Confronting the Mystery of God: Political, Liberation, and Public Theologies

Rating:
Summary: Thinking Toward the Meaning of God . . . from 3 Contexts
Review: For those concerned about the intellectual mediation of contemporary Catholic faith, the way its meaning can be brought authentically into contemporary thought, this intelligent and probing book provides a rich account of the proximate background, especially Karl Rahner's theology, and then presents three case studies of major theologians and master teachers: Johann Baptist Metz from Germany, Gustavo Gutierrez from Peru, and David Tracy from the United States. The author gives balanced, lucid accounts of each theology and rich descriptions of the institutional and historical situation of each thinker. By viewing each intellectual as situated in a particular context and generation and then tracing the way the context and period shape, in each case, the way immediate foundational questions are raised and responded to, Martinez invites readers--not to become anybody's disciples--but to undertake the analogous task of foundational reflection in their own settings. Whatever the starting points of this inquiry are (postwar Germany, postcolonial Latin America, postmodern America), the author shows how each theologian moves ineluctably into questions about the meaning and reality of the mystery of God that seem to lure him on and gather up all his interests and desires. An important study for educated Catholics and others interested in serious contemporary theology, it reminds us that the true study of all "theology" is what it is we mean when we say "God."