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Semina Verbi or "Seeds of the Word" is a cultural project aimed at examining the ways in which the Christian Gospel or the Word of God has influenced the cultures of humankind.
[[File:Sanzio_01_Plato_Aristotle.jpg|thumb|280px|Plato (left) and Aristotle in Raphael's 1509 fresco, The School of Athens]]
[[File:V&A - Raphael, St Paul Preaching in Athens (1515).jpg|thumb|280px|[[wikipedia:Saint Paul|Saint Paul]] delivering the ''Areopagus Sermon'' in [[wikipedia:Athens|Athens]], by [[wikipedia:Raphael|Raphael]], 1515.]]
[[File:Areopagus3.JPG|thumb|280px|Engraved plaque containing Apostle Paul's sermon, at the [[wikipedia:Areopagus|Areopagus]], [[wikipedia:Athens|Athens]], Greece.]]
[[File:Bloch-SermonOnTheMount.jpg|thumb|280px|Sermon on the Mount by Carl Bloch (1877)]]
 
Semina Verbi or '''Seeds of the Word''' is a cultural project aimed at examining the ways in which the Christian Gospel in particular and the Word of God in general have influenced the cultures of mankind, or how the cultural and creative expressions of mankind can have seeds of truth which are related to the Truth of the Word of God.


== Origins of the expression ==
== Origins of the expression ==
Riga 21: Riga 26:
([http://www.tertullian.org/fathers/eusebius_pe_11_book11.htm Eusebius of Caesarea, Praeparation Evangelica, Book XI])
([http://www.tertullian.org/fathers/eusebius_pe_11_book11.htm Eusebius of Caesarea, Praeparation Evangelica, Book XI])


=== Roots in the Gospel ===
 
The patrologist Berthold Altaner (Patrologia, Marietti, 7ª ed., 1977) writes in regards to Justin the Martyr and his expressios “seeds of the Word”:
 
«Con la sua teoria del λόγος σπερματικός [logos spermatikos] Giustino getta un ponte tra la filosofia antica e il Cristianesimo. In Cristo apparve, in tutta la sua pienezza, il Logos divino, ma ogni uomo possiede nella sua ragione un germe (σπέρμα) del Logos. Questa partecipazione al Logos, e conseguente disposizione a conoscere la Verità, fu in alcuni particolarmente grande; cosí nei Profeti del giudaismo e, fra i greci, in Eraclito e Socrate. Molti elementi della verità sono passati, cosí egli opina, nei poeti e nei filosofi greci dell’antica letteratura giudaica, poiché Mosè era ritenuto lo scrittore assolutamente piú antico. Di conseguenza i filosofi, in quanto vissero e insegnarono conformemente alle regole della ragione, furono dei Cristiani, in un certo senso, prima della venuta di Cristo. Tuttavia solo dopo questa venuta i Cristiani sono entrati in possesso della verità totale e sicura, priva di ogni errore. Il pensiero teologico di San Giustino è fortemente influenzato dalla filosofia stoica e platonica» (pp. 70-71).
 
=== Roots in the Gospel and the New Testament writings ===


Jesus Christ compared himself to a sower of seeds when he proclaimed the Parable of the Sower to the crowds of people listening to Him.
Jesus Christ compared himself to a sower of seeds when he proclaimed the Parable of the Sower to the crowds of people listening to Him.


  3 And he spoke to them at length in parables, saying: “A sower went out to sow. 4 And as he sowed, some seed fell on the path, and birds came and ate it up. 5 Some fell on rocky ground, where it had little soil. It sprang up at once because the soil was not deep, 6 and when the sun rose it was scorched, and it withered for lack of roots. 7 Some seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it. 8 But some seed fell on rich soil, and produced fruit, a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold. 9 Whoever has ears ought to hear.” ... 18 “Hear then the parable of the sower. 19 The seed sown on the path is the one who hears the word of the kingdom without understanding it, and the evil one comes and steals away what was sown in his heart. 20 The seed sown on rocky ground is the one who hears the word and receives it at once with joy. 21 But he has no root and lasts only for a time. When some tribulation or persecution comes because of the word, he immediately falls away. 22 The seed sown among thorns is the one who hears the word, but then worldly anxiety and the lure of riches choke the word and it bears no fruit. 23 But the seed sown on rich soil is the one who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and yields a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold.”
  3 And he spoke to them at length in parables, saying: “A sower went out to sow. 4 And as he sowed, some seed fell on the path, and birds came and ate it up. 5 Some fell on rocky ground, where it had little soil. It sprang up at once because the soil was not deep, 6 and when the sun rose it was scorched, and it withered for lack of roots. 7 Some seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it. 8 But some seed fell on rich soil, and produced fruit, a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold. 9 Whoever has ears ought to hear.” ... 18 “Hear then the parable of the sower. 19 The seed sown on the path is the one who hears the word of the kingdom without understanding it, and the evil one comes and steals away what was sown in his heart. 20 The seed sown on rocky ground is the one who hears the word and receives it at once with joy. 21 But he has no root and lasts only for a time. When some tribulation or persecution comes because of the word, he immediately falls away. 22 The seed sown among thorns is the one who hears the word, but then worldly anxiety and the lure of riches choke the word and it bears no fruit. 23 But the seed sown on rich soil is the one who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and yields a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold.”
(Gospel of Matthew 13:3-9,18-23)
The [[wikipedia:Areopagus sermon|speech of Saint Paul to the Athenians in the Areopagus]] is emblematic, as he refers to a known greek poet in order to make his point about the Gospel of Jesus, as well as making reference to their religious traditions:
16While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he grew exasperated at the sight of the city full of idols. 17So he debated in the synagogue with the Jews and with the worshipers, and daily in the public square with whoever happened to be there. 18Even some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers engaged him in discussion. Some asked, “What is this scavenger trying to say?” Others said, “He sounds like a promoter of foreign deities,” because he was preaching about ‘Jesus’ and ‘Resurrection.’ 19They took him and led him to the Areopagus and said, “May we learn what this new teaching is that you speak of? 20For you bring some strange notions to our ears; we should like to know what these things mean.” 21Now all the Athenians as well as the foreigners residing there used their time for nothing else but telling or hearing something new.22Then Paul stood up at the Areopagus and said:“You Athenians, I see that in every respect you are very religious. 23For as I walked around looking carefully at your shrines, '''I even discovered an altar inscribed, ‘To an Unknown God.’ What therefore you unknowingly worship, I proclaim to you.''' 24The God who made the world and all that is in it, the Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in sanctuaries made by human hands, 25nor is he served by human hands because he needs anything. Rather it is he who gives to everyone life and breath and everything. 26He made from one the whole human race to dwell on the entire surface of the earth, and he fixed the ordered seasons and the boundaries of their regions, 27so that people might seek God, even perhaps grope for him and find him, though indeed he is not far from any one of us. '''28For ‘In him we live and move and have our being,’ as even some of your poets have said, ‘For we too are his offspring.’''' 29Since therefore we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the divinity is like an image fashioned from gold, silver, or stone by human art and imagination. 30God has overlooked the times of ignorance, but now he demands that all people everywhere repent 31because he has established a day on which he will ‘judge the world with justice’ through a man he has appointed, and he has provided confirmation for all by raising him from the dead.”32When they heard about resurrection of the dead, some began to scoff, but others said, “We should like to hear you on this some other time.” 33And so Paul left them. 34But some did join him, and became believers. Among them were Dionysius, a member of the Court of the Areopagus, a woman named Damaris, and others with them.
(Acts of the Apostles 17:16-34)


=== Magisterial Teachings of the Catholic Church ===


The Doctrine of the Seeds of the Word interpreted as truths of the Gospel being spread throughout human culture is also present in the teachings of the Second Vatican Council. The Decree on Missionary Activity ''Ad Gentes'' affirms:
The Doctrine of the Seeds of the Word interpreted as truths of the Gospel being spread throughout human culture is also present in the teachings of the Second Vatican Council. The Decree on Missionary Activity ''Ad Gentes'' affirms:
Riga 36: Riga 52:
  Whatever good or truth is found amongst [those men who have not yet arrived at an explicit knowledge of God] is looked upon by the Church as a preparation for the Gospel.
  Whatever good or truth is found amongst [those men who have not yet arrived at an explicit knowledge of God] is looked upon by the Church as a preparation for the Gospel.
  ([http://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_const_19641121_lumen-gentium_en.html Lumen Gentium, n. 16])
  ([http://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_const_19641121_lumen-gentium_en.html Lumen Gentium, n. 16])
The Declaration on non Christian religions, Nostra Aetate, uses the simile of a ray of light to express the same concept:
From ancient times down to the present, there is found among various peoples a certain perception of that hidden power which hovers over the course of things and over the events of human history; at times some indeed have come to the recognition of a Supreme Being, or even of a Father. This perception and recognition penetrates their lives with a profound religious sense. ... The Catholic Church rejects nothing that is true and holy in these religions. She regards with sincere reverence those ways of conduct and of life, those precepts and teachings which, though differing in many aspects from the ones she holds and sets forth, nonetheless often reflect a '''ray of that Truth''' which enlightens all men.
([http://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_decl_19651028_nostra-aetate_en.html Nostra Aetate n. 2])
Dopo il Concilio, le metafore dei semina Verbi e della praeparatio evangelica sono state riprese dai Sommi Pontefici. Paolo VI, nell’Esortazione apostolica sull’evangelizzazione, afferma:
«[Le religioni non-cristiane] sono tutte cosparse di innumerevoli “germi del Verbo” e possono costituire una autentica “preparazione evangelica”, per riprendere una felice espressione del Concilio Vaticano II tratta da Eusebio di Cesarea» (Evangelii nuntiandi, n. 53).
Da parte sua, Giovanni Paolo II, nella sua prima enciclica, scrive:
«Giustamente i Padri della Chiesa vedevano nelle diverse religioni quasi altrettanti riflessi di un’unica verità come “germi del Verbo”, i quali testimoniano che, quantunque per diverse strade, è rivolta tuttavia in una unica direzione la piú profonda aspirazione dello spirito umano, quale si esprime nella ricerca di Dio ed insieme nella ricerca, mediante la tensione verso Dio, della piena dimensione dell’umanità, ossia del pieno senso della vita umana» (Redemptor hominis, n. 11).


The Catechism of the Catholic Church states:
The Catechism of the Catholic Church states:
Riga 42: Riga 73:
  ([https://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p123a9p3.htm CCC n. 843])
  ([https://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p123a9p3.htm CCC n. 843])


The Declaration on non Christian religions, Nostra Aetate, uses the simile of a ray of light to express the same concept:


From ancient times down to the present, there is found among various peoples a certain perception of that hidden power which hovers over the course of things and over the events of human history; at times some indeed have come to the recognition of a Supreme Being, or even of a Father. This perception and recognition penetrates their lives with a profound religious sense. ... The Catholic Church rejects nothing that is true and holy in these religions. She regards with sincere reverence those ways of conduct and of life, those precepts and teachings which, though differing in many aspects from the ones she holds and sets forth, nonetheless often reflect a '''ray of that Truth''' which enlightens all men.
== Overview of the areas touched on ==
([http://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_decl_19651028_nostra-aetate_en.html Nostra Aetate n. 2])


The articles of this encyclopedia are organized into the following general categories:


<div class="toccolours mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="width:50%; overflow:auto;">
<div style="font-weight:bold;line-height:1.6;">[[:Category:Literary arts]]</div>
<div class="mw-collapsible-content">
* [[:Category:Drama (Literature)]]
* [[:Category:Fiction (Literature)]]
* [[:Category:Poetry (Literature)]]
* [[:Category:Prose (Literature)]]
</div>
</div>




Dopo il Concilio, le metafore dei semina Verbi e della praeparatio evangelica sono state riprese dai Sommi Pontefici. Paolo VI, nell’Esortazione apostolica sull’evangelizzazione, afferma:
<div class="toccolours mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="width:50%; overflow:auto;">
<div style="font-weight:bold;line-height:1.6;">[[:Category:Performing arts]]</div>
<div class="mw-collapsible-content">
* [[:Category:Dance]]
* [[:Category:Music]]
* [[:Category:Theatre]]
</div>
</div>


«[Le religioni non-cristiane] sono tutte cosparse di innumerevoli “germi del Verbo” e possono costituire una autentica “preparazione evangelica”, per riprendere una felice espressione del Concilio Vaticano II tratta da Eusebio di Cesarea» (Evangelii nuntiandi, n. 53).


Da parte sua, Giovanni Paolo II, nella sua prima enciclica, scrive:
<div class="toccolours mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="width:50%; overflow:auto;">
<div style="font-weight:bold;line-height:1.6;">[[:Category:Visual arts]]</div>
<div class="mw-collapsible-content">
* [[:Category:Architecture]]
* [[:Category:Ceramic art]]
* [[:Category:Cinematography]]


«Giustamente i Padri della Chiesa vedevano nelle diverse religioni quasi altrettanti riflessi di un’unica verità come “germi del Verbo”, i quali testimoniano che, quantunque per diverse strade, è rivolta tuttavia in una unica direzione la piú profonda aspirazione dello spirito umano, quale si esprime nella ricerca di Dio ed insieme nella ricerca, mediante la tensione verso Dio, della piena dimensione dell’umanità, ossia del pieno senso della vita umana» (Redemptor hominis, n. 11).
<div class="toccolours mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="width:90%; overflow:auto;">
<div style="font-weight:bold;line-height:1.6;">[[:Category:Drawing]]</div>
<div class="mw-collapsible-content">
* [[:Category:Engraving]]
* [[:Category:Etching]]
* [[:Category:Cave painting]]
* [[:Category:Charcoal drawing]]
* [[:Category:Pencil drawing]]
</div>
</div>


Sembrerebbe dunque di trovarci dinanzi a una dottrina consolidata, oltretutto ben radicata nella tradizione, visto che le espressioni usate sono di origine patristica. L’immagine dei semina Verbi è tratta da san Giustino e da Clemente Alessandrino; il concetto di praeparatio evangelica invece, come ci ricordava Paolo VI, lo troviamo in Eusebio di Cesarea. Tutto vero. Il problema è: siamo sicuri che i Santi Padri, con tali espressioni, si riferissero alle religioni non-cristiane (che a quel tempo si identificavano con la religione pagana)? Faccio rispondere a questa domanda uno dei maggiori patrologi del XX secolo, Berthold Altaner (Patrologia, Marietti, 7ª ed., 1977). A proposito di Giustino, che parla dei “germi del Verbo” nelle sue Apologie, scrive:
<div class="toccolours mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="width:90%; overflow:auto;">
<div style="font-weight:bold;line-height:1.6;">[[:Category:Glass art]]</div>
<div class="mw-collapsible-content">
* [[:Category:Glassblowing]]
* [[:Category:Stained glass]]
</div>
</div>


«Con la sua teoria del λόγος σπερματικός [logos spermatikos] Giustino getta un ponte tra la filosofia antica e il Cristianesimo. In Cristo apparve, in tutta la sua pienezza, il Logos divino, ma ogni uomo possiede nella sua ragione un germe (σπέρμα) del Logos. Questa partecipazione al Logos, e conseguente disposizione a conoscere la Verità, fu in alcuni particolarmente grande; cosí nei Profeti del giudaismo e, fra i greci, in Eraclito e Socrate. Molti elementi della verità sono passati, cosí egli opina, nei poeti e nei filosofi greci dell’antica letteratura giudaica, poiché Mosè era ritenuto lo scrittore assolutamente piú antico. Di conseguenza i filosofi, in quanto vissero e insegnarono conformemente alle regole della ragione, furono dei Cristiani, in un certo senso, prima della venuta di Cristo. Tuttavia solo dopo questa venuta i Cristiani sono entrati in possesso della verità totale e sicura, priva di ogni errore. Il pensiero teologico di San Giustino è fortemente influenzato dalla filosofia stoica e platonica» (pp. 70-71).
* [[:Category:Mosaic art]]


Quanto a Eusebio, che compose un’opera dal titolo Praeparatio evangelica, Altaner scrive:
<div class="toccolours mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="width:90%; overflow:auto;">
<div style="font-weight:bold;line-height:1.6;">[[:Category:Painting]]</div>
<div class="mw-collapsible-content">
* [[:Category:Fresco painting]]
* [[:Category:Oil painting]]
* [[:Category:Watercolor painting]]
</div>
</div>


«La Praeparatio evangelica (Εὐαγγελικὴ προπαρασκευή), in 15 libri, composta tra il 312 e il 322, vuole dimostrare ai catecumeni e ai pagani, forse scossi dagli attacchi di Porfirio, come i Cristiani abbiano avuto ragione nel preferire il Giudaismo al paganesimo. La “Filosofia degli Ebrei” è superiore alla cosmogonia e alla mitologia dei pagani. I sapienti pagani, soprattutto Platone, hanno attinto dall’A.T.» (p. 223).
* [[:Category:Photography]]
* [[:Category:Sculpting]]
* [[:Category:Tapestry]]
</div>
</div>


Come si può vedere, i Santi Padri non rinvengono alcun “germe del Verbo” nella religione pagana, né considerano questa una “preparazione al Vangelo”. Tali immagini vengono da loro applicate non alla religione, ma alla cultura del tempo, in particolare alla filosofia e alla poesia, le quali, secondo loro, avrebbero attinto a Mosè. I primi cristiani non hanno mai fatto proprio alcun elemento della religione pagana, mentre non si sono fatti scrupolo di adottare le categorie dell’ellenismo addirittura per esprimere la loro fede. La preoccupazione dei cristiani dei primi secoli non era il dialogo interreligioso, ma l’inculturazione del Vangelo.


Una conferma a questo, che è stato l’atteggiamento della Chiesa di tutti i tempi fino al Vaticano II, la troviamo in Padre Matteo Ricci (1552-1610). Solitamente il missionario gesuita viene proposto come antesignano dell’attuale dialogo interreligioso, vista la sua simpatia nei confronti del confucianesimo. Ma non si tiene conto che tale simpatia scaturiva proprio dalla «consape­volezza che nessun elemento vi era nel confucianesimo che potesse far pensare ad una religione … il confucianesimo, lungi dal presentarsi alla stregua di una religione, perseguiva lo scopo di dare una giusta e retta amministrazione al gover­no del paese» (Franco Di Giorgio). Al contrario, Padre Ricci non si fece scrupolo di criticare il taoismo e il buddismo, che considerava inconciliabili col cristianesimo.
* [[:Category:Culinary arts]]


Ci si potrebbe dunque chiedere se, su questo punto, il Concilio non rappresenti una rottura con la tradizione o, piuttosto, una sua legittima evoluzione. Non sta a me dare una risposta a questa domanda, che pure costituisce un problema di capitale importanza. L’unica cosa che posso dire è che non mi sembra corretto affermare, come fa Giovanni Paolo II nella Redemptor hominis, che «i Padri della Chiesa vedevano nelle diverse religioni quasi altrettanti riflessi di un’unica verità come “germi del Verbo”». Un Papa ha tutta l’autorità di interpretare la rivelazione, ma non ha autorità di stravolgere la storia.
* [[:Category:Cultural traditions]]


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