O leitor-exercitante: uma aproximação entre Paul Ricoeur e os Exercícios Espirituais de Santo Inácio de Loyola

Abstract

A presente pesquisa propõe demonstrar que existe uma relação dialógica entre a filosofia hermenêutica de Paul Ricoeur, em sua noção de texto e a categoria de mundo do texto, com a mistagogia dos Exercícios Espirituais de Santo Inácio de Loyola (EE) que se dá mediante um método próprio de leitura e contemplação dos textos bíblicos. A filosofia hermenêutica ricoeuriana atesta que a leitura dos textos auxilia numa nova configuração da vida do leitor, provocando um mundo de possibilidades o qual, o texto, o convida a entrar. Este é o mundo do texto que é apropriado pelo leitor, que o ajuda a configurar sua própria identidade, se entendendo melhor. Sob essa ótica, procuramos analisar os Exercícios Espirituais a partir da experiência mística e humana vivida pelo seu autor, Inácio de Loyola, ou seja, sua mistagogia que virou escrita. Compreendendo a originalidade e a finalidade dos EE, bem como sua dinâmica interna e metodológica, percebe-se que os Exercícios Espirituais propõem elementos para uma leitura e interpretação de si, diante do mundo do texto bíblico. Desta forma, o leitor (no sentido ricoeuriano) e o exercitante (leitor-orante, no sentido inaciano) estariam buscando a mesma coisa por métodos diferentes; realizando uma mesma atividade interpretativa, ou seja, lendo a própria vida usando técnicas e métodos semelhantes (a leitura), porém, por óticas diferentes, a saber, uma filosófica e a outra espiritual, mas as duas dentro de um contexto existencial. Portanto, é na leitura que se realiza a hermenêutica. É na linguagem narrativa em que se faz a leitura de si. E se interpretação é hermenêutica, é justamente aqui que empregamos a filosofia de Ricoeur do mundo do texto, numa aproximação dialógica com os Exercícios Espirituais de Santo Inácio de Loyola.

This research has as object of study the Dutch Neocalvinism, movement of religious and cultural reform inaugurated by the Calvinist Abraham Kuyper in the 19th century. With a very fertile academic and political trajectory, Kuyper expanded Calvin's theology, seeking to point to Calvinism as a comprehensive system of life, with a historical, philosophical and political meaning. Neocalvinism was born amid the transformations of the modern world, which affected the cultural status of religion, placing it alongside other spheres of value. These transformations, having begun in the preceding centuries with the shock of Enlightenment rationalism, combined with the profound crisis of Protestant orthodoxy, led Kuyper to propose a return to theological objectivity to safeguard the Christian heritage, which he considered threatened by modern worldviews. Thus, the theologian goes back to Calvinist thought, pointing out his contributions to religion, politics, science and art. Dutch Neocalvinism enters Brazil from the first publications of the American theologian Francis Schaeffer and the paraecclesiastical institution L'Abri, responsible for spreading Schaefferian thinking and making known neocalvinist authors, whose works aim to instrumentalize believers for their involvement in public spaces. The para-ecclesiastical institution “L’Abri Brazil” is thus characterized as an important interlocutor in this process. In this way, we seek to explore the roots of Dutch Neocalvinism welcomed in Brazil, (re) building, therefore, its itinerary to Francis Schaeffer, which may have implied an “Americanization” of the movement. This research is justified by the need to contribute to the discussions about religious activism in the public sphere, pointing to an object that, inserted in historical Protestantism, is little explored in the field of Sciences of Religion under a sociological approach. Our commitment is to interpret the manifestations of religion, without, however, questioning the religious experiences of the individuals involved in the research. The objective is: 1) to present the theological tradition in which Dutch Neocalvinism is inserted: Calvinist Protestant; 2) to identify the context of its emergence and discuss its proposal, especially with regard to the relationship between religion and politics from its main exponents: Abraham Kuyper and Herman Dooyeweerd; 3) analyze the content of Francis Schaeffer's speeches, seeking to identify his relationship with the movement and point out its impacts in the political sphere; 4) to analyze the aspects that stand out in the itinerary covered, thus providing theoretical elements for a critical and cautious reading of the reception of Neocalvinism in our context. With regard to the method, it is an exploratory research combined with the technique of bibliographic research. To understand the data collected, we opted for qualitative treatment based on the hermeneutic-dialectic method and the analysis of the content of the discourse.