Vatican II: Renewal Within Tradition

by Matthew L Lamb, Matthew Levering

Overview

From 1962 to 1965, in perhaps the most important religious event of the twentieth century, the Second Vatican Council met to plot a course for the future of the Roman Catholic Church. After thousands of speeches, resolutions, and votes, the Council issued sixteen official documents on topics ranging from divine revelation to relations with non-Christians. In many ways, though, the real challenges began after the council was over and Catholics began to argue over the interpretation of the documents. Many analysts perceived the Council's far-reaching changes as breaks with Church tradition, and soon this became the dominant bias in the American and other media, which lacked the theological background to approach the documents on their own terms. In Vatican II: Renewal Within Tradition, an international team of theologians offers a different reading of the documents from Vatican II. The Council was indeed putting forth a vision for the future of the Church, but that vision was grounded in two millennia of tradition. Taken together, these essays demonstrate that Vatican II's documents are a development from an established antecedent in the Roman Catholic Church. Each chapter contextualizes Vatican II teachings within that rich tradition. The resulting book is an indispensable and accessible companion to the Council's developments, one that focuses on theology and transcends the mass-media storyline of "liberal" versus "conservative."

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780195332681
Publisher:	Oxford University Press, USA
Publication date:	04/30/2008
Pages:	488
Product dimensions:	9.30(w) x 6.20(h) x 1.20(d)

Table of Contents

A Proper Hermeneutic for the Second Vatican Council     ix
Pope Benedict     XVI
Acknowledgments     xvii
Contributors     xix
Chronology of Vatican II     xxiii
Abbreviations     xxv
Introduction   Matthew L. Lamb   Matthew Levering     3
The Constitutions
The Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, Lumen Gentium
Nature, Mission, and Structure of the Church   Avery Cardinal Dulles, S.J.     25
The Universal Call to Holiness   Benoit-Dominique de La Soujeole, O.P.     37
The Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation, Dei Verbum
Revelation and Its Transmission   Francis Martin     55
Inspiration and Interpretation   Denis Farkasfalvy, O.Cist.     77
The Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, Sacrosanctum Concilium
Theology of the Liturgy   Pamela E. J. Jackson     101
The Sacraments of the Church   Romanus Cessario, O.P.     129
The Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World, Gaudium Et Spes
Doctrinal Perspectives on the Church in the Modern World   J. Brian Benestad     147
Pastoral Perspectives on the Church in the Modern World   Matthew Levering     165
The Decrees
The Decree on the Bishops' PastoralOffice in the Church, Christus Dominus   Brian Ferme     187
The Decree on the Ministry and Life of Priests, Presbyterorum Ordinis   Guy Mansini, O.S.B.   Lawrence J. Welch     205
The Decree on Priestly Formation, Optatam Totius   Anthony A. Akinwale, O.P.     229
The Decree on the Appropriate Renewal of Religious Life, Perfectae Caritatis   M. Prudence Allen, R.S.M.   M. Judith O'Brien, R.S.M.     251
The Decree on the Apostolate of the Laity, Apostolicam Actuositatem   Robert W. Oliver, B.H.     271
The Decree on the Church's Missionary Activity, Ad Gentes   Francis Cardinal George, O.M.I.     287
The Decree on Ecumenism, Unitatis Redintegratio   Charles Morerod, O.P.     311
The Decree on the Eastern Catholic Churches, Orientalium Ecclesiarum   Khaled Anatolios     343
The Decree on the Instruments of Social Communication, Inter Mirifica   Richard John Neuhaus     351
The Declarations
The Declaration on Religious Freedom, Dignitatis Humanae   F. Russell Hittinger     359
The Declaration on Christian Education, Gravissimum Educationis   Don J. Briel     383
The Declaration on the Relationship of the Church to Non-Christian Religions, Nostra Aetate   Arthur Kennedy      397
Commentary
Anamnesis, Epiclesis, Prolepsis: Categories for Reading the Second Vatican Council as "Renewal within Tradition"   Geoffrey Wainwright     411
Concluding Reflections
The Challenges of Reform and Renewal within Catholic Tradition   Matthew L. Lamb     439
Index     443

Editorial Reviews

"Almost every chapter shows the breathtaking steps taken in the Council to engage openly, evenly, and critically with the complexity of the modern world and to renew and apply the teachings of the Church in this new historical context...[This volume] sets the stage for a new chapter in the interpretation of the Council which might move beyond the liberal and conservative judges...I strongly recommend Renewal which will, I think, mark a turning point in the American Catholic appropriation of Vatican II and help build a momentum for a fresh reading of the Council which is slowly gathering momentum."
—Reviews in Religion and Theology

From the Publisher