Some More Reflections on Rahner

Recent expositions of his work have called into question the idea that the transcendental philosophy which Rahner adopts is crucial to his theology. The rather ad hoc approach of Rahner to theology has been pointed out; he preferred essays rather than systematic treatises. Even Fergus Kerr, who in an earlier post was referred to as [...]

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Charles de Foucauld Quote

“To love anyone is to hope in him for always. From the moment at which we begin to judge anyone, to limit our confidence in him, from the moment at which we identify him with what we know of him and so reduce him to that, we cease to love him and he ceases to [...]

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The Charge Against Rahner (Part 2): Anonymous Christians?

Man’s implicit knowledge of God is a ‘transcendental revelation’ which remains somewhat shadowy and moves towards an explicit, categorical revelation. This revelation is Jesus Christ. Other religions, however, can be seen as legitimate means of salvation insofar as they have not yet encountered the truth of Christianity in an existentially meaningful way. He states that [...]

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Balthasar Blog Conference

I’m not sure if this is the first theology ‘blog conference’ but it’s certainly an interesting idea. It’s being hosted at the Fire and the Rose blog.
The topic is “Von Balthasar’s Theological Interpretation of Scripture.” Not something I’m terribly familiar with so it should prove to be enlightening.
A NT scholar whilst I was in University [...]

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The Charge against Rahner (Part 1)

Rahner has been labelled a ‘transcendental thomist’. His failed doctoral thesis on Thomas Aquinas (later published as Spirit in the World) read Thomas through the lens of the German idealist tradition. His account was inspired in part by earlier philosophers such as Maurice Blondel and Joseph Marechal. His basic philosophical presupposition is that all categorical [...]

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The Continuing Relevance of Karl Rahner

It is a common to encounter the opinion that Karl Rahner, once the most influential theologian in the Catholic Church, is now somewhat passé. While Rahner’s influence was great during the debates leading up to and after Vatican II, his theology is now often looked upon as overly dependent on his transcendental anthropology. A major [...]

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A Nutty Take on La Nouvelle Théologie

This series of articles hosted on a SSPX website (Society of Saint Pius X – ‘traditionalist’ schismatics) are illuminating in the perspective they offer on ‘la nouvelle théologie’ of the last century. It’s the story of the battles which raged between the proponents of the ‘new theology’ and the members of the old guard written [...]

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