On the Road to Vatican II: German Catholic Enlightenment and Reform of the Church

by Ulrich L. Lehner

Overview

In the present day, there is widespread confusion regarding the theological achievements of the Catholic Enlightenment. This book outlines such contributions in the fields of biblical exegesis, church reform, liturgical renewal, and the move toward a more tolerant view of other churches and religions. Since some of the most important Catholic Enlighteners lived in Germany, this book concentrates on their endeavors, but also frequently points to other European players. Only an unpolemical historical assessment of the Catholic Enlightenment can help us to get out of the current gridlock of interpreting Vatican II: was there a break with tradition, or was there continuity? By reviewing the historical debates that preceded Vatican II, the unknown, marginalized, or deliberately forgotten roots of the conciliar debates come to light that can help us fine-tune future hermeneutical endeavors. This history is hitherto unknown to most researchers. Indeed, it is possibly the most neglected field of modern literary history.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781506408996
Publisher:	Augsburg Fortress, Publishers
Publication date:	07/01/2016
Series:	Modern Villainess: It's Not Easy Building a Corporate Empire Before the Crash (Light Novel)
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	406
File size:	5 MB
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Ulrich L. Lehner is professor of religious history and historical theology at Marquette University, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He is an award-winning author of several scholarly works on early modern and modern history of religion.

Table of Contents

Series Preface ix

Acknowledgments xi

1 Introduction 1

Part I Definitions of Catholic Enlightenment

2 What is Catholic Enlightenment? Some Characteristics 25

3 The "Heresy-Hunting" of the Obscurantists and the "Martyrdom" of the Enlighteners: Forgotten Characteristics of Anti-Enlightenment and Catholic Enlightenment 43

Part II Ecumenism and Theological Pluralism as Main Tenets of the Catholic Enlightenment

4 Ghosts of Westphalia: Fictions and Ideals of Ecclesial Unity in Enlightenment Germany 63

5 Enlightenment and Ecumenism: Beda Mayr (1742-94) 83

6 A Tolerant Theology? Catholic Irenicism, Pluralism, and Indifferentism 111

Part III Church Reform

7 Johann Nikolaus von Hontheim's Febronius: A Censored Bishop and His Ecclesiology 143

8 On the Way to Sacrosanctum Concilium: The Liturgical Renewal of the Eighteenth Century 171

Part IV Catholic Exegesis and the Challenge of Enlightenment Criticism

9 The Bible among Catholic Enlighteners 193

10 The Conundrums of Eighteenth-Century Catholic Biblical Scholarship and J. L. Isenbiehl's Interpretation of Isaiah 7:14 239

11 Apocalypse 2014-Post-Tridentine Catholic Exegesis of Revelation: The Futurist Commentary of Alphonsus Frey (1762) 279

12 Apocalypse, Enlightenment, and the Beginning of Salvation History: The Ecumenical Friendship of J. J. Hess and A. Sandbichler 307

13 Moses and Apollo: The Beginnings of Comparative Religionsgeschichte in Catholic Exegesis 331

Bibliography 353

Publication Credits 391

Index of Names 395