Death, Darkness and the Holy Spirit in the Theology of Karl Rahner

Abstract

This thesis is an attempt to hear the particularities of Rahner's theological arguments by reading Rahner both non-foundationally and non-consistently. By reading Rahner's theology of death in a non-consistent way, we are able to see the different ways in which he explores death as a moment of encounter and decision, and the ways in which the Spirit makes that encounter and decision present and real to us throughout our lives. By carefully exploring arguments Rahner makes in his explicitly theological and his more pastoral writing, and by not imposing our own hegemonic system, we can hear complexities and potential within Rahner's theological anthropology which we might otherwise miss. In Rahner's theology of death, every time of mortality can be a time for new life and growth in the life of the Spirit of God.