Theology, Empowerment, and Prison Ministry

Karl Rahner and the Contemporary Exploration for Meaning
Erscheinungsjahr 2022
ISBN: 978-90-04-52335-7
Verlag: Brill

Buch, Englisch, Band 25, 348 Seiten, Format (B × H): 155 mm x 235 mm, Gewicht: 637 g

Reihe: Theology and Mission in World Christianity

In Theology, Empowerment, and Prison Ministry Meins G.S. Coetsier offers a new scholarly account of Karl Rahner’s theological anthropology and the prison pastorate with a contemporary expansion for meaning, seeking an antidote to the suffering and isolation of those incarcerated with a “theology of empowerment.” Drawing on prison ministry theorists and practitioners, and on the experiences of Viktor Frankl, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn and Etty Hillesum, the book argues that Rahner’s views on prison ministry are significant and encouraging but limited regarding the needs and demands of 21st-century prison ministry. In a convincing, perceptive, and groundbreaking study, Coetsier goes beyond Rahner with ecumenical and interreligious perspectives, reminding us all of our human dignity, of meaning and transformation, of our liberation, creativity, hope and community.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Coetsier, Meins G S

Fachgebiete

• Sozialwissenschaften Soziologie | Soziale Arbeit Spezielle Soziologie Kriminalsoziologie
• Geisteswissenschaften Christentum, Christliche Theologie Christentum/Christliche Theologie Allgemein Missionswissenschaft, Missionsgeschichte
• Geisteswissenschaften Christentum, Christliche Theologie Christentum/Christliche Theologie Allgemein Organisation & Institutionen von Kirchen und Gemeinden

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Preface

Acknowledgements

List of Illustrations

Abbreviations

Introduction

1 Karl Rahner’s Anthropology and Gaudium et Spes

Introduction

1 Karl Rahner’s Theological Anthropology

2 Anthropology of Gaudium et Spes

3 Anonymous Christianity

Conclusion

2 Karl Rahner on the Prison Pastorate

Introduction

1 Finding Christ in Prisoners (Christus in den Gefangenen)

2 Finding Ourselves in the Prisoners

3 The Hidden Truth of Our Own Situation

Conclusion

3 Rahner’s Limitations – Responses and Challenges

Introduction

1 Where Rahner’s Anthropology and “The Prison Pastorate” Fall Short

2 Response to Rahner’s Limitations

3 Two Further Questions

Conclusion

4 Rahner’s Edges – Incarceration from a Prisoner’s Perspective

Introduction

1 The Will to Meaning

2 Three Mental Stages

3 Prison Perspectives

Conclusion

5 Beyond Rahner – Towards a Theology of Prison Ministry

Introduction

1 The Situation of Prisoners Today

2 The Need for a Theology of Empowerment

3 Elements of a Theology of Empowerment (Theologie der Stärkung)

Conclusion

Conclusion

Chronology

Bibliography

Plates

Index

Über Autor(innen)

Meins G.S. Coetsier, Ph.D. (2008) in Philosophy; Ph.D. (2012) in Comparative Science of Cultures, Ghent University; Ph.D. (2021) in Theology, Trinity College Dublin, is visiting scholar at the Loyola Institute and an ordained deacon and prison chaplain. He is author of The Existential Philosophy of Etty Hillesum (Brill, 2014).