Vojtech Sanda was Czech theologian (born 1873, died 1953). He was a professor of theology in Prague. He wrote only one book about dogmatic theology, but that was of extraordinary quality. The Synopsis theologiae dogmaticae specialis was written in latin and published in 1916 and 1922. In the first chapter of this article, there is a short biography of the author of Synopsis - Vojtech Sanda. The second chapter deals with the structure and sources of Synopsis. In the last chapter the author presentw his analysis of the christological and soteriological questions of Sanda's work. These questions go to the Biblical-theological sources of Synopsis, to the hypostatic union, to the christological titles for Jesus Christ, to the primary purpose of incarnations, to the kenosis, to the self-consciouness and knowledge of Jesus Christ, and finally to the soteriological models interpreting the cross of Jesus.
The article introduces a summary of analysis of essential Christological works by Joseph Ratzinger and the Pope's book about Jesus. The aim of this work is to describe and evaluate the basic line and development of Ratzinger's Christological reflection. At the beginning the article outlines Joseph Ratzinger's life and work and then it describes his important Christological works. The Christological presentation itself is divided into four areas: the use of Christological titles, theology of incarnation, the secrets of Jesus' life and theology of the Cross. Ratzinger bases his Christology primarily on the faith of the church and thus his approach can be described 'as seen from above'. The profession of Jesus as incarnated Son of God is the key to his whole Christology. Consequently Ratzinger considers Jesus' substantial relationship to the Father to be the centre of his whole secret. What the author finds important in older publications is the interpretation of God's Son as 'the last human', thereby he emphasises the authenticity of Jesus' humanity. In newer works we can meet the title 'the new Moses'. The question of the relation of the Old and New Testament and soteriological topic of Jesus' 'exodus' and his liberation work is thus in the forefront.
The author asks himself, how to reconcile the ontological jump, i.e. infusion of the soul into the body prepared by the evolution, with the non-dualistic message of the Scriptures and the corresponding teaching of the Magisterium. The author sees another dilema between the Christian anthropology on one side and the discoveries of paleoanthropology on the other side. This leads to the concern about the criteria for the acknowledgement of the individuals at a certain stage in the evolution of man as human beings. It seems likely that the process of hominisation was gradual and that God created man through evolution both in the corporal as well as in the spiritual area. However, the theologian is aware also of other related burning questions: What about the salvation of hominids and those forms of humankind, which were not fully developed? How will their resurrection probably look like? At the end the author comes to the conclusioni that we are facing here the mystery of protology, which won't be brought to light until the moment of the full knowledge of eschatology, because only the ultimate goal reveals the meaning of the whole process.
Christian anthropology, corresponding to the dignity of man, tries to respond to the challenges that contemporary world asks to the modern world. That world often demands redefinition of the man in the name of justification of his weaknesses. In the center of Christian anthropology is the teaching of human salvation. However, it requires a good knowledge of the nature of his illness and decline. Sin turns out not to be an ethical and moral phenomenon, but more the metaphysic and spiritual. Christian anthropology is realized in the man’s knowledge by himself strengthen by the Grace of the Holy Spirit.
The article presents the Christology of Paul Tillich in his Systematic Theology with the aim of explaining his theological conception in relation to orthodoxy. In the first part of the article, there are sketched the main events of Tillich's life. In the second part, the reader is informed about 'Systematic Theology' in general. In the third part the author of this article follows the Tillich's work on some basic themes of Christology. He finds that Tillich takes an adoptianistic conception of Jesus as the Christ who is made capable by God of becoming the New Being and who is accepted by disciples in this way. Although various important implications of the revelatory and redemptive signification of the Christ's divine nature are absent his Christology shows many prophetic accents and intuitions which were successfully developed in theology later.
The article analyses Sister Faustina's Diary - Divine Mercy in my Soul, which reveals the exceptional ability of the author to transcend pain and sanctify it. Tuberculosis and the related suffering were for Sister Faustina a sign of being chosen, called to accomplish the mission of salvation. The teleologisation of the illness is an example of her Christian interpretation where intentionality of physical suffering interweaves with the vision of the Passion. From the perspective of psychopathology, one the other hand, the mission of the saint is reduced to visual and auditory hallucinations with the sublimation of human drives being at their source. The experience of chronic health dysfunction leaves an open road to interpretation. The illness can, as in the case of Sister Faustina, be subjected to cultural and religious signification or stripped of any meaning. The author draws attention to the interpretation of Sister Kowalska's case from the perspective of medical anthropology. In this interpretation the illness becomes a relativised text of culture, which implies the necessity for a holistic approach. Cultural anthropology (and its subdiscipline, i.e. medical anthropology) overcomes the limitations of biomedical paradigm, showing that the illness is a phenomenon at the intersection of many discourses and ideologies. The main aim of the article is to show the worldviews which orientate contemporary reflection on the problem of health and illness, discussed in both the contextual and general theoretical dimensions.
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