The Oxford Handbook of Catholic Theology provides a one-volume introduction to all the major aspects of Catholic theology. Part One considers the nature of theological thinking, and the major topics of Catholic teaching, including the Triune God, the Creation, and the mission of the Incarnate Word. It also covers the character of the Christian sacramental life and the major themes of Catholic moral teaching. The treatments in the first part of the Handbook offer personal syntheses of Catholic teaching, but each offers an account in accord with Catholic theology as it is expressed in the Second Vatican Council and authoritative documentation. Part Two focuses on the historical development of Catholic Theology. An initial section offers essays on some of Catholic theology's most important sources between 200 and 1870, and the final section of the collection considers all the main movements and developments in Catholic theology across the world since 1870. This comprehensive volume features fifty-six original contributions by some of the best-known names in current Catholic theology from the Americas, Europe, Asia, and Africa. The chapters are written in an engaging and easily comprehensible style functioning both as a scholarly reference and as a survey of the field. There are no comparable studies available in one volume and the book will be an indispensable reference for students of Catholic theology at all levels and in all contexts.
A unique situation exists in the Nordic countries where there is a Lutheran majority living in ecumenical cooperation with other churches and ecclesiastical communities. This book attempts to shed light on what the churches have discovered they hold in common and on areas where they recognise that there are divergencies between them, both in relation to ordination and ministry, and in particular to the theology and terminology of ordination. The book brings together the research and insights of 23 researchers from all the Nordic countries studying more than 200 different kinds of 'ordination' rites from the Orthodox and Roman Catholic as well as Lutheran and non-Lutheran protestant traditions. After an introduction to the churches in the Nordic countries, the book presents 19 case studies from the Nordic countries. The last part includes some general ecumenical and liturgical perspectives on ordination and rites presented by international researchers.
Introducing readers to the contemporary field of sacramental theology, this volume covers the biblical and historical foundations, a survey of the state of the discipline, and a collection of constructive essays representing major themes, practices and approaches to sacraments and sacramentality in the contemporary world. The volume starts with a set of foundational essays that offer broad introduction to the field of sacramental theology from contemporary scholars, analysing a number of historical figures in order to illumine and inform contemporary sacramental theology. The second part of the volume is dedicated to a series of essays on sacramentality, and includes attention to elements of space, time, ritual action, music, and word, all as aspects of what Christians have termed “sacramental” reality. The third set of essays includes attention to each of the seven practices that have most commonly been termed “sacraments” in Christian traditions: baptism; eucharist/Lord's Supper; confirmation; confession, forgiveness and reconciliation; marriage; ordination; and anointing. The final part of this volume features scholars who are working on sacraments in conversation with contemporary academic disciplines: critical race theory, queer theory, comparative theology, and disability studies.
This study of bishops, presbyters, and deacons identifies four conceptualizations of the Church influencing the relationship between ordained ministry and the Church: a monarchical and hierarchical conceptualization; a eucharistic, collegial model representing the communion of particular churches; the priest, prophet, and king motif that structures the concept of the Church as the people of God; and a theology of the Church as a sacrament of Christ and ordained ministry as a sacrament of the Church. It examines the 1990 ordination rites and discusses the sacramentality of episcopal ordination, the identity of the presbyterate, and questions concerning the diaconate.
One of the most influential works in the debate over the concept and definitions of liturgical theology, Context and Text by Monsignor Kevin W. Irwin is now available in a completely rewritten, new edition. In light of the historical, theological, and pastoral mandates of the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, Context and Text is both a proposal for and an example of an investigation of the Church's liturgical praxis from a liturgical-theological perspective. This second edition, which includes an expanded introduction, covers: · new liturgical and ecclesial contexts resulting from newly promulgated liturgies · further research in methodfor liturgical studies · consideration for changes in the cultural contexts in which people celebrate the liturgy. Besides brand-new chapters on time and sacramentality, and additions to the chapter on the arts, this edition also considers the “ongoing ‘texts and contexts’ of the liturgy as always a new event in the life and ongoing discussion of liturgical theology within Christianity.
What is a deacon? More than fifty years since the restoration of the permanent diaconate by the Second Vatican Council, the office of deacon is still in need of greater specificity about its purpose and place within the mission and organizational structure of the Church. While the Church is more than a social reality, the Church nonetheless has a social reality. Our understanding of the diaconate therefore benefits from a theological discussion of the divine element of the Church and a sociological examination of the human element. Understanding the Diaconate adds the resources of sociology and anthropology to the theological sources of scripture, liturgy, patristic era texts, theologians, and magisterial teachings to conclude that the deacon can be understood as “social intermediary and symbol of communitas” who serves the participation of the laity in the life and mission of the Church. This research proposes the deacon as a servant of the bond of communion within the Church (facilitating the relationship between the bishop/priest and his people), and between the People of God and the individual in need. Thus authentic diaconal ministry includes a vast array of many concrete contexts of pastoral importance where one does more than simply serve at Mass.
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