Where is Catholic theology now?

[CarmelJerome]

During pVatican II famous Catholic theologians, mainly associated with the Nouvelle Theologie, like Congar, Rahner, de Lubac, Danielou, Ratzinger, Schillebeeckx, Chenu and von Balthaser were popular. Now after 50 years in this post Vat II and post JP II era who are the Catholic great theologians? Where do they stand? What influence do they have?

I would love to hear what contributors to CA think.

 I'm reminded of Benedict ' s remark that there were two Councils - the Council of the Fathers and the Council of the media. A certain celebrity attached to certain theologians for reasons that had little to do with theology and much to do with the bubble Reputation.
St. Thomas famously called philosophy theology ' s handmaid - and now theologians suffer from a complete dearth of philosophical servants - there is, effectively, no generalized philosophical argot which is generally available (post-modernism doesn't count) and this pretty much prevents the sort of theological conversation I think you have in mind from taking place.

 

[epan]

Those are apologists, not theologians. There is a big difference. There is a big difference between the books of Cardinal Ratzinger which explain the deep theology of a subject, and the books of Tim Staples and Karl Keating which are oriented towards defense against protestants.

There are a few very good theologians. Thomas Weinandy is one. His books tend to be an examination of patristics and Christology. Pope Benedict/Cardinal Ratzinger is the best theologian that has published any books in the 21st century.

Agreed. There just isn’t much out there to dig into intellectually which is contemporary. I wonder if Catholic theology is withering away, or if a fresh and relevant voice will come along.

I hope this doesn’t offend anyone, but the various apologists could just as easily be Fox News commentators, for what their opinions are worth.

 

[thinkandmull]

I heard Jimmy Akin say in his debate with James White that newer theologians believe that Tradition is the tradition of interpreting the Bible passed on from the 1st century. This doesn’t make sense to me. The Gospel was spread by Apostles over places before, during, and after the Bible was completed

 

[utunumsint]

I wish Ed Feser did theology. As it is, he is my favorite philosopher.

In terms of theology, it is mostly Pope Benedict for me. I have been mulling over his second book with my son.

To be honest I don’t find theologians very appealing to me these days. I can’t really tell why. Perhaps it is because I don’t find them very elevating or practical. Right now, with five, going on six kids, I have no time for what is not practical. Instead, I have been reading a lot of Escriva. The Forge, The Furrow, The Way. Not what you would call theology. And he isn’t living, so I guess he doesn’t count. I would also add Cardinal Newman to that list. His homilies.

Perhaps the reason I find Ed so interesting is that Catholism, in the West at least, has lost the war on those preambles of the faith that are also so necessary a foundations for our cultural and political systems. We need to focus on those preambles. Then dialog with the chaos in culture in the West. Take what is good, as Aquinas did so long ago, and Christianize it.

God bless,
Ut

 

[Novocastrian]

Fr. Thomas Weinandy (OFM Cap.) is a great theologian. I’d recommend reading anything he’s written.