“Anima non potest intelligere sine phantasmate”. On the role of the image in religious experience
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.15633/tst.44202Keywords:
Religious image, religious symbolism, religious experience, the sacred (sacrum), psychology of religion, philosophy of religion, Christian theology, transcendenceAbstract
The article offers an interdisciplinary analysis of religious experience as a complex phenomenon that requires psychological, philosophical, and theological perspectives. Religious experience is presented as a “total psychic phenomenon” that engages the whole person and is oriented toward the sacred—a transcendent reality revealed through signs, symbols, and images. The author emphasizes its personal and dialogical character in Christianity and distinguishes it from other boundary experiences, while acknowledging their preparatory role. A central focus of the article is the role of the image as a privileged medium of religious cognition, which not only represents but makes present transcendence. The discussion is situated within the Augustinian and Thomistic traditions as well as the theology of Karl Rahner, with particular attention to the principle “anima non potest intelligere sine phantasmate”. The article also highlights the pastoral significance of symbol and aesthetics in the transmission of faith, concluding that religious experience is an integral, personal encounter rooted in a relationship with God, in which the role of the image is constitutive.
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