AREA OF STUDY 2
The continuity and maintenance of religious beliefs
This area of study builds on the knowledge of religious beliefs developed in Area of Study 1. Students examine how religions maintain continuity of beliefs concerning ultimate reality, the nature and purpose of human life, the meaning of life and death, the relationship between ultimate reality and humanity, the relationship between humans, and the relationship between human life and the rest of the natural world.
Students investigate the reasons for maintaining continuity of religious beliefs. They explore the ways these beliefs are maintained by religious traditions generally and specifically in one or more than one religious tradition/s, exploring a detailed example in their investigation of a specific religious tradition.
Students investigate these maintenance practices: the reaffirmation of religious beliefs; the application of reaffirmed religious beliefs to new circumstances; the reinterpretation of religious beliefs to address new circumstances; and the reaffirmation of religious beliefs through reformulation of their expression. Students use the eight aspects of religion as a framework for their analysis.
Outcome 2
On completion of this unit the student should be able to analyse the maintenance of religious beliefs
for continuity in religious traditions.
To achieve this outcome the student will draw on key knowledge and key skills outlined in Area of Study 2.
Key knowledge
This knowledge includes:
• the maintenance of continuity of religious beliefs in religious traditions generally, including:
– reasons for maintaining continuity of religious beliefs concerning ultimate reality, the nature
and purpose of human life, the meaning of life and death, the relationship between ultimate
reality and humanity, the relationship between humans, and the relationship between human
life and the rest of the natural world
– internal and external factors that can promote action to maintain continuity of these beliefs
– ways of maintaining continuity of these religious beliefs used in response to internal and external
factors, including reaffirmation of religious beliefs, the application of reaffirmed religious beliefs
to new circumstances, the reinterpretation of religious beliefs to address new circumstances,
and the reaffirmation of religious beliefs through reformulation of their expression
• the maintenance of continuity of religious beliefs in one or more than one religious tradition/s
specifically, including:
– the reasons for maintaining continuity of a particular religious belief/s concerning ultimate
reality, the nature and purpose of human life, the meaning of life and death, the relationship
between ultimate reality and humanity, the relationship between humans, and the relationship
between human life and the rest of the natural world
– internal and/or external factors that promoted action to maintain continuity of the belief/s
– the way/s of maintaining continuity of the belief/s used in response to the internal or external
factors.
Key skills
These skills include the ability to:
• identify the reasons for maintaining continuity of religious belief/s
• describe internal and external factors which promote action to maintain continuity of religious
belief/s
• analyse the ways of maintaining continuity of religious belief/s by:
– giving a clear description of the ways of maintaining continuity of religious belief/s
– explaining the strengths and weaknesses of the choice of method to maintain continuity
– applying understanding of any relevant
TEACHING PLAN
Download the teaching plan for this Area of Study - make sure that you have completed all Practice MiniSACS and Holiday Homework
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Area of Study 2 Maintaining Continuity of Religious Beliefs in general - PowerPoint & Sample Text
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What does religion mean etymologically?
The Latin word religare, which means “to tie, to bind fast” is often given as the etymology of the word religion. The Oxford English Dictionary points out, though, that the etymology of the word is doubtful. Earlier writers like Cicero, the ancient Roman philosopher, connected the term with relegere, which means “to read over again” or “to recover again.” Whether the idea of religion comes from binding or rereading, the maintenance of continuity of religious beliefs is an ongoing and essential task within all religious traditions. All aspects of the tradition, its history, the faith of current adherents and the future of the religion are at stake when maintaining continuity of religious belief.The reasons for maintaining continuity of religious beliefs include an honoring of the past, providing a focus for the present and a hope for the future.
Honouring the past
The word, tradition, comes from the Latin tradere to deliver or to hand over. Religious faith is understood to be ancient and new. The tradition passes organically from person to person, from generation to generation, in the actions determined by the religious tradition to be most essential to the task of maintaining the faith. The handing-on of the tradition has cross-generational and intra-generational intent. The believer is called to give witness to the faith and to express the faith in ways that enable it to be shared with the youth but also with adult believers and sometimes with non-believers. While not all traditions actively seek converts, all religious groups seek to maintain the continuity of the ancient faith for present and future generations.
Focus for the Present
The maintenance of beliefs provides a focus for the present life of the tradition and the individuals and groups who make it up. The activities associated with maintaining the faith exercises the faith of contemporary believers. Activities of commitment, including the performance of rituals, reading from sacred texts and storytelling, provide a sense of direction, hope and purpose within the tradition. Stories require interpretation and application to modern circumstances. Such activities require appropriate leadership and authority. Social structures of a tradition in many ways exist for the maintenance of the tradition. The symbols of the tradition, so often a feature of the rituals and stories, point beyond themselves to the great ancient truths of the tradition and make a significant contribution to the maintenance of belief. Thus, the expression of beliefs in the tradition becomes the way of life for its members, an essential source of meaning and conviction.
Further to this, the individual search for meaning of members is conducted within the belief structure of the tradition. The processes in place for the maintenance of belief provide a structure against which the individual assesses personal faith and community life. The individual adherent makes judgments and forms commitments based on their personal sense of the community life of the tradition and the patterns and structures of the society in which the religious tradition finds itself. The ethical teaching of any religious tradition points to the appropriate goods and appropriate norms for relationships in the tradition and in society. Each individual adherent is given pause to consider their actions as part of their religious tradition. Their actions will tend to maintain the tradition or their actions will tend support some alternative world view. Their actions organically affect the ongoing approach to the maintenance of beliefs within their tradition.
Hope for the Future
The future hopes of any religious tradition are clearly aligned with maintenance of continuity of beliefs. Plans for the development of resources, human and physical, are profoundly affected by the need to maintain faith. Maintaining religious beliefs is central to decisions about providing for mission and outreach from the religious community to those outside the community. From plans for ongoing production and translation of sacred texts, to planning for leadership in ritual and to schemes for revitalising the faithful, the continuity of the faith in central. Equally, the planning for the development of infrastructure, buildings and monuments, training facilities the like are deeply connected to the maintenance of the faith. And so, the future of the religion is wed to the commitment of believers to the maintenance of beliefs.There are internal and external factors that can promote action to maintain continuity of these beliefs.
External Factors
The factors that are external to the tradition could include scrutiny or criticism from outside the tradition that may result in adverse or hostile media coverage. Such coverage can lead to some consideration of the way in which ancient beliefs are presented in the public forum. In a similar way the shifting values of the multicultural society can have the beliefs of a religious tradition called into question in the public domain in ways that promote an internal struggle with the nature of beliefs and their expression in the tradition. Natural and human-made disasters can be a challenge to faith resources of a religious tradition. All traditions have approaches to death and suffering that are called on in times of stress when belief can be at its lowest ebb. At other times a change in government or government policy can have a dramatic effect on a faith system, creating new or modified approaches to the issue of maintaining the continuity of faith.
Internal Factors
There are factors that come from inside the religious tradition that can instigate action to maintain continuity of beliefs. Internal scrutiny or criticism runs the gauntlet of being perceived as heresy but can over a period of time lead to reformulations of aspects of the belief system. This concerns the place of dissent in a religious tradition. How far can an internal critic go and remain faithful to the beliefs of a tradition? It is the tradition itself and particularly its leadership that must determine the weave of the fibers of belief that make the cloth of faith. At times the actions of leadership within a religious tradition call the tradition to reiterate or reinforce its belief systems. A change of leadership or a change of approach in leadership can raise questions for the continuity of the beliefs in the tradition. The history of all religious traditions shows plainly that the actions of leaders can have wide ranging effects on the development of the system. Such actions can dramatically affect the perception of the tradition internally and in the cultural situations in which the religious tradition exists.
Approaches to Maintaining Continuity of Religious Beliefs
Religious traditions employ a number of approaches to maintaining continuity of religious beliefs in response to internal and external factors.
The first is the reaffirmation of religious beliefs. In essence it is a restatement of the traditional faith. This is the major approach to the maintenance of beliefs and includes much of the regular agenda of the tradition. This approach can be imbedded in time honored rituals, social order, texts and symbols of the tradition. Other examples of this include creeds and the codification of ethics. The key advantage of this approach is that consistency of the unchanged message avoids confusion for both believers and onlookers. The disadvantage can be monotony.
The second way of maintaining continuity is the application of reaffirmed religious beliefs to new circumstances. In this situation the tradition has recognized that the ground has shifted and seeks to address the situation with a timely restatement of the essential tenets of the tradition. The advantage here is the offer of security to the members of the tradition. The ancient faith statements are still in vogue. The down side is that the ancient faith statements may be losing their appeal in changing social circumstances.
This may lead to the third approach: the reinterpretation of religious beliefs to address new circumstances. A reinterpretation implies more than restatement. It is a creative hermeneutical (meaning making) process focused on the essence of the belief but applying it to new conditions. Often this is achieved through, not change of belief but a change of emphasis. One belief is highlighted and another neglected or ignored to achieve a response to a new circumstance. This approach appeals to those who wish to see the tradition unaltered in belief and ceremony and leadership but see the need for a new explanation of the faith. It will not captivate those who see the situation in more desperate terms.
These may call on the tradition to adopt its final option: the reaffirmation of religious beliefs through reformulation of their expression.The most radical approach to maintaining the continuity of belief is reformulation. The ways that the faith has been expressed are judged to be in need of review in a creative reworking of the key aspects of the tradition. In the case of sacred texts this may mean a new translation. Rituals may be embellished, truncated, reworded or reordered. Relationships between authorities within the tradition may be reconsidered or reordered in some way. Histories and authorities may be reinterpreted to account for the reformulation.
The Latin word religare, which means “to tie, to bind fast” is often given as the etymology of the word religion. The Oxford English Dictionary points out, though, that the etymology of the word is doubtful. Earlier writers like Cicero, the ancient Roman philosopher, connected the term with relegere, which means “to read over again” or “to recover again.” Whether the idea of religion comes from binding or rereading, the maintenance of continuity of religious beliefs is an ongoing and essential task within all religious traditions. All aspects of the tradition, its history, the faith of current adherents and the future of the religion are at stake when maintaining continuity of religious belief.The reasons for maintaining continuity of religious beliefs include an honoring of the past, providing a focus for the present and a hope for the future.
Honouring the past
The word, tradition, comes from the Latin tradere to deliver or to hand over. Religious faith is understood to be ancient and new. The tradition passes organically from person to person, from generation to generation, in the actions determined by the religious tradition to be most essential to the task of maintaining the faith. The handing-on of the tradition has cross-generational and intra-generational intent. The believer is called to give witness to the faith and to express the faith in ways that enable it to be shared with the youth but also with adult believers and sometimes with non-believers. While not all traditions actively seek converts, all religious groups seek to maintain the continuity of the ancient faith for present and future generations.
Focus for the Present
The maintenance of beliefs provides a focus for the present life of the tradition and the individuals and groups who make it up. The activities associated with maintaining the faith exercises the faith of contemporary believers. Activities of commitment, including the performance of rituals, reading from sacred texts and storytelling, provide a sense of direction, hope and purpose within the tradition. Stories require interpretation and application to modern circumstances. Such activities require appropriate leadership and authority. Social structures of a tradition in many ways exist for the maintenance of the tradition. The symbols of the tradition, so often a feature of the rituals and stories, point beyond themselves to the great ancient truths of the tradition and make a significant contribution to the maintenance of belief. Thus, the expression of beliefs in the tradition becomes the way of life for its members, an essential source of meaning and conviction.
Further to this, the individual search for meaning of members is conducted within the belief structure of the tradition. The processes in place for the maintenance of belief provide a structure against which the individual assesses personal faith and community life. The individual adherent makes judgments and forms commitments based on their personal sense of the community life of the tradition and the patterns and structures of the society in which the religious tradition finds itself. The ethical teaching of any religious tradition points to the appropriate goods and appropriate norms for relationships in the tradition and in society. Each individual adherent is given pause to consider their actions as part of their religious tradition. Their actions will tend to maintain the tradition or their actions will tend support some alternative world view. Their actions organically affect the ongoing approach to the maintenance of beliefs within their tradition.
Hope for the Future
The future hopes of any religious tradition are clearly aligned with maintenance of continuity of beliefs. Plans for the development of resources, human and physical, are profoundly affected by the need to maintain faith. Maintaining religious beliefs is central to decisions about providing for mission and outreach from the religious community to those outside the community. From plans for ongoing production and translation of sacred texts, to planning for leadership in ritual and to schemes for revitalising the faithful, the continuity of the faith in central. Equally, the planning for the development of infrastructure, buildings and monuments, training facilities the like are deeply connected to the maintenance of the faith. And so, the future of the religion is wed to the commitment of believers to the maintenance of beliefs.There are internal and external factors that can promote action to maintain continuity of these beliefs.
External Factors
The factors that are external to the tradition could include scrutiny or criticism from outside the tradition that may result in adverse or hostile media coverage. Such coverage can lead to some consideration of the way in which ancient beliefs are presented in the public forum. In a similar way the shifting values of the multicultural society can have the beliefs of a religious tradition called into question in the public domain in ways that promote an internal struggle with the nature of beliefs and their expression in the tradition. Natural and human-made disasters can be a challenge to faith resources of a religious tradition. All traditions have approaches to death and suffering that are called on in times of stress when belief can be at its lowest ebb. At other times a change in government or government policy can have a dramatic effect on a faith system, creating new or modified approaches to the issue of maintaining the continuity of faith.
Internal Factors
There are factors that come from inside the religious tradition that can instigate action to maintain continuity of beliefs. Internal scrutiny or criticism runs the gauntlet of being perceived as heresy but can over a period of time lead to reformulations of aspects of the belief system. This concerns the place of dissent in a religious tradition. How far can an internal critic go and remain faithful to the beliefs of a tradition? It is the tradition itself and particularly its leadership that must determine the weave of the fibers of belief that make the cloth of faith. At times the actions of leadership within a religious tradition call the tradition to reiterate or reinforce its belief systems. A change of leadership or a change of approach in leadership can raise questions for the continuity of the beliefs in the tradition. The history of all religious traditions shows plainly that the actions of leaders can have wide ranging effects on the development of the system. Such actions can dramatically affect the perception of the tradition internally and in the cultural situations in which the religious tradition exists.
Approaches to Maintaining Continuity of Religious Beliefs
Religious traditions employ a number of approaches to maintaining continuity of religious beliefs in response to internal and external factors.
The first is the reaffirmation of religious beliefs. In essence it is a restatement of the traditional faith. This is the major approach to the maintenance of beliefs and includes much of the regular agenda of the tradition. This approach can be imbedded in time honored rituals, social order, texts and symbols of the tradition. Other examples of this include creeds and the codification of ethics. The key advantage of this approach is that consistency of the unchanged message avoids confusion for both believers and onlookers. The disadvantage can be monotony.
The second way of maintaining continuity is the application of reaffirmed religious beliefs to new circumstances. In this situation the tradition has recognized that the ground has shifted and seeks to address the situation with a timely restatement of the essential tenets of the tradition. The advantage here is the offer of security to the members of the tradition. The ancient faith statements are still in vogue. The down side is that the ancient faith statements may be losing their appeal in changing social circumstances.
This may lead to the third approach: the reinterpretation of religious beliefs to address new circumstances. A reinterpretation implies more than restatement. It is a creative hermeneutical (meaning making) process focused on the essence of the belief but applying it to new conditions. Often this is achieved through, not change of belief but a change of emphasis. One belief is highlighted and another neglected or ignored to achieve a response to a new circumstance. This approach appeals to those who wish to see the tradition unaltered in belief and ceremony and leadership but see the need for a new explanation of the faith. It will not captivate those who see the situation in more desperate terms.
These may call on the tradition to adopt its final option: the reaffirmation of religious beliefs through reformulation of their expression.The most radical approach to maintaining the continuity of belief is reformulation. The ways that the faith has been expressed are judged to be in need of review in a creative reworking of the key aspects of the tradition. In the case of sacred texts this may mean a new translation. Rituals may be embellished, truncated, reworded or reordered. Relationships between authorities within the tradition may be reconsidered or reordered in some way. Histories and authorities may be reinterpreted to account for the reformulation.
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Continuity and Maintenance of Belief in the Roman Catholic Tradition: Eschatology - SAMPLE TEXT
SAMPLE TEXT
Continuity and Maintenance of Belief in the Roman Catholic Tradition: Eschatology
The human experience of death has always had a place in religious belief systems. In Roman Catholicism this topic is part of the study of eschatology (the last things). For all Christians, so for Roman Catholics, the life, death and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth points to belief in the afterlife. In Roman Catholicism there has been a reinterpretation of this belief in life after death and its implications for people of faith. This development was crystalised in the documents of the Second Vatican Council and emphasised in its aftermath.
Resurrection faith is secured by the magisterium of the Roman Catholic Church. The Magisterium is responsible for maintaining consistency in the Catholic Tradition. By the term, magisterium (magister is Latin for teacher) is meant the church’s official teaching office. It consists of the Pope and bishops. The role of the magisterium is to maintain the consistency between the lex orandi (law of prayer) and lex credendi (law of faith). It does this through papal teaching, documents from ecumenical councils and from synods of bishops and the Curia, the Roman Congregations at the service of the papacy. This documentation of Catholic belief includes the Roman Missal and other Liturgical Documents, the Code of Canon Law and the Catechism of the Catholic Church and its Compendium.
Belief in resurrection and eternal life has been continuously maintained across the Christian millennia. The reasons for this include honouring the past, motivation of the faith of current adherents and for the future hope of the Church.
In term of honouring the past, Roman Catholics have two thousand years of constantly acknowledging the fact and significant of resurrection faith. The record is to be found in both scripture and tradition. In Scripture Catholics find their belief in the resurrection of Christ, belief in the resurrection of the dead and belief in the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God was the central concern of Jesus. His preaching, in parables, points to a kingdom or reign of God that has entered history, a reign that offers hope and salvation for all. Parables like the mustard seed, the banquet and the sower speak in earthy terms of a hope for a better world in a return to faith. The kingdom to which Jesus refers is sought in the present for those who have eyes to see and the kingdom is also to be hoped for. The first Christians would find the greatest expression of that hope in Jesus’ resurrection. Early references to belief in the resurrection of Christ can be found in Paul’s second letter to Timothy: “Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, descended from David. This is my gospel, for which I am suffering even to the point of being chained like a criminal. But God's word is not chained.” 2 Tim 2:8-9. Paul also affirms resurrection faith for the Corinthian Christians “If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised.” 1 Cor 15: 13. The belief in the kingdom of God can be found in the gospels. Luke’s gospel for instance tells is that of all born from women John (the Baptist) is the greatest, but even the one least in the Kingdom of heaven is greater than he.
These beliefs are also acknowledged through tradition. It is a feature of Credal statements such as the Nicene Creed (resurrection of the dead and life of the world to come) and the Apostles’ creed (resurrection of the body and life everlasting). It is found in scholastic theology such as in the Summa of Thomas Aquinas, who wrote of four last things: death; judgement; heaven and hell. Dante Aligheri’s Italian epic Divino Comedia (Divine Comedy) brought imagination to Thomistic eschatology and coloured Christian imagination of the afterlife for centuries.
This resurrection faith continues to animate Christian life in prayer and practice in the present day. The liturgical focus of the paschal mystery in the sacramental life of Roman Catholics is central to the life of faith lived in the shadow of the cross with the hope of new life in Christ. The paschal mystery is a technical phrase that refers to the significance of Jesus death and resurrection and is effect in the lives of present believers, who with St Paul, claim to carry this imprint in their hearts and action. Action for social justice and the preferential option for the poor are significant elements of Catholic life. Roman Catholics see God’s kingdom is about inclusion, participation, human rights and the common good of all members of the global society.
The future hope of Roman Catholics is animated by resurrection faith. The belief in the communion of saints, that community of faith in this life and the next, continues to focus the future thinking of Roman Catholics. The Roman curia, since Vatican II and particular since the pontificate of John Paul II, has been used the cult of the saints to strengthen resurrection hope. With many beatifications and canonizations in recent times, the Church is constantly reminding the faithful that a life lived in Christ has its reward in heaven. It is a focus on the eschatological future of the individual that is never removed from a community of belonging and the fellowship of worship.
But how did Roman Catholics understand resurrection faith prior to the Second Vatican Council. In the nineteenth and early twentieth century, the Roman church had become a fundamentalist organisation; its way of operating was centralised and inwardly focused. There was a ghetto mentality about the church. It was separate, enclosed and largely removed from and critical of the outside world. With a static world view, Catholic Church struggled with the many modern concepts including Darwinian and cosmic evolution and their implications for beliefs like divine creation and original sin. It was sectarian and suspicious of not just the world of science and modern ideas but other Christian denominations and other religious traditions, professing to its members that there was no salvation outside the Church. It saw itself as the victimised Kingdom of God on earth and the concept of a delayed – not yet - salvation was emphasised. Life was seen as a trial to be judged when we die; if good enough then the soul would spend less time in purgatory to pay the price of sin. There were explicit teachings about heaven and hell. Hell was taught to be a place of punishment, of eternal damnation and suffering in fire and brimstone; whereas heaven was the joy of the beatific vision that followed the time of purgation. Dualism (from Platonic thought) or imagining all things in apparent opposites was central to these teachings: Sacred against the Secular, the Church against the World, Saved verses the Unsaved, earthly body containing a divine soul, heaven above and hell below are examples of this emphasis. The thoughts and actions in the life of individuals only gained their meaning in the light of personalised salvation beyond the grave. It was echoed in the funeral prayers of the Latin Rite (Ritual Romanum) focused of the saving of the soul of an individual person after death. The invocation: “Deliver me, O Lord, from everlasting death in that day of dread …” was lead by the priest wearing Black Vestments. The prayer from the Rosary sequence “O My Jesus, forgive us our sins and save us from the fires of hell” was typical of Catholic piety.
There were significant internal factors that led to action to maintain the continuity of this resurrection faith at the second Vatican Council. Pope Leo XIII in his 1891 document “Rerum Novarum” paved the way for a socially conscious Roman Catholicism. As Rome spoke against unbridled Capitalism and all forms of Communism, Catholic Action is its various forms around the globe, became a significant influence for the change. Catholics had a role in the world. Mission was becoming much more than proselytising (making converts). The importance of social justice and the development of people in “this life” were changing in the minds of Roman Catholics. There had been a resurgence of biblical scholarship caused by Pope Pius XII’s Divino Afflante in 1943. This allowed for the historical critical interpretation of the sacred text and the council would return to scripture for its views on eschatology. Throughout the twentieth century the movement for liturgical reform in the church had been at work. Pope Pius XII in 1950 also had started to reform the Easter ceremonies so that the focus was more clearly on the Paschal character of Easter faith. The first council document was the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy calling for liturgical renewal with particular emphasis on the paschal mystery. Pope John XXIII, (Angelo Gueseppi Roncalli) also became perhaps the most significant internal factor when he called for “aggorniamento” or updating of the church. He also called for a ressourcement. Ressourcement involves a “return to the authoritative sources” of Christian faith, for the purpose of rediscovering their truth and meaning in order to meet the critical challenges of our time. The ideas of ecumenism and inter faith dialogue was already a feature of his pastoral ministry and became a part of his encyclical program. Roncalli was clear that he wanted the council to reaffirm the ancient faith as well as address the concerns of the modern age, the new circumstances.
There were also external factors that contributed to Vatican II. The static view of the world by the church was in question and theologians, like the Jesuit palaeontologist, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, had developed new proposals for an evolutionary Christianity. While not published in his lifetime for fear of theological oppression that revolutionary thinking can know, Teilhardt had reimagined and reinterpreted Christian faith and Christian living to account for evolution, which he called the Divine Milieu. Another factor was the impact of the World Wars of 1914-1918 and 1939-1945. These were not religious wars (other than Hilter’s final solution against the Jews) and Protestants and Catholics and Orthodox Christians were able to recognize a deeper humanity in the inhumanity of the massive destruction of human life. Ronacalli was intimately connected with the implications of this emerging sense of the human condition that grew from the European war.
The process of the council of 1962-65 reinterpreted many Roman Catholic Traditions. In attendance were the Popes, John XXII then Paul VI, bishops from around the world, with their periti (theological experts). John XXII’s opening address was clear: The greatest concern of the Ecumenical Council is this: that the sacred deposit of Christian doctrine should be guarded and taught more efficaciously.
They debated a number of documents that related to eschatology such as Sacrosanctum Concilium, Lumen Gentium and Gaudium et Spes. And there were commissions established to consider the ramifications of the documents and to create the Church emerging from Vatican II.
Much of what the council did with regard to the last things might be characterised as a restatement of the traditional belief statements, particularly with regard to the last things. On one hand, there no new teaching about the Kingdom of God or about resurrection or about Christian hope beyond this life, or about the content of salvation. On the other hand, the eschatological emphases of the early twentieth century catholic piety, described earlier, are not so evident in the council. There is a change of accent. Death, judgement and heaven are no longer couched solely, or even mainly, in terms of individual salvation and some traditional categories are barely spoken of or not mentioned (hell, purgatory, limbo).
The Council may be represented as restatement of the traditional faith in a new circumstance. On one hand, there can be no doubt that the kingdom of God is highlighted at the council. This is in terms familiar in scriptures and in the writings of the fathers of the Church. This occurred in response to a broadening of the Church’s scriptural (divino afflante) and patristic agenda (ressourcement). These ancient approaches to the mystery of resurrection faith have indeed been brought to bear in a new historical circumstance. On the other hand, the eschatological emphasis is so distinctively a redirection away from a fortress mentality of salvation, to an openness to the goodness in all persons, that only the more conservative commentators take this view.
Most commentators understand the council to be more radical and would make that case that Vatican II represented a reinterpretation of resurrection faith, if not a reformulation. A number of significant texts associated with eschatology can be drawn into the debate.
Sacrosanctum Concilium stated that the funeral rites now needed to emphasis the Paschal Mystery and could also include traditions and rituals important to the region.
The rite for the burial of the dead should evidence more clearly the paschal character of Christian death, and should correspond more closely to the circumstances and traditions found in various regions, SC 81
As already noted, the Council returned to the bible for teaching on the Kingdom of God and particularly the parables of Jesus, like the mustard seed and the ten bridesmaids. The emphasis was now on the Kingdom of God being present and the central feature of the contemporary mission of the Church as well as a future hope - yet to come. By re-emphasising an ancient biblical tradition the council balanced the medieval doom language surrounding death. The Council opened the way for the rites to be in the vernacular (the language of the people) and in the case funeral rites the colour of priest’s vestments was to be white, not black to better symbolise Christian hope. Council Fathers wanted funerals to regain something of the joyful character which they had had in the early centuries when the connection between Christian death and the resurrection of Jesus Christ was uppermost in people’s minds. These rites were the result of a rewrite of the Ritual Roman by Commissions established by Paul VI that were not published in an English translation until 1970.
The spirit of ecumenism and openness was evident in Lumen Gentium. The Roman church was not the only expression of the Christian faith.
the church of Christ … subsists in the catholic church, LG 8
The God’s kingdom was greater that the Catholic Church alone and more than some future reality to be known in death but God’s kingdom is any place where God’s values are at stake.
...a kingdom of truth and life, a kingdom of holiness and grace, a kingdom of justice, love and peace, LG 36
The final document of the council, Gaudium et spes, highlighted the eschatological turn.
The joys and the hopes, the griefs and the anxieties of the people of this age, especially those who are poor or in any way afflicted, these are the joys and hopes, the griefs and anxieties of the followers of Christ, GS 1
After the Council there were differences of opinion within the Church which had potential to lead to polarisation. On the right wing there were the conservatives who felt that some important traditions may have been lost or disregarded. On the left wing were the reformers who were great supports for change in the church. Both sides were generally happy with the council documents but had different perceptions. The conservative side was content that the changes allowed the church be offer better witness in its quest to be Christ for the world. Progressives were happy with the churches push to update its approach to the modern world, especially the approach of Gaudium et spes.
The church that emerged after the council had a renewed sense of social responsibility and more inclusive theology. That the Kingdom is present now (as well as yet to come) implies that social justice is also a practical face of eschatology. The call to preach social justice necessarily involves Christians in political struggles that create awkward tension. Saving souls includes saving persons and societies from unjust systems in under-developed nations. Ecumenical openness and a balanced eschatology open the possibility of dialogue with the world. The decline in sectarian rivalry between Catholic and Protestant can be traced to these new ways of thinking about the last things.
Today's Roman Catholic sees evidence of the Kingdom of God in the world in many ways and the world generally notes that fundamentalism is not the dominant feature that it was. Roman Catholicism became of household interest during the Council and its aftermath. Gradual is the change: Catholic fundamentalism is not far beneath the surface of some groups and some magisterial teaching has returned to medieval forms of language and thinking with regard to the end times. Media presentations of Catholic belief concerning eschatology easily focuses on the dualism more evident in the pre-Vatican II era. On the other hand, Pope Francis’ focus on hope has had positive media attention. The world's view of the church has altered for the better but if Roman eschatology over states its claims the old fears soon reappear.
Continuity and Maintenance of Belief in the Roman Catholic Tradition: Eschatology
The human experience of death has always had a place in religious belief systems. In Roman Catholicism this topic is part of the study of eschatology (the last things). For all Christians, so for Roman Catholics, the life, death and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth points to belief in the afterlife. In Roman Catholicism there has been a reinterpretation of this belief in life after death and its implications for people of faith. This development was crystalised in the documents of the Second Vatican Council and emphasised in its aftermath.
Resurrection faith is secured by the magisterium of the Roman Catholic Church. The Magisterium is responsible for maintaining consistency in the Catholic Tradition. By the term, magisterium (magister is Latin for teacher) is meant the church’s official teaching office. It consists of the Pope and bishops. The role of the magisterium is to maintain the consistency between the lex orandi (law of prayer) and lex credendi (law of faith). It does this through papal teaching, documents from ecumenical councils and from synods of bishops and the Curia, the Roman Congregations at the service of the papacy. This documentation of Catholic belief includes the Roman Missal and other Liturgical Documents, the Code of Canon Law and the Catechism of the Catholic Church and its Compendium.
Belief in resurrection and eternal life has been continuously maintained across the Christian millennia. The reasons for this include honouring the past, motivation of the faith of current adherents and for the future hope of the Church.
In term of honouring the past, Roman Catholics have two thousand years of constantly acknowledging the fact and significant of resurrection faith. The record is to be found in both scripture and tradition. In Scripture Catholics find their belief in the resurrection of Christ, belief in the resurrection of the dead and belief in the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God was the central concern of Jesus. His preaching, in parables, points to a kingdom or reign of God that has entered history, a reign that offers hope and salvation for all. Parables like the mustard seed, the banquet and the sower speak in earthy terms of a hope for a better world in a return to faith. The kingdom to which Jesus refers is sought in the present for those who have eyes to see and the kingdom is also to be hoped for. The first Christians would find the greatest expression of that hope in Jesus’ resurrection. Early references to belief in the resurrection of Christ can be found in Paul’s second letter to Timothy: “Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, descended from David. This is my gospel, for which I am suffering even to the point of being chained like a criminal. But God's word is not chained.” 2 Tim 2:8-9. Paul also affirms resurrection faith for the Corinthian Christians “If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised.” 1 Cor 15: 13. The belief in the kingdom of God can be found in the gospels. Luke’s gospel for instance tells is that of all born from women John (the Baptist) is the greatest, but even the one least in the Kingdom of heaven is greater than he.
These beliefs are also acknowledged through tradition. It is a feature of Credal statements such as the Nicene Creed (resurrection of the dead and life of the world to come) and the Apostles’ creed (resurrection of the body and life everlasting). It is found in scholastic theology such as in the Summa of Thomas Aquinas, who wrote of four last things: death; judgement; heaven and hell. Dante Aligheri’s Italian epic Divino Comedia (Divine Comedy) brought imagination to Thomistic eschatology and coloured Christian imagination of the afterlife for centuries.
This resurrection faith continues to animate Christian life in prayer and practice in the present day. The liturgical focus of the paschal mystery in the sacramental life of Roman Catholics is central to the life of faith lived in the shadow of the cross with the hope of new life in Christ. The paschal mystery is a technical phrase that refers to the significance of Jesus death and resurrection and is effect in the lives of present believers, who with St Paul, claim to carry this imprint in their hearts and action. Action for social justice and the preferential option for the poor are significant elements of Catholic life. Roman Catholics see God’s kingdom is about inclusion, participation, human rights and the common good of all members of the global society.
The future hope of Roman Catholics is animated by resurrection faith. The belief in the communion of saints, that community of faith in this life and the next, continues to focus the future thinking of Roman Catholics. The Roman curia, since Vatican II and particular since the pontificate of John Paul II, has been used the cult of the saints to strengthen resurrection hope. With many beatifications and canonizations in recent times, the Church is constantly reminding the faithful that a life lived in Christ has its reward in heaven. It is a focus on the eschatological future of the individual that is never removed from a community of belonging and the fellowship of worship.
But how did Roman Catholics understand resurrection faith prior to the Second Vatican Council. In the nineteenth and early twentieth century, the Roman church had become a fundamentalist organisation; its way of operating was centralised and inwardly focused. There was a ghetto mentality about the church. It was separate, enclosed and largely removed from and critical of the outside world. With a static world view, Catholic Church struggled with the many modern concepts including Darwinian and cosmic evolution and their implications for beliefs like divine creation and original sin. It was sectarian and suspicious of not just the world of science and modern ideas but other Christian denominations and other religious traditions, professing to its members that there was no salvation outside the Church. It saw itself as the victimised Kingdom of God on earth and the concept of a delayed – not yet - salvation was emphasised. Life was seen as a trial to be judged when we die; if good enough then the soul would spend less time in purgatory to pay the price of sin. There were explicit teachings about heaven and hell. Hell was taught to be a place of punishment, of eternal damnation and suffering in fire and brimstone; whereas heaven was the joy of the beatific vision that followed the time of purgation. Dualism (from Platonic thought) or imagining all things in apparent opposites was central to these teachings: Sacred against the Secular, the Church against the World, Saved verses the Unsaved, earthly body containing a divine soul, heaven above and hell below are examples of this emphasis. The thoughts and actions in the life of individuals only gained their meaning in the light of personalised salvation beyond the grave. It was echoed in the funeral prayers of the Latin Rite (Ritual Romanum) focused of the saving of the soul of an individual person after death. The invocation: “Deliver me, O Lord, from everlasting death in that day of dread …” was lead by the priest wearing Black Vestments. The prayer from the Rosary sequence “O My Jesus, forgive us our sins and save us from the fires of hell” was typical of Catholic piety.
There were significant internal factors that led to action to maintain the continuity of this resurrection faith at the second Vatican Council. Pope Leo XIII in his 1891 document “Rerum Novarum” paved the way for a socially conscious Roman Catholicism. As Rome spoke against unbridled Capitalism and all forms of Communism, Catholic Action is its various forms around the globe, became a significant influence for the change. Catholics had a role in the world. Mission was becoming much more than proselytising (making converts). The importance of social justice and the development of people in “this life” were changing in the minds of Roman Catholics. There had been a resurgence of biblical scholarship caused by Pope Pius XII’s Divino Afflante in 1943. This allowed for the historical critical interpretation of the sacred text and the council would return to scripture for its views on eschatology. Throughout the twentieth century the movement for liturgical reform in the church had been at work. Pope Pius XII in 1950 also had started to reform the Easter ceremonies so that the focus was more clearly on the Paschal character of Easter faith. The first council document was the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy calling for liturgical renewal with particular emphasis on the paschal mystery. Pope John XXIII, (Angelo Gueseppi Roncalli) also became perhaps the most significant internal factor when he called for “aggorniamento” or updating of the church. He also called for a ressourcement. Ressourcement involves a “return to the authoritative sources” of Christian faith, for the purpose of rediscovering their truth and meaning in order to meet the critical challenges of our time. The ideas of ecumenism and inter faith dialogue was already a feature of his pastoral ministry and became a part of his encyclical program. Roncalli was clear that he wanted the council to reaffirm the ancient faith as well as address the concerns of the modern age, the new circumstances.
There were also external factors that contributed to Vatican II. The static view of the world by the church was in question and theologians, like the Jesuit palaeontologist, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, had developed new proposals for an evolutionary Christianity. While not published in his lifetime for fear of theological oppression that revolutionary thinking can know, Teilhardt had reimagined and reinterpreted Christian faith and Christian living to account for evolution, which he called the Divine Milieu. Another factor was the impact of the World Wars of 1914-1918 and 1939-1945. These were not religious wars (other than Hilter’s final solution against the Jews) and Protestants and Catholics and Orthodox Christians were able to recognize a deeper humanity in the inhumanity of the massive destruction of human life. Ronacalli was intimately connected with the implications of this emerging sense of the human condition that grew from the European war.
The process of the council of 1962-65 reinterpreted many Roman Catholic Traditions. In attendance were the Popes, John XXII then Paul VI, bishops from around the world, with their periti (theological experts). John XXII’s opening address was clear: The greatest concern of the Ecumenical Council is this: that the sacred deposit of Christian doctrine should be guarded and taught more efficaciously.
They debated a number of documents that related to eschatology such as Sacrosanctum Concilium, Lumen Gentium and Gaudium et Spes. And there were commissions established to consider the ramifications of the documents and to create the Church emerging from Vatican II.
Much of what the council did with regard to the last things might be characterised as a restatement of the traditional belief statements, particularly with regard to the last things. On one hand, there no new teaching about the Kingdom of God or about resurrection or about Christian hope beyond this life, or about the content of salvation. On the other hand, the eschatological emphases of the early twentieth century catholic piety, described earlier, are not so evident in the council. There is a change of accent. Death, judgement and heaven are no longer couched solely, or even mainly, in terms of individual salvation and some traditional categories are barely spoken of or not mentioned (hell, purgatory, limbo).
The Council may be represented as restatement of the traditional faith in a new circumstance. On one hand, there can be no doubt that the kingdom of God is highlighted at the council. This is in terms familiar in scriptures and in the writings of the fathers of the Church. This occurred in response to a broadening of the Church’s scriptural (divino afflante) and patristic agenda (ressourcement). These ancient approaches to the mystery of resurrection faith have indeed been brought to bear in a new historical circumstance. On the other hand, the eschatological emphasis is so distinctively a redirection away from a fortress mentality of salvation, to an openness to the goodness in all persons, that only the more conservative commentators take this view.
Most commentators understand the council to be more radical and would make that case that Vatican II represented a reinterpretation of resurrection faith, if not a reformulation. A number of significant texts associated with eschatology can be drawn into the debate.
Sacrosanctum Concilium stated that the funeral rites now needed to emphasis the Paschal Mystery and could also include traditions and rituals important to the region.
The rite for the burial of the dead should evidence more clearly the paschal character of Christian death, and should correspond more closely to the circumstances and traditions found in various regions, SC 81
As already noted, the Council returned to the bible for teaching on the Kingdom of God and particularly the parables of Jesus, like the mustard seed and the ten bridesmaids. The emphasis was now on the Kingdom of God being present and the central feature of the contemporary mission of the Church as well as a future hope - yet to come. By re-emphasising an ancient biblical tradition the council balanced the medieval doom language surrounding death. The Council opened the way for the rites to be in the vernacular (the language of the people) and in the case funeral rites the colour of priest’s vestments was to be white, not black to better symbolise Christian hope. Council Fathers wanted funerals to regain something of the joyful character which they had had in the early centuries when the connection between Christian death and the resurrection of Jesus Christ was uppermost in people’s minds. These rites were the result of a rewrite of the Ritual Roman by Commissions established by Paul VI that were not published in an English translation until 1970.
The spirit of ecumenism and openness was evident in Lumen Gentium. The Roman church was not the only expression of the Christian faith.
the church of Christ … subsists in the catholic church, LG 8
The God’s kingdom was greater that the Catholic Church alone and more than some future reality to be known in death but God’s kingdom is any place where God’s values are at stake.
...a kingdom of truth and life, a kingdom of holiness and grace, a kingdom of justice, love and peace, LG 36
The final document of the council, Gaudium et spes, highlighted the eschatological turn.
The joys and the hopes, the griefs and the anxieties of the people of this age, especially those who are poor or in any way afflicted, these are the joys and hopes, the griefs and anxieties of the followers of Christ, GS 1
After the Council there were differences of opinion within the Church which had potential to lead to polarisation. On the right wing there were the conservatives who felt that some important traditions may have been lost or disregarded. On the left wing were the reformers who were great supports for change in the church. Both sides were generally happy with the council documents but had different perceptions. The conservative side was content that the changes allowed the church be offer better witness in its quest to be Christ for the world. Progressives were happy with the churches push to update its approach to the modern world, especially the approach of Gaudium et spes.
The church that emerged after the council had a renewed sense of social responsibility and more inclusive theology. That the Kingdom is present now (as well as yet to come) implies that social justice is also a practical face of eschatology. The call to preach social justice necessarily involves Christians in political struggles that create awkward tension. Saving souls includes saving persons and societies from unjust systems in under-developed nations. Ecumenical openness and a balanced eschatology open the possibility of dialogue with the world. The decline in sectarian rivalry between Catholic and Protestant can be traced to these new ways of thinking about the last things.
Today's Roman Catholic sees evidence of the Kingdom of God in the world in many ways and the world generally notes that fundamentalism is not the dominant feature that it was. Roman Catholicism became of household interest during the Council and its aftermath. Gradual is the change: Catholic fundamentalism is not far beneath the surface of some groups and some magisterial teaching has returned to medieval forms of language and thinking with regard to the end times. Media presentations of Catholic belief concerning eschatology easily focuses on the dualism more evident in the pre-Vatican II era. On the other hand, Pope Francis’ focus on hope has had positive media attention. The world's view of the church has altered for the better but if Roman eschatology over states its claims the old fears soon reappear.