APPROPRIATING THE LONERGANIDEA www.utppublishing.com University of Toronto Press Incorporated 2006 Toronto Buffalo London Printed in Canada ISBN-I}: 978-0-8020-9117-8 ISBN-IO: 0-8020-9117-2 Lonergan Studies This book was first published in 1989 by The Catholic University of America Press. Printed on acid-free paper Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication Crowe, Frederick E. Appropriating the Lonergan idea / Frederick E. Crowe ; edited by Michael Vertin. (Lonergan studies) Includes bibliographical references and index. iSBN-13: 978-0-8020-9117-8 ISBN-IO: 0-8020-9117-2 1. Lonergan, Bernard J.F. (Bernard Joseph Francis), 1904-1984. 2. Theology. I. Vertin, Michael, 1939- II. Title. III. Series. 8x4705x75076 2006 230'. 2092 02006-904961-0 Unviersity of Toronto Press acknowledges the financial assistance to its publishing program of the Canada Council for the Arts and the Ontario Arts Council. University of Toronto Press acknowledges the financial support for its publishing activities of the Government of Canada through die Book Publishing Industry Development Program (BPIDP). Contents Editor's Introduction to the 2006 Edition vii Editor's Introduction ix Preface xiii Abbreviated Titles of Certain Works of Bernard Lonergan xv I. Exploring 1. The Growing Idea 3 2. The Origin and Scope of Bernard Lonergan's Insight 13 3. Neither Jew nor Greek, but One Human Nature and Operation in All 31 4. An Exploration of Lonergan's New Notion of Value 51 5. Bernard Lonergan's Thought on Ultimate Reality and Meaning 71 6. The Human Mind and Ultimate Reality 106 7. Bernard Lonergan and Liberation Theology 116 8. Bernard Lonergan as Pastoral Theologian 127 9. The Task of Interpreting Lonergan 145 II. Expanding 10. Jerusalem at the Heart of Athens: The Christian University 163 11. The Responsibility of the Theologian, and the Learning Church 172 12. Eschaton and Worldly Mission in the Mind and Heart of Jesus 193 13. Dialectic and the Ignatian Spiritual Exercises 235 14. Theology and the Past: Changing Views on the Sources 252 15. Theology and the Future: Responsible Innovation 265 V VI CONTENTS 16. The Janus Problematic: Tradition versus Innovation 277 17. Son and Spirit: Tension in the Divine Missions? 297 18. A Threefold Kenosis of the Son of God 315 19. Son of God, Holy Spirit, and World Religions 324 20. An Expansion of Lonergan's Notion of Value 344 21. The Life of the Unborn: Notions from Bernard Lonergan 360 22. The Church as Learner: Two Crises, One Kairos 370 Epilogue: Homily at the Funeral of Bernard Lonergan 385 The Writings of Frederick E. Crowe 391 Index 403 Editor's Introduction to the 2006 Edition Although seventeen years have now passed since its initial publication, Appropriating the Lonergan Idea is being reissued because virtually all of its essays remain potentially helpful to a wide spectrum of readers. In various ways, the keen and penetrating ideas Frederick Crowe pre- sented in 1989 can still lead people to discover important things about themselves, the human community, and ultimate reality. While twenty- two examples would be possible, one for each of the volume's essays, perhaps three will suffice to illustrate the point. "The Task of Interpreting Lonergan," for instance, is a nuanced account of the way in which aptly determining the meaning of Loner- gan's writings involves an interplay between understanding major themes and understanding even apparently insignificant details, both academic and non-academic. This account would seem to have endur- ing validity not only for those who would interpret Lonergan but more broadly for those who would interpret any major thinker. "The Church as Learner" meanwhile elucidates a truth that, though well-nigh indisputable when spelled out, has often been neglected by Roman Catholic Christians: in the church, just as everywhere else, teaching presupposes learning. Neglect of this truth has fostered the illusion that authentic church teachings are permanent in every respect. It has allowed Catholics to overlook the fact that curiosity is a basic human feature, that new questions keep emerging, that such questions can lead to deeper understandings, and that deeper under- standings have produced doctrinal developments in the past and will undoubtedly keep doing so in the future. Crowe's careful portrait of the dynamics of ecclesial learning and teaching has continuing perti- nence for present-day Catholics as they struggle with such doctrinal issues as whether women can be validly ordained to the priestly minis- try, whether a Catholic who holds public office may support policies that run counter to church teaching, and whether same-sex marriages could sometimes be morally praiseworthy. "Son of God, Holy Spirit, and World Religions," another example, elaborates a refined Christian theological rationale for pursuing inter- religious dialogue. The events of September n, 2001, and their after- vii viii EDITOR'S INTRODUCTION TO THE 2006 EDITION math, however, have given new urgency to the task of overcoming longstanding antipathies between people of different cultures; differ- ing religious beliefs and practices commonly are a key element of those antipathies. Consequently, the long-term goal of addressing religious differences through interreligious dialogue has much greater immedi- acy now than before 2001. It follows that this essay is even more timely today for the community of Christians than when it first was published. I indicate my deep appreciation to Ronald Schoeffel, former editor- in-chief of the University of Toronto Press, for his enthusiastic support of this republication, and for his insightful suggestions and skilled assis- tance in seeing it through. The extent and vigor of his contributions give new meaning to the expression "semi-retired." Since 1989 the total number of Crowe publications has grown by more than 45 percent. The bibliography at the end of the original vol- ume had 134 items; the one at the end of this volume has, 196, includ- ing four additional published books plus a projected one. Let me express my profound gratitude to Fr. Crowe for the ongoing example he provides, in his ninety-first year, of remarkable scholarly acuity, uncommon personal generosity, and radical Christian hopefulness. Michael Vertin St. Michael's College University of Toronto i June 2006 Editor's Introduction Frederick Ernest Crowe was born on 5 July 1915 in Jeffries Corner, a hamlet in the eastern Canadian province of New Brunswick, third of the six children of Jeremiah and Margaret Crowe. He received his pri- mary education in the local one-room schoolhouse; he attended high school in nearby Sussex, New Brunswick; and he spent a good many of his after-school hours measuring out sugar and flour, wrapping pack- ages, and listening intently to stories in the general store that was run by his parents. At the end of high school he did extremely well in the province-wide exams—so well, in fact, that he received a Beaverbrook scholarship to the University of New Brunswick. He spent his college years in the study of electrical engineering and graduated with a Bach- elor of Science degree in 1934, at the advanced age of eighteen. In the months following graduation, two things conspired to move the young Fred Crowe toward a crucial, life-shaping decision: his efforts to find a job in the engineering field proved unsuccessful; and he found himself again hearing a call that he had originally experienced in his early teens, a call to the religious life. Thus in 1936 he joined the Upper Canada Province of the Society of Jesus. For the next seventeen years his life was to follow the lines of the standard Jesuit order of studies. He spent four years in the Jesuit novitiate and juniorate at Guelph, Ontario, three years studying philosophy at Christ the King Seminary in Toronto, three years teaching languages, physics, and philosophy in Halifax, four years studying theology in Toronto—during which time he was ordained to the priesthood—and, after a year of tertianship in Connecticut, another two years in advanced theological studies in Rome. And it was during his philosophy studies that he first met the teacher and confrere, eleven years his senior, who was to join Thomas Aquinas, Ignatius of Loyola, and John Henry Newman as major influ- ences on his adult life and work: Bernard Lonergan. In 1953 Crowe successfully defended his doctoral dissertation, Conflict and Unification in Man: The Data in the Writings of St. Thomas Aquinas. Returning to Toronto, he was assigned to Christ the King Seminary— subsequently Regis College—as a professor of theology. He carried out that assignment with high distinction for the next twenty-seven years, IX