This article relates the itinerary of Vatican II’s exhortation to Catholics to practice prayerful Scripture reading. In 1961 the Preparatory Theological Commission treated Bible reading in a cautionary and admonitory mode that highlighted guidance by the Magisterium. But the Secretariat for Promoting Christian Unity insisted that pastoral ministers should introduce the faithful to devout reading

The article investigates religious experience in relation to the hermeneutics of desire and interreligious dialogue. After summarizing Schleiermacher’s thought on religious experience, the article presents some ideas on religious experience in light of the insights of several contemporary thinkers. Robert Doran’s proposal for a hermeneutics of desire is enlisted to help clarify the nature of

Since the promulgation of Vatican II’s Dei verbum, exegetes and theologians have paid scant attention to the subject of biblical inspiration and the theology of inspiration. The author argues that developing a theology of inspiration first requires location of the doctrine within its proper context, namely, the doctrine of revelation. Next, inspiration needs to be

Theologians disagree on whether Christians can know what in particular God wills. Appropriate decisions often conflict with decisions God seems to want us humans to make. Methods of discernment are numerous and fallible. Spiritual writers depict discerners as passively receiving God’s will or discovering God’s predetermined plan. As an alternative, this article proposes that an

The article evaluates what seven authors (from Terrence Merrigan in 2005 to Keith Johnson in 2011) have written about Jacques Dupuis’s theology of religions. Dupuis died in 2004, but the debate about his views continues vigorously. When discussing the mediation of salvation, some, like Dupuis himself, attend to the church’s prayers for “others.” But neither

Building on the theology of Jon Sobrino, the author constructs a Christian spirituality of reconciliation that empowers the human person to confront the challenges of entrenched socioeconomic conflict with honesty, hope, and faith in God’s reconciling promises. Such a spirituality, he argues, urges Christians to engage in a mission of mercy that becomes practical in

The author argues that a closer and fresh reading of the Vatican II documents with an eye to the theme of mission might suggest that it is closer to the heart of the council’s original intention than a cursory and dated reading might indicate. Indeed the church’s mission is more urgent today than ever, given

The article examines critical factors that determined the impact, reception, and implementation of Vatican II in Africa. Drawing on historical accounts, the author identifies and analyzes personalities, contexts, and issues that conditioned and shaped Africa’s participation in the council. Looking back 50 years, he argues that while the continent’s participation was negligible, shaped by a