The Disputed Teachings of Vatican II

by Thomas Guarino

Publisher:

Eerdmans

, 2018

Overview

The Second Vatican Council (1962–1965) radically shook up many centuries of tradition in the Roman Catholic Church. This book by Thomas Guarino, a noted expert on the sources and methods of Catholic doctrine, investigates whether Vatican II’s highly contested teachings on religious freedom, ecumenism, and the Virgin Mary represented a harmonious development of—or a rupture with—Catholic tradition.

Guarino’s careful explanations of such significant terms as continuity, discontinuity, analogy, reversal, reform, and development greatly enhance and clarify his discussion. No other book on Vatican II so clearly elucidates the essential theological principles for determining whether—and to what extent—a conciliar teaching is in continuity or discontinuity with antecedent tradition.

Readers from all faith traditions who care about the logic of continuity and change in Christian teaching will benefit from this masterful case study.

Key Features

• Compelling insights into how church tradition changes over time
• Examines the significant issues the Second Vatican Council created
• Provides valuable discussion for readers from all faith traditions about continuity and change in Christianity.

Contents

Top Highlights

“Vatican II took the more difficult but far more fruitful path of insisting on Catholicism’s uniqueness even while acknowledging the strong links of truth and faith that bind Catholics to all others.” (Page 29)

“Precisely in service to this quest, John made a crucial distinction between the depositum fidei (deposit of faith; 2 Tim. 1:14) and the modus quo veritates enuntiantur (the manner in which such truths are spoken).” (Page 5)

“The truth of revelation … is universally valid and unchangeable in substance.’^{2” (Page 9)}

“I will argue that by employing the notions of participation and analogy, Vatican II was able to maintain the unique status of Catholicism while concomitantly affirming that other churches truly and actually, formally and substantially, participate in the church of Jesus Christ.” (Page 91)

“The fundamental question at stake is this: Was the council an authentic development and extension of the prior doctrinal tradition, or was it in fact—at least in certain instances—an unabashed corruption of it?” (Page 2)

Contents

• The Central Problem of Vatican II
• Theological Principles for Understanding Vatican II
• Key Words for Change
• Disputed Topics and Analogical Reasoning
• Disputed Topics and Material Continuity

Product Details

• Title: The Disputed Teachings of Vatican II: Continuity and Reversal in Catholic Doctrine
• Author: Thomas G. Guarino
• Publisher: Eerdmans
• Publication Date: 2018
• Pages: 224
• Christian Group: Catholic
• Resource Type: Monograph
• Topic: Theology

About Thomas Guarino

Thomas G. Guarino is professor of systematic theology at Seton Hall University in South Orange, New Jersey. He is the author of Vattimo and Theology, Foundations of Systematic Theology, and more.