Dialog-A Journal of Theology最新文献

The classic concept of the communicatio idiomatum, “communication of attributes,” is as indispensable as it is central to Lutheran theology. The councils of Nicaea (325 CE) and Chalcedon (451 CE) affirmed that Jesus Christ is one person with two natures: human and divine. The divine attributes and the human attributes communicate with one another while remaining distinct. “In, with, and under” the historical Jesus with his human attributes, Lutherans exclaim, the eternal Christ with his divine attributes is present. Martin Luther (1483–1546) adds a comparable role for the communicatio idiomatum within soteriology. The attributes of Christ communicate with the human attributes of the person of faith. Theologians have tried to find answers about how Christ's divine and human natures exist in the person of Christ for forgiveness of our sin. Lundensian theology argues that God abandoned Himself to the death on the cross through Christ spontaneously. Its emphasis offers innovation while remaining within classic orthodox parameters.

Martin Luther's theory takes “justification by faith” as its main feature. Ancient Chinese Emotionalism is characterized by “justification by Sincerity.” Both of them emphasize the sincere spirit of the individual, but have different emphasis on the attitude of faith and emotion. Luther's theory and Ancient Chinese Emotionalism both have the characteristics of “returning to the individual” and respecting individual freedom, and show a certain spirit of resistance and innovation against the social establishment.

The issue of how Chinese Taoism was introduced into the Nordic context of Lutheran theology is not only a fascinating subject of history but also a profound religious theme revealing the underlying conflicts, convergence, and dialogue of core values between Eastern and Western faith traditions. This study presents a survey of the early Lutheran interpretation of the Taoist conception of love with particular focus on whether Taoist doctrines were misunderstood during the encounter. The first section addresses the main line of reception of Taoist classics in Scandinavia. The second section examines some critical evaluations of the Taoist value of love by early Nordic missionaries to China. The third section discusses Luther's theology of love by addressing the doctrine of the two kinds of love according to the Finnish Lutheran School. In relation to this Lutheran picture, the fourth section proceeds to the Taoist concept of love by inquiring into Taoism's ideal of divine spiritual life. Based on the systematic comparison of the sources of love in both Lutheran theology and Taoism, section five explores new approaches in the modern Lutheran–Taoist dialogue on the renewal of love. I argue that the Taoist conception of the metaphysical benevolence (love) in Tao as well as the real-ontic presence of Tao in one's soul (Te) is not very far from the Finnish interpretation of Luther's idea of “in ipsa fide Christus adest,” compared to which the Taoist worship of certain moral examples cannot be misunderstood as worship of false idols but rather provides a useful image of an ascending love for inspiring ordinary people toward an ideal spiritual life. Thereby, these ontological and epistemological interpretations open a new horizon for deepening the modern Lutheran–Taoist dialogue on the renewal of love toward divinization.

As the most important reformers of Confucianism and Christianity, early modern thinkers in China and the West, Wang Yangming and Martin Luther both experienced deadly plagues. This article analyzes how they offered emotional direction and assistance to ordinary Christians or the public through their plague narratives, viewed through the lens of emotion studies. By exploring their response to plague, this article aims to facilitate a dialogue between Wang Yangming's doctrine of “extending humanity to form one body with Heaven, Earth and all things” (天地万物一体之仁) and Martin Luther's Christian principle of “loving your neighbor as yourself.”

“Emotion” (情) is a very complex concept in Confucianism, but it can be interpreted in five dimensions. Interpreted as “innate instinct,” emotion refers to the cognitive attributes and physiological basis of emotion. Interpreted in terms of desire, it emphasizes the regulation and restriction of emotion. Construed in terms of Qi (氣), it indicates the source and path of emotion. The interpretation of emotion by nature (性) is most commonly used by Confucians and constitutes the fundamental position of Confucianism. Confucianism can both unify “nature” and “emotion” and also downgrade the status of emotion. The interpretation of emotion by Yin (陰) and Yang (陽) explains the nature and principle of emotion with the help of the rules of heaven. Ritual is based on emotional psychology, and the most basic emotional psychology of ethical life is the premise of Confucian social ritual.

The concept of love occupies a central position not only in the Lutheran–Augustinian theology of justification and sanctification, but also in some traditional Chinese religions such as Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism. For the Finnish interpretation of Luther's theology, a range of pivotal concepts such as two kinds of love, union (participation), gift, favor, unifying power, as well as the real-ontic presence in faith act a fundamental role in addressing the doctrine of justification and divinization. As a new research approach, the formulation of unio cum Christo in Spiritu sancto develops Tuomo Mannermaa's interpretation of in ipsa fide Christus adest thus opening a new dialogue with the relational creativity of love in Chinese Tao-Qi framework. While the ontological presuppositions of these two religious traditions are different, the relational love can be explored as a new conceptual model for deepening the theoretical communications between Lutheran theology and Chinese faith traditions.

Luther's Christology has long been suspected of deviating from the Chalcedonian Definition. Analysis of the suspicions raises in turn questions about Chalcedon as an incoherent compromise between the forces of Cyril and Leo. Complicating the issue is the metaphysical rendering of hypostasis as suppositum in medieval Western scholasticism. Luther's theopaschite Christology presses for the “repair” of Chalcedon by situating the Antiochene concern for Christ's human obedience within the divine self-donation of the Eternal Son according to the Alexandrians. In a Trinitarian Christology incorporating the Antiochene concern for the human obedience of Christ, there would be no competition between the personal union of the divine Son in taking on human body and soul and the Holy Spirit anointing this assumed flesh to create of it the new Adam.

The communicatio idiomatum (the exchange of divine and human properties or attributes), apparently discarded by the Council of Chalcedon in 451, becomes central to both Christology and the life of faith during the Lutheran Reformation. In our own century, the communicatio idiomatum has been expanded and deepened to incorporate all that is biological and even physical, turning the entire history of creation into the eschatological body of Christ, the second person of the Holy Trinity.

In order to refresh scholarly discussions about Luther's Christology, his discourse on Christ is analyzed in the present article with reference to his humanist background and texts, where he attacks scholasticism, philosophy, and logic and seems to promote a new theological methodology and novel ways of speaking about Christ the man-God.