Theological Foundations new file

203 A Theological Evaluation ple of St. Paul — his active life, his resoluteness and fortitude. Wherever we shall happen to be, even if in prison or exile, we intend to preach Christ and not to depart from our way of life.” 1 The writings of our authors also contain many quotations from the Old Testament, from its books of history, wisdom and prophecy, and from the psalms. With the aid of the biblical texts, they tried to justify their claims as flowing directly from revealed teaching. On the other hand, it is clear that these claims took shape under the influence of the inspired books and were a fruit of contemplation of the Word of God. The Bible was, therefore, the basic source of their spirituality and it is mainly from there that they drew as they formulated the content of their teaching. Their next source was the works of the Fathers of the Church, espe- cially those of St. Ambrose, St. Augustine, St. Basil and St. Gregory the Great. They turned to these works not only to find there elements of the truths revealed by God but also to become acquainted with their inter- pretation. Father Papczynski quoted the Fathers of the Church many times in his writings, and it is particularly evident in Templum Dei Mysticum . He used the teaching of St. Ambrose to support the biblical truth about man’s likeness to God. He saw this likeness in man’s interior perfection. Following the thought of this great Father of the Church, he saw simi- larities between the human soul and the Holy Trinity, which he substan- tiated in a rather original manner. 2 St. Augustine’s writings provided him with an argument to support many of his own statements like, for exam- ple, the one about the need to take care of the mystical temple of God, i.e., the human soul, so that God might take delight in it. 3 He explained after St. Gregory the Great that the gifts of the Holy Spirit encourage us to acquire the seven virtues, which correspond to these gifts, by instruct- ing our mind against various temptations. 4 In the teaching of St. Basil, he saw arguments to justify defending one’s good name against unfair attacks such as he himself experienced in his life. Following St. Basil’s thoughts on the matter, he stated that we should not be silent when we are faced with slander, so as not to condone the spreading of lies. 5