Rahner Again [warning: syntactical maelströms

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Rahner Again [warning: syntactical maelströms ahead

A very kind reader directed me toward this article on Rahner's transfinalization and transsignification. What I have determined from my brief reading is that my mind is simply not capable of grappling with the subject at all, but I have an intuition that Fr. Regis Scanlon may have misinterpreted Fr. Rahner's intent. One contention that disturbs me in the argument is that while Rahner rejected Trent's meaning of substance, he rejects the essence of the doctrine of transubstantiation. I think Rahner's rejection of substance comes from the physical reality of bread not being an essence or all of a type, but being a combination of molecules in modern understanding. Perhaps it is out of this reading/understanding of substance that Rahner felt the need to wiggle around and try to explain what happened. I would take a simpler tack and say that while substance may not mean "essence" it certainly can mean substance in the more general sense of the term, and not worry a whole lot about atoms and molecules. On the other hand, I probably don't have a clue what the real problem is and never will, so I will never know where Rahner stood (until and unless the Lord sees fit to reveal it) so I think that after this last post I will simply dismiss the whole mess and let Fr. Rahner and Jesus talk it out between themselves--they don't need my help, and the conversation simply makes my head hurt. However, I did feel the need to post this because the reader who recommended this article came late to the discussion and it would be a shame not to hear an additional voice. Thank you for this contribution, sir.

All others, be forewarned--my skull is splitting, and I am returning to the warm embrace of gentle St. John of the Cross, my director, my guide, and a man who doesn't talk in sentences with seventeen sub-sub-sub clauses. Rather than telling me the exact composition of the Lord, he simply points and says, "Love Him."

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This page contains a single entry by Steven Riddle published on January 9, 2003 7:19 PM.

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