222073 SE Systematic Theology: Advanced Exemplary Study: The Sacred and the Holy between Magic and Sacramentality

winter semester 2022/2023 | Last update: 05.10.2022 Place course on memo list
222073
SE Systematic Theology: Advanced Exemplary Study: The Sacred and the Holy between Magic and Sacramentality
SE 2
5
weekly
each semester
German
  1. Deepened understanding of the anthropological challenges of our time.
  2. Ability to make independent judgments in dealing with controversial theological discussions.

In February 2021 Cambridge University Press published the monograph "Transforming the Sacred into Saintliness" by Wolfgang Palaver, a social ethicist from Innsbruck. The book builds on René Girard's theory of the sacred and develops a theory of saintliness that aims at distinguishing the sacred form its early religious manifestations. After all, according to Girard, the sacred has always been characterized by forms of mimetic violence and murderous scapegoat mechanisms.

A few months later, in the early summer of 2021, Herder-Verlag published the monograph "Verteidigung des Heiligen. Anthropology of the Digital Transformation" by the Innsbruck systematic theologian Johannes Hoff. The book deals with the 'new magic' of digital technologies and argues that our humanity cannot be defended without an anthropologically qualified concept of the sacred: "The central thesis of the .... book, whose title in English would be Defence of the Sacred, can consequently be summarized as follows: no forms of personal self-transcendence without sacred artefacts!" (404)

It seems to be evident that the above monographs develop different perspectives on the concept of the sacred. Whether they can be reconciled with each other will become clearer in the course of the seminar. A special emphasis will be put on the concepts of the sacred/holy in Henri Bergson and Max Scheler.

Lecture, presentations and discussion.

Active participation in the class and seminar paper.

Wolfgang Palaver, Transforming the Sacred into Saintliness. Reflecting on Violence and Religion with René Girard (Cambridge: Cambridge UP 2021). 

Palaver, Wolfgang: Heilig, nicht sakral. Über das religiöse Potenzial zum Frieden. In: Amosinternational (14/3) 2020, 18-24.

Johannes Hoff, Verteidigung des Heiligen. Anthropologie der Digitalen Transformation (Freiburg - Basel - Wien: Herder 2021), 394-425, 494-516.

Johannes Hoff, „Sakramentaler Realismus nach dem Ende des Gutenbergzeitalters: Christsein in einer postdigitalen Welt." In: Communio (2022).

None.

05.10.2022
Group 0
Date Time Location
Wed 2022-10-05
14.00 - 15.45 SR VII (Theologie) SR VII (Theologie) Barrier-free
Wed 2022-10-12
14.00 - 15.45 SR VII (Theologie) SR VII (Theologie) Barrier-free
Wed 2022-10-19
14.00 - 15.45 SR VII (Theologie) SR VII (Theologie) Barrier-free
Wed 2022-11-09
14.00 - 15.45 SR VII (Theologie) SR VII (Theologie) Barrier-free
Wed 2022-11-16
14.00 - 15.45 SR VII (Theologie) SR VII (Theologie) Barrier-free
Wed 2022-11-23
14.00 - 15.45 SR VII (Theologie) SR VII (Theologie) Barrier-free
Wed 2022-11-30
14.00 - 15.45 SR VII (Theologie) SR VII (Theologie) Barrier-free
Wed 2022-12-07
14.00 - 15.45 SR VII (Theologie) SR VII (Theologie) Barrier-free
Wed 2022-12-14
14.00 - 15.45 SR VII (Theologie) SR VII (Theologie) Barrier-free
Wed 2023-01-11
14.00 - 15.45 SR VII (Theologie) SR VII (Theologie) Barrier-free
Wed 2023-01-18
14.00 - 15.45 SR VII (Theologie) SR VII (Theologie) Barrier-free
Wed 2023-01-25
14.00 - 15.45 SR VII (Theologie) SR VII (Theologie) Barrier-free
Wed 2023-02-01
14.00 - 15.45 SR VII (Theologie) SR VII (Theologie) Barrier-free