I recently found that the Italian national radio station is publishing some of its material in podcasts. Listening to one yesterday (Uomini e Profeti) on the evaluation of current actualities in the light of received traditions, (unfortunately no longer linked online) I heard a fascinating variant on the well known “faith, hope and love” themes of St. Paul’s concluding verse of I Corinthians 13. The Waldensian theologian Paolo Ricca suggested the following formulation.
- Faith: the opposite of closure
(la fede: il contrario della chiusura) - Hope: the opposite of scepticism
(la speranza: il contrario dello scetticismo) - Love: the opposite of indifference
(l’amore: il contrario dell’indifferenza)
I responded quickly to the last two; I find that I am most intrigued by the first. I have so long thought of “faith” as a sort of intellectual assent, or belief, that has a certain personal committment that I don’t quite know how I understand his thought of “closure,” but I want to consider it further.
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