Healing Fractures in Contemporary Theology

Book excerpt: Since Vatican II, the key question that has developed in Catholic theology, often unstated or unrecognized, is, what is theology? The thesis presented here is that contemporary theologizing is "fractured" in many places and to varying degrees. These fractures can vary in seriousness between theologians, and a particular theologian may suffer from some fractures but not others. The fractures addressed here are between -theology and spirituality -theology and philosophy -theology and liturgy -the literal and spiritual senses of sacred scripture -theology, preaching, and apologetics -theology and ethics -theology and social theory -dogmatic and pastoral theology -theology and the "koinonial" Christian life -theologians and non-theologians - the generation gap between Gen X and Millennial/Post-Millennial Catholics, and -theology and the Magisterium. For each of these, an attempt is made to examine the symptoms, give a diagnosis, and write a prescription.