The author considers the ongoing significance of the grace–nature distinction for systematic theology, the role the distinction has made historically, and current debates on its validity. He proposes that two developments advanced by Bernard Lonergan, the scale of values and the four-point hypothesis, can reinvigorate the distinction and ground new developments in systematic theology for

Lonergan makes unique, balanced contributions to the debates on the relationship between the natural and supernatural and on the grace–freedom dynamic (the de auxiliis controversy), particularly in his critique of Bañezianism. His understanding of the human intellect in relation to the supernatural order and his defense of the natural integrity of created freedom are remarkably

The concept of vicarious representation (Stellvertretung) is central to Joseph Ratzinger’s thought. He uses it, with its correlative concept of pro-existence, to develop a theology in which “the few” are the starting point from which God saves “the many.” This article examines the concept’s influence on Ratzinger’s soteriology, Christology, and ecclesiology. It concludes by exploring

Monika Hellwig’s 1982 history and theology of the sacrament of penance, Sign of Reconciliation and Conversion, is representative of the expectations that theologians and pastoral ministers had for expanded forms of the sacrament. Pope John Paul II’s 1984 exhortation, “Reconciliation and Penance,” produced a contrasting history to assert private confession to a priest as the

In his analysis of Monika Hellwig’s and John Paul II’s thought on penance, Bruce Morrill identifies a breakdown of shared meaning in the church. This response introduces Bernard Lonergan into the conversation. If Morrill has identified a collapse of consensus around sacramental reconciliation, Lonergan’s theological anthropology, especially regarding questions related to conversion and authenticity, may

In conversation with Bruce Morrill’s article, the author explores how the fundamental ecclesiologies of Monika Hellwig and John Paul II influence their theologies of the sacrament of penance. John Paul’s ahistorical ecclesiology leads to distress around the collapse of confession and to increased clericalism, and his millennial apologies for ecclesial sins raise further questions regarding

This article is an exercise in comparative theology from a Buddhist perspective. Christian liberation theology and engaged Buddhism both seek to empower people by liberating them from causes of suffering that prevent them from realizing their deeper identity and fuller potential. Christian and Buddhist liberation theologies differ in what they identify as the main conditions