Customer Reviews

My Struggle for Freedom: Memoirs

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

My Struggle for Freedom is another fine book from this great Christian and Christian theologian, but one concentrating on his life and experiences as another way of approaching the issues central to his life. The years he covers are through the late 1960s, and include his boyhood in Switzerland, his path to becoming a priest, his education in theology and finally Vatican II. The issues, and his commitment to intellectual honesty, to Christian honesty and to Christ as the very core of Christianity, are still central. As always, he calls it as he sees it and gives his reasons for doing so. If you don't like honest and well-reasoned opinion, don't read Kung.

The book reads well, is touching at many points, and simply resounds with his famed honesty, clarity and great erudition. Reading this book is yet more of the liberal education he supplies in all his books. My Struggle for Freedom has only increased my love and admiration for him as a person, as a fellow Christian and as a leader in ethical and religious thinking today. To me, Kung is the voice of ecumenism. (Note that the publisher is a traditionally protestant book house.) While I am mainly protestant in my Christian orientation, Kung has helped me understand the Catholic Church, the mother church of Christianity, to the point where I deeply regret all the historical splits, and that another outcome had not been negotiated for the Reformation. This is ironic. He is a persistent and insightful critic of the church, yet he creates love for this church which he refuses to leave or stop loving; and after all is done, it is an ironic testament to the greatness of the Church itself that it has produced such a man.

Kung is a man of great courage, of true commitment to Christ and Christian ideals.

If you have ever wondered about the man, the person, who has the thoughts behind his many other books, you will enjoy reading this one. The best recommendation I can give is to say I await with excitement the publication of the second volume of autobiography, detailing his life up to today.

Fascinating reading for those interested in the background of the Vatican II council sessions and Kung's part in them; and in the development of his theology. And for understanding who he is, getting behind the media picture of the young theological "radical". What emerges is that the Vatican's biggest problem with Kung is that they don't scare him, can't browbeat him, and are arguing with a man trained in their own methods.

Oddly, the book is written (or translated?) all in the present tense, which can be confusing at times, when some use of past tense might distinguish between what Kung thought at the time and thinks now. I don't know if this is the translator, or the author himself; at times it gets annoying and tedious, even occasionally sounding pompous, which is not characteristic of Kung judging from everything else (and that's practically his entire opus available in English) I've read of his work.

At any rate, the use of present tense is strange even in a memoir; I encountered it once previously in a biography, and almost couldn't finish that book.

Kung's memoir also contains some assessments of others (including the late and current popes) that come off unkind and "snarky", which also doesn't seem typical of Kung, even in dealing with opponents, who I think he typically confounds by courteously sticking to his position and insisting on truth. I can't help wondering if some of the "snarkiness" is also a product of the translation.

Also, there are, as noted by a previous reviewer, some odd translation errors, such as calling the USA Secretary of the Treasury "Finance Minister"; again, perhaps translation, or could be the translator trying to stay "true" (unnecessarily, in my view) to Kung's German? I have ordered the German edition (along with the new "Islam" volume) out of curiosity on this point. My German is labored, but I'm anxious to get started on the Islam volume, which could problably prove dangerous to Kung himself if it goes in the direction I suspect (urging modernization by subjecting the Islamic "scriptures" to exegesis, historical and form criticism commonly applied now for decades in Christian scriptural scholarship.)

As a theology student at Catholic University in Washington, D.C. during the time of Vatican II, I was constantly in tune with what was taking place in Rome. Many of our professors made bi-weekly trips to Rome when the Council was in session and would bring back the details.
Kung's memoirs adds the inside story to complete the picture. It is a lengthy, yet fascinating review of the various Vatican II designers and participants. Better yet, you get an excellent understanding of the reform and why it was ended before it could take hold. And the knowledge of the author comes through. It's no wonder that Kung was the top theologian and primary behind-the-scenes designer of it all. I eagerly await his second volumn.

Hans Kung, perhaps the most controversial Catholic theologian of modern times, has written a memoir of his life up to 1968. In recounting his theological formation, years of teaching, and particularly his service to the Church during the Second Vatican Council, Kung provides readers with a nuanced view of his theological method and conclusions. For North Americans, particularly those who grew up in the wake of the Council's changes, this book is a valuable historical view of the ideas, people, and institutions that formed Catholicism in a time of enormous ferment.

Despite the struggles Kung was to undergo in the 70s, 80s, and 90s (only hinted at in this first volume), he is generally well-disposed to those who opposed him and rarely slips into personal attack. This book is a valuable addition to Catholic historical thought but should also be read in conjunction with those reflective works of Kung's theological counterparts: Rahner, Ratzinger, Congar, and de Lubac.

The translation at times is a bit slip-shod ("degree" in place of "decree" on a number of occasions) but readers should have no real trouble with this editorial problem.

A very well written, in-depth look at the life of one of the 20th Century's greatest theologians. Kung also happens to be one of the most controversial theologians due to his official disciplining by the Curia's Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith (FMR: Holy Office).

Although I found this autobiographical memoir particularly engaging and interesting, it only covers half of Kung's life. In great detail, Kung introduces us to his upbringing, family, Roman theological education, French graduate work, early scholarly career, his appointment as a Council Peritus and then essentially concludes this work with the close of the Second Vatican Council. On at least two occasions, he refers to the "second volume of this work" which implies he will write the rest of his biography at a later time. For this I truly hope since what many consider to be his most fascinating saga (the revoking of his license to teach Roman Catholic Theology and battle with the CDF) has not yet been approached.

All in all, it is a wonderful, occasionally overly descriptive work that is a must read for those interested in the lives of major theological figures. Kung also presents a unique perspective of the Second Vatican Council which has not been seen to date.

I highly recommend this book!

I have been an admirer and fan of Hans. I heard him speak in Florida and he autographed my purchase of "Christianity" and gave me a very insightful answer to my question; "what is spirituality for you Hans?"

The book "My Struggle for Freedom...Memoirs" was a struggle to read. I was hopeful in his observation as to what has happened, is happening to VaticanII, and was disappointed in his recitation of his struggles with the likes of Ottaviani, Curia, Pope Paul VI etc.

In summation, the book left me feeling bleak about the upcoming 50th Anniversary of Vatican II. Are the documents, declarations, so badly manipulated by past curia activity and the past intransigence of PJP II and his successor of Roman style lens to be still, unread, unattended to and pushed further into non relevance?
Bleak.

Hans Kung has give us a look into what made the Swiss theologian a strong force for individual freedom within the Catholic Church during the last half of the 20th Century. Given the independence of Switzerland, it little wonder Professor Kung was a force for bring the Catholic Church into the modern age. This first volume covers his chilhood, his advisor role at the Second Vatican Council and end with Paul VI's Humane Vitae.

This is going to take a long time to digest. I escaped from constraint by going into philosophy instead of seminary. But my impression has always been that the Church had a place for inquiry as long as you did not disrupt everyone else as you moved from reflective thinking stage to stage in your personal quest. I further thought that as you reached the highest levels you would realize that what the Church teaches was right all along. Beware thinking that the concrete interpretations you have as a young person are the only ways to interpret what was to be believed. I have found the statments of faith, for example Fides et Ratio, to be masterpieces of saying many things at once in many ways. You only fail when you try to impose one interpretation or one level on everyone else. My way or the highway. Now reading this I wonder if my Protestant friends do not have a point.