Theology Today: Perspectives,
Principles and Criteria
by International Theological Commission
(2012)
CONTENTS
Introduction
Chapter 1: Listening to the Word of God
1: The primacy of the Word of God
2: Faith, the response to God’s Word
3: Theology, the understanding of faith
Chapter 2: Abiding in the Communion of the Church
1: The study of Scripture as the soul of theology
2: Fidelity to Apostolic Tradition
3: Attention to the sensus fidelium
4: Responsible adherence to the ecclesiastical magisterium
5: In the company of theologians
6: In dialogue with the world
Chapter 3: Giving an Account of the Truth of God
1: The truth of God and the rationality of theology
2: The unity of theology in a plurality of methods and
disciplines
3: Science and wisdom
Conclusion
***
PRELIMINARY NOTE
The study of the theme of the status of theology was
already begun by the International Theological Commission in the quinquennial
session of 2004-2008. The work was done by a subcommission, presided by Reverend
Santiago del Cura Elena and composed of the following members: Most Reverend
Bruno Forte, Most Reverend Savio Hon Tai-Fai, S.D.B., Reverends Antonio
Castellano, S.D.B.,Tomislav Ivanc^ic', Thomas Norris, Paul Rouhana, Leonard
Santedi Kinkupu, Jerzy Szymik and Doctor Thomas Söding.
Since, however, this subcommission had no way of completing
its work with the publication of a document, the study was taken up in the
following quinquennial session, on the basis of the work previously undertaken.
For this purpose, a new subcommission was formed, presided by Monsignor Paul
McPartlan and composed of the following members: Most Reverend Jan Liesen,
Reverends Serge Thomas Bonino, O.P., Antonio Castellano, S.D.B., Adelbert
Denaux, Tomislav Ivanc^ic', Leonard Santedi Kinkupu, Jerzy Szymik, Sister Sara
Butler, M.S.B.T., and Doctor Thomas Söding.
The general discussions of this theme were held in numerous
meetings of the subcommission and during the Plenary Sessions of the same
International Theological Commission held in Rome from 2004 to 2011. The present
text was approved in forma specifica on 29 November 2011 and was then submitted
to its President, Cardinal William Levada, Prefect of the Congregation for the
Doctrine of the Faith, who authorized its publication.
INTRODUCTION
1. The years following the Second Vatican Council have been
extremely productive for Catholic theology. There have been new theological
voices, especially those of laymen and women; theologies from new cultural
contexts, particularly Latin America, Africa and Asia; new themes for
reflection, such as peace, justice, liberation, ecology and bioethics; deeper
treatments of former themes, thanks to renewal in biblical, liturgical,
patristic and medieval studies; and new venues for reflection, such as
ecumenical, inter-religious and inter-cultural dialogue. These are fundamentally
positive developments. Catholic theology has sought to follow the path opened by
the Council, which wished to express its ‘solidarity and respectful affection
for the whole human family’ by entering into dialogue with it and offering ‘the
saving resources which the Church has received from its founder under the
promptings of the Holy Spirit’.1 However, this period has also seen a certain
fragmentation of theology, and in the dialogue just mentioned theology always
faces the challenge of maintaining its own true identity. The question arises,
therefore, as to what characterises Catholic theology and gives it, in and
through its many forms, a clear sense of identity in its engagement with the
world of today.
2. To some extent, the Church clearly needs a common
discourse if it is to communicate the one message of Christ to the world, both
theologically and pastorally. It is therefore legitimate to speak of the need
for a certain unity of theology. However, unity here needs to be carefully
understood, so as not to be confused with uniformity or a single style. The
unity of theology, like that of the Church, as professed in the Creed, must be
closely correlated with the idea of catholicity, and also with those of holiness
and apostolicity.2 The Church’s catholicity derives from Christ himself who is
the Saviour of the whole world and of all humanity (cf. Eph 1:3-10; 1Tim 2:3-6).
The Church is therefore at home in every nation and culture, and seeks to
‘gather in everything for its salvation and sanctification’.3 The fact that
there is one Saviour shows that there is a necessary bond between catholicity
and unity. As it explores the inexhaustible Mystery of God and the countless
ways in which God’s grace works for salvation in diverse settings, theology
rightly and necessarily takes a multitude of forms, and yet as investigations of
the unique truth of the triune God and of the one plan of salvation centred on
the one Lord Jesus Christ, this plurality must manifest distinctive family
traits.
3. The International Theological Commission (ITC) has
studied various aspects of the theological task in previous texts, notably,
Theological Pluralism (1972), Theses on the Relationship between the
Ecclesiastical Magisterium and Theology (1975), and The Interpretation of Dogma
(1990).4 The present text seeks to identify distinctive family traits of
Catholic theology.5 It considers basic perspectives and principles which
characterise Catholic theology, and offers criteria by which diverse and
manifold theologies may nevertheless be recognised as authentically Catholic,
and as participating in the Catholic Church’s mission, which is to proclaim the
good news to people of every nation, tribe, people and language (cf. Mt
28:18-20; Rev 7:9), and, by enabling them to hear the voice of the one Lord, to
gather them all into one flock with one shepherd (cf. Jn 10:16). That mission
requires there to be in Catholic theology both diversity in unity and unity in
diversity. Catholic theologies should be identifiable as such, mutually
supportive and mutually accountable, as are Christians themselves in the
communion of the Church for the glory of God. The present text accordingly
consists of three chapters, setting out the following themes: in the rich
plurality of its expressions, protagonists, ideas and contexts, theology is
Catholic, and therefore fundamentally one, if it arises from an attentive
listening to the Word of God (cf. Chapter One); if it situates itself
consciously and faithfully in the communion of the Church (cf. Chapter Two); and
if it is orientated to the service of God in the world, offering divine truth to
the men and women of today in an intelligible form (cf. Chapter Three).
CHAPTER 1:
LISTENING TO THE WORD OF GOD
4. ‘It pleased God, in his goodness and wisdom, to reveal
himself and to make known the mystery of his will (cf. Eph 1:9)’, namely that
all people might ‘have access to the Father, through Christ, the Word made
flesh, in the Holy Spirit, and thus become sharers in the divine nature (cf. Eph
2:18; 2Pet 1:4)’.6 ‘The novelty of biblical revelation consists in the fact that
God becomes known through the dialogue which he desires to have with us.’7
Theology, in all its diverse traditions, disciplines and methods, is founded on
the fundamental act of listening in faith to the revealed Word of God, Christ
himself. Listening to God’s Word is the definitive principle of Catholic
theology; it leads to understanding and speech and to the formation of Christian
community: ‘the Church is built upon the word of God; she is born from and lives
by that word’.8 ‘We declare to you what we have seen and heard so that you also
may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and
with his Son Jesus Christ’ (1Jn 1:3).9 The whole world is to hear the summons to
salvation, ‘so that through hearing it may believe, through belief it may hope,
through hope it may come to love’.10
5. Theology is scientific reflection on the divine
revelation which the Church accepts by faith as universal saving truth. The
sheer fulness and richness of that revelation is too great to be grasped by any
one theology, and in fact gives rise to multiple theologies as it is received in
diverse ways by human beings. In its diversity, nevertheless, theology is united
in its service of the one truth of God. The unity of theology, therefore does
not require uniformity, but rather a single focus on God’s Word and an
explication of its innumerable riches by theologies able to dialogue and
communicate with one another. Likewise, the plurality of theologies should not
imply fragmentationor discord, but rather the exploration in myriad ways of
God’s one saving truth.
1. The primacy of the Word of God
6. ‘In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with
God, and the Word was God’ (Jn 1:1). The Gospel of John starts with a
‘prologue’. This hymn highlights the cosmic scope of revelation and the
culmination of revelation in the incarnation of the Word of God. ‘What has come
into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people’ (Jn
1:3-4). Creation and history constitute the space and time in which God reveals
himself. The world, created by God by means of his Word (cf. Gen 1), is also,
however, the setting for the rejection of God by human beings. Nevertheless,
God’s love towards them is always infinitely greater; ‘the light shines in the
darkness, and the darkness does not overcome it’ (Jn 1:5). The incarnation of
the Son is the culmination of that steadfast love: ‘And the Word became flesh
and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only
son, full of grace and truth’ (Jn 1:14). The revelation of God as Father who
loves the world (cf. Jn 3:16, 35) is realised in the revelation of Jesus Christ,
crucified and risen, the Son of God and ‘Saviour of the world’ (Jn 4:42). In
‘many and various ways’ God spoke through the prophets in former times, but in
the fullness of time he spoke to us ‘by a Son, whom he appointed heir of all
things, through whom he also created the worlds’ (Heb 1:1-2). ‘No one has ever
seen God. It is God the only Son, who is close to the Father’s heart, who has
made him known’ (Jn 1:18).
7. The Church greatly venerates the Scriptures, but it is
important to recognise that ‘the Christian faith is not a “religion of the
book”; Christianity is the “religion of the word of God”, not of “a written and
mute word, but of the incarnate and living Word”’.11 The gospel of God is
fundamentally testified by the sacred Scripture of both Old and New
Testaments.12 The Scriptures are ‘inspired by God and committed to writing once
and for all time’; hence, ‘they present God’s own Word in an unalterable form,
and they make the voice of the Holy Spirit sound again and again in the words of
the prophets and apostles’.13 Tradition is the faithful transmission of the Word
of God, witnessed in the canon of Scripture by the prophets and the apostles and
in the leiturgia (liturgy), martyria (testimony) and diakonia (service) of the
Church.
8. St Augustine wrote that the Word of God was heard by
inspired authors and transmitted by their words: ‘God speaks through a human
being in human fashion; and speaking thus he seeks us’.14 The Holy Spirit not
only inspired the biblical authors to find the right words of witness but also
assists the readers of the Bible in every age to understand the Word of God in
the human words of the holy Scriptures. The relationship between Scripture and
Tradition is rooted in the truth which God reveals in his Word for our
salvation: ‘the books of Scripture, firmly, faithfully and without error, teach
that truth which God, for the sake of our salvation, wished to see confided to
the sacred Scriptures’,15 and through the ages the Holy Spirit ‘leads believers
to the full truth, and makes the Word of Christ dwell in them in all its
richness (cf. Col 3:16)’.16 ‘The word of God is given to us in sacred Scripture
as an inspired testimony to revelation; together with the Church’s living
Tradition, it constitutes the supreme rule of faith.’17
9. A criterion of Catholic theology is recognition of the
primacy of the Word of God. God speaks ‘in many and various ways’ - in creation,
through prophets and sages, through the holy Scriptures, and definitively
through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the Word made flesh
(cf. Heb 1:1-2).
2. Faith, the response to God’s Word
10. St Paul writes in his letter to the Romans: ‘faith
comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes through the word of Christ’
(Rom 10:17). He makes two important points here. On the one hand, he explains
that faith follows from listening to the Word of God, always ‘by the power of
the Spirit of God’ (Rom 15:19). On the other hand, he clarifies the means by
which the Word of God reaches human ears: fundamentally by means of those who
have been sent to proclaim the Word and to awaken faith (cf. Rom 10:14-15). It
follows that the Word of God for all time can be proclaimed authentically only
on the foundation of the apostles (cf. Eph 2:20-22) and in apostolic succession
(cf. 1Tim 4:6).
11. Since Jesus Christ, the Word made flesh, ‘is himself
both the mediator and the sum total of Revelation’,18 the response that the Word
seeks, namely faith, is likewise personal. By faith human beings entrust their
entire selves to God, in an act which involves the ‘full submission’ of the
intellect and will to the God who reveals.19 ‘The obedience of faith’ (Rom 1:5)
is thus something personal. By faith, human beings open their ears to listen to
God’s Word and their mouths also to offer him prayer and praise; they open their
hearts to receive the love of God which is poured into them through the gift of
the Holy Spirit (cf. Rom 5:5); and they ‘abound in hope by the power of the Holy
Spirit’ (Rom 15:13), a hope ‘which does not disappoint’ (Rom 5:5). Thus, a
living faith can be understood as embracing both hope and love. Paul emphasises,
moreover, that the faith evoked by the Word of God resides in the heart and
gives rise to a verbal confession: ‘if you confess with your lips that Jesus is
Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be
saved. For one believes with the heart and so is justified, and one confesses
with the mouth and so is saved’ (Rom 10:9-10).
12. Faith, then, is experience of God which involves
knowledge of him, since revelation gives access to the truth of God which saves
us (cf. 2Th 2:13) and makes us free (cf. Jn 8:32). Paul writes to the Galatians
that, as believers, they ‘have come to know God, or rather to be known by God’
(Gal 4:9; cf. 1Jn 4:16). Without faith, it would be impossible to gain insight
into this truth, because it is revealed by God. The truth revealed by God and
accepted in faith, moreover, is not something irrational. Rather, it gives rise
to the ‘spiritual worship logiké latreía’ that Paul says involves a renewal of
the mind (Rom 12:1-2). That God exists and is one, the creator and Lord of
history, can be known with the aid of reason from the works of creation,
according to a long tradition found in both the Old (cf. Wis 13:1-9) and New
Testaments (cf. Rom 1:18-23).20 However, that God has revealed himself through
the incarnation, life, death and resurrection of his Son for the salvation of
the world (cf. Jn 3:16), and that God in his inner life is Father, Son and Holy
Spirit, can be known only through faith.
13. ‘Faith’ is both an act of belief or trust and also that
which is believed or confessed, fides qua and fides quae, respectively. Both
aspects work together inseparably, since trust is adhesion to a message with
intelligible content, and confession cannot be reduced to mere lip service, it
must come from the heart. Faith is at the same time a reality profoundly
personal and ecclesial. In professing their faith, Christians say both ‘I
believe’ and ‘We believe’. Faith is professed within the koinonia of the Holy
Spirit (cf. 2Cor 13:13), which unites all believers with God and among
themselves (cf. 1Jn 1:1-3), and achieves its ultimate expression in the
Eucharist (cf. 1Cor 10:16-17). Professions of faith have developed within the
community of the faithful since earliest times. All Christians are called to
give personal witness to their faith, but the creeds enable the Church as such
to profess her faith. This profession corresponds to the teaching of the
apostles, the good news, in which the Church stands and through which it is
saved (cf. 1Cor 15:1-11).
14. ‘False prophets arose among the people, just as there
will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive
opinions’ (2Pet 2:1).21 The New Testament shows abundantly that, from the very
beginnings of the Church, certain people have proposed a ‘heretical’
interpretation of the faith held in common, an interpretation opposed to the
Apostolic Tradition. In the first letter of John, separation from the communion
of love is an indicator of false teaching (1Jn 2:18-19). Heresy thus not only
distorts the Gospel, it also damages ecclesial communion. ‘Heresy is the
obstinate post-baptismal denial of some truth which must be believed with divine
and catholic faith, or it is likewise an obstinate doubt concerning the same’.22
Those guilty of such obstinacy against the teaching of the Church substitute
their own judgement for obedience to the word of God (the formal motive of
faith), the fides qua. Heresy serves as a reminder that the communion of the
Church can only be secured on the basis of the Catholic faith in its integrity,
and prompts the Church to an ever-deeper search for truth in communion.
15. A criterion of Catholic theology is that it takes the
faith of the Church as its source, context and norm. Theology holds the fides
qua and the fides quae together. It expounds the teaching of the apostles, the
good news about Jesus Christ ‘in accordance with the Scriptures’ (1Cor 15: 3,
4), as the rule and stimulus of the Church’s faith.
3. Theology, the understanding of faith
16. The act of faith, in response to the Word of God, opens
the intelligence of the believer to new horizons. St Paul writes: ‘it is the God
who said, “Let light shine out of darkness”, who has shone in our hearts to give
the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ’
(2Cor 4:6). In this light, faith contemplates the whole world in a new way; it
sees it more truly because, empowered by the Holy Spirit, it shares in God’s own
perspective. That is why St Augustine invites everyone who seeks truth to
‘believe in order to understand crede ut intelligas’.23 We have received ‘the
Spirit that is from God’, St Paul says, ‘so that we may understand the gifts
bestowed on us by God’ (1Cor 2:12). Moreover, by this gift we are drawn into an
understanding even of God himself, because ‘the Spirit searches everything, even
the depths of God’. By teaching that ‘we have the mind of Christ’ (1Cor 2:16),
St Paul implies that by God’s grace we have a certain participation even in
Christ’s own knowledge of his Father, and thereby in God’s own self-knowledge.
17. Placed in possession of ‘the boundless riches of
Christ’ (Eph 3:8) by faith, believers seek to understand ever more fully that
which they believe, pondering it in their hearts (cf. Lk 2:19). Led by the
Spirit and utilising all the resources of their intelligence, they strive to
assimilate the intelligible content of the Word of God, so that it may become
light and nourishment for their faith. They ask of God that they may be ‘filled
with the knowledge of God’s will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding’ (Col
1:9). This is the way of the understanding of faith (intellectus fidei). As St
Augustine explains, it unfolds from the very dynamism of faith: ‘One who now
understands by a true reason what he previously just believed is surely to be
preferred to one who still desires to understand what he believes; but if one
does not desire and if one thinks that only those things are to be believed
which can be understood, then one ignores the very purpose of faith’.24 This
work of understanding faith contributes in turn to the nourishment of faith and
enables the latter to grow.25 Thus it is that ‘Faith and reason are like two
wings on which the human spirit rises to the contemplation of truth’.26 The way
of the intellectus fidei is the path from believing, which is its source and
permanent principle, to seeing in glory (the beatific vision; cf. 1Jn 3:2), of
which the intellectus fidei is an anticipation.
18. The intellectus fidei takes various forms in the life
of the Church and in the community of believers in accordance with the different
gifts of the faithful (lectio divina, meditation, preaching, theology as a
science, etc.). It becomes theology in the strict sense when the believer
undertakes to present the content of the Christian mystery in a rational and
scientific way. Theology is therefore scientia Dei in as much as it is a
rational participation in the knowledge that God has of himself and of all
things.
19. A criterion of Catholic theology is that, precisely as
the science of faith, ‘faith seeking understanding fides quaerens
intellectum’,27 it has a rational dimension. Theology strives to understand what
the Church believes, why it believes, and what can be known sub specie Dei. As
scientia Dei, theology aims to understand in a rational and systematic manner
the saving truth of God.
CHAPTER 2:
ABIDING IN THE COMMUNION OF THE CHURCH
20. The proper place for theology is within the Church,
which is gathered together by the Word of God. The ecclesiality of theology is a
constitutive aspect of the theological task, because theology is based on faith,
and faith itself is both personal and ecclesial. The revelation of God is
directed towards the convocation and renewal of the people of God, and it is
through the Church that theologians receive the object of their enquiry. In
Catholic theology, there has been considerable reflection on the ‘loci’ of
theology, that is, the fundamental reference points for the theological task.28
It is important to know not just the loci but also their relative weight and the
relationship between them.
1. The study of Scripture as the soul of theology
21. The ‘study of the sacred page’ should be the ‘very soul
of sacred theology’.29 This is the Second Vatican Council’s core affirmation
with regard to theology. Pope Benedict XVI reiterates: ‘where theology is not
essentially the interpretation of the Church’s Scripture, such a theology no
longer has a foundation’.30 Theology in its entirety should conform to the
Scriptures, and the Scriptures should sustain and accompany all theological
work, because theology is concerned with ‘the truth of the gospel’ (Gal 2:5),
and it can know that truth only if it investigates the normative witness to it
in the canon of sacred Scripture,31 and if, in doing so, it relates the human
words of the Bible to the living Word of God. ‘Catholic exegetes must never
forget that what they are interpreting is the word of God…. They arrive at the
true goal of their work only when they have explained the meaning of the
biblical text as God’s word for today.’32
22. Dei Verbum sees the task of exegesis as that of
ascertaining ‘what God has wished to communicate to us’.33 To understand and
explain the meaning of the biblical texts,34 it must make use of all the
appropriate philological, historical and literary methods, with the aim of
clarifying and understanding sacred Scripture in its own context and period.
Thus the historicity of revelation is methodologically taken into account. Dei
Verbum 12 makes particular reference to the need for attentiveness to literary
forms: ‘for the fact is that truth is differently presented and expressed in the
various types of historical writing, in prophetical and poetic texts, and in
other forms of literary expression’. Since the council, further methods which
can unfold new aspects of the meaning of Scripture have been developed.35 Dei
Verbum 12 indicates, however, that in order to acknowledge ‘the divine dimension
of the Bible’ and to achieve a truly ‘theological’ interpretation of Scripture,
‘three fundamental criteria’ must also be taken into account:36 the unity of
Scripture, the witness of Tradition, and the analogy of faith.37 The council
refers to the unity of Scripture because the Bible testifies to the entire truth
of salvation only in its pluriform totality.38 Exegesis has developed
methodological ways of taking account of the canon of Scripture as a whole as a
hermeneutical reference point for interpreting Scripture. The significance of
the location and content of the different books and pericopes can thereby be
determined. Overall, as the council teaches, exegesis should strive to read and
interpret the biblical texts in the broad setting of the faith and life of the
people of God, sustained through the ages by the working of the Holy Spirit. It
is in this context that exegesis searches for the literal sense and opens itself
to the spiritual or fuller sense (sensus plenior) of scripture.39 ‘Only where
both methodological levels, the historico-critical and the theological, are
respected, can one speak of a theological exegesis, an exegesis worthy of this
book.’40
23. In saying that the study of sacred Scripture is the
‘soul’ of theology, Dei Verbum has in mind all of the theological disciplines.
This foundation in the revealed Word of God, as testified by Scripture and
Tradition, is essential for theology. Its primary task is to interpret God’s
truth as saving truth. Urged on by Vatican II, Catholic theology seeks to attend
to the Word of God and thereby to the witness of Scripture in all its work.41
Thus it is that in theological expositions ‘biblical themes should have first
place’, before anything else.42 This approach corresponds anew to that of the
Fathers of the Church, who were ‘primarily and essentially “commentators on
sacred Scripture”’,43 and it opens up the possibility of ecumenical
collaboration: ‘shared listening to the Scriptures … spurs us on towards the
dialogue of charity and enables growth in the dialogue of truth’.44
24. A criterion of Catholic theology is that it should draw
constantly upon the canonical witness of Scripture and should promote the
anchoring of all of the Church’s doctrine and practice in that witness, since
‘all the preaching of the Church, as indeed the entire Christian religion,
should be nourished and ruled by sacred Scripture’.45 Theology should endeavour
to open wide the Scriptures to the Christian faithful,46 so that the faithful
may come into contact with the living Word of God (cf. Heb 4:12).
2. Fidelity to Apostolic Tradition
25. The Acts of the Apostles describes the life of the
early Christian community in a way that is fundamental for the Church of all
times: ‘They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the
breaking of bread and the prayers’ (Acts 2:42; cf. Rev 1:3). This succinct
description, at the end of the account of the feast of Pentecost, when the Holy
Spirit opened the mouths of the apostles to preach and brought many of those who
heard them to faith, highlights various essential aspects of the Spirit’s
ongoing work in the Church. There is already an anticipatory outline of the
Church’s teaching and sacramental life, of its spirituality and commitment to
charity. All of these began in the apostolic community, and the handing on of
this integral way of life in the Spirit is Apostolic Tradition. Lex orandi (the
rule of prayer), lex credendi (the rule of belief) and lex vivendi (the rule of
life) are all essential aspects of this Tradition. Paul refers to the Tradition
into which as an apostle he has been incorporated when he speaks of ‘handing on’
what he himself ‘received’ (1Cor 15:1-11, cf. also 1Cor 11:23-26).
26. Tradition is therefore something living and vital, an
ongoing process in which the unity of faith finds expression in the variety of
languages and the diversity of cultures. It ceases to be Tradition if it
fossilises. ‘The Tradition that comes from the apostles makes progress in the
Church, with the help of the Holy Spirit. There is a growth in insight into the
realities and words that are being passed on…. Thus, as the centuries go by, the
Church is always advancing towards the plenitude of divine truth, until
eventually the words of God are fulfilled in her’.47 Tradition occurs in the
power of the Holy Spirit, who, as Jesus promised his disciples, guides the
Church into all the truth (cf. Jn 16:13), by firmly establishing the memory of
Jesus himself (cf. Jn 14:26), keeping the Church faithful to her apostolic
origins, enabling the secure transmission of the Faith, and prompting the
ever-new presentation of the Gospel under the direction of pastors who are
successors of the apostles.48 Vital components of Tradition are therefore: a
constantly renewed study of sacred Scripture, liturgical worship, attention to
what the witnesses of faith have taught through the ages, catechesis fostering
growth in faith, practical love of God and neighbour, structured ecclesial
ministry and the service given by the magisterium to the Word of God. What is
handed on comprises ‘everything that serves to make the People of God live their
lives in holiness and increase their faith’. The Church ‘in her doctrine, life
and worship, perpetuates and transmits to every generation all that she herself
is, all that she believes’.49
27. ‘The sayings of the Holy Fathers are a witness to the
life-giving presence of … Tradition, showing how its riches are poured out in
the practice and life of the Church, in her belief and her prayer.’50 Because
the Fathers of the Church, both East and West, have a unique place in the
‘faithful transmission and elucidation’ of revealed truth,51 their writings are
a specific reference point (locus) for Catholic theology. The Tradition known
and lived by the Fathers was multi-faceted and pulsing with life, as can be seen
from the plurality of liturgical families and of spiritual and
exegetical-theological traditions (e.g. in the schools of Alexandria and
Antioch), a plurality firmly anchored and united in the one faith. During the
major theological controversies of the fourth and fifth centuries, the
conformity of a doctrine with the consensus of the Fathers, or lack of it, was
proof of orthodoxy or heresy.52 For Augustine, the united witness of the Fathers
was the voice of the Church.53 The councils of Chalcedon and Trent began their
solemn declarations with the formula: ‘Following the Holy Fathers…’,54 and the
council of Trent and the First Vatican Council clearly indicated that the
‘unanimous consensus’ of the Fathers was a sure guide for the interpretation of
Scripture.55
28. Many of the Fathers were bishops who gathered with
their fellow bishops in the councils, first regional and later worldwide or
‘ecumenical’, that mark the life of the Church from the earliest centuries,
after the example of the apostles (cf. Acts 15:6-21). Confronted with the
Christological and Trinitarian heresies that threatened the faith and unity of
the Church during the patristic period, bishops met in the great ecumenical
councils – Nicaea I, Constantinople I, Ephesus, Chalcedon, Constantinople II,
Constantinople III, and Nicaea II – to condemn error and proclaim the orthodox
faith in creeds and definitions of faith. These councils set forth their
teaching, in particular their solemn definitions, as normative and universally
binding; and these definitions express and belong to the Apostolic Tradition and
continue to serve the faith and unity of the Church. Subsequent councils which
have been recognised as ecumenical in the West continued this practice. The
Second Vatican Council refers to the teaching office or magisterium of the pope
and the bishops of the Church, and states that the bishops teach infallibly
when, either gathered with the bishop of Rome in an ecumenical council or in
communion with him though dispersed throughout the world, they agree that a
particular teaching concerning faith or morals ‘is to be held definitively and
absolutely’. The pope himself, head of the college of bishops, teaches
infallibly when ‘as supreme pastor and teacher of all the faithful … he
proclaims in an absolute decision a doctrine pertaining to faith or morals’.56
29. Catholic theology recognises the teaching authority of
ecumenical councils, the ordinary and universal magisterium of the bishops, and
the papal magisterium. It acknowledges the special status of dogmas, that is,
statements ‘in which the Church proposes a revealed truth definitively, and in a
way that is binding for the universal Church, so much so that denial is rejected
as heresy and falls under an anathema’.57 Dogmas belong to the living and
ongoing Apostolic Tradition. Theologians are aware of the difficulties that
attend their interpretation. For example, it is necessary to understand the
precise question under consideration in light of its historical context, and to
discern how a dogma’s meaning and content are related to its formulation.58
Nevertheless, dogmas are sure points of reference for the Church’s faith and are
used as such in theological reflection and argumentation.
30. In Catholic belief, Scripture, Tradition, and the
magisterium of the Church are inseparably linked. ‘Sacred Tradition and sacred
Scripture make up a single sacred deposit of the Word of God, which is entrusted
to the Church’, and ‘the task of giving an authentic interpretation of the Word
of God, whether in its written form or in the form of Tradition, has been
entrusted to the living teaching office of the Church alone’.59 Sacred Scripture
is not simply a text but ‘locutio Dei’60 and ‘verbum Dei’,61 testified initially
by the prophets of the Old Testament and ultimately by the apostles in the New
Testament (cf. Rom 1:1-2). Having arisen in the midst of the People of God, and
having been unified, read and interpreted by the People of God, sacred Scripture
belongs to the living Tradition of the Church as the canonical witness to the
faith for all time. Indeed, ‘Scripture is the first member in the written
tradition’.62 ‘Scripture is to be proclaimed, heard, read, received and
experienced as the word of God, in the stream of the apostolic Tradition from
which it is inseparable.’63 This process is sustained by the Holy Spirit,
‘through whom the living voice of the Gospel rings out in the Church – and
through her in the world’.64 ‘Sacred Scripture is the speech of God as it is put
down in writing under the breath of the Holy Spirit. And Tradition transmits in
its entirety the Word of God which has been entrusted to the apostles by Christ
the Lord and the Holy Spirit. It transmits it to the successors of the apostles
so that, enlightened by the Spirit of truth, they may faithfully preserve,
expound and spread it abroad by their preaching. Thus it comes about that the
Church does not draw her certainty about all revealed truths from the holy
Scriptures alone’.65 She draws it also from the Apostolic Tradition, because the
latter is the living process of the Church’s listening to the Word of God.
31. Vatican II distinguished between Tradition and those
traditions that belong to particular periods of the Church’s history, or to
particular regions and communities, such as religious orders or specific local
churches.66 Distinguishing between Tradition and traditions has been one of the
major tasks of Catholic theology since Vatican II, and of theology generally in
recent decades.67 It is a task profoundly related to the Church’s catholicity,
and with many ecumenical implications. Numerous questions arise, for instance:
‘Is it possible to determine more precisely what the content of the one
Tradition is, and by what means? Do all traditions which claim to be Christian
contain the Tradition? How can we distinguish between traditions embodying the
true Tradition and merely human traditions? Where do we find the genuine
Tradition, and where impoverished tradition or even distortion of tradition?’68
On one hand, theology must show that Apostolic Tradition is not something
abstract, but that it exists concretely in the different traditions that have
formed within the Church. On the other hand, theology has to consider why
certain traditions are characteristic not of the Church as a whole, but only of
particular religious orders, local churches or historical periods. While
criticism is not appropriate with reference to ApostolicTradition itself,
traditions must always be open to critique, so that the ‘continual reformation’
of which the Church has need69 can take place, and so that the Church can renew
herself permanently on her one foundation, namely Jesus Christ. Such a critique
seeks to verify whether a specific tradition does indeed express the faith of
the Church in a particular place and time, and it seeks correspondingly to
strengthen or correct it through contact with the living faith of all places and
all times.
32. Fidelity to the Apostolic Tradition is a criterion of
Catholic theology. This fidelity requires an active and discerning reception of
the various witnesses and expressions of the ongoing Apostolic Tradition. It
implies study of sacred Scripture, the liturgy, and the writings of the Fathers
and Doctors of the Church, and attention to the teaching of the magisterium.
3. Attention to the sensus fidelium
33. In his first letter to the Thessalonians, St Paul
writes: ‘We constantly give thanks to God for this, that when you received the
word of God that you heard from us, you accepted it not as a human word but as
what it really is, God’s word, which is also at work in you believers’ (1Thess
2:13). These words illustrate what Vatican II referred to as ‘the supernatural
appreciation of the faith sensusfidei of the whole people’,70 and ‘the intimate
sense of spiritual realities’71 that the faithful have, that is, the sensus
fidelium. The subject of faith is the people of God as a whole, which in the
power of the Spirit affirms the Word of God. That is why the council declares
that the entire people of God participates in the prophetic ministry of Jesus,72
and that, anointed by the Holy Spirit (cf. 1Jn 2:20, 27), it ‘cannot err in
matters of belief’.73 The pastors who guide the people of God, serving its
faith, are themselves first of all members of the communion of believers.
Therefore Lumen Gentium speaks first about the people of God and the sensusfidei
that they have,74 and then of the bishops75 who, through their apostolic
succession in the episcopate and the reception of their own specific charisma
veritatis certum (sure charism of truth),76 constitute, as a college in
hierarchical communion with their head, the bishop of Rome and successor of St
Peter in the apostolic see,77 the Church’s magisterium. Likewise, Dei Verbum
teaches that the Word of God has been ‘entrusted to the Church’, and refers to
the ‘entire holy people’ adhering to it, before then specifying that the pope
and the bishops have the task of authentically interpreting the Word of God.78
This ordering is fundamental for Catholic theology. As St Augustine said: ‘Vobis
sum episcopus, vobiscum sum christianus’.79
34. The nature and location of the sensusfidei or
sensusfidelium must be properly understood. The sensus fidelium does not simply
mean the majority opinion in a given time or culture, nor is it only a secondary
affirmation of what is first taught by the magisterium. The sensusfideliumis the
sensus fidei of the people of God as a whole who are obedient to the Word of God
and are led in the ways of faith by their pastors. So the sensusfideliumis the
sense of the faith that is deeply rooted in the people of God who receive,
understand and live the Word of God in the Church.
35. For theologians, the sensus fidelium is of great
importance. It is not only an object of attention and respect, it is also a base
and a locus for their work. On the one hand, theologians depend on the
sensusfidelium, because the faith that they explore and explain lives in the
people of God. It is clear, therefore, that theologians themselves must
participate in the life of the Church to be truly aware of it. On the other
hand, part of the particular service of theologians within the body of Christ is
precisely to explicate the Church’s faith as it is found in the Scriptures, the
liturgy, creeds, dogmas, catechisms, and in the sensus fidelium itself.
Theologians help to clarify and articulate the content of the sensus fidelium,
recognising and demonstrating that issues relating to the truth of faith can be
complex, and that investigation of them must be precise.80 It falls to them also
on occasion critically to examine expressions of popular piety, new currents of
thought and movements within the Church, in the name of fidelity to the
Apostolic Tradition. Theologians’ critical assessments must always be
constructive; they must be given with humility, respect and charity: ‘Knowledge
(gnosis) puffs up, but love (agape) builds up’ (1Cor 8:1).
36. Attention to the sensus fidelium is a criterion for
Catholic theology. Theology should strive to discover and articulate accurately
what the Catholic faithful actually believe. It must speak the truth in love, so
that the faithful may mature in faith, and not be ‘tossed to and fro and blown
about by every wind of doctrine’ (Eph 4:14-15).
4. Responsible adherence to the ecclesiastical magisterium
37. In Catholic theology, the magisterium is an integral
factor in the theological enterprise itself, since theology receives its object
from God through the Church whose faith is authentically interpreted by ‘the
living teaching office of the Church alone’,81 that is, by the magisterium of
the pope and the bishops. Fidelity to the magisterium is necessary for theology
to be the knowledge of faith (scientia fidei) and an ecclesial task. A correct
theological methodology therefore requires a proper understanding of the nature
and authority of the magisterium at its various levels, and of the relations
that properly exist between the ecclesiastical magisterium and theology.82
Bishops and theologians have distinct callings, and must respect one another’s
particular competence, lest the magisterium reduce theology to a mere repetitive
science or theologians presume to substitute the teaching office of the Church’s
pastors.
38. An understanding of the Church as communion is a good
framework within which to consider how the relationship between theologians and
bishops, between theology and the magisterium, can be one of fruitful
collaboration. The first thing to acknowledge is that theologians in their work
and bishops in their magisterium both stand under the primacy of the Word of
God, and never above it.83 Between bishops and theologians there should be a
mutually respectful collaboration; in their obedient listening to this Word and
faithful proclamation of it; in their attention to the sensus fidelium and
service of the growth and maturing of faith; in their concern to transmit the
Word to future generations, with respect for new questions and challenges; and
in their hope-filled witness to the gifts already received; in all of this
bishops and theologians have their respective roles in one common mission,84
from which the magisterium and theology each derive their own legitimacy and
purpose.85 Theology investigates and articulates the faith of the Church, and
the ecclesiastical magisterium proclaims that faith and authentically interprets
it.86
39. On the one hand, the magisterium needs theology in
order to demonstrate in its interventions not only doctrinal authority, but also
theological competence and a capacity for critical evaluation, so theologians
should be called upon to assist with the preparation and formulation of
magisterial pronouncements. On the other hand, the magisterium is an
indispensable help to theology by its authentic transmission of the deposit of
faith (depositum fidei), particularly at decisive times of discernment.
Theologians should acknowledge the contribution of magisterial statements to
theological progress and should assist with the reception of those statements.
Magisterial interventions themselves can stimulate theological reflection, and
theologians should show how their own contributions conform with and carry
forward previous doctrinal statements of the magisterium. There is indeed in the
Church a certain ‘magisterium’ of theologians,87 but there is no place for
parallel, opposing or alternative magisteria,88 or for views that would separate
theology from the Church’s magisterium.
40. When it comes to the ‘authentic’ interpretation of the
faith, the magisterium plays a role that theology simply cannot take to itself.
Theology cannot substitute a judgement coming from the scientific theological
community for that of the bishops. Acceptance of this function of the
magisterium in relation to the authenticity of faith requires recognition of the
different levels of magisterial affirmations.89 These different levels give rise
to a correspondingly differentiated response on the part of the faithful and of
theologians. Not all magisterial teaching has the same weight. This itself is
relevant to the work of theology, and indeed the different levels are described
by what are called ‘theological qualifications or notes’.90
41. Precisely because of this gradation, the obedience that
theologians as members of the people of God owe to the magisterium always
involves constructively critical evaluation and comment.91 While ‘dissent’
towards the magisterium has no place in Catholic theology, investigation and
questioning is justified and even necessary if theology is to fulfil its task.92
Whatever the situation, a mere formal and exterior obedience or adherence on the
part of theologians is not sufficient. Theologians should strive to deepen their
reflection on the truth proclaimed by the Church’s magisterium, and should seek
its implications for the Christian life and for the service of the truth. In
this way, theologians fulfil their proper task and the teaching of the
magisterium is not reduced to mere decorative citations in theological
discourse.
42. The relationship between bishops and theologians is
often good and trusting on both sides, with due respect for one another’s
callings and responsibilities. For example, bishops attend and participate in
national and regional gatherings of theological associations, call on
theological experts as they formulate their own teaching and policies, and visit
and support theological faculties and schools in their dioceses. Inevitably,
there will be tensions at times in the relationship between theologians and
bishops. In his profound analysis of the dynamic interaction, within the living
organism of the Church, of the three offices of Christ as prophet, priest and
king, Blessed John Henry Newman acknowledged the possibility of such ‘chronic
collisions or contrasts’, and it is well to remember that he saw them as ‘lying
in the nature of the case’.93 ‘Theology is the fundamental and regulating
principle of the whole Church system’, he wrote, and yet ‘theology cannot always
have its own way’.94 With regard to tensions between theologians and the
magisterium, the International Theological Commission said in 1975: ‘wherever
there is genuine life, tension always exists’. ‘Such tension need not be
interpreted as hostility or real opposition, but can be seen as a vital force
and an incentive to a common carrying out of their respective tasks by way of
dialogue.’95
43. The freedom of theology and of theologians is a theme
of special interest.96 This freedom ‘derives from the true scientific
responsibility of theologians’.97 The idea of adherence to the magisterium
sometimes prompts a critical contrast between a so-called ‘scientific’ theology
(without presuppositions of faith or ecclesial allegiance) and a so-called
‘confessional’ theology (elaborated within a religious confession), but such a
contrast is inadequate.98 Other debates arise from consideration of the
believer’s freedom of conscience, or of the importance of scientific progress in
theological investigation, and the magisterium is sometimes cast as a repressive
force or a brake on progress. Investigating such issues is itself part of the
theological task, so as properly to integrate the scientific and confessional
aspects of theology, and to see the freedom of theology within the horizon of
the design and will of God.
44. Giving responsible adherence to the magisterium in its
various gradations is a criterion of Catholic theology. Catholic theologians
should recognise the competence of bishops, and especially of the college of
bishops headed by the pope, to give an authentic interpretation of the Word of
God handed on in Scripture and Tradition.99
5. In the company of theologians
45. As is the case with all Christian vocations, the
ministry of theologians, as well as being personal, is also both communal and
collegial; that is, it is exercised in and for the Church as a whole, and it is
lived out in solidarity with those who have the same calling. Theologians are
rightly conscious and proud of the profound links of solidarity that unite them
with one another in service to the body of Christ and to the world. In very many
ways, as colleagues in theological faculties and schools, as fellow members of
theological societies and associations, as collaborators in research, and as
writers and teachers, they support, encourage and inspire one another, and also
serve as mentors and role models for those, especially graduate students, who
are aspiring to be theologians. Moreover, links of solidarity rightly extend in
space and time, uniting theologians across the world in different countries and
cultures, and through time in different eras and contexts. This solidarity is
truly beneficial when it promotes awareness and observance of the criteria of
Catholic theology as identified in this report. No-one is better placed to
assist Catholic theologians in striving to give the best possible service, in
accordance with the true characteristics of their discipline, than other
Catholic theologians.
46. Nowadays, collaboration in research and publication
projects, both within and across various theological fields, is increasingly
common. Opportunities for presentations, seminars and conferences that will
strengthen the mutual awareness and appreciation of colleagues in theological
institutions and faculties should be cultivated. Moreover, occasions for
inter-disciplinary encounter and exchange between theologians and philosophers,
natural and social scientists, historians, and so on, should also be fostered,
since, as is indicated in this report, theology is a science that thrives in
interaction with other sciences, as they do also in fruitful exchange with
theology.
47. In the nature of their task, theologians often work at
the frontiers of the Church’s experience and reflection. Especially with the
expanded number nowadays of lay theologians who have experience of particular
areas of interaction between the Church and the world, between the Gospel and
life, with which ordained theologians and theologians in religious life may not
be so familiar, it is increasingly the case that theologians give an initial
articulation of ‘faith seeking understanding’ in new circumstances or in the
face of new issues. Theologians need and deserve the prayerful support of the
ecclesial community as a whole, and particularly of one another, in their
sincere endeavours on behalf of the Church, but careful adherence to the
fundamental criteria of Catholic theology is especially important in such
circumstances. Theologians should always recognise the intrinsic provisionality
of their endeavours, and offer their work to the Church as a whole for scrutiny
and evaluation.100
48. One of the most valuable services that theologians
render to one another is that of mutual questioning and correction, e.g. by the
medieval practice of the disputatio and today’s practice of reviewing one
another’s writings, so that ideas and methods can be progressively refined and
perfected, and this process generally and healthily occurs within the
theological community itself.101 Of its nature, however, it can be a slow and
private process, and, especially in these days of instant communication and
dissemination of ideas far beyond the strictly theological community, it would
be unreasonable to imagine that this self-correcting mechanism suffices in all
cases. The bishops who watch over the faithful, teaching and caring for them,
certainly have the right and the duty to speak, to intervene and if necessary to
censure theological work that they deem to be erroneous or harmful.102
49. Ecumenical dialogue and research provides a uniquely
privileged and potentially productive field for collaboration between Catholic
theologians and those of other Christian traditions. In such work, issues of
faith, meaning and language are deeply pondered. As they work to promote mutual
understanding on issues that have been contentious between their traditions,
perhaps for many centuries, theologians act as ambassadors for their communities
in the holy task of seeking the reconciliation and unity of Christians, so that
the world may believe (cf. Jn 17:21). That ambassadorial task requires
particular adherence to the criteria outlined here on the part of Catholic
participants, so that the manifold gifts that the Catholic tradition contains
can truly be offered in the ‘exchange of gifts’ that ecumenical dialogue and
collaboration more widely always in some sense is.103
50. A criterion of Catholic theology is that it should be
practised in professional, prayerful and charitable collaboration with the whole
company of Catholic theologians in the communion of the Church, in a spirit of
mutual appreciation and support, attentive both to the needs and comments of the
faithful and to the guidance of the Church’s pastors.
6. In dialogue with the world
51. ‘The people of God believes that it is led by the
Spirit of the Lord who fills the whole world’.104 The Second Vatican Council
said that the Church should therefore be ready to discern in ‘the events, the
needs and the longings’ of today’s world what may truly be signs of the Spirit’s
activity.105 ‘At all times the Church carries the responsibility of reading the
signs of the times signa temporum perscrutandi and of interpreting them in the
light of the Gospel, if it is to carry out its task. In language intelligible to
every generation, she should be able to answer the ever recurring questions
which people ask about the meaning of this present life and of the life to come,
and how one is related to the other. We must be aware of and understand the
aspirations, the yearnings, and the often dramatic features of the world in
which we live’.106
52. As they live their daily lives in the world with faith,
all Christians face the challenge of interpreting the events and crises that
arise in human affairs, and all engage in conversation and debate in which,
inevitably, faith is questioned and a response is needed. The whole Church
lives, as it were, at the interface between the Gospel and everyday life, which
is also the boundary between the past and the future, as history moves forward.
The Church is always in dialogue and in movement, and within the communion of
the baptised who are all dynamically engaged in this way bishops and theologians
have particular responsibilities, as the council made clear. ‘With the help of
the Holy Spirit, it is the task of the whole people of God, particularly of its
pastors and theologians, to listen to and distinguish the many voices of our
times and to interpret them in the light of the divine Word, in order that the
revealed truth may be more deeply penetrated, better understood, and more
suitably presented’.107
53. Theology has a particular competence and responsibility
in this regard. Through its constant dialogue with the social, religious and
cultural currents of the time, and through its openness to other sciences which,
with their own methods examine those developments, theology can help the
faithful and the magisterium to see the importance of developments, events and
trends in human history, and to discern and interpret ways in which through them
the Spirit may be speaking to the Church and to the world.
54. The ‘signs of the times’ may be described as those
events or phenomena in human history which, in a sense, because of their impact
or extent, define the face of a period, and bring to expression particular needs
and aspirations of humanity at that time. The Council’s use of the expression,
‘signs of the times’, shows that it fully recognised the historicity not only of
the world, but also of the Church, which is in the world (cf. Jn 17:11, 15, 18)
though not of the world (cf. Jn 17:14, 16). What is happening in the world at
large, good or bad, can never be a matter of indifference to the Church. The
world is the place in which the Church, following in the footsteps of Christ,
announces the Gospel, bears witness to the justice and mercy of God, and
participates in the drama of human life.
55. Recent centuries have seen major social and cultural
developments. One might think, for instance, of the discovery of historicity,
and of movements such as the Enlightenment and the French revolution (with its
ideals of freedom, equality and fraternity), movements for emancipation and for
the promotion of women’s rights, movements for peace and justice, liberation and
democratisation, and the ecological movement. The ambivalence of human history
has led the Church at times in the past to be overly cautious about such
movements, to see only the threats they may contain to Christian doctrine and
faith, and to neglect their significance. However, such attitudes have gradually
changed thanks to the sensus fidei of the People of God, the clear sight of
prophetic individual believers, and the patient dialogue of theologians with
their surrounding cultures. A better discernment in the light of the Gospel has
been made, with a greater readiness to see how the Spirit of God may be speaking
through such events. In all cases, discernment must carefully distinguish
between elements compatible with the Gospel and those contrary to it, between
positive contributions and ideological aspects, but the more acute understanding
of the world that results cannot fail to prompt a more penetrating appreciation
of Christ the Lord and of the Gospel108 since Christ is the Saviour of the
world.
56. While the world of human culture profits from the
activity of the Church, the Church also profits from ‘the history and
development of mankind’. ‘It profits from the experience of past ages, from the
progress of the sciences, and from the riches hidden in various cultures,
through which greater light is thrown on the mystery of man and new avenues to
truth are opened up’.109The painstaking work to establish profitable links with
other disciplines, sciences and cultures so as to enhance that light and broaden
those avenues is the particular task of theologians, and the discernment of the
signs of the times presents great opportunities for theological endeavour,
notwithstanding the complex hermeneutical issues that arise. Thanks to the work
of many theologians, Vatican II was able to acknowledge various signs of the
times in connection with its own teaching.110
57. Heeding God’s final Word in Jesus Christ, Christians
are open to hear echoes of his voice in other persons, places, and cultures (cf.
Acts 14:15-17; 17:24-28; Rom 1:19-20). The council urged that the faithful
‘should be familiar with their national and religious traditions and uncover
with gladness and respect those seeds of the Word which lie hidden among
them’.111 It specifically taught that the Catholic Church rejects nothing of
what is ‘true and holy’ in non-Christian religions, whose precepts and doctrines
‘often reflect a ray of that truth which enlightens’ all people.112 Again, the
uncovering of such seeds and discernment of such rays is especially the task of
theologians, who have an important contribution to make to inter-religious
dialogue.
58. A criterion of Catholic theology is that it should be
in constant dialogue with the world. It should help the Church to read the signs
of the times illuminated by the light that comes from divine revelation, and to
profit from doing so in its life and mission.
CHAPTER 3:
GIVING AN ACCOUNT OF THE TRUTH OF GOD
59. The Word of God, accepted in faith, gives light to the
believer’s intelligence and understanding. Revelation is not received purely
passively by the human mind. On the contrary, the believing intelligence
actively embraces revealed truth.113 Prompted by love, it strives to assimilate
it because this Word responds to its own deepest questions. Without ever
claiming to exhaust the riches of revelation, it strives to appreciate and
explore the intelligibility of the Word of God – fides quaerens intellectum –
and to offer a reasoned account of the truth of God. In other words, it seeks to
express God’s truth in the rational and scientific mode that is proper to human
understanding.
60. In a threefold investigation, addressing a number of
current issues, the present chapter considers essential aspects of theology as a
rational, human endeavour, which has its own authentic and irreplaceable
position in the midst of all intellectual enquiry. First, theology is a work of
reason illuminated by faith (ratio fide illustrata), which seeks to translate
into scientific discourse the Word of God expressed in revelation. Second, the
variety of rational methods it deploys and the plurality of specialised
theological disciplines that result remain compatible with the fundamental unity
of theology as discourse about God in the light of revelation. Third, theology
is closely bound to spiritual experience, which it enlightens and by which in
turn it is nourished, and of its nature it opens into an authentic wisdom with a
lively sense of the transcendence of the God of Jesus Christ.
1. The truth of God and the rationality of theology
61. This section considers some aspects of the history of
theology from the challenges of early times to those of today, in relation to
the scientific nature of theology. We are to know God, to know the truth of God.
‘This is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus
Christ whom you have sent’ (Jn 17:3). Jesus came to bear witness to the truth
(cf. Jn 18:37) and presented himself as ‘the way, and the truth, and the life’
(Jn 14:6). This truth is a gift which comes down from ‘the Father of lights’
(James 1:17). God the Father initiated this enlightenment (cf. Gal 4:4-7), and
he himself will consummate it (cf. Rev 21:5-7). The Holy Spirit is both the
Paraclete, consoling the faithful, and the ‘Spirit of truth’ (Jn 14:16-17), who
inspires and illuminates the truth and guides the faithful ‘into all the truth’
(Jn 16:13). The final revelation of the plenitude of God’s truth will be the
ultimate fulfilment of humanity and of creation (cf. 1Cor 15:28).
Correspondingly, the mystery of the Trinity must be at the centre of theological
contemplation.
62. The truth of God, accepted in faith, encounters human
reason. Created in the image and likeness of God (Gen 1:26-27), the human person
is capable, by the light of reason, of penetrating beyond appearances to the
deep-down truth of things, and opens up thereby to universal reality. The common
reference to truth, which is objective and universal, makes authentic dialogue
possible between human persons. The human spirit is both intuitive and rational.
It is intuitive in that it spontaneously grasps the first principles of reality
and of thought. It is rational in that, beginning from those first principles,
it progressively discovers truths previously unknown using rigorous procedures
of analysis and investigation, and it organises them in a coherent fashion.
‘Science’ is the highest form that rational consciousness takes. It designates a
form of knowledge capable of explaining how and why things are as they are.
Human reason, itself part of created reality, does not simply project on to
reality in its richness and complexity a framework of intelligibility; it adapts
itself to the intrinsic intelligibility of reality. In accordance with its
object, that is with the particular aspect of reality that it is studying,
reason applies different methods adapted to the object itself. Rationality,
therefore, is one but takes a plurality of forms, all of which are rigorous
means of grasping the intelligibility of reality. Science likewise is pluriform,
each science having its own specific object and method. There is a modern
tendency to reserve the term ‘science’ to ‘hard’ sciences (mathematics,
experimental sciences, etc.) and to dismiss as irrational and mere opinion
knowledge which does not correspond to the criteria of those sciences. This
univocal view of science and of rationality is reductive and inadequate.
63. So, the revealed truth of God both requires and
stimulates the believer’s reason. On the one hand, the truth of the Word of God
must be considered and probed by the believer – thus begins the intellectus
fidei, the form taken here below by the believer’s desire to see God.114 Its aim
is not at all to replace faith,115 rather it unfolds naturally from the
believer’s act of faith, and it can indeed assist those whose faith may be
wavering in the face of hostility.116 The fruit of the believer’s rational
reflection is an understanding of the truths of faith. By the use of reason, the
believer grasps the profound connections between the different stages in the
history of salvation and also between the various mysteries of faith which
illuminate one another. On the other hand, faith stimulates reason itself and
stretches its limits. Reason is stirred to explore paths which of itself it
would not even have suspected it could take. This encounter with the Word of God
leaves reason enriched, because it discovers new and unsuspected horizons.117
64. The dialogue between faith and reason, between theology
and philosophy, is therefore required not only by faith but also by reason, as
Pope John Paul explains in Fides et Ratio.118 It is necessary because a faith
which rejects or is contemptuous of reason risks falling into superstition or
fanaticism, while reason which deliberately closes itself to faith, though it
may make great strides, fails to rise to the full heights of what can be known.
This dialogue is possible because of the unity of truth in the variety of its
aspects. The truths embraced in faith and the truths discovered by reason not
only cannot ultimately contradict one another, since they proceed from the same
source, the very truth of God, the creator of reason and the giver of faith,119
but in fact they support and enlighten one another: ‘right reason demonstrates
the grounds of faith, and, illumined by the latter’s light, pursues the
understanding of divine things, while faith frees and protects reason from
errors and provides it with manifold insights’.120
65. This is the profound reason why, even though religion
and philosophy were often opposed in ancient thought, from the start Christian
faith reconciled them in a broader vision. In fact, while taking the form of a
religion, early Christianity frequently thought of itself not as a new religion
but rather as the true philosophy,121 now able to attain the ultimate truth.
Christianity claimed to teach the truth both about God and about human
existence. Therefore, in their commitment to the truth, the Church Fathers
deliberately distanced their theology from ‘mythical’ and ‘political’ theology,
as the latter were understood at that time. Mythical theology told stories of
the gods in a way that did not respect the transcendence of the divine;
political theology was a purely sociological and utilitarian approach to
religion which did not care about truth. The Fathers of the Church located
Christianity alongside ‘natural theology’, which claimed to offer rational
enlightenment about the ‘nature’ of the gods.122 However, by teaching that the
Logos, the principle of all things, was a personal being with a face and a name,
and that he was seeking friendship with humanity, Christianity purified and
transformed the philosophical idea of God, and introduced into it the dynamism
of love (agape).
66. Great Eastern theologians used the encounter between
Christianity and Greek philosophy as a providential opportunity to reflect on
the truth of revelation, i.e. the truth of the logos. In order to defend and
illumine the mysteries of faith (the consubstantiality of the persons of the
Trinity, the hypostatic union, etc.), they readily but critically adopted
philosophical notions and put them in service to an understanding of faith.
However, they also strongly insisted on the apophatic dimension of theology:
theology must never reduce the Mystery.123 In the West, at the end of the
patristic period, Boethius inaugurated a way of doing theology that accentuated
the scientific nature of the intellectus fidei. In his opuscula sacra, he
marshalled all the resources of philosophy in the service of clarifying
Christian doctrine and offered a systematic and axiomatic exposition of the
faith.124 This new theological method, using refined philosophical tools and
aiming at a certain systematisation, was also developed to some extent in the
East, for example by St John of Damascus.
67. Throughout the medieval period, especially with the
eventual founding of universities and the development of scholastic methodology,
theology steadily became differentiated, though not necessarily separated, from
other forms of the intellectus fidei (e.g. lectio divina, preaching). It
constituted itself truly as a science, in accordance with Aristotle’s criteria
of a science set forth especially in his Posteriora analyticorum: that is, by
reasoning it could be shown why something was so and not otherwise, and by
reasoning conclusions could be reached from principles. Scholastic theologians
sought to present the intelligible content of the Christian faith in the form of
a rational and scientific synthesis. In order to do this, they considered the
articles of faith as principles in the science of theology. Then, theologians
made use of reason to establish revealed truth with precision and to defend it
by showing that it was not contrary to reason, or by showing its internal
intelligibility. In the latter case, they formulated a hierarchy (ordo) of
truths, seeking which were the most fundamental and therefore the most
illuminating of others.125 They articulated the intelligible connections between
the mysteries (nexus mysteriorum), and the syntheses they achieved expounded the
intelligible content of the word of God in a scientific way, in accordance with
the demands and capacities of human reason. This scientific ideal, however,
never took the form of a rationalistic hypothetical-deductive system. Rather, it
was always modelled on the reality being contemplated, which far exceeds the
capacities of human reason. Moreover, even though they undertook various
exercises and used literary genres distinct from scriptural commentary, the
Bible was the living source of inspiration for scholastic theologians – theology
precisely aimed at a better understanding of the Word, and St Bonaventure and St
Thomas Aquinas thought of themselves primarily as magistri in sacra pagina. The
role played by the ‘argument from fittingness’ was crucial. The theologian does
not reason a priori, but listens to revelation and searches the wise ways God
has freely chosen in his plan of love. Firmly based on faith, therefore,
theology understood itself as a human participation in God’s knowledge of
himself and of all things, ‘quaedam impressio divinae scientiae quae est una et
simplex omnium’.126 That was the primary source of its unity.
68. Towards the end of the middle ages, the unified
structure of Christian wisdom, of which theology was the keystone, began to
break up. Philosophy and other secular disciplines increasingly separated
themselves from theology, and theology itself fragmented into specialisations
which sometimes lost sight of their deep connection. There was a tendency of
theology to distance itself from the Word of God, so that on occasion it became
a purely philosophical reflection applied to religious questions. At the same
time, perhaps because of this neglect of Scripture, its theo-logical dimension
and spiritual finality slipped from view, and the spiritual life began to
develop aside from a rationalising university theology, and even in opposition
to the latter.127 Theology, thus fragmented, became more and more cut off from
the actual life of the Christian people and ill equipped to face the challenges
of modernity.
69. Scholastic theology was criticised during the
Reformation for placing too much value on the rationality of faith and too
little on the damage sin does to reason. Catholic theology responded by
maintaining in high esteem the anthropology of the image of God (imago Dei) and
the capacity and responsibility of reason, wounded but not destroyed by sin, and
by emphasising the Church as the place where God could truly be known and the
science of faith truly be developed. The Catholic Church thus kept open the
possibility of dialogue with philosophy, philology and the historical and
natural sciences.
70. The critique of faith and theology made during the
Enlightenment, however, was more radical. In some ways, the Enlightenment had a
religious stimulus. However, by aligning themselves with deism, Enlightenment
thinkers now saw an irreconcilable difference between the factual contingencies
of history and the genuine needs of reason. Truth, for them, was not to be found
in history, and revelation, as an historical event, could not serve any longer
as a reliable source of knowledge for human beings. In many cases, Catholic
theology reacted defensively against the challenge of Enlightenment thinking. It
gave priority to apologetics rather than to the sapiential dimension of faith,
it separated too much the natural order of reason and the supernatural order of
faith, and it gave great importance to ‘natural theology’ and too little to the
intellectus fidei as an understanding of the mysteries of the faith. Catholic
theology was thus left damaged in various respects by its own strategy in this
encounter. At its best, however, Catholic theology also sought a constructive
dialogue with the Enlightenment and with its philosophical criticism. With
reference to Scripture and Church teaching, the merely ‘instructional’ idea of
revelation was criticised theologically, and the idea of revelation was reshaped
in terms of the self-revelation of God in Jesus Christ, such that history could
still be understood as the place of God’s saving acts.
71. Today there is a new challenge, and Catholic theology
has to deal with a post-modern crisis of classical reason itself that has
serious implications for the intellectus fidei. The idea of ‘truth’ seems very
problematic. Is there such a thing as ‘truth’? Is there only one ‘truth’? Does
such an idea lead to intolerance and violence? Catholic theology traditionally
operates with a strong sense of the capacity of reason to go beyond appearances
and attain the reality and the truth of things, but today reason is often viewed
weakly, as unable in principle to attain ‘reality’. There is therefore a problem
in that the metaphysical orientation of philosophy, which was important for the
former models of Catholic theology, remains in deep crisis. Theology can help to
overcome this crisis and to revitalise an authentic metaphysics. Catholic
theology is interested, nonetheless, in dialogue about the question of God and
truth with all contemporary philosophies.
72. In Fides et Ratio, Pope John Paul II rejected both
philosophical scepticism and fideism and called for a renewal of the
relationship between theology and philosophy. He recognised philosophy as an
autonomous science and as a crucial interlocutor for theology. He insisted that
theology must necessarily have recourse to philosophy: without philosophy,
theology cannot adequately critique the validity of its assertions nor clarify
its ideas nor properly understand different schools of thought.128 Theology’s
‘source and starting-point’ is the word of God revealed in history, and theology
seeks to understand that word. However, God’s word is Truth (cf. Jn 17:17), and
it follows that philosophy, ‘the human search for truth’, can help in the
understanding of God’s word.129
73. A criterion of Catholic theology is that it should
strive to give a scientifically and rationally argued presentation of the truths
of the Christian faith. For this, it needs to make use of reason and it must
acknowledge the strong relationship between faith and reason, first of all
philosophical reason, so as to overcome both fideism and rationalism.130
2. The unity of theology in a plurality of methods and
disciplines
74. This section considers the relationship between
theology and theologies, and the relationship also between theology and other
sciences. Catholic theology, fundamentally understood with St Augustine as
‘reasoning or discourse about God’,131 is one in its essence and has its own
unique characteristics as a science: its proper subject is the one and only God,
and it studies its subject in its own proper manner, namely by the use of reason
enlightened by revelation. At the very start of the Summa theologiae, St Thomas
explains that everything in theology is understood with regard to God, sub
ratione Dei.132 The great diversity of matters that the theologian is led to
consider finds its unity in this ultimate reference to God. All the ‘mysteries’
contained in diverse theological treatises refer to what is the single absolute
Mystery in the strictest sense, namely, the Mystery of God. Reference to this
Mystery unites theology, in the vast range of the latter’s subject matter and
contexts, and the idea of reductio in Mysterium can be valuable as an expression
of the dynamism that deeply unites theological propositions. Since the Mystery
of God is revealed in Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit, Vatican II
directed that all theological treatises ‘should be renewed through a more vivid
contact with the Mystery of Christ and the history of salvation’.133
75. The Church Fathers knew the word ‘theology’ only in the
singular. For them, ‘theology’ was not ‘myth’ but the Logosof God himself. In so
far as the human spirit is impressed by the Spirit of God through the revelation
of the Logos and led to contemplate the infinite mystery of his nature and
action, human beings also are enabled to do theology. In scholastic theology,
the diversity of questions studied by the theologian might justify the use of
various methods but it never placed in doubt the fundamental unity of theology.
Towards the end of the middle ages, however, there was a tendency to distinguish
and even to separate scholastic and mystical theology, speculative and positive
theology, and so on. In modern times, there has been an increasing tendency to
use the word ‘theology’ in the plural. There is talk of the ‘theologies’ of
different authors, periods or cultures. In mind are the characteristic concepts,
significant themes and specific perspectives of those ‘theologies’.
76. Various factors have contributed to this modern
plurality of ‘theologies’.
- There is within theology more and more internal
specialisation into different disciplines: e.g. biblical studies, liturgy,
patristics, Church history, fundamental theology, systematic theology, moral
theology, pastoral theology, spirituality, catechetics, and canon law. This
development is inevitable and understandable because of the scientific nature of
theology and the demands of research.
- There is a diversification of theological styles because
of the external influence of other sciences: e.g. philosophy, philology,
history, and the social, natural and life sciences. As a result, in central
fields of Catholic theology today very different forms of thinking co-exist:
e.g. transcendental theology and salvation historical theology, analytic
theology, renewed scholastic and metaphysical theology, political and liberation
theology.
- There is with regard to the practice of theology an
ever-increasing multiplicity of subjects, places, institutions, intentions,
contexts and interests, and a new appreciation of the plurality and variety of
cultures.134
77. The plurality of theologies is undoubtedly necessary
and justified.135 It results primarily from the abundance of divine truth
itself, which human beings can only ever grasp under its specific aspects and
never as a whole, and moreover never definitively, but always, as it were, with
new eyes. Then also, because of the diversity of the objects it considers and
interprets (e.g. God, human beings, historical events, texts), and the sheer
diversity of human questioning, theology must inevitably have recourse to a
plurality of disciplines and methods,136 according to the nature of the object
being studied. The plurality of theologies reflects, in fact, the catholicity of
the Church, which strives to proclaim the one Gospel to people everywhere, in
all kinds of circumstances.
78. Plurality, of course, has limits. There is a
fundamental difference between the legitimate pluralism of theology, on the one
hand, and relativism, heterodoxy or heresy, on the other. Pluralism itself is
problematic, however, if there is no communication between different theological
disciplines or if there are no agreed criteria by which various forms of
theology are understandable – both to themselves and to others – as Catholic
theology. Essential to the avoidance or overcoming of such problems is a
fundamental common recognition of theology as a rational enterprise, scientia
fidei and scientia Dei, such that each theology can be evaluated in relation to
a common universal truth.
79. The search for unity among the plurality of theologies
today takes a number of forms: insisting on reference to a common ecclesial
tradition of theology, practising dialogue and interdisciplinarity, and being
attentive to preventing the other disciplines with which theology deals from
imposing their own ‘magisterium’ on theology. The existence of a common
theological tradition in the Church (which must be distinguished from Tradition
itself, but not separated from Tradition137) is an important factor in the unity
of theology. There is a common memory in theology, such that certain historical
achievements (e.g. the writings of the Fathers of the Church, both East and
West, and the synthesis of St Thomas, Doctor communis138), remain as reference
points for theology today. It is true that certain aspects of prior theological
tradition can and must sometimes be abandoned, but the work of the theologian
can never dispense with a critical reference to the tradition that went before.
80. The various forms of theology that can basically be
distinguished today (e.g., biblical, historical, fundamental, systematic,
practical, moral), characterised by their various sources, methods and tasks,
are all fundamentally united by a striving for true knowledge of God and of
God’s saving plan. There should therefore be intensive communication and
cooperation between them. Dialogue and interdisciplinary collaboration are
indispensable means of ensuring and expressing the unity of theology. The
singular, ‘theology’, by no means indicates a uniformity of styles or concepts;
rather, it serves to indicate a common search for truth, common service of the
body of Christ and common devotion to the one God.
81. Since ancient times, theology has worked in partnership
with philosophy. While this partnership remains fundamental, in modern times
further partners for theology have been found. Biblical studies and Church
history have been helped by the development of new methods to analyse and
interpret texts, and by new techniques to prove the historical validity of
sources and to describe social and cultural developments.139 Systematic,
fundamental and moral theology have all benefited from an engagement with
natural, economic and medical sciences. Practical theology has profited from the
encounter with sociology, psychology and pedagogy. In all of these engagements,
Catholic theology should respect the proper coherence of the methods and
sciences utilised, but it should also use them in a critical fashion, in light
of the faith that is part of the theologian’s own identity and motivation.140
Partial results, obtained by a method borrowed from another discipline, cannot
be determinative for the theologian’s work, and must be critically integrated
with theology’s own task and argument.141 An insufficiently critical use of the
knowledge or methods of other sciences is likely to distort and fragment the
work of theology. Indeed, an over-hasty fusion between faith and philosophy was
already identified by the Fathers as a source of heresies.142 In short, other
disciplines must not be allowed to impose their own ‘magisterium’ on theology.
The theologian should indeed take up and utilise the data supplied by other
disciplines, but in light of theology’s own proper principles and methods.
82. In this critical assimilation and integration by
theology of data from other sciences, philosophy has a mediating role to play.
It pertains to philosophy, as rational wisdom, to insert the results obtained by
various sciences into a more universal vision. Recourse to philosophy in this
mediating role helps the theologian to use scientific data with due care. For
example, scientific knowledge gained with regard to the evolution of life needs
to be interpreted in the light of philosophy, so as to determine its value and
meaning, before being taken into account by theology.143 Philosophy also helps
scientists to avoid the temptation to apply in a univocal way their own methods
and the fruits of their researches to religious questions that require another
approach.
83. The relationship between theology and religious
sciences or religious studies (e.g. philosophy of religion, sociology of
religion) is of particular interest. Religious sciences/studies deal with texts,
institutions and phenomena of the Christian tradition, but by the nature of
their methodological principles they do so from outside, regardless of the
question as to the truth of what they study; for them, the Church and its faith
are simply objects for research like other objects. In the 19th century, there
were major controversies between theology and religious sciences/studies. On the
one side, it was claimed that theology is not a science because of its
presupposition of faith; only religious sciences/studies could be ‘objective’.
On the other side, it was said that religious sciences/studies are
anti-theological because they would deny faith. Today these old controversies
sometimes reappear, but nowadays there are better conditions for a fruitful
dialogue between the two sides. On the one hand, religious sciences/studies are
now integrated into the fabric of theological methods because, not only for
exegesis and Church history, but also for pastoral and fundamental theology, it
is necessary to investigate the history, structure and phenomenology of
religious ideas, subjects, rites, etc.. On the other hand, the physical sciences
and contemporary epistemology more generally have shown that there is never a
neutral position from which to search for truth; the enquirer always brings
particular perspectives, insights and presuppositions which bear upon the study
being conducted. There remains, however, an essential difference between
theology and religious sciences/studies: theology has the truth of God as its
subject and reflects on its subject with faith and in the light of God, while
religious sciences/studies have religious phenomena as their subject and
approach them with cultural interests, methodologically prescinding from the
truth of the Christian faith. Theology goes beyond religious sciences/studies by
reflecting from the inside on the Church and its faith, but theology can also
profit from the investigations that religious sciences/studies make from the
outside.
84. Catholic theology acknowledges the proper autonomy of
other sciences and the professional competence and the striving after knowledge
to be found in them, and has itself prompted developments in many sciences.
Theology also opens the way for other sciences to engage with religious issues.
Through constructive critique, it helps other sciences to liberate themselves
from anti-theological elements acquired under the influence of rationalism. By
expelling theology from the household of science, rationalism and positivism
reduced the scope and power of the sciences themselves. Catholic theology
criticises every form of self-absolutisation of the sciences, as a
self-reduction and impoverishment.144 The presence of theology and theologians
at the heart of university life and the dialogue this presence enables with
other disciplines help to promote a broad, analogical and integral view of
intellectual life. As scientia Dei and scientia fidei, theology plays an
important part in the symphony of the sciences, and so claims a proper place in
the academy.
85. A criterion of Catholic theology is that it attempts to
integrate a plurality of enquiries and methods into the unified project of the
intellectus fidei, and insists on the unity of truth and therefore on the
fundamental unity of theology itself. Catholic theology recognises the proper
methods of other sciences and critically utilises them in its own research. It
does not isolate itself from critique and welcomes scientific dialogue.
3. Science and wisdom
86. This final section considers the fact that theology is
not only a science but also a wisdom, with a particular role to play in the
relationship between all human knowledge and the Mystery of God. The human
person is not satisfied by partial truths, but seeks to unify different pieces
and areas of knowledge into an understanding of the final truth of all things
and of human life itself. This search for wisdom, which undoubtedly animates
theology itself, gives theology a close relationship to spiritual experience and
to the wisdom of the saints. More broadly, however, Catholic theology invites
everyone to recognise the transcendence of the ultimate Truth, which can never
be fully grasped or mastered. Theology is not only a wisdom in itself, it is
also an invitation to wisdom for other disciplines. The presence of theology in
scientific debate and in university life potentially has the beneficial effect
of reminding everyone of the sapiential vocation of human intelligence, and of
the telling question Jesus asks in his first utterance in St John’s Gospel:
‘What do you seek?’ (Jn 1:38; RSV).
87. In the Old Testament, the central message of wisdom
theology appears three times: ‘The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom’
(Ps 111:10; cf. Prov 1:7; 9:10). The basis of this motto is the insight of the
sages of Israel that God’s wisdom is at work in creation and in history and that
those who appreciate that will understand the meaning of the world and of events
(cf. Prov 7ff., Wis 7ff.). ‘Fear of God’ is the right attitude in the presence
of God (coram Deo). Wisdom is the art of understanding the world and of
orientating one’s life in devotion to God. In the books of Ecclesiastes and Job,
the limits of human understanding of God’s thoughts and ways are starkly
revealed, not so as to destroy the wisdom of human beings, but to deepen it
within the horizon of the wisdom of God.
88. Jesus himself stood in this Wisdom tradition of Israel,
and in him the revelation theology of the Old Testament was transformed. He
prayed: ‘I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden
these things from the wise and the intelligent and have revealed them to
infants’ (Mt 11:25). This confounding of traditional wisdom comes in the Gospel
context of the proclamation of something new: the eschatological revelation of
the love of God in the person of Jesus Christ. Jesus continues: ‘no one knows
the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone
to whom the Son chooses to reveal him’, and this prefaces his famous invitation:
‘Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will
give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and
humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls’ (Mt 11:27-29). This
learning comes from discipleship in the company of Jesus. He alone unlocks the
Scriptures (cf. Lk 24:25-27; Jn 5:36-40; Rev 5:5), because the truth and wisdom
of God have been revealed in him.
89. Paul the apostle criticises the ‘wisdom of the world’
which sees the cross of Jesus Christ only as ‘foolishness’ (1Cor 1:18-20). This
foolishness he proclaims to be ‘God’s wisdom, secret and hidden’, ‘decreed
before the ages’ and now revealed (1Cor 2:7). The cross is the crucial moment of
God’s salvific plan. Christ crucified is the ‘power of God and the wisdom of
God’ (1Cor 1:18-25). Believers, those who have ‘the mind of Christ’ (1Cor 2:16),
receive this wisdom, and it gives access to the ‘mystery of God’ (1Cor 2:1-2).
It is important to note that, while the paradoxical wisdom of God, manifested in
the cross, contradicts the ‘wisdom of the world’, it nevertheless does not
contradict authentic human wisdom. On the contrary, it transcends the latter and
fulfils it in an unforeseen way.
90. Christian faith soon encountered the Greek quest for
wisdom. It drew attention to the limits of that quest, especially regarding the
idea of salvation by knowledge (gnosis) alone, but it also incorporated
authentic insights from the Greeks. Wisdom is a unifying vision. While science
endeavours to give an account of a particular, limited and well defined aspect
of reality, highlighting the principles that explain the properties of the
object being studied, wisdom strives to give a unified view of the whole of
reality. It is, in effect, a knowledge in accordance with the highest, most
universal and also most explanatory causes.145 For the Fathers of the Church,
the sage was one who judged all things in the light of God and eternal
realities, which are the norm for things here on earth.146 Therefore, wisdom
also has a moral and spiritual dimension.
91. As its name indicates, philosophy understands itself as
a wisdom, or at least as a loving quest for wisdom. Metaphysics, in particular,
proposes a vision of reality unified around the fundamental mystery of being;
but the Word of God, which reveals ‘What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the
human heart conceived’ (1Cor 2:9), opens up for human beings the way to a higher
wisdom.147 This supernatural Christian wisdom, which transcends the purely human
wisdom of philosophy, takes two forms which sustain one another but should not
be confused: theological wisdom and mystical wisdom.148 Theological wisdom is
the work of reason enlightened by faith. It is therefore an acquired wisdom,
though it supposes of course the gift of faith. It offers a unified explanation
of reality in light of the highest truths of revelation, and it enlightens
everything from the foundational mystery of the Trinity, considered both in
itself and in its action in creation and in history. In this regard, Vatican I
said: ‘Reason illuminated by faith, when it seeks zealously, piously and
soberly, attains with the help of God some understanding of the mysteries, and a
most fruitful understanding, both by analogy with those things which it knows
naturally, and also from the connection of the mysteries among themselves and
with the final end of man’.149 The intellectual contemplation which results from
the rational labour of the theologian is thus truly a wisdom. Mystical wisdom or
‘the knowledge of the saints’ is a gift of the Holy Spirit which comes from
union with God in love. Love, in fact, creates an affective connaturality
between the human being and God, who allows spiritual persons to know and even
suffer things divine (pati divina),150 actually experiencing them in their
lives. This is a non-conceptual knowledge, often expressed in poetry. It leads
to contemplation and personal union with God in peace and silence.
92. Theological wisdom and mystical wisdom are formally
distinct and it is important not to confuse them. Mystical wisdom is never a
substitute for theological wisdom. It is clear, nonetheless, that there are
strong links between these two forms of Christian wisdom, both in the person of
the theologian and in the community of the Church. On the one hand, an intense
spiritual life striving for holiness is a requirement for authentic theology, as
the example of the doctors of the Church, East and West, shows. True theology
presupposes faith and is animated by charity: ‘Whoever does not love does not
know God, for God is love’ (1Jn 4:8).151 Intelligence provides theology with
clear sighted reason, but the heart has its own wisdom that purifies
intelligence. What is true of all Christians has a particular resonance for
theologians, namely that they are ‘called to be saints’ (1Cor 1:2). On the other
hand, the proper exercise of theology’s task of giving a scientific
understanding of faith enables the authenticity of spiritual experience to be
verified.152 That is why St Teresa of Avila wanted her nuns to seek the counsel
of theologians: ‘The more the Lord gives you graces in prayer, the more it is
necessary that your prayer and all your works rest on a solid foundation.’153
With the help of theologians, it is ultimately the task of the magisterium to
determine whether any spiritual claim is authentically Christian.
93. The object of theology is the living God, and the life
of the theologian cannot fail to be affected by the sustained effort to know the
living God. The theologian cannot exclude his or her own life from the endeavour
to understand all of reality with regard to God. Obedience to the truth purifies
the soul (cf. 1Pet 1:22), and ‘the wisdom from above is first pure, then
peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without a
trace of partiality or hypocrisy’ (James 3:17). It follows that the pursuit of
theology should purify the mind and heart of the theologian.154 This special
feature of the theological enterprise by no means violates the scientific
character of theology; on the contrary, it profoundly accords with the latter.
Thus, theology is characterised by a distinctive spirituality. Integral to the
spirituality of the theologian are: a love of truth, a readiness for conversion
of heart and mind, a striving for holiness, and a commitment to ecclesial
communion and mission.155
94. Theologians have received a particular calling to
service in the body of Christ. Called and gifted, they exist in a particular
relationship to the body and all of its members. Living in ‘the communion of the
Holy Spirit’ (2Cor 13:13), they along with all their brothers and sisters should
seek to conform their lives to the mystery of the Eucharist ‘from which the
Church ever derives its life and on which it thrives’.156 Indeed, called as they
are to explicate the mysteries of the faith, they should be particularly bound
to the Eucharist, in which is contained ‘the whole spiritual good of the Church,
namely Christ himself our Pasch’, whose flesh is made living and life-giving by
the Holy Spirit.157 As the Eucharist is ‘the source and summit’ of the life of
the Church158 and ‘of all preaching of the Gospel’,159 so it is also the source
and summit of all theology. In this sense, theology can be understood as
essentially and profoundly ‘mystical’.
95. God’s truth is thus not simply something to be explored
in systematic reflection and justified in deductive reasoning; it is living
truth, experienced by participation in Christ, ‘who became for us wisdom from
God, and righteousness and sanctification and redemption’ (1Cor 1:30). As
wisdom, theology is able to integrate aspects of the faith both studied and
experienced and to transcend in the service of God’s truth the limits of what is
strictly possible from an intellectual standpoint. Such an appreciation of
theology as wisdom can help to resolve two problems facing theology today:
first, it offers a way of bridging the gap between believers and theological
reflection; and second, it offers a way of expanding understanding of God’s
truth, so as to facilitate the mission of the Church in non-Christian cultures
characterised by various wisdom traditions.
96. The sense of mystery which properly characterises
theology leads to a ready acknowledgement of the limits of theological
knowledge, contrary to all rationalist pretensions to exhaust the Mystery of
God. The teaching of Lateran IV is fundamental: ‘between creator and creature no
similarity can be noted without noting a greater dissimilarity’.160 Reason
enlightened by faith and guided by revelation is always aware of the intrinsic
limits of its activity. That is why Christian theology can take the form of
‘negative’ or ‘apophatic’ theology.
97. Nevertheless, negative theology is not at all a
negation of theology. Cataphatic and apophatic theology should not be placed in
opposition to one another; far from disqualifying an intellectual approach to
the Mystery of God, the via negativa simply highlights the limits of such an
approach. The via negativa is a fundamental dimension of all authentically
theological discourse, but it cannot be separated from the via affirmativa and
the via eminentiae.161The human spirit, rising from effects to the Cause, from
creatures to the Creator, begins by affirming the presence in God of the
authentic perfections discovered in creatures (via affirmativa), then it denies
that those perfections are in God in the imperfect way in which they are in
creatures (via negativa); finally, it affirms that they are in God in a properly
divine way which escapes human comprehension (via eminentiae).162 Theology
rightly intends to speak truly of the Mystery of God, but at the same time it
knows that its knowledge though true is inadequate in relation to the reality of
God, whom it can never ‘comprehend’. As St Augustine said: ‘If you comprehend,
it is not God’.163
98. It is important to be aware of the sense of emptiness
and of the absence of God that many people feel today and that imbues much of
modern culture. The primary reality for Christian theology, however, is God’s
revelation. The obligatory reference point is the life, death and resurrection
of Jesus Christ. In these events, God has spoken definitively by means of his
Word made flesh. Affirmative theology is possible as a result of obedient
listening to the Word, present in creation and in history. The Mystery of God
revealed in Jesus Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit is a mystery of
ekstasis, love, communion and mutual indwelling among the three divine persons;
a mystery of kenosis,the relinquishing of the form of God by Jesus in his
incarnation, so as to take the form of a slave (cf. Phil 2:5-11); and a mystery
of theosis, human beings are called to participate in the life of God and to
share in ‘the divine nature’ (2Pet 1:4) through Christ, in the Spirit. When
theology speaks of a negative path and of speechlessness, it is referring to a
sense of awe before the Trinitarian Mystery in which is salvation. Though words
cannot fully describe it, by love believers already participate in the Mystery.
‘Although you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see
him now, you believe in him and rejoice with an indescribable and glorious joy,
for you are receiving the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls’
(1Pet 1:8-9).
99. A criterion of Catholic theology is that it should seek
and delight in the wisdom of God which is foolishness to the world (cf. 1Cor
1:18-25; 1Cor 2:6-16). Catholic theology should root itself in the great wisdom
tradition of the Bible, connect itself with the wisdom traditions of eastern and
western Christianity, and seek to establish a bridge to all wisdom traditions.
As it strives for true wisdom in its study of the Mystery of God, theology
acknowledges God’s utter priority; it seeks not to possess but to be possessed
by God. It must therefore be attentive to what the Spirit is saying to the
churches by means of ‘the knowledge of the saints’. Theology implies a striving
for holiness and an ever-deeper awareness of the transcendence of the Mystery of
God.
CONCLUSION
100. As theology is a service rendered to the Church and to
society, so the present text, written by theologians, seeks to be of service to
our theologian colleagues and also to those with whom Catholic theologians
engage in dialogue. Written with respect for all who pursue theological enquiry,
and with a profound sense of the joy and privilege of a theological vocation, it
strives to indicate perspectives and principles which characterise Catholic
theology and to offer criteria by which that theology may be identified. In
summary, it may be said that Catholic theology studies the Mystery of God
revealed in Christ, and articulates the experience of faith that those in the
communion of the Church, participating in the life of God, have, by the grace of
the Holy Spirit, who leads the Church into the truth (Jn 16:13). It ponders the
immensity of the love by which the Father gave his Son to the world (cf. Jn
3:16), and the glory, grace and truth that were revealed in him for our
salvation (cf. Jn 1:14); and it emphasises the importance of hope in God rather
than in created things, a hope it strives to explain (cf. 1Pet 3:15). In all its
endeavours, in accordance with Paul’s injunction always to ‘be thankful’ (Col
3:15; 1Thess 5:18), even in adversity (cf. Rom 8:31-39), it is fundamentally
doxological, characterised by praise and thanksgiving. As it considers the work
of God for our salvation and the surpassing nature of his accomplishments, glory
and praise is its most appropriate modality, as St Paul not only teaches but
also exemplifies: ‘Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to
accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine, to him be glory
in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen’
(Eph 3:20-21).
Endnotes
1 Second Vatican Council, Gaudium et Spes 3. Unless
otherwise indicated, quotations from Vatican II documents are taken from Vatican
Council II, vol.1, The Conciliar and Post Conciliar Documents, ed. Austin
Flannery (Northport, NY: Costello Publishing Company and Dublin: Dominican
Publications, 1996).
2 For the latter two, see below, paragraphs 92-94, and 10,
25-32, respectively.
3 Henri de Lubac, Catholicism: Christ and the Common
Destiny of Man (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1988), p.298.
4 These and further ITC texts mentioned below may be found
either in International Theological Commission: Texts and Documents 1969-1985,
ed. Michael Sharkey (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1989), or in International
Theological Commission: Texts and Documents 1986-2007, eds. Michael Sharkey and
Thomas Weinandy (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2009).
5 ‘Catholic’, with a capital ‘c’, refers here to the
Catholic Church in which the one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church founded by
Christ and committed to the care of Peter and the apostles subsists (cf. Second
Vatican Council, Lumen Gentium 8, Unitatis Redintegratio 4, Dignitatis Humanae
1). Throughout this text, the term ‘theology’ refers to theology as the Catholic
Church understands it.
6 Second Vatican Council, Dei Verbum 2.
7 Pope Benedict XVI, Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation,
Verbum Domini (2010), 6; cf. Dei Verbum 2, 6.
8 Verbum Domini 3.
9 Unless otherwise indicated, scriptural quotations are
taken from the New Revised Standard Version throughout.
10 Dei Verbum 1; cf. St Augustine, De catechizandis rudibus
4, 8 (Corpus Christianorum Series Latina CCSL 46:129).
11 Verbum Domini 7; cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church
(CCC), n.108.
12 Cf. Dei Verbum 7, 11, 16.
13 Dei Verbum 21.
14 Augustine, ‘Deus … per hominem more hominum loquitur;
quia et sic loquendo nos quaerit’ (De civitate Dei XVII, 6, 2; CCSL 48:567); cf.
Vatican II, Dei Verbum 12.
15 Dei Verbum 11.
16 Dei Verbum 8.
17 Verbum Domini 18.
18 Dei Verbum 2.
19 Cf. Dei Verbum 5, with reference also to Vatican I, Dei
Filius, ch.3 (DH 3008).
20 Cf. Dei Verbum 3; also, Vatican I, Dei Filius, ch.2 (DH
3004).
21 Cf. also 1Jn 4:1-6; 2Jn 7; Gal 1:6-9; 1Tim 4:1.
22 CCC 2089.
23 Augustine, In Joannis Evang., XXIX, 6 (CCSL 36:287);
also, Sermo 43, 7 (CCSL 41:511).
24 Augustine, Letter 120 (Corpus Scriptorum
Ecclesiasticorum Latinorum CSEL 34, 2:704): ‘Porro autem qui vera ratione jam
quod tantummodo credebat intelligit, profecto praepondendus est ei qui cupit
adhuc intelligere quod credit; si autem non cupit et ea quae intelligendae sunt
credenda tantummodo existimat, cui rei fides prorsus ignorat’.
25 Cf. Augustine, De Trinitate XIV, 1 (CCSL 50A:424): ‘Huic
scientiae tribuens … illud tantummodo quo fides saluberrima quae ad veram
beatitudinem ducit gignitur, nutritur, defenditur, roboratur’.
26 Pope John Paul II, Encyclical Letter, Fides et Ratio
(1998), opening words.
27 Anselm, Proslogion, Proemium (in S. Anselmi
Cantuariensis Archiepiscopi Opera omnia, ed. F. S. Schmitt, t.1, p.94). Because
of the close bond between faith, hope and love (see above, paragraph 11), it can
be affirmed that theology is also spes quaerens intellectum (cf. 1Pet 3:15) and
caritas quaerens intellectum. The latter aspect receives particular emphasis in
the Christian East: as it explicates the mystery of Christ who is the revelation
of God’s love (cf. Jn 3:16), theology is God’s love put into words.
28 Cf. in particular, Melchior Cano, De locis theologicis,
ed. Juan Belda Plans (Madrid, 2006). Cano lists ten loci: Sacra Scriptura,
traditiones Christi et apostolorum, Ecclesia Catholica, Concilia, Ecclesia
Romana, sancti veteres, theologi scholastici, ratio naturalis, philosophi,
humana historia.
29 Dei Verbum 24.
30 Verbum Domini 35; cf. 31.
31 Cf. Council of Trent, Decretum de libris sacris et de
traditionibus recipiendis (DH 1501-1505).
32 Pontifical Biblical Commission, The Interpretation of
the Bible in the Church (1993), III, C, 1; cf. Verbum Domini 33.
33 Dei Verbum 12.
34 Cf. Dei Verbum 12.
35 Cf. The Interpretation of the Bible in the Church, I,
B-E.
36 Verbum Domini 34.
37 ‘Since sacred Scripture must be read and interpreted in
the same Spirit in which it was written eodem Spiritu quo scripta est, no less
attention must be devoted to the content and unity of the whole of Scripture,
taking into account the Tradition of the entire Church and the analogy of faith,
if we are to derive their true meaning from the sacred texts’ (Dei Verbum 12;
amended translation).
38 Cf. Verbum Domini 39.
39 Cf. Pontifical Biblical Commission, The Interpretation
of the Bible in the Church (1993), II, B; also CCC 115-118. Medieval theology
spoke of the four senses of Scripture: Littera gesta docet, quid credas
allegoria, moralis quid agas, quo tendas anagogia.
40 Verbum Domini 34.
41 On the central place of Scripture in theology, cf. St
Bonaventure, Breviloquium, Prologue.
42 Second Vatican Council, Optatam Totius 16. Cf. Thomas
Aquinas, Summa Theologiae, Ia, q.36, a.2, ad.1: ‘de Deo dicere non debemus quod
in sacra Scriptura non invenitur vel per verba, vel per sensum’.
43 Verbum Domini 37.
44 Verbum Domini 46.
45 Dei Verbum 21.
46 Cf. Dei Verbum 22.
47 Dei Verbum 8.
48 Cf. Dei Verbum 7.
49 Dei Verbum 8.
50 Dei Verbum 8.
51 Cf. Optatam Totius 16.
52 Cyril of Alexandria presented a dossier of patristic
extracts to the council of Ephesus; cf. Mansi IV, 1183-1195; E. Schwartz, ed.,
Acta Conciliorum Oecumenicorum I, 1.1, pp.31-44.
53 Cf. Augustine, Contra duas epistulas pelagianorum, 4, 8,
20 (CSEL 60:542-543); 4, 12, 32 (CSEL 60:568-569); Contra Iulianum, 1, 7, 34 (PL
44, 665); 2, 10, 37 (PL 44, 700-702). Also, Vincent of Lerins, Commonitorium 28,
6 (CCSL 64:187): ‘Sed eorum dumtaxat patrum sententiae conferendae sunt, qui in
fide et communione catholica sancte sapienter constanter viventes docentes et
permanentes, vel mori in Christo fideliter vel occidi pro Christo feliciter
meruerunt.’
54 Cf. DH 301, 1510.
55 DH 1507, 3007.
56 Second Vatican Council, Lumen Gentium 25.
57 ITC, The Interpretation of Dogma (1990), B, III, 3; cf.
Theological Pluralism (1972), nn.6-8, 10-12.
58 Cf. Pope John XXIII, ‘Allocutio in Concilii Vaticani
inauguratione’, AAS 84(1962), p.792; Vatican II, Gaudium et Spes 62. For a
detailed consideration of the whole question, see ITC, The Interpretation of
Dogma.
59 Dei Verbum 10.
60 Dei Verbum 9.
61 Dei Verbum 24.
62 Johann Adam Möhler, Unity in the Church or the Principle
of Catholicism, Presented in the Spirit of the Church Fathers of the First Three
Centuries, Peter C. Erb, trans. and ed. (Washington DC: Catholic University of
America Press, 1996), p.117.
63 Verbum Domini 7.
64 Dei Verbum 9.
65 Dei Verbum 9.
66 Cf. Dei Verbum 8; Lumen Gentium 13, 14; Unitatis
Redintegratio 15, 17; Ad Gentes 22.
67 Cf. Yves Congar, Tradition et traditions: I Essai
historique; II Essai théologique, two vols. (Paris: 1960, 1963).
68 ‘Scripture, Tradition and Traditions’, in P. C. Rodger
and Lukas Vischer, eds., The Fourth World Conference on Faith and Order:
Montreal 1963 (New York: Association Press, 1964), n.48, p.52. Strictly
speaking, as this document indicates, Tradition (with a capital ‘T’) and
tradition (with a small ‘t’) may also be distinguished: Tradition is ‘the Gospel
itself, transmitted from generation to generation in and by the Church’, it is
‘Christ himself present in the life of the Church’; and tradition is ‘the
traditionary process’ (n.39, p.50).
69 Cf. Unitatis Redintegratio 6.
70 Lumen Gentium 12.
71 Dei Verbum 8.
72 Cf. Lumen Gentium 35.
73 Lumen Gentium 12.
74 Cf. Lumen Gentium, chapter 2.
75 Cf. Lumen Gentium, chapter 3.
76 Cf. Dei Verbum 8; Irenaeus, Adv. Haer., IV, 26, 2.
77 Cf. Lumen Gentium 21, 24-25.
78 Dei Verbum 10; see above, paragraph 30.
79 Augustine, Sermo 340 A (PL 38, 1483).
80 The Instruction on the Ecclesial Vocation of the
Theologian, Donum Veritatis (1990), speaks of the truth given by God to his
people (nn.2-5) and it locates ‘the vocation of the theologian’ in direct
service to the people of God so that they may have an understanding of the gift
received in faith (nn.6-7).
81 Dei Verbum 10.
82 The ITC addressed this question in its Theses on the
Relationship between the Ecclesiastical Magisterium and Theology (1975), as did
the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in Donum Veritatis.
83 Cf. Dei Verbum 10.
84 Cf. Theses on the Relationship between the
Ecclesiastical Magisterium and Theology, Thesis 2. Today as in the past, of
course, bishops and theologians do not constitute two fully distinct groups.
85 Cf. Donum Veritatis 21.
86 Cf. Second Vatican Council, Lumen Gentium 21-25,
Christus Dominus 12, Dei Verbum 10.
87 Thomas Aquinas distinguished the ‘magisterium cathedrae
pastoralis’ and the ‘magisterium cathedrae magistralis’, the former pertaining
to bishops and the latter to theologians. More recently, ‘magisterium’ or
‘ecclesiastical magisterium’ has come to refer specifically to the first of
those two meanings, and is used in that sense in this text (cf. above,
paragraphs 26, 28-30, 33). While theologians do have a teaching role, which may
be formally recognised by the Church, it is not to be confused with or opposed
to that of the bishops; cf. Aquinas, Contra Impugnantes, c.2; Quaest.
Quodlibet., III, q.4, a.9, ad 3; In IV Sent., d.19, q.2, a.3, qa.3, ad.4; also
Donum Veritatis, footnote 27.
88 Cf. Donum Veritatis 34.
89 Cf. Donum Veritatis 13-20.
90 Cf. ITC, The Interpretation of Dogma, B, II, 3.
Contradiction of the teaching of the magisterium at various levels by
theological propositions gives rise to correspondingly differentiated negative
evaluations or censures of such propositions, and possible sanctions against
those responsible; cf. Pope John Paul II, Apostolic Letter Motu Proprio, Ad
Tuendam Fidem (1998).
91 Cf. Theses on the Relationship between the
Ecclesiastical Magisterium and Theology, Thesis 8.
92Cf. Donum Veritatis 21-41.
93 John Henry Newman, ‘Preface to the Third Edition’, in
The Via Media of the Anglican Church, ed. H. D. Wiedner (Oxford: Clarendon
Press, 1990), pp.10-57, here at 27.
94‘Preface to the Third Edition’, pp.29-30. ‘Not all
knowledge is suited to all minds; a proposition may be ever so true, yet at a
particular time and place it may be “temerarious, offensive to pious ears, and
scandalous”, though not “heretical” nor “erroneous”’ (p.34).
95 Theses on the Relationship between the Ecclesiastical
Magisterium and Theology, Thesis 9. The ITC also proposed guidelines for good
practice in situations of dispute (cf. Theses 11-12).
96 Cf. Theses on the Relationship between the
Ecclesiastical Magisterium and Theology, Thesis 8.
97 Theses on the Relationship between the Ecclesiastical
Magisterium and Theology, Thesis 8.
98 See below, paragraph 83.
99 Cf. Lumen Gentium 22, 25.
100 Cf. Donum Veritatis 11.
101 See, for example, Augustine, Epist. 82, 5, 36 (CCSL
31A:122), where he urges Jerome that in the liberty of friendship and with
brotherly love they should be frank in correcting one another; also De
Trinitate, I, 3, 5 (CCSL 50:33), where he says he will profit greatly if those
who disagree with him argue their case with charity and truth and succeed in
refuting his own argument.
102 Cf. ITC, The Interpretation of Dogma, C, III, 6.
103 Cf. Pope John Paul II, Encyclical Letter, Ut Unum Sint
28.
104 Gaudium et Spes 11.
105 Gaudium et Spes 11.
106 Gaudium et Spes 4.
107 Gaudium et Spes 44.
108 Cf. Gaudium et Spes 44.
109 Gaudium et Spes 44.
110 Cf. Second Vatican Council, Sacrosanctum Concilium 43,
Unitatis Redintegratio 4, Dignitatis Humanae 15, Apostolicam Actuositatem 14,
Presbyterorum Ordinis 9.
111 Second Vatican Council, Ad Gentes 11.
112 Second Vatican Council, Nostra Aetate 2.
113 Cf. Thomas Aquinas, Summa theologiae, IIa-IIae, q.2,
a.10.
114 Cf. Anselm, Proslogion, ch.1 (in S. Anselmi
Cantuariensis Archiepiscopi Opera omnia, ed. F. S. Schmitt, t.1, p.100):
‘Desidero aliquatenus intelligere veritatem tuam, quam credit et amat cor meum’;
also Augustine, De Trinitate, XV, 28, 51 (CCSL 50A:534).
115 Cf. Anselm, Proslogion, ch.1 (in S. Anselmi
Cantuariensis Archiepiscopi Opera omnia, ed. F. S. Schmitt, t.1, p.100): ‘Non
tento, domine, penetrare altitudinem tuam …. Neque enim quaero intelligere ut
credam, sed credo ut intelligam. Nam et hoc credo: quia “nisi credidero, non
intelligam”.’
116 Cf. Origen, Contra Celsum, Prologue, 4 (ed. M. Boret,
Sources chrétiennes, vol.132, pp.72-73); Augustine, City of God, I (CCSL 47).
117 Cf. Fides et Ratio 73.
118 Cf. Fides et Ratio 77.
119 Cf. Vatican I, Dei Filius (DH 3017); also, Thomas
Aquinas, Summa contra gentiles, I, c.7.
120 Vatican I, Dei Filius (DH 3019).
121 Cf. Justin, Dialogus cum Tryphone, 8, 4 (Iustini
philosophi et martyris opera quae feruntur omnia, ed. C. T. Otto, Corpus
apologetarum christianorum saeculi secundi, 2, Iéna, 1877, pp.32-33); Tatian,
Oratio ad Graecos, 31 (Corpus apologetarum christianorum saeculi secundi, 6,
Iéna, 1851, p.118); also Pope John Paul II, Fides et Ratio 38.
122 Cf. Augustine, De civitate Dei, VI, 5-12 (CCSL
47:170-184).
123 In reaction against the theological rationalism of
‘radical Arians’, the Cappadocian Fathers and the Greek theological tradition
insisted on the impossibility of knowing the divine essence in itself here
below, either by nature or by grace, or even in the state of glory. Latin
theology, convinced that human beatitude could only consist in the vision of God
‘as he is’ (1Jn 3:2), distinguished rather between the knowledge of the divine
essence promised to the blessed and the comprehensive knowledge of God’s essence
that is proper only to God. In the constitution, Benedictus Deus (1336), Pope
Benedict XII defined that the blessed see the very essence of God, face to face
(DH 1000).
124 Cf. Thomas Aquinas, In Boethium De Trinitate,
prologue(ed. Leonine, t.50, p.76): ‘Modus autem de Trinitate tractandi duplex
est, ut dicit Augustinus in I de Trinitate, scilicet per auctoritates et per
rationes. Quem utrumque modum Augustinus complexus est, ut ipsemet dicit; quidam
vero sanctorum patrum, ut Ambrosius et Hylarius, alterum tantum modum prosequti
sunt, scilicet per actoritates; Boetius vero elegit prosequi per alium modum,
scilicet per rationes, praesupponens hoc quod ab aliis per auctoritates fuerat
prosequtum.’
125 Cf. Thomas Aquinas, Summa theologiae, IIa-IIae, q.1,
a.7.
126 Thomas Aquinas, Summa theologiae, Ia, q.1, a.3, ad 2.
127 Cf. Thomas a Kempis, Imitatio Iesu Christi, I, 3.
128 Fides et Ratio 66.
129 Cf. Fides et Ratio 73.
130 Cf. Vatican I, Dei Filius (DH 3008-3009, 3031-3033).
131 Augustine, ‘de divinitate ratio sive sermo’ (De
civitate Dei VIII, 1; CCSL 47:216-217).
132 Cf. Thomas Aquinas, Summa theologiae, Ia, q.1, a.7:
‘Omnia autem pertractantur in sacra doctrina sub ratione Dei, vel quia sunt ipse
Deus; vel quia habent ordinem ad Deum, ut ad principium et finem. Unde sequitur
quod Deus vere sit subiectum huius scientiae.’
133 Optatam Totius 16.
134 Cf. International Theological Commission, Faith and
Inculturation (1989).
135 Cf. International Theological Commission, Theological
Pluralism (1972).
136 Cf. International Theological Commission, The
Interpretation of Dogma (1990).
137 See above, chapter 2, section 2: ‘Fidelity to Apostolic
Tradition’.
138 Cf. Optatam Totius 16.
139 Cf. The Interpretation of the Bible in the Church. This
text serves as a valuable paradigm in that it reflects on the capacities and
limitations of different contemporary methods of exegesis within the horizon of
a theology of Revelation rooted in the Scriptures themselves and in accordance
with the teaching of the Second Vatican Council.
140 Cf. Summa theologiae, Ia, q.1, a.5, ad 2, where St
Thomas says of theology: ‘Haec scientia accipere potest aliquid a philosophicis
disciplinis, non quod ex necessitate eis indigeat, sed ad maiorem
manifestationem eorum quae in hac scientia traduntur. Non enim accipit sua
principia ab aliis scientiis, sed immediate a Deo per revelationem. Et ideo non
accipit ab aliis scientiis tanquam a superioribus, sed utitur eis tanquam
inferioribus et ancillis.’
141 For example, in his Encyclical Letter, Veritatis
Splendor (1993), Pope John Paul called upon moral theologians to exercise
discernment in their use of the behavioural sciences (esp., nn.33, 111, 112).
142 The early Fathers emphasised that heresies, especially
the various forms of gnosticism, often resulted from an insufficiently critical
adoption of particular philosophical theories. See, for example, Tertullian, De
praescriptione haereticorum 7, 3 (Sources chrétiennes 46, p.96): ‘Ipsae denique
haereses a philosophia subornantur.’
143 Cf. Pope John Paul II, Message to participants in the
Plenary of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, 22 October 1996; also, Fides at
Ratio 69.
144 Pope Benedict XVI observes a pathology in reason when
it distances itself from questions of ultimate truth and God. By this harmful
self-limitation, reason becomes subject to human interests and is reduced to
‘instrumental reason’. The way is opened for relativism. Given these dangers,
Pope Benedict repeatedly proposes that faith is ‘a purifying force for reason
itself’: ‘Faith liberates reason from its blind spots and therefore helps it to
be ever more fully itself. Faith enables reason to do its work more effectively
and to see its proper object more clearly’ (Encyclical Letter, Deus Caritas Est,
2005, n.28).
145 Cf. Thomas Aquinas, Summa theologiae, Ia, q.1, a.6.
146 Cf. Augustine, De Trinitate, XII, 14, 21 - 15, 25 (CCSL
50:374-380).
147 Cf. Thomas Aquinas, Summa theologiae, Ia, q.1, a.6.
148 Cf. Thomas Aquinas, Summa theologiae, Ia, q.1 , a.6, ad
3.
149 Vatican I, Dei Filius, ch.4(DH 3016).
150 Cf. Dionysius, De divinis nominibus, ch. 2, 9 (in
Corpus Dionysiacum, I. Pseudo-Dionysius Areopagita De divinis nominibus,
Herausgegeben von Beate Regina Suchla, «Patristische Texte und Studien, 33»,
p.134).
151 Cf. Maximos the Confessor, Four Hundred Texts on Love,
2, 26 (G.E.H. Palmer, Philip Sherrard, Kallistos Ware, trans. & ed., The
Philokalia, vol.2, London/Boston, 1981, p.69): ‘the intellect is granted the
grace of theology when, carried on wings of love …, it is taken up into God and
with the help of the Holy Spirit discerns – as far as this is possible for the
human intellect – the qualities of God; also Richard of St Victor, De
praeparatione animi ad contemplationem 13 (PL 196, 10A): Ubi amor, ibi oculus;
Tractatus de gradibus charitatis 3, 23 (G. Dumeige, ed, Textes philosophiques du
Moyen Age, 3, Paris: 1955, p.71): ‘amor oculus est, et amare videre est’
(Richard attributes this phrase to St Augustine).
152 Regarding private revelations, which are always subject
to ecclesiastical judgement and which, even when authentic, have a value
‘essentially different from that of the one public revelation’, see Verbum
Domini 14.
153 Teresa of Avila, The Way of Perfection, ch. 5.
154 Cf. ITC, The Interpretation of Dogma, B, III, 4: ‘the
theological interpretation of dogmas is not an intellectual process only. At a
deeper level still, it is a spiritual enterprise, brought about by the Spirit of
Truth and possible only when preceded by a purification of the “eyes of the
heart”’.
155 Cf. Pope Benedict XVI, Encyclical Letter, Caritas in
Veritate (2009), 1.
156 Lumen Gentium 26; cf. Pope John Paul II, Encyclical
Letter, Ecclesia de Eucharistia (2003), 1.
157 Presbyterorum Ordinis 5.
158 Lumen Gentium 11; cf. Sacrosanctum Concilium 10.
159 Presbyterorum Ordinis 5.
160 Fourth Lateran Council (DH 806).
161 Thomas Aquinas, In IV Sent., d.35, q.1, a.1, ad.2:
‘Omnis negatio fundatur in aliqua affirmatione’.
162 Cf. Thomas Aquinas, Quaestiones disputatae de potentia,
q.7, a.5, ad.2, where he gives an interpretation of the teaching of Dionysius.
163 Augustine, ‘De deo loquimur, quid mirum si non
comprehendis? Si enim comprehendis, non est Deus’ (Sermo 117, 3, 5; PL 38, 663);
‘Si quasi comprehendere potuisti, cogitatione tua te decepisti’ (Sermo 52, 6,
16; PL 38, 360).
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