Overcoming Theological Amnesia by Michael Root

[Akita Suggagaki]

Overcoming Theological Amnesia - First Things

Ressourcement. It’s a French word that means “resourcing”—or, better, “re-sourcing.” As a term in theology, it calls for renewal based on a return to richer, more original sources, especially...

www.firstthings.com

I will add a comment tomorrow.

 

[Akita Suggagaki]

"Strictly speaking, “Baroque theology” refers to the scholastic theology of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, but Congar used it as a blanket term for scholasticism as he encountered it in his own time. The old scholasticism didn’t need to be supplemented; it needed to be sidelined, if not eliminated."

"To put it bluntly: Over the last three generations, theological students have been taught to ignore virtually all theology written between the death of Aquinas in 1274 and the stirrings of theological change in the 1920s and 1930s. (John Henry Newman stands as the exception.) "


So the main point is that this period (between the death of Aquinas in 1274 and the stirrings of theological change in the 1920s and 1930s) has been neglected. Of course that must not include the reformers or the spirituality writers such as John of the Cross, Francis de Sales. The author of the article mentions guys like Matthias Joseph Scheeben, Maurice de la Taille and Prudentius de Letter. Well, true enough. I never heard of them.

I like his suggestions:
" First, a goal theologians should set for themselves is to speak and write in a common and generally understandable theological language, one that is precise, but at least within hailing distance of everyday English."

"A second suggestion: We need to write less about theology, which is to say about theological method or the foundations of theology, and less about this or that theologian. We need to write more about the actual subject matter of theology—God, Christ, the Holy Spirit, the Church, grace, the sacraments—and do so with primary reference to the Scriptures and the teachings of the Church."

 

[zippy2006]

I had downloaded this article but haven't read it yet.

"To put it bluntly: Over the last three generations, theological students have been taught to ignore virtually all theology written between the death of Aquinas in 1274 and the stirrings of theological change in the 1920s and 1930s. (John Henry Newman stands as the exception.) "

I don't think this is really correct. There is an emphasis on Aquinas, not an exclusion of later theologians. The author overlooks the fact that earlier writers are as neglected as later writers, and that the focus on Aquinas is neither anti-modern nor anti-patristic.

The reason the Church has focused on Aquinas is because modern theology is foundationless. Matthew Minerd has a great rant on Pints with Aquinas about how the "nouvelle théologie" theologians wrote and acted as if they had no teachers. That revolutionary epoch of the mid-20th century was filled with hubris, and it provided novice theologians with no foundation for learning theology. It was a very negative period where it was fashionable to reject traditions and thinkers, and therefore it's no wonder that the Church reached back to a theologian who is constructive and not merely deconstructive.

 

[zippy2006]

Okay, I read it. A good article.

"Strictly speaking, “Baroque theology” refers to the scholastic theology of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, but Congar used it as a blanket term for scholasticism as he encountered it in his own time. The old scholasticism didn’t need to be supplemented; it needed to be sidelined, if not eliminated."

This is an odd way to start your post, given that the context actually has the author disagreeing with Congar. Your contextless quote indicates otherwise. These are the preceding sentences that you leave out:

But there was a critical, negative, and potentially destructive edge to the ressourcement program. The rejuvenation of Catholic theology required that the old be swept away. Yves Congar noted at one point in his post–World War II journal that he and Marie-Dominique Chenu agreed “on the necessity of ‘liquidating Baroque theology.’”​

Further on, in the author's own voice:

A wider ressourcement brings new resources into the present; it does not return to the past. Today, the “Baroque theology” that attracted the ire of Yves Congar is a “new resource.” We might even profit from a reexamination of the maligned theology manuals. We might learn a thing or two about how to write good (and no doubt quite different) textbooks for today’s seminarians and other beginning students in theology.​

And the concluding paragraph in full:

Let me end with one such argument. It cannot be denied that Catholic theology is pursued today with little or no firsthand knowledge of most of what has been written and thought over the last 700 years. My own experience has led me to judge this a loss that has handicapped us. My thinking over the last decade has been enriched and sharpened by my reading of theologians from those neglected centuries—Scotus, Diego Laínez, Báñez, Suárez, Möhler, Scheeben, de la Taille, De Letter, even Ockham (yes, Ockham—his arguments are sharp and illuminating, even if one thinks he is wrong in the end). Saint Paul exhorts us to put on the full armor of God (Eph. 6:11). As theologians, we need all the resources the Spirit provides, and among those are the riches that, all too foolishly, have been cast aside.​

Overall this is a good and important article, akin to C. S. Lewis' writings against "chronological snobbery."

Edit: Maybe the elephant in the room is intellectual acumen. Theology has been dumbed down in part because students are not as capable, especially with ancient languages. Aquinas is a challenge for most theology students, and he is used because he is one of the easiest theologians to read and understand.

 

[zippy2006]

Related: Catholic Theology: Where Do We Go From Here? (Church Life Journal)

And for @Akita Suggagaki - a new piece by Anne Carpenter, a young Catholic professor who is a capable scholar and yet is uncharacteristically left-leaning in her thinking.

 

[Akita Suggagaki]

Edit: Maybe the elephant in the room is intellectual acumen. Theology has been dumbed down in part because students are not as capable, especially with ancient languages. Aquinas is a challenge for most theology students, and he is used because he is one of the easiest theologians to read and understand.

A comment was also made about how even current theologians are lay people who have not had the grooming of high schools, undergrad and grad school focus on Classic languages, philosophy and theology. So there is almost an unfathomable wealth of resources to draw upon. But unless they are connected in a relevant was to the issues people face today it is all just academic amusement.

Thanks fort the other two articles. I will have a look.

 

[Akita Suggagaki]

Related: Catholic Theology: Where Do We Go From Here? (Church Life Journal)

And for @Akita Suggagaki - a new piece by Anne Carpenter, a young Catholic professor who is a capable scholar and yet is uncharacteristically left-leaning in her thinking.

Connected to the last piece was Christic Mimesis in Dostoevsky's Apocalypticism. I am eager to read it as I love Dostoevsky and recently more aware of mimesis.

 

[zippy2006]

A comment was also made about how even current theologians are lay people who have not had the grooming of high schools, undergrad and grad school focus on Classic languages, philosophy and theology.

Yes, but it is also true that clerical education has diminished at pace. High school seminaries are now basically non-existent, and early education in the faith is as uncommon among clerics as laypeople. This is why Rome has now mandated a propaedeutic year for seminarians, to try to catch them up. At this point the priest's only edge is that he has had 9 years of education by the time he is ordained, whereas a layperson with a Master's degree will have had 6. Still, the educational decline in one sphere mimics the other.

I am eager to read it as I love Dostoevsky and recently more aware of mimesis.

 

[Akita Suggagaki]

Yes, but it is also true that clerical education has diminished at pace. High school seminaries are now basically non-existent, and early education in the faith is as uncommon among clerics as laypeople. This is why Rome has now mandated a propaedeutic year for seminarians, to try to catch them up. At this point the priest's only edge is that he has had 9 years of education by the time he is ordained, whereas a layperson with a Master's degree will have had 6. Still, the educational decline in one sphere mimics the other.

Yep, folks can get an MTS (Masters in Theological Studies) in just 2 years. And that reflects the global trend away from humanities toward STEM.
Maybe in the old days at least the religious elite were able to get that comprehensive education and formation. But even then kind of rare. These days hardly anyone is interested anyway. I have an M. Div. and an M.A in spirituality. But let me tell you, it hardly scratches the surface. I only begin to get a clue of how much I don't know and it is overwhelming.

 

[Akita Suggagaki]

Related: Catholic Theology: Where Do We Go From Here? (Church Life Journal)

It seems that if there is no job market with a theological education, there is less demand. But same goes for most of the humanities these days.
Perhaps employers across the markets will some day want well rounded, well educated people.
But at a local level (cathedral and parish) at least discussion groups can pique some interest, curiosity and study.
We don't have time to do much in depth study unless we are students.

Back on the OP article, it is not just Baroque theology that got left behind. Of course I guess my mind is split now. Are we talking about the average person in the pew or the academic? The academics are diminishing. The people in the pew are as they have always been, doing what they can.

I like to read theology. Currently I like David Tracy. He can talk about the entire gamut of theologians and sort them out. When I go to Knights of Columbus meeting it is pointless to talk about that kind of theology. So what is the theology that matter to a bunch of guys here in now? Guys who have jobs and families and don't read David Tracy, Aquinas or even much of anyone?

 

[zippy2006]

When I go to Knights of Columbus meeting it is pointless to talk about that kind of theology. So what is the theology that matter to a bunch of guys here in now? Guys who have jobs and families and don't read David Tracy, Aquinas or even much of anyone?

I would say that if one knows theology and Church history very well they can engage these people. Our tradition is so vast that the things common people are now interested in have been addressed in one way or another in the past.

But the easier way is probably a book club. Fiction, self-help, bestsellers, etc. Guys will engage in conversation and argument when the material is accessible, and there is plenty of fiction that involves philosophical and theological themes. Maybe not everyone is willing to read books, but for those who are this is an option. If you advertise it in the parish I'm guessing you will find takers.

 

[Akita Suggagaki]

I would say that if one knows theology and Church history very well then can engage these people. Our tradition is so vast that the things common people are now interested in have been addressed in one way or another in the past.

But the easier way is probably a book club. Fiction, self-help, bestsellers, etc. Guys will engage in conversation and argument when the material is accessible, and there is plenty of fiction that involves philosophical and theological themes. Maybe not everyone is willing to read books, but for those who are this is an option. If you advertise it in the parish I'm guessing you will find takers.

Or even talk about the theology of favorite tv shows and movies.

Thanks for that Church Life Journal link. There is a lot there I want to read.

 

[chevyontheriver]

I had downloaded this article but haven't read it yet.


I don't think this is really correct. There is an emphasis on Aquinas, not an exclusion of later theologians. The author overlooks the fact that earlier writers are as neglected as later writers, and that the focus on Aquinas is neither anti-modern nor anti-patristic.

The reason the Church has focused on Aquinas is because modern theology is foundationless. Matthew Minerd has a great rant on Pints with Aquinas about how the "nouvelle théologie" theologians wrote and acted as if they had no teachers. That revolutionary epoch of the mid-20th century was filled with hubris, and it provided novice theologians with no foundation for learning theology. It was a very negative period where it was fashionable to reject traditions and thinkers, and therefore it's no wonder that the Church reached back to a theologian who is constructive and not merely deconstructive.

We need to reclaim not only the Patristic sources, but the other medieval sources like Bonaventure and Duns Scotus, and the folks like Scheeben. We Catholics are the folks who are willing to look at ALL of Christian history and not ignore hundreds of years of the faith like some of those other guys are prone to do.

 

[chevyontheriver]

Edit: Maybe the elephant in the room is intellectual acumen. Theology has been dumbed down in part because students are not as capable, especially with ancient languages. Aquinas is a challenge for most theology students, and he is used because he is one of the easiest theologians to read and understand.

This!

 

[Aaron112]

Overcoming Theological Amnesia - First Things

Ressourcement. It’s a French word that means “resourcing”—or, better, “re-sourcing.” As a term in theology, it calls for renewal based on a return to richer, more original sources, especially...

www.firstthings.com

"Ressourcement. It’s a French word that means “resourcing”—or, better, “re-sourcing.” As a term in theology, it calls for renewal based on a return to richer, more original sources,"

What is the most authentic, most true, most original source of all ?
Is it not Scripture ?
The best source of all!
When people read Scripture, it is directly God's Own Word - True, Pure, Wise, Best !

"Let the righteous smite me; it shall be a kindness: and let him reprove me; it shall be an excellent oil, which shall not break my head:"

 

[Akita Suggagaki]

"Ressourcement. It’s a French word that means “resourcing”—or, better, “re-sourcing.” As a term in theology, it calls for renewal based on a return to richer, more original sources,"

What is the most authentic, most true, most original source of all ?
Is it not Scripture ?
The best source of all!
When people read Scripture, it is directly God's Own Word - True, Pure, Wise, Best !

"Let the righteous smite me; it shall be a kindness: and let him reprove me; it shall be an excellent oil, which shall not break my head:"

Scripture is the core. But it must be talked about, shared, interpreted discussed, thought about, pondered, even questioned and explored. That is all part of Christian tradition.

 

[chevyontheriver]

Yep, folks can get an MTS (Masters in Theological Studies) in just 2 years. And that reflects the global trend away from humanities toward STEM.
Maybe in the old days at least the religious elite were able to get that comprehensive education and formation. But even then kind of rare. These days hardly anyone is interested anyway. I have an M. Div. and an M.A in spirituality. But let me tell you, it hardly scratches the surface. I only begin to get a clue of how much I don't know and it is overwhelming.

We as a Church seem to be becoming exemplars of the Dunning-Kruger effect (or the Kruger-Dunning effect - I can never remember which name comes first) as we no longer even know what we don't know. This would have been a much smaller problem a couple of generations ago. But now many of us think we don't need language skills and we can get significant degrees in two years. I'm glad you know how much you don't know. That's getting rarer.

(So much of CF is posts by people who don't know what they don't know.)

 

[chevyontheriver]

"Ressourcement. It’s a French word that means “resourcing”—or, better, “re-sourcing.” As a term in theology, it calls for renewal based on a return to richer, more original sources,"

What is the most authentic, most true, most original source of all ?
Is it not Scripture ?
The best source of all!
When people read Scripture, it is directly God's Own Word - True, Pure, Wise, Best !

"Let the righteous smite me; it shall be a kindness: and let him reprove me; it shall be an excellent oil, which shall not break my head:"

As this discussion is showing, a ressourcement which excludes certain eras in the Church ends up being hollowed out. The most hollowed out is typically the result of ignoring everything from the close of the NT to the present day.

 

[zippy2006]

We as a Church seem to be becoming exemplars of the Dunning-Kruger effect (or the Kruger-Dunning effect - I can never remember which name comes first) as we no longer even know what we don't know. This would have been a much smaller problem a couple of generations ago. But now many of us think we don't need language skills and we can get significant degrees in two years.

Yes, and part of this is that we no longer enforce prerequisites for Master's degrees. The universities are too desperate for students to do that. Traditionally a two-year Master's degree in a discipline required four years of undergraduate preparation in a related discipline.

The looming question of Church tradition in a postmodern and democratic age asks how individuals and the Church are to understand and navigate 2,000 years of Church history. We really do need a hermeneutic of tradition, and that is what many theologians are now working on. In that vein I am working through John Betz' "The Analogy of Tradition," in Word on Fire's new journal, The New Ressourcement.

 

[chevyontheriver]

Yes, and part of this is that we no longer enforce prerequisites for Master's degrees. The universities are too desperate for students to do that. Traditionally a two-year Master's degree in a discipline required four years of undergraduate preparation in a related discipline.

The looming question of Church tradition in a postmodern and democratic age asks how individuals and the Church are to understand and navigate 2,000 years of Church history. We really do need a hermeneutic of tradition, and that is what many theologians are now working on. In that vein I am working through John Betz' "The Analogy of Tradition," in Word on Fire's new journal, The New Ressourcement.

I think the mere language requirements would have once included Latin and either German or French or both. I don't know ANYONE in my 3D life that took Latin. OK, a married couple who were in the Classics Department at the University of Minnesota ages ago. I remember meeting a seminary professor who was dealing with Ugaritic poetry. How doew a person go from zero language skills to being able to compare Ugarit and Hebrew idioms? We seem to have dummied down a lot.

I have a muddling ability in Latin, nowhere near a competence in it. My brain doesn't think in Latin. I only managed that in English and for a few years in Mandinka, which I spoke daily when I was in the Peace Corps forty years ago.

We do have a lot of history. So much easier for the Protestants who have a 1500 year break in material they can ignore.