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FINGERS POINTING TO THE MOON

AN ANALYSIS OF THE THEOLOGICAL METHOD
OF KARL RAHNER AND EDWARD SCHILLEBEECKX
IN THE CASE OF CHRIST AND AN EXPLANATION OF RELIGIOUS PLURALISM

Liem Pham, S.J.

Lời để chuyển ý, được ý hãy quên lời.
If you get the meaning, forget the word.
(Trang Tử)

Bè để qua sông, qua sông hãy bỏ bè. Đừng vác bè mà đi.
After the boat carries you across the river, leave it behind. Don’t carry the boat on your shoulder.
(Trang Tử)

“This is like a man pointing a finger at the moon to show it to others who should follow the direction of the finger to look at the moon. If they look at the finger and mistake it for the moon, the lose (sight of) both the moon and the finger.”
(The Surangama Sutra).

TABLE OF CONTENTS

TABLE OF CONTENTS.. 3

Rahner’s biography. 7

Schillebeeckx’s biography. 8

Introduction. 9

I. CHRIST: THE UNSURPASSABLE OF REVELATION (Karl Rahner) 14

1. God’s Self-Communication. 14

a. Transcendental anthropology. 14

Subject and person. 15

Transcendent experience. 16

Unthematic and categorical knowledge of God. 17

b. Grace as self-communication of God. 19

c. Jesus Christ as the absolute savior 20

Resurrection. 21

The final prophet 21

Absolute savior 22

2. Non-Christian Religions. 24

a. Universal salvation. 24

b. Grace through symbols. 25

Human structure. 26

Knowledge by senses. 26

Body-- symbol of person. 26

Experiences of God through symbols. 27

Grace through symbols. 28

c. Other religions willed by God. 29

Christian Church. 30

Non-Christian religions. 30

3. Rahner’s Theological Method. 32

a. Rahner’s audience. 32

b. Theological method. 33

Transcendental 34

Christocentric. 36

II. EXTRA MUNDUM NULLA SALUS (Ed. Schillebeeckx) 39

Section I. Schillebeeckx’s Early Theology. 39

1. Incarnation as starting point of Christology. 39

2. Church as constitutive element of salvation. 40

Section II. Later Schillebeeckx’s Theology. 42

1. God’s Salvation Experienced In The World. 43

a. Salvation experienced in worldly reality. 44

b. No revelation without experience. 46

2. Religions- Concrete Context of Talk about God. 49

a. Religions- sacraments of salvation. 49

b. Pluralism- matter of principle. 51

c. Church- one among others. 53

3. Jesus- God’s Universal Love to Human Beings. 54

a. Jesus- God’s universal love for human beings. 54

b. Jesus redeems us. 56

4. Method and Audience. 59

a. Schillebeeckx’s audience. 59

b. Schillebeeckx’s method. 60

Critical correlation. 61

Theological hermeneutics of history. 62

Theocentric. 63

III. FINGERS POINTING TO THE MOON.. 66

1. God as Ineffable Reality. 66

a. Reality and human reason. 66

Concepts and reality. 67

Skepticism refusing science. 68

Agnosticism refusing theology. 69

True and false. 70

Language--dogma. 70

b. Reality as standard. 72

c. Religions as “fingers pointing to the moon” 74

2. Fingers Compared (Rahner and Schillebeeck) 75

a. The significance of different audiences. 75

Audience chosen. 76

Different transcendental conditions. 77

b. The significance of different methods. 78

Transcendental versus correlative. 78

Dogmatic versus hermeneutical 79

Christocentric versus theocentric. 81

3. Theologies-- Fingers Pointing to God. 82

a. Audiences of various mentalities entail different theologies. 83

b. Tensions of theologians. 85

CONCLUSION.. 88

Bibliography. 93

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Giuse Phạm Thanh Liêm, S.J.

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