps qui se<br />
retourne du côté de l'origine lie de façon plus étroite le<br />
sensible et l'intelligible. La mémoire, qui témoigne de cette<br />
relation, n'est plus alors à considérer objectivement,<br />
comme l’approche positiviste voudrait le laisser croire<br />
mais elle est sujette à <strong>un</strong> processus dynamique en<br />
réorganisation permanente. C'est donc <strong>un</strong> processus de<br />
<strong>for</strong>mation/trans<strong>for</strong>mation permanente dont les récits de<br />
vie témoignent, chaque histoire devenant la fixation, à <strong>un</strong><br />
instant particulier, d'<strong>un</strong>e dynamique cognitive <strong>for</strong>melle<br />
tendue vers l'horizon secret, in<strong>for</strong>mel et à jamais voilé du<br />
sujet qui, cependant, oriente et se signifie dans<br />
22
<strong>Journal</strong> <strong>for</strong> Interdisciplinary Research on Religion and Science,<br />
No. 2, January 2008<br />
l'organisation interne de ses manifestations. La métaphore<br />
du chemin, dont traite abondamment Buber et sur laquelle<br />
il nous semble important d'insister, illustre donc bien la<br />
problématique des histoires de vie.<br />
L'exigence scientifique d'<strong>un</strong>e mise à distance des<br />
croyances et des opinions valorisant <strong>un</strong>e recherche à visée<br />
cognitive de signification des expériences peut en<br />
conséquence passer par le récit. Entrer dans l'histoire, par<br />
le récit, c'est être capable de construire <strong>un</strong>e temporalité<br />
ordonnée à visée in<strong>for</strong>mative. Simplement, les<br />
in<strong>for</strong>mations touchent ici à la réalité de sujets non<br />
seulement conscients mais inconscients, le travail sur le<br />
récit modifiant au final l'action et ses conséquences (P.<br />
Ricoeur). Par delà ses défaillances, la reconfiguration<br />
analysée de l'histoire de vie en intégrant l’inconscient<br />
donne à l'herméneutique sa validité en permettant de<br />
réorganiser des expériences personnelles afin de leur<br />
donner du sens, au delà des individualités. La<br />
compréhension et le sens ressortent d’<strong>un</strong> dialogue. Or il<br />
n’est pas de dialogue entre <strong>un</strong> « je » et <strong>un</strong> « tu » qui ne soit<br />
inclusif, pour Buber, d’<strong>un</strong> dialogue entre <strong>un</strong> « je » et<br />
« cela ». Le rapport à autrui et le rapport au monde ne sont<br />
pas des données indépendantes. Autrui est <strong>un</strong> sujet qui<br />
perçoit le monde, le même monde que je perçois.<br />
L’irruption de l’autre, depuis le dehors, devient l’écho<br />
d’<strong>un</strong>e résonance du dedans. Ce n’est donc pas l’événement<br />
en soi, sa configuration, mais la manière de le vivre qui<br />
porte sens. Cette manière signe la potentialité<br />
organisatrice à l’œuvre dans celui qui reçoit et qui<br />
interprète l’événement et que l’événement rend ainsi<br />
manifeste. Il est donc <strong>un</strong> lien entre ce qui fait l’événement,<br />
ce qui lui donne sens et ce qui œuvre et met en œuvre.<br />
L’objectif des histoires de vie est <strong>un</strong>e élucidation du statut<br />
de l’homme en situation dans le monde qui articule à la<br />
lecture des faits et des évènements celle de leur ressenti,<br />
évolutif selon le sens qu’on leur donne au fur et à mesure<br />
du déroulement temporel.<br />
23
PAUL ‐ La quête de sens comme recherche de liens entre approches <strong>for</strong>melles<br />
et in<strong>for</strong>melles dans la problématique des histoires de vie<br />
Le sens donné à histoire singulière par le récit de vie<br />
engage donc sur la voie du mythe des origines, associé à<br />
l’inconscient et c'est sans doute à ce prix, même s'il n'est<br />
jamais affirmé, que l'histoire rationnelle, ordonnée et<br />
structurée par nos souvenirs, devient porteuse de vie, de<br />
connaissance et d'auto connaissance. Se pose donc<br />
d'emblée autant la relation entre soi et l’autre, entre<br />
individu et société qu’entre histoire de vie personnelle et<br />
histoire mythique de l’âme qui composent, d’<strong>un</strong>e manière<br />
ou de l’autre, toute réalité humaine.<br />
Devenir homme c'est donc toujours bricoler sa vie en<br />
allant dans les voies obliques qui relient savoir conscient et<br />
savoir insu ou inconscient. Dès lors, et quels que soient les<br />
biais possibles ou les dangers de la narration, toute<br />
personne qui parle décline <strong>un</strong>e faculté transitoire de son<br />
identité à la fois consciente et inconsciente, au fur et à<br />
mesure de son récit et de son interprétation, les phases qui<br />
composent son cheminement et la façon de les configurer<br />
manifestant nécessairement <strong>un</strong>e valeur liée tant à la<br />
qualité d'être de l'instant qu’aux aptitudes de relation<br />
entre niveaux de réalité différents de la surface aux<br />
profondeurs. La question de la <strong>for</strong>mation du sujet<br />
transparaît donc toujours en filigrane de toute recherche<br />
de mise en <strong>for</strong>me et en sens de données, au point de<br />
convergence de deux réalités radicalement autres entre<br />
elles. L'élucidation de ce processus, qui tisse les relations<br />
du même et de l'autre manque cependant habituellement<br />
des méthodes aptes à le révéler que le croisement des<br />
récits articulant logos et mythos, rationalité et ressenti,<br />
réflexion et imagination, diurne et nocturne, inversement,<br />
rend possible.<br />
Le point souvent critiqué, en particulier par la<br />
psychanalyse, concerne le déni de l'inconscient dans les<br />
méthodologies habituelles des histoires de vie. Notre<br />
positionnement, nous le démontrons, est différent puisque<br />
l'inconscient, l'in<strong>for</strong>mel, le mythe, le rêve, participent du<br />
processus.<br />
Autrement dit, l'interaction veille‐sommeil, régime<br />
diurne‐régime nocturne semble donner <strong>un</strong>e nouvelle<br />
24
<strong>Journal</strong> <strong>for</strong> Interdisciplinary Research on Religion and Science,<br />
No. 2, January 2008<br />
crédibilité, inscrite dans la dynamique même du bios, aux<br />
souvenirs en reconfiguration permanente, en leur offrant<br />
l'indispensable dimension subjective, dynamique et<br />
anthropo‐<strong>for</strong>matrice qui structure nos trans<strong>for</strong>mations en<br />
créant de nouveaux liens entre concepts, illumination<br />
artistique et créativité. Valoriser la part nocturne de la<br />
construction identitaire permet de s’attarder <strong>un</strong> temps sur<br />
les mises en <strong>for</strong>me et en sens du récit qui privilégient le<br />
sensible et le mythique, le poétique par rapport à la logique<br />
de la pensée analytique qui nous imprègne tous. Cela<br />
favorise, à la condition de s’y abandonner, le contact à nos<br />
profondeurs.<br />
C'est dans la diachronie des récits que peut<br />
transparaître, par synchronie, <strong>un</strong>e autre réalité de soi, à la<br />
condition que puisse exister, dans la <strong>for</strong>me événementielle<br />
avancée, la résonance phénoménale d'<strong>un</strong>e autre réalité,<br />
cachée. L'accès au réel, toujours sur fond voilé, passe par le<br />
détour de la perception, de son énonciation, de la<br />
spéculation raisonnée sur l'objet dirigeant vers la prise de<br />
conscience du sujet. Il impose également le rapport et le<br />
tissage entre <strong>un</strong>e réalité diurne, à dominant hétéro‐<br />
<strong>for</strong>mative, et <strong>un</strong>e dimension nocturne, auto‐<strong>for</strong>mative. Le<br />
rêve, en particulier, fait remonter <strong>un</strong> anté‐sujet (G.<br />
Bachelard) par dilution des <strong>for</strong>mes, <strong>un</strong> inconscient bio‐<br />
cognitif s'articulant au conscient et permettant de se<br />
trouver (heuristique : heurêka).<br />
3) L’humain comme articulation entre deux<br />
natures<br />
Le sujet et l’anté-sujet bachelardien, comme nature et<br />
culture chez Chrétien de Troyes, modes explicatifs et<br />
compréhensifs dans la philosophie du XVIIIème siècle,<br />
physique classique et quantique au XXème siècle, régime<br />
diurne et nocturne pour G. Durand, Ego et Alter Ego divin<br />
avec H. Corbin (la liste n’est pas exhaustive) présupposent<br />
toujours de couples opposés et contradictoires appelant <strong>un</strong>e<br />
mise en tension et <strong>un</strong>e résolution <strong>un</strong>ificatrice. Cette<br />
situation peut se symboliser sous le <strong>for</strong>me d’<strong>un</strong> couple<br />
25
PAUL ‐ La quête de sens comme recherche de liens entre approches <strong>for</strong>melles<br />
et in<strong>for</strong>melles dans la problématique des histoires de vie<br />
signifiant deux évènements contradictoires, A et non-A (⎯A<br />
), et d’<strong>un</strong> état T considéré comme état (lieu et temporalité)<br />
apte à manifester la ré<strong>un</strong>ion de la contradiction préalable.<br />
Ce « tiers inclus », qui suppose d’<strong>un</strong> changement de logique<br />
par rapport au tiers exclu, s’appréhende comme point de<br />
rencontre entre l’état de semi potentialisation de A (l’état T<br />
de AT ) et l’état de semi actualisation de non-A (l’état T<br />
de⎯AT). Cette rencontre d’ordre paradoxal, nous l’avons<br />
suffisamment explicité par ailleurs (P. Paul, 2003), ne peut<br />
s’engager que sur <strong>un</strong> autre niveau de réalité que celui de A<br />
et de non A et dans lequel les lois deviennent différentes.<br />
Pour Y. Barel (1979), le moment idéal pour étudier le<br />
paradoxe est dans son émergence ce qui correspond à l’état<br />
T de rencontre des contradictoires préalablement mentionné.<br />
Cette interaction est <strong>un</strong> choc entre éléments opposés, <strong>un</strong><br />
moment paradoxal destructeur/créateur dont les effets<br />
inverses ne peuvent s’appréhender à la conscience que dans<br />
l’alternance d’<strong>un</strong>e double <strong>for</strong>me, tantôt liée aux épreuves<br />
d’<strong>un</strong> nécessaire lâcher-prise, tantôt aux espoirs les plus fous<br />
d’<strong>un</strong>e reconstruction. L’état T comme troisième élément,<br />
identiquement au triangle pédagogique de J. Houssaye,<br />
réfère au tiers invisible mais constitutif des relations (Y.<br />
Bertrand, 1999). Cet état qui résulte aussi du « tissage » de<br />
la vie et de son activité contraire, la mort, dirige donc vers<br />
<strong>un</strong>e autre réalité qui, pour reprendre la belle phrase d’H.<br />
Corbin, spiritualise le corps et « corporalise » l’esprit. Entre<br />
temps biologique/nature/génétique et temps<br />
psychosocial/culture/collectif, le temps individuel et<br />
personnel (kairos), toujours vécu au présent, devient la<br />
mesure du parcours et du mouvement, c’est à dire du<br />
changement comme appréhension du sens que l’on donne à<br />
sa vie. Les nœuds de ce tissage nous l’avons avancé (P.<br />
Paul, 2003), comme ligatures des nœuds de la vie entre<br />
activités divergentes et contradictoires, fixent la Forme<br />
imaginale comme révélation, en soi, de soi et manifestation<br />
théophanique de l’<strong>un</strong> grâce à la ré<strong>un</strong>ion des deux faces,<br />
<strong>for</strong>melle et in<strong>for</strong>melle, de la réalité.<br />
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No. 2, January 2008<br />
Trois lieux, au moins, sont donc indispensables pour<br />
l’appréhender dans sa plénitude. L’<strong>un</strong> ressort de l’<strong>un</strong>ivers<br />
extérieur, l’autre appartient à l’<strong>un</strong>ivers intérieur, le dernier<br />
enfin à l’espace-temps de médiation qui se construit à la<br />
condition de retrouver le chemin du voir et la vie qui se<br />
cachent sous les relations entre l’apparence phénoménale<br />
des choses et leur essence « numineuse » et cachée. La<br />
quête identitaire du sujet serait alors ce qui lui apparaît au<br />
fur et à mesure de la recherche d’<strong>un</strong>e <strong>un</strong>ité perdue qui<br />
relirait en les intégrant deux aspects, apparent et caché, duel<br />
et non-duel de la personne. Deux statuts ontologiques autant<br />
qu’épistémologiques président donc à l’humain selon qu’on<br />
le situe en tant qu’objet de connaissance ou en tant que sujet<br />
vivant. En parallèle la connaissance, séparée par la<br />
transgression et la mortalité de la vie, possède en son cœur<br />
<strong>un</strong>e possible délivrance par <strong>un</strong>ification, c’est au moins ce<br />
qu’affirme le mythe quand le Serpent énonce notre aptitude<br />
à devenir « comme Dieu » (Genèse, III, 5). Il s’agit alors de<br />
connaître, paradoxalement, l’Un par l’intégration non-duelle<br />
de notre double nature, cette création d’<strong>un</strong> « inter-monde<br />
imaginal », pour reprendre H. Corbin, équivalant à<br />
l’inscription d’<strong>un</strong> cheminement dont l’enjeu cognitif le plus<br />
fondamental consiste à briser les voiles de la mort (« non,<br />
vous ne mourrez point, Dieu sait, en effet, que le jour où<br />
vous en mangerez, vos yeux s’ouvriront et que vous serez<br />
comme Dieu, connaissant le bien et le mal » Genèse III, 4-<br />
5). Il est donc <strong>un</strong> niveau d’ouverture des yeux à la réalité<br />
physique et duelle, lié à la mort, qui s’oppose à <strong>un</strong> autre<br />
niveau d’ouverture des yeux, de l’ordre de la non-dualité, de<br />
l’auto connaissance, de l’accès à <strong>un</strong> inter-monde imaginal et<br />
vital. Si, en ce processus, différents niveaux de soi<br />
coexistent, leurs distinctions et intégrations supposent à leur<br />
tour <strong>un</strong>e gnoséologie faite de ruptures et de relations (en<br />
particulier d’ordre épistémologique) inscrivant des réalités<br />
différentes (sans quoi il n’y aurait point de distinction). Le<br />
chemin sinueux de notre enquête affirme donc la<br />
reconnaissance d’impératifs de mutations, de morts et de<br />
27
PAUL ‐ La quête de sens comme recherche de liens entre approches <strong>for</strong>melles<br />
et in<strong>for</strong>melles dans la problématique des histoires de vie<br />
renaissances, celles-ci, par modification progressive des<br />
structures relationnelles entre le « Même » et « l’Autre »,<br />
organisant et ordonnançant nos rapports au monde, aux<br />
autres et à nous-mêmes (alter Ego) .<br />
La traversée vers l’autre rive de soi se construit ainsi<br />
par mise en synchronie de deux processus distincts. L’<strong>un</strong><br />
réside dans la traversée des niveaux de réalité considérés<br />
comme ruptures et obstacles qui résistent et qui<br />
s’opposent (option duelle). L’autre impose d’expérimenter<br />
la posture inhérente aux ponts qui ré<strong>un</strong>issent entre eux les<br />
niveaux de réalité différents (option non‐duelle). Cette<br />
dernière opération ressort de la relation, de l’entre‐deux,<br />
du tiers inclus, c’est à dire d’<strong>un</strong>e épistémologie de<br />
l’effacement <strong>for</strong>mel et de la transparence tant vitale que<br />
subjective et non d’<strong>un</strong>e épistémologie de la réduction<br />
déterministe et de la résistance cognitive de l’objet.<br />
L’ensemble du processus, <strong>for</strong>mel et in<strong>for</strong>mel,<br />
séparant/reliant l’objet et le sujet, permet de faire retour à<br />
l’origine de soi. La mémoire, qui témoigne de cette relation,<br />
n’est plus alors à considérer objectivement, ainsi qu’<strong>un</strong>e<br />
approche par trop positiviste tendrait à l’affirmer, mais<br />
sujette à <strong>un</strong> processus dynamique en réorganisation<br />
permanente, capable d’oublis et d’intégrations, en tout cas<br />
de trans<strong>for</strong>mations, de reproductions modifiées et de<br />
restructurations impliquant le sommeil (Nature, vol 427,<br />
pp. 352‐355 et pp 304‐305, 22 janvier 2004).<br />
A partir du moment où plusieurs déterminismes,<br />
associés à chac<strong>un</strong> des niveaux de réalité, agissent<br />
simultanément, l’imprévisibilité devient la règle. Les<br />
confrontations entre déterminismes personnels, sociaux,<br />
familiaux et la vacuité d’essence de l’individu créent <strong>un</strong> jeu,<br />
<strong>un</strong> espace de liberté apte aux changements. Ce phénomène,<br />
d’ordre chaotique, en générant des points de bifurcation,<br />
obéit cependant à des capacités internes, cachées d’auto<br />
organisation qui se révèlent par tension en dirigeant vers<br />
la réalisation de sa propre nature. Le non équilibre aboutit<br />
donc à <strong>un</strong>e nouvelle cohérence, <strong>un</strong> nouvel état présentant<br />
des propriétés différentes, plus aptes à manifester le<br />
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<strong>Journal</strong> <strong>for</strong> Interdisciplinary Research on Religion and Science,<br />
No. 2, January 2008<br />
principe d’individuation, l’in<strong>for</strong>mel, l’inconscient, devenant<br />
ici le fil de chaîne, l’agent conducteur du processus.<br />
Les problèmes de la relation de l’être et de la <strong>for</strong>me,<br />
des trans<strong>for</strong>mations successives liées à cette interaction<br />
supposent ainsi de s’introduire dans le paradoxe de<br />
l’articulation contradictoire entre principe <strong>for</strong>mel, moule<br />
de l’apparence, configurant transitoirement la contingence<br />
comme traces, et réalité in<strong>for</strong>melle de l’être dont<br />
l’insaisissabilité d’essence transcende nécessairement<br />
toute <strong>for</strong>me. Nous rejoignons ici C. Jambet (2003) qui,<br />
commentant Sohravardî, considère que la <strong>for</strong>me est<br />
substance lumineuse tandis que la matière est substance<br />
opaque, barzakh 2 . Il est donc <strong>un</strong> jeu, tant dialectique que<br />
contradictoire, entre <strong>for</strong>mel et in<strong>for</strong>mel et <strong>un</strong> incessant<br />
passage entre l’<strong>un</strong> et l’autre impliquant au passage les<br />
concepts d’in<strong>for</strong>mation et de trans<strong>for</strong>mation. L’in<strong>for</strong>mel<br />
dans ce contexte, comme abstraction réfutant les<br />
représentations classables et reconnaissables, devient<br />
alors le niveau de réalité sans doute le plus apte à favoriser<br />
<strong>un</strong>e expérimentation par implication, certes voilée, mais<br />
« simple » du sujet.<br />
Dans le cadre de l’histoire de vie de la personne ou dans<br />
celui, plus particulier, la phénoménologie des rêves, la <strong>for</strong>me<br />
renvoie à la narration du vécu existentiel ou onirique. Elle<br />
interroge sur ce que l’on veut conserver, ce qui est considéré<br />
comme signifiant et dont elle constitue le récit figuré par les<br />
sensations, les émotions, les images ou les visions. Les images<br />
offertes, en donnant sens au récit, deviennent autant icônes<br />
visibles qu’opérateurs de l’absence (M-J. Mondzain, 2003).<br />
Elles offrent à reconnaître dans ce que l’on dit et dans ce que<br />
l’on voit ce qui constitue ou ce qui destitue la pensée et, plus<br />
encore, ce qui signifie l’être ou sa parodie. Dans l’expérience<br />
<strong>for</strong>melle du rêve le récit, comme image, par la vision de<br />
« l’autre » offre à découvrir le « Même ». Mais la similitude<br />
n’est ni dans le récit ni dans la vision mais à leur horizon, qui<br />
2 Voir les analogies de cette énonciation avec la dialectique<br />
bien/lumière ; mal/ténèbres dans la tradition biblique.<br />
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PAUL ‐ La quête de sens comme recherche de liens entre approches <strong>for</strong>melles<br />
et in<strong>for</strong>melles dans la problématique des histoires de vie<br />
suggère ce qui n’est pas montré. L’in<strong>for</strong>mel, comme paysage<br />
et perspective secrète de la similitude, donne à la<br />
dissemblance ses lettres de noblesse en renvoyant à autre<br />
chose qu’elle même, le réel insaisissable et à jamais voilé<br />
demeurant pourtant, de la sorte, signifié et orienté.<br />
Si la <strong>for</strong>me correspond au principe d’organisation interne<br />
des apparences, l’in<strong>for</strong>mel fait écho à cette matrice invisible et<br />
à son dépassement ce qui, en quelque domaine que ce soit,<br />
pose à la fois d’<strong>un</strong> côté la question des normes ou des valeurs<br />
(biologiques, psychologiques, sociétales, identitaires …) et de<br />
l’autre leur transgression, inhérente à leur impératif continuel<br />
de dépassement. Si l’enjeu de cette contradiction ressort d’<strong>un</strong><br />
questionnement éthique, cette dialectique interroge en<br />
parallèle la relation entre le régime de l’illusion <strong>for</strong>melle,<br />
témoin d’idolâtrie et de fantasmagories, et celui de la <strong>for</strong>me<br />
« réelle » (l’Imago Dei) considérée comme révélation des<br />
traces in<strong>for</strong>melles de la présence et manifestation<br />
phénoménologique de l’esprit. Le récit, l’image, le rêve, le<br />
symbole deviennent ainsi les signes d’<strong>un</strong>e réalité cachée, ils<br />
témoignent d’<strong>un</strong>e dimension in<strong>for</strong>melle dont la réalité nous<br />
échappe. L’exploration de la <strong>for</strong>me, le contenu des rêves<br />
présupposent ainsi possiblement d’<strong>un</strong>e part invisible de nature<br />
différente, agissante et agente, afin de recomposer l’Unité.<br />
La relation entre <strong>for</strong>mel et in<strong>for</strong>mel dès lors, à finalité<br />
éthique et ontologique, se déploie identiquement à celle du<br />
multiple et de l’Un, des impératifs personnels et des valeurs<br />
<strong>un</strong>iverselles. Si la <strong>for</strong>me (M. Fabre, 1994) répond à la question<br />
du (pour)quoi en définissant l’objet, son dynamisme sousjacent,<br />
comme principe in<strong>for</strong>mel, sous-tend la question du<br />
(pour)qui. Pour l’avoir développé par ailleurs (P. Paul, 2003)<br />
ce processus affirme, nous l’avons compris, la réalisation d’<strong>un</strong><br />
cheminement cognitif, d’<strong>un</strong> parcours trans<strong>for</strong>mateur (M.<br />
Buber, 1995) se signifiant en diverses stations construisant les<br />
interactions, sur différents niveaux de réalité, entre l’objet et<br />
le sujet (P. Paul, 2005). Deux approches, deux méthodes<br />
complémentaires officient donc en parallèle, l’<strong>un</strong>e tenant à<br />
l’opacité et à la résistance de l’objet (approche scientifique et<br />
explicative) et valorisant la rationalité objective et<br />
instrumentale, l’autre attestant de la transparence du sujet<br />
(approche herméneutique et compréhensive), de rationalité<br />
30
<strong>Journal</strong> <strong>for</strong> Interdisciplinary Research on Religion and Science,<br />
No. 2, January 2008<br />
subjective et narrative. La <strong>for</strong>mation du sujet affirme donc <strong>un</strong>e<br />
dimension plus profonde que le savoir classique, fondé<br />
aujourd’hui sur <strong>un</strong> monisme matérialiste contraire à tout jeu<br />
dialectique et à toute connaissance « vraie » de l’être. Celle-ci<br />
impose en effet diverses phases d’acquisition impliquant <strong>un</strong><br />
cheminement de l’humain entre trans<strong>for</strong>mation <strong>for</strong>melle et<br />
insaisissabilité (in<strong>for</strong>melle) d’essence, la problématique de la<br />
mort, physique autant qu’initiatique, devenant sans doute<br />
l’indicateur le plus fondamental de ce cheminement (P. Paul,<br />
2003). Si l’on accepte ce processus, le statut de l’ordre <strong>for</strong>mel<br />
(logique, sociologique…) se trouve confronté, dans ses<br />
marges, à l’imprévu, au chaos, identiquement à la façon dont<br />
le canon littéraire confucéen, vecteur de l’ordre social,<br />
rencontre le statut de l’extraordinaire (d’inspiration plus<br />
taoïste) inversant inopinément le « controuvé » en merveilleux<br />
(F. Jullien, 2004). Seul ce type de processus, par construction<br />
dialectique, donne stabilité à l’acquis par recherche de<br />
con<strong>for</strong>mité, comme le caractère « extraordinaire » de sa<br />
déstabilisation donne leur mort aux <strong>for</strong>mes, dynamisant ainsi<br />
leur capacité d’essor et leur aptitude de mutation.<br />
Mais en quoi consiste ce caractère « extraordinaire »,<br />
facteur transversal, transgressif et marginal de<br />
trans<strong>for</strong>mation ?<br />
L’<strong>un</strong>e de nos pistes de recherche, de longue date, a<br />
considéré à affirmer que le statut, tant dif<strong>for</strong>me qu’in<strong>for</strong>me, du<br />
« merveilleux » dirige vers l’imaginaire (comme image,<br />
simulacre) et le « monde imaginal » (comme imaginatio vera –<br />
H. Corbin, 1971 ; 1980) qui interviennent, le plus souvent de<br />
façon implicite, dans la <strong>for</strong>mation et la trans<strong>for</strong>mation. La<br />
Forme, au sens d’Imago dei, de reconnaissance et de processus<br />
identitaire, provient dans notre approche de la neutralisation<br />
des deux activités contraires que sont le con<strong>for</strong>me et<br />
l’in<strong>for</strong>me, à l’interface des rythmes du dehors et de ceux du<br />
dedans. Cette dialectique devient <strong>un</strong> moyen de travailler la<br />
complexité (« tisser ensemble »), la mise en rapport des<br />
contradictoires orientant dans la direction d’<strong>un</strong> troisième<br />
élément jaillissant de leur neutralisation (l’Un) comme<br />
« Forme identitaire véritable » en quelque sorte « ressuscitée »<br />
mais située dans <strong>un</strong> autre niveau de réalité que celui sur lequel<br />
31
PAUL ‐ La quête de sens comme recherche de liens entre approches <strong>for</strong>melles<br />
et in<strong>for</strong>melles dans la problématique des histoires de vie<br />
sont impliqués les contraires que sont l’ « objet » et le<br />
« sujet ». Entre temps biologique (génétique) et temps social<br />
(collectif) le temps personnel (identitaire), toujours vécu au<br />
présent, devient la mesure du parcours et du mouvement, c’est<br />
à dire du changement. Les nœuds du tissage, comme ligature<br />
des étapes du chemin de vie, fixent la Forme imaginale qui,<br />
par ce processus, se re-connaît elle-même, cette révélation, en<br />
soi, de soi, manifestation théophanique de l’Un, s’engageant<br />
donc grâce à la ré<strong>un</strong>ion des deux faces, <strong>for</strong>melle et in<strong>for</strong>melle,<br />
duelle et non-duelle, qui la composent. Le chemin, alors,<br />
devient ce qui s’inscrit au-delà de toute direction particulière,<br />
ne répondant ni du savoir ni du non-savoir. Le savoir réfère au<br />
passé, à l’expérience issue de l’existence mais il devient vite<br />
obsolète ou limité face à l’imprévu. Ne pas savoir est<br />
ignorance ou confusion mais peut tout autant référer à l’état<br />
originel. Réaliser l’<strong>un</strong>ité, au-delà des doutes, tend vers la<br />
vacuité. La voie véritable est sans-voie affirment les textes<br />
taoïstes.<br />
Pour reprendre G. Pineau (2001), la construction du<br />
sujet est prise dans l’entre‐deux abyssal d’<strong>un</strong> sujet<br />
transcendant inaccessible et d’<strong>un</strong> sujet subordonné<br />
socialement. A cette dyade il faut adjoindre le sujet<br />
corporellement et génétiquement déterminé, en<br />
interaction permanente avec son environnement naturel et<br />
dont, pour reprendre E. Morin (1970) dans son<br />
introduction de « L’homme et la mort », la complexité<br />
biologique accentue le désordre pour y puiser le<br />
renouvellement existentiel de son ordre. Mais en parallèle,<br />
si le corps est substance, il est aussi <strong>for</strong>me, présentant <strong>un</strong><br />
statut ambiguë qu’il faudra comprendre. Si la <strong>for</strong>me est<br />
lumière, il est alors seulement quasi‐<strong>for</strong>me, <strong>for</strong>me de<br />
l’apparence, du semblant. Il résiste à la lumière spirituelle<br />
et peut corrompre ce qu’il est incapable de créer (C.<br />
Jambet, 2003), le salut consistant, toujours pour le même<br />
auteur, à se rapprocher des lumières spirituelles et à se<br />
représenter, dans le monde imaginal, que l’on appartient à<br />
ces pures lumières. La <strong>for</strong>ce de l’imagination peut alors<br />
convertir cette semblance en existence effective, l’âme<br />
faisant retour à la lumière intelligible : « La délivrance a<br />
lieu quand l’âme se connaît elle‐même, dans la relation<br />
32
<strong>Journal</strong> <strong>for</strong> Interdisciplinary Research on Religion and Science,<br />
No. 2, January 2008<br />
simple à la lumière des lumières, se sait être sa<br />
manifestation et son miroir » (C. Jambet, 2003, pp 90‐91).<br />
Cette aspiration à l’in<strong>for</strong>mel, enfin, s’apparente, dans son<br />
essence, à <strong>un</strong> processus d’auto<strong>for</strong>mation dans la mesure où<br />
le concept de soi, qui la sous‐tend, tisse bien les liens entre<br />
<strong>un</strong>e subjectivité absolue, <strong>un</strong>e subjectivité in<strong>for</strong>melle et <strong>un</strong>e<br />
subjectivité <strong>for</strong>melle, pro‐jetée et re‐présentative (P. Paul,<br />
2005, p. 181). Par sa relation avec les attitudes non<br />
intentionnelles, l’in<strong>for</strong>mel insiste sur la problématique du<br />
désir et de l’inconscient, entre pulsions vitales, sexuelles et<br />
quête de sens.<br />
Pour conclure:<br />
La question du sujet rencontre donc au total trois<br />
obstacles révélateurs de soi : celui de la « corporalisation »<br />
( le biologique), celui de la socialisation (le psychologique),<br />
celui enfin de la « subjectivation » (le spirituel). Autrement<br />
dit, la quête identitaire supposerait de traverser trois<br />
zones de résistance différentes avant d’espérer<br />
expérimenter la réalité toujours fuyante d’<strong>un</strong> sujet<br />
transcendantal, grâce à sa <strong>for</strong>me imaginale, certes cachée<br />
mais expérimentée phénoménologiquement comme <strong>un</strong> lieu<br />
où s’incarne l’esprit et où se spiritualise le corps. La<br />
question du lieu, sur différents niveaux de réalité, devient<br />
alors la clé de la problématique identitaire et ontologique.<br />
Elle affirme la complexité de l'homme pluriel, de son<br />
éclatement, de son possible remembrement, en insistant<br />
sur le processus anthropologique de <strong>for</strong>mation qui s'y<br />
associe.<br />
L’ensemble insiste sur l’approche phénoménologique,<br />
comme volonté de jonction entre « res cognitans » et « res<br />
extensa », ceci afin de rapprocher le sensible et l’intelligible<br />
et sur l’approche épistémologique qui demande de ne pas<br />
séparer la connaissance issue des sciences de l’histoire de<br />
vie, considérée comme lieu de reconstruction. Ce qui<br />
importe ici est de considérer que le temps se retourne sitôt<br />
que s’<strong>un</strong>issent de façon plus étroite les mots et les choses,<br />
l’intelligible et le sensible. L’origine alors, comme non<br />
33
PAUL ‐ La quête de sens comme recherche de liens entre approches <strong>for</strong>melles<br />
et in<strong>for</strong>melles dans la problématique des histoires de vie<br />
encore manifestée, non encore <strong>for</strong>malisée s’expérimente<br />
sous fond de présence absente, comme <strong>un</strong>e <strong>for</strong>me<br />
potentielle de l’être vers laquelle tendre. L’in<strong>for</strong>mel, en ce<br />
contexte, s’appréhende comme le réel originel orientant<br />
nos actes et appelant à manifester par con‐<strong>for</strong>mité la voie<br />
et la marque, c’est à dire le « sceau » de l’être.<br />
Bibliographie<br />
1. BAREL, Y., 1979, réed. 1982, Le paradoxe et le système, essai<br />
sur le fantastique social, Ed. Presses Universitaires de Grenoble<br />
2. BERTRAND, Y., Le triangle pédagogique : <strong>un</strong>e structure, <strong>un</strong>e<br />
action, <strong>un</strong>e narration, dans Carrefours de l’éducation N° 7, janvier‐<br />
juin 1999, p.7‐22<br />
3. BUBER, M., 1995, Le chemin de l’homme, Ed. du Rocher<br />
4. CORBIN, H., 1971, L’homme de lumière dans le soufisme<br />
iranien, Ed. Présence<br />
5. CORBIN, H., 1980, Temple et contemplation, essais sur<br />
l’Islam iranien, Ed. Flammarion<br />
6. DURAND, G., 2003, Structures Eranos I, Contretemps Ed. La<br />
Table Ronde<br />
7. FABRE, M. 1994, Penser la <strong>for</strong>mation, PUF<br />
8. FOUCAULT, M., 1966, Les mots et les choses, <strong>un</strong>e archéologie<br />
des sciences humaines, nrf Ed. Gallimard<br />
9. GUSDORF, G., 1990, Lignes de vie 1‐ Les écritures du moi, Ed.<br />
Odile Jacob<br />
10. LUPASCO, S., 1987, Le principe d’antagonisme et la logique<br />
de l’énergie, Ed. L’Hermann, 1951, réed. Le rocher<br />
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No. 2, January 2008<br />
11. HOUSSAYE, J., Le triangle pédagogique : rappels, dans<br />
Carrefours de l’éducation N° 7, janvier‐juin 1999, p. 3‐6<br />
12. JAMBET, C., 2003, Le caché et l’apparent, Ed. de l’Herne<br />
13. JULLIEN, F., 2004, La Chaîne et la trame, PUF<br />
14. LACAZE, G., 2000, « Témoignage et herméneutique chez P.<br />
Ricoeur et H. Corbin », dans « Henry Corbin et le comparatisme<br />
spirituel », Ed. Arché Edidit<br />
15. NICOLESCU, B., 1996, La transdisciplinarité, manifeste, Ed.<br />
du Rocher<br />
16. MERLEAU‐PONTY, 1945, La phénoménologie de la<br />
perception, Ed. Gallimard, Coll. Tel<br />
17. MONDZAIN, M‐J., 2003, Le commerce des regards, Ed. du<br />
Seuil<br />
18. MORIN, E., 1970, L’homme et la mort, Ed. du Seuil, Coll.<br />
Points‐Essais<br />
19. PAUL, P., 2002, « Perceval de Chrétien de Troyes et le récit<br />
de <strong>for</strong>mation », dans Chemins de <strong>for</strong>mation, au fil du temps N° 4,<br />
Nantes, Ed. du Petit Véhicule, pp. 24‐32<br />
20. PAUL, P., 2003, Formation du sujet et transdisciplinarité,<br />
histoire de vie imaginale et professionnelle, Ed. L’Harmattan<br />
21. PAUL, P., 2005, « sujet, auto<strong>for</strong>mation, anthropo<strong>for</strong>mation<br />
et niveaux de réalité, dans « Transdisciplinarité et <strong>for</strong>mation »,<br />
coord. P. Paul et G. Pineau, Ed. L’Harmattan, pp. 175‐202<br />
22. PINEAU, G., 2001, « Un sujet anthropologique<br />
interloquant », comm<strong>un</strong>ication au colloque d’Angers, mai 2001, Le<br />
récit biographique, enjeux anthropologiques, à paraître<br />
23. PINEAU, G; Le Grand, J‐L, 1996, Les histoires de vie, PUF<br />
24. RICOEUR, P., 1983, Temps et récit 1. L’intrigue et le récit<br />
historique, Ed. du Seuil, Coll. Points‐Essais<br />
35
<strong>Journal</strong> <strong>for</strong> Interdisciplinary Research on Religion and Science,<br />
No. 2, January 2008<br />
Le rapport catéchèse‐théologie‐pédagogie dans la<br />
perspective de l’enseignement religieux actuel<br />
Carmen BOLOCAN *<br />
*"Al. I. Cuza" University, “Dumitru Stăniloae” Faculty of Orthodox Theology,<br />
Closca Street, No. 9, 700066, Iasi, Romania<br />
Résumé<br />
Dans notre étude intitulée Le rapport catéchèse‐théologie‐<br />
pédagogie dans la perspective de l’enseignement religieux actuel, on a<br />
essayé de souligner le lien qui a existé et qui doit exister, à l’avenir<br />
aussi, entre la théologie, la catéchèse et la pédagogie, dans la<br />
perspective de l’enseignement religieux de nos jours.<br />
La catéchèse est, à ses origines, <strong>un</strong>e narration transmise par des<br />
croyants à d’autres croyants. Elle dérive du discours théologique, elle<br />
est <strong>un</strong> acte interdisciplinaire. L’acte théologique est vécu comme <strong>un</strong>e<br />
tentative d’interprétation qui s’ef<strong>for</strong>ce de faire parler la Parole de<br />
Dieu en fonction d’<strong>un</strong>e culture déterminée. L’interaction pédagogie‐<br />
contenu est essentielle à la découverte de la relation qu’entretiennent<br />
l’acte théologique et l’acte catéchétique.<br />
Notre conclusion est que la catéchèse représente la mise en<br />
<strong>for</strong>me discursive de la foi, et la foi relève toujours d’<strong>un</strong>e théologie,<br />
parce qu’elle relève toujours d’<strong>un</strong> discours.<br />
Abstract<br />
In our study, The Relation: Catechesis – Theology – Pedagogy<br />
from the Perspective of the Current Religious Education, we have<br />
tried to <strong>un</strong>derline the relationship that existed and must<br />
continue to exist between theology, catechesis and pedagogy,<br />
from the point of view of the current religious education.<br />
Catechesis is, at its origins, a narrative, a story, transmitted<br />
from one believer to another. It derives from the theological<br />
discourse and is an interdisciplinary act. The theological act is<br />
lived as an attempt at interpretation that strives to talk about<br />
God’s Word depending on a determined culture. The interaction<br />
pedagogy – content is essential within the relationship that<br />
exists between the theological act and the catechetic one.<br />
Our conclusion is that catechesis represents the setting of<br />
belief into a discursive <strong>for</strong>m, and that belief is born of a theology<br />
as it is always born of a discourse.<br />
37
BOLOCAN ‐ Le rapport catéchèse‐théologie‐pédagogie dans la perspective de<br />
l’enseignement religieux actuel<br />
La catéchèse est l’<strong>un</strong>e des tâches apostoliques qui a le<br />
plus évolué dans ses méthodes et a entrepris depuis longtemps<br />
<strong>un</strong>e recherche approfondie sur ses enjeux et ses implications.<br />
Les 27 écrits qui composent le Nouveau Testament<br />
relèvent de genres littéraires variés: épîtres, évangiles,<br />
récits, littérature apocalyptique. Ils témoignent, cependant,<br />
d’<strong>un</strong>e préoccupation comm<strong>un</strong>e, qu’on peut qualifier de<br />
catéchétique dans le sens qu’ils s’ordonnent à l’intelligence<br />
et à la transmission de la foi. Loin de s’opposer au récit, la<br />
catéchèse est, elle‐même, originairement, narration<br />
transmise par des croyants à d’autres croyants. L’Evangile<br />
selon Luc, par exemple, s’ouvre par ce prologue: „Puisque<br />
beaucoup ont entrepris de composer <strong>un</strong> récit des<br />
événements accomplis parmi nous, d’après ce que nous ont<br />
transmis ceux qui furent dès le début témoins oculaires et<br />
qui sont devenus serviteurs de la parole, il m’a paru bon, à<br />
moi aussi, après m’être soigneusement in<strong>for</strong>mé de tout à<br />
partir des origines, d’en écrire pour toi <strong>un</strong> récit ordonné,<br />
afin que tu puisses constater la solidité des enseignements<br />
que tu as reçu” 1 . Dans <strong>un</strong> tout autre langage, le quatrième<br />
évangile expose <strong>un</strong> dessein analogue en concluant: „Jésus a<br />
opéré sous les yeux de ses disciples bien d’autres signes<br />
qui ne sont pas rapportés dans ce livre. Ceux‐ci l’ont été<br />
pour que vous croyiez que Jésus est le Christ, le Fils de<br />
Dieu, et pour que, en croyant, vous avez la vie en son<br />
nom” 2 . De son côté, la fin de l’Evangile selon Mathieu met<br />
dans la bouche du Seigneur <strong>un</strong>e parole d’envoi qui sera<br />
considérée comme la Charte de la catéchèse chrétienne:<br />
„Allez, de toutes les nations faites des disciples, les<br />
baptisant au nom du Père et du Fils et du Saint Esprit, leur<br />
apprenant à garder tout ce que je vous ai prescrit” 3 .<br />
38<br />
1 Luc 1, 1‐4.<br />
2 Jean 20, 30‐31.<br />
3 Mathieu 28, 19‐20.
<strong>Journal</strong> <strong>for</strong> Interdisciplinary Research on Religion and Science,<br />
No. 2, January 2008<br />
I. Les origines de la catéchèse chrétienne<br />
I.1. L’enseignement des apôtres<br />
Pour caractériser la vie de la première comm<strong>un</strong>auté<br />
chrétienne de Jérusalem, le livre des Actes recourt à cette<br />
<strong>for</strong>mulation: „Ils étaient assidus à l’enseignement (didachè)<br />
des apôtres et à la comm<strong>un</strong>ion fraternelle, à la fraction du<br />
pain et aux prières” 4 .<br />
En étudiant les éléments utilisés par les rédacteurs,<br />
on parvient à mieux cerner les caractéristiques de<br />
l’enseignement des apôtres. Celui‐ci s’alimente à plusieurs<br />
sources, y compris certains courants de la pensée grecque<br />
tel que le stoïcisme. Mais, la première catéchèse chrétienne<br />
doit l’essentiel de son inspiration et de sa méthode à<br />
l’enseignement religieux de la synagogue. Dans le judaïsme<br />
palestinien du premier siècle de notre ère, la transmission<br />
de la foi repose principalement sur <strong>un</strong> ef<strong>for</strong>t de<br />
mémorisation s’appliquant à la Torah et aux commentaires<br />
des rabbis les plus prestigieux. Les traditions orales qui<br />
naissent au lendemain de la mort de Jésus se cristallisent<br />
autour de la Bible juive relue à la lumière de la parole et de<br />
la destinée du Maître Ressuscité. Ainsi, on retrouve des<br />
ensembles catéchétiques antérieurs au travail des<br />
évangélistes 5 : récits de la passion, recueils de paraboles,<br />
etc. Si le message est nouveau, les procédés de lecture et de<br />
transmission sont empr<strong>un</strong>tés au judaïsme de l’époque.<br />
C’est aussi le contexte juif qui explique la naissance et la<br />
propagation orale des premières confessions de foi<br />
insérées dans le Nouveau Testament 6 .<br />
Le terme d’apôtre (gr. apostolos = envoyé) désigne<br />
des missionnaires itinérants. A ce titre, les apôtres se<br />
vouent de préférence à l’évangélisation, soit auprès des<br />
Juifs, soit en milieu païen. La fonction proprement<br />
4 Actes 2, 42.<br />
5 Cf. Charles Wackenheim, La Catéchèse, col. „Que sois‐je?”, Paris,<br />
1983, p. 14.<br />
6 Par exemple: I re Epître aux Corinthiens 15, 3‐5; Epître aux<br />
Philippiens 2, 6‐11; I re Epître à Timothée 3, 16; Epître aux Hébreux 6, 1‐2.<br />
39
BOLOCAN ‐ Le rapport catéchèse‐théologie‐pédagogie dans la perspective de<br />
l’enseignement religieux actuel<br />
catéchétique incombe plutôt aux ministres des<br />
comm<strong>un</strong>autés locales: prophètes, didascales (docteurs) ou<br />
presbytres (anciens). Là encore, l’héritage juif est<br />
déterminant.<br />
A côté de la confession de foi, on rencontre, dans le<br />
Nouveau Testament, <strong>un</strong> enseignement éthique, qui va<br />
occuper, périodiquement, <strong>un</strong>e place prépondérante dans la<br />
catéchèse chrétienne. Notons, par exemple, des éléments<br />
de morale domestique 7 , des catalogues de vices et de<br />
vertus 8 ou des règles concernant l’attitude des chrétiens à<br />
l’égard des autorités 9 . Un écho de cette instruction se<br />
retrouve dans la Didachè (chapitres 1‐6) sous la <strong>for</strong>me<br />
d’<strong>un</strong>e „doctrine des deux voies” – celle de la vie et celle de<br />
la mort. Mais cette œuvre ne donne pas <strong>un</strong>e idée complète<br />
de la catéchèse primitive.<br />
I.2. Une catéchèse baptismale<br />
Après avoir “accueilli la parole” de Pierre, trois mille<br />
personnes reçurent le baptême le jour de la Pentecôte 10 .<br />
Avant de baptiser l’e<strong>un</strong>uque éthiopien, Philippe, en partant<br />
d’<strong>un</strong> passage du second livre d’Isaïe, “lui annonça la bonne<br />
nouvelle de Jésus” 11 . A Césarée, chez le centurion Coneille,<br />
l’Esprit Saint tomba sur ceux qui “avaient écouté la parole”<br />
de Pierre. D’où la question de celui‐ci: “Peut‐on refuser<br />
l’eau du baptême à ceux qui, tout comme nous, ont reçu<br />
l’Esprit Saint?” 12 .<br />
Les écrits chrétiens du II e siècle rappellent<br />
l’importance de l’instruction que doivent recevoir les<br />
candidats au baptême. Dans sa première Apologie, le<br />
philosophe Justin parle des catéchumènes en ces termes:<br />
“Ceux qui croient à la vérité de nos enseignements et de<br />
notre doctrine promettent d’abord de vivre selon cette loi.<br />
7 Cf. Epître aux Colossiens 3, 18‐25; Epître à Tite 2, 1‐10, etc.<br />
8 Cf. Epître aux Romains 1, 29‐31; I re Epître aux Corinthiens 6, 9‐11;<br />
Epître aux Galates 5, 19‐25, etc.<br />
9 Cf. Epître aux Romains 13, 1‐7; Epître à Tite, 3, 1; I re Epître de<br />
Pierre 2, 13‐17, etc.<br />
10 Cf. Actes 2, 41.<br />
11 Ibidem, 8, 35.<br />
12 Ibidem, 10, 47.<br />
40
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Alors nous leur apprenons à prier et à demander à Dieu,<br />
dans le jeûne, la rémission de leurs péchés” 13 . A la fin du<br />
siècle, Irénée de Lyon expose, à l’encontre des spéculations<br />
gnostiques, l’enseignement traditionnel des Eglises<br />
d’Orient et d’Occident. Les écrivains occidentaux du III e<br />
siècle – Tertullien, Hippolyte de Rome, Cyprien de Carthage<br />
– nous in<strong>for</strong>ment sur le contenu de la catéchèse qui non<br />
seulement précède, mais suit la célébration du baptême.<br />
En Orient, le III e siècle est marqué par l’apogée de ce<br />
qu’il est convenu d’appeler l”école catéchétique<br />
d’Alexandrie”. Berceau de la culture hellénistique,<br />
Alexandrie devient autour de l’an 200 le centre intellectuel<br />
le plus vivant du monde chrétien. Grâce à Clément et à<br />
Origène, la catéchèse chrétienne acquit <strong>un</strong>e structure<br />
systématique, con<strong>for</strong>me aux exigences philosophiques et<br />
scientifiques des esprits les plus cultivés de l’époque.<br />
Gnose chrétienne, la pensée des Alexandrins annonçait la<br />
théologie savante plus qu’elle ne conférait <strong>un</strong>e <strong>for</strong>me<br />
classique à la catéchèse baptismale des origines.<br />
À partir du IV e siècle, la littérature patristique va<br />
privilégier et développer la conception primitive de la<br />
catéchèse. Les catéchèses des pères du IV e et V e siècles<br />
relèvent à la fois du genre homilétique et de<br />
l’enseignement méthodique.<br />
En Orient, l’œuvre la plus accomplie est celle de<br />
Cyrille de Jérusalem qui se compose de 24 catéchèses. Les<br />
catéchèses prébaptismales (18), adressées aux<br />
catéchumènes, traitent du péché, de la pénitence et de la<br />
foi avant d’exprimer le symbole de l’Eglise de Jérusalem.<br />
Les catéchèses mystagogiques (5) livrent à ceux qui<br />
venaient d’être “illuminés” le sens du mystère qui<br />
s’accomplit par la célébration des sacrements de l’imitation<br />
chrétienne.<br />
En Occident, Ambroise de Milan, avec De sacramentis<br />
et De mysteriis), et Augustin, avec son traité sur “la<br />
13 Justin le Philosophe, La philosophie passe au Christ. L’oeuvre de<br />
Justin, coll. «Lettres chrétiennes», Paris, 1958, p. 88.<br />
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BOLOCAN ‐ Le rapport catéchèse‐théologie‐pédagogie dans la perspective de<br />
l’enseignement religieux actuel<br />
catéchèse des débutants” (De catechizandis rudibus) sont<br />
les auteurs qui vont exercer <strong>un</strong>e influence durable.<br />
I.3. La discipline de l’arcane<br />
On appelle “discipline de l’arcane” la discrétion<br />
délibérée qui semble avoir entouré, dans l’Eglise ancienne,<br />
certains rites de l’initiation chrétienne.<br />
Au IV e siècle, la discipline de l’arcane concerne, dans<br />
la plupart des Eglises, les rites et les <strong>for</strong>mules du baptême<br />
et de l’eucharistie, y compris le texte du symbole et du<br />
Pater qui doit être appris par cœur. L’initiation solennelle<br />
a lieu pendant la nuit, et les saints mystères sont célébrés<br />
les portes fermées.<br />
Ainsi, cette discipline apparaît essentiellement<br />
comme <strong>un</strong>e disposition pédagogique et liturgique destinée<br />
à assurer la progressivité de la démarche catéchuménale.<br />
De la part des païens, les chrétiens redoutaient<br />
l’incompréhension et le manque de respect. Chez les<br />
catéchumènes, on cherchait à éveiller <strong>un</strong>e saine curiosité<br />
tout en éduquant le sens du sacré. À l’appui de ces<br />
précautions, on citait la parole de Jésus: “Ne donnez pas<br />
aux chiens les choses saintes, ne jetez pas vos perles<br />
devant les porcs” 14 .<br />
42<br />
II. La catéchèse et la théologie<br />
II.1. La catéchèse dérive du discours théologique<br />
L’essence de la catéchèse est d’être <strong>un</strong> enseignement<br />
à la fois résumé et complet. Ainsi, certains l’ont définie,<br />
tout en la distinguant du kérygme qui n’est pas cet<br />
enseignement complet. Les autres ont prétendu qu’entre la<br />
théologie comme enseignement, et la catéchèse, la<br />
différence était tout au plus de l’ordre de la technicité.<br />
La catéchèse est <strong>un</strong> acte interdisciplinaire, <strong>un</strong>e<br />
totalité; l’acte théologique aussi n’a plus aujourd’hui ce<br />
caractère purement spéculatif d’inventaire et d’analyse<br />
d’<strong>un</strong> donné. L’acte théologique est vécu comme <strong>un</strong>e<br />
14 Mathieu 7, 6.
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tentative d’interprétation qui s’ef<strong>for</strong>ce de faire parler la<br />
Parole de Dieu en fonction d’<strong>un</strong>e culture déterminée.<br />
La catéchèse, au fur et à mesure qu’elle devient <strong>un</strong>e<br />
comm<strong>un</strong>ication réussie, commence à interroger la<br />
théologie. Ainsi l’interaction pédagogie‐contenu est<br />
essentielle à la découverte de la relation qu’entretiennent<br />
l’acte théologique et l’acte catéchétique. Par conséquent, la<br />
catéchèse représente la mise en <strong>for</strong>me discursive de la foi,<br />
et la foi relève toujours d’<strong>un</strong>e théologie, parce qu’elle<br />
relève toujours d’<strong>un</strong> discours.<br />
II.1.1. Catéchèse et christologie<br />
La catéchèse veut être <strong>un</strong>e annonce responsable, donc<br />
réfléchie. Elle ne peut pas se dispenser des moyens de<br />
parvenir à <strong>un</strong>e connaissance assumée de ce qu’elle<br />
annonce. Elle tend vers la christologie comme vers le<br />
niveau et le type de discours qui comporte en soi toute<br />
annonce et tout accueil. La christologie n’est pas rédisable<br />
si la reconnaissance de Jésus comme Christ n’a pas lieu. Par<br />
conséquent, la christologie tend vers la catéchèse comme<br />
vers le type ou le registre de discours qui est spécifié par<br />
les hommes concrets et vivants, de ce que la foi professe au<br />
Sujet de Jésus Christ.<br />
Le rapport entre christologie et catéchèse est tel<br />
qu’elles doivent et peuvent l’<strong>un</strong>e et l’autre travailler en<br />
articulation.<br />
III. Catéchèse et pédagogie<br />
Une étude des rapports entre catéchèse et culture<br />
pose la question: “L’Evangile sera‐t‐il, ou nom, annoncé aux<br />
je<strong>un</strong>es générations, même en milieu chrétien?” 15 .<br />
Le souci constant de l’éducation est d’obtenir<br />
audience, d’éveiller l’intérêt et, s’il s’agit de transmettre le<br />
message chrétien, de rejoindre les besoins d’<strong>un</strong>e foi à<br />
naître, naissante ou en croissance. Ici, l’ef<strong>for</strong>t pédagogique<br />
est primordial.<br />
15 E. Barbotin, Catéchèse et pédagogie, Paris, 1981, p. 7.<br />
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BOLOCAN ‐ Le rapport catéchèse‐théologie‐pédagogie dans la perspective de<br />
l’enseignement religieux actuel<br />
Beaucoup sont enclins à penser que la doctrine est <strong>un</strong><br />
fardeau pour la catéchèse, qu’il faut réduire la part de<br />
l’instructif au profit de l’éducatif. En fait, cette réduction du<br />
doctrinal vide l’ef<strong>for</strong>t pédagogique de son contenu,<br />
l’enseignement de son objet même elle procède d’<strong>un</strong>e sous‐<br />
estimation des capacités, des appels du fidèle, adulte ou<br />
je<strong>un</strong>e. Les enfants ont <strong>un</strong>e merveilleuse transparence<br />
spirituelle, <strong>un</strong>e faculté d’instruction qui les ouvre plus que<br />
d’autres aux réalités de la foi. N’est‐ce pas à eux et à leurs<br />
pareils qu’appartient, par privilège, le Royaume des cieux?<br />
La doctrine ne donne pas seulement son contenu à la<br />
pédagogie catéchétique, mais c’est elle encore qui en<br />
détermine les moyens.<br />
L’objet de tout savoir décide de ses procédés de<br />
recherche, mais aussi de sa méthode d’enseignement –<br />
étant bien connu le fait que la connaissance de l’homme à<br />
instruire est d’<strong>un</strong>e extrême importance 16 . Si la parole<br />
qu’enseigne le catéchète vient de Dieu, si elle vise à<br />
éduquer <strong>un</strong>e foi éclairée, vivante, témoignée au fil des<br />
jours, l’alternative doctrine‐pédagogie s’évanouit: c’est la<br />
Vérité qui est Vie, nourriture d’<strong>un</strong>e foi vivante et agissante.<br />
Il faut mesurer l’ef<strong>for</strong>t avec soin, selon l’âge, le savoir,<br />
la <strong>for</strong>mation chrétienne déjà reçu. La catéchèse ne doit pas<br />
être “<strong>un</strong> pensum, au risque d’être évitée le plus souvent<br />
possible et au grand dommage de la foi” 17 . Mais trop de<br />
méthodes semblent n’avoir d’autre but que de réduire ou<br />
d’exclure l’ef<strong>for</strong>t. Mais les je<strong>un</strong>es générations évaluent<br />
spontanément <strong>un</strong>e activité proposée. Aussi <strong>un</strong>e pédagogie<br />
du moindre ef<strong>for</strong>t ne peut‐elle susciter ni soutenir auc<strong>un</strong>e<br />
générosité 18 .<br />
Depuis dès années, la catéchèse veut „partir” de la vie.<br />
Au lieu de prendre pour point de départ la Révélation<br />
biblique, les symboles ou autres énoncés autorisés de la foi,<br />
on observe et analyse la vie quotidienne du chrétien, son<br />
entourage, etc. Dans certains cas on s’ef<strong>for</strong>ce ensuite de<br />
rejoindre l’évangile. Mais Jésus‐Christ ne peut être ni<br />
44<br />
16 Cf. Ibidem, p. 9.<br />
17 Ibidem.<br />
18 Cf. Ibidem.
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„induit” ni „déduit” d’auc<strong>un</strong>e réalité naturelle. La pédagogie<br />
du Christ doit être tenue pour exemplaire.<br />
On se pose la question suivante: Jésus part‐il des faits<br />
de vie? Comment les utilise‐t‐il pour l’annonce du<br />
Royaume?<br />
L’enseignement évangélique, parabolique ou non,<br />
s’enracine dans l’expérience comm<strong>un</strong>e à Jésus et à tous ses<br />
frères en humanité. Jésus‐Christ part souvent de nos<br />
relations avec l’<strong>un</strong>ivers, les êtres si divers qui le<br />
remplissent. C’est <strong>un</strong> milieu où l’homme affronte des <strong>for</strong>ces<br />
étrangères, découvre ses propres limites; milieu où des<br />
significations concrètent surgissent, où le visible s’auréole<br />
de valeurs symboliques et transcendantes sous le regard de<br />
l’œil et de l’esprit. Ciel et terre, soleil et eau, vent et feu,<br />
semence et moisson, vigne et vin, poisson et filets en<br />
viennent à exemplifier et à signifier, sous le regard du<br />
Maître et de son auditoire, les réalités du Royaume:<br />
„Observez les lis des champs, comme ils poussent: ils ne<br />
plinent ni ne filent… Que si Dieu revêt ainsi, l’herbe des<br />
champs, qui est aujourd’hui et demain sera jetée au four, ne<br />
fera‐t‐il pas bien plus pour vous, hommes de peu de foi!” 19 .<br />
Ou: „Au crépuscule vous dites: «Il va faire beau temps, car<br />
le ciel est rouge feu». Et à l’aurore: «Mauvais temps<br />
aujourd’hui, car le ciel est rouge sombre». Ainsi, le visage<br />
du ciel, vous savez l’interpréter, mais les signes des temps,<br />
vous n’en êtes pas capable?”.<br />
On peut observer que la catéchèse de Jésus s’élève des<br />
humbles réalités quotidiennes pour conduire l’homme de<br />
l’expérience du monde à la Révélation du Royaume de<br />
Dieu.<br />
Le réseau serré et varié de relations nous <strong>un</strong>it aux<br />
autres hommes: parents ou alliés, voisins, amis ou<br />
ennemis, compatriotes ou étrangers, compagnons de<br />
travail. Tous ces liens interpersonnels ne constituent pas<br />
notre humanité, mais l’atteignent à <strong>un</strong>e grande profondeur.<br />
Or par l’Incarnation, le Fils de Dieu s’engage en tous ces<br />
19 Mathieu 6, 28‐30.<br />
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BOLOCAN ‐ Le rapport catéchèse‐théologie‐pédagogie dans la perspective de<br />
l’enseignement religieux actuel<br />
liens, assume tous ces rapport, les vit de l’intérieur: il les<br />
utilise pour annoncer de nouveaux rapports entre l’homme<br />
et Dieu. Le Christ part de notre vie de relation, il s’appuie<br />
sur elle, mais pour la dépasser et introduire des auditeurs<br />
à <strong>un</strong>e intimité mystérieuse avec Dieu. L’amour parental<br />
offre <strong>un</strong> point de départ à l’annonce de la paternité divine<br />
toujours prête à exaucer: „Qui d’entre vous, quand son fils<br />
lui demande du pain, lui donnera‐t‐il <strong>un</strong>e pierre? Ou s’il lui<br />
demande <strong>un</strong> poisson, lui donnera‐t‐il <strong>un</strong> serpent? Si donc<br />
vous, malgré votre malice, vous savez donner de bonnes<br />
choses à vos enfants, combien plus votre Père qui est dans<br />
les cieux donnera‐t‐il de bonnes choses à ceux qui l’en<br />
prient” 20 .<br />
Le rapport maître‐disciple est, aussi, assumé: Jésus se<br />
reconnaît le Maître 21 , mais en <strong>un</strong> sens tellement parfait, si<br />
exclusivement propre, qu’auc<strong>un</strong> homme de la terre ne<br />
mériterait ce titre 22 .<br />
La relation d’amitié est aussi largement assumée.<br />
Jésus est l’ami de ses disciples, mais en <strong>un</strong> sens neuf et<br />
<strong>un</strong>ique. Pour ses disciples, Jésus n’est pas <strong>un</strong> ami parmi<br />
d’autres, mais le Messie 23 , le Sauveur du monde 24 , le Christ,<br />
le Fils du Dieu vivant 25 . Cette amitié réciproque ne laisse<br />
pas les partenaires à <strong>un</strong> rapport d’égalité: Jésus est le<br />
Seigneur qui réclame l’obéissance comme condition de<br />
l’amitié: „Vous êtes mes amis si vous faites ce que je vous<br />
commande” 26 . Ses confidences, appels à l’amitié, ne sont<br />
pas d’origine humaine, mais divine 27 .<br />
Les liens de parenté sont aussi transfigurés. Jésus<br />
exige d’être aimé plus que les proches parents 28 . Il<br />
substitue à tous les rapports humains <strong>un</strong> lien fondé sur<br />
l’obéissance au Père céleste. Les vrais parents de Jésus ne<br />
46<br />
20 Mathieu 7, 9‐11.<br />
21 cf. Jean 13, 13‐14.<br />
22 cf. Mathieu 23, 7, 10.<br />
23 cf. Jean 1, 41.<br />
24 cf. Ibidem 4, 42.<br />
25 cf. Mathieu 16, 16.<br />
26 Jean 15, 14.<br />
27 cf. Jean 15, 15.<br />
28 cf. Mathieu 10, 37‐38.
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No. 2, January 2008<br />
sont pas ses proches, mais: „Quiconque fait la volonté de<br />
mon Père qui est dans les cieux, celui‐là est mon frère et<br />
ma sœur et ma mère” 29 . Chaque homme est appelé à<br />
entrer, par Jésus‐Christ, dans la famille de Dieu, en <strong>un</strong><br />
rassemblement <strong>un</strong>iversel.<br />
En tous ces cas se retrouve la même démarche<br />
fondamentale: Jésus Christ part de la vie de relation pour<br />
emporter ses disciples vers les réalités toutes nouvelles du<br />
Royaume 30 .<br />
Dans l’Evangile, les faits de vie ne contiennent pas la<br />
réalité du Royaume: ils permettent d’y accéder par<br />
dépassement. Le départ de la vie et l’arrivée à la Bonne<br />
Nouvelle ne sont qu’<strong>un</strong> seul mouvement. À son tour, le<br />
catéchète s’appuiera sur le fait de vie comme sur <strong>un</strong><br />
tremplin pour rejoindre le contenu vivant de la foi. Une<br />
catéchèse fondée sur la doctrine a ses divers niveaux:<br />
Ecriture, symboles de la foi. La parole de Dieu est vie, à la<br />
fois vivante, vitale, vivifiante, vécue dans toute Eglise et<br />
bien propre à rejoindre tout homme, enfant ou adulte, en<br />
ses questions secrètes.<br />
À chac<strong>un</strong>e des étapes de l’histoire, le mystère du salut<br />
est celui de l’effusion de la vie divine, de sa lutte contre les<br />
<strong>for</strong>ces de la mort. Ainsi la Genèse montre la vie jaillissant<br />
des mains de Dieu, le foisonnement prodigieux des espèces<br />
appelées à transmettre la vie, jusqu’à l’homme en qui la vie<br />
trouve sa plus parfaite expression visible 31 .<br />
Ici, c’est le fait de vie primordial, la naissance qui<br />
porte en elle toutes les naissances de l’histoire. Une<br />
catéchèse peut s’appuyer sur les premières pages du Livre,<br />
grâce à son expérience de ses propres commencements,<br />
l’enfant étant plus accordé au mystère de l’enfance du<br />
monde. Le regard émerveillé de l’enfant rejoint le regard<br />
d’amour dont le Créateur enveloppe ses créatures.<br />
29 Mathieu 12, 50.<br />
30 cf. E. Borbotin, op. cit., p. 24.<br />
31 cf. Ibidem, p. 26.<br />
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BOLOCAN ‐ Le rapport catéchèse‐théologie‐pédagogie dans la perspective de<br />
l’enseignement religieux actuel<br />
Le grand fait de l’Incarnation du Fils de Dieu se<br />
manifeste dans le mystère de la Nativité et de l’Epiphanie.<br />
La vie de Dieu et celle de l’homme, la vie d’„en haut” et la<br />
vie d’„en bas” se rencontrent, se joignent, s’<strong>un</strong>issent à<br />
jamais: celui qui est la Vie devient le centre et le Sauveur<br />
de toute vie.<br />
La Résurrection du Christ au troisième jour<br />
représente le fait de vie par excellence, <strong>un</strong>ique et<br />
transcendant, qui domine, assume, purifie, sauve tous les<br />
faits de vie de l’histoire. Entre ce suprême Fait de vie et les<br />
faits de vie infimes ou graves, joyeux ou douloureux, qui<br />
constituent la trame de nos existences, s’établissent<br />
d’admirables et inépuisables échanges: „Vivre, pour moi,<br />
c’est le Christ” 32 .<br />
Au jour de la Pentecôte, l’Eglise naît en acte de<br />
mission: Pierre inaugure la catéchèse chrétienne, en<br />
partant d’<strong>un</strong> fait de vie – l’accusation d’ivresse <strong>for</strong>mulée<br />
contre les apôtres – pour proclamer le grand fait de vie qui<br />
domine les siècles: la résurrection du Christ et l’effusion du<br />
Saint Esprit. Ici on voit, du nouveau, <strong>un</strong> parfait exemple de<br />
la méthode pédagogique.<br />
Toutes les fois que la catéchèse prend pour point de<br />
départ <strong>un</strong>e parole de l’Ecriture, elle part de la vie, parce<br />
que toute parole de Dieu est vie, appel du Vivant éternel<br />
aux vivants mortels, nous. Les paroles du Christ sont esprit<br />
et vie 33 ; Lui seul a les paroles de la vie éternelle 34 , car „elle<br />
est vivante la parole de Dieu, efficace et plus incisive<br />
qu’auc<strong>un</strong> glaive à deux tranchants…” 35 .<br />
On se demande: pourquoi cette pédagogie de<br />
l’annonce directe de la parole réussit‐elle auprès<br />
d’auditoire très divers, aujourd’hui comme hier? Pourquoi,<br />
par exemple, l’appel des Béatitudes est‐il toujours<br />
provocant? La réponse est la suivante: l’homme au cœur<br />
ouvert et droit est ému de se sentir interpellé, prévenu,<br />
48<br />
32 Philippiens 1, 21.<br />
33 cf. Ioan 6, 64.<br />
34 cf. Ibidem 6, 68.<br />
35 Hébreux 4, 12.
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No. 2, January 2008<br />
cherché par Dieu: „Adam, où es‐tu?” 36 ; il est pénétré par<br />
cette parole vivante qui peut „juger les sentiments et les<br />
pensées du cœur” 37 . La parole rejoint ce centre secret où la<br />
liberté tantôt refuse, tantôt accueille la grâce de la foi. Le<br />
Christ tient sa promesse: son Esprit vient nous rappeler,<br />
nous faire goûter ses enseignements, Il sait toucher la fibre<br />
sensible en nous ce jour‐la 38 jusqu’ à la fin des temps, la<br />
parole de Dieu sera, pour l’enfant et l’adolescent comme<br />
pour l’adulte, <strong>un</strong> fait de vie, <strong>un</strong>e <strong>for</strong>ce divine de provocation<br />
spirituelle. Cette <strong>for</strong>ce relie l’homme vivant au Dieu vivant,<br />
le fait naître à la vraie vie, l’engendre de nouveau pour qu’il<br />
soit les prémices de la création nouvelle 39 .<br />
En catéchèse, partir de la vie des Saints est <strong>un</strong>e<br />
excellente manière de partir de la vie. L’histoire de la<br />
sainteté montre l’Evangile vécu par des chrétiens<br />
semblables aux autres: faibles et généreux partagés entre<br />
vocation et tentation, souffrance et joie, amour de soi et<br />
amour de Dieu, plaisir et abnégation, péché et grâce, voire<br />
entre des devoirs apparemment contraires. Leurs misères<br />
et leurs progrès conjugués encouragent et stimulent;<br />
chac<strong>un</strong> reconnaît sa propre misère d’homme et en reçoit<br />
<strong>un</strong> appel. Les saints sont témoins de l’Evangile au sens le<br />
plus strict: ils enseignent par leur être même. La catéchèse<br />
doit mettre à profit ces faits de vie qui constituent<br />
l’histoire de la sainteté, l’histoire de l’Eglise en ce qu’elle a<br />
de plus pur, de plus vrai, de plus intime. Par conséquent, on<br />
peut identifier ici toutes les méthodes et techniques<br />
pédagogiques les plus utiles, le témoignage de la sainteté<br />
qui concourt le mieux avec la grâce de Dieu à susciter des<br />
croyants, à faire surgir d’autres témoins.<br />
Cette nécessité du témoignage révèle <strong>un</strong> autre sens de<br />
l’expression partir de la vie. Ici, il ne s’agit pas de procédé<br />
didactique mais d’<strong>un</strong>e exigence spirituelle pour le<br />
36 Genèse 3, 9.<br />
37 Hébreux 4, 12.<br />
38 cf. Jean 14, 26.<br />
39 cf. Jacques 1, 18.<br />
49
BOLOCAN ‐ Le rapport catéchèse‐théologie‐pédagogie dans la perspective de<br />
l’enseignement religieux actuel<br />
catéchète lui même. La pédagogie serait stérile si la vie du<br />
maître n’avait pas valeur de signe, si la parole évangélique<br />
ne se traduisait, dans sa vie, en manière d’être. Cela<br />
suppose <strong>un</strong>e vie de prière profonde, <strong>un</strong>e charité active, <strong>un</strong>e<br />
fidélité totale à l’Eglise, à la règle de la foi orthodoxe, <strong>un</strong>e<br />
vie vers la sainteté. Le catéchète doit s’ef<strong>for</strong>cer d’être <strong>un</strong><br />
modèle chrétien: convaincu, il a chance d’être convaincant;<br />
croyant, il aide a croire.<br />
L’enseignement religieux peut partir tantôt de la vie<br />
de l’homme, tantôt du Vivant qui est Dieu: la parole du<br />
catéchète doit toujours jaillir d’<strong>un</strong>e vie de foi profonde,<br />
être <strong>un</strong>e parole de foi 40 , en comm<strong>un</strong>ion avec la foi de toute<br />
l’Eglise.<br />
III.1. On doit enseigner l’Evangile ou le faire vivre?<br />
On se pose <strong>un</strong>e autre question: s’agit‐il pour le<br />
catéchète de diffuser <strong>un</strong> certain savoir ou de proposer <strong>un</strong><br />
art chrétien de vivre? La réponse est la suivante: On n’est<br />
vraiment chrétien que si la vie entière est conduite par la<br />
foi. Le Christ, lui‐même a souvent et hautement désavoué<br />
ceux qui disent et ne font pas 41 .<br />
En ce sens, l’apôtre Jacques enseigne que la foi n’est<br />
rien sans les œuvres, sans <strong>un</strong>e conduite con<strong>for</strong>me à<br />
l’Evangile: “Mettez la parole en pratique! Ne soyez pas<br />
seulement des auditeurs qui s’abusent eux‐mêmes! Qui<br />
écoute la parole sans la mettre en pratique ressemble à <strong>un</strong><br />
homme qui observe dans <strong>un</strong> miroir le visage qui lui a<br />
donné la nature. A peine s’est‐il observé qu’il est parti et a<br />
oublié comment il était. Celui, au contraire, qui se penche<br />
sur la loi parfaite de liberté et s’y tient, non pas en auditeur<br />
oublieux mais pour la mettre en pratique, celui‐là trouve<br />
son bonheur à la pratiquer” 42 ou, plus dure encore:<br />
„À quoi cela sert‐il mes frères que quelqu’<strong>un</strong> dise: «j’ai<br />
la foi», s’il n’a pas les œuvres? La foi peut‐elle le sauver? Si<br />
<strong>un</strong> frère ou <strong>un</strong>e sœur sont nus, s’ils manquent de leur<br />
50<br />
40 cf. Romains 10, 8.<br />
41 cf. Mathieu 23, 3.<br />
42 Jacques 1, 22‐25.
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No. 2, January 2008<br />
nourriture quotidienne, et que l’<strong>un</strong> d’entre vous leur dise:<br />
«Allez en paix, chauffez‐vous, rassasiez‐vous», sans leur<br />
donner ce qui est nécessaire à leur corps, à quoi cela sert‐<br />
il? Ainsi en est‐il de la foi: si elle n’a pas les œuvres, elle est<br />
tout à fait morte. Au contraire on dira: «Toi, tu as la foi, et<br />
moi, j’ai les œuvres». Montre‐moi ta foi sans les œuvres;<br />
moi, c’est par les œuvres que je te monterai ma foi” 43 . Le<br />
Christ, n’a‐t‐il pas annoncé que nous serions jugés sur nos<br />
œuvres? 44<br />
Jésus‐Christ nous appelle à <strong>un</strong>e conversion totale de<br />
notre manière de vivre de notre mentalité: “Convertissez‐<br />
vous et croyez à l’Evangile” 45 . À partir de cette parole, on<br />
n’enseigne pas l’Evangile comme n’importe quelle science.<br />
La liaison affirmée par Pierre entre la Personne du<br />
Christ et Ses paroles vient éclaircir le problème. Jésus<br />
vivant et son message de vie éternelle ne font qu’<strong>un</strong>. Les<br />
Apôtres croient en Christ parce qu’il a les paroles de vie, et<br />
croient aux paroles de vie parce que Jésus, le Saint de Dieu,<br />
les a prononcés. C’est <strong>un</strong> cercle vital: le même acte de foi<br />
vivante étreint, d’<strong>un</strong> seul élan, la personne et la doctrine.<br />
C’est avec son être entier – esprit, cœur, volonté – que le<br />
croyant adhère au Christ entier, Personne et Vérité.<br />
Christ est la Parole éternelle de Dieu, la Vérité<br />
absolue faite chair vivante, corps et âme: “Je suis la<br />
Vérité” 46 . Jésus Christ n’a pas d’idées: Il est sa doctrine, qui<br />
est celle du Père 47 .<br />
Beaucoup d’auditeurs de Jésus sont “venus à Lui” par<br />
la vertu exceptionnelle de son enseignement: “Il parlait<br />
avec autorité et non pas comme les scribes” 48 .<br />
On distingue <strong>un</strong>e différence essentielle entre le statut<br />
de la foi et le rôle de l’annonce avant et après l’Ascension.<br />
43 Ibidem, 2, 14‐18.<br />
44 cf. Mathieu 25, 31‐46.<br />
45 Marc 2, 15.<br />
46 Jean 14, 6.<br />
47 Ibidem, 7, 16; 8, 40; 12, 49.<br />
48 Marc 1, 22.<br />
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BOLOCAN ‐ Le rapport catéchèse‐théologie‐pédagogie dans la perspective de<br />
l’enseignement religieux actuel<br />
Pendant son séjour terrestre, Jésus se révèle non<br />
seulement par sa parole, mais aussi par sa présence<br />
sensible, tangible. Vision et enseignement concourent,<br />
s’interprètent mutuellement: les disciples croient pour<br />
avoir vu et entendu. Au jour de l’Ascension, la vision a pris<br />
fin jusqu’au retour glorieux.<br />
Ainsi, à la jointure de deux temps: le temps du Christ<br />
et celui de l’Eglise, l’attestation des apôtres fonde la foi de<br />
ceux qui croiront sans avoir vu. L’annonce de l’Evangile<br />
doit suppléer la vision oculaire et susciter cette “vision du<br />
cœur” qu’est la foi 49 . “La vision laisse place à<br />
l’enseignement”, écrira Saint Léon 50 . Jésus‐Christ dit à<br />
Thomas: “Parce que tu m’as vu, Thomas, tu as cru.<br />
Bienheureux ceux qui n’ont pas vu et qui ont cru” 51 . Cette<br />
béatitude est celle de la majorité des chrétiens entre<br />
l’Ascension et la Parousie. L’enseignement de l’Evangile<br />
veut conduire l’homme à cette béatitude.<br />
III.2. Enseigner les commandements?!<br />
À l’homme biblique qui désire que Dieu lui enseigne<br />
ses voies, ses sentiers 52 , le Fils de Dieu incarné répond: “La<br />
Route (la Voie) c’est moi”! 53 . Jésus‐Christ est la voie sûre,<br />
<strong>un</strong>ique, infaillible: quiconque le suit ne marche pas dans les<br />
ténèbres, mais aura la lumière de la vie 54 . Par <strong>un</strong><br />
mouvement d’amour, cette Voie personnelle et vivante<br />
vient s’offrir à l’homme perdu, le chercher là où il est: “Si<br />
vous m’aimez, vous garderez mes commandements” 55 ou<br />
“Celui qui a mes commandements et qui les garde, voilà<br />
celui qui m’aime” 56 . Et Jean y insiste dans ses épîtres:<br />
“L’amour consiste à vivre d’après ses commandements” 57 .<br />
49 cf. Ephésiens 1, 18.<br />
50 Saint Léon, Deuxième sermon sur l’Ascension (Sermons, t. III; coll.<br />
«Sources chrétiennes», nr. 74, p. 140).<br />
51 Jean 20, 29.<br />
52 cf. Ps 25(24), 4‐5.<br />
53 Jean 14, 6.<br />
54 cf. Ibidem, 8, 13.<br />
55 Jean 14, 15.<br />
56 Ibidem, 14, 21.<br />
57 Jean 2 e ép. 6.<br />
52
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Puisque les commandements, dons de l’amour de<br />
Dieu, appellent l’amour de l’homme, leur vraie pratique ne<br />
conduit pas le chrétien au pharisaïsme. Elle scelle la<br />
rencontre de deux amours dans le Christ: le “Oui” de Dieu à<br />
ses promesses, l’Amen de l’homme à la gloire de Dieu 58 . Elle<br />
est la con<strong>for</strong>mité du vouloir humain au vouloir divin qui<br />
constitue la sainteté, éminemment en Jésus, le Saint, le<br />
Juste 59 , et en chac<strong>un</strong> de ses fidèles.<br />
La foi fondamentale de l’amour conduit à penser que<br />
les commandements seraient inutiles. On cite les mots du<br />
bienheureux Augustin: “Aime et fais ce que tu veux”. Mais<br />
ces paroles ne recommandent pas l’abandon des<br />
commandements, ni la permissivité. Tout au contraire: elle<br />
annonce la vérité profonde qu’<strong>un</strong>e volonté humaine<br />
possédée par l’amour de Dieu ne peut vouloir que ce que<br />
Dieu vent. La loi d’amour dépasse les périls de la lettre qui<br />
tue, grâce à l’Esprit qui donne la vie 60 . Le véritable amour,<br />
qui est don de soi, se réjouit de dépendre, de servir et<br />
d’accéder ainsi a <strong>un</strong>e plus haute liberté. Le saint est celui<br />
qui dépasse les alternatives: nécessité‐liberté ou<br />
obligation‐liberté.<br />
La morale naturelle et le Décalogue sont assumés,<br />
purifiés, dépassés par la loi évangélique de l’amour.<br />
Enseigner les commandements au je<strong>un</strong>e chrétien,<br />
c’est lui apprendre à aimer, non en parole mais en acte et<br />
en vérité 61 .<br />
IV. Pratique catéchétique et vie spirituelle<br />
Le développement de la catéchèse est <strong>un</strong> phénomène<br />
qui peut avoir <strong>un</strong> impact sur les structures de l’Eglise. Il est<br />
certain qu’on se préoccupe de fournir à ceux qui pratiquent<br />
la catéchèse <strong>un</strong>e <strong>for</strong>mation doctrinale et <strong>un</strong>e <strong>for</strong>mation<br />
pédagogique.<br />
58 cf. II Corinthiens 1, 20.<br />
59 cf. Actes 3, 14.<br />
60 cf. II Corinthiens 3, 6.<br />
61 cf. I Jean 3, 18.<br />
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BOLOCAN ‐ Le rapport catéchèse‐théologie‐pédagogie dans la perspective de<br />
l’enseignement religieux actuel<br />
La pratique catéchétique n’est pas neutre du point de<br />
vue social et culturel. Tout ce qui constitue la joie ou la<br />
tristesse de quelqu’<strong>un</strong>, la tonalité de son existence, tout<br />
cela ne tient pas à <strong>un</strong>e pratique de la catéchèse. Il y a <strong>un</strong>e<br />
dimension de la catéchèse qui ne relève ni de la théologie,<br />
ni de la pédagogie, mais de l’aventure personnelle de<br />
chac<strong>un</strong>. La vie spirituelle y se trouve. C’est <strong>un</strong>e respiration<br />
intime d’<strong>un</strong> être au‐dedans de ce qu’il fait, c’est‐à‐dire au‐<br />
dedans de ce qu’il vit.<br />
La catéchèse est <strong>un</strong>e tâche précise, régulière, qui<br />
s’inscrit dans le temps et domine l’organisation de la vie.<br />
Les données nouvelles apparaissent dans la pratique même<br />
de la catéchèses et elles réclament d’autres modèles de vie<br />
spirituelles que ceux qui sont habituellement proposés.<br />
Dans sa dynamique, la pratique catéchétique est la<br />
manière de laisser à l’Evangile toutes ses chances, le<br />
reconnaître ce qu’il est non pas ma vérité, ni celle du<br />
groupe auquel j’appartiens, mais la sienne “pour la vie du<br />
monde”.<br />
Admettre ou reconnaître le message comme le<br />
message ou la vie d’<strong>un</strong> autre, c’est le situer dans l’ordre du<br />
don et non pas dans l’ordre de l’appropriation parce que<br />
Dieu a dit: “Que la lumière brille au milieu des ténèbres,<br />
c’est lui‐même qui a brillé dans nos cœurs pour faire<br />
resplendir la connaissance de sa gloire qui rayonne sur le<br />
visage du Christ.Mais ce trésor, nous le portons dans des<br />
vases d’argile, pour que cette incomparable puissance soit<br />
de Dieu et non de nous” 62 .<br />
V. Quelques “finalités” de la catéchèse<br />
En tant que fait culturel et social, la catéchèse est<br />
définie à chaque étape de son développement par tous ceux<br />
catéchistes et catéchisés, clercs et laïcs, parents et<br />
éducateurs – qui participent à la mise en œuvre effective.<br />
Chaque finalité empiète sur les suivantes ou survit en elles<br />
pendant quelque temps. Même s’il était possible de tracer<br />
54<br />
62 II Corinthiens 4, 6‐7.
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No. 2, January 2008<br />
des lignes de partage, celles‐ci varieraient avec les pays et<br />
les continents.<br />
V.1. L’espérance eschatologique<br />
Le noyau primitif de la catéchèse chrétienne est<br />
l’annonce de l’événement pascal: “C’est bien vrai, s’écrient<br />
les disciples d’Emmaüs, le Seigneur est ressuscité” 63 ou les<br />
mots de l’apôtre Paul: “Christ est mort pour nos péchés. Il a<br />
été enseveli, et il est ressuscité le troisième jour” 64 .<br />
La résurrection de Jésus fonde la foi en la<br />
“résurrection des morts”, destinée ultime de tous les<br />
hommes. L’espérance eschatologique apparaît comme la<br />
finalité indiscutée des propositions catéchétiques: toute la<br />
vie des chrétiens est tendue vers le “siècle à venir”, où Dieu<br />
sera “tout en tous”.<br />
V.2. Une intégration ecclésiale<br />
La prédication des apôtres avait suscité des<br />
comm<strong>un</strong>autés de croyants. C’est d’ailleurs au sein de<br />
celles‐ci que se développa l’activité catéchétique. La<br />
catéchèse prébaptismale a évolue progressivement vers le<br />
catéchuménat.<br />
Centrée sur les sacrements de l’institution, la<br />
catéchèse de l’époque patristique n’en demeure pas moins<br />
fidèle à l’économie trinitaire de la foi héritée de l’époque<br />
précédente. La pédagogie catéchuménale n’est pas<br />
“ecclésiocentrique” au sens où elle se bornerait à assurer la<br />
survie d’<strong>un</strong>e institution. Par “intégration ecclésiale” nous<br />
entendons l’apprentissage par les catéchumènes de la vie<br />
en Eglise. Les candidats au baptême se familiarisent peu à<br />
peu avec le langage et la mémoire de l’Eglise, acquièrent les<br />
comportements caractéristiques du chrétien et participent<br />
à la célébration des rites. Aux IV e et V e siècles, la finalité<br />
prépondérante de la catéchèse consiste à faciliter l’accès<br />
des catéchumènes à la culture chrétienne, c’est‐à‐dire la<br />
63 Luc 24, 34.<br />
64 I Corinthiens 15, 3‐4.<br />
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BOLOCAN ‐ Le rapport catéchèse‐théologie‐pédagogie dans la perspective de<br />
l’enseignement religieux actuel<br />
confession de foi, la vie sacramentelle, la prière comm<strong>un</strong>e<br />
et <strong>un</strong>e vision de l’homme et du monde inspirée de<br />
l’Evangile. Saint Grégoire de Nysse 65 conçoit l’intégration<br />
ecclésiale ainsi: “Il nous faut des signes pour distinguer<br />
l’homme nouveau du vieil homme. Ce sont me semble‐t‐il,<br />
les mouvements libres de l’âme qui s’arrache elle‐même à<br />
la vie passée pour adapter <strong>un</strong> nouveau style de vie,<br />
montrant clairement à ceux qui les fréquentent le<br />
changement opéré! Voici en quoi consiste la<br />
trans<strong>for</strong>mation, si vous voulez bien me suivre et aligner<br />
votre conduite à mes paroles. Avant le baptême, l’homme<br />
était intempérant, avare, valeur, injurieux, menteur,<br />
calomniateur et tout ce qui s’ensuit. A présent, il lui faut<br />
être réservé, satisfait de ce qu’il possède, prêt à le partager<br />
avec les pauvres, soucieux de la vérité, respectueux de tous<br />
et avenant, en <strong>un</strong> mot il doit pratiquer tout ce qui est bien.<br />
Tu vois comment Zachée, par son changement de vie, a<br />
étouffé le publicain en lui: il a rendu le quadruple à ceux<br />
qu’il avait lésés; il a distribué aux pauvres ce que<br />
précédemment il leu extorquait”. Toute la catéchèse<br />
s’ordonne à l’édification de l’homme nouveau.<br />
Le destin de la catéchèse illustre l’impossibilité<br />
d’enfermer dans les <strong>for</strong>mules définitives le sens dernier de<br />
l’existence. Ainsi, F. Quéré 66 écrit: “Toute parole se perd en<br />
tant que parole, mais elle se trouve en tant qu’elle devient<br />
autrui, qu’elle participe à sa <strong>for</strong>mation et à son<br />
épanouissement, qu’elle devient constitutive de sa<br />
personne. Lisant l’Evangile, c’est moi que je lis, mais <strong>un</strong><br />
moi qui n’existe que par l’Evangile qui l’a fait.<br />
Littéralement, la Parole s’est faite chair. Elle est reprise<br />
éternellement par les voix profondes des hommes”.<br />
Conclusion<br />
Eduquer dit‐on, c’est passer d’<strong>un</strong>e influence quelconque<br />
à <strong>un</strong>e influence <strong>for</strong>matrice. Appliquée à la catéchèse, <strong>un</strong>e telle<br />
65 Saint Grégoire de Nyssa, Homélie pour la fête des lumière dans Le<br />
baptême d’après les Pères de l’Eglise, coll. «Lettres chrétiennes», Paris,<br />
1962, p. 165.<br />
66 F. Quéré, La foi peut‐elle se transmettre?, Paris, 1974, p. 69‐70.<br />
56
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<strong>for</strong>mule signifierait que les groupes chrétiens exercent <strong>un</strong>e<br />
influence de fait, mais qu’il dépend d’eux que celle‐ci se<br />
trans<strong>for</strong>me en tâche réellement éducative. Formation non<br />
seulement biblique et théologique, mais scientifique et<br />
technique – au sens de l’<strong>un</strong>e au moins des sciences de l’homme<br />
et des nouvelles techniques pédagogiques. L’originalité de ce<br />
travail consisterait en ceci: situer la vérification de la<br />
parole évangélique dans le contexte actuel des idéologies<br />
et des messages de libération. C’est là <strong>un</strong>e démarche<br />
critique <strong>for</strong>t exigeante, mais indispensable à ceux qui<br />
entendent dialoguer en vérité.<br />
Un auteur anonyme de la fin du II e siècle énonçait en<br />
ces termes l’originalité de la “bonne nouvelle” confiée aux<br />
disciples de Jésus: “Les chrétiens ne se distinguent des<br />
autres hommes ni par le pays, ni par le langage, ni par les<br />
vêtements. Ils n’habitent pas de villes qui leur soient<br />
propres, ils ne se servent pas de quelque dialecte<br />
extraordinaire; leur genre de vie n’a rien de singulier. Ce<br />
n’est pas à l’imagination ou aux rêveries d’esprits agités que<br />
leur doctrine doit sa découverte; ils ne se font pas, comme<br />
tant d’autres, les champions d’<strong>un</strong>e doctrine humaine. Ils se<br />
con<strong>for</strong>ment aux usages locaux pour les vêtements, la<br />
nourriture et la manière de vivre, tout en manifestant les<br />
lois extraordinaires et vraiment paradoxales de leur<br />
république spirituelle” 67 .<br />
Dans tous les ordres d’enseignement, auc<strong>un</strong>e méthode<br />
si élaborée soit‐elle, ne remplace <strong>un</strong> bon maître. Aussi bien,<br />
pour l’annonce de l’Evangile, est‐ce Dieu en Personne qui<br />
après avoir instruit le peuple d’Israël par les prophètes, lui<br />
parle en Jésus‐Christ 68 . La Révélation du Fils est <strong>un</strong>e<br />
“venue”, <strong>un</strong>e rencontre. La mission qui la prolonge est <strong>un</strong><br />
mouvement de l’homme vers l’homme: “Allez, enseignez<br />
toutes les notions au nom du Père, du Fils et du Saint‐<br />
67 A. Diognète, dans Les écrits des Pères apostoliques, coll. «Foi<br />
vivante», Cerf, Paris, 1979, p. 62.<br />
68 cf. Hébreux 1, 1.<br />
57
BOLOCAN ‐ Le rapport catéchèse‐théologie‐pédagogie dans la perspective de<br />
l’enseignement religieux actuel<br />
Esprit” 69 . La question principale se déplace ainsi des<br />
méthodes vers la catéchèse, de la pédagogie vers le<br />
pédagogue.<br />
Entre les difficultés qu’examine le Bienheureux<br />
Augustin dans le traité Sur la catéchèse des débutants, deux<br />
surtout semblent d’<strong>un</strong>e actualité toujours vive: la lassitude<br />
et le découragement. Ces deux constituent <strong>un</strong> obstacle<br />
quotidien. Les réalités de la foi semblent au catéchète<br />
banales, dénuées d’intérêt. Ce père de l’Eglise observe que<br />
c’est l’amour, la sympathie du maître pour ses élèves qui<br />
renouvelle l’intérêt de l’enseignement<br />
La pédagogie, c’est l’homme même, sa compétence, sa<br />
conviction, sa foi, son amour pour son prochain.<br />
En tout circonstance l’audace de la foi, le “franc‐<br />
parler” de l’Apôtre Paul, l’acceptation même d’être <strong>un</strong> signe<br />
de contradiction, doivent soutenir l’action difficile et<br />
merveilleuse du catéchète, comme de tout témoin du<br />
Christ.<br />
Il faut se rappeler que le Royaume de Dieu progresse<br />
dans les cœurs selon <strong>un</strong>e loi de lente maturation et<br />
d’échéance lointaine. Sauf charisme exceptionnel, nul<br />
regard humain ne pénètre dans l’<strong>un</strong>ivers mystérieux des<br />
consciences pour y mesurer les cheminements de la grâce.<br />
Le catéchète, comme tout Apôtre du Christ, œuvre dans<br />
l’invisible. Une graine fragile imperceptible a été jetée, que<br />
le Maître fera germer, grandir, fleurir, fructifier à l’heure<br />
de la grâce et de la liberté.<br />
Dans cette situation, le catéchète peut faire sienne la<br />
prière émerveillée du Christ: “Je te bénis, Seigneur du ciel<br />
et de la terre, d’avoir caché cela aux sages et aux habiles, et<br />
de l’avoir révélé aux tous petits” 70 .<br />
58<br />
69 Mathieu 28, 18.<br />
70 Ibidem 11, 25.
<strong>Journal</strong> <strong>for</strong> Interdisciplinary Research on Religion and Science,<br />
No. 2, January 2008<br />
Bibliographie sommaire<br />
1. ***, Catéchèse et dialogue, Lumen Vitae, Bruxelles, 1966.<br />
2. ***, Homélie pour la fête des lumière dans Le baptême<br />
d’après les Pères de l’Eglise, coll. «Lettres chrétiennes», Paris, 1962.<br />
3. ***, Langages de la foi à travers l’histoire. Mentalités et<br />
catéchèse, Fayard-Maine, Paris, 1972.<br />
4. ANTONESCU, G.G., Educaţia morală şi religioasă în şcoala<br />
românească, Editura Cultura Românească S.A.R., Bucureşti, 1937.<br />
5. ANTONESCU, G.G., Istoria Pedagogiei: Doctrinele<br />
f<strong>un</strong>damentale ale pedagogiei moderne, ediţia a III-a, Editura Scrisul<br />
românesc, Craiova, 1940.<br />
6. BARBOTIN, E., Catéchèse et pédagogie, Lethielleux, Paris,<br />
1981.<br />
7. BRETAGNE, G. de, Pastorale catéchétique, Desclée de<br />
Brouwer, Paris, 1953.<br />
8. BULACU, Pr., Mihail, Pedagogie creştină ortodoxă, Bucureşti,<br />
1935.<br />
9. CASTER, M. van, Dieu nous parle, 2 vol., Desclée de Brouwer,<br />
Paris, 1964‐1965.<br />
10. DIOGNETE, A., Les écrits des Pères apostoliques, coll. «Foi<br />
vivante», Cerf, Paris, 1979, p. 62.<br />
11. DUBUISSON, O., L’acte catéchétique. Son but, sa pratique,<br />
Centurion, Paris, 1982.<br />
12. FARGUES, M., D’hier à demain, le catéchisme, Fayard‐Maine,<br />
Paris, 1964.<br />
13. GODIN, Α., Psychologie des expériences religieuses. Le désir et<br />
la réalité, Centurion, Paris, 1981.<br />
14. JUNGMANN, J.A., Catéchèse. Objectifs et methodes de<br />
l’enseignement religieux (trad. de l’allemand), Lumen Vitae,<br />
Bruxelles, 1955.<br />
15. JUSTIN LE PHILOSOPHE, La philosophie passe au Christ. L’oeuvre<br />
de Justin, coll. «Lettres chrétiennes», Paris, 1958.<br />
16. MARLE, R., Herméneutique et catéchèse, Fayard‐Maine, Paris,<br />
1970.<br />
17. MONTESSORI, M., L’éducation religieuse. La vie en Jésus‐Christ,<br />
Desclée de Brouwer, Paris, 1956.<br />
18. PIVETEAU, D., Comment ouvrir les je<strong>un</strong>es à la foi, Desclée de<br />
Brouwer/Bellarmin, Paris, 1977.<br />
59
BOLOCAN ‐ Le rapport catéchèse‐théologie‐pédagogie dans la perspective de<br />
l’enseignement religieux actuel<br />
19. SAINT GREGOIRE DE NYSSA, Homélie pour la fête des lumière<br />
dans Le baptême d’après les Pères de l’Eglise, coll. «Lettres<br />
chrétiennes», Paris, 1962.<br />
20. SAINT LEON, Deuxième sermon sur l’Ascension.Sermons, t. III;<br />
coll. «Sources chrétiennes», nr. 74.<br />
21. SAUVAGE, M., Catéchèse et laïcat. Participation des laïcs au<br />
ministère de la parole et mission du frère enseignant dans l’Eglise,<br />
Ligel, Paris, 1962.<br />
22. SNYDERS, G., Où vont les pédagogies non directives?, PUF,<br />
Paris, 1973.<br />
23. QUERE, F., La foi peut‐elle se transmettre?, Paris, 1974.<br />
24. VOELTZEL, R., Education et Révélation. Introduction aux<br />
problèmes de la pédagogie chrétienne, PUF, Paris, 1960.<br />
25. WACKENHEIM, Charles, La Catéchèse, col. „Que sois‐je?”,<br />
Paris, 1983.<br />
26. WYLER, A., L’educateur au service de lafoi. Mission et visage<br />
du catéchiste, Centurion, Paris, 1978.<br />
60
<strong>Journal</strong> <strong>for</strong> Interdisciplinary Research on Religion and Science,<br />
No. 2, January 2008<br />
The Impact of the Current Technologies on the<br />
Youth`s Personalities Creation<br />
Constantin CUCOŞ *<br />
* Teacher Training Department<br />
„Al. I. Cuza” University Iasi, Romania<br />
E‐mail Address: cucos@uaic.ro<br />
Abstract ‡<br />
Current technology has become a must <strong>for</strong> yo<strong>un</strong>g<br />
persons nowadays, many of their activities being<br />
generated and accompanied by today’s technological<br />
structures. From learning, to keeping in<strong>for</strong>med, from<br />
work to entertainment and recreation activities, all these<br />
elements with pragmatic or aesthetic focus, in a<br />
collective perspective or an intimately individual one,<br />
are built upon or mediated through the new<br />
technologies. Rejecting technology, in the name of a<br />
number of so‐called <strong>absolut</strong>e theoretical values would<br />
mean not paying attention to reality and rejecting it. The<br />
best thing to do would be to subdue technology, to<br />
humanise and spiritualise it, assigning it practices where<br />
the complementarity of values should be present.<br />
Recognising the conduct that youth have adopted<br />
towards the new technologies makes us think that they<br />
are not considerably negative and blamable, the way<br />
they might be described at first glance. Most yo<strong>un</strong>g<br />
people use technology very carefully and within<br />
reasonable limits, the excesses not being greater than<br />
the ones peculiar to other psycho‐behavioural contexts.<br />
Nevertheless, the delay and the creation of certain habits<br />
– and also the awareness regarding their existence! –<br />
causes us not to lose from sight the possible lapses<br />
which we can prevent at the level of our educational<br />
activities. Especially when the people <strong>un</strong>der<br />
considerationare still flexible and sensitive to the<br />
different educogen stimuli.<br />
‡ The abstract was written by the editor using fragments<br />
from the study<br />
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CUCOS ‐ The Impact of the Current Technologies on the Formation of the<br />
Personality of Yo<strong>un</strong>g People<br />
I. Technology – an Existential Dimension of the<br />
Present‐Day Yo<strong>un</strong>g Generation<br />
The technological <strong>un</strong>iverse is bo<strong>un</strong>d to reconfigure the<br />
spiritual profile of the present‐day yo<strong>un</strong>g generation. It is<br />
possible that, from the very beginning, the developing<br />
being has gradually became more responsive to everything<br />
new and acquainted more easily and more profo<strong>un</strong>dly to<br />
what science and technology have had to offer.<br />
Nevertheless, just as the latter evolved <strong>un</strong>predictably, their<br />
impact over the yo<strong>un</strong>g has been equally <strong>un</strong>even.<br />
The novelty of the different gadgets, some of which ‐<br />
admittedly – “fitted” an expectancy long ago created, being<br />
the offsprings of an older or of a yo<strong>un</strong>ger fictional<br />
imaginary (the mobile phone, the computer, the Internet,<br />
the whole range of media‐digital combinations etc.). In<br />
addition to that they impose new representations or<br />
internal rythms, new ways of referring to knowledge, to<br />
oneself and to the others. The degree of acceptance of the<br />
<strong>for</strong>mer among the yo<strong>un</strong>g is considerably higher than that<br />
of the other population categories. The explanation lays, on<br />
the one hand, in the highly permissive and receptive spirit<br />
of youth to novelty and, on the other hand, to the<br />
imaginative co‐extensivity and to the strong connection<br />
that is established between the yo<strong>un</strong>g person and the<br />
„power” (real or imagined) of the „machine”.<br />
I.1. The Technical Product – Psychological,<br />
Deontological, Anthropological Reverberations<br />
Any new invention affects, to a certain extent, the inner<br />
psychological equilibrium, the range of skills and behaviors<br />
developed aro<strong>un</strong>d the very features of the object in<br />
question. For instance, handling an ordinary photo camera<br />
used to require from its user the acquiring of a number of<br />
handling, calculation, focusing, framing, temporization<br />
skills etc, according to certain technical data. Not to<br />
mention the laboratory chemistry skills afterwards<br />
(knowing the time the photo needs to be exposed or the<br />
time to keep it in a certain substance). Anyhow, such skills<br />
were much more “natural”, closer to the human behavior,<br />
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<strong>Journal</strong> <strong>for</strong> Interdisciplinary Research on Religion and Science,<br />
No. 2, January 2008<br />
resembling very much to extensions of some similar motive<br />
and mental abilities. The digital photo “ignores” a series of<br />
human skills (duplicated, meanwhile, by the camera) and<br />
develops new ones that are discontinuous or opposite to<br />
the original ones (reframing, adding special effects,<br />
inserting into flashes or pps). Usually, every technical<br />
product re‐organizes the aptitudinal‐behavioural tissue of<br />
a person, establishes a requirements hierarchy at the<br />
psychological level, imposing a certain equilibrium <strong>un</strong>til a<br />
new product appears, with new requirements.<br />
If the consistency of the appearance of new technical<br />
landmarks is too important, the person is induced into a<br />
state of adaptive stress, with negative reverberations also<br />
on other levels of a person’s behavior. From a particular<br />
perspective, the new technical product needs to be built on<br />
as many procedural algorithms of earlier corresponding<br />
products as possible, since it should not lead to behavioral<br />
“breaches”, i.e. reversed movements that would contradict<br />
one’s acquired skills (<strong>for</strong> instance inventing reverse gears<br />
whose handle would move <strong>for</strong>ward, not backwards, as<br />
usual).<br />
It is possible that the greatest quality of a new technical<br />
product is to maintain or even enhance our own human<br />
nature, not to alter our spirits and weaken our bodies. To<br />
be an extension of the natural and spiritualise it. Not to<br />
mechanize and alienate. Not to be an involution, but an<br />
evolution. The technical progress will <strong>for</strong>ce the individual<br />
to learn in a consistent manner, to add, in as natural a way<br />
as possible, new values to the already existing ones, what<br />
is <strong>un</strong>known to what is known. Moreover, what needs to be<br />
<strong>un</strong>derstood once and <strong>for</strong> all is the fact that it is not the<br />
intrinsic quality of the technology that matters the most,<br />
but its efficiency. From an axiological point of view,<br />
technology is, to a certain extent, ambivalent and even<br />
neutral, since its usefulness depends on the way it is put<br />
into practice. Not the mobile phones engineers are the ones<br />
to blame <strong>for</strong> the bomb attacks and the bank acco<strong>un</strong>t frauds<br />
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CUCOS ‐ The Impact of the Current Technologies on the Formation of the<br />
Personality of Yo<strong>un</strong>g People<br />
managed through phones, but the persons actually using<br />
the latter <strong>for</strong> such purposes.<br />
Technology does not have only a palpable dimension,<br />
but it also has a highly anthropological one, having<br />
repercussions at the social, the human and the spiritual<br />
levels. Every new artefact of this sort is “<strong>for</strong>eseen” by a<br />
certain “prophecy”, producing, through its effects, a real<br />
“mythology”, even an “eschatology”. It is greeted with<br />
anxiety and thrill, but also with worries. Its integration<br />
practically leads to re‐balancing the representations<br />
system, to recalibrating the bond existing between the<br />
human beings and the <strong>un</strong>iverse, to re‐defining a person in<br />
opposition to a new range of demands and values.<br />
Moreover, <strong>for</strong> the yo<strong>un</strong>g, a similar product has a symbolic<br />
value, that of liaising the very users to a world that seems<br />
to hierarchically upgrade them. Owning the highly<br />
per<strong>for</strong>ming mobile phone is a sign of belonging to a<br />
privileged category, of best positioning oneself on a<br />
material and social scale. The owners of such products do<br />
not own only an object, but also the socially bestowed<br />
attributes ‐ and the value! – of the object in question. In<br />
other words, the owner thinks of himself/herself that<br />
he/she is no longer a common person, but a “somebody ”<br />
due to the object in his/her possession. Or, who knows, one<br />
could achieve a dream or hide a certain weakness!<br />
I.2. The Technical Innovation – between Virtues and<br />
Servitudes<br />
The technical dimension has a notable influence over<br />
the learning mechanisms and also over the <strong>for</strong>mation<br />
structures. The decantation of a digital culture produces<br />
restructurings, as far as the learning mechanisms are<br />
concerned (<strong>for</strong> instance, the memory drawback) and also<br />
the reorientations, regarding the learning motivation and<br />
its objectives. Judging the situation from this perspective,<br />
we should be more tolerant with the decline of the book<br />
culture in favour of the digital one – at least from the point<br />
of view of the way in which the yo<strong>un</strong>g are relating to the<br />
two types of cultural expression. What we should focus on<br />
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No. 2, January 2008<br />
first is guiding yo<strong>un</strong>g people towards a critical and<br />
responsible approach to the cultural products, an<br />
axiological autonomy from the latter, no matter whether<br />
they are delivered <strong>un</strong>der a classical <strong>for</strong>m or <strong>un</strong>der an<br />
electronical one. On the other hand, the extensions of the<br />
<strong>for</strong>mation structures between the curricular level and the<br />
extra‐curricular one also need to be taken into<br />
consideration and re‐evaluated from an educational point<br />
of view. The ruling principle should be that the extra‐<br />
curricular dimension has to stand <strong>for</strong> an educational<br />
context, both <strong>for</strong> the initial preparation and <strong>for</strong> the lifelong<br />
<strong>for</strong>mation.<br />
The influence of a new device on us is not only direct,<br />
through the requirements of its presence and its usage, but<br />
also indirect, through the change of our relationship with<br />
the world aro<strong>un</strong>d us and to our fellow human beings.<br />
Meanwhile, the device is a mediator, a third party between<br />
our body or our mind and the things aro<strong>un</strong>d us. The world<br />
seen or used through similar devices looks different from<br />
the one perceived directly through our ears, eyes, skin. It<br />
can receive a different value, consistency, depth, light.<br />
Cohabiting with the technology yields our mental and<br />
sensory apparatus in much of its essential in<strong>for</strong>mation<br />
backgro<strong>un</strong>d. It makes it perceive to a lesser or to a greater<br />
extent, it renders it slower or more active. The world of a<br />
person that usually walks is different from the one of a<br />
person who travels by car. The world of a person who lives<br />
in the co<strong>un</strong>tryside differs from the one of a person who<br />
lives in town ‐ and that is also because the technological<br />
proximity is different. The world perceived and imagined<br />
by a yo<strong>un</strong>g person passionate about technology looks<br />
different from that of an experienced adult person, who is<br />
no longer interested in the technological novelties. We do<br />
not wish to say that this world is better or worse, but that<br />
it is different. The temporality, the multitude and the<br />
duration of the contacts, the other persons` expectations,<br />
the projections of the future, the decisions and the inner<br />
experiences etc. are all “filtered” through the technologies<br />
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CUCOS ‐ The Impact of the Current Technologies on the Formation of the<br />
Personality of Yo<strong>un</strong>g People<br />
employed and will certainly be different in the cases<br />
mentioned above.<br />
The new comm<strong>un</strong>ication means, based on e‐mailing and<br />
instant messaging, and not on the traditional mailing,<br />
entail new dimensions and representations regarding<br />
space, time, the value of things and that of people. If the<br />
classical telegram involved an in<strong>for</strong>mational transfer<br />
within a particular time interval through a tangible device<br />
(everyday more convenient from a social and technological<br />
point of view), the new comm<strong>un</strong>ication means liaise almost<br />
instantly somewhat "voided" creatures, sometimes with no<br />
face or appearance, with no relation to a tangible support<br />
(the colour and the smell of the sheet of paper, the<br />
calligraphic peculiarities, the <strong>for</strong>mat and the style of the<br />
stamp etc.). The tangibility of the comm<strong>un</strong>icational device<br />
together with a whole plethora of meanings the latter<br />
bears disappear <strong>for</strong>ever. The personalisation of the<br />
message is done only at the content level, and if it is done<br />
otherwise, it remains somewhat pre‐established,<br />
suggested, the user having the liberty of choosing an<br />
alternative out of many already existing ones.<br />
Comm<strong>un</strong>ication based on the new devices imposes itself<br />
with a series of drawbacks, but it can also be an opening<br />
due to the technological skills that it supposes.<br />
The comm<strong>un</strong>icational technological novelties create<br />
new opport<strong>un</strong>ities, but also new servitudes related to our<br />
role on the social scene. The new space facilitates a virtual<br />
extension, a multiplication of our presence, an<br />
<strong>un</strong>repeatable and fantastic ubiquity (within the same time<br />
interval, somebody can read one of my articles published<br />
in an online magazine, somebody else can view my<br />
Curriculum Vitae on my personal website, while someone<br />
else can contact me by e‐mail or instant messaging). On the<br />
other hand, my own privacy can hardly be protected, since,<br />
wherever I am, I can be reached on my mobile phone or,<br />
why not, “tracked down” on the messenger program –<br />
when I am at the office, I take a break or speak to<br />
somebody. Even if I have the freedom to decide what to let<br />
the others see, eventually the new digital technicalities<br />
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No. 2, January 2008<br />
make me the victim of other persons’ indiscretions and<br />
“voyeurist” temptations. Consequently, I may sometimes be<br />
<strong>for</strong>ced to opt <strong>for</strong> other “masks” and “faces”, according to<br />
the technological alternatives provided by the place I am<br />
in.<br />
As a general rule, the technical domain supposes<br />
standardization, repetitiveness, activation of certain<br />
human dimensions that resonate, to a certain extent, with<br />
the algorithmicity peculiar to the external artefact. It<br />
awakens and enhances the very “mechanical”<br />
predispositions from within ourselves. Sometimes, it<br />
“summons” man to become a robot, through a bizarre<br />
mechanism, trans<strong>for</strong>ming him into an extension or into a<br />
simple “tool” of the artefact. Technology abuse develops a<br />
certain addiction (like any other excessive consumption)<br />
and a spiritual laziness, which can alienate us from our<br />
own existential essence and logic.<br />
It is important that the interaction between man and<br />
machines should not degenerate into an overlapping and<br />
that each entity should stick to what it actually is. God<br />
<strong>for</strong>bid that we reach the day when men would become<br />
machines and machines would replace men!<br />
In order to make a diagnosis of yo<strong>un</strong>g people’s<br />
representations and options concerning the present‐day<br />
technologies, we have <strong>un</strong>dertaken a survey, based on<br />
questioning several youth groups – pupils and students –<br />
from the educational system in Iasi. This will allow us to<br />
draw a series of conclusions at the end of the survey that<br />
would fuse the general theses developed above with the<br />
empirical observations backed‐up by the field research.<br />
II. Research on the Influence of the New<br />
Technologies on Yo<strong>un</strong>g People<br />
The Research Hypotheses<br />
As regards yo<strong>un</strong>g people’s position towards the Media<br />
<strong>un</strong>iverse and the digital culture:<br />
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CUCOS ‐ The Impact of the Current Technologies on the Formation of the<br />
Personality of Yo<strong>un</strong>g People<br />
1. There are differences, according to the education<br />
level and the gender criteria, regarding the questionees`<br />
opinions on the cultural valencies of the Internet.<br />
2. There are differences, according to the education<br />
level and the gender criteria, regarding the Internet usage<br />
frequency.<br />
3. There are differences, according to the education<br />
level and the gender criteria, regarding the activity types<br />
<strong>un</strong>dertaken on the Internet.<br />
4. There are differences, according to the education<br />
level and the gender criteria, regarding the activated<br />
mobile phone f<strong>un</strong>ctions.<br />
5. There are differences, according to the education<br />
level and the gender criteria, regarding Internet usage <strong>for</strong><br />
academic purposes.<br />
6. There are differences, according to the education<br />
level and the gender criteria, regarding Internet addiction.<br />
7. Internet usage frequency is to be associated, to a<br />
greater extent, to Internet addiction, rather than to<br />
Internet usage <strong>for</strong> academic purposes.<br />
8. The pupils and the students are able to identify both<br />
the advantages and the risks to which they expose<br />
themselves through accessing the Internet and the Media.<br />
The Method<br />
The <strong>un</strong>dertaken research was based on the<br />
questionnaire‐based survey method.<br />
The Respondents Group<br />
The survey focused on a total of 224 respondents, high<br />
school pupils from Iasi and students from the „Al. I. Cuza”<br />
University in Iasi. 115 of the total number of the<br />
respondents were second year students, while 109 were<br />
tenth grade pupils. According to the gender variable, the<br />
respondents group included 81 male subjects and 141<br />
female subjects, two respondents refusing to specify their<br />
gender.<br />
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No. 2, January 2008<br />
The following graph illustrates the respondents group,<br />
according to the Gender and Education Level variables<br />
(High School, University). (Graph No. 1. and Graph No. 2.)<br />
Variables<br />
Independent Variables:<br />
• Education Level, two categories: High School and<br />
University<br />
• Gender, two categories: Male, Female<br />
Dedependent Variables:<br />
• The cultural valencies of the Internet<br />
• The Internet usage<br />
• The mobile phone accessed f<strong>un</strong>ctions<br />
• The Internet usage <strong>for</strong> academic purposes<br />
• The Internet addiction<br />
• Advantages and risks to which the yo<strong>un</strong>g expose<br />
themselves through accessing the Internet and the Mass<br />
media.<br />
Instruments<br />
The cultural valencies of the Internet. The respondents<br />
were assigned a list of six questions and asked to give<br />
Yes/No answers to each of them, according to their own<br />
opinions. The six questions were: 1. Do you think that the<br />
classical culture can be replaced with the digital one, i.e<br />
books replaced with the Internet? 2. Did watching certain<br />
movies determine you to read the books that inspired<br />
them? 3. Does the Internet represent an occasion <strong>for</strong> us to<br />
become more sensitive to the spokespersons of other<br />
cultures? 4. Did/Does the Internet encourage the inter‐<br />
religious tolerance? 5. Is there a direct relationship<br />
between the manifestation of the Islamic f<strong>un</strong>damentalism<br />
and restricting/<strong>for</strong>bidding access to the new Media<br />
technologies (Internet, Mass media, mobile telephony) to<br />
the peoples referred to above? 6. Are you a member of an<br />
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Internet chat group? If so, what is the specific of the group<br />
in question?<br />
Internet usage. The respondents were asked to indicate<br />
the Internet usage frequency (occasionally, twice a week,<br />
weekly and daily), the time that they usually spend on an<br />
Internet session (less than one hour, 1‐2 hours, 2‐4 hours,<br />
more than four hours) and the extent to which they<br />
frequently <strong>un</strong>dertake different activities on the Internet<br />
(using the E‐mail, searching <strong>for</strong> useful in<strong>for</strong>mation,<br />
reading/watching the news, accessing games, instant<br />
messaging, listening to Mp3s and downloading movies ,<br />
downloading software and documents, listening to<br />
particular radio stations or watching TV shows, accessing<br />
porno websites). The same Internet usage measurement<br />
method was also used by Hong, Y., Li, X., Mao, R. & Stanton,<br />
B. (2007) on the occasion of a survey <strong>un</strong>dertaken on<br />
Chinese students.<br />
Internet usage <strong>for</strong> academic purposes was measured<br />
through adapting the questionnaire made by Joiner et al<br />
(2006). The questionnaire contains 10 items and the<br />
answer variants are rated on a Likert scale of 5 steps (1 =<br />
never, 2 = once a week, 3 = several times a week, 4 = once a<br />
day and 5 = several times a day). The Cronbach alpha<br />
internal consistency coefficient presented by the author in<br />
the above mentioned survey was α =.93, while the stability<br />
test‐retest coefficient was Spearman Rho = .88. In our<br />
survey, the obtained Cronbach alpha fidelity coefficient<br />
was α = .75.<br />
Internet addiction was measured through adjusting the<br />
Internet addiction scale (Hur, M. H., 2006). The scale has six<br />
items and the answer variants are rated on a Lickert scale<br />
of 4 steps (1 = never, 2 = sometimes, 3 = often, 4 = always).<br />
The Cronbach alpha internal consistency coefficient<br />
presented by the author in the survey referred to above<br />
was α =.87. In our survey, the obtained Cronbach alpha<br />
fidelity coefficient was α = .76.<br />
The accessed mobile phone f<strong>un</strong>ctions . The respondents<br />
were asked to indicate the mobile phone f<strong>un</strong>ctions that<br />
they use in their everyday lives (games, in<strong>for</strong>mation,<br />
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written comm<strong>un</strong>ication through SMSs and orientation<br />
through GPS).<br />
The Procedure (the <strong>un</strong>dertaking of the survey)<br />
The survey was conducted in October 2007. The<br />
educational institutions where it was made were the<br />
„Costache Negruzzi” College, the „V. Alecsandri” High<br />
School and the „Al. I Cuza” University. The students who<br />
participated in the survey were from the Faculty of History<br />
and from the Faculty of Geography. The respondents were<br />
guaranteed the confidentiality of their answers.<br />
The Results Analysis<br />
For the results analysis, the SPSS <strong>for</strong> Windows Version<br />
10.0 was used. The results partly confirmed the la<strong>un</strong>ched<br />
hypotheses. The used statistical methods were the<br />
frequencies analysis, the Chi Square tests and the Mann‐<br />
Whitney U tests.<br />
The Cultural Valencies of the Internet<br />
As the Table No. 1 shows, a considerable majority of the<br />
respondents consider that the classical culture cannot be<br />
replaced with the digital one, i.e. books by the Internet<br />
(70%), the percentages being similar both <strong>for</strong> pupils and<br />
students. For a change, although both girls and boys are in<br />
favour of the classical culture, girls are considerably more<br />
determined than boys regarding the fact that Internet<br />
cannot replace books, that the digital culture is <strong>un</strong>able to<br />
replace the classical one, χ 2 (1) = 13.096.<br />
As <strong>for</strong> the fact that watching movies could lead to<br />
reading the books that inspired them is regarded, the<br />
respondents` opinion is favourable, 69.2% of the latter<br />
considering that watching certain movies motivated them<br />
to read the books that inspired those movies, the<br />
percentages being similar in girls` case and in boys`.<br />
Nevertheless, although the influence is greatly noticeable<br />
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<strong>for</strong> both girls and boys, it is significantly more obvious in<br />
girls` case, χ 2 (1) = 6.135.<br />
As regards the Internet positive influence on making<br />
people become more sensitive to the spokespersons of<br />
other cultures, most of the respondents were in favour of<br />
the hypothesis (57.7%), the percentages being similar both<br />
in the case of pupils and in that of students, equally <strong>for</strong><br />
boys and girls.<br />
As far as the contribution of the Internet to spreading<br />
religious tolerance is concerned, only 41.4% of the<br />
respondents agree with this hypothesis, the opinions<br />
ressembling , whether pupils` or students`, boys` or girls`.<br />
At the same time, the great majority of the respondents<br />
(60%) consider that there is a direct relationship between<br />
the manifestation of the Islamic f<strong>un</strong>damentalism and<br />
restricting/<strong>for</strong>bidding access to the new Media<br />
technologies, whether Internet, mobile telephony,<br />
<strong>un</strong>censored television or written press) to the peoples<br />
referred to above. Opinions are similar both in pupils` case<br />
and in students`. For a change, girls consider that the<br />
relationship is far stronger χ 2 (1) = 3.985, the explanation<br />
lying in the fact that they are naturally more sensitive than<br />
boys or that the Islamic culture censors women’s rights<br />
and gender equality does not exist.<br />
Lastly, only a small part of the respondents are<br />
members of Internet chat groups (31.5%), the same<br />
holding true <strong>for</strong> both pupils and students. There is,<br />
however, an important discrepancy between boys and<br />
girls, the percentage of boys being registered in Internet<br />
chat groups being considerably greater than that of girls, χ 2<br />
(1) = 3.948. The results <strong>for</strong> the entire respondents group<br />
are presented in Graph No. 1. (See Table No. 1 and Graph<br />
No. 1).<br />
Internet Usage<br />
As far as Internet usage frequency is concerned, 59% of<br />
the respondents declared that they access the Internet<br />
every day, 17% every week, 2,7% once in two weeks and<br />
21% occasionally (See Table No. 2 and Graph No. 2).<br />
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At the same time, 15.2% of the respondents declared<br />
that they spend more than four hours on an Internet<br />
session, 33% 2‐4 hours, 37.1% 1‐2 hours and 14.7% less<br />
than one hour (See Table No. 3 and Graph No. 3).<br />
Our purpose was to check if there are significant<br />
differences regarding Internet usage frequency and the<br />
time spent on an Internet session, according to the<br />
education level and gender variables. In order to do this,<br />
we have applied the <strong>un</strong>parametric Mann‐Whitney U. test.<br />
The results show that boys access a lot more often the<br />
Internet (z = 4.056, p < .001) and spend more time on an<br />
Internet session (z = 2.654, p < .01) than girls.<br />
Likewise, pupils access a lot more often the Internet (z<br />
= 5.873, p < .001) and spend more time on an Internet<br />
session (z = 4.278, p < .001) than students.<br />
Activities Undertaken on the Internet<br />
The respondents reported that the activities most<br />
frequently <strong>un</strong>dertaken on the internet were, in order of<br />
ranking: searching <strong>for</strong> useful in<strong>for</strong>mation (91.1%),<br />
followed by listening to and downloading Mp3s and movies<br />
(76.8%), then by E‐mail usage (69.6%), instant messaging<br />
(65.2%), downloading software and documents (43.8%),<br />
reading or watching news (33%), accessing games (31.3%),<br />
listening to particular radio stations or watching TV shows<br />
(28.6%), and to a rather small extent, the accessing porno<br />
websites (5.4%) (Table 4, Graph 4). The hierarchy is<br />
approximately identical <strong>for</strong> pupils and students, <strong>for</strong> boys<br />
and girls.<br />
Likewise, there are considerable differences regarding<br />
the activities <strong>un</strong>dertaken on the Internet by the<br />
responders, according to the education level and gender<br />
variables. Thus, compared to students, pupils <strong>un</strong>dertake<br />
more frequently activities such as listening to and<br />
downloading Mp3s and movies [χ 2 (1) = 6.912], instant<br />
messaging [χ 2 (1) = 15.334], accessing games [χ 2 (1) =<br />
6.644]. On the other hand, students considerably engage<br />
themselves more than pupils on such Internet activities as<br />
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radio listening or watching TV shows [χ 2 (1) = 10.872] and<br />
accessing porno websites [χ 2 (1) = 12.018].<br />
At the same time, boys engage themselves considerably<br />
more often than girls in activities such as downloading<br />
software and documents [χ 2 (1) = 24.496], accessing games<br />
[χ 2 (1) = 30.266] and accessing porno websites [χ 2 (1) =<br />
8.120]. (See Table No. 4 and Graph no. 4)<br />
The F<strong>un</strong>ctions Accessed on the Mobile Phone<br />
Among the f<strong>un</strong>ctions accessed on the mobile phone, the<br />
most used one is the SMS messaging option, followed by<br />
documentation, games, and, with a rather low percentage,<br />
the GPS orientation (Table No. 5, Graph No. 5). The<br />
hierarchy remains approximately the same, no matter the<br />
respondents’ gender or their education level.<br />
Likewise, there are significant differences, according to<br />
the respondents` education level and gender, regarding the<br />
three most frequently used mobile phone f<strong>un</strong>ctions. Thus,<br />
pupils access the mobile phone games f<strong>un</strong>ction<br />
considerably more often than students [χ 2 (1) = 9.331]. On<br />
the other hand, students use the in<strong>for</strong>mation mobile phone<br />
f<strong>un</strong>ction to a significantly greater extent than pupils [χ 2 (1)<br />
= 12.316]. At the same time, boys are using the games<br />
mobile phone option much more often than girls [χ 2 (1) =<br />
9.589], whereas the latter use the SMS option of the mobile<br />
phones greatly more often than boys do [χ 2 (1) = 6.378].<br />
(See Tabel No. 5 and Graph No. 5)<br />
Advantages and Risks the Yo<strong>un</strong>g Submit Themselves<br />
to by Accessing the Internet and Mass Media<br />
Both pupils and students identified a series of<br />
advantages that the new media technologies (the Internet<br />
and the Mass media) provide (See Table No. 6 and Graph<br />
No. 6). We have opted <strong>for</strong> those which were most<br />
frequently referred to, noticing that most of the<br />
percentages are similar, as far as pupils and students are<br />
concerned.<br />
Other advantages the respondents suggested were: the<br />
alternative of becoming involved in a series of vol<strong>un</strong>teer<br />
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activities and projects, receiving guidance regarding the<br />
educational and the professional orientation, acquiring<br />
new hobbies, shopping, making online payments, freedom<br />
of speech, participating in different interactive activities<br />
(<strong>for</strong>ums etc.), being exposed to diversity and gaining new<br />
perspectives and, in the pupils‘ case, being able to get<br />
second opinions from the classmates, regarding<br />
homework.<br />
Furthermore, the pupils and the students have<br />
identified a series of risks to which the new media<br />
technologies (the Internet and the Mass media) could<br />
submit them (See Table No. 7). What is to be noted is the<br />
fact that, in most of the situations, the percentages are<br />
similar in the case of the two respondents groups.<br />
Other risks suggested by the respondents included:<br />
neglecting oneself, setting bo<strong>un</strong>ds to one’s imagination and<br />
critical spirit, a tendency towards monotony ("being a<br />
vegetable on a chair or on a couch"), the fraud, the<br />
possibility of enco<strong>un</strong>tering dangerous persons and also the<br />
exposure to a whole range of viruses.<br />
Internet Usage <strong>for</strong> Academic Purposes<br />
Our purpose was to check if there are significant<br />
differences regarding the Internet usage <strong>for</strong> academic<br />
purposes, according to the gender and education level<br />
variables. Since the Internet usage <strong>for</strong> academic purposes<br />
variable was not normally distributed (the scores to this<br />
variable are significantly different from a common curve,<br />
being deviated to the left), we have applied the<br />
<strong>un</strong>parametric Mann‐Whitney U. test. The results show that<br />
there are no significant differences between pupils and<br />
students, nor between the male and female respondents, as<br />
far as Internet usage <strong>for</strong> academic purposes is concerned.<br />
Internet Addiction<br />
We have equally tried to evaluate the possible<br />
significant differences, regarding Internet addiction,<br />
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according to gender and the education level variables.<br />
Since the Internet addiction variable was also not normally<br />
distributed, we applied again the <strong>un</strong>parametric Mann‐<br />
Whitney U. test. The results show that, compared to<br />
students, pupils manifest a far greater Internet addiction (z<br />
= 3.861, p < .001). At the same time, boys are more<br />
addicted to the Internet than girls (z = 3.623, p < .001).<br />
Conclusions<br />
The results of the present research confirm the fact that<br />
the yo<strong>un</strong>g are able to <strong>un</strong>derstand the cultural valencies of<br />
the new media technologies, and also the advantages and<br />
risks that such technologies can present <strong>for</strong> their<br />
personality and behaviour. According to their opinion, the<br />
classical culture cannot be replaced with the digital one<br />
(despite the easiness of accessing the in<strong>for</strong>mation<br />
electronically). Yo<strong>un</strong>g people also admit the important role<br />
that the new media technologies play in making us aware<br />
of the spokespersons of other cultures and equally of the<br />
inter‐religious tolerance, the access to in<strong>for</strong>mation being a<br />
way towards diversity and the acceptance of the otherness.<br />
Among the most accessed Internet activities by yo<strong>un</strong>g<br />
people are both the ones regarding <strong>for</strong>mation and<br />
documentation and those based on comm<strong>un</strong>ication and<br />
entertainment. As far as the mobile phone is concerned, the<br />
most accessed of its f<strong>un</strong>ctions by yo<strong>un</strong>g people is the SMS<br />
messaging documentation and games being used less often.<br />
Among the advantages of the new media technologies<br />
accessing, yo<strong>un</strong>g people mention documentation and the<br />
access to in<strong>for</strong>mation from all domains (<strong>for</strong> their studies)<br />
and comm<strong>un</strong>ication and entertainment. As regards the risk<br />
of the exposure to the new media technologies, the<br />
respondents suggested addiction, the possible health<br />
affections that can develop (the eyes fatigue, spine<br />
problems etc.), the sometimes erroneous in<strong>for</strong>mation, but<br />
also neglecting friends, families and educational activities<br />
or any other drawback.<br />
It is equally important to mention the fact that Internet<br />
usage <strong>for</strong> academic purposes is evenly <strong>un</strong>dertaken by<br />
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pupils and students, by both boys and girls. On the other<br />
hand, Internet addiction seems more considerable in the<br />
pupils` and boys` case, a plausible explanation being the<br />
fact that students are more focused on their professional<br />
<strong>for</strong>mation (compared to pupils), whereas girls tend to put a<br />
greater price on their social life (compared to boys).<br />
Research Limits and Future Analysis Directions<br />
Given that the present survey is of an observatory<br />
nature, the long term effects of the new media technologies<br />
exposure upon the personalities of yo<strong>un</strong>g people have not<br />
been thoroughly analysed, but simply mentioned. Further<br />
studies could shed light on the connection between certain<br />
advantages and risks peculiar to the new media<br />
technologies and the different personality types, together<br />
with the way through which certain advantages and risks<br />
peculiar to the new media technologies could influence the<br />
development of the personality of yo<strong>un</strong>g people. Certainly,<br />
risks should be neutralised. Education must aim at<br />
maximising the advantages and minimising the risks to<br />
which the youth could be submitted, through different<br />
educational programmes.<br />
III General Conclusions and Open Issues<br />
The results of the survey allow us to conclude that the<br />
current technology has become a prerequisite <strong>for</strong> a yo<strong>un</strong>g<br />
person, many of the latter`s activities being generated and<br />
accompanied by today`s technological structures. Starting<br />
from the activity of learning, that of getting in<strong>for</strong>med, that<br />
of working up to the entertainment and recreation activity,<br />
having a pragmatic or an esthetic character, in a collective<br />
perspective or an intimately individual one, all these<br />
elements are built upon the new technologies or are<br />
mediated through them. Rejecting technology, in the name<br />
of a number of so‐called <strong>absolut</strong>e theoretical values would<br />
mean not paying attention to reality and rejecting it. The<br />
best thing to do would be to subdue technology, to<br />
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humanize and spiritualise it, assigning it practices where<br />
the values complementarity should be present.<br />
Recognising the conduct that the youth have adopted<br />
towards the new technologies makes us think that they are<br />
not considerably negative and blamable, the way they may<br />
be described at a first glance. Most of the youth use<br />
technology very carefully and within reasonable limits, the<br />
excesses not being greater than the ones peculiar to other<br />
psycho‐behavioural contexts. Nevertheless, the delay and<br />
the creation of certain habits – and also the awareness<br />
regarding their existence! – makes us not loose from our<br />
sight the possible slippings, that we can prevent at the<br />
level of our educational activities. Especially when the<br />
people had in view are still flexible and sensitive to the<br />
different educogen stimuli.<br />
As <strong>for</strong> the importance of the knowledge mediated<br />
through these technologies, the respondents admit the fact<br />
that technology is the main source of connecting to certain<br />
values, but that, sometimes, it is an interface related to the<br />
classical culture, enhancing, <strong>for</strong> some of them, the need to<br />
go directly to such sources. Taking into acco<strong>un</strong>t the fact<br />
that the very classical culture got "digitalised”, through the<br />
access to everyday more online libraries or through virtual<br />
tours of some great museum, we consider that not even<br />
this aspect is to be considered a f<strong>un</strong>damental danger. What<br />
matters the most is the relation established with a<br />
particular value, and not necessarily the path (medium) to<br />
reach to it.<br />
The youth treat the new connections as opport<strong>un</strong>ities<br />
of a mutual acquaintance with other spiritual <strong>for</strong>ms, with<br />
the spokespersons of different cultures. They know that<br />
the feelings of tolerance and respect towards other persons<br />
can be <strong>for</strong>med and enhanced through the digital<br />
technologies. What I didn`t have in mind to check on this<br />
occasion, but it would be very interesting to do that, would<br />
be to see if the youth are aware of the situation and, at the<br />
same time, of the possible dangers of the spiritual<br />
dispersion and of the loss of identity.<br />
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An important conduct associated with these<br />
technologies is the comm<strong>un</strong>ication of an instrumental,<br />
in<strong>for</strong>mational and affective nature. Besides the knowledge<br />
transfer, the youth “transfer” themselves, with their<br />
interests, mind states, feelings and projections. This would<br />
mean that this part of the comm<strong>un</strong>ication process<br />
complements or compensates <strong>for</strong> some losses <strong>un</strong>dertaken<br />
at the level of the alive, natural comm<strong>un</strong>ication. Developing<br />
some habits of remaining connected longer than needed<br />
betrays the fact that, <strong>for</strong> some youth, this affection need is<br />
met mostly in this manner, which is not appropriate.<br />
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Bibliographical Reference<br />
1. DUCLOS, Denis (2002), Société‐monde: le temps des ruptures,<br />
Paris : La Découverte – MAUSS<br />
2. HEBRARD, Christophe (2001) Le village virtuel 3d. Introduction à<br />
<strong>un</strong>e ethnologie des comm<strong>un</strong>autés virtuelles, http://alor.<strong>un</strong>iv‐<br />
montp3.fr/cerce/revue.htm.<br />
3. HONG, Y., Li, X., Mao, R. & Stanton, B. (2007) Internet Use<br />
Among Chinese College Students: Implications <strong>for</strong> Sex Education and<br />
HIV Prevention. CyberPsychology & Behavior, 20, 161‐169<br />
4. HUR, M. H. (2006) Demographic, Habitual, and<br />
Socioeconomic Determinants of Internet Addiction Disorder: An<br />
Empirical Study of Korean Teenagers. CyberPsychology & Behavior,<br />
9, 514‐525<br />
5. JOINER, R. et al (2006) Internet Identification and Future<br />
Internet Use. CyberPsychology & Behavior, 9, 410‐414<br />
6. LEVY, Pierre, Qu’est‐ce que le virtuel? (1995) Paris : La<br />
Découverte<br />
7. PERRENAUD, Philippe (1998) Cyberdémocratisation. Les<br />
inégalités réelles devant le monde virtuel d’Internet in La revue des<br />
Echanges (AFIDES), Volume 15, Issue 2.<br />
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No. 2, January 2008<br />
Captions <strong>for</strong> Figures<br />
Graph No. 1. The Graphical Illustration of the Responders Group,<br />
according to the Gender Variable<br />
Female<br />
62,9%<br />
Missing<br />
0,9%<br />
Male<br />
36,2%<br />
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Graph No. 2. The Graphical Illustration of the Respondents Group,<br />
according to the Education Level variable<br />
82<br />
51,3%<br />
Students<br />
Pupils<br />
48,7%
<strong>Journal</strong> <strong>for</strong> Interdisciplinary Research on Religion and Science,<br />
No. 2, January 2008<br />
Tabel No. 1 The percentage results on the items regarding the cultural<br />
valencies of the Internet, on the whole, and also differentiated according<br />
to the education level and gender variables and the χ 2 tests results.<br />
83<br />
fn: the χ 2 test results are not to be taken into consideration
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Creation<br />
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Table No. 2<br />
The percentage results on the items regarding the Internet usage<br />
frequency, on the whole, and also differentiated according to the<br />
education level and gender variables.<br />
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Table No. 3<br />
The percentage results on the items regarding the time spent on an<br />
Internet session, on the whole, and also differentiated according to<br />
education level and gender variables the.<br />
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Table No. 4. The percentage results on the items regarding the Internet<br />
activities types, on the whole, and also differentiated according to the<br />
education level and gender variables, together with the χ 2 tests results.<br />
fn: the χ 2 test results are not to be taken into consideration<br />
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Table No. 5 The percentage results on the item regarding the mobile phone<br />
accessed f<strong>un</strong>ctions, <strong>for</strong> the whole respondents group, and also differentiated<br />
according to the education level and gender variables, together with the χ 2 tests<br />
results.<br />
fn: the χ 2 test results are not to be taken into consideration<br />
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Table No. 6. The percentage results on the item regarding the<br />
advantages of accessing the Internet and of the exposal to Mass media,<br />
differentiated <strong>for</strong> pupils and students<br />
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Table No. 7. The percentage results on the items regarding the risks of<br />
accessing the Internet and of the exposal to Mass media, differentiated<br />
<strong>for</strong> pupils and students.<br />
95
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No. 2, January 2008<br />
Theology and Ecology. Hermeneutical Insigts <strong>for</strong> a<br />
Christian Eco‐Theology<br />
Rev. Gheorghe POPA *<br />
* "Al. I. Cuza" University, “Dumitru Stăniloae” Faculty of Orthodox Theology,<br />
Closca Street, No. 9, 700066, Iasi, Romania<br />
E‐mail Address: gt_popa@yahoo.fr<br />
Abstract<br />
Nature has always “longed <strong>for</strong> salvation”,<br />
nowadays more than ever, as man has abused Nature,<br />
separated it from God and used it <strong>for</strong> his own selfish<br />
purposes. It is a tragic fact that this autonomy has not<br />
contributed in any way to the freedom of man, but to<br />
slavery, to his submission to nature and the laws of<br />
necessity. Consequently, general belief defines our<br />
time as dominated by a deep spiritual crisis which<br />
distorts the relationship between man and the<br />
environment.<br />
We consider that reestablishing patristic thought ‐<br />
based on a Christocentric vision of Creation – could be<br />
essential <strong>for</strong> the <strong>un</strong>derstanding and resolution of the<br />
present state of crisis. This vision doubles the faith of<br />
several contemporary humanists in restoring the sense<br />
of “logos” or of “history in Christ” <strong>for</strong> our history,<br />
meant to give transcendent freedom to human freedom<br />
where all Creation could rest. There<strong>for</strong>e, in the present<br />
article I would like to outline a few hermeneutical<br />
insights <strong>for</strong> a possible dialogue between contemporary<br />
ecology and Christian theology.<br />
I. Preliminaries<br />
It is well known that, even from 1961, numerous<br />
theologians actively involved in the ecumenical movement<br />
started to ask themselves questions about nature, science,<br />
technology and the impact of the technological society on<br />
human dignity.<br />
The third World Conference on Church and Society<br />
(1966) discussed the issue of providing an answer <strong>for</strong> the<br />
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social technological revolutions that had determined new<br />
structures of spiritual experience. The fourth Conference,<br />
held in Uppsala in 1968 broadened the same problems<br />
debated on at Geneva in 1966.<br />
The United Nations Conference on the Human<br />
Environment (Stockholm, 1972) shared the increasing<br />
concern of Churches <strong>for</strong> ecology 1 .<br />
Finally, the seventh Assembly of the World Co<strong>un</strong>cil of<br />
Churches 2 , meeting in Canberra was centered on<br />
rediscovering an integrative vision of creation that would<br />
determine a new attitude of the modern man towards<br />
environment.<br />
These strong concerns were born because Nature<br />
“longed <strong>for</strong> salvation”, nowadays more than ever, as man<br />
had abused Nature, separated it from God and used it <strong>for</strong><br />
his own selfish purposes. It is a tragic fact that this<br />
autonomy has not contributed in any way to the freedom of<br />
man, but to slavery, to his submission to nature and the<br />
laws of necessity. Consequently, general belief defines our<br />
time as dominated by a deep spiritual crisis which distorts<br />
the relationship between man and the environment.<br />
We consider that reestablishing patristic thought –<br />
based on a Christocentric vision of Creation – could be<br />
essential <strong>for</strong> the <strong>un</strong>derstanding and resolution of the<br />
present state of crisis. This vision doubles the faith of<br />
several contemporary humanists in restoring the sense of<br />
“logos” or of “history in Christ” <strong>for</strong> our history, meant to<br />
give transcendent freedom to human freedom where all<br />
Creation could rest. There<strong>for</strong>e, in the present article I<br />
would like to outline a few hermeneutical insights <strong>for</strong> a<br />
possible dialogue between contemporary ecology and<br />
Christian theology.<br />
1 Paix et justice pour la creation entière. Intégralité des textes et<br />
documents officiels édités par la Conférence des Eglises européennes<br />
et le Conseil des Conférences Episcopales Européennes, avec <strong>un</strong>e<br />
introduction de M. Jean Fischer et de Mgr. Ivo Fürer, Paris, 1989, p.<br />
264.<br />
2 Held in February 7‐20, 1991.<br />
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II. The Theological Vocation of Creation<br />
The whole patristic theology states that God the Father<br />
creates the world through His Son in the Holy Spirit 3 . The<br />
world or “the cosmos” is ontologically based on God, not on<br />
itself. The world does not exist since the beginning, in<br />
coeternity with God; on the contrary, it is created out of<br />
nothing (ex nihilo) as a proof of God – the Trinity in his<br />
creative love and freedom. Hence the world bears the icon<br />
of Trinity in its inner self, its structure is a Trinitarian and<br />
a comm<strong>un</strong>itarian one.<br />
In order to transfer the a<strong>for</strong>ementioned theological<br />
statement to conceptual language, the Church Fathers used<br />
two concepts from the Gospel According to Saint John and<br />
the Letters of Saint Apostle Paul, i.e. λόγος and πνεΰμα<br />
which have been translated in Romanian by Cuvânt<br />
(Word) and Duh (Spirit).<br />
Saint Irenaeus considers the Word (Logos) and the<br />
Spirit as the “hands” of God the Father that brought the<br />
world to being from non‐being. Thus the world is<br />
“animated” and “spiritual”. In other words, the world has a<br />
“logical” rational structure with a message <strong>for</strong> man and a<br />
divine finality.<br />
The logical structure of our world has been accepted<br />
even by the Ancient philosophers. For instance, the Stoic<br />
philosophers considered λόγος to be a cosmological<br />
principle, synonymous with the human being (ουσία) 4 .<br />
The concept of λόγος is also employed by Philo of<br />
Alexandria, a Jewish philosopher who stated that the world<br />
had been created by God’s λόγος. His conception draws on<br />
the text of Genesis in order to establish a link between the<br />
Greek cosmology and the one present in the Old Testament.<br />
3 St. Athanasius, О γαρ Πατιρ δια του λογου εv τω πvευματι κτιζει<br />
τα παvτα (Letter III, S.P.G., XXVI, 632 B.C.), apud Părintele Galeriu,<br />
Jertfă şi răscumpărare [Father Galeriu, Sacrifice and Deliverance],<br />
Anastasia Publishing House, Bucharest, 1991, p. 52.<br />
4 Deacon Prof. Dr. Nicolae Balca, Istoria filosofiei antice [The<br />
History of Ancient Philosophy], IBMBOR Publishing House, Bucharest,<br />
1982, p. 246.<br />
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It was only natural <strong>for</strong> the Christian theologians to<br />
make use of this concept, in their turn, both to bring<br />
arguments <strong>for</strong> the teachings of the Holy Trinity and its<br />
relationship with the created world.<br />
The first scholars engaged in this argumentative path<br />
were the Christian apologists living in the centuries 1‐3<br />
AD. However, their purpose was not to clarify the precepts<br />
on the Holy Trinity, but to bring arguments <strong>for</strong> the relation<br />
of equivalence between God and Truth be<strong>for</strong>e the Greeks –<br />
a very perilous enterprise, indeed. The starting point of<br />
their reflection corresponds to the Prologue of The Gospel<br />
according to Saint John in which Jesus Christ our Savior is<br />
identified with God’s eternal Logos and “all things were<br />
made by him” (John, 1, 3). If Christ is Logos, he is also<br />
Truth, according to the Christian apologists.<br />
By identifying Christ with Truth because he is the<br />
Logos, the apologists did not succeed in completely<br />
surmo<strong>un</strong>ting the static ontology of the Greeks. Such is the<br />
case of Saint Justin Martyr who defines God as supreme<br />
Truth: “That which always stays the same, and… is<br />
discernible to the mind alone (υοΰς)” 5 .<br />
Thus, the divine truth is an immovable object in the<br />
Platonist sense of the word, being related to the world<br />
through the mind or the human spirit (νοΰς) 6 .<br />
5 Saint Justin the Martyr and Philosopher, Dialogul cu iudeul Trifon,<br />
în Apologeți de limbă greacă [Dialogue with Trypho, a Jew in Greek<br />
Apologists], IBMBOR Publishing House, Bucharest, 1980, p. 95‐96. See<br />
http://www.piney.com/FathJustinDiaTrypho.html#P4044_787343 <strong>for</strong> the<br />
English version of the dialogue.<br />
6 Saint Justin agrees with Platon when it comes to the mind‐νοΰς –<br />
“the mind’s eye is of such a nature, and has been given <strong>for</strong> this end,<br />
that we may see that very Being when the mind is pure itself, who is<br />
the cause of all discerned by the mind, having no colour, no <strong>for</strong>m, no<br />
greatness‐nothing, indeed, which the bodily eye looks upon; but It is<br />
something of this sort, he goes on to say, that is beyond all essence,<br />
<strong>un</strong>utterable and inexplicable, but alone honourable and good, coming<br />
suddenly into souls well‐dispositioned, on acco<strong>un</strong>t of their affinity to<br />
and desire of seeing Him”. Cf. Sfântul Iustin Martirul şi Filosoful, op.<br />
cit., p. 96 [Saint Justin the Martyr and Philosopher, Ibidem <strong>for</strong> the<br />
English translation].<br />
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This relationship between God and the world leads us<br />
to the <strong>un</strong>derstanding of the concept of λόγος belonging to<br />
Him. There is an ontological connection (σΰγγενετα)<br />
between λόγος and human spirit, there<strong>for</strong>e, according to<br />
Saint Justin, Christ as λόγος becomes the link between God<br />
and the world, between God and human spirit.<br />
It is important to notice that the distinction between<br />
the divine λόγος and the human νοΰς is not clearly made,<br />
either in Saint Justin’s works or in the ones of the other<br />
Logos theologians such as Saint Clement of Alexandria or<br />
Origen as they continued to pay tribute to philosophy.<br />
However, they have shown the way to Christian theology<br />
<strong>for</strong> the philosophers to follow but they could not elucidate<br />
well enough the relationship between God and creation. As<br />
a result, their ideas indirectly led to the emergence of a<br />
series of heretical deviations, both theological and in<br />
relation with spiritual life. Their ideas were corrected later<br />
by other Church Fathers, especially Saint Athanasius the<br />
Great and Saint Maximus the Confessor.<br />
Saint Athanasius threw light on the Logos theology in<br />
its intellectualism that identified God, the incarnate Logos<br />
with God’s Son the Father, i.e. the second person of the<br />
Holy Trinity.<br />
This relation of equivalence between Christ – the Logos<br />
with God’s Son the Father was possible due to another<br />
theological movement, not epistemologically based or<br />
intellectually relating God with humanity, but which<br />
emphasized an existential relationship with Christ, the<br />
Logos of incarnate God as “in him was life” (John 1, 4).<br />
Identifying λόγος with life was <strong>un</strong>acceptable <strong>for</strong> the<br />
Ancient philosophy which considered that life was a value<br />
added to being and not the being itself 7 . There<strong>for</strong>e, the<br />
definition of λόγος as life belongs to the Holy Scripture.<br />
Saint Irenaeus stated that the tree of life in the Garden of<br />
7 Aristotle, De anima, 402 a‐b; 431b; apud Ioannis Zizioulas, Ființa<br />
eclesială [The Ecclesial Being], The Byzantine Publishing House,<br />
Bucharest, 1996, p. 77.<br />
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Eden represented Christ – the Logos and if Adam had<br />
tasted one of its apples, he would have become immortal 8 .<br />
For Saint Irenaeus, Christ – the Logos is not an<br />
epistemological principle that explains the mysteries of the<br />
<strong>un</strong>iverse, but a second person of the Holy Trinity who<br />
created the world and brought the promise of eternity <strong>for</strong><br />
it.<br />
It is important to mention that this belief of Saint<br />
Irenaeus was not intellectual, but rather developed from<br />
the Eucharistic epiclesis of Church which does not separate<br />
the work of Christ – the Logos from the work of the Holy<br />
Spirit. The Book of Genesis clearly expresses the identity<br />
between the work of Logos and of the Holy Spirit in the act<br />
of creation that spreads the love of God the Father: “And<br />
God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it” (Gen. 2, 3).<br />
The blessing of the world is the work of λόγος, and its<br />
sanctification belongs to the Holy Spirit, yet the two<br />
actions are not separated, but <strong>un</strong>ited in a “whole” as works<br />
of God – the Trinity. This fact is also <strong>un</strong>derlined by Origen:<br />
“The Holy Trinity is the beginning of all beings” 9 .<br />
Consequently, all beings, i.e. the creation in its whole<br />
originate in God – the Trinity.<br />
Nonetheless, theology distinguishes between the<br />
concepts of beginning and origin. While the <strong>for</strong>mer is only<br />
temporal, as time itself begins with the creation, the latter<br />
is eternal.<br />
The Holy Trinity is origin and beginning of the creation<br />
at the same time: it is origin because “the logical<br />
paradigms” of the entire creation in God exist since<br />
<strong>for</strong>ever, on the one hand and beginning as the same<br />
paradigms became “plastified reasons” due to the creative<br />
will of the Holy Trinity 10 .<br />
8 Saint Irenaeus, Adversus haeresis, 5, 20, 2; apud Henri de Lubac,<br />
Catholicisme, Cerf, Paris, 1952, p.150.<br />
9 Origen, In Psalmum, XVII, 16 P.G., XII, 1229 B; apud, Fr. Galeriu,<br />
ibidem, p. 51.<br />
10 The expression “plastified reasons” belongs to the terminology<br />
of Rev. Prof. Dr. Dumitru Stăniloae and defines the “logical” structure<br />
and the Christological vocation of the creation in its whole. See<br />
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The Holy Trinity does not only stand <strong>for</strong> the origin and<br />
the beginning of the creation, but also <strong>for</strong> its end, the final<br />
“rest” as presented in Genesis when God “is resting” in His<br />
creation and the creation, in its turn, is resting in God.<br />
God Almighty the transcendent is now to be felt by<br />
means of the <strong>un</strong>created energies and He becomes the<br />
“center” or the “heart” of the creation. There<strong>for</strong>e, in its<br />
inner self, the entire creation is oriented towards the God‐<br />
Trinity comm<strong>un</strong>ion.<br />
Saint Dionysius the Pseudo‐Areopagite captured this<br />
theological vocation of the creation in its whole: “Towards<br />
God all beings turn and desire Him. The ones with wisdom (νοΰς)<br />
and reason (λόγος) call Him through knowledge, whilst the sensible<br />
beings through their sensibility; the creatures lacking sensibility<br />
call Him through their life instincts and the inanimate ones that<br />
possess only their being call Him through their attitude of<br />
participation to all being (…) Light brings together and attracts all<br />
beings with sight (wisdom) and all that move, all in light and<br />
warmed by light, together with the ones existing only owing to the<br />
rays of light. All beings want it, either to “see”(know), move or<br />
receive light and warmth by its rays, or to continue their existence<br />
in light” 11 .<br />
As noted above, Saint Dionysius the Pseudo‐Areopagite<br />
regards creation as a Church and the movement of this<br />
creation towards God as a “cosmic liturgy” that comprises<br />
all beings.<br />
There<strong>for</strong>e, the creation does have a theological vocation<br />
but the way in which it is put into practice is not<br />
highlighted well enough by Saint Dionysius. It was Saint<br />
Maximus the Confessor who broadened Saint Dionysius’<br />
theological reflections and he was considered by many<br />
theologians to be the authentic Father of Eastern theology<br />
as he showed how the theological vocation of creation was<br />
fulfilled truly and completely in Christ.<br />
Teologia dogmatică ortodoxă (Orthodox Dogmatic Theology), vol. I, p.<br />
369.<br />
11 Dionysius the Pseudo‐Areopagite, On the Divine Names,<br />
translated in Romanian by Rev. Cicerone Iordăchescu and Theofil<br />
Simensky, Iaşi, 1936, p. 30.<br />
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According to Saint Maximus the Confessor, Christ, the<br />
incarnate Logos is the centre and the sense of the entire<br />
creation, its final aim <strong>for</strong> which it completed the journey<br />
from non‐being to being. “This is the greatest and most<br />
concealed mystery of all, writes Saint Maximus, the joyful aim and<br />
in its virtue of which all have been created; this is the divine goal<br />
established be<strong>for</strong>e the beginning of all things, and by defining it<br />
we say it is the ultimate aim thought be<strong>for</strong>e time and <strong>for</strong> which all<br />
exist, whilst <strong>for</strong> it nothing was made. Contemplating this final aim,<br />
God bought to life the beings of creatures (…) to be anno<strong>un</strong>ced by<br />
God’s existing Word (λόγος) that became human. So He revealed, if<br />
allowed to call in this way, the eternal deep of fatherly goodness<br />
and showed in Him the end <strong>for</strong> which the creatures were offered<br />
the beginning of existence. As <strong>for</strong> Christ, or <strong>for</strong> the Mystery of<br />
Christ, they received all centuries from the beginning of existence<br />
to their end in Christ” 12 .<br />
Its is obvious that starting with this text, Saint Maximus<br />
the Confessor adjusted the intellectual conception of<br />
creation sustained by Origin, replacing it with a<br />
Christocentric vision drawn on the incarnation of Logos.<br />
The act of incarnation is explained by the existing<br />
relationship between the “logical” structure of creation and<br />
the divine hypostatic Logos because in Him the reasons of<br />
the created beings subsist even be<strong>for</strong>e time and in the era<br />
meant <strong>for</strong> creation “he gave birth to the seen and the <strong>un</strong>seen<br />
from nothing as One who made all in reason and wisdom” 13 .<br />
The divine reasons (λογοι) of creation mentioned by<br />
Saint Maximus are not “pre‐existent‐spirits” as the ones in<br />
the Origenist doctrine, but “thoughts” or “paradigms” that<br />
God used to create the world according to his will and his<br />
<strong>un</strong>created energies.<br />
This adjustment brought to the Originist doctrine was<br />
possible due to the choice of Saint Maximus the Confessor,<br />
when establishing his theological reflection, <strong>for</strong> the Biblical<br />
distinction between created and <strong>un</strong>created, rather than the<br />
12 Saint Maximus the Confessor, Răsp<strong>un</strong>suri către Talasie (,<br />
Questions to Thalassius), translated in Romanian by Rev. Prof Dr.<br />
Dumitru Stăniloae, Filocalia, Sibiu, 1948, vol III, p. 327.<br />
13 Idem, Ambigua, translated in Romanian by Rev. Prof Dr. Dumitru<br />
Stăniloae, Bucharest, 1980.<br />
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duality intelligible‐sensible on which the entire Platonist<br />
philosophy rests.<br />
God – the Trinity is <strong>un</strong>created and immortal; on the<br />
contrary, His creation appeared in time with a vocation to<br />
fulfill: take part in the eternal comm<strong>un</strong>ion of the Holy<br />
Trinity. According to Saint Maximus, this task had to be<br />
carried out by Adam, the last element of the creation, a<br />
culmination of it as conscious and free being, responsible<br />
<strong>for</strong> the creation be<strong>for</strong>e God – the Trinity.<br />
III. Man: Icon of God on Earth and Conscious<br />
Hypostasis of Creation<br />
The idea of “icon” (εικων) of God <strong>for</strong>ms the nucleus of<br />
the Old Testament anthropology. Still, Genesis does not<br />
clearly establish the character of the icon of God which was<br />
transferred only to the human being, mentioning only the<br />
fact that man was created in a different way than the rest<br />
of the creation by means of God’s special intervention. He<br />
took dust of the gro<strong>un</strong>d with his hands (Logos and Spirit),<br />
modelled him after His image and breathed into his nostrils<br />
the breath of life; and man became a living soul (Gen. 2, 7).<br />
Saint Gregory of Nazianzus gives his own interpretation<br />
<strong>for</strong> the instance of Genesis described above: The Word<br />
(Logos) of God modelled us with his immortal hands, by<br />
taking dust from the newly created Earth, and breathed the<br />
breath of life upon us: the spirit born is a part of the<br />
<strong>un</strong>seen divinity. Thus, from dust and spirit, man was given<br />
the image of God that lies both in body and soul and rules<br />
over the spiritual nature. This is precisely why in my<br />
relation to dust, I am submitted to my life on Earth and I<br />
also bear inside me the wistfulness of life to come” 14 .<br />
An overview of the way in which the other Church<br />
Fathers interpreted the notion of “icon” or “image” of God<br />
14 Poemata Dogmatica, VII, Despre suflet [On the Soul], 70‐75, P.G.,<br />
t. 37, col. 4521; see also Olivier Clément, Întrebări asupra omului<br />
[Questions about Man], Alba‐Iulia, 1997, p.44 .<br />
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would reveal different connotations that complete one<br />
another without revealing the mystery of human person.<br />
Some Church Fathers have seen God’s reflecting image<br />
in man due to his imperial dignity, i. e. his ability to “reign”<br />
over the sensible creation and control his own body, others<br />
believed that his wisdom (νοΰς) or reason (λόγος) is the<br />
image of God, while others attributed to him the three<br />
faculties of the soul: mind, will and feeling or his specific<br />
freedom (αΰτεξουσία) that justifies his acts.<br />
Apart from the diversity of opinions already presented,<br />
two essential things must be pointed out: firstly, man is an<br />
indefinite being because it bears the image of the<br />
“indefinite” One; secondly, the Church Fathers proved<br />
freedom of thought at the highest creative and innovative<br />
level without contradicting the Revelation. They did not try<br />
to “marginalize” man, but “<strong>un</strong>marginalize” him in the<br />
horizon of God’s vocation. The Church Fathers did not<br />
depart from the image of God in man in order to <strong>for</strong>m a<br />
misconception about God derived from a psychological<br />
analogy. On the contrary, they followed the Revelation and<br />
what it says about God so as to find in man the<br />
correspondent of the divine image that was given to him.<br />
By adopting this theological method, the Church<br />
Fathers succeeded in overcoming the dilemmas of Ancient<br />
anthropology and the dualism between body (σωμα) and<br />
spirit (νοΰς) or soul (πνεΰμα) in particular. They especially<br />
<strong>un</strong>derlined the positive content of the “image”, i.e. the<br />
comm<strong>un</strong>ion with God in which human nature – both body<br />
and soul altogether – lies in the moment of creation in the<br />
Logos and Spirit of God, that is in the Son of God and the<br />
Holy Spirit respectively.<br />
Due to a proper interpretation of the Biblical<br />
anthropology, a series of Church Fathers such as Saint<br />
Irenaeus of Lyon, Saint Gregory of Nyssa or Saint Gregory<br />
Palamas clearly emphasized that not only the soul, but also<br />
the human body shares the quality of being the “icon” of<br />
God. Saint Gregory Palamas writes that “the name of God is<br />
not given to the soul or the body separately, but to both<br />
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altogether as they have been created as one in similitude<br />
with the image of God” 15 .<br />
There are some general aspects related to the “image”<br />
of God in man that concern directly the present subject of<br />
debate, there<strong>for</strong>e some clear specifications must be made.<br />
The first chapter of Genesis, line 27 reads: “So God<br />
created man in his own image, in the image of God he<br />
created him; male and female he created them”.<br />
An interpretation of this verse from the Trinitarian<br />
perspective highlighted above would lead to the conclusion<br />
that the notion of “image” or “icon” does not stand <strong>for</strong> the<br />
sexual polarity of human nature, but to the quality of man<br />
as person (προσωπον), comprising the entire human<br />
nature in its ontological content, either as man or as<br />
woman.<br />
The man as person does not take part in the human<br />
nature as the Persons of the Trinity are not parts of the<br />
Divinity in their turn. Man is the “person” of nature; thence<br />
he is free be<strong>for</strong>e any determinism or natural necessity.<br />
The notion of man – Adam – which appears in the text<br />
of Genesis, as quoted above, can also be interpreted as a<br />
general notion encompassing the entire humanity, the<br />
Universal Man that incorporates both the masculine and<br />
the feminine principle. This is one interpretation provided<br />
by Saint Gregory of Nyssa who was definitely inspired by<br />
Saint Paul’s Letters: “the name given to the man created (Adam)<br />
is not the particular, but the general name: thus we are led by the<br />
employment of the general name of our nature to some such view<br />
as this—that in the Divine <strong>for</strong>eknowledge and power all humanity<br />
is included in the first creation (…) For the image is not in part of<br />
our nature, nor is the grace in any one of the things fo<strong>un</strong>d in that<br />
nature, but this power extends equally to all the race: and a sign of<br />
this is that mind is implanted alike in all: <strong>for</strong> all have the power of<br />
<strong>un</strong>derstanding and deliberating, and of all else whereby the Divine<br />
nature finds its image in that which was made according to it: the<br />
man that was manifested at the first creation of the world, and he<br />
15 Prosopeiae, P.G., t. 150, col. 1361; apud VI. Lossky, Théologie<br />
mystique de l’Église d’Orient, Aubier, 1944.<br />
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that shall be after the consummation of all, are alike: they equally<br />
bear in themselves the Divine image. (…) Our whole nature, then,<br />
extending from the first to the last, is, so to say, one image of<br />
Him Who is” 16 .<br />
As quoted above, there is an ontological <strong>un</strong>ity of the<br />
humanity in its whole, but it is precisely this <strong>un</strong>ity that<br />
does not exclude the persons’ plurality or does not have a<br />
logical priority regarding it, in the same way in which the<br />
persons’ plurality must not divide its ontological <strong>un</strong>ity.<br />
From this point of view, the identity of being and the<br />
personal alteration <strong>for</strong>m a way of existence to be shared by<br />
both God and man. The only distinctive feature lies in the<br />
eternal existence of God as opposed to man’s life which is a<br />
gift of God who blessed the human existence with the ethos<br />
of Trinitarian comm<strong>un</strong>ion 17 in the act of creation.<br />
Besides the ontological <strong>un</strong>ity of the entire human race,<br />
the first chapter of Genesis illustrates the ontological <strong>un</strong>ity<br />
between man and creation. This <strong>un</strong>ity was also <strong>un</strong>derlined<br />
in the Ancient philosophy that considered man to be a<br />
“microcosm”, a “small‐world” that bears within itself the<br />
“macrocosm” 18 , the big‐world.<br />
The Church Fathers borrowed the idea of “microcosm”<br />
from the Book of Genesis, nevertheless they highlighted<br />
that it was not this quality that offered man the position in<br />
the “center” of creation, but his similitude to God as “icon”<br />
of His.<br />
This specific feature gives birth to another relationship<br />
of man with cosmos. Thus, he is not solely a “gratification”<br />
of creation, but its priest and poet altogether with the<br />
mission to bring the entire sensible creation to complete<br />
<strong>un</strong>ity with God – the Trinity.<br />
16 Saint Gregory of Nyssa, Despre crearea omului [On the Making of<br />
Man], 22 P.G. 44, 204‐205; apud Henri de Lubac, op. cit., p. 330. See<br />
http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/2914.htm <strong>for</strong> the English version.<br />
17 Christos Yannaras, La liberté de la Morale, Génève, Labor et<br />
Fides, 1982, p. 14.<br />
18 The Stoic philosophers emphasized the central position of man<br />
in the cosmos as a synthesis of it as the cosmos becomes through man<br />
“logical” and reasonable.<br />
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From this perspective, taken by the Church Fathers<br />
from chapter two of Genesis, creation does not stand <strong>for</strong> a<br />
simple “cosmos”, i.e. “an organized chaos”, one of the<br />
demiurge’s works, but a “Church to become” 19 , that is a<br />
place where man is to celebrate the Liturgy of God – the<br />
Trinity with the other beings. Precisely <strong>for</strong> this reason<br />
Genesis advocates that Adam has been invited to “name” all<br />
beings, i.e. to discover their “logos” and their dynamic<br />
orientation towards the supreme “Logos”.<br />
The gathering of beings created by God be<strong>for</strong>e Adam<br />
(Gen. 2, 19‐20) equals his investment with a sacerdotal<br />
vocation. In other words, the onto‐logical Doxology of<br />
beings must become a conscious one in the person of man.<br />
The doxological and ecclesial dimension of creation,<br />
fulfilled consciously in man and ontologically related to the<br />
cosmic nature, can be clearly distinguished from the way in<br />
which Genesis presents the relationship between nature<br />
and person.<br />
Not only does the cosmic nature have an ecclesial<br />
vocation, but the human nature itself also, because it is<br />
ontologically related to the cosmic nature which appears in<br />
Genesis as church and the human person as its priest.<br />
The human couple, man (iş in Hebrew) and woman<br />
(işa) <strong>for</strong>m “a single body” (Gen. 2, 23), i.e. a single nature<br />
that is separated in two persons. Man is the one who<br />
admits this identity of nature and personal alterity: “This is<br />
now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called<br />
Woman (işa in Hebrew), because she was taken out of Man (iş)”<br />
(Gen. 2, 18).<br />
The fact that, in his dialogue with woman, man proves<br />
to be the leader, must be <strong>un</strong>derstood in an ecclesial,<br />
Christological and theological sense which could be<br />
rendered as follows: God – the Trinity creates the world<br />
out of love and the world gives him love <strong>for</strong> an answer, in<br />
19 Rev. Prof. Dr. Dumitru Stăniloae, Spiritualitate şi com<strong>un</strong>i<strong>un</strong>e în<br />
Liturghia Ortodoxă [Spirituality and comm<strong>un</strong>ion in the Orthodox<br />
Liturgy], Craiova, 1986, p. 19.<br />
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its turn; Christ gives birth to the Church, through His<br />
crucified Love and the Church gives Him love <strong>for</strong> an<br />
answer; man has to love his woman as much as Christ<br />
loved the Church and the woman must give him love <strong>for</strong> an<br />
answer.<br />
There<strong>for</strong>e, the lines in Genesis do not express a<br />
subordinate relationship of woman to man; on the<br />
contrary, they establish a divine order in the human<br />
comm<strong>un</strong>ity through which the comm<strong>un</strong>itarian life of the<br />
Holy Trinity reveals itself to humanity and from humanity<br />
to the entire creation. In fact, the text overtly states that<br />
God presented the woman to her man putting her in front<br />
of him (“I will make him a help meet <strong>for</strong> him”, eter kenegdo)<br />
(Gen. 2, 18).<br />
In Hebrew, the preposition eter kenegdo does not<br />
express a subordinate relationship, as many<br />
interpretations in the history of culture have shown, but a<br />
special work of God meant <strong>for</strong> the single sad man 20 .<br />
Moreover, this preposition refers to the reality of an<br />
interpersonal dialogue, a “face to face” one and not a<br />
simple physical and objective recognition of the other. In<br />
the centre of this dialogue lies the vocation of “naming” the<br />
creation, i.e. the poetical and sacerdotal vocation of human<br />
person.<br />
This poetical and sacerdotal vocation was especially<br />
emphasized by Saint Maximus the Confessor in the first<br />
seven chapters of his Mystagogy. The work is closely<br />
related to the ontological relation between man and<br />
creation and to the five polarities that it comprises:<br />
1. the distinction between God’s creation and His<br />
<strong>un</strong>created energies;<br />
2. the distinction, within creation, between the<br />
intelligible nature and the sensible one;<br />
3. the distinction between sky and Earth within the<br />
sensible nature;<br />
20 Francine Carrilo – Cvetbert, Une seule chaire: L’imaginaire à<br />
l’épreuve du réel. In Bulletin du Centre Protestant d’Etudes, Génève, nr.<br />
1., février, 1983, p. 25‐26.<br />
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4. the distinction, on Earth, between Paradise and the<br />
rest of the Earth;<br />
5. the distinction, in Paradise, between man and<br />
woman.<br />
Starting from these distinctions, Saint Maximus the<br />
Confessor articulates the original vocation of man to<br />
overpass any aggressive dualism existing between the<br />
a<strong>for</strong>ementioned categories in order to share the divine life<br />
of the Holy Trinity and turn the entire cosmos in a<br />
“Trinitarian based” Church, if we were to employ Origen’s<br />
terminology 21 .<br />
Yet, this vocation, as I will prove in the following parts<br />
of my study, did not succeed because of “the fall of man<br />
into sin”, a failure which led both to the historical and<br />
existential exile of man, and the decadence of the entire<br />
creation.<br />
IV. Man in Exile and the Decay of Creation<br />
a. Man: center of all things?<br />
In order to <strong>un</strong>derstand the historical and existential<br />
exile of man, the Church Fathers used the symbolic image<br />
of <strong>un</strong>iversal man, the first Adam who virtually contained<br />
the entire human condition.<br />
The inspired text of the Holy Scripture shows us how<br />
man had to be subjected to the exercise of his personal<br />
freedom so as to complete his vocation of poet and priest<br />
of creation. This exercise was meant to take place in the<br />
horizon of calling, of comm<strong>un</strong>ion with God and the whole<br />
creation.<br />
Calling and liberty are, according to Saint Maximus the<br />
Confessor, “the two wings of man” 22 which help him fulfill<br />
21 Fr. Galeriu, ibidem, p. 51; see also VI. Lossky, Introducere în<br />
Teologia Ortodoxă [Orthodox Theology: An introduction], translated in<br />
Romanian by Lidia and Remus Rus, Enciclopedica Publishing House,<br />
Bucharest, 1993, p. 101.<br />
22 Cf. Paul Evdokimov, L’Orthodoxie, Paris, 1965, p. 102.<br />
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his vocation. However, calling is never to replace freedom<br />
because it represents the medium that secretly hosts God’s<br />
calling and the answer of man. Consequently, in the<br />
exercise of Adamic freedom, the Church Fathers distinguish<br />
two main steps: the freedom of choice, a hypostasis of the<br />
person as element of nature and the freedom in Truth that<br />
arises on the way, every time good is chosen in the virtue<br />
of the similitude with God.<br />
So the real freedom of man lies in the horizon of God’s<br />
calling, yet man has to accept freely the comm<strong>un</strong>ion with<br />
Him. In other words, “God created a free man so as to call<br />
him to deification, to have a divine‐human condition. This<br />
calling is based on a free answer from the part of man (…)<br />
Adam was submitted to the exercise of freedom in order to<br />
obtain a conscious love. Thus, man cannot truly love God if<br />
he can also refuse Him” 23 .<br />
In the symbolic language of Genesis, free will, called by<br />
Saint Augustine “libertas minor” 24 , is a very important part<br />
of man’s condition as only empowered by it, man can<br />
defend himself against constraints and proclaim his<br />
personal identity. In Genesis, it is this freedom that led<br />
man to sin, i.e. to the separation from God, to exile and<br />
death. In Blaise Pascal’s terms, the Adamic man was<br />
“nothing” in relation to the infinite, all in relation to<br />
“nothing”, a mean between nothing and everything,<br />
between being and non‐being in his right to free will.<br />
In Genesis, this possibility of choice is expressed in a<br />
concrete‐intuitive language impersonated by the tree of<br />
knowledge of good and evil (Gen. 2, 9).<br />
The Church Fathers provided different interpretations<br />
<strong>for</strong> this tree from the midst of the Garden of Eden.<br />
Interesting <strong>for</strong> our debate is the interpretation given by<br />
Saint Maximus the Confessor in his book, Questions to<br />
Thalassius: “if one argued that the tree of knowledge of good and<br />
evil represented the creation of what could be seen, one would not<br />
23 Olivier Clement, Questions sur l’homme, Paris, 1965, p. 45.<br />
24 De libero arbitro, 1, III, C. XIX; P.L. t. XXXII, col. 1297; apud<br />
Constantin Pavel, Problema răului la Fericitul Augustin [The Problem of<br />
Evil in Saint Augustine’s Works], Bucharest, 1937, p. 58.<br />
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be far from the truth (…); creating what could be seen had its own<br />
ecclesial reasons of bringing food to the mind and giving a natural<br />
power to please the senses, on the one hand and corrupting the<br />
mind, on the other hand. Thus, spiritual contemplation of what<br />
could be seen leads to the knowledge of good, whether the physical<br />
one results in sin and oblivion of the divine. Hence God <strong>for</strong>bade<br />
physical contemplation, delaying it to man – as be<strong>for</strong>e, in the truly<br />
awareness of his cause through comm<strong>un</strong>ion with it in calling and by<br />
means of this comm<strong>un</strong>ion, man had to exchange his given<br />
immortality <strong>for</strong> righteousness and immovability through calling –<br />
<strong>un</strong>til he became worthy of appreciating it without hurting himself<br />
in freedom with God due to sublimation of his spirit and senses<br />
through deification 25 ”.<br />
Thus, according to Saint Maximus the Confessor, the<br />
tree of knowledge of good and evil stands <strong>for</strong> the sensible<br />
world in which we live. Assumed in God’s Spirit, it leads us<br />
to the knowledge of good; on the contrary, accepted only<br />
from a psychological or biological perspective, it induces a<br />
false knowledge that mixes good with evil.<br />
Saint Maximus provides this symbolic interpretation in<br />
order to shed light on man’s possibility of choice between<br />
the two existential paths: comm<strong>un</strong>ion with God which is<br />
the equivalent of life and separation from God that brings<br />
death. Accordingly, the biblical terms of “good” and “evil”<br />
are not just moral, social or legal categories, but also<br />
ontological and existential ones.<br />
The tree of knowledge of good and evil lies in the center<br />
of Paradise, i.e. in the center of human existence. Good has<br />
eternal life as his only goal, that is life in comm<strong>un</strong>ion with<br />
Christ, while Evil, according to Saint Maximus the<br />
Confessor, does not have an ontological status in existence.<br />
However, on acco<strong>un</strong>t of the failure of freedom of choice, it<br />
can appear as a tragic reality in human life, leading it to<br />
separation and death.<br />
25 Saint Maximus the Confessor, Questions to Thalassius, translated<br />
in Romanian by Rev. Prof Dr. Dumitru Stăniloae, Filocalia, vol III, Sibiu,<br />
1948, p. 12.<br />
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Although evil does not have either an ontological status<br />
delivered by God, or the command to refrain from the tree<br />
of knowledge of good or evil, the issue is not centered on<br />
the act of knowledge itself, because as we have already<br />
seen, Adam was called to name all beings, i.e. to get<br />
acquainted to them in the divine sense.<br />
Tempted by a “Luciferian” knowledge, “Adam got the<br />
wrong idea about God. He believed that God is self sufficient as an<br />
independent, autonomous being and, in order to become like God,<br />
he disobeyed Him and fell into sin. But when God revealed himself,<br />
it happened in love (…). Believing that he was to become like God,<br />
Adam was totally moving from Him…deepening himself in<br />
singleness while God remained in comm<strong>un</strong>ion” 26<br />
There<strong>for</strong>e, the Adamic sin does not consist in the act of<br />
knowledge, but in the will to know and become a god, even<br />
though without God’s calling. Knowledge of good is not a<br />
sin, but the knowledge of good mixed with the knowledge<br />
of evil as product of man’s egocentric orientation is.<br />
Man proclaimed himself center of all things, center of<br />
knowledge of good and evil and thus his axiological<br />
conscience became corrupted, “Evil was placed along good and<br />
the heart of Adam was converted into a “laboratory” of justice and<br />
injustice” 27 .<br />
Thence God does not restrain man from knowledge,<br />
which in the biblical sense is to be identified with the true<br />
life, only its corruption and the corruption of human<br />
existence by means of a false <strong>un</strong>derstanding and practice of<br />
freedom.<br />
The restriction in Genesis was only a warning as man<br />
was not allowed to eat without God’s “blessing”, i.e. not<br />
“have a relationship with a thing be<strong>for</strong>e being prepared <strong>for</strong><br />
a proper relationship with it. However, contravening this<br />
command given by God is determined by the devil, a<br />
spiritual being that freely disobeyed God, reads the Book of<br />
Genesis. The devil is the one who first brings doubt to the<br />
soul of man, rephrasing God’s command by means of<br />
restrictive “logics” in which the stress falls on the part (Yea,<br />
26 Rev. Prof. Dr. Dumitru Stăniloae Orthodox Dogmatic Theology,<br />
vol. I, p. 12.<br />
27 Ibidem, p. 16.<br />
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hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden – Gen. 3,<br />
1) and not on the whole (Of every tree of the garden thou<br />
mayest freely eat – Gen. 2, 16) 28 ”. This holistic vision<br />
determines the fall and man is tempted to live on his own.<br />
He discovers his ego, becomes selfish, “falls in love” with<br />
himself and <strong>for</strong>gets about God and his kind.<br />
Becoming autonomous in his relationship with God,<br />
man has the tendency to put himself in the <strong>absolut</strong>e center<br />
of the world, reduce everything to him, even the ones of his<br />
kind. Yet, sooner or later, the world is to take revenge on<br />
man and as an <strong>un</strong>real, non‐<strong>absolut</strong>e center, he will be<br />
sentenced to bear the weight of his own rebellion through<br />
the mists of history.<br />
b. The corruption of creation and of human<br />
existence in the state of exile<br />
Exile is synonymous with the fall of human existence<br />
from the order of spiritual values and it also corresponds<br />
to a radical change in the way of “living” in the world. The<br />
Holy Scripture employs the same symbolic terminology in<br />
order to express this reality.<br />
The first consequence of his fall gives man a sensation<br />
of inner emptiness and a feeling of shame arises in his<br />
conscience.<br />
The “nakedness” felt by Adam in the state of fall is not<br />
of biological, but of spiritual order. In the external<br />
paintings of medieval churches in Bukovina, one can notice<br />
that Adam and Eve were not “naked” in Paradise, as reads<br />
the text of Genesis (2, 25). In fact, the painters transferred<br />
28 Christos Yannaras, when interpreting the moment of God’s<br />
temptation, specifies that “The devil first tempts the woman because in<br />
archetypal terms, she is the image of nature whilst man impersonates<br />
logos. The distinction between nature and logos, between the<br />
feminine and the masculine principle is not an axiological, but an<br />
existential one; nature is available <strong>for</strong> the incarnation of a life event,<br />
yet it needs the seed of logos <strong>for</strong> this incarnation to come into being”;<br />
see Christos Yannaras, La foi vivante de l’Eglise, Cerf, Paris, 1989, p.<br />
104.<br />
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the patristic interpretation to iconography, according to<br />
which in Paradise, man was “dressed”, i.e. he was wearing<br />
the blessing God’s – the Trinity in his being 29 . The painters,<br />
most of them monks, grasped the theological and ecclesial<br />
significance of the Biblical notion of “nakedness” and<br />
illustrated Adam and Eve “naked” after their sending <strong>for</strong>th<br />
from the Garden of Eden when they have already been<br />
deprived, i.e. “<strong>un</strong>dressed” by the divine blessing.<br />
The feeling of shame and fear that accompanies the<br />
sensation of ontological “emptiness” also expresses a state<br />
of corruption in terms of interpersonal relations. God who<br />
searched man in the “cool of the day” (Gen. 3, 8) is no<br />
longer felt by man as the one who loves him, but the one<br />
who “p<strong>un</strong>ishes” him. He is no longer felt as man’s intimate<br />
“friend”, but as “another” being, a stranger who threatens<br />
man’s individual autonomy by his simple presence.<br />
There<strong>for</strong>e, Adam stays hidden and it is this “hiding” that<br />
expresses the corruption of his moral responsibility in the<br />
state of sin. He “hid” when God called <strong>un</strong>to him (Gen 3, 9)<br />
and when he was discovered he brought arguments <strong>for</strong><br />
accusing God: “The woman whom thou gavest to be with<br />
me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat” (Gen. 3, 12).<br />
Hence the fall into sin has as primary consequences a<br />
spiritual crisis (a false representation of God and a<br />
corrupted relationship with Him) and a moral one<br />
(corruption of freedom and responsibility). The two<br />
instances of crisis are followed by a social crisis (the<br />
conflict between Cain and Abel).<br />
Indeed, in the state of sin, freedom no longer stands <strong>for</strong><br />
giving as it comes to denote egocentrism and possessive<br />
self affirmation. After being sent <strong>for</strong>th from Paradise,<br />
according to Genesis, man (iş) did no longer recognize his<br />
woman as işa, but he started calling her Eve, i.e. the<br />
mother of all living (Gen. 3, 20). Sin which “objectified”<br />
their bodies (and made them realize they were naked) also<br />
turned the two biological hypostaseis into two individual<br />
116<br />
29 Fr. Galeriu, op. cit., p. 56‐57.
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beings guided by a possessive instinct: “thy desire shall be<br />
to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee” (Gen. 3, 16).<br />
The same instinct of possession will also guide the<br />
relationship between man and creation by determining a<br />
serious “ecological crisis”, if we were to employ the<br />
contemporary terminology. Creation is no longer<br />
transparent, a medium of comm<strong>un</strong>ion <strong>for</strong> God and man<br />
because the latter exiled the <strong>for</strong>mer from the creation, thus<br />
opening the way to exile <strong>for</strong> him and the entire creation.<br />
Man feels lonely and abandoned in the middle of a hostile<br />
creation: “cursed is the gro<strong>un</strong>d <strong>for</strong> thy sake (…) Thorns<br />
also and thistles shall it bring <strong>for</strong>th to thee” (Gen. 3, 17‐18).<br />
In other words, Earth becomes a place that tears apart and<br />
imprisons and which God no longer keeps in His blessing.<br />
Thence, this is now man’s burying place: “In the sweat of<br />
thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return <strong>un</strong>to the<br />
gro<strong>un</strong>d; <strong>for</strong> out of it wast thou taken: <strong>for</strong> dust thou art, and<br />
<strong>un</strong>to dust shalt thou return” (Gen. 3, 19).<br />
It is obvious that man’s soul falls prey to despair due to<br />
this state of crisis, Yet, in order <strong>for</strong> man not to be torn<br />
apart by despair, God interferes once more: “Unto Adam<br />
also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins,<br />
and clothed them” (Gen, 3, 21).<br />
The “coats of skins” mentioned in Genesis were not part<br />
of man’s original outfit. There<strong>for</strong>e, there are several<br />
possible interpretations regarding them. Some scholars<br />
considered that these coats symbolically stood <strong>for</strong> the<br />
biological hypostasis of man and were hiding his personal<br />
alterity, thus orientating man towards death, as bo<strong>un</strong>dary<br />
established by God so that man’s state of ruin which he<br />
entered did not have to be eternal 30 .<br />
This interpretation of the “coats of skins” can be fo<strong>un</strong>d<br />
in the works of Methodius of Olympus and Saint Gregory of<br />
Nyssa.<br />
30 Panayotis Nellas, Omul, animal îndumnezeit,[Man ‐ Deified<br />
Animal], Deisis Publishing House, Sibiu, 1994, p. 40.<br />
op.cit., p. 191‐192.<br />
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Saint Methodius believed that “God made the coats of<br />
skins so as to dress man in mortality <strong>for</strong> all evil in him to<br />
die when his body opened” 31 .<br />
According to Saint Gregory of Nyssa, in the tragic<br />
horizon of exile, biological death actually brings a ray of<br />
hope since “the soul arises from death and is brought to life<br />
by means of it (if man had not died a biological death, he<br />
would have remained dead <strong>for</strong>ever)” 32 .<br />
As a result, the horizon of death replaces the “tree of<br />
life” in the center of existence after the fall into sin and<br />
man’s auto exile. Man enters a process of decay due to the<br />
empowerment of his soul by the seed of separation, instead<br />
the one of comm<strong>un</strong>ion; man dies because he has become an<br />
isolated being in cosmos, fighting <strong>for</strong> survival; he dies<br />
because he has ignored God’s love and justice.<br />
The Church Fathers claimed that God’s justice did not<br />
have only an ethical or legal content, but also an<br />
ontological one. Justice is synonymous with love and is<br />
displayed in creation by the order and the harmony it<br />
contains.<br />
The fall into sin ruined this order and harmony, that is<br />
“the righteousness of creation”, yet the p<strong>un</strong>ishment does<br />
not come from God as a legal act that calls <strong>for</strong> termination,<br />
but from “the righteousness of creation” itself. This can be<br />
clearly noticed in the dialogue between God and Cain after<br />
having murdered his brother: “What hast thou done? the<br />
voice of thy brother’s blood crieth <strong>un</strong>to me from the<br />
gro<strong>un</strong>d.<br />
And now art thou cursed from the earth, which hath<br />
opened her mouth to receive thy brother's blood from thy<br />
hand; When thou tillest the gro<strong>un</strong>d, it shall not hence<strong>for</strong>th<br />
yield <strong>un</strong>to thee her strength; a fugitive and a vagabond<br />
shalt thou be in the earth.” (Gen. 4, 10‐12).<br />
Consequently, it is sin that corrupts “the righteousness<br />
of creation” due to man’s disregard of its order and beauty,<br />
pursuing only the satisfaction of his pleasures which will<br />
finally lead him to pain and death.<br />
118<br />
31 Cf. Panayotis Nellas, op. cit., p. 191‐192.<br />
32 Ibidem, p. 292.
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Through death, man arrives again at the “deeps” of<br />
creation where he was brought to life: his body becomes<br />
water, air, dust and light. Through death, man touches the<br />
limits of cosmos, “the light of day one”, hence death<br />
becomes the “antidote” of death, space of renewal and<br />
restoration <strong>for</strong> the entire creation when a new Adam will<br />
enter our history.<br />
The Holy Scripture tells us that starting with the fall<br />
into sin, biological death was guided by God to a Messianic<br />
future: “And I will put enmity between thee and the<br />
woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise<br />
thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.” (Gen. 3, 15)<br />
This line has been interpreted by the whole patristic<br />
theology from the perspective of redemption, of salvation<br />
from death meant <strong>for</strong> humanity and of its restoration in the<br />
horizon of comm<strong>un</strong>ion with God 33 .<br />
V. The End of Human Exile and the Beginning of<br />
Innovation <strong>for</strong> Creation<br />
Christian theology, in its faithfulness to Revelation,<br />
sustains that the end of human exile and the beginning of<br />
restoration <strong>for</strong> the entire creation in the horizon of<br />
comm<strong>un</strong>ion have taken place at the same time with the<br />
incarnation of Logos: “God, why did you descend on Earth<br />
if not <strong>for</strong> the race of man spread all over its face? (…)<br />
Proceed to the ascension of your man now, welcome the<br />
one you sent <strong>for</strong>th, regain your image, Your Adam” 34 .<br />
Thus, the incarnation of God’s Logos followed by His<br />
crucifixion, death and resurrection restored creation in its<br />
original vocation, the theological one. The rein<strong>for</strong>cement of<br />
these three main events of history crosses the limits of the<br />
33 The Septuagint mentioned that one of the woman’s sons will<br />
smash the serpent’s head, yet Vulgata attributed this act to the woman.<br />
In a way, the two translations are complementary as the <strong>for</strong>mer<br />
centers on the figure of Messiah, while the latter on the figure of Virgin<br />
Mary.<br />
34 Sermo de anima, P.G., XVIII, 602; apud Fr. Galeriu, op. cit., p. 120.<br />
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present study; there<strong>for</strong>e, I will make reference only to the<br />
aspects that regard the relationship between God, man and<br />
creation.<br />
a. Creation and incarnation<br />
The Church Fathers considered creation and<br />
incarnation as two complementary realities. Creation<br />
anno<strong>un</strong>ces incarnation whilst the incarnation of creative<br />
Logos completes creation, restoring and orienting it<br />
towards its original vocation. “The personal acceptance of<br />
human nature in its whole by the Son of God, the eternal<br />
and transcendent Logos born from Virgin Mary, is an act<br />
that recreates and restores the world” 35 , writes a<br />
contemporary theologian that remains faithful to patristic<br />
theology.<br />
As a result, incarnation does not only stand <strong>for</strong> an<br />
answer given to Adam’s rebellion, but also <strong>for</strong> the<br />
beginning of man’s conversion and radical innovation<br />
extended to the entire creation 36 .<br />
Christ, the Son of God incarnated becomes the<br />
beginning and fo<strong>un</strong>dation of the creation’s process of<br />
innovation, when accepting human nature in His divine<br />
Hypostasis, altogether eliminating its tendency to<br />
autonomy so as to bring instead a complete opening and<br />
giving movement towards God.<br />
Once more, it must be mentioned that when the Church<br />
Fathers discuss human nature, they have in view its dual<br />
<strong>un</strong>ity: body and soul as a whole. By the act of incarnation,<br />
Christ <strong>un</strong>ited Himself with the body and soul as <strong>un</strong>ifying<br />
and innovating principle. In this sense, Saint Gregory of<br />
Nyssa writes: “Becoming a part of both the sensible and the<br />
reasonable part of human component, by His <strong>un</strong>speakable<br />
35 Rev. Prof. Dr. Ion Bria, Dicționar de Teologie Ortodoxă<br />
[Dictionary of Orthodox Theology], p. 228<br />
36 Boris Bobinsky, Le Mystère de la Trinité, Editions du Cerf, Paris,<br />
1986, p. 11‐12.<br />
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power and this <strong>un</strong>ion, i.e. body and soul, He will see to<br />
their eternal <strong>un</strong>separation” 37 .<br />
There<strong>for</strong>e, Christ ontologically repairs human nature by<br />
the act of incarnation, reestablishing “the divine image in<br />
its greatness that leads the soul to trans<strong>for</strong>mation in<br />
consent with its free will so as to acquire similitude with<br />
God” 38 .<br />
As already mentioned, since the image of god regards<br />
man’s entire being, its rebuilding and ontological renewal<br />
also concerns his body which becomes a transparent<br />
temple <strong>for</strong> God and a medium <strong>for</strong> the Holy Spirit in His<br />
manifestation of love and transfiguring power. On this<br />
acco<strong>un</strong>t, Saint Athanasius the Great writes: “Who is so mad<br />
as to tell God: break yourself from the body and we will<br />
pray to You? (…) Was not the leper praying to God inside<br />
His body? He recognized Him as God hoping that his<br />
invocation would cure him and did not consider God as<br />
creature due to the body, i.e. the Logos, Creator of all<br />
beings or feel disguise <strong>for</strong> Him, there<strong>for</strong>e he got well” 39 .<br />
Thus, by the incarnation of Logos, the resent against<br />
body, specific to the Ancient thought can no longer find a<br />
theological base. According to Saint Gregory of Nyssa,<br />
“Logos is not interested in tearing apart the righteous life<br />
due to a dualism, but rather see to the <strong>un</strong>ification of body<br />
and soul in superior harmony when the wall of evil<br />
collapses” 40 .<br />
37 Saint Gregory of Nyssa, P.G., 44, col. 28AB‐129A; apud Rev. Prof.<br />
Dr. Dumitru Stăniloae, Orthodox Dogmatic Theology, vol. 3, Bucharest,<br />
1978, p. 144.<br />
38 Saint Maximus the Confessor, Filocalia Românească, vol. II, Sibiu,<br />
1947.<br />
39 Epistola către Adelfie[Letter to Adelphi], P.G., 26, col. 1076‐1077,<br />
Cf. Rev. Prof. Dr. Dumitru Radu, Mântuirea, a doua creație a lumii<br />
[Redemption, the second world creation], in Ortodoxia, year XXXVIII<br />
(1986) n° 2, p. 56.<br />
40 Saint Gregory of Nyssa, P.G., 44, 28AB‐129A; apud Rev. Prof. Dr.<br />
Dumitru Stăniloae, Orthodox Dogmatic Theology, vol. 3, Bucharest,<br />
1978, p. 455. PP.<br />
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Owing to the ontological relationship between human<br />
body and the rest of the sensible creation, enriching the<br />
value of the <strong>for</strong>mer through the act of incarnating God’s<br />
Logos is synonymous with enriching the value of the latter,<br />
as the ontological rebuilding and innovation of human<br />
nature extends its process to the rest of creation.<br />
However, incarnation is only the beginning of this<br />
rebuilding and innovation <strong>for</strong> the world. In order to<br />
actively restore His creation, Christ had to accept freely His<br />
death by crucifixion, so as to reestablish the comm<strong>un</strong>ion of<br />
love between man and God, on the one hand and between<br />
God and the whole creation, on the other hand. God’s<br />
sacrifice is closely related to incarnation and resurrection,<br />
being essential <strong>for</strong> man and the entire creation which was<br />
doomed to despair and death because of man 41 .<br />
b. Death and Resurrection<br />
Without Christ’s crucifixion, the end of human exile<br />
and the possibility of the prodigal son to “return home”<br />
could not have been completed.<br />
This aspect was particularly <strong>un</strong>derlined by Saint Cyril<br />
of Alexandria who borrowed this idea from Saint Apostle<br />
Paul and enriched it. In his opinion, we can only be<br />
received by God the Father in a state of truthful offering.<br />
Man in a state of sin, exiled in the horizon of death, i.e.<br />
in God’s absence or man who fell prey to false<br />
representations of Him cannot offer himself to God.<br />
“There<strong>for</strong>e, Christ as man sacrificed Himself to God the<br />
Father in truthful offering, not to provide Father with a<br />
legal equivalent, but to transfer us the powerful state of<br />
sacrifice by his <strong>un</strong>ion with us, so we can enter, along with<br />
Him, the world of the Father. Hence we are brought to<br />
Father by means of Christ’s Cross and his crucified body” 42 .<br />
41 Rev. Prof. Dumitru Gh. Radu, Caracterul ecleziologic al Sfintelor<br />
Taine şi problema intercom<strong>un</strong>i<strong>un</strong>ii [The Ecclesiological Character of<br />
Sacraments and the Issue of Intercomm<strong>un</strong>ion], doctoral thesis, in<br />
Ortodoxia, year XXXVIII (1986), n° 2, p. 56.<br />
42 Ibidem, p. 47.<br />
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So Christ’s death means ren<strong>un</strong>ciation at every <strong>for</strong>m of<br />
selfishness, as instance of sin <strong>for</strong> truthful offering to God.<br />
Nevertheless, Christ accepted death not <strong>for</strong> Himself, but <strong>for</strong><br />
us and Saint Maximus the Confessor and Saint Athanasius<br />
the Great especially <strong>un</strong>derlined this issue.<br />
Since Christ’s death equals truthful offering to God the<br />
Father, death cannot control Christ because the cure <strong>for</strong><br />
death is love and all that is involved in an offering <strong>for</strong><br />
love’s sake in its supremacy is separated from death and<br />
kept <strong>for</strong> eternal life. Consequently, Christ’s death virtually<br />
comprises His Resurrection, too.<br />
As an expression of supreme love <strong>for</strong> God, Christ’s<br />
death represents a painful experience that marks the<br />
passage to another way of existence. On acco<strong>un</strong>t of Christ’s<br />
status as Son of God incarnated, different from every each<br />
other human individual, along with His death, an entire<br />
world emerges, the world born from Adam’s rib, but also<br />
the world prepared by God <strong>for</strong> Adam who was tempted and<br />
fell into sin. The ancient world, the one of the exile,<br />
separation and death dies; it evaporates like a “small drop<br />
in the abyss of love” 43 and comm<strong>un</strong>ion of God with His<br />
creation.<br />
Owing to this love, Christ’s death actually stands <strong>for</strong> the<br />
death of death itself and the beginning of another eternal<br />
life. Thus, death becomes Easter, a passage to Resurrection<br />
and in this way, humanity and the entire creation take back<br />
their place according to the original rhythm and<br />
orientation of creation towards the infinite happiness of<br />
comm<strong>un</strong>ion felt in the morning of Resurrection.<br />
When considered from this perspective, the<br />
Resurrection of Christ is not a “final” act <strong>for</strong> humanity, but<br />
the beginning of His Ascension in blessing. The divine gift<br />
of Holy Spirit will bless men and cosmos altogether<br />
starting with the Pentecost, thus leading “the entire<br />
creation to incorruptibility and transparency, i.e. a<br />
complete trans<strong>for</strong>mation and comm<strong>un</strong>ication between<br />
43 O. Clement, L’Orthodoxie, p. 42; apud Fr. Galeriu, op. cit.<br />
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persons and Spirit and to a total personalization of cosmos<br />
in Christ and human beings” 44 .<br />
c. Creation, renewal and deification<br />
Incarnation, death and Resurrection of Christ, Son of<br />
God and Son of Man are all historical events and<br />
Sacraments of His Person 45 that enlighten from the inside<br />
both the general sense of history and man’s particular<br />
existence in the middle of creation.<br />
Incarnation of this sense supposes an ontological and<br />
moral conversion. In its turn, this conversion is not a work<br />
of man as human individual, but of Christ, through the Holy<br />
Spirit in collaboration with man as a liturgical and ecclesial<br />
person.<br />
The Conversion that took place on the day of Pentecost<br />
clearly expresses this fact. The question that arises in the<br />
soul of the ones that participated at the event is a<br />
consequence of the Descent of the Holy Spirit and of the<br />
inspired discourse belonging to Saint Peter. According to<br />
the Acts of Apostles, the witnesses, when “(were) pricked<br />
in their heart” (2, 37), asked: “what shall we do?” And<br />
Peter gave them the answer: “Repent, and be baptized<br />
every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ <strong>for</strong> the<br />
remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy<br />
Ghost.” (Acts 2, 38)<br />
Thence, on Pentecost, a deep conversion, a crucifixion, a<br />
death and a resurrection take place in the conscience and<br />
life of the Saint Apostles and of the witnesses to this main<br />
event. The same conversion is to take place in the life of<br />
Saint Apostle Paul when meeting God in the Holy Spirit on<br />
the road to Damascus. After this enco<strong>un</strong>ter, “he was three<br />
days without sight, and neither did eat nor drink.” (Acts 9,<br />
9)<br />
In the theology of Church Fathers, the Pentecost<br />
represents the ultimate moment of salvation, coinciding<br />
with the beginning of conversion, renewal and deification<br />
44 Rev. Prof. Dr. Dumitru Stăniloae, Orthodox Dogmatic Theology,<br />
vol 2, p. 180.<br />
45 Rev. Prof. Dumitru Gh. Radu, op. cit., p. 41<br />
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of every human person who becomes member of the<br />
sacramental body of Christ, i.e. of Church through the Holy<br />
Spirit 46 .<br />
To conclude, the Pentecost stands <strong>for</strong> the historical<br />
beginning of Church and <strong>for</strong> the commencement of revision<br />
<strong>for</strong> man’s original vocation to become Church of God the<br />
Logos, i.e. a place of comm<strong>un</strong>ion with God‐the Trinity<br />
together with the entire creation.<br />
When entering the Church in Holy Sacraments, man’s<br />
being becomes a church in its turn. The Church Fathers<br />
particularly insisted on the point that man can become a<br />
church, his being converted, deified and renewed only in<br />
relation to Church 47 .<br />
Not only man, but also “cosmos in its whole cannot find<br />
renewal and transfiguration outside the relationship with<br />
Church, the liturgical center of the entire creation 48 ”.<br />
VI. In guise of Conclusion<br />
The comm<strong>un</strong>ion of man with Christ realized in Church<br />
by means of the blessing of the Holy Spirit completely<br />
changes the attitude towards creation. For man, creation is<br />
no longer to be identified with a neutral datum, an<br />
objective nature he can submit to his selfish wishes and<br />
pleasures.<br />
The spiritually renewed man, through comm<strong>un</strong>ion with<br />
Christ becomes the priest of creation, while a part of the<br />
same creation becomes body of Christ by means of the<br />
Eucharistic elements. Owing to this fact, man no longer<br />
identifies creation with pure “essence” or a “substance”<br />
(υλŋ) coeternal with God, but identifies it as a “gift” which<br />
46 Paul Evdokimov, Prezența Duhului Sfânt în Tradiția<br />
Ortodoxă,[The presence of the Holy Spirit in the Orthodox Tradition],<br />
Anastasia Publishing House, Bucharest, 1995, p. 109.<br />
47 Rev. Prof. Dr. Dumitru Stăniloae, Biserica în sensul de locaş şi de<br />
largă com<strong>un</strong>i<strong>un</strong>e în Hristos, [Church in the sense of shelter and large<br />
comm<strong>un</strong>ion in Christ] in Ortodoxia, year XXXIV (1982) n°3, p. 341.<br />
48 Olivier Clement, Le Christ, Terre des vivants, Essais théologiques,<br />
Abbaye de Bellefontaine, 1976.<br />
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must be received with a contemplating attitude and not a<br />
possessive one.<br />
It is a well known fact that the contemplating attitude<br />
of man determines one state of creation and the possessive<br />
attitude another one. In other words, the balance of<br />
creation and its harmony is a consequence of man’s<br />
spiritual state. The balance of creation is maintained<br />
thanks to man’s rest in God.<br />
Saint Symeon the New Theologian grasps this fact in his<br />
sensitive poeticism: “When they saw Adam expelled from<br />
Paradise, all the creatures showed rebellion towards him;<br />
neither the s<strong>un</strong>, nor the moon or stars accepted him;<br />
springs refused to end his thirst and rivers continued their<br />
course; winds no longer flew to bring coolness <strong>for</strong> Adam<br />
the sinner; wild animals and all creatures on Earth were<br />
ready to attack man at the sight of his decay following the<br />
previous blessing; sky was almost to fell and crush him<br />
while Earth could not bear his sight anymore”.<br />
Yet God who created all things and man, altogether,<br />
what did He do? He did not let their <strong>for</strong>ces release against<br />
man, but ordered the whole creation to stand still and<br />
depend on man, become mortal, serve him in his mortality<br />
as it was <strong>for</strong> man that He created the other beings; and this<br />
state is not to end <strong>un</strong>til the renewed man becomes ecclesial<br />
(πνεΰματικος), incorruptible and eternal. Only in that<br />
moment to come the entire creation will be freed from<br />
submission so as to become as renewed, incorruptible, and<br />
ecclesial as man himself 49 .<br />
There<strong>for</strong>e, the egocentric and selfish man cannot<br />
release creation from separation and death. Creation<br />
becomes <strong>for</strong> him “opaque materiality, mirror of his<br />
spiritual death in a place where God is absent and where<br />
the Earth “deprived” of Him becomes a “grave” <strong>for</strong> Oedipus,<br />
the blind” 50 .<br />
49 Saint Symeon the New Theologian, Traité éthique I, ch. 2, 29‐90;<br />
Sources chrétiennes, 122, p. 189‐190.<br />
50 Olivier Clement, Le Christ, Terre des vivants, Essais théologiques,<br />
Abbaye de Bellefontaine, 1976.<br />
126
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25. STĂNILOAE, Dumitru, Orthodox Dogmatic Theology, vol. I<br />
26. STĂNILOAE, Dumitru, Spiritualitate şi com<strong>un</strong>i<strong>un</strong>e în Liturghia<br />
Ortodoxă [Spirituality and comm<strong>un</strong>ion in the Orthodox Liturgy],<br />
Craiova, 1986<br />
27. SYMEON the New Theologian, Saint, Traité éthique I; Sources<br />
chrétiennes, 122<br />
28. YANNARAS, Christos, La foi vivante de l’Eglise, Cerf, Paris,<br />
1989<br />
29. YANNARAS, Christos, La liberté de la Morale, Génève, Labor et<br />
Fides, 1982<br />
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No. 2, January 2008<br />
The real distinction between essence and existence and<br />
the relation between in<strong>for</strong>mation and energy<br />
Alessandro CORDELLI *<br />
* Pontifical Lateran University, Roma, Italy<br />
Abstract<br />
In the Thomistic development of the Aristotelian<br />
metaphysics a central role is played by the actual distinction<br />
between the essence (i.e. the totality of characteristics and<br />
capabilities) and the concrete existence of any being. Even if<br />
these two components of the being of any thing are truly<br />
distinct, nevertheless they are not separable, since one cannot<br />
observe the existence if not within the essence of a determined<br />
thing, nor the essence if not in a concrete existing object.<br />
Moreover, they depend to different orders of causation:<br />
internal to the physical world <strong>for</strong> the essence, transcendent as<br />
a First Cause <strong>for</strong> the existence. It is very interesting that a deep<br />
analogy can be fo<strong>un</strong>d with the couple from the physical realm<br />
in<strong>for</strong>mation/energy. In fact, even though in<strong>for</strong>mation and<br />
energy are well distinct concepts, any in<strong>for</strong>mation exchange<br />
requires energy trans<strong>for</strong>mations and energy never appears if<br />
not in a given <strong>for</strong>m (kinetic, gravitational, heat, nuclear...). The<br />
two ever occur together; actually no physical process is<br />
possible without in<strong>for</strong>mation and energy exchange. This paper<br />
is devoted to investigate this analogy, which bridges the gap<br />
between natural science and metaphysics.<br />
1. Introduction<br />
If we carefully look at the physical, chemical or biological<br />
processes, at every scale and in every field, we notice that a<br />
trans<strong>for</strong>mation of energy always happens. If this fact may be<br />
sometimes not apparent, it is due only to our description of the<br />
phenomenon, not to the phenomenon itself. For example, in<br />
the kinematics of a free falling body we focus our attention<br />
only in the square‐dependence of the distance by the time, but<br />
in the real fall of a body its gravitational potential energy<br />
trans<strong>for</strong>ms into kinetic energy. A hypothetical process which<br />
could take place without any energy exchange would have the<br />
features of a perpetuum mobile, and there<strong>for</strong>e would violate<br />
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CORDELLI ‐ The real distinction between essence and existence and the relation<br />
between in<strong>for</strong>mation and energy<br />
both first and second thermodynamics laws, two of the much<br />
better ascertained physical principles.<br />
On the other hand, energy never comes if not in a<br />
determined <strong>for</strong>m, depending upon the particular structure and<br />
features of the system it belongs to. We cannot have something<br />
like “pure” energy. Also, the possibility of a give energy<br />
exchange (and there<strong>for</strong>e the possibility <strong>for</strong> the corresponding<br />
process to be realized) strictly depends upon the features of<br />
the physical systems involved, or – in other terms – the<br />
in<strong>for</strong>mation associated with their structure. So, the concrete<br />
possibility <strong>for</strong> a physical process to take place depends upon<br />
the availability of a proper energy amo<strong>un</strong>t, otherwise the<br />
process itself will remain a mere possibility.<br />
So, we can individuate two main factors in every physical<br />
process: the structure of the systems involved which says how<br />
the process evolves, and the energy needed by the process to<br />
actually take place. In<strong>for</strong>mation is responsible <strong>for</strong> the way the<br />
process happens, energy determines if the process happens.<br />
From these considerations there appears a strong analogy<br />
between the physical concepts of in<strong>for</strong>mation and energy on<br />
one hand, and the metaphysical ones of essence and existence<br />
on the other. The actual distinction between the way the things<br />
are (essentia, quidditas, natura) and their concrete existence<br />
(actus essendi) is typical of St. Thomas Aquinas’ doctrine 1 . The<br />
net of causality relations between beings completely<br />
determines the features of a given thing, but it is not sufficient<br />
to assure its actual existence, which comes instead from<br />
another (transcendental) order of causality.<br />
So, the analogy between physical and metaphysical realms<br />
has the structure shown in figure 1. (See Caption and<br />
Figures)<br />
The aim of this paper is to investigate in detail the<br />
structure of such an analogy, trying to get a real improvement<br />
in the <strong>un</strong>derstanding of the concepts involved in it. We will<br />
focus first on a horizontal reading of the two relations, within<br />
each ambit, and then we will analyse the vertical relation<br />
1 Gianfranco Basti, Antonio L. Perrone, Le radici <strong>for</strong>ti del pensiero<br />
debole. Dalla metafisica, alla matematica, al calcolo, Il Poligrafo,<br />
Padova, 1996.<br />
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No. 2, January 2008<br />
between physics and metaphysics. Finally, we will draw the<br />
conclusions of our reflections.<br />
2. The “horizontal” relation between essence and<br />
existence<br />
In the history of the western thought, since Parmenides, a<br />
rationalistic position has ever been present, which identifies<br />
the logical possibility with the real existence. Plato, <strong>for</strong><br />
example, considered our world an imperfect copy of the world<br />
of ideas 2 , so that the only possible knowledge is the deductive<br />
one (like Euclidean geometry) without any reference to<br />
empirical reality. In the middle age, Anselm of Aosta based his<br />
celebrated ontological proof of God’s existence 3 on the<br />
argument that if God is the one about whom one cannot think<br />
anything greater (Id quo maius cogitari nequit) and if He would<br />
not exist, something greater could be thought, i.e. a being with<br />
the same characteristics plus existence. It is clear that Anselm<br />
considered existence just like a quality to be added to the<br />
other determinations of the subject, in order to make it<br />
actually existent. St. Thomas Aquinas did not agree to this<br />
position; in fact, even if he admits that <strong>for</strong> God – but only <strong>for</strong><br />
God – the existence belongs to his essence, we cannot get this<br />
evidence since we do not know God’s essence. In other words,<br />
the necessity of God’s existence is only in se, while quoad nos<br />
that necessity is missing. In general, our knowledge of a being<br />
(not only of God) is never exhaustive, so a distinction can be<br />
made between essentia, being’s complete determination, and<br />
quidditas, what we know of the essence 4 .<br />
The essence is the way things are, the inseparable bond<br />
between <strong>for</strong>m and matter that constitutes a being, completely<br />
determined by the whole of contingent causes, according to<br />
the Aristotelian four causes’ doctrine. This doctrine defines<br />
2 Plato, Republic, VII.<br />
3 Anselm of Aosta, Proslogion.<br />
4 There is a third interpretation of the essence, expressed by the<br />
term natura. The nature of a being is given by its typical operations; by<br />
observing these operations we can infer the determinations<br />
constituting the essence of the being (since agere sequitur esse).<br />
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CORDELLI ‐ The real distinction between essence and existence and the relation<br />
between in<strong>for</strong>mation and energy<br />
four orders of causality <strong>for</strong> all the trans<strong>for</strong>mation processes,<br />
and in particular <strong>for</strong> the generation processes where a new<br />
being comes along:<br />
1. material cause: the matter of a being, capable to receive<br />
its particular <strong>for</strong>m;<br />
2. agent cause: another being acting on the object causing<br />
it to change into the new <strong>for</strong>m;<br />
3. <strong>for</strong>mal cause: the new <strong>for</strong>m to be assumed by the<br />
changing being;<br />
4. final cause: the purpose which will be reached with the<br />
trans<strong>for</strong>mation process or the generation of the new<br />
being (<strong>for</strong> not human being the <strong>for</strong>mal cause and the<br />
final one coincide).<br />
None of these causes can produce the existence of a being,<br />
they only are responsible of the way a thing is, but not whether<br />
it exists or not.<br />
So, if existence is actually distinct from essence it must have<br />
also a different order of causality. This transcendental cause of<br />
the existence is to be identified with the only substance which<br />
does not receive its being from other things, but is its own<br />
being, i.e. the Ipsum Esse Subsistens, or – in other terms – God.<br />
It is very important to notice that, according to Aquinas’ view,<br />
God’s creative intervention does not <strong>for</strong>ce physical processes<br />
in some arbitrary way, but allows them to realize, making a<br />
concrete existence what would be otherwise only a mere<br />
possibility. In other terms, nothing must be added to positive<br />
science in order to explain the way the <strong>un</strong>iverse is; God is the<br />
answer to the question “Why?”, not to the question “How?”, so<br />
that there cannot be any conflict between science and<br />
theology.<br />
Finally, the Cause of existence acts out of the time. It is a<br />
common mis<strong>un</strong>derstanding, in fact, that creation happens at a<br />
timely moment, say the Big Bang. But, if creation is the<br />
beginning of time, it would be within the time, and could not<br />
be transcendent. Rather, creation is simultaneous with any<br />
instant of time, and the doctrine of a transcendent cause of the<br />
reality’s existence is consistent either with an <strong>absolut</strong>e<br />
beginning of time or with a world lasting since ever.<br />
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No. 2, January 2008<br />
3. The “horizontal” relation between in<strong>for</strong>mation and<br />
energy<br />
Every physical process involves energy trans<strong>for</strong>mations.<br />
This is true up to the lowest level of reality. Consider a<br />
microscopic quantum system, say an atom. It is characterized<br />
by a number of energy levels whose values can be computed<br />
by means of Schrödinger equation5 . If the atom occupies its<br />
gro<strong>un</strong>d state, corresponding to the lowest energy level, there<br />
is no way to establish the values of the other levels if one does<br />
not allow the system to interact with electromagnetic<br />
radiation or particles like, <strong>for</strong> example, electrons. Upper levels<br />
are in the possibilities of the system, but they are not realized<br />
without a proper energy transfer, according to the reaction:<br />
∗<br />
A + γ → A ,<br />
where A is the atom in its gro<strong>un</strong>d state, γ is a quantum of<br />
electromagnetic radiation (photon) and A * the atom in the<br />
excited state6 . Since the energy E of a photon is proportional to<br />
the frequency f of the electromagnetic wave which it belongs<br />
to, according to the well known relation:<br />
E = h ⋅ f (h being the Planck constant),<br />
it is possible to measure upper energy levels by the<br />
frequency analysis of the electromagnetic radiation after its<br />
interaction with the atoms.<br />
The inverse process is also possible, in which an atom in an<br />
excited state comes back to the gro<strong>un</strong>d state emitting<br />
electromagnetic radiation of proper frequency:<br />
∗<br />
A → A + γ .<br />
5 Lev D. Landau ‐ Evgenij M. Lifšits, Quantum Mechanics. Non‐<br />
Relativistic Theory, Elsevier, Ox<strong>for</strong>d, 1958, ch. 3.<br />
6 Max Born, Atomic Physics, Blackie & Son, London‐Glasgow, 1969,<br />
ch. 5.<br />
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CORDELLI ‐ The real distinction between essence and existence and the relation<br />
between in<strong>for</strong>mation and energy<br />
If we call E0 the energy of the gro<strong>un</strong>d state and E1 the<br />
energy of the excited one, the energy of the emitted photon<br />
must equal the energy gap7 E E − ,<br />
1<br />
so that its frequency will be<br />
E1<br />
− E0<br />
f = .<br />
h<br />
So, the atom is potentially capable to emit photons of<br />
frequency f – we can say that such a capability is contained in<br />
the structure (the in<strong>for</strong>mation) of the atom – but the actual<br />
emission of a photon of frequency f depends upon the fact<br />
whether the atom is in the excited state A * after having<br />
received proper amo<strong>un</strong>t of energy (by means, <strong>for</strong> example, of<br />
electric sparks), or not. There are two f<strong>un</strong>damental conditions<br />
in order to obtain from a given atom a photon of frequency f:<br />
1. in the structure of energy levels must be two levels Em<br />
and En such that:<br />
Em<br />
− En<br />
f = ;<br />
h<br />
2. a proper amo<strong>un</strong>t of energy must be given to the atom in<br />
order to put it on the upper level.<br />
If we turn our attention to macroscopic systems, the<br />
situation is exactly the same. A pendulum in vertical<br />
equilibrium position, <strong>for</strong> example, has the possibility to<br />
per<strong>for</strong>m oscillations with a given period which can be easily<br />
calculated, if nobody gives it a push, no oscillations at all will<br />
occur.<br />
Even phenomena of static and dynamic equilibrium require<br />
energy inputs; not to sustain the process, but to build the<br />
system. Let us consider <strong>for</strong> example a satellite following a<br />
circular orbit aro<strong>un</strong>d Earth 8 . There is no variation of potential<br />
as well as kinetic energy during the motion, but a certain<br />
7 This condition can be generalized to any arbitrary couple of<br />
energy levels, so no need to consider only couples where the lower<br />
level is the gro<strong>un</strong>d state.<br />
8 Br<strong>un</strong>o Bertotti ‐ Paolo Farinella, Physics of the Earth and the Solar<br />
System. Dynamics and evolution, Space Navigation, Space‐Time<br />
Structure, Kluwer, Dordrecht, 1990, ch. 18.<br />
134<br />
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No. 2, January 2008<br />
amo<strong>un</strong>t of energy however must be supplied in order to put<br />
the satellite into its orbit.<br />
It is finally worthwhile to notice that nothing like “pure<br />
energy” exists; energy transfers ever take place according to<br />
specific features of the systems involved in the processes.<br />
4. The “vertical” relation between physics and<br />
metaphysics realms<br />
After the discussion in the previous sections it should be<br />
clear that there is a strong analogy between the roles of<br />
in<strong>for</strong>mation/energy in the occurrence of physical processes<br />
and essence/existence in the metaphysical constitution of<br />
beings. Let us analyse explicitly the main points of such an<br />
analogy.<br />
Physical processes are dynamical trans<strong>for</strong>mations<br />
characterized by well defined variations of the parameters of<br />
the <strong>un</strong>derlying systems. Once the system is given, kind and<br />
extent of the process(es) it can <strong>un</strong>dertake are also fixed. In the<br />
same way, qualities and capabilities of a being are <strong>un</strong>iquely<br />
determined by the whole of the causes those constitute it. So,<br />
we can draw a parallel between the essence of a being and the<br />
set of the determinations of a physical system. Notice that the<br />
two concepts do not overlap, since, even if physical<br />
determinations are indeed parts of the essence, this one has a<br />
wider meaning, including proper ontological determinations.<br />
In both cases, however, the key concept is in<strong>for</strong>mation. But, if<br />
we know exactly the features of the systems involved in a<br />
physical process, can we <strong>un</strong>doubtedly state if it will take place<br />
or not? And if we should know as much as possible of the<br />
essence of a being, can we affirm that it is actually existent?<br />
Clearly, the answers to both the questions are “no”. In the first<br />
case a data is missing: if the system is in an initial state with<br />
enough potential energy to activate the process, or if proper<br />
quantity of energy is supplied by an external source. In the<br />
second case, the point is that a set of essential determinations<br />
consistent with each other and with environment is not<br />
enough to imply existence.<br />
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CORDELLI ‐ The real distinction between essence and existence and the relation<br />
between in<strong>for</strong>mation and energy<br />
On the other hand, energy’s manifestation is possible only<br />
within a given physical process, since there is no way to access<br />
directly to energy in any experimental situation (even if we<br />
find sometimes in textbooks sentences like: “Let us consider<br />
an amo<strong>un</strong>t of energy E...”), and according to the common<br />
accepted in modern physics position of operationalism 9 , a<br />
physical definition which does not correspond to feasible<br />
operations makes no sense. So, energy does not appear but<br />
qualified by the particular process; we have energy of a body,<br />
of a system of bodies, of a field, but never energy without any<br />
further specification. Similarly, existence, though distinct from<br />
essence, never appears but as the existence of a given essence;<br />
in other terms existence is existence of something, never pure<br />
existence. There is however a major exception to this<br />
statement, i.e. God. In fact, according to Thomistic doctrine,<br />
God is the only being whose essence is its own existence. Its<br />
existence is necessary, while all other beings are indifferent to<br />
existence and not‐existence, they may also not exist, while God<br />
must exist. Just as things receive their being, so God is His own<br />
being. Things become visible after they are lighted, while the<br />
S<strong>un</strong> is the source of light. Similarly, God is the source of be, the<br />
Ipsum Esse Subsistens, which means that in God existence is not<br />
existence of something, but pure existence.<br />
Clearly, this fact represents a difference in the analogy<br />
between energy and existence, since no exception is allowed to<br />
the rule that energy ever comes in a particular <strong>for</strong>m,<br />
depending upon the system involved.<br />
There is another important difference between existence<br />
and energy, i.e. the conservative character of the second one,<br />
not shared by existence. In fact, one of the better tested<br />
physical laws is the conservation of energy: in every physical<br />
process energy never disappears or is created, instead it<br />
changes continuously from a <strong>for</strong>m to another. Typically, in<br />
macroscopic processes potential energy, associated to<br />
system’s structure, is converted partially or totally into kinetic<br />
energy associated to the motion of the parts, and eventually<br />
this one is fully converted into heat. The initial amo<strong>un</strong>t of<br />
9 Percy W. Bridgman, The Logic of Modern Physics, Macmillan, New<br />
York, 1961.<br />
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<strong>Journal</strong> <strong>for</strong> Interdisciplinary Research on Religion and Science,<br />
No. 2, January 2008<br />
energy required to constitute complex structures like nuclei,<br />
atoms and molecules is taken from gravitation. In fact the<br />
energy associated to gravitation is ever negative, so we can<br />
gain energy simply letting gravity to act. This, <strong>for</strong> example, is<br />
what actually happens in stars cores, where, due to the<br />
overwhelming pressure of the external shells, nuclei are<br />
subjected to fusion reactions in which electromagnetic<br />
radiation is produced. Moreover, the fact that potential<br />
gravitational energy is negative is f<strong>un</strong>damental to explain the<br />
origin of the <strong>un</strong>iverse. In fact, both the models based on an<br />
<strong>absolut</strong>e beginning of time 10 and the ones stating a repetitive<br />
evolution 11 explain the appearance ex nihilo of matter at the<br />
Big Bang as a process in which the positive energy associated<br />
with matter and radiation is exactly compensated by the<br />
negative contribution of gravitation; so there is no need to<br />
postulate a violation of physical laws in the initial singularity.<br />
Clearly, nothing similar to energy conservation holds <strong>for</strong><br />
existence. Existence is not conservative, there is no need <strong>for</strong><br />
the generation of a new being to be compensated by the<br />
corruption of another one (even if in the case of living beings,<br />
and more generally whenever resources are limited, death of<br />
present individuals is necessary to free space and resources<br />
<strong>for</strong> next generations).<br />
5. Conclusions<br />
The real distinction between essentia and actus essendi<br />
characterizing the metaphysics of St. Thomas Aquinas suggests<br />
a strong analogy in the physical realm with the concepts of<br />
in<strong>for</strong>mation (the structure of a system) and energy (the<br />
concrete possibility that a process take place). However, the<br />
two couples of concepts do not overlap, since they apply to<br />
different subjects (ontology the first, physics the second) and<br />
there are important differences, especially between existence<br />
10 Alan Guth, The Inflationary Universe. The Quest <strong>for</strong> a New Theory<br />
of Cosmic Origins, Basic Books, New York 1997.<br />
11 Paul J. Steinhardt ‐ Neil Turok, Endless Universe. Beyond the Big<br />
Bang, Doubleday, New York 2007.<br />
137
CORDELLI ‐ The real distinction between essence and existence and the relation<br />
between in<strong>for</strong>mation and energy<br />
and energy. In fact, while Aquinas’ ontology states that essence<br />
of God is His own existence, no physical object is fully<br />
identified by only an amo<strong>un</strong>t of energy. Moreover, the energy<br />
conservation principle holds, while <strong>for</strong> existence, conservation<br />
is not strictly required (even if matter cannot sustain but a<br />
finite number of different beings at once).<br />
The analogy discussed in the present paper may be<br />
impressive, but it is important to stress that any mixing<br />
between the two fields may be dangerous; scientific research<br />
has to follow its own positive methods and philosophical<br />
reflection must be as free as possible from aspects contingent<br />
upon material world. Nevertheless, as a consequence of a<br />
wider perspective, a better insight in each field may be<br />
obtained. In this sense, all the above considerations can be of<br />
some help <strong>for</strong> a better <strong>un</strong>derstanding of concepts usually<br />
thought with no reciprocal relation, so representing a fec<strong>un</strong>d<br />
case of mutual enrichment between theoretical philosophy<br />
(and theology) and natural sciences.<br />
138
Bibliography<br />
<strong>Journal</strong> <strong>for</strong> Interdisciplinary Research on Religion and Science,<br />
No. 2, January 2008<br />
1. ANSELM OF AOSTA, Proslogion.<br />
2. BASTI, Gianfranco, Antonio L. PERRONE, Le radici <strong>for</strong>ti del<br />
pensiero debole. Dalla metafisica, alla matematica, al<br />
calcolo, Il Poligrafo, Padova, 1996.<br />
3. BERTOTTI, Br<strong>un</strong>o - Paolo FARINELLA, Physics of the Earth and<br />
the Solar System. Dynamics and evolution, Space Navigation,<br />
Space-Time Structure, Kluwer, Dordrecht, 1990, ch. 18.<br />
4. BORN, Max, Atomic Physics, Blackie & Son, London‐Glasgow,<br />
1969, ch. 5.<br />
5. BRIDGMAN, Percy W., The Logic of Modern Physics, Macmillan,<br />
New York, 1961.<br />
6. GUTH, Alan, The Inflationary Universe. The Quest <strong>for</strong> a New<br />
Theory of Cosmic Origins, Basic Books, New York 1997.<br />
7. LANDAU, Lev D. ‐ Evgenij M. LIFŠITS, Quantum Mechanics.<br />
Non‐Relativistic Theory, Elsevier, Ox<strong>for</strong>d, 1958, ch. 3.<br />
8. PLATO, Republic, VII.<br />
9. STEINHARDT, Paul J. ‐ Neil TUROK, Endless Universe. Beyond<br />
the Big Bang, Doubleday, New York 2007.<br />
139
CORDELLI ‐ The real distinction between essence and existence and the relation<br />
between in<strong>for</strong>mation and energy<br />
Caption <strong>for</strong> Figures<br />
140
<strong>Journal</strong> <strong>for</strong> Interdisciplinary Research on Religion and Science,<br />
No. 2, January 2008<br />
Neuroscientific Explanations of Religious<br />
Experience are Not free from Cultural Aspects<br />
Anne L. C. RUNEHOV *<br />
* Department of Systematic Theology,<br />
Copenhagen University, Denmark<br />
Abstract<br />
We cannot disregard that the neuroscientific<br />
research on religious phenomena such as religious<br />
experiences and rituals <strong>for</strong> example, has increased<br />
significantly the last years. Neuroscientists claim that<br />
neuroscience contributes considerably in the process of<br />
<strong>un</strong>derstanding religious experiences, because<br />
neuroscience is able to measure brain activity during<br />
religious experiences by way of brain‐imaging<br />
technologies. No doubt, those results of neuroscientific<br />
research on religious experiences are an important<br />
supplement to the <strong>un</strong>derstanding of some types of<br />
religious experiences. However, some conclusions drawn<br />
from neuroscientific research on religious experiences are<br />
arguable. For example, one such conclusion is that<br />
religious experiences are actually nothing but neural<br />
activity, i.e. there is nothing ‘religious’ to the experiences<br />
at all. Another such conclusion is that a person’s religious<br />
experiences actually derive from some ultimate reality,<br />
meaning that religious experiences are real. It is the latter<br />
assertion that will be analyzed in the present paper. The<br />
question is asked whether neuroscience alone is able to<br />
affirm that religious experiences are real or whether there<br />
are, besides neuroscientific issues, also cultural‐religious<br />
assumptions that <strong>un</strong>derlie this conclusion.<br />
Introduction<br />
The study I choose as a passage to the analysis is an<br />
empirical neuroscientific study titled “The Measurement of<br />
Cerebral Blood Flow during the Complex Cognitive Task of<br />
Meditation using HMPAO‐Spect Imaging”, by Andrew<br />
Newberg, Abass Alavi, Michael Baime, Michael Pourdehnad,<br />
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RUNEHOV ‐ Neuroscientific Explanations of Religious Experience are Not<br />
free from Cultural Aspects<br />
Jill Santanna and Eugene d’Aquili. 1 For the sake of what I<br />
aim to discuss below, I had to simplify Newberg et al.’s<br />
study and ignore its original aim, which is to <strong>un</strong>derstand<br />
the correlations between the brain and religious<br />
experiences obtained by way of meditation. My purpose<br />
instead is to show that neuroscientific explanations of<br />
religious experiences cannot stand aloof from the cultural<br />
<strong>un</strong>derstanding of religious experiences. I will start with a<br />
presentation of the study, where after I will discuss the<br />
results and some conclusions that Newberg et al. arrived<br />
at. Thereafter I will acco<strong>un</strong>t <strong>for</strong> cultural presuppositions<br />
that <strong>un</strong>derlie some of Newberg et al.’s explanations of<br />
religious experiences and argue that their neuroscientific<br />
explanations are not free from cultural assumptions. Let us<br />
now consider the study.<br />
The Study<br />
The participants in the neuroscientific study<br />
per<strong>for</strong>med by Newberg et al. on religious experiences<br />
obtained by meditation were male and female Tibetan<br />
Buddhist meditators and Franciscan n<strong>un</strong>s between the ages<br />
of 38 and 52. All persons had more than 15 years of<br />
practice of meditation or prayer. They practiced at least<br />
one hour per day and at least five days a week.<br />
Furthermore, all of them had participated in several<br />
retreats lasting a minimum of three‐months and in one<br />
yearly retreat of one month. The control group existed of<br />
nine healthy persons who did not per<strong>for</strong>m any meditation.<br />
They were brain‐scanned once during 20 minutes.<br />
However, even if both the participants who meditated and<br />
those who did not were SPECT‐scanned at baseline, only<br />
the meditating persons were also SPECT‐scanned in a later<br />
phase of the experiment.<br />
The task of the participants began with the<br />
instruction to put themselves in their preferred position<br />
<strong>for</strong> meditation or prayer. They were allowed to surro<strong>un</strong>d<br />
themselves with objects that they generally use when they<br />
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1 Newberg, A. et al. (2001b).
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meditate or pray and/or which facilitates meditation, <strong>for</strong><br />
example, candles and sticks of jasmine incense. Be<strong>for</strong>e<br />
starting their meditation, they were injected with a specific<br />
radioactive tracer and brain‐scanned 20 minutes later in a<br />
Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography (SPECT).<br />
To whom it may concern, the radioactive tracer contained<br />
7 mCi (milli‐Curie) HexaMethyl Propylene Amine Oxime<br />
(HMPAO). Newberg et al. registered the values <strong>for</strong> the<br />
regions of interest of the brain. To be able to measure<br />
neural activity during meditation the participants were<br />
connected to the research team by way of a common cotton<br />
twine, which they had to pull as soon as they felt that they<br />
approached their most intensive moment of meditation,<br />
(called Absolute Unitary Being by Newberg et al.) Twenty<br />
minutes later, they were SPECT‐scanned during 30 minutes<br />
and Newberg et al could register the new values.<br />
Generally considered, Newberg and d’Aquili observed<br />
that the meditators, during the act of meditation, had<br />
increased rCBF (reginal Cerebral Blood Flow) in the<br />
inferior and orbital frontal cortices, the dorsolateral<br />
prefrontal cortices (i.e. the cortices situated right back of<br />
the side of the brain), the sensorimotor cortices, the<br />
dorsomedial cortices (i.e. the cortices at the backside of the<br />
middle of the brain), the midbrain, the cingulate gyri and<br />
the thalami. The other parts of their brains did not show<br />
any significant changes in neural activity.<br />
More specifically, when the values of the baseline<br />
scans were compared with the values of the scans taken<br />
during meditation, they discovered that there was a<br />
significant increase of activity in the frontal lobes, known<br />
as the seat of cognition and emotion. However Newberg et<br />
al. did not find a significant decrease in the posterior<br />
superior parietal lobes (PSPL) as they previously had<br />
suggested. 2 The SPECT images of the brain of the<br />
participants taken be<strong>for</strong>e they began to meditate showed<br />
that there was furious neurological activity in this brain<br />
2 d’Aquili, E./Newberg, A. (1993)/(1999).<br />
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area. This activity appeared on the computer screen of the<br />
SPECT as vibrant bursts of brilliant reds and yellows. The<br />
images taken during the act of meditation however,<br />
showed the same area in green and blue, i.e. darker colours<br />
indicating a reduction in activity. The darker the colours<br />
the stronger the decrease of activity. When the colour<br />
turns black, there is no activity at all, i.e. the brain died.<br />
Newberg et al. had hypothesized that there would be<br />
a decrease in activity of the sensorimotor areas during<br />
meditation, because meditation is said to bring about a<br />
decrease in sensory awareness and motor activity.<br />
However, this was not confirmed, rather, the opposite<br />
occurred and an increase was measured. Newberg and<br />
d’Aquili guessed that, to maintain the posture of the<br />
meditator, (<strong>for</strong> example the lotus position); there might be<br />
a significant degree of activity required in the<br />
sensorimotor areas. Furthermore, there may be some <strong>for</strong>m<br />
of visual input from the internal images generated during<br />
this type of meditation.<br />
However, in a previous study, Newberg and d’Aquili<br />
designed neurological models of different meditation<br />
techniques. One of them, called the Via Positiva implies<br />
that the meditator focuses on a preferred inner or outer<br />
image to put her in a meditative state. Hence, that could<br />
explain the <strong>un</strong>expected increase of activity in the<br />
sensorimotor areas. 3 A <strong>for</strong> the present study perhaps<br />
secondary remark but which I fo<strong>un</strong>d important to make in<br />
Sacred or Neural is that if they had not only paid attention<br />
to the neural activity that is specifically active during the<br />
meditation process but had also paid attention to the type<br />
of meditation technique that was per<strong>for</strong>med at the moment<br />
of the scanning, we probably would have known whether<br />
the results are related to Tibetan meditation or Franciscan<br />
praying or to both. 4 The brain‐images also showed<br />
increased activity in the midbrain because of autonomic<br />
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3 d’Aquili, E./Newberg, A. (1993)/(1999).<br />
4 R<strong>un</strong>ehov, A.L.C. (2007) chap.6.
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changes during meditation. However, there were no<br />
significant neural changes in the cerebellum, superior<br />
frontal, or occipital areas, since the f<strong>un</strong>ction of these brain<br />
structures are normally not associated with meditation.<br />
However, and <strong>un</strong>expectedly, they fo<strong>un</strong>d significantly<br />
increased activity in the thalamus, something that may be<br />
important <strong>for</strong> the overall complex processes associated<br />
with meditation, including both cognitive and affective<br />
responses. Finally, Newberg et al. discovered that the<br />
meditators had a significantly different thalamic laterality<br />
index at baseline than had the non‐meditators.<br />
Discussion<br />
The results show whether the hypotheses were<br />
confirmed or not and they show which brain structures<br />
and f<strong>un</strong>ctions that <strong>un</strong>derwent increased or decreased<br />
neural activity at the most intensive moment of meditation<br />
and prayer. However, they do not tell us anything about the<br />
phenomenon religious experience itself, about the quality<br />
of the experiences, about the core characteristics of the<br />
religions to which the meditators belonged, nor about the<br />
reality status of the experiences. Furthermore, they do not<br />
tell us anything about the experiencers themselves or<br />
about how they interpret their religious experiencers.<br />
Nevertheless, Newberg et al. emphasize neuroscience’s<br />
weight when they present their neuroscientific view on the<br />
reality of religious experiences, as follows.<br />
Firstly, Newberg et al. equal all human experiences,<br />
neuroscientifically seen, and they mean that everything we<br />
experience we experience in a second‐hand‐way, i.e. all our<br />
experiences are mediated by our brain. They write:<br />
If God exists, <strong>for</strong> example, and if He appeared to you in some<br />
incarnation, you would have no way of experiencing His presence,<br />
except as part of a neurologically generated rendition of reality.<br />
You would need auditory processing to hear His voice, visual<br />
processing to see His face, and cognitive processing to make sense<br />
of His message. Even if He spoke to you mystically, without words,<br />
you would need cognitive f<strong>un</strong>ctions to comprehend His meaning,<br />
and input from the brain’s emotional centers to fill you with<br />
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rapture and awe. Neurology makes it clear: There’s no other way<br />
<strong>for</strong> God to get into your head except through the brain’s neural<br />
pathways. Even if there were a soul through which God could<br />
comm<strong>un</strong>icate, it would have little cognitive meaning to us without<br />
a brain. 5<br />
Thus, if God exists and wants to comm<strong>un</strong>icate with us,<br />
God cannot do this otherwise than by using different brain<br />
structures and f<strong>un</strong>ctions. Newberg et al. suggest that,<br />
neurologically seen, experiencing Absolute Unitary Being<br />
or God is identical to experiencing eating a piece of apple<br />
pie, because brain‐scans of a person eating a piece of apple<br />
pie show the neural activity involved in eating apple pie.<br />
For example, the olfactory areas that registering the aroma,<br />
the visual areas picturing the piece of apple pie, the centres<br />
of touch holding the piece and the areas responsible <strong>for</strong><br />
taste show, similar to the brain‐scans, the neural activity<br />
involved in experiencing Absolute Unitary Being. Secondly,<br />
Newberg et al, write, “there can be little doubt that Absolute<br />
Unitary Being exists, even if it is a relatively rare state”. 6<br />
In another study, Newberg and d’Aquili also maintain<br />
that so real do these experiences appear when recalled in<br />
baseline reality that they have the ability to alter the way<br />
the experiencers live their lives [...] “[T]he word real is not<br />
here used poetically or metaphorically. It is used in the same sense<br />
as in the utterance “This rock and this table are real”. 7 Newberg<br />
et al. support their view by referring to plenty of evidence<br />
<strong>for</strong> its existence in cross cultural religious literature and<br />
the testimonies of living mystics and other people who<br />
experienced Ultimate Reality, (among them the subjects of<br />
their neuroscientific studies) regardless of which religion<br />
they belong to. These people, they say, remember the<br />
Ultimate Reality experience with the same degree of clarity<br />
and sense of reality as they remember everyday events of<br />
the past, something that is not the case with, hallucinations<br />
among others. In fact, where Ultimate Reality experiences<br />
are remembered as superior to baseline reality, dreams<br />
146<br />
5 Newberg, A. et al. (2001a) 37/183: note 1.<br />
6 d’Aquili, E./Newberg, A. (1996) 248.<br />
7 d’Aquili, E./Newberg, A. (1999), 192.
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and hallucinations are remembered as inferior to baseline<br />
reality. 8 It hence seems that they want to give Absolute<br />
Unitary Being or God an identical reality status, <strong>for</strong><br />
example, a piece of apple pie when they maintain that<br />
Absolute Unitary Being doubtlessly exists.<br />
The problem with the first assertion, however, is that<br />
it is not clear at all how we should <strong>un</strong>derstand Newberg et<br />
al.’s claim that all experiences are identical on a<br />
neurological level. Firstly, assume that Peter and Nancey<br />
eat a piece of the same apple pie. They will probably not<br />
describe their experience identically. Peter might say that<br />
the apple pie was not sweet enough while Nancey might<br />
say that it was too sweet. Peter might have been h<strong>un</strong>gry<br />
when eating the pie while Nancey might have eaten it<br />
because it was served at coffee time in the office. The latter<br />
clearly implies that different brain structures and f<strong>un</strong>ctions<br />
had to be activated <strong>for</strong> example, the brain structure that<br />
has to do with being h<strong>un</strong>gry, which will not be activated in<br />
Nancey’s brain. Hence, Peter and Nancey’s experience of<br />
eating a piece of apple pie cannot be equal neurologically<br />
seen. Similarly, Mark and Rita, who have been practicing<br />
the same meditation technique <strong>for</strong> twenty years and have<br />
been practicing at least two hours per day etc., probably<br />
had and still have different religious experiences.<br />
However, Newberg et al. could co<strong>un</strong>ter argue that<br />
what they mean is that the experiences are identical<br />
neurologically seen in the sense that, whatever the person<br />
experiences it has to be mediated through brain structures<br />
and f<strong>un</strong>ctions, and that this is so <strong>for</strong> all types of experience,<br />
religious and others. We can agree upon that, however,<br />
there is yet another problem namely, some<br />
neuroscientists claim that every brain is <strong>un</strong>ique, that<br />
brains are like faces. Since there are no identical faces, not<br />
even identical twins have identical faces; there cannot be<br />
identical brains either, at least by nature. Advanced plastic<br />
surgery might, be it today or in the future, be able to create<br />
8 d’Aquili, E./Newberg, A. (1999), 192.<br />
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two identical faces. Furthermore, we do not know what<br />
cloning techniques might bring about in the future.<br />
Furthermore, besides these nature aspects, (i.e. genes,<br />
nutrition, disease, laws of physics and chemistry) we also<br />
have to consider the nurture aspect (i.e. our interaction<br />
with our environment –culture – from the day we are born<br />
<strong>un</strong>til the end of our days), as well as the personal aspects<br />
(i.e. our action and choices). Every brain thus changes<br />
constantly and <strong>un</strong>iquely. Neuroscientists call this<br />
continuous modification of the brain <strong>for</strong> the brain’s<br />
plasticity.<br />
People do things differently at different times and do<br />
different things, which must imply that our brains develop<br />
differently and thus are different. For example, even if the<br />
identical twins, Maddy and Maggy, who were my<br />
classmates in gro<strong>un</strong>d school, dressed alike and practically<br />
did the same things all the time, they did not do everything<br />
in the same order or with the same motivation or intensity.<br />
For example, Maddy loved geography while Maggy did not<br />
but was much better at drawing and painting than Maddy. I<br />
do not know whether Maddy became a geographer and<br />
Maggy an artist but it is clear that their brains developed<br />
differently due to their interests. As identical twins, their<br />
brains might have looked very similar at the beginning of<br />
their lives but today, their brains are <strong>un</strong>questionably very<br />
different. Connected with this is my last remark that every<br />
experience is associated with a complexity of neural<br />
activity in different brain structures. Carol Rausch Albright<br />
writes that the “many <strong>for</strong>ms of religious experience may<br />
involve almost every part of the brain’. 9 Thus, the<br />
experience Absolute Unitary Being has to involve more<br />
neural structures than the posterior superior parietal<br />
lobes. This implies that, if two experiences are to be<br />
identical, all the neural activity involved has to be identical.<br />
Hence, I believe we may conclude that meditation and the<br />
accompanying religious experiences have to affect Mark’s<br />
and Rita’s brains differently and that their experiences<br />
148<br />
9 Albright, C.R. (2002), 167.
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cannot be identical, not even neurologically seen.<br />
Furthermore, we may conclude that such is the case <strong>for</strong> all<br />
human experience.<br />
Let us now take a closer look at Newberg et al.’s<br />
second claim that Absolute Unitary Being exists. 10 The<br />
problem is that, from a neuroscientific perspective, it is not<br />
possible to maintain that Absolute Unitary Being, which<br />
they also refer to as God, exists or is <strong>absolut</strong>e reality. Let us<br />
also <strong>for</strong> the time being disregard the philosophical<br />
problems surro<strong>un</strong>ding the concepts “ exist, real and<br />
reality” which I am afraid do not room within the frame of<br />
the present paper. Neuroscientists cannot detect any object<br />
of experiences by way of brain scans at all <strong>for</strong> the reason<br />
that the red, blue or green spots on the computer screen of<br />
the SPECT do not refer to an object of experience, <strong>for</strong><br />
example God or a piece of apple pie. What these spots refer<br />
to is neural activity, in other words, what the<br />
neuroscientists see on the screen is chemistry and not God<br />
or a pie. Newberg et al. hence cannot establish that<br />
Absolute Unitary Being or God exists or is real from a<br />
neuroscientific point of view only. Thus, they clearly must<br />
rely on other arguments than neuroscientific ones to<br />
support their view that Absolute Unitary Being exists or is<br />
<strong>absolut</strong>e reality.<br />
Cultural Implications<br />
Let us return to Newberg et al.’s first inference based<br />
on their studies and ask what arguments that could<br />
<strong>un</strong>derlie their claim that all experiences are identical seen<br />
from a neuroscientific point of view. To discover these we<br />
have to dig deeper into Newberg et al.’s reasoning<br />
concerning the equality of experiences, especially religious<br />
experiences. They maintain that there cannot be two<br />
different experiences of Absolute Unitary Being as such.<br />
However, this claim does not derive from the results of the<br />
10 Newberg, A. et al. (2001).<br />
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empirical neuroscientific study above, but is related to<br />
their study in which they design neurological models and<br />
hypothesize how the correlation between brain structures<br />
and f<strong>un</strong>ctions and religious experiences obtained by way of<br />
different meditation techniques might look like. It is in this<br />
study that they maintain that Absolute Unitary Being<br />
correlates with a total deafferentation of the left and right<br />
PSPL. However, the results of Newberg et al.’s empirical<br />
study do not show a total deafferentation in the PSPL, only<br />
a tendency towards deafferentation.<br />
However, there is also a problem from a<br />
neuroscientific point of view, because some neuroscientists<br />
maintain that a total deafferentation of the left and right<br />
PSPL is simply not possible. For instance, the<br />
neuroscientist Mogens Dalby maintains that the condition<br />
of persons who suffer from two‐sided infraction in the<br />
PSPL (which is a partly deafferentation of the left and right<br />
PSPL), is such that they lack bodily perception, they cannot<br />
follow a line of argument, they do not recognize the objects<br />
which are placed in their hands or they cannot walk, etc.<br />
Hence, they do not seem to have the same control over<br />
what happens, as the meditators seem to have. Dalby<br />
argues that one cannot compare the neurological condition<br />
of these persons with the neurological condition of<br />
meditators experiencing ultimate reality. The neurological<br />
condition of the persons suffering from damage to the PSPL<br />
is regarded as a proper deafferentation of that brain area,<br />
(the condition is invariable), while the neurological<br />
condition of the meditators is considered to be a<br />
modulation of the f<strong>un</strong>ctions of that brain area. Proper<br />
deafferentation means that all neural input or flow into a<br />
certain brain structure is cut off. The decrease in neural<br />
activity (the blood flow decrease) that Newberg and<br />
d’Aquili see in the PSPL area does not have to imply that<br />
the PSPL is completely cut off from its normal input. 11<br />
There is an important difference between the “shutting down<br />
or cutting off of the [PSPL] area. [...] Shutting down neural activity<br />
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11 From my correspondence with Dr. Dalby.
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is known as inhibition, and inhibition of a brain area may result in<br />
decreased blood flow to that area.” 12 Thus, Newberg and d’Aquili<br />
should have been more precise in what they meant by total<br />
deafferentation of the left and right PSPL, because their models<br />
seem to “require that the [PSPL] area remains active while it is cut<br />
off from its normal neural input”, 13 but they probably mean<br />
while it is shut down from its normal neural input. Newberg<br />
and d’Aquili could have added that during the experience<br />
of Absolute Unitary Being, the left and right PSPL are<br />
deafferented but not deefferented, i.e., even if there may<br />
not be in<strong>for</strong>mation to generate a sense of orientation,<br />
in<strong>for</strong>mation on how to interpret this lack of orientation<br />
will still be sent to adequate parts of the brain. While<br />
deafferentation refers to the inhibition or blockage of input<br />
into a brain structure, deefferentation refers to the<br />
inhibition or blockage of output from a brain structure.<br />
Nevertheless, since we are analyzing how Newberg et<br />
al., reason, let me acco<strong>un</strong>t <strong>for</strong> how I think they may have<br />
proceeded. Thus, from a previous non‐empirical study,<br />
Newberg et al. borrow the idea that total deafferentation of<br />
both left and right posterior superior parietal lobes (PSPL)<br />
are correlated with the experience Absolute Unitary Being<br />
(AUB). They then maintain that there cannot be two<br />
different total deafferentated PSPL because, brain‐imagine<br />
of various such deafferentated brain‐structures show<br />
exactly the same neural activity (here non‐activity) in the<br />
PSPL. Furthermore, since, according to them total<br />
deafferentation of both the PSPL corresponds with that<br />
religious experience AUB, they conclude that there cannot<br />
be two different experiences of Absolute Unitary Being.<br />
Newberg et al. write, “While in the state of Absolute Unitary<br />
Being, [t]here is only <strong>absolut</strong>e <strong>un</strong>ity, and there cannot be two<br />
versions of any <strong>un</strong>ity that is <strong>absolut</strong>e”. 14 Let me reconstruct<br />
their argument.<br />
12 Spezio, M.L. (2001), 482.<br />
13 Spezio (2001) 482.<br />
14 Newberg, A. et al. (2001), 123.<br />
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1. If there is AUB then there is a total deafferentation<br />
of both PSPL<br />
2. There are no two different total deafferentations of<br />
PSPL possible<br />
3. Conclusion: there cannot be two different AUB<br />
A problem is that not all mystics would agree that 3<br />
follows from 1 and 2, i.e. that there are no different<br />
Absolute Unitary Being experiences possible even if they<br />
might recognize certain experiences that are associated<br />
with Absolute Unitary Being, <strong>for</strong> example, the experience of<br />
<strong>un</strong>ion, of timelessness, etc. Some Christian mystics <strong>for</strong><br />
example would not describe their experience of ultimate<br />
reality as an experience of nothingness but of love. Some<br />
may say that they felt <strong>un</strong>ited with God, others may say that<br />
they felt as being a drop of water in the ocean, again others<br />
will interpret their experience as an experience of total<br />
emptiness or nirvana, etc. Let me propose the following<br />
stories by way of illustration. I want you to imagine Sister<br />
Helen, a Christian n<strong>un</strong>, in kneeled position be<strong>for</strong>e the altar<br />
of a little chapel. Assume that she has been praying in the<br />
same position <strong>for</strong> hours, her eyes fixed on the candle light<br />
on the altar. Assume further that she experiences feeling<br />
one with the light of the candle she was focusing on, and<br />
after a while experiences Absolute Unitary Being. Thus,<br />
afterwards, she will remember this experience as having<br />
been one with the light. Furthermore, belonging to a<br />
Christian theistic religion, Sister Helen will probably say<br />
something like “the Light is one nature consisting of the oneness<br />
of life which is the Father, the Light itself which is the Son and the<br />
glare of the Light which is the Holy Spirit.” 15 Imagine now<br />
Rajeev who belongs to the Hindu tradition and who<br />
experienced Absolute Unitary Being. Belonging to the<br />
Hindu tradition, Rajeev will remember his experience as a<br />
feeling of being a passenger of his body. He will probably<br />
say that he did not feel any anxiety, nor doubts, fears,<br />
ambitions, goals, desires, pains, etc. He might even say that<br />
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15 Nijs, P./Meyers, K. (ed.) (2001), 23, my translation from Dutch.
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he does not long <strong>for</strong> anything else anymore than <strong>for</strong><br />
Brahman. To return to Mark and Rita, they also will put<br />
their experience in their respective frame of cultural,<br />
religious and personal reference, when describing their<br />
experience to other people. Moreover, descriptions are<br />
related to language and language is related to culture.<br />
Hence, instead of only one description of what it is to<br />
experience Absolute Unitary Being, there probably are<br />
many versions.<br />
However, Newberg et al. could co<strong>un</strong>ter argue that the<br />
experience of Absolute Unitary Being at the very moment<br />
of the experience and be<strong>for</strong>e the experiencer puts the<br />
experience in words (i.e. as she or he remembers the<br />
experience afterwards) is identical <strong>for</strong> all. Maybe they are<br />
right, however, the problem is that this is something that<br />
neuroscience may not be able to demonstrate. Some would<br />
raise the question whether it is possible to have non‐<br />
interpreted experiences at all. Another aspect is that the<br />
way of meditating, <strong>for</strong> example, via negativa, via positiva,<br />
transcendental meditation, praying, is culture related.<br />
Hence, the cultural‐religious backgro<strong>un</strong>d of the<br />
experiencer may be more significant <strong>for</strong> the experience<br />
itself than was hitherto believed. The cultural‐religious<br />
backgro<strong>un</strong>d may not only be significant <strong>for</strong> the<br />
interpretation of the religious experience by the<br />
experiencer but also even <strong>for</strong> the religious experience<br />
itself.<br />
Let us return to Mark and Rita and assume that Mark<br />
practices via negativa and Rita via positiva. Assume that<br />
Mark practices via negativa because he has studied this<br />
technique in Taiwan during his youth because his parents<br />
worked at the Swedish embassy in Taiwan at that time.<br />
Assume that he continued practicing meditation by way of<br />
the via negativa technique ever since. Assume further that<br />
Rita participated in several long‐time retreats in Christian<br />
convents. Assume that both Mark and Rita experience<br />
Absolute Unitary Being during their meditation sessions.<br />
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RUNEHOV ‐ Neuroscientific Explanations of Religious Experience are Not<br />
free from Cultural Aspects<br />
Mark’s experience then will probably be an experience of<br />
wholeness, of <strong>un</strong>ity, of <strong>absolut</strong>e oneness, where there is no<br />
time, no space, no distinctions, and no self. This is so<br />
because, roughly, via negativa is a meditation technique in<br />
which the meditator concentrates on emptying his or her<br />
mind completely. Rita’s experience will probably also be an<br />
experience of <strong>un</strong>ion but of <strong>un</strong>ion with the inner or outer<br />
image of her meditation, because, roughly, via positiva is a<br />
meditation technique in which the meditator focuses on a<br />
chosen image, (may it be an inner image or an image<br />
situated somewhere in the room or place where the<br />
meditation takes place). Thus, not only will Mark and Rita<br />
refer to their experiences in a different way ‐not only will<br />
they interpret their experience differently ‐they will<br />
actually experience them differently due to the different<br />
meditation techniques they used. Furthermore, as already<br />
pointed out, their brains, i.e. their neurology will develop<br />
in a different manner as well and will hence be different. I<br />
believe that it becomes difficult to agree with Newberg et<br />
al. that all experiences are identical, even if Newberg et<br />
al.’s intention concerns equality of experiences on a<br />
neurological level.<br />
Conclusion<br />
Even though Newberg et al. agree that one has to take<br />
into acco<strong>un</strong>t both the material and the spiritual side of the<br />
world when studying religious experiences, they would<br />
profit from further considering the strong impact of the<br />
culture‐religious implications of religious experiences. If<br />
neuroscientists want to study the spiritual side of the<br />
world, they also need to study its cultural side more<br />
seriously. Nevertheless, this does not exclude that the<br />
experience Absolute Unitary Being, everything else being<br />
the same, is as Newberg et al. describe it. Neither does it<br />
exclude that when somebody says that she experienced<br />
Jesus, that she really did so. However, these queries belong<br />
to another debate.<br />
154
References<br />
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No. 2, January 2008<br />
1. ALBRIGHT, C.R. (2001) “Neuroscience in Pursuit of the Holy:<br />
Mysticism, the Brain, and Ultimate Reality”, Zygon, vol. 36 (September)<br />
485—492.<br />
2. ALBRIGHT, C.R. (2002) “Religious Experience, Complexity &<br />
the Image of God”, Neurotheology, Brain, Science, Spirituality, Religious<br />
Experience, 167—182.<br />
3. D'AQUILI, E.G./Newberg, A.B. (1993) “Religious and Mystical<br />
States: A Neuropsychological Model”, Zygon, vol. 28 (J<strong>un</strong>e), 177—199.<br />
4. D'AQUILI, E.G./Newberg, A.B. (1998) “The Neuropsychological<br />
Basis of Religion: Or Why God Won't go Away”, Zygon, vol. 33 (J<strong>un</strong>e),<br />
187—201.<br />
5. D'AQUILI, E.G./Newberg, A.B. (1999) The Mystical Mind:<br />
Probing the Biology of Religious Experience, Fortress Press: Minneapolis,<br />
USA.<br />
6. D'AQUILI, E.G./Newberg, A.B. (2000) “The Neuropsychological<br />
of Aesthetic, Spiritual and Mystical States”, Zygon, vol. 35 (March), 39—<br />
51.<br />
7. MUMENTHALER, M./Mattle, H. (2004) Neurology, Georg<br />
Thieme: New York, USA.<br />
8. NEWBERG, A.B./d'Aquili, E.G. (2000) “The Creative Brain/The<br />
Creative Mind”, Zygon, vol. 35 (March), 53—65.<br />
9. NEWBERG, A.B./Alavi, A./Baime, M./Pourdehnad, M./Santanna,<br />
J./d'Aquili, E.G. (2001) “The Measurement of reginal Cerebral Blood<br />
Flow during the Complex Cognitive Task of Meditation: a Preliminary<br />
SPECT Stud”, Psychiatry Research Neuroimaging Section, 106, 113—122.<br />
10. NEWBERG, A.B. (2002) “Bringing ‘Neuro’ and ‘Theology’<br />
Together”, NeuroTheology, Brain, Science, Spirituality, Religious<br />
Experiences, Joseph, R. (ed.), University Press: Cali<strong>for</strong>nia, USA, 145—<br />
147.<br />
11. NEWBERG, A.B./d'Aquili, E.G./Rause, V. (2001b) Why God<br />
Won't go Away, Ballantine: New York, USA.<br />
12. NIJS, P./Meyers, K. (2001) De onbereikbaarheid van de<br />
geliefde, pareltjes van Nederlandse en Rijnlandse Mystiek, Peeters:<br />
Leuven, Belgium.<br />
13. RUNEHOV, A.L.C. (2004) “A Neuro‐psychological Explanation<br />
of Religious Experience?”, Studies in Science and Theology, Görman,<br />
U./Drees, W.B./Meisinger, H. (ed.), vol. 9, 59—68.<br />
14. RUNEHOV, A.L.C. (2006) “A Being or To Be? Philosophical<br />
Thoughts about Future Research on Neuroscience and Religions and the<br />
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free from Cultural Aspects<br />
Need <strong>for</strong> Interdisciplinarity”, European <strong>Journal</strong> of Science and Theology,<br />
vol. 2, No. 1 (March), 55—66.<br />
15. RUNEHOV, A.L.C. (2007) Sacred or Neural? The Potential of<br />
Neuroscience to Explain Religious Experience, Vandenhoeck and<br />
Ruprecht: Göttingen, Germany.<br />
16. SPEZIO, M.L. (2001) “Understanding Biology in Religious<br />
Experience: The Biogenetic Structuralist Approach of Eugene d'Aquili<br />
and Andrew Newberg”, Zygon, vol. 36 (September), 477—484.<br />
156
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No. 2, January 2008<br />
Distinct Ways of Thinking<br />
and Distinct Experiences of Truth<br />
Ştefan AFLOROAEI *<br />
* "Al. I. Cuza" University, Faculty of Philosophy,<br />
Blvd. Carol, No. 11, Iasi 700506, Romania,<br />
E‐mail Address: aflor@uaic.ro<br />
Abstract<br />
This article aims to bring into discussion three issues<br />
that are not necessarily new but that have received little<br />
consideration in current philosophical discussions. First,<br />
one can notice that the space of freedom that thinking has<br />
is much larger than the one described by Kant in his first<br />
critical work. This new space of freedom is no longer<br />
strictly delimited by the classical principle of non‐<br />
contradiction, on the one hand, and by sensitive intuition,<br />
on the other. Second, one can distinguish different modes<br />
of thinking without believing that we would be situating<br />
ourselves outside reasonable and meaningful thinking.<br />
Such are, <strong>for</strong> instance, the thinking that strictly observes<br />
the logic of non‐contradiction and the thinking that<br />
exceeds this logic. Last but not least, we consider the fact<br />
that the thinking that exceeds the logic of non‐<br />
contradiction induces another image of the world in which<br />
we are situated and can describe other experiences of<br />
truth (to use Gadamer’s expression), such as symbolic and<br />
religious experience. Consequently, we have reasons to<br />
believe that one can talk about alternative in another,<br />
stronger and more radical sense of the word as well, as can<br />
be seen with authors and ages that had a disposition <strong>for</strong><br />
genuinely alternative visions.<br />
1. A modern distinction: to think and to know<br />
As already known, Kant wrote extensively about the<br />
question of the very way of thinking. His reasons, however,<br />
were different from those of Johann M. Chladenius who,<br />
more than a century be<strong>for</strong>e Kant, asked how it is possible<br />
to <strong>un</strong>derstand the people who lived in another age and<br />
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AFLOROAEI ‐ Distinct Ways of Thinking and Distinct Experiences of Truth<br />
thought totally differently from us 1 . Kant does not<br />
necessary raise the question of historical difference, a<br />
difference that may become, to a certain extent, abyssal. He<br />
rather prefers to consider a distinction that could<br />
ultimately <strong>un</strong>cover that which is within the powers of the<br />
human mind. This is the distinction between thinking, on<br />
the one hand, and intuiting originally, on the other hand.<br />
As he <strong>un</strong>derstood it, thinking is essentially a logical and<br />
conceptual exercise. With the help of some concepts,<br />
various representations are bo<strong>un</strong>d in one same conscience.<br />
Or, to use his terms, thinking binds the diversity of a<br />
sensitive intuition by subjecting it to the shape of a<br />
concept.<br />
But let us return to one of his examples and consider the<br />
situation of the one who, pondering upon his own will, would<br />
first say that it is subject to natural causes and laws. One can<br />
indeed notice, <strong>un</strong>der certain circumstances, that what he<br />
wishes depends on certain causes of nature. By making such a<br />
judgment, the individual relates what he has sensitively<br />
intuited to the concept of causality. In this case, “Thought is the<br />
act which relates given intuition to an object” 2 . Yet one does<br />
not always deal with intuitions given in a sensitive experience.<br />
For instance, when the same individual thinks differently,<br />
telling himself that his will is free and not subject to external<br />
causes, what he thinks cannot be given in the situation of a<br />
sensitive experience. He cannot empirically verify such a<br />
situation where his will would appear <strong>un</strong>conditionally free.<br />
Nevertheless, one accepts this idea in many cases. One does it,<br />
<strong>for</strong> instance, whenever one has reasons to consider that one’s<br />
soul is not subjected to time or death as such. The soul, of<br />
course, seen in its power to defeat death, is not the object of a<br />
sensitive experience. And thought does not entail certain<br />
knowledge but rather a <strong>for</strong>m of self‐<strong>un</strong>derstanding.<br />
In a footnote, Kant returns to this bifurcated path of<br />
thinking and insists on a distinction that he deems essential <strong>for</strong><br />
what he will discuss next. “To know an object I must be able to<br />
1 Cf. Einleit<strong>un</strong>g zur richtigen Ausleg<strong>un</strong>g vernünftiger Reden <strong>un</strong>d<br />
Schriften, Leipzig, 1742.<br />
2 Critque of Pure Reason, 1929, Palgrave, p. 263.<br />
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prove its possibility, either from its actuality as attested by<br />
experience, or a priori by means of reason. But I can think<br />
whatever I please, provided only that I do not contradict<br />
myself, that is, provided my concept is a possible thought. This<br />
suffices <strong>for</strong> the possibility of the concept, even though I may<br />
not be able to guarantee that, in the sum of all possibilities<br />
there exist indeed, an object corresponding to it. But<br />
something more is required be<strong>for</strong>e I can ascribe to such a<br />
concept objective validity, that is, real possibility; <strong>for</strong> the<br />
<strong>for</strong>mer possibility is merely logical. This something more need<br />
not, however, be sought in the theoretical sources of<br />
knowledge; it may lie in those that are practical” 3 . The<br />
distinction is not at all random here. On the contrary, it<br />
doubles the radical difference between phenomenon and the<br />
thing in itself. It is what Kant mentions in the text: “Although<br />
we cannot know these objects as things in themselves, we must<br />
be in position at least to think them as things in themselves;<br />
otherwise we should reach the absurd conclusion that a<br />
phenomenon can exist without anything that appears.” 4<br />
There<strong>for</strong>e, there is a serious difference between thinking and<br />
knowing. The scope of the <strong>for</strong>mer is much larger: “I can think<br />
whatever I please, provided only that I do not contradict<br />
myself”. This scope seems <strong>un</strong>limited: “<strong>for</strong> thought the<br />
categories are not limited by the conditions of our sensible<br />
intuition, but have an <strong>un</strong>limited field. It is only the knowledge<br />
of that which we think, the determining of the object, that<br />
requires intuition. 5 When I do not contradict myself “my<br />
concept is a possible idea”. However, this is a risky, <strong>un</strong>certain<br />
idea. As Kant argues, one cannot guarantee that there is an<br />
object that corresponds or not to a certain concept. When<br />
there is no real object that corresponds to thought, the<br />
exercise of the latter is purely logical and the possibility it<br />
explores is just logical. Kant illustrates this distinction in the<br />
3 Ibidem, p. 27 infra; § 21‐22.<br />
4 Ibidem, p. 27.<br />
5 Ibidem, pp. 175 infra.<br />
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case of one of the three ideas of pure reason, namely the idea<br />
of freedom.<br />
Let us follow his idea <strong>for</strong> a while in this last issue, since<br />
in this case, everything seems to take the shape of<br />
philosophical belief personally assumed.<br />
If we consider human will as a thing in itself or as<br />
simple phenomenon only, we will definitely reach absurd<br />
conclusions about what we think. Yet, if we consider it in<br />
two ways, on the one hand as phenomenon and on the<br />
other hand as thing in itself, then we will avoid such<br />
absurd consequences and we will better <strong>un</strong>derstand the<br />
assertion of those persons who, pondering on their will,<br />
think that it is either perfectly free or subject to natural<br />
laws. In what way will we better <strong>un</strong>derstand it? Only when<br />
it is seen as phenomenon does human will appear<br />
“according to the laws of nature and, so, as non free”. But<br />
as a thing in itself, the will appears to be totally free. As<br />
these two judgements deal with different points of view,<br />
they no longer contradict each other. The slightly strange<br />
conclusion that Kant reaches via this bifurcated path is,<br />
nevertheless, different: namely, human beings cannot<br />
know their free soul – neither analytically, nor by empirical<br />
observation. They can contemplate it, ponder upon it in<br />
many ways, but not know it because it cannot be<br />
determined the way other things subject to observation<br />
are 6 . When I can know something, I use a sensitive<br />
representation. When I only think that something, I deal<br />
with a non‐sensitive, intellectual representation. If the<br />
latter is non‐contradictory, thinking is possible. I can think<br />
what ignores the conditions of intuition, but not what<br />
would ignore the principle of non‐contradiction. If ”non‐<br />
6 I do not know if Kant resumes here, even in a free, secularised<br />
interpretation, the meaning of old verses, such as those in Luke 16, 27<br />
sq. We know that this passage in the New Testament assures us that<br />
such an experience concerning the condition of the soul after death is<br />
not only impossible via one’s own ef<strong>for</strong>t, nor would it be convincing <strong>for</strong><br />
the non‐believer. The last answer given by Abraham to the one who<br />
had asked <strong>for</strong> the most obvious proof concerning man’s fate after<br />
death is very telling: ”If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither<br />
will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead” (16, 31).<br />
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contradictory” means ”possible” (Christian Wolff), it<br />
follows that we can think that which is possible. The simple<br />
converse sentence of this assertion would say that all that<br />
is possible can be thought. We are not talking here, <strong>un</strong>der<br />
the umbrella of possibility, about something subjective or<br />
simply arbitrary, but about the very logical scope of an<br />
object, as Alois Riehl will later comment.<br />
2. Two limits of thinking: self‐contradiction and<br />
original intuition<br />
Let us reconsider the above question differently, by asking<br />
what precisely is not given to the human being to think, from a<br />
Kantian perspective. Above all, as we have seen, one cannot<br />
think that which is contradictory from a logical point of view,<br />
nor can one think that which is totally <strong>for</strong>eign to concepts,<br />
either of the intellect or of reason. Wouldn’t it be more<br />
appropriate, there<strong>for</strong>e, to say that in fact, thinking is a<br />
categorial approach? To a certain extent, this is how things are<br />
because there are original concepts of the intellect, namely the<br />
categories, of a really decisive <strong>for</strong>ce in the act of thinking. They<br />
appear as pure f<strong>un</strong>ctions because each establishes how a<br />
concept relates to objects. In their exercise, prudence must be<br />
greater. “The principles of pure <strong>un</strong>derstanding can apply only<br />
to objects of the senses <strong>un</strong>der the <strong>un</strong>iversal conditions of a<br />
possible experience, never to things in general without regard<br />
to the mode in which we are able to intuit them.” 7 Moreover,<br />
categories do not apply concretely to the thing in itself and<br />
cannot trans<strong>for</strong>m it in an object of knowledge. It is true that, in<br />
their f<strong>un</strong>ctions, "they go beyond the field of sensitive intuition,<br />
because they think objects in general, without considering the particular<br />
mode in which they can be given." 8 Their significance is not<br />
completely limited by sensitive experience. 9 Yet one cannot<br />
7 Critique of Pure Reason, p. 263. As pure <strong>for</strong>ms of thought, categories<br />
contain the merely logical faculty of <strong>un</strong>iting a priori in one consciousness<br />
the manifold given in intuition (267).<br />
8 Cf. Ibidem, p. 263.<br />
9 Cf. Peter F. Strawson, The Bo<strong>un</strong>ds of Senses: An Essay on Kant’s<br />
«Critique of Pure Reason», 1966, London: Methuen, Fourth part, 7.<br />
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talk about non‐conceptual, purely intuitive thinking, as<br />
Schelling argued a few years later. Nor can one talk about the<br />
thinking that would know itself in an <strong>absolut</strong>e manner (Hegel).<br />
Other possible <strong>for</strong>mulas, explored later, would have seemed<br />
truly outrageous, such as the idea of non‐rational thinking,<br />
supported by needs and instincts (Nietzsche) or, even stranger<br />
than that, the idea that there would exist pre‐reflexive,<br />
<strong>un</strong>conscious thinking (Collingwood), and a certain diffuse<br />
thinking, at the level of carnal sensitivity (Merleau‐Ponty).<br />
Such a thing would have been <strong>un</strong>acceptable <strong>for</strong> Kant. Whatever<br />
is not subject to the concept in any way cannot be thought. We<br />
can think something in itself, but in this case, we do not deal<br />
with the absence of any kind of concepts but an orientation of<br />
the gaze, as it happens when we think something as an<br />
indeterminate object or an endless problem.<br />
Kant will state this in other words as well: one cannot<br />
think archetypically, in order to have a full intuition of<br />
something only with the help of the intellect. One’s<br />
intuition is not original (intuitus originarius) but receptive<br />
only or derived (intuitus derivativus), compelled to refer to<br />
what one’s senses offer. The same hold true in the case of<br />
human intellect: it does not act as original intellect<br />
(intellectus archetypicus). One thinks ectipically and<br />
discursively, as if one were working with images or copies<br />
(ectipa) of that which has been created. If one were to<br />
think archetypally, then one would have the truly divine<br />
possibility to create the very thing that one thinks. One’s<br />
intellect would then be genuinely intuitive; it would be the<br />
efficient cause of a thing as far as its very existence is<br />
concerned. Yet this latter possibility belongs to God only.<br />
In fact, one cannot properly say that the intellect thinks,<br />
even if it had the power to originally intuit the object as<br />
such, namely to proceed ex nihilo, “as, <strong>for</strong> example, a divine<br />
<strong>un</strong>derstanding” 10 . Here lies a truly decisive limit of human<br />
thinking. In this latter aspect, there is however a small<br />
window of opport<strong>un</strong>ity <strong>for</strong> human beings, granted to them<br />
as a gift and not necessarily as power of subversion.<br />
10 Critique of Pure Reason, p. 162. This issue is resumed in<br />
Prolegomena, §§ 57‐58, then in Critique of Judgment, § 77.<br />
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Namely, human beings can think and achieve that which is<br />
gro<strong>un</strong>ded in the freedom of their will. This truly noumenal<br />
element, the good as such, will be thought as the purpose<br />
of their deeds and will have its own reality. In other words,<br />
it will have, to invoke Kant, that “something more” than the<br />
logical possibility that reason ensures 11 . What is at stake<br />
here is a distinct reality, non‐similar to that proper to the<br />
natural thing, whose matter can be given in the experience<br />
of the senses. This is the reality of Sollen, something that<br />
must be, possible as an ultimate purpose or as an ideal<br />
path to follow.<br />
So, the principle of non‐contradiction indicates the<br />
lowest possible limit of human thinking is possible. The<br />
level where the freest concepts are active, such as those of<br />
reason, indicate the upper limit of human thinking. Beyond<br />
this level there could be only the intuitive intellect. Yet, as<br />
Kant assures us, human beings do not have access to such a<br />
thing. Human thinking would be situated precisely<br />
between these two limits: total self‐contradiction, on the<br />
one hand, and the original intuition of a thing, on the other<br />
hand.<br />
3. The image of a finite, bivalent and purely actual<br />
world<br />
I would like to make a comment here: Aristotle had<br />
once intuited the same thing, namely that the principle of<br />
non‐contradiction is ”the most certain of all”, both with<br />
respect to our knowledge and with respect to the mode of<br />
being of all that exists. 12 However, <strong>for</strong> him, this principle<br />
implies a purely metaphysical meaning as well, and it<br />
enables another interpretation, that is different from the<br />
logical one. In other words, the idea of an alternative world<br />
11 Critique of Pure Reason, p. 27. In this case, the human being will<br />
not be considered in his phenomenal data, <strong>un</strong>der the common<br />
conditions of space, time or causality, but as a noumenal being; cf.<br />
Critique of Judgment, § 84.<br />
12 Metaphysics, IV, 1005 b – 1006 a sq.<br />
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would not have been <strong>for</strong>eign to him. When he discusses<br />
about contingent or future facts, he accepts exceptions<br />
from the rule of non‐contradiction. He knows well that<br />
each time human deliberation, i.e. an alternative occurs,<br />
the principle is exceeded. To paraphrase him, in those<br />
things that are not actual, there is the possibility that a<br />
thing either exists or does not exist 13 . This holds true <strong>for</strong><br />
facts that are subject to time, that are <strong>un</strong>certain or<br />
incidental.<br />
If we distinguish between that which breaks the <strong>for</strong>mal<br />
law of non‐contradiction and that which exceeds it (the<br />
case where it is neither broken nor observed), we could<br />
accept another situation than that described by Kant. Yet<br />
when exactly could we talk about the excess of the rule of<br />
non‐contradiction?<br />
We know that this principle asks us to avoid self‐<br />
contradiction <strong>un</strong>der well‐established circumstances. Since<br />
we are told that a sentence that contradicts itself cannot be<br />
true, one could talk in this case about the principle of<br />
<strong>for</strong>mal, <strong>absolut</strong>e non‐contradiction (Ştefan Lupaşcu). Or, to<br />
put it differently, one could talk about the principle of<br />
excluded contradiction. 14 Let us recall its old <strong>for</strong>mulation:<br />
“the same attribute cannot at the same time belong and not<br />
belong to the same subject and in the same respect.” 15<br />
Aristotle resumed this idea immediately with reference to<br />
the mode of being of a thing: “obviously it is impossible <strong>for</strong><br />
the same man at the same time to believe the same thing to<br />
be and not to be”. If, however, one could do this, “he would<br />
have contrary opinions at the same time”. As we can see, a<br />
few validity conditions of this principle are already made<br />
explicit: the temporal condition (“at the same time”) and<br />
the perspectival condition (“in the same respect”). Another<br />
condition is easily perceived: that of self‐identity (“the<br />
same subject” and “the same attribute”). There is also a<br />
certain way of negation that can trans<strong>for</strong>m the relation<br />
13 On Interpretation, 19 a.<br />
14 Ernst Tugendhat & Ursula Wolf, Logisch‐semantische<br />
Propädeutik, beginning of 4th chapter.<br />
15 Metaphysics, IV, 3, 1005 b.<br />
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between propositions into one of contradiction. To resume,<br />
there are four conditions: temporal, perspectival, the<br />
subject’s self‐identity and the negation mode. The<br />
condition of self‐identity becomes also clear from the<br />
absurd consequences that its breach would lead to: the<br />
disappearance of any essential characteristic feature, the<br />
total confusion of different things and the confusion of<br />
truth with falsity 16 . Hence we will <strong>un</strong>derstand that, in fact,<br />
this principle operates infallibly when thinking ignores<br />
temporality or any other metaphysical accomplice of<br />
temporality: contingence, the multiple perspective on the<br />
existent, its contradictory dispositions etc. In other words,<br />
it operates faultlessly in a situation that Euclidian<br />
geometry could perfectly describe. The modification of just<br />
one of the conditions mentioned above weakens a lot the<br />
<strong>for</strong>ce of the principle of non‐contradiction. This is what<br />
happens, <strong>for</strong> instance, when the predicate of a sentence<br />
does not have a single and exclusive meaning. If we take<br />
predication to mean the situation of an object on the one<br />
side and not on the other of a classifying demarcation line,<br />
to paraphrase Strawson, then we will better know what the<br />
principle of non‐contradiction says. Its validity area can be<br />
more strictly delimited, namely to the relation between<br />
two predicates that are mutually incompatible, <strong>for</strong> instance<br />
blue and yellow. Either anno<strong>un</strong>ces a demarcation line, a<br />
border. A contradiction emerges when we situate the<br />
object on both sides of the bo<strong>un</strong>dary. It is just that things<br />
do not easily obey operations of this kind. The bo<strong>un</strong>dary is<br />
always more or less imprecise. This is the situation which<br />
leads to difficulties in those cases when the object is<br />
situated exactly on the imprecise strip between the two<br />
fields.” 17 Indeed, we are less certain about what is<br />
contradictory, but the <strong>un</strong>certainty is further preserved:<br />
16 Cf. Petre Botezatu, Introducere în logică (Introduction to Logic),<br />
Iaşi, 1997, pp. 32‐35.<br />
17 Ernst Tugendhat, op. cit., p 53. The author references Peter F.<br />
Strawson, Introduction to Logical Theory, chap. I, § 1‐8.<br />
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either the bo<strong>un</strong>dary in question has proved to be<br />
imprecise, or the object <strong>un</strong>der discussion is situated<br />
precisely on this demarcation line. And, in many situations<br />
that we enco<strong>un</strong>ter in life, this is precisely how things<br />
happen.<br />
In fact, the total trust in this principle supposes a<br />
certain representation of our world and of the self. The<br />
world is seen as ultimately finite, actual and perfectly<br />
bivalent, dominated by necessary relations. The states of<br />
things that compose such a world can be said to present<br />
themselves in one way: they are true or false, existent or<br />
non‐existent, real or illusory. Thus, in its content, the<br />
conj<strong>un</strong>ction or has some genuinely huge <strong>for</strong>ce. One can no<br />
longer talk, in this case, about a possible interval between<br />
the two logical variants, nor about a real interm<strong>un</strong>dium,<br />
similar to the one in which some Stoics would place the<br />
beings that were not subject to binary logic, such as<br />
daimonic beings, who were neither mortal, nor immortal,<br />
neither earthly nor heavenly. In other words, one cannot<br />
talk now about a mode of interm<strong>un</strong>dial existence, where<br />
strange translations and <strong>un</strong>solvable antinomies are<br />
present. 18 All this will be left aside, either as simple images<br />
of the mind or as simple and pure possibilities in the logic<br />
of that which exists.<br />
I do not mean to imply in the above statements that a<br />
principle such as the principle of non‐contradiction would<br />
be valid only in abstracto, in a purely <strong>for</strong>mal world or only<br />
in a world that is completely <strong>for</strong>eign from the world we<br />
live in. My argument is that this principle, as it has been<br />
<strong>for</strong>mulated by classical logic, is active only within certain<br />
bo<strong>un</strong>daries of thinking. It is valid when we represent the<br />
world in a certain way: bivalent, purely actual, finite or<br />
well established. Such a representation – never the only<br />
possible one – belongs itself to this world of life and it is<br />
only within this world that it has or it could produce<br />
18 We have pondered on such issues in the article Eminescu.<br />
Memorie şi spațiu interm<strong>un</strong>diar (Eminescu. Memory and Interm<strong>un</strong>dial<br />
Space), published in Dumitru Irimia (coord.), Studii eminesciene, Iaşi,<br />
2006, pp. 5‐14.<br />
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reality. But when it is deeply affected, the rule of non‐<br />
contradiction is exceeded. The same happens when<br />
another representation or another way of being in the<br />
world becomes more active. Yet it will not be simply<br />
flouted and lead to absurd, scandalous consequences, but<br />
simply exceeded. This means that once its requirement is<br />
observed, the demarcation lines within which it is valid<br />
will also be noticed. This is likely to become visible as soon<br />
as the rule of non‐contradiction is no longer capable of new<br />
<strong>for</strong>ms or modulations. One of these modulations is already<br />
well‐known: its extension from the relation of<br />
contradiction – which is valid only in a bivalent world– to<br />
that of contrariety. 19 Another one is its presence, <strong>un</strong>der<br />
much relaxed <strong>for</strong>ms, in the world of factual truths and not<br />
only in that of the truths of reason, if I were to use<br />
Leibniz’s differentiation.<br />
4. Three situations in which the non‐contradiction<br />
rule is exceeded<br />
As we can see, human beings can think that which<br />
exceeds the logical rule of non‐contradiction. I will invoke<br />
here three situations that are quite frequent in our<br />
everyday speech and life.<br />
One of them seems to indicate the weakest place of<br />
thinking, when we talk lightly about that which we call<br />
some thing. What could, in our everyday speech, some<br />
thing mean? It can mean, <strong>for</strong> instance, that which is<br />
perceived at first, somehow non‐mediated or non‐<br />
reflected. But it can also signify that which appears to us<br />
contingently or by chance, without confusing these two<br />
modes of appearance. Consequently, some thing represents<br />
the object of a simple opinion or belief, as in the situation<br />
when someone says that he or she believes in the<br />
<strong>un</strong>expected change of weather overnight. Anyone can<br />
realise that in these cases we deal with a belief that is<br />
totally different from religious belief. Latin, via one of the<br />
19 Petre Botezatu, op cit, pp. 38, 45.<br />
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meanings of the word res, illustrates well the condition of<br />
some thing. This no<strong>un</strong>, as we know, is related to the verb<br />
reor, which means both to judge, to carefully consider, as<br />
well as to think, to suppose or to believe no matter what. In<br />
fact, this verb allows us to give thought meanings that fall<br />
within broad bo<strong>un</strong>daries, as long as “thinking” can be the<br />
equivalent of “believing” or of “being of an opinion.” The<br />
extension that these lax meanings ensures tends to become<br />
maximal. Yet it is not only the act of thinking that will<br />
know such an extension but that thing that is presupposed<br />
or believed in one way or another will be equally extended.<br />
Consequently, the meaning of the word ”thing” comes to<br />
have in this case a range compared to which no other<br />
larger range could possibly be imagined. After all, anything<br />
can appear as a thing of contingent opinion or belief, both<br />
that which has minimal evidence and that which pertains<br />
to a phantasmatic or even nightmarish world. But one can<br />
no longer say that some thing is invariably one and the<br />
same, nor that it is real or non‐real, true or false. The<br />
logical rule that this or expresses becomes utterly optional.<br />
Some thing no longer belongs to a world that accepts the<br />
logic of bivalence. It does not obey those minimal<br />
conditions required by the rule of non‐contradiction. Yet,<br />
despite all this, it can be a matter <strong>for</strong> thought, at least in<br />
certain aspects. And to the extent that anything can appear<br />
to us as a thing, we can say that anything can be thought:<br />
the square circle, the images of a nightmare, the phantasms<br />
that visit us in our daily life, to say nothing of the<br />
monstrous beings described in the old bestiaries or in<br />
various stories. Anything can be thought, but not<br />
necessarily as a well determined object of an<br />
intersubjective experience.<br />
What would be, here, the limit case, metaphysically? It<br />
would probably be the case when we would be talking<br />
about the thing deprived of any determination, i.e. the pure<br />
and simple thing. This is what has been noticed about the<br />
non‐determined being, as it was <strong>un</strong>derstood in a few pages<br />
in the Science of Logic. The lack of content makes it<br />
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identical, ultimately, to nothing itself. 20 Cautious, Hegel<br />
says, in a previous paragraph, something totally<br />
<strong>un</strong>expected, namely that the only determination of a pure<br />
being is constituted by the lack of any determination. Its<br />
only quality is ensured precisely by the lack of any quality,<br />
its non‐determined mode of being. Although actually non‐<br />
determined, “the character of indeterminateness attaches<br />
to it only in contrast to what is determinate or<br />
qualitative.” 21 Or, in this latter case, the rule of non‐<br />
contradiction proves weak or optional. The contradictory<br />
fact – the result of the pure being and the pure nothing<br />
meaning one and the same thing – finds its way into what<br />
we think and in the act of thinking.<br />
The third situation in which the human being feels that<br />
something exceeds the rule of non‐contradiction takes us<br />
to a rather difficult point of thinking. More precisely, it<br />
<strong>un</strong>covers the point where thought contradicts itself. The<br />
data of thinking that determine, via assertion or negation,<br />
that a predicate belongs to a subject, have long been<br />
known. This type of thinking has been called apophantic<br />
thinking, that which asserts or determines an object. It is<br />
the way we think when we say, <strong>for</strong> instance, that the <strong>for</strong>est<br />
is wild. Such a statement, which does nothing else but<br />
declare or determine something, can be true or false. It is<br />
not difficult to establish the truth or falsity of the<br />
statement that the <strong>for</strong>est in Valea Seacă is wild. The<br />
difficulty increases, however, when we do not deal with<br />
simple statements but other modes of stating. This is what<br />
happens, <strong>for</strong> instance, when we consider a question, a plea,<br />
a story, an order, a commendation, and especially a prayer<br />
addressed in solitude to an <strong>un</strong>seen power, or when what<br />
we think can be neither a subject nor a predicate, in the<br />
20 ”Pure being /.../ is pure indeterminateness and emptiness. There<br />
is nothing to be intuited in it, if one can speak here of intuiting; or, it is<br />
only this pure intuitng itself /.../. Being, the indeterminate immediate,<br />
is in fact nothing, and neither more nor less than nothing” (Book<br />
Volume 1, Book 1, Section 1, Chapter 1, A).<br />
21 Ibid., § 131.<br />
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logical meaning of these terms. In other words, it cannot be<br />
an object, in the modern <strong>un</strong>derstanding of the term. This<br />
happens, <strong>for</strong> instance, when thinking seeks to <strong>un</strong>derstand<br />
the condition of a living image, the person as such, fully<br />
aware that the latter cannot be an object in the proper<br />
meaning of the word. The same holds true <strong>for</strong> what we call<br />
a historical event, the life of a human comm<strong>un</strong>ity.<br />
5. Objectifying logic and antinomic logic<br />
To trans<strong>for</strong>m something into an object, to institute an<br />
object, to operate with all sorts of objects and to follow the<br />
criteria of objectivity, fall <strong>un</strong>questionably <strong>un</strong>der the<br />
umbrella of the faculty of thinking. Yet it does not follow<br />
from here that the act of thinking is exhausted in this<br />
modality, nor that such a modality would be justified any<br />
time and with reference to anything.<br />
Objectifying thinking does not necessarily represent the<br />
generic mode of thinking. It rather means a species of<br />
thinking, <strong>un</strong>der well‐determined circumstances, and with<br />
its own justifications and possible fallacies. It is distinct,<br />
<strong>for</strong> instance, from the mainly symbolic thinking, although,<br />
to a certain extent, it is not always deprived of symbolic<br />
elements. It stands <strong>un</strong>der different presuppositions and<br />
<strong>un</strong>der different criteria than symbolic thinking. It indicates,<br />
as Heidegger argued, a different experience of the human<br />
mind than, <strong>for</strong> instance, the meditative experience, 22 or<br />
than the experience proper to creation in general. Under<br />
such circumstances, the phenomenon investigated can be<br />
original, such as language. No one doubts that thinking is<br />
present in any of these experiences, not as diffuse, implicit<br />
or vague thinking, as we might be tempted to believe, but<br />
as critical thinking, in the proper meaning of the word. In<br />
Heidegger’s opinion, to think critically means to<br />
permanently differentiate (krínein) between those things<br />
that, in order to be justified, require a demonstration, and<br />
those that, in order to be confirmed, require simply to be<br />
22 Cf. Letter from March 1964, written <strong>for</strong> the debate at Drew‐<br />
University, Madison, 9‐11 April 1964, published later together with the<br />
work Phenomenology and Theology.<br />
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surprised and accepted. One can no longer say in this case<br />
that the only critical thinking is theoretical thinking.<br />
However, one prefers sometimes to assimilate any mode of<br />
thinking to objectifying thinking. The latter proves<br />
necessary to a certain extent, even in our everyday and<br />
technical space of living. It is just that when it becomes<br />
hypertrophied, it can make <strong>un</strong>recognisable that fact of<br />
living that it approximates and to which itself belongs.<br />
Yet when we consider that which cannot be an object,<br />
or when thinking follows another path than that proper to<br />
the objectifying attitude, the rule of non‐contradiction will<br />
be easily exceeded. One enco<strong>un</strong>ters then, in certain<br />
situations, something that anno<strong>un</strong>ces a deeply antinomic<br />
nature. This is not just a <strong>for</strong>mal antinomy, as in the case of<br />
the one noticed in Epimenide’s statement on the Cretan,<br />
with reference to Cretans themselves<br />
,<br />
23 . We are talking<br />
here about the <strong>for</strong>mal character of an antinomy with no<br />
intention to diminish in any way its <strong>for</strong>ce to scandalise the<br />
human mind. In fact, the Greek philosopher Philetas of Kos<br />
is said to have died because of his huge ef<strong>for</strong>ts to logically<br />
solve Epimenide’s antinomy. And since his time, such<br />
ef<strong>for</strong>ts have never ceased to be made, even though<br />
philosophers have not risked their life any more <strong>for</strong> such a<br />
cause. Yet this is not how things stand when we are<br />
concerned with the deeply antinomic nature of a reality.<br />
The latter situation is well known to some interpreters,<br />
<strong>for</strong> instance to Rudolf Otto. What appears to thinking as<br />
totally other, ganz Andere, makes one notice this antinomic<br />
mode that the totally other thing has to manifest itself.<br />
According to Otto, the most acute <strong>for</strong>m of mirum, that<br />
23 ”Cretans are always liars, evil brutes, lazy gluttons”, Epimenides<br />
is credited to have uttered, prophetically, according to Apostle Paul in<br />
the Epistle to Titus 1, 12. And he adds immediately: This testimony is<br />
true. There<strong>for</strong>e, rebuke them sharply so that they will be so<strong>un</strong>d in the<br />
faith...” (1, 13). The Greek philosopher will hand over a much simpler<br />
and somehow ludic variant. Just that, as Aristotle had well noticed, ”he<br />
who says that everything is false makes himself a liar” (Met. IV, 8, 1012<br />
b).<br />
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which is truly mirable is that which we call antinomy. It is<br />
more than a simple paradox. It enables the emergence of<br />
sentences that are not only contrary to reason, to its norms<br />
and laws, but also of divergences between them, thus<br />
stating the opposita about the same object and creating<br />
antitheses that seem irreconcilable and irreducible. Thus,<br />
mirum shocks the human will to <strong>un</strong>derstand 24 . This occurs<br />
due to several reasons, at least. First, this mysterium<br />
tremendum is <strong>un</strong>perceivable and incomprehensible,<br />
akatálepton, as St. Joan Chrysostomos argued, so that “it<br />
cannot be grasped by our categories.” Then, it will make<br />
reason see its own limits and ceaselessly upset it via its<br />
paradoxical character (to paraphrase Otto, now it is not<br />
only above any reason, but it seems to be “against reason”).<br />
He thus discovered a dissimilitas that was irreducible vis‐à‐<br />
vis that which obeys the rule of non‐contradiction. Finally,<br />
this dissimilitas concerns its very nature (it is made itself<br />
out of contrasts, oppositions and contradictions), which<br />
means that it is not a simple effect of perception. Thus,<br />
apart from the habitual or common logic, one can recognise<br />
another one that is much more different. Both the situation<br />
called coincidentia oppositorum (easily recognised in<br />
teachings such as Mahayana or, later, in the pages of<br />
authors such as Meister Eckhart), and Jobian judgments,<br />
are proper to this different logic. We refer here to those<br />
judgments that take the shape of irreducible antinomies,<br />
frequently met in the scriptures (the Old and the New<br />
Testament) and in patristic writings, or even in the<br />
thinking of some modern, more eccentric interpreters such<br />
as Luther.<br />
The phenomenologist invoked above noticed something<br />
else as well, namely that the incomprehensible element is<br />
not discovered in a pure and <strong>absolut</strong>ely singular state.<br />
Should this happen, the comm<strong>un</strong>ication between the<br />
human being and the divine power would be blocked <strong>for</strong><br />
good. In the case of Job, <strong>for</strong> instance, such a mysterium<br />
could have at the most made him keep quiet but not<br />
24 Rudolf Otto, Das Heilige – Über das Irrationale in der Idee des<br />
Gőttlichen <strong>un</strong>d sein Verhältnis zum Rationalen, 1917, chap. 5.<br />
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persuaded him deeply. 25 Since it does convince him deeply<br />
and brings peace to his soul, it means that the<br />
incomprehensible element has, in this case, a rather<br />
ineffable positive value. What appears as mirum<br />
simultaneously becomes ”both an admirandum and an<br />
adorandum, as well as a fascinans.” Such a value is situated<br />
on another level than that of regular thinking, “the one of<br />
searches <strong>for</strong> a purpose or an intelligible meaning.” It is not<br />
exhausted in an act, as if it were to avoid its own mystery.<br />
What matters immensely is that it should be perceived as<br />
such, as it happens in the episode in the Testament when<br />
“Elohim is justified, and Job’s soul is at peace”. The non‐<br />
contradiction logic is not simply cast aside but taken<br />
beyond itself, in another space of comm<strong>un</strong>ication and<br />
<strong>un</strong>derstanding.<br />
So, the presence of the antinomy becomes utterly<br />
obvious when a personal and <strong>absolut</strong>e, truly revealed<br />
reality is to be perceived. Christian writers noted this fact<br />
very well in their work. In fact, they realized that the truth<br />
of the Testaments cannot be expressed in the Aristotelian<br />
logic of non‐contradiction. This does not go too far when it<br />
comes to notice something <strong>absolut</strong>ely different, such as<br />
that which is <strong>un</strong>covered as one and multiple in itself, or<br />
that which anno<strong>un</strong>ces itself as the perfect double nature,<br />
neither separate, nor mixed. In such an apophatic<br />
experience, antinomy is real and irreducible. According to<br />
Lossky, God is nothing of all that pertains to creation or to<br />
things manifest; in His nature, He is impossible to be<br />
known. He ‘is not.’ This is where the Christian paradox<br />
occurs: He is the God whom I address as ‘You,’ Who calls<br />
me, Who reveals Himself as personal, living 26 . The<br />
25 Ibidem, chap. 13.<br />
26 Cf. Vladimir Lossky, Orthodox Theology: An Introduction, 2001.<br />
Cf. In the Image and Likeness of God, 1974, or Pavel Evdokimov, La<br />
Connaissance de Dieu selon la Tradition Oreintale, 1969. As he mentions<br />
at one point, the ”blinding darkness” is a mode to express the proximity<br />
of the inaccesible: the more God is present, the more he is hidden. (p.<br />
26 in the Romanian translation). An older source of such<br />
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antinomy is also real when one hears that one must love<br />
those who hate you, do good to the one who wishes <strong>for</strong> the<br />
worst <strong>for</strong> you, and to pray <strong>for</strong> the one who persecutes you<br />
(Mathew 5, 44). It cannot be translated in the terms of a<br />
<strong>for</strong>mal contradiction, a situation in which it would be in<br />
fact degraded, nor does it have a purely logical, cognitive<br />
sense. However, if we were to talk about contradiction,<br />
then we should see that in this case, it does nothing but<br />
hide a true paradox. “God Himself is a <strong>un</strong>ion of contrasts or<br />
paradoxes. For He is One, but in three hypostases. And<br />
since He has all possibilities, all powers, He doesn’t need to<br />
move towards anything. Yet, He moves, resting in the love<br />
between the three hypostases and with love <strong>for</strong> all things<br />
created” 27 . Such a paradox cannot be accessible to<br />
analytical thinking. The heresy of Arius, who was a great<br />
scholar after all, expresses among other things precisely<br />
this wish of thinking to translate in the logic of non‐<br />
contradiction that which exceeds it bo<strong>un</strong>dlessly In such a<br />
case, the resources of the alternative, as a distinct or<br />
original figure of thinking, seem to be simply <strong>for</strong>gotten.<br />
This is why, in what follows, I will ponder on this issue.<br />
6. On the included third party and the idea of an<br />
alternative<br />
Whoever would argue that the non‐contradiction logic can<br />
be doubled by an antynomic logic does not necessarily<br />
consider the premeditated flouting of certain rules of logic.<br />
Nor is such a thing possible in the regular exercise of<br />
thinking. What is considered is only the possible access to<br />
another level of <strong>un</strong>derstanding, where the respective rules<br />
are no longer valid in their restrictive use. What sets the<br />
considerations can be fo<strong>un</strong>d in Pavel Florenski’s work, namely in<br />
Pillar and Gro<strong>un</strong>d of the Truth. We find out there, especially in the<br />
”Letter on Contradiction,” that the truly concrete fact manifests itself<br />
antinomically, which is an <strong>un</strong>avoidable situation <strong>for</strong> reason. The latter<br />
sees itself <strong>for</strong>ced to give up itself and its non‐contradictory logic, so as<br />
to have access to the original truth of the person and of divine<br />
revelation.<br />
27 Dumitru Stăniloae, Studii de teologie dogmatică ortodoxă<br />
(Studies on Orthodox Dogmatic Theology), Craiova, 1990, p. 194.<br />
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limits of these rules does not exhaust the comprehension field<br />
which is proper to humans. This field is much larger and,<br />
naturally, active at levels that are much different among<br />
themselves. Consequently, thinking can overcome the rule<br />
that it itself <strong>for</strong>mulates in a certain way. It can deliberately<br />
flout that which, at a given moment, is strictly limited by it, or<br />
that which itself needs to approximate in time. It does not<br />
necessarily contradict itself by operating in this mannen. Nor<br />
does it follow from here that it could overcome anyway those<br />
presuppositions or beliefs on the gro<strong>un</strong>ds of which it works<br />
continuously. If it asks, as it has done numerous times, how it<br />
can think that the same thing is both one and multiple<br />
simultaneously, it does not suspend itself with such a<br />
question, nor does it flout the non‐contradiction axiom. Yet<br />
what can be <strong>for</strong>mulated in time from a logical point of view–<br />
<strong>un</strong>der severe determinations – can also be overcome. This<br />
follows simply from the thesis that any determination means<br />
negation, omnis determinatio est negatio. And what cannot be<br />
thus determined further <strong>un</strong>folds itself in front of our mind’s<br />
eyes and attracts it to it. Finally, it proves to be the non‐<br />
determined and free source of all that is subject to certain<br />
<strong>for</strong>ms of time as such.<br />
When thinking exceeds certain rules of logic, it does<br />
nothing but reach their validity limits. It does not do this by<br />
suspending itself, but by orienting itself towards another<br />
mode of comprehension.<br />
Let us recall that Stefan Lupaşcu supports with sufficient<br />
arguments the validity of a non‐classical principle, that of the<br />
included third party, especially when he aims to describe the<br />
microphysical or psycho‐mental world. He explicitly<br />
disscused about this principle after 1950, which created<br />
much confusion and reserve among the French academic<br />
milieux. The idea stands in relation with the dynamic logic of<br />
the contradictory, as he himself calls it. The basic tenet of this<br />
logic is explicitly resumed in the opening of the first chapter<br />
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of The Principle of Antagonism and the Logic of Energy 28 . The<br />
weakening of the non‐contradiction principle is inspired,<br />
argues the author in a footnote, by certain scientific<br />
experiments, such as those of Riemann and Lobacevski in<br />
geometry, Louis de Broglie in ondulatory mechanics, or<br />
Heisenberg, with respect to relations of indetermination. It<br />
also considers certain phenomena in psychology and human<br />
history, “in which contradiction seems to have fo<strong>un</strong>d its<br />
favourite place”. He was initially suspected <strong>for</strong> his eccentric<br />
or strange ideas, but later he was invoked in discussions<br />
about the multiple levels of reality and the non‐classical<br />
<strong>for</strong>ms of logic.<br />
What precisely should I restate here, from Lupaşcu’s<br />
arguments? When two terms make up an opposition, <strong>for</strong><br />
instance simultaneous/successive, continuous/discontinuous,<br />
neither is sufficient to define a certain phenomenon on its<br />
own. Each supports a type of partiality in what it alone<br />
indicates: when one term is actualised, the other is<br />
potentialised, but only together do the two tendencies<br />
describe the phenomenon as such. This means that each term<br />
can be fo<strong>un</strong>d, no matter how precarious it might be, in the<br />
reality zone of the other. In their partiality and co‐<br />
dependence, they make room, thus, to a third term. Or, the<br />
latter names precisely the element on which they are<br />
gro<strong>un</strong>ded or to which they make constant reference. Thus, I<br />
would now adopt the idea that the third term is included: it is<br />
already there, just that it is in another mode or at another<br />
28 ”Any phenomenon or element, or logical event, as well as the<br />
thought that thinks it, the sentence that expresses it or the sign that<br />
symbolises it: e, <strong>for</strong> instance, needs to have always associated, structurally<br />
and f<strong>un</strong>ctionally, an anti‐phenomenon or anti‐element, or a logical anti‐<br />
event, and there<strong>for</strong>e a judgment, a proposition, a contradictory sign: non‐e<br />
or ē; and in such a way that e or ē can never be more than potentialised by<br />
the actualisation of ē or e, and not made to disappear, so that either ē, or e<br />
could be sufficient to themselves in independence and there<strong>for</strong>e in<br />
rigorous non‐contradiction, as in any logic, be it classical or of any other<br />
nature, which is gro<strong>un</strong>ded on the allmightiness of the principle of non‐<br />
contradiction” (translation from the Romanian translation from French by<br />
Vasile Sporici, Iaşi, 2000, p. 11). The idea will be refined in other works<br />
such as Les trois matières, Julliard, Paris, 1960, or in La tragédie de<br />
l’énergie, Casterman, Paris, 1970.<br />
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level than the other two terms that ensure the relation of<br />
opposition. As antithetic terms appear as distinct dynamisms,<br />
they cannot “fuse in the creation of a third synthetic term”.<br />
Either one dominates the other, or neither prevails. In fact,<br />
each dynamism leads to potentialisation or actualisation,<br />
tendencies which never reach their end. And the third term,<br />
the included third term, represents the moment “of the<br />
strongest contradiction”, when neither opposite dynamism<br />
can actualise or potentialise itself 29 . Apart from to the two<br />
opposed tendencies– one towards identification, the other<br />
towards diversification – there emerges a third one, that is<br />
contradictory or dubitative and that constantly challenges the<br />
others. This means that, ultimately, “the dynamic logic of the<br />
contradictory is a trialectics.”<br />
In an earlier work, Lupaşcu had identified a single<br />
element <strong>for</strong> which this mode of logical expression would not<br />
be appropriate: affection as such. It is only about affection<br />
that one can say that it is that which it is. In other words, only<br />
affection would recover the tautology proper to the being as<br />
such. 30 It is the only one that makes visible the signs of<br />
transcendence: it is inexhaustible or excessive, and it<br />
transgresses the common thinking operations, like an<br />
original, indefinite source. Of course, it is not easy to accept<br />
the idea that such a reality, about which a metaphysical<br />
statement can be made, would be the only one that anno<strong>un</strong>ces<br />
a type of radical alterity. What Lupaşcu says about affectivity<br />
does not concern only this intentional act. After all, the flux of<br />
living, although one and the same, can become excessive with<br />
each individual act and yet allow some profo<strong>un</strong>d schisms in<br />
itself. And the statement <strong>un</strong>der discussion, “something that is<br />
that which is”, seems to bring to the same point, via their late<br />
echoes, two completely different sources, one from the<br />
Testaments (Exodus 3, 14) and another one, from Aristotle<br />
(Metaphysics, IV, 1, 1003 a). They do not compose a single<br />
29 Ibidem, pp. 25‐26.<br />
30 Cf. Logique et contradiction, ed. cit., p. 128.<br />
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impersonal voice in time, but rather an alternative, in a more<br />
special meaning of this word.<br />
However, what I mean to say about these ideas of Lupaşcu<br />
is different. He does not argue that the rule of non‐<br />
contradiction should ever be discarded as invalid. As we have<br />
seen, nor will the axiom of the excluded third term be<br />
abandoned, but only restricted in its validity field 31 . This<br />
axiom, after all, does not lead to contradictory statements. To<br />
accept it does not mean to suspend the data of classical logic<br />
in the air. In fact, a few distinctions have been made in this<br />
respect, so as to make things clearer. One can talk, as Lupaşcu<br />
does, about an excluded third logical term that can relax<br />
contradictory terms in quantum or psycho‐mental<br />
phenomena, <strong>for</strong> instance. There is also an ontological<br />
included third term, i.e. a third state that concerns another<br />
level of reality, where the contradictory relation of some<br />
initial terms becomes a relation of <strong>un</strong>ity. On this latter level<br />
there can emerge new contradictory couples, whose solution<br />
is possible at another proximate level. There<strong>for</strong>e, the included<br />
third term requires us, ontologically, to consider the idea of<br />
some multiple levels of reality. Eventually Michel Camus<br />
suggested the idea of a “secret included third term,” the place<br />
of recognition and protection of a truly irreducible mystery 32 .<br />
Such a tendency that orients towards an included third term<br />
does not annihilate antagonic terms. It only takes them out of<br />
their singular expansion and relaxes them immensely. The<br />
excessive potentialisation of one no longer entails the<br />
excessive actualisation of the other. Lupaşcu talks about the<br />
tendency towards a kind of balance of these terms, though it<br />
is <strong>un</strong>stable, oscillating. Thus, reality itself takes the shape of<br />
an elementary and ceaseless balance, a rhythmics that is,<br />
nevertheless, impossible to express in logical <strong>for</strong>mula. The<br />
orientation towards the included third term indicates in fact a<br />
third tendency that would be constitutive in any<br />
31 Cf. Basarab Nicolescu, Noi, particula şi lumea (We, the Particle and<br />
the World), translated by Vasile Sporici, Iaşi, 2002, p. 210. In other words,<br />
the law of the included third party – should it be a law – does not lead in<br />
any way to contradictory statements, as we might think at first.<br />
32 Ibidem, pp. 189, 212.<br />
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contradictory dynamism. If manifest or visible tendencies are<br />
antagonic, <strong>un</strong>der a movement that can bring everything to<br />
self‐destruction, the third tendency trans<strong>for</strong>ms such an<br />
elementary logic. More precisely, it trans<strong>for</strong>ms primary<br />
opposition into an alternative. Lupaşcu does not use this<br />
latter term, but I think it can express the new situation of<br />
antagonic tendencies. In fact, the alternative is not given now<br />
by either of the terms in confrontation, nor by their possible<br />
synthesis, similar to the Hegelian one. The alternative does<br />
not mean an other opposed term, nor a tendency that differs<br />
from the dominant one. On the contrary, it becomes possible<br />
only in a ternary configuration of the phenomenon. It is given<br />
precisely by the possibility of orienting these tendencies<br />
towards something else, beyond them. However, the latter<br />
tendency does not imply another term alongside the other<br />
two, a third angle in an elementary triangle of manifestation.<br />
It rather implies a different economy of the whole procession.<br />
In order to name the separate difference of the third<br />
tendency, Lupaşcu singles it out. For instance, if the first two<br />
mean homogenisation and heterogenisation, the third will be<br />
proper to the quantum world, where the two tendencies are<br />
inseparably intersecting. If the first two mean <strong>for</strong>ms of<br />
prevalence, the third names precisely their confrontation,<br />
“their inhibiting conflict/<strong>for</strong> both of them/” 33 . If the first two<br />
33 Stéphane Lupasco, Les Trois Matières, Juillard, Paris, 1970, p. 52.<br />
The true matter of things is no longer time or their becoming, as in<br />
Hegelian phenomenology, but in their inner conflict. In other words, what<br />
defines them ultimately is of agonal nature. In L’énergie et la matière<br />
vivante, 1962, p. 90, Lupaşcu argued that contradictory dynamisms ”are in<br />
agony till the end of the world.” We know that these words were used by<br />
Pascal with reference to Christ’s sacrifice, in its <strong>absolut</strong>e difference from<br />
this world. What happens here, there<strong>for</strong>e, is totally different from what<br />
the Hegelian contradictory movement anno<strong>un</strong>ces. Cf. in this matter<br />
Constantin Noica, Forward to Stéphane Lupasco, Logica dinamică a<br />
contradictoriului (Dynamic Logic of the Contradictory), translated by<br />
Vasile Sporici, 1982, pp. 10‐12. Some interpreters have sought to relate<br />
this vision to the Qual idea (original tension or ef<strong>for</strong>t, trouble, that grants<br />
the true quality of a thing) from Jacob Böhme’s philosophy; cf. Jean‐<br />
Jacques W<strong>un</strong>enburger, op. cit., p. 153.<br />
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can become visible in the mineral and living world, the third<br />
finds a certain evidence in the subtle world of quantum and<br />
psycho‐mental phenomena. In an extreme case, it could be<br />
seen as a source of certain phenomena that cannot be<br />
<strong>un</strong>derstood in terms of non‐contradiction. 34 Differences point<br />
to other lines of ontology as well: the third state does not<br />
manifest itself as such in continuous space or in successive<br />
time. It cannot be experimented in the data of such<br />
categories, it does not lend itself to our common perception,<br />
it can be neither measured nor described in terms of quantity.<br />
It actualises itself, in fact, as <strong>un</strong>usual intensification of<br />
quality, making a totally distinct nature become perceivable.<br />
Yet, as we have seen, everything will be fo<strong>un</strong>d again only in a<br />
ternary configuration of the phenomenon or of life.<br />
In other words, to observe the rule of non‐contradiction,<br />
especially when thinking operates legitimately with objects,<br />
is natural and essential, at any time. But it is equally natural<br />
to admit that there is something that does not observe this<br />
rule, i.e. that which is not determined as a logical object. The<br />
latter, although decisive in the order of existence, does not<br />
reveal itself as such to analytical or technical thinking. As<br />
Gadamer said, there does not exist just one experience of<br />
truth only 35 . Other experiences, apart from the analytical or<br />
technical one – <strong>for</strong> instance, aesthetic or religious experience<br />
– attract thinking where the antinomy accepts a new<br />
significance, apart from the one already known. Both paths<br />
are essential, which means that both define us in our relation<br />
with ourselves, with the other and with our world. To say at a<br />
given moment that a statement does not observe the non‐<br />
contradiction rule does not mean the exclusion of the path<br />
opened by this rule. On the contrary, it remains where it<br />
belongs and leads to what is proper to it. When it is not<br />
obviously followed, it is still there, either as a common place<br />
of thinking, or as a certain solution when faced with obscure<br />
indistinctions.<br />
180<br />
7. Disposition <strong>for</strong> alternative visions<br />
34 Cf. Basarab Nicolescu, op. cit., pp. 207 sq.<br />
35 Cf. Hans‐Georg Gadamer, Truth and Method, second part, II, 3 b.
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Thinking often has to accept a certain competition of the<br />
paths followed, yet without proceeding by exclusion. The<br />
non‐exclusion of the competing path entails great difficulties.<br />
Yet it can also bring in its proximity <strong>for</strong>eign symbolic<br />
experiences that are much different from those legitimated in<br />
the common space of living.<br />
We know now that, with respect to the delimitation of the<br />
sciences of the spirit, Dilthey accepts at a given moment the<br />
possibility of different attitudes towards one and the same<br />
thing. This is what happens when we consider, <strong>for</strong> instance,<br />
the human body, the language in which a poem is written, the<br />
legislation of a certain epoch or the human psychological life.<br />
In the case of such phenomena, thinking can be doubly<br />
oriented. On the one hand, it tends to clarify certain possible<br />
causes, their recurrent classifiable data that are easy to be<br />
expressed in statistics or even in a calculus. In this case, it<br />
delimits homogeneous fields of facts: causal relations,<br />
structures and regularities. This is how someone preoccupied<br />
by the poetical technique of an author would proceed: they<br />
would try to see what the proportion of no<strong>un</strong>s and verbs is in<br />
a poem, how many of them come from one language and how<br />
many come from others, to what extent adverbs are more<br />
frequent etc. It is the same with the one who, when talking<br />
about the legislation of a co<strong>un</strong>try, would like to know, <strong>for</strong><br />
instance, if it makes possible the easy and certain capture of a<br />
criminal. On the other hand, thinking tries to find a larger<br />
meaning of these phenomena, their possible meaning in that<br />
horizon that the course of life can offer. It orients now<br />
towards what we call inner life, will and intentionality, faith<br />
and long‐term purposes. It tries to distinguish, as much as<br />
possible, precisely the sensitivity of a person and of an age,<br />
self‐consciousness. This is what Ihering did when, in his<br />
preoccupation <strong>for</strong> the ancient Roman law, he wished to<br />
<strong>un</strong>derstand its very spirit, its historical difference. It is just<br />
that these two orientations of thinking are not at all separate<br />
because they are not two different classes of objects, nor are<br />
they two <strong>for</strong>eign paths of thinking. Dilthey <strong>for</strong>esaw this but<br />
he did not write about it clearly enough. When thinking<br />
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follows a certain path, it does not bracket completely that<br />
path that would be opposed to it. In fact, I think that this<br />
would not even be possible because it would entail that we<br />
could talk either about the Adamic chance of pure thinking, or<br />
about the absence of memory and of preliminary data. Yet,<br />
when any of its distinct modes actualises itself, the other<br />
modes of thinking are actualised as well, at least as echoes,<br />
backgro<strong>un</strong>d response or vague beliefs.<br />
Let me bring to your attention another situation that takes<br />
this issue further on. Mircea Eliade retells in Memoirs, II, a<br />
discussion that he had in the summer of 1958 in Tokyo, with a<br />
Japanese professor of philosophy, after an international<br />
congress on the history of religions. The Japanese professor<br />
was an expert in German philosophy, especially in Heidegger<br />
but, strangely enough <strong>for</strong> a Japanese, he ignored Buddhist<br />
history and philosophy. Like many Japanese philosophers<br />
after the war, he considered Buddhism as belonging to the<br />
prehistory of thinking and that what really mattered only<br />
happened later, i.e. a perfectly systematic philosophy. Apart<br />
from Buddha’s life, he was almost a complete ignorant in<br />
basic Buddhism. Eliade’s comment on this situation did not<br />
tarry: “You have close at hand the most daring logic that the<br />
world has known be<strong>for</strong>e Hegel – the Buddhist logic, as it was<br />
elaborated by Nagarj<strong>un</strong>a, Vasubandhu, Dinnaga, Dharmakirti<br />
– and you leave it exclusively in the hands of historians and<br />
Orientalists. Your philosophers do not know it or, in any case,<br />
do not use it. Maybe it does not seem ‘present‐day’ to you. But<br />
this just proves that you don’t know it because this is<br />
Nagarj<strong>un</strong>a and his followers’ problem: to logically prove that<br />
Samsara is identical with Nirvana, that becoming (cosmic<br />
‘irreality’) is the same as being (i.e. ontological beatitude). At<br />
another level, pursuing another aim and using other means,<br />
Madhyamika philosophers were confronted with the same<br />
mystery – namely coincidentia oppositorum – that Cusanus<br />
will be faced with /in Europe/“ 36 . Ultimately, what is at stake<br />
36 Memorii (Memories), volume II (1937‐1960), edition coordinated<br />
by Mircea Handoca, 1991, pp. 178‐179. Eliade then tried to translate in<br />
the philosophical language of his time this old problem: ”Or, one can<br />
enco<strong>un</strong>ter coincidentia oppositorum today in some principles of nuclear<br />
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here is that states of things never have a single and exclusive<br />
meaning. The eye can continuously grasp their double<br />
condition, as simple phenomena and as signs. And signs – in<br />
any symbolic economy– obey rules or codes that are not<br />
always obvious. As Eliade argued, “the world is that which<br />
appears to be and at the same time a cipher” 37 . As a simple<br />
phenomenon, a human act seems to be perfectly contingent<br />
and equal to itself. When it is seen as a game of signs, it can<br />
orient the gaze towards completely different meanings. Some<br />
of them appear at first really strange. For instance, when we<br />
talk about the modern image of progress, we can see in it,<br />
beyond what it offers at first, an exalted and quite vain<br />
ideology. Upon closer inspection, however, one can realise<br />
that there is more at stake, namely a new mythology of the<br />
human being in history, whose meaning must be connected<br />
with its radical solitude. The same holds true <strong>for</strong> the atheism<br />
of “Enlightenment” or <strong>for</strong> the late feeling of the “death of<br />
God”: they express, in fact, as Eliade argues, the new religious<br />
creativity of the modern world. Such phenomena can be<br />
interpreted both technically, literally, and religiously. Eliade<br />
often returns to this double image of our existence and avoids<br />
reducing one of them to the other, <strong>for</strong> instance, the world of<br />
appearances to its possible cipher. He prefers rather to<br />
describe a subtle dialectics of camouflage that probably<br />
nothing can escape.<br />
In his pages of dogmatic theology, Dumitru Stăniloae<br />
writes with much clarity about the real presence of the<br />
alternative, as it is constitutive to the human mode of being.<br />
He starts from what was well <strong>un</strong>derstood in patristic<br />
literature, namely that the human being, as a person, is<br />
situated both between the bo<strong>un</strong>daries of this world and<br />
physics (<strong>for</strong> example, Bohr’s principle of complementarity), but we are<br />
increasingly and <strong>for</strong>cefully asked, at this historical moment where we<br />
are: <strong>for</strong> instance, how is freedom possible in a conditioned <strong>un</strong>iverse ?<br />
how can one live in history without betraying it, without negating it,<br />
and yet participating in a trans‐historical reality? After all, this is the<br />
problem: how can one know the real camouflaged in appearance?”.<br />
37 Ibidem, p. 355.<br />
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beyond them. To be beyond this world does not mean to be<br />
separated from it, which would be, in fact, impossible, but to<br />
be in relation with that which transcends it infinitely. This is<br />
a situation that generates many strong contrasts, true<br />
bifurcations of nature in the human life 38 . They appear as real<br />
paradoxes, that do not necessarily require a logical or<br />
technical solution, such as the human person’s character, that<br />
is inexhaustible and yet touched by finitude, or our stable will<br />
to know even what the mind cannot seize, in which case non‐<br />
knowledge could mean “knowledge of the sacrament”. One<br />
could also mention the double tendency that humans show<br />
continuously, towards spiritual edification and at the same<br />
time towards the fall in the world (“towards passionate<br />
pleasures”) 39 . This is the doubling process that “makes<br />
another possibility of alternative movement <strong>un</strong>derstood,” <strong>for</strong><br />
the human person. Some contrasts can be connected with the<br />
antynomic economy of the being. Such are the ones that<br />
<strong>un</strong>cover the person as one and the same in its very<br />
fascinating trans<strong>for</strong>mation. Other contrasts follow from here:<br />
<strong>un</strong>ique and yet equal with the others, in itself and yet<br />
oriented towards another, always the same and yet always in<br />
evolution, ineffable and yet explainable in some of its data. It<br />
is continuously subjected to the laws of matter and at the<br />
same time it goes beyond them 40 . Truly strange are those<br />
contrasts that concern the temporality proper to the human<br />
being. Although subjected to the present time and,<br />
apparently, totally lost in it, the human beings make room at<br />
38 Cf. Dumitru Stăniloae, Studii de teologie dogmatică ortodoxă (<br />
Studies on Orthodox Dogmatic Theology), section B, chap. II, Craiova, 1990,<br />
pp. 173‐200.<br />
39 Ibidem, p. 179.<br />
40 Ibidem, pp. 181‐184. As he writes somewhere else, ”a paradox of the<br />
person, as well as a manifestation of its bo<strong>un</strong>dless depth and resilience, is<br />
the endless irradiation of light or darkness” (p. 190). Man proves to be<br />
indeed a ”creature made of nothing, and this must preserve in him the<br />
awareness of humility. But he is also God’s conscious creation, capable to<br />
gain knowledge about Him, and this gives him, at the same time, a<br />
priceless value” (p. 188). The obviousness of such paradoxes ultimately<br />
justifies the idea of a distinct type of apophatism, that is proper to the<br />
human person (p. 191).<br />
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any moment <strong>for</strong> their past and continuously expose<br />
themselves to future moments. Consequently, the present, the<br />
past and the future are simultaneously manifest in their<br />
being. We are temporal beings and yet we are able to go<br />
beyond our well dated chronology. “Both time and eternity”<br />
have a dense value <strong>for</strong> us; this means that one could talk<br />
about a double character of the person, “on the one hand<br />
temporal, on the other hand eternal”. Hence the “eternal<br />
importance of the temporal moment”, when the moment finds<br />
in eternal things its true content.<br />
Invoking St. Gregory of Nazianz, Staniloae will restate his<br />
suggestion that one “ought not to suppress /from the mind/<br />
so many things that one has not <strong>un</strong>derstood”, such as the<br />
incomprehensible things about the very presence of God.<br />
Similarly, one ought not to ignore the much different<br />
tendencies that the human being manifests. “The two sides of<br />
the paradoxical human composition, the tendency towards<br />
holiness and the necessity to satisfy bodily needs, do not<br />
justify the despise of either, but require the infusion of the<br />
latter by the power of the <strong>for</strong>mer” 41 . This idea will be<br />
resumed in the discussion about the complicated relationship<br />
between spirit, body and the world. “Man can also delude<br />
himself by thinking that he is satisfying this ever fuller thirst<br />
<strong>for</strong> knowledge by directing it towards the world as an<br />
exclusive reality and towards taking joy in it, exclusively<br />
though the body, which brings monotony and spiritual<br />
impoverishment up to what we consider to be death” 42 . The<br />
idea that the human beings manifest through their very<br />
nature a real alternative is expressed <strong>for</strong>cefully and clearly in<br />
these pages. One’s chronological time and the durée that is<br />
discovered in the mind or in hope cannot be separated, nor<br />
can one separate one’s limited space from that which is, to a<br />
certain extent, a‐spatial. 43 . A true paradox endures in all this,<br />
namely the possibility to live simultaneously both one’s own<br />
41 Ibidem, p. 181.<br />
42 Ibidem, p. 183.<br />
43 Ibidem, p. 182.<br />
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finitude and the presence of divine non‐finitude 44 . Nobody<br />
can limit himself to himself or to what which is simply<br />
human. Genuine self‐value cannot be obtained only through<br />
human ef<strong>for</strong>t alone 45 . What is even more serious is that these<br />
contrasts that are proper to the human being can become<br />
fully degraded. For instance, the inexhaustible character of<br />
the person can easily degenerate in simple monotony or lead<br />
to that endless balance in which there is an alternation<br />
between “joys and pains, fear of death and boredom with<br />
life” 46 . What appears to the human being as sacred can hide a<br />
gro<strong>un</strong>ding ambiguity and lead to self‐delusion 47 . After all, no<br />
matter how spectacular such a paradox could be, if it ends in<br />
exclusion it will lead to utter poverty in the human being.<br />
Hence, the attention that will be given to the third term, if we<br />
temporarily accept this latter expression. As he argues at one<br />
point, the antinomic <strong>un</strong>ity of the person “cannot be explained<br />
without the <strong>absolut</strong>e One in which all is virtual and which has<br />
created and supported all in <strong>un</strong>ity” 48 . If antinomic <strong>un</strong>ity, <strong>for</strong><br />
instance, concerns the relation between what someone has<br />
received as gifts and what is later offered, its name will be<br />
that of kindness. It is precisely the latter, kindness, which<br />
represents the third term, because, after all, it “<strong>un</strong>ites them<br />
all” 49 . Probably this situation becomes maximally evident in<br />
what we call dialogue. When it takes place between two<br />
persons, dialogue becomes possible as such via the presence<br />
of a third instance. The latter is given by what is to be<br />
reached in such a dialogue. And what is to be reached, either<br />
as a sense that is above subjective sense or as a mode of life<br />
and comm<strong>un</strong>ion, precedes to a certain extent any<br />
consciousness that enters into dialogue. When the dialogue is<br />
perfect, it takes place in God, “in Whom there are three<br />
persons <strong>for</strong> this purpose” 50 . The human desire to accede to<br />
186<br />
44 Ibidem, p. 184.<br />
45 Ibidem, p. 188.<br />
46 Ibidem, p. 176.<br />
47 Ibidem, pp. 179‐180.<br />
48 Ibidem, p. 193.<br />
49 Ibidem, p. 197.<br />
50 Ibidem, p. 201.
<strong>Journal</strong> <strong>for</strong> Interdisciplinary Research on Religion and Science,<br />
No. 2, January 2008<br />
this original dialogue is natural, but it cannot be satisfied only<br />
through human ef<strong>for</strong>t. For this purpose, one of the divine<br />
persons has become man, while remaining God at the same<br />
time. So, the third term can be seen in the way logos brings in<br />
its light the two voices in the real procession of a dialogue.<br />
As we can now realise, the alternative, as a mode of<br />
thinking or as a mode of being, does not entail divergence or<br />
separation, nor the simple disagreement with itself or with<br />
that which appears <strong>for</strong>eign, which, sooner or later, ceases to<br />
be so. The simply divergent thinking, as well as dialectic<br />
thinking, fail to achieve that which is proper to the<br />
alternative. The image of the divergence of two rays of light<br />
that, in their <strong>for</strong>ward movement, become more and more<br />
distant one from the other, is not at all appropriate to<br />
illustrate the fact of the alternative. Yet if we talk about a<br />
distinct path that thinking simultaneously and <strong>un</strong>evenly uses,<br />
this means that each of them affects the other, lies in its<br />
proximity like a necessary relation or like a shadow that it<br />
cannot part with. This means that, in fact, each of them is to a<br />
certain extent constitutive of the other, no matter how little<br />
obvious this would be.<br />
(translated by Drd. Sorina Chiper)<br />
187
AFLOROAEI ‐ Distinct Ways of Thinking and Distinct Experiences of Truth<br />
Bibliography<br />
1. ARISTOTLE, On Interpretation<br />
2. ARISTOTLE, Metaphysics, IV<br />
3. BOTEZATU, Petre, Introducere în logică (Introduction to<br />
Logic), Iaşi, 1997<br />
4. CHLADENIUS, Johann M., Einleit<strong>un</strong>g zur richtigen Ausleg<strong>un</strong>g<br />
vernünftiger Reden <strong>un</strong>d Schriften, Leipzig, 1742<br />
5. EVDOKIMOV, Pavel, La Connaissance de Dieu selon la<br />
Tradition Oreintale, 1969<br />
6. GADAMER, Hans‐Georg, Truth and Method, second part, II<br />
7. HANDOCA, Mircea (coord), Memorii (Memories), volume II<br />
(1937‐1960), 1991<br />
8. FLORENSKI, Pavel, Pillar and Gro<strong>un</strong>d of the Truth<br />
9. HEIDEGGER, Martin, Letter written <strong>for</strong> the debate at Drew‐<br />
University, Madison, 9‐11 April 1964, published later together with<br />
the work Phenomenology and Theology.<br />
10. IRIMIA, Dumitru (coord.), Eminescu. Memorie şi spațiu<br />
interm<strong>un</strong>diar (Eminescu. Memory and Interm<strong>un</strong>dial Space),<br />
published in Studii eminesciene, Iaşi, 2006<br />
11. KANT, Immanuel, Critque of Pure Reason, Palgrave, 1929<br />
12. LOSSKY, Vladimir, Orthodox Theology: An Introduction,<br />
2001<br />
13. LUPASCO, Stéphane, Les Trois Matières, Juillard, Paris,<br />
1970<br />
14. LUPASCO, Stéphane, Logica dinamică a contradictoriului<br />
(Dynamic Logic of the Contradictory), translated by Vasile Sporici,<br />
1982<br />
15. LUPASCO, Stéphane, La tragédie de l’énergie, Casterman, Paris,<br />
1970.<br />
16. NICOLESCU, Basarab, Noi, particula şi lumea (We, the<br />
Particle and the World), translated by Vasile Sporici, Iaşi, 2002<br />
17. OTTO, Rudolf, Das Heilige – Über das Irrationale in der Idee<br />
des Gőttlichen <strong>un</strong>d sein Verhältnis zum Rationalen, 1917<br />
18. STĂNILOAE, Dumitru, Studii de teologie dogmatică ortodoxă<br />
( Studies on Orthodox Dogmatic Theology), section B, chap. II,<br />
Craiova, 1990<br />
19. STRAWSON, Peter F, The Bo<strong>un</strong>ds of Senses: An Essay on<br />
Kant’s «Critique of Pure Reason», 1966, London: Methuen,<br />
20. STRAWSON, Peter F., Introduction to Logical Theory,<br />
21. TUGENDHAT, Ernst & WOLF , Ursula, Logisch‐semantische<br />
Propädeutik,<br />
188
<strong>Journal</strong> <strong>for</strong> Interdisciplinary Research on Religion and Science,<br />
No. 2, January 2008<br />
Politik <strong>un</strong>d Religion.<br />
Zur gegenwärtigen Neu-Annäher<strong>un</strong>g zweier<br />
gesellschaftlicher Felder<br />
Roland BENEDIKTER *<br />
*University of Vienna and University of Innsbruck, Austria<br />
E-mail Address: rolandbenedikter@yahoo.de<br />
Abstrakt<br />
Für die überwiegende Mehrzahl der Intellektuellen in der heute gerade<br />
entstehenden ersten Weltgesellschaft - jedenfalls für diejenigen <strong>un</strong>ter ihnen, die<br />
ihren eigenen Identifikations-Begriff im Unterschied zum selbst-„dekonstruktiven“<br />
Habitus der „Postmodernen“ nicht fallengelassen oder gar todgeredet haben,<br />
sondern aktiv öffentliche Intellektuelle sind <strong>un</strong>d dies auch bewusst weiterhin sein<br />
wollen - kann kein Zweifel daran bestehen: Religion erlangt seit dem Fall der<br />
Berliner Mauer 1989, seit dem Zusammenbruch des Komm<strong>un</strong>ismus 1991 <strong>un</strong>d seit<br />
den Terroranschlägen vom 11. September 2001 eine rasch z<strong>un</strong>ehmende politische<br />
Bedeut<strong>un</strong>g.<br />
Diese Bedeut<strong>un</strong>gsz<strong>un</strong>ahme des Religiösen erfolgt einerseits perspektivisch in<br />
mindestens drei einander zum Teil zeitverschoben überlagernden<br />
ideengeschichtlichen Inkubationslinien, die drei großen „Ende-Beweg<strong>un</strong>gen“<br />
<strong>un</strong>serer Zeit entsprechen: 1. dem Ende der Epoche der „Neuen Weltordn<strong>un</strong>g“ im<br />
Bereich der Politik; 2. dem Ende der Epoche des „Neoliberalismus“ im Bereich der<br />
Ökonomie; 3. dem Ende der Epoche der „Postmoderne“ im Bereich der Kultur.<br />
Diese drei Enden lagern sich weitgehend übereinstimmend um das Symptom-<br />
Datum (nicht: Ursachen-Datum!) des 11. September 2001, haben aber ihre<br />
Ursprünge bereits in Entwickl<strong>un</strong>gen der zweiten Hälfte der 1990er Jahre. Die<br />
globale „Renaissance der Religionen“ durchdringt seit damals alle drei genannten<br />
gesellschaftlichen Kernfelder <strong>un</strong>d ihre typologischen Makro-Logiken <strong>un</strong>d<br />
Diskurspraktiken in z<strong>un</strong>ehmender Weise – <strong>un</strong>d zwar sowohl sichtbar wie<br />
<strong>un</strong>sichtbar.<br />
Die Bedeut<strong>un</strong>gsz<strong>un</strong>ahme des Religiösen erfolgt andererseits dimensional auf<br />
allen drei Ebenen des Politischen: sowohl auf der Makro- <strong>un</strong>d der Meso- wie auch<br />
auf der Mikro-Ebene.<br />
Mit dem Aufstieg religiöser Logiken in das Zentrum des Politischen n<strong>un</strong> nicht<br />
mehr nur in Ländern der sogenannten „dritten“ <strong>un</strong>d „zweiten“, sondern<br />
z<strong>un</strong>ehmend auch der „ersten“ Welt erfolgt eine der bestimmenden, langfristig<br />
bedeutsamen ideengeschichtlichen Verschieb<strong>un</strong>gen der Gegenwart. Mit dieser<br />
Verschieb<strong>un</strong>g ist eine welt- <strong>un</strong>d gesellschaftspolitische, aber auch, langfristig<br />
vermutlich noch wichtiger, eine hinter ihr stehende ideengeschichtliche <strong>un</strong>d<br />
paradigmenpolitische Tiefen-Entwickl<strong>un</strong>g gekennzeichnet. Diese Verschieb<strong>un</strong>g<br />
wurde aber bisher weder in politikwissenschaftlichen noch in<br />
zivilisationstheoretischen Forsch<strong>un</strong>gs-Zusammenhängen ausreichend beachtet,<br />
geschweige denn bearbeitet.<br />
Inwiefern? Und welche Schlüssel-Heraus<strong>for</strong>der<strong>un</strong>g ist mit dieser Tatsache für<br />
die „kerneuropäischen“Intellektuellen der post-9-11-Generation verb<strong>un</strong>den?<br />
Religion erlangt seit dem Fall der Berliner Mauer 1989,<br />
seit dem Zusammenbruch des Komm<strong>un</strong>ismus 1991 <strong>un</strong>d seit<br />
den Terroranschlägen vom 11. September 2001 eine neue<br />
politische Bedeut<strong>un</strong>g. Diese Bedeut<strong>un</strong>gsz<strong>un</strong>ahme erfolgt auf<br />
allen Ebenen des Politischen: Auf der Makro- Meso- <strong>un</strong>d<br />
Mikro-Ebene.<br />
189
BENEDIKTER - Politik <strong>un</strong>d Religion.<br />
Zur gegenwärtigen Neu-Annäher<strong>un</strong>g zweier gesellschaftlicher Felder<br />
Die entsprechende welt- <strong>un</strong>d gesellschaftspolitische, aber<br />
auch, langfristig vielleicht noch wichtiger, die dazugehörige<br />
ideengeschichtliche <strong>un</strong>d paradigmenpolitische Tiefen-<br />
Entwickl<strong>un</strong>g wurde in der internationalen politik- <strong>un</strong>d<br />
sozialwissenschaftlichen Analyse des vergangenen Jahrzehnts<br />
vielfach <strong>un</strong>ter dem Schlagwort „Globale Renaissance der<br />
Religionen“ (Francis Fukuyama, Jürgen Habermas, Volkhard<br />
Krech, Dirk Asendorpf) zusammengefasst. Dieses Schlagwort<br />
korrespondiert zumindest in Teilen mit dem Schlagwort vom<br />
„Kampf der Kulturen“ (Samuel P. H<strong>un</strong>tington), weil sich alle<br />
großen Weltkulturen aus religiösen Kernen entwickelt haben<br />
(Arnold Toynbee, Carroll Quigely) <strong>un</strong>d sich in ihrer<br />
gesellschaftlichen Prägekraft weiterhin, wenn auch zum Teil<br />
nur mehr <strong>un</strong>bewußt, in ihrem Politik- <strong>un</strong>d<br />
Institutionenverständnis sowie in ihrer öffentlichen<br />
Organisation um solche Kerne zu gruppieren scheinen. So ist<br />
in den europäischen Gesellschaften der Begriff kritischer<br />
Öffentlichkeit nicht ohne die vorausgehende Geschichte des<br />
Christentums <strong>un</strong>d dessen sozialen Prägeleist<strong>un</strong>gen,<br />
insbesondere nicht ohne die durch es hervorgebrachte<br />
Verbind<strong>un</strong>g einer sozialen <strong>un</strong>d individuellen <strong>for</strong>ma mentis mit<br />
entsprechenden gesellschaftlichen Selbstverständnissen zu<br />
denken (Jürgen Habermas).<br />
Die „Renaissance der Religionen“ greift seit mehr als<br />
eineinhalb Jahrzehnten nicht nur in der sogenannten „zweiten“<br />
<strong>un</strong>d „dritten Welt“, sondern z<strong>un</strong>ehmend auch in der<br />
sogenannten „ersten Welt“ Raum. Wladimir Putins Russland,<br />
George W. Bushs USA, weite Teile des indischen <strong>un</strong>d<br />
südostasiatischen Subkontinents, des Nahen Ostens <strong>un</strong>d<br />
Lateinamerikas: Sie alle stehen seit 1989-91 für die - sich<br />
allerdings in <strong>un</strong>terschiedlichen Kontexten sehr <strong>un</strong>terschiedlich<br />
realisierende - Tendenz zu einem „neuen Unitarismus“<br />
zwischen Politik <strong>un</strong>d Religion. Genauer: für die wachsende<br />
Rolle von Religion als Amalgam heterogener Gesellschaften im<br />
aus typologischer Sicht mindestens vierdimensionalen<br />
Spann<strong>un</strong>gsfeld politischer, ökonomischer, kultureller <strong>un</strong>d<br />
religiöser Rationalitäten <strong>un</strong>d Diskurs<strong>for</strong>mationen, welches<br />
190
<strong>Journal</strong> <strong>for</strong> Interdisciplinary Research on Religion and Science,<br />
No. 2, January 2008<br />
ausdifferenzierte Gesellschaften neben technologischen <strong>un</strong>d<br />
demographischen Entwickl<strong>un</strong>gen in wachsender<br />
wechselseitiger Interdependenz kennzeichnet.<br />
Die Migrationsbeweg<strong>un</strong>gen im Rahmen der Globalisier<strong>un</strong>g<br />
verstärken die Begegn<strong>un</strong>g <strong>un</strong>d den Dialog, aber auch den<br />
Konflikt zwischen den mit verschiedenen religiösen<br />
Traditionen verb<strong>un</strong>denen sozialen <strong>un</strong>d kulturellen<br />
Selbstverständnissen <strong>un</strong>d den historisch zum Teil aus ihnen,<br />
zum Teil gegen sie erwachsenen gesellschaftlich-politischen<br />
Organisations-Modellen. Sie stärken andererseits umgekehrt<br />
die Rolle der Religion als Kern von lokalen, regionalen <strong>un</strong>d<br />
nationalen „Identitätsbild<strong>un</strong>gen“ einzelner Gesellschaften.<br />
Im Rahmen dieser größeren Entwickl<strong>un</strong>g war „Kern-<br />
Europa“ (Jürgen Habermas, Jacques Derrida, Umberto Eco,<br />
Fernando Savater, Adolf Muschg) bis mindestens zum 11.<br />
September 2001, vielleicht auch noch bis zum Tod des<br />
katholischen Papstes Johannes Paul II. (Karol Wojtyla, eines<br />
ideengeschichtlichen Anti-Thomisten, Existentialisten <strong>un</strong>d<br />
Max-Scheler-Anhängers) im April 2005, die einzige<br />
gesellschaftlich nicht-religiös organisierte Weltgegend, welche<br />
seit den 1970er Jahren in nachhaltiger Weise durch eine<br />
säkular-„postmoderne“ Paradigmen-Präg<strong>un</strong>g ging.<br />
Diese Paradigmen-Präg<strong>un</strong>g ging auf eine mindestens<br />
fünffache anti-religiöse Schicht<strong>un</strong>g der demokratischen<br />
gesellschaftlichen Avantgarden Kern-Europas zurück: a) den<br />
anti-klerikalen Impuls der französischen Revolution; b) die<br />
anti-substantialistische (aber nicht anti-religiöse) Philosophie<br />
Kants; c) die Wirk<strong>un</strong>g der Gegenre<strong>for</strong>mation bis ins frühe 20.<br />
Jahrh<strong>un</strong>dert als Jansenismus <strong>un</strong>d die entsprechenden<br />
Befrei<strong>un</strong>gs-Reaktionen; d) die Erfahr<strong>un</strong>g der Totalitarismen<br />
des 20. Jahrh<strong>un</strong>derts (Jürgen Habermas); e) den antiautoritären<br />
Impuls der 1968 Beweg<strong>un</strong>g. Dazu kam die<br />
Abtrenn<strong>un</strong>g der traditionell stärker als Europas Westen<br />
191
BENEDIKTER - Politik <strong>un</strong>d Religion.<br />
Zur gegenwärtigen Neu-Annäher<strong>un</strong>g zweier gesellschaftlicher Felder<br />
religiös geprägten Gesellschaften des Ostblocks durch den<br />
kalten Krieg.<br />
Diese Gründe führten dazu, dass zwischen 1970 <strong>un</strong>d 2001<br />
religiöse Logiken im ausschlaggebenden politischgesellschaftlichen<br />
Zentrum der kerneuropäischen<br />
Gesellschaften (Ausnahme: Schweiz) weitgehend delegitimiert<br />
waren. Es herrschte, sowohl in den akademischen wie in den<br />
politischen Eliten, eine Gr<strong>un</strong>dhalt<strong>un</strong>g vor, die einer der<br />
gesellschaftspolitischen „Väter“ der „Postmoderne“, Jean-<br />
Francois Lyotard, insgesamt, wenn auch bei<br />
Binnendifferenzier<strong>un</strong>gen, stellvertretend für die Avantgarden<br />
auf beiden Seiten des Rheins treffend in zwei Sätzen<br />
zusammenfasste: „Metaphysik ist, wie man weiß, immer <strong>un</strong>d<br />
ausnahmslos ein Irrweg. Sie muß deshalb in jeder Form<br />
zurückgewiesen werden – zug<strong>un</strong>sten der Ehre der Namen <strong>un</strong>d<br />
der radikalen Pluralität der Sprachspiele. Dem, der keine<br />
Sprache hat, zu seiner eigenen Sprache verhelfen, <strong>un</strong>d dadurch<br />
den Widerstreit <strong>un</strong>schlichtbarer <strong>un</strong>d inkommensurabler<br />
Widerstreite fördern <strong>un</strong>d aufrechterhalten – darin besteht<br />
zeitgemäße Politik.“ Diese Politik muss, so ergänzen in der<br />
Nachfolge Lyotards Martin Sexl <strong>un</strong>d Beate Bechter-Burtscher,<br />
„von einem Partikularismus des Konkreten geprägt“ sein,<br />
„der… sich am Enzyklopädischen, Zufälligen, Regionalen,<br />
zeitlich Begrenzten oder gar Willkürlichen orientiert.“<br />
Das war das - weniger artikulierte, als vielmehr<br />
paradigmatisch wirksame - Gr<strong>un</strong>dverständnis des radikalpluralistisch<br />
geprägten Kerneuropa zwischen 1970 <strong>un</strong>d 2001.<br />
Doch auch das solcherart - mit allen Vor- <strong>un</strong>d Nachteilen -<br />
stark, wenn nicht gar einseitig nominalistisch geprägte Kern-<br />
Europa der „Postmoderne“ wird seit einigen Jahren zusehends<br />
von der globalen „Renaissance des Religiösen“ erfasst. Diese<br />
hat hier – ebenso wie die bisherige Zurückweis<strong>un</strong>g religiöser<br />
Ansprüche auf jedwede explizite politisch-öffentliche<br />
Rationalität – komplexe Wurzeln <strong>un</strong>d konstituiert derzeit<br />
einen widersprüchlichen, zum Teil paradoxalen Prozeß.<br />
192
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No. 2, January 2008<br />
Aktuelle Beispiele für den Aufstieg religiöser<br />
Rationalitäten ins Zentrum des ansonsten „postmodern“<br />
konturierten Politischen sind etwa die österreichischen <strong>un</strong>d<br />
deutschen Jugendstudien der Jahre 2005-07, in denen sich<br />
übereinstimmend mehr als 70% der deutschsprachigen<br />
Jugendlichen als religiös - wenn auch zugleich ausdrücklich als<br />
nicht konfessionell-religiös - erklären <strong>un</strong>d der Religiosität eine<br />
größere politische Bedeut<strong>un</strong>g wünschen; ähnliche Ergebnisse<br />
zeitigen Umfragen bei Erwachsenen seit 2005.<br />
Aktuelle Beispiele sind aber auch konkrete<br />
gesellschaftspolitische Richt<strong>un</strong>gsentscheide wie etwa die<br />
Verschärf<strong>un</strong>g der religiösen Schmähparagraphen in Bayern<br />
vom September 2007; die Diskussionen um ein Minarettverbot<br />
in der Schweiz seit 2006; oder die z<strong>un</strong>ehmende Bedeut<strong>un</strong>g<br />
religiöser Debatten im öffentlichen Raum für den Entscheid<br />
gr<strong>un</strong>dlagenpolitischer <strong>un</strong>d -gesellschaftlicher Fragen wie etwa<br />
Klondebatte oder Stell<strong>un</strong>g zu anderen neuen Technologien<br />
(etwa Gentechnologie).<br />
Beispiele sind aber auch kultur- <strong>un</strong>d gesellschaftspolitisch<br />
vieldiskutierte Fälle mit weitausstrahlender Symbolwirk<strong>un</strong>g<br />
insbesondere im großen Umkreis der „Integrations“-<br />
Problematik. Sie betreffend die inhärenten Gegensätze<br />
zwischen den religionsgeprägten Kulturen <strong>un</strong>d ihrem<br />
Gesellschafts-, Freiheits-, Individualitäts- <strong>un</strong>d<br />
Öffentlichkeitsverständnis. Zu diesen Beispielen gehören<br />
zuletzt etwa der Van Gogh Mord im November 2004 in den<br />
Niederlanden, der dänische Karikaturenstreit vom September<br />
2005 bis Ende 2006 (der im September 2007 eine Neuauflage<br />
erfuhr), die Vorstadt-Unruhen in Frankreich vom Oktober <strong>un</strong>d<br />
November 2005, der deutsche Opernstreit vom Herbst 2006,<br />
der deutsche Integrationsgipfel seit Juli 2006, die Debatte über<br />
sogenannte „Ehrenmorde“ in Deutschland, die Debatte über<br />
die ultrapluralistische sogenannte „Urspr<strong>un</strong>gskultur-<br />
Rechtssprech<strong>un</strong>g“ <strong>un</strong>d ihre möglichen Konsequenzen für das<br />
Gr<strong>un</strong>dgesetz, die allgemeine Z<strong>un</strong>ahme religiöser Gründe für<br />
den Entscheid politischer Wahlen, u.a.<br />
193
BENEDIKTER - Politik <strong>un</strong>d Religion.<br />
Zur gegenwärtigen Neu-Annäher<strong>un</strong>g zweier gesellschaftlicher Felder<br />
Ein Beispiel ist aber auch die <strong>un</strong>verhohlene Strategie<br />
des „Heiligen Stuhls“, Kern-Europa, insbesondere die<br />
deutschsprachigen Länder, zu re-konfessionalisieren <strong>un</strong>d<br />
Teile der von Spalt<strong>un</strong>g bedrohten anglikanischen Kirche an<br />
Rom rückzubinden bzw. wiederanzugliedern. Zugleich<br />
erfolgt seit einigen Jahren innerhalb der katholischen Kirche<br />
eine „Re-Thomisier<strong>un</strong>g“ <strong>un</strong>d „Re-Missionarisier<strong>un</strong>g“ im<br />
Rahmen einer neokonservativen Evaluation der<br />
existentialistisch-liberalen Paradigmen- <strong>un</strong>d Sozial-<br />
Err<strong>un</strong>genschaften des zweiten Vatikanischen Konzils,<br />
welche mit einem sich - offiziell <strong>un</strong>d inoffiziell - rasch<br />
verändernden Politik- <strong>un</strong>d Öffentlichkeitsverständnis<br />
einhergeht. Nicht nur in Italien, sondern z<strong>un</strong>ehmend auch in<br />
den deutschsprachigen Ländern erreichen die<br />
konfessionellen Kirchen eine neue, explizit politische<br />
Präsenz in der Öffentlichkeit.<br />
Ein Zentrum <strong>un</strong>ter mehreren der gegenwärtigen<br />
Entwickl<strong>un</strong>g im Spann<strong>un</strong>gsfeld zwischen säkularpolitischen<br />
<strong>un</strong>d religiösen Rationalitäten in Kerneuropa<br />
scheint bei alledem derzeit ein z<strong>un</strong>ehmender innerer<br />
Kulturkampf zwischen den traditionellen, mythologischkonfessionell<br />
konstituierten Religionen selbst zu sein. Ein<br />
Hinweis darauf sind u.a. die wiederholten, öffentlichprotopolitisch<br />
gemeinten Warn<strong>un</strong>gen des<br />
deutschstämmigen katholischen Papstes Benedikt XVI.<br />
(Joseph Ratzinger) nicht mehr nur vor der „strukturalen<br />
gesellschaftlichen Selbstgefährd<strong>un</strong>g radikalsäkularer<br />
Gesellschaften“, sondern auch vor der „Kulturgefahr“ des<br />
Islam für die politische <strong>un</strong>d gesellschaftliche Freiheits-<br />
Organisation Europas. Benedikts Hinweis auf die kultur-<br />
<strong>un</strong>d öffentlichkeitsbildende Rolle der Religionen als Kräften,<br />
von denen die gesamte Entwickl<strong>un</strong>g der europäischen<br />
Gesellschaft politisch langfristig entscheidend mit abhänge,<br />
richtet sich vor allem auf die Fragen nach individueller<br />
Selbstverantwort<strong>un</strong>g <strong>un</strong>d freiem Willen sowie nach dem<br />
Zusammenhang zwischen personaler Rationalität <strong>un</strong>d<br />
Struktur des allgemeinen Gesetzes (Logos in individueller<br />
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No. 2, January 2008<br />
<strong>un</strong>d allgemeiner Form) als Gr<strong>un</strong>dlagen des modernen<br />
Selbstverständnisses <strong>un</strong>d als Keime der offenen<br />
Gesellschaftsordn<strong>un</strong>g der Demokratien im Vergleich der<br />
Kulturtraditionen.<br />
An dieser explizit proto-politischen, implizit<br />
gr<strong>un</strong>dlagen-politischen Diskussion haben sich zuletzt zur<br />
Überrasch<strong>un</strong>g vieler nicht nur konservative Kirchenkräfte<br />
(wie etwa aufsehenerregend anlässlich des Moscheen-Baus<br />
in Köln), sondern verstärkt auch namhafte liberale<br />
Intellektuelle wie etwa Ralf Dahrendorf oder Jürgen<br />
Habermas weitgehend kritisch-affirmativ beteiligt. Die<br />
entsprechende Debatte um den Zusammenhang zwischen<br />
Gesellschaftsorganisation <strong>un</strong>d religiöser Kulturbild<strong>un</strong>g im<br />
Spann<strong>un</strong>gsfeld zwischen den säkularen Err<strong>un</strong>genschaften<br />
der „Postmoderne“ <strong>un</strong>d „substantialistischen“ Werte-<br />
Clustern wird zum Teil allerdings von verschiedenen<br />
intellektuellen (Orianna Fallaci, Botho Strauss) sowie<br />
parteipolitischen Rechts-Kräften mit <strong>un</strong>terschiedlichen,<br />
meist nicht-inklusiven Intentionen vereinnahmt. Auf der<br />
anderen Seite sorgen ähnlich voreingenommen-einseitige<br />
linkskritische Pamphlete wie „Heiliger Krieg in Europa“<br />
(Udo Ulfkotte) ebenfalls für paradigmatisch gemeinte<br />
Gr<strong>un</strong>dlagen-Polarisier<strong>un</strong>g <strong>un</strong>d damit für neues<br />
binnengesellschaftliches, aber auch interkulturelles<br />
Konflikpotential.<br />
Zusammenfassend dominieren religiöse Fragen seit<br />
einigen Jahren z<strong>un</strong>ehmend zahlreiche „große“ öffentliche<br />
Politik-Themen Kern-Europas – <strong>un</strong>d zwar mittlerweile<br />
deutlich über die traditionellen Kompetenzfelder religiöser<br />
Rationalitäts<strong>for</strong>men <strong>un</strong>d Legitimationsgrenzen hinaus.<br />
Religion tritt in den politischen Raum ein in einer Weise, die<br />
in Kontinental-Europa seit Jahrzehnten nicht mehr der Fall<br />
war.<br />
Im Rahmen der sich damit auf verschiedenen Seiten<br />
vollziehenden Vereinseitig<strong>un</strong>g von Positionen steht nicht<br />
nur eine latente gesellschaftliche Entsäkularisier<strong>un</strong>g als<br />
195
BENEDIKTER - Politik <strong>un</strong>d Religion.<br />
Zur gegenwärtigen Neu-Annäher<strong>un</strong>g zweier gesellschaftlicher Felder<br />
mögliche Tendenz im Raum, sondern im Gegenzug zugleich<br />
auch neue säkulare Abwehr-Kämpfe seitens des<br />
laizistischen Staates samt entsprechenden<br />
Kollateralschäden. Zu beobachten ist jedenfalls die Gefahr<br />
der Schwerp<strong>un</strong>kt-Verschieb<strong>un</strong>g des bisherigen Diskussions-<br />
Klimas kritischer Offenheit von radikal-pluralistischselbstkritischen<br />
Diskursen hin zu einer neuen<br />
Konfrontation „objektivistischer“ Paradigmen<strong>for</strong>mationen<br />
sowohl auf religiöser wie auf säkular-„postmoderner“ Seite.<br />
Verlierer dieser tiefenambivalenten Tendenzen könnte das<br />
bisher weltweit einmalige politische Klima Kern-Europas<br />
einschließlich seiner öffentlichen Debatten-Kultur sein.<br />
Insgesamt kann, soll ein roter Faden im Innern einer<br />
z<strong>un</strong>ehmenden Zahl von sehr <strong>un</strong>terschiedlichen<br />
Phänomenbild<strong>un</strong>gen der politischen <strong>un</strong>d proto-politischen<br />
Gegenwart aufgef<strong>un</strong>den werden, gelten: Die beiden<br />
gesellschaftlichen Felder Politik <strong>un</strong>d Religion sind in einer<br />
ebenso problematischen wie produktiven (Wieder-<br />
)Annäher<strong>un</strong>g begriffen. Während Religion als langfristiges<br />
(am Schnittp<strong>un</strong>kt zwischen Ideengeschichte, Kultur <strong>un</strong>d<br />
Politik wirksames) Zentrum aller großen Weltkulturen<br />
immer <strong>un</strong>d von jeher von Tiefenbedeut<strong>un</strong>g für das<br />
Politische war, insbesondere für dessen<br />
Paradigmenkonstellation <strong>un</strong>d –Ausricht<strong>un</strong>g, wurde diesem<br />
Zusammenhang seit der „Wende“ 1989-91 <strong>un</strong>d seit dem 11.<br />
September 2001 eine besondere Dimension hinzugefügt:<br />
die verstärkte Begegn<strong>un</strong>g zwischen dem säkularaufgeklärten<br />
Selbstverständnis des „postmodernen“<br />
Politischen Europas <strong>un</strong>d der globalen „Renaissance der<br />
Religionen“ rasch z<strong>un</strong>ehmend sowohl von aussen wie auch<br />
von innen. Diese Begegn<strong>un</strong>g beginnt derzeit damit, eine<br />
völlig neue, allseits ebenso problematische wie produktive<br />
Konstellation zu generieren.<br />
Ein entscheidendes Problem in dieser Lage scheint n<strong>un</strong><br />
aus gegenwärtiger Sicht zu sein, dass Kern-Europa aufgr<strong>un</strong>d<br />
seiner ebenso paradigmenpolitischen wie<br />
politikparadigmatischen Gr<strong>un</strong>dier<strong>un</strong>g der vergangenen 30<br />
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No. 2, January 2008<br />
Jahre in der Philosophie der „Postmoderne“, <strong>un</strong>beschadet<br />
von all deren <strong>un</strong>verzichtbarer Err<strong>un</strong>genschaften <strong>un</strong>d<br />
Vorzügen, bislang denkbar schlecht auf den<br />
gesellschaftlichen Aufstieg „substantialistischer“ Diskurse,<br />
d.h. auf den Aufstieg von religiösen Rationalitäts- <strong>un</strong>d<br />
Diskurs-Formationen zu politischer Bedeut<strong>un</strong>g vorbereitet<br />
ist – seien diese n<strong>un</strong> regressiv-mythologisch oder, wie in<br />
wenigen Fällen ebenso beobachtbar, progressiv-rational<br />
ausgerichtet. Da die „Postmoderne“ über die konsensfähige<br />
<strong>for</strong>ma mentis der heute an der Macht befindlichen<br />
Generation von Politikerinnen <strong>un</strong>d Politikern, aber auch<br />
über das Empfinden politischer Korrektheit der Mehrzahl<br />
öffentlicher Gegenwarts-Diskurse einen weitreichenden<br />
Paradigmen-Bann verhängt hat, <strong>un</strong>d zwar weitgehend<br />
<strong>un</strong>terschiedslos betreffend a) konfessionell- <strong>un</strong>d glaubensreligiöse,<br />
b) philosophisch-metaphysische <strong>un</strong>d c)<br />
erfahr<strong>un</strong>gs- <strong>un</strong>d individualitäts-spirituelle<br />
Rationalitäts<strong>for</strong>men, ist Kern-Europa in seinem politischen<br />
Selbstverständnis hinsichtlich allen – faktisch jedoch sehr<br />
<strong>un</strong>terschiedlichen – Formen von Religion <strong>un</strong>d deren<br />
politischer Gr<strong>un</strong>dier<strong>un</strong>g, Bedeut<strong>un</strong>g <strong>un</strong>d Wirk<strong>un</strong>g<br />
tendenziell <strong>un</strong>erfahrener als andere Weltgegenden.<br />
Kern-Europa verdrängt damit zugleich einen<br />
wesentlichen Teil des Urspr<strong>un</strong>gs der westlichen<br />
Demokratie-Tradition, die sowohl im Rahmen der US-<br />
Verfass<strong>un</strong>g von 1776 wie der Französischen Revolution von<br />
1789 entscheidend mit aus den „rational-spirituellen“<br />
makro- <strong>un</strong>d meso-politischen Intuitionen von Freimaurerei<br />
<strong>un</strong>d Rosenkreuzertum hervorging, ja ohne diese in ihren<br />
historisch realisierten Formen nicht denkbar wäre (Helmut<br />
Reinalter). Der Zusammenhang von Religion, genauer: Von<br />
rational-aufgeklärter, individuell-erfahr<strong>un</strong>gsgestützter<br />
Spiritualität <strong>un</strong>d Politik stand am Urspr<strong>un</strong>g der modernen<br />
Demokratie. Es war dies allerdings nicht der Unitarismus<br />
von mythisch-konfessioneller Religion <strong>un</strong>d „statistischer“<br />
Politik, welcher die Vormoderne bis ins 18. Jahrh<strong>un</strong>dert<br />
197
BENEDIKTER - Politik <strong>un</strong>d Religion.<br />
Zur gegenwärtigen Neu-Annäher<strong>un</strong>g zweier gesellschaftlicher Felder<br />
(<strong>un</strong>d später vor allem im Rahmen der Bild<strong>un</strong>g der späten<br />
europäischen Nationalstaaten noch zyklisch<br />
wiederkehrend) kennzeichnet, sondern die Verbind<strong>un</strong>g von<br />
liberal-aufklärerischen Emanzipationsbestreb<strong>un</strong>gen aus<br />
„allgemeinmenschlichem“ Geist mit genau der Gegenkraft zu<br />
den konfessionellen Religionen, welche von diesen als<br />
zweiter großer, <strong>un</strong>sichtbarer Strom des abendländischen<br />
Geisteslebens der Neuzeit historisch mit allen Mitteln<br />
bekämpft <strong>un</strong>d in den Untergr<strong>un</strong>d gedrängt wurde: mit den<br />
erfahr<strong>un</strong>gsgestützten <strong>un</strong>d individualistisch-rational<br />
ausgerichteten Strömen des Christentums, deren Ziel es seit<br />
dem 12. Jahrh<strong>un</strong>dert war, Objektivismus <strong>un</strong>d<br />
Subjektivismus, Realismus <strong>un</strong>d Nominalismus, Substanz<br />
<strong>un</strong>d Rationalität nicht nur „auszusöhnen“, sondern zu einem<br />
originären, gemeinsamem Dritten zu verbinden.<br />
Aus diesem „genealogisch-pluralen“ Bestreben, nicht<br />
aus einem rein „säkular-radikalpluralistischen“ Anliegen,<br />
gingen US-Verfass<strong>un</strong>g <strong>un</strong>d Französische Revolution als Teil<br />
einer humanistischen Vision politischer Emanzipation<br />
hervor. Diese war keineswegs weltanschaulich neutral,<br />
sondern verband des rationalen Teil der Aufklär<strong>un</strong>g mit<br />
dem allgemeinmenschlichen Vermögen einer „individuellen<br />
moralischen Vern<strong>un</strong>ft“, in der sich Subjektives <strong>un</strong>d<br />
Objektives zum je einmaligen Ereignis eines „individuellen<br />
Allgemeinen“ oder eines „individuell realisierten objektiven<br />
Logos“ verbanden.<br />
Ins Politisch-Gesellschaftliche projiziert, wurde daraus<br />
die Vision einer großen Ausdifferenzier<strong>un</strong>g, die aufgr<strong>un</strong>d<br />
dieser ihrer erfahr<strong>un</strong>gs-spirituellen Gr<strong>un</strong>dier<strong>un</strong>g <strong>un</strong>d der<br />
damit verb<strong>un</strong>denen Anerkenn<strong>un</strong>gsfähigkeit des<br />
Individuellen als Allgemeines (<strong>un</strong>d bis zu einem gewissen<br />
Grad „Absolutes“) n<strong>un</strong> <strong>un</strong>ter dem trinitarischen Leitstern<br />
von Freiheit, Gleichheit <strong>un</strong>d Brüderlichkeit stehen konnte.<br />
Ergebnis war nicht nur die sich zyklisch - allerdings nur<br />
<strong>un</strong>ter schweren Kämpfen <strong>un</strong>d bei erheblichen Rückschlägen<br />
- durchsetzende freiheitliche Organisations<strong>for</strong>m<br />
europäischer Gesellschaften, sondern auch ans positive<br />
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No. 2, January 2008<br />
Werte-Substanzen geb<strong>un</strong>dene Kern-Err<strong>un</strong>genschaften der<br />
Moderne wie etwa die Menschenwürde <strong>un</strong>d, davon<br />
abgeleitet, die politischen Menschenrechte.<br />
Gerade aber solche „erfahr<strong>un</strong>gs-substantiellen“<br />
philosophisch-politischen Err<strong>un</strong>genschaften wie die<br />
Menschenwürde <strong>un</strong>d später die Menschenrechte als eine<br />
Gr<strong>un</strong>dlage des Rechtsstaates im Kern des westlichen<br />
Demokratieverständnisses waren für die nominalistische<br />
Radikalisier<strong>un</strong>g <strong>un</strong>d Vereinseitig<strong>un</strong>g des kerneuropäischen<br />
Politikparadigmas nach dem 2. Weltkrieg stets ein Kern-<br />
Problem, weil sie nicht mit dem Tabu des Substantiellen als<br />
angeblichem Garanten säkular-pluralistischer<br />
Gesellschaftsorganisation vereinbar waren (Jacques<br />
Derrida).<br />
Das lag - mindestens zwischen 1970 <strong>un</strong>d 2001 - nicht<br />
ausschließlich, aber zumindest mit an der<br />
Unausgewogenheit des mittleren politischen Paradigmas<br />
des „postmodernen“ Kern-Europa (<strong>un</strong>d zwar hierin nur bei<br />
Detail<strong>un</strong>terschieden zwischen Frankreich <strong>un</strong>d<br />
Deutschland), welches „realistische“ Dimensionen<br />
zug<strong>un</strong>sten „nominalistischer“ verdrängte <strong>un</strong>d daher eine<br />
gewisse Einseitigkeit entwickelte. Diese Einseitigkeit<br />
bestand <strong>un</strong>d besteht - zumindest in den akademischen <strong>un</strong>d<br />
erzieherisch-paradigmatischen Gr<strong>un</strong>dlagen politischer<br />
Korrektheit - bis in die Gegenwart in der tendenziellen<br />
Tabuisier<strong>un</strong>g positiver Werte sowie aller<br />
substantialistischen Weltanschau<strong>un</strong>gs-Aspekte zug<strong>un</strong>sten<br />
von negativen <strong>un</strong>d indirekten Werte-Formen <strong>un</strong>d -<br />
Beschreib<strong>un</strong>gen. Es dominiert in Kern-Europa ein nicht<br />
selten einseitiger politischer (De-)Konstruktivismus, dessen<br />
„negative“ nominalistische Weltsicht in merkwürdiger<br />
Weise mit dem ebenso einseitigen politischen<br />
Substantialismus <strong>un</strong>d Objektivismus der meisten anderen<br />
Weltregionen außen <strong>un</strong>d den wachsenden proto-politischreligiösen<br />
Überzeug<strong>un</strong>gs- <strong>un</strong>d Handl<strong>un</strong>gs<strong>for</strong>men innen<br />
konstrastiert. Dieser politische (De-)Konstruktivismus<br />
199
BENEDIKTER - Politik <strong>un</strong>d Religion.<br />
Zur gegenwärtigen Neu-Annäher<strong>un</strong>g zweier gesellschaftlicher Felder<br />
dominiert als Universal-Nominalismus <strong>un</strong>ter dem Signum<br />
„konstruktiver Sachlichkeit“ die Interpretation der<br />
kantianischen Tradition, <strong>un</strong>d damit den Kern der zu Recht<br />
bis heute weitgehend eigenständigen <strong>for</strong>ma mentis des<br />
Politischen Kontinental-Europas.<br />
Die Herrschaft dieses politischen (De-<br />
)Konstruktivismus brachte in den vergangenen Jahrzehnten<br />
einen <strong>un</strong>vergleichlichen Reichtum an pluralen Diskursen<br />
<strong>un</strong>d eine nie dagewesene öffentliche Diskussionskultur<br />
hervor, die das <strong>un</strong>verlierbare Erbe der „postmodernen“<br />
Epoche darstellen – <strong>un</strong>d zwar weniger philosophisch, als<br />
vielmehr gesellschafts- <strong>un</strong>d paradigmenpolitisch. Doch<br />
zugleich entstanden - wie <strong>un</strong>vermeidbar in der Dialektik der<br />
Aufklär<strong>un</strong>g - entsprechende Defizite. Eben weil religiöse,<br />
metaphysische <strong>un</strong>d erfahr<strong>un</strong>gs-spirituelle Diskurse seit<br />
Ende der 1970er Jahre <strong>un</strong>terschiedslos <strong>un</strong>d weithin<br />
pauschal aus dem Gesichtskreis der kritischen Öffentlichkeit<br />
<strong>un</strong>d ihrer anerkennenswerten Diskurs-Politiken verdrängt<br />
wurden, konnten die entsprechenden realpolitischen<br />
Dimensionen, Anteile <strong>un</strong>d Konsequenzen des<br />
emergierenden regressiv Religiösen seit 1989-91 kaum in<br />
Betracht gezogen - <strong>un</strong>d noch weniger ideengeschichtlich<br />
antizipiert - werden. Daß führende Attentäter des 11.<br />
September ihre Basis im deutschsprachigen Kern-Europa<br />
hatten, müsste aus diesem Gesichtsp<strong>un</strong>kt mehr Anlaß zur<br />
kritischen Selbstvergewisser<strong>un</strong>g politischer<br />
Diskurskompetenzen <strong>un</strong>d herrschender<br />
Paradigmen<strong>for</strong>mationen geben.<br />
Zugleich gilt es andererseits jedoch stets mit<br />
mindestens ebensolchem Nachdruck zu bedenken, dass der<br />
politische Kantianismus entscheidend für die positive<br />
Ausnahmestell<strong>un</strong>g Europas im Konzert der<br />
Weltgesellschaften verantwortlich ist (Sozialstaat, kritische<br />
Öffentlichkeit, partizipative Demokratie), <strong>un</strong>d dass daher<br />
die kerneuropäischen liberalen Gesellschaften ohne ihren<br />
nominalistischen Kern in der (de-)konstruktiven<br />
Interpretation <strong>un</strong>d öffentlichen Verwirklich<strong>un</strong>g des<br />
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No. 2, January 2008<br />
Kantianismus <strong>un</strong>d seiner „fiktiven“ Stell<strong>un</strong>g zur Religion<br />
nicht mehr das wären, was sie heute sind.<br />
Als wahrscheinlich kann in dieser komplexen<br />
ideengeschichtlichen <strong>un</strong>d gesellschaftspolitischen<br />
Konstellation insgesamt jedenfalls gelten, dass wir <strong>un</strong>s<br />
bereits seit 1989-91, <strong>un</strong>d symptomatisch – nicht kausal –<br />
verstärkt seit dem 11. September 2001, in einer<br />
allgemeinen Lage des Übergangs von<br />
Paradigmen<strong>for</strong>mationen befinden. Dieser Übergang<br />
konstituiert sich politisch als mindestens vierdimensionale<br />
„globale Systemverschieb<strong>un</strong>g“ (Laboratoire Europeén<br />
d’Anticipation Politique LEAP Paris). An dieser seit einigen<br />
Jahren beginnenden Systemverschieb<strong>un</strong>g mit Auswirk<strong>un</strong>g<br />
sowohl auf politische wie auf ökonomische <strong>un</strong>d säkularkulturelle<br />
Rationalitäts- <strong>un</strong>d Diskurs<strong>for</strong>mationen hat, neben<br />
anderen Faktoren, die globale Renaissance der Religionen<br />
mutmaßlich maßgeblichen Anteil.<br />
Aus dieser Lage der politischen Ideengeschichte <strong>un</strong>d<br />
aus der ihr wenigstens in Teilen in wechselseitiger<br />
Abhängigkeit korrespondierenden allgemeinen<br />
weltpolitischen Lage ergeben sich heute erst noch wenige<br />
f<strong>un</strong>diert mögliche Schlussfolger<strong>un</strong>gen, denen aber<br />
möglicherweise ein umso größerer Wert für die<br />
Antizipation kommenden Entwickl<strong>un</strong>gen zukommt. Unter<br />
diesen Schlussfolger<strong>un</strong>gen sind:<br />
1. Das Religiöse muss von den politisch gestaltenden<br />
Kräften in Bürgergesellschaft <strong>un</strong>d Staat weit genauer „von<br />
innen“ gekannt <strong>un</strong>d als (paradigmen)politischer Faktor<br />
berücksichtigt werden, als es die dekonstruktivistische<br />
kerneuropäische „Postmoderne“ (oder „reife Moderne“) mit<br />
ihrer Tabuisier<strong>un</strong>gs-Strategie bisher anerkennen konnte.<br />
Diese erweiterte Kenntnis „aus dem Inneren der<br />
Rationalitätsdimension“ des Religiösen / Metaphysischen /<br />
Spirituellen heraus, die auch im Sinn einer<br />
Paradigmenbalancier<strong>un</strong>g zwischen Nominalismus <strong>un</strong>d<br />
Realismus verstanden werden muss, wird n<strong>un</strong> notwendig,<br />
201
BENEDIKTER - Politik <strong>un</strong>d Religion.<br />
Zur gegenwärtigen Neu-Annäher<strong>un</strong>g zweier gesellschaftlicher Felder<br />
wenn Europa den Anschluß an die <strong>un</strong>d die Dialogfähigkeit<br />
mit der z<strong>un</strong>ehmend religiös geprägten Globalisier<strong>un</strong>g<br />
wahren <strong>un</strong>d von einer bisher weitgehend einseitig<br />
nominalistisch-diplomatischen Worte-Politik zu einer<br />
paradigmenpolitisch erfahr<strong>un</strong>gsgegründeten<br />
Inklusionspolitik voranschreiten will, die sich nicht als<br />
„Integrations-Politik“ missversteht (Niall Ferguson). Ohne<br />
paradigmenintegrative Position zwischen Nominalismus<br />
<strong>un</strong>d Realismus, d.h.: ohne die Genese einer „subjektivobjektiven“<br />
dritten <strong>for</strong>ma mentis scheint in den<br />
kommenden Jahren kaum eine inklusive Stell<strong>un</strong>gnahme zu<br />
Terror, Krieg oder weltpolitischen <strong>un</strong>d ideengeschichtlichen<br />
Großentwickl<strong>un</strong>gslinien der Gegenwart möglich.<br />
2. Für die Konturen dieser <strong>for</strong>ma mentis kann ein<br />
ideengeschichtlicher Rückgriff auf die Ursprünge der<br />
westlich-europäischen Demokratietraditionen sinnvoll sein.<br />
Daß es im Innern der abendländischen Entwickl<strong>un</strong>g<br />
durchgängig bereits seit dem 12. Jahrh<strong>un</strong>dert einen<br />
konstitutiven Binnenkampf zwischen zwei großen<br />
dialektisch-konträren Ström<strong>un</strong>gen gab, die beide zum<br />
europäischen (christlichen) Geistesleben gehörten, dieses<br />
aber gerade in der Dialektik eines <strong>un</strong>barmherzigen Kampfes<br />
zwischen sich generierten <strong>un</strong>d voranbrachten: nämlich<br />
zwischen regressiver Glaubensspiritualität (Kirche) <strong>un</strong>d<br />
progressiver Erfahr<strong>un</strong>gsspiritualität (Rosenkreuzertum,<br />
Freimaurerei), könnte heute in der ideengeschichtlichen<br />
Rekonstruktion zu einem wesentlichen, wenn auch auf die<br />
Beding<strong>un</strong>gen der zeitgenössischen Situation<br />
umzuwendenden Aspekt vertiefter Analyse der<br />
gegenwärtigen inneren Paradigmen-Kämpfe Europas<br />
geraten. Dies gilt insbesondere in einer Situation, in der<br />
dieser Binnenkampf in vielen Phänomenbild<strong>un</strong>gen neu<br />
aufflammt als ein „geheimer“ neuer „Kulturkampf“ im<br />
Innern der Logik auch der säkularen Gesellschaften.<br />
3. Manche glauben deshalb, eine mögliche Perspektive<br />
für die Genese einer ausbalancierenden, inklusiven,<br />
„dritten“ <strong>for</strong>ma mentis könnte in einem zeitgemässen Neu-<br />
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Geltendmachen der vom Machtkonglomerat Politik-<br />
Konfessionsgemeinschaften historisch-politisch <strong>un</strong>d<br />
ideengeschichtlich in den Hintergr<strong>un</strong>d gedrängten,<br />
aufgeklärt-rationalen Formen von Spiritualität bestehen,<br />
welche der Genese der Französischen Revolution <strong>un</strong>d damit<br />
der Entsteh<strong>un</strong>g der modernen Demokratie zugr<strong>un</strong>de lagen.<br />
Selbstverständlich ist diese Perspektive nichts weniger als<br />
problematisch. Sie könnte möglicherweise aber auch<br />
Chancen im Sinn einer Besinn<strong>un</strong>g auf ein<br />
„Allgemeinmenschliches“ in der „individuellen moralischen<br />
Intuition“ <strong>un</strong>d eines „sich der Idee erlebend<br />
Gegenüberstellens“ bergen, welches die erfahr<strong>un</strong>gsspirituellen<br />
Ströme Europas im Gegensatz zu den<br />
konfessionellen Glaubenskongregationen seit dem 12.<br />
Jahrh<strong>un</strong>derts kennzeichnete, <strong>un</strong>d durch welches die<br />
Aporien des „Kampfes der Kulturen“ ebenso wie des<br />
Kampfes zwischen dem „postmodernem“ Subjektivismus<br />
der säkularen Gesellschaftsorganisation <strong>un</strong>d dem<br />
„vormodernem“ Objektivismus der Renaissance der<br />
Religionen auf rationalitätskongeniale Weise ausbalanciert,<br />
vermittelt <strong>un</strong>d schließlich überw<strong>un</strong>den werden könnten.<br />
4. Eine solche „dritte“ <strong>for</strong>ma mentis einer „subjektivobjektiven<br />
politischen Rationalität“ gilt es n<strong>un</strong> jedenfalls<br />
politikwissenschaftlich - neben einer verstärkten<br />
Einbezieh<strong>un</strong>g ökonomischer <strong>un</strong>d kultureller Logiken - auch<br />
deshalb zu erarbeiten, weil das „realistische“ Politik- <strong>un</strong>d<br />
Gesellschaftsverständnis heute nicht nur von einer<br />
Renaissance christlicher Kräfte, sondern insbesondere auch<br />
von nicht-europäischen Immigrantenkulturen in die<br />
politische Öffentlichkeit der „Postmoderne“<br />
wiedereingebracht wird, <strong>un</strong>d zwar zum Teil in regressiven<br />
<strong>un</strong>d illiberalen Formen, ohne dass es mit diesem vonseiten<br />
des einseitigen politischen Säkularismus einen<br />
authentischen, d.h. erfahr<strong>un</strong>gsgestützten Dialog geben kann<br />
Die bisherige Nichtwahrnehm<strong>un</strong>g der empirischen<br />
Eigenrationalität des Religiösen <strong>un</strong>d seiner langfristigen<br />
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BENEDIKTER - Politik <strong>un</strong>d Religion.<br />
Zur gegenwärtigen Neu-Annäher<strong>un</strong>g zweier gesellschaftlicher Felder<br />
Tiefenfolgen für gesellschaftliche <strong>un</strong>d politische<br />
Entwickl<strong>un</strong>g stellt mutmaßlich mit einen Gr<strong>un</strong>d dafür dar,<br />
dass „Integration“ bislang misslingt, <strong>un</strong>d daß sich<br />
Gegenkulturen in der säkular-offenen Gesellschaft des<br />
Westens bilden, von deren regressiven oder Stagnations-<br />
Tendenzen diese offenen Gesellschaften nicht<br />
<strong>un</strong>beeinträchtigt bleiben können. Es geht deshalb heute im<br />
Kern der Wiederannäher<strong>un</strong>gstendenzen zwischen Politik<br />
<strong>un</strong>d Religion um Ausbalancier<strong>un</strong>g entsprechender<br />
Radikalisier<strong>un</strong>gen durch Einbind<strong>un</strong>g in ein subjektivobjektives<br />
oder nominalistisch-realistisches öffentliches<br />
Gr<strong>un</strong>dlagen-Paradigma. Dieses müsste mittels<br />
Ideengeschichte <strong>un</strong>d Philosophie auf möglichst breiter<br />
Ebene eine inklusive Gr<strong>un</strong>dlagen-Stimm<strong>un</strong>g <strong>un</strong>d –Halt<strong>un</strong>g<br />
mit generieren, wenigstens bei den Eliten, in der Erzieh<strong>un</strong>g<br />
der künftigen Politiker-Generationen <strong>un</strong>d in der politischen<br />
Korrektheit des öffentlichen Empfindens.<br />
Für das Drängende dieser Heraus<strong>for</strong>der<strong>un</strong>g, die gewiß<br />
groß ist, vielleicht auch übergroß, aber die zumindest klar<br />
ins Auge gefasst werden muss, gibt es eine schnell<br />
wachsende Zahl beredter Beispiele – wie gesagt sowohl auf<br />
der Makro- wie auf der Meso- <strong>un</strong>d der Mikro-Ebene des<br />
Politischen der Gegenwart.<br />
So sprechen etwa auf der weltpolitischen Bühne das<br />
bisherige Versagen Kerneuropas im Nahen Osten, sowie die<br />
Fälle Iran <strong>un</strong>d Irak eine Symptom-Sprache, die kaum länger<br />
ignoriert werden kann. Wenn etwa die gegenwärtige<br />
(ihrerseits radikal-f<strong>un</strong>damentalistische <strong>un</strong>d protofaschistische)<br />
iranische Führ<strong>un</strong>g äußert: „Die Europäer<br />
verstehen <strong>un</strong>s nicht, weil sie <strong>un</strong>s nicht verstehen können.<br />
Wir können mit ihnen reden so lange wir wollen, aber sie<br />
anerkennen das Religiöse als eigenständige<br />
Rationalitätsdiskurs nicht, <strong>un</strong>d daher gibt es eigentlich nur<br />
ein Worte-, aber kein wirkliches Gespräch. Sie aber glauben,<br />
reden führe irgendwann zur gelingenden Komm<strong>un</strong>ikation,<br />
zum Konsens. Das ist nicht der Fall. Der Dialog mit Worten<br />
ist selbst nicht die Lös<strong>un</strong>g“ (Mahmud Ahmadinedschad),<br />
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dann bringt sie – <strong>un</strong>geachtet ihrer eigenen Aporien, die<br />
<strong>un</strong>gleich abgründiger gelagert sind als jene des<br />
konstruktivistischen Nominalismus des „kantianischen“<br />
Europa – eine Kritik am kulturell-„postmodernen“<br />
Nominalismus der „Postmoderne“ <strong>un</strong>d seiner<br />
Vereinseitig<strong>un</strong>gstendenz im Gesellschaftlichen <strong>un</strong>d<br />
Politischen an, der von breiteren Kreisen geteilt wird, als<br />
dies bisher öffentlich diskutiert wird. Die Einsicht in die<br />
Vorteile, aber auch in die <strong>un</strong>ter den Beding<strong>un</strong>gen der<br />
Globalisier<strong>un</strong>g wachsenden Aporien dieser Einseitigkeit<br />
sollte für die kommenden Jahre zur Bemüh<strong>un</strong>g um eine<br />
Paradigmen-Balancier<strong>un</strong>g in den Gr<strong>un</strong>dlagen des<br />
politischen Denkens Kern-Europas führen – gerade um den<br />
F<strong>un</strong>damentalisten begründet mit der Alternative einer<br />
„dritten Position“: nämlich eines „rationalen Nominalismus-<br />
Realismus für das künftige Europa, welcher die realistische<br />
Paradigmendimension nicht länger verdrängt, sondern sie<br />
nicht mythologisch, sondern kritisch-rational integriert“<br />
(Slavoij Zizek), entschieden auf ihrem angeblich eigenen<br />
Kompetenzfeld entgegentreten zu können.<br />
5. Aus dieser Lage folgt schließlich aber auch, daß das<br />
Politische Europas in seiner öffentlichen Logik <strong>un</strong>d seinen<br />
Diskurs<strong>for</strong>mationen makro-systemisch stärker als bisher<br />
von Religion, Kultur <strong>un</strong>d Wirtschaft mit ihren typologisch<br />
anders gelagerten Rationalitäts<strong>for</strong>men <strong>un</strong>terschieden<br />
werden muss. Die entsprechenden Unterschiede in den<br />
Logiken <strong>un</strong>d Zielen dieser <strong>un</strong>terschiedlichen makrosystemischen<br />
Diskurse sollten deutlicher als bisher<br />
herausgearbeitet, öffentlich diskutiert <strong>un</strong>d mittels <strong>for</strong>meller<br />
<strong>un</strong>d in<strong>for</strong>meller Gelt<strong>un</strong>gsgrenzen verteidigt werden. Das gilt<br />
zum Beispiel für das oben angeführte Beispiel der<br />
kerneuropäischen Tendenz zur „postmodernen“<br />
„Urspr<strong>un</strong>gs-Gesetzgeb<strong>un</strong>g“.<br />
Wir benötigen also paradigmenpolitisch eine subjektivobjektive<br />
Ausbalancier<strong>un</strong>g, systempolitisch eine rückhaltlose<br />
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BENEDIKTER - Politik <strong>un</strong>d Religion.<br />
Zur gegenwärtigen Neu-Annäher<strong>un</strong>g zweier gesellschaftlicher Felder<br />
Verteidig<strong>un</strong>g der bisherigen radikal-säkularen Gr<strong>un</strong>dlagen<br />
der offenen demokratischen Gesellschaft.<br />
Gegen diese „n<strong>un</strong> dringend notwendige<br />
Paradigmenbalancier<strong>un</strong>g zwischen politischem<br />
Nominalismus <strong>un</strong>d Realismus“ (Slavoij Zizek) wehrt sich<br />
jedoch derzeit noch die radikalsäkulare akademische<br />
Kanonisier<strong>un</strong>g des Politischen der Spät-Moderne als<br />
„Postmoderne“. Diese lehnt Religion, Metaphysik <strong>un</strong>d<br />
Spiritualität insgesamt pauschal als „Irrweg“ ab (<strong>un</strong>d<br />
behauptet zugleich das Prinzip der Gleichheit als Prinzip<br />
nicht nur des Rechts- <strong>un</strong>d Politiklebens, sondern auch des<br />
Kulturlebens, wo es kontraproduktiv wird, weil dort laut<br />
der Ausgangs-Intuition der Französischen Revolution<br />
Freiheit die Maxime sein muss).<br />
Das gilt etwa für die akademische Kanonisier<strong>un</strong>g<br />
gesellschaftspolitischer Vordenker der vergangenen<br />
Jahrzehnte wie Jean-Franois Lyotard, Jacques Derrida oder<br />
des mittleren Jürgen Habermas, welche in den<br />
Tiefendimensionen des politischen Denkens Europas weit<br />
einflußreicher waren <strong>un</strong>d sind, als meist angenommen, <strong>un</strong>d<br />
die wie Kant <strong>un</strong>d Hegel mittels proto- <strong>un</strong>d para-politischer<br />
Gr<strong>un</strong>dlagenarbeit an gesellschaftlichen Paradigmen (Michel<br />
Foucault) sowie mittels einer „philosophischen Politik“<br />
(Jean-Francois Lyotard, Jacques Derrida) faktisch „Millionen<br />
regiert haben, die nichts von ihnen wussten“ (Albert<br />
Schweitzer).<br />
Zugleich haben jedoch eben diese säkularen<br />
Nachkriegs-Avantgarden, bislang weitgehend <strong>un</strong>bemerkt,<br />
im Verlauf ihres intellektuellen <strong>un</strong>d politischen Weges<br />
zwischen 1970 <strong>un</strong>d 2001 nach <strong>un</strong>d nach ein paradoxales<br />
Verhältnis zum Religiösen in Form einer - wenn auch in der<br />
Nachfolge Kants stark ästhetisch konturierten - „negativen<br />
Metaphysik“ oder „negativen Spiritualität“ entwickelt. Viele<br />
führende gesellschafts- <strong>un</strong>d paradigmenpolitische<br />
Vordenker der späten „Postmoderne“ wie Jean-Francois<br />
Lyotard, Jacques Derrida, Michel Foucault oder Paul<br />
Feyerabend entwickelten in ihren letzten Werken eine Art<br />
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Proto-Spiritualität, die viele überraschen mag, aber einer<br />
wachsenden Einsicht in die „inklusive Notwendigkeit“ der<br />
Epoche nach 1989-91 geschuldet ist. Andere – wie etwa<br />
Jürgen Habermas, Helene Cixous oder Slavoj Zizek – haben<br />
sich in den letzten Jahren ebenfalls aus Einsicht in die<br />
Notwendigkeit einer inklusiven <strong>for</strong>ma mentis für das<br />
Politische zögerlich einer Paradigmenerneuer<strong>un</strong>g geöffnet,<br />
aber vorerst meist nur passiv-permissiv, noch nicht aktivaufbauend.<br />
Wenn aber ein Leit-Satz eines der wichtigsten Vorreiter<br />
der „Postmoderne“: der Satz von Andrè Malraux’ zumindest<br />
als Richt<strong>un</strong>gstendenz zutreffen sollte: „Das 21. Jahrh<strong>un</strong>dert<br />
wird religiös sein, oder es wird nicht sein“, worauf heute,<br />
wenn auch gewiß nicht in der von Malraux angedachten<br />
Form, verschiedene Phänomenkomplexe in der Politik- <strong>un</strong>d<br />
Kulturkonstellation hinzuweisen scheinen, dann stellt sich<br />
die Frage nach möglichen Perspektiven der Situation mit<br />
Nachdruck.<br />
Bestehen diese Perspektiven in die Verteidig<strong>un</strong>g der<br />
säkularen Gesellschaft gegen die neuen politischen<br />
Ansprüche des regressiv-konfessionellen Religiösen? Oder<br />
liegen sie in der Geltendmach<strong>un</strong>g religiöser Rationalität in<br />
einem Politischen, das sie <strong>un</strong>gerechterweise verdrängt hat?<br />
Und wenn beides zugleich als Notwendigkeit der Fall wäre –<br />
was könnte das für die Zuk<strong>un</strong>ft des Politischen in Europa<br />
bedeuten? Welches Denken wäre damit für die<br />
Neukonturier<strong>un</strong>g des Politischen angeschlagen? Bestünde<br />
dieses Denken in der Entwickl<strong>un</strong>g eines inklusiven, über die<br />
Postmoderne hinausgehenden „subjektiv-objektiven“ <strong>un</strong>d<br />
„nominalistisch-realistischen“ Paradigmas - also eines<br />
„dritten“ Weges, wenn auch nur <strong>un</strong>d ausschließlich<br />
eingedenk der <strong>un</strong>übersehbaren Gefahren dieses Vorhabens,<br />
die zu keinem Augenblick <strong>un</strong>terschätzt werden dürfen?<br />
In diesem Spann<strong>un</strong>gsfeld ergeben sich zahlreiche, bis<br />
auf weiteres notgedr<strong>un</strong>gen offen bleibende Fragen, die für<br />
die Zuk<strong>un</strong>ft des Politischen in Kern-Europa in den<br />
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BENEDIKTER - Politik <strong>un</strong>d Religion.<br />
Zur gegenwärtigen Neu-Annäher<strong>un</strong>g zweier gesellschaftlicher Felder<br />
kommenden Jahren bedeutsam werden könnten. Dar<strong>un</strong>ter<br />
sind <strong>un</strong>ter anderem:<br />
a) Wie soll sich Europa zum heutigen Trend der<br />
globalen Renaissance der Religionen verhalten?<br />
b) Wie wäre die Tradition der rationalen Aufklär<strong>un</strong>g in<br />
ein inklusives Paradigma nominalistisch-realistisch oder<br />
subjektiv-objektiv angemessen einzubinden?<br />
c) Ist dazu synchrone Inklusion oder diachrone<br />
Dialektik das bessere Entwickl<strong>un</strong>gsmodell?<br />
d) Politik <strong>un</strong>d Religion - kann man in dieser<br />
Verhältnisbestimm<strong>un</strong>g von „der“ Religion sprechen oder<br />
müssen dabei erstens die Tendenzen der Religionen <strong>un</strong>d<br />
zweitens die Unterschiede zwischen den Begriffen Religion,<br />
Metaphysik <strong>un</strong>d Spiritualität differenziert werden?<br />
e) Welche Rolle können in den kommenden Jahren<br />
ideengeschichtliche Erwäg<strong>un</strong>gen für den konkreten<br />
realpolitischen Prozeß spielen – auf der Mikro-, Meso- <strong>un</strong>d<br />
Makro-Ebene?<br />
Wir alle sind aufge<strong>for</strong>dert, an der Diskussion dieser<br />
ebenso schwierigen wie wichtigen, für die Zuk<strong>un</strong>ft der<br />
offenen Gesellschaften <strong>un</strong>d ihrer inneren Rationalität in den<br />
kommenden Jahren voraussichtlich mit entscheidenden<br />
Fragen mitzuwirken.<br />
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No. 2, January 2008<br />
Changes of Religious Pluralism with Regard to<br />
Conditions in the Czech Lands<br />
Ján MIŠCOVIČ *<br />
* The Teological Faculty of South Bohemia University<br />
in České Budějovice, E‐mail Address: misovic@volny.cz<br />
Abstrakt<br />
Der Beitrag befasst sich mit der Frage des<br />
Glaubenspluralismus, so wie er sich im Laufe der Zeit in der<br />
Gesellschaft manifestiert hat, <strong>un</strong>d anschließend auch im Rahmen<br />
der einzelnen Kirchen. Die erste neuzeitliche gesellschaftliche<br />
Äußer<strong>un</strong>g war die Glaubenstoleranz, die offiziell von dem<br />
Herrscher im 17. Jahrh<strong>un</strong>dert bestätigt wurde, die aber erst zwei<br />
Jahrh<strong>un</strong>derte später eine praktische Auswirk<strong>un</strong>g hatte. Eine<br />
Form des Glaubenspluralismus, der Ökumenismus, fand<br />
Widerhall in der tschechischen Gesellschaft vor allem nach dem<br />
Zweiten Weltkrieg. Einen wichtigen Schritt in Richt<strong>un</strong>g<br />
Glaubenspluralismus in der katholischen Kirche stellten die<br />
Beschlüsse des II. Vatikankonzils dar. Ein Anstoß für die<br />
Änder<strong>un</strong>gen waren auch der politische Wandel in Mittel‐ <strong>un</strong>d<br />
Osteuropa <strong>un</strong>d die parallel verlaufenden<br />
Globalisier<strong>un</strong>gsprozesse. Vor dem Hintergr<strong>un</strong>d dieser<br />
historischen, religiösen <strong>un</strong>d politischen Änder<strong>un</strong>gen erreicht der<br />
Pluralismus eine bestimmte Entwickl<strong>un</strong>gsstufe <strong>un</strong>d spiegelt sich<br />
dann konkret in einzelnen Kirchen, bzw. in der katholischen<br />
Kirche wider. Die Folge ist auch Auffächer<strong>un</strong>g der Theologie in<br />
viele Disziplinen <strong>un</strong>d der damit verb<strong>un</strong>dene Pluralismus.<br />
Abrégé<br />
Cette contribution traite du pluralisme religieux, de la façon<br />
dont il est progressivement apparu d’abord dans la société puis<br />
dans les Eglises elles‐mêmes. Ses premières manifestations<br />
modernes se sont traduites par la tolérance religieuse,<br />
officiellement confirmée au XVIIème siècle par le souverain, mais<br />
véritablement instaurée seulement deux siècles plus tard. Une<br />
des <strong>for</strong>mes du pluralisme religieux, l’écuménisme, a trouvé <strong>un</strong><br />
écho dans le contexte tchèque, surtout après la seconde guerre<br />
mondiale. Les conclusions du Concile Vatican II constituèrent <strong>un</strong><br />
pas marquant vers l’établissement du pluralisme au sein du<br />
clergé catholique. Les changements des systèmes politiques en<br />
Europe centrale et orientale ainsi que, parallèlement à cela, la<br />
mise en marche des processus de globalisation, ont donné <strong>un</strong>e<br />
impulsion au pluralisme. En toile de fond à ces changements, le<br />
pluralisme est arrivé à <strong>un</strong> certain stade et s’est exprimé<br />
concrètement dans les différents clergés, dont le clergé<br />
catholique. Il y a aussi comme résultat le morcellement de la<br />
théologie en <strong>un</strong> grand nombre de branches et partie liée à cela<br />
son pluralisme.<br />
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MIŠCOVIČ ‐ Changes of Religious Pluralism with Regard to Conditions in<br />
Czech Lands<br />
Introduction<br />
The scientific reflection of religious pluralism has a<br />
variety of aspects, the “external one“ being the most<br />
frequent. An article called Secularisation or Pluralisation of<br />
Christianity, published by a leading international religious<br />
sociologist, Martin D., is a good illustration of this<br />
phenomenon – two exceptions, no rule to analyse the<br />
relation between the church and the state. The<br />
contribution is based on a different ideological<br />
backgro<strong>un</strong>d. It uses a rather broad historical approach,<br />
seeking to define the “internal“ dimensions of religious<br />
pluralism first and, subsequently, its “external” incentives.<br />
In my opinion, the key aspect is the way plurality has<br />
manifested itself in Christian churches, especially in the<br />
Catholic Church. I will also point out the circumstances of<br />
pluralisation processes of Christian churches in Central<br />
Europe and the Czech Lands. However, in connection with<br />
the so‐defined approach, let me mention the importance of<br />
Martin‘s <strong>un</strong>iversal methodological standpoint that any<br />
church would compromise itself if affected and co‐<strong>for</strong>med<br />
by political power.<br />
Development of Pluralism in Christianity<br />
Evaluating processes associated with pluralism in<br />
Christianity, we cannot help mentioning the historical<br />
backgro<strong>un</strong>d as provided through irony by an outstanding<br />
ancient critic of Christianity, philosopher and writer<br />
Celsus. He speaks of fractionalisation in the Christian<br />
church, claiming that it is just the name that links the<br />
fractions 1 .<br />
There was no church <strong>un</strong>ity at all in the first centuries<br />
(Filipi 2000: 68). The plural <strong>for</strong>m of the term church<br />
(ekklesiai) occurred, along with the singular, as early as<br />
1 The work is called The True Word on Christianity and Judaism,<br />
dated 178. The author‘s ideas are known from Origen‘s polemic<br />
response (approximately 185 – 250).<br />
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No. 2, January 2008<br />
the New Testament. This fact, however, evokes the<br />
existence of local churches with separate developments,<br />
full autonomy, peculiar liturgical traditions and,<br />
presumably, <strong>un</strong>ique confessional and adoration practices.<br />
Despite these specific variances, the churches were aware<br />
of and obeyed the principle of interrelated comm<strong>un</strong>ity<br />
(Filipi 2000: 94).<br />
Later developments resulted in such gaps between<br />
individual ecclesiastical <strong>for</strong>mations that any further<br />
Eucharist was out of the question. Nevertheless, the<br />
emerging system was accompanied by separation‐<br />
preventing ef<strong>for</strong>ts during the whole history of Christianity.<br />
It is difficult to define the separating factors on the<br />
basis of historical studies because almost all the cases were<br />
influenced by “theological, less theological and non‐<br />
theological“ aspects at the same time (Filipi 2000: 94).<br />
Moreover, it is <strong>un</strong>easy to pinpoint the moment in which the<br />
legitimate pluralism changed so much that the Eucharistic<br />
comm<strong>un</strong>ity ceased to exist.<br />
The German theologian Edm<strong>un</strong>d Schlink openly<br />
admitted three types of motives leading to religious<br />
streaming: a) The fight <strong>for</strong> <strong>un</strong>ity in the church took place<br />
on the confessional and theological levels. Concurrence in<br />
the importance of Christ is the core of <strong>un</strong>ity despite all<br />
ecclesiological variances. b) The second group includes<br />
differently perceived consequences of the faith in Christ.<br />
The separating factors got further and further from the<br />
Christologic core, approaching the worldly and religious<br />
consequences of this faith. c) The third group includes<br />
“political“ factors in the widest sense of the word. They had<br />
the following two contrasting <strong>for</strong>ms: 1. hegemonic<br />
demands of some centres, 2. emancipation ef<strong>for</strong>ts of<br />
certain marginal regions aiming at higher independence of<br />
the centre (Filipi 2000: 95‐96 ).<br />
The Christianity‐splitting processes continued in the<br />
nineteenth century too. For example, the conclusions of the<br />
First Vatican Co<strong>un</strong>cil held in 1870 aroused some<br />
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differentiation in the Catholic Church. As a result, the Old<br />
Catholic Church separated from the main stream.<br />
Re<strong>un</strong>ion ef<strong>for</strong>ts expressed by Ecumenism 2 occurred at<br />
that time. Common gro<strong>un</strong>ds were consciously sought that<br />
could draw the Christian churches, so distant in their<br />
theories, concepts of office and sacrament, close to each<br />
other again. Simultaneously, Ecumenism expresses a view<br />
that “streaming is inappropriate and should not be<br />
accepted without an attempt at a change“ (Filipi 2000:<br />
122).<br />
However, it was not <strong>un</strong>til the fo<strong>un</strong>dation of the World<br />
Co<strong>un</strong>cil of Churches in Amsterdam 3 in September 1948,<br />
which instituted a fellowship of churches, that the<br />
ecumenical ideas started to spread widely. The Catholic<br />
Church joined the negotiations through five observers in<br />
New Delhi in 1961 <strong>for</strong> the first time.<br />
The Second Vatican Co<strong>un</strong>cil brought another incentive.<br />
The ecumenical movement was recognised by a Decree on<br />
Ecumenism 4 . Chapter 2 of this comprehensive and<br />
manifold document called Practical Implementation of<br />
Ecumenism says that it is <strong>un</strong>conditionally necessary to<br />
elucidate the whole theory clearly. Nothing is so alien to<br />
Ecumenism as the false irenism, which impairs the purity<br />
of the Catholic doctrine and obscures its genuine and<br />
<strong>un</strong>doubtful sense. Catholic theologians should bear in mind<br />
the existence of a certain hierarchy of various dogmas of<br />
the Catholic doctrine. Some authors refer to the texts of<br />
the Second Vatican Co<strong>un</strong>cil, in which compromise is<br />
repeatedly expressed by means of so‐called contradiction<br />
pluralism (Pesch 1996: 150). Studying the co<strong>un</strong>cil<br />
2 The original meaning of the word was “decisions generally<br />
accepted by the church, i.e. <strong>un</strong>ity with the <strong>un</strong>iversal church“, later it<br />
described ef<strong>for</strong>ts to promote cooperation, mutual <strong>un</strong>derstanding and<br />
close interrelations of Christian churches.<br />
3 The fo<strong>un</strong>ding assembly was attended by 351 delegates<br />
representing 145 churches from 45 co<strong>un</strong>tries. The number of churches<br />
had doubled by the end of the 20 th century.<br />
4 The introduction says that there exists no Catholic Ecumenism,<br />
that there are just Catholic rules <strong>for</strong> participation in the common<br />
ecumenical movement.<br />
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documents with the compromising nature, some “adhere<br />
and refer to them, claiming that “the Second Vatican<br />
Co<strong>un</strong>cil said so“”, while others argue that “the Co<strong>un</strong>cil did<br />
not mean it like that“ (Pesch 1996: 150‐151). Either party<br />
may be right. 5<br />
In practice, Ecumenism is implemented through various<br />
activities on many levels <strong>un</strong>der more prosaic<br />
circumstances. Comm<strong>un</strong>ities and local parishes represent<br />
the basic ecumenical cooperation level, providing the<br />
largest space <strong>for</strong> mutual <strong>un</strong>derstanding without obeying<br />
strict <strong>for</strong>mal principles.<br />
Multi‐church worship practices have specific, precisely<br />
defined rules. A common ecumenical mass, however,<br />
cannot replace regular divine services attended by the<br />
Catholics because ecumenical masses are a lower, marginal<br />
<strong>for</strong>m of religious celebration due to the absence of<br />
Eucharist (Filipi 2000: 145‐146).<br />
The ecumenical dialogue represents another field of<br />
cooperation between churches. However, the considerable<br />
portion of energy invested in such common dialogues has<br />
yielded poor results so far. The American theologian<br />
Lindbeck G. called <strong>for</strong> a higher efficiency of the dialogue to<br />
make the churches “mutually structurally vulnerable“<br />
(Filipi 2000: 152).<br />
The history of Christianity gives a clear evidence of<br />
temporarily suppressed religious diversity arisen at early<br />
times. The era of “<strong>un</strong>ity“ of the western Christianity was<br />
5 Article 8 of the Decree on Ecumenism says to liturgical<br />
fellowships: “The expression of <strong>un</strong>ity mostly <strong>for</strong>bids participation in<br />
divine services. The ef<strong>for</strong>t to attain grace is sometimes recommended.“<br />
This note is included among the general directives <strong>for</strong> implementation<br />
of Ecumenism and, moreover, is not limited to certain liturgies. This<br />
means that it basically does not exclude the Last Supper Fellowship. It<br />
is written elsewhere in the Decree that the re<strong>for</strong>mation churches “did<br />
not keep the original and full essence of the Eucharistic secret because<br />
they are lacking the sacrament of priesthood.“ (Pesch 1996:152). Not<br />
even Article 22 says explicitly that a Catholic is <strong>for</strong>bidden to take part<br />
in the Holy Last Supper with the re<strong>for</strong>mation church (Pesch 1996:<br />
153).<br />
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followed by re<strong>for</strong>ming ef<strong>for</strong>ts leading to a rise of separate<br />
churches. Logically, this trend had to be completed with<br />
the search <strong>for</strong> the ecumenical dialogue. Both the<br />
“centrifugal“ and “centripetal“ processes represent the<br />
internal sources of religious pluralism.<br />
Religious Pluralism in Central European and Czech<br />
Contexts<br />
Along with the “internal“ factors, there are “external“<br />
circumstances that influenced religious pluralism. They are<br />
characterised by responses of the public, scientists and<br />
particularly the ruling classes to the prevailing situation in<br />
religion and society.<br />
The Christian comm<strong>un</strong>ities in the Late Middle Ages in<br />
Europe had diverse and specific approaches to church<br />
practices.<br />
Let us point out two relevant circumstances. First, the<br />
ongoing religious disputes and disorders accompanying the<br />
development of Protestantism and Re<strong>for</strong>mation in the<br />
Renaissance era in the 16 th century in Europe and the<br />
related problem of tolerance. Tolerance meant primarily<br />
non‐persecution of people adhering to different religious<br />
faiths and practices at that time. Tolerance supporters<br />
sought to re<strong>for</strong>m the law, i.e. prevent the state from<br />
defending the official religion “by sword“ (Kolakowski<br />
2004: 27).<br />
Second, a somewhat different proportion of internal<br />
<strong>for</strong>ces in the Czech Lands in the course of two centuries,<br />
from the beginning of the religion and society re<strong>for</strong>ming<br />
movement, Hussitism (1419), <strong>un</strong>til the defeat of the Czech<br />
Estates on the White Hill (1620), who, after the tolerance<br />
era 6 , succeeded in en<strong>for</strong>cing another stage – legality of<br />
various <strong>for</strong>ms of religious and ecclesiastical pluralism. 7<br />
6 The tolerance era started in 1436 by an agreement between the<br />
Basil Co<strong>un</strong>cil and Czech Hussites. It anchored and, particularly,<br />
authorised comm<strong>un</strong>ion in both kinds in the Czech Lands.<br />
7 At the end of this period, in 1609, Rudolph II issued the Imperial<br />
Charter, thus providing the most liberal religious law in Europe. The<br />
Charter guaranteed religious freedom <strong>for</strong> Old and New Utraquists,<br />
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Both the Re<strong>for</strong>mation streams, one initiated by Luther<br />
and the other by Jan Hus, raised “internal“ challenges of<br />
their own.<br />
Lutheranism did not lay stress on activities and deeds<br />
of Christian believers. No deeds or religious acts were<br />
necessary <strong>for</strong> salvation – a good Christian just needed firm<br />
belief and devoutness to God. Luther preferred the Bible<br />
and the priest. He acknowledged the existing arrangement<br />
of human relations in a society and the necessity to have a<br />
secular authority that may not be opposed 8 (Pojar 1995:<br />
49). According to Luther, the only salvation lies in faith.<br />
The spiritual concept of the Czech Re<strong>for</strong>mation, which<br />
preceded the Lutheran movement, was different. The Law<br />
of God was in the first place. A Christian had to fulfil the<br />
Law through all deeds, activities and the daily life. The<br />
principle of God‘s Law, which establishes the standards of<br />
the social life and calls <strong>for</strong> rectification of social relations,<br />
became the carrying element of the movement. The Czech<br />
Re<strong>for</strong>mation drew upon international resources:<br />
Wycliffism, Waldenses and Chiliasm, on which Jan Hus‘ and<br />
Chelčický‘s theories 9 were also based.<br />
The Co<strong>un</strong>ter‐Re<strong>for</strong>mation era, however, put the Czech<br />
Lands on the level of the rest of Europe.<br />
A significant step towards religious tolerance in the<br />
Czech lands and other national co<strong>un</strong>tries of the Habsburg<br />
Empire was not taken <strong>un</strong>til 150 years later.<br />
The Emperor Joseph II laid fo<strong>un</strong>dations <strong>for</strong> a long‐<br />
lasting respect to other religions by issuing a key document<br />
in the ecclesiastical policy, generally called the Tolerance<br />
Act (1781). This solution was adopted thanks to the<br />
influence of Enlightenment as well as <strong>for</strong> political and<br />
economic reasons because the main purpose of the<br />
Lutherans, Czech Brethren (Unitas Fratrum), and Catholics. It related<br />
both to the aristocracy, citizens of royal towns and serfs.<br />
8 Lutheranism accepted the social arrangement much more than<br />
Catholicism.<br />
9 They are the leaders of the re<strong>for</strong>ming movement.<br />
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Tolerance Act was to integrate different, economically<br />
relevant layers of the population. 10<br />
The Tolerance Act meant a definitive end of the<br />
spiritual “monopoly“ of Catholicism in the empire. The<br />
religious freedom declared in 1848 had not been fully<br />
en<strong>for</strong>ced <strong>un</strong>til the Protestant Act was issued in 1861, which<br />
not only tolerated but also made equal all Protestant<br />
confessions to the official Catholic religion.<br />
The late 19 th and early 20 th centuries were<br />
characterised by a “consolidation“ of the active non‐<br />
Catholic churches and creation of spiritually oriented<br />
associations and organisations.<br />
Now, we could conclude this brief general survey on the<br />
development of religious pluralism with regard top Czech<br />
conditions. Be<strong>for</strong>e we do that, let us mention that the<br />
variances between the Roman Catholic Church and other<br />
churches deepened after the Second World War and,<br />
especially, after the Comm<strong>un</strong>ist coup d‘etat. For example,<br />
the Evangelic Bohemian Brethren joined the international<br />
family of Protestant denominations in 1948 and non‐<br />
Catholic churches fo<strong>un</strong>ded the Ecumenical Co<strong>un</strong>cil of<br />
Churches in Czechoslovakia in 1955.<br />
A brief historical excursus indicates essential changes<br />
in religious pluralism. Despite respecting people‘s spiritual<br />
interests and needs, religious pluralism had to struggle<br />
hard <strong>for</strong> its “place in the s<strong>un</strong>“. It was mainly the powerful<br />
of this world that f<strong>un</strong>damentally accelerated or decelerated<br />
pluralistic processes <strong>un</strong>til the end of the 19 th century, thus<br />
giving pluralism its basic features.<br />
On Pluralistic Phenomena in Present‐day Theology<br />
and Christianity<br />
Plurality of today‘s theological streams is derived from<br />
the multilateral character of human life. The theological<br />
dictionary from K. Rahner and H. Vorgrimler says to this<br />
entry that “through <strong>un</strong>ity in God and through common last<br />
10 As the Emperor Joseph II said, over 60,000 serfs, labour <strong>for</strong>ces,<br />
tax payers and one thousand soldiers had left the Czech Lands <strong>for</strong><br />
Saxony and Prussia during the preceding 50 years (Pithart 1995: 162).<br />
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metaphysical structures, man and one‘s existential space is<br />
created of so many diverse and multiple facts that one‘s<br />
experience comes from originally diverse sources“<br />
(Rahner, Vorgrimler 1996: 247). The innovativeness of<br />
today‘s theological pluralism is based on specific theses<br />
and ways of thinking, which “exist beside each other as<br />
heterogeneous and incommensurable entities“ (Rahner,<br />
Vorgrimler 1996: 248).<br />
Like other disciplines, theology is divided into a high<br />
number of fields nowadays, each of them providing a lot of<br />
material and a specific methodology (Rahner 2004: 40).<br />
Another aspect that influences theological plurality is<br />
associated with pluralism of human life. "The Christian is<br />
<strong>un</strong>able to integrate these diverse moments of his or her<br />
existence into a clear and easily controllable system“<br />
(Rahner 2004: 538).<br />
Because of pluralistic trends in the present secular<br />
world, the church has been levelled with other<br />
organisations and evaluated using the same criteria. This<br />
significantly affects the life of laymen who directly<br />
participate in the church service. In this context, the<br />
presence of lay people in the church life is a natural thing<br />
and a consequence of confrontation of the Christian<br />
comm<strong>un</strong>ity with the ordinary secularised society rather<br />
than a secondary or historically <strong>for</strong>ced service (Ambros<br />
2002: 42). Today, theology occupies an irreplaceable<br />
position in one‘s orientation in the pluralistic world and<br />
religion because any fellowship or comm<strong>un</strong>ity combines<br />
both <strong>un</strong>ity and plurality (Ambros 2002: 209).<br />
Historically, religious pluralism used to draw new<br />
incentives <strong>for</strong> further development from social changes<br />
too. One of the changes was the re<strong>un</strong>ification of Europe in<br />
1990. The Christian churches joined this <strong>un</strong>ification.<br />
For the first time in the history, the Roman Bishops‘<br />
Synod convened a meeting of representatives of European<br />
Bishops‘ Conferences to be held at the turn of November<br />
and December 1991, with the aim to discuss the key topics<br />
of the time. They included: liberation of Eastern Europe,<br />
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dialogue with the secular culture and new evangelisation of<br />
Europe. The participants pointed out the necessity of a<br />
dialogue and cooperation with all Christian churches and<br />
the Jews. However, there was no ef<strong>for</strong>t to establish a more<br />
detailed dialogue with the Western culture and Western<br />
pluralism from the very beginning (Maier 2005: 167).<br />
The European Evangelic Assembly, the first assembly of<br />
its kind since the times of Re<strong>for</strong>mation, held in Budapest<br />
March 1992, addressed its message to: “Evangelic Christian<br />
men and women, comm<strong>un</strong>ities and churches in Europe“,<br />
emphasising, like the Catholics, the challenge following<br />
from the new turn, and pointed out two values of historical<br />
heritage to be preserved: Re<strong>for</strong>mation heritage and<br />
Enlightenment traditions (Maier 2005: 168).<br />
The ecumenical dialogue between the Catholics and<br />
Protestants was hit by stagnation (Maier 2005: 169).<br />
The All‐Orthodox Convention at Istanbul in March 1992<br />
was held in a spirit different from the preceding<br />
assemblies. The new developments were regarded as “a<br />
jeopardy to the Orthodox Church, which will have to<br />
confront itself with the Western secularism and Catholic<br />
and Protestant missionaries‘ demands‘“ (Maier 2005: 169).<br />
The relations between the Orthodox and Catholic churches<br />
“deteriorated“ <strong>for</strong> over one decade. The new conditions<br />
brought “new and hard problems“ to the existing<br />
ecumenical practices. The dialogue was not restored <strong>un</strong>til<br />
the first half of 2006. 11<br />
The pluralistic phenomena in today’s theology and<br />
Christianity indicate an <strong>un</strong>paralleled width and variety of<br />
pluralism. Theology is “<strong>for</strong>ced“ not only to take the existing<br />
situation into acco<strong>un</strong>t but also to respond properly to the<br />
reality of a secularised society. Christian church practices<br />
are facing a similar assignment. Hence, the ecumenical<br />
dialogue should also include an “obligation“ to follow and<br />
11 An international conference took place in Vienna in May 3‐5,<br />
2006, co‐organised by the Department of Foreign Church Relations of<br />
the Moscow Patriarchate and the Pope Co<strong>un</strong>cil <strong>for</strong> Culture. Among<br />
others, the contributions put the accent on the importance of a<br />
dialogue between the Orthodox and Catholic churches.<br />
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analyse events that take place outside the Christian sphere<br />
and perceive all processes in the world actively.<br />
Pluralism and Its Consequences from Second<br />
Vatican Co<strong>un</strong>cil till Today in Czech Lands<br />
The Czech Catholic Church ceased to occupy traditional<br />
positions, being influenced by both the conclusions of the<br />
Second Vatican Co<strong>un</strong>cil and the Prague Spring events. The<br />
development was not free of conflicts both in the church<br />
and the society. Every event became a source of a certain<br />
diverse tension. The priests, deprived of power by the<br />
Prague Spring, became a source of political tension.<br />
Ideological conflicts escalated between those who accepted<br />
the Co<strong>un</strong>cil, liturgical re<strong>for</strong>m, Ecumenism and enhanced<br />
rights and obligations of laymen in the church with<br />
pleasure, and those who opposed the Co<strong>un</strong>cil and its<br />
conclusions with distrust and even hatred. “Thus, Catholic<br />
f<strong>un</strong>damentalism was restored in our co<strong>un</strong>try, including<br />
symptoms of intolerance and reluctance to conduct a<br />
dialogue with those who think differently“ (Vaško 1999:<br />
289). This was probably one of the reasons why the home<br />
authors emphasised repeatedly the necessity of cultivated<br />
discussions.<br />
Mádr Oto a leading Czech theologian, pointed out that<br />
part of the Vatican Co<strong>un</strong>cil conclusions that urged the need<br />
to give both the clergymen and laymen “a proper freedom<br />
of research, thinking and humble yet brave interconnection<br />
of views of things they are experts at“ (Mádr 1992: 28). He<br />
also presents his concept of a dialogue that avoids arguing,<br />
battles of words, self‐assertion, and situations in which<br />
emotions prevail and the “might is right“ principle is used<br />
instead of “let‘s know the truth“. The core of the dialogue is<br />
a discussion based on humbleness. “Everyone may be<br />
wrong, so I can be wrong too; everyone may be right, so the<br />
opponent may be right too. Let‘s seek the truth jointly“<br />
(Mádr 1992: 28). He placed a scientific dispute, i.e. a<br />
critical evaluation of an issue from various aspects, on a<br />
different level. The essence is the same – search <strong>for</strong> truth.<br />
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But an ethical public or scientific discussion has one more<br />
aspect ‐ a good relation to the partner (Mádr 1992: 29),<br />
who is not a mere mediator of knowledge. The above‐<br />
mentioned attitude is characterised as “polite and tactful<br />
yet ready to use emphatic words if necessary to defend the<br />
truth and man‘s interests“ (Mádr 1992: 29). This is the<br />
genuine dialogue, one of the fo<strong>un</strong>dation stones of the<br />
civilisation of love.<br />
The necessity to specify the principles of a discussion<br />
concerning the present‐day church was also considered by<br />
Ambros P. . He approaches them a bit differently,<br />
considering the following four criteria: truthfulness, love,<br />
refusal of disregard, and quality of language used (Ambros<br />
2002: 13). If these criteria are applied, no “monologue"<br />
instead of "dialogue“ arises.<br />
The post‐Co<strong>un</strong>cil discussion dealt with rather general<br />
topics, which related, e.g., to the Czech history and thus<br />
gained an ecumenical dimension. For illustration, such<br />
names as Saint Wenceslaus, Charles IV, Saint Jan<br />
Nepomucky, Master Jan Hus , Jan A. Komensky and T. G.<br />
Masaryk are approached differently in the Catholic and<br />
Evangelic environments. These personalities have become<br />
symbols of two ideological lines since a certain time. How<br />
to explain this? “ It is because we seek our truth and fear<br />
<strong>for</strong> our certainty“. In this context, an essential question has<br />
arisen: “Can I be a Catholic when my church was not right<br />
all the time“? (Mádr 1992: 260). There is one answer to<br />
both the questions. Let us seek the truth jointly,<br />
objectively, no matter whether it is “light and dark“ or<br />
“famous and shameful“ and accept the whole truth. This<br />
approach could be proved right, e.g., by liberation of<br />
Master Jan Hus from the then and later purpose‐bo<strong>un</strong>d<br />
ideological engagement (Mádr 1992: 262).<br />
Logically, the development of pluralistic views resulting<br />
from the proceeding democratisation of the society after<br />
1989 initiated significant changes in the approach to<br />
theological issues and religious practices. It also made it<br />
possible to react more profo<strong>un</strong>dly to the conclusions of the<br />
Second Vatican Co<strong>un</strong>cil.<br />
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For example, the President of the Christian Academy,<br />
Halík T., noticed changes among Catholic believers at that<br />
time. He states that the numbers of both standard believers<br />
and convinced atheists keep falling. “No matter if we like it<br />
or not, the type of a believer with reservations will prevail<br />
clearly in the future“ (Jandourek 1997a: 49). Despite this,<br />
church pastorship focuses on the traditional believer, who<br />
is “dying out“.<br />
The Evangelic Church also contemplates the believers‘<br />
characteristics. Dividing ordinary believers into<br />
confessions is a mere chimera today (Voko<strong>un</strong> 2005: 198).<br />
Non‐Catholic churches are dying of consumption, while<br />
numerous crowds of Roman Catholics long <strong>for</strong> such church<br />
as the Czechoslovak Evangelic and Czechoslovak Hussite<br />
churches and believe their doctrine because Protestantism<br />
is a chimera too. These processes are symptoms of a post‐<br />
confession age according to Voko<strong>un</strong> (Voko<strong>un</strong> 2005: 199).<br />
The fact that shared values represent the linking<br />
element of Christianity fails too. “The theoretical<br />
expression of these values, however, is not bo<strong>un</strong>d to one<br />
specific ideological direction and Christian values are<br />
contemplated in various philosophical directions today“<br />
(Kašný 2005: 274).<br />
Some theologians contemplate the hierarchy of God,<br />
man and church. One legitimate approach believes that God<br />
created the church as an intermediate stage between<br />
Himself and the believers and it is the church that<br />
addresses individuals, turning them into believers. A<br />
re<strong>for</strong>ming concept, also complying with the Holy Scripture,<br />
points out that “God addresses individuals and it is<br />
individuals, people who <strong>for</strong>m alliances and create<br />
churches, and so there is nothing holy about the church“<br />
(Kohák 2005: 229). In this approach, the church is a<br />
framework <strong>for</strong> cohabitation, “which is created, <strong>for</strong> their<br />
purpose, by people who felt the touch of holiness“ (Kohák<br />
2005: 229).<br />
In addition to general theological issues, specific<br />
situations in churches are discussed. The Catholic bishop<br />
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Malý V. evaluated the post‐Co<strong>un</strong>cil situation in the Czech<br />
Republic in the course of three decades. “We have fo<strong>un</strong>d<br />
out that hardly anybody is ready to meet the incentives of<br />
the Second Vatican Co<strong>un</strong>cil. In this respect, we are very far<br />
from the door opened by the Co<strong>un</strong>cil.“ (Jandourek 1997b:<br />
27). He identified the following key objectives of the<br />
Catholic Church in connection with the beginning of the<br />
new millennium:<br />
– seeking of points of contact between international<br />
religions and Christianity,<br />
– role of a woman in the church,<br />
– perception of the church <strong>un</strong>ity,<br />
‐ revealing of rich traditions of other churches<br />
including mutual enrichment (Mišovič 2001: 143‐144).<br />
The Czech church representatives expressed<br />
different opinions on the last‐named issue. The Cardinal<br />
Vlk M. evaluated the Protestants in the “traditional“ spirit<br />
of the documents. In his opinion, they had no faith<br />
guarantee. They even refused things that had been<br />
maintained in the church <strong>for</strong> a long time. These things<br />
included not only religious sediments, but also some<br />
essential things (Pirnosová 1997: 64).<br />
Štampach I., an ex‐Dominican, now a representative of<br />
the Old Catholic Church, has adopted an <strong>absolut</strong>ely<br />
different approach to non‐Christian religions. He regards<br />
Taoism, Buddhism and Confucianism as religions despite<br />
the fact that God is not always mentioned in them. “These<br />
ways had been religious or spiritual long be<strong>for</strong>e the first<br />
Taoistic and Confucian temples appeared“ (Hanuš 1997:<br />
85). Similarly, Halík T. finds a certain similarity between<br />
the three streams of the three biggest religions: Zen in<br />
Buddhism, Franciscanism in Christianity, and Chassidism<br />
in Judaism (Mišovič 2001: 146). The representatives of<br />
different churches show readiness to promote the inter‐<br />
religious dialogue 12 by publishing texts and arranging<br />
public meetings.<br />
12 One of the first talks concerning the Spiritual Development of<br />
Mankind took place in the Ball Games Pavilion of the Prague Castle in<br />
October 1998, attended by the representatives of the Catholic Church,<br />
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Both mutual comm<strong>un</strong>ication and practical cooperation<br />
were achieved. The strive after mutual <strong>un</strong>derstanding<br />
between churches, the present‐day situation in the society<br />
resulting in low religiousness 13 and lack of clericals create<br />
“a sociological backgro<strong>un</strong>d <strong>for</strong> <strong>for</strong>ming of inter‐church<br />
ecumenical structures in the Czech conditions“ (Přibyl<br />
2005: 194), which are active in the penal system and army<br />
on the basis of an agreement between the churches and the<br />
state. An example is an religious service agreement in the<br />
sector administered by the Minister of Defence, concluded<br />
between the Ecumenical Co<strong>un</strong>cil of Churches and the Czech<br />
Bishops‘ Conference in 1998, which is based on the<br />
principle of mutual substitutability 14 (Filipi 2000: 142). It<br />
is a <strong>un</strong>ique agreement in the world. 15<br />
Pluralism is reflected specifically not only in<br />
approaches to religious issues but also within the Czech<br />
Catholic structures. The layout of various approaches in<br />
the present‐day Catholic Church is indicated in the<br />
Cardinal Vlk‘s Statement published in late July 1999. This<br />
document was commented on by the representatives of the<br />
Kairos 98 Initiative. They claimed that they had read the<br />
characteristic of the right‐left division in the church<br />
mentioned by Vlk with anxiety and bitterness, considering<br />
it an example of simplification that is <strong>un</strong>able to capture the<br />
complexity and variety of the church life and that makes<br />
Evangelic Czech Brethren and svámí Mahéšvaránanda, and arousing<br />
great interest in the public (Mišovič 2001: 146).<br />
13 This situation was proved by the Gfk research in 2004 <strong>for</strong> the<br />
last time, which recorded the lowest rate of belief in God in the Czech<br />
Republic of all European co<strong>un</strong>tries.<br />
14 The agreement says: “In the sector of the Ministry of Defence,<br />
every clergyman represents not only the church he or she is a member<br />
of but also and primarily is a common representative of all churches<br />
associated in the EC and CBC, which, jointly, appoint him or her to<br />
execute the spiritual mission” (Filipi 2000: 143).<br />
15 According to the Pope‘s constitution Spirituali militum curae, it<br />
is the responsibility of the Catholic Church to <strong>for</strong>m its own military<br />
bishoprics instead of joining the ecumenical structures in the army as<br />
stipulated in the Czech agreement ( Přibyl 2005: 194).<br />
223
MIŠCOVIČ ‐ Changes of Religious Pluralism with Regard to Conditions in<br />
Czech Lands<br />
the church image too political (Mišovič 2001: 146). Vlk‘s<br />
approach and all responses to it indicate the existence of<br />
contrasting attitudes in the Catholic Church, which polarise<br />
and even take the shape of a certain typology. The<br />
following four groups of people can be identified according<br />
to their approach to polarisation :<br />
a) indifferent or disparaging people, indicating<br />
aloofness and superiority;<br />
b) pragmatic people, preferring proper work of an<br />
institution or organisation and trying to get along with<br />
polarisation;<br />
c) involved or engaged people, showing an interest to<br />
<strong>un</strong>derstand polarising trends and overcome them;<br />
d) people identifying themselves with polarisation,<br />
showing strong commitment aimed at victory (Ambros<br />
2002: 230).<br />
di) The roots of the polarisation‐arousing tension are<br />
connected with a number of processes: from the ability to<br />
<strong>un</strong>derstand the modern world, via fear of negation of one‘s<br />
identity, to fear of moral and spiritual relativism prevailing<br />
in the society (Šebek 2002: 232), and with the ef<strong>for</strong>t to<br />
defend the position of the Catholic Church in the society<br />
(Kabele, Spousta 2002: 232). Sociologically, polarisation<br />
occurs between: the active minority and the majority on<br />
the church margin, the minority yo<strong>un</strong>g generation and the<br />
majority older generation, the “Moravian“ and Czech parts<br />
of the church, and the “orthodox” minority and “syncretic“<br />
majority (Kabele, Spousta 2002: 232). Polarisation is<br />
clearly seen in positive or negative attitudes towards<br />
cultivation of views in the church based on the desire to<br />
argue or predetermine topics to be discussed in the church<br />
(Frei 2002: 232). Polarisation manifests itself in pastoring<br />
practices too. There are diverse approaches to the world,<br />
authority, church, and sources of hope, i.e. to elements that<br />
influence and determine the Christians‘ views and<br />
behaviours. Diverse views result in different pastoring<br />
procedures and strategies, which arouse consent and<br />
acknowledgement, or opposition and hostility (Opatrný<br />
2002: 233).<br />
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No. 2, January 2008<br />
The diversity of views is reflected in religiously<br />
oriented periodicals. In late 1990s, the Report magazine<br />
was politically linked with the Civic Institute, the<br />
Perspektivy monthly became a <strong>for</strong>um interpreting views of<br />
a narrow group whose views were close to Ota Mádr’s and<br />
Prague Dominicans, and the diversity of views and<br />
interests within the Czech Bishops‘ Conference affected the<br />
character of the Catholic Weekly (Štampach 1999: 199‐<br />
202).<br />
Recently, a Catholic two‐monthly Te Deum has<br />
appeared among the religious magazines. It obviously<br />
addresses traditionalistically oriented Christians. A close<br />
relationship to the schismatic Lefebre‐influenced priests‘<br />
fellowship of St. Pius 16 can be noticed (Machula 2006: 1).<br />
The Czech Bishops‘ Conference commented on the rise and<br />
orientation of the magazine too.<br />
Speaking of pluralism in the Catholic Church, which<br />
often shows signs of polarisation, it is stated that “this<br />
polarity is not primarily a cognition‐deepening<br />
phenomenon, but an ef<strong>for</strong>t to monopolise its cognition of<br />
truth“ (Ambros 2002: 285‐286). The recent rise of a<br />
conservative Catholic magazine proves this evaluation<br />
right.<br />
Let us illustrate a situation in the context of the Czech<br />
Catholic Church: Where social circumstances are stagnant or<br />
“conserved“, attention is paid mainly to the inner religious and<br />
church life and all the other things “take a back seat“. However,<br />
the moment a political change occurs, the church gets<br />
activated and “vitalised“, <strong>un</strong>veiling the diversity of views,<br />
“veiled“ by the everyday requirements of the church<br />
organisation be<strong>for</strong>e.<br />
16 The second issue of the magazine presents an idea of Pius X‘s<br />
saying that endeavours may come to nothing <strong>un</strong>less a suitable<br />
offensive and defensive weapon is at hand – a faithful and genuine<br />
Catholic press (Te Deum s.1).<br />
225
MIŠCOVIČ ‐ Changes of Religious Pluralism with Regard to Conditions in<br />
Czech Lands<br />
Conclusion<br />
Obviously, religious pluralism is a natural part of the<br />
Christian life. The variety of <strong>for</strong>ms of relations to sanctity<br />
cannot be incorporated in clear and <strong>un</strong>ambiguous<br />
requirements. Even the early Christian comm<strong>un</strong>ities did<br />
not try to do so and the entire history of Christianity has<br />
mostly tended to diversity.<br />
The organisation of the religious life, however, was a<br />
factor that, through political and social circumstances,<br />
affected the state of pluralism significantly. By seeking<br />
support only among the powerful of this world, the church<br />
rein<strong>for</strong>ced its structures yet often to the detriment of<br />
pluralism and connections with ordinary people, believers.<br />
The times of stability were always beneficial to the<br />
common church life. Any significant political turmoil<br />
resulted in new approaches to the surro<strong>un</strong>dings and the<br />
whole world both in social structures and inside the<br />
church. In this context, it was the upheavals in Europe<br />
aro<strong>un</strong>d 1990 that brought the most relevant stimuli <strong>for</strong><br />
pluralism in Christianity, accentuating the need to conduct<br />
a mutual internal dialogue and discussions with the wide<br />
public. Moreover, it is obvious, in the Czech church in<br />
particular, that thanks to “<strong>un</strong>favourable external objective<br />
conditions“, opponents, who normally negotiate only, are<br />
ready to cooperate actively.<br />
Religious pluralism is accompanied by a diversity of<br />
attitudes and views between and inside the churches.<br />
Multilateral discussions may have contrasting effects. They<br />
include both people who flexibly promote the Christian,<br />
inter‐religious and social dialogues, and individuals who<br />
adhere to their positions tenaciously. The endeavour to<br />
spread love is anchored in the very essence of Christianity<br />
and supports the assumption that religious pluralism can<br />
substantially enrich the church life now and in the future.<br />
226
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<strong>Journal</strong> <strong>for</strong> Interdisciplinary Research on Religion and Science,<br />
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13. MARTIN, D., 2005. Sekularizace nebo pluralizace<br />
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pluralization christianity ‐ two exception and no rule.) In. Hanuš, J.,<br />
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229
<strong>Journal</strong> <strong>for</strong> Interdisciplinary Research on Religion and Science,<br />
No. 2, January 2008<br />
Le Soleil de Justice dans le Nouveau Testament et les<br />
ouvrages des écrivains ecclésiastiques<br />
Iulian MOGA *<br />
*"Al. I. Cuza" University, Faculty of History,<br />
Blvd. Carol, No. 11, Iaşi 700506, Romania,<br />
E‐mail Address: chairman_me2000@yahoo.co.uk<br />
Abstract<br />
In the Christian sources, whether we speak about the<br />
New Testament or the works of the Apostolic Fathers, those<br />
of the Apologetic ones or of all the church writers up to John<br />
of Damascus – and we can include here the ones belonging to<br />
Asia Minor, the Cappadocian Fathers –, the concept of S<strong>un</strong> of<br />
Justice, which strictly refers to one of the personnae of the<br />
Holy Trinity or to the concept of divinity as a whole, acquires<br />
new meanings. It emphasizes most of the doctrinary aspects<br />
from the Nicaean credo much be<strong>for</strong>e the first two<br />
Ecumenical Synods. There<strong>for</strong>e, we will at first try to present<br />
the context in which the expression occurs at the Holy<br />
Fathers, confining our examples up to the second half of the<br />
fourth century, in order to <strong>un</strong>derline its importance with<br />
direct reference to the iconomy of redemption.<br />
Abrégé<br />
Dans les sources chrétiennes, soit qu’il s’agisse du<br />
Nouveau Testament ou des écritures des pères apostoliques,<br />
des apologètes ou de tous les écrivains ecclésiastiques<br />
jusqu’à Jean de Damas – y compris bien sûr ceux qui sont<br />
originaires de l’Asie Mineure, les pères cappadociens –, le<br />
concept de Soleil de Justice, qu’il se réfère strictement à<br />
l’<strong>un</strong>e des personnes de la Sainte Trinité où à la divinité en<br />
ensemble, acquiert de nouvelles valences. Il arrive à<br />
souligner la majorité des aspects doctrinaires du symbole<br />
nicéen de croyance beaucoup avant les deux synodes<br />
œcuméniques. On essayera donc de présenter d’abord le<br />
contexte où l’expression (Soleil de Justice) apparaît aux<br />
Pères Saints, en donnant des exemples représentatifs pour la<br />
période jusqu’à deuxième moitié du VI e siècle, et puis on va<br />
souligner son importance, surtout dans l’iconomie de la<br />
rédemption.<br />
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écrivains ecclésiastiques<br />
Le texte de l’Évangile parle de l’astre levant venu d’en haut<br />
pour donner au peuple le salut par le pardon des péchés par la<br />
grâce de Dieu. «Il est apparu à ceux qui se trouvent dans les<br />
ténèbres et l’ombre de la mort, afin de guider nos pas sur la<br />
route de la paix» 1 . Etant lumière spirituelle, il n’a pas pu être<br />
vaincu par l’obscurité, mais il l’a emportée 2 . L’Apôtre avait été<br />
appelé pour parler de la lumière 3 et de l’incarnation du<br />
Verbe 4 , le Fils Unique du Père, qui n’est pas né du sang, ni d’<strong>un</strong><br />
vouloir de chair, ni d’<strong>un</strong> vouloir d’homme, mais de Dieu 5 . C’est<br />
comme ça que l’ange Gabriel aussi avait annoncé la naissance<br />
de ce qui allait s’appeler soi même «la Lumière du monde» 6 :<br />
«Voici que tu vas être enceinte, tu enfanteras <strong>un</strong> fils et tu lui<br />
donneras le nom de Jésus. Il sera grand et sera appelé fils du<br />
Très‐Haut. Le Seigneur Dieu lui donnera le trône de David son<br />
père. (…) L’Esprit Saint viendra sur toi et la puissance du Très‐<br />
Haut te couvrira de son ombre; c’est pourquoi celui qui va<br />
naître sera saint et sera appelé Fils de Dieu. (…) car rien n’est<br />
impossible à Dieu» 7 .<br />
Dans l’article précedant on a parlé du rapprochement entre<br />
les notions de germe/rejeton et celui de Levant, à partir du<br />
double sens du mot anatole qui traduit celui de semah du texte<br />
hébraïque. C’est l’interprétation que Justin le Martyr (100‐<br />
165 ap. J.‐C.) donne trois fois aux passages des livres des<br />
prophètes Zacharie et Jérémie. Toujours avec cette<br />
signification on doit percevoir l’expression «l’astre levant venu<br />
d’en haut», que Zacharie, père de Jean‐Baptiste, utilise lorsqu’il<br />
bénit Dieu et prophétise l’apparition du petit Jésus 8 . Mais<br />
outre le sens de Levant, Justin indique d’autres dénominations<br />
utilisées dans l’Ancien Testament pour désigner Jésus‐Christ:<br />
ange, étoile, Fils de l’homme, sagesse, Fils de Dieu, jour, aube,<br />
1 Luc, 1, 77‐79.<br />
2 Jean, 1,5; Athénagore, Supplique au sujet des chrétiens, 31 (SC,<br />
3, p. 157‐158); Clément d’Alexandrie, Les Stromates, V, 5, 29, 6 (SC,<br />
278, p. 72‐73); Eusebiu de Cezareea, Despre sfântul mormânt (Du Saint<br />
Sepulcre), 8 (PSB, 14, p. 225); Sf. Ioan Damaschin, Dogmatica, IV, 12.<br />
3 Jean, 1, 9.<br />
4 Ibidem, 1, 13‐14.<br />
5 Ibidem, 1, 13.<br />
6 Jean, 8, 12; 8, 18‐19; 9, 5.<br />
7 Luc, 1, 31‐37.<br />
8 Luc, 1, 68‐79.<br />
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No. 2, January 2008<br />
bâton, fleur, la pierre du bout de l’ongle 9 , Homme <strong>un</strong>ique, sans<br />
péché 10 . Mais de même que Saint Irénée de Lyon (130‐200<br />
ap. J.‐C.), St. Justin mentionne deux aspects dogmatiques très<br />
importants: la préexistence du Fils Unique du Père depuis<br />
toujours et la double nature de Jésus, divine et humaine, élu en<br />
ce qui concerne le corps de la dynastie de David 11 . Autrement<br />
dit, c’est le Fils de Dieu et le Fils de l’Homme. On peut y ajouter<br />
l’affirmation de la consubstantialité, de l’évangile selon Jean:<br />
«Moi et le Père nous sommes <strong>un</strong>» 12 . C’est donc beaucoup avant<br />
que les dogmes respectifs soient définitivement établis dans le<br />
credo nicéen. La même importance a la mention de Justin sur<br />
la triple qualité sous laquelle a actionné Jésus dans le monde et<br />
qui a été préfigurée dans les prophéties de l’Ancien Testament:<br />
celle de prêtre éternel, d’empereur des cieux et de prophète 13 .<br />
Au sujet de la préexistence du Fils, St. Justin ajoute, en<br />
complétant le tableau doctrinaire avec des arguments de la<br />
Bible, qu’avant tout, Dieu a crée de Lui‐même <strong>un</strong> principe et <strong>un</strong><br />
certain pouvoir rationnel, appelé par le Saint Esprit Gloire de<br />
Dieu ou Fils ou Sagesse, ange, Dieu, Seigneur, Verbe, et parfois<br />
Il s’appelle soi‐même Maître principal de l’armée, par exemple<br />
lorsqu’il apparaît à figure humaine à Josué Navi. Car il se<br />
nomme toujours selon la manière dans laquelle il servit la<br />
volonté divine et du fait qu’il est né du Père par volonté 14 .<br />
Celui qui ren<strong>for</strong>cera les affirmations de Justin au sujet de la<br />
perception de la divinité en général, mais aussi au celui des<br />
personnes de la Trinité c’est son contemporain, Théophile<br />
d’Antioche (deuxième moitié du II e siècle ap. J.‐C.). Il est bien<br />
connu d’ailleurs l’apport des Antiochiens à l’enrichissement du<br />
vocabulaire théologique chrétien. Si son prédécesseur, Ignace<br />
le Théophore, a été le premier écrivain ecclésiastique à avoir<br />
9 Sf. Iustin Martirul, Dialog cu iudeul Trifon (Dialogue avec le Juif<br />
Tryphon), 100; 106; 126 (PSB, 2, p. 210, 217‐218, 240).<br />
10 Ibidem, 17.<br />
11 Ibidem, 100; DTO, p. 190‐191.<br />
12 Jean, 10, 30.<br />
13 Sf. Iustin Martirul, op.cit., 36; 42; 45 (PSB, 2, p. 130‐131, 137,<br />
140‐141).<br />
14 Ibidem, 54 et 61.<br />
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écrivains ecclésiastiques<br />
utilisé les termes de christianisme (christianismos) et d’Église<br />
<strong>un</strong>iverselle (katholike Ekklesia), Théophile a eu le mérite<br />
d’avoir utilisé le terme de Trinité (Trias) justement pour<br />
souligner l’<strong>un</strong>ité de Dieu dans les trois personnes de la Trinité<br />
– Dieu le Père, le Verbe et la Sagesse ou le Saint Esprit. Ainsi<br />
que lui‐même le montre, le Verbe c’est Dieu, Fils de Dieu, né de<br />
Dieu 15 . Dans son dialogue avec Autolycus, il dit que la déité ne<br />
peut pas être perçue avec les yeux du corps, parce que Dieu est<br />
illimité et il ne peut pas être saisi par ceux qui n’ont l’âme<br />
pure. Car les péchés, dit‐il rendent obscure et sont comme <strong>un</strong>e<br />
impureté qui, <strong>un</strong>e fois entrée dans l’œil, t’empêche de voir la<br />
lumière du soleil, c’est à dire Jésus‐Christ 16 . Pour lui la<br />
différence entre l’homme et son créateur est semblable à celle<br />
entre le soleil et la l<strong>un</strong>e. C’est <strong>un</strong>e différence basée non<br />
seulement sur l’importance, donnée par le pouvoir et par la<br />
gloire, mais aussi parce que l’homme, de même que la l<strong>un</strong>e, a<br />
besoin de la lumière du soleil. De manière pareille, les étoiles,<br />
en fonction de leur luminosité sont des images des prophètes<br />
et des justes; les étoiles errantes seulement, auxquelles<br />
l’obscurité des ténèbres se garde pour eux dans l’éternité 17 ,<br />
représentent ceux qui quittent la loi, les apostats, associés par<br />
l’apôtre Juda avec ceux qui suivent la voie de Caïn ou celle des<br />
errances des Balaam 18 . De la même manière que Justin,<br />
Théophile d’Antioche énumère les principaux dénominations<br />
attribuées à la divinité dans <strong>un</strong> des plus beaux passages de la<br />
littérature chrétienne qui parlent de l’essence et de la nature<br />
de Dieu: «Sa gloire le rend sans limite, sa grandeur sans<br />
bornes, sa hauteur au‐dessus de toute idée, sa <strong>for</strong>ce<br />
incommensurable, sa sagesse sans équivalent, sa bonté<br />
inimitable, sa bienfaisance indicible. Si je l’appelle «lumière»,<br />
c’est <strong>un</strong>e de ses créatures que je nomme; si je l’appelle<br />
«Verbe», c’est son principe; l’appelé‐je «intelligence»? c’est son<br />
intelligence; l’appelé‐je «souffle»? c’est sa propre respiration;<br />
l’appelé‐je «sagesse»? c’est ce qu’il engendre; l’appelé‐je<br />
15 Théophile d’Antioche, Trois livres à Autolycus, II, 22 (SC, 20, p.<br />
154‐157).<br />
16 Ibidem, I, 2 (SC, 20, p. 60‐63).<br />
17 Juda, 1, 13.<br />
18 Théophile de l’Antioche, op.cit, II, 14; 29 (SC, 20, p. 134‐137,<br />
174‐175).<br />
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«<strong>for</strong>ce»? c’est sa domination; l’appelé‐je «puissance»? c’est son<br />
activité; l’appelé‐je «providence»? c’est sa bonté; l’appelé‐je<br />
«souveraineté»? c’est sa gloire; l’appelé‐je «seigneur»? c’est le<br />
dire juge; l’appelé‐je «juge»? c’est le dire juste; l’appelé‐je<br />
«père»? c’est dire tout ce que j’en puis dire; l’appelé‐je «feu»?<br />
c’est sa colère que je nomme. (…) Il n’a pas de commencement<br />
parce qu’il n’est pas engendré; il est immuable autant<br />
qu’immortel. (…) Il est Seigneur parce qu’il est maître de tout;<br />
Père parce qu’il existe avant tout; Fondateur, Créateur, parce<br />
qu’il a tout produit et crée; Très‐Haut, parce qu’il est supérieur<br />
à tout; <strong>un</strong>iversel Souverain, car lui‐même il est maître de tout<br />
et il contient tout» 19 .<br />
Méliton de Sardes, dont la christologie se rapproche de<br />
celle d’Irénée et de Justin le Martyr, offre <strong>un</strong>e parallèle<br />
intéressante entre le lever quotidien du soleil de l’Océan<br />
<strong>un</strong>iversel et son plongeon dans l’eau froide au coucher d’<strong>un</strong>e<br />
part et le baptême de Jésus dans le Jourdain de l’autre 20 . Une<br />
des appellations qu’il attribue à l’océan est celle de «baptistère<br />
du soleil». Un tel rapprochement entre l’idée de baptême et<br />
celle de lumière se retrouve d’ailleurs chez Justin le Martyr 21 ,<br />
chez Clément d’Alexandrie 22 ou chez Tertullien, où le baptême<br />
est appelé couramment «illumination», parce que ceux qui<br />
sont baptisés deviennent éclairés. Le baptême est d’habitude<br />
mis en relation avec l’idée de Levant, car celui qui va être<br />
baptisé reconnaît sa foi en priant tourné vers l’est 23 . En<br />
prenant certains éléments de la philosophie païenne, surtout<br />
d’Héraclite et des stoïciens, Méliton croyait que le soleil se<br />
renouvelait chaque matin et qu’il se nourrissait de l’eau où il se<br />
19 Ibidem, I, 3‐4 (SC, 20, p. 62‐67).<br />
20 Méliton de Sardes, Fragments (Sur le baptême), VIIIb, 3 (SC,<br />
123, p. 229‐233); J. Daniélou, Simbolurile creştine primitive (Les<br />
symboles chrétiens primitifs), p. 79, n. 19, ou l’on indique de façon<br />
éronée le numéro du fragment, VI au lieu de VIIIb.<br />
21 Sf. Iustin Martirul, Apologii, I, 61 (PSB, 2, p. 67); idem, Dialogul<br />
cu iudeul Trifon (Dialogue avec le Juif Tryphon), 39, 6 (PSB, 2, p. 134).<br />
22 Clément d’Alexandrie, Les Stromates, V, 2, 15, 3 (SC, 278, p. 46‐<br />
49=PSB, 5, p. 319); idem, Le pédagogue, I, 6, 26, 1‐I, 6, 30, 3 (SC, 70, p.<br />
158‐167).<br />
23 A. Hamman, La prière, dans ANRW, II, 23.2, p. 1211.<br />
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levait à chaque coucher comme «<strong>un</strong> baptême mystique» 24 . La<br />
l<strong>un</strong>e et les étoiles ne faisaient que suivre son exemple et<br />
plongeaient eux aussi dans ce baptistère du soleil en se<br />
purifiant le scintillement. Brûlant comme <strong>un</strong>e torche qui ne<br />
s’éteint jamais, il montait chaque matin dans son char tiré par<br />
des chevaux de feu, pour parcourir sa route quotidienne à<br />
travers les cieux. D’<strong>un</strong>e manière pareille, Jésus‐Christ a plongé<br />
dans le Jourdain, Lui qui est Maître de la création, le Soleil de<br />
l’Orient qui apparaît tant aux morts de Hadès qu’aux mortels.<br />
St. Hippolyte (170‐236 ap. J.‐C.) ajoute de nouvelles<br />
valences en plan symbolique, en appelant Jésus jour, soleil et<br />
an. C’est la raison pour laquelle les apôtres sont associés aux<br />
heures du jour et aux mois de l’année. C’est <strong>un</strong>e image<br />
symbolique prise du milieu judéo‐chrétien qui sera<br />
développée ultérieurement par de nombreux autres auteurs<br />
chrétiens comme Méthode d’Olympe, Origène, St. Cyprien, St.<br />
Ambroise, Zénon de Vérone et St. Augustin. C’est l’image qui a<br />
facilité la comparaison avec les douze tribus d’Israël, mais<br />
aussi avec les douze signes du cycle zodiacal 25 .<br />
Clément d’Alexandrie (vers 150‐entre 211 et 215 ap. J.‐<br />
C.), en associant Jésus au soleil, il lui donne trois<br />
dénominations: le Soleil de l’âme d’abord, parce qu’il se lève<br />
des profondeurs de l’esprit et illumine le regard de l’âme 26 ,<br />
<strong>un</strong>e image très proche de celle présentée au V e siècle par St.<br />
Maxime le Confesseur, lorsqu’il parle du soleil intelligible de la<br />
justice, qui doit être différentié de celui sensible 27 . On doit faire<br />
la différence entre le premier, nommé d’ailleurs «le maître du<br />
feu» ou «le maître des vents», et sa création, l’astre solaire, car<br />
c’est le Créateur qui est l’illuminateur du soleil sensible 28 .<br />
En deuxième lieu, il est le Soleil de la Résurrection qui<br />
existe avant l’acte de la Création, parce qu’il est né avant<br />
l’étoile du matin. Il «a donné de la vie par ses rayons» avec<br />
lesquels il peut éveiller et faire lever de l’obscurité même, ceux<br />
24 F. Cumont, Lux perpetua, p. 289‐293.<br />
25 J. Délumeau, op.cit., p. 111‐113; F. Tristan, op.cit., p. 310.<br />
26 Clément d’Alexandrie, Le protreptique, VI, 68, 4 (SC, 2, p. 133‐<br />
134=PSB, 4, p. 126).<br />
27 Maxim Mărturisitorul, Ambigua, 41.<br />
28 Clément d’Alexandrie, op.cit., VI, 67, 2 (SC, 2, p. 132‐133=PSB,<br />
4, p. 125).<br />
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qui s’y sont égarés 29 . Il est le maître du jour éternel, car le<br />
véritable «aujourd’hui», c’est le jour continu de Dieu, «l’image<br />
de l’éternité, et le jour est le symbole de la lumière et le Logos<br />
est la lumière des hommes, par laquelle nous voyons Dieu» 30 .<br />
C’est pourquoi St. Cyprien de Carthage (210‐258 ap. J.‐C.)<br />
conseillait les croyants de prier le vrai Soleil et la vraie lumière<br />
le matin et le soir et dans chaque moment du jour et de la nuit,<br />
car pour les fils de la lumière, la nuit est jour aussi 31 . Et on ne<br />
doit pas prier n’importe comment, ajoute Clément<br />
d’Alexandrie, mais en regardant vers l’est, car c’est de là qu’est<br />
montée la lumière qui a fait que les ignorants connaissent la<br />
vérité; et c’est pourquoi l’Orient représente «l’image du jour de<br />
naissance» 32 .<br />
Troisièmement, Jésus‐Christ est le Soleil de Justice. Au ce<br />
sujet, Clément donne les plus détaillées et le plus intéressantes<br />
explications de l’utilisation de cette <strong>for</strong>mule par tous les<br />
écrivains ecclésiastiques. D’abord la justice est le résultat de sa<br />
bonté et de sa patience illimitées, parce que Dieu répand<br />
partout sa lumière, non différentiée, en donnant à tous la<br />
possibilité de la recevoir n’importe quel soit leur état et<br />
n’importe s’ils lui obéissent ou non. La lumière de Jésus est<br />
beaucoup plus <strong>for</strong>te et beaucoup plus importante que celle du<br />
soleil sensible, car c’est par elle que les aveugles retrouvent<br />
leur vue, la nuit disparaît, le feu prend peur et la mort s’en<br />
29 Ibidem, IX, 84, 1‐2 (SC, 2, p. 151=PSB, 4, p. 137).<br />
30 Ibidem, IX, 84, 6 (SC, 2, p. 152=PSB, 4, p. 138).<br />
31 Sf. Ciprian, Despre rugăci<strong>un</strong>ea domnească (La prière du<br />
Seigneur), 34‐35.<br />
32 Clément d’Alexandrie, Les Stromates, VII, 43, 6‐8 (SC, 428, p.<br />
150‐153=PSB, 5, p. 503): «Et puisque l’orient est <strong>un</strong>e image du jour de<br />
naissance et que de la grandit la lumière qui resplendit hors des<br />
ténèbres, mais que (de la) aussi s’est levé à la façon du soleil le jour de<br />
la connaissance de la vérité pour ceux qui erraient dans l’ignorance,<br />
c’est vers le soleil matinal que se font les prières. Aussi les plus<br />
anciens des temples regardaient‐ils vers le couchant; cela permettait<br />
aux gens<br />
debout face aux statues d’apprendre a se tourner vers<br />
l’orient». Pour la prière vers l’est, A. Hamman, op.cit., p. 1209‐1212.<br />
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va 33 . Ce qui est intéressant aussi c’est la parallèle que l’auteur<br />
fait entre la route parcourue chaque jour par l’astre solaire à<br />
travers la voûte céleste à l’ordonnance du Père et la voie<br />
éternelle suivie par le Fils à travers toute l’humanité en tant<br />
que Soleil de Justice: «„le Soleil de justice”, qui passe partout<br />
dans sa chevauchée, visite également toute l’humanité, imitant<br />
Son Père qui „sur tous les hommes fait lever son soleil” distille<br />
la rosée de la vérité», la rosée de la vraie croyance 34 . Bien que<br />
dans le texte ne soit mentionnée explicitement l’existence d’<strong>un</strong><br />
certain véhicule du soleil, le rapprochement avec le motif<br />
iconographique représenté par la fresque de la catacombe des<br />
Saints Pierre et Marcellin ou celui de l’hypogée de Vatican est<br />
évident 35 . On entrevoit <strong>un</strong>e association avec le motif du<br />
Rédempteur comme «eau de la vie» ou comme «source de l’eau<br />
vive» 36 , <strong>un</strong> symbole du principe créateur, régénérateur et<br />
purificateur 37 , ainsi qu’il apparaît mentionné dans les écritures<br />
bibliques 38 , esséniennes 39 ou chez les apologètes 40 .<br />
Pour Clément, Jésus‐Christ est nommé Soleil de Justice<br />
parce qu’Il a offert à tout le monde la possibilité de recevoir le<br />
vrai héritage, en plantant la nouvelle loi dans les âmes et en<br />
donnant le prêche qui divinise l’être humain. Dieu a voulu<br />
débarrasser l’homme des chaînes du péché, de la volupté, avec<br />
lesquels Adam s’est lié au moment où il avait été attiré par le<br />
serpent et a cause duquel il avait été jeté du jardin du paradis.<br />
Mais par le miracle de l’incarnation et puis par la soumission<br />
33 Clément d’Alexandrie, Le protreptique, XII, 119, 3 (SC, 2, p.<br />
189=PSB, 4, p. 159): «Le Christ brille plus que le soleil, lui qui fait voir<br />
les yeux des aveugles; la nuit fuira loin de toi, le feu prendra peur, la<br />
mort s’en ira; tu verras les cieux, ô, vieillard…».<br />
34 Ibidem, XI, 114, 3 (SC, 2, p. 182=PSB, 4, p. 155).<br />
35 J. Daniélou, op.cit., p. 78‐79.<br />
36 Jérémie, 2, 13; Ézechiel, 47, 1; Zacharie, 14, 8.<br />
37 Sf. Iustin Martirul, Dialog cu iudeul Trifon (Dialogue avec le Juif<br />
Tryphon), 14 (PSB, 2, p. 106).<br />
38 Isaie, 41, 18; Jean, 4, 10‐14.<br />
39 Dans l’Hymne O, 4‐8 de Qumrân, Le Maître de justice est<br />
envisagé tant comme «<strong>un</strong> jaillissement d’eau dans <strong>un</strong>e terre aride» et<br />
plantateur «des arbres de la vie» de la plantation éternelle, que comme<br />
«fontaine éternelle» (Écrits intertestamentaires, p. 264‐265); voir aussi<br />
F. Tristan, op.cit., p. 36.<br />
40 Sf. Iustin Martirul, op.cit., 69 (PSB, 2, p. 175).<br />
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du serpent et de la mort, à savoir du péché 41 , «Le Seigneur est<br />
étendu et l’homme s’est relevé; celui qui était tombé du<br />
paradis reçoit <strong>un</strong>e récompense encore plus grande de sa<br />
soumission, le ciel» 42 . C’est le rôle même de la trans<strong>for</strong>mation<br />
symbolique de l’obscurité en lumière et du coucher en lever,<br />
car ceux qui avaient été «emprisonnés à l’ombre de la mort»<br />
ont pu recevoir la lumière éternelle de la dignité, <strong>un</strong>e lumière<br />
plus pure que celle du soleil: «C’est lui qui a changé le couchant<br />
en orient, la mort en vie par sa crucifixion, qui a arraché<br />
l’homme à la perdition pour l’attacher au firmament; il<br />
transplante la corruption pour qu’elle devienne<br />
incorruptibilité, il trans<strong>for</strong>me la terre en cieux, lui le laboureur<br />
de Dieu, „qui répand des signes favorables, excite les peuples à<br />
l’œuvre” du bien, „rappelle le moyen de vivre” selon la vérité; il<br />
nous gratifie de l’héritage paternel, réellement grand et divin,<br />
et inamissible; il divinise les hommes par <strong>un</strong> enseignement<br />
céleste, „donnant des lois à leur intelligence et les inscrivant<br />
dans leur cœur”» 43 .<br />
Jésus‐Christ est aussi juge et maître des armées: le Christ‐<br />
Logos prononce l’homélie de la justice – qui peut conduire vers<br />
la mort éternelle de ceux qui ne la suivent et peut être parole<br />
rédemptrice pour ceux qui suivent l’ordonnance – et en même<br />
temps il convoque ses soldats pour la guerre invisible contre le<br />
Mauvais 44 . L’Evangile de la paix est perçue comme <strong>un</strong>e<br />
trompette destinée à ré<strong>un</strong>ir «son armée non sanglante» et<br />
d’annoncer la guerre pour «éteindre les flèches enflammés du<br />
diable». Ce qui est promis aux soldats c’est le royaume des<br />
cieux: «les armes non vulnérables» de l’armée de Jésus‐Christ<br />
ne sont, paradoxalement, de nature matérielle, car ce n’est<br />
ainsi qu’on peut lutter contre les esprits malins. Ce sont les<br />
armées de la paix, du Saint Esprit, les mêmes que celles<br />
énumérées par St. Apôtre Paul dans son épître aux Ephésiens:<br />
41 Clément d’Alexandrie, Le protreptique, XI, 115, 2 (SC, 2, p. 183‐<br />
184=PSB, 4, p. 156).<br />
42 Ibidem, XI, 111, 1‐3 (SC, 2, p. 179=PSB, 4, p. 153).<br />
43 Ibidem, XI, 114, 1‐4 (SC, 2, p. 182‐183=PSB, 4, p. 155).<br />
44 Ibidem, XI, 116, 1‐3 (SC, 2, p. 184‐185=PSB, 4, p. 156‐157).<br />
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la cuirasse de la justice, le bouclier de la foi, la casque du salut,<br />
l’épée de l’Esprit, qui est la parole de Dieu 45 .<br />
Dans <strong>un</strong> autre ouvrage, Clément fait <strong>un</strong>e comparaison<br />
entre la philosophie hellène et l’écriture chrétienne. La<br />
philosophie païenne a joué son rôle jusqu’à la propagation du<br />
Verbe. Cette idée à été mise en rélief plusieurs fois par des<br />
Pères de l’Église comme Clément d’Alexandrie, Lactance ou<br />
Eusèbe de Césarée, qui ont essayé de prouver qu’il avait<br />
vraiment existé <strong>un</strong>e période de préparation évangélique et que<br />
certains écrivains d’avant l’apparition de Messie avaient pu<br />
arriver à <strong>un</strong>e connaissance assez profonde de la vérité. Mais<br />
cet essai avait été partial et tronqué. C’est pour cela que la<br />
philosophie est semblable à la lumière de la lampe qui n’est<br />
utile que pendant la nuit et qui ne représente que la lumière<br />
habilement volée du soleil par les hommes, c’est <strong>un</strong>e imitation<br />
faible du feu, du «Soleil si grand de la lumière spirituelle» 46 .<br />
Selon Grégoire de Nazianze (329‐389 ap. J.‐C.), le<br />
baptême de Dieu constitue <strong>un</strong>e possibilité de parallélisme avec<br />
le même symbolisme solaire qu’on a trouvé chez Méliton de<br />
Sardes, chez St. Justin ou chez Clément d’Alexandrie. Le<br />
baptême représente l’image de l’enterrement symbolique<br />
d’Adam l’Ancien et de la sanctification à l’intermédiaire de<br />
l’eau et du Saint Esprit. La réplique que St. Jean‐Baptiste donne<br />
à Jésus permet à Grégoire de Nazianze de faire <strong>un</strong>e<br />
comparaison entre les deux personnages sous la <strong>for</strong>me d’<strong>un</strong>e<br />
série de correspondances homologues 47 . On trouve le même<br />
symbolisme en ce qui concerne les Pâques, les lumières de la<br />
nuit de la résurrection annonçant la grande lumière qui brille<br />
dans les cieux et qui couvre tout le monde 48 , et l’agneau qui a<br />
<strong>un</strong> an, par son symbole de soleil de justice est couronne bénie<br />
45 Éphesiens, 6, 10‐16; voir aussi Romains, 13, 12: «La nuit est<br />
avancée, le jour est tout proche. Rejetons donc les œuvres des ténèbres<br />
et revetons les armes de la lumière»; Ps. 45 (44), 7; Ps. 7, 12‐13; Sf.<br />
Ciprian, Despre gelozie şi invidie, 10‐11; Sf. Iustin Martirul, Dialog cu<br />
iudeul Trifon (Dialogue avec le Juif Tryphon), 38 (PSB, 3, p. 499‐500).<br />
46 Clément d’Alexandrie, Les Stromates, V, 5, 29, 5‐6 (SC, 278, p.<br />
72‐73=PSB, 5, p. 327‐328); à comparer avec Matthieu, 5, 15‐16.<br />
47 Sf. Grigorie de Nazianz, Cuvântare la Sfintele Lumini (Sur la<br />
fête des lumières), 15.<br />
48 Idem, Cuvântare la Sfintele Paşti (Homélie prononcée au temps<br />
de Pâques) (1), 2.<br />
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de la bonté 49 , mais aussi Dieu crucifié, soleil assombrit et<br />
illuminé à nouveau 50 .<br />
Dans <strong>un</strong> des ses commentaires aux textes des psaumes, St.<br />
Basile le Grand (330‐379 ap. J.‐C.) souligne que, bien que le<br />
Soleil de Justice soit venu pour éclairer tout homme qui vient<br />
au monde, ce ne sont pas tous qui reçoivent, par la grâce<br />
divine, l’illumination et la comm<strong>un</strong>ion de son éclat n’est pas<br />
prise «que par ceux qui mènent <strong>un</strong>e vie digne de Lui». En<br />
prenant comme argument <strong>un</strong> verset des Psaumes où l’on<br />
montre que la lumière s’est levée non pas pour le pécheur,<br />
mais pour le juste 51 , il continue: «De même que le Soleil s’est<br />
levé, mais non pour les chauves‐souris, ni pour les autres<br />
animaux qui paissent durant la nuit, la lumière a, par sa nature,<br />
l’attribut de briller, mais ce ne sont pas tous qui prennent<br />
comm<strong>un</strong>ion de sa brillance». L’évêque cappadocien se réfère<br />
ici au moment du jugement final et du retour de la mort à la vie,<br />
«le jour du juste jugement de Dieu, quand il viendra illuminer<br />
les obscurités et de dévoiler les pensées» 52 . En ce moment‐là<br />
ceux qui ont péché et ne se sont approchés de la vraie lumière,<br />
bien qu’ils aient eu cette opport<strong>un</strong>ité pendant toute leur vie, ils<br />
iront vers la réprimande et vers la honte. Il ajoute que, pour<br />
que la honte soit plus terrible que l’obscurité et le feu éternel –<br />
appelé parfois «le feu purifiant» ou «le feu du jugement» 53 ”–,<br />
ils auront tout le temps devant les yeux l’image des péchés<br />
qu’ils ont commis, «comme <strong>un</strong>e teinture qu’on ne peut pas<br />
effacer».<br />
Un autre commentaire de l’évêque cappadocien met en<br />
évidence des points de vue comm<strong>un</strong>s avec ceux exprimés par<br />
les autres Pères de l’Église, surtout Clément d’Alexandrie. Dieu<br />
se trouve au milieu de la cité qui n’est pas ébranlée, car «Dieu<br />
49 Ibidem, 13; J. Délumeau, op.cit., p. 117.<br />
50 Sf. Grigorie de Nazianz, Cuvântare la Sfintele Paşti (Homélie<br />
prononcée au temps de Pâques) (1), 29.<br />
51 Ps. 97 (96), 11‐12.<br />
52 Sf. Vasile cel Mare, Omilie la Psalmul XXXIII (Homélie sur le<br />
Psalme XXXIII), 4.<br />
53 Sf. Iustin Martirul, Dialog cu iudeul Trifon (Dialogue avec le Juif<br />
Tryphon), 56; idem, Apologii Apologies), II, 7‐9.<br />
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la secourt dès le point du jour», dit le psalmiste 54 . Qu’il s’agisse<br />
du Jérusalem céleste ou de l’Église visible, la cité ne s’ébranle<br />
pas, car la divinité s’est fait foyer au milieu d’elle, et c’est d’ici<br />
que celle‐là propage ses rayons dans tous les coins : «Dieu est<br />
au milieu d’elle et répand partout ses rayons. C’est ainsi que la<br />
justice divine est gardée: Il distribue avec la même mesure sa<br />
bonté». Il aide la cité en y emmenant l’aurore par le lever du<br />
Soleil de justice, l’éternelle lumière spirituelle qui éclaire les<br />
âmes et évanouit l’obscurité de la méconnaissance et de la<br />
méchanceté. Ceux qui sont dignes de la recevoir deviennent<br />
des fils de la lumière. Mais l’aide divin doit être reçu au point du<br />
jour, car Jésus‐Christ a vaincu la mort dans le matin du<br />
troisième jour après sa crucifixion 55 .<br />
Ces rayons du Soleil de Justice desquels parlait Saint Basile<br />
le Grand sont, selon Grégoire de Nysse (335‐395 ap. J.‐C.), les<br />
vertus qui doivent guider la vie des croyants. Elles ont leur<br />
source en Jésus qui représente, entre autres symboles et<br />
significations profondes qu’on a lui donnés, la vraie lumière<br />
éloignée du mensonge. En laissant de côté les actes tus de la<br />
honte, nous devenons nous‐mêmes <strong>un</strong>e telle lumière et nous<br />
pouvons éclairer d’autres personnes à notre tour par nos<br />
propres actes. De la même manière que ses antécesseurs qui<br />
ont indiqué le rapprochement entre le baptême et la lumière, il<br />
montre que par la naissance du haut, de l’eau et du Saint<br />
esprit, c’est‐à‐dire par le bain du baptême, les chrétiens<br />
deviennent des fils du jour et de la lumière et des frères de<br />
Messie, car ils ont choisi la voie de la lumière, celle vers «la vie<br />
pure et sainte» 56 .<br />
Le témoignage de Saint Macaire l’Egyptien (300‐390 ap.<br />
J.‐C.) est important non seulement de la perspective de<br />
l’interprétation et du déchiffrement de la vision allégorique<br />
d’Ézéchiel au sujet du chariot céleste et de la main qui le dirige,<br />
mais aussi pour avoir expliqué le rôle du Soleil de Justice dans<br />
l’économie de la Rédemption. Selon lui, Dieu a conçu le corps et<br />
54 Ps. 46 (45), 5‐6.<br />
55 Sf. Vasile cel Mare, Omilie la Psalmul XLV (Homélie sur le<br />
Psalme XLV), 5.<br />
56 Sf. Grigorie de Nyssa, Despre desăvârşire, către monahul<br />
Olimpiu (PSB, 30, p. 459‐460, 462, 470‐471) (Lettre à Olympios<br />
touchant la perfection).<br />
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l’âme de telle manière qu’ils n’aient pas d’autosuffisance, c'est‐<br />
à‐dire que pour pouvoir vivre, ils doivent recevoir du dehors<br />
ce qui est nécessaire pour leur existence. Le corps a été<br />
construit en état nu et il a besoin de nourriture, de liquides et<br />
de vêtements. C’est pareil pour l’âme qui, sans la lumière<br />
divine qui l’a créé, n’est pas capable d’acquérir la vie éternelle<br />
et elle meurt: sans la lumière divine, lui qui a été créé à l’image<br />
de Dieu périt. Car Dieu a voulu que l’âme ait la vie éternelle<br />
non par soi même, mais de la divinité, du Saint Esprit 57 . C’est<br />
exactement ce que Tatien disait deux siècles plus tôt aux Grecs,<br />
que l’âme de l’homme n’est pas immortelle en soi que<br />
seulement par l’apport de Dieu, comme don de celui‐ci par la<br />
résurrection de Jésus 58 . L’homme était incapable d’<strong>un</strong> acte<br />
pareil par lui‐même. Le Vrai Archange est venu dans le monde<br />
pour détruire le corps pécheur des ténèbres que l’homme a<br />
acquiert lorsqu’Adam a transgressé l’ordonnance de Dieu et a<br />
obéi le serpent malin. Tout ce qui est visible représente<br />
seulement <strong>un</strong>e ombre des vraies réalités de l’âme. Outre<br />
l’homme visible il existe aussi <strong>un</strong> autre, profond rendu aveugle<br />
et sourd par Satan. C’est dans ce but que Jésus‐Christ est venu,<br />
pour guérir cet homme profond 59 . Par suite, le croyant doit<br />
s’éloigner de l’homme ancien 60 , sacrifier son âme et mourir<br />
dans la ration et dans la vie qu’il a menés antérieurement et<br />
acquérir <strong>un</strong> nouveau mode de vie, en Dieu, c’est à dire que<br />
l’esprit du péché soit détruit, que nous revêtions et que nous<br />
recevions l’âme de l’Esprit céleste, que nous soyons transférés<br />
de la méchanceté des ténèbres à la lumière de Jésus‐Christ 61 . Il<br />
est impossible que l’esprit arrive à la vie éternelle s’il ne naît<br />
pas pendant la vie terrestre pour la patrie des vifs en se<br />
nourrissant des biens qui s’y trouvent, revêtant l’habit divin et<br />
57 Sf. Macarie Egipteanul, Omilii (Homélies), I, 10 (PSB, 34, p. 92).<br />
58 Tațian Asirianul, Cuvânt către greci (Diatessaron), 13; J.<br />
Pelikan, Tradiția creştină. O istorie a dezvoltării doctrinei, I, Naşterea<br />
tradiției <strong>un</strong>iversale (100‐600) (La Tradition chrétienne), traduction par<br />
Silvia Palade, Éd. Polirom, Iaşi, 2004, p. 53.<br />
59 Sf. Macarie Egipteanul, op.cit., XXXIII, 4 (PSB, 34, p. 241).<br />
60 Ibidem, II, 2 (PSB, 34, p. 94).<br />
61 Ibidem, I, 6‐9 (PSB, 34, p. 90‐91).<br />
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augmentant sa croyance en Dieu. Donc il peut obtenir la vie<br />
éternelle, par patience, par obéissance, par vertu par croyance<br />
et en s’ef<strong>for</strong>çant beaucoup durant la vie terrestre 62 , en ouvrant<br />
les yeux de son âme et en recevant la vraie lumière – Jésus‐<br />
Christ en tant que Soleil de la justice, le vrai Soleil ou le dernier<br />
Adam – en trans<strong>for</strong>mant son âme en foyer où son Seigneur<br />
puisse siéger 63 . Ainsi le croyant arrive à recevoir pendant sa<br />
vie le trésor éternel, c'est‐à‐dire le pouvoir ou la grâce du Saint<br />
Esprit. Il ne craint pas, mais il est heureux au moment où il<br />
quitte le corps, parce qu’il a ce foyer céleste du Saint Esprit et<br />
la grâce qui au jour de le résurrection construira le siège du<br />
corps 64 . Et au dernier jour son corps sera aussi illuminé et<br />
glorifié tout comme l’âme 65 , avec la gloire de la lumière<br />
céleste 66 . Toujours en ce moment‐là on rendra vraiment<br />
justice à ces fils de la lumière et ils recevront l’héritage et se<br />
trans<strong>for</strong>meront en nature divine en devenant des Christs 67 .<br />
Le motif du péché qui empêche l’homme d’orienter les<br />
yeux de son esprit vers le Soleil de Justice, comme le montrait<br />
d’ailleurs Théophile d’Antioche, est repris par St. Jean Cassien<br />
(360‐435 ap. J.‐C.) dans sa lettre à l’évêque Castor. Il fait<br />
référence surtout à huit péchés qui rend sombre l’âme, appelés<br />
aussi «les huit esprits de la perdition». D’entre eux, l’esprit de<br />
la fureur verse sa poison sur celui en cause en lui troublant la<br />
raison et ne lui permettant pas de saisir ses propres fautes,<br />
mais plutôt celles des autres. C’est le souffle qui couve de façon<br />
insaisissable dans notre cœur en obscurcissant les yeux de<br />
l’âme pour qu’on n’aie plus le pouvoir de discerner ce qui lui<br />
est nécessaire et pour qu’on ne puisse arriver à regarder la<br />
lumière divine, le Soleil de justice. C’est pourquoi, dit St.<br />
Cassien, le conseil que St. Paul adresse dans sa lettre aux<br />
Ephésiens, «que le soleil ne se couche pas sur votre<br />
ressentiment» 68 ne doit être perçu strictement littéralement,<br />
avec référence directe au fait que Dieu sait tous nos péchés et à<br />
244<br />
62 Ibidem, I, 11‐12 (PSB, 34, p. 92‐93).<br />
63 Ibidem, XXVIII, 1‐5; XXXIII, 2‐4 (PSB, 34, p. 224‐225; 240‐241).<br />
64 Ibidem, V, 6‐8 (PSB, 34, p. 118‐119).<br />
65 Ibidem, XXXIV, 2 (PSB, 34, p. 242).<br />
66 Ibidem, V, 9 (PSB, 34, p. 119).<br />
67 Ibidem, XXXIV, 2‐3 (PSB, 34, p. 242‐243).<br />
68 Éphessiens, 4, 26.
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la fureur du jour respectif, jusqu’au coucher du soleil, mais il se<br />
réfère à <strong>un</strong> autre aspect, plus profond. Le Soleil de Justice c’est<br />
Jésus‐Christ même, qu’on ne doit pas faire coucher dans nos<br />
âmes pour que plus tard, par l’éloignement de Lui on perde la<br />
lumière de la connaissance te le jugement droit et, sans le Saint<br />
Esprit, qu’on fait lieu au diable 69 .<br />
En conclusion, l’analyse des témoignages relève <strong>un</strong> fait<br />
significatif, celui de l’existence d’<strong>un</strong> imaginaire symbolique<br />
très élaboré et complexe en même temps, non seulement par<br />
rapport à la personne de Jésus‐Christ, mais aussi en ce qui<br />
concerne l’orientation des prières, des vaisseaux de l’église, la<br />
signification de la résurrection et des saints sacrements de<br />
l’eucharistie et du baptême. Tous ces éléments montrent <strong>un</strong><br />
profond symbolisme solaire. Malgré leur grand nombre, les<br />
sources littéraires n’offrent beaucoup de détails relatifs au<br />
sens de l’expression «Soleil de Vérité» ou aux implications<br />
eschatologiques qui en découlent. L’explication la plus<br />
détaillée en ce sens appartient à Clément d’Alexandrie, sur la<br />
typologie tripartite duquel on s’est basé au moment où l’on a<br />
parlé de l’iconomie de la Rédemption, au début du deuxième<br />
chapitre. Jésus‐Christ n’est seulement <strong>un</strong> soleil intelligible de<br />
l’âme, autre que le soleil sensible, qui dévoile les choses<br />
profondes de tout homme. Sa justice est <strong>un</strong> acte de l’amour, de<br />
la bonté, de la patience infinie de Dieu qui distribue sa lumière<br />
physique et spirituelle dans le monde d’<strong>un</strong>e manière égale. Il<br />
offre à tous avec la même mesure et ne p<strong>un</strong>it dès que l’homme<br />
a péché, mais Il laisse à celui‐ci <strong>un</strong>e période pendant laquelle il<br />
puisse se redresser. Dieu a donné à tous la possibilité de<br />
devenir des fils de la lumière, de recevoir l’héritage éternel, le<br />
royaume divin, en suivant le modèle christique du repentir et<br />
du pardon. Il a donné aux hommes l’opport<strong>un</strong>ité de devenir<br />
semblables à la divinité, comme au début de l’humanité,<br />
pouvant se sacrer par obéissance et par vertu et par la lutte<br />
incessante contre le Malin. Et ce qui est le plus important c’est<br />
qu’Il a donné la possibilité de se débarrasser, du péché, car<br />
69 Sf. Casian Romanul, Cele opt gânduri ale răutății (Les huit<br />
mauvaises pensées), 4 (Filocalia, I, p. 145‐147).<br />
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l’individu était incapable de se sauver lui‐même à cause de son<br />
impuissance. Le Soleil de Vérité est en effet le Soleil<br />
rédempteur, qui rachète les péchés. C’est celui par lequel Le<br />
soleil de Vérité est en fait le Soleil Rédempteur, qui rachète les<br />
péchés. C’est lui par lequel s’est accomplie toute la vérité, s’est<br />
révélé l’économie, c’est‐à‐dire le projet divin de restauration<br />
de l’esprit humain déchu lors du péché d’Adam, par le miracle<br />
de l’incarnation et par le rachat de tous les péchés du monde<br />
pal l’Agneau de Dieu. C’est la signification même de la<br />
trans<strong>for</strong>mation du Couchant en Levant, car, par sa crucifixion,<br />
il a changé la mort en vie et il a délivré l’homme des chaînes du<br />
plaisir et du péché en le faisant partie de l’éternité. Ainsi son<br />
âme est devenu immortel seulement par l’intervention de<br />
Dieu, comme don de celui‐ci par la résurrection de Jésus‐<br />
Christ.<br />
Le Fils de Dieu est aussi le juge éternel, impartial, qui<br />
jugera les actes des hommes au moment du jugement dernier.<br />
Lors de sa venue dans le monde, il a prononcé ce que l’on a<br />
nommé le prêche de la vérité, qui est pour la perte éternelle de<br />
ceux qui ne suivent les ordonnances et ne prennent en<br />
considération la demande de la divinité, ou comme parole<br />
guérisseuse pour ceux qui ont fait de leur âme l’abri du Saint<br />
Esprit.<br />
246
Abréviations<br />
<strong>Journal</strong> <strong>for</strong> Interdisciplinary Research on Religion and Science,<br />
No. 2, January 2008<br />
I. Dictionnaires. Encyclopédies<br />
DGF ‐ Bailly, A., Dictionnaire grec‐français, Ed. Hachette, Paris, 1996<br />
(1950).<br />
DTO – Bria, I., Dicționar de teologie ortodoxă (Dictionnaire de<br />
théologie orthodoxe), A‐Z, Éd. IBMBOR, Bucarest, 1994.<br />
EChr ‐ Ferguson, E., McHugh, M.P., Norris, F.W. (ed.), Encyclopedia of<br />
Early Christianity, second edition, Garland Publishing Inc., New York‐<br />
London, 1999.<br />
PGL ‐ Lampe, G.W.H., A Patristic Greek Lexicon, Ox<strong>for</strong>d University<br />
Press, London, 1968.<br />
II. Collections<br />
LCL ‐ Loeb Classical Library<br />
PSB ‐ Părinți şi scriitori bisericeşti (Pères et écrivains<br />
ecclésiastiques)<br />
SC ‐ Sources Chrétiennes<br />
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Bibliographie<br />
I. Dictionnaires. Atlas. Encyclopédies<br />
1. Bailly, A, Dictionnaire grec‐français, Ed. Hachette, Paris,<br />
1996 (1950).<br />
2. Bria, I., Dicționar de teologie ortodoxă (Dictionnaire de<br />
théologie orthodoxe), A‐Z, Éd. IBMBOR, 1994.<br />
3. Daremberg, Ch., Saglio, Ed. (ed.), Dictionnaire des Antiquités<br />
Grecques et Romaines, Akademische Druck ‐ u. Verlag Sanstalt, Graz<br />
‐Autrrche, 1963‐1968.<br />
4. Ferguson, E., McHugh, M.P., Norris, F.W. (ed.), Encyclopedia<br />
of Early Christianity, second edition, Garland Publishing Inc., New<br />
York‐ London, 1999.<br />
5. Lampe, G.W.H., A Patristic Greek Lexicon, Ox<strong>for</strong>d University<br />
Press, London, 1968.<br />
II. Sources. Éditions<br />
1. Antologie din scrierile părinților latini (Anthologie des<br />
ouvrages des pères latins), livre paru avec la bénédiction de Î.P.S.<br />
Nicolae Corneanu, le métropolite du Banat, traduction du latin de<br />
prof. Vasile Goraş, sous la direction de prof.pr.dr. Ştefan Alexe, Éd.<br />
Anastasia, Bucarest, 2000.<br />
2. Apologeții de limbă greacă (Les Apologistes de langue<br />
grecque), PSB 2, traduction, introduction, notes et glossaire de T.<br />
Bodogae, O. Căciulă, D, Fecioru, Éd. IMBBOR, Bucarest, 1997.<br />
3. Apologeții de limbă latină (Les Apologistes de langue latine),<br />
PSB 3, traduction de N. Chițescu, E. Constantinescu, P. Papadopol et<br />
D. Popescu, introduction, notes et glossaire de N. Chițescu, Éd.<br />
IBMBOR, Bucarest, 1981.<br />
4. Athénagore, Supplique au sujet des chrétiens, SC 3,<br />
introduction et traduction de Gustave Bardy, Éditions du Cerf /<br />
Éditions de l’Abeille, Paris‐Lyon, 1943.<br />
5. Biblia sau Sfânta Scriptură (La Bible), imprimée sous la<br />
direction et avec le soin de PFP Teoctist, le patriarche de l’Eglise<br />
Orthodoxe Roumaine, avec le consentement du Saint Synode, Éd.<br />
IBMBOR, Bucarest, 1991.<br />
6. La Bible. Ancien et Nouveau Testament, traduit de l’hébreu et<br />
du grec en français courant, Société Biblique Française, Pierrefite,<br />
1988.<br />
7. La Bible, traduction œcumenique de la Bible comprenant<br />
l’Ancien et le Nouveau Testament, traduits sur les textes originaux<br />
hébreu et grec, avec introductions, notes essentielles, glossaire,<br />
nouvelle édition revue, Alliance biblique <strong>un</strong>iverselle / Le Cerf,<br />
Paris, 1995.<br />
248
<strong>Journal</strong> <strong>for</strong> Interdisciplinary Research on Religion and Science,<br />
No. 2, January 2008<br />
8. La Bible. Écrits intertestamentaires, édition publiée sous la<br />
direction d’André Dupont‐Sommer et Marc Philonenko, Éditions<br />
Gallimard, Paris, 1987.<br />
9. Clément d’Alexandrie, Le pédagogue, I, SC 70, texte grec,<br />
introduction et notes de Henri‐Irénée Marrou, traduction de<br />
Marguerite Harl, Les Éditions du Cerf, Paris, 1960.<br />
10. Clément d’Alexandrie, Le protreptique, I, SC 2, introduction,<br />
traduction et notes de Claude Mondésert, deuxième édition revue et<br />
augmentée du texte grec, avec la collaboration de M. André<br />
Plassart, Les Éditions du Cerf, Paris, 1949.<br />
11. Clément d’Alexandrie, Les Stromates, V.1, SC 278,<br />
introduction, texte critique et index par Alain Le Boulluec,<br />
traduction de Pierre Voulet, Les Éditions du Cerf, Paris, 1981.<br />
12. Clément d’Alexandrie, Les Stromates, V.2, SC 279,<br />
commentaire, bibliographie et index par Alain Le Boulluec, Les<br />
Éditions du Cerf, Paris, 1981.<br />
13. Clément d’Alexandrie, Les Stromates, VII, SC, 428,<br />
introduction, texte critique, traduction, et notes par Alain Le<br />
Boulluec, Les Éditions du Cerf, Paris, 1997.<br />
14. Clement Alexandrinul (Clément d’Alexandrie), Scrieri<br />
(Ecrits), traduction, avant‐propos, notes et index de pr. D. Fecioru,<br />
Éd. IBMBOR, Bucarest, 1982,<br />
I, Cuvânt de îndemn către eleni/Protrepticul (Le protreptique).<br />
Pedagogul (Le pédagogue), PSB 4,<br />
II, Stromatele (Les Stromates), PSB 5.<br />
12. Sf. Grigorie de Nazianz (Saint Grégoire de Nazianze),<br />
Cuvântări teologice (Lettres théologiques), traductin du grec pr. Gh.<br />
Tilea et Nicolae Barbu, préceédées de La vie de Saint Grégoire Le<br />
Théologien, écrite par le prêtre Grégoire (le VIII ème siècle),<br />
traduction de N. Donos, Éd. Herald, Bucarest, s.a.<br />
13. Sf. Grigorie de Nazianz (Saint Grégoire de Nazianze), Opere<br />
dogmatice (Œuvres dogmatiques), traduction du grec de pr. dr. Gh.<br />
Tilea, Éd. Herald, Bucarest, 2002.<br />
14. Sf. Grigorie de Nyssa (Saint Grégoire de Nisse), Scrieri, II,<br />
Scrieri exegetice, dogmatico‐polemice şi morale (Ecrits, II, Ecrits<br />
exégétiques), PSB 30, traduction et notes de prof.pr.dr. Teodor<br />
Bodogae, Éd. IBMBOR, Bucarest, 1998.<br />
15. MACARIE Egipteanul (Macaire l’Egyptien), Sf. Scrieri. Omilii<br />
duhovniceşti (Les Saints Écrits. Homélies spirituelles), PSB 34,<br />
traduction de prof.dr. Constantin Cornițescu, introduction, index et<br />
notes de prof.dr. N. Chițescu, Éd. IBMBOR, Bucarest, 1992.<br />
16. Maxim Mărturisitorul (Saint Maxime le Confesseur),<br />
Ambigua. Tâlcuiri ale <strong>un</strong>or locuri cu multe şi adânci înțelesuri din<br />
sfinții Dionisie Areopagitul şi Grigorie Teologul (Ambigua. Questions<br />
249
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écrivains ecclésiastiques<br />
et difficultés sur des écrits de Denys l'Aréopagite et St Grégoire le<br />
Théologien), PSB 80, traduction du grec, introduction et notes de<br />
prof.dr. Dumitru Stăniloae, Éd. IBMBOR, Bucarest, 1983.<br />
17. Méliton de Sardes, Sur la Pâque et fragments, introduction,<br />
texte critique, traduction, et notes par Othman Perler, SC 123, Les<br />
Éditions du Cerf, Paris, 1969.<br />
18. Old Testament Pseudepigrapha, edited by James H.<br />
Charlesworth, Doubleday, London‐New York‐Toronto‐Sydney‐<br />
Auckland,<br />
I, Apocalyptic Literature and Testaments, 1983;<br />
II, Expansions of the ‘Old Testament’ and Legends, Wisdom and<br />
Philosophical Literature, Prayers, Psalms, and Odes, Fragments of<br />
Lost Judeo‐Hellenistic Works, 1985.<br />
17. Scrierile părinților apostolici (Écrits des pères apostoliques),<br />
traduction, notes et index de pr.dr. Dumitru Fecioru, Éd. IBMBOR,<br />
Bucarest, 1995.<br />
18. Tațian Asirianul (Tatien le Syrien), Cuvânt către greci (Le<br />
Diatessaron), traduction du grec, introduction sur la vie et sur<br />
l’oeuvre de l’auteue de Ion I. Popescu‐Piscu, Éd. du Saint Évêché de<br />
Râmnic‐Noul Severin, Râmnicu‐Vâlcea, 1936.<br />
19. Sf. Vasile cel Mare (Saint Basile‐le Grand), Tâlcuire<br />
duhovnicească la Psalmi (Homélies sur les Psaumes), traduction et<br />
notes de pr.prof. Dumitru Fecioru, Éd. IBMBOR, Bucarest, 2000.<br />
III. Ouvrages<br />
1. DANIELOU, Jean, Les symboles chrétiens primitifs, traduit en<br />
Roumain par A. Oprić et E. Arjoca Ieremia, Éd. Amarcord, Timişoara,<br />
1998.<br />
2. Pelikan, J., Tradiția creştină. O istorie a dezvoltării doctrinei, I,<br />
Naşterea tradiției <strong>un</strong>iversale (100‐600)(La Tradition chrétienne, I, La<br />
Naissance de la tradition <strong>un</strong>iverselle (100‐600)), traduction de Silvia<br />
Palade, Éd. Polirom, Iaşi, 2004.<br />
3. TANTILLO, Ignazio, Attributi solari della figura imperiale in<br />
Eusebio di Cesarea, dans MedAnt, 6, 2003, 2.<br />
4. TRISTAN, Frédérick, Les premières images chrétiennes. Du<br />
symbole à l’icône: II e ‐VI e siècle), traduit par E. Buculei et A. Boroş, Éd.<br />
Meridiane, Bucarest, 2002.<br />
250
<strong>Journal</strong> <strong>for</strong> Interdisciplinary Research on Religion and Science,<br />
No. 2, January 2008<br />
JOURNAL FOR INTERDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH<br />
ON RELIGION AND SCIENCE<br />
(ISSN 1843 – 4142)<br />
The journal is an international and inter‐confessional <strong>for</strong>um <strong>for</strong><br />
interdisciplinary research on religion and science.<br />
Edited by<br />
Center <strong>for</strong> Advanced Interdisciplinary Research on Religion and<br />
Science<br />
“ Dumitru Stăniloae” Faculty of Orthodox<br />
Theology<br />
“Al. I. Cuza” University of Iasi, Romania<br />
PUBLICATIONS POLICY<br />
Purpose<br />
JIRRS aim is to develop the interdisciplinary research component<br />
regarding Religion and Science by publishing original research.<br />
Its title highlights the general framework of the scientific<br />
contributions of those who will support it with their studies and<br />
articles; it is quite a generous framework that allows <strong>for</strong> many‐sided<br />
approaches and interpretations of the dialogue between the scientific<br />
rationality and the existential experience of religious faith, with all their<br />
posit ive or negative effects uponthe human conscience and its life<br />
environment.<br />
We are keenly aware of the painstaking ef<strong>for</strong>ts that need to be<br />
made in this area, on the one hand, in order to rethink, in a critical way,<br />
the potential, the means and the limits of the dialogue between Religion<br />
and Science, and on the other, in order to escape two irrelevant<br />
attitudes to this dialogue, namely: the propensity towards a totalising<br />
monism of knowledge, based on the desire to achieve a balanced<br />
synthesis between scientific data and metaphysical and religious truths,<br />
and the tendency towards a dividing dualism, which precludes any<br />
systematic correlation between the domains of scientific knowledge and<br />
those of religious knowledge.<br />
In order to surpass these two extreme attitudes, which could block<br />
the edifying dimension of dialogue, we consider it necessary that all<br />
those interested in this dialogue assume intellectual diligence and a<br />
permanent concern <strong>for</strong> being up‐to‐date, both in their own field of<br />
research and in those of their partners in dialogue; acknowledge that<br />
the ultimate statements of religious faith, called metaphysical in<br />
traditional language, are not the conclusions of an epistemological<br />
<strong>un</strong>dertaking, part of a continuum of scientific ef<strong>for</strong>t. The aim of their<br />
application is not the instrumental scientific reason, but the integral<br />
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JOURNAL DESCRIPTION<br />
reason illuminated by the faith in a transcendental sense of life in<br />
general and of the human person in particular.<br />
All artic les should be consistent with an interdisciplinary perspective from Religion , Philosophy and Science.<br />
Papers<br />
in the following categories will be considered <strong>for</strong><br />
publication:<br />
1. Theoretical or applied articles dealing with interdisciplinary<br />
subjects on science and religion.<br />
2. Research articles that have relevance to interdisciplinary<br />
dialogue, studies, or advanced research in one of the following<br />
interdisciplinary<br />
domains:<br />
a. Systematic Theology, Hard and Natural Sciences (fields:<br />
Systematic Theology, Mathematics, Theoretical Physics,<br />
Chemistry, Biochemistry, Biology, Genetics, Geophysics,<br />
Ecology, Astrophysics, Cosmology, Neuroscience,<br />
b.<br />
Cognitive Psychology, Philosophy of Science)<br />
Religious Anthropology, Hermeneutics and Human/Socio<br />
Sciences (fields: Religious Anthropology, Anthropology,<br />
hermeneutics, social psychology, sociology, cultural<br />
studies, theories of arts, media sciences)<br />
c. Religious Ethics, Bioethics and Medical Sciences (fields:<br />
Medical Sciences, Behavioral Sciences, Personal<br />
Development<br />
Neurology).<br />
Sciences, Bio‐ethics,<br />
Law, Genetics,<br />
3. Reactions to current or past journal articles.<br />
4. Reviews of relevant books from the field of psychology and<br />
theology.<br />
Submission In<strong>for</strong>mation on www.jirrs.org<br />
252
<strong>Journal</strong> <strong>for</strong> Interdisciplinary Research on Religion and Science,<br />
No. 2, January 2008<br />
REVUE DE RECHERCHE INTERDISCIPLINAIRE<br />
EN<br />
R ELIGION ET SCIENCE<br />
(ISSN 1843 – 4142)<br />
La revue<br />
est <strong>un</strong> <strong>for</strong>um international et interconfessionnel, pour la<br />
recherche interdisciplinaire en religion et science.<br />
Editeurs<br />
Centre de Recherche Interdisciplinaire Avancée Religion<br />
et Science<br />
Faculté de Théologie Orthodoxe “Dumitru<br />
Stăniloae”<br />
Université “Al. I. Cuza”, Iaşi, Roumanie<br />
LA POLITIQUE DE LA PUBLICATION<br />
But<br />
JIRRS a comme but le développement de la composante<br />
interdisciplinaire des recherches concernant la religion et la science, à<br />
travers la publication d’études et recherches.<br />
Son titre établit le cadre général, où s’inscriront les contributions<br />
scientifiques de ceux qui la soutiendront avec leurs études et leurs<br />
articles; c’est <strong>un</strong> cadre assez ample qui permet de nombreuses<br />
approches et interprétations du dialogue entre le rationnement<br />
scientifique et l’expérience existentielle de la foi religieuse avec tous<br />
leurs effets positifs ou négatifs sur la conscience humaine et sur son<br />
milieu de vie.<br />
Nous sommes conscients, d’<strong>un</strong>e part, de l’ef<strong>for</strong>t immense qui doit<br />
être fait dans cette direction en vue de reconsidérer, d’autre part, d’<strong>un</strong>e<br />
manière critique, les possibilités, les moyens et les limites de dialogue<br />
entre Religion et Science, afin qu’on dépasse deux attitudes discutables<br />
de ce dialogue, notamment: la tendance vers <strong>un</strong> monisme étendu de la<br />
connaissance créée au fond du désir d’élaborer <strong>un</strong>e synthèse<br />
harmonieuse entre les données de la science et les vérités<br />
métaphysiques et religieuses et la tendance vers <strong>un</strong> dualisme séparateur<br />
qui écarte toute liaison systématique entre les domaines de la<br />
connaissance scientifique et ceux de la connaissance religieuse.<br />
Pour dépasser ces deux attitudes exagérées, qui pourraient bloquer<br />
la dimension édifiante du dialogue, on considère que tous ceux<br />
intéressés à ce dialogue devraient s’assumer <strong>un</strong>e rigueur intellectuelle<br />
et <strong>un</strong>e préoccupation continue pour le renseignement, tant dans leur<br />
domaine de recherche, aussi bien que dans les domaines des partenaires<br />
du dialogue; il devraient admettre le fait que les affirmations ultimes de<br />
la foi chrétienne, appelées métaphysiques selon le langage traditionnel,<br />
ne sont pas les conclusions d’<strong>un</strong>e démarche épistémologique, qui se<br />
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JOURNAL DESCRIPTION<br />
trouve dans la persistance de l’ef<strong>for</strong>t scientifique. Ce n’est pas leur<br />
horizon de pertinence qui est la raison scientifique instrumentale, mais<br />
la raison totale éclairée par la foi dans <strong>un</strong> sens transcendant de<br />
l’existence en générale et de la personne humaine en particulier.<br />
Tous les articles doivent faire preuve d e la perspective<br />
interdisciplinaire de la Religion, Philosophi e et la scienc e.<br />
L es matériels faisant part ie des catégories suivantes seront<br />
considérés<br />
en vue de publication:<br />
1. Articles théoriques ou appliqués concernant des sujets<br />
2.<br />
interdisciplinaires sur la religion et la science;<br />
Des articles sur des recherches relevantes pour le dialogue<br />
interdisciplinaire sur la religion et la science, ou des recherches<br />
avancées dans <strong>un</strong> des domaines interdisciplinaires suivants:<br />
a. Théologie Systémique, Sciences exactes et sciences<br />
naturelles (champs : Théologie systémique,<br />
Mathématique, Physique théorique, Chimie, Biochimie,<br />
Génétique, Géophysique, Ecologie, Astrophysique,<br />
Cosmologie, Neuroscience, Psychologie cognitive,<br />
b.<br />
Philosophie de la science);<br />
Anthropologie de la religion, Herméneutique et Sciences<br />
sociohumaines (champs: anthropologie de la religion,<br />
herméneutique, psychologie sociale, sociologie, études<br />
culturels, théorie des arts, sciences des media);<br />
c. Ethique religieuse, Bio – éthique et Sciences Médicales<br />
(sciences médicales, sciences du comportement,<br />
3.<br />
sciences du développement personnel, bio ‐ éthique,<br />
droit, génétique, neurologie);<br />
Réactions envers des articles présents ou passés<br />
du journal;<br />
4. Revue des livres de psychologie et théologie.<br />
254<br />
In<strong>for</strong>mation en vue de soumission – www.jirrs.org
<strong>Journal</strong> <strong>for</strong> Interdisciplinary Research on Religion and Science,<br />
No. 2, January 2008<br />
DIE ZEITSCHRIFT FÜR INTERDISZIPLINÄRE FORSCHUNG<br />
IN RELIGION UND WISSENSCHAFT<br />
(ISSN 1843 – 4142)<br />
Die Zeitschrift ist ein internationaler <strong>un</strong>d interkonfessioneller<br />
Ausgangsp<strong>un</strong>kt für die interdisziplinäre Forsch<strong>un</strong>g im Bereich Religion<br />
<strong>un</strong>d Wissenschaft<br />
Herausgeber<br />
Das Zentrum für Fortgeschrittene Interdisziplinäre Forsch<strong>un</strong>g<br />
Religion<br />
<strong>un</strong>d Wissenschaft<br />
Die<br />
Orthodoxe Theologische Fakultät “ Dumitru<br />
Stăniloae”<br />
Die Universität “Al. I. Cuza “ Iasi, Rumänien<br />
DIE POLITIK DER ZEITSCHRIFT<br />
Ziele<br />
ZIFRW hat als Ziel die Entwickl<strong>un</strong>g der interdisziplinären<br />
F orsch<strong>un</strong>g in Bezug auf Religion <strong>un</strong>d Wissenschaft durch die<br />
Veröffentlich<strong>un</strong>g.<br />
Der Titel deutet auf den allgemeinen Rahmen hin, der die<br />
wissenschaftlichen Beiträge ihrer Autoren mit deren Studien <strong>un</strong>d<br />
Artikeln bestimmen. Es ist ein großzügiger Rahmen, der viele<br />
Gesichtsp<strong>un</strong>kte <strong>un</strong>d verschiedene Deut<strong>un</strong>gen des Dialogs zwischen der<br />
wissenschaftlichen Rationalität <strong>un</strong>d der Existenzerfahr<strong>un</strong>g des<br />
religiösen Glaubens erlaubt, mit all ihren negativen <strong>un</strong>d positiven<br />
Auswirk<strong>un</strong>gen auf das menschliche Bewußtsein <strong>un</strong>d seine<br />
Lebensumgeb<strong>un</strong>g.<br />
Wir sind der großen Anstreng<strong>un</strong>gen bewußt, der weiter in diese<br />
Richt<strong>un</strong>g gemacht werden sollen, einerseits zu einer kritischen Analyse<br />
der Möglichkeiten, Arten <strong>un</strong>d Grenzen des Dialogs zwischen Religion<br />
<strong>un</strong>d Wissenschaft, andererseits zur Überwind<strong>un</strong>g der zwei nicht<br />
aufklärenden Halt<strong>un</strong>gen in diesem Dialog: die Tendenz zu einem<br />
totalisierenden Monismus der Erkenntnis, ausgehend von dem W<strong>un</strong>sch,<br />
eine harmonische Synthese zwischen den wissenschaftlichen Daten <strong>un</strong>d<br />
den metaphysischen <strong>un</strong>d religiösen Wahrheiten zu verwirklichen <strong>un</strong>d<br />
die Tendenz zu einem trennenden Dualismus, der jede systematische<br />
Bezieh<strong>un</strong>g zwischen den Bereichen der wissenschaftlichen <strong>un</strong>d<br />
religiösen Erkenntnis ausschließt.<br />
Zur Vermeid<strong>un</strong>g dieser zwei extremen Halt<strong>un</strong>gen, meinen wir, daß<br />
alle Beteiligten an diesem Dialog eine intelektuelle Strenge <strong>un</strong>d<br />
ständige Sorge, in<strong>for</strong>miert zu sein, nachweisen sollten, sowohl in seinem<br />
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JOURNAL DESCRIPTION<br />
eigenem Forsch<strong>un</strong>gsgebiet als auch in denen seiner Partner; sie sollten<br />
zugleich zugeben, daß die letzten Aussagen des religiösen Glaubens,<br />
herkömmlicherweise bekannt als metaphysisch, nicht die<br />
Schlußfolger<strong>un</strong>gen eines epistemologischen Vorgehens sind, sondern<br />
eine Fortsetz<strong>un</strong>g des wissenschaftlichen Aufwandes. Ihr Horizont<br />
beschränkt sich nicht auf die instrumentale wissenschaftliche Vern<strong>un</strong>ft,<br />
sondern auf die einheitliche Vern<strong>un</strong>ft, von Glauben beleuchtet in einem<br />
transzendenten Sinn der Existenz, im allgemeinen <strong>un</strong>d vor allem der<br />
menschlichen Person.<br />
Alle Artikel müssen eine interdisziplinäre Perspektive in Bezug auf<br />
Religio n, Philosophie <strong>un</strong>d Wissenschaft darstellen.<br />
F ür die Veröffentlich<strong>un</strong>g werden folgende Artikel berücksichtigt:<br />
256<br />
1. Theoretische oder angew andte Artikel, d ie interdisziplinäre<br />
Themen über Wissenschaft <strong>un</strong>d Religion behandeln<br />
2. Forsch<strong>un</strong>gsartikel, die sich auf die interdisziplinären<br />
Besprech<strong>un</strong>gen <strong>un</strong>d Studien oder auf die <strong>for</strong>tgeschrittene<br />
Forsch<strong>un</strong>g aus einem der folgenden interdisziplinären<br />
Bereichen beziehen:<br />
a. Systematische Theologie, angewandte Wissenschaft <strong>un</strong>d<br />
Naturwissenschaft (Bereiche: systematische Theologie,<br />
Mathematik, theoretische Physik, Chemie, Biochemie,<br />
Biologie, Genetik, Geophysik, Ökologie, Astrophysik,<br />
Kosmologie, Neurowissenschaft, kognitive Psychologie,<br />
Wissenschaftsphilosophie)<br />
b. Religiöse Anthropologie, Hermeneutik <strong>un</strong>d sozialhumanistische<br />
Wissenschaft (Bereiche: religiöse<br />
Anthropologie, Anthropologie, Hermeneutik, Sozio‐<br />
psychologie, Soziologie, kulturelle Studien,<br />
K<strong>un</strong>sttheorie, Mediawissenschaft)<br />
c. Religiöse Ethik, Bioethik <strong>un</strong>d Medizinwissenschaft<br />
(Bereiche: Medizinwissenschaft, Verhalt<strong>un</strong>gswissen‐<br />
schaft, Wissenschaft für die Selbstentwickl<strong>un</strong>g,<br />
Bioethik,<br />
schaft).<br />
Jura, Genetik, Neurologie, Neurowissen‐<br />
3. Reaktionen auf die laufenden <strong>un</strong>d vorherigen Artikel.<br />
4. Zusammenfass<strong>un</strong>gen der Fachbücher aus den Bereichen der<br />
Kosmologie, Astrophysik, Wissenschaftsphilosophie, Neuro‐<br />
philologie, Theologie, <strong>un</strong>d besonderes der Fachbücher, die sich<br />
auf das Dialog zwischen Religion <strong>un</strong>d Wissenschaft beziehen.<br />
Bewerb<strong>un</strong>gs<strong>un</strong>terlagen ‐ www.jirrs.org
The <strong>Journal</strong> <strong>for</strong> Interdisciplinary Rresearch on Religion and Science is edited by<br />
The Center <strong>for</strong> Advanced Interdisciplinary Research on Religion and Science<br />
Address<br />
"Al. I. Cuza" University of Iasi, “Dumitru Stăniloae” Faculty of Orthodox Theology,<br />
Closca Str., No. 9, 700066, Iaşi, ROMANIA, Tel/fax +40 332101<br />
800/+40 332 101801<br />
Guide <strong>for</strong> Authors ‐ http://www.jir rs.org/en/policy.html<br />
Submission of articles ‐ submission.jirrs@gmail.com,<br />
Contact ‐ contact.jirrs@gmail.com<br />
On line ‐ www.jirrs.org