Pelagianism and the 'Common Celtic Church'

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A Perspectival Account of Acedia in the Writings of Kierkegaard

Søren Kierkegaard is well-known as an original philosophical thinker, but less known is his reliance upon and development of the Christian tradition of the Seven Deadly Sins, in particular the vice of acedia, or sloth. As acedia has enjoyed renewed interest in the past century or so, commentators have attempted to pin down one or another Kierkegaardian concept (e.g., despair, heavy-mindedness, boredom, etc.) as the embodiment of the vice, but these attempts have yet to achieve any consensus. In our estimation, the complicated reality is that, in using slightly different but related concepts, Kierkegaard is providing a unique look at acedia as it manifests differently at different stages on life’s way. Thus, on this “perspectival account”, acedia will manifest differently according to whether an individual inhabits the aesthetic, ethical, or religious sphere. We propose two axes for this perspectival account. Such descriptions of how acedia manifests make up the first, phenomenal axis, while the second, evaluative axis, accounts for the various bits of advice and wisdom we read in the diagnoses of acedia from one Kierkegaardian pseudonym to another. Our aim is to show that Kierkegaard was not only familiar with the concept of acedia, but his contributions helped to develop and extend the tradition

Columbanus, charisma and the revolt of the monks of Bobbio

The account of the revolt of the monks of Bobbio against Columbanus’ successor Attala by Jonas of Bobbio gives only some clues as to why it took place, but suggests that Attala was lacking charisma. Jonas fails to mention the subsequent introduction of the Benedictine Rule to Bobbio and its combination with Columbanian traditions in the Rule of the master; he is also reticent about the deve lopment of cells, or submonasteries, partly as a result of the revolt. It is suggested here that the monastic rule currently known as the Rule of Eugippius was compiled for these cells and that the Rules of the fathers, currently dated to an earlier period, might also be associated with attempts to pacify the monks’ revolt

What is a Merciful Heart? Affective-Motivational Aspects of the Second Love Command

In this paper, I argue that Christ’s second love command implies not only that people’s volitions and actions be Christ-like, but also that their affective-motivational dispositions be Christ-like. More specifically, I argue that the command implies that people have aretaic obligations to strive to cultivate a merciful heart with the kind of affective depth described by St. Isaac of Syria in his 71st ascetical homily—i.e., one that is disposed to becoming inflamed, such that it is gripped by “strong and vehement mercy.

The Seven Deadly Sins

In this entry, DeYoung defines the seven deadly sins, also known as the capital vices, as a schema for understanding and analyzing sin for Christians interested in self-examination, confession, preaching, and spiritual formation. DeYoung carefully looks at the difference between 'sin' and 'vice' and goes back to the capital vices of the Desert Fathers to draw out the tradition. She also looks at Aquinas's analysis to help articulate how the Christian tradition has used the vices

Book Review: Columba Stewart, Cassian the Monk

This is a book review