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

established and errors refuted by the diligent application of St. Thomas’sprinciples. Such a use of his work might well have horrified Aquinas himself,since it left no room for new questions 38 .Rahner’s thesis—and in fact his whole life’s work—was directed precisely against thislegalistic use of tradition.The footnote to this initial clash between ‘the old and the new wineskins’ is that MartinHonecker is described as ‘a long forgotten professor at the University of Freiburg’ 39 (inan article profiling Rahner, then in his seventies). By contrast, Rahner’s rejected thesiswas published in 1939 (subsequently translated into several languages including Englishas Spirit in the World). It laid the foundation for Rahner’s international writing, teachingand speaking career that has resulted in an estimated 4000 publications under his nameand a universal reputation as one of the most significant Catholic—and indeedChristian—theologians of the 20 th century. Rahner himself recalled that the outcome ofHonecker’s decision was hardly debilitating on either a personal or public level:My dissertation director, Martin Honecker, flunked me…Because I had beenreassigned from philosophy to teach theology at Innsbruck, this didn’t upset mefor long…My rejected thesis was then published without my receiving a40doctorate…So this failure did not appreciably affect my self-esteem .In the final phase of Rahner’s formal education, his Jesuit superiors directed him to returnto Innsbruck to complete a doctorate in theology as preparation for teaching theology.Building on the foundation of his earlier patristic studies, Rahner produced his thesis, TheOrigin of the Church as Second Eve from the Side of Christ the Second Adam – AnInvestigation of the Typological Significance of John 19.34, within a relatively shortperiod. His second thesis was accepted (though ironically it remains unpublished);together with some prior published articles on the spiritual theology of Origen, Evagrius,Ponticus and Bonaventure, this work qualified him to begin teaching dogmatics atInnsbruck, the university that had finally granted him his doctorate.Following a landmark series of lectures on ‘The Basis of a Philosophy of Religion’ (laterpublished as Hörer Des Wortes, ‘hearers of the word’), delivered to the Seventh Salzburg38 ‘Quiet Mover of the Catholic Church’, 66.39 Ibid.40 I Remember, 42-43.11