The Augustana Greek Catholic

Nature, Death, and Man

Joel Barstad — Tue, 19 May 2009 22:18:55 +0000

ARTICLE: Joel I. Barstad, 1992, “Nature, Death, and Man: Reflections for a Christian Ecology.”

DESCRIPTION: This article explores the distinction between three world orders, three cosmoi: that of Paradise, that of Noah, and that of the Resurrection. The orders of Noah and the Resurrection roughly correspond to the Lutheran distinction between the Two Kingdoms. Its reading of these orders draws heavily on the Eastern tradition as represented by Solovyev and Dostoyevski and shows the pervasive influence of Luigi Giussani’s The Religious Sense. It emphasizes the unnaturalness of man’s current relationship with the world around him.

Read the full article in PDF (1.6Mb). Unfortunately, the PDF is a scan of an imperfect hardcopy. A better version will be uploaded when available.

Is the Ratzinger Proposal Dead?

Joel Barstad — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 18:59:57 +0000

ARTICLE: Joel I. Barstad, 2008, “Are the Ratzinger Proposal and Zoghby Initiative Dead? Implications of Ad Tuendam Fidem for Eastern Catholic Identity.”

DESCRIPTION: Many Greek-Catholics define themselves as Orthodox-in-Communion-with-Rome and appeal to the First Christian Millennium as providing the foundation for this communion. This way of identifying themselves found confirmation in Joseph Ratzinger’s proposal that, with regard to the primacy, Rome need require nothing more from Orthodox churches than what was acknowledged during the First Millennium. With a similar conviction the Melkite synod in 1995 adopted the Zoghby Initiative as the framework within which it might reestablish communion with the Antiochian Orthodox Church, without breaking communion with Rome.

This article considers the viability of such a project in light of Pope John Paul II’s Ad tuendam fidem, and its companion commentary on the Profession of Faith and Oath of Fidelity, published in 1998.

Read the full article in PDF (362.8 KB).

Welcome!

Joel Barstad — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 22:17:53 +0000

Welcome to The Augustana Greek Catholic. In the posts below you will find brief summaries of articles together with links to the full PDF file of the article. After reading the article, registered users may leave comments on the summary post.

For more information about the journal and its purpose, visit the About The AGC page.

Monogamy, Celibacy, and Fatherhood

Joel Barstad — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 22:02:48 +0000

ARTICLE: Joel I. Barstad, 2008, “Monogamy, Celibacy, and Fatherhood: Meditations on Catholic Priesthood.”

DESCRIPTION: Mandatory clerical celibacy has been one of the most contentious elements of the Roman Catholic tradition, all the more so when it is made the key to understanding priestly identity. This essay argues for fatherhood as the key, claiming that both celibate and monogamous priests externally express essential and complementary moments of the inner reality of spiritual fatherhood.

Read the full article in PDF (170KB).