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Due to inherent paradoxy and limited sample size, fin-de-siècle English Catholic aesthetics are difficult to define, especially in the case of music. At the turn of the nineteenth century, English music and Catholic theology underwent a period of intense development and reconstruction, yet the intersection of theology and musical aesthetics in this era is largely under-researched. This paper identifies one such intersection using two monumental figures in theology and music: John Henry Cardinal Newman (1801-1890) and composer Edward Elgar (1857-1934). Newman’s theology provided a basis on which fin-de-siècle artists and poets could express their faith; such figures are associated with decadence. For both Newman and Elgar, decadent Catholicism combined with the traditionally Protestant English environment resulted in a complex relationship with their country and the continent. This paper examines this complex and paradoxical relationship between faith and nationality, and thus defines English Catholic aesthetics as they are expressed by Newman and Elgar.

The article examines the theological concepts of Semyon Frank that derive from the system of Nicholas of Cusa’s Neoplatonism. The ideas of Frank are problematic in origin, as they are attributed to different religious traditions. The paper disputes the compliance of the Frank’s Cusa-like Neoplatonism with the provisions of Catholic theology. The methodological foundation underlying the research is based on method of content reconstruction and historical and comparative method. With the view to scrutinizing the ideas of theologians, the content of Frank’s concept was reconstructed. It presents God as a spiritual Absolute and focuses on the problem of the balance stroked between God and the world, human beings and society as a whole. The leading methodological idea applied by Frank is the principle of antinomic monodualism as the coincidence of opposites in the formula unity of two or duality is one. Theological steps of argumentation in favour of the religious philosopher’s keeping aside of the Catholic path are as follows. Firstly, the critical attitude the philosophy of Nicholas of Cusa takes when facing the Catholic philosophy of those times serves as the evidence base and the obstacle for Frank to become a close ally of the Catholic thought. Secondly, the article notes the criticism Semyon Frank has of the Augustinian proposition about the insignificance of human being before God, which is foundational for Catholicism. Third, the article substantiates the compatibility of Frank’s ideas with the Orthodox ideal of sobriety and the system of external change of human being as the foundation of the system of Orthodox education and selfimprovement, thus obscuring the thoughts of his ties with Roman Latinism. Another research line treats the common features philosopher has with the third Christian confession. When comparing Frank with the Protestant theology, parallels occur (i.e. the Frank–Niebuhr Christian realism), but they are insufficient to claim the Protestant turn of Semyon Frank. As a result, it is concluded that Frank’s religious and philosophical conception is a theology of philosophical theism developed by a bearer of the Orthodox faith, not Catholicism. In relation to Orthodox theology, it is a soft, non-radical version of Orthodox modernism, in which solutions of problems that were contemporary to Frank are combined with maximum possible preservation of the provisions of the Orthodox theology.

The Catholic theology of purgatory and its refutation in the works of the ideologists of Protestantism in the first third of the XVI century is analyzed in the article. The works of the little-known in the domestic historiography of the English reformer John Frith (1503-1533) are investigated. Frith’s commitment to Protestant dogmas on justification by faith and the exceptional authority of Holy Scripture is shown. It is noted that Frith, following them, denied the existence of purgatory, since it cannot be confirmed by the Holy Scriptures, and he interpreted the “cleansing fire” mentioned in the New Testament texts symbolically as torment of conscience and repentance. It is claimed that the theologian considered faith to be the atoning sacrifice of Christ the only means of salvation. It is concluded that the denial of purgatory naturally led Frith to a refutation of the Catholic practice of papal acts of grace and their theological justification, for which he was arrested and sentenced to be burned. It is emphasized that J. Frith called purgatory "creation" of the Roman pontiff and saw purely material reasons for the emergence and existence of faith in purgatory. It is noted that criticism by the English reformer of the Catholic faith in purgatory was subsequently reflected in the Anglican creed.

Taking as object the religious education in public schools, the article seeks to make notes in the laws of guidelines and bases of national education, from Law No. 4024 to Law No. 9394, respectively of 1961 and 1996, taking into account that the last was amended in 1997 by Law No. 9475, as well as the clashes between religious and lay people that made up the scenario of drafting these laws. It is observed that the changes in religious education operated in accordance with the laws, but also in the forms of application of discipline in public schools, reflect the changes in catholic theology and thought during the twentieth century, since the Church Catholic was the great force of support of this discipline. It is observed that religious education in public schools results from an eagerness to legislate on matters of faith, of intimate forum, which results in external pressure to the school environment that tends to compromise the true purposes of school education: to guarantee individuals access to knowledge elaborated in a democratic environment and committed to respect for differences and freedoms of choice.

In light of the fecundity and diversity of Catholic theology since Vatican II, a 2012 report of the International Theological Commission (ITC) identified perspectives, principles, and criteria—distinctive family traits—of Catholic theology, what Pope Benedict XVI called its “genetic code”: primacy of the Word of God; the faith of the Church as its source, context, and norm; the science of faith; drawing constantly on the canonical witness of Scripture; fidelity to the Apostolic Tradition; attention to the sensus fidelium; responsible adherence to the ecclesiastical magisterium; practiced in collaboration with the whole company of theologians; in dialogue with the world; giving a scientifically and rationally argued presentation of the Christian faith; integration of plurality in the intellectus fidei; and sapiential. This article marks the 10th anniversary of the ITC report by offering a critical commentary on the criteria, examining the possibilities, limitations, and tensions inherent in each, and the ongoing relevance of these criteria for contemporary Catholic theology. It argues that although the aim of the ITC report is not to promote uniformity but to avoid fragmentation, and its framework is an ecclesiology of communion, when the interpretative possibilities of theology are discussed, the report tends to retreat from these possibilities and adopt a restrictive emphasis on conformity. The article then examines what Pope Francis (2013–) says about the characteristics of Catholic theology and the role of theologians in his major documents and his addresses to faculties of theology. It argues that Francis makes a distinctive contribution to consideration of what is “authentically” Catholic theology, and may offer a less restrictive understanding of such theology for the diverse academic, cultural, and ecclesial contexts in which Catholic theologians find themselves.

The article presents the fundamental ecclesiology of the contemporary Catholic theologian Salvador Pie-Ninot (*1941). The text shows the way in which he solves the question of the credibility of the Church and the attitudes of private Christianity with its negative attitude towards the Church (believing without belonging). Pie-Ninot underlines that the credibility of the Church is dependent on revelation and that the character of faith is ecclesial. He interconnects the last two councils: the concept of the Church, whose divine character is approachable by man (via empirica, the way of experience) as it is taught by the First Vatican Council, with the ecclesial stances of the Second Vatican Council, which reduces the emphasis on the attributes of the Church in favour of revelation, the person of Jesus Christ and a personal relationship to him. Pie-Ninot then offers the way of testimony, which includes the outer (for example, apostolic tradition) and inner form of churchly reality (personal life according to the demands of the Gospel) and perceives the Church as a privileged space of God’s revelation and salvation.

In this essay, I will argue that a political theology of human work can provide the sacramental principle underlying the theology of labor. This principle could complement the foundations of Catholic social teaching, since the sacramental aspects of work have not been made very explicit in the ethical framework of the Church's theology of work. The view of labor as the active participation in God's future is an important aspect of such a theology. In order to serve as a foundation for faith-based labor organizing, I will claim that it needs to be complemented by a sacramental view of labor as art, a labor-aesthetic that undergirds a labor-ethic, in which labor itself becomes a sign and instrument of the way the Church becomes God's work in the world. First, I will sketch an outline of some of the major positions on labor in modern Catholic theology. Then, I will draw on the writings of the British poet and painter David Jones to explore a sacramental view of human work, arguing that a sacramental view of work could support the Church's social criticism of laborer's circumstances.

This chapter takes a close look at Martin Luther’s teachings in order to examine its relationship to psychology. Martin Luther was not the only one rebelling against the papacy and Catholic theology, but he conceivably had the greatest impact with his theological arguments. He brings about the theological turning point. In Catholic theology, faith and salvation were seen as objective dimensions, not controlled by the individual but by the Church. Luther fundamentally changed this by linking faith primarily to the individual’s subjective confession, admitting to having a sinful nature. This change is presented as a central argument for legitimizing subjectivity. According to this theology, although sinful nature is an objective reality, it is only when this sinful nature results in a subjective acknowledgment, that one can obtain salvation. Thus, this chapter argues that Protestantism reinforces the justification of subjectivity and also expresses a particular need to gain a deeper insight into human nature. This is how Melanchthon gains acceptance for his new and expanded understanding of Aristotle’s De Anima. This chapter also presents another crucial argument. When Luther claims that theology should relate only to the Bible and not to philosophy, emphasized by the slogan sola scriptura; this also has major implications for philosophy. Philosophy can no longer be based on theology. It must find a new foundation. The claim here is that the Reformation prevents philosophy from relying on theological teachings. This creates a vacuum in the foundation of philosophy, and this foundation must therefore be replaced.

In order to propose a more positive, appealing, and theologically accurate account of Catholic institutions’ case for religious freedom in the context of current sexual expression laws, this article will proceed as follows: Part I will discuss the sexual expression laws commonly triggering free exercise defenses by Catholic institutions, the defenses themselves, and the negative reactions they provoke. Part II will treat Catholic theology about the necessity of mutual witness within a community for sustaining and transmitting the Catholic faith. Part III will discuss the relationship between Catholic teachings on sex, marriage and parenting, and forming and transmitting Catholic faith. It will note that these teachings are only one part of Catholic community life and identity, but that they require special attention today in light of the frequency with which the state is intruding into Catholic communities on the basis of claimed sexual expression rights. Part IV will suggest how each type of free exercise defense commonly used by Catholic institutions in sexual expression lawsuits, might be strengthened if framed according to my proposal. These defenses would better conform to Catholic theology, allow for positive expression, appeal to common sense, and more fully satisfy both the spirit and the letter of the law of free exercise. A brief conclusion will reassert the necessity for Catholic institutions’ authority over employment and operations, and address a few collateral questions concerning implications for state funding, and fears about too broad a scope of institutional freedom.

The broken relation among culture and faith becomes “drama of our times” (Paul VI), thus, overcoming that broken relation has always been a challenge for the Church, catholic theology and spirituality. This article, first, signals the penetration of culture into Christianity and makes you more familiar with what ancients fought about culture. And next, gives two positive examples about shaping the culture through the faith; first, in the Karolin epoch (7 th —9 th century), using the example of Benedict monks’ contribution, second, in the golden era of French spirituality (17 th century), using the examples of Saint Francis de Sales’ spiritual teachings and Saint Vincent de Paul’s educational and charity works. The further part of the article shows the progressing departure of culture from faith beginning with French Renaissance and through the era of Enlightenment until the complete cessation of common relation in philosophical currents of 19 th century. The last part of the article shows the new relation of the Church to the world and culture initiated by the Second Vatican Council, which further was continued and developed through the teachings of the Popes Paul VI and John Paul II, and evangelism activity. Such relation is based upon a wide understanding of culture (what was worked out by secular science and expresses themselves (among other things) in inculturation of the faith, faith’s creative role of culture and intermediary role of faith in realization of evangelization.

This article emulates the new stance of Professor Michael Hand on faith schools. He illustrates how theological criteria could be used to inform and guide curriculum aims in a way that avoids indoctrination and the perils of faith-based education. This approach is adopted vis-a-vis Catholic education in order to sketch out what a non-confessional theory of Catholic education might look like. It is argued that a central feature of Catholic theology, as presented by the leading theologian Karl Rahner, is a recognition of the centrality of mystery in human existence. This theological insight is applied to the curriculum and it is used to provide a theological justification for a non-confessional account of Catholic education.

This article responds to articles by Joshua Furnal and Lee Barrett on the relation of Kierkegaard's thought to Catholic theology. I express appreciation for Furnal's claim that Kierkegaard had a deep impact on Vatican ii and suggest this was made possible by Kierkegaard's commitment to the early Christian fathers, which makes him a “ressourcement” theologian. Barrett's view of Kierkegaard's account of the relation between nature and grace is also applauded, and I suggest another way Kierkegaard can be seen as reconciling Protestant and Catholic thought on this issue. I conclude by putting this discussion into the broader context of Kierkegaard's positive reception by many different strands of Christianity, suggesting that this is made possible by Kierkegaard's commitment to something like “mere Christianity” in C.S. Lewis's sense, along with his fervent defence of passion and subjectivity as the elements that give life to religious faith.

My main question in this article is: Is there a place and a future for persons who still hold to the centrality of Christ, or of Jesus of Nazareth, in their lives, but who are agnostic about what traditional Christianity would hold to be central points of dogma or even about the existence of what Cupitt and others have called an ‘objective God’? My view is that the liberal theology which dominated the 1950s and 1960s has given way to more conservative and indeed near fundamentalist views in both Protestant and Catholic Theology. It is to be noted though, that within both evangelical and catholic circles, there is some evidence of a swing back to more liberal views. Most people in the Western world have however lost any link with the church or with institutional Christianity. Yet, according to polls, a surprising number still claim that they ‘pray’ and believe in a ‘higher power’. Movements such as the Sea of Faith, or Progressive Christianity attempt to hold on to Christian imagery and cultus while leaving open the question of whether the concept of God is any more than a human construction. Attendance at Cathedral-type worship where dignified ceremony and beautiful music leave the worshipper free to place his or her own interpretation on the words is steadily increasing. Given this state of affairs, my question is: Does this signify a new form of religious belief, more fluid and less linked to institutional dogma? Following James Fowler, my view is that the direction that the most mature form of faith, is that which acknowledges ambiguity and unknowableness in religious belief. Robert Ellwood also suggests that the Western post-Christian world is moving unto what he calls the ‘folk-religion’ stage where persons may follow many different religious beliefs and practices simultaneously in a syncretistic way without believing any of them in a literal sense, or alternatively believing them all, despite difference and incongruity. Is this the future of religion? Is there a future for a type of Christianity which still reads the scriptures, practices the liturgies, tells the stories but does not necessarily believe that Jesus is God incarnate or indeed that there is any God? These are the issues the chapter addresses.Keywords: agnostic, dogma, God, Liberal Theology, Protestant Theology, Catholic Theology, Sea of Faith, Progressive Christianity, cultus, ambiguity, folk-religion, incarnation

The audacity of faith is to believe in a knowledge, a truth, a superior and more profound wisdom than "science." Moreover, it is to hold that there is no opposition between a believing intellect and authentic science insofar as each of them follow and respect the same love of truth, each according to their own nature and methodology. (1) Though fundamental for theology, the relationship between faith and reason is much contested, at least in terms of the degree to which they overlap. It is a relationship intrinsically connected to those other much fought over pairings--theology and philosophy, and nature and grace. In this article I wish to survey the thinking of Servais Pinckaers, OP, the influential twentieth-century Belgian moral theologian. (2) Pinckaers presents a robust defense of the priority of faith in theology that is rooted in the need to see prayer as a source of theological reflection. Pinckaers's account of the role of faith does not resort to a Catholic fideism, but upholds reason's intrinsic place in Catholic theology, very much in the tradition of St. Thomas Aquinas. Faith as the Starting Point in Theology In his definition of moral theology (or, more precisely Christian ethics), Pinckaers states that moral theology needs to be studied in light of revelation and reason (and in that order). (3) He asks whether moral theology should be seen as primarily a rational science with revelation seen as having a role as confirmation or external inspiration. Or should moral theology consider revelation as its primary and direct source? Pinckaers answers: Without a moment's hesitation I choose the second alternative. I hold that the priority given to Scripture and faith in no way fetters the use of reason in theology, but rather supports it. Reason has its rightful place in my definition. But this faculty must not be viewed according to the rationalistic concept, which would separate it radically from faith. It should be viewed rather as the power of human intelligence simultaneously open to spiritual enlightenment and faithful to the rigorous discipline of thought. This is how the Fathers saw it. (4) It is also, according to Pinckaers, how Aquinas sees it: The teaching method St. Thomas proposes to us, like that of the Fathers of the Church, includes two moments. The first consists in planting faith in the disciple as the root of the wisdom of God, placing it in mind and heart as a foundation and source of divine truth. Faith is the acceptance of the preaching of the Cross ... as a mystery hidden from human eyes. It is not contrary to reason but rises above it and summons us to abandon our human reasoning in order to receive this higher wisdom as a sheer gift of the Holy Spirit. (5) Pinckaers believes that any renewal in moral theology will be ineffective if the fundamental methodological question is not addressed. This question involves asking what the primary source and starting point of moral theology is: faith or rational knowledge? (6) The answer for Pinckaers is faith. Theology must begin its research with an act of faith. This act of faith submits to the word of God as read and interpreted in the Church, that is, to something exterior. It is also an act that submits to the interior action of the Holy Spirit: "The theologian is not simply an intellectual, a scholar who chooses the text of revelation and the life of the church as an object of study. The theologian is before all else a believer, well aware that for the one who receives the Word of God with a docile mind, it becomes a source of light and life surpassing all human reason and communication." (7) In reflecting on the connection between the prologue of John's Gospel--the meditation on the preexisting word of God made manifest in the flesh of Jesus of Nazareth--and theology, Pinckaers states the following: These words [the prologue of John's Gospel] are addressed to us in our search for God through intellect and free will, in the search for light and life, the struggle with the darkness of sin and death--all this, in order to form faith in the human heart. …

As Christians we believe that the Word of God has been spoken into human history from the beginning of creation and that, ‘in the fullness of time,’ this Word became flesh as Jesus of Nazareth, the Word incarnate. The sacred scriptures are the Church’s inspired, written testimony to that Word. Roman Catholicism, along with the Orthodox and Anglican communions, also affirms that, as these scriptures are proclaimed, prayed, studied and applied in the life of Christian communities, a living tradition emerges. The apostolic character of this tradition is authenticated and proclaimed doctrinally by the college of bishops – those who succeed to the authority of the college of the apostles. In the Catholic theologies of tradition that developed from the time of the Council of Trent until the 1950s, reflection on the way in which this apostolic faith has been ‘handed on’ focused on the teaching of the bishops. However, in the second half of the twentieth century Catholic theology began to acknowledge that the teaching of doctrine cannot be understood apart from the ecclesial process of receptio – the work of the whole Church in the reception of what has been taught. In this chapter I would like to sketch very briefly the development of receptionas an ecclesiological category in Catholic theology, and then consider the ways in which theological appropriations of modern hermeneutics, literary theory, communications theory and the study of popular religion can further enrich our theology of reception and consequently our understanding of the nature of doctrinal teaching authority in the Church. I will conclude by proposing a heuristic model for understanding the way in which the processes of ecclesial reception relate to the bishops’ unique responsibility for the teaching of doctrine.

Discussions about theological realism within analytic philosophy of religion, and the larger conversation between analytic and continental styles in philosophy of religion have generated relatively little interest among Catholic philosophers and theologians; conversely, the work of major figures in recent Catholic theology seems to evoke little interest from analytic philosophers of religion. Using the 1998 papal encyclical on faith and reason, Fides et ratio, as a major point of reference, this essay offers a preliminary account of the bases for such seeming mutual indifference and offers some suggestions for future dialogue.

In the footsteps of the Second Vatican Council's doctrine the last document of the International Theological Commission deals with sensus fidei as an important methodological aspect of Catholic theology. The article aims to present the current state of discussion concerning the sense of the faith without entering into specific details. In the first part three wrong views of the category are criticized. It should be apparent that no correct understanding of the sense of faith in the Catholic Church can have the role of religious public opinion in competition with the teaching of the Magisterium. In the second part, attention is turned to the relationship between sensus fidei and the work of theologians in positive terms. Respect for the sense of faith must be expressed inter alia by humble listening to the members of the people of God followed by critical discernment of the truth. The saints of the Church can offer a solid orientation.

The article examines the history and doctrinal comprehension of the phenomenon of water baptism in the Catholic tradition. It shows the origins of the traditional understanding the baptism as a sacrament, where the grace is transmitted; it demonstrates the history of the formation the “ex opere operato” formula. Author underlines the contradictory position, role and place of faith for a person, who accepts grace. The text highlights the main discussions on the understanding of this sacrament. The author emphasizes the importance of new trends in the works of contemporary Catholic theologians, who transfer the emphasis in the understanding of baptism from its instrumental to the existential action. Such shift beyond instrumental understanding allows moving attention from the legal aspects of the legality and validity of the sacrament to the periphery and removing many practical questions arising from the primitive perception the baptism as a magical act. The article also analyzes the internal contradiction of baptism as a sacrament of faith in the situation of infant baptism, who are baptized “by the faith of others” (the godparents or the Church as a whole)

In discussions of The X-Files it has become almost a cliche to note that while Fox Mulder is known for being the believer and Dana Scully the sceptic, those roles reverse when the question of religious belief arises, in particular Scully's adherence to her Roman Catholic faith. Throughout the course of the series, Scully's acceptance of supernatural belief, as represented by her return to Catholicism, allows her to become more open to the paranormal possibilities advanced by Mulder. Moreover, the relationship between Scully and Mulder, as well as Scully's own character development, represents the alternating tension and harmony between faith and reason that forms the core of Catholic theology, as exemplified in the writings of theologian Thomas Aquinas, his contemporary Bonaventure of Bagnoregio and others. While the series does not dwell on specific theological questions or writers, the representation of Scully's religious journey is portrayed as beneficial to the agents' search for the ‘truth’. The reco...

In 2004 the Pontifical Council for Culture issued a document titled Where is your God? Responding to the Challenge of Unbelief and Religious Indifference Today. The document draws attention to the spiritual drama of our times which consists in whole groups of people quietly abandoning religious practices and losing touch with faith. Such a situation results in a more frequent confrontation of the Church today with religious indifference and practical unbelief rather than atheism which seems to be on the defensive. Therefore, it is the task of the Church to recognize the causes and effects of this phenomenon and to seek appropriate ways of responding. The problem is now especially acute in the new federal states of Germany. Whereas atheism, which is propagated by means of various organized actions and publications is relatively easy to identify and can be addressed with a whole range of arguments, the phenomenon of religious indifference poses a far more serious and complex problem to theology and one that has not been much analyzed so far. The present article describes the problem of religious indifference from the perspective of the new federal states of Germany. The author characterizes the phenomenon of religious indifference in East Germany in three points and shows in what sense it can be an opportunity and challenge to the missionary activity of the Church. He also highlights the possible strategies of addressing the problem both by Catholic theology and by proclaiming the faith.

This chapter argues that theological thinking should be considered as intrinsic to the activity of proclamation and as a form of speculation called forth as part of God’s salvific economy. God’s Word not only became flesh and revealed the Father, but Christ and his Spirit also act in his body, the Church, to reform and elevate human reason, to shape our understanding and celebration of revelation. This is so, even as theological thinking is also a human activity that may go astray. Theological thinking contains at its heart a dynamic relationship between attentive interpretation to Scripture and attention to the radical newness brought about by the continuing activity of Christ and the Spirit in the world. At the same time, in attention to the Church’s tradition, the theologian finds a school for the speculative imagination. The final section focuses on the unity and diversity of different theological acts and subdisciplines.

THIS ARTICLE FOCUSES on Bernard Lonergan's project of bringing history, as its own field and specialty, into conjunction with Biblical, foundational, doctrinal, and systematic forms of knowledge. In this endeavor, he was deeply influenced by Christopher Dawson (1889-1970), the British cultural historian and philosopher of history who was a Catholic convert. (1) An examination of Dawson's influence offers a broad context for opening the historical dimension of Lonergan's contribution to Catholic theology and provides a significant approximation and example of what Lonergan proposes in Method in Theology as "critical history," or history as it explains "the meaning going forward" in a tradition. I.1 Christopher Dawson's Method The initiation of Dawson's life-long work as a historian of culture had its promising start during Holy Week 1909, when, at the age of 20, while still a student at Oxford, Dawson joined his longtime friend Edward Watkin, himself a recent convert, for his first visit to Rome. Having attended the Holy Triduum ceremonies at the different basilicas, he was stunned by the synergy of the ambience of Roman pagan antiquity and the living Catholic faith that he found there. He was already familiar, and agreed with Lord Acton's hypothesis that "religion is the key to history." There, in Rome, the immediate sense of the flow of historical existence awakened in him the desire to serve the important recovery of the step-by-step process by which Christianity had transformed the collapsing empire into the new creation of a Christian culture. Dawson was both familiar and impressed with Edward Gibbon's, Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, (2) and had a keen appreciation both of Gibbon's style of writing and of his broad historical knowledge. (3) While rejecting Gibbon's claim that Christianity had been the cause of the collapse of the empire, Dawson had not yet worked out his own "upper blade" for translating Acton's vision into practice in regard to Gibbon's claims. On Easter Sunday he climbed the steps to the church of Ara Coeli, situated on the Capitoline hill, where Gibbon had stood when he was inspired to take up his project of the history of the Roman Empire. Christina Scott, Dawson's daughter, reports that there is a note in her father's journal sometime late in 1909 recalling "a vow made at Easter at the Ara Coeli" and that Dawson had been thinking of how the vow might be fulfilled, noting that he had in the meantime gotten "great light on the way it may be carried out. However unfit I may be, I believe it is God's will I should attempt it." (4) There would be four difficult years before Dawson would follow the steps of John Henry Newman and his friend Watkin and enter the Roman Catholic Church, being baptized on the feast of the Epiphany, January 6, 1914 by Fr. O'Hare, SJ, at St. Aloysius Church, Oxford. (5) By this time, Dawson's image for fulfilling his plan was taking shape as a result of his research and reading that was part of his preparation of a study of world civilizations and with the intention of writing a five-volume history of culture. By 1922 he had worked out a theory of the cycles of civilizations before having read Oswald Spengler's work, The Decline of the West, with which he was to be in serious disagreement because of its failure to grasp the dynamic interactions of different cultures. Dawson's own approach to a theory proposed a schema that would analyze the dynamic interconnection of civilizations from 4000 B.C. to the twentieth century. His conclusion was that civilizations were the result of parent (often primitive) cultures, which had distinct stages of origin, progress, and maturity, leading, in turn, to the emergence of new cultures. This heuristic had been identified by means of the massive research that he had done for his first major book published in 1928, The Age of the Gods: A Study in the Origins of Culture in Pre-historic Europe and the Ancient East. …

Did you see the picture of Roy Roger's [sic] horse attending a church service in Pasadena'? I forget whether his name was Tex or Trigger but he was dressed fit to kill and looked like he was having a good time. He doubled the usual attendance. --Flannery O'Connor, in a 1952 letter "This is not an age of great Catholic theology," Flannery O'Connor wrote in 1958. "We have very few thinkers to equal Barth and Tillich, perhaps none" (Collected Works 1082). This is a notable admission, coming as it does from a devoutly Catholic novelist, and it suggests a great deal about her theological as well as her artistic values. For these Protestant theologians were relentless in their opposition to modern materialism and to the "almost unequivocally demonic" ideologies of capitalism (Barth, Church 531). O'Connor was no political radical, of course, but she had as little patience for her country's deifications of capital and consumption as for its essentially secular commodifications of Christianity. She must not, then, have had such Protestants as Barth and Tillich in mind when she spoke of directing the satire of her first novel, Wise Blood (1952), "against this Protestant world or against the society that reads the Bible and the Sears Roebuck catalogue wrong" (Collected Works 921). At any rate, the stubbornly materialist world depicted in Wise Blood looks not a little like the bleak modern world-picture Barth was fond of invoking in his sermons, with at its center "modern capitalism, King Mammon, enveloping us in his claws and making us his sad and beleaguered servants" (Barth, Early 17). Wise Blood's world is replete with the icons, idols, and sacraments of Mammon, as well as with many examples of his "beleaguered servants" who revere, with a typically American piety, the dogmas of consumption and the profit motive. One character, however, the protagonist Hazel Motes--and with him, the novel as a whole--adopts a far less reverent stance, in fact profaning these dogmas and sacraments at every turn. As Jon Lance Bacon rightly observes, in Wise Blood "American religion [has] been appropriated by the 'salesman's world.' In the world of the novel, faith itself becomes a commodity" (39). Bacon and other scholars have ably demonstrated Wise Blood's pointed satire of consumer culture. Our concern here will be with O'Connor's framing of that social indictment--indeed her very construction of that indictment--in the often explicit registers of profanation: in the language and thematics of blasphemy, and in the material desecrations of sacrilege. For her indictments of capitalism and modern materialism, in other words, O'Connor drew on the language and traditions of irreverence in which she was well versed as a pious Catholic, turning them against the false religion she discovered all around her. "Blasphemy is the only way to the truth," Hazel proclaims, and, far from the wholly unauthorized statement it may at first seem, in an oblique way it articulates the novel's own program of blaspheming modernity's capitalist gods (148). Even when Hazel and the novel both repudiate blasphemy (208), they emphatically do not reject profanation itself but rather turn away from blasphemy's inherently circumscribed discursive terrain as we shall see--to the more violent and vital recourses of material desecration. Having taken pains in Wise Blood to portray the sacral and even pseudo-Christian character of commodity capitalism, O'Connor proceeds to profane that capitalist faith at length, drawing on all the extreme and unsettling novelistic measures at her disposal. To read Wise Blood as profanation affords a third way between the practically Manichean positions that have characterized much O'Connor criticism to date: on one hand an often overtly conservative criticism that attends piously to the author's own theological aims, and on the other a revisionist, steadfastly secular strain that in stressing the more mischievous aspects of her fiction tends to undervalue or elide its religious investments. …

Avery Dulles' postconciliar theology must be placed historically in the broad context of what he called postcriticism. His models approach to theology, moreover, attempted to address the theological pluralism of the postconciliar era in a way that contributed to the unity of the faith. His nearly lifelong Ignatian commitment to thinking with the Church, his openness to development, his ecumenical stance, and his respect for diverse theological constructions made him a major representative of postconciliar currents in Catholic theology.

Taking an interdisciplinary approach, this article questions the mainstream idea about the relationship between religion and politics that associates the church and state separation with a strict private—public division. Agreeing with the former distinction, we criticize the latter from the perspectives of both Catholic theology and peace and conflict studies. Both fields offer adequate reasons to challenge this narrow dualism, envisioning the spheres of religion and politics as complementary and mutually enriching. In response to increased violence involving religions across the globe, "religious peacebuilding" is currently developing approaches to explain such conflicts and inform peacebuilding methods and strategies. Additionally, the theological-emphasis on the eschatological presence of the "already" appeals to Catholic faith to pertinently reflect upon and frame public life. Consequently, we plead for the critical and beneficial engagement of religions in the public sphere as "not yet" suffi...

This article examines two distinct responses to the reception of Aristotle in the thirteenth century: the Bonaventurean and the Thomist.The outcome of this debate (and the Condemnations of 1277) led to the modern separation of faith and reason. Rather than seeing voluntarism and nominalism as the cause of the modern separation of faith and reason, and theology and philosophy, it will be suggested that it is actually the other way around: the Bonaventurean response indirectly resulted in the growing separation of faith and reason, which led, in turn, to voluntarism. It is important not to confuse the Thomist and Franciscan responses, as sometimes happens in recent scholarship, including in the work of Gavin D’Costa, as will be shown. Both the Thomist and the Bonaventurean approaches are legitimate resources to respond to the (post)-secular context in which we find ourselves, and the former should not be reduced to the latter.

My task in this article is to explore the question of the “place” of moral questions—questions of good and evil—in Christian faith, “faith” here being considered particularly as the content or narrative of belief. The thesis I will argue is that Christianity offers no substantial account or explanation of the origin(s) and nature of evil, that in a fundamental way Christianity is not concerned with offering such accounts, and that when the task of supplying accounts of the origin(s) and nature of evil is made central to the content or narrative of Christian faith that faith is made false: it is misunderstood.

More detailed than preceding social encyclicals, Pope Benedict XVI's Caritas in veritate appears to supply a theological foundation for the Catholic Church's social doctrine. The article argues that the theological anthropology contained in the encyclical (which leads to a notable revaluation of the role of grace) complements Joseph Ratzinger's life-long reflections on the relationship between faith and reason, and provides a key to understanding choices the pope makes in his effort to offer a reliable Catholic orientation in a rapidly changing world.

On 8 December 1854, Pius IX issued Ineffabilis Deus, in which he dogmatized the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The bull reads, For the honor of the Holy and Undivided Trinity, for the glory and ornament of the Virgin Godbearer, for the exaltation of the catholic faith and the growth of the Christian religion, by the authority of Our Lord Jesus Christ, of the blessed apostles Peter and Paul, and by our own, we declare, pronounce, and define the doctrine which holds that the Most Blessed Virgin Mary at the first instant of her conception was by a singular grace and privilege of Almighty God, in consideration of the merits of Christ Jesus, the Savior of the human race, preserved immune from every stain of original guilt; that this was revealed by God and therefore is firmly and constantly to be believed by all of the faithful.1

The author argues that the intention of the theological commission in proposing the change from “is” to “subsists in” was no longer to affirm full identity between the church of Christ and the Catholic Church, for the reason that such full identity contradicted the tradition followed by the popes and Western councils of recognizing the separated Eastern communities as churches. He supports his case with two statements by Joseph Ratzinger: one made as a professor of theology, the other as cardinal prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

There is increasing pressure on religious thinkers and leaders to construct theologies thoroughly grounded in the particularities of a faith tradition but truly appreciative of religious pluralism. This essay argues that a significant contribution towards articulating a Roman Catholic theology of religious diversity can be advanced by explicitly integrating developments in pneumatology and sacramental theology. Pneumatology has obvious pluralistic implications insofar as Catholic theologians and the magisterium itself have emphasized the universal presence of the Holy Spirit. The sacramental tradition is more ambivalent. On the one hand, the sacramental principle and sacramental nature of human existence would seem to endorse the authenticity of religious pluralism. On the other hand, sacramental theology in the West has historically been shaped by a Christomonism which necessarily tends toward exclusivism. This tendency can be overcome by understanding sacraments in light of a Spirit Christology from below.

One of the actors from Vatican II who still plays a major role in the Church today, is without any doubt Joseph Ratzinger. He has been an active theologian, "advisor" and peritus in the Council, afterwards being named cardinal-prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, and, since 2005, the Sovereign Pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church. In our contribution, we will investigate in what way the event of the Council, its texts, but also its subsequent reception, have influenced the theology of Joseph Ratzinger, especially in regard to the constitution Dei Verbum, i.e. the question of the authority of Revelation, Tradition and magisterial hermeneutics. From this perspective, we will comment on some of his famous expressions, among others: "the real reception of Vatican II has not yet begun", and also, "it is the dogmatic constitutions which have to serve as reading keys for the other documents", and not the other way around (as in Gaudium et spes, Nostra Aetate, etc.). This engagement with his theology will also lead us to a tentative evaluation of the contemporary discussion of the reception of Vatican II and the question of authority.

For decades Jung searched in vain for a theologian with whom he could deeply and openly converse about his new vision of Christianity. Only very late in his life did he find and form a deep friendship with Victor White, a Dominican theology professor, whose own psychic life was saved by Jung's teachings. Jung saw White as the first theologian he had met who truly understood his psychology. Jung wanted to use White's expertise in Catholic theology in his pioneering efforts to transform Christianity, through his psychology, into a living, breathing, vital faith in the divine. For his part, White wanted to resuscitate Thomistic theology by infusing its dry, cerebral character with the emotional vitality of the original Thomas Aquinas by using his newly discovered Jungian teachings combined with some of the original teachings of Aquinas. In the process of their work together, Jung and White became close, trusting friends. However, White was pushed beyond the limits of his psychological resources by political ...

Poor Oxford, torn first by Romanism scarcely disguised, and next by Rationalism quite as naked! Church of the Reformation, ancient bulwark of the Protestant faith! Strange children are nurtured in thy bosom.British and Foreign Evangelical Review (Jan. 1856).

This essay traces the intellectualist position of Pierre Rousselot (1878–1915) as he developed it in reaction to neo-Thomist scholasticism, and argues that at the heart of Rousselot's approach lay a sacramental ontology. Rousselot's 1908 dissertations on St. Thomas's intellectualism and on love in the Middle Ages are best understood in the context of the 1907 condemnations of Modernism. Rousselot questioned the firmly entrenched rationalist approach of the neo-Thomist revival. While continuing in the Thomist intellectualist tradition, he argued for a chastened epistemology in which the intellect aimed beyond discursive knowledge at union with God. The implication, for Rousselot, was that in its current condition, the human intellect could arrive at knowledge only in an indirect fashion. Accepting Thomas's view of the unity between love of desire and love of friendship, Rousselot emphasized the continuity between nature and the supernatural. Furthermore, his insistence that rational judgements of credibility were powerless without corresponding ‘eyes of faith’ implied a sacramental view of the natural order as pointing to the supernatural end of the beatific vision. His moderated intellectualism, with its implied sacramental ontology, would prove an attractive paradigm for the later movement of nouvelle theologie.

Pierangelo Sequeri, one of Italy's most prominent contemporary theologians, has devoted many of his writings to enlarging the agenda for a renewed phenomenology and anthropology of faith. As against the incapacity of modernity and postmodernity to recognize the human depth of faith as knowledge, he seeks to restore such horizons as trust, affectivity and aesthetics to our understanding of faith. Central to his thought is the inseparable unity between truth and freedom. In fundamental theology he prefers the notion of a `trustworthy God' to the more classic debates on credibility, arguing that the primordial fiducial disposition of the self needs to be explored in order to respond to our postmodern culture. The theology of faith that emerges is explicitly Christological, focussing on the unique relationship of Jesus to his abbà-Father, which indeed offers a paradigm for our Christian faith.

This article seeks to contribute to the debate about the act of faith, which has been dormant since the late 1950s. The timeliness of this endeavour is suggested by contemporary culture's increasing disconnection from faith and religion. This effort is carried forward through a consideration of the voluntary aspect of the act of faith in which love is presented as both the product of, and the mediator between, the absence and presence of God. The traditional lines of the problem of the act of faith are examined in the thought of St Thomas and in the position adopted by the First Vatican Council with a view to clarifying the notion of the authority of God as that by which one believes. In this, God's authority is shown to have a real connection to the love that believes all things (1 Cor 13:7).

Philosophers and theologians acknowledge that ‘fideism’ is difficult to define but rarely agree on what the best characterization of the term is. In this article, I investigate the history of use of ‘fideism’ to explore why its meaning has been so contested and thus why it has not always been helpful for resolving philosophical problems. I trace the use of the term from its origins in French theology to its current uses in philosophy and theology, concluding that ‘fideism’ is helpful in resolving philosophical problems only when philosophers scrupulously acknowledge the tradition of use that informs their understanding of the word.

Taking the theme of the Third European Ecumenical Assembly, `The Light of Christ Shines upon All,' the author reflects on the foundation and importance of ecumenical work in the Christian Churches. Emphasizing the shared common ground of faith, Cardinal Kasper underlines that our differences are always secondary to our common foundation in Jesus Christ, and this is something that ought never to be let out of sight. Ecumenical dialogue now needs to go beyond merely pointing out areas of convergence and engage more earnestly in learning from one another. Christianity is central to European identity and if Europe is to have a future, it needs a shared vision and a shared set of basic values.

Walter Kasper brings to light the religious quest for Jesus Christ in a secular, historical world. Taking up the turn towards anthropology and demythologization, he sets out to articulate rationally the logic of faith in which Jesus is recognized as the Christ. Pursuing this quest, he develops a theological discourse on freedom, redemption and self-transcendence.