Systematic Theology: Roman Catholic Perspectives (2 vol. set) [Hardcover]

Francis S. Fiorenza (Editor), John P. Galvin (Editor)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 720 pages
• Publisher: Augsburg Fortress Publishers (January 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 6000118082
• ISBN-13: 978-6000118082
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.7 x 2.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #996,070 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A CONTEMPORARY CATHOLIC SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY, February 9, 2010

By 

Steven H. Propp (Sacramento, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Systematic Theology: Roman Catholic Perspectives (2 vol. set) (Hardcover)

Francis Schussler Fiorenza and John P. Galvin have gathered a group of contributors, including Avery Dulles, Roger Haight, Elizabeth Johnson, Regis Duffy, and Monika Hellwig, to make a systematic presentation of the Catholic faith.

In the Preface, the authors explain, "Preceding and following the Second Vatican Council, Roman Catholic theology experienced profound growth and development. These volumes seek to explain the major elements of Roman Catholic theology as it has developed in the wake of Vatican II. They are intended to present postconciliar theology as faithful to the Roman Catholic tradition, influenced by historical and ecumenical studies, open to new philosophical currents, and sensitive to diverse historical and cultural situations ... We therefore envisioned a collaborative work that would be comprehensive in its coverage, understandable to students, and centered around the current state of the question and the diverse developments in Roman Catholic theology since Vatican II."

Here are some representative quotations from both volumes:

"theology refers primarily to the human study of God." (V1, pg. 6)
"Theology relates to a community: a community of discourse and of faith." (V1, pg. 80)
"Reflections of divine truth are to be sought in all religions." (V1, pg. 101)
"The Constitution on the Church goes so far as to declare that people who without blame on their part have not yet arrived at an explicit knowledge of God are given the helps necessary for salvation. Apparently the intended meaning is that an atheist in good conscience can have the faith required for justification and salvation." (V1, pg. 115)
"Theological feminism is in part a critique of the propensity to literalize metaphors for God and to forget the dissimilarity in every analogy." (V1, pg. 181)
"Another controverted question ... is whether it would be possible to reformulate the ministerial role of the bishop of Rome, the pope, in such a way that what Catholics see to be his primatial service of unity may become acceptable to other Christians outside the boundaries of the Roman Catholic church." (V2, pg. 71)
"The term spirituality refers to the way human beings, individuals, and groups lead their lives considered from the point of view of union with God." (V2. pg. 135)
"The mistake of later centuries, encouraged by the Catechism of the Council of Trent, was to take the Tridentine decrees as the authentic and full teaching of the Christian faith on the eucharist rather than as the historically determined, apologetic, and defensive documents that they actually were." V2, pg. 280)
"The restoration of a permanent diaconate is of vital importance to the organic ordering of the church's ministry and to what is represented by the sacrament of order." (V2, pg. 302)

This set is a valuable, and moderately progressive summary of Catholic teaching, and will be of considerable interest to anyone interested in Catholic doctrine.