THE CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY OF AMERICA Participation in the Triune God: Engaging Karl Rahner’s Trinitarian Theology with Bernard Lonergan’s Four-Point Hypothesis, as Developed by Robert Doran A DISSERTATION Submitted to the Faculty of the School of Theology and Religious Studies Of The Catholic University of America In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree Doctor of Philosophy © Copyright All Rights Reserved By Michael Kujan Washington, D.C. 2018 Participation in the Triune God: Engaging Karl Rahner’s Trinitarian Theology with Bernard Lonergan’s Four-Point Hypothesis, as Developed by Robert Doran Michael Kujan, Ph.D. Director: Rev. John P. Galvin, Dr. Theol. The Canadian Jesuit theologian Bernard Lonergan (1904-1984) introduced into Trinitarian theology what his interpreter Robert Doran (1939- ) has called his “four-point hypothesis.” This hypothesis identifies four created supernatural realities through which human beings participate in the four relations among the three divine persons. These four created supernatural realities are the human existence of Jesus (i.e., the esse secundarium), sanctifying grace, the habit of charity, and the light of glory (i.e., the lumen gloriae) whereby the saints in heaven see God. Through these four, people participate, respectively, in the four divine relations of paternity, active spiration, passive spiration, and filiation. Paternity, filiation, and passive spiration constitute the three divine persons, respectively, as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Active spiration is really identical to paternity and filiation considered together. Ever since this four-point hypothesis came to Doran’s attention in 1994, he has sought to construct a systematic theology based upon it. Within his systematic theology, Doran appeals to this four-point hypothesis as the basis for a new formulation of the psychological analogy used to describe the Trinity, an exercise which Lonergan did not perform himself. Doran’s formulation of the psychological analogy differs from those developed previously by Augustine (354-430), Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274), and Lonergan inasmuch as his analogy does not proceed from what is known about human nature, but rather from the human experience of supernatural grace. Accordingly, Doran has been developing a supernatural, psychological analogy for the Trinity by examining how the four created supernatural realities identified in Lonergan’s four-point hypothesis enable human consciousness to experience and participate in the divine life. Although Doran is developing such a supernatural, psychological analogy within the context of Lonergan’s Trinitarian theology, he invites others to make connections between the four-point hypothesis and the writings of other theologians. Toward this end, this study engages the four-point hypothesis with the Trinitarian theology of the German Jesuit, Karl Rahner (1904- 1984). It assesses Rahner’s theology as a possible framework within which to develop a four- point hypothesis and a supernatural, psychological analogy. It concludes that Rahner’s theology provides a stronger ontological foundation for both than Lonergan and Doran. This dissertation by Michael Kujan fulfills the thesis requirement for the doctoral degree in Systematic Theology approved by Rev. John P. Galvin, Dr. Theol., as Director, and by William P. Loewe, Ph.D., and Joshua Benson, Ph.D., as Readers. –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– Rev. John P. Galvin, Dr. Theol., Director –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– William P. Loewe, Ph.D., Reader –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– Joshua Benson, Ph.D., Reader ii For Diane, the love of my life. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS...........................................................................................................vii INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1 CHAPTER I: Bernard Lonergan’s Four-Point Hypothesis: Its Interpretation and Development......................................................................................................................16 A. Lonergan’s Hypothesis..........................................................................................16 1. Lonergan’s Notes for His 1951-1952 Course on Grace.............................20 a) The Grace of Union, or the Esse Secundarium..............................25 b) Sanctifying Grace...........................................................................59 c) The Habit of Charity......................................................................65 d) The Light of Glory.........................................................................67 2. “De Ente Supernaturali”............................................................................68 3. Lonergan’s Notes for His 1947-1948 Course on Grace............................74 4. Divinarum Personarum and De Deo Trino: Pars Systematica.................77 B. Robert Doran’s Development of Lonergan............................................................85 1. Doran’s Literature on the Four-Point Hypothesis......................................85 2. The Possibility of a Supernatural Trinitarian Analogy..............................87 3. Doran’s Systematic Theology....................................................................92 4. Doran’s Use of the Four-Point Hypothesis..............................................103 5. Doran on a Phenomenology of Grace......................................................105 6. Participation in Active and Passive Spiration..........................................106 7. Participation in Paternity and Filiation....................................................113 iv 8. Two Forms of Participation in God: Notional and Essential...................120 9. Distinguishing the Divine Relations by Their Orderings........................122 10. Doran’s Planned Future Work.................................................................126 C. Responses to Doran’s Project..............................................................................128 1. Charles Hefling........................................................................................130 2. David Coffey...........................................................................................138 D. Conclusion...........................................................................................................142 CHAPTER II: Karl Rahner’s Theology of Grace and the Trinity: Its Interpretation and Development....................................................................................................................144 A. Philosophical Foundations for Theology.............................................................144 B. Pure Nature and Historical Nature.......................................................................160 C. Uncreated Grace, Created Grace, and Quasi-Formal Causality..........................172 D. The Trinitarian “Grundaxiom” and Non-Appropriated Relations.......................189 E. Conclusion...........................................................................................................201 CHAPTER III: Transposing the Four-Point Hypothesis into the Categories of Karl Rahner’s Theology..........................................................................................................................203 A. The Trinitarian Structure of Grace.......................................................................205 B. Rahner on the Four Created Graces of the Four-Point Hypothesis.....................208 1. Point One: Esse Secundarium..................................................................211 2. Point Two: Sanctifying Grace..................................................................229 3. Point Three: The Habit of Charity...........................................................232 4. Point Four: The Light of Glory................................................................234 v C. Conclusion...........................................................................................................242 CHAPTER IV: Developing the Four-Point Hypothesis into a Supernatural Trinitarian Analogy from the Foundations of Karl Rahner’s Theology............................................244 A. Natural Analogies for the Trinity.........................................................................244 B. Toward a Supernatural Psychological Analogy...................................................249 C. Conclusion...........................................................................................................260 CHAPTER V: Comparing the Theologies of Karl Rahner and Bernard Lonergan as Foundations for the Development of a Supernatural, Psychological Analogy................262 A. The Natural Psychological Analogy as a Foundation..........................................262 B. The Four-Point Hypothesis as a Foundation........................................................267 C. The Relationship between Uncreated and Created Grace as a Foundation.........274 D. Conclusion...........................................................................................................282 CONCLUSION...........................................................................................................................284 BIBLIOGRAPHY.......................................................................................................................289 vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am grateful to all of those who