Wisdom and the Renewal of Catholic Theology

Essays in Honor of Matthew L. Lamb

Harmon, Nutt

• Publisher: Pickwick Publications
• Year: 2016
• eBook ISBN: 9781498278423
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Religion

For more than fifty years, Fr. Matthew L. Lamb has been one of the major figures in American Catholic theology through his writing, teaching, and involvement in scholarly societies. Over a decade ago, Fr. Lamb moved from the Department of Theology at Boston College to develop the graduate programs in theology at Ave Maria University in response to what he identified as the widespread decline in theological education. Twelve years into their operation, the graduate programs in theology have begun to produce junior scholars who have attained appointments in universities and seminaries across the United States. In Wisdom and the Renewal of Catholic Theology, Thomas P. Harmon and Roger W. Nutt have brought together some of this first generation of Ave Maria graduates to produce a collection of essays to honor their teacher and the architect of their theological education.

1

From Cultural Signs to Transcultural Realities

The Contribution of Matthew Lamb for Understanding Lonergan’s Metamethod

Matthew R. McWhorter

INTRODUCTION

Bernard Lonergan is often categorized as a “transcendental Thomist.” In what respect is Lonergan’s work “transcendental”? Lonergan’s student Matthew Lamb argues that close attention to Lonergan’s work will observe that his method in theology does not comprise an attempt to integrate Catholic thought with the transcendental idealism of Kant. Rather, Lamb maintains that Lonergan’s method is better characterized as a “metamethod” which orients a Catholic theologian beyond various historical contexts toward transhistorical or transcultural realities. When considered in light of Lamb’s interpretation, Lonergan’s metamethod may be understood as directing Catholic theologians to supplement their study of cultural signs with a focus upon the primary task of theology, namely, the discernment of the signified realities. For Lonergan, such leads the theologian to the attainment of a state of authenticity which is fostered by ongoing conversions (intellectual, moral, and religious). This threefold conversion is, for Lonergan, the foundation of all authentic theological praxis.

Lamb and Lonergan

After corresponding from the Trappist monastery where he was located outside of Conyers, Georgia, Matthew Lamb met Bernard Lonergan in Rome at the Gregorian University in September 1964.21 Lonergan directed Lamb’s STL thesis there the following year.22 Their scholarly relationship and friendship continued thereafter. Lonergan wrote to Lamb after returning to Canada, discussing how his faith in God supported him through his struggle with cancer in late 1965.23 Each theologian held the work of the other in high regard. Lamb would later describe Lonergan as a “Catholic intellectual genius.”24 Lonergan, referring to Lamb’s doctoral dissertation written in 1974 under the direction of Johann Baptist Metz at the University of Münster, writes, “The effort of drawing on his learning and of entering into his thought is highly rewarding.”25

Due to Lamb’s personal relationship with Lonergan, Lamb’s writings offer students and contemporary scholars of Catholic theology a significant resource for understanding Lonergan’s teachings. The present study aims to serve as an expository analysis of Lamb’s treatment of Lonergan’s methodology. Special emphasis will be given to the benefit of interpreting Lonergan’s method in light of Lamb’s realism. Lonergan’s method must be understood in this respect in order to interpret his critiques of conceptualism and classicism.26

Lamb observes that Lonergan’s writings are typically divided into two eras.27 The earlier era involves Lonergan’s Thomistic studies such as Grace and Freedom and Verbum, as well as Lonergan’s primary work Insight.28 The later era is exemplified by Lonergan’s Method in Theology.29 Lamb describes Lonergan’s early work as a response to transcendental idealism and Lonergan’s later work as a response to dialectical materialism.30

In a similar way, Lamb’s writings may also be chronologically distinguished according to a thematic development which occurs during the 1990s: while Lamb’s early writings emphasize theological praxis in relation to socio-economic and political criticism,31 his later writings consider the relation of history to eternity as well as the need for Western society to reacquire wisdom, a virtue eclipsed by the modern cultural emphasis upon the virtue of science.32 Lamb’s earlier works evince an interest in the Frankfurt School of critical theory, as likely influenced by the similar work of his doctoral dissertation director, Johann Baptist Metz.33 The thematic shift in Lamb’s work correlates with a concern he raises in the early 1990s that the doctoral research of Catholic theologians in the previous decade was disproportionately focused upon “contemporary figures and questions,” with the increasing risk that Catholic doctrinal and theological traditions will be left solely to historians.34 Lamb’s contention that historical research comprises only one phase of Catholic theological method (discussed below) should be interpreted in light of this concern.

Lonergan and Transcendental Th...

Table of contents

• Title Page
• Foreword
• Acknowledgments
• Abbreviations
• Contributors
• Introduction
• Chapter 1: From Cultural Signs to Transcultural Realities
• Chapter 2: God’s Self-Gift and the Created Supernatural
• Chapter 3: Augustine on Creation
• Chapter 4: Biblical Inspiration in the Theology of St. Thomas Aquinas and Fr. Matthew Lamb
• Chapter 5: Metaphysics and Paul’s Use of the Old Testament
• Chapter 6: Monica as Mystagogue
• Chapter 7: Psalm 79:8 and St. Augustine’s Vision of Education
• Chapter 8: The Joy of Christ in Albert the Great’s De corpore domini
• Chapter 9: “Scrutinizing the Signs of the Times”
• Chapter 10: Vatican II, St. Thomas Aquinas, and the Sensus Fidelium
• Chapter 11: Matthew Lamb on Retrieval in Catholic Theology