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CHALLENGE OF EVANGELIZATION OF MODERN CULTURE AND PROMOTION OF CULTURAL PROGRESS A try of systematic theological evaluation of culture in “Gaudium et spes” (53-62)
Tonči Matulić
; Katolički bogoslovni fakultet, Sveučilište u Zagrebu
Sažetak
The starting point of this contribution are the doctrinally and
pastoral principles of the Pastoral Constitution “Gaudium et Spes”
about the Church in contemporary world of II. Vatican Council
(7th December, 1965) with regard to theological determination of
structural and content-related meaning of culture and searching for
the appropriate conditions and real possibilities in contemporary
world in the light of the Gospel. Actually, the contribution is about
a specific theological evaluation of the existing evaluation of culture
in “Gaudium et Spes”. But, if such evaluation should reach a certain
level of coverage and contextuality, the author, in the first part of
this contribution, treats the idea of culture in the light of historical,
anthropological, sociological, ethnological and religious origins, of
the development and influence of culture and cultural progress. The
treatment has been done on the basis of the analysis of theses in some
important theological investigations in recent decades in the world. On
these bases a historical-critical introduction has been gradually built
up, in terms of previous systematic theological evaluation of the idea
of culture and cultural progress, and for the needs of the subsequent
more comprehensive analysis of the Council’s understanding and
evaluation of culture and the Council’s explicit order to promote
cultural progress in contemporary world. In the author’s opinion,
in the context of specialized theological disputes on culture, there
stands the main Christian issue on the efforts of the Church to
define new and authentic criteria of evangelisation, as an original
and primary task of the Church of contemporary world, the world
of dynamic and evaluative processes, i.e. the world that rests on the
results of great historical, social and scientific metamorphoses that
have already imposed new value paradigms on a general social level.
The unsurpassed novelty of Good News simply must encounter the
unquestionable historical, social and scientific news, i.e. the obvious
social, cultural and civilization changes that the Church reluctantly
admitted before the Council or even tacitly renounced or explicitly
condemned. But, anyway, these changes strongly influenced or have
been still influencing on the formation of human conscience and
mentality, including the Christians, of course, with new views on
the world, man, history, science, technique, nature, society, politics,
religion, and then inevitably, on the faith itself. That’s the reason
why the so called modern culture, together with relentless demand
for the promotion of an integral cultural progress, has become the
primary and urgent challenge for the Church in general, and that
primarily means, in accordance with its theological attribute, a
challenge for its mission of evangelisation in contemporary world,
in the particular society. That cognition is thoroughly and critically
analysed in the second part of the contribution. It is evaluated in
the light of the Council’s doctrine on culture in “Gaudium et Spes”.
There is no doubt that the inculturalization of Gospel into modern
culture, or even more broadly, into new civilization achievements
of mankind, has to develop by the logic of evangelic faith itself,
and not by the logic of the obsolete and outdated theological and
pastoral models that more often destruct than relieve the encounter
of Gospel and Christian faith with modern culture, i.e. with its
positive and praiseworthy achievements worthy of Gospel and faith.
For this purpose, on the basis of previous analyses of culture from
the etymological perspective, then also from its essential features
as well as from some problem aspects of trying to define culture,
the author presents a theological evaluation of culture in the spirit
and sense of the Council, trying to point out some focal points that
should not be the matter of dispute when determining the criteria for
the new post-Council and restored evangelic mission of the Church
in contemporary world.
Ključne riječi
Gospel; faith; Church; theology; Council; “Gaudium et Spes”; culture; cultural progress
Hrčak ID:
23565
URI
Datum izdavanja:
21.9.2006.
Posjeta: 1.999 *