In the Circle of Mysteries: The Coherence of Catholic Belief Book

Acknowledgments xv Introduction 1 Part 1 Origin and Development of Christian Beliefs Chapter 1 One God 13 I Yahweh, God of the Tribes of Israel 14 Exodus, Sinai, and the Land 16 A Law of Development: Yahweh and the Community 18 The Exodus: "What Actually Happened?" 19 The Journey to the Monarchy 21 II Yahweh, God of the Nation 24 Jeremiah and Ezekiel 26 Second Isaiah 30 Other Voices 34 Job 35 The Fourth Servant Song (Isaiah 52:13-53:12): "Who Has Believed What We Have Heard?" 37 III Yahweh, the Only God, Lord of the Nations, Creator of the Universe 40 A Question of Identity 40 The Editing of the Pentateuch 41 Ezra and Nehemiah 42 The Vision of God 44 The Maccabean Revolt 47 The Community 47 Apocalyptic 49 Chapter 2 Jesus 55 I Assumptions about Jesus 56 II The Ministry of Jesus 59 Jesus and John 59 The Kingdom of God 60 Miracles 62 God as Abba 63 Jesus as Teacher 64 Jesus' Actions 68 The Twelve 69 The Passion 71 III The Resurrection of Jesus 76 Two Ways 76 Dense Experience 78 Chapter 3 Christ 85 I Who Is Jesus? 85 Jesus as Judge of the End Time 86 Jesus as Crucified Messiah 87 The Law and Wisdom 91 Preexistence in Early Pauline Hymns 92 II Prayer and Worship of the Early Christian Community 95 Summary 98 III Preaching of the Church and the Gospels 100 The Gospel of Jesus Christ 100 Portraits of Jesus 102 Looking Back 114 Part 2 The Development of Christian Doctrine: The Center Chapter 4 How Doctrines Develop 121 I The Scriptures: Old and New Testaments 122 II The Bishop's Office 126 Apostolic Succession 127 The Starting Point 129 III Marcion, Gnosticism, and Montanism 133 IV The Role of Liturgy and Worship 137 Chapter 5 The Trinity 139 I Experience 141 IIScriptural Witness 145 Father 145 Son 146 Spirit 147 III Theology 150 The Logos and the Son 150 The Logos 151 The Development of Trinitarian Thought 154 Modalism and Subordinationism 157 IV Doctrine 160 The Arian Controversy 160 A New Moment: the Holy Spirit and the Trinity 165 Augustine and the West 170 Trinity in the East and West 171 Recent Trinitarian Theology 173 Chapter 6 Christ and the Church 175 I Experience and the Scriptures 176 Discipleship 176 Images of the Church as Community 177 The Mission 178 The Body of Christ 179 The Vine and the Branches, the Shepherd and the Sheepfold 182 Matthew's Gospel and the Figure of Peter 185 Images of the Church 186 II Theology 188 Differing Paths of Developments 189 Church Office 189 Sacramental Life 191 The Christological Controversies and the Unity of the Church 193 The Clash of Traditions 194 III Doctrine 199 The Councils of Ephesus and Chalcedon 199 The Definition of Chalcedon 203 Part 3 The Development of Catholic Doctrine: Closing the Circle Chapter 7 The Western Church 207 I The Church in Latin Patristic Thought 208 Cyprian of Carthage 209 Augustine 210 Leo the Great and Gregory the Great 212 The Western Template 215 The Roman Catholic Church 217 II Historical Glissando 217 III The Theology of the Church 221 The Neo-Scholastic Synthesis 222 Thomas Aquinas as Official Catholic Thinker 224 The Church 226 IV Vatican II and the Church 230 The Church and the Churches 232 Vatican II 236 The Liturgy 238 Revelation 239 The Church in the Modern World 241 Summary 242 Chapter 8 Mary 244 I Mary in the Scriptures 246 II Mary in the Patristic Tradition 250 III Mary in Western Medieval Thought 255 IV The Immaculate Conception 260 V Mary in the Life of the Church after the Reformation 262 VI Vatican II and Mary 264 VII Mary of the Apparitions 269 Chapter 9 The Last Things and Faith 277 I The Last Things 278 Eschatology in the Twentieth Century 278 A Single Conclusion 279 The Last Things Together 280 The Resurrection of the Dead 282 The Structures of Hope 284 The Enduring Meaning of the Last Things 286 II The Scandal of Faith 292 Faith in God 292 Faith in the God of Jesus Christ 296 Faith as a Roman Catholic 299 III The Last Question 302 Abbreviations 304 Notes 305 About the Author 329 Index of Names 331