Articles varia
- TODOROV Tzvetan - « La beauté sauvera le monde »
- BOVON François - Des noms et des nombres dans le christianisme primitif
- GUIBAL Francis - Un étrange amour. Sur le « style » philosophique de Jacques Derrida
- RUFF Pierre-Yves - Derrida, un « vrai » théologien ?
- GOETSCHEL Jacques - Les Pères de l’Église : la tentation du théâtre
- LIENHARD Marc - Identité confessionnelle et oecuménisme
In this lecture given at the Faculté de théologie protestante of Paris, on October 9th 2006, Tzeztan Todorov examines the human quest for the absolute through historical and artistic events and more particularly literature. This « history of the earthly absolute » paves the way for the infinite quest for Beauty and what the latter says about humankind.
François Bovon argues that by using names and numbers in order to organize their theological thought, the first Christians were continuing an older usage grounded in the philosophical tradition of the Greeks as well as in the Hebrew Bible. Even if they did not develop an ontology of language, they linked names and numbers with reality. Their hope was that God would help them to establish the connections. The name of God and the name of Jesus were in their eyes the core of their confession of faith.
In the wake of Jacques Derrida, Francis Guibal – who terms him « the secret thinker of writing »- develops the ever-reborn, ever-renewed aporias of language and body, of hospitality and responsibility, of life and death. Everywhere in the works of the philosopher, he sees and unveils a philosophical move consisting in an unconditional love open to any advent which deconstructs idolatrous sovereignties only to clear the way for justice and friendship, for otherness and survival.
Pierre-Yves Ruff asks the question of the relationship between Jacques Derrida and theology. In so doing he examines what in the philosopher’s writings partakes of theology and what basically questions the very concept of theology. Is the talk about being already theology ? When Derrida himself questions the works of such authors as Heidegger, wondering what in them approximates theology or sometimes turns out to be actual theology, does he not invite us to do the same thing with his own writings ?
Why did the Fathers of the Church feel they had to condemn theatrical performances and professional actors ? Jacques Goetschel examines what motivates this condemnation involving the overlapping figures of the devil, the actor and the woman.
Over the last few decades, our attitude towards denominations has been shifting from rejection to enhancement. Today we are witnessing two phenomena at the same time: one leading to relativising the importance of denominations within society and the other to the renewal of denominational identities. Hence, how could the communion between the various Churches and denominations be achieved ? While some suggest that the shared action and prayer of Christians and Churches are sufficient, Marc Lienhard supports the idea that a minimum of theological consensus is required.