Essays Catholic and Critical: By George P. Schner, SJ(Heythrop Studies in Contemporary Philosophy, Religion and Theology)

This book presents the most significant work of the highly esteemed contemporary theologian George Schner, who died in 2000. Gathering together his writing in the areas of theology and the philosophy of religion, it offers a distinct contribution to our understanding of the prospects and perils of undertaking theology in the Christian tradition at the present juncture. Engaging key texts in philosophy of religion from the modern period, recent official Roman Catholic teaching related to the basis and doing of theology, and the work of key representatives of the so-called 'Yale School' of post-liberal theology, the essays collected here represent acute and historically informed judgment upon the problematique of the practice of contemporary theology. Drawing together a substantial body of work of recognized intellectual scope, philosophical rigour and theological richness, this volume provides invaluable insight into key questions regarding theological method, the importance of modern philosophy of religion, the nature of theological discourse and contemporary Catholic theological reflection.

Table of Contents:
Contents: Editors' foreword; Introduction: Philosophy and the practices of Christianity, John Webster; Engaging the Catholic Tradition: 'New ways of speaking with love and mercy': Veritas Splendor and the teaching responsibility of the Church in our times; Faith, reason and theological method - Fides et Ratio; A commentary on the dogmatic constitution on Divine Revelation - Dei Verbum; Therapeutics of a philosophical tradition: Hume's Dialogues and the redefinition of the philosophy of religion; Hegel, the Spiritual Exercises and making present the past; A temple for the passions - engaging in a struggle with language; Philosophical theology: Philosophy within the study of theology; On theology - a speech to its cultured despisers; The appeal to experience; Christian theology at century's turning: The Eclipse of Bibilical Narrative - an analysis and critique; Hans Frei's Types of Christian Theology - a typology and its theological presuppositions; Theology's conversation with biblical studies: historical, critical, systematic, doctrinal; Scripture, modernity and patristic principles; Bibliography: Bibliography of the writings of George P. Schner, S.J.; Indexes.

About the Author :
Mark A. Husbands, Philip G.Ziegler

Review :
'Schner was one of the very best Christian minds of his generation, a theological and philosophical thinker of remarkable depth and range. He published rather little in his lifetime, making this posthumous collection a very significant project, displaying the scope and unremitting intellectual passion of Schner's work and giving ample testimony to his singular contribution to philosophical theology. This excellent collection - coherent, probing, written with both intellectual and spiritual penetration, creative and critical by turns - reveals the work of a very fertile theological mind at work on major problems in modern theology and philosophy.' John Webster, Lady Margaret Professor of Theology, University of Oxford, UK 'George Schner: a deeply enquiring and wide-ranging mind, a common sense for the exquisite, a soul made for companionship, a man who held nothing cheap, a sometimes reluctant friend of God and a difficult (and so, faithful) friend to God's friends. This collection of essays will help us keep thinking well beyond his untimely departure from our scene.' Frans Jozef van Beeck, S.J. John Cardinal Cody Professor of Theology Emeritus, Loyola University Chicago, USA 'George Schner had many important and original things to say on a wide range of topics, and his untimely death ended a life of philosophical and theological scholarship that held great promise for the future. The essays selected are among Dr Schner's best work, and will certainly receive the attention they deserve.' J. A. DiNoia, O.P. 'These thirteen studies, introduced by Oxford's John Webster, represent Schner at this best: parsing papal encyclicals; engaged with Hegel, Hume, and Wittgenstein; probing philosophical theology and scriptural hermeneutics. Many are the delights here... Schner left us before he could develop some of these essays into monographs. For so rich a down payment, let us give thanks.' C. Clifton Black, Princeton Theological Seminany, in Theology Today 'Essays Catholic and Critical is an edited collection of Schner's work. It not only distils years of rigorous study, but also makes a substantial contribution to the post-Conciliar theological landscape.' The Way '... these provocative pieces are [...] rich in themselves, and indeed contribute much toward a reorientation of philosophical theology in a postcritical mode.' Toronto Journal of Theology 'All these essays are worth reading and pondering. Theological libraries will [...] find in the book a welcome luxury.' Theological Book Review