Living Theology Edinburgh

Monday 16th – Friday 20th July, 2007.

A non-residential summer school in

Catholic Theology

St Catharine’s Convent, 4 Lauriston Gardens, Edinburgh EH3 9HH

In the morning participants chose two from a list of optional courses to enable them to pursue special interests in small groups. In the afternoon all followed the Core Course on a central topic of Catholic thought.

CORE COURSE

God from God, light from light: Interpreting Christ
John McDade SJ

The course will help people to understand the richness and diversity of teachings about Christ.  It will look at the way in which Jesus is presented in the Qur’an as well as in the classical teachings of the early Christian Councils; at the way in which he is presented in modern fiction (in Shusako Endo’s Silence and Jim Crace’s Quarantine); in the great Calvinist theologian Karl Barth’s doctrine of election and Balthasar’s mythical re-interpretation of the descent of Christ to share the condition of the damned; in the private religious writings of Gerald Manley Hopkins and Blaise Pascal; and, in modern New Testament scholarship, as someone whose self-understanding springs from a
Jewish mysticism.

John McDade is a member of the Society of Jesus who gained his doctorate in theology at New College, University of Edinburgh. He is Principal of Heythrop College, University of London, where he also lectures in systematic theology. He is Vice-President of the Catholic Theological Association of Great Britain.

OPTIONAL COURSES
Series A

A1 Translating the Church's liturgy
Andrew Cameron-Mowat SJ

This course will consider how decisions to translate the liturgy from Latin into English have evolved, and will look at some interesting examples where the translating has been a success and others where it has not.  What’s the difference between dynamic and formal equivalence? Should gender-inclusive language be the norm? Can clarity be sacrificed to accuracy? Knowledge of Latin not a requirement but some Latin texts will be looked at, comparing them with several English translations.  Lectures with handouts and discussion.

Andrew Cameron-Mowat studied at the University of St Andrews before becoming a Jesuit.  He pursued philosophical and theological studies in England and the United States, and gained his doctorate in liturgy at the Jesuit School of Theology, Berkeley, California.  He has been an Assistant Director of Music in the Clifton Diocese, and Director of Music for the Diocese of Lancaster.  He currently teaches liturgy and sacraments at Heythrop College, University of London.

A2 Benedict XVI: Deus Caritas est
Anthony Meredith SJ

The Pope's first Encyclical letter, 'God is Love', is a remarkable treatment of the nature of love, both human and divine.  Benedict has been influenced by St Augustine and the course will look at how this shapes the Pope's teaching.  In the first part of the letter, Benedict discusses the nature of love, the distinction between 'eros' and 'agape' and, in section two of the letter the strange thought of God turning against himself.   The letter emphasises the essentially sacramental and social character of love and what Christ's love for the Father and for us tells us about the nature of love. Part two is concerned with the practice of love by the Church and the charitable responsibilities of the Church, the connection and justice and charity and the social gospel from Leo XIII onwards.  A copy of the letter will be provided for study during the course.

Anthony Meredith is a member of the Society of Jesus who spent many years teaching at Campion Hall, Oxford, before his move to London in 1992. He is assistant priest in Farm Street Church in Central London, and he also lectures at Heythrop College on the Fathers of the Church. His writings include The Theology of Tradition (1971), The Cappadocians (1995) and Gregory of Nyssa (1999).

A3 Creation Themes in the Old Testament
Robert Murray SJ

The course will look at the different accounts of creation in the Old Testament, with particular attention to the Genesis story of Adam and Eve; the themes of the status and studies of humankind, created in God’s image and likeness; the divine order of creation reflected in calendar and worship and the Biblical theme of the cosmic covenant between God and all living things. 
It is essential to bring a Bible, preferably the Revised Standard Version (RSV or the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV).

Robert Murray is a research fellow at Heythrop College and is the author The Cosmic Covenant,  a major study of creation and covenant in the old testament.  His specialisation is the symbolism of early Syriac Christianity.

A4 Faith in the Church
Gero McLoughlin SJ

‘The Church has no other light than Christ’s:….’  This affirmation in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, besides raising the issue of the reasonableness of Christian faith in general, raises questions what being faith-ful means in the Catholic tradition.  What part does the Church’s teaching play in an individual’s personal faith?  What is the role of subjective conviction as a trustworthy foundation for belief?  How is the Church’s faith developed and expressed?  The course will address these and related issues.

Gero McLoughlin has worked for more than 15 years in Jesuit spirituality centres and has devoted the last 12 years to developing and running training courses in Ignatian spirituality in the west of Scotland, Edinburgh, Perth and Aberdeen.  He is also the Jesuit Province Promoter of Ignatian spirituality, assisting people working outside nstitutional settings to develop their work in spirituality.

OPTIONAL COURSES
Series B

B1 My Kind of Liturgy
Michael Regan

Examining a series of documents from the Church, this course will look at what constitutes authentic liturgy and what are legitimate variations and the extent to which local taste can enter into liturgical planning as it is foreseen in some of the documents.

Michael Regan is a priest of the archdiocese of St Andrews and Edinburgh who studied at the University of Stirling, the Institut Cathol-ique in Paris and the University of Paris IV the Sorbonne. He is a former Vice-Rector and Lecturer in Liturgy and Sacramental Theology at the national seminary, Scotus College, and is a member of the Advisory Committee of the International Commission on English in the Liturgy. He is now parish priest of St John the Baptist, Corstorphine.

B2 What is wrong with us? Original sin revisited
Peter Gallagher SJ

This course compares Augustinian and later Christian conceptions of the Fall with what the philosophers Nietzsche, Heidegger and Wittgenstein have to say about what is wrong with human nature. A structural flaw in humanity might be understood not only as sinfulness or as a proneness to error but as a ‘living in untruth’. While not all modern philosophical treatments of the Fall and the need for redemption are compatible with the teaching of Christ, some such accounts are, perhaps surprisingly, supportive of the promise of salvation contained in the Way which is also Truth and Life.

Peter Gallagher is a member of the Society of Jesus who studied philosophy in France before gaining his doctorate at King’s College, University of London.  He teaches the history of philosophy at Heythrop College, University of London.

B3 Paul's letter to the Galatians
Josette Zammit-Mangion IBVM

Possibly the earliest writing in the New Testament, the letter to the Galatians is an example of theology in the making.  The preaching of ‘another gospel’ to one of Paul’s fledgling churches  is met with a fiery response which brings a number of burning issues to the surface: the unity of the Christian community; Paul’s authority as an apostle; continuity with Israel; the role of the Law; and the basis of Christian ethics.   In this course, a close reading of the letter will serve as the basis for an exploration of these central questions which faced the earliest Christian churches.

Josette Zammit-Mangion, a Loreto Sister, teaches at  Heythrop College and is completing a doctorate at the University of Cambridge on Paul’s spirituality.

B4 20th Century Catholic Theologians
Fergus Kerr OP

This course will consider the development of theologians such as Marie-Dominique Chenu, Yves Congar, Henri de Lubac, and Karl Rahner; the difficulties they had with Church authorities in the 1950s and the key contributions that they made to shaping the theological options taken by the Church at the Second Vatican Council.

Fergus Kerr is editor of New Blackfriars and is one of Scotland’s leading theologians.