kit
12-15-2008, 07:43 AM
Convert, prominent theologian Cardinal Dulles dies at 90
http://www.usatoday.com/news/religion/2008-12-12-dulles-obituary_N.htm
Cardinal Avery Dulles, a convert to Roman Catholicism who was the first U.S. theologian named a cardinal, died Friday. He was 90.
Dulles, a Jesuit and son of a U.S. Secretary of State, died in an infirmary at Fordham University, where he was a professor for two decades, according to the Rev. Jim Martin of America, a Jesuit magazine that regularly published Dulles' articles...
I benefited a lot from reading his works, especially his early book "Models of the Church" (1974) which is a classic on ecclesiology in ecumenical circles. One of his most recent articles, "Who Can Be Saved?" (2008) at First Things: The Journal of Religion, Culture and Public Life, is a short and very good essay on salvation, which gives us a very solid information about the historical development on different views on the issue.
At the end of the essay, Dulles concluded:
"Who, then, can be saved? Catholics can be saved if they believe the Word of God as taught by the Church and if they obey the commandments. Other Christians can be saved if they submit their lives to Christ and join the community where they think he wills to be found. Jews can be saved if they look forward in hope to the Messiah and try to ascertain whether God's promise has been fulfilled. Adherents of other religions can be saved if, with the help of grace, they sincerely seek God and strive to do his will. Even atheists can be saved if they worship God under some other name and place their lives at the service of truth and justice. God's saving grace, channeled through Christ the one Mediator, leaves no one unassisted. But that same grace brings obligations to all who receive it. They must not receive the grace of God in vain. Much will be demanded of those to whom much is given."
There is an online archive of Cardinal Avery Dulles.
http://www.ratzingerfanclub.com/Dulles/index.html
http://www.usatoday.com/news/religion/2008-12-12-dulles-obituary_N.htm
Cardinal Avery Dulles, a convert to Roman Catholicism who was the first U.S. theologian named a cardinal, died Friday. He was 90.
Dulles, a Jesuit and son of a U.S. Secretary of State, died in an infirmary at Fordham University, where he was a professor for two decades, according to the Rev. Jim Martin of America, a Jesuit magazine that regularly published Dulles' articles...
I benefited a lot from reading his works, especially his early book "Models of the Church" (1974) which is a classic on ecclesiology in ecumenical circles. One of his most recent articles, "Who Can Be Saved?" (2008) at First Things: The Journal of Religion, Culture and Public Life, is a short and very good essay on salvation, which gives us a very solid information about the historical development on different views on the issue.
At the end of the essay, Dulles concluded:
"Who, then, can be saved? Catholics can be saved if they believe the Word of God as taught by the Church and if they obey the commandments. Other Christians can be saved if they submit their lives to Christ and join the community where they think he wills to be found. Jews can be saved if they look forward in hope to the Messiah and try to ascertain whether God's promise has been fulfilled. Adherents of other religions can be saved if, with the help of grace, they sincerely seek God and strive to do his will. Even atheists can be saved if they worship God under some other name and place their lives at the service of truth and justice. God's saving grace, channeled through Christ the one Mediator, leaves no one unassisted. But that same grace brings obligations to all who receive it. They must not receive the grace of God in vain. Much will be demanded of those to whom much is given."
There is an online archive of Cardinal Avery Dulles.
http://www.ratzingerfanclub.com/Dulles/index.html