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A World of Grace: An Introduction to the Themes and Foundations of Karl Rahner's Theology

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Karl Rahner is one of the most influential Catholic theologians of the 20th century. His works have been translated from German into many languages, and generations of seminarians have been educated on his many systematic works. His overall written opus is rather voluminous, and most of it was produced in the form of essays and articles. Groping with it on your own could be a rather daunting process, so it is a good idea to rely on some sort of "guide" or an introduction to Rahner's works and ideas. That in a sense is the purpose of this book - to provide a collection of essays by a group of theologians on various themes in Rahner's theology. There is a lot to be applauded about such an effort, but in terms of actual execution this book falls well short of that goal. The articles in this collection are at their best a reflection on role of theology and its place among other disciplines. More often than not, though, the essays are way too rambling, clichéd, and not very informative. They would work better as homilies, but even in that form some of them may be too unstructured. Some of the theologians in this collection have no compunction about throwing gratuitous jabs at political or social phenomena that they disapprove of, without giving any rationale for their positions. Too much of the material in this book feels very hastily thrown together. If this is your first introduction to theology, I would like you to suspend judgment about the rest of the field. Most of the theology that I have read over the years is more intellectually stimulating. I have not read many of Rahner's own works, but I can't imagine that most of what he had written would be of such a poor quality. I am not sure if there are some other books that would be more informative about Rahner's theology. If not, it would be a great service to everyone interested in Catholic theology if someone would write a book that would critically and thoughtfully cover the basic themes in Rahner's opus. Short of that, reading Rahner's original essays seems to be the best recourse for now.

World of Grace: An Introduction to the Themes and Foundations of Karl Rahner's Theology
by Leo J. O'Donovan

Excellent for theology study of the Revelation of God.