FUNDAMENTAL THEOLOGY

Fundamental theology has traditionally concerned itself with the two great Christian facts: God has revealed Himself to men, and this revelation was climaxed in Christ, who founded a Church that transmits the Christian revelation. The fundamentals, or foundations, or basic elements, in the Judeo-Christian tradition are the existence of divine revelation and the transmission of this revelation to and through the people of God. The method of fundamental theology has been philosophical, historical, and theological. Because methodological questions arise only after the theological work is in progress and because of the historicist and positivistic temper of the last century, there has been a certain ambivalence as to whether fundamental theology is properly philosophical or theological. The tendency today is to regard the discipline as strictly theological, that is, the activity of man's human reason transformed by faith seeking an understanding of the word of god transmitted in the Church. As fundamental theology is now structured, it is left to prior investigation to ascertain man's cognitional powers as well as to come to a knowledge of God's existence. Some theologians, however, prefer to begin fundamental theology with the existence of a personal and provident God as known by reason and confirmed by a study of the history of religions.

K. Rahner and other scholars have pointed out that the above presentation is one-sided because it does not explain how man is capable of receiving revelation without this revelation being necessary for man. Thus, Rahner has proposed that fundamental theology concern itself more with man's openness to all being. Fundamental theology would proceed from man's openness to all being by a study of the analogy of being and a careful analysis of man's obediential potency for revelation. Precisely because man is spirit incarnated he is open to all being. He is capable of hearing the word of God, of receiving the divine self-disclosure. An analysis of this capability, both in the abstract and as it is fulfilled in the concrete, would be the task of fundamental theology. This discipline would study man in relation to the revelation in creation, in the personal word, and in the historical deeds of God as transmitted in Scripture. The Thematik of fundamental theology would be the ontological principles of natural and supernatural theology. Some of the categories to be examined are: the forms of revelation; the demand that revelation makes upon man; revelation as intersubjectivity or divine action in opposition to revelation as past external fact; the logos as address and as meaning; the social character of revelation; the nature of word, speech, writing; the mediation of revelation; the presence of revelation in the Church. This approach to fundamental theology might well answer the questions: How can man hear the word of God? What is the word of God that man hears? Where does man receive the word of God? This type of fundamental theology would be neither exclusively historical nor philosophical but rather completely and thoroughly theological. Fundamental theology would thus be the meeting point for faith and reason, theology and philosophy, revelation and the world.

See Also: apologetics; immanence apologetics; methodology (theology); revelation, concept of (in the bible); revelation, theology of; revelation, fonts of; word of god.

Bibliography: g. sÖhngen and h. vorgrimler, Lexikon für Theologie und Kirche, ed. j. hofer and k. rahner (Freiburg 1957–65) 4:452–460. s. tromp, De revelatione christiana (Rome 1950) 11–22. k. rahner, Theological Investigations, tr. c. ernst et al. (Baltimore 1961—) 1:19–23. b. lonergan, "Theology and Understanding," Gregorianum 35 (Rome 1954) 642–644. j. thornhill, "Towards an Integral Theology," Theological Studies 24 (Woodstock, Md. 1963) 264–277.

[p. j. cahill]