Symbol einer Gegenwart: auf dem Weg zu einer postmodernen Anschauung des Mönchtums
To many contemporary observers, monastic life seems alienating and oppressive, a curious remnant of the Middle Ages, an infringement of (post-) modern freedom and choice. Yet, for the same observers, monastic life represents a store of inexhaustible riches of human wisdom and of a wholesome lifestyl...
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Format: | Print Article |
| Language: | German |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
|
| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Echter
2004
|
| In: |
Zeitschrift für katholische Theologie
Year: 2004, Volume: 126, Issue: 3, Pages: 269-296 |
| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
Monasticism
/ The Postmodern
|
| IxTheo Classification: | KCA Monasticism; religious orders |
| Parallel Edition: | Electronic
|
| Summary: | To many contemporary observers, monastic life seems alienating and oppressive, a curious remnant of the Middle Ages, an infringement of (post-) modern freedom and choice. Yet, for the same observers, monastic life represents a store of inexhaustible riches of human wisdom and of a wholesome lifestyle which are perceived to have been lost in the wake of the Enlightenment. Monks and nuns of today, in turn, seem torn between, on the one hand, a radical liberation from restrictions of their Rules and communities, leading to a collapse of a distinctively monastic culture, and, on the other hand, a frantic resistance to modern subjectivism and relativism leading to a mindless romanticism of the cloister. While concrete reality is undoubtedly more nuanced, the author uses an analysis of the present polarization both inside and outside of monasteries to identify key theological issues which can provide the basis of forward-looking perspectives for a renewed theory of religious life as exemplified by monasticism. This re-appropriation, re-direction and re-imagination of monastic life cannot but take place within an astute awareness of current trends in Church and society as well as in tireless dialogue with the academy, non-theological as well as theological. The line of argument, which aims at the articulation of a postmodern theory of monasticism, follows the thought of the American Lutheran ecumenist George Lindbeck and the German Benedictine scholar Elmar Salmann. Accordingly, similar to a culture or a language, monastic life appears to be a set of practices and mental dispositions which are embedded in communally transmitted symbols, rituals and narratives. Seen thus, monastic life is a symbolically and ritualistically mediated vessel of God's hidden presence in our world. It forms an interpretive framework which enables worldly experiences to be transformed into liberating experiences of God's presence. The interplay between rituals and mystical experiences forms the basis for a distinctive monastic Gestalt that can, by its mere existence, serve as a powerful therapy for both Church and world. |
|---|---|
| ISSN: | 0044-2895 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Zeitschrift für katholische Theologie
|