Karl Rahner

Karl Rahner's (1904-84) creative proposals in theological areas made him one of the giants of 20th-century theology. The depth of his contributions has made study of Rahner's writings difficult, but Kelly's anthology of Rahner's writings overcomes the obstacles beautifully. A select bibliography neatly organizes the vast work by and on Rahner. Part of The Making of Modern Theology Series.

Karl Rahner (1904–84) was one of the most significant theological voices of the twentieth century. For many his theology has come to symbolise the Catholic Church's entry into modernity. Part of his enduring appeal lies in his ability to reflect on a whole variety of issues in theology and spirituality and concentrate this plurality into a few basic convictions. This Cambridge Companion provides an accessible introduction to the main themes of Rahner's work. Written by an international array of experts, it will be of interest to both students and scholars alike. Each chapter serves as a guide to its topic and recommends further reading for additional study. The contributors also assess Rahner's significance for contemporary theology by bringing his thought into dialogue with many current concerns including: religious pluralism, spirituality, postmodernism, ecumenism, ethics and developments in political and feminist theologies.

This bold and original book explores the relationship between Rahner's philosophy and his theology, which reveal it as much more progressive and open-ended than previously considered.

Karl Rahner, who died in 1984 at the age of eighty, is recognized as one of the greatest of twentieth-century Roman Catholic theologians, but his works are forbidding in their extent (the list ofhis writings numbers over 4000 titles!) and his language has often been found extremely difficult by his readers. Moreover, many of those who never had the opportunity to meet him know little about his personality and his life. In this attractive study, Herbert Vorgrimler, a former pupil and lifelong friend, demonstrates that Raiier's work is not as unapproachable as it is made out to be. He begins by producing a portrait of Rahner, his personal characteristics, his main interests, his style, his language, his audience and his spirituality, so that without having specific details of his work and career, we feel that we know the man we are to meet. Then he traces the course of Rahner's life, setting his major writiligs in a personal context and against the background of the development of Roman Catholic theology in the twentieth century, before and after the Second Vatican Council. An appendix illuminates the Council from letters by Rahner to the author, some of which appear for the first time.

Those familiar with Rahner's writings will recognize here the distinctive theological emphases and interests he elsewhere pursued in detail and depth - theological anthropology, pluralism of religions, atheism, science and theology, death, hope and religious experience, to name some of them. The discussions in this book are clear and concrete, indicating at almost every turn Rahner's courage and humility in theological construction and criticism.

Padriac Conway is Director of the UCD International Centre for Newman Studies and a Vice-President of University College Dublin. --Book Jacket.

Karl Rahner has been the most influential Catholic theologian in this century. His writings helped to prepare the way for Vatican II and did much to shape the Church in the post-conciliar period. In this book, a former student of Rahner and fellow Jesuit interweaves passages from Rahner's writings.

Theological including the New Image of the Church, A Brief Theological Study on Indulgence, Marriage as a Sacrament, and On the Theology of Hope.