An Introduction to Vatican II as an Ongoing Theological Event (Sacra Doctrina)
Digital Logos Edition
Overview
Contemporary scholars often refer to "the event of Vatican II," but what kind of an event was it? In this first book of the new CUA Press series Sacra Doctrina, Matthew Levering leads his readers to see the Council as a "theological event"—a period of confirming and continuing God's self-revelation in Christ into a new historical era for the Church.
This is an introduction to Vatican II with a detailed summary of each of its four central documents—the dogmatic constitutions—followed by explanations of how to interpret them. In contrast to other introductions, which pay little attention to the theological soil in which the documents of Vatican II germinated, Levering offers a reading of each conciliar Constitution in light of a key theological author from the era: René Latourelle, SJ for Dei Verbum (persons and propositions); Louis Bouyer, CO for Sacrosanctum Concilium (active participation); Yves Congar, OP for Lumen Gentium (true and false reform); and Henri de Lubac, SJ for Gaudium et Spes (nature and grace).
This theological event is "ongoing," Levering demonstrates, by tracing in each chapter the theological debates that have stretched from the close of the council till the present, and the difficulties the Church continues to encounter in encouraging an ever deeper participation in Jesus Christ on the part of all believers. In this light, the book's final chapter compares the historicist (Massimo Faggioli) and Christological (Robert Imbelli) interpretations of Vatican II, arguing that historicism can undermine the Council's fundamental desire for a reform and renewal rooted in Christ. The conclusion addresses the concerns about secularization and loss of faith raised after the Council by Henri de Lubac, Joseph Ratzinger, and Yves Congar, arguing that contemporary Vatican II scholarship needs to take these concerns more seriously.
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- Addresses the concerns about secularization and loss of faith
- Offers a reading of each conciliar Constitution in light of a key theological author from the era
- Presents an introduction to Vatican II with a detailed summary of each of its four central documents followed by explanations of how to interpret them
- Persons and Propositions: Dei Verbum in Context
- Active Participation: Sacrosanctum Concilium in Context
- True and False Reform: Lumen Gentium in Context
- Nature and Grace: Gaudium et Spes in Context
- Vatican II as an Ongoing Theological Event: The Way Forward
Fifty-two years after the close of Vatican 2, Matthew Levering has composed a fine commentary on the four constitutions of the Council…Each chapter is studded with marvelous footnotes on all recent post-conciliar scholarship in several languages…This is an up-to-date visit to all the issues of Vatican 2 with references to all the other conciliar documents included in the focus on the four constitutions. This book is recommended for all theological libraries, especially with sections on Vatican 2.
Catholic Library World
- Title: An Introduction to Vatican II as an Ongoing Theological Event
- Author: Matthew Levering
- Series: Sacra Doctrina Series
- Publisher: Catholic University of America
- Print Publication Date: 2017
- Logos Release Date: 2022
- Pages: 245
- Era: era:contemporary
- Language: English
- Resources: 1
- Format: Digital › Logos Reader Edition
- Subjects: Vatican Council (2nd: 1962-1965: Basilica di San Pietro in Vaticano); Church renewal › Catholic Church
- ISBNs: 9780813229300, 0813229308
- Resource ID: LLS:NNTRDCTNTHLVNT
- Resource Type: Monograph
- Metadata Last Updated: 2024-03-25T20:27:57Z
Dr. Matthew Levering is James N. Jr. and Mary D. Perry Chair of Theology at Mundelein Seminary, and Co-Director of the Chicago Theological Initiative. He holds a B.A. from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; M.T.S. from Duke University; and a Ph.D. from Boston College. He is the author or co-author of over thirty-five books including such works as Scripture and Metaphysics, Participatory Biblical Exegesis, Biblical Natural Law, Proofs of God, Aquinas’s Eschatological Ethics and the Virtue of Temperance, Did Jesus Rise from the Dead?, The Abuse of Conscience, and Reconfiguring Thomistic Christology. He is currently at work on a multi-volume dogmatics, whose first five volumes have appeared (most recently Engaging the Doctrine of Israel). He is the editor or co-editor of over twenty books including such works as The Oxford Handbook of Sacramental Theology, Aristotle in Aquinas’s Theology, and The Reception of Vatican II. He is the translator of Gilles Emery, O.P.’’s The Trinity. He co-edits two quarterly journals, Nova et Vetera and the International Journal of Systematic Theology. He is the past president (2021-22) of the Academy of Catholic Theology, and served as its founding Chair of the Board from 2007-2016. He has been a member of Evangelicals and Catholics Together since 2004. With Thomas Joseph White, O.P., he co-edits the Thomistic Ressourcement series for Catholic University of America Press. He is a Distinguished Fellow of the St. Paul Center, and he edits the Renewal within Tradition series for Emmaus Academic Press.