Method in Theology

You must give this guy credit where credit is due. While his jesuit colleagues are buying up every box of crackerjacks in order to find "the good" in the free prize packet, Lonergan managed to stay on track and pursue more scientific methods in finding "the good." Although, I shouldn't lump all the jesuits together this way. There are some jesuits who continue to fill out the publisher's clearing house junk mail in the hope of being greeted at the door by a smiling Ed McMahon, embellished with a glow from the bright sun rays bouncing off his shiney white teeth as your eyes are taken aback by "the good" which he displays to your delight in his hands. So, as we see, some jesuits do try alternative methods in finding "the good." However, I think Lonergan's method in finding "the good" is far superior.

This book was introduced to me 14 years ago, in an undergrad theology class called, "Struggle and Transcendence" (at Georgetown). The class looked at the African-American experience and sought solutions to the concrete problem of living in that community and the human community in general. At the time I was an international relations major. My friends and I constantly debated political theory, social policy, foreign policy, etc. We were wondering, What is the best way to live in this increasingly global community? Debates were heated. Often the debate came down to the question, How do you know? On issues from genocide, (neo)colonialism, and development, to abortion, welfare, medical care, different people emphasized different sources of truth: experience, reason, feelings, tradition, culture, scripture, science, love, faith, belief, imagination, experts, etc. When I read Method, I thought, the debate is over; this is how you know. Lonergan values all of the above sources of knowledge, and goes further to show how all of the ways are related and involved in anything we do, from playing soccer to doing theology. The other thing I loved about Method was its emphasis on love. Studying the causes of international conflicts led me to think that the root of conflict was a personal lack of self-love, or a conditional ground for self-love. "I will love myself IF I have these people's respect, or this pretty wife, or money, or property, etc., or IF I'm better than this person or all people." We put other people down to raise ourselves up. I believed that right relations among humans needed to be founded on unconditional love, on a right relationship with God and oneself. In Method, Lonergan wrote that if one falls in love unconditionally, then that love becomes fundamental for one's whole life -- a new way of seeing the world and acting w/in it. Method in Theology is rich in such insights. It is very difficult, but worth the work. Ultimately, the book is about the complex relationships of knowing, loving and service, and how these three things are applied to theology. My favorite chapters remain the first one on Method (knowing), and the fourth one on Religion (loving). The fourth chapter is so beautiful, that friends of a friend who are atheists incorporated parts of it into their wedding ceremony. The book begins and ends with the need for service, the communication of the Christian gospel of divine love, in both words and deeds. Fourteen years after that introduction, I am still discovering new things through Method (while working on a dissertation on Lonergan and teaching theology and philosophy) and I probably will be for several years to come.

This book not only focuses on Theology as a science dealing with the concept and relation to God within different cultural matrixes, but clearly states concepts as human good, progress and decadence. Essential reading for everyone interested in philosphy, ethics or sociology. If you will be reading it by your own, I'd classify it as Master Degree level.

Many will find this book to be diffiuclt to read. The language is very rich and full of reference to various areas of philosophy. This book would be recommended for intermediate to advanced students of theology and philosophy. Lonergan, one of the greatest of the Jesuit philosophers of the twentieth century, has written this volume to give a "method" to understanding some of the major philosophical elements which give a structure to the understanding and doing of theology. Take your time in reading this book and reflect... it's the best way to understand it!