A journal of academic theology

Research Article

Is Creation Eternal?

[The author examines the integral relationship between the Trinity and creation based on the theology of St. Bonaventure. Divine action is considered not as episodic intervention but within the context of relationship. Because creation is a finite expression of the infinite Word of God, it is intrinsically related to the primacy of Christ. An eternal

Faith in Deaf Culture

[Deaf people often have been outsiders in a hearing Church. The message of the Church has not reached Deaf people because the language, symbols, culture of the traditional Church, and the view of Church people on deafness were remote from the culture and daily life experiences of Deaf people. In several countries, new developments are

John Wyclif: Christian Patience in a Time of War

[John Wyclif (d. 1384) was well acquainted with the medieval traditions of just war and crusading articulated by theologians and canon lawyers. Yet he had become disillusioned with a Christian society that exploited these traditions to pursue destructive policies of repression and conquest, thereby forsaking the eternal Law of Christ. For Wyclif, the Law of

The Analogy of Tradition: Method and Theological Judgment

[The author examines a basic question for theological inquiry: how is congruence between past and present meaning achieved in tradition and in theological judgment? He begins by criticizing the account of traditional continuity offered in the recent work of Kathryn Tanner and by considering the limits of correlation in explaining congruence in theological judgment. Constructively,

A Reinterpretation of Invocation and Intercession of the Saints

[The intercessory role of the saints often is ignored today in favor of the saints’ role as models of holiness. This can obscure the theological truth communicated profoundly in invocation and intercession, namely that Christ’s work is victorious in all times and places and unites all in one eschatological communion of response to his offer

Bridging the Divide in Contemporary U.S. Catholic Social Ethics

[The author clarifies two dominant methodologies that persist in U.S. Catholic social ethics as represented by J. Bryan Hehir and Michael J. Baxter. A comparative analysis of these reformist and radicalist approaches along with their theological foundations challenges contemporary perspectives on their coexistence, and it suggests ways in which the two might mutually inform one

Ethics and the Crisis in the Church

[The author provides a bibliographic study of recent publications concerning the scandal and the crisis in the Catholic Church. He focuses on three groups: priests (who are they?), the laity (how can they more fully participate in the life of the Church?), and bishops (what must they do to lead and govern more effectively?). The

Social Ethics

[The survey addresses recent publications in five areas: (1) foundational resources and approaches; (2) Catholic social thought; (3) faith and public life; (4) reconciliation and social conflict; and (5) environmental and economic ethics. Recurring issues include: praxis-based approaches, the common good and human rights, religion’s role in public life, restorative justice, as well as attention

Feminism and the Vatican

[The recent “Letter on the Collaboration of Men and Women” (2004) published by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith continues Pope John Paul II’s strong affirmation of women in church teaching, but also unfairly critiques two forms of feminism. Contemporary philosophical and theological feminist reflection on both equality and difference suggests a better,

An Ecclesiology of Groaning: Augustine the Psalms and the Making of Church

[The author offers a new approach to Augustine’s understanding of Church and exegesis by concentrating on his practice of preaching about the psalms. More than other biblical books, the psalms were conceived not principally as texts to be explained. Rather, they were the “voice of the whole Christ” that gave expression to a wide variety

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