Theology has a problem Justifying itself to its students as well as to itself. Its proper role is to bring the student to a deeper Christian faith experience. Two methods for doing this are the “general religious experience” approach and the method which concentrates on the uniqueness of Christ and his message and an interpersonal encounter with him. The latter method is preferred, and has proven most useful in rekindling the faith among college students.

Certain proposals to construe American Catholic public theology as civil discourse assume that public theological discussion needs to be disciplined to prevent “interest groups” from imposing their agendas on all participants. These proposals urge that all parties be required to employ the language of natural law, which is to be taught to all by theological experts.

Though American Catholic public theology traditionally seeks to avoid sectarianism by employing the philosophical language of natural law, and though civil discourse would presumably reinforce this anti-sectarian tendency, it has a significant shortcoming. Requiring public religious discourse to prescind from all specific interests would rule out prophetic contributions to public theology. Prophets always speak perspectivally and reflect the interests of their historical situations. The interests of religious speakers need scrutiny, but this scrutiny should not exclude from hand prophetic discourse arising out of experiences of oppression.

The essay provides a foundation for this thesis by examining what is at work in prophetic speech. It locates prophetic discourse at the intersection of the prophet's need to proclaim and the community's need to control. The argument of the essay moves to the conclusion that American Catholic theologians need to give more attention than previously to the rhetorical dimensions of public theological discourse.

This essay examines the relationship of aesthetic and religious experience as evidenced by the poetry and yoga of Sri Aurobindo. The fundamental thesis is that the poetic process is transformative and as such is analogous to yoga. Governed by imagination, the poetic experience reveals itself in the categories of symbol and image. Aesthesis being directed by imagination involves not merely the cognitive but also the affective and volitional aspects of the human: a key moment of integration and therefore, of transformation. The development of Aurobindo's work and the transformation of his consciousness by imagination provides the opportunity to examine the relationship between imagination and myth. Two principal insights emerge. First, the goal of the yogic and poetic processes is the transformation of consciousness. Second, the individual's act of aspiration and surrender is neither unconscious nor a giving up of consciousness. Rather, the action of aspiration and surrender as the conscious and voluntary acceptance of the operation of imagination grounds the entire process: poetic, philosophic and yogic.

Archbishop Bernardin recommended that, in the relationship between magisterium and theologians, two extremes are to be avoided. On the one hand, there should be no imperialism on the part of the magisterium, co-opting theologians merely as mouthpieces for magisterial teachings. On the part of theologians, on the other hand, there should be no secession from the magisterium that would give theologians absolute autonomy and freedom from accountability. This essay analyzes the diverse charisms of magisterium and theologians and argues that they are complementary and that both parties should relate in the dialogue of charity recommended for ecumenical discussions in Pope John Paul II's Ut Unum Sint. This dialogue of charity, the essay further argues, should not be restricted to only magisterium and theologians but should embrace also, for upbuilding the Church, the entire People of God journeying together to the Holy Mystery.

The present article suggests one way a college teacher might finesse some of the pedagogical problems surrounding the autobiography of Augustine by raising a set of interrelated questions calculated to draw the student into the experiential heart of the Confessions. Attention to the literary contexts within which Augustine locates the account of his conversion allows the teacher to relate the theological significance of the work to the life experience of the student.

Can the Catholic Church be fundamentalist? Contemporary scholarship has shown that fundamentalism can take other forms than scriptural literalism. It consists in a rationalizing of traditional certainties in the face of pluralism and change. Its Catholic form could be described as “morphological,” residing in the structures of authority and power. Protestant reactions to Dominus Iesus missed the fundamentalist logic implicit in its synthesis of christology and ecclesiology. They praised the reaffirmation of Christocentrism but were dismayed that Methodists and Muslims were portrayed as inferior for essentially the same reasons. The document not only fails to reflect Vatican II's program for decentralizing authority but also overlooks the implications of Nostra Aetate 4 for interfaith dialogue. Its assertion of soteriological and theological superiority raises ethical questions. Dialogue is a religious act of welcoming the Stranger. Its refusal contains a potential for violence.

The format is a scholastic treatment of creed, sacraments, morality, and prayer with many allusions to Scripture, church Councils, and teachings of the magisterium, particularly in the social teachings of the church. This Catechism could have been written before the Second Vatican Council with references to Council documents added later, much as the biblical references were added as “proof-texts.” The biblical, liturgical, ecumenical, and catechetical movements have not had a substantial impact on the structure or content of the Catechism. There are many excellent features of the Catechism. It avoids the question-and-answer format. It dropped the major doctrinal errors. Its expanded development of prayer is superb. The greatest weakness of the Catechism is its steadfast refusal to distinguish teachings of the magisterium which demand an assent of faith from teachings which demand some other interior assent.

This article is an effort toward practical, pastoral, theological correlation, an effort to bring together the American cultural tradition and the Christian theological tradition. Its argument develops in four cumulative theses to be explicated: (1) there is a crisis of family in the United States today; (2) what is said of family in both First and Second biblical Testaments is of no direct help in that crisis; (3) what makes a family Christian is not the slavish following of some biblical saying about family but the following of Jesus confessed as the Christ; (4) the Christian family has an important contribution to make in the contemporary crisis of family in the United States. Each thesis is developed in turn.