[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
become gods." The post-Athanasian philosophical formula for this was that god, by becoming incarnate,
had assumed the essence (in the Platonic sense) of humanity. This formula points up the metaphysical
significance of the concept of the Son who is "of the same substance" as the Father.
According to another view, the god might not be content with one single act of incarnation, but as a
result of the permanence of the world, which is practically presupposed in Asiatic thought, he might
become incarnate at various intervals or even continuously. Belief in continuous incarnation is the
principal force of the Mahayana Buddhist idea of the Bodhisattva, though this idea is related to
occasional utterances of the Buddha himself, in which he apparently expressed a belief in the limited
duration of his teaching on earth. Furthermore, the Bodhisattva was occasionally represented as a higher
ideal than the Buddha, because the Bodhisattva forgoes his own entrance into salvation (Nirvana), which
has only exemplary significance, to prolong his universal function in the service of humankind. Here
again, the savior "sacrifices" himself.
(I.1.c) Incarnation
But just as Jesus was superior in his own time to the saviors of other competing salvational cults, by the
fact that he had been an actual person whose resurrection had been observed by his apostles, so the
continuously corporeal and living incarnation of god in the Dalai Lama is the logical conclusion of every
incarnation doctrine of salvation. But even when the divine distributor of grace lives on as an
incarnation, and especially when he does not linger continuously on earth, certain more tangible means
are required for the mass of the adherents, who wish to participate personally in the grace made
available by their god. It is these means of grace, exhibiting a wide variety, which exert a decisive
influence on the character of the religion.
Of an essentially magical nature is the view that one may incorporate divine power into himself by the
physical ingestion of some divine substance, some sacred totemic animal in which a mighty spirit is
incarnated, or some host that has been magically transformed into the body of a god. Equally magical is
the notion that through participation in certain mysteries one may directly share the nature of the god
and therefore be protected against evil powers. This is the case of "sacramental grace."
(I.1.d) Sacramental Grace
Now the means of acquiring these divine grace may take either a magical or a ritualistic form, and in
either case they entail, not only belief in the savior or the incarnate living god, but also the existence of
human priests or mystery cultists. Moreover, the character of priestly means between the savior and
humans depends in considerable extent on whether or not these graces are personal possession, and
whether or not the proof of possession of charismatic grace is required. If the proof is required, a
religious dispenser who no longer possess such a state of grace, as for example a priest living in mortal
sin, cannot legitimately mediate this grace of sacrament. Such a strict consistency in the principle of
charismatic dispensation of grace was maintained by the Montanists, Donatists, and in general all those
religious communities of Antiquity that based the organization of their church on the principle of
prophetic-charismatic leadership. From this standpoint, not every bishop who occupies an institutional
office and confess the belief externally, but only those bishop who witnesses internally the prophecy or
other gift of the spirit could effectively dispense divine grace. This was at least the case when the
dispenser of grace had fallen into mortal sin.
(I.1.e) Institutional Grace
When we leave this requirement, we are dealing with an altogether different notion of the dispensation
of grace. Now salvation is brought by the grace which is dispensed on a continuous basis by an
institutional community that has either divine or prophetic credentials for its establishment. This type of
the dispensation is called "institutional grace." The institution may dispense its grace directly through
purely magical sacraments or through its treasuries of the accumulated achievements by officials or
virtuosos.
Wherever institutional grace operates consistently, three basic principles are involved. The first is that
salvation cannot be received without belonging a particular institution vested with the control of grace.
The second principle is that it is not the personal charismatic qualification of the priest but the ordination
of succeeded office which determines the effectiveness of the dispensation of divine grace. Third, the
personal religious qualification of the priest is altogether a matter of indifference to the institution which
has the power to distribute religious grace. That is, salvation is universal; it is accessible to other than
the religious virtuosi.
(I.1.f) Catholic Institution
Indeed the religious virtuoso may easily and inevitably fall into spiritual danger to chances of salvation
and the genuineness of his religious qualification if he seeks one's special way to God, instead of
ultimately trusting the institution of grace. In this dogma, what god requires is the obedience to the
institution and its dispensation of grace; it must be the principle in order to distribute salvation for all
human beings. The level of personal ethical requirement must therefore be made compatible with
average human qualifications, and this in practice means that it will be set quite low. Whoever can
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]