Lecture Note 8/29/18
1. David Tracy criticizes modern approaches to understanding of God
Dr. David Kwon
(Modernism  a rationalist view, leading to dualism)
E.g.) Reason vs Emotion, Form vs Content, Theory vs Practice
 We are losing a way of understanding a human person in a holistic sense (i.e., an integrated human being). This
limited understanding of a human person – or defining who we are – results in a lopsided knowledge of God,
and unbalanced/porous theology.
The focus shift of question: Who is God? (old)  What does God mean to US (each of us)? (new)
And if we say, humans are created in the image of God (imago dei), what does it mean to be (or being) a human person?
In other words, one must first ask how we understand a human person. If we understand ourselves in a right
/comprehensive sense, we will have a better understanding of God since we are created in imago dei.
e.g., Thomas Aquinas, Natural Law
A human has her/his heart created by God and marked in God’s law (natural law).
Reflected upon this natural law, David Tracy argues that a human heart is a symbol of “human depth,” that is deeper
than thinking and feeling. This is where you discover yourself, as (it is) already found by God.
2. Theology’s Role
1) Theory
1-1) Stance or Vision or Worldview (foundation for interpretation)
1-2) Ethical Model (imaginative metaphors regarding moral and spiritual experience)
 Esp. human experiences of suffering, which is not all, but one of the fundamentals in human life.
1-3) Anthropology (self as subject and agent)
2) Norms
↑↓
   Decisions
Data of Experience
Both “norms” and “experiences” influence each other (e.g., no more mass service in Latin)
3. David Hollenbach: Inductive Approach
 Drawn from David Tracy’s work on theology’s role, Hollenbach introduces an inductive approach that begins in
human experience. All comes up with human experiences. In order to articulate religious/spiritual experiences,
Hollenbach argues that theologians /us (for both Hollenbach and Tracy, “everyone” who experiences God is a
theologian) need 3 Cs: be comparative, critical, and contemplative.
4. Sean Copeland  Suffering / Experience  Solidarity
Sean agrees with Tracy that we have to begin with “experience” to address theological precepts/teachings. Like Tracy,
she also emphasizes suffering in experience. She takes a further step, though: “If suffering is the new starting point for
theology, then theology has the historical task of solidarity with those who suffer.” Here the idea of compassion arrives.
Compassion = com/con (with, together) + passion (suffering). We share our neighbors’ sufferings. We care about them.
It starts with empathy, not just reason (which is emphasized in a modernist school of thought).