The content of faith : the best of Karl Rahner's theological writings /
edited by Karl Lehmann and Albert Raffelt ; translation edited by Harvey D. Egan.
- New York : Crossroad, 1993.
- xiii, 668 pages ; 24 cm.
Translation of: Rechenschaft des Glaubens.
Includes bibliographical references (p. 663-668).
What is Christianity -- The Mystery of Existence -- On the Living God -- Jesus Christ -- The Holy Spirit
The origins of the Content of Faith go back to the anthology Rechenschaft des Glaubens (1979), edited by Karl Lehmann and Albert Raffelt, and long recognized as the best available anthology present book, to which Harvey D. Eghan has added fifteen new articles serving either to bring the volume up to the year of Rahner's death (1948) or to round out the presentation of his thought for the benefit of English-speaking readers. Among the newer pieces, for instance, are Rahner's "Women and the Priesthood." "Theses for the Unity of the Churches," "Theses for the Unity of the Churches". "A Letter from the Pope in the Year 2020," and "What the People Actually Believe," which underscores a typical Rahenerian theme: the need for the magisterium to listen to the "catechism of the heart" of the faithful. The volume consists of 174 selections grouped under eight headings, covering the full spectrum of Christian theology from theological anthropology to eschatology. Approximately forty-five percent of the material comes from the twenty-three volumes of Theological Investigations (now complete), with the remainder, in large measure, from books that are no longer available except in libraries. Twelve of the selections have never appeared in English before–five of them, for example, having been published in the five-volume Handbuch der Pastoraltheologie, which has not been translated to this day. The aim of the book is "to guide people to Rahner's spirituality and thought, whit as much authenticity and diversity as possible"; to present Rahner's thought, to the extent that this is humanly feasible (there are some four thousand items in his bibliography), "whole and abridge." All the essential perspectives and dimensions of his theological work have been brought into play: his unique, experimental style of thinking; his through (but generally unobtrusive) familiarity with Scripture, the church fathers, and medieval theology; his way of defining concepts precisely; his critical objections in the area of church life and politics; and the spiritual inexhaustibility of his intimate writings on prayer. The selections themselves are introduced by a forty-one-page "Portrait" of Rahner by Bishop Lehmann, providing a masterful summary of his life and the history of his thought, a profile of the basic structure of his theology, and an appreciation of his incalculable contribution to life of the church and the course of theology in the twentieth century.