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Jesuit Terms T
Teilhard de Chardin, Pierre (1881-1955)
French Jesuit; paleontologist; one of the great minds of the 20th century
Paleontologist and proponent of a poetic synthesis of the evolutionary perspective of modern science with the Christian worldview. Precursor of today’s ecologists in their respect and love for the Earth.
Exiled to China in 1923 (he was there for the better part of 23 years) to prevent his teaching and lecturing on evolution, he could not have gone to a better place. There—along with participating in scientific expeditions in Central Asia, India, and Burma—he was a member of the team that discovered Peking Man, another link of evidence in the chain of human evolution.
The last years of his life Teilhard lived in New York elaborating a kind of new anthropology. Most of his non-technical writings were kept from publication and only appeared, without church approval, after his death. The Human Phenomenon (new translation by Sarah Appleton-Weber 1999), The Future of Man (1959), The Divine Milieu (1960) and other works called forth an extraordinary response from many quarters; they also engendered much controversy.
In these non-technical works, he used scientific data, but the method was not science. Rather it was poetic and visionary.
See the superb biography by Ursula King Spirit of Fire: The Life and Vision of Teilhard de Chardin (Orbis, 1996).
Tertianship
The stages of Jesuit formation
The last phase of a Jesuit's (early) formation. It takes place only after several years of full-time (ordained) ministry. The name comes from the Latin word for "third" and so this stage is sometimes called "third probation" (the first two years of probation being the Novitiate years back at the beginning of Jesuit life). The Tertian once again makes the 30-day Spiritual Exercises under individual guidance and often spends some time living and working among the poor. T-ship lasts anywhere from a semester to a whole academic year or, in a common contemporary adaptation, two consecutive summers. Given today's longevity, it often becomes important for a Jesuit to pursue some further formation later in life and in an ongoing way.
See also Novitiate, First Studies, Theology and Regency
Theology
The stages of Jesuit formation
The fourth stage of a Jesuit's formation and education consisting of 3 years of theological studies and supervised ministry leading to the professional degree of Master of Divinity (M.Div.) and in a 4th year study for an advanced master's degree or further ministerial work. Ordination, for those going on to priesthood, usually takes place after the third year. In contrast to the practice before Vatican Council II, the Jesuit brother now goes through the same stages pursued by a "scholastic" (one headed to priesthood), with minimal adjustment because he won't be ordained.
See also Novitiate, First Studies, Regency and Tertianship
Theology
The examination of the nature of God, God's relation to the world, and rational inquiry into religious questions. The word "theology" comes from two Greek words that combined mean "the study of God."
Theology on the Internet
A Resource from the Xavier University Library
Traub, George (1936- )
American Jesuit; teacher, mentor, and author
George W. Traub, SJ, has spent 25 years fostering a greater understanding of Jesuit mission and identity and has spent more than 35 years in Jesuit education. Currently he is Jesuit Scholar in the Center for Mission and Identity at Xavier University. He is the editor of An Ignatian Spirituality Reader (Loyola Press) and A Jesuit Education Reader (Loyola Press), and author of the best selling Do You Speak Ignatian?, as well as much of "Jesuit A to Z" including the 60-some Jesuit biographies here on Jesuit Resource.
Trent, Council of (1545-1563)
During the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965) and afterwards, one often heard negative reference to the Council of Trent, and that council was certainly different from Vatican II. For example, it took place, not in a major city, but in a northern Italian town that was part of the Empire; its three sessions happened over the course of 18 years; attendance by the bishops was poor—out of a possible total of 700, fewer than 30 were present at the beginning of the first two sessions; at best toward the end there were 300; and the three popes who reigned during these years, though absent in Rome, regularly dictated what they wanted it to do.
But in the context of its time—the Protestant Reformation was in high gear—it became a key part of the reform of the Catholic church and set the pattern of early modern Catholicism that would last in many ways unchanged until Vatican II four hundred years later.
Trent established seminaries for the better education of a then relatively ignorant clergy and urged bishops to live in their own diocese instead of being “absentee landlords.” It also put heavy emphasis on the sacraments and brought about a much tighter control over the sacrament of matrimony; fostered a devotional style that minimized the Bible; promoted a narrow intellectual life (e.g., the Index of Forbidden Books); and gave the impression that the way things were from the 16th to the 20th century was the way they had always been and the way they ought to be. With little knowledge of history, it was possible to believe that “The church does not change.”
See O’Malley, Trent: What Happened at the Council (2012).
Trinity
The central Christian doctrine—that God, within God’s being, is three-in-one, is “relational,” is mutual self-giving love. How this can be is a mystery—true but beyond human understanding.
Appreciating this doctrine helps to understand the call in Christian ethics to self-giving love, to generosity and sharing, to community and the common good.
See Matthew 25:31-46—An ethic growing out of the doctrine of Christians (and others) as the “body of Christ.”
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Two Standards (banners, flags), Two Leaders
Ignatius places this meditation in Week 2 of the Exercises as part of the preparation for making a good (or better) choice of some moment. David Fleming, SJ, in his "Contemporary Reading," gives it the title "A Meditation on Two Leaders, Two Strategies." The two leaders are Lucifer (Satan) and Jesus. Lucifer's strategy is to lead human beings from riches to honors to pride, and from there to every other vice. (A powerful presentation of this can be found in the slippery slide down into evil of the main character [the honored ophthalmologist] in Woody Allen's film Crimes and Misdemeanors.)
Some Christian feminist spiritual theologians have done a revisionist critique of Ignatius' strategies and their applicability. For women, they are convinced that the riches to honors to pride scenario is not the one to be counteracted. Women already have too much poverty and relative powerlessness and sometimes even abuse in their lives. Rather they need from Jesus and the gospels positive images of women's empowerment (Luke 10:38-42) leading to a sense of hope and self-worth. (To see a schematic presentation of this position, click here.)
JESUIT A TO Z: An expanded version of the publication "Do You Speak Ignatian?"