The following is the paper given at the August, 2013 Fourth International Lonergan Conference in Jerusalem. Religious Love in Bernard Lonergan as Hermeneutical and Transcultural Carla Mae Streeter, OP Aquinas Institute of Theology St. Louis, Missouri USA Abstract Does the fact that a scholar is religiously in love have any impact on interfaith relations? This question lies at the heart of this essay. Lonergan seems to think so, as indicated in these words: “In the measure that one’s love of God is complete, then values are whatever one loves, and evils are whatever one hates…affectivity is of a single piece. Further developments only fill out previous achievement.” ( Method in Theology, London: Darton, Longman & Todd, 1971:39) In previous work (a 1986 thesis) the hermeneutical and transcultural aspects of this title were emphasized. In the present essay religious love will receive the emphasis. The ...
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For us a Catholics, natural law has always been the foundation of our inquiry into the sciences. With the expanding data that is flooding our awareness, we need to be sure our understanding of natural law is flexible and open. And so... Our very understanding of natural law is expanding. We simply have more data from the fields of biology, physics, astronomy, and the social sciences. Our danger is to rigidly view natural law as closed. As the God of evolution, the great Mystery of the universe is letting us in on data we knew nothing about. We ourselves are developing, and as we do, we realize more and more how we need to steward the environment in which we live. Natural law is God letting us in on how the universe, including ourselves, works. Because our understanding of natural law is expanding, we find ourselves challenged to enter more deeply into the truth that is our deepest desire. Rigidity will keep us locked into one stage of our growth into God. We cannot afford...
A Visit to Israel During the Peace Process From August 20 to 29 Carla Mae Streeter was in Israel as the Peace Process was taking place. Asked to do a paper for the Fourth International Lonergan Conference being held in Jerusalem at Ratisbonne Monastery, Carla Mae joined twelve other scholars in sharing their work. Woven among their presentations were daily site visits accompanied by a Salesian scripture scholar well versed in Israel archeology. Carla Mae and Maurice Schepers, OP from Nairobi, Kenya made it a point to visit the Ecole Biblique, the Dominican scriptural center in Jerusalem. "Although it was the conference that brought me to Jerusalem," Carla Mae says, "it was the Peace Process that was on my mind and made the trip a real pilgrimage." Carla Mae's paper was entitled "Religious Love in Bernard Lonergan as Hermeneutical and Transcultural." The paper explained how religious love in Lonergan's writings springs from Romans 5:5,...
The Biases that Distort the Truth Process
From Insight: The Study of Human Understanding, by Bernard Lonergan, S.J. Bias comes in four basic forms: DRAMATIC BIAS: This is psychic censorship brought about by the drama of one's life. It is often repressed, but prevents the images for creative thought to arise in the human intelligence because they are just too painful. Examples are the discomfort of an incest victim on her wedding night, the sexual abuse of a child, and the communal memories of the people of Israel who have endured the Shoah. INDIVIDUAL BIAS: This rigidity of mind closes off possibility because "there is nothing you can teach me - my way is the solution." It prevents the mind from entertaining new questions. GROUP BIAS: This is individual bias gone corporate. "Our group is number one, our company, our gender, our race, our religion, etc. It takes the form of familiar bigotry or prejudice. GENERAL OR THEORETICAL BIAS: This bias has no patience for research or inquiry. It ...