Introductory notes for readers of this thesis - Theses - Flinders ...

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He begins his reconstruction with an appeal to the doctrine of the beatific vision 97 . Inlight of this doctrine, Rahner asserts that ‘mystery’ has nothing to do with a ‘regrettablypermanent limitation of our blessed comprehension of God’ 98 . Rather mystery is thesubstance of human vision, the object of ‘blissful love’. This ‘visio beatifica’ is the‘permanent presence of the inexpressible and nameless’. In experiencing this visionindividuals do not ‘grasp’ God (that is to say, comprehend God with the faculties ofhuman reason); rather individuals are grasped by the mystery. The supreme ‘act ofknowledge’—knowing and being known by the mystery—does not in any way result inthe abolition or diminution of the mystery; the known and the incomprehensible remainindiscernible. This personal encounter acts as the ‘final assertion’ of the ‘eternal and totalimmediacy’ of the mystery 99 : an encounter with mystery moves a human being beyondthe world of meaning defined by human reason alone and enables an engagement withthe living presence and sacred knowledge that is both the primordial source and ultimatefulfilment and perfector of human reason. Rahner asserts that mystery is theall-embracing exigency which cannot be mastered, comprehended orchallenged…[M]ystery is not merely a way of saying that reason has not yetcompleted its victory. It is the goal where reason arrives when it attains its100perfection by becoming love .Rahner argues that ‘love’ rather than ‘knowledge’ is the one key word that ‘conjures upthe essence of humanity’, and that therefore, ‘the last word is with love and not97 The doctrine of the beatific vision is the idea in Roman Catholicism of ‘The clear, immediate, intuitiveknowledge of God which results in heavenly bliss’. According to the definition of Pope Benedict XII in1336, the blessed in heaven ‘see the divine essence by an intuitive vision and face to face, so that the divineessence is known immediately, showing itself plainly, clearly, and openly, and not meditatively throughany creature’ - P. Stravinskas, ed., Catholic encyclopedia (Indiana: Our Sunday Visitor Books, 1991), 119-120. The beatific vision with its biblical basis in passages such as 1 Cor 13: 9-12 and I John 3:2 usuallypoints towards the anticipated experience of the blessed in heaven - M.J. Erickson, Christian theology(Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 1985), 1228. Rahner’s use of this term also includes this futuristicunderstanding. Yet one suspects also that with his emphasis on direct, personal encounter with God that‘beatific vision’ has an element of ‘realised eschatology’ in Rahner’s mind. The way he uses the terms inthese three chapters on mystery certainly hint at an experience of God, through the provision of thesupernatural existential, that suggest the beatific vision penetrating the experience of the earth-dwellingbeliever.98 Theological investigations, IV, 41.99 Ibid., 43.100 Ibid.107
knowledge. For we are not saved by knowledge but by love’ 101 ; love and knowledge acttogether in a perichoretic 102 dynamism with love as the primary force and ultimate goalof the relationship 103 . In this sense, mystery is the primordial, eternal, loving presence bywhich humanity may be grasped and drawn into participation in the divine life whichultimately leads to consummation in the event of the beatific vision. Such a vision revealsmystery as the source and goal of knowledge but cannot nor will not be defined by such.In this sense, the ‘answers’ to the mysteries of faith are not to be found in progressivecognitive enlightenment but in existential immersion in a divine love that defines andmakes sense of the entire human journey in categories of meaning that cannot beexpressed or explained in words; Rahner’s theology of mystery clearly points towards anencounter with silence.In beginning with his appeal to the beatific vision as the basis for reframing thetheological meaning of mystery, Rahner has the end in mind. In the second lecture, whenhe sketches the anthropological/theological basis for the possibility of encounter withmystery in the beatific vision (fleshed out earlier in this chapter), Rahner argues that theelevation of grace—which results in a divinised human existence orientated towards thebeatific vision—does not eliminate mystery but makes its proximity possible 104 . God canbe known by grace but never comprehended; mysteries are removed but not rationallyresolved. Mystery is contemplated but never defined 105 To illustrate his point Rahnercontends that experiencing the Trinitarian life of God means no longer relying on a wordor concept about the Trinity: in experiencing the Trinity the concept of the Trinity hasbeen manifested in its own substance. This does not, however, mean that the Trinity hasbeen ‘clearly understood’ or made ‘intelligible’ 106 . Though the mystery remains themystery, questions of meaning and transcendence are ‘answered’ because in experiencing101 Ibid.102 Meaning ‘interpenetration’.103 Ibid, 43-44.104 Ibid, 54.105 Ibid, 54-55.106 Ibid, 56.108
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‘A Spirituality of silence’An i
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Chapter 4: The human experience of
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Summary of thesis:This thesis offer
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The particular angle from which thi
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somewhat superseded by more recent
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Rahner: I have nothing against that
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One brief but notable spiritual inf
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dialectic between these two, has le
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odies of knowledge, history and alt
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superiors, having decided that he w
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High School Week, Rahner began his
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Earlier in this chapter, Rahner’s
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These anecdotes testify that Rahner
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As you see, at the top of the carto
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Central to Rahner’s thinking is t
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Kilby notes that in regard to this
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Introduced by Cardinal König to a
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influence will continue to spread a
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We see from Rahner’s pastoral con
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European power 4 , and that he was
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Over a period of days and weeks, th
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The outcome of this encounter: the
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Modras has pointed out that Ignatiu
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Rahner the Ignatian spiritual direc
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facilitate this joyful and liberati
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Rahner’s often-quoted comment tha
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The master of the Exercises in no w
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Endean argues that Rahner is interp
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The Ignatian Exercises—especially
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provision of appropriate spiritual
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their existential encounter, they a
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Chapter 3: Spirituality of silence
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Many things in life act as signs th
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Rahner’s dual commitment to recei
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living human being, and each indivi
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The church is sacramental in the se
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spiritual rhythms that trace direct
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the missionary tasks of the Church;
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unhelpful assumptions that diminish
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expressions of mystagogical 142 ini
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Does this lead Rahner into compromi
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) ) an ongoing contemporary influen
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Hosek shifts the soteriological foc
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Is this vision of silent spirituali
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Being in silence as a way of creati
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word of life and hope within them.
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Level 1:PremoralStage 2:Instrumenta
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These new monastics see the local c
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eliefs that have been tried and tes
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of mature theological reflection co
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ecognised in his Christological ass
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inability or unwillingness of the e
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Kanyini—an Australian Aboriginal
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The film Kanyini demonstrates the c
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estless and always in a hurry to ge
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considered the sole and ultimate au
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We define spirituality as a conscio
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supportive conversation with expres
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A glance at table 4 75 (above), Hug
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In the worldview of contemporary Au
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It certainly seems somewhat disinge
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A good starting point for examining
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Christian contemplative-prayer trad
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Of course, a small number of the vi
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For better or for worse, and despit
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energy, intellect, prayer, love and
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Rahner, K. Karl Rahner - Prayers an
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Kelly, G.B. (ed.). Karl Rahner - th
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Van Vorst, B. ‘Kung and Rahner: d
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Harden, J.A. ‘Ignatian Spirituali
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Tyson, P. ‘Contemporary Australia
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