Bijdragen

Dangerous Alliances, Absorption, Co-Existence

poj@peeters-leuven.be — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 09:49:01 GMT

In this contribution, the author argues that there are in our European tradition two fundamental conceptions of politics since the French Revolution. We can call them the politics as the art of co-existence, and the politics of d�nouement. Both conceptions also have a very different stance towards the traditional religions: for the first one mentioned freedom of religion is constitutive, for the second one religion must serve the state or can even be made redundant. Paradigmatic in this respect was the communist treatment of religion as a relic of the past that will disappear when historic reason makes our society transparant (as a tragi-comic story of Milan Kundera shows). Here politics transforms in a quasi-eschatological political religion. In the twientieth century neo-marxist philosophers say farewell to this kind of politics and begin to rediscover religious inheritances and theological motives. Today two other positions towards religions are noticeable: the utilitaristic reductionist treatment of religion as a need (instead as a desire), and �Enlightment fundamentalism� which continues the rationalist communist conception of religion as a relic of the past. The author criticises both tendencies, and defends a �politics without d�nouement� which correspondents to a �religion without guarantee�. In closing the author argues that the recent populist politics (with The Netherlands as example) either dream of a new alliance between religion and/or �culture� and the state, or � in a strange inversion of the multicultural ideals of the nineties � promote a purely polemical identity against an �alien� religion, i.c. Islam. Here the author claims that both tendencies fail to recognize the real nature of the new problems.

The Philosophical Foundation of Religious Toleration in Spinoza (TTP), Bayle (Commentaire philosophique) and Locke (Epistola de tolerantia)

poj@peeters-leuven.be — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 09:54:20 GMT

This paper first adumbrates the theory of religious intolerance in early modern Europe. Then it turns to three leading philosophers of the age, Spinoza, Bayle and Locke, who elaborated philosophical defences of religious toleration. The problem it analyzes is that though these thinkers depart from radically different premises concerning the roles of state and church, the abilities of speculative reason, and the concept of God, yet they conclude that government and church alike must grant an almost complete freedom to the individual in the choice of his or her religion at least in foro interno. As an explanation, we first reconstruct the metaphysical foundation on which Spinoza�s political theological theory rests in the TTP, in order to show that through this theory, his intention was to enable the philosopher to spread a rational enlightenment deriving from an unconditioned philosophy of God; to advocate not the freedom of religion but the freedom to philosophize. Bayle, by contrast, builds his defence of religious toleration on the superiority of natural practical reason over speculative reason, asserting that while the divine nature is only very imperfectly known by speculative reason, the moral commands of religion have to be controlled by the divinely inspired, universal principles of practical reason. Locke advocates the necessary separation of state and church ultimately on the grounds that the individual is able to demonstrate the existence and attributes of God all alone � his rationale of religious toleration is a corollary of his metaphysical theory concerning the nominal knowability, by natural speculative reason, of the divine nature. We conclude that the similarities in their respective defences of religious toleration are only formal, and determined by their different metaphysical presuppositions.

The Current Renaissance of the Theology of the Trinity

poj@peeters-leuven.be — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 09:57:38 GMT

In this reconstruction of the recent renaissance of the theology of the Trinity, the starting point is Rahner�s influential contribution in Mysterium Salutis. Rahner diagnoses how the isolation of this central topic from the rest of theology and spirituality occurred and proposes a therapy with the axiom �the economic Trinity is the immanent Trinity and vice versa�. Generally speaking, one can observe a consensus with regard to both diagnosis and therapy. But there are also discussions about the negative evaluation of the western tradition and about the precise meaning of the axiom, especially about the importance and need of the �immanent� Trinity. With regard to the therapy one can notice an almost exclusive concentration on the life, death and resurrection of Christ as the basis for a reflection on the (economic) Trinity. The recent development of the Spirit-christology seems to meet the criticism that the (work of the) Spirit is forgotten. But more attention to the theology of the Spirit is required to overcome the limitations that in fact are put on the therapy.

The Inventor of the Scholar-Monk

poj@peeters-leuven.be — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 10:06:09 GMT

Although this review article is only about one book and about one man, it discloses a whole world, the world of Jerome, saint, scholar and stimulator of ascetism and of the study of the Bible. It is the merit of the book reviewed here to bring interesting insights into this other world, the emerging society of monks who were scholars and ascetic. In that world Jerome is one of the most fascinating patristic scholars. His choice for translating the Hebrew Bible instead of the Greek Bible is one of the utmost examples that from time to time the conceitedness of one man wins. Williams� book teaches us quite a lot about this man and his conceitedness. At the same time it explains us something about the Christian tradition, how asceticism could bring forth the wealth of libraries and abbeys.

Summaries

poj@peeters-leuven.be — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 10:06:34 GMT

Summaries

Bookreviews

poj@peeters-leuven.be — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 10:06:45 GMT

Book reviews

Books Reviewed

poj@peeters-leuven.be — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 10:06:55 GMT

Books reviewed

Books Received

poj@peeters-leuven.be — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 10:07:30 GMT

Books received