Bernard J. F. Lonergan (1904–1984)

I should have read this years ago.

When thinking of Lonergan I always though of Insight and the size of the tome put me off. By chance a few months ago I acquired Method in Theology and thought it didn't look too daunting, and as I kept hearing his name mentioned and seeing it in print I thought I would give it a go. Well that was about three months ago, and I have been working through it off and on since then.

The style is dense, but generally clear and engaging, prose. Lonergan, though philosophically akin to Rahner in many ways, is radically different in style. I find him a model of clarity in his writing. The slowness in my reading is only down to the fact that he rarely wastes a word and so there is not much room for skim redaing here. But the clarity of expression makes some generaly highly complex and profound ideas quite accessible.

I don't intend to outline or assess Lonergans work here. Generally I found myself agreeing with him. In one or two places I was less sure, but I would have to do further study to decide whther that is because (i) I have not understood (b) I am wrong or (c) Lonergan is wrong. However Lonergan has considerably shaped and clarified my thinking in a number of areas, and pleasingly confirmed that the way I have approached various areas of theology seems to be coherent!… (more)