Bücher veröffentlicht von Anthony Vento

Education is the symbol of the modern era. The contemporary system of education has emerged as an outcome of the fast industrial development of recent centuries; factories needed workers, and these workers had to gain some special skills to work with machines. In the course of time, various new professions appeared which required developing new skills and abilities. Besides, the old approach to knowledge was transformed into the Baconian approach, knowledge is power. To know means to control, to be able to act properly. Whereas prior to F. Bacon knowledge had been perceived rather as wisdom (important principles related to how to live righteously, or how to avoid dangerous situations, etc.) than as an instrument for achieving certain goals, the modern times established the principle of knowledge as power. Only by knowing the world which surrounds them, human beings are capable of controlling it. This principle was not the only one emerging in modernity. The modern era brought about a special feeling of optimism about mankind's future. It envisaged our common future as times of universal social equality, nice and pleasant jobs, reconciliation and peace at the international level. Philosophers like Descartes, Kant, Hegel, SaintSimon, and others preached that the intellect is the main human instrument for achieving eternal peace and common well-being. Cartesian rationalism (the philosophy of Descartes) aspired for comprehending the universal truth, the truth which would unite the whole of mankind and overcome all religious divisions.

Every religion is a robust and stable whole constituted of various well-integrated parts: dogmas, practices (including ceremonies), ethics, social hierarchy, and others. Religion is not merely the dogmas taught by theologians; it is not the ceremonies and rituals conducted by the clergy; it is far from merely representing given ideas about the world and humankind. "Religion" is so complex and contains so many interwoven elements that one cannot properly analyze it by putting stress only on one of them. Therefore, if we are to analyze the essence of Christianity, more precisely in its Catholic form, which is the truest form of Christianity, we cannot merely refer to a set of dogmas and work only with them. We have to take into consideration all the Sacraments, all practices, all moral principles. This is not an easy task. Hence, the present book will try to elucidate the fundamental dogmas and principles of Christianity, but it will not go as deep as to deal with particular practices (with the exception of several Sacraments which will be discussed). As the present book is focused mainly on dogmas, we will try to analyze Christianity in a dogmatic and theoretical context. The current chapter is dedicated to the history of Christian dogmatics and on the central dogmas of Christianity. Both things should be examined together since Christian dogmas did not appear out of nothing. They had a certain basis- the teaching of Christ Himself, the epistles and sermons of the Apostles, the works of the early Fathers of the Church.