Doing theology and learning theology

I've been trying to reformulate the following from 24 FSDB 04.11.2023 EN, Appendix 7: The program of studies: specific formation of the salesian priest:

A simple theoretical exposition of the tenets of Christian faith will not suffice. There must be a balance between two approaches in theological formation: knowledge leading to a relational experience of God in Christ and the need for propositional knowledge of Christ. In other words, theological education has to integrate faith as kerygma, koinonia, diakonia, martyria and leitourgia, keeping in mind that “the whole tradition of the Church cannot be reduced to the mechanical transmission of inert objects, since it is carried by a living subject and knows a development.”  

A serious hermeneutics of the tradition of the Church and “the current trends of contemporary culture” (VG 72.3) is called for. Among the issues of relevance are certainly the existential peripheries, poverty and migration, the digitalized world, new views about marriage, family and gender, the ecological crisis, the plurality of religions and the range of religious attitudes from extreme fundamentalism to the increasing number of those without religious affiliation or else are simply indifferent to all forms of religion.

The original problem arose from the attempt to translate "the need for propositional knowledge of Christ" into Italian. One does not easily say "conoscenza proposizionale" in Italian, says Silvio Roggia. Cloe Taddei-Ferretti suggested "conoscenza di Cristo attraverso proposizioni". 

Perhaps I just need to reformulate the two paragraphs.

I have been dipping into Lonergan, first to find how "propositional truth" has been translated into Italian, and then asking myself: how would Lonergan talk about the teaching / learning of theology? 

I've dipped into "Christ as Subject: A Reply" (CWL 4:153-184); "The Dehellenization of Dogma" (13:11-30); "Questionnaire on Philosophy: Response" 17:352-383); "The Response of the Jesuit as Priest and Apostle in the Modern World" (13:140ff). Also a bit into Method in Theology (CWL 14).

Reading "The Response of the Jesuit as Priest and Apostle in the Modern World" (CWL 13:140ff), I am struck by the structure of the text: (1) Authenticity, (2) The Spirit, (3) The Word, (4) Sending.

I had never noticed the two missions there, in sections 2 and 3: the Spirit and the Word.

And then the Church, in section 3. "The gift of the Spirit can be everywhere at once, but the challenge of the Word radiates to the ends of the earth only through human mediation." (CWL 13:148)

See "Questionnaire on Philosophy: Response" (CWL 17:358): In the Christian religion as lived but not yet thematized there may be distinguished three moments: (1) the ontic present of God's love flooding our hearts through the Holy Spirit he has given us; (2) the objective past in which God's revelation of his love to us through Christ Jesus has been mediated down the ages by the ongoing Christian community; (3) the eschatological consummation and, on the way, the command and the duty to preach the gospel to every class in every culture. 

Doing theology = mediating between a cultural matrix and the significance and role of a religion in that matrix. (CWL 14:3)

Teaching or learning theology: what is it? I guess it is moving from the Christian religion as lived, and as lived with a largely symbolic thematization (scripture, catechism, doctrine) to a properly theological thematization. "A Christian theology thematizes the Christian religion on the level of the times in which the theology is composed." (17:358)

That thematization, for an ordinary student of theology in the first cycle, would involve thematizing his own lived experience (the gift of God's love, the presence of the Holy Spirit in his life), in interaction with the objective past and present mediation by the Christian community of the revelation of God's love in Jesus. 

There is no "individual experience" hermetically sealed from the experience of others in its synchronic and diachronic dimensions, so lived experience includes one's own experience in interaction with that of others. Theology will help one to access one's own experience and enlarge "that of others" to include "the tradition" as well as "the current trends of contemporary culture." (see the Ratio text above)

Reading: Francis, "Ad theologiam provendam" (2023). (See the blog entry of 10.11.2023)

Formulation:

The study of theology in preparation for the Salesian priesthood cannot be a question of merely studying abstract formulae and schemes of the past with no effort to connect them to one's own experience of faith and to the places and times in which one is living. 

The study of theology involves appropriating the faith as lived in the past and in the present in order to deepen one's own faith, and to serve God's people, especially the young. Formation in mission involves also, therefore, theologizing in mission: the young to whom we are sent and our mission to them must enter into our study and our reflection: "For you I study", just as it enters into our prayer. Theology, apostolic experiences, prayer, all must flow together. 

A serious hermeneutics of Scripture, tradition and “the current trends of contemporary culture” (VG 72.3) is called for. Among the issues of relevance are certainly the existential peripheries, poverty and migration, the digitalized world, new views about marriage, family and gender, the ecological crisis, the plurality of religions and the range of religious attitudes from extreme fundamentalism to the increasing number of those without religious affiliation or else are simply indifferent to all forms of religion.

From Mark T. Miller, 11.11.2023:

Wow, I can't think of something that has all of those things.  I'm still looking though. Here's two good ones I've found so far in Method, 1973 red edition, p. 278:

It may be objected that nihil amatum nisi praecognitum. But while that is true of other human love, it need not be true of the love with which God floods our hearts through the Holy Spirit he has given us (Rom. 5, 5). That grace could be the finding that grounds our seeking God through natural reason and through positive religion. It could be the touchstone by which we judge whether it is really God that natural reason reaches⁵ or positive religion preaches. It could be the grace that God offers all men, that underpins what is good in the religions of mankind, that explains how those that never heard the gospel can be saved. It could be what enables the simple faithful to pray to their heavenly Father in secret even though their religious apprehen­sions are faulty. Finally, it is in such grace that can be found the theological justification of Catholic dialogue with all Christians, with non-Christians, and even with atheists who may love God in their hearts while not knowing him with their heads.

Here's a longer one from Method 326-27:

There are two ways in which the unity of the faith may be conceived. On classicist assumptions there is just one culture. That one culture is not attained by the simple faithful, the people, the natives, the barbarians. None the less, career is always open to talent. One enters upon such a career by diligent study of the ancient Latin and Greek authors. One pursues such a career by learning Scholastic philosophy and theology. One aims at high office by becoming proficient in canon law. One succeeds by winning the approbation and favor of the right personages. Within this set-up the unity of faith is a matter of everyone subscribing to the correct formulae.

Such classicism, however , was never more than the shabby shell of Catholicism. The real root and ground of unity is being in love with God—the fact that God’s love has flooded our inmost hearts through the Holy Spirit he has given us (Rom. 5, 5). The acceptance of this gift both constitutes religious conversion and leads to moral and even intellectual conversion.

Further, religious conversion, if it is Christian, is not just a state of mind and heart. Essential to it is an intersubjective, interpersonal component. Besides the gift of the Spirit within, there is the outward encounter with Christian witness. That witness testifies that of old in many ways God has spoken to us through the prophets but in this latest age through his Son (Heb. I, 1.2).

Thirdly, the function of church doctrines lies within the func­tion of Christian witness. For the witness is to the mysteries revealed by God and, for Catholics, infallibly declared by the church. The meaning of such declarations lies beyond the vicissitudes of human historical process. But the contexts, within which such meaning is grasped, and so the manner, in which such meaning is expressed, vary both with cultural differences and with the measure in which human consciousness is differentiated.