Kirjahaku

In March 1993 Hans Kung celebrated his sixty-fifth birthday, and to mark the occasion a substantial volume was presented to him: not so much the usual Festschrift as a 'workbook' on the many aspects of his faith and thought. This translation is an abridged version of the German text, containing articles of particular interest to readers in the English-speaking world. Its seven sections cover the church, the Catholicity of Hans Kfing's theology, the ecumenical world, christology and the doctrine of God, the dialogue with Judaism, world religions and the influence of Hans Kting. The contributors come not only from Switzerland and Germany but from Britain and Ireland, the United States, Latin America, Saudi Arabia and Russia and represent Judaism, Islam and Buddhism as well as Christianity. Besides being a fascinating critical survey of the life and work of a quite remarkable theologian, the book has one further, important aim: the rehabilitation of Hans Kung as a Catholic theologian. As one of the great figures of Roman Catholic ecumenical theology, Heinrich Fries, recently asked: 'Is the Catholic church so narrow that it cannot tolerate a man like Kung, or is it so rich that it can dispense with him?'

This book was cited by the Vatican in December 1979 as proof that Hans Kueng had 'departed from the integral truth of the Catholic faith'. It asks, 'What is Christian truth?' How do we establish it?' How does the church's claim of infallibility compare with its all too obvious errors?' How can we approach the future positively?' Most movingly of all, in a personal postscript after his condemnation, Hans Kueng explains, Why I Remain a Catholic.

Written for men and women of all faiths and of none, this volume provides this generation with a profound recalculation of the wisdom of belief in God. 'Passionately researched, reasoned. and almost reckless in its daring to probe ultimate questions for their ultimate consequences. whatever they might be . . . In Kueng the reader has a guide not only of complete integrity. but also of extraordinary breadth and depth of knowledge and great clarity of expression' (Leonard 5m/idler in Commonweal). 'Kung's mastery as a theologian is in his instinctive sense for the heart of the matter and his uncommon sense .. - He is a first-rare theologian and the best exponent of contemporary theological concerns to the wider culture of our day' (David Tracy in The New Republic' 'He belongs clearly in the top rank of those theologians who, like Paul Tillich and Reinhold Niebuhr. have successfully mediated religious faith to the wider society and culture' (Richard P McBrien in The New York Times Book Review).