Fuga mundi in the relationship between the Church and the world

theological approach between Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Gaudium et spes

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.7213/2175-1838.15.001.DS09

Abstract

Throughout the history of Christianity, the fuga mundi emerged as a radical form of Christian experience. This way of living the values of the Gospel corresponded to the specific needs of the context in which it emerged. However, over time, some guiding principles of the fuga mundi collaborated for the implantation, on a large scale in Christianity, of a dualistic understanding of the world that separates the Church from the world, as well as opposing body and soul, sacred and profane, matter and spirit. Nonetheless, the Church is inserted in the world, in the same way as “the Word of God became flesh and dwelt among us” (Jn 1,14). The reflection carried out by the Second Vatican Council, expressed in Gaudium et spes, provides relevant elements for this evangelical self-understanding of the Church in the world. There are other authors who also reflected on the relationship between Christianity and the world, such as, for example, the Lutheran theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906-1945). In this article, a critique is made of the fuga mundi attitude, based on the comparative analysis of some Bonhoeffer’s writings and the Gaudium et spes, which allows a better understanding of the dialogical and servant mode of existence of the Christian churches in the contemporary world (called by Bonhoeffer as the “adult world”). At the same time, it reflects on the overcoming of dualisms and on the delimitation of the place that the fuga mundi had in the Catholic Church, from the conciliar event.

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Author Biographies

Rafael Martins Fernandes, PUCRS

Doutor em Teologia (Pontifícia Universidade Lateranense, PUL, Roma, Itália, 2018).
Mestre em Teologia (Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul, PUC-RS,
Porto Alegre, RS, 2014). Graduado em Teologia (Pontifícia Universidade Católica do
Rio Grande do Sul, PUC-RS, Porto Alegre, RS, 2008). Graduado em Filosofia (Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul, PUC-RS, Porto Alegre, RS, 2003)

Luiz Maria de Barros Coelho Neto, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul

Presbítero católico. Mestre em teologia sistemática pela Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul (PUCRS). Dupla titulação de bacharel em Teologia (POntificia Università Lateranense de Roma, Itália, e PUCRS) e licenciado em Filosofia (PUCRS).

Published

2023-04-28

How to Cite

Martins Fernandes, R., & de Barros Coelho Neto, L. M. . (2023). Fuga mundi in the relationship between the Church and the world: theological approach between Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Gaudium et spes. Pistis Praxis, 15(1). https://doi.org/10.7213/2175-1838.15.001.DS09