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PDF versionDavid Tracy on God
by Richard McBrien on Mar. 08, 2010
David Gibson, author of The Coming Catholic Church (HarperSanFrancisco, 2003), has written an excellent piece on the American Catholic theologian David Tracy in the Jan. 29 issue of Commonweal. It is titled “God Obsessed: David Tracy’s Theological Quest.”God Obsessed: David Tracy’s Theological Quest
Although I have not seen him in several years, I have always regarded David Tracy as a friend, having first met him many years ago when I was doing doctoral studies in Rome during the Second Vatican Council and he was a seminarian (for the diocese of Bridgeport, Connecticut) at the North American College.
Given its subject, Gibson’s Commonweal article is remarkably clear and can serve as a useful introduction to David Tracy for those who are understandably uncertain or even unaware of who he is. I say “understandably” because Tracy hasn’t published a major book in some 20 years, and his theological work has, for the most part, not found its way onto the Vatican’s radar screen.
Why not? Because as one adviser to the U.S. Catholic bishops put it back in the 1980s, like many others the Vatican cannot fathom what Tracy is saying. His writings have never touched upon such toxic subjects as church authority or sexual morality, and so have not been regarded as controversial or dangerous to the faith.
At the time, the U.S. Bishops’ Committee on Doctrine was investigating another U.S. Catholic theologian, who was warned by at least a couple of bishop-members of the committee that his problem was that, unlike Tracy, he wrote too clearly. People could actually understand what he was driving at.
According to David Gibson’s article, this frequently mentioned observation about Tracy’s dense writing style elicits a “wounded” reaction from him. “I don’t think I’m that obscure,” he insists.
But the main point of the Commonweal article is to focus on the central issue not only for Tracy’s theology but for all of theology, namely, the problem of God and of the possibility of belief in God.
Although now retired from his long-time teaching position at the Divinity School of the University of Chicago, Tracy is working on his so-called “Big Book,” a projected multi-volume treatise on God, which Gibson refers to as “the most celebrated case of delayed publication in theology today.”
Tracy has consistently followed a “method of critical correlation.” It is a slight modification of the great Protestant theologian Paul Tillich’s (d. 1965) “method of correlation.” Tracy wishes to maintain a dialectical balance between the demands of the Christian tradition and the questions posed by what he calls the postmodern world.
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Some of Tracy’s critics have erroneously charged that he yields ground on the demands of the Christian tradition in favor of the concerns expressed by the world of science.
But Tracy insists that his yet-unpublished book about the problem of God “has taken him more deeply into the Christian tradition and more extensively into other religious traditions.”
For him, the “overwhelming issue” facing us today is “massive global suffering.” Consequently, he has come to focus less on the “analogical imagination” (the title of his 1981 book) than on the inaccessibility of God.
David Gibson describes Tracy as “riveted by the silence of God.” The problem his fellow theologians have created, Tracy believes, is that too many of them have “an obsession with content,” with the result that the content “has drowned out the silence.” Making doctrine central to theology has been “disastrous,” he declares.
He is convinced that “theologians must reestablish the connection between spirituality and theology that was severed by medieval Scholasticism.”
Before Vatican II, Tracy points out, “Spirituality became something you do after you do your theology.” I can testify from personal experience that this was, in fact, the operative assumption of much pre-conciliar seminary theology.
Theology, he continues, “is not about supplying answers that cannot be questioned,” but rather is judged by “the questions it asks.” In the final analysis, theology is a work of mysticism rather than of logic.
What, then, is the “take-away” from David Gibson’s article?
That Catholic theology must always pay adequate attention to both the Christian tradition and the questions posed by the so-called postmodern world.
That Catholic theology must be attentive to massive global suffering, even though it will only deepen our sense of the inaccessibility of God.
That Catholic theology, as Tracy himself insists, must be “riveted” by the silence of God, and not speak, write, or act as if we have a direct, static-free pipeline to God and to the divine will.
And that Catholic theology must always ground itself in an authentic spirituality, not its many counterfeits, which are simply expressions of an arid, lifeless devotionalism.
© 2010 Richard P. McBrien. All rights reserved. Fr. McBrien is the Crowley-O’Brien Professor of Theology at the University of Notre Dame.
Theologians cannot have it
Theologians cannot have it both ways. After Vatican II, many theologians (this author included) set themselves up as a sort of "alternative magisterium", as the great Catholic thinker and writer George Weigel suggests. In other words, if the "content has drowned out the silence", if doctrine has been made central to theology, as Fr. Tracy suggests, it is so because so many theologians have attempted to supplant, or at least offer an alternative take on, the magisterium of the Church. If theologians want the freedom to engage in the great questions of the age, which I wholeheartedly support them doing, then they must accept that their job is NOT to offer definitive teaching, but rather to explore what it means to worship this God of ours, and how we apply that to the world we find ourselves in. Father Tracy could not be more correct when he says that theology is not about answers, but more about questions.
In the proper context, theologians explore the great questions. The bishops and the Holy Father provide the boundaries. Theologians should have the freedom to explore as close to the boundaries as possible, but should be willing and able to accept the Church's final judgment when they cross those boundaries. In this way, the proper roles and relationships are respected and the balance between definitive teaching and theological exploration is maintained.
Oh, and as an aside, I note yet another attack by Father McBrien on traditional devotions, which he so detests and disdains, calling them "lifeless". I find that odd, given the fact that his article was about a priest who was someone who "appreciated everything", as Stephen Webb wrote of Father Tracy. I suspect that Father Tracy would appreciate that, for millions upon millions, devotions provide a link to the God Who can be, at times, inaccessible. Sadly, Father McBrien seems not to agree with Father Tracy on that count.
Oh, and as an aside, I note
Oh, and as an aside, I note yet another baseless attack upon our excellent and learned and very Reverend Father Richard P. McBrien.
Given the constancy of your passion, it may be most unfortunate, Mr. Green, that you permitted some bitterly dissident Jesuits in the mid nineties to dissuade you from your priestly vocation for mere liturgical niceties, such as the new collects.
But then reviewing your many comments here one discovers the wisdom and compassion of our merciful God in sparing us such ministry.
You might in fact find useful a reading this Lent along with me of the Reverend Father Richard P. McBrien's excellent if too brief work on "Ministry" augmented with reference to the landmark few works on pastoral theology of the same title which we inherit as part of the rich legacy of the recently deceased and ever Reverend and indeed very venerable Father Edward Schillebeeckx (SANTO SUBITO!).
I find them each most strengthening and informative of Our Faith in Jesus Christ, and instructive for our living out of vocations in our world.
I suspect that Father Tracy would appreciate that, for millions upon millions, living out our vocation to Love in this unkind world provides a link to the God is ever immanent with us, as the Reverend Father Tracy's work as revealed in this and the Commonweal article is precisely that critical correlation of theology with this postmodern world.
I note as well you most presumptuous to state that the Reverend Father Richard P. McBrien "seems not to agree with Father Tracy" after an article finding such broad and solid common ground of agreement, and quite arrogant to say what you would "suspect that Father Tracy would appreciate."
To provide the necessary basis for your suspicions you may do well to read the several of the Reverend Father David Tracy's works now available on amazon, which focus on pluralism in the modern world.
You might be invigorated by comparing and contrasting these works with those of the Reverend Father Peter Phan in the same pluralist field or indeed by the Reverend Father Roger Haight, which, I suspect, by their greater clarity, roused even our semi-literate hierarchy's attention.
Again, I thank you for your
Again, I thank you for your recommendation for spiritual reading, but, as usual, I will stick with authors who actually write books that are faithful to Church teaching, so I will pass on reading books by Father McBrien.
I have not seen comments by Father Tracy in which he mocks or dismisses Catholic devotional life, claiming that devotions are dead, as Father McBrien does. I have not seen comments by Father Tracy in which he dismisses and disdains Eucharistic Adoration, as Father McBrien did in an earlier essay on this very site. However, should such be present, I would appreciate the correction.
Additionally, I find it quite telling that so many of the authors that you read (or at least, recommend to others to read) dear Frere, are currently or have been investigated either by the Holy See or by various episcopal conferences for serious errors related to doctrine. These authors include Fathers McBrien, Schillebeeckx, Curran, Cozzens and Haight, to name a few. Perhaps picking up some writing by St. Augustine or St. Thomas Aquinas, Venerable John Paul II or St. Teresa of Avila might be better reading than the false teachings contained in the works by those mentioned above. Just a thought.
Kindly provide your grounds
Kindly provide your grounds for finding that the forty years of faithful writings from the Reverend Father Richard P. McBrien are indeed NOT "Faithful to Catholic teaching" as they in fact ARE received across the board as Catholic teaching.
Do you speak upon your own authority, as always.
Cardinal Clint locutus est - causa finiti est?
The Reverend Father Richard P. McBrien some forty years ago received his Doctorate in Divinity through the Greg, back when that still had substance and meaning. We may still read his Doctoral Dissertation in published format.
Where did you receive yours, that you so casually dismiss out of hand the finest and most brilliant and faithful servants of our Holy Mother Church of the past half century?
Yes, and please do, read Santa Teresa de Avila. Please, Clint, and her take on ecclesiology!
Also read the books Faithful Dissent and Loyal Dissent, for starters in your education in Roman Catholicism.
If you could still find a copy of Reclaiming Catholicism, I urge you to read it.
And of course the Reverend Father David Tracy, here so lavishly recommended by the Reverend Father Richard P. McBrien, if he is not too obscure for your sensibilities.
Just a prayer . . .
frère charles du désert OSB OBLAT (Congrégation de Subiaco)
You are indeed consistent,
You are indeed consistent, Mr. Green. But you should know that your theology is known to be tied to the medieval Church and not at all of the sort of theology Fr. McBrien references in his article. What is troubling about you is that you perceive attacks - especially by Fr. McBrien - where none really exist. Unlike you, who must overemphasize your own points over and over again without broader perspective, Fr. McBrien presents commentary and anlysis of the issues (and fellow theologians) he reports on. We could have a healthy and interesting debate here about the whole topic of "devotions" if folks like you - and I do not at all doubt that you are very knowledgeable and devoted to the faith - were open to reasonable discussion. I have not seen adequate example that you are.
To be honest, I am a
To be honest, I am a Scholastic in philosophical and theological approach, though I do consider myself an eclectic Scholastic, embracing much of Plato's thought as well.
To your point, Fr. McBrien does indeed attack devotional action in this very article, calling it "arid" and "lifeless". He has written of Eucharistic Adoration, saying, "it is difficult to speak favorably about the devotion today" and that adoration is a "doctrinal, theological, and spiritual step backward, not forward" (http://ncronline.org/blogs/essays-theology/perpetual-eucharistic-adoration)
My point here is that Father McBrien does indeed attack devotions, and Eucharistic Adoration, in particular. What he can possibly have against spending time in adoration, in worship, of the Lord Jesus Himself, truly Present in the Blessed Sacrament, is beyond me.
I would be more than happy, more than willing, to engage in a "healthy and interesting debate" on the topic of devotions at any time. I am more than willing to engage in "reasonable" discussion, depending on your definition of "reasonable", of course. If by reasonable, you mean listening to another viewpoint with an open mind, willing to hear opposing viewpoints, then I am willing to do that, of course.
As far as I know, Matthew Fox
As far as I know, Matthew Fox has never written about sexual morality or church governance in his writings on "Creation Theology," yet the Vatican silenced him and effectively drove him out of the Catholic Church into the Anglican.
Tracey should read Fox (citing Aquinas and others) on the "via negativa." That's only one of four aspects. It's a distortion of reality to have a theology with just one dimension.
We are, after all, an Easter people.
Alleluia! We need to hear
Alleluia! We need to hear more from David Tracy. Grounding theology in spirituality rather than intellect and dogmas, and seeing theology as the work of mysticism will allow us to grapple with the questions of a post modern world and bring us to a real harmony across the religious spectrum. Spirituality arises from our common humanity and is a unifying rather than a divisive force.
"rather than intellect and
"rather than intellect and dogmas."
This comment frankly scares me and seems to point towards the greater attempts to cut faith and reason off or, as Pope Benedict put it in the Regensburg address, "dehellenize" Christianity.
Thomas Merton once said that not utilizing reason in the spiritual life was spiritual suicide. Also the spirituality over divinely revealed dogmas and intellect appears to be the sort of thing our pop culture tells us. It is the sort of marketed to the masses religion (I'm not being an elitist I really do mean marketed like its some product) with this vague sense of feel-good subjective spirituality.
I'm not sneering at mysticism as that is important and has its place. Your post, however, is rather vague. What dogmas do you dislike? What about the intellect? Do you believe the Church is the One, True, Faith or do you support religious indifferentism?
I am rather confused in this and I would like to know if you could perhaps further clarify your point?
Let me sum up these last two
Let me sum up these last two McBrien articles -
Help! Help! My friends need to sell their books and no respectable Catholic bookstore will stock them.
Except in Mexico every
Except in Mexico every "Catholic" bookstore I know has closed down.
Thank God for the Cathedral store in Ciudad Juarez, a veritable oasis of rich, fresh, cooling and living waters, as well as for amazon, the source of forty years of work from the Reverend Father Richard P. McBrien, favorably priced, and of all of OUR friends and Fathers, Patriarchs and certified Doctors of Our Church, whom he herein mentions so helpfully, compassionately and glowingly.
If they are not your friends, read them and discover your friends, if you are at all in any way a Roman Catholic practitioner, a fellow seeker upon this long and lonesome pilgrimage of Faith, upn which we need all of the friends we can get!
I find them most supportive, and where I see behind upon this rocky shore only one set of of footprints, I know they have most mercifully carried me.
I suppose that is the
I suppose that is the difference between us. I too have been been mercifully carried, but I have been carried by Christ and his Vicar. I stand fully on the Church of the Apostles and their successors. I have read Fr. McBrien, I find him lacking in insight, his agenda is clear but alas it is his agenda. He has found a niche in Catholicism and no doubt he has done well in this particular niche. But he represents a very narrow minded view of the true faith.
You do not dispute that these last two articles have been lengthy advertisements to sell his friend's books?
Miller mentions: "I have read
Miller mentions: "I have read Fr. McBrien, I find him lacking in insight"
If this is indeed the case, you have not really read the Reverend Father Richard P. McBrien, as you lack insight.
I am waiting for the book here mentioned by the Reverend Father David Tracy to be published before I buy it. I am glad I to have located a copy of Reclaiming Catholicism, and I look forward to receiving further recommendations for spiritual reading in the Roman Catholic faith from this great Doctor of Divinity and professor of theology who has written in the most comprehensive and academic manner about our Church and faith.
But, where have they carried
But, where have they carried you? If you read them for anything other purpose than to gain examples of what NOT to do, and what it means NOT to be Catholic, if you read them and take seriously the erroneous and outrageous positions that they hold, then they may carry you away from Mother Church and down the wrong path. The Christian life is difficult and challenging enough in our modern world, why make it any more difficult by taking on the errors of others who are not faithful to the Church?
Thankfully, in most of the Catholic bookstores I frequent (still a fair number, dear Frere, I see none in danger of closing in my area) I have seen a definite move away from the Father McBrien type books and more toward faithful works. Even in the local secular bookstore, for every Father McBrien-esque book, I can find two written by truly Catholic authors and published by truly Catholic publishing houses, such as Ignatius Press. One may wonder why that is, but the answer is not too difficult to fathom: the Catholic left is intellectually exhausted. Indeed, given that it had very fragile roots to begin with, one wonders how it survived as long as it did.
Define your terms,
Define your terms, throughout, dear Green, with sources, please, so that we might all verifiably understand just what it is you are writing.
For example is your definition of a "truly Catholic publishing house" one which does not print the Reverend Father Richard P. McBrien, Doctor of Divinity from the Greg back when that still meant something real?
What, those Ignatianistas? (What I did not see your specific reference to them earlier, but now I do!! Why am I not surprised! Have you ever seen their FRAUDULENT Classic series from Joe Pearce!!)
Please . . .
I prefer the faithful standard texts, most of which are in fact written or edited by the Reverend Father Richard P. McBrien, to your divisionist definitions.
For are we not Catholic?
Do we not love our enemy?
Very interesting! If the
Very interesting! If the Vatican rottweiler look- and act-alikes have not been watching David Tracey before, they probably will be now. Truth hurts! Finally, a theologian who thinks independently and asserts that perhaps there is something dynamic and living about theology instead of some static rehash of answers that have little or no relevance to today's world---which by the way is also a creation within the plan and action of God.
I'm sure God is anxiously
I'm sure God is anxiously awaiting Tracy's book about Him, so He can see where He went wrong.
I know that I am, so I can
I know that I am, so I can finally see the light.
frère charles du désert OSB OBLAT (Congrégation de Subiaco)
All these years, and you
All these years, and you still haven't seen the light? Must be all those McBrien books you've been reading. Try the Gospels instead.
Love thy enemy? The
Love thy enemy?
The hermeneutic of the Reverend Father Richard P. McBrien reveals how we do as faithful Catholics.
That of the Reverend Father John Dear SJ, show me how we do today, even now.
Most illuminatingly.
frère charles du désert OSB OBLAT (Congrégation de Subiaco
I had David Tracy at Catholic
I had David Tracy at Catholic U. in Washington in 1969 for us peons who weren't smart enough to write an M.A. thesis. I found him obscure then, but thought I was the problem as he tried to unpack Lonergan's very obscure "Method in Theology."
Nevertheless, three words became the foundational learning I got out of my entire four years of theology: EXPERIENCE PRECEDES UNDERSTANDING. Later on, I decided not to trust any teacher who didn't filter their words through their experience. As a result, I "GOT IT!" (or rather "BEEN GOT" -- not through my head, but through the rough bashes of life and through considerable suffering. Years ago I stumbled into the same conclusions that Father McBrien is writing about. Yes! It's all about mysticism / about being vulnerable before a vulnerable God / about being immersed in the silence of the universe which is the language God speaks BELOW the level of words (four volumes???) / about entering the fray of our postmodern world because we know WHOSE we are and are confident enough to stand secure before the Son of Man -- no matter what or where.
David, I'm sure you don't remember me. Our class of 16 met in the "Erwin Schweigart Memorial Lounge" at Theological College. Even though I struggled to "get you," I GOT it! And have struggled to live it for the past 40 years of my very unconventional priestly journey. I thank you and bless you!
And by the way, I get very little spiritual resonance from the pages of NCR, and I don't think Father McBrien gets it. Devotions for many have inserted many into mystery. I know. I couldn't survive without immersing myself in Eucharistic adoration on a daily basis. It's both/and -- as Richard Rohr is fond of saying. The key is being reverent / about immersing ourselves in the mystery / the intimacy of our awesome God who became vulnerable with us and for us in Jesus. That's enough. It's about an open mind and an open heart. As St. Francis said, "Preach the gospel! When necessary, use words!"
Thanks very much for your
Thanks very much for your comment, yet I would have to say that my experience in reading NCR is very different than yours. For me, it has allowed me to deepen my spritual life with Christ thru so much doubt and discouragement (or should I say "in spite of").
Also, I am very pleased that devotions for you, as for many others, have been that which brings you into mystery. This is why I continue to support devotions and did question Father McBrien's strong opposition to them. Yet, that said, I also see that there is another side to devotions and those practicing them. And, I believe, it is this side to which Father McBrien was reacting. It truly is a mixed bag and, although, I have some sympathies for the argument against them, I also realize that, for some, the're value cannot be understated. I have a deep respect for that. It just seems to me that there is always a dark side as well as a bright side to so many of these issues that one wants to cast as all good or all bad. That makes life a bit more complicated than I would like. However, I no longer expect that a spiritual life, with all of its rewards, will wipe away all of its complications.
Peace for you ministry and priestly vocation.
It's about the experience of
It's about the experience of Love preceding understanding when we get up off of our knees, get out and give to the poor, feed the hungry, clothe the naked, shelter the homeless, receive the stranger at the gate
and provide health care.
For these are the very same devotions our Lord commands.
Love thy enemy.
This is the experience which leads ultimately to understanding.
This is our Faith.
Doing it, wordlessly, leads like our theology to at least momentary understanding.
It also helps of course to review the forty years of writings by the Reverend Father Richard P. McBrien.
Works for me.
And I am the worst of all.
frère charles du désert OSB OBLAT (Congrégation de Subiaco
I on the other hand, get a
I on the other hand, get a great deal of "spiritual resonance" from the pages of NCR.
I must say that the nasty tenor of some of these comments reminds me of the mean-spiritedness I find on a daily basis reading my daily newspaper editorials. Why do we find it so hard to listen to each other without being so defensive? Spirituality and our search for God is of course a journey full of mystery for us all- I hear our fears setting up all kinds of "boundaries" we insist be kept in place. There should be no boundaries in a search for truth. If devotions allow one to feel the presence of God in the stillness, than truth is served well. The hope is that we remain open to all peoples' ways of finding God.
We must not be so afraid of the questions. This sometimes "unkind world" begs many questions. Let us be still and kind and nonjudgemental in our search for answers. Let's at least try.
"Experience precedes
"Experience precedes understanding" - I could not agree more. I have found many many books on theology seem to shout that the author is simply trying to make sensc of questions without emersing himself in that relationship with our God that enables us to appreciate if not fully articulate what we have experienced.
As I mentioned in previous
As I mentioned in previous blogs, my granddaughter died of a cerebral bleed at 4 days old. This experience pulled the rug out from under me, and I questioned many things, especially God's role in this tragedy. Statements I heard from devout church-goers included God is testing you, God must love you very much for him to give you such suffering, Only the strong are given
difficult suffering, God wanted that baby more than you did, God loved that baby more than you did, It's God's will, Pray for the strength to align yourself with God's will, and What did you do to earn that kind of punishment from God? Where did we get this stuff from? What kind of a theology do we have? It sound like many lesser gods, vying for attention. Most certainly, we need a way to view God anew, if only to state what He is NOT. As for me, I threw out all these God-notions, and know that Elise died because of a cerebral bleed. As for God, He walks with me. That's all I need.
"Given its subject, Gibson’s
"Given its subject, Gibson’s Commonweal article is remarkably clear and can serve as a useful introduction to David Tracy for those who are understandably uncertain or even unaware of who he is."
So can this "Tracy on Tracy" interview:
http://www.religion-online.org/showarticle.asp?title=2269
Personally, I find Lonergan to be less opaque and cluttered.
High praise is due to
High praise is due to theologians the likes of David Tracy, Roger Haight, and Richard McBrien. My spirituality and preaching is rooted in two key questions that have driven me on my spritual journey; "Who is God?", and Where is God?" There are those who would choose to have us locked into the pre-Copernican idiom that shaped Nicea and Calcedon. In this post-modern era it is the work of these theologians to articulae the cutting-edge language that keeps us in touch with the movement of the Spirit in our times. Are they dangerous? Should they be silenced? I don't think so... Haight is in Wisconsin at the time of this writing, and we in the Oshkosh area are privileged to host him this very evening. He, along with Tracy, has much to say in responding to who God is and how we are to find this God who was revealed to us in God's primary symbol, Jesus of Nazareth.
God is Love. Love your enemy.
God is Love.
Love your enemy.
I am constantly grateful (
I am constantly grateful ( and admittedly amused ) that God revealed Himself to the simple to confound the "know-it all's" ( my word)..and am equally fond of what Mother Angelica often reminded us about the chosen 12; ll of them were dumb fishermen..only one intellectual among them..his name was Judas!!
Why do I always think of these things while reading NCR..especially the theology instructor from Notre Dame?
The Doctor of Divinity? I
The Doctor of Divinity?
I don't know, Adele, why?
And why are you watching television instead of reading him?
As Christians, all we have
As Christians, all we have are fragments - none of the Gospels exists in their original form. Yet upon that, we act as if we have the entire truth with clearly defined boundaries. As Christians, I believe we are called to seek the truth wherever it takes us. To do anything less fails to acknowledge the infinite grandeur of God and the depth of the mystery of his incarnation. After all, if our faith is the "truth", surely it is big enough and confident enough to address all questions. Historically, our Church has been able to grow in its understanding of Christian revelation. Nicea was necessary because the simple faith of of the fisherman of Galilee could not answer the Arian question. New generations bring new questions that need to be answered. We cannot run away from post-modernism, pluralism, or any other "ism" that challenges what we believe and we cannot merely bury our heads in the sands of tradition. As Pelikan put it, "Tradition is the living faith of the dead; traditionalism is the dead faith of the living."
I haven't read Fr. McBrien's
I haven't read Fr. McBrien's comments re: devotions. But having read the responses, I wonder if he may not have been suggesting that devotions CAN be lifeless. And that it is incumbent upon each of us who finds solace in them to ASK OURSELVES wether the solace they provide is truly access to the mystery of God or an escape from that mystery, however consoling that escape. It's true for all of us, all of the time, that our questoning of motives should be of our own, not everyone elses. And that's true whether we be left, right, center, up, down, level, akilter.
This, too, is what I have centrally learned from Fr. Tracy. He is the most Thomist thinker I know in this sense: like the Angelic Doctor, he reads others in an effort to UNDERSTAND them, not to refute them. St. Thomas began each article in the Summa Theologiae with a statement from others with which he would eventually disagree, but in the initial statement of the position he often made his "opponent's" argument even stroner than it had originall been. His was faith seeking understanding, not certainty. So, too, with Fr. Tracy. He will have his differences from many, but his differ-ing is rooted in a genuine effort to understand, first and foremost. And even in differing, to hold on to whatever insights of value can be gleaned.
Oh, that more of us would do the same.
We need to painstakingly question ourselves. And to painstakingly attempt to understand others, most especially those with whom we tend to disagree.
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