Jared Schumacher
All Articles by Jared Schumacher
Asst. Prof. of Theology and Catholic Studies, University of Mary, Bismarck, ND
Ab astris ad castra: An Ignatian-MacIntyrean Proposal for Overcoming Historical and Political-Theological Difficulties in Ecumenical Dialogue
Beginning from a footnote in Kant, this essay argues that the Orthodox and Catholic ecumenical dialogue must confront three preeminent difficulties to achieve practical unity: the recognition of plurality, the problem of synthesis or integration, and the problem of orientation implicit in any synthesis. An Ignatian ‘star’ will be posited by which future ecumenical dialogue—especially concerning primacy—might be steered, as well as a MacIntyrean proposal for the achievement of unity through the pragmatics of tradition in the face of epistemological crises caused by the historical conflict of traditions.
Introduction
In a concluding footnote to his essay ‘Idea for a Universal History with a Cosmopolitan Purpose’, Immanuel Kant makes a claim that, although dubious in its theological verity, is nevertheless perspicuous in its practical import, especially as it bears upon
‘From the stars to the camps’. Kant uses the motto in a genealogy of naming military and academic offices, recognizing their theological (or in his terms, ‘astrological’) source. Immanuel Kant, ‘ The Conflict of the Faculties,’ in Kant: Religion and Rational Theology, transl. and ed. by Allen W. Wood and George Di Giovanni (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2001), note on p. 247. Its designation here is meant to recognize the political-theological problem inherent in ecumenical dialogue, and thus, the unavoidability of recognizing potential metaphysical disagreements lying behind remaining disputes ‘between camps’, so to speak: Whose stars do we steer by? By which constellation should we orient ourselves? Here, too, Ignatius provides an answer: ‘A star shone forth in heaven brighter than all the stars; its light was indescribable, and its strangeness caused amazement. All the rest of the constellations, together with the sun and moon, formed a chorus around the star, yet the star itself far outshone them all, and there was perplexity about the origin of this strange phenomenon, which was so unlike the others’. e One star lights the way. Ignatius of Antioch, ‘Letter to the Ephesians,’ in The Apostolic Fathers, ed. by Michael William Holmes (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2007), 199.
The author would like to thank student research assistant Regina Zabinski for her invaluable aid accumulating resources for the project.