When in 1949 Fr. Leonard Feeney, SJ accused the Archbishop of Boston, Richard J. Cushing, of heresy for holding that Jews and Protestants could be saved, he backed up his charge by producing passages from the writings of fathers of the church such as St. Augustine, of eminent theologians such as St. Thomas Aquinas, and from the decrees of popes and councils, to prove that it was a dogma of faith that there is no salvation outside the Catholic Church. He did seem to have the weight of evidence on his side, and it was not easy to see how the modern idea that non-Catholics can be saved could be reconciled with the church's traditional doctrine that excluded them from salvation. Many in the Catholic Church have felt that while Feeney must surely have been wrong, the questions he raised were never satisfactorily answered. Is it really a dogma of Catholic faith that there is no salvation outside the church? Can the optimism of Vatican II about the universal possibility of salvation be defended as an example of homogeneous development of doctrine? Or would it be more honest to say that the Catholic Church has recognized that its previous teaching was mistaken? The author is convinced that the only way to answer such questions is by a thorough study of the history of Christian thought about the salvation of those "outside the church." Rev. Sullivan makes this historical study a lively reading experience while drawing conclusions that will impact ecumenical thinking for years to come.
The rapid growth of the charismatic renewal in the Catholic Church has brought with it both controversy and confusion, and it has raised a number of important theological questions. Is it an authentic renewal movement? Exactly what is the baptism of the Holy Spirit? How should we understand the gift of tongues? What is prophecy? Does God really heal by supernatural means? One by one, Francis Sullivan takes up these controversial points in one of the most thorough theological investigations yet undertaken into the Catholic charismatic renewal. 'Charisms and Charismatic Renewal' is a scholarly analysis of this dynamic renewal movement for those who want to know more about its history, its theological and scriptural bases, its present impact on the church, and its probable future course.
A striking series of events of the past two decades have tended to raise questions about the exercise of teaching authority in the Catholic Church. The Second Vatican Council, the Encyclical Humanae Vitae, the controversy over Hans Kung's book on infallibility and the subsequent declaration of Rome that he could no longer teach as a Catholic theologian, the colloquium to which Edward Schillebeeckx was summoned by the Vatican, the pastoral letter of the American bishops on the question of nuclear warfare--have all stimulated a lively discussion of the claims of the Catholic hierarchy to authoritative magisterium. With all the abundance of literature on the subject, a book was still needed that would offer an up-to-date, systematic presentation of Catholic thinking about the nature and function of this magisterium. This is what the present volume sets out to provide. It takes as its point of departure the belief which a great many Christians besides Catholics share, namely, that the Church of Christ is maintained in the truth of the Gospel by the Holy Spirit. It then examines the various ministries by which the Gospel has been handed on and interpreted for each generation of believers, looking especially to the role of the bishops, and among them, of the Bishop of Rome, in settling disputes about the faith. Questions concerning papal infallibility, the response called for by papal encyclicals, the critical role of Catholic theologians vis-a-vis the magisterium, are treated in the light of current theological literature, with the non-specialist reader in mind.
A striking series of events of the past two decades have tended to raise questions about the exercise of teaching authority in the Catholic Church. The Second Vatican Council, the Encyclical Humanae Vitae, the controversy over Hans Kÿng's book on infallibility and the subsequent declaration of Rome that he could no longer teach as a Catholic theologian, the colloquium to which Edward Schillebeeckx was summoned by the Vatican, the pastoral letter of the American bishops on the question of nuclear warfare--have all stimulated a lively discussion of the claims of the Catholic hierarchy to authoritative magisterium. With all the abundance of literature on the subject, a book was still needed that would offer an up-to-date, systematic presentation of Catholic thinking about the nature and function of this magisterium. This is what the present volume sets out to provide. It takes as its point of departure the belief which a great many Christians besides Catholics share, namely, that the Church of Christ is maintained in the truth of the Gospel by the Holy Spirit. It then examines the various ministries by which the Gospel has been handed on and interpreted for each generation of believers, looking especially to the role of the bishops, and among them, of the Bishop of Rome, in settling disputes about the faith. Questions concerning papal infallibility, the response called for by papal encyclicals, the critical role of Catholic theologians vis-a-vis the magisterium, are treated in the light of current theological literature, with the non-specialist reader in mind.
An important part of the theologians' task is to make the church's dogmas meaningful to the faithful of their own time. The attitude with which a theologian should undertake this task of communicating a contemporary understanding of the faith is well described as one of creative fidelity. Two basic sources for Catholic theology are scripture and the documents of the Magisterium. Just as Catholic theologians must know how to distinguish among the various literary genres in the bible and how to interpret scriptural texts, they must also know how to determine the relative degree of authority exercised in the various documents issued by popes or councils and how to apply the principles of hermeneutics in interpreting them. This book offers guidelines that will help those interested in Catholic theology to make sound judgments about the authority and meaning of the documents in which the church has expressed its faith over the centuries. Making such judgments requires a knowledge of the correct level of response these documents call for from the faithful and the ability to offer to today's faithful a contemporary understanding of their faith. The task of the interpreter is one of creative fidelity, requiring a delicate balance between being faithful to the original meaning of the text and creative in finding the concepts and terms that make it meaningful today.
An important part of the theologians' task is to make the church's dogmas meaningful to the faithful of their own time. The attitude with which a theologian should undertake this task of communicating a contemporary understanding of the faith is well described as one of creative fidelity. Two basic sources for Catholic theology are scripture and the documents of the Magisterium. Just as Catholic theologians must know how to distinguish among the various literary genres in the bible and how to interpret scriptural texts, they must also know how to determine the relative degree of authority exercised in the various documents issued by popes or councils and how to apply the principles of hermeneutics in interpreting them. This book offers guidelines that will help those interested in Catholic theology to make sound judgments about the authority and meaning of the documents in which the church has expressed its faith over the centuries. Making such judgments requires a knowledge of the correct level of response these documents call for from the faithful and the ability to offer to today's faithful a contemporary understanding of their faith. The task of the interpreter is one of creative fidelity, requiring a delicate balance between being faithful to the original meaning of the text and creative in finding the concepts and terms that make it meaningful today.
Examines the origins and development of the episcopacy in the early church with an eye toward its implications for current ecumenical issues relating to the episcopacy and apostolic succession.
Examines the origins and development of the episcopacy in the early church with an eye toward its implications for current ecumenical issues relating to the episcopacy and apostolic succession.
An important part of the theologians' task is to make the church's dogmas meaningful to the faithful of their own time. The attitude with which a theologian should undertake this task of communicating a contemporary understanding of the faith is well described as one of creative fidelity. Two basic sources for Catholic theology are scripture and the documents of the Magisterium. Just as Catholic theologians must know how to distinguish among the various literary genres in the bible and how to interpret scriptural texts, they must also know how to determine the relative degree of authority exercised in the various documents issued by popes or councils and how to apply the principles of hermeneutics in interpreting them. This book offers guidelines that will help those interested in Catholic theology to make sound judgments about the authority and meaning of the documents in which the church has expressed its faith over the centuries. Making such judgments requires a knowledge of the correct level of response these documents call for from the faithful and the ability to offer to today's faithful a contemporary understanding of their faith. The task of the interpreter is one of creative fidelity, requiring a delicate balance between being faithful to the original meaning of the text and creative in finding the concepts and terms that make it meaningful today.
An important part of the theologians' task is to make the church's dogmas meaningful to the faithful of their own time. The attitude with which a theologian should undertake this task of communicating a contemporary understanding of the faith is well described as one of creative fidelity. Two basic sources for Catholic theology are scripture and the documents of the Magisterium. Just as Catholic theologians must know how to distinguish among the various literary genres in the bible and how to interpret scriptural texts, they must also know how to determine the relative degree of authority exercised in the various documents issued by popes or councils and how to apply the principles of hermeneutics in interpreting them. This book offers guidelines that will help those interested in Catholic theology to make sound judgments about the authority and meaning of the documents in which the church has expressed its faith over the centuries. Making such judgments requires a knowledge of the correct level of response these documents call for from the faithful and the ability to offer to today's faithful a contemporary understanding of their faith. The task of the interpreter is one of creative fidelity, requiring a delicate balance between being faithful to the original meaning of the text and creative in finding the concepts and terms that make it meaningful today.
The rapid growth of the charismatic renewal in the Catholic Church has brought with it both controversy and confusion, and it has raised a number of important theological questions. Is it an authentic renewal movement? Exactly what is the baptism of the Holy Spirit? How should we understand the gift of tongues? What is prophecy? Does God really heal by supernatural means? One by one, Francis Sullivan takes up these controversial points in one of the most thorough theological investigations yet undertaken into the Catholic charismatic renewal. 'Charisms and Charismatic Renewal' is a scholarly analysis of this dynamic renewal movement for those who want to know more about its history, its theological and scriptural bases, its present impact on the church, and its probable future course.
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