The Analogy of Being in 20th Century Theology (CT9240C)

Content

In this unit students will investigate a key feature of Catholic theological method: the use of the analogy of being (analogia entis) in naming God and in speaking of the Creator-created relationship. We will begin by identifying the basic arguments of Erich Pzrywara’s programmatic study, Analogia Entis (1932, and now in English translation 2014), within the context of Catholic theology around the turn of the twentieth century. Then, we will explore the central issues in the debate between Przywara and Karl Barth about the legitimacy of the analogia entis in theological discourse. We will examine the ways in which the fruit of this debate was taken up by thinkers such as Hans Urs von Balthasar and Eberhard Jüngel in their efforts to speak responsibly of God and God’s characteristics. Finally, we will consider whether the analogia entis can contribute to contemporary debates about the interaction of grace and nature.

Learning outcomes

Unit sequence

CT8000C, CT9220C, AP8000C or equivalent are highly recommended

Pedagogy

Lectures, guided reading, seminars

Indicative Bibliography

• Przywara, Erich. Analogia Entis: Metaphysics: Original Structure and Universal Rhythm. Translated by John R. Betz and David Bentley Hart. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2014. (recommended for purchase)
• Barth, Karl. Church Dogmatics I/1. Rev. ed. Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1975.
• Bonino, Serge-Thomas. Surnaturel: A Controversy at the Heart of Twentieth-Century Thomistic Thought. Ave Maris: Ave Maria University Press, 2009.
• Johnson, Keith L. Karl Barth and the Analogia Entis. London: T. & T. Clark, 2010.
• Jüngel, Eberhard. God as the Mystery of the World: On the Foundation of the Theology of the Crucified One in the Dispute between Theism and Atheism. Translated by Darrell L. Guder. London: T. & T. Clark, 1983.
• Long, Stephen A. *Analogia Entis: On the Analogy of Being, Metaphysics and the Act of Faith8. Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, 2011.
• McCormack, Bruce & Thomas J. White (eds). Thomas Aquinas and Karl Barth: An Unofficial Catholic-Protestant Dialogue. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2013.
• O’Meara, Thomas F. Erich Przywara, S.J.: His Theology and His World. Notre Dame: Notre Dame University Press, 2002.
• von Balthasar, Hans Urs. Theo-Drama: Theological Dramatic Theory. Vol. III: Dramatis Personae: Persons in Christ. San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1992.
• ------------. The Theology of Karl Barth: Exposition and Interpretation. Translated by Edward T. Oakes. San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1992.
• White, Thomas J., ed. The Analogy of Being: Invention of the Antichrist or the Wisdom of God? Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2011.

Assessment