Reconciling faith and reason : apologists, evangelists, and theologians in a divided church / Thomas P. Rausch.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Rausch, Thomas P.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Church controversies--Catholic Church.

Church controversies.

Catholic Church--Doctrines.

Catholic Church.

Physical Description:

x, 134 pages ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

Collegeville, Minn. : Liturgical Press, [2000]

Summary:

How can Catholics find common ground in a divided Church, teaching and reflecting on their faith in a way that is at once critical, faithful to the Catholic tradition, and truly evangelical? In Apologists, Evangelists, and Theologians, Thomas Rausch, S.J., tackles academic theologians and the new conservative apologists, noting the strengths and liabilities of both. He looks at divisive questions of theological method, Scripture and doctrinal development, sexuality, liturgy, and evangelization, and concludes by proposing principles for doing theology in a divided Church.

Clergy and educated laity, especially lay ministers and religious educators, will find Apologists, Evangelists, and Theologians a good overview of present divisions in the Church and a practical source for finding a common ground in the life and concerns of ordinary Christians.

The first chapter traces the emergence and development of a renewed, yet overly academic Catholic theology. Chapter two focuses on the new apologists as a conservative reaction to the excesses of academic theology as well as to the changing nature of the Church. Chapter three, on Scripture, tradition, and Church, explores the relation of Scripture and tradition. Chapter four considers the question of the Church and sexuality. Chapter five focuses on liturgy and Eucharist. Chapter six assesses various efforts to express the Church's evangelical mission, both traditional and contemporary, and sketches the assumptions and concerns of a contemporary evangelical theology. The final chapter lifts up principles for doing theology in a divided church.

Chapters are "A Divided Church, " "Contemporary Catholic Theology, " "The New Apologists, ""Scripture Tradition, and Church, " "Sexual Morality, "" Eucharist and Theology, "" A New Evangelization, " and "Towards Common Ground in Theology."

Contents:

1. A Divided Church 1

The Catholic Left 2

The Conservative Catholic Subculture 5

2. Contemporary Catholic Theology 11

The Emergence of a Critical Theology 12

Disputed Questions 20

3. The New Apologists 35

Apologetics 36

The New Apologists 39

Why Catholics Leave the Church 48

4. Scripture, Tradition, and Church 53

Tradition 54

Scripture 56

Church 62

5. Sexual Morality 71

Moral Theology 72

A Practical Example 74

Towards a More Biblical Morality 76

Integrating Law and Gospel 80

6. Eucharist and Liturgy 87

Medieval Developments 89

Vatican II and Liturgical Renewal 91

Where We Are Today 93

Unresolved Issues 95

7. A New Evangelization 99

Finding the Language that Gives Life 102

Towards an Evangelical Theology 109

8. Towards Common Ground in Theology 115

Principles 117.

Notes:

"A Michael Glazier book."

Includes bibliographical references and indexes.

ISBN:

081465956X

0814650961

OCLC:

42849710