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

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the philosophies of Kant and [Thomas] Aquinas’ 31 . Rahner’s interest in thisreconciliation is indicative of his life-long pastoral motivation to find creative ways toreinterpret Christian truths in order to liberate rather than bind.Following his philosophical studies and prior to beginning his theological studies in 1929at the Jesuit school of theology in Valkenburg, Holland, Rahner was assigned to a twoyearperiod of practical work: teaching Latin to novices in Feldkirch. Even during hisschool years, Rahner understood himself as a person uncommonly interested in the piousaspects of his upbringing; his entrance into formal theological studies seems to have‘fanned into flame’ his growing fascination with the mystical nature of humanity, and theunique place of the church in its spiritual union with Christ. Vorgrimler notes that Rahnerwasinterested in the mystical idea in the church fathers that the church had sprungfrom the wound in the side of Christ…In the very first year of his theological education he read almost all the sources ofthe second Christian century, like the Apostolic Fathers, Justin and Iranaeus,Tertullian and Clement of Alexandria, and also Crysostum, Gregory of Nyssa andAugustine 32 .This immense reading energy reflects Rahner’s passionate spirit of inquiry, oftenrecognised by those who encountered him33 ; in this instance it was directed towards hisgrasp of the significant sources of the historical Christian faith. This early research anddeveloping intimacy with the writings of the church fathers contributed to Rahner’s laterpersuasive advocacy for the reinterpretation of the tradition.On 26 July 1932, Cardinal Michael Faulhaber ordained Rahner and sixteen of his Jesuitbrothers in the church of St Michael, Munich. Following his ordination as a priest and thecompletion of a further year of theological study, at St Andrea in Austria, Rahner madehis tertianship: the final phase of Jesuit formation traditionally devoted to prayer andpastoral work. Following the completion of his year of tertianship in 1934, Rahner’s31 Kress, A Rahner handbook, (Atlanta Georgia: John Knox Press, 1982), 2; see also Dych, Karl Rahner, 4-5.32 Vorgrimler, Understanding Karl Rahner, 52.33 E. Kennedy, ‘Quiet Mover of the Catholic Church’ New York Times Magazine (September 23, 1979): 68.9
superiors, having decided that he was to be appointed to teach the history of philosophyat Pullach, directed him to undertake a doctoral program in philosophy at the universityof his hometown, Freiburg. William Dych notes that this ‘was to be a time of opportunityand disappointment’ 34 .The opportunity: Rahner’s intellectual formation through a focused engagement withmodern philosophy, delving more deeply into Kant and Maréchal—and in particular hisparticipation in Martin Heidegger’s seminars; Heidegger was a profound influence onRahner’s bent towards the reinterpretation of tradition.He (Heidegger) taught us how to read texts in a new way, to ask what is behindthe text, to see connections between a philosopher’s individual texts and hisstatements that wouldn’t immediately strike the ordinary person, and so on. In thisway he developed an important philosophy of Being. That can and will alwayshave a fascinating significance for a Catholic theologian for whom God is andremains the inexpressible mystery. In my manner of thinking, in the courage toquestion anew so much considered self-evident, in the struggle to incorporatemodern philosophy into today’s Christian theology, here I have certainly learnedsomething from Heidegger and will, therefore, always be thankful to him 35 .The disappointment: Rahner’s doctoral thesis, Geist im Welt, described by La Fountain asan intriguing interpretation of Aquinas’s epistemology influenced by thetranscendental Thomism of Joseph Maréchal and the existentialism of MartinHeidegger (that is, the relationship between Aquinas’s notion of dynamic mindand Heidegger’s analysis of Dasein, or being-in-the-world) 36 ,was rejected by his conservative supervisor, Martin Honecker—apparently because ‘itwas influenced too much by Heidegger and did not sufficiently express the Catholic neoscholastictradition’37. The rejection of Rahner’s thesis reflects of the state of Catholictheology during this period of the 20 th century, vividly described by Eugene Kennedy:In 1910, the Pope required all priests to take an oath against the heresy ofModernism. Only about 40 priests in the entire world refused to take the oath. Along dark night settled over Catholic theological activity. As the Church historianMichael V. Gannon has described it, ‘the critical mind lay at ruinousdiscount.’…Before Vatican II, textbooks of theology were compendiums of truths34 Karl Rahner, 5-6.35 Vorgrimler, Understanding Karl Rahner, 59.36 LaFountain, ‘Karl Rahner (1904-1984)’, 2.37 Ibid.10
Page 1 and 2: ‘A Spirituality of silence’An i
Page 3 and 4: Chapter 4: The human experience of
Page 5 and 6: Summary of thesis:This thesis offer
Page 7 and 8: The particular angle from which thi
Page 9 and 10: somewhat superseded by more recent
Page 11 and 12: Rahner: I have nothing against that
Page 13 and 14: One brief but notable spiritual inf
Page 15 and 16: dialectic between these two, has le
Page 17: odies of knowledge, history and alt
Page 21 and 22: High School Week, Rahner began his
Page 23 and 24: Earlier in this chapter, Rahner’s
Page 25 and 26: These anecdotes testify that Rahner
Page 27 and 28: As you see, at the top of the carto
Page 29 and 30: Central to Rahner’s thinking is t
Page 31 and 32: Kilby notes that in regard to this
Page 33 and 34: Introduced by Cardinal König to a
Page 35 and 36: influence will continue to spread a
Page 37 and 38: We see from Rahner’s pastoral con
Page 39 and 40: European power 4 , and that he was
Page 41 and 42: Over a period of days and weeks, th
Page 43 and 44: The outcome of this encounter: the
Page 45 and 46: Modras has pointed out that Ignatiu
Page 47 and 48: Rahner the Ignatian spiritual direc
Page 49 and 50: facilitate this joyful and liberati
Page 51 and 52: Rahner’s often-quoted comment tha
Page 53 and 54: The master of the Exercises in no w
Page 55 and 56: Endean argues that Rahner is interp
Page 57 and 58: The Ignatian Exercises—especially
Page 59 and 60: provision of appropriate spiritual
Page 61 and 62: their existential encounter, they a
Page 63 and 64: Chapter 3: Spirituality of silence
Page 65 and 66: which the spiritual pilgrim finds t
Page 67 and 68: Lord, to pray my whole life long wi
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Encounters with silence: strictures
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a long highway filled by a column o
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gaze; they prefer to stay safe, ris
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This experience is life’s true es
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Christians can experience the full
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Rahner does not claim for himself t
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example, it would limit God to say,
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will and love of God: then the diam
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Echoes of Ignatius’ Exercises are
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Chapter 4: The human experience of
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proximity, the silence that leads e
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‘listening to the freely proffere
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approach; he is not arguing against
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must occur in history—time, space
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The most obvious criticism of Rahne
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Schleiermacher: seeking to build a
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and his meditations in Encounters w
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theological method, and the importa
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spirit dancing together in apprecia
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choosing to enter into the mystery
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may be described as a ‘mysticism
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possibilities but without a definit
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theologie) in which Rahner’s prim
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• around the concept and meaning
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knowledge. For we are not saved by
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silent experience of God—is able
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the immanent life of God’ 120 . T
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Investigations much like the biblic
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abandonment to the eternal life in
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Theology of mystery as dynamic chal
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ecause the phonetic sound of the wo
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alone that enables individuals to f
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Chapter 5: Word and sacrament—exp
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The centrality of scripture, and it
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What makes the words of scripture d
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silence. He felt that the movement
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with humanity—his ‘economic’
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Having discerned their revelatory c
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fulfilment in following the absolut
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Rahner’s transcendental perspecti
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toward which it points. God’s wor
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sacramental: a sign in which God’
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In light of the implications of Rah
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who, like mystics, experience such
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The juxtaposition of two articles
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These two interpretations of Rahner
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Rahner advocates that all believers
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The sacrament of the wordIn reflect
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‘theological aesthetics’. With
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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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