Colloquia Maruliana ..., Vol. 13 , 2004.
Izvorni znanstveni članak
The Foundation, Contents and Significance of the Eucharist in the Works of Marko Marulić
Ivan Bodrožić
Sažetak
Living and writing in a time that was characterised by powerful religious turmoil and tensions, to be radicalised in the first decades of the 16th century in the Reformation, Marulić kept a close eye on these events. One of the principal spurs to Reformation thinking was the Eucharistic practice and tradition of the church, which Protestant theologians considered to be backslidings in many essential segments, calling into question the authenticity of tradition and the under-standing of the Eucharist, its significance, contents and effects through the many centuries of the Church.
Writing his works immediately before the final schism occurred, Marulić was an unbiased witness of the belief of the Church and of Eucharistic doctrine as conceived by Catholic theology. In the works he wrote one can feel that he is a genuine reformer, a trumpet constantly calling upon all members of the Church to mend their ways in accordance with the spirit of the Gospel; and yet his re-forming spirit did not fall into the temptation of working against the Church, causing schism. The revival of the Church could not be carried out without the humble and sincere believer’s attitude to the Christ of the Eucharist, alone capable of trans-figuring mankind and thus carrying out an authentic reformation of the Church.
Since our author nevertheless wrote and died before the schism with the Protestants was formally sealed, his witnessing the Eucharistic belief of the Church is the more significant, because in it there is no spirit of apology or polemics. This does not mean that the pages he wrote did not give off the spirit of sincere ardour, encouraging all believers to approach the mystery with more fervour, in all of its dimensions, thus becoming parts of its workings. As humanist and believer, Marulić was primarily concerned with mankind, which he displayed with the endeavour to bring man closer to God and God to man, which cannot exist without the Eucharistic intermediacy of Christ.
Marulić takes the foundations of his doctrine of the Eucharist from the Scriptures read in belief of the Church and the Church tradition, in the spirit of the theologians and fathers of the church, traces of whom can be sensed in his works. Along with the traditional contents of the Eucharistic faith from which he lived, Marulić in his theological thinking adds the seal of his personal experience and lucid observations, interweaving them with a powerful moral message and inducement.
Analysing the texts of the De institutione (IV, 12) and Evangelistary (II, 17-19) it can be seen that Marulić knew and applied Thomist theology in an individual way, although he did not use the Scholastic method. In this article it is shown that the core of his theological thinking about the Eucharist is composed of two works of the Pseudo-Thomas: De Venerabili Sacramento Altaris and De Sacramento Eucharistiae. More precisely, in the De institutione one can feel the presence of only the latter work, while in the Evangelistary citations from both these works can be quite clearly read. Marulić draws from them images and sayings, but always in his own typical way adapting them to his own style, changing and deepening everything that he finds in the other theologians. For this reason we should not fall into the temptation of considering him a mere compiler just because he collected material from others, because nothing from other authors has been taken over mechanically. As a concerned theologian he read the best that was written in his period about given arguments, and pondered over them attentively before fitting them into his theological system. Thus his authenticity is manifested primarily in the intelligent treatment of the material and the astute employment of it.
Ključne riječi
Hrčak ID:
8002
URI
Datum izdavanja:
22.4.2004.
Posjeta: 1.953 *