Friday 3 June 2011

Saeculum Undergraduate Academic Journal


Following a recent conversation with a friend on the relationship between theology and culture, I’ve been trying to explore the concept of ‘saeculum’, and came across this journal – ‘a collaborative venture of undergraduate students in the Christianity and Culture program of Saint Michael’s College and the University of Toronto’, which ‘offers a venue for scholarly conversation about life in the saeculum’.


‘In these pages, you will read about the critical engagement between Christian tradition and the broader cultures in which it always and inevitably remains intermixed, including scientific discovery, music and the arts, philosophy and theology, politics and society, and the perennial task of Christian education.’


They provide a nice sketch of the concept itself:


‘“So five ages of the saeculum are ended.”

St. Augustine of Hippo


Thus St. Augustine of Hippo, at the cusp of the fifth century CE, introduced new Christians to life in the contemporary era of human history, a “sixth age” that began with the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ and ends only with this same Christ’s return at the end of time. Until this return, the holy “city of God” remains enmeshed in the saeculum, a passing world of social and political life. And, at least for Augustine, this saeculum is also a place of profound tension and ambiguity. Since boundaries cannot be discerned with any certainty in this life, every dimension of human existence is defined by the intermingling of divine communion and earthly commotion, of sacred and secular, of faith and culture.’


Earlier issues of the journal are available here.

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