Karl Rahner, Culture and Evangelization

Anthony Mellor, Ph.D (2017), Austrialian Catholic University, is a priest of the Catholic Archdiocese of Brisbane and currently the Parish Priest of Clayfield Parish. Anthony is also currently Academic Dean of Holy Spirit Seminary in Brisbane and the theological advisor to Catholic Education in the Archdiocese. He has served in pastoral ministry within the Archdiocese. He has also studied in Rome, where he was awarded a Licentiate in Theology (STL - Dogma) from the Gregorian University in 2010. He has also contributed to a number of adult faith education publications.

• PrefaceAbbreviations1 Introduction: Starting Further Back1  Beginnings2  Direction3  Scope and Methodology4  To What End?5  Brief Notes on Terminology5.1  Church5.2  Concrete Human Experience5.3  Contextual Theology5.4  Culture5.5  Evangelisation5.6  Faith5.7  Gospel5.8  Mystagogy5.9  Practical Theology5.10  Secularisation/Secularism/Secularity5.11  Transcendent and Religious Experience5.12  Western Society2 Faith, Gospel, and Culture: A Complex Drama1  Introduction2  Defining “Culture”3  Interpreting Culture4  Secularising Culture5  Reorientating Culture6  Theologising Culture7  Contemplating Culture8  An Australian View9 Conclusion3 Readings of the New Evangelisation1  Introduction2  Contending with the “New”3  Latin America and the Birth of the New Evangelisation4  Redemptoris Missio: From Local to Universal5  Readings of the New Evangelisation5.1  The Catechetical Renewal Approach (New Ardour)5.2  The Pastoral Reform Approach (New Methods)5.3  The Ecclesial Identity Approach (New Expressions)5.4  The Cultural Engagement Approach (New Context)6  Pope Francis and the New Evangelisation7  Conclusion4 A Mystagogy of Living Faith: An Analysis of Karl Rahner’s Mystagogical Approach1  Introduction2  Mystagogia: A Short History3  A “Proposition of Grace”: God’s Universal Will for Salvation4  Made for Grace: Rahner’s Supernatural Existential5  The Human Orientation towards Transcendence and the Anonymous Christian6  Receptive Sensibility: Mystagogy for Today7  Discovering and Developing an Australian Mystagogy8  Conclusion5 Mystagogia beyond Rahner: Responses and Developments1  Introduction2  Christian Anthropology: Rahner’s “Radical Anthropocentrism”3  The Source of Christian Witness4  The Language of Theology5  Transforming Praxis6  Four Principles of a Mystagogical Method6.1  A Mystagogy of Life: Awareness6.2  A Mystagogy of Religious Experience: Reflection6.3  A Mystagogy of Theological Conversation: Interpretation6.4  A Mystagogy of Praxis: Responsiveness7  Conclusion6 Context and the Australian Setting: Conversations with Culture, Spirituality, Theology, and Praxis1  Introduction2  Theological Foundation for an Inculturated Examination of the Australian Setting3  Four Transcendental Imperatives4  Being Attentive in Our Awareness: A Mystagogy of Life and Culture5  Being Intelligent in Our Reflection: A Mystagogy of Religious Experience6  Being Reasonable in Our Interpretation: A Mystagogy of Theological Truthful Conversation7  Being Responsible in Our Response: A Mystagogy of Witness, Action, and Praxis8  Conclusion7 Horizons of Conversation: Mystagogical Approaches1  Introduction2  Horizons of Conversation3  Conversational Spaces of “Awareness and Reflection”3.1  Language and Silence3.2  Image and Imagination3.3  Self-Transcendence and Embodiment4  Conversational Spaces of “Interpretation and Responsiveness” 4.1  The Christic Conversation4.2  Accompaniment and Fresh Conversational Rhythms4.3  Conversations of Witness and Service5  Conclusion8 Conclusion: Review, Prospects, and Directions1  Review2  Prospects2.1  The Performative Space2.2  The Dialectic Dialogical Space2.3  The Open Communicative Space3  DirectionsAppendix: Ecclesiological Development of the Concept of the New EvangelisationBibliographyIndex