|
From Dr Andrew Beards
Thanks for this. That is a very interesting
take on things by Brendan Purcell. I strongly agree with his overall affirmation that Lonergan is fundamentally
a deeply orthodox theologian —
I myself feel rather more uneasy concerning von Balthasar by way of comparison.
On the Humanae Vitae issue, his point that this was a private consultation piece in Lonergan's
lifetime is important.
However, I would go on to put the other side of the picture too: a good number of Lonergan scholars, including
some of those who worked most closely with him, have defended the Church's position on this. One example is Fr
Matthew Lamb, who has a relevant contribution in the festschrift for Romanus Cessario. Then my good friend the
late Mgr Terry Tekieppe would be another example, as was the great Kant scholar, the late Fr G. Sala SJ.
I have devoted a section to the issue in my book Insight
and Analysis. There is a kind review of this
in New Blackfriars by our now Bishop of Portsmouth, Philip Egan. Bishop Egan is considered
the leading expert on the relation between Newman and Lonergan and, as is well known, Bishop Egan has not only
defended Humanae Vitae but has joined the growing chorus of theologians who affirm that
it enters the domain of infallible teaching.
Andrew Beards is Academic Director at the
School of the Annunciation, a Higher Institute of Catholic Education based at Buckfast Abbey, Devon UK. He is author
of Lonergan, Meaning and
Method, (Bloomsbury,
2016), Insight and Analysis, (Continuum, 2010), Philosophy the Quest for Truth and Meaning, (Liturgical Press, 2010), Method in Metaphysics: Lonergan and the Future of Analytical Philosophy, (University of Toronto Press, 2008) and Objectivity and Historical Understanding (Ashgate, 1997).
Copyright © Andrew Beards 2017
Version: 22nd March 2017
|