出版者・発行元：南山大学  

People as moral agents are guided by moral principles, either by some intuitive and universal maxims or by culturally conditioned rules that they more or less consciously absorb and apply. While it is true that the goal of most human actions is the pursuit of meaning and good, it is also true that this good exists actually as and in a hierarchy of goods; it has to be discovered, interiorized and concretized by the very individual, and oftentimes there is more than one way to achieve it and maybe sometimes there is not any way to achieve the perfect good. Many actions are led by “gut reactions” and commonsense principles rather than serious logical evaluation, however it is within the human capacity to reflect more deeply on moral reasoning and to approach ever closely the more perfect understanding of good. Especially, it has to be reflected upon whether the greatest good is always to be done, whether some evil can be permitted in order to bring about a greater good or, even more importantly, whether evil as such can be object of a direct volitional action at all. In this paper I claim that, although intuitively and in everyday usage the notion of “lesser evil” has a certain weight, theologically speaking it is unsustainable and nonsensical and can potentially be misunderstood or even misused. Its application is quite limited, finding its place not in moral dilemmas but mostly in the realm of secular and social life. It is not a core principle of Christian ethics at all but rather a provisional way to escape immediately unresolvable situations. This is the first of two parts.

出版者・発行元：在名古屋教皇庁認可神学部／南山大学人文学部キリスト教学科  

In the present "Research Notes", meant as prolegomena to a further reflection, I ponder over differences between men and women. The obvious explanation for these differences is evolutionary development, i.e. biology. Yet, referring to biology or trying to make clear the foundation of one’s being male/female has become a point of strong skepticism and criticism. Moreover, are visible biological idiosyncrasies the only difference between the two sexes? Is male-female dimorphism the only or the best way of existing for humans? However this question might be taken for granted, I argue it is worth dealing with, because it can – for example – help to discern the "true" sex in case of children born in ambiguous condition. The goal should not be exalting one's sex as superior, but appreciating their respective originality and unique contribution. Since sexuality is a given that has to be discerned and accepted as well as a task to be completed, there can be broad categories while every person finds his/her own way to live their masculinity/femininity. In fact, putting aside rare exceptions, many researchers point out various differences (physiological, psychological, behavioral etc.) between men and women “on average”. In this paper, I mostly collect and compare those findings in order to present some exemplary bibliography pertinent to this topic.

出版者・発行元：Pontificio ateneo Regina Apostolorum  

出版者・発行元：Universität Freiburg - Theologische Fakultät  

An important part of the thought of Romano Guardini represents the concept of Christ’s existence-in-man and that of man-in-Christ. It has predecessors but as for its ontic-real interpretation Guardini is quite original. According to him, man’s being in Christ is (implicitly) a fundamental aspect of Christian existence and means the full realization of the personal being. At the same time, I claim in this study that this participation in Christ’s identity has to have some outcome in human action, seen as a doing-with-God, that reveals and expresses this new being, because the existence of Christ in man is normative and demands to be transposed into action.

出版者・発行元：在名古屋教皇庁認可神学部  

Romano Guardini was a theologian who did not fear confrontation with any area of human existence. In his religious work he considered the person of Buddha of great importance for the right comprehension of the rôle of Christ. In this paper I introduce several of Guardini's often fragmentary texts in which he tries to evaluate this eastern sage as akin to Christ as his precursor. Even though they often treat various common topics in a similar manner and, I think, not rarely in the same direction, the respective conclusions of Christ and Buddha are different. Guardini admired and appreciated Buddha precisely because he could lead to Christ, and because through comparison to Buddha, Christ's uniqueness became markedly apparent.

出版者・発行元：日本カトリック神学会  

In this paper I argue that the concept of cooperation with God is intrinsic not only to spiritual theology but also to Christian ethics. This is not a simple concept. It lies between two extremes – the one is the idea of a God who uses human beings as mere tools through whom He acts; the other is the understanding of the human being as somebody who acts independently of, or even as being equal to God. On the basis of the thought of Blondel and Guardini, and looking also to the roots of their thought in early medieval theology, I maintain that it may be more suitable to say from the Christian view-point that the human being acts as a co-subject with God, i.e., that through grace the human being becomes a real agent when acting, but that the origin of the action lies in God. God’s gifts are given in such a way that they really belong to the person who is carrying out the activity. Indeed, this co-subjectivity offered by God to human freedom lies at the foundation of human agency. Rm 8:16, despite some difficulties in translating the text, can be offered as scriptural basis for this claim. We give testimony in a way that is neither the action of the human acting alone, nor can it be considered as coming only from the Holy Spirit: it is a “common testimony” (symmartyria) given by the Holy Spirit with the human being. Herein lies the task of conscience – not in terms of implementing divine orders, nor of the application to the particular situation of general rules, but as giving witness to one’s divine filiation, confirmed continually by the Holy Spirit. Our being children of God is nothing other than our participation in and co-realization of Christ’s own identity.

出版者・発行元：神言神学院  

In this paper, I examine the idea as to whether virtues can be or really are properties of God rather than independent qualities of humans in some way related to God. Above all, concentrating on the “infused” theological virtues, it seems that they are indeed impossible as merely human achievements; they are moreover informed by God’s actual attitudes. On the other hand, it is insufficient to consider the human being as only an instrument or channel of such a virtuously acting of God; virtues as far as they are free, meritorious acts, have to belong to the person qua subject. This paradox is important for all of the Christian virtues. The summit of the human capacity for loving is to love with the love of God, which consists in letting God love through oneself. An agapic and kenotic love is not possible but as a participation in the very love of God itself. A special place among these virtues is assumed by faith, because God is neither its object in the proper sense, nor can God/Jesus be an immediate subject of faith, however human faith is made possible through God and in certain sense it is a sharing in His own knowledge of Himself, as R. Guardini would say. Thus, human virtues are not simply human, having God as their origin and author, but at the same time man or woman has to be their co-subject and actor (protagonist). They are a free gift but nonetheless a property belonging fully to humans.

出版者・発行元：Society for the study of Christian ethics (SAGE publications)  

In this article, I present one view of Guardini’s ethics, to which he dedicated his late academic life. Christian ethics for Guardini is only a natural consequence of the whole Christian existence and thus unique. Therefore, it is fundamentally a christocentric ethics but it affirms also the being of man as creature and hence realistic. It is indeed based on the nature of man, but not natural in the biological sense. I focus on the interpretation of the good that is never in Guardini’s eyes a mere concept, but objectively existing and concrete. I point out that ethics is always connected with the personal dimension, that man’s doing is radically a working-with-God, and that in and through action man grasps and perfects himself. Christian ethics is a participation in Christ’s properties and conformity to him, who is the personal and living norm of the new life.

出版者・発行元：Editiones Academiae Alphonsianae, Roma  

In the present study we aim to show how human identity and action are interrelated, looking at them in the light of the “polar” thought of Romano Guardini. In their relationship, identity and action condition each other, while maintaining a relative autonomy. If we avoid a naïve naturalism, the passage from being to acting emerges as a problematic issue, that is important to analyse. This passage is not a mechanical syllogism, but rather a process of transposition into another order. The Christian existence is located between two opposing poles and can thus be explained using the image of ellipse. The dualities between the natural and the redeemed man, freedom and grace, and particularly the human and divine agency, coexist within the Christian existence, making it unrealistic to choose one pole only, unless one falls into dangerous reductionisms. Christian life necessarily expresses itself through acting within/with Christ; this process perfects the human subjectivity through cooperation with God.

出版者・発行元：Dharmaram Vidya Kshetram, Bangalore (India)  

In this paper I argue that Pope Francis, as well as the author quoted by him — Romano Guardini, agree that technology is intrinsically a human dimension of life that is ambiguous. On the one hand, it has to be approved and used for higher goals, on the other is always to be evaluated and confronted with real and true values. Technology is destined to help nature but is radically based on, rooted in and dependent on it, as is the case of the relationship between nature and culture, and nature and grace. Humans must not let themselves be ruled by “impersonal forces.” Development — that not always is a true progress — will not be infinite.

出版者・発行元：在名古屋教皇庁立認可神学部  

In this paper I intend to examine the traditional axiom "agere sequitur esse" which is proper to Christian theology, and especially to Christian ethics. This way of thinking is based on the presupposition that in order to act the agent has first to be. The action proper to the agent flows out, or is derived from its being. However, this process is often understood in manner that is too naïve, as if a person's being was a cause of the action. Therefore, I wish to explain how the concept of being has to be looked upon as something dynamic, and how it is better called "existence". Then, the passage from being to action is a complex process, far removed from being a mechanical syllogism. The above-mentioned axiom is a metaphysical principle and not an epistemological means of deducing rules for acting from the essence of things in which they are allegedly contained. Albeit difficult, this process is not impossible and stands at the foundation of all Christian ethics. I claim here that, from the Christian point of view, action is not merely an accident of being, but being necessarily articulates itself in action. Finally, they stand in a relationship that can be described using the image of an ellipse or a spiral, with which it is shows that they have to remain in a polar tension with each other on the one hand, and on the other hand that actions retrospectively influence the very being of the agent itself. Our goal is to demonstrate that ethics needs an ontological foundation, but at the same time ethics needs to avoid too simplistic, naturalistic, and reductive tendencies.

出版者・発行元：在名古屋教皇庁立認可神学部  

In the present study, done on the borderline between theological ethics and anthropology, we tried to point out that “paradoxical thought” has been present in Christianity since its origins. Many systems of thought cannot accept this fact and, on the contrary, try to reduce the reality to one element only or to let it sublime into a higher synthesis. We intended to put some light on how this complex perception of being, that has a sense for mystery, is important for human, religious and ethical life. Above all, a focus was made on how Guardini’s distinction between “opposite” and “contrary”, that emphasizes the vital tension between the two poles, can be a useful key to other theories. This way of thinking seems to us necessary for the right understanding of the Church, of christology, of grace, of ethical conduct etc. However, there is still the majoritarian tendency to consider the non-binary form of logic as something irrational or even absurd. Nevertheless, to avoid unilateral and immediate solutions seems to be a better way for man’s self-understanding while he faces everyday issues, providing him with confidence and hope at the same time.

出版者・発行元：在名古屋教皇庁立認可神学部  

In this paper, we intended to explain – although not exhaustively – the meaning and the significance of the theologoumenon of “man – image of God”, and especially its impact on and implications for moral theology. On the basis of some examples of the vast bibliography that exists on this topic, while presenting the Biblical and historical background of this concept, we demonstrated that (in spite of some traditional interpretations) imago is not different or separated from the similitude, that the character of being in the image of God refers to the very quintessence of human being as such, and that the core of this similarity with God (of that the author is God) lies not in the analogy with God, but in the participative union with God through Christ, who himself is the only and perfect imago Dei. After having examined the respective Biblical roots and usages (chapter 1) and its theological interpretations (chapter 2), in the third chapter we individuated five consequences of it for the ethical behavior of every human being, that is (A) the relativity and dependence of man-image towards God to whom he is subordinated, having such his real dignity; (B) the “connaturality” with the good/Good which is the presupposition of pursuing the good; (C) the being-the-image-of-God recognized equally in the other men and women, leading to responsibility; (D) the consciousness of having a special relationship to God, that leads to a right behavior, that is to say, to moral acts in accordance with the one’s status of imago; (E) the virtuous life that deepens one’s unity with God and leads to the fulfillment of it in eternity, while permitting a foretaste of it in the very virtue (such as love or justice). Being the “indicative” of our existence and its “imperative” at the same time, the imago Dei theory should be an indispensable foundation of (not only) theological ethics. The focus of the here proposed imago-Dei-ethics is in the emphasis of its own dignity of being a “new creature in Christ” that is to be “reflected” in proper behavior. This kind of the ethical conduct will be surely more effective than a mere accomplishing of norms and precepts.

出版者・発行元：在名古屋教皇庁立認可神学部  

　神と人間を競争者と見なすべきか、協力者と見なすべきか。難解な問題ではあるが、人間が神の手段でしかないというのは不十分だということは確かに言える。倫理的行為において特に明らかなように、人間の役割は良心を通して無条件に神に従うことではなく、むしろ善の識別に参与し、協力者として共に果たすことであり、後者のほうがよりキリスト教的人間観に適している。聖書に照らせば、良心と聖霊はある種の共同の証しをするものであり、聖霊が一方的に人間に何かを知らせたり指示したりするのではない。グァルディーニの表現を借りるならば、キリスト者はただキリストの実存に与るだけでなく、それを共に発揮する身分にまで上げられるのである。二者が共同の主体となり、その行為がどちらにも属するほうが片方だけが行動するよりも完全なことである。