The Nuptial Mystery

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ISBN: 9780802828316 | 0802828310
Cover: Paperback
Copyright: 6/15/2005

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This needed volume offers a theological discussion of love with nuptiality as its guiding thread. In response to contemporary cultural trends that diminish the meaning of love, Angelo Cardinal Scola traces out the nuptial character present in all manifestations of love, examining such themes as sexual difference, the man-woman relation, marriage, and family in light of Trinitarian theology and ecclesiology.

Preface to the English Edition

xvii

Preface

xix

To the Reader

xxii

I. Categories of the Nuptial Mystery: Two Original Theses of Mulieris Dignitatem

1. A Theological Sketch of Man and Woman

(18)

1.1. A Constant Concern

(3)

1.2. The Anthropological Foundation: The Dual Unity of Man and Woman

(5)

1.3. The Christological and Trinitarian Context of the Dual Unity of Man and Woman

(2)

1.4. The Ecclesial-Marian Foundation of the Dual Unity of Man and Woman

(8)

1.4.1. Mary, the Ecclesia Immaculata

(2)

1.4.2. Mary, Sexual Difference, and Woman

(5)

2. Sexual Difference and the Meaning of the "Unity of the Two"

(11)

2.1. The "Unity of the Two"

(4)

2.1.1. Man Exists as Male and Female

(3)

2.1.2. Man and Woman: Identity and Difference

(1)

2.2. The Foundation of the "Unity of the Two"

(6)

2.2.1. Human Sexuality and Interpersonal Communion

(2)

2.2.2. The Unity of the Two and Trinitarian Communion

(2)

2.2.3. Man and Woman, Christ and the Church

(2)

3. Human Sexuality and the Imago Dei

(23)

3.1. Human Sexuality, the "Beginning" and the Imago Dei

(9)

3.2. Is Human Sexuality Part of the Imago Dei?

(8)

3.2.1. Suggestions from the Area of Biblical Studies

(3)

3.2.2. Clues from Dogmatic Theology

(5)

3.3. Sexuality, "One Flesh," and the Imago Dei

(5)

II. The Nuptial Mystery: A Theological Perspective

4. The Dynamisms of Nuptiality: Affection, Love, and Sexuality

(27)

4.1. Human Nuptiality

(4)

4.2. Affection

(5)

4.3. Love

(8)

4.4. Sexuality

(5)

4.5. Toward the Nuptial Mystery

(5)

5. A Description of the Nuptial Mystery

(28)

5.1. Nuptiality and the "Debate concerning the Humanum"

(3)

5.2. Toward the Center of the Nuptial Mystery

(19)

5.2.1. Why "Mystery"?

(2)

5.2.2. The Various Levels of the Nuptial Mystery

(2)

5.2.3. Sexual Difference, Love, and Procreation

(7)

5.2.4. The Foundation of the Nuptial Mystery

(8)

5.3. Nuptial Love and the Christian States of Life

104

(2)

5.3.1. Nuptiality and the Indissolubility of Marriage

104

(1)

5.3.2. Nuptiality and Virginity

105

(1)

5.4. The Nuptial Mystery and Welcoming the Other

106

(4)

6. The Nuptial Mystery and Fruitfulness

110

(31)

6.1. Freedom and "Satisfaction": A Word on a Contemporary Malaise

110

(4)

6.2. Procreation without Sexuality?

114

(2)

6.3. Human Sexuality: Asymmetrical Reciprocity

116

(6)

6.4. Love and Fruitfulness

122

(4)

6.5. The Challenge of Biotechnology

126

(7)

6.5.1. An Impossible Separation

126

(5)

6.5.2. The Full Meaning of Spousal Love

131

(2)

6.6. Generation, Procreation, and Reproduction

133

(8)

III. The Nuptial Mystery and Cultural Changes: The Tasks of Marriage and the Family

7. Marriage and the Family and the Crisis of Freedom

141

(18)

7.1. The Family and Contemporary Culture

141

(13)

7.1.1. A Crisis of the Couple

141

(4)

7.1.2. Dichotomy between Personal and Civil Liberty

145

(2)

7.1.3. Nihilism and the Absence of Family Relations

147

(7)

7.2. Marriage and the Family and Society

154

(5)

7.2.1. Family and Society

154

(1)

7.2.2. The Sovereign Power of the Family

155

(1)

7.2.3. The Man-Woman Polarity: A Paradigm of the Human Being's Social Character

156

(1)

7.2.4. The Family, Civil Society, and the State

157

(1)

7.2.5. The Nature of Man and Culture

157

(2)

8. Marriage, the Family, and Life

159

(12)

8.1. Science Betrayed

159

(2)

8.2. The Urgent Need of a Foundation. What Kind of Life? Bioethics at Trial

161

(4)

8.3. Bioethics, the Religious Sense, and Religions

165

(2)

8.4. For an Authentic Humanism

167

(1)

8.5. The Light of Evangelium Vitae: Excursus

168

(3)

9. Marriage, the Family, and Education

171

(209)

9.1. Value Education?

171

(2)

9.2. The Family: The "Educating Subject" Par Excellence

173

(2)

9.3. Paideia and the School: Excursus

175

(2)

9.4. Factors of Education

177

(2)

9.5. Characteristics of an Educative Action

179

(3)

9.5.1. Educating in the "Present"

179

(1)

9.5.2. Following the Great Stream of Tradition

180

(1)

9.5.3. Showing the Goodness of the Real

180

(1)

9.5.4. Opening to Criticism

181

(1)

9.5.5. Communitarian Expression

181

(1)

9.6. Erunt Semper Docibiles Dei

182

(1)

10. Marriage and the Family: A Communion of Generations

183

(10)

10.1. "...And the Life of Man Is the Vision of God"

183

(1)

10.2. Family, Care, and Inheritance

184

(4)

10.3. Criteria for Family Policies

188

(5)

IV. The Nuptial Mystery: Marriage and the Family in the Light of the Christian Mysteries

11. The Features of Marriage and the Family: From Past to Present

193

(20)

11.1. A Brief Overview of the History of Reflection on Marriage and the Family

194

(4)

11.2. Factors of Renewal in Reflection on Marriage and the Family in the Twentieth Century

198

(15)

11.2.1. Groups of Family Spirituality

199

(1)

11.2.2. Stimuli from the Field of Philosophical Personalism

200

(3)

11.2.3. An Impasse in Sacramental Theology

203

(3)

11.2.4. Further Horizons

206

(3)

11.2.5. From the Perspective of the New Evangelization

209

(4)

12. The Insuperable Difference: From Man and Woman to Marriage and the Family

213

(26)

12.1. The Characteristics of the Nuptial Mystery

213

(4)

12.1.1. Scientific Universalism

215

(1)

12.1.2. From Libertinism to the Sexual Revolution

216

(1)

12.2. Sexual Difference

217

(4)

12.2.1. Identity-Difference and Equality-Diversity

218

(1)

12.2.2. The Path of the "I" in Sexual Difference

219

(2)

12.3. The Principle of Difference and Ontology

221

(6)

12.3.1. Sexual Difference and Fundamental Human Experience

221

(1)

12.3.2. Sexual Difference and Ontological Difference

222

(1)

12.3.3. The Difference between Being and Beings

222

(1)

12.3.4. Heidegger's Unfounded Criticism of Thomas: The Fruitfulness of the Distinctio Realis

223

(1)

12.3.5. The Necessary Breadth of Philosophical Reflection

224

(1)

12.3.6. Symbolic Ontology

224

(1)

12.3.7. Gift and Freedom

225

(1)

12.3.8. Ontological Difference and the Nuptial Mystery

226

(1)

12.4. The Principle of Difference and Theology

227

(5)

12.4.1. Revelation and Theological Difference

227

(1)

12.4.2. Verbum Caro Factum

228

(1)

12.4.3. The Logic of the Incarnation as Sacramental Logic: Eucharistic Gift and the Attitude of Human Freedom

229

(1)

12.4.4. The Nuptial Mystery and the Sacramental Nature of Marriage

230

(2)

12.4.5. Ascending to the Source

232

(1)

12.5. On Method: The Value and Limits of the Spousal Analogy

232

(7)

12.5.1. Factors of an Evolution

234

(1)

12.5.2. Analogia Entis, Analogia Fidei, Analogia Libertatis, Analogia Relationis

235

(2)

12.5.3. An Unconditional Gift to the Act of Human Freedom

237

(1)

12.5.4. Analogy and the Nuptial Mystery

237

(2)

13. Fatherhood, Motherhood, and the Mystery of the Father

239

(19)

13.1. The Eclipse of Fatherhood

239

(4)

13.1.1. The Eclipse of Fatherhood: The Loss of the Relation of Origin and the Loss of Freedom

240

(3)

13.2. Fatherhood and the Mystery of the Father

243

(7)

13.2.1. A Methodological Premise: In Order to Believe in the Son of God, One Must First Encounter Him as the Son of God

243

(2)

13.2.2. The Paschal Mystery: The Supreme Revelation of the Father

245

(2)

13.2.3. The Three Levels of Divine Fatherhood

247

(3)

13.3. Marriage and the Family as an Education to Fatherhood

250

(8)

13.3.1. Fatherhood, Motherhood, and Childhood

250

(4)

13.3.2. "Our Father, Who Art in Heaven," and the Church, Mother of Many Children

254

(1)

13.3.3. Divine Fatherhood, Human Fatherhood, and Freedom

255

(3)

14. Christ, Bridegroom of the Church

258

(14)

14.1. Conjugal Spirituality Based on the Logic of the Incarnation

258

(5)

14.1.1. A Specific Vocation to Holiness

258

(1)

14.1.2. Spirituality: An Ambiguous Notion

259

(2)

14.1.3. The Method of the Incarnation

261

(2)

14.2. The Relationship between Christ and the Church: Archetype of Conjugal Spirituality

263

(9)

14.2.1. Christ-Church, Archetype of Man-Woman

263

(2)

14.2.2. A Singular Self-Realization of the Church

265

(1)

14.2.3. Indissolubility: A Condition of the Truth

266

(3)

14.2.4. Virginity as the Summit of Nuptiality

269

(3)

15. The Holy Spirit and the Truth about Marriage and the Family

272

(18)

15.1. Adam and the New Adam

272

(2)

15.2. The Spousal Nature of the Human Person

274

(1)

15.3. Postmodernity

275

(3)

15.4. For the Well-Being of Mankind

278

(1)

15.5. The Spirit and Holiness

279

(2)

15.6. Divinization and Incorporation

281

(2)

15.7. The Holy Spirit, Principle of Nuptiality

283

(3)

15.8. The Holy Spirit and the Family

286

(4)

15.8.1. The Spirit and the Gift

286

(1)

15.8.2. The Spirit and Freedom

287

(1)

15.8.3. The Spirit and Witness

288

(1)

15.8.4. The Spirit and Unity

288

(2)

16. Marriage, Family, and the Eucharist

290

(24)

16.1. In the School of the Mysteries of Christianity

290

(2)

16.2. The Paschal Mystery and Marriage and the Family

292

(8)

16.2.1. The Nuptiality of the Paschal Event of Jesus Christ in the Church-Sacrament

292

(3)

16.2.2. Church/Eucharist/Marriage: Sacrament and Sacramental Logic

295

(2)

16.2.2.1. Given in Freedom

297

(1)

16.2.2.2. Circumstances and Relationships in the Sacramental Horizon

298

(2)

16.3. Marriage and the Family in Light of the Sacramental Logic

300

(7)

Appendix 1: From Inter Insignores to Ordinatio Sacerdotalis

307

(7)

Appendix 2: Affection in the Light of Several Articles of Saint Thomas Aquinas's De Passionibus: A Reading of the Summa Theologiae I-II, q. 22, aa. 1-3, and q. 26, aa. 1-2

314

(17)

1. Affection as Passio q. 22, aa. 1-3)

316

(7)

1.1. First Article: Utrum Aliqua Passio Sit in Anima

316

(4)

1.2. Second Article: Utrum Passio Magis Sit in Parte Appetitiva quam in Apprehensiva

320

(2)

1.3. Third Article: Utrum Passio Sit Magis in Appetitu Sensitivo quam Intellectivo, Qui Dicitur Voluntas

322

(1)

2. Toward a Definition of Affection

323

(2)

3. Affection as Amor q. 26, aa. 1-2)

325

(6)

3.1. A First Approximation of Love: Utrum Amor Sit in Concupiscibili

325

(3)

3.2. The "Circularity" of Love: Utrum Amor Sit Passio

328

(3)

Appendix 3: The Theological Principle of Human Procreation

331

(6)

1. The Originality of Human Procreation

331

(2)

2. The Specificity of Human Sexuality

333

(4)

Appendix 4: The Formation of Priests in the Pastoral Care of the Family

337

(20)

1. An Essential Dimension of the New Evangelization

337

(3)

2. A Concept of Education

340

(2)

3. Marriage and the Family in Their Essential Content for the Formation of Priests

342

(15)

3.1. The Man-Woman Relationship and Its Constitutive Relations

342

(2)

3.2. The Impact of These Themes on Formation in Seminaries

344

(1)

3.3. The Renewal of Philosophical and Theological Studies

345

(12)

Appendix 5: A Prophecy of the Nuptial Mystery: Reflections on the Teaching of Humanae Vitae

357

(19)

1. The Path of Magisterial Teaching

358

(4)

1.1. The Personalistic Dignity of Love and Procreation

358

(1)

1.2. The Absolute Nature of Moral Truth and Conscience

359

(2)

1.3. The Authority of the Magisterium in the Area of Morals

361

(1)

2. The Nuptial Mystery

362

(7)

2.1. Humanae Vitae and the Nuptial Mystery

362

(2)

2.2. Sexual Difference

364

(1)

2.3. Spousal Love

365

(1)

2.4. Procreation

366

(1)

2.5. The Nuptial Mystery and the Imago Dei

367

(2)

3. Ethical Perspectives

369

(2)

3.1. The Eucharistic Dimension of Action

369

(1)

3.2. Participating in the Virtues of Christ

370

(1)

3.3. The Ecclesial Dwelling Place of Ethics

371

(1)

4. The Pastoral Dimension

371

(5)

4.1. The Work of Education

371

(2)

4.2. The Dominant Culture and the Temptations of the Christian

373

(3)

4.2.1. Spiritualism

373

(1)

4.2.2. Androgynism

373

(1)

4.2.3. Dualism

374

(2)

Appendix 6: The Engagement Period: A Gift and a Task in the Preparation for Marriage

376

(8)

1. A Methodological Premise

376

(1)

2. Betrothal, a Pledge of Fidelity

377

(1)

3. Verification: Adhering, in Freedom, to a Constellation of Objective Signs

378

(2)

4. Affection: The Great School of the "Thou" as the Condition for the Realization of the "I"

380

(4)

Appendix 7: The Nuptial Mystery: A Perspective for Systematic Theology?

384

(22)

1. Beyond a Classical Prohibition

384

(1)

2. Theology's Openness to the Themes of the Nuptial Mystery

385

(3)

3. Nuptial Language and Dramatic Anthropology

388

(1)

4. Spousal Vocabulary, Nuptial Language, and the Nuptial Mystery

389

(2)

5. The Nuptial Mystery and the Event of the Foundation

391

(1)

6. Amor a Quo Omnis Amor..."

392

(1)

7. A Synthetic Description

393

(1)

8. A Perspective for Systematic Theology?

393

(1)

9. A Maximalist Interpretation

394

(1)

10. The Evisceration of Analogy

395

(1)

11. Nuptial Testimony

395

(2)

12. The Dynamic of Desire

397

(2)

13. Irreversible Fate or Beneficent Plan?

399

(2)

14. Nuptial Testimony and Theology

401

(3)

15. Farewell

404

(2)

Index of Names

406

(4)

Index of Subjects

410

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The Nuptial Mystery

Summary

Author Biography

Table of Contents

Supplemental Materials