We are a group of researchers, scholars, and professors from various Italian and international academic institutions.
Itineraries and Research
Trinitarian Ontology offers the horizon of encounter and the formal object with which to deepen the value of history and the exercise of theological, philosophical, and scientific intelligence, in dialogue with the mystery of B/being, in the pluriformity of their expressions.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Trinitarian Ontology (TO)?
From the Greek “lógos” (word, intelligence) and “ontos” (participle of the verb einai, to be), the term “Trinitarian ontology” expresses the commitment to grasp the truth of B/being in the light of the God whom Christian Revelation calls “Trinity.” It involves exercising the intelligence of reality by looking at and interpreting it within the horizon of light opened by the event of Jesus the Christ, Word/Son of God/Abba in the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.
In TO, therefore, we are dealing with B/being: that is, with God insofar as He is the infinite uncreated Being who reveals Himself as Agape and, as Agape, Trinity; and with finite created being insofar as, in Jesus through the Holy Spirit, it is made a participant by gift (cháris) in the infinite Being and, therefore, is “trinitized.”
In TO, the intelligence of B/being manifests and realizes itself for what it is and is called to be: an intelligence that in itself implies the freedom to welcome and actively participate in the gift that is given to it—indeed, that it itself is and is called to be—an intelligence of a truth that is agape and which therefore implies the freedom of the gift received, welcomed, and given back: so as to present itself as doing the truth in agape (cf. Eph 4:15).
TO: Is it theology or philosophy?
TO is not identified in an exclusive or excluding way with either theology or philosophy:
– theology being the form of exercising intelligence that sees and speaks of God (and the created from, in, and for Him) starting from the (eschatological) self-revelation of God in Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit;
– and philosophy being the form of exercising intelligence that commits to expressing the meaning and truth of B/being in all its breadth starting from all the resources made available by intelligence itself.
One could say that TO is “the third” between theology and philosophy. It cannot be assimilated into one or the other, yet it cannot exist without both: it is the new thinking resulting from the encounter between theology and philosophy within the horizon of the self-expression/self-giving of B/being, which in TO find themselves in their distinction without separation and in their unity without confusion.
TO is born in the encounter between God’s self-revelation and the human person’s search for the truth of B/being. It is thus situated on the threshold between theology and philosophy—that place of intelligence from which theology and philosophy are established, being called to dialogue on the meaning and truth of B/being in its original self-giving, bringing their specific resources into reciprocity. In this sense, TO:
– comes before the (epistemic and disciplinary) distinction between theology and philosophy: because, in its most universal form, it responds to the vocation of the exercise of intelligence that is open to and established by the self-giving of B/being in all its breadth and fullness;
– comes after the distinction (which always remains as such) between theology and philosophy: because—in its most specific form—it is the mature fruit of their dialogical encounter and the exchange of gifts that each makes of what is most its own to the other, thus receiving and discovering the truth of uncreated and created B/being in the light of Jesus the Christ, true God and true man, insofar as in him is given “the fullness (pleroma) of the fulfillment of all in all” (Eph 1:23).
In the space of thought established and instructed by and in this encounter between theology and philosophy, all forms of the exercise of intelligence and human performativity find their place—within their epistemic and methodological autonomy—from the sciences (human and natural) to art. Each expresses a specific aspect of the intelligence of created being and finds its fullest meaning and the relationship that correlates them to one another in the light opened by this radical and new thinking.
TO: Why now?
While the formula is relatively recent (made famous by Klaus Hemmerle with his Thesen zu einer trinitarischen Ontologie in 1976), the impulse toward a true TO in fact and in principle (even if, in an embryonic and promising form, it is co-extensive with the exercise of thinking as thinking) dates back to the origins of Christianity and runs through the entire history of thought. Suffice it to say that today its kairos is occurring (as explored in the Manifesto) because today, as a result—amidst lights and shadows—of the journey made so far:
a) the meaning and destiny of who we are and how we live challenge humanity with a sense of urgency and decisiveness that is radical and universal like never before in history (touching the very root of our being and calling everyone into question), creating a vital need for a new way of thinking;
b) the regime of separation between theology and philosophy and the conflict between humanities and scientific knowledge that marked modernity have definitively reached their end, and each in its own way—theology and philosophy—is provoked by the urgency of this new thinking, lest theology become irrelevant, philosophy exhausted, or a blind technocracy become imperialistic;
c) and this is manifested in the cry of “why?” that—whether shouted or silent—rises from the epochal and collective “dark night” of meaning, truth, and justice that our time experiences at all levels.
TO: How does one think within it?
From what has been said, it is clear that one thinks TO for what it is, and thinks within TO for how it proceeds, only if one lives it—or rather, if one is it: because the Truth of B/being which is Trinity is the Way that is Life (cf. Jn 14:6):
– and as the Way, it requires a journey intrinsically marked by three “p’s”: passion, patience, perseverance. Passion, which means freely allowing oneself to be touched, struck, and involved; patience, which means attention, waiting, and gift; perseverance, which means fortitude, risk, and commitment;
– and as Life, it requires practicing the most beautiful and highest of all arts: dialogue (with God in prayer or in any case in listening to the Mystery, and in mutual care for one another), which is an exercise of silence and listening, of welcoming and discernment, of word and communication—always in love.
For this reason, TO is learned by practicing it in a place, in a hall of study and research that is a gym for thought because it is a gym for life and love: a laboratory in which everyone is an actor and protagonist, responsible for one another’s journey in reciprocity.
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