This article presents the work of Czech theologian and priest Tomáš Halík as a theology for the post-secular. The first section outlines three general post-secular themes woven throughout his corpus: ...the blessedness of spiritual seeking, a receptivity to the critical insights of atheism, and the affirmation of doubt and uncertainty as an integral feature of Christian faith. The second section then demonstrates what is distinctive about Halík’s contribution: his engagement with themes of both plurality and uncertainty in a single theological schema. I argue this is an apt response to the post-secular dynamics of the nova effect—as outlined by Charles Taylor and others—that is otherwise lacking in the literature to date.
Tomáš Halík (born 1 June 1948) has established himself as one of the most thoughtful commentators on public cultural witness in a time of change and uncertainty, especially in central Europe. As an ...academic at Charles University (founded 1348) and a Catholic priest in the “Academic Parish of Prague”, Halík played an important role during and following the collapse of Marxism in Czechoslovakia in the “Velvet Revolution” of November—December 1989, even being mentioned as a possible successor to Czech President Václav Havel, while at the same time offering reflections on religious engagement with a complex and changing secular culture. This article engages some leading themes of Halík’s approach to cultural witness, focusing especially on cultural quests for false certainties, the need for churches to create liminal spaces enabling seekers to grasp what lies at the heart of the Christian faith, the dangers of romanticizing a lost past of faith which encourages disengagement with the present, and the need to understand faith in terms of a constant movement of thought rather than a fixed system of ideas. The article considers how these ideas can find wider application in engaging the challenges of cultural witness, particularly in a European context, and what can be learned from them.
Prague, 19 April: German Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, who was elected Pope today, has been very well educated in theology, but he has held traditional views and has not been very open to new tendencies ...in theology so far, Czech Christian Academy head and Catholic priest Tomas Halik told CTK today.
"John Paul II was able to open the hearts of other people in an emotive fashion, while Benedict XVI can do so through arguments," said Vojtech Elias, who noticed Benedict XVI's appeal to Czech ...church. "I was greatly impressed by his charisma. He is certainly not a man for the crowds as John Paul Pavel II used to be, but I think that unusual concentration, depth and kindness emanated from him," Tomas Halik told CTK. Halik said the Pope represented "the voice of ethical reason" to over one billion people in the world.
Prague, 17 February: Czech Catholic priest and sociologist Tomas Halik today resolutely dismissed Finance Minister Miroslav Kalousek's words that the Christian Democrats (KDU-CSL) gave key support to ...presidential candidate Vaclav Klaus in reaction to pressure Halik had exerted on them in favour of Klaus's rival. If Halik had not shown such a strong initiative in support of Jan Svejnar, a number of KDU-CSL lawmakers would have voted differently. Halik's pressure on KDU-CSL electors was so intensive and so unscrupulous that it discouraged those undecided," Kalousek told Czech Television after the election. In an open letter Halik sent to the KDU-CSL national committee ahead of the election, he wrote the committee had made a mistake when it recommended that the KDU-CSL electors support Klaus. He also wrote he was afraid that the KDU-CSL leadership had "sold" their support to Klaus for his and the ODS's pledge to support the church-state property settlement bill.
Czechs are among Europe's most fervently secular people. According to a European Union survey published last year, only 19 percent of Czechs said they believed in God; most of the rest proclaim ...themselves atheists. Only the former Soviet republic of Estonia had a lower percentage of believers. Dusan Trestik noted that the Czechs' standoffishness toward religion predates the communists by centuries. Christianity arrived in the Czech lands in 865, but its defining moment came in the 1400s when Jan Hus, rector at the University of Prague, challenged the authority and teachings of Rome. For this, he was burned at the stake. "Even rational people need to believe in something, something bigger than themselves to make sense of their lives," said Dana Hamplova, a Prague sociologist whose research has found that while Czechs mistrust organized religion, they rank very high among Europeans who believe in the power of fortunetellers and other non- traditional forms of spirituality.
A one-time member of the Czech underground and advisor to Václav Havel, Halík (philosophy and sociology, Charles Univ., Czech Republic) explores the theological understandings of love, grounding his ...discussion in scholarship yet writing in a style that is accessible to nonspecialists.
Fr. Tomas Halik, a Roman Catholic priest and philosopher, onetime Czech political activist, and an advocate for religious freedom and interfaith dialogue, won the 2014 Templeton Prize for religious ...and spiritual progress March 13.
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