Vertalingen: Nederlands English
7/5/09
"The Saviour… uses many tunes"
On the abuse of religious language in the recent document of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith
A Summary
This article comments on the recent document of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith regarding certain aspects of the doctrine on the Church (29 June 2007), which as an official statement of the Vatican has received a lot of attention from Catholic and non-Catholic theologians. Revd Professor Hryniewicz, one of the most significant Polish Catholic theologians, deals with the message of the document from a very specific ecumenical position. He highlights the essential, biblical connection between the concept of truth and the notion of Christian hope. In his view, hope is related to eschatology, through which all doctrinal statements will ultimately be tested. The author stresses the particular character of truth approached from a Biblical perspective. This unique character denotes its openness and its direct relationship with eschatology. A positive, inclusive understanding of the truth is applied to ecclesiology. In the light of this crucial connection between the Biblical concept of truth and Christian hope, the author reviews the significance of the recent document issued by the Vatican. The author concludes by re-affirming the value of Christian ecclesiological (denominational) diversity, which can be compared to different 'paths' which have been leading Christians towards God through the centuries. Therefore, the theological quarrel about 'the best way' to God is pointless as the author states that Christian theology should be aware that God's abundance in grace cannot be comprehended by theological models or channelled by just one form of Christianity. As noted by the author, God, like 'an excellent musician uses many instruments in order to bring salvation to his people' and this intuition of Clement of Alexandria is still a valuable signpost to all Christians.
Rev. Prof. Wacław Hryniewicz (Poland)
Prof. Dr. WACŁAW HRYNIEWICZ OMI - Ecumenical Institute of the John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin, Born on July 23,1936 in Lomazy near Biala Podlaska (Eastern Poland); 1960 ordained priest in the Congregation of Oblate Fathers; 1966 doctor's degree in dogmatic theology at the Catholic University of Lublin (CUL), dissertation: Soteriological Significance of the Resurrection of Christ in the Teaching of Contemporary Catholic Theologians; 1968-1970 scientific research in Louvain, Paris, London and Rome; 1974 post-graduate promotion ("Habilitation") on the basis of a study on The Role of Tradition in Theological Interpretation. One of the founders of the Ecumenical Institute at CUL, since 1983 head of the Department of Orthodox Theology at this Institute; 1980-2005 member of the Joint International Commission for Theological Dialogue between the Roman Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church; since 1988 member of the European Society for Ecumenical Research ''Societas Oecumenica''; 1997-2005 director of the Ecumenical Institute at CUL; member of the advisory board of “Eastern Churches Journal” (Fairfax, Virginia, USA). 1998-2000 he was a member of the drafting committee preparing the text of the Charta Oecumenica: Guidelines for the Growing Cooperation among the Churches in Europe, officially signed by the Presidents of the Conference of European Churches (KEK) and of the Council of European Bishops’ Conferences (CCEE) in Strasbourg on April 22, 2001. Lectures abroad: in Switzerland, Germany, France, Austria, United States and Belgium. He has participated in, and organized many international symposia and ecumenical conferences. Research work on Christian paschal theology, theology of hope, universalism of salvation, Old-Russian theology and ecumenical issues. Inspired by the tradition of Eastern Christianity he has been developing an ecumenical theology open to other Christian denominations and other religions, a theology looking for ways of reconciling Churches, nations and cultures.
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