Catholic Theology

Description

Rowland showcases here the dominant contemporary approaches to doing Catholic theology. Chapter 1 offers a summary of the two International Theological Commission (ITC) documents on the discipline of Catholic theology. These documents set out the general principles which should govern any approach to Catholic theology (at least according to the ITC). The subsequent chapters each focus on one of four different approaches frequently found in contemporary Catholic academies: the approach of Thomists, members of the Communio milieu, members of the Concilium milieu and promoters of different varieties of Liberation Theology. Rowland’s work is pitched at the level of first time students of theology who are trying to make sense of the methodological choices which undergird the different approaches to Catholic theology. Rowland concludes with four appendices: a list of all Doctors of the Church, a list of all encyclicals since the 19th century, a list of the documents of the Second Vatican Council, and a list of definitions of the various Christological heresies which were the subject of the debates of the early Church Councils. These appendices will provide useful reference tables for young scholars, including seminarians. Title Page Copyright Page Contents Acknowledgements Introduction Chapter 1 Fundamental Issues and Building Blocks The mystery exceeds any system The unity–duality of the two Testaments The faith and reason relationship Orthodoxy not reductive to a system The faith and history relationship Marks of true and false pluralism The faith and culture relationship The dogma and history relationship Pluralism and unity in morals Distinctive family traits of Catholic theology The Catholic word ‘and’ Christ and the Trinity The relationship between Christology and Mariology The relationship between nature and grace The relationship between logos and ethos The relationship between Scripture and Tradition Principles of scriptural interpretation The relationship between the Magisterium and theologians Chapter 2 Hallmarks and Species of Thomism Classical Thomism Baroque Thomism Leonine Thomism Neo-Thomism Transcendental Thomism Existential Thomism Lublin Thomism Whig Thomism New Natural Law The Thomism of Jacques Maritain Laval or River Forest Thomism Analytical Thomism Augustinian Thomism Fribourg Thomism Toulouse Thomism Christocentric Thomism Postmodern Thomism or Thomas after Heidegger Conclusion Chapter 3 The Communio Approach Communio in contrast to Concilium Two different interpretations of the ‘signs of the times’ The genealogy of secularism Reason linked to a higher eros or Kant as villain The reading of the relationship between philosophy and theology An alternative interpretation of Dei Filius The methodology of de Lubac and Balthasar Paradox and conceptual clarity Hans Urs von Balthasar The influence of Guardini Mystical experience as a Locus Theologicus The nuptial structure of Revelation The analogia entis The place of philosophy Ratzinger’s spirituality of a pure heart Literature as a Locus Theologicus The Communio–Radical Orthodoxy convergence A Christocentric moral theology The nuptial mystery Against the ‘hinduisation’ of the Catholic faith Communio ecclesiology The importance of friendship and scholar-saints Conclusion Chapter 4 The Concilium Alternative Karl Rahner’s project list for post-conciliar theology Modern canons of rationality and gnoseological concupiscence Johann Baptist Metz Feminist hermeneutics The Frankfurt School’s ‘Critical Theory’ Edward Schillebeeckx Schillebeexkian tests for orthodoxy Schillebeeckxian moral theology Listening to foreign prophets Correlating the faith to modernity The affirmation of secularism Recontextualising the faith to postmodernity Boeve versus Ratzinger Conclusion Chapter 5 Liberation Theology and the Papacy of Francis The European contribution History as the locus of Revelation The central importance of Praxis The Battle of the Boffs Feminist Liberation Theology Popular culture as Locus Theologicus Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith interventions Other criticisms of Liberation Theology  Gustavo Gutiérrez and Gerhard Cardinal Müller  Situating Pope Francis The Aparecida document Conclusion Conclusion Notes Introduction Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Conclusion Appendix 1: Christological Heresies Appendix 2: Documents of the Second Ecumenical Vatican Council Appendix 3: Papal Encyclicals Appendix 4: Doctors of the Church Bibliography Author Index Subject Index