Papers by Mary Frances McKenna
Joseph Ratzinger in Dialogue with Philosophical Traditions From Plato to Vattimo, 2024
Faith as a reasonable proposition is a core component of Benedict XVI’s thought and of Edith Stei... more Faith as a reasonable proposition is a core component of Benedict XVI’s thought and of Edith Stein’s later work. Benedict XVI’s statements during the Year of Faith (2012 – 2013) including that of what is essentially his fourth encyclical, Lumen Fidei, are explored in relation to two articles by Stein on the knowledge and certainty afforded by faith. The relational emphasis Benedict places on faith in the person of Jesus Christ is provided philosophical underpinnings by Stein’s critique of modern philosophy’s stating point in knowledge. Their considerations offer complementary descriptions of faith that mutually re-enforcing the other. Knowledge of God is set within the context of a personal encounter with God. That thought not only provides the basis for a set of principles for a theological historical method that addresses shortcomings in the historical critical method. Stein’s thought provides a philosophical basis to develop Benedict’s claim that faith illuminated a third fundamental category, relation.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Joseph Ratzinger in Dialogue with Philosophical Traditions From Plato to Vattimo, 2024
The Habermas Ratzinger 2004 dialogue in Munich is considered through three lenses. First, the con... more The Habermas Ratzinger 2004 dialogue in Munich is considered through three lenses. First, the context that each scholar entered the debate. Second, their contribution to considering the pre-political foundations in a secular democratic constitutional state. Third, whether the encounter effected the subsequent development of their thought. Habermas’ engagement with religion since the turn of the millennium is in large measure an effort to protect the processes of opinion and will formation within the formal democratic institutions of a state from religious influence, while allowing for religious contributions that are accessible to all because they are translated into secular reason. Ratzinger eschewed detailing Catholic teaching (e.g., on Natural Law) for a set of Socratic type questions directed at those who seek a just and moral society to more fully pursue those goals. At the core of those questions is the question of law. How is law the enabler of justice rather than arbitrary power?
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Word & World, 2024
The deliberations about Mary and Marian piety at the Second Vatican Council were aimed at a renew... more The deliberations about Mary and Marian piety at the Second Vatican Council were aimed at a renewal and reformation of traditional Roman Catholic doctrine and practices. Yet the Council's decisions were also meant as an ecumenical outreach to other Christians through the person of Mary. Discussions about Mary can be seen as an invitation to all to explore our common faith and personhood.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Religions, 2024
This paper considers Habermas’s translation proviso, which requires religious concepts to be tran... more This paper considers Habermas’s translation proviso, which requires religious concepts to be translated into secular language when in the public sphere. Translation, for Habermas, protects the state from religious interference and elicits essential aspects of pre-rational thought—that is, religious and metaphysical thought, which post-metaphysics cannot generate for itself, e.g., social solidarity. The task undertaken by Habermas’s translation proviso is illustrated through his own work of translation: that of the translation of the biblical image of humanity as created in the image of God into the identical dignity of each human being. To provide context to and to highlight the difficulties involved in Habermas’s translation proviso, consideration is given to the thought of Joseph Ratzinger/Pope Benedict XVI and Alasdair MacIntyre on these themes. What is demonstrated is that Habermas’s translation is, in essence, assimilation and re-appropriation. In practice, it manifests itself as the truncation of Christian metaphysics, in which the divine Logos is replaced by or collapsed into the logos of intersubjective human language. The relational image of humanity as a creature distinct from the Creator, in which human reason is analogous to divine reason, is erased, leaving autonomous human beings, from which human reason emerges out of the discursive communication of the logos of intersubjective human language. The conclusion is that the translation proviso fails in its objective. An alternative to Habermas’s translation proviso, the presupposition proviso, is presented as a more apt approach to addressing the underlying issues involved: facilitating human flourishing in an orderly, free, and just society.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Religions, 2022
This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative... more This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution. This article belongs to the Religions Special Issue, What Is Philosophy of Religion? Definitions, Motifs, New Directions:
In a series of addresses, commencing with the Regensburg address in 2006, Benedict XVI engaged the cultures and religions of the world with perennial questions concerning the rationality of reason, the catalyst for culture, the ethical foundations of political decisions, and the legality of law. In the answers he provided, which emanate from the Christian tradition’s equation of the God of Jesus Christ, the God of love, with the God of the philosophers—the logos (λόγος)—Benedict invited his audiences to reassess the rationality and reasonableness of reason. Illustrating the interlinked nature of reason and truth, Benedict details the horizon of reality opened by an expansive understanding of reason, that of creative eternal reason. He challenges others to reflect on the presuppositions and implications of their own understanding of reason. On what basis is reason rational? What makes an argument reasonable? Benedict forthrightly acknowledges that religions have been a source of violence which he sees as resulting from the absence of reason. He insists that it is a reason informed by the great religious traditions that forms the basis for dialogue among the cultures and religions of the world. In those dialogues, Benedict maintains that freedom of conscience and freedom of religion play an essential and indispensable role.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Religions, 2020
This paper explores the female line in the Bible that Joseph Ratzinger identifies as running in p... more This paper explores the female line in the Bible that Joseph Ratzinger identifies as running in parallel to, and being indispensable for, the male line in the Bible. This female line expands the understanding of Salvation History as described by Dei Verbum so that it runs not just from Adam through to Jesus, but also from Adam and Eve to Mary and Jesus, the final Adam. Ratzinger’s female line demonstrates that women are at the heart of God’s plan for humanity. I illustrate that this line is evident when Ratzinger’s method of biblical interpretation is applied to the women of Scripture. Its full potential comes into view through Ratzinger’s development of the Christian notion of person: Person as revealed by Jesus Christ is relatedness without reserve with God and is fully applicable to the human being through Christ. I argue that together, the male and female lines in the Bible form the human line in the Bible, in which the male line represents “the humanity”, every human being, while the female line represents the communal aspect of humanity. Moreover, I contend that Christianity’s notion of mother in relation to God (as Father, Son and Holy Spirit) should be understood through Mary’s response at the Annunciation. Mother in relation to God is to be understood through the Incarnation when Mary, as person, lived her life wholly in relation with and for God.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Logos, 2018
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
The Heythrop Journal , 2019
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
European Review, 2017
The aim of this article is to contribute to thinking on pre-political foundations of secular soci... more The aim of this article is to contribute to thinking on pre-political foundations of secular societies. I do so through the idea of Europe. The importance of pre-political foundations relates to power and freedom, specifically how freedom truly can be freedom and not ultimately power. The paper includes two sections: Section 1 discusses Europe’s Westphalian system as the model for global international relations. Henry Kissinger’s proposal that a modern Westphalian system should be adopted by the international community, as outlined in his 2014 World Order Reflections on the Character of Nations and the Course of History, is explored and critiqued. Section 2 looks at an alternative vision of Europe as the global template which addresses many of the open issues identified in Kissinger’s proposal. Joseph Ratzinger/Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI sees Europe as a historical and cultural idea with, as pre-political foundation, the primacy of rationality as creative reason. Ratzinger’s vision does not displace Kissinger’s; rather it informs it. Core to this discussion are freedom, power, interests and universal values, specifically how these four components interact and can be managed to produce positive constructive outcomes; ultimately these interactions relate to the pre-political foundations that orientate societies.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
The Way, 2016
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Theology, 2016
In the extraordinary historical event of the incarnation of God’s Word, Mary plays a unique role ... more In the extraordinary historical event of the incarnation of God’s Word, Mary plays a unique role for humanity in its relationship with God and, this role affects every aspect of Christian faith and theology. To fully express this role, a new phase of Marian research that builds upon the Church’s tradition is proposed. The emphasis of this new phase would be to explore the role, meaning and the full implications and potential of Mary within the central tenets of Christian faith and theology with the purpose of deepening the Church’s comprehension of Christianity itself and not simply of Mary.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
How should the respond to the new scientific atheism proposed by leading scientists such as Richa... more How should the respond to the new scientific atheism proposed by leading scientists such as Richard Dawkins and, latterly, Stephen Hawking? Is it a matter of science to be discussed only among scientists? Or should the Church seek to challenge the philosophical
assumptions that underpin it? I should like to argue that the Church has
a vital role in widening the horizon of the debate surrounding the new
scientific atheism and questioning the coherence of its presuppositions.
The problem at the heart of the new scientific atheism is a failure
to address the origin of the reason and intelligence that underlie and
sustain the universe. Stephen Hawking and Leonard Mlodinow’s recent
book The Grand Design (which I shall be treating as interlocutor for
this discussion) asserts that the fundamental question of reality is why the laws of nature are what they are and are not otherwise.
By asking this specific question, Hawking and Mlodinow avoid the truly fundamental question, namely, why there are laws of nature at all. The issue at the heart of my discussion here is not why there is something rather than nothing. It is, rather, a search and a demand for congruence within intellectual discourse. Can laws of nature arise from nothing, or do they presuppose or necessitate a lawgiver or creator?
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
In this article, I focus on the impact on modern Western thinking, ideas, and engagement with the... more In this article, I focus on the impact on modern Western thinking, ideas, and engagement with the world of the loss of the assumption of a creator, or an intelligent ordering agent, in conjunction with the emphasis on detail in preference to the whole in modern thought.
I begin by discussing some of the critical dynamics contributed by Jerusalem, Athens, and Rome to the concept of Europe in an attempt to identify the source of the energy and vitality arising from this synthesis. I particularly look at the synthesis of Jerusalem and Athens, specifically how each influenced the other and where the potential for synergy arose. This Western synthesis no longer operates in Europe and the West.
In the era of Enlightenment, “critical reason” has come to dominate Western thinking. I explore the sufficiency of this autonomous reason and attempt to identify some of the limitations of this method of thinking and the problems they generate. I include a discussion of the role of religion and God within war and terrorism: religions and God have erroneously become associated with war while the raw material of conflict have been partially ignored.
The purpose of the discussion is to reassess some of the accepted assumptions in modern thought and discourse in relation to religion and God. I hope to demonstrate that where Enlightenment thought is considered as autonomous reason it is insufficient to address the challenges of the modern era. Based on this discussion, I propose an approach to respond to the shortcomings of Enlightenment thinking.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
The paper discusses the centrality of the scientific method within academic discourse and the app... more The paper discusses the centrality of the scientific method within academic discourse and the appropriateness of this situation for the non-natural sciences. I contend that applying the scientific method to non-natural science subjects does not overcome the issues it attempts to address rather it can distort research starting points and findings. I argue that a new philosophy of knowledge for non-natural sciences is required that acknowledges the uniqueness and the validity, as well as the boundaries and limitations, of the methodologies of the various non-natural sciences. I propose some outlines of how to begin to address this situation to enable non-natural sciences to be coherent with their own content. I address the particularly relevance of these issues for religion and its place within the university environment.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Books by Mary Frances McKenna
Innovation within Tradition is an exploration of the meaning and implications of Joseph Ratzinger... more Innovation within Tradition is an exploration of the meaning and implications of Joseph Ratzinger’s biblical interpretation of the women of salvation history. Mary Frances McKenna argues that Ratzinger’s work, through his development and refinement of the church’s tradition, brings the important role and significance of the female characters of Scripture to the fore by placing them at the heart of Christian faith.
Explicating the pope emeritus’s concept of a “female line in the Bible,” which has a profound impact on the meaning and interpretation of the women of salvation history, the volume shows that this concept illustrates the practical value and creative nature of his approach to theology and biblical interpretation. Pivotal to the argument are questions around the findings on the notion of person, feminist theology, salvation history, and Mary, as well as the use of history in theology and biblical interpretation and the potential for the continuing development and deepening of the church’s comprehension of the meaning of revelation.
The book advances a constructive approach, in coordination with these questions, for a Trinitarian theology of society, addresses old theological issues anew, and provides a starting point for an interdenominational understanding of Mary.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Book Reviews by Mary Frances McKenna
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Uploads
Papers by Mary Frances McKenna
In a series of addresses, commencing with the Regensburg address in 2006, Benedict XVI engaged the cultures and religions of the world with perennial questions concerning the rationality of reason, the catalyst for culture, the ethical foundations of political decisions, and the legality of law. In the answers he provided, which emanate from the Christian tradition’s equation of the God of Jesus Christ, the God of love, with the God of the philosophers—the logos (λόγος)—Benedict invited his audiences to reassess the rationality and reasonableness of reason. Illustrating the interlinked nature of reason and truth, Benedict details the horizon of reality opened by an expansive understanding of reason, that of creative eternal reason. He challenges others to reflect on the presuppositions and implications of their own understanding of reason. On what basis is reason rational? What makes an argument reasonable? Benedict forthrightly acknowledges that religions have been a source of violence which he sees as resulting from the absence of reason. He insists that it is a reason informed by the great religious traditions that forms the basis for dialogue among the cultures and religions of the world. In those dialogues, Benedict maintains that freedom of conscience and freedom of religion play an essential and indispensable role.
assumptions that underpin it? I should like to argue that the Church has
a vital role in widening the horizon of the debate surrounding the new
scientific atheism and questioning the coherence of its presuppositions.
The problem at the heart of the new scientific atheism is a failure
to address the origin of the reason and intelligence that underlie and
sustain the universe. Stephen Hawking and Leonard Mlodinow’s recent
book The Grand Design (which I shall be treating as interlocutor for
this discussion) asserts that the fundamental question of reality is why the laws of nature are what they are and are not otherwise.
By asking this specific question, Hawking and Mlodinow avoid the truly fundamental question, namely, why there are laws of nature at all. The issue at the heart of my discussion here is not why there is something rather than nothing. It is, rather, a search and a demand for congruence within intellectual discourse. Can laws of nature arise from nothing, or do they presuppose or necessitate a lawgiver or creator?
I begin by discussing some of the critical dynamics contributed by Jerusalem, Athens, and Rome to the concept of Europe in an attempt to identify the source of the energy and vitality arising from this synthesis. I particularly look at the synthesis of Jerusalem and Athens, specifically how each influenced the other and where the potential for synergy arose. This Western synthesis no longer operates in Europe and the West.
In the era of Enlightenment, “critical reason” has come to dominate Western thinking. I explore the sufficiency of this autonomous reason and attempt to identify some of the limitations of this method of thinking and the problems they generate. I include a discussion of the role of religion and God within war and terrorism: religions and God have erroneously become associated with war while the raw material of conflict have been partially ignored.
The purpose of the discussion is to reassess some of the accepted assumptions in modern thought and discourse in relation to religion and God. I hope to demonstrate that where Enlightenment thought is considered as autonomous reason it is insufficient to address the challenges of the modern era. Based on this discussion, I propose an approach to respond to the shortcomings of Enlightenment thinking.
Books by Mary Frances McKenna
Explicating the pope emeritus’s concept of a “female line in the Bible,” which has a profound impact on the meaning and interpretation of the women of salvation history, the volume shows that this concept illustrates the practical value and creative nature of his approach to theology and biblical interpretation. Pivotal to the argument are questions around the findings on the notion of person, feminist theology, salvation history, and Mary, as well as the use of history in theology and biblical interpretation and the potential for the continuing development and deepening of the church’s comprehension of the meaning of revelation.
The book advances a constructive approach, in coordination with these questions, for a Trinitarian theology of society, addresses old theological issues anew, and provides a starting point for an interdenominational understanding of Mary.
Book Reviews by Mary Frances McKenna
In a series of addresses, commencing with the Regensburg address in 2006, Benedict XVI engaged the cultures and religions of the world with perennial questions concerning the rationality of reason, the catalyst for culture, the ethical foundations of political decisions, and the legality of law. In the answers he provided, which emanate from the Christian tradition’s equation of the God of Jesus Christ, the God of love, with the God of the philosophers—the logos (λόγος)—Benedict invited his audiences to reassess the rationality and reasonableness of reason. Illustrating the interlinked nature of reason and truth, Benedict details the horizon of reality opened by an expansive understanding of reason, that of creative eternal reason. He challenges others to reflect on the presuppositions and implications of their own understanding of reason. On what basis is reason rational? What makes an argument reasonable? Benedict forthrightly acknowledges that religions have been a source of violence which he sees as resulting from the absence of reason. He insists that it is a reason informed by the great religious traditions that forms the basis for dialogue among the cultures and religions of the world. In those dialogues, Benedict maintains that freedom of conscience and freedom of religion play an essential and indispensable role.
assumptions that underpin it? I should like to argue that the Church has
a vital role in widening the horizon of the debate surrounding the new
scientific atheism and questioning the coherence of its presuppositions.
The problem at the heart of the new scientific atheism is a failure
to address the origin of the reason and intelligence that underlie and
sustain the universe. Stephen Hawking and Leonard Mlodinow’s recent
book The Grand Design (which I shall be treating as interlocutor for
this discussion) asserts that the fundamental question of reality is why the laws of nature are what they are and are not otherwise.
By asking this specific question, Hawking and Mlodinow avoid the truly fundamental question, namely, why there are laws of nature at all. The issue at the heart of my discussion here is not why there is something rather than nothing. It is, rather, a search and a demand for congruence within intellectual discourse. Can laws of nature arise from nothing, or do they presuppose or necessitate a lawgiver or creator?
I begin by discussing some of the critical dynamics contributed by Jerusalem, Athens, and Rome to the concept of Europe in an attempt to identify the source of the energy and vitality arising from this synthesis. I particularly look at the synthesis of Jerusalem and Athens, specifically how each influenced the other and where the potential for synergy arose. This Western synthesis no longer operates in Europe and the West.
In the era of Enlightenment, “critical reason” has come to dominate Western thinking. I explore the sufficiency of this autonomous reason and attempt to identify some of the limitations of this method of thinking and the problems they generate. I include a discussion of the role of religion and God within war and terrorism: religions and God have erroneously become associated with war while the raw material of conflict have been partially ignored.
The purpose of the discussion is to reassess some of the accepted assumptions in modern thought and discourse in relation to religion and God. I hope to demonstrate that where Enlightenment thought is considered as autonomous reason it is insufficient to address the challenges of the modern era. Based on this discussion, I propose an approach to respond to the shortcomings of Enlightenment thinking.
Explicating the pope emeritus’s concept of a “female line in the Bible,” which has a profound impact on the meaning and interpretation of the women of salvation history, the volume shows that this concept illustrates the practical value and creative nature of his approach to theology and biblical interpretation. Pivotal to the argument are questions around the findings on the notion of person, feminist theology, salvation history, and Mary, as well as the use of history in theology and biblical interpretation and the potential for the continuing development and deepening of the church’s comprehension of the meaning of revelation.
The book advances a constructive approach, in coordination with these questions, for a Trinitarian theology of society, addresses old theological issues anew, and provides a starting point for an interdenominational understanding of Mary.