- Catholic imagination
Catholic imagination refers to a cultural mode that is common to Catholics as it is inherent in the Catholic viewpoint that
God is present in the whole creation and inhuman beings , as seen in its sacramental system whereby material things and human beings are channels and sources of God's grace.Origin of the term
Comparing 'Catholic imagination' to 'Protestant imagination'
This
terminology was popularized byAndrew Greeley , a Catholic priest. He wrote::"The central symbol (ofreligion ) is God. One's "picture" of God is in fact a metaphoricalnarrative of God's relationship with theworld and the self as part of the world... The Catholic "classics" assume a God who is present in the world, disclosing Himself in and through creation. The world and all its events, objects, and people tend to be somewhat like God. TheProtestant classics, on the other hand, assume a God who is radically absent from the world, and who discloses (Himself) only on rare occasions (especially inJesus Christ and Him crucified). The world and all its events, objects, and people tend to be radically different from God."Protestants as 'pilgrims'
According to Runar Eldebo (a Swedish
correspondent forPietisten --an on-line Catholic newspaper) who teaches in the Swedish Seminary, Greely makes a clear distinction between Catholic imagination and Protestant imagination. Regarding Protestant imagination, Eldebo said::"Protestant imagination isdialectic and makes peoplepilgrim s. It is deep in conflict and antagonistic to the ingredients of a common, human life. Catholic imagination isanalogical . It is founded in creation itself and views creation as God in disguise. According to Catholic imagination, God lurks everywhere. According to Protestant imagination, Karl Barth for example, God is hidden everywhere but found only in the revelation of Jesus Christ. Therefore, according to Greeley, Protestants are never at home on earth, they are pilgrims on their way. Catholics, meanwhile, like to dwell on earth. They enjoy life and are not in a hurry to get to heaven because God lurks everywhere, especially where you do not expect her (sic) to be. Protestants have warned people about the hazards of the world and asked people to hide inchurch . Catholics know that God loves the world and, most of all, his church."Views of Catholic writer Flannery O'Connor
American Catholic writer
Flannery O'Connor also discussed these ideas in her workNovelist and Believer ::St. Augustine wrote that the things of the world pour forth from God in a double way: intellectually into the minds of the
angels and physically into the world of things. To the person who believes this - as the western world did up until a few centuries ago - this physical sensible world is good because it proceeds from a divine source... The aim of the artist is to render the highest possiblejustice to the visibleuniverse ... The artist penetrates the concrete world in order to find at its depths the image of its source, the image of ultimate reality.ee also
*
Roman Catholic Church
*Protestantism
*Roman Catholic sacraments
*Sacrament
*Grace of God
*Christianity
*God
*Jesus Christ
*Pantheism
*Deism External links
* [http://www.pietisten.org/winter0304/greeley.html Runar Eldebo discusses Roman Catholic imagination in Pietisten.]
* [http://www.pietisten.org/default.html Pietisten homepage.]
* [http://www.pietisten.org/about.html Pietisten statement of purpose and beliefs.]
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.