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IMC 2011: Sessions

Session 210: Action and Contemplation in Spiritual Life

Monday 11 July 2011, 14.15-15.45

Moderator/Chair:Diana Marie Jeske, School of Philosophical, Historical & International Studies, Monash University, Victoria
Paper 210-aKing Alfred's Prose Psalter: 'Through A Mirror in Enigma'
(Language: English)
Tatyana Solomonik-Pankrashova, Vilniaus Universitetas
Index terms: Biblical Studies, Language and Literature - Old English, Philosophy, Theology
Paper 210-b'Working the Earth of the Heart': Rich Pickings in Pseudo-Macarius' Imagery of Cultivation and Harvest
(Language: English)
Hannah Hunt, Department of Theology & Religious Studies, Leeds Trinity University College
Index terms: Biblical Studies, Ecclesiastical History, Monasticism, Religious Life
Paper 210-cMinistry of Love and Service: Loving God and Neighbor
(Language: English)
Ann Marie Caron, Department of Religious Studies, Saint Joseph College, Connecticut
Index terms: Lay Piety, Theology
Abstract

Paper -a:
Contemplative spirituality is intended to convey the sense that God is a mystery and cannot be fully understood by humanity. The attempts to exhibit the revelation of mystical theology in King Alfred's translation of the Psalms are rather infrequent. This paper aims at disclosing the richness of the inner-life of the soul endowed with the divine gift of αγάπη, which enables the soul to ascend the spiritual ladder.
Alfred's Prose Psalter will be examined anew in the light of the educational an intellectual tradition of his time. My argument proceeds in two ways. First, I am going to examine the sources for Alfredian exegesis in the writings of John Scottus Eriugena, and, second, I compare Alfred's translation of the Prose Psalter with the Latin Vulgate translation of the Psalms.

Paper -b:
Arising from an interdisciplinary project on 'austerity', ecological exploitation and unequal distribution of wealth, the paper analyses how Macarius, like his contemporary Ephrem, denotes election and salvation through images of sowing and reaping. It contextualises the biblical provenance of such imagery, and its more extended exposition by Syrian poet-theologians. Typology and metaphor suggest Christ as both farmer and the life-bearing sheaf of salvation; Mary's womb as the soil in which Christ is planted. Macarius uses liturgical texts to refute heresy, providing a counterbalance to accusations of Messalian heresy, and placing Macarius firmly in the canon of theological respectability.

Paper -c:
In the late 11th to early 13th centuries the social position of the poor changed considerably and so did people's ideas about poverty. I propose to consider the example of the Beguines in the medieval Low Countries as a way of addressing the 2011 conference theme Poor…Rich, issues of wealth and poverty in the Middle Ages. Even with variations in time and geographical sociological settings, the Beguines shared certain fundamental beliefs and practices. Attitudes and practices of charitable work and urban and rural poverty will be highlighted from the vita of for instance, Lutgard of Tongeren, Ida of Louvain, Ida of Nivelle, and Hadewijch of Brabant. Beguines created their own communities beyond the parish. They created a literature of devotion and religious experience in their own style and tongue. In the description of John van Engen, 'theirs was a 'self-constructed' religious life, designed for women in an urban setting. Beguines responded to a spiritual ideal as much as to social need. The second part of this paper centers on and concludes with Mary Magdalene, as Christophora.