This doctoral dissertation abstract on "Henri de Lubac and the Recovery of the Traditional Hermeneutic" was submitted to the theology department of the Catholic University of America by Marcellino D'Ambrosio for completion of the requirements of a Ph.D. in historical theology. The abstract was submitted...
Will there be marriage in heaven? Jesus' answer to the Sadducees about the widow with seven deceased husbands needs to be understood in light of some important truths about the resurrection and the hereafter....
The second Council of Orange was a small synod of only 14 bishops, presided over by St. Caesarius, bishop of Arles, held in what is now south-eastern France. It confronted issues of faith, grace, free-will and predestination in order to solve lingering debates over Pelagianism...
Zacchaeus (a.k.a Zaccheus) was an especially successful tax collector and therefore an exceptionally hated man. On the road to Jericho, from the limb of a Sycamore tree, this blood-sucking vampire caught a glimpse of mercy and grace and had to make a choice....
Can a Christian celebrate Halloween? In this article, Church historian Fr. Augustine Thompson sifts through the evidence to see if it supports the common belief that All Hallows Eve and its various customs had their origin in a pagan feast dating back to the Druids...
A tribute to Avery Cardinal Dulles, S.J., from Marcellino D'Ambrosio, one of his doctoral students. The author notes Dulles' commitment to holiness and discipleship first as the necessary anchor for his work as a theologian. Dulles was first of all a witness and only secondarily...
A reflection on the Solemnity of All Souls, touching on the mystery of death and the afterlife including heaven, hell, and purgatory, and the validity of prayers for the dead....
{1} This essay is dedicated to the memory of cardinal Henri de Lubac, S.J., who died on September 4, 1991. {2} "Take . . . the success from a religious point of view of such authors as Péguy or Claudel. Is it not extremely significant?" H. de Lubac, Catholicisme (1st...
[dropcaps type='normal' font_size='100' color='' background_color='' border_color='']Q[/dropcaps]oheleth said it well: “What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done; and there is nothing new under the sun.” Eccl 1:9. The New Age movement imports exotic religious ideas from the East...
This article, "Ressourcement theology, aggiornamento, and the hermeneutics of tradition" by Marcellino D'Ambrosio is reprinted from Communio 18 (Winter 1991). The theological movement the set the stage for the Second Vatican Council shows that the Christian tradition is a vital and dynamic force that is not retrograde, but...