A Grace of Sense - theological aesthetics

  In the history of the Western idea of love,  Bernard of Clairvaux holds a major position. Beside his 85 sermons on the Song of Songs, his treatise On Loving God is of a particular interest. Still today recognizable ideas of romantic love emerged in the 12th century in the songs of troubadours. At the same time, theologians discussed the theme of love, to a certain degree in the same vein. However, Bernard did not consider love as a languishing emotion, it was the view of his antagonist, Abaelard (1079-1142). In Abaelard’s opinion, pure love does not expect its fulfillment. Whoever loves God does not think of anything else, not even one’s own salvation. I love God, without considering whether I find my bliss in him or not. Although this idea has some poetic vigor and it surfaces now and then in the history of mysticism, it has the disadvantage of portraying God as a capricious lover who escapes us and plays with our emotions. Bernard’s approach to love in his On Loving God is...

the unicorn  Is it useless to ask for the meaning of life? Or is it arrogant to pretend that one can try to answer that? For many, "The Meaning of Life" suggests hardly more than the Monty Python film in 1983. On the whole, the answers given to the meaning of life are specimens of bird-brained commonsense: "the meaning of life is life itself", "live, laugh, love", "don't worry, be happy".  There are occasions when the search for meaning of life becomes urgent, as when one loses a close friend or a family member, ends up in a divorce, or has serious health issues. In that case it is of no use philosophizing about the perennial question of the meaning of life: "Look, many religions and philosophies have pondered about it, and, ultimately, there is no answer. Go on with your life and try to make the best of it." In an existential situation (as a Tillich or a Kierkegaard would call it) there has to be an answer, or if there is none, it ...

Je me considère comme une non-croyante. Mais si le lien à Dieu est celui du Cantique des cantiques, je suis prête à le partager. (Julia Kristeva) "How beautiful you are, my darling! Oh, how beautiful!" (Sgs 4,1) What we do know about this little book called Shir ha-Shirim in Hebrew, according to the modern Biblical scholarship? Three things could be pointed at. First, Song of Songs is a book that does not mention the name of the Lord (Jahweh) at all, except for a vague implication in 8,6. Second, it boldly celebrates the sexual love between a man and a woman. Third, it has neither a moral agenda nor a doctrinal teaching, but exhibits pure joy of sensuous love. Still, this ancient erotic poem is, according to many great theologians of Christianity, the very book that tells most about God! Its being a part of the Holy Scripture would perhaps have been contested, was it not of an ancient origin (and, supposedly, Solomonic authorship). Nevertheless, the idea that it contains mo...