The Search for Happiness, Towards a Practical Theology of Joy: Faith Seeking Beatific Happiness – Fides Quaerens Beatitudinem
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Daniel Louw
Abstract
In the light of the eudaimonic principle of pleasure/enjoyment, the question is posed: What is meant by a spirituality of happiness? In terms of the eucharistic perspective of graceful living, and the view that human beings are actually playful artists (homo ludens), a practical theology of joy is proposed: fides quaerens beatitudinem – faith seeking joyful happiness. In the light of the Christian connection between a benevolence of grace and the biblical notion of the beatitudes, happiness is presented as a kind of makariology: the interplay between the benediction of a blessing and the fortitude of a peaceful mind. “Beatific enjoyment” (fruitio beatifica) is proposed as a practical theological conceptualisation of the “praxis of God”.
Zusammenfassung
Was heißt es, von einer „Spiritualität der Glückseligkeit“ zu sprechen? Der vorliegende Aufsatz verbindet Einsichten der Philosophie, Anthropologie und Theologie zum Themenkreis des gelingenden Lebens, um sich einer Praktischen Theologie der Freude anzunähern. Er erkundet den Leitgedanken einer „fides quaerens beatitudinem“ und einen biblisch grundierten Begriff der Freude, der sich zwischen segnendem Zuspruch und gelassener Zuversicht bewegt.
© 2020 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Frontmatter
- Vorwort
- Interjection / Zwischenruf
- COVID-19 Demands Theological Reflection: Buddhist, Muslim, and Christian Perspectives on the Present Pandemic
- Research Articles
- Listening for the Cries of the Earth: Practical Theology in the Anthropocene
- The Social Practice of Being Born Again: Historical and Cultural-Sociological Perspectives on Conversionist Piety
- Anticipation in the Normative Task of Practical Theology
- Potential Roles of Churches and Ecclesiology for Disability Inclusion
- The Search for Happiness, Towards a Practical Theology of Joy: Faith Seeking Beatific Happiness – Fides Quaerens Beatitudinem
- International Report
- Practical Theology in the United States 2000–2020 with Attention to Its Emergence in the Twentieth Century
- Research Report
- Religious Speech as Resource. A Research Report
- Book Reviews
- Barbara J. McClure, Emotions: Problems and Promise for Human Flourishing. (Waco, TX: Baylor University Press, 2019), xvi + 349pp. ISBN 978-1-60258-329-0, $59.95.
- Elaine Graham, Apologetics without Apology: Speaking of God in a World Troubled by Religion. (Eugene, OR: Cascade Books, 2017), 172pp., ISBN 978-1-4982-8413-4 (pbk), 978-1-4982-8415-8 (hbk), 978-1-4982-8414-1 (ebk), $24.00.
- Frank Thomas Brinkmann, Praktische Theologie. Ein Guide (Tübingen: Narr Francke Attempto, 2019), ISBN 978–3825251413, € 26,99.
- Bernd Schröder, Göttinger Religionspädagogik. Eine Studie zur institutionellen Genese und programmatischen Entfaltung von Katechetik und Religionspädagogik am Beispiel Göttingen. Unter Mitarbeit von Florian Dinger, Moritz Emmelmann, Monika E. Fuchs, Urte M. Götte, Elisabeth Hohensee und Lukas Steinbeck (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2018), ISBN 978-3-16-155840-5, € 84,00.
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Frontmatter
- Vorwort
- Interjection / Zwischenruf
- COVID-19 Demands Theological Reflection: Buddhist, Muslim, and Christian Perspectives on the Present Pandemic
- Research Articles
- Listening for the Cries of the Earth: Practical Theology in the Anthropocene
- The Social Practice of Being Born Again: Historical and Cultural-Sociological Perspectives on Conversionist Piety
- Anticipation in the Normative Task of Practical Theology
- Potential Roles of Churches and Ecclesiology for Disability Inclusion
- The Search for Happiness, Towards a Practical Theology of Joy: Faith Seeking Beatific Happiness – Fides Quaerens Beatitudinem
- International Report
- Practical Theology in the United States 2000–2020 with Attention to Its Emergence in the Twentieth Century
- Research Report
- Religious Speech as Resource. A Research Report
- Book Reviews
- Barbara J. McClure, Emotions: Problems and Promise for Human Flourishing. (Waco, TX: Baylor University Press, 2019), xvi + 349pp. ISBN 978-1-60258-329-0, $59.95.
- Elaine Graham, Apologetics without Apology: Speaking of God in a World Troubled by Religion. (Eugene, OR: Cascade Books, 2017), 172pp., ISBN 978-1-4982-8413-4 (pbk), 978-1-4982-8415-8 (hbk), 978-1-4982-8414-1 (ebk), $24.00.
- Frank Thomas Brinkmann, Praktische Theologie. Ein Guide (Tübingen: Narr Francke Attempto, 2019), ISBN 978–3825251413, € 26,99.
- Bernd Schröder, Göttinger Religionspädagogik. Eine Studie zur institutionellen Genese und programmatischen Entfaltung von Katechetik und Religionspädagogik am Beispiel Göttingen. Unter Mitarbeit von Florian Dinger, Moritz Emmelmann, Monika E. Fuchs, Urte M. Götte, Elisabeth Hohensee und Lukas Steinbeck (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2018), ISBN 978-3-16-155840-5, € 84,00.
