Abstract
I remember being deeply moved when I first read Karl Rahner’s On Prayer, based on a series of meditations he had given in Munich after World War II. Moved and surprised: I had not associated Rahner’s writings with such power to affect the heart. Rational, persuasive, brilliant, insightful, yes, but not spiritually moving. I shouldn’t have been surprised, however. It does not take much in the way of attentive reading to find in Rahner’s writings signs of an affective dialogue with the One he sought to understand: “Prayer is the language in which the heart asks God to hear it.” 1 Similarly, the efforts of theologians and ethicists to fashion sound theological constructions are, in their best moments, informed by a heart transformed by the divine encounter. They are performances of what Balthasar called a kneeling theology, expressions of our lived attunement to the existential fundamentals of the Christian faith.
This spirit guided the late Paul Crowley, SJ when he started a new feature in the journal, “Theological Meditation,” to appear in each December issue. He saw it as an opportunity to place theology and spirituality into conversation. Spirituality, at least as it is understood here, is neither theology-light nor the emotional stepchild of theology, but rather a vital, reflective moment within the intellectual life of the church. Through theoretical ideas and affective images grounded in Scripture and the wisdom of the saints, spiritual writings intend and facilitate the metanoia of the Christian, eliciting from the will and passion an ever more complete surrender to a living tradition and to the Person who inspires it.
For this year’s “Theological Meditation,” the journal is delighted to offer the reflections of M. Cathleen Kaveny, “Anger, Lamentation, and Common Ground.” At a time awash in a backlash of anger, Kaveny helps us see how a fractured and divided community can reshape its angry cries of betrayal and denunciation in the face of the sex abuse crisis. Communal prayer, inspired by the biblical tradition of lament, seeks not facile redress or polarizing resolutions but a context for grief’s expression, a wounded community standing together before a passionate God.
Is there a good anger, and, if so, how do we recognize it? Virtue theory can assist in such discernments, as Daniel Daly shows in “Virtue Ethics and Action Guidance.” As is appropriate given the complex dynamics to which virtue theory itself attends, the guidance that it facilitates is the fruit of multipronged reflections, including dialogue, emulation, and thoughtful consideration of the virtues themselves.
Continuing this discussion in a christological direction, we can ask whether Jesus was tempted to a “bad” anger (even if never giving in to it). Ximian Xu’s “Did Christ Have a Conscience?” appeals to the Reformed theologian Herman Bavinck to propose a christological framework for addressing that question and making sense of the Christian belief that Christ was like us in all things but sin.
Finally, we move from the mystery of Christ’s humanity to that ultimate mystery, the triune God. It was serendipity that the journal received, during the same period, three excellent essays, each of which examines some aspect of trinitarian theology. Nicholas E. Lombardo, OP’s “Divine Persons and Notional Acts” considers Aquinas’s often overlooked idea of notional acts to show how it underscores the dynamic and intercommunicative nature of intra-triune relationships. Language about the triune life will always be inadequate, but the tradition has judged some images as more fitting than others. Eugene R. Schlesinger’s “Overcoming the ‘Distance’” argues that the traditional, psychological analogy can be revised in a way that reduces, if not eliminates, the perceived tension between it and the images favored by Balthasar. Showing how trinitarian theology intersects eschatology, Neil Ormerod’s “Trinitarian Analysis of the Beatific Vision” appeals to recent work in trinitarian theology to construct an approach to the beatific vision that expands beyond perception to include an active and trinitarian participation in the divine life.
With this issue, under the leadership of our book review editor Matthew Ashley, we begin a new, occasional feature, the “Review Forum,” in which invited scholars discuss an important event or milestone in the realm of theological publications. This issue’s forum celebrates the conclusion of Bernard McGinn’s magisterial seven-volume history of mysticism in the Christian West, The Presence of God, by bringing together McGinn himself, David Tracy, and Sandra Schneiders to reflect on the volumes’ impact on the history of theology and spirituality.
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I want to express my gratitude for members of the Board of Editorial Consultants who have completed their term of service: Francine Cardman, Catherine Cornille, Roberto Goizueta, Werner Jeanrond, Mary Colleen Mallon, Agbonkhianmeghe Orobator, SJ, and Stephen Pope. In turn, I also enthusiastically welcome five new members: Brian Dunkle, SJ (Boston College), Vincent J. Miller (University of Dayton), Karen Peterson-Iyer (Santa Clara University), Emily Reimer-Barry (University of San Diego), and Marcel Uwineza, SJ (Hekima College/School of Theology, Kenya). I look forward to working with these new colleagues. My heartfelt thanks to them, to the board, and to all whose generous labors make the journal’s success possible.