Mary Daly

The Problem of Speculative Theology

THE PossiBILITY AND SIGNIFICANCE oF SPECULATIVE THEOLOGY S MINDS have always seen a fundamental opposition between life and the pursuit of knowledge. In the history of Christian thought, the antipathy for speculation has sometimes been expressed in strong terms; one finds a classic example in The Imitation of Christ. At worst, there appears to be a conflict between opposed demands; at best, a tension. When the question of the nature of theology arises, it is not surprising to see that it becomes the focal point of dispute and tension. This was especially evident in the thirteenth century. Again in our own time, this paradoxical problem has emerged as a subject which demands close attention and re-examination, for the antithesis between life and knowledge is affirmed with vigor by many modern thinkers. The importance and timeliness of examining the question of speculative theology is therefore evident.

Book Review: The Eternal Feminine: A Study on the Text of Teilhard de Chardin, followed by Teilhard and the Problems of TodayThe Eternal Feminine: A Study on the Text of Teilhard de Chardin, followed by Teilhard and the Problems of Today, by De LubacHenri. Translated by HagueRene. Harper & Row, Publishers, New York, 1971. 272 pp.

to chronicle the developments of his many branches. Something there is that desires to look at the roots from which Niebuhr draws sustenance. What is the moral firmament upon which he stood and which supported the multiplicity of his energies, commitments, and wisdom? What, in the final analysis, made Niebuhr tick? That we do not see in this study, although we do catch glimpses of the trunk as related to the branches and fruits of his thought. Indeed, such a question would have required a different kind of book. Second, Stones dependence on Niebuhrian categories to interpret Niebuhr means that some of the errors of Niebuhrs own conceptual assumptions and those of his generation are perpetuated. It is not clear that Stone questioned these assumptions except in terms of intramural realist debates. The author concedes that Niebuhrs use of terms is often imprecise, or even fuzzy, but he never asks as to their fundamental adequacy. Nevertheless, this book is the best survey of Niebuhrs thought in existence and is likely to be a reference standard for years to come. Perhaps, indeed, its strength comes from what I have identified as its weakness—namely, it is written by one in the Niebuhrian family, so to speak, and it thereby represents a perspective that has already and will further outlive its chief founder.