170,090 research outputs found
The concept of salvation in the theology of Karl Rahner
No full textThis work explores the adequacy of Karl Rahner 1 s theologicalmethodology through an analysis of the concept of salvation in histheology. Karl Rahner represents one of the most significant oftwentieth century Roman Catholic theologians. His life work was togive expression to the inherited tradition in the vastly changed milieuof the modern world. He did not seek only to reformulate particulardoctrines but to re-express the very foundations of theology. Building/ upon the work of Joseph Marechal, he sought to root theology in atranscendental analysis of the knowing and willing human subject.Rahner's methodology remains foundational for many contemporarytheologians. However, questions remain as to the adequacy of thismethodology: Does Rahner, in the final analysis, simply seek tocorrelate the inherited tradition and theological methodology tocontemporary self-understanding, or does he genuinely seek to rearticulatethe Christian tradition and theological methodology in thelight of contemporary self-understanding? We explore this questionin dialogue with concerns drawn from fundamental soteriology.Throughout Christian history soteriological concerns have provokedtheological debate. Soteriology brings to a focus fundamental questionsin Christian theology and practice: the dignity and significance ofJesus of Nazareth; the relationship between a transcendent God and animmanent saving activity; the nature of the Christian vocation; therelationship between the historical order and eternal beatitude;whether theology fits with human concerns and if so, how? We examinethese questions through a study of Karl Rahner 1 s theology and in sodoing inquire as to the adequacy of his theological method and hisattempted re-articulation of the Christian tradition
The charismatic experience as an experience of God’s action in the world: a study of Karl Rahner's theology as a charismatic theology
No full textThe first chapter of this thesis examines some of the Pauline material concerning charismatic experience and argues that such experience is bound up with the experience of grace. This grace is the grace of Christ and consequently involves self-sacrificial love and a sharing in the sufferings of Christ. The second chapter takes a broad look at Rahner's thought, bringing out his concern with experience of the Spirit and the charismatic nature of his theology. The third chapter examines the philosophical influences behind Rahner's thought. This is an essential task since Rahner's metaphysics of knowledge provides the framework for his understanding of experience of God in grace and the philosophy of Martin Heidegger influences the way Rahner thinks about grace. The fourth chapter shows the importance of love for Rahner's understanding of experience of God and is the philosophical counterpart to the exegetical material in the first chapter. The fifth chapter examines the nature of Rahner's understanding of grace and its christocentric character, picking up a theme started in the second chapter. The sixth chapter questions the adequacy of Rahner's understanding of God's involvement with the world. The seventh chapter develops the notion of charismatic transformation and points to a deficiency in Rahner's thought in this area, due to an inadequate pneumatology and also, a point developed in the previous chapter, the inability to posit change in God which compromises Rahner's understanding of God's involvement with the , world. The final chapter examines the corporate nature of the charismatic experience and corrects the individualistic bias in Rahner's thought
An analysis of the effect of contrasting theologies of preaching on the teaching of preaching in British institutions of higher learning
No full textThis study examines the efforts of British universities
and colleges to educate students for the ministry of
preaching. It evaluates the hypothesis that a preaching
lecturer's theology significantly influences his teaching,
both in its content and methodology.
A summary and comparison of seven twentieth century
theologies of preaching serves as the foundation for this
study. The research considered each theology as presented
by either its originator or a leading exponent: Harry
Emerson Fosdick, Rudolf Bultmann, Karl Barth, Paul Tillich,
D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, James Stewart, and Karl Rahner.
Surveys completed by fifty-five lecturers in preaching
provided the second primary focus of research. These
surveys both described current practices in homiletical
education and offered a means of dividina the lecturers into
subgroups for purposes of comparing their teaching. In
order to evaluate the primary hypothesis that theology
exerts great influence on the teaching of preaching, the
study compares the teaching practices of theological
subgroupings of lecturers (each grouping matched with one of
the theologians mentioned above). Likewise, it compares the
teaching of other lecturer subaroupings formed on the basis
of contrasting institutional and denominational settings.
Institutional and denominational setting does affect
the teaching of preaching, but, as hypothesized, not to the
degree theology does. The manner in which a lecturer's
theology determines his teaching is most noticeable in
relation to three questions relating to teaching content:
(1) From what source(s) should preachers seek preaching
content? (2) On what basis should preachers select content
from their source(s)? (3) Once the content has been
determined, by what criteria should preachers prepare
material for delivery?
A comparison of contemporary preaching theologies (and
the resultant contrasts in homiletical education) bespeak
the rich breadth within the Western Christian tradition
Quaestiones Disputatae N° 31 : Karl Rahner - Angelus Haussling, Die vielen Messen und das eine Opfer, 1966
No full textDidierjean C. Quaestiones Disputatae N° 31 : Karl Rahner - Angelus Haussling, Die vielen Messen und das eine Opfer, 1966. In: Revue des Sciences Religieuses, tome 44, fascicule 3, 1970. pp. 333-334
Laity and participation: a theology of being the church
No full textThe basic assumption of this thesis is that there should be a theology of the laity that is truly positive, ecumenical and catholic. The prime concern, therefore, is less with specific contents and more an exploration of the dimensions such a new theology should incorporate and how it could be achieved. At the beginning we observe that, regarding contents as well as "hermeneutics”, currently most lay theologies are dominated by negatives. Therefore, I suggest we explore participation in the sense of "being the Church" rather than "doing something within the church”. Opening sections look at appropriate coordinates for a biblical foundation for lay theology, while a brief overview of church history explores how and why the current status quo of the laity came about. In view of this, the main parts then focus on how a more positive presentation of lay participation can be achieved. Part two explores Roman Catholic lay theology, discussing relevant official documents from Vatican II up to the present and also "unofficial" positions presented by Hans Küng, Karl Rahner, Leo Karrer, and Medard Kehl. To get at least some ecumenical perspective, this is complemented in Part three by an exploration of lay issues in Anglicanism, including ARCIC I and II. Part four explores the laity in liberative theologies, particularly their approaches to being the Church in the world, orthopraxis, authenticity as well as base communities as new forms of being church. In Part V, building on my earlier discussion and criticisms, I offer an alternative model for developing a positive definition of the laity including the image of the Church as a spoked wheel. My central claim is the inadequacy of present discussions and the need to develop a theology that starts from the vocation of the Church as a whole and stresses the interdependence of clergy and laity with neither subordinate to the other
A Critical Examination of Key Claims Karl Rahner Makes About His Thesis of the Anonymous Christian
No full textAn anonymous Christian, according to Karl Rahner, is someone who does not profess the Christian faith, perhaps even denying the existence of God, and yet is nonetheless justified by the grace of Christ. Rahner argues that there is no room for doubt among Catholic theologians that anonymous Christians can exist, that they do exist, and that in fact the vast majority of people in the world (if not all people) are anonymous Christians. He cites the teachings of the Second Vatican Council in support of his claims, though he concedes that his thesis cannot be found in divine revelation. In this thesis, I argue that many of Rahner’s key claims about his thesis are either greatly exaggerated or incorrect. Rahner claims that the Second Vatican Council leaves no room for doubt that anonymous Christians are a possibility; in fact, the Second Vatican Council leaves much room for doubt that anonymous Christians are a possibility. Rahner claims that the council also leaves no room for doubt that anonymous Christians exist, and in fact make up the vast majority of the non-Christian population; yet the conciliar documents do not even address the subject. Rahner claims that his thesis, with support from the Second Vatican Council, entails optimism for universal salvation; in fact, neither his thesis nor the conciliar documents logically entail optimism for universal salvation, and the conciliar documents actually provide good reasons to not be optimistic for universal salvation. And if his thesis truly cannot be found in either Scripture or Tradition, as Rahner says, then his thesis is not a proper object of Catholic theology, and in fact this is a decisive argument against his thesis. Nonetheless, Rahner’s work can and should be mined for possible insights into the soteriological status of non-Christians
The doctrine of sin in ecumenical perspective: A comparison of Karl Barth and Karl Rahner
No full textAccording to Hans Kung, Roman Catholic and Protestant theologians have reached fundamental agreement on the doctrine of justification. If this is so, then we can also expect to find such agreement on the doctrine of sin, for these two doctrines are but different sides of the same coin. This study tests this hypothesis by comparing Karl Barth's and Karl Rahner's views of sin.
Fruitful comparison of Barth and Rahner is made possible by the material overlap in their theologies resulting from Barth's move away from Protestant liberalism toward a more orthodox theology and Rahner's move away from Neo-Scholasticism to a more critical theology.
Comparison is made difficult by (1) the traditionally different points of departure of the Roman Catholic and the Protestant theology of sin, and (2) the difference between Rahner's transcendental method and Barth's narrative strategy.
While Rahner founds his theology of sin on the concept of human responsibility, Barth takes God's effective act of redemption as the basis for his thinking about sin. Proceeding from the concept of responsibility, Rahner seeks the transcendental conditions of its possibility, but Barth begins with the story of sin's conquest by Jesus Christ, interpreting all other biblical material in its light.
Despite their differences, Barth and Rahner essentially agree in all five areas in which they were compared. (1) They both argue that sin can be known truly only from the revelation of God. (2) Surprisingly, we find agreement in the cluster of issues surrounding the concept of freedom, Barth and Rahner agreeing that human beings have no neutral position vis-a-vis God, and that the sinful act is not free in the same sense as the obedient act. (3) They both describe sin as a three-fold "no": to God, to true human nature and to the neighbor. (4) For both theologians, the subject of the sinful act is the good human creature who is elevated by the address of God or the supernatural existential. (5) According to Barth and Rahner, sin results intrinsically in slavery and condemnation; sin is Hell, and Hell is sin
Rahner and Ogden: Man's Knowledge of God
No full textThere is a large and growing number of people, both Catholic and Protestant, who are coming to recognize Karl Rahner, S.J., as the most important Roman Catholic theologian of the present period. While a number of books and articles on Rahner are beginning to appear, most of them are limited simply to expositing his position. What has yet to be done in a satisfactory way is to think through critically his relationship to and significance for the wider theological enterprise, that is, in terms of the interconfessional discussion (as well as in terms of current secular reflection upon general human experience). Rahner's work deserves such consideration, although, because of the fact that since the Reformation and Vatican I Protestant and Catholic thought have tended to develop independently of each other, it is difficult for one schooled sufficiently in Rahner's tradition to understand his work to understand Protestant thought sufficiently well to make a discussion meaningful, and the opposite situation is also the case. Without claiming exemption from this handicap, I should like to make a beginning at the sort of clarification and critical analysis that seems to me to be needed.</jats:p
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
No full textThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
The Mission of the Holy Spirit in the Theology of Karl Rahner
No full textAny thorough-going Trinitarian expression of the Christian faith must be as pneumatological as it is Christological. Karl Rahner\u27s theology is decidedly Trinitarian and Christological. Is it, however, sufficiently pneumatological? This study provides an explication of the pneumatology latent in the theology of Karl Rahner in order to illustrate the extent of his pneumatological sensitivity. Chapter one presents an over-view of recent pneumatological literature and identifies four fundamental areas of concern: Trinitarian theology, Christology, the theology of grace, and ecumenism. This thematic survey is followed by a review of Yves Congar\u27s pneumatological synthesis, I Believe in the Holy Spirit, insofar as it discusses the pneumatological implications of the above themes from the perspective of the Spirit\u27s mission. Following that, three specific works that are both critical of Rahner and attentive to the import of pneumatology--William C. Shepherd\u27s Man\u27s Condition, David Coffey\u27s The Gift of the Holy Spirit, and William J. Hill\u27s The Three-Personed God--are examined. Chapters two, three and four explicate the pneumatological implications of Rahner\u27s Trinitarian theology, theology of grace, and Christology as these relate to Rahner\u27s understanding of the Father\u27s self-communication in the mutually conditioning missions of the Word and the Spirit. Rahner\u27s reflections on each of these three central Christian mysteries consistently imply not only that there is a proper mission of the Holy Spirit in the gift of grace, but also that the Spirit functions as the condition of possibility for all unity-in-difference. The latter, that is, Rahner\u27s implicit understanding of the Holy Spirit\u27s ad extra function as the condition of possibility for unity-in-difference, is discussed in chapter five. If--as Rahner so adamantly maintains--the ad extra missions reveal and communicate the ad intra processions, then the Holy Spirit must also be the condition of possibility for the inner Trinitarian unity of the Father and the Word. If that is true, however, then the Western theological understanding of the Trinity must be recast so that the procession of the Spirit a Patre Filioque can be complemented by the procession of the Word a Patre Spirituque
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