Irish Theological Quarterly

Despite the differences between the Priestly creation story in Genesis 1 and the Yahwist’s creation narrative in Genesis 2–3, several Second Temple period Jewish texts began to harmonize both accounts. Ben Sira (Sirach) makes selective use of both Genesis creation stories, especially when referring to human mortality. While Sirach 25:24 implies an allusion to sin and death entering the world through Eve, Sirach 17:1–2 appears to pass over the primeval sin and instead seems to regard human mortality as a natural disposition by the Creator who providentially allots humanity a fixed number of days of earthly life. Like some interpretations of Genesis 3 within early Judaism and Christianity, emphasizing human mortality as deriving from the primeval sin, Ben Sira echoes the primeval punishment of humanity (Genesis 3:19) by employing the verb ‘return’ in Sirach 17:1. Thereafter, Sirach 17:2 follows Jewish sapiential reflection (especially Psalm 90) and Stoic teaching to present death as something natural within God’s providential plan.

After 50 years of reflection on ‘subsistit in,’ the Catholic Church has acknowledged that in the Churches and ecclesial communities separated from Rome, the Church of Christ is present and active, and Christ uses these ecclesial realities as means of salvation by means of their ordained ministry and synodal and episcopal collegiality. Introducing the distinction between ontological and phenomenological dimensions of the church of Christ, the latent inconsistency of post-conciliar church documents endorsing the discontinuity between churches and ecclesial communities can be overcome. Ordained ministry, episcopal collegiality, and Petrine ministry are essential in order to realize the fullness of ecclesiality, but not ecclesiality itself. Only by keeping these two dimensions of the church of Christ well distinguished—ontological and phenomenological—can the gradual sacramental reality present in every Christian community be acknowledged.

Chapters 3–4 have emerged as key to much recent scholarly interpretation of the epistle to the Hebrews. This paper offers an evaluative review of major recent publications which treat this section of Hebrews, drawing out some common themes and recurring critical issues. The questions addressed in these studies have significant implications for an understanding of Hebrews more widely, as they impact on judgements about subjects such as the letter’s structure and main message, the author’s use of the Old Testament, and the religious and conceptual background to his thought.

This article presents an overview of Lonergan’s psychological analogy of the Trinity with some proposed clarifications and developments. By way of presentation, it introduces the readers to Lonergan’s early psychological analogy in his Triune God: Systematics in the context of contemporary theological reflection on the Trinity. Two developments are then presented, the first, following Robert Doran, is to develop the analogy as a proceeding Word of affirmation or God’s eternal Yes. Several examples are presented to show the provocative nature of this proposed development including the Church’s relationship with the Jews, Mariology, and Barth’s Christology. Second, I explore an interpretation proposed by Doran in order to reconcile the earlier analogy with Lonergan’s later analogy in light of Ignatian spiritual theology, therefore retaining the fittingness of both analogies. Finally, I propose a qualification of Doran’s fecund solution.