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 92- Current tasks
for theology
Current tasks for theology
92. As an understanding of
Revelation, theology has always had to respond in
different historical moments to the demands of different
cultures, in order then to mediate the content of faith
to those cultures in a coherent and conceptually clear
way. Today, too, theology faces a dual task. On the one
hand, it must be increasingly committed to the task
entrusted to it by the Second Vatican Council, the task
of renewing its specific methods in order to serve
evangelization more effectively. How can we fail to
recall in this regard the words of Pope John XXIII at the
opening of the Council? He said then: “In line with
the keen expectation of those who sincerely love the
Christian, Catholic and apostolic religion, this doctrine
must be known more widely and deeply, and souls must be
instructed and formed in it more completely; and this
certain and unchangeable doctrine, always to be
faithfully respected, must be understood more profoundly
and presented in a way which meets the needs of our
time”. (107)
On the other hand, theology must
look to the ultimate truth which Revelation entrusts to
it, never content to stop short of that goal. Theologians
should remember that their work corresponds “to a
dynamism found in the faith itself” and that the
proper object of their enquiry is “the Truth which
is the living God and his plan for salvation revealed in
Jesus Christ”. (108) This task, which is theology's
prime concern, challenges philosophy as well. The array
of problems which today need to be tackled demands a
joint effort—approached, it is true, with different
methods—so that the truth may once again be known
and expressed. The Truth, which is Christ, imposes itself
as an all-embracing authority which holds out to theology
and philosophy alike the prospect of support, stimulation
and increase (cf. Eph 4:15).
To believe it possible to know a
universally valid truth is in no way to encourage
intolerance; on the contrary, it is the essential
condition for sincere and authentic dialogue between
persons. On this basis alone is it possible to overcome
divisions and to journey together towards full truth,
walking those paths known only to the Spirit of the Risen
Lord. (109) I wish at this point to indicate the specific
form which the call to unity now takes, given the current
tasks of theology.
93. The chief purpose of
theology is to provide an understanding of Revelation and
the content of faith. The very heart of theological
enquiry will thus be the contemplation of the mystery of
the Triune God. The approach to this mystery begins with
reflection upon the mystery of the Incarnation of the Son
of God: his coming as man, his going to his Passion and
Death, a mystery issuing into his glorious Resurrection
and Ascension to the right hand of the Father, whence he
would send the Spirit of truth to bring his Church to
birth and give her growth. From this vantage-point, the
prime commitment of theology is seen to be the
understanding of God's kenosis, a grand and mysterious
truth for the human mind, which finds it inconceivable
that suffering and death can express a love which gives
itself and seeks nothing in return. In this light, a
careful analysis of texts emerges as a basic and urgent
need: first the texts of Scripture, and then those which
express the Church's living Tradition. On this score,
some problems have emerged in recent times, problems
which are only partially new; and a coherent solution to
them will not be found without philosophy's contribution.
94. An initial problem is that
of the relationship between meaning and truth. Like every
other text, the sources which the theologian interprets
primarily transmit a meaning which needs to be grasped
and explained. This meaning presents itself as the truth
about God which God himself communicates through the
sacred text. Human language thus embodies the language of
God, who communicates his own truth with that wonderful
“condescension” which mirrors the logic of the
Incarnation. (110) In interpreting the sources of
Revelation, then, the theologian needs to ask what is the
deep and authentic truth which the texts wish
to communicate, even within the limits of language.
The truth of the biblical texts,
and of the Gospels in particular, is certainly not
restricted to the narration of simple historical events
or the statement of neutral facts, as historicist
positivism would claim. (111) Beyond simple historical
occurrence, the truth of the events which these texts
relate lies rather in the meaning they have in and for
the history of salvation. This truth is elaborated fully
in the Church's constant reading of these texts over the
centuries, a reading which preserves intact their
original meaning. There is a pressing need, therefore,
that the relationship between fact and meaning, a
relationship which constitutes the specific sense of
history, be examined also from the philosophical point of
view.
95. The word of God is not
addressed to any one people or to any one period of
history. Similarly, dogmatic statements, while reflecting
at times the culture of the period in which they were
defined, formulate an unchanging and ultimate truth. This
prompts the question of how one can reconcile the
absoluteness and the universality of truth with the
unavoidable historical and cultural conditioning of the
formulas which express that truth. The claims of
historicism, I noted earlier, are untenable; but the use
of a hermeneutic open to the appeal of metaphysics can
show how it is possible to move from the historical and
contingent circumstances in which the texts developed to
the truth which they express, a truth transcending those
circumstances.
Human language may be
conditioned by history and constricted in other ways, but
the human being can still express truths which surpass
the phenomenon of language. Truth can never be confined
to time and culture; in history it is known, but it also
reaches beyond history.
96. To see this is to glimpse
the solution of another problem: the problem of the
enduring validity of the conceptual language used in
Conciliar definitions. This is a question which my
revered predecessor Pius XII addressed in his Encyclical
Letter Humani Generis. (112)
This is a complex theme to
ponder, since one must reckon seriously with the meaning
which words assume in different times and cultures.
Nonetheless, the history of thought shows that across the
range of cultures and their development certain basic
concepts retain their universal epistemological value and
thus retain the truth of the propositions in which they
are expressed. (113) Were this not the case, philosophy
and the sciences could not communicate with each other,
nor could they find a place in cultures different from
those in which they were conceived and developed. The
hermeneutical problem exists, to be sure; but it is not
insoluble. Moreover, the objective value of many concepts
does not exclude that their meaning is often imperfect.
This is where philosophical speculation can be very
helpful. We may hope, then, that philosophy will be
especially concerned to deepen the understanding of the
relationship between conceptual language and truth, and
to propose ways which will lead to a right understanding
of that relationship.
97. The interpretation of
sources is a vital task for theology; but another still
more delicate and demanding task is the understanding of
revealed truth, or the articulation of the intellectus
fidei. The intellectus fidei, as I have noted, demands
the contribution of a philosophy of being which first of
all would enable dogmatic theology to perform its
functions appropriately. The dogmatic pragmatism of the
early years of this century, which viewed the truths of
faith as nothing more than rules of conduct, has already
been refuted and rejected; (114) but the temptation
always remains of understanding these truths in purely
functional terms. This leads only to an approach which is
inadequate, reductive and superficial at the level of
speculation. A Christology, for example, which proceeded
solely “from below”, as is said nowadays, or an
ecclesiology developed solely on the model of civil
society, would be hard pressed to avoid the danger of
such reductionism.
If the intellectus fidei wishes
to integrate all the wealth of the theological tradition,
it must turn to the philosophy of being, which should be
able to propose anew the problem of being—and this
in harmony with the demands and insights of the entire
philosophical tradition, including philosophy of more
recent times, without lapsing into sterile repetition of
antiquated formulas. Set within the Christian
metaphysical tradition, the philosophy of being is a
dynamic philosophy which views reality in its
ontological, causal and communicative structures. It is
strong and enduring because it is based upon the very act
of being itself, which allows a full and comprehensive
openness to reality as a whole, surpassing every limit in
order to reach the One who brings all things to
fulfilment. (115) In theology, which draws its principles
from Revelation as a new source of knowledge, this
perspective is confirmed by the intimate relationship
which exists between faith and metaphysical reasoning.
98. These considerations apply
equally to moral theology. It is no less urgent that
philosophy be recovered at the point where the
understanding of faith is linked to the moral life of
believers. Faced with contemporary challenges in the
social, economic, political and scientific fields, the
ethical conscience of people is disoriented. In the
Encyclical Letter Veritatis Splendor, I wrote that many
of the problems of the contemporary world stem from a
crisis of truth. I noted that “once the idea of a
universal truth about the good, knowable by human reason,
is lost, inevitably the notion of conscience also
changes. Conscience is no longer considered in its prime
reality as an act of a person's intelligence, the
function of which is to apply the universal knowledge of
the good in a specific situation and thus to express a
judgment about the right conduct to be chosen here and
now. Instead, there is a tendency to grant to the
individual conscience the prerogative of independently
determining the criteria of good and evil and then acting
accordingly. Such an outlook is quite congenial to an
individualist ethic, wherein each individual is faced
with his own truth different from the truth of
others”. (116)
Throughout the Encyclical I
underscored clearly the fundamental role of truth in the
moral field. In the case of the more pressing ethical
problems, this truth demands of moral theology a careful
enquiry rooted unambiguously in the word of God. In order
to fulfil its mission, moral theology must turn to a
philosophical ethics which looks to the truth of the
good, to an ethics which is neither subjectivist nor
utilitarian. Such an ethics implies and presupposes a
philosophical anthropology and a metaphysics of the good.
Drawing on this organic vision, linked necessarily to
Christian holiness and to the practice of the human and
supernatural virtues, moral theology will be able to
tackle the various problems in its competence, such as
peace, social justice, the family, the defence of life
and the natural environment, in a more appropriate and
effective way.
99. Theological work in the
Church is first of all at the service of the proclamation
of the faith and of catechesis. (117) Proclamation or
kerygma is a call to conversion, announcing the truth of
Christ, which reaches its summit in his Paschal Mystery:
for only in Christ is it possible to know the fullness of
the truth which saves (cf. Acts 4:12; 1 Tm 2:4-6).
In this respect, it is easy to
see why, in addition to theology, reference to catechesis
is also important, since catechesis has philosophical
implications which must be explored more deeply in the
light of faith. The teaching imparted in catechesis helps
to form the person. As a mode of linguistic
communication, catechesis must present the Church's
doctrine in its integrity, (118) demonstrating its link
with the life of the faithful. (119) The result is a
unique bond between teaching and living which is
otherwise unattainable, since what is communicated in
catechesis is not a body of conceptual truths, but the
mystery of the living God. (120)
Philosophical enquiry can help
greatly to clarify the relationship between truth and
life, between event and doctrinal truth, and above all
between transcendent truth and humanly comprehensible
language. (121) This involves a reciprocity between the
theological disciplines and the insights drawn from the
various strands of philosophy; and such a reciprocity can
prove genuinely fruitful for the communication and deeper
understanding of the faith.
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