Thomas Bokenkotter - Dynamic Catholicism: A Historical Catechism

The title of this book was originally Essential Catholicism. After some time and after hearing from various critics it was decided to change it to Dynamic Catholicismthe title I originally favored. Dynamic Catholicism I believe conveys much more accurately the flavor of this book, which tries to show how the church and its doctrines have been a dynamic evolving organism. Until Vatican II this truth was obscured by the prevailing myth of the changeless churcha myth fostered by inadequate attention to the history of the church.

By changing the title I also hope to deal with the complaints of some critics who felt that the title Essential Catholicism was misleading insofar as it seemed to promise a straightforward and authoritative account of the basic teachings of the churcha kind of updated Baltimore catechism. The main thrust of the book, however, is its focus on the attempts of current theologians to update the teachings of the church. They work on the frontier of Catholic theology; their theories and ideas are by their very nature tentative and exploratory and have not yet been incorporated into the received wisdom of the Catholic tradition.

Thomas Bokenkotter.

A N I MAGE B OOK
PUBLISHED BY DOUBLEDAY
a division of Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group, Inc.
1540 Broadway, New York, New York 10036

I MAGE , D OUBLEDAY , and the portrayal of a deer drinking
from a stream are trademarks of Doubleday, a division of
Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group, Inc.

First Image Books edition, titled Essential Catholicism, published
September 1986 by special arrangement with Doubleday; this Image Books
edition, re-titled as Dynamic Catholicism, published November 1992.

The CreedFaith Essentials for Catholics, 1985 by St. Anthony Messenger Press, originally appeared in the July 1985 issue of Catholic Update and is herein reprinted with permission of the publisher.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Bokenkotter, Thomas S.
[Essential Catholicism]
Dynamic Catholicism : a historical catechism / Thomas
Bokenkotter.
p. cm.
Originally published: Essential Catholicism. Garden City, N.Y. :
Doubleday, 1985.
Includes bibliographical references.
1. Catholic ChurchDoctrines. I. Title.
[BX1751.2.B576 1992]
230.2dc20 92-11390

eISBN: 978-0-307-87494-8
Copyright1985, 1986 by Thomas Bokenkotter
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

v3.1

CONTENTS

Nearly thirty years ago, Doubleday published in its Image Books series a Handbook of the Catholic Faith, which had basically the same objective as this treatise, namely, to provide the intelligent Catholic with an explanation of the main doctrines and practices of the Church. A comparison of the two books, however, would reveal quite significant differences in their approach and in their content. The reason is quite obvious. The past twenty years have witnessed a tremendous burst of Catholic theological activity, unparalleled, in fact, in modern times. The groundwork for this theological renewal was laid at the Second Vatican Council. In a number of revolutionary steps, it gave a new direction to Catholic theology. Specifically it endorsed the historical-critical method in scriptural studies. It also acknowledged the possibility that its doctrinal formulations could be faulty and in need of correction, and in fact it revised a number of them.

But, above all, the Council in various ways helped to create a climate of intellectual freedom in the Church. Its authoritarian structures were kept intact, but much was done that offset their rigor. For instance, theologians who in the preconciliar days had been punished by the Curia for their progressive views were dramatically rehabilitated and given prominent roles at the Council. The Curia was also openly criticized by some of the bishops for its tyrannical use of authority. All of this was bound to have a liberalizing effect on the exercise of authority in the Church.

A theological renaissance occurred as theologians, liberated from tight control by the Curia, set to work on the problems engendered by the advance of secular thought. No doubt some of this theological speculation has little permanent value, but one can hardly deny that much positive work has been accomplished, especially in the fields of scriptural interpretation, history of doctrine and moral theology.

A great amount of recent research, therefore, is now available for those studying contemporary Catholic theologymost of it, however, hidden away in theological journals unfamiliar to the average lay person. My aim here has been to sift through it and select what seems most helpful and enlightening for those who seek an understanding of the essentials of Catholicism today.

In drawing up this account of Catholic doctrine today, I have put particular emphasis on the historical dimension. As the bishops said at the Council, we are passing from a static to a dynamic view of reality as we have become aware of how history has affected the expression of our ideas and doctrine. Vatican II, in fact, manifested a great openness to the totality of Christian and human history. In the words of Josef, now Cardinal Josef, Ratzinger, Liturgical forms and customs, dogmatic formulations thought to have arisen with the apostles now appeared as products of complicated processes of growth within the womb of history. Hence I felt it necessary to give a detailed account of the historical genesis of the main doctrines and liturgical forms.

Ive also stressed the ecumenical dimension. Vatican II called for Catholics to engage in dialogue with other Christians so as to reach a truer understanding of the doctrinal differences that divide the churches. Since then, many such dialogues have taken place and their findings have been published. They constitute very valuable studies of many key doctrines. The scholarship they manifest is of a very high order indeed, and I have been able to make good use of many of these studies in my treatment of such topics as the papacy, the sacraments and Mariology.

A final point I want to emphasize is that this book is not aimed at those Catholics who simply want an account of the official teachings of the Church. I do try to state clearly in each instance what the official teaching is, but I frankly recognize the great amount of pluralism and dissent in the Church today. This pluralism is most evident today in the field of moral theology, where revisionists and conservatives are locked in an epic struggle for the Catholic soul.

Caveat emptor! This book is not for the Catholic obsessed with orthodoxy, or for the one who wants an uncomplicated version of the main doctrines of the Church. It is for the Catholic who wants to think through his/her faith and is often puzzled by the apparent conflict of faith with certain findings of modern science and who wonders whether the conflict is really as severe as some priests and teachers seem to imply.

I have tried to write it in the spirit of the ancient saying fides quaerens intellectum (faith seeks understanding). It is also written, I hope, in the spirit of Cardinal Newmans motto found on his gravestone,