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

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homage for Your beloved free Will, which rules over me according to its owngood pleasure, than I can truly find You therein…In no command do I belong tomen, but to You 44 .Rahner’s quiet acceptance of duty has little to do with any idealistic or legalistic notion ofthe unfailing wisdom and piety of his superiors, or the perfection of the communal life ofthe Society of Jesus. For Rahner, the order was the tangible point and structure in whichhe experienced his ‘innermost and most authentic relationship to God, his theology andall his other activity’45 .Central to this profound sense of the order as a ‘spiritual home’ was the person andteaching of St Ignatius of Loyola. The spirituality of the exercises and the model ofIgnatius enabled Rahner to transcend the realities of his experience of both the highs andlows of the human, and the political, dynamics of the order. It is somewhat ironic thatRahner developed his renewing theology, with all of its language of freedom and grace,in the context of a disciplined participation within the historic structure of a hierarchicalreligious community. This may imply a contradiction between the man and his message;however, those who become familiar with his thought and spiritual companionship willrecognise that, for Rahner, freedom and grace are experienced not through a particularconstruct, or social utopia. For Rahner, freedom and grace are experienced through theencounter with the immanent God who infuses life’s circumstances, as they are, with thetranscendent quality of loving presence and mystery. In the words of Johann BaptistMetz, a former student, colleague and critic,Rahner’s theology is the dogmatics of the ordinary, dare I say average, Christianconcerned with the history of his life—the mystical biography of an undramaticlife without great changes and conversions 46 .Rahner understood his vocation as primarily emerging from the context of his identity asa member of a priestly community and its intrinsic pastoral function.44 42, 43 & 44.45 Vorgrimler, Understanding Karl Rahner, 34.46 Cited in ibid, 22.13
Earlier in this chapter, Rahner’s methodical work ethic was ascribed to his German,middle-class upbringing. His personality has naturally been influenced by the spirit andculture of his social setting. However, as his biography reveals, Rahner’s sense ofpastoral motivation was the driving force behind his immense labours: Karl Rahner wasfirst and foremost a human being who cared about other human beings. This profoundcare was expressed holistically: through his academic labours; his personal spirit and wayof being with people; and by his practical actions. His particular passion, as a priest, wasto support people’s accessing, in the context of their everyday lives, the wonder andmystery of God.Rahner’s pastoral spirit abounds in writings dedicated to reflecting on his life andinfluence. A Jesuit seminarian, who spent a Spring semester working throughFoundations of the Christian Faith in tutorials led by the Rahner scholar, William Dych,demonstrates how this important aspect of Rahner’s personality illuminates histheological approach.Though he was a distinguished professor, Rahner remained foremost a priest,preaching regularly, counselling students, talking with street people and shoppingfor food for the needy. Over his lifetime, Rahner directed and preached theSpiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius more than 50 times. His students were devotedto him. Harvey Egan, another Jesuit who studied under Rahner, recounted themeasure of his devotion: ‘Students who understood very little of his lectures toldme that they attended because they “felt better” in his presence. “This is aprofessor to whom I can confess”, one said’ 47 .Reflecting on the influence of Rahner in his own spiritual journey, an American editorand columnist observes:I think of Rahner as a spiritual guide: a charismatic priest and pastor, speaking toreaders as if from the pulpit, and a personal companion in the journey towardGod 48 .The following anecdote from Vorgrimler develops the picture of Rahner as a person ofpastoral warmth and influence by providing a first-hand observation and experience ofRahner’s relationship to his students.47 K. O’Brien, ‘Thursdays With Rahner’, America 190 (15) (March, 2004): 8.48 Bell, ‘Rambling with Rahner’, 14.14
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
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Page 21: High School Week, Rahner began his
Page 25 and 26: These anecdotes testify that Rahner
Page 27 and 28: As you see, at the top of the carto
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Page 43 and 44: The outcome of this encounter: the
Page 45 and 46: Modras has pointed out that Ignatiu
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Page 49 and 50: facilitate this joyful and liberati
Page 51 and 52: Rahner’s often-quoted comment tha
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Page 55 and 56: Endean argues that Rahner is interp
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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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