WASHINGTON — The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops expressed strong objections March 30 to the “doctrine of God” arising from the methodology employed in Quest for the Living God: Mapping Frontiers in the Theology of God, a popular textbook used in some undergraduate theology classes.
Asserting that its author, Sister Elizabeth Johnson of the Sisters of St. Joseph, a highly regarded Fordham University theologian, “employs standards from outside the faith to criticize and to revise in a radical fashion the conception of God revealed in Scripture and taught by the magisterium,” the 21-page statement issued by the U.S. bishops’ Committee on Doctrine defended the rare public notification as a necessity because “the book is directed primarily to an audience of non-specialist readers and is being used as a textbook for study of the doctrine of God.”
The bishops’ action signaled their willingness to confront a popular and respected theologian and author on doctrinal issues, and it created a stir in theological and religious-publishing circles.
Archbishop Timothy Dolan of New York, president of the bishops’ conference, presented “the statement to Jesuit Father Joseph McShane, president of Fordham, and Sister Elizabeth prior to its public release,” reported Joseph Zwilling, spokesman for the archdiocese, who noted that the archbishop had sought and received the permission of the USCCB administrative board to do so.
Sister Elizabeth told the archbishop “she intended to take it seriously and that she would interpret this as an opportunity for dialogue with the bishops so that she might offer clarification and elaboration,” said Zwilling. And Archbishop Dolan, for his part, “hoped that, as a serious theologian, Sister Elizabeth Johnson acknowledges the role of bishops as the authentic teachers in the life of the Church.”
Publicly, Sister Elizabeth responded with a statement that avoided incendiary language but defended the integrity of her work: “The book itself endeavors to present new insights about God arising from people living out their Catholic faith in different cultures around the world. My hope is that any conversation that may be triggered by this statement will but enrich that faith, encouraging robust relationship to the Holy Mystery of the living God as the Church moves into the future.”
She took issue with the USCCB committee’s decision not to contact her before making its critique and contended that that committee’s statement “radically misinterprets what I think and what I in fact wrote. The conclusions thus drawn paint an incorrect picture of the fundamental line of thought the book develops.”
‘She Who Is’
Sister Elizabeth has served as the president of both the Catholic Theological Society of America and the ecumenical American Theological Society. She is a member of the editorial boards of several influential journals, including Theological Studies and Horizons.
The Fordham professor’s academic expertise includes systematic theology, but she has gained prominence as a feminist theologian and the author of a number of books, including She Who Is: The Mystery of God in Feminist Theological Discourse.
Quest for the Living God was published in 2007 by Continuum. Kara Zavada, the U.S. marketing manager for the religious-books division of the publishing house, confirmed that the hardback had sold more than 20,000 copies and the paperback edition would be available this July. Zavada said that Continuum had no plans to respond to the U.S. bishops’ critique and that she was more concerned with meeting an expected surge in demand for the book — the inevitable consequence of increased media attention.
Some Internet critics echoed the bishops’ concerns.
Addressing Sister Elizabeth’s assertion that the bishops had “radically misinterpret[ed| her book, Catholic Culture’s Phil Lawler drily observed: “If Catholic bishops cannot grasp Johnson’s points, how can we expect college undergraduates to understand them? … [T]he bishops were right to issue a warning.”
Meanwhile, supporters questioned the need for the USCCB’s critique and suggested the author’s audience was composed of sophisticated readers who could navigate the shoals of speculative theology. However, when the book was first published, reviewers applauded its broad appeal: America Magazine, the Jesuit monthly, predicted that “[p]rofessional theologians, undergraduate students and literate people of faith will enjoy all that this engaging work has to offer.”
Msgr. Stuart Swetland, the Archbishop Flynn Professor of Christian Ethics at Mount St. Mary’s University in Emmitsburg, Md., and a former student of Sister Elizabeth when she was a member of the theology faculty at The Catholic University of America, recalled a gifted teacher who left a lasting impact. But he underscored the bishops’ primary obligation: “The role of the bishops is to point out when a problematic line of reasoning might lead students or readers astray.”
What the Mystery of God Is
Msgr. Swetland challenged Sister Elizabeth’s assertion that the doctrine committee should have met with her before issuing its critique. “Theological works meant for a general audience have to stand on their own. The question is whether the book itself would engender confusion. However, if you were looking at the entirety of someone’s work, it would be appropriate to contact the author,” he said.
Led by Cardinal Donald Wuerl of Washington, D.C., the U.S. bishops’ doctrine committee expressed strong objections to the author’s tendency to set aside revelation and the magisterium as the starting point of her theological inquiry, while expanding the role of personal experience and the insights of secular disciplines or other religious traditions. This flawed methodology, the committee charged, might lead readers to conclude that Tradition “has failed to provide an understanding of God.”
“The book argued that God is mysterious, which he is, and therefore whatever language we employ concerning God is all metaphor or symbolic and therefore does not afford us any truth claims about who God is, actually. Thus, we can’t really know who God is because of this mystery that he is,” explained Capuchin Father Thomas Weinandy, executive director of the USCCB Secretariat for Doctrine.
“However, while the Church would say, ‘Yes, God is a mystery,’ we do know, because of revelation, what the mystery of God is. God is a trinity of persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit,” Father Weinandy added. “Our language is not only symbolic or metaphorical; it gives us a true understanding of the nature of God. The false conclusion is that we can use any metaphor when speaking of God.”
Feminist theologians have emphasized the role of human experience in part because they believe that women have been excluded from the development of doctrine. Mary Shivanandan, professor of theology at the Pontifical John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and the Family, noted that several of Sister Elizabeth’s other books approached “authentic” experience as a source of ongoing revelation.
Shivanandan explained that the Second Vatican Council’s document on the interpretation of Scripture (Dei Verbum) explicitly states that “no new public revelation is to be expected before the glorious manifestation of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Harming the Faith
Theologians that “give equal or more weight to secular disciplines — such as sociology — than to the Tradition and the magisterium of the Church,” she added, “reduce the full glory of revealed truth. Instead of integrating experience with faith, they end up harming both faith and human flourishing.”
The bishops’ statement also took aim at the author’s revisionist account of the historical formulation of doctrine that wrongly characterized tradition as “contaminated” by ideas from Enlightenment thinkers.
“Against the contamination of Christian theology after the Enlightenment by modern theism, Sister Johnson claims to be retrieving fundamental insights from patristic and medieval theology. As we have seen, however, this is misleading, since under the guise of criticizing modern theism she criticizes crucial aspects of patristic and medieval theology, aspects that have become central elements of the Catholic theological tradition confirmed by magisterial teaching,” the committee observed.
While Cardinal Wuerl suggested that these issues of concern might have been fruitfully addressed before the book’s publication, theologians contacted for this story said it has become increasingly rare for scholars to seek an imprimatur for a work of speculative theology.
Father Weinandy acknowledged that he had not obtained an imprimatur for his own works of theology, and that Sister Elizabeth’s book came to the committee’s attention after several bishops raised concerns about its use in classrooms.
“The doctrine committee has done what it was asked to do,” he stated. “Hopefully it will have some effect.”
Register senior editor Joan Frawley Desmond writes from Chevy Chase, Maryland.
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Here we go again… the old boys “bishops’ knocking the women. Nice try guys.
Why are members of religious orders who disregard the teachings of the magisterium allowed to remain in in their communities?
This to me is interesting…. we used Sr. Johnson’s work “She Who Is…” in the protestant seminary I attended and, at the time, regretfully, it made me glad I had left the Catholic Church. It wast touted and hailed by the feminist theologians at the school as a great emancipating work (from what?).
Does this move indicate a willingness on the bishops to begin, slowly, reigning in the ‘speculative theology’ crowd that has drifted off into areas of questionable doctrine and led many good and faithful Catholics (and other Christians) astray? I can only say I hope so!
I find it almost funny that Sister Elizabeth would “take issue” with the fact that she was not contacted before the bishops issued their critique. I “take issue” that a Str. of St Joseph would not seek an imprimatur before publishing ANY book on theology! Her responsibilities go beyond her own personal pride, speculation and desires. I can’t help but look back at all the heresies over the years and take comfort in knowing that the teachings of our church fathers, doctors of the church and the examples of the saints are built on rock and can withstand our human weaknesses regardless of where they are found. I trust both the bishops and Str Elizabeth will stay focused on the truth and God’s revealed love for us.
It is exactly as it appears on the screen
These theologians can only confuse the believers. Ordinary believer knows the theology that God is a mystery and the mysteries are beyond our ken. So please do not confuse the believers. If confused, they will only go out and seek sheds of half truths and quarter truths.
Lefty nun in civvies, theological doubletalk, university press, feminists laughing at the criticism—in other words, the usual routine. Issue a statement that she has to rewrite or not be considered a catholic theologian and I’ll think you’ve grown a backbone, USCCB.
“Feminist theologians have emphasized the role of human experience in part because they believe that women have been excluded from the development of doctrine.”
St. Catherine of Sienna, St. Teresa of Avila and St. Therese of Lisieux, all doctors of the Church might be a little surprised to hear this.
Wouldn’t it be a good -even an obligatory or mandatory- practice for Catholics who wish to publish in relation to or about something that relates to the Catholic faith, to seek at least a NIHIL OBSTAT (“nothing objects” or contradicts with the faith it is meant) before they publish their work?
On the other hand, wouldn’t it be a good-or even obligatory or mandatory- practice for Catholics who wish to read/use a publication in relation to or about something that relates to the Catholic faith (its authentic teaching) select and seek in it a NIHIL OBSTAT at least- or much better an IMPRIMATUR (“let it be printed”)that actually recommends beyond not objecting to the work!- before they read/use (teach from) a particular book with the purpose of portraying authentic Catholic faith?
I wonder if this issue is somehow related to the “Mandatum” issue among Catholic theologians/universities?
I am extremely excited the Bishops are taking a stand on writers that are detrimental to our catlike faith. One of the characteristic of scripture according to Noblucal Thrology revealed in the Book of psalm 12:6 ( Pure) ” The words of theLied are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth , purified seven times. The Epistle of Jude 1:5-14 on False Teavhers Denounced . ” The faith one receives must be kept intact and handed on in all it’s fullness. Because the faith ” delivered to the saints” implies an already formed deposits of truths , As we know , the deposit of Vhristisn faith and morals was entrusted to the church ” to be preserved in a continous line of succession until the end of time. Hence the apostles, in handing on what they themselves had received, warn the faithful to maintain the traditions which they had learned either by word of mouth or by letter ; and they warn them to fight hard for the faith that had been handed on to them ( Vatican II , Dei Verbum#8) Therefore,although the custody of the faith and it’s handing on is a basic responsibility of the Pope and the bishops of the church, it is also an obligation which falls on all Christians , particularly those who have a teaching role- for example , parents,Teavhers,catechists. Pope John Oaul II says: ” It I’d Christ alone who teaches; anyone else teaches to the extent that he is Christ’s spokesman,enabling Christ to teach with his lips. Whatever the level of his responsibility in the Church, every catechist must constantly endeavor to transmit by his teaching and behavior and life of Jesus”( Catechist tradendae, #6)
Acccording to Biblical Theology ,Diffiulty of knowing God : God Invisible ( the Book of Deuteronomy 4:15 revealed ” Take ye therefore good heed unto yourselves; for ye saw no manner of similitude on the day that the Lord spake unto you in Horeb out of the midst of the fire) God Unsearchable ( the book of Job 11:7-9 revealed ” Canst thou by searching find out God? Canst thou fond out the Almighty unto perfection ? It is as high as heaven ; what canst thou do ? Deeper than he’ll; what canst thou know? The measure thereof is longer than the earth, and broader than the sea. ) God May be Known ( the gospel of Matthew 11:27 revealed ” All thongs are delivered unto me of my Father : and no man knoweth the son , but the Father ; neither knoweth any man the Fathet, save the Son , and he whomsoever the Don will revealed him)
Peace to all during this Season of Lenten ! Remember keep the unity of the faith!
I am thankful that the bishops are responding to heresy in their own backyard. These articles help parents like me to eliminate a few colleges from the short list. Thanks! The tuition at Fordham would be such a waste.
On another note, the Sisters of Saint Joseph at this site are beyond hope but I wish the Jesuits would get their act together. For this group, there is still at least some hope.
I vote for excommunication.
Having been educated by sisters of St. Joseph, teaching with them, working under one, and now having a daughter in one of their schools, I am not surprised at all by Sr. Elizabeth’s writings. They are extremely feminist and some believe the Catholic church discriminates against women because it doesn’t allow them to be ordained. My daughter lost a point on an essay because she didn’t list Mary Magdalene as an apostle! I believe that the reason their congregation is literally dying out is because sometime in the 1960s onward, they abandoned their loyalty to the magisterium. Our school is now run by a lay principal who is beginning to question what is taught in their theology classes. I am encouraged by the number of parents of my generation who are speaking up about the lack of orthodoxy in our theology department and by girls like my daughter who are bold enough to stand up for the truth.
Although it is a Great Mystery, we can know through Faith and Reason, that The Blessed Trinity exists, within an ordered,complementary, relationship of Perfect Love, through the Unity of The Holy Spirit, and thus The Love Between The Father And The Son, must proceed from both The Father and The Son, to begin with.
That being said, sometimes you can judge a book by its’ cover. Why rocks? Why rocks that don’t even appear to be of the same substance? What do the three rocks represent? Are they suppose to be a random collection of rocks or is there an order to the rocks? Should we view the three rocks as a unity, as in a communion of rocks or just rocks? Why rocks?
And why is there no mandatum, no imprimatur, and no discipline when someone who professes to be a Catholic Theologian, compares The Blessed Trinity to a bunch of random rocks? I, for one, have had enough. It is time for us all to wake up because it appears we have been sleeping in Gethsemane.
I don’t know if Sister Johnson is simply confused about The Doctrine of The Blessed Trinity or is trying to cause confusion about The Doctrine of The Blessed Trinity, but either way, it is time to bring back The Charitable anathema for the sake of Christ and His Church.
The occasional shout-out without a mandatum, an imprimatur, or any discipline has only added to the confusion in His Church.
I will not read any book on “Catholic” theology without an Imprimatur.
My soul is way too precious.
Phil Ferguson, O.P.(L.)
Rick, I’m with you, but I don’t think I’d necessarily vote for any public excommunication (certainly not just yet). If anything, I would like all of us Catholics—those of us who are faithful to the Magisterium, and those who have reservations and more—that the Church does tolerate dissent; what the Church does NOT guarantee is that she will agree with that dissent. Dissenters do not have a “right” to demand that she agree with them; the claim that the old-boy bishops is cracking down on the woman is just specious, and it’s hooey: a right to speak does not guarantee a right to not be disagreed with. It’s the same with any conversation: you have a right to an opinion, I have a right to not agree with you. Sr. Johnson has a right to her opinion, the Magisterium reserves the right to disagree. Again, I think, this is an area where good, solid catechesis would be welcome: while it’s one thing to complain about dissenting theologians (and we should), the rest of us, along with the Magisterium are the Church. We need to step up our game. The Magisterium has not only published the Catechism, but Cardinal Schonborn has recently helped put together a Youth Catechism (the YouCat). In other words, the Magisterium isn’t hiding anything from us; they want us to know our stuff. The USCCB and the Magisterium as a whole need to take the lead by not shying away from teaching the “uncomfortable” stuff, but we lay Catholics need to be curious. The ability to question, after all, is a two-way street: it’s one thing to question the teachings of the Magisterium (all the better to understand them, surely), but why do we not question ourselves, especially when we like to think that the Church’s Magisterium is surely “wrong”?
If a mandatum and imprimatur were required, and those who misrepresent The Doctrine of our Faith were disciplined, Wsquared would know that one can not be in communion with The Catholic Church while dissenting from The Doctrine of our Catholic Faith, simultaneously. If there is no unity, there can be no communion.
There should be a clear distinction between teaching what the Church really teaches, versus teaching highly speculative theology that isn’t Church teaching. When these professors represent their brainfarts as Church teaching, people are misled—lied to. I am working through the Marian Catechist training program (created by Fr John Hardon SJ available through Eternal Life in Bardstown KY) and am in the Advanced Catechist Certificate program through Catholic Distance University. These are solid, faithful programs that I would highly recommend to anyone. I have no problem with these academics and their flights of fancy, but they must have the humility to communicate the exact standing of their ideas. Meaning, not recognized or accepted by the Church. And it must come after people know the true faith.
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