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

dialectic between these two, has led to his being caricatured as a ‘theological atomicphysicist’ 23 : hopelessly complicated and obscure. While his theological prose is difficultand complex, a recurring theme within Rahner’s theologising is his simple, personal,immediate experience of God 24 .The primacy of spiritual experience in Rahner’s theologising is apparent in the contentand timing of Rahner’s first published book Worte ins Schwiegen (1938; literally, ‘wordsinto silence’; the English title is Encounters with silence 25 ). The text—initially publishedas a series of entries in a journal on spirituality for priests—consists of ten meditationswhose titles include ‘God of my Life’, ‘God of my Prayer’, ‘God of my daily Routine’. Inthis text, Rahner’s readers see a reflection of their own spiritual highs and lows andencounter an accessible and trustworthy spiritual companion who invites them toparticipate in the ministry and experience of prayer 26 . These meditations appeared at theend of Rahner’s lengthy formal studies in philosophy and theology and just before hebegan his first teaching position at the University of Innsbruck. The significance of thissmall publication will be discussed more fully in chapter 3.One significant way of interpreting Rahner’s life and work is to view his immediateexperience of God as primary in his theologising. Rahner reflects on this experience at adevotional and pastoral level (in his prayers and homilies) and at a more academic level(in his theological lectures and articles). The latter process involves an intellectualexposition with reference to the concepts and language of both the tradition of the churchand the tools of his philosophical approach. Although this interpretation of Rahner isdisputed, later chapters (‘Mystery’, ‘Word and Sacrament’) demonstrate that the primacyof immediate experience is at the forefront of Rahner’s own mind as he reflects on hisextensive career:23 A phrase we will unpack later in this chapter.24 See for example, R. Kress, A Rahner Handbook (Atlanta, Georgia: John Knox Press, 1982), 4; W Dych,Karl Rahner (London: Continuum, 1992), 32-46; H Egan, ‘Theology and spirituality’, in The Cambridgecompanion to Karl Rahner, Marmion D. & Hines M. eds. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005),13-28.25 J.P. Galvin, ‘Before the holy mystery: Karl Rahner’s thought on God’, Toronto Journal of Theology 9 (2)(1993): 229-231.26 W.F. Bell, ‘Rambling with Rahner’, America 170 (10) (March, 1994): 14.6