This article suggests that the Carolingian effort in resetting the calendar of history at the time of Charlemagne’s coronation to the year 6000 from the Creation and 801 from the Incarnation of ...Christ must be considered as only one of the period in the cycle of the processes of realigning, resetting and redeploying the calendar since the times of Augustine. During this period, the calculations necessary for the construction of the calendars and timelines lead to concerns regarding the end of history and the “end of times”. The first time scholars like Jerome and Augustine had to address the ending of the calendar of the universal sacred history that the Christians inherited from the Old Testament was during the 4th and 5th centuries. The Carolingian period witnessed the second “time of reckoning” when Eusebius’ date for the Incarnation of the Anno Mundi 5199 prompted scholars to reconsider the meaning of the Carolingian rule around the year 801, that is, the Anno Mundi 6000.
Modern science informs us about the end of the universe: "game over" is the message which lies ahead of our world. Christian theology, on the other hand, sees in the end not the cessation of all ...life, but rather an invitation to play again, in God's presence. Is there a way to articulate together such vastly different claims?Eschatology is a theological topic which merits being considered from several different angles. This book seeks to do this by gathering contributions from esteemed and fresh voices from the fields of biblical exegesis, history, systematic theology, philosophy, and ethics.How can we make sense, today, of Jesus' (and the New Testament's) eschatological message? How did he, his early disciples, and the Christian tradition, envision the "end" of the world? Is there a way for us to articulate together what modern science tells us about the end of the universe with the biblical and Christian claims about God who judges and who will wipe every tear?Eschatology has been at the heart of Christian theology for 100 years in the West. What should we do with this legacy? Are there ways to move our reflection forward, in our century? Scholars and other interested readers will find here a wealth of insights.
RE-ENCHANTING ETHICS Orr, James
First things (New York, N.Y.),
08/2024
Journal Article
In O'Donovan's telling, Ethics is no longer equipped to resist the colonizing influence of other disciplines, whether the reductionism of the natural sciences or the positivism of the social ...sciences. "Ethics," he notes, "reflects on the living of human life, not, like anthropology or sociology, from a third-person observational point of view but from the point of view of agents who ask deliberative and evaluative questions about their practical undertakings." ...the chief cause of the demise of Ethics is its loss of three elements that are indispensable to the structure of moral reasoning. Whereas the medieval mind identified them as the deepest dimensions of reality, for Kant transcendentality was merely a feature of human cognition. Recent decades have witnessed a growing recognition that reducing the good to
This article delves into Kabbalistic rationales for the commandments, tracing their theological constructs since their origin in the late twelfth century. It highlights the four aspects of these ...rationales: theurgic, magical, mystical, and eschatological, showcasing their unique approach to divine worship and the interpretation of Jewish Law and rituals. Moreover, it explores how Kabbalists not only emphasize the efficacy of adhering to the commandments but also underscore the negative consequences of transgression and sin, and the blemish they create above and below. Additionally, the entry discusses the complex relationship between philosophical rationalist reasoning for the commandments and the Kabbalists, and the imprint of Maimonides on the evolution of Kabbalistic engagement with reasoning for the commandments. Overall, it offers insights into the multifaceted and evolving nature of Kabbalistic rationales for the commandments.
Although the New Testament texts show an awareness of the problems involved with the delay of the parousia, they still defend the legitimacy of the belief in its imminence. A similar pattern can also ...be found in other early Christian texts. The strategies for coping with and explaining the delay of the parousia change over time, and ultimately the understanding of “imminence” itself is developed. Although belief in the parousia appears to have been fundamental to early Christianity, the significance of this event is transformed from a hope of deliverance to a reason for moral exhortation.
In this article, I identify and attempt to resolve a tension running through the Christian tradition concerning the eschatological fate of language, a tension between “eschatologies of silence” and ...“eschatologies of praise.” Drawing on the apophatic tradition, “eschatologies of silence” argue that language cannot persist into beatitude without introducing absence or lack and will pass away into silent union. Meanwhile, “eschatologies of praise” depict the heavenly liturgy as doxology, the maximal profusion of speech. This tension between the persistence and abolition of speech raises a pressing theological problem, exacerbated by the postmodern linguistic turn. For postmodernity highlights language’s constitutive, and thus unsurpassable, role in the human condition, yet problematizes language’s compatibility with eschatological presence due to its susceptibility to endless deferral. I resolve the tension in favor of an “eschatology of praise” by showing that the logic of doxological speech is compatible with union with divine infinity, especially when epektasis is incorporated into eschatology. Against “eschatologies of silence” like those of Paul Griffiths and Denys Turner, I argue that eschatological suppression of language is equivalent to the rejection of creaturely finitude. Language is never abolished but plays a constitutive role in an eschatological encounter without any shadow of lack.
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