karl rahner

[jfoges]

I want to read something by Karl Rahner. I understand he is required reading in seminary. Does anyone know of a good book to start with? Perhaps his most important book,

 

[Howard_Roark]

You could read “On the Trinity”, it’s a popular work of his. I’ve got my copy of “Foundations” I’ve never finished because he is so impenetrably boring. I mean seriously dry and boring and hard to understand. At some point in the first couple of chpaters, you’ll become convinced he’s being willfully difficult.

there’s a famous quip form his brother Hugo (also a priest) who said that his life’s work was to “translate Karl’s works into German”. (Karl wrote in German…)

 

[punkforchrist]

I want to read something by Karl Rahner. I understand he is required reading in seminary. Does anyone know of a good book to start with? Perhaps his most important book,

It’s helpful to be familiar with Kant’s transcendental philosophy before getting into Rahner, who combines this approach with his own version of neo-Thomism. Rahner’s Foundations of Christian Faith is probably his “Summa”.

 

[cpayne]

A good overall starting place is The Rahner Reader, a compilation of his work.

 

[jfoges]

It’s helpful to be familiar with Kant’s transcendental philosophy before getting into Rahner, who combines this approach with his own version of neo-Thomism. Rahner’s Foundations of Christian Faith is probably his “Summa”.

Are you telling me I have to read Kant before I read Rahner? Oh boy, that will be tough, hehe.

 

[punkforchrist]

Haha no, you don’t have to read Kant. However, anything by Rahner will be quite dense, so I would recommend maybe getting an introductory book on Kant or on the transcendental method.

 

[Just_Lurking]

For crib notes, try Abstracts of Karl Rahner’s Theological Investigations I-23 (Theological Investigations) by Daniel T. Pekarske (see here).