Theological Studies

Maude Petre on Loisy’s Religious Significance: Spirituality and Critical History

Alfred Loisy’s enduring significance, in Maude Petre’s view, lay in his struggle to define the relationship between religious faith and facts accessible to historical critics. Arguing from both his understanding of religious faith and his commitment to historical scholarship, he opposed what Petre called the “theologico-scientific presentation of dogma” prevalent in the Roman Catholic Church

A Trinitarian Response to Issues Raised by Peter Phan

The U.S. bishops and the Vatican have reacted critically to Peter Phan’s recent book, Being Religious Interreligiously. This article attempts to address the contended issues from a trinitarian perspective. It argues that the traditional trinitarian theology of East and West, which is largely based on the Fourth Gospel, is unable to handle these issues satisfactorily,

Unbind Him and Let Him God (Jn 11:44): Ethical Issues in the Determination of Proportionate and Disproportionate Treatment

The article (1) reviews a variety of magisterial documents and essays concerning the terms “morally ordinary” and “extraordinary” treatment in relation to the provision of assisted nutrition and hydration, particularly for patients in a “permanent vegetative state”; (2) considers how the terms “ordinary” and “extraordinary” are used in both the moral and medical contexts, the

De Lubac and Lonergan on the Supernatural

The author argues that Bernard Lonergan’s work provides a useful foil for reconsidering the position of Henri de Lubac on the relationship between natural and supernatural. Lonergan agrees with the basic thrust of de Lubac’s position, but the Canadian’s approach to the interlocking of his thought on God with his analysis of human consciousness and

Hugh of St. Victor on Jesus Wept: Compassion as Ideal Humanitas

In his brief, On the Four Wills in Christ, Hugh of St. Victor (d. 1141) offers a carefully nuanced depiction of Jesus’ human nature that showcases his human capacity for compassion. Hugh is keen, however, not only to underscore Jesus’ human capacity for compassion but also to identify such fellow-feeling as the signature attribute of

The Sacramental World in the Sentences of Peter Lombard

The article studies the sacramental teaching in Peter Lombard’s Sentences, a work that quickly became the principal theology text in the schools and universities from the High Middle Ages until the Counter Reformation. The study places Peter and the Sentences in the context of twelfth-century Europe’s renaissance of learning; it includes an analysis of Peter’s

An African Moral Theology of Inculturation: Methodological Considerations

Following a brief discussion of inculturation in moral theology, the article appeals to the work of Bénézet Bujo, a pioneer in fundamental African Catholic moral theology, and Richard McCormick to shed light on the theology of inculturation today. The article closes with proposals for a fundamental moral theology that is both truly Christian and truly

Homosexuality and the Counsel of the Cross: A Clarification

The September 2004 issue of this journal carried the author’s article entitled “Homosexuality and the Counsel of the Cross.” The Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) asked for a contextualization that would address the theological and anthropological foundations of the Catholic Church’s teaching, demonstrate the reasonableness of its doctrine on homosexuality, and

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