This thesis examines the intellectual environment in which Pope John Paul II's thought
operates, especially as it pertains to his writings on the truth. The pontiff's thinking faces open
hostility toward Christianity, as exemplified by Friedrich Nietzsche and Michel Foucault. The
pope's theology pays attention and builds links to modern thought through its positive
engagement with phenomenology and personalism, as well as through its opposition to
materialism. Despite these connections, this theology fails to fit well with (post)modern
thinking, as it takes a wider view of things in two ways: (1) By offering a spiritual sense of
things, it goes beyond thought and takes into account supernatural sources of knowledge,
sources which are both a one-time event (the Resurrection of Jesus Christ) and part of the
ongoing journey of the Christian community; (2) By boldly referring to traditional, outmoded
language, as with the words obedience and humility, with the same level of reverence and
fullness of their sense as they were used before the secular-feminist era condemned these
virtues. The strange and unique qualities of John Paul II's thinking issues from these two
practices. It also arises from his bold ability to engage with modern thought without becoming
defensive and without hiding behind the Bible or Catholic piety, though he uses both of these
generously.
John Paul II offers a clear alternative to the chaos and confusion of post-Enlightenment
thought, in both his thought's style and substance. The Holy Father's words cause us to reflect
more deeply than those of modern or postmodern thinkers, and call us away from the
relativism of Richard Rorty, Foucault, and so many others. The pope's thought succeeds in
part because he takes a much wider vista of things, in that he digs more deeply into Western
and Christian thought and that he enters this heritage as an inheritor rather than as a skeptical
scientist-researcher as in Foucault's case. The pope's thought also succeeds because he assigns
spiritual meaning to this journey of Christian and world people. In this sense, his thought is
also radically inclusive. / Philosophy, Practical and Systematic Theology / D. Th. (Systematic Theology)
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:unisa/oai:uir.unisa.ac.za:10500/2081 |
| Date | 30 November 2007 |
| Creators | Welter, Brian |
| Contributors | Van Niekerk, E. (Prof.) |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | 1 online resource (v, 204 leaves) |
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