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Is your God bound by your conception of him? There is a hadith in which on Judgment Day God presents himself to believers. But they reject him because he is not the God they conceived during their lifetime. Then he changes his form but they reject him again. This keeps happening until finally...

There is a phenomenon called Double Belonging that has been around in the Roman Catholic Church since perhaps the 19th Century that primarily involves participation in a second religion.Early examples are Bede Griffiths and Swami Abishiktananda, but there are many others. This most...

As a Catholic Christian, I affirm and proclaim the doctrine of the Holy Trinity. Much ink has been spilled in explaining how the Trinity is both "One-in-Three" and "Three-in-One." Most Christian theologians approach the Trinity as being God's primal nature. A Chinese convert to Catholicism...

While most of my study of Islam was years ago, I have recently returned to the study of Quran recitation in Arabic and maintain an interest in Islamic spirituality--aka, Sufism. But this interest has often been met with suspicion and criticism. I was relieved to find that one of the world's...

This subject has to do with both sacramental theology and interfaith dialogue. A sacrament is an outward sign of Divinity or Divine grace. It is also a means of the experience of grace and participation in the Divine Nature. Interfaith dialogue seeks to increase understanding between religions...

I came across a verse in the Qur'an which makes me ask this question. The Surah is Al-Falak (The Dawn), #113. "Bismi 'llahi Rahmani Raheem. Say, "I seek refuge in the Lord of the dawn, From the evil of what He created, And from the evil of darkness when it spreads, And from the evil of the...

I would like this thread to be an opportunity--especially for Muslims, but all are welcome--to discuss any aspect of the Qur'an. I mean for this to be a positive thread. Possible topics could be anything from memorizing or reciting the Qur'an in the Arabic to your favorite passage. Also, what...

I apologize in advance for the length and nature of this post. Years ago I studied the Quran in Quranic Arabic. I always had an interest in world religions and language, and this study was a point of convergence for the two interests. Quran recitation can be very beautiful, as it is a kind of...

Descartes describes the human being as res cogitans, the "thinking thing." In other words, we are in essence a "substance" which can exist or be thought of independently of the world. Heidegger, on the other hand, describes the human being as "being-in-the-world." In his view, our...

Dear Theologians, The theology that I have been studying proposes that perhaps the most central concern for Christianity is or ought to be grace. Karl Rahner believes that God planned on self-communicating to humankind in grace before creation took place. This he has been doing throughout...

I borrow the term "course correction" from 20th century Catholic theologian Karl Rahner and chose it over the "c"-word (change, of course) because he thought it possible for such an adjustment to be made without upending or contradicting the teachings of the Church. What is a course correction...

The report is that the new Vatican Secretary of State said that priestly celibacy is neither dogma nor divinely instituted and therefore open to dialogue. This is a sometimes emotional and controversial subject. As the discussion ensues in this thread, please be respectful on both sides of the...

"[Karl] Rahner calls the Bible the 'Church's Book' in that it stems from the origin of the Church, was canonized in the Church, and serves as a concrete norm for the Church." (Buller: The Theology of Karl Rahner) In other words, one cannot completely justify separating the Bible from Church...

Greetings. I came across the following idea in a book I read about Karl Rahner: Karl Rahner has expressed the view that the Catholic theologian almost always has the freedom to criticize the Church in good faith. He thinks this role of the theologian is a positive contribution to the Church...

This concept is consistent with Catholic doctrine, and it deals with the problem of: What happens to the good Buddhist? Or even atheist? To answer this question, Rahner makes the "distinction between explicit and implicit levels of consciousness. what goes on in the depths and what is made...

During the Middle Ages, a dual doctrine of grace developed and is still thought of as the traditional belief. This is the belief that man is created with access to a natural grace. This natural grace accounts for a certain potential good in man. Through baptism, there is an infusion of...

Many Catholics today claim that the Catholic faith is engaged in a war against the encroachment of secular society. Catholic theologian Karl Rahner, however, always felt that our Catholic faith should engage secular society in a meaningful way. Edmund Hussey is an expert on Karl Rahner's master...

The Early Church Fathers didn't speculate much about--or have a theology of--consciousness. That has been more of a characteristic of Eastern religion. But we do know that Orthodox Christianity professes two natures in Jesus Christ. Catholic theologian Emile Mersch, who died in 1940, came along...

The last time I went to Confession, I was the only person. The time before that, there was one other. A neighboring parish priest only hears Confession by appointment, presumably because so few people were coming. What's with that? Is Confession on its way out?

In the last several months I have been reading a lot of theology--currently Summa Theologica, which is a rather large time investment. But I have found that this reading is at the expense of some devotions and prayers I used to do. (I still try to pray the Rosary daily). I have read, though...