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

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a) people in Western cultures are increasingly speaking of the need forsomething more than a material existence (a quest for meaning) 30 ;b) neurological research (including the ‘God spot’ research by Ramachandranat the University of California) has recently developed to the point where anempirical case for SQ can be reasonably proposedc) people can learn to develop SQ and in fact must develop SQ for the benefitof society and culture32 .31;As with moral and faith development theories, SQ is described as a universal capacity ofhuman functioning and growth potential and not as the product of any particular religionor ideology. According to the authors, SQ may be used ‘to become more spirituallyintelligent about religion’, and indeed the following description of what this means couldwell apply to Rahner’s life work.SQ takes us to the heart of things, to the unity behind difference, to the potentialbeyond any actual expression…A person with high SQ might practice…religion,but without the narrowness, exclusiveness, bigotry or prejudice 33 .The authors note that ‘a person high in SQ could have very spiritual qualities withoutbeing religious at all34 . It is interesting to note however that the SQ text is filled withreferences to both religious texts and mystical experiences, including many from theChristian tradition; and also that Zohar completed her graduate studies in psychology andtheology at Harvard University (the birthplace of faith development theory). In this sense,the idea of SQ reads as somewhat friendly to the essential spirit of the Christian traditionalongside others, but squarely challenges the cultural hegemonic right of the Christiancommunity to define human spirituality in purely doctrinal terms.Reflecting on SQ from a Rahnerian perspective of spirituality of silence gives rise to thefollowing considerations. It seems that what Zohar and Marshall recognise in theirpsycho–social/neurological construct of SQ has many similarities to what Rahner30 Ibid, 8.31 Ibid, 11-12 & 39-41.32 Ibid, 16-17 & 225-282.33 Ibid, 14.34 Ibid.193
ecognised in his Christological assessment of the ‘anonymous’ faith of some atheists andpractitioners of religions other than Christian. Both are observing closely the essence ofwhat makes human beings truly human—Rahner particularly from his own deep mysticalexperience and the teachings of the church; Zohar and Marshall from a neurologicalinterpretation of the human quest for meaning, in dialogue with religious text andmystical experience. However, Rahner reflects theologically on the universal experienceof spirit, in dialogue with his understanding of human psychology; Zohar and Marshallreflect psychologically in dialogue with their understanding of theology and mysticism.It would be interesting to see what Rahner would make of the tertiary process proposed inSQ, particularly given his implied reference to the Freudian unconscious as the dwellingplace of the Holy Spirit 35 . There is little doubt that Rahner would have listened deeply tothe emerging neurological research and perceived cultural existential angst, proposed inSQ, whilst continuing to interpret its essential meaning in light of the silent mysticism ofGod in all things.Re-enchantment: perceptions of a spirituality revolutionIn two very thought-provoking texts, Re-enchantment (2000) and The spiritualityrevolution (2003) 36 , La Trobe University academic, David Tacey, outlines his personalinterpretation of a new movement of ‘spirit’ in a culture—primarily Australian and alsomore broadly Western—weary and disillusioned by the failure of the secular politicalideal. Tacey argues that Western culture has ‘outgrown the ideals and values of the earlyscientific era which viewed the individual as a sort of efficient machine’ 37 . He furtherdescribes the re-emergence of individual and cultural interest in spirituality as a corporatere-awakening: ‘our secular society realizing that it has been running on empty, and has torestore itself at a deep, primal source, a source which is beyond humanity and yetparadoxically at the very core of our experience’ 38 .35 See Happiness through prayer (Dublin: Clonmore & Reynolds, 1958), 26-27.36 Both texts published by Harper Collins in Sydney.37 Spirituality revolution, 1.38 Ibid.194
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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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which the spiritual pilgrim finds t
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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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Page 187 and 188: Hosek shifts the soteriological foc
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Page 195 and 196: Level 1:PremoralStage 2:Instrumenta
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Page 209 and 210: The film Kanyini demonstrates the c
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Page 215 and 216: We define spirituality as a conscio
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Page 219 and 220: A glance at table 4 75 (above), Hug
Page 221 and 222: In the worldview of contemporary Au
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Page 229 and 230: Of course, a small number of the vi
Page 231 and 232: For better or for worse, and despit
Page 233 and 234: energy, intellect, prayer, love and
Page 235 and 236: Rahner, K. Karl Rahner - Prayers an
Page 237 and 238: Kelly, G.B. (ed.). Karl Rahner - th
Page 239 and 240: Van Vorst, B. ‘Kung and Rahner: d
Page 241 and 242: Harden, J.A. ‘Ignatian Spirituali
Page 243: Tyson, P. ‘Contemporary Australia
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