Inspiration in the Bible

Quaestiones Disputatae #1

by Karl Rahner, Charles H. Henkey (Translator)

From "About the Book" on page two: Karl Rahner, professor of Dogmatic Theology at Innsbruck, examines the question of spiritual inspiration with the conviction that the whole issue could benefit by being completely re-thought. He suggests, therefore, an entirely new approach to the mystery, in which the Scriptures are seen primarily as an essential and constitutive element of the Apostolic Church, and their inspiration simply as part of the activity of God in establishing the Church as the guardian of the deposit of faith. The study is intentionally provocative, but no one conversant with the subject of inspiration can fail to find here food for thought and reflection. First edition, Charles H. Henky, Ph.D. S.T.D.

80 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1961

About the author

Karl Rahner, SJ (March 5, 1904 — March 30, 1984) was a German Jesuit and theologian who, alongside Bernard Lonergan and Hans Urs von Balthasar, is considered one of the most influential Roman Catholic theologians of the 20th century.

He was born in Freiburg, Germany, and died in Innsbruck, Austria.

Before the Second Vatican Council, Rahner had worked alongside Yves Congar, Henri de Lubac and Marie-Dominique Chenu, theologians associated with an emerging school of thought called the Nouvelle Théologie, elements of which had been criticized in the encyclical Humani Generis of Pope Pius XII.

Reviews

[Timothy Harmon · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a landmark Roman Catholic work on the topic of inspiration, and it has influenced many who now hold to some social theory of inspiration. Rahner's German is notoriously difficult, and the translation into English by Henkey here is also quite cumbersome. If you are working through this, I would recommend "Rahner and McKenzie on the Social Theory of Inspiration," an article by L. John Topel published in Scripture - The Quarterly of the Catholic Biblical Association in Volume XVI, No. 34, April 1964. Topel provides a helpful blow-by-blow summary of Rahner's logic in the book.