Volume 35, Issue 1/2, 2023
Peter Joseph Fritz
Pages 409-418
https://doi.org/10.5840/philtheol2023928167
Review Essay: Renewing Theology: Ignatian Spirituality and Karl Rahner, Ignacio Ellacur¨ªa, and Pope Francis, by J. Matthew Ashley
J. Matthew Ashley¡¯s Renewing Theology compellingly argues that academic theology needs renewal by way of a ¡°living circulation¡± with spirituality. The latter may be an animating force for the former, assuring that theology, even in its academic form, arises from concrete experiential encounter with God. Ashley rec?ommends Ignatian spirituality as a tradition distinctively suited to renewing theology in late modernity, and offers detailed accounts of Karl Rahner¡¯s, Ignacio Ellacur¨ªa¡¯s, and Pope Francis¡¯s diverse theological appropriations of Ignatian spirituality to substantiate his case. Among the book¡¯s numerous successes is Ashley¡¯s creative presentation of Rahner as retrieving Ignatian spirituality so as to present a message and mission of consolation to the modern world; thus Rahner can be a productive model for academic theology today.