{"title":"Meaning in Anthropocene Life","authors":"Niels Henrik Gregersen","doi":"10.1111/dial.12879","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/dial.12879","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":42769,"journal":{"name":"Dialog-A Journal of Theology","volume":"64 1","pages":"5-7"},"PeriodicalIF":0.2,"publicationDate":"2025-02-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143622553","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Christians, Political Power, and President Trump","authors":"John F. Hoffmeyer","doi":"10.1111/dial.12878","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/dial.12878","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":42769,"journal":{"name":"Dialog-A Journal of Theology","volume":"64 1","pages":"3-4"},"PeriodicalIF":0.2,"publicationDate":"2025-02-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143622270","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The concept of the Anthropocene rightly points to the damaging effects of human agency on ecosystems and the climate. In this article, I argue that the agency of nature nonetheless continues to play a central role on the human sense of significance. For this purpose, I introduce and discuss the Danish philosopher-theologian K.E. Løgstrup's concept of attunement and show how attunement constitutes a relationship between humans and nature through which a sense of fellowship, rather than hostility, springs. This section is divided into two parts. The first part outlines the elementary features to Løgstrup's argument in his philosophy of sensation, while the second part elaborates on his concept of attunement. It is argued that Løgstrup's philosophy of sensation and attunement describes what I call sovereign conditions of life that are continuously at work in midst of the Anthropocene. Subsequently, two empirical cases are applied to illustrate how attunement is operative in experiences of agency in nature. In conclusion, I propose the concept of the Dianthropocene as a tool for rediscovering the mutual ‘throughput’ circulations between human and more-than-human agency.
{"title":"Attunement and the Sense of Significance in Dianthropocene Life","authors":"Steen Hjul Lybke","doi":"10.1111/dial.12874","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/dial.12874","url":null,"abstract":"<p>The concept of the Anthropocene rightly points to the damaging effects of human agency on ecosystems and the climate. In this article, I argue that the agency of nature nonetheless continues to play a central role on the human sense of significance. For this purpose, I introduce and discuss the Danish philosopher-theologian K.E. Løgstrup's concept of attunement and show how attunement constitutes a relationship between humans and nature through which a sense of fellowship, rather than hostility, springs. This section is divided into two parts. The first part outlines the elementary features to Løgstrup's argument in his philosophy of sensation, while the second part elaborates on his concept of attunement. It is argued that Løgstrup's philosophy of sensation and attunement describes what I call sovereign conditions of life that are continuously at work in midst of the Anthropocene. Subsequently, two empirical cases are applied to illustrate how attunement is operative in experiences of agency in nature. In conclusion, I propose the concept of the Dianthropocene as a tool for rediscovering the mutual ‘throughput’ circulations between human and more-than-human agency.</p>","PeriodicalId":42769,"journal":{"name":"Dialog-A Journal of Theology","volume":"64 1","pages":"21-29"},"PeriodicalIF":0.2,"publicationDate":"2025-02-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/dial.12874","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143622728","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The threat of increasingly adverse existential conditions has prompted activist groups like Extinction Rebellion to enact civil disobedience. In this article, this sort of behavior is interpreted as a message about not only what they care about, but about what they think their surroundings ought to care about. Care is investigated through the lens of hermeneutic phenomenology as a call to awareness of the value of something or someone. By drawing especially on Jean-Luc Marion's phenomenology of love and on Joan Tronto's early work on political care, it is shown how to bridge phenomenological concerns with an ethics of caring for someone or something. It is argued that that we may, in some circumstances, demand that other people care about what we care about. Last, these reflections are connected to Sallie McFague's theological suggestion of a friendship model of the divine-creation relationship.
{"title":"Care in Times of Crisis: Phenomenological, Political and Theological Perspectives","authors":"Anders Skou Jørgensen","doi":"10.1111/dial.12876","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/dial.12876","url":null,"abstract":"<p>The threat of increasingly adverse existential conditions has prompted activist groups like Extinction Rebellion to enact civil disobedience. In this article, this sort of behavior is interpreted as a message about not only what <i>they</i> care about, but about what they think their surroundings <i>ought</i> to care about. Care is investigated through the lens of hermeneutic phenomenology as a call to awareness of the value of something or someone. By drawing especially on Jean-Luc Marion's phenomenology of love and on Joan Tronto's early work on political care, it is shown how to bridge phenomenological concerns with an ethics of caring for someone or something. It is argued that that we may, in some circumstances, demand that other people care about what we care about. Last, these reflections are connected to Sallie McFague's theological suggestion of a friendship model of the divine-creation relationship.</p>","PeriodicalId":42769,"journal":{"name":"Dialog-A Journal of Theology","volume":"64 1","pages":"36-44"},"PeriodicalIF":0.2,"publicationDate":"2025-02-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/dial.12876","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143622333","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The green transition touches most aspects of contemporary human lives, including their emotions. This article explores one particular climate emotion, namely shame, asking three interrelated questions: What is climate shame? How does climate shame contribute to the green transition? And within which Christian theological context might we handle climate shame when we experience it? For each question, the article employs different methods, thereby combining phenomenology, ethics, and systematic theology. By exploring climate shame, the article contributes to an interdisciplinary theological understanding of our emotional life in the green transition.
{"title":"Climate Shame: What Is It, Does It Matter, and How Do We Handle It?","authors":"Mikkel Gabriel Christoffersen","doi":"10.1111/dial.12875","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/dial.12875","url":null,"abstract":"<p>The green transition touches most aspects of contemporary human lives, including their emotions. This article explores one particular climate emotion, namely shame, asking three interrelated questions: What is climate shame? How does climate shame contribute to the green transition? And within which Christian theological context might we handle climate shame when we experience it? For each question, the article employs different methods, thereby combining phenomenology, ethics, and systematic theology. By exploring climate shame, the article contributes to an interdisciplinary theological understanding of our emotional life in the green transition.</p>","PeriodicalId":42769,"journal":{"name":"Dialog-A Journal of Theology","volume":"64 1","pages":"15-20"},"PeriodicalIF":0.2,"publicationDate":"2025-02-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/dial.12875","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143622602","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
<p><i>Background for the article</i>: We have composed this article as a dialogue between a psychologist and a philosopher of religion. We believe that our various disciplines may contribute to a varied and nuanced understanding of what meaning entails in the context that the Anthropocene represents. Tatjana has done much research on meaning in life, whereas Jan-Olav is concerned with the meaning of religion in a contemporary context. We continue to discover that we have a lot of interests in common—also when it comes to dealing with the present state of planet Earth and our place in it as humans.</p><p><b><i>Jan-Olav</i></b><i>: The Anthropocene as a call to orientation and transformation</i></p><p>Although the notion of the <i>Anthropocene</i> was rejected as a description of our present age by scientists in 2024, it is still worth employing to depict some of the main features that presently characterize the planet. When Paul Crutzen launched it in 2002 (Crutzen <span>2002, 2006</span>), he pointed to some of the geological-scale changes human actions have caused, such as how between a third and a half of the planet's land surface has been transformed. Moreover, most of the world's major rivers have been dammed or diverted, and fisheries remove more than a third of the primary production of the ocean's coastal waters, and humans use more than half of the world's readily accessible freshwater runoff (Crutzen <span>2002</span>, 23). Thus, “humans are not passive observers of Earth's functioning: To a large extent the future of the only place where life is known to exist is being determined by the actions of humans” (Lewis and Maslin <span>2015</span>, 178). Thus, the far-reaching changes that human actions cause to “the life-supporting infrastructure of Earth that may well have increasing philosophical, social, economic, and political implications over the coming decades” (ibid., 178). The Anthropocene is characterized by the fact that “the human imprint on the global environment has now become so large and active that it rivals some of the great forces of Nature in its impact on the functioning of the Earth system” (Bonneuil and Fressoz <span>2017</span>, 4). It points to human power over the fate of the planet. It does not mean, however, that we can fully control or hamper the developments, control the consequences of our actions, or foresee in detail all that will happen. This experience of lack of control may, in fact, contribute to deterioration in the experience of meaning.</p><p>So, what happens with the sense of meaning in a situation like this one? Is the Anthropocene a testimony to the fact that it is humans alone that are the meaning-making species—those who create meaning on the planet by means of our activity, and also the loss of such when we face the threat of destruction and climate catastrophes? Or is the sense of meaning also something we have to detect and realize in other areas than those activities that have shaped the Anthro
塔佳娜：很长一段时间以来，昼夜的循环，一年中的季节，以及栖息地决定了人类可以做什么，以及他们必须做什么来生存和繁荣。角色和责任在社区内被继承。随着工业化，这些关系消失了。越来越多的人搬到城市，脱离家庭和其他传统的社区结构。电力把黑夜变成了白天，运输和储存设施减少了对播种和收获季节性循环的依赖。正如Crutzen（2006）所声称的那样，工业化期间人类与自然和社会环境脱节的开始也标志着人类世的开始；一个以人类活动对地球地质、生态系统、气候等造成极端影响为特征的时代。我们在这里看到了异化和人类自我赋权的辩证过程。人们对劳动的异化使技术进步成为可能。社会异化使个人获得自主和自由；与自然的疏远助长了对自然的剥削，如化石燃料的枯竭、工厂化农业和低价食品的大规模生产。这首哀歌反映了人类在现代性中的经历：参照系已经丢失。不再有对上下的普遍理解。对许多人来说，生命的意义——如果存在的话——已不再触手可及。所有的意义都失去了？从生命的意义到生命的意义，这种发展曾经也不一定会导致绝望。在工业革命的同时，我们也见证了人类自我认知的革命。启蒙运动鼓励个人运用他们的理性：理智（康德1784,481-494）。正如康德（1788）所建议的那样，上帝的观念成为一种需要付诸实践的假设。我们相信什么是真实的、好的、有意义的？它体现在它的实施、我们的行为和我们的生活方式上。因此，生命的意义体现在生命的意义中——如果你愿意的话——意义的化身。实证研究将生活中意义的存在（也称为有意义性）与意义的四个特定要素联系起来：取向、连贯性、重要性和归属感（Schnell 2021）。这些存在的经历将我们锚定在生活中，提供存在的基础，并帮助我们面对生活中的挑战。Orientation代表我人生追求的方向。就像指南针一样，它对做决定、承诺自己或设定界限很有价值。当我的生活对我来说有意义时，当我体验到自己的价值观和行为，内在自我和外在自我都是完整的时，一致性就出现了；当我可以做我自己，不需要假装或屈服。意义是我重要的经历。我并非无关紧要；我算数：我被别人认可，我能有所作为，我能找到共鸣。归属感，从存在主义的意义上说，意味着在这个世界上有一个位置，成为比我自己更大的东西的一部分（Schnell和Danbolt 2023）。意义取向、连贯、重要性和归属这四个要素可以利用非常不同的意义来源。意义的来源是激励我行动的方向，我的目标。它们代表了我所经历的最终真实和美好的东西，我所承诺的东西，以及我投入时间和精力的东西(Leontiev 2007；施耐尔2021)。这包括宗教信仰和灵性，但也包括许多其他侧重于保护或发展，自我，亲密关系或更广泛的背景，如社会承诺，自然相关性或生成性的方向。通往意义的道路如此之多，当代西方的人们可以自由选择自己的生活意义，这一事实有助于自主和自决。与此同时，它也提出了一个巨大的挑战：我该如何找出什么是有意义的？因为意义可能是积极的，我们期望它让我们感觉良好。然而，当涉及到实现幸福时，追求幸福既没有希望，也不会带来意义(Mauss et al. 2011；施耐尔2021)。与幸福相比，意义不是一种情感。意义的体验是建立在感觉、情感、行动和遭遇的基础上的，但它们基本上是基于一种评估：从元视角来看，考虑到我来自哪里，我想去哪里，我们来自哪里，我们想去哪里：什么是重要的，有意义的，什么才是真正重要的？生活的意义需要反思：我是谁，我想成为谁——作为个人还是作为社会的一部分？对我自己和他人来说，美好而有意义的生活是什么？我能为实现这一目标做出什么贡献？这些反思需要自我诚实。它们要求我们以批判的眼光看待自己和周围的世界。然而，这是我们人类喜欢避免的事情。从某种程度上说，带着幻想去闯荡世界更容易。 因此，心理学将其称为“积极错觉”（Taylor and Brown 1988），即认为我就像自己一样完美——实际上甚至比别人更好（“高于平均水平的错觉”）；世界是公平的（“公正世界信念”）；我们认为一切都在掌控之中（“控制幻觉”）；一切都会好起来，没有必要改变（“不切实际的乐观主义”）。这样的假设增强了我们的自尊；它们让我们以乐观的态度看待世界，至少在中期，让我们远离担忧和恐惧。从长远来看，积极的幻想会阻止我们对自己和世界采取现实的看法。因此，它们使我们无法采取适当的行动。这在需要采取果断行动的危机局势中尤其有害，例如在气候变化方面。此外，积极幻觉只对那些能承受这种偏见的人是“积极的”——这种偏见的提供性是不均匀分布的。全球北方的人们经常觉得自己有优越感和控制感，甚至认为旺盛的消费行为是理所当然的，而全球南方则承受着这种影响。其后果是深远的：社区面临环境污染、经济剥削、社会差距和气候变化的影响(例如，世卫组织2021；2023年世界自然基金会)。然而，“世界是我们的，我们应得的”的叙述深深地编织在西方人的自我形象中，使得任何对这些积极幻想的挑战都感觉像是一种不受欢迎的入侵。意义取向要求超越以自我为中心的积极幸福的视角。然而，我们一直在为这种幸福而奋斗，在对环境的征服中，在追求物质繁荣和随之而来的以人类为中心的自信中。从你作为宗教哲学家的角度来看，前进的方向是什么，Jan-Olav？Jan-Olav：我仍然相信，我们找到意义的地方，是在人际关系中，是在体验与比我们自己更重要的东西的联系中。从神学的角度来看，这不仅是与上帝的联系，也是与其他受造物的联系。你引用尼采的话很明显地说明了这一点：他的经历是一种深刻的脱节，伴随而来的是缺乏方向感，其结果是，这也使生活变得没有意义——因此，我们被扔回生活中“创造意义”，而不是在关系和联系中寻找意义。这种观点表明了一个我认为具有神学和哲学意义的观点：你的研究关注的是生命的意义，而不是生命的意义。我认为这集中在具体的生活，所有的连接和关系（或缺乏这些），而不是一个更通用和抽象的方法。因此，一般的方法即使不是不可能，也可能被认为很难回答，而关于我此时此刻的个人生活的意义以及它最终的消失的问题，则是在另一个层面上与存在相关的东西，可以根据个人情况进行详细讨论。因此，当我们谈论人类世有意义的生活时，寻找生命的意义可能是一种更值得称赞的方法。此外，当你指出意义与取向的关系时，这与我对宗教的总体看法很吻合：宗教主要是关于取向和转变的，而不是信仰某种教义。因此，学说是次要的，而经验提供了定位和转变的机会。让我根据尼采和当代社会学家哈特穆特·罗莎（Hartmut Rosa）所写的内容，进一步阐述这些最初的观点。尼采阐明了，一旦人类不再相信上帝，不再把上帝作为一种依恋，就失去了参照点和方向。积极地说，他把这解释为指向人类的无限可能性，不再受任何神圣秩序的控制和限制——这一立场反映了人类世。然而，这也意味着以人为本的基本条件已经消失。不再有任何外在的事物可以作为安慰，提供温暖、舒适和安慰。上帝的死亡，对上帝的依恋的消解，使人类失去了方向感——也没有办法确定方向此外，有趣的是，如果我们把这看作是对当前状态的一种默示，尼采描述为上帝之死的事件不仅对每个人都有积极的影响，而且包含了消极和可怕的因素（参见更多关于这个寓言的内容，见Henriksen 2022, 65ff.）。尼采因此提供了深刻的见解，当上帝不再是使人类与他人联系和联系的一部
{"title":"Search for Meaning in the Anthropocene: A Dialogue Between Psychology and Theology","authors":"Tatjana Schnell, Jan-Olav Henriksen","doi":"10.1111/dial.12873","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/dial.12873","url":null,"abstract":"<p><i>Background for the article</i>: We have composed this article as a dialogue between a psychologist and a philosopher of religion. We believe that our various disciplines may contribute to a varied and nuanced understanding of what meaning entails in the context that the Anthropocene represents. Tatjana has done much research on meaning in life, whereas Jan-Olav is concerned with the meaning of religion in a contemporary context. We continue to discover that we have a lot of interests in common—also when it comes to dealing with the present state of planet Earth and our place in it as humans.</p><p><b><i>Jan-Olav</i></b><i>: The Anthropocene as a call to orientation and transformation</i></p><p>Although the notion of the <i>Anthropocene</i> was rejected as a description of our present age by scientists in 2024, it is still worth employing to depict some of the main features that presently characterize the planet. When Paul Crutzen launched it in 2002 (Crutzen <span>2002, 2006</span>), he pointed to some of the geological-scale changes human actions have caused, such as how between a third and a half of the planet's land surface has been transformed. Moreover, most of the world's major rivers have been dammed or diverted, and fisheries remove more than a third of the primary production of the ocean's coastal waters, and humans use more than half of the world's readily accessible freshwater runoff (Crutzen <span>2002</span>, 23). Thus, “humans are not passive observers of Earth's functioning: To a large extent the future of the only place where life is known to exist is being determined by the actions of humans” (Lewis and Maslin <span>2015</span>, 178). Thus, the far-reaching changes that human actions cause to “the life-supporting infrastructure of Earth that may well have increasing philosophical, social, economic, and political implications over the coming decades” (ibid., 178). The Anthropocene is characterized by the fact that “the human imprint on the global environment has now become so large and active that it rivals some of the great forces of Nature in its impact on the functioning of the Earth system” (Bonneuil and Fressoz <span>2017</span>, 4). It points to human power over the fate of the planet. It does not mean, however, that we can fully control or hamper the developments, control the consequences of our actions, or foresee in detail all that will happen. This experience of lack of control may, in fact, contribute to deterioration in the experience of meaning.</p><p>So, what happens with the sense of meaning in a situation like this one? Is the Anthropocene a testimony to the fact that it is humans alone that are the meaning-making species—those who create meaning on the planet by means of our activity, and also the loss of such when we face the threat of destruction and climate catastrophes? Or is the sense of meaning also something we have to detect and realize in other areas than those activities that have shaped the Anthro","PeriodicalId":42769,"journal":{"name":"Dialog-A Journal of Theology","volume":"64 1","pages":"8-14"},"PeriodicalIF":0.2,"publicationDate":"2025-01-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/dial.12873","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143622758","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Christianity stands on the threshold of a new reformation. It will not be the first, nor the second, nor the last. The Church is, in the words of St. Augustine, ever reforming, semper reformanda. But especially in times of great change and crisis in our common world, it is the Church's prophetic task to recognize and respond to God's call in relation to these signs of the times.
{"title":"Keynote address at the Thirteenth Assembly of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) “One Body, One Spirit, One Hope” September 14, 2023","authors":"Tomáš Halík","doi":"10.1111/dial.12869","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/dial.12869","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Christianity stands on the threshold of a new reformation. It will not be the first, nor the second, nor the last. The Church is, in the words of St. Augustine, ever reforming, <i>semper reformanda</i>. But especially in times of great change and crisis in our common world, it is the Church's prophetic task to recognize and respond to God's call in relation to these signs of the times.</p>","PeriodicalId":42769,"journal":{"name":"Dialog-A Journal of Theology","volume":"63 4","pages":"160-165"},"PeriodicalIF":0.2,"publicationDate":"2024-12-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143253343","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Central to Thomas F. Torrance's theological epistemology is an emphasis on the objectivity. However, Torrance also recognizes seemingly subjective “Christian theological instinct.” Regrettably, existing researches have not sufficiently explored the meaning of theological instinct nor thoroughly examined its implications for the subject–object relationship within Torrance's theological epistemology. Considering this scholarly gap, this paper undertakes an investigation by compiling new materials on “Christian theological instinct” and conducting an analysis of Torrance's writings. This paper clarifies theological instinct and uses it to understand the cognitive process in Torrance's theology, particularly regarding the realization of objectivity within the subject. Lastly, this paper highlights the significance of theological instinct for Sino-Christian theology.
{"title":"Thomas F. Torrance on Christian Theological Instinct: Its Significances for Sino-Christian Theology","authors":"Haoran Zhang","doi":"10.1111/dial.12872","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/dial.12872","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Central to Thomas F. Torrance's theological epistemology is an emphasis on the objectivity. However, Torrance also recognizes seemingly subjective “Christian theological instinct.” Regrettably, existing researches have not sufficiently explored the meaning of theological instinct nor thoroughly examined its implications for the subject–object relationship within Torrance's theological epistemology. Considering this scholarly gap, this paper undertakes an investigation by compiling new materials on “Christian theological instinct” and conducting an analysis of Torrance's writings. This paper clarifies theological instinct and uses it to understand the cognitive process in Torrance's theology, particularly regarding the realization of objectivity within the subject. Lastly, this paper highlights the significance of theological instinct for Sino-Christian theology.</p>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":42769,"journal":{"name":"Dialog-A Journal of Theology","volume":"63 4","pages":"204-210"},"PeriodicalIF":0.2,"publicationDate":"2024-12-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143248426","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The present essay1 seeks to focus on the meaning and challenges of doubt and lack of certainty in the context of doing academic theological work, whether in a Seminary setting such as my own, Fuller Theological Seminary, or in a “secular” university setting such as the University of Helsinki, my other institution. Throughout, I am raising questions such as whether any kind of certainty or confidence is available in the work of theology, particularly constructive theology, my own particular area of interest. Speaking of constructive theology, reflecting on the issues of doubt, certainty, and confidence is particularly important for the simple reason that it typically engages some non-theological disciplines such as natural sciences with their own criteria for truth. And in my case, dialogue with some other faith traditions, including Islam, further makes the issue of doubt pertinent. To make my inquiry manageable—and hopefully also dynamic—I am carrying critical conversation with two thinkers of the 20th century, namely the philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein and the missionary bishop and cultural critic of the West, Lesslie Newbigin. Whereas the mature Wittgenstein was in search of certainty towards the end of his life, Newbigin sought for proper confidence. Both of them rejected the Cartesian indubitable certainty of modernity, on the one hand, and the dismissal of the possibility of truth in many streams of late modernity on the other. While critically affirming some key arguments of these two diverse thinkers, I also see the importance of buttressing their emerging epistemological programs with the help of insights from postfoundationalist and critical–realist epistemologies. It is clear without saying that this big task can only be outlined and sketched rather than scrutinized in any detail within a 1-h talk! My presentation is more an invitation to conversation and less any kind of finished project. I will first engage the two protagonists. Thereafter, before the summative and concluding reflections in terms of implications to theology and faith, a brief look at the meaning and nature of postfoundationalism and critical realism is attempted.
{"title":"On Certainty, Proper Confidence, and Doubt: A Postfoundationalist and Critical Realist Epistemology for Doing Constructive Theology","authors":"Veli-Matti Kärkkäinen","doi":"10.1111/dial.12871","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/dial.12871","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>The present essay<sup>1</sup> seeks to focus on the meaning and challenges of <i>doubt</i> and <i>lack of certainty</i> in the context of doing academic theological work, whether in a Seminary setting such as my own, Fuller Theological Seminary, or in a “secular” university setting such as the University of Helsinki, my other institution. Throughout, I am raising questions such as whether any kind of certainty or confidence is available in the work of theology, particularly constructive theology, my own particular area of interest. Speaking of constructive theology, reflecting on the issues of doubt, certainty, and confidence is particularly important for the simple reason that it typically engages some non-theological disciplines such as natural sciences with their own criteria for truth. And in my case, dialogue with some other faith traditions, including Islam, further makes the issue of doubt pertinent. To make my inquiry manageable—and hopefully also dynamic—I am carrying critical conversation with two thinkers of the 20th century, namely the philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein and the missionary bishop and cultural critic of the West, Lesslie Newbigin. Whereas the mature Wittgenstein was in search of certainty towards the end of his life, Newbigin sought for proper confidence. Both of them rejected the Cartesian indubitable certainty of modernity, on the one hand, and the dismissal of the possibility of truth in many streams of late modernity on the other. While critically affirming some key arguments of these two diverse thinkers, I also see the importance of buttressing their emerging epistemological programs with the help of insights from postfoundationalist and critical–realist epistemologies. It is clear without saying that this big task can only be outlined and sketched rather than scrutinized in any detail within a 1-h talk! My presentation is more an invitation to conversation and less any kind of finished project. I will first engage the two protagonists. Thereafter, before the summative and concluding reflections in terms of implications to theology and faith, a brief look at the meaning and nature of postfoundationalism and critical realism is attempted.</p>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":42769,"journal":{"name":"Dialog-A Journal of Theology","volume":"63 3","pages":"131-137"},"PeriodicalIF":0.2,"publicationDate":"2024-11-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143252505","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
This article explores the interaction between Renaissance humanism and Martin Luther's Reformation in fostering the emergence of nation-states in Europe. It argues that the emphasis on individualism, critical thinking, and a return to classical ideals during the Renaissance provided a fertile ground for Luther's challenge to the Catholic Church's authority. Luther's Reformation, with its focus on Scripture and a direct relationship between believer and God, further eroded the Church's control and transnational influence. This convergence of intellectual and religious transformations created a space for the development of distinct national identities and the consolidation of power by European monarchs. The article will examine how these movements challenged the existing political and religious order, ultimately contributing to the rise of nation-states as the dominant political entity in Europe.
{"title":"Renaissance humanism and Martin Luther: The birth of nation-states","authors":"Selin Şencan","doi":"10.1111/dial.12870","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/dial.12870","url":null,"abstract":"<p>This article explores the interaction between Renaissance humanism and Martin Luther's Reformation in fostering the emergence of nation-states in Europe. It argues that the emphasis on individualism, critical thinking, and a return to classical ideals during the Renaissance provided a fertile ground for Luther's challenge to the Catholic Church's authority. Luther's Reformation, with its focus on Scripture and a direct relationship between believer and God, further eroded the Church's control and transnational influence. This convergence of intellectual and religious transformations created a space for the development of distinct national identities and the consolidation of power by European monarchs. The article will examine how these movements challenged the existing political and religious order, ultimately contributing to the rise of nation-states as the dominant political entity in Europe.</p>","PeriodicalId":42769,"journal":{"name":"Dialog-A Journal of Theology","volume":"64 1","pages":"45-52"},"PeriodicalIF":0.2,"publicationDate":"2024-10-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/dial.12870","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143622675","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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