ABSTRACT
The task of 'making present5 the reality of divine intervention into the world, such as that put forward by Christians in the person and work of Christ and recorded in the New Testament, creates a twofold problem. First, as with any historical event, what is to be now present is also the past. A process, even a technique, is required to bring about the new presences of the same past. In fact, the question may be posed, what does the term 'same3 refer to here? The recent work of Edward Schillebeeckx, for example, demands that the 'same' single message of the Gospels be readdressed to each age, yet it must remain faithful to its true content. As in the work of Schillebeeckx, any reflection upon the fate of Ignatian spirituality in a secular age also gives rise to questions about how this is possible. To propose a solution requires attention to fundamental choices among religious and philosophical concepts. Second, the representation of a past event bearing religious significance, presents the problem of whether and how the event is revelatory of the transcendent. In addressing both problems, further issues arise: verification of the newly created presence and the discrimination of features or material added to the presumably unique and irreformable past event.
