The article considers the configuration of the ordained minister with Christ, starting first from the Old Testament figures that St. Augustine highlights as well as the theological consequences that he draws from these figures in relation to the priesthood. Subsequently, the article addresses the internal and external configuration that the ordained minister must have with Christ, the only Priest. In relation to the internal configuration, the importance of prayer and the configuration of the ordained minister with the feelings of Christ (...) are highlighted, so that he can become an instrument of God’s mercy. The configuration of the ordained minister to the sacrifice of Christ on the cross is also discussed, as well as the patience and trust that every ordained minister must have in God. The external elements of the configuration of the ordained minister to Christ are also highlighted, starting from the lifestyle of Christ, dedicated only to the proclamation of the kingdom, the importance of the mission and the joy in the exercise of the pastoral ministry. (shrink)

The article has as point of departure the idea that for Saint Augustine biological life is intimately linked with spiritual life; moreover, biological life itself is nothing but a metaphor of the real life. It is also presented that for Saint Augustine life is ultimately a Christological matter. The basic Augustinian anthropological idea of the human being as mendicus Dei is also developed, starting from the text of 1 Cor 4, 7, and developing the image of the human being as (...) vilicus, as a simple administrator of God’s gifts. On the other hand, the issue of abortion is addressed according to the Augustinian ideas, to highlight that despite the fact that in the time of Saint Augustine a subtle distinction was made between a formed and an unformed embryo, according to the number of days of gestation, following the Aristotelian theories illuminated by the text of Ex 21, 22-23, according to the LXX, Saint Augustine opposes abortion in all cases, considering it a homicide, because whoever will become a person, is already so in the very womb of their mother. Three sources of human dignity according to Saint Augustine are also presented. In the first place, the fact that the human being has been created in the image and likeness of the Triune God. Second, the fact of Christ’s incarnation and redemption, presenting the Augustinian argument that the price of each man is none other than the blood of Christ. A third Augustinian argument is also presented, which is his condition as a son of God through the sacrament of baptism. It also presents the point of view of Saint Augustine on the death penalty, specifically in relation to the circumcelliones and the ep. 133 and the slave traders and ep. 10*. (shrink)

The Confessions of Augustine can be read as a summary and presentation of the Saint’s past life, but the whole book is a book in the present, since Augustine indicates the events he has had to face, the events in the past of his life, but from the reflective today at the moment of writing. Beyond narrating experienced situations, the Confessions are a permanent self-reflection of what he remembers, of what he is, of what he expects, but all in a (...) present, describing concrete things, trying to find the reason why they are remembered and why they caused an impact on his person. A first step is to say what happened, then try to find out why it happened that way, as well as how you can say what happened. It is a confession with transcendence, to educate, to prevent, to remember, to reach the Truth, which is always present. (shrink)

This paper presents the overview of the State-Religion relations in the Philippines, identifying the contributions and participatory roles of the churches or religious bodies in the society. It also deals with the historical Constitutional framework that built the country as a nation, in the light of recognizing the Church-State separation of responsibilities. It also illustrates the contextual analysis and assessment of the fragility of the current relationship between the State and Religion. Finally, it deals with the distinct functions that both (...) State and Religion have to protect the common good. (shrink)

This paper aims to elucidate the emphatic demand of the Listening Pastoral inside the Catholic Church. The Supreme Pontiff, Pope Francis, dreams with a clergy with a greater capacity to handle the Christian community in its most relevant urgencies, such as youth accompaniment, specially an active listening made with attentive ears. From this base the article proposes a new method for accompaniment: a pastoral of listening according to the Humanistic Integrative Counseling model. However, the Listening Pastoral doesn’t have agents with (...) the required formation, therefore, beyond the technique, it is important the attitudes of the professional, who welcomes the marginalized and weakened. At the end of the article a list of attitudes will be presented having in mind a pastoral accompaniment. (shrink)

St. Augustine, through his most recognized philosophical writings, has elaborated a thesis where he makes known the concept, function and laws of the sensitive memory as the indispensable faculty for the intellectual and personal development. The main philosophical works of the Christian author “Confessions” and “Of the Trinity” seek to meditate and deepen the phenomenon of memory in order to unravel the faculty of remembering present in human beings and animals. In his confessions, St. Augustine shapes the events that have (...) marked his life before, during and after his conversion to Christianity, where he manifests the emotions, causes and consequences. In psychology, memory is part of his fields of study in order to explain, through the scientific method, the process of memory and its relationship with behavioral and psychic phenomena of man. The first authors of psychology, have proposed various theories and schemes that allow to observe and give a diagnosis to the behaviors that the person manifests, to these phenomena is involved the sensitive memory as responsible for such attitudes. St. Augustine has taken the first steps on the study of the sensitive memory from the rational, speculative and Christian scope; therefore, it becomes one of the great contributions on the study of the nemetic phenomenon and to be considered as the father of psychology. (shrink)

In this article the so-called “Song of Hanna” is approached to propose a new reading of it, making a review of its main variants, particularly with regard to vv. 6 to 8. The sources which are contrasted are TM, LXX, the Vorlage of the LXX and 4Qsam, among others. The current state of the studies related to the text of 1 Sam 2: 6-10, and the “Song of Hanna” is also addressed, to propose a synthesis of the ideas presented in (...) the studies, in order to make a presentation of the way in which the text of 1Sam 2: 6-10 was inserted in its context. (shrink)

The exegesis of the patriarchs has a rich history. Not only has the history of Abraham been widely explained in Judaism, Early Christianity and Islam, so have the other two patriarchs, Isaac and Jacob. 1 The patriarchs Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are explained in Jewish exegetical tradition by Philo of Alexandria as three that belong together. 2 In his works Philo treats these three patriarchs as an important triad that can be explained on different levels. 3 The question I want (...) to ask here is whether this triad is also adopted in the same way in Christian exegesis, especially when it comes to the typology of the individual persons. 4 The allegorical and typological interpretations of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in Philo do seem to be adopted in part in Early Christian exegesis. Ambrose clearly shows this in his treatises on the patriarchs. On the other hand, attention to the triad, which is so important to Philo, seems to fade into the background on behalf of a double typology, especially the typology of the Divine persons. (shrink)

The last Books of Augustine’s Confessions have been studied from different points of view, particularly from a philosophical or exegetical perspective, but not, taken as a whole and with detail, from an ecological point of view. For that reason, the article deals with the ideas about Creation in the three last Books of Confessions, as a point of departure to talk about ecology. Then the article presents the ideas about Ecology that Saint Augustine develops within the three last Books of (...) his Confessions, underlining the spiritual and ecological consequences of the insights of the Bishop of Hippo. The article also discusses the relationship of the Document Laudato Si’ with the ideas that St. Augustine develops in the last book of his Confessions. (shrink)

The article offers a study of the Ascensional Psalms 126 to 133. First of all, the article presents the Latin Text used by Augustine, making a reconstruction of the Psalm’s Text, based on what Augustine comments in his explanation of the Psalms. After that, the Psalms are studied in a Biblical Context, to present afterwards the interpretation that Augustine makes of the Psalms, highlighting the Topic of Hope according to Augustine’s interpretation.

This article attempts to give an answer from the Augustinian perspective to the question of ecological sustainability, starting from the admiration of Saint Augustine for creation, and taking as reference points, first of all, Saint Augustine’s ideas on property. private and his own monastic ideal, as these are expressed in the Praeceptum as well as in sermons 355 and 356. The second source for the sustainability is the one concerning the relationship that the human being should have with all the (...) created things, taking as point of departure Augustine’s De Genesi aduersus manicheos, where the human being is presented as an administrator of God’s goods and not as an owner who can abuse of them. (shrink)