Philosophy and Theology

Volume 17, Issue 1/2, 2005

Faith in Context
Rahner on the Possibility of Belief

“Faith” is a central theme in Karl Rahner’s theology. While Rahner dealt at length with what classical theology names fides qua and fides quae, discussion of the context in which people came to faith was also crucial to his exposition of the Christian life. This paper has three aims: to examine Rahner’s understanding of the relationship between context and the possibility of faith; to outline and evaluate Rahner’s assessment of the ways in which people might appropriate and articulate Christian faith in the modern world; and to explore whether Rahner’s approach to faith still offers a resource that the contemporary church might receive in a context that raises questions beyond those that confronted Rahner.