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Taking up One's Cross with Hope: a Christian Approach to Suffering Linda George Debrecht

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Taking up One's Cross with Hope: a Christian Approach to Suffering Linda George Debrecht Digital Commons at St. Mary's University Theses & Dissertations University Archives 5-2017 Taking up one's cross with hope: a Christian approach to suffering Linda George DeBrecht Follow this and additional works at: https://commons.stmarytx.edu/dissertations Part of the Other Arts and Humanities Commons Recommended Citation DeBrecht, Linda George, "Taking up one's cross with hope: a Christian approach to suffering" (2017). Theses & Dissertations. 7. https://commons.stmarytx.edu/dissertations/7 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the University Archives at Digital Commons at St. Mary's University. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses & Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons at St. Mary's University. For more information, please contact [email protected]. TAKING UP ONE’S CROSS WITH HOPE: A CHRISTIAN APPROACH TO SUFFERING APPROVED: _____________________________________ Andrew Getz, Ph.D., Supervising Professor _____________________________________ William Buhrman, Ph.D., Committee Member _____________________________________ George Montague, S.M., Committee Member APPROVED: ___________________________ Megan Mustain, Ph.D. Dean of the Graduate School Date: TAKING UP ONE’S CROSS WITH HOPE: A CHRISTIAN APPROACH TO SUFFERING A THESIS Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of St. Mary’s University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of MASTER OF ARTS in Theology by Linda George DeBrecht San Antonio, Texas May 2017 ProQuest Number:10264308 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. ProQuest 10264308 Published by ProQuest LLC ( 2017). Copyright of the Dissertation is held by the Author. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. ProQuest LLC. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, MI 48106 - 1346 This thesis is dedicated to my loving husband John. ABSTRACT TAKING UP ONE’S CROSS WITH HOPE A Christian Approach to Suffering Linda George DeBrecht St. Mary’s University, 2017 Supervising Professor: Andrew Getz, Ph.D. The purpose of this study is to encourage a more contemporary understanding of the traditional Christian approach to suffering - the belief that we can experience great goodness and enrich our lives as a result of taking up our cross as Jesus did. This concept of "redemptive suffering" seems to be losing its viability in contemporary life. Instead, advancing support for the Assisted Suicide movement reflects a growing sense that suffering is a "problem" that can be "solved" even if it means taking one's own life. The author contends that a more contemporary understanding of Jesus' suffering - one that can be related to one's own experience of suffering - is necessary so we can more confidently face the hardships of life, and in doing so reap unexpected benefits for ourselves and others. Essential to the project was a theological anthropological methodology in order to address a two-fold task: 1) developing a contemporary theological interpretation of Jesus' sacrificial suffering on the cross, and 2) relating it to an authentic experience of even everyday human suffering. To accomplish this, theological insights of Karl Rahner and Hans Urs von Balthasar were supplemented with social scientific findings that iv connected healthy human growth/development with a positive resolution of suffering. The study highlighted the significance of Jesus' suffering the abandonment by God on the cross, as well as his trusting response to God's will even in the midst of not understanding why God seemed to have forsaken him. This freely given cooperation with God allowed God to bring a humanly unfathomable Resurrection from the desolation of Jesus' Good Friday. A comparison was made to our own encounters with suffering and the difference made when we freely seek to cooperate with God's will in responding to them. The findings of the study attest not only to the existence of a redemptive/liberating potential in our experiences of suffering, but also to the unfathomable love of God through Jesus which is reaching out to us even today, and encourages us even as we face horrendous challenges in life to take up our cross with hope. v TABLE OF CONTENTS PREFACE ....................................................................................................................... viii CHAPTER 1. THE REDEMPTIVE POTENTIAL OF SUFFERING ................................................. 1 An Introduction to the Problem An Overview of Contemporary Concerns A Framework for this Study 2. THE ROLE OF SUFFERING IN PRE-VATICAN II SOTERIOLOGIES ................. 16 An Overview of Pre-Vatican II Catechesis on Redemption People of Faith Seeking Understanding Early Christian Understandings Prominent Satisfaction Theories of the Middle Ages The Role of Suffering in the Soteriologies of Anselm and Aquinas 3. A CONTEMPORARY SOTERIOLOGICAL APPROACH ....................................... 40 Modern Soteriological Developments An Ascending Neo-Scholastic Approach A Transcendental Thomist Soteriology The Role of Suffering in Rahner’s Soteriology Four Concerns Specific to this Project Three Fundamental Concerns Raised by Rahner Identification of a Fourth Concern 4. SEEKING ADDITIONAL INSIGHTS ....................................................................... 58 Hans Urs von Balthasar: “Love Alone” is the Answer Balthasar’s “Third Way” 5. IDENTIFYING CONTEMPORARY SOTERIOLOGICAL PARAMETERS ........... 69 Addressing Rahner’s Concerns through Complementary Insights of Balthasar “God’s mind cannot be changed.” “[I]n salvation all the initiatives proceed from God himself. “[S]alvation can only [take place] in the exercise of each individual’s freedom.” Addressing a Fourth Concern: The Salvific Significance of Jesus’ Suffering vi 6. A CONTEMPORARY THEOLOGY OF THE CROSS ............................................. 95 Parameter 1: God’s Immutable Relationship of Love with Humanity Social Scientific Understandings of the Human Need for Love Healthy Human Development: A Dependence on Mutual Relationships Trust as Foundational for Human Growth and Relationships God’s Encouragement to Humanity for a Trusting Mutual Relationship Parameter 2: Humanity’s Need for God’s Salvific Initiative Rahner and Salvific Solidarity: the Universal Mission of Jesus Balthasar and Salvific At-one-ment: the Unique Mission of Jesus A Contemporary Understanding Of God’s Salvific Initiative 7. A TURN TO THE HUMAN SUBJECT .................................................................... 126 Parameter 3: Salvation’s Dependence on the Exercise of Human Freedom Salvation through Growth in Faith, Hope and Love Salvation through Intellectual, Affective, and Behavioral Conversions Parameter 4: Consideration of Jesus’ Own Experience of Suffering Jesus’ Authentically Human Experience of Suffering Jesus’ Unique Salvific Difference Jesus’ Way of the Cross is also Our Own 8. TAKING UP OUR OWN CROSS WITH HOPE ...................................................... 162 A New Perspective of Suffering and Vulnerability Developing an Appreciation for the Human Ability to Suffer Responding with Open Vulnerability to the Unknown A Social Dimension of Suffering Recognizing Opportunities to Grow in Love of God and Neighbor Recognizing Opportunities to Grow in our Love of Self Filling Up what is Lacking in the Suffering of Christ CONCLUSION ............................................................................................................... 189 Review of the Methodology Summary of the Findings A Pressing Need for Studies of this Type Recommendations for Further Study BIBLIOGRAPHY ........................................................................................................... 202 VITA ............................................................................................................................................ 212 vii PREFACE It has been suggested that one picture is worth a thousand words. So is one experience. One experience of lasting impression for me was my first recognizable encounter with redemptive suffering. A full appreciation of that experience took years to achieve, but it came with the realization that what I had once considered to be the darkest period of my life was actually my greatest blessing. My suffering ultimately was redemptive for me - it spiritually liberated me in ways I had never imagined possible. That initial experience was instrumental in helping to free my mind and my heart from elements that I hadn’t even realized were keeping me shackled. Through the lens of my own discernment I am now able to recognize similar experiences being replayed in varying degrees and in countless variations, in my own life as well as in the lives of others. And I now realize that the roots of this thesis are anchored in a desire to more fully understand my experience of a connection between suffering and liberation. Recurring examples of redemptive suffering are happening in today’s world but are not always identified as such. As a result, an acknowledgement of suffering’s liberating potential seems to be fading. Is the concept of redemptive suffering becoming obsolete in our modern
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