Theology, Empowerment, and Prison Ministry

Meins G.S. Coetsier, Ph.D. (2008) in Philosophy; Ph.D. (2012) in Comparative Science of Cultures, Ghent University; Ph.D. (2021) in Theology, Trinity College Dublin, is visiting scholar at the Loyola Institute and an ordained deacon and prison chaplain. He is author of The Existential Philosophy of Etty Hillesum (Brill, 2014).

• PrefaceAcknowledgementsList of IllustrationsAbbreviationsIntroduction1 Karl Rahner’s Anthropology and Gaudium et SpesIntroduction1 Karl Rahner’s Theological Anthropology2 Anthropology of Gaudium et Spes3 Anonymous ChristianityConclusion2 Karl Rahner on the Prison PastorateIntroduction1 Finding Christ in Prisoners (Christus in den Gefangenen)2 Finding Ourselves in the Prisoners3 The Hidden Truth of Our Own SituationConclusion3 Rahner’s Limitations – Responses and ChallengesIntroduction1 Where Rahner’s Anthropology and “The Prison Pastorate” Fall Short2 Response to Rahner’s Limitations3 Two Further QuestionsConclusion4 Rahner’s Edges – Incarceration from a Prisoner’s PerspectiveIntroduction1 The Will to Meaning2 Three Mental Stages3 Prison PerspectivesConclusion5 Beyond Rahner – Towards a Theology of Prison MinistryIntroduction1 The Situation of Prisoners Today2 The Need for a Theology of Empowerment3 Elements of a Theology of Empowerment (Theologie der Stärkung)ConclusionConclusionChronologyBibliographyPlatesIndex