Becoming You While Being Me: Exploring the Limits of Christian Love and Identity

Iain Matthew


Pontificio Istituto di Spiritualità “Teresianum”, Rome, Italy (Włochy)

Abstrakt

Does love - can love - transform one person into the other without loss of personal identity? Taking a cue from a phrase in Aquinas’s Commentary on the Sentences, we  seek in the writings of St John of the Cross an understanding of how love works in relation to the identity of lover and beloved.  The article considers a specific verse in his Noche poem, and four texts from the commentary on the Spiritual Canticle. The Carmelite poet’s intution about love’s efficacy then finds confirmation in texts from Ratzinger / Benedict XVI, with his hallmark attention to personal relationship.


Słowa kluczowe:

miłość, przemiana, tożsamość, noc, Jan od Krzyża, Ratzinger, Akwinata

Aquinas Institute. (n.d.). Sentences Commentary. Retrieved January 28, 2022, from https://aquinasinstitute.org/aquinas-opera-omnia/sentences-commentary
  Google Scholar

Barron, R. (2008). Thomas Aquinas: spiritual master. Crossroad, New York.
  Google Scholar

Benedict XVI. (2006). Easter Vigil homily of His Holiness Benedict XVI, Vatican Basilica, Holy Saturday, 15 April 2006. Retrieved February 9, 2023, from https://www.vatican.va/content/benedict-xvi/en/homilies/2006/documents/hf_ben-xvi_hom_20060415_veglia-pasquale.html
  Google Scholar

Benedict XVI. (2008). Easter Vigil homily of His Holiness Benedict XVI, Saint Peter’s Basilica Holy Saturday, 22 March 2008. Retrieved February 9, 2023, from https://www.vatican.va/content/benedict-xvi/en/homilies/2008/documents/hf_ben-xvi_hom_20080322_veglia-pasquale.html
  Google Scholar

Chronological List of Aquinas's Writings (2012). In B. Davies (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Aquinas. Oxford Academic. Retrieved January 28, 2022, from https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780195326093.002.0046.
  Google Scholar

Finlan, S. (2007). Can we speak of theosis in Paul? In M. J. Christensen, J. A. Wittung (eds.), Partakers of the Divine Nature, The History and Development of Deification in the Christian Traditions (p. 68–80). Ada, Michigan: Baker Academic.
  Google Scholar

Herbert, G. (1963). Love [III]. In D. Herbert (ed.), George Herbert. London.
  Google Scholar

John Paul II. (1988). Christifideles Laici.
  Google Scholar

Matthew, I. (2017). Visualising Christology: Llama de amor viva and the Resurrection. Teresianum, 68(1), 87–125.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1484/J.TER.4.2018059   Google Scholar

Ratzinger, J. (1995a). ‘In the Beginning…’ A Catholic understanding of the story of Creation and the Fall, Grand Rapids: Eerdmans.
  Google Scholar

Ratzinger, J. (1995b). The Spiritual Basis and Ecclesial Identity of Theology. In The Nature and Mission of Theology (p. 45–72). San Francisco: Ignatius.
  Google Scholar

Ratzinger, J. (2004). Introduction to Christianity. San Francisco: Ignatius.
  Google Scholar

Ratzinger, J. (2006). The Holy Spirit and the Church. In Images of Hope (p. 63–73). San Francisco: Ignatius.
  Google Scholar

San Juan de la Cruz. (2009). Obras Completas 6th edition (J. V. Rodgríguez, F. Ruiz, Eds.). Madrid: Editorial de Espiritualidad.
  Google Scholar

Sherwin, M.S. O.P. (2005). By Knowledge and By Love: Charity and Knowledge in the moral theology of St. Thomas Aquinas. Washington: CUA.
  Google Scholar


Opublikowane
2023-12-31

Cited By / Share

Matthew, I. (2023). Becoming You While Being Me: Exploring the Limits of Christian Love and Identity. Warszawskie Studia Teologiczne, 36(2), 176–195. https://doi.org/10.30439/WST.2023.2.9

Autorzy

Iain Matthew 

Pontificio Istituto di Spiritualità “Teresianum”, Rome, Italy Włochy

Iain Matthew is a Discalced Carmelite friar, teaching courses on Christology, on St John of the Cross, and on the interface between mysticism and ethics, at the Teresianum Institute in Rome (Piazza San Pancrazio 5/A, 00152 Roma). He has written books on St John and published articles in Teresianum and other journals and reviews



Statystyki

Abstract views: 112
PDF downloads: 54


Licencja

Prawa autorskie (c) 2024 Iain Matthew

Creative Commons License

Utwór dostępny jest na licencji Creative Commons Uznanie autorstwa – Bez utworów zależnych 4.0 Międzynarodowe.

Czasopismo jest bezpłatne i udostępniane na zasadach otwartego dostępu (w formacie pdf na stronie internetowej). Od autorów artykułów nie są pobierane żadne opłaty. „Warszawskie Studia Teologiczne” ukazują się na licencji według standardów Creative Commons: CC BY-ND 4.0 (Uznanie autorstwa - Bez utworów zależnych 4.0 Międzynarodowe) i nie prowadzą skonkretyzowanej polityki dotyczącej danych badawczych. Autorzy zachowują prawa autorskie.