Miracles in Science and Theology

Miracles are not "violations" of nature. Contemporary miraculous healings seem to follow natural healing processes but to be enormously accelerated. Like grace, miracles elevate but do not contradict nature. Scriptural miracles, but also contemporary miracle accounts, have something to tell us about how God acts in the world.     

Prayer,Self‐Examination,and Christian Catechesis in Augustine and Luther

Augustine and Luther are well known for their self‐examinations of religious experience, especially its trials and temptations. Their theologies of prayer offer a distinctive window into this self‐examination because they traverse the juncture between doctrine and practice, thereby addressing both the theological and pastoral concerns on sin and grace at the heart of their discussions of religious experience. While emanating from their personal spiritual lives, their theologies of prayer also are firmly rooted within the corporate context of the church and Christian catechesis.     

Birth as Labor and Natality

Abstract

While the embodied subject has become a crucial site of theorization in both the study of religion and feminism, the maternal subject has not yet received consideration. As double, divided in bodies and psyches, subject to partial deaths, opaque to itself, continuous and bounded, of double ontological and legal status, perhaps complexly racialized, perhaps complexly sexed and gendered, the maternal subject defies a liberal anthropology. This paper turns to Hannah Arendt’s work and reception as an important path for consideration of the political import of maternality. Arendt perpetuates a strong private/public distinction and locates maternality in the realm of labor and decisively outside the polis. Birth and maternality as apolitical labor drew strong criticism from Arendt’s first generation of interpreters. Yet this also articulates “flesh-and-blood” aspects of maternality in ways that now deserve greater consideration. Arendt’s famous notion of natality as the source of human newness has been received with enthusiasm by many feminists. I show that Arendt, in part because of the theological heritage of her anthropology of the creature, adopts a problematically disembodied notion of birth, one that effaces the maternal subject in the production of the politics of citizens.     

‘What do these stones mean?’ Inscriptions on stone from an ancient monastery in Ireland that address Jewish–Christian relations

Etched on a stone from a monastery from the Middle Ages at a small village in County Roscommon in Ireland is a combination of Jewish and Christian symbols. The Menorah sits atop a cross. At the base of the cross and at both ends of the crossbar are three small extensions. The image is one of religious integration. Augustine, whose argument for the Trinity and respect for Judaism, comes across on the inscribed stone. His influence on Irish Christianity is evident. The article argues not for the Christian take-over of Jewish symbols to the exclusion of Judaism, but for the recognition of Judaism as the bearer of religious meaning that enriches Christian faith. Here is an object lesson for wholesome relations between Jewish and Christian worshippers.     

An Annotated Catalogue of Protestant Editions in English of Works by and Relating to Saint Augustine of Hippo, 1529-1700

Abstract

Adducing works attributed to Augustine in support of reformist doctrine dates back to Reformation beginnings, and in England early writers like Tyndale (Christian Obedience) and E. Fox (Determinations) appealed to him. In both cases, ancient authority is brought to bear on current issues. Such use of Augustine then and later is closely tied to contemporary events, making a clear understanding of the role of Augustine essential to interpretation of the period. Due to confusable names and variant spellings, an exact figure of editions of works connected with Augustine in English in the early modern era is not quite possible yet, but Early English Books Online (TCP) suggests up to 1000. The catalogue here is an annotated list of forty-four separate works in ninety-six editions which can fairly be described as ‘Protestant Augustinian'. These are either translations of his works, or texts substantially based on his works. Included is an appendix of a further ninety-four Protestant works in 209 editions in which a significant Augustinian element can be detected, a summary table of the pattern of publication of the items listed, and a brief survey of Augustine's English Protestant readership.     

Memory,Rite, and Tradition： A Comparative Confucian-Christian Literary Analysis

I The Confucian Classics and Christian Scriptures speak often about the role ＂the past＂ plays in shaping individual and communal character, life, perception, morality and purpose. In both Christianity and classical Confucianism, memory, rite and tradition are each accorded a central place in preserving and interpreting the past as a dynamic force in the present. The first part of this paper studies points of thematic similarity in Christian and Confucian interpretation of memory, rite and tradition. In the second part of the paper, however, critical points of divergence are addressed; for behind the formal similarities lie deeper intellectual, relational and moral differences in understanding the nature and function of ＂the past＂ in determining both the present and the future. Comparative literary analysis provides a rich resource for contemporary application of the Confucian Classics and Christian Scriptures to discussion of cultural memory and global harmony. The comparative reading of ＇texts＇ also provides an important point of access for understanding the role literature itself plays in determining the form, content and power of memory, ritual and tradition in both Confucianism and Christianity.     

The Christology of St Anthony of Padua: content and method

In 1946 St Anthony of Padua (1195–1231) was declared a Doctor of the Church, recognised for his profound learning. Whereas much has been written about St Anthony, very little of it concerns his profound learning – and so it is not inappropriate to ask wherein this learning lies. Reading St Anthony reveals Christological concerns to be at the heart of his work and in this paper the author explores and clarifies his position. However, anyone looking for new and exciting Christological insights is likely to be disappointed, for St Anthony is entirely orthodox and traditional, although we should not only consider the content of his work, but his ‘method’ too. The way that the saint presents doctrine, and the inferences he draws from it, has much to be commended. Indeed, St Anthony may well be contrasted with those modern theologians who, it has been suggested, have rather lost track of what it is they are really doing.     

THE PARADOX OF INQUIRY IN AUGUSTINE'S CONFESSIONS

Abstract: The Confessions recounts Augustine's successful search for God. But Augustine worries that one cannot search for God if one does not already know God. That version of the paradox of inquiry dominates and structures Confessions 1–10. I draw connections between the dramatic opening lines of book 1 and the climactic discussion in book 10.26–38 and argue that the latter discussion contains Augustine's resolution of the paradox of inquiry as it applies to the special case of searching for God. I claim that he develops a model, relying on the universal human experience of joy and truth, that identifies a starting point that (1) is common to all human beings, (2) is sufficient for guiding a successful search for God, and (3) avoids commitment to recollection of experiences prior to birth. The model is crucial to Augustine's rejection of traditional Platonist views about recollection.     

Book Reviews

Books Reviewed:
Robert Benne, Quality with Soul: How Six Premier Colleges and Universities Keep Faith with Their Religious Traditions
Michael Sells, Approaching the Qur'an: The Early Revelations
H.W. Chilstrom and L.O. Erdahl, Straight and Gay Sexual Fulfillment for Single and Married, Young and Old
Paul H. Santmire, Nature Reborn: The Ecological and Cosmic Promise of Christian Theology.
Gerd Ludemann; Frank Schleritt and Martina Janssen, Jesus After 2000 Years: What He Really Said and Did