Aristotle believed that virtue was to be found at the midpoint between two extremes, one representing excess and the other deficit. He thus opposed extreme asceticism as much as self-indulgence. This is an idea that has not always found favour in the Christian Churches, which have sometimes seemed to come down heavily on the side of fasting, harsh discipline and other forms of self-denial. Yet much modern psychology finds itself in basic agreement with Aristotle, and his outlook also underpins many contemporary patterns of spirituality. In different forms, it is one that is reflected in most of the contributions to be found in this issue of The Way.
Paul L. Younger, ‘‘Way Beyond all Science’: A Scientist’s Perspective on Knowing God’, 7–16
In recent decades the claim that science and religious faith are incompatible has been made more widely. Indeed in parts of the Western world, at least, it has become a common assumption. Paul Younger is a research scientist who has published more than 400 scientific papers. Here he argues that, properly understood, theology and science have much to offer each other.
Elizabeth Delbridge, ‘The Ignatian Rules for Eating in a Contemporary Australian Context’, 17–32
Ignatius Loyola included a series of guidelines in his Spiritual Exercises which were intended to help the one making the Exercises continue to live according to what he or she had experienced in prayer. Elizabeth Delbridge presents one set of these guidelines, the ‘Rules for Eating’, as seen from a contemporary Australian viewpoint.
M. Gemma Simmonds, ‘Rules for Eating’, 33–37
From the other side of the globe we have another perspective on the ‘Rules for Eating’. In this article, first published in the British Jesuits’ online journal, Thinking Faith, Gemma Simmonds sees the Rules as ‘a route to self-knowledge and to liberation from compulsions’.
Gerald O’Mahony, ‘The Spirituality of Rest’, 39–43
In our second article reprinted from Thinking Faith, Gerald O’Mahony explores the biblical, Ignatian and other foundations of a healthy and positive approach to rest and holidays. He identifies a ‘Still Point’ between the extremes of ‘depression’ and ‘panic’, where we are most closely in touch with the God who is daily to be found in our lives.
Ruth Agnes Evans, ‘My Father and the Historical Authority of Jesus’, 45–54
As a young married couple in the 1950s, the parents of Ruth Agnes Evans searched for the branch of the Christian faith that was in their view closest to the intentions of Christ in founding his Church. Here she describes the journey that eventually led both of them into Roman Catholicism, and how this relates to academic biblical scholarship.
Nancy Enright, ‘Tolkien, Middle Earth and Laudato si’’, 55–64
Behind J. R. R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings trilogy and its predecessor, The Hobbit, there lies a passionate concern for the environment. According to Nancy Enright, Tolkien is criticizing the same kind of ‘technocratic paradigm’ that Pope Francis identifies in his 2015 encyclical, Laudato si’. The Pope and the fantasy writer alike seek a spirituality that awakens a call to renew the earth.
Robert E. Doud, ‘The Mystery of Commitment and Our Commitment to Mystery’, 65–74
Robert Doud was a Roman Catholic priest who subsequently left the priesthood and married the woman he had come to love. He experienced this decision as God offering him freedom in a path of self-determination. Here he takes a philosophical look at how experiences such as this can be understood while retaining a meaningful notion of commitment.
Marcel Uwineza, ‘The Human Person is the Question to which God Is the Answer: Humanity in the Theology of Karl Rahner’, 75–89
The experience of the last century suggests that human life is cheap and human beings are increasingly regarded as disposable. One task of contemporary theology, therefore, is to safeguard the value of the human. Marcel Uwineza describes one approach to this task, drawing on the work of Karl Rahner.
Caroline Worsfold, ‘The Resurrection Appearances in John: Insights for Chaplains’, 91–100
Recent decades have seen a great development in the lay ministry of chaplains to schools, hospitals and prisons, prayer guides, retreat directors and others. Caroline Worsfold has been responsible for offering training to such ministers. Here she shares some insights into their work that she has gained from her study of the Gospel of John.
Eric Jensen, ‘The Kingdom Exercise: Two Suggestions’, 101–109
At a key moment in the Spiritual Exercises Ignatius Loyola presents the parable of a king inviting others to join him on a valiant, if hazardous, campaign. In these more democratic times, some find difficulty in working with this imagery. Eric Jensen offers two suggestions as to how this might be overcome.