Encounters With Silence

by Karl Rahner, James M. Demske (Translator)

One of the classics of modern spirituality,  Encounters with Silence  is one of Karl Rahner’s most lucid and powerful books. A book of meditations about man’s relation with God, it is not a work of dry theology, but rather a book of prayerful reflections on love, knowledge, and faith, obedience, everyday routines, life with our friends and neighbors, our work and vocation, and human goodness. The immense success of this moving work is a tribute to its practicality and the ability of the great theologian to speak simply and yet profoundly to ordinary men and women seeking an inspiring guide to the inner life, one that never forsakes the world of reality. The book is cast in the form of a dialogue with God that moves from humble but concerned inquiry to joyful contemplation. “You will come again because the fact that you have already come must continue to be revealed ever more clearly. It must become progressively manifest to the world that the heart of all things is already transformed, because you have taken them all to your heart. . . . The false appearance of our world, the shabby pretense that it has not been liberated . . . must be more and more thoroughly rooted out and destroyed. . . . And your coming is neither past nor future, but the present, which has only to reach its fulfillment. Now it is still the one single hour of your advent.” (from the book)

Genres: Theology, Spirituality, Christianity, Religion, Catholic, Nonfiction, Prayer

96 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1960

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

[booklady · Rating 4 out of 5]

Encounters with Silence is sublime! Each chapter is a love letter written by Karl Rahner to God, but often as I was reading these meditations I forgot I was the reader and felt as if I could have been the writer/speaker. Rahner’s thoughts and prayers were my own, or anyway they were what my heart would like to say but often cannot find the words.

There are ten chapters in the book. Each chapter concerns a particular topic or concern, so in that sense, you could read a specific chapter if you were struggling with a problem(s) in an area of your spiritual life. The chapters are as follows:

I. GOD OF MY LIFE
II. GOD OF MY LORD JESUS CHRIST
III. GOD OF MY PRAYER
IV. GOD OF KNOWLEDGE
V. GOD OF LAW
VI. GOD OF MY DAILY ROUTINE
VII. GOD OF THE LIVING
VIII. GOD OF MY BROTHERS
IX. GOD MY VOCATION
X. GOD WHO IS TO COME

I’d be hard pressed to say which is my favorite, but I found chapters 7 and 8 spoke to me the most. Chapter 7 dealt with the silence of those dearly beloved who have gone on before us and Chapter 8 dealt with difficulties we have with the living. Chapter 10 was also interesting as an Advent Reflection. Definitely a book, and an author, I’ll return to and recommend.

[Samcwright · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Why do you enjoin me to speak with you, when you don't pay attention to me? Isn't your silence a sure sign that you're not listening? Or do you really listen quite attentively, do you perhaps listen my whole life long, until I have told you everything, until I have spoken out my entire self to you? Do you remain so silent precisely because you are waiting until I am really finished....are you silent so that you can one day bring to a close the lifelong monologue of a poor human being, burden by the darkness of this world, by speaking the luminous word of eternal life, in which you will express your self in the depths of my heart?" - Karl Rahner

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's amazing how well Rahner can illustrate the emotional suffering and questioning of humans. It is as if he knows exactly what I am going through. I would recommend Rahner to anyone interested in defining the difficulties in faith and wishing to find guidance.

[Jenn · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a short little book that needs to be read very slowly, taking in every sentence. It is a peek into the prayer between man and God. In a way it is like reading the psalms; each chapter/prayer starts out questioning or in doubts and ends with the trust in God. It reminds me that prayer isn't just the reciting of prayers but real unedited conversation with God: who I am now; where I am now spiritually; my frustrations and failures, my joys and hopes.

[Nate · Rating 5 out of 5]

Holy holiness! This was a great book! I already immensely respected Rahner for his theological work. This was a window into his personal prayer life. He's extremely honest with God about doubts, discouragements, and frustrations, but he also draws on profound theological resources to come to terms with some of the complexity that he feels at times. I would recommend this to anyone who is looking for a model of how to be open and honest with God in a way that does not leave questions unanswered yet deepens appreciation for God's mystery.

Favorite quote from the book: "Why have You kindled in me the flame of faith, this dark light which lures us out of the bright security of our little huts into Your night?"

[Hank Hurley · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is truly one of the best books on prayer I have read - it is really a series of prayers by the author that explore our relationship with God. Wonderful!

[Karin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is it. Beautifully written, beautifully intimate conversation between one man and his God. It's a book so dense with wisdom and meaning that I had to read it very slowly -- one chapter at a time -- many times aloud. And when I finished, I opened the book again at the first chapter and started over.

[Jacob Frank · Rating 5 out of 5]

A short, but penetrating set of meditations. Rahner seems quite uninhibited in conveying his internal dialogue and self-questioning. He has some striking insights around the question of the encounter between an infinite and a finite being and all the various paradoxes that raises. Well worth reading.

[Maria Copeland · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rahner asks questions about how to come close to God, and in so doing, invites readers into a more curious, more contemplative pursuit of life and prayer.

"I know why you are silent: Your silence is the framework of my faith, the boundless space where my love finds the strength to believe in your love ... Your love has hidden itself in silence, so that my love can reveal itself in faith."

[Adam Shaeffer · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a beautiful little book. Rahner's prayers are theologically deep, his questions piercing, but his interactions with God are tender and yearning. The mixture of theology, mysticism, and prayers of adoration reminds me of Tozer and is just as lovely to read.

[Rebekah · Rating 5 out of 5]

A powerful book. One that I will come back to and read again several times I am sure. And each time I'll connect with different thoughts or insights in various ways.

[Naomi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ranher is one angsty boy and I love him for it. But really, this book was beautiful and pretty easy to digest overall.

[Gab Nug · Rating 5 out of 5]

Probably the most relatable spiritual writing I’ve found to date.

[Emma Lanzon · Rating 5 out of 5]

So good it ought to be savoured.

[Eric Boles · Rating 4 out of 5]

in the deepest roots of things, time is already standing still

[Bryan · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best books I have ever read.

[Andrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stunning little book by the great 20th century German Catholic theologian Karl Rahner. Laced through with authentic existential honesty and vibrant questioning, Rahner converses with the Silence (God), working his way to profound insight via his doubts and fears. A formidable intellect accessibly mixing it up with the everyday life of faith.

[Brian Wilcox · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author seeks to express his intimate experience of God in the form of prayers, or confessions, in the style of Augustine's Confessions. Both are efforts by theologians to embody thought on God through the prayer genre, and Rahner appears, as does Augustine, much the philosopher, or theologian, in the prayers. Yet, like with Augustine, within the prayers arises profound insights into thought about God.

I consider this a book to be enjoyed most by persons who are interested in the nature of God, as a Christian theological contemplation, rather than persons seeking a reading that would inspire them to encounter the Divine in silence.

[Patrick Gannon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rahner’s Encounters with Silence is less a book of theology than a prayer offered in writing. Each chapter takes up a different way of naming God and turns it into an intimate meditation. The result is both unsettling and consoling, as Rahner shows that God’s silence is not absence but the space where faith and love take root.

I found the book challenging because it resists neat answers, yet that is what makes it powerful. It invites the reader to bring longing, restlessness, and inadequacy into prayer itself, and to trust that even these are part of encounter with God. It is a book to return to slowly, letting its words linger.

[Jonathan · Rating 3 out of 5]

The title is so fitting for this book and the metaphors riveting. In between Karl Rahner’s dialogue with God there are gems of passion and perception that kept me motivated to learn more of his views. The artistry in his descriptions of his experience are thorough and captured in writing as though it were on canvas.

[Stephanie Flear · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am enriched and relieved by Karl Rahner’s honest reflections on God. I am in a period of what feels like the life of the book of Ecclesiastes, that all is vanity. And this book spoke to me where I am at deeply in my interior life - Karl knows the depths of despair and heights of hope, and he has restored a sense of faith in my life. A beautiful book.

[Christopher Stein · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perhaps the most beautiful work of Rahner's that I have read. A book of short meditations on God and his relating to humanity. Aims at providing answers to some of the deeper questions and wondering that we have on our journey to God.

[Rob Steinbach · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a rich read for all whose hearts are more attuned or interested in the contemplative side of our faith. I’ve been reading a few chapters of this book each month usually as a part of my sabbath practice. It’s a classic that I’ll be coming back to.

[Graham · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating prayers by Karl Rahner. One can immediately sense the deep spirituality which suffuses these prayers, but also Rahners particular and (post) modern philosophical influences underneath the surface.

[Cameron Climie · Rating 3 out of 5]

A prayerful meditation on the nature of God that is both moving and yet highly inconsistent. Its best sections - particularly on Knowledge, Death, and Life - are powerful and eye-opening.

[Steve · Rating 4 out of 5]

A set of prayer-like reflections on who God is, in the process of addressing Him. They are thoughtful and reflect our wrestling with the mystery of God, his ways and grace and our own finiteness.

[Jamie · Rating 4 out of 5]

beautifully written, beautifully humble

[Anastasia Abboud · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful and uplifting.

[Joseph · Rating 5 out of 5]

deeply moving

[Mia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reminds me of Augustine's Confessions in that the author's back is toward the reader.