Abstract
Bloomsbury’s ‘Doing Theology’ series focusses on the foundations, key thinkers and historical development of major Christian traditions. In this volume, Rowland outlines a taxonomy and genealogy to enable students to classify scholars as belonging to a particular ‘species’ of Catholic theology. Foundations are neatly addressed through the documents of the International Theological Commission, of which Rowland is a member, and the resultant chapter on principles is a useful teaching resource, as are the various appendices. The chapter on the sub-species of Thomism classifies this complex field with exceptional clarity. In addition to the major schools we get summaries of Lublin, River Forest and Whig varieties, among others. As Rowland notes, this is a broad brush strategy and it is up to the reader to fill in the gaps, but as an entry point it is invaluable.
Although Rowland argues for the ‘both/and’ nature of Catholic theology, at the heart of the book is an retrenchment of battle lines over the interpretation of Vatican II, reading the signs of the times, and the possibility of learning from the world, with the journals Communio and Concilium as opposing flag-bearers. Rowland is on the editorial board for Communio, and writes passionately and knowledgably on the theology of Ratzinger et al, identifying key differences not only with Concilium but also Neo-Scholasticism, as well as lines of convergence and disagreement with Radical Orthodoxy. What Rowland describes as ‘The Concilium Alternative’ refers not only to regular contributors to that journal but all who are influenced by Rahner, Schillebeeckx and Metz. The diversity which this embraces is however obscured in being generalized to ‘Concilium-types’. Here, and in the discussion of liberation theology, the systematic overview found in earlier chapters is still evident, but the exposition is accompanied by a highly critical commentary absent in the discussion of Communio scholars. As the book progresses, the descriptive taxonomy of an introductory text is replaced by the rhetoric of a polemical essay.
Behind the labels, this book raises important questions for theologians of all types—on the relationship of logos and ethos for example—but it is not immune to Rowland’s own critique that it is always important to know where a particular theologian is coming from.