Origen expected elderly women and men to be “teachers of good things” in Christian congregations (cf. Titus 2:2–3), and he allowed women to give “spiritual instruction” to younger women. He wrote that women can have “pure minds” and receive divine revelations. At the same time, he followed the (Deutero-)Pauline prohibitions on women to speak and teach in church. This article investigates Origen’s argumentation and his emphases when mentioning female teachers, in order to determine to which degree it is based on theological principles, and where he is following social norms. Why is it, as Origen writes in his Commentary on 1 Corinthians (in catena), shameful for a woman to speak in church, “even if she should speak marvelous and holy words”?
{"title":"“Teachers of Good Things”: Origen on Women as Teachers","authors":"Maria Munkholt","doi":"10.1515/opth-2024-0018","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/opth-2024-0018","url":null,"abstract":"Origen expected elderly women and men to be “teachers of good things” in Christian congregations (cf. Titus 2:2–3), and he allowed women to give “spiritual instruction” to younger women. He wrote that women can have “pure minds” and receive divine revelations. At the same time, he followed the (Deutero-)Pauline prohibitions on women to speak and teach in church. This article investigates Origen’s argumentation and his emphases when mentioning female teachers, in order to determine to which degree it is based on theological principles, and where he is following social norms. Why is it, as Origen writes in his <jats:italic>Commentary on 1 Corinthians</jats:italic> (in catena), shameful for a woman to speak in church, “even if she should speak marvelous and holy words”?","PeriodicalId":42436,"journal":{"name":"Open Theology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2024-09-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142262559","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
In this article, I inquire about the value and significance of the concept of Constructive Theology, more specifically, the value and significance of the concept constructive when it is related to the concept of theology. In the first part of the article, I inquire about the meaning of Constructive Theology. The story of Constructive Theology is a story of many stories. In this part, therefore, specific reference is made to one such story, as it has taken shape in and through the Workgroup on Constructive Theology since 1975, more specifically, the publications of the working group. In this section, a connection is also made between this constructive theological work and theology as it has taken shape in South Africa. Although the concept of Constructive Theology as such has not been adopted in South Africa, theology in South Africa shares the focus of Constructive Theology on theology as hermeneutics. In the second part of the article, a step back is taken. In light of the focus of Constructive Theology on hermeneutical theology, the question is asked about the relationship between theology and construction. Thus, I inquire about the meaning of constructed theology. I do this by looking at the Tabernacle-traditions in the Old Testament. Here, it is argued that the Tabernacle-traditions offer a perspective on theology as construction. In light of these insights into theology as constructed theology, in the subsequent third part, I inquire how theological constructing can be done in such a way that theology functions constructively and contributes constructively. To do this, I look at the interconnections between construction and creation – also in the Old Testament traditions. In conclusion, I argue for the importance of doing constructive after Systematic Theology in South Africa today.
{"title":"Constructive After Systematic? On Doing Theology in South Africa Today","authors":"Henco van der Westhuizen","doi":"10.1515/opth-2024-0020","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/opth-2024-0020","url":null,"abstract":"In this article, I inquire about the value and significance of the concept of Constructive Theology, more specifically, the value and significance of the concept constructive when it is related to the concept of theology. In the first part of the article, I inquire about the meaning of Constructive Theology. The story of Constructive Theology is a story of many stories. In this part, therefore, specific reference is made to one such story, as it has taken shape in and through the Workgroup on Constructive Theology since 1975, more specifically, the publications of the working group. In this section, a connection is also made between this constructive theological work and theology as it has taken shape in South Africa. Although the concept of Constructive Theology as such has not been adopted in South Africa, theology in South Africa shares the focus of Constructive Theology on theology as hermeneutics. In the second part of the article, a step back is taken. In light of the focus of Constructive Theology on hermeneutical theology, the question is asked about the relationship between theology and construction. Thus, I inquire about the meaning of constructed theology. I do this by looking at the Tabernacle-traditions in the Old Testament. Here, it is argued that the Tabernacle-traditions offer a perspective on theology as construction. In light of these insights into theology as constructed theology, in the subsequent third part, I inquire how theological constructing can be done in such a way that theology functions constructively and contributes constructively. To do this, I look at the interconnections between construction and creation – also in the Old Testament traditions. In conclusion, I argue for the importance of doing constructive after Systematic Theology in South Africa today.","PeriodicalId":42436,"journal":{"name":"Open Theology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2024-09-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142214958","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Sacrifice is mainly a patriarchal institution. Nancy Jay argued that sacrifice serves as a ritual supplement and replacement for natural birth, and attempts to establish the dominance and priority of descent through the father over descent through the mother. I demonstrate the cogency of Jay’s analysis across a number of traditions. My focus is not on sacrificial rituals, but instead on a series of myths – Hebrew biblical, ancient Greek, and Vedic Indian – that disclose the manner in which sacrifice inhabits a continuum with a broader array of struggles for dominance within the family including, but not limited to, the contestation between patriarchy and matriarchy. In many myths, the kinship group becomes a primary metaphor, both for the competition over scarce goods, including power and authority within the family unit, and for modeling the body politic in a microcosm.
{"title":"Blood Lines: Biopolitics, Patriarchy, Myth","authors":"Robert A. Yelle","doi":"10.1515/opth-2024-0011","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/opth-2024-0011","url":null,"abstract":"Sacrifice is mainly a patriarchal institution. Nancy Jay argued that sacrifice serves as a ritual supplement and replacement for natural birth, and attempts to establish the dominance and priority of descent through the father over descent through the mother. I demonstrate the cogency of Jay’s analysis across a number of traditions. My focus is not on sacrificial rituals, but instead on a series of myths – Hebrew biblical, ancient Greek, and Vedic Indian – that disclose the manner in which sacrifice inhabits a continuum with a broader array of struggles for dominance within the family including, but not limited to, the contestation between patriarchy and matriarchy. In many myths, the kinship group becomes a primary metaphor, both for the competition over scarce goods, including power and authority within the family unit, and for modeling the body politic in a microcosm.","PeriodicalId":42436,"journal":{"name":"Open Theology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2024-08-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142214959","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
This article examines Jerome’s use of bridal and military imagery in his writings to male and female ascetics. The metaphor of the “bride” and the “soldier” had been used in earlier Christianity to describe the Christian identity of the baptized person, and in the writings of Jerome and other fourth-century ascetic writers, these motifs came to be increasingly employed in discourses on the ascetic life. While previous scholarship has claimed that Jerome mainly used the image of the bride in descriptions of and advise to ascetic women, and military imagery in writings to and about men, the article argues that his employment of these imageries was more complex. It is shown that while the bridal metaphor signals femininity and passivity, and the soldier metaphor manliness and activity, Jerome’s employment of them does not depend first and foremost on the gender of the ascetic. Rather, both images are used to support certain aspects of his theology – mainly his ideas about the postlapsarian, fleshly condition and the human possibility of transcendence – as well as his ascetic ideology, by marking the ascetics as superior to non-ascetics through their unique relationship with Christ.
{"title":"A Militant Bride: Gender-Loaded Metaphors in Jerome’s Writings to Ascetic Men and Women","authors":"Katarina Pålsson","doi":"10.1515/opth-2024-0017","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/opth-2024-0017","url":null,"abstract":"This article examines Jerome’s use of bridal and military imagery in his writings to male and female ascetics. The metaphor of the “bride” and the “soldier” had been used in earlier Christianity to describe the Christian identity of the baptized person, and in the writings of Jerome and other fourth-century ascetic writers, these motifs came to be increasingly employed in discourses on the ascetic life. While previous scholarship has claimed that Jerome mainly used the image of the bride in descriptions of and advise to ascetic women, and military imagery in writings to and about men, the article argues that his employment of these imageries was more complex. It is shown that while the bridal metaphor signals femininity and passivity, and the soldier metaphor manliness and activity, Jerome’s employment of them does not depend first and foremost on the gender of the ascetic. Rather, both images are used to support certain aspects of his theology – mainly his ideas about the postlapsarian, fleshly condition and the human possibility of transcendence – as well as his ascetic ideology, by marking the ascetics as superior to non-ascetics through their unique relationship with Christ.","PeriodicalId":42436,"journal":{"name":"Open Theology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2024-08-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142214960","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Georges Bataille is undoubtedly a key reference for all relevant contemporary thoughts about sacrifice. This article attempts to follow his impulses and intuitions, which are often misunderstood because they are highly personal, provocative, and suggestive. The problem of sacrifice is approached in three concentric circles. The first presents a view from a distance, from the cosmic standpoint of “base materialism” and “general economy.” The second takes a closer look at the sacrificial site and deals with Bataille’s fascination with Aztec sacrificial culture. The concluding third part looks at sacrifice from the point of the altar, the place of communication and communal consumption of death, as a site of the emergence of the sacred and of community. In this way, the article seeks to highlight Bataille’s transgressive thinking as a worthwhile contribution to post-metaphysical theology.
{"title":"“The Remedy for a World Without Transcendence”: Georges Bataille on Sacrifice and the Theology of Transgression","authors":"Luka Trebežnik","doi":"10.1515/opth-2024-0016","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/opth-2024-0016","url":null,"abstract":"Georges Bataille is undoubtedly a key reference for all relevant contemporary thoughts about sacrifice. This article attempts to follow his impulses and intuitions, which are often misunderstood because they are highly personal, provocative, and suggestive. The problem of sacrifice is approached in three concentric circles. The first presents a view from a distance, from the cosmic standpoint of “base materialism” and “general economy.” The second takes a closer look at the sacrificial site and deals with Bataille’s fascination with Aztec sacrificial culture. The concluding third part looks at sacrifice from the point of the altar, the place of communication and communal consumption of death, as a site of the emergence of the sacred and of community. In this way, the article seeks to highlight Bataille’s transgressive thinking as a worthwhile contribution to post-metaphysical theology.","PeriodicalId":42436,"journal":{"name":"Open Theology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2024-08-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142215009","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
This article argues that theology (systematic or otherwise) is ultimately grounded in (religious) experience. To that end, I methodologically demonstrate that theological inquiry cannot coherently be pursued without attention to people’s experience of the divine/sacred. Thus, this article stands as a methodological development and defense of a family of theological viewpoints that I call context-attentive theologies. In order to do so, I examine the writings of three authors whose different approaches to the problem of divine revelation will help me to clarify the meaning of context-attentive theology: Jean-Luc Marion, H. Richard Niebuhr, and Gustavo Gutiérrez. I proceed in four steps. First, I provide an account of context-attentive theology through an examination of the task of theology. Second, I focus on Marion’s phenomenology of revelation to ascertain to what extent it incorporates contextual analysis. Third, I turn to Niebuhr’s account of revelation, which I construe as a context-attentive theology shaped by the “historical turn.” Fourth, I turn to Gutiérrez’s liberation theology to show how Niebuhr’s “radical reconstruction” within the context of the historical turn is further radicalized by liberation theology, which I take as a prime example of context-attentive theology.
本文认为，神学（系统的或其他的）最终是以（宗教的）经验为基础的。为此，我从方法论上证明，如果不关注人们对神性/神圣的体验，神学探究就无法连贯地进行。因此，本文在方法论上发展并捍卫了一系列神学观点，我称之为关注语境的神学。为此，我研究了三位作家的著作，他们对神的启示问题所采取的不同方法将有助于我澄清语境关注神学的含义：让-吕克-马里昂（Jean-Luc Marion）、理查德-尼布尔（H. Richard Niebuhr）和古斯塔沃-古铁雷斯（Gustavo Gutiérrez）。我分四个步骤进行。首先，我通过考察神学的任务来阐述关注语境的神学。其次，我将重点放在马里恩的启示现象学上，以确定其在多大程度上纳入了语境分析。第三，我转向尼布尔的启示论，将其理解为一种由 "历史转向 "所塑造的关注语境的神学。第四，我转向古铁雷斯的解放神学，以说明尼布尔在历史转向背景下的 "激进重构 "是如何被解放神学进一步激进化的，我将解放神学视为注重语境的神学的最佳范例。
{"title":"Context-Attentive Theology: On the Rearticulation of Experience in Theological Inquiry","authors":"Raúl E. Zegarra","doi":"10.1515/opth-2024-0019","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/opth-2024-0019","url":null,"abstract":"This article argues that theology (systematic or otherwise) is ultimately grounded in (religious) experience. To that end, I methodologically demonstrate that theological inquiry cannot coherently be pursued without attention to people’s experience of the divine/sacred. Thus, this article stands as a methodological development and defense of a family of theological viewpoints that I call context-attentive theologies. In order to do so, I examine the writings of three authors whose different approaches to the problem of divine revelation will help me to clarify the meaning of context-attentive theology: Jean-Luc Marion, H. Richard Niebuhr, and Gustavo Gutiérrez. I proceed in four steps. First, I provide an account of context-attentive theology through an examination of the task of theology. Second, I focus on Marion’s phenomenology of revelation to ascertain to what extent it incorporates contextual analysis. Third, I turn to Niebuhr’s account of revelation, which I construe as a context-attentive theology shaped by the “historical turn.” Fourth, I turn to Gutiérrez’s liberation theology to show how Niebuhr’s “radical reconstruction” within the context of the historical turn is further radicalized by liberation theology, which I take as a prime example of context-attentive theology.","PeriodicalId":42436,"journal":{"name":"Open Theology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2024-08-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142215010","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The article explores how Digital and Public Theologies, two separate but overlapping discourses, can combine empirical and normative efforts. The article highlights the role that the sensitivity for context should play in the development of each of these theologies. To better understand the role of the context, the category of the imaginary is outlined with reference to Charles Taylor and Cornelius Castoriadis. This category helps to describe and criticize imaginaries that determine the social, psychological, political, and contextual realities which theology reflects on – this will be called the reflective or critical task of theology. The category also helps to describe and criticize the imaginaries that determine theological thinking itself, the perspective of a given theology as well as the orientations it suggests. This is the self-critical task of theology. Furthermore, I will suggest to see it as a constant and remaining task of theology to make its imaginations explicit and open to critique because these imaginations are the source of orientations that theology articulates. This calls for theologies that understand themselves as dynamic, unfinished, and discursive.
{"title":"Imaginaries and Normativities. Experimental Impulses for Digital and Public Theologies","authors":"Florian Höhne","doi":"10.1515/opth-2024-0010","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/opth-2024-0010","url":null,"abstract":"The article explores how Digital and Public Theologies, two separate but overlapping discourses, can combine empirical and normative efforts. The article highlights the role that the sensitivity for context should play in the development of each of these theologies. To better understand the role of the context, the category of the imaginary is outlined with reference to Charles Taylor and Cornelius Castoriadis. This category helps to describe and criticize imaginaries that determine the social, psychological, political, and contextual realities which theology reflects on – this will be called the reflective or critical task of theology. The category also helps to describe and criticize the imaginaries that determine theological thinking itself, the perspective of a given theology as well as the orientations it suggests. This is the self-critical task of theology. Furthermore, I will suggest to see it as a constant and remaining task of theology to make its imaginations explicit and open to critique because these imaginations are the source of orientations that theology articulates. This calls for theologies that understand themselves as dynamic, unfinished, and discursive.","PeriodicalId":42436,"journal":{"name":"Open Theology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2024-07-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141785820","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Empirical research methods have traditionally been absent from and are still foreigners to systematic theology. However, the turn toward practices in academic studies of religion and theology implies that empirical research methodologies cannot be deemed irrelevant to systematic theology. This article explores Hanna Reichel’s theory of theology as design, focusing on the understanding of theology as practice and the potential implications regarding the relevance of empirical methods to systematic theology. Bringing Reichel’s concept of theology as design into dialogue with Geir Afdal’s concept of distributed normativity, this article makes the case that the question of the affordances of a theological interpretation is not only an imperative theological one but also an empirical one, calling for empirical research methods.
实证研究方法历来是系统神学所缺乏的，而且仍然是系统神学的外来者。然而，宗教与神学的学术研究转向实践，意味着不能认为实证研究方法与系统神学无关。本文探讨了汉娜-赖歇尔（Hanna Reichel）的 "神学即设计"（theology as design）理论，重点是对 "神学即实践"（theology as practice）的理解以及实证方法与系统神学相关性的潜在影响。本文将赖歇尔的神学作为设计的概念与盖尔-阿夫达尔（Geir Afdal）的分布式规范性概念结合起来，论证了神学阐释的可承受性问题不仅是一个必须解决的神学问题，也是一个需要实证研究方法的实证问题。
{"title":"Distributed Normativity in Theology: On the Relevance of Empirical Research Approaches to Systematic Theology","authors":"Kristin Graff-Kallevåg","doi":"10.1515/opth-2024-0013","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/opth-2024-0013","url":null,"abstract":"Empirical research methods have traditionally been absent from and are still foreigners to systematic theology. However, the turn toward practices in academic studies of religion and theology implies that empirical research methodologies cannot be deemed irrelevant to systematic theology. This article explores Hanna Reichel’s theory of theology as design, focusing on the understanding of theology as practice and the potential implications regarding the relevance of empirical methods to systematic theology. Bringing Reichel’s concept of theology as design into dialogue with Geir Afdal’s concept of distributed normativity, this article makes the case that the question of the affordances of a theological interpretation is not only an imperative theological one but also an empirical one, calling for empirical research methods.","PeriodicalId":42436,"journal":{"name":"Open Theology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2024-07-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141721326","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
This article approaches the relationship between theory and practice based on Lived Theology. The concept is introduced through empirical insights and an overview of various definitions. Additionally, the article highlights the implications of Lived Theology on the field of academic theology and the concept of theology itself. Subsequently, Lived Theology is juxtaposed with the research field of Empirical Theology. The article explores how Lived Theology can be researched adequately, revealing that Empirical and Lived Theology are interdependent from one another.
{"title":"Beyond Theory and Practice: Lived Theology and Its Intersection with Empirical Theology","authors":"Sabrina Müller","doi":"10.1515/opth-2024-0014","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/opth-2024-0014","url":null,"abstract":"This article approaches the relationship between theory and practice based on Lived Theology. The concept is introduced through empirical insights and an overview of various definitions. Additionally, the article highlights the implications of Lived Theology on the field of academic theology and the concept of theology itself. Subsequently, Lived Theology is juxtaposed with the research field of Empirical Theology. The article explores how Lived Theology can be researched adequately, revealing that Empirical and Lived Theology are interdependent from one another.","PeriodicalId":42436,"journal":{"name":"Open Theology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2024-07-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141721321","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
From its origins, the Christian religious imaginary has been inhabited by the sacrificial fantasy, which finds its most radical symbol in the crucified body. According to the principle of imitatio Jesu, believers have always been called to consider pain as an experience to be lived and shared with Christ, to be offered to him as a gift of self to the Other. Already the masters of suspicion condemned this ascetic-religious cult of sacrifice and showed its dehumanizing and superegoic side, characterized by the violence of abuse, authoritarianism, submission, and above all the denial of life. However, this beneficial and liberating critique has removed the donative and not merely alienating aspect not of the sacrificial body, but of the symbolic sacrifice. Starting from a close dialogue between systematic theology and (Lacanian) psychoanalysis, this contribution aims to question both the sacrificial (religious) fantasy in its alienating character and the equally superegoic drive of the imperative of unlimited enjoyment as a reaction to any kind of symbolic limitation. Against this background, an attempt will be made to think of a form of sacrifice that follows the logic of the gift (of the body), without being subjected to a logic of alienating exchange.
{"title":"Beyond the Sacrificial Fantasy: Body, Law, and Desire","authors":"Isabella Guanzini","doi":"10.1515/opth-2024-0012","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/opth-2024-0012","url":null,"abstract":"From its origins, the Christian religious imaginary has been inhabited by the sacrificial fantasy, which finds its most radical symbol in the crucified body. According to the principle of <jats:italic>imitatio Jesu</jats:italic>, believers have always been called to consider pain as an experience to be lived and shared with Christ, to be offered to him as a gift of self to the Other. Already the masters of suspicion condemned this ascetic-religious cult of sacrifice and showed its dehumanizing and superegoic side, characterized by the violence of abuse, authoritarianism, submission, and above all the denial of life. However, this beneficial and liberating critique has removed the donative and not merely alienating aspect not of the sacrificial body, but of the symbolic sacrifice. Starting from a close dialogue between systematic theology and (Lacanian) psychoanalysis, this contribution aims to question both the sacrificial (religious) fantasy in its alienating character and the equally superegoic drive of the imperative of unlimited enjoyment as a reaction to any kind of symbolic limitation. Against this background, an attempt will be made to think of a form of sacrifice that follows the logic of the gift (of the body), without being subjected to a logic of alienating exchange.","PeriodicalId":42436,"journal":{"name":"Open Theology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2024-07-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141573876","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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