We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 09 September 2014
This essay considers the contribution which spirituality makes to theology and vice versa, using examples from Karl Rahner's work. His spirituality in the sense of lived religious experience is the point of departure for his theological anthropology. Conversely, his theology of devotion to the Sacred Heart critiques and informs a spirituality of the heart of Christ. After discussing the mutual benefits which spirituality and theology provide one another, this paper points out the contemporary relevance of a spirituality of Christ's heart.
1 For example, see Hans Urs von Balthasar's review of Rahner's, KarlGeist in Welt, Zeitschrift fuer Katholische Theologie, 63 (1939), 378;Google ScholarFischer, Klaus P., Der Mensch als Geheimnis: Die Anthropoiogie Karl Rahners (Freiburg: Herder, 1974);Google ScholarNeufeld, Karl H. S.J., , “Unter Bruedern: Zur Fruehgeschichte der Theologie Rahners aus der Zusammenarbeit mit H. Rahner,” Wagnis Theologie: Erfahrungen mit der Theologie Karl Rahners, ed. Vorgrimler, Herbert (Freiburg: Herder, 1979), pp. 347–54;Google Scholar and Harvey D. Egan, “‘The Devout Christian of the Future Will … be a “Mystic”.’ Mysticism and Karl Rahner's Theology” in Theology and Discovery; Essays in Honor of Karl Rahner, S.J., ed. Kelly, William J. (Milwaukee, WI: Marquette University Press, 1980), pp. 139–58.Google Scholar
2 See Cousins, Ewert H., “Spirituality: A Resource for Theology,” CTSA Proceedings 35 (1980), 124–37;Google ScholarLane, Dermot A., The Experience of God: An Invitation to Do Theology (New York: Paulist, 1981), esp. pp. 1–31;Google ScholarLeech, Kenneth, Experiencing God: Theology as Spirituality (San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1985);Google ScholarLouth, Andrew, Theology and Spirituality (Oxford: SLG Press, Convent of the Incarnation, 1978);Google ScholarPrincipe, Walter, “Toward Redefining Spirituality,” Studies in Religion 12 (1983), 127–41;CrossRefGoogle ScholarShideler, Mary McDermott, “The Mystic and the Theologian,” Theology Today 32 (1975), 252–62;CrossRefGoogle ScholarSchneiders, Sandra, “Theology and Spirituality: Strangers, Rivals, or Partners?” Horizons 13/2 (Fall, 1986), 253–74;CrossRefGoogle Scholar and Thompson, William M., Fire & Light: The Saints and Theology. On Consulting the Saints, Mystics, and Martyrs in Theology (New York: Paulist, 1987).Google Scholar
3 See Rahner, K., “Theology and Anthropology,” Theological Investigations (= TI), Vol. 9, tr. Harrison, Graham (New York: Crossroad, 1981), pp. 28–45;Google Scholar and Experieence of the Spirit: Source of Theology, TI 16. Cf. Carr, Anne, The Theological Method of Karl Rahner (Missoula, MT: Scholars Press, 1977)Google Scholar, and “Theology and Experience in the Thought of Karl Rahner,” The Journal of Religion 53 (1973), 359–76.CrossRefGoogle Scholar Cf. Egan, Harvey, “Translator's Foreword” in Rahner, , I Remember: An Autobiographical Interview with Meinhold Krauss (New York: Crossroad, 1985), pp. 3–4.Google Scholar
4 See Rahner, K., Encounters with Silence, tr. Demske, James M. (Westminster, MD: Newman, 1963);Google Scholar and “Is Prayer Dialogue with God?” Christian at the Crossroads (New York: Seabury, 1975), pp. 62–69.Google Scholar
5 See Rahner, K., Introduction, TI 16:x;Google Scholar and “Reflections on the Experience of Grace,” TI 3: 86-90. See also King, Norman J., Experiencing God All Ways and Every Day (Minneapolis, MN: Winston, 1982).Google Scholar
6 See Julian of Norwich, Showings, tr. Colledge, Edmund and Walsh, James (New York: Paulist, 1978), esp. pp. 256–85.Google Scholar Cf. Egan, Harvey D. S.J., , “The Christian Mystics and Today's Theological Horizon,” Listening: Journal of Religion and Culture 17 (1982), 203–16.Google Scholar
7 See Teresa of Avila, The Book of Her Life in Vol. 1 of Collected Works of St. Teresa of Avila, tr. Kavanaugh, Kieran, and Rodriguez, Otilio (Washington, DC: Institute of Carmelite Studies, 1976), pp. 53–365, esp. ch. 22;Google Scholar and The Interior Castle in Vol. 2 of Collected Works, tr. Kavanaugh, and Rodriguez, (Washington, DC: ICS, 1980), pp. 281–451Google Scholar, esp. books 6 and 7. Cf. Thompson, , Fire and Light, pp. 143–63.Google Scholar
8 See Lindbeck, George A., The Nature of Doctrine: Religion and Theology in a Postliberal Age (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1984), esp. pp. 30–45Google Scholar, where he describes the former view as based on an “experiential-expressive model” and the latter view as based on a “cultural-linguistic alternative.” On the unity of religious experience, see Schuon, Frithjof, The Transcendent Unity of Religions, tr. Townsend, Peter (New York: Harper and Row, 1975);Google Scholar and Smith, Huston, Forgotten Truth: The Primordial Tradition (New York: Harper and Row, 1976).Google Scholar
9 See. Rahner, K., “Anonymous Christians,” TI 6: 390–98;Google Scholar “Anonymous Christianity and the Missionary Task of the Church,” TI 12: 161-78; “The One Christ and the Universality of Salvation,” TI 16; 199–224;Google Scholar and Foundations of Christian Faith: An Introduction to the Idea of Christianity, tr. Dych, William V. (New York: Seabury, 1978), pp. 295–98.Google Scholar
10 See Lonergan, Bernard, Philosophy of God and Theology (London: Darton, Longman & Todd, 1973), p. 50;Google Scholar and Method in Theology (New York: Herder & Herder, 1973), esp. pp. 101–24.Google ScholarPubMed
11 See Austin, J. L., How to Do Things with Words (Oxford: Clarendon, 1962), pp. 4–7;Google Scholar and Ricoeur, Paul, Interpretation Theory: Discourse and the Surplus of Meaning (Fort Worth: Texas Christian University Press, 1976), pp. 1–23.Google Scholar
12 See Rahner, Karl, “Priest and Poet,” TI 3: 294–317;Google Scholar “The Theology of the Symbol,” TI 4: 221-52; “Theology of Freedom,” TI 6; 178-96; Spiritual Exercises, tr. Baker, Kenneth (New York: Herder, 1965), pp. 16–26, 31, 34, 39, and 142;Google Scholar and The Priesthood, tr. Quinn, Edward (New York: Seabury, 1973), pp. 173 and 222.Google Scholar Cf., Callahan, Annice, Karl Rahner's Spirituality of the Pierced Heart: A Reinterpretation of Devotion to the Sacred Heart (Lanham, MD: University Press of America, 1985), pp. 35–37, 43–46, 90–96.Google Scholar
13 See Rahner, K., “The Eternal Significance of the Humanity of Jesus for Our Relationship with God,” TI 3: 35–46;Google Scholar “‘Behold This Heart! Preliminaries to a Theology of Devotion to the Sacred Heart,” TI 3: 321-30; “Some Theses for a Theology of Devotion to the Sacred Heart,” TI 3: 331-52; and “The Man with the Pierced Heart, Servants of the Lord, tr. Strachan, Richard (New York: Herder and Herder, 1968), pp. 107–19.Google Scholar Cf. Callahan, pp. 37, 46-48, 75-77, 90-100. See also Rahner, K., “E Latere Christi. Der Ursprung der Kirche als zweiter Eva aus der Seite Christi des zweiten Adam. Eine Untersuchung ueber den typologischen Sinn von Jo 19.34,” Diss., Innsbruck, 1936.Google Scholar
14 I disagree with Gordon Kaufman who claims that we experience ourselves not God. See Kaufman, Gordon D., Systematic Theology: A Historicist Perspective (New York: Scribner's, 1968), esp. pp. 223–34.Google Scholar
15 See Bernard of Clairvaux, Sermo in Cantico LXI, P.L. CLVIII, 761.; and Gertrude the Great, Life and Revelations of Saint Gertrude (London: Burns & Oates, 1870), esp. pp. 236, 257, 315, and 414.Google Scholar Cf. Bynum, Caroline W., Jesus as Mother: Studies in the Spirituality of the High Middle Ages (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1982), pp. 175–209.Google Scholar See also Rahner, , “E Latere,” pp. 102–104.Google Scholar Cf. Callahan, pp. 11-13.
16 See Rahner, , TI 3: 352Google Scholar, and “E Latere Christi.” Cf. Callahan, pp. 14-27.
17 See Rahner, K., Visions and Prophecies, tr. Henkey, Charles and Strachan, Richard (London: Burns & Oates, 1963), esp. pp. 53, 63, and 68.Google Scholar Cf. Egan, Harvey D. S.J., , What Are They Saying About Mysticism? (New York: Paulist, 1982), pp. 9, 119–20;Google Scholar and Christian Mysticism: The Future of a Tradition (New York: Pueblo, 1984), pp. 101–06, 275–77, 303–20.Google Scholar
18 For the use of the metaphor of earth-womb and woman as earth-womb, see Weber, Christin Lore, WomanChrist: A New Vision of Feminist Spirituality (San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1987), pp. 8, 19, 48, 64–65, 67, 72–73, 142.Google Scholar
19 See Hobday, Jose, “Seeking a Moist Heart: Native American Ways for Helping the Spirit” in Western Spirituality, ed. Fox, Matthew (Santa Fe, NM: Bear & Co., 1981), pp. 317–29.Google Scholar
