A theological analysis of post-conciliar Roman Catholic catechetics as an aspect of the ministry of the divine word

O'Brien, Gerard (2001) A theological analysis of post-conciliar Roman Catholic catechetics as an aspect of the ministry of the divine word. PhD thesis, University of Glasgow.

Abstract

The norms and criteria for the authentic transmission of the Gospel message in catechesis as postulated in the General Director for Catechesis (1997) are identified, after which they are used to assess some existing theoretical catechetical material that has informed the practice of post-conciliar Roman Catholic catechetics.

Next catechetics - and the above norms and criteria - are shown to discover their ground in relation to the divine Revelation of the person of Jesus Christ and the response of faith. By utilising the scheme of fundamental theology derived from the contribution of Balthasar as presented in his Trilogy the relationship between the divine Revelation of Jesus Christ and the faith response and the norms and criteria necessary for the transmission of the Gospel message in catechesis is further explicated. This allows the presentation of a post-conciliar catechetics as grounded in the derived scheme of fundamental theology from Balthasar's contribution.

The scheme of fundamental theology derived from Balthasar is then married with Lonergan's contribution on transcendental method and Dulles' work on systems of revelation in order to present a way to deepen the understanding of the whole structure of knowledge of the faith made in response to the divine Revelation of the person of Jesus Christ. This takes the form of a detailed theoretical template that identifies and addresses the elements intrinsic to, and constitutive of the relationship between the divine Revelation of the person of Jesus Christ and the faith response, and the norms and criteria that govern the authentic transmission of the Gospel message in catechesis as consistent with the workings and autonomy of the human mind.

Finally, the detailed theoretical template is applied to the practice of post-conciliar catechetics, and used to critique more precisely those theoretical catechetical materials formerly investigated at the initial stages of the thesis.

• Item Type: Thesis (PhD)
• Qualification Level: Doctoral
• Subjects: B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BT Doctrinal Theology
• Colleges/Schools: College of Arts & Humanities > School of Critical Studies > Theology and Religious Studies
• Supervisor's Name: Supervisor, not known
• Date of Award: 2001
• Depositing User: Angi Shields
• Unique ID: glathesis:2001-3857
• Copyright: Copyright of this thesis is held by the author.
• Date Deposited: 15 Jan 2013 09:44
• Last Modified: 15 Jan 2013 09:44
• URI: https://theses.gla.ac.uk/id/eprint/3857