Karl Rahner

The question of whether Protestant ministers are validly ordained remains a barrier for ecumenical reconciliation between Roman Catholics and Protestants. Because Catholics in the past have judged Protestant ordinations to be invalid, the Catholic Church in the present feels bound to name these communions not fully-churches. Many Protestants, however, accept Catholic bishops, priests, and deacons as ministers of the gospel and the Catholic Church as a true church (albeit one in need of ongoing reformation). Since the problem is primarily a Catholic one, any reconciliation will require that Catholics find a solution through the theological resources of their own tradition. In An Ecumenical Priesthood, Karl Rahner proposes that the nature of the church and the affirmation of the presence of grace among Protestants may open a door to renewal and healing. As canon law validates improperly contracted marriages by examining their fruits, so recognizing the spiritual fruits of Protestant sacraments could allow Catholics to restipulate their position on these sacramental acts (and thereby the validity of the ministers who perform them), without revising the Church's original judgment. Because the book is now nearly fifty years old and deals with internal Catholic questions, it is offered with an introduction to the era and an analysis of the argument, as well as an overview of recent decades of ecumenical discussions.

Seit Menschen leben, gibt es eine Ahnung von Gott - und zugleich Zweifel oder Ablehnung. Und wie ist das bei uns selbst: Konnen wir uns ein Leben ohne Gott vorstellen? Ein Leben ohne manche religiosen Rituale und Zeremonien: vielleicht - aber ohne Gott? Karl Rahner geht der Gottesfrage nach: warum Zweifel nur allzu gut verstehbar sind und wie Gottes Existenz dennoch erfahren werden kann. Der Theologe und Seelsorger zeigt uberzeugend auf, was unserem Menschsein fehlte, wenn Gott fehlt.

This book is a revision and condensation of a doctoral dissertation which its author wrote under the direction of the well-known Father Karl Rahner at the University of Munster. It focuses on the importance of St. Ignatius' small book, the Spiritual Exercises, as a source of theological investigation. Thus it stems from Rahner's own "conviction," as he states in his foreword, "that the real theological (and not only the spiritual) significance of Ignatius' Spiritual Exercises . . . presents a non-yet accomplished task to today's theology." Absorbing, synthesizing, and completing past studies on the Exercises, Father Egan summarizes the finding of modern scholars such as Przwara, Fessard, Karl Rahner, Hugo Rahner, Marxer, Cusson, Gil, Bakker, and Gonzalez de Mendoza--all hitherto relatively unavailable in English--and then presents his own fresh viewpoint. His quest is for Ignatius' mystical horizon, "the lived internal unity, . . . the roots of all of Ignatius' experiences, knowledge, and love." Applying the contemporary methodology in theology to the study of the Ignatian Exercises, the author offers a penetrating and comprehensive treatment of Ignatius' "consolation without previous cause," of the "Three Times of Election," including intellectual and affective discernment, the trinitarian dimensions of the Exercises, and other important Ignatian themes. The book is scholarly and extensively documented and seems to be the most comprehensive and up to date theological commentary in English on the Exercises. One experienced critic has called it "one of the greatest contributions to the present commentary on the Exercises."

This book is a revision and condensation of a doctoral dissertation which its author wrote under the direction of the well-known Father Karl Rahner at the University of Munster. It focuses on the importance of St. Ignatius' small book, the Spiritual Exercises, as a source of theological investigation. Thus it stems from Rahner's own ""conviction,"" as he states in his foreword, ""that the real theological (and not only the spiritual) significance of Ignatius' Spiritual Exercises . . . presents a non-yet accomplished task to today's theology."" Absorbing, synthesizing, and completing past studies on the Exercises, Father Egan summarizes the finding of modern scholars such as Przwara, Fessard, Karl Rahner, Hugo Rahner, Marxer, Cusson, Gil, Bakker, and Gonzalez de Mendoza--all hitherto relatively unavailable in English--and then presents his own fresh viewpoint. His quest is for Ignatius' mystical horizon, ""the lived internal unity, . . . the roots of all of Ignatius' experiences, knowledge, and love."" Applying the contemporary methodology in theology to the study of the Ignatian Exercises, the author offers a penetrating and comprehensive treatment of Ignatius' ""consolation without previous cause,"" of the ""Three Times of Election,"" including intellectual and affective discernment, the trinitarian dimensions of the Exercises, and other important Ignatian themes. The book is scholarly and extensively documented and seems to be the most comprehensive and up to date theological commentary in English on the Exercises. One experienced critic has called it ""one of the greatest contributions to the present commentary on the Exercises.""

From Christianity's very beginning, it has had a difficult relationship with the world of money. Through developing sophisticated understandings of the nature and wealth-creating capacity of capital, Christian theologians, philosophers, and financiers exerted considerable influence upon the emergence and development of the international financial systems that helped unleash a revolution in the way the world thinks about and uses capital. In For God and Profit, Samuel Gregg underscores the different ways in which Christians have helped to develop the financial and banking systems that have helped millions escape poverty for hundreds of years. But he also provides a critical lens through which to assess the workings--and failures--of modern finance and banking. Far from being doomed to producing economic instability and periodic financial crises, Gregg illustrates that how Christian faith and reason can shape financial practices and banking institutions in ways that restore integrity to our troubled financial systems.

Karl Rahners visionare Impulse zum Strukturwandel bieten wertvolle Hinweise zu einer geschwisterlichen Bewaltigung der gegenwartigen kritischen Situation der Kirche: zu einem von Klerikalismus befreiten Miteinander, zu einer konfliktfahigen demokratischen Diskussionskultur, zu einer dienenden Kirche mit ihrer zentralen Aufgabe: Glauben, Hoffen und Lieben. Die Katholische Kirche steckt in einer grossen Glaubwurdigkeitskrise, die auch strukturelle Veranderungen notwendig macht. Bereits in den 1970er-Jahren hat Karl Rahner beschrieben, dass und wie ein Strukturwandel in der Kirche moglich ist. Mit Klerikalismus, Legalismus, Schutz der eigenen Institution benennt er viele auch heute aktuelle Probleme und zeigt Wege auf fur eine Kirche der Zukunft: eine offene Kirche, die einen inneren Pluralismus ermoglicht, und verbinden, nicht trennen will; eine Kirche, die sich von der Basis her aufbaut und neu uber Amt und Leitung nachdenkt, die mehr Demokratie wagt und in die Gesellschaft hinein wirkt. In seiner Einleitung erlautert Michael Seewald, in welchem Kontext Rahners Vorschlage entstanden sind, welche zentralen Forderungen Rahner aufstellt und warum sein Text gerade heute ausserst lesenswert ist.