Contenu du sommaire

Sirens, Cicadas and Muses. The degrees of poetic initiation in the representations of the Greek mysteries Because of their wonderful song, Sirens exercise such mythological function as brings them nearer Muses. Yet human beings stand in fear of the spell from those marine creatures, whereas poets are longing for the influence of the nine musician goddesses. Analysing the myth of the Cicadas that Plato inserted in "Phaedrus" suggests that, like the insects there produced, while the poetic initiation proceeds, the group of the Sirens puts the adept through a preliminary test, while the sovereign goddesses of Song provide full revelation.

Confessors and inquisitors in modem Italy : final considerations In the sixteenth century, in Italy a precious investigation means for bishops and inquisitors was the refusal to absolve the faithful who, during confession, accused themselves of a sin/crime against the faith without having first denounced themselves and their accomplices to a judge of the Holy Office. Nonetheless the actual effectiveness of this new mechanism all through the Modern Age is doubtful. The study of various unpublished documents coming mainly from the archives of the Roman Inquisition and the Congregation of Bishops and Regulars proves that in Italy the aim to guarantee the freedom and ease of confession prevailed over the needs of the Holy Office.

Augustinism, sexuality and spiritual direction : Port-Royal confronts the temptations of the duke de Luynes The duke de Luynes (1620-1690) converted to strict Augustinian Christianity and resolved to withdraw from the world. In 1651, then a widower, he settled in the vicinity of Port-Royal des Champs. He was soon assailed by strong sexual temptations and asked for guidance his spiritual directors, first Antoine Singlin (1607-1664) and then Isaac-Louis Le Maistre de Sacy (1613-1684). They forbad him to remarry and used him severely, thus refusing him communion on account of his repeated «falls ». Luynes eventually ignored their opposition and remarried in 1661 with his own aunt. The episode, which is documented by a spiritual correspondence exceptionally well-preserved, reveals the practical deadlock of Port-Royal's moral teaching.

Myth and Science in the Modern Age's Philosophy of Religion Ernst Troeltsch, Adolf von Harnack, Alfred Loisy and Maurice Blondel, each in his own way and on the basis of his own culture, tried to force the historical method to accept the truth of Christianity. As a consequence of this attempt, religion underwent a serious transformation and the historical method was combined with a philosophy of history, which had to provide Christian thought with a critical foundation or a hermeneutical support. But Renan's warning still hovered on the discussion. The world has changed. The rationalisation processes that are spreading through all spheres of human life and will in all likelihood be carried out to their extreme consequences have given to the modern world its peculiar shape.