81. The Preferential Option for the Poor: A Short History and a Reading Based on the Thought of Bernard Lonergan, by Rohan Michael Curnow.
ISBN 978-1-62600-700-0. Paperback. 232 pages. 5.5 x 8.5. Bibliography. Index. LIST PRICE: $23.00
Lonergan scholar Frederick Crowe once noted that the topic of Bernard Lonergan and liberation theology can seem like Melchizedek, that is, without either contextual father or mother. The same, of course, goes for Lonergan and the Preferential Option for the Poor. J. B. Metz once criticized Karl Rahner's transcendental turn for sidestepping the messiness of human history, or - as he famously put it - "winning the race without running it." Can the same be said of Lonergan? Is Lonergan’s work irrelevant to those who are committed to the Option for the Poor? This book argues that Lonergan’s work offers a highly cogent and powerful method for integrating the Option for the Poor into systematic theology. Focusing on Lonergan’s understanding of conversion and renowned Lonergan scholar Robert Doran’s theology of history, this book begins to unpack the chief issues involved and demonstrates the congruence of Lonergan’s thought with many of liberation theology’s—particularly Jon Sobrino and Gustavo Gutiérrez’s—chief insights into the nature and significance of the Preferential Option for the Poor.
About the Author
Dr Rohan Curnow holds degrees from the Australian National University, the University of Toronto and Regis College. He is currently Academic Registrar and Senior Lecturer in Theology at the Catholic Institute of Sydney within the Sydney College of Divinity, and an Affiliate Research Fellow at the Australian Catholic University
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