Louvain Studies 29 (2004) 28-48 “Draw nigh to God and He will draw nigh to you” (James 4:8) The Development of Karl Rahner’s Theological Thinking in Its First Period Roman A. Siebenrock Abstract. — This article proposes a new point of departure for evaluating the work of Karl Rahner and in particular for exploring the controversial issue of the influence of Ignatian spirituality on his thought. The proposed new approach considers Rahner’s various sources, and suggests that his entire corpus is the unfold- ing of an original intuition. This original intuition is encapsulated in the fol- lowing phrase: God touches us in our innermost being, and in the sacrament of the church, so that we can touch God. God’s descent into the world and the ek- stasis or transcendence of human beings and the world in God are two aspects of one God and humanity. The key to Rahner’s theology of grace is his emphasis on uncreated grace. He developed his theology of grace as a reaction to neo-scholastic theology, and this gave his work its definitive shape. In Jesus Christ, God’s universal saving will is effected in the world and in all people historically, victoriously and irrevo- cably. The development of 20th-century Catholic theology is mirrored in the work of Karl Rahner. Rahner’s writings exemplify not only the pur- suit of Christian and ecclesial life forms before, during and after the Sec- ond Vatican Council, but also how this search continues in a new epoch of Church history. It is therefore strange that interpretation of his work which began after the Second Vatican Council continues to run along old lines.1 1. Roman A. Siebenrock, “Einleitung,” Karl Rahner in der Diskussion: Erstes und zweites Innsbrucker Karl-Rahner-Symposion: Themen – Referate – Ergebnisse. Mit einem Vorwort von Karl H. Neufeld, ed. R. A. Siebenrock, Innsbrucker Theologische Studien, 56 (Innsbruck/Wien: Tyrolia, 2001) 9-32. RAHNER’S THEOLOGICAL THINKING IN ITS FIRST PERIOD 29 The continuing discussion concerning the relationship between Ignatian spirituality and philosophy; Christian-mystical experience and modern thought; the apparent contradiction between the transcen- dental and the historical, all proceed, in the characterisations of his theology as ‘transcendental’ or ‘anthropologically oriented’, from the presupposition that Rahner’s work can be understood as something sta- tic and without any significant developments. This is due to the fact that Rahner’s work is essentially identified with the somewhat problematic nature of his Foundations of Christian Faith. Texts from this period usually form the basis of current research. As a result, two essential aspects of Rahner’s work are entirely over- looked: his critical engagement with, yet dependence upon scholastic theology, and development and change inspired by his pastoral engage- ment. In addition, it is hardly ever acknowledged that Rahner’s work cannot be reduced to one method and one source. Neither has it a sin- gle purpose and quest.2 Nor is there any agreement regarding Rahner’s lasting contribution. On the one hand, he is heralded as the foremost theologian of the 20th century; on the other, he is decried as a heretic. The project of interpreting Rahner has its own history and presuppo- sitions, and these have not yet been critically considered. Therefore, the work of the generation of scholars after Rahner is timely3 as this gen- eration did not know him as a teacher, had no need to step out of his shadow, and was therefore free to pursue its own theological enquiry. A certain scholarly distance from Rahner facilitates evaluation of the complexity of his work without falling prey either to blind enthusiasm or to enmity. There is nothing methodologically new in the approach presented here: it is that of classical hermeneutics. It examines the entire text 2. A possible reason for this neglect of neo-scholastic theology may lie in Rahner’s move from Innsbruck to Munich, where he had to teach in the philosophy faculty. 3. This present article is my summary of a recent research project in German, in which mutual agreement was the cornerstone of our work. It is published as: Der Denkweg Karl Rahners: Quellen – Entwicklungen – Perspektiven, ed. Andreas R. Batlogg SJ, Paul Rulands, Walter Schmolly, Roman A. Siebenrock, Günter Wassilowsky, Arno Zahlauer (Mainz: Grünewald, 2003, 2004). We provide a systematic-genetic interpretation of Rah- ner’s earlier writings (1925-1949). Each interpretation had to be agreed upon by all involved. We strove to identify leading ideas or images (Urintention), each of which we termed a ‘Leitmotiv’. We were not interested in harmonizing the work, but attempted to determine the developing energies, presumptions, spiritual motives, systematic options and problems in Rahner’s life and work. 30 ROMAN A. SIEBENROCK in its double context: in itself, and in its historical situatedness. There- fore, developments in Rahner’s personal faith life and in his thinking are linked with the adoption of certain systematic approaches and his focus on key questions. Such a methodology is in no way exceptional, but has only come to be applied to Rahner research in the most recent past. I. Form and Sources Rahner’s work is presented in several essays. These record both his pastoral concern and the fact that he was anchored in a particular his- torical context in which he felt obliged to respond to particular theo- logical problems and questions. One can describe his work as ‘acciden- tal theology’. Theology, as he understood it, had to deal with the proclamation of the gospel and with faith today. Rahner’s theology has therefore to be regarded as doubly oriented. On the one hand the actual coming to completion of life and faith, emerging from the free call of God, which cannot be fully understood by means of reason. His think- ing (Denken) proceeds continuously from insights, practice, and life expe- riences which he does not always explicitly describe, but upon which he is constantly reflecting (nach-denkt). On the other hand, thinking does not capture Rahner’s life and its foundational experiences entirely. All talk about God, which begins from and takes place in the context of lived discipleship, flows into silent adoration before the Holy Mystery. Given its pastoral rootedness, Rahner’s theology is to be read as an accom- paniment to the Church at a time of transition, and as providing a the- ological basis for Christian discipleship. This paper will explore Rahner’s early work and its development, beginning with a presentation of the normative sources or ‘loci’. Then, based upon these normative sources, we will identify Rahner’s guiding principle (Urintention) by means of an integrating overview of the main systematic themes with an eye to their further development. The essay is making the case throughout for a new point of departure in Rahner interpretation, on the basis of a ‘genetic-systematic’ (genetisch- systematischen) methodology. The necessary sources will only become available with the publication of Rahner’s collected works (Sämtliche Werke).4 4. For this reason I have given the Sämtliche Werke (abv. SW) in my references. The following volumes have already appeared: Sämtliche Werke, edited by the Karl-Rahner- Stiftung under the direction of Karl Lehmann, Johann Baptist Metz, Karl-Heinz Neufeld, RAHNER’S THEOLOGICAL THINKING IN ITS FIRST PERIOD 31 1. Sources and References of the Work: Rahner’s ‘loci’ Rahner’s own principal theological sources are as manifold as they are heterogenous. In this, they reflect the complexity of Catholic theol- ogy, which is not to be aligned with any particular historical epoch or one particular authority. We can identify different starting points: 1. Rahner’s first consideration of his Ignatian roots is found in “The Ignatian Mysticism of Joy in the World” (TI III, 277-293).5 The redis- covery of the mystical Ignatius in the context of the Jesuit way of life ori- entates spiritual contemplation of scripture towards a life choice which is personal, and in which God deals directly (unmittelbar) with his creature. 2. Rahner addresses the question which modernism raised con- cerning the faith-subject and the meaning of experience, by referring back to the tradition of the spiritual senses rooted in the Fathers. Later these preliminary reflections, published as “Experience of Grace” (TI, III, 86-91), bore fruit in his work on mystagogy and the direct nature of experience of God (TI XI, 149-165). 3. Rahner’s theology of sacramental practice and piety reflects his theology of grace and revelation. We note here an emphasis on the his- toricality of grace, and in fact this early sacramental theology also repre- sents Rahner’s first excursus into a theology of history. His theology of Albert Raffelt and Herbert Vorgrimler (Freiburg/Basel/Wien/Solothurn/Düsseldorf: Herder/Benzinger, 1995ff; from 2002: Freiburg/Basel/Wien: Herder). Already published: SW 2: Geist in Welt: Philosophische Schriften, ed. Albert Raffelt, 1995; SW 3: Spiritua- lität und Theologie der Kirchenväter, ed. Andreas R. Batlogg, Eduard Farrugia and Karl- Heinz Neufeld (“E Latere Christi,” 1-84; “Aszese und Mystik in der Väterzeit,” 129- 427), 1999; SW 4: Hörer des Wortes: Schriften zur Religionsphilosophie und zur Grundlegung der Theologie, ed. Albert Raffelt, 1997; SW 8: Der Mensch in der Schöpfung, ed. Karl-Heinz Neufeld, 1998; SW 10: Kirche in den Herausforderungen der Zeit: Studien zur Ekklesiologie und zur kirchlichen Existenz, ed. Josef Heislbetz and Albert Raffelt, 2003; SW 15: Verantwortung der Theologie: Im Dialog mit Naturwissenschaften und Gesellschafts- theorie, ed. Hans-Dieter Mutschler, 2002; SW 17: Enzyklopädische Theologie: Die Lexikonbeiträge der Jahre 1956-1973; “Teilband 1;” “Teilband 2,” ed. Herbert Vorgrim- ler, 2002; SW 18: Leiblichkeit der Gnade: Schriften zur Sakramententheologie, ed.