Saturday, April 04, 2020

Eastern Christian Books: The Crucifixion of Eros: An Interview with Matthew Clemente

Eastern Christian Books: The Crucifixion of Eros: An Interview with Matthew Clemente

It is no secret that Christianity has throughout its history neglected the feminine, feared it, suppressed it, relegated it to the realm of the irrational and untrue. But if we’re being honest, we must admit that the Christ we meet in the Gospels is not a particularly masculine figure. A savior who comes not in power but in weakness, who preaches mercy instead of justice, forgiveness in place of revenge, who measures his wealth not by how much he can possess but how much he can give away, who shows us how to inhabit our vulnerability and be honest about our frailty, whose love is abandonment—that is not a very manly savior. 

What is the agenda here? Why is the interpretive lens being applied to Christian teaching and for what purpose? There is plenty that raises red flags, but I'm not going to catalog them here yet.

For comparison (or contrast?)...
The Redemption of Eros: Philosophical Reflections on Benedict XVI’s First Encyclical by D. C. Schindler

Deus Caritas Est:
According to Friedrich Nietzsche, Christianity had poisoned eros, which for its part, while not completely succumbing, gradually degenerated into vice.[1] Here the German philosopher was expressing a widely-held perception: doesn't the Church, with all her commandments and prohibitions, turn to bitterness the most precious thing in life? Doesn't she blow the whistle just when the joy which is the Creator's gift offers us a happiness which is itself a certain foretaste of the Divine?
See also MESSAGE OF HIS HOLINESS BENEDICT XVI FOR LENT 2007

Perhaps Clemente would say that his view complements Benedict XVI's. I have doubts about his philosophical and historical premises.

A Good Change or Not?

Carlo Viganò doesn't think it is a good change, the dropping of the title "Vicario di Gesù Cristo." Cardinal Müller is not happy either.

Some might be hopeful and think that this reflects a change in Jorge Bergoglio's ecclesiology. But note that the title "Sommo Pontefice Della Chiesa Universale" is retained.

LSN: Abp Viganò: Has Pope Francis now ‘disavowed’ being Vicar of Christ?
The Pope now seems to declare himself 'absolute monarch even with respect to Christ,' according to the archbishop.
While previous yearbooks listed the title “Vicar of Christ” and the name of the reigning Pope under that title, this year’s annual directory simply lists the name “Jorge Mario Bergoglio,” the name of the man who became Pope Francis in 2013. The title “Vicar of Jesus Christ” stems from Holy Scripture where Jesus granted St. Peter the power of the keys in the Church.

This is, naturally the Latin interpretation of Matthew 16:19 and its application to Rome's claims about the authority of the bishop of Rome.

Lazarus Saturday





What is the Hope for Humanity? A discussion of technology, politics, and theology

N.T. Wright, Peter Thiel, and moderator Ross Douthat

2019 Claude Ryan Lecture on Catholic Social Thought