A SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGICAL APPROACH TO THE QUESTION OF THE DEVIL AND HIS EXTRAORDINARY ACTION Cover Image

SYSTEMATICKO-TEOLOGICKÉ PŘÍSTUPY K PROBLEMATICE ĎÁBLA A JEHO MIMOŘÁDNÉHO PŮSOBENÍ
A SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGICAL APPROACH TO THE QUESTION OF THE DEVIL AND HIS EXTRAORDINARY ACTION

Author(s): Ctirad Václav Pospíšil
Subject(s): Christian Theology and Religion
Published by: Univerzita Palackého v Olomouci
Keywords: Systematic Theology; Demonology; Exorcism; ‘Maleficium’

Summary/Abstract: This study is the first systematic theological work on this topic in Czech theological literature over the last two centuries. In the first part, the author points to the connections between demonology and other thematic fields of systematic theology. The proper hermeneutical key to Christian demonology is to be found in Soteriology and Christology. Furthermore, Christian demonology has important connections with the image of God, the Creator and the Saviour, with anthropology and spirituality. In the second part, the author deals with the sources of biblical demonology and with the problem of the personal nature of devil, which must be understood in an analogical sense. The neglecting of this rule causes numerous misunderstandings. In the third point, the author compares the propositions of the Magisterium of the Catholic Church with contemporary popular literature on the devil and exorcisms. The greatest difference consists in the category of so-called ‘maleficium’, which the Magisterium makes little mention of and even warning against superstition in this regard. In the next part, the author proposes inspirations for distinguishing between cases of actual obsession and mental pathological states. In the last point, the author presents the results of his work.

  • Issue Year: XIV/2012
  • Issue No: 4
  • Page Range: 205-239
  • Page Count: 36
  • Language: Czech
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