In the years since the Second Vatican Council, the Catholic Church has struggled to renew its self-understanding and revise its relationship to the world. This book examines the contribution made by a key figure in those debates, Karl Rahner (1904-1984), one of the foremost Catholic theologians of this century. Lennan analyzes Rahner's ecclesiology in the context of his whole theology, charting both the development of his thought and, particularly, his vision of the Church's future.
Tilling the Church is a theology for the pilgrim church. In this book, Richard Lennan shows how the ecclesial community looks toward the fullness of God’s reign but lives within the flux of history, the site of its relationship to the trinitarian God. In this way, God’s grace “tills” the church, constantly refreshing the tradition of faith and prompting the discipleship that embodies the gospel. Tilling the Church explores the possibilities for a more faithful, just, and creative church, one responsive to the movement of grace. Fruitful engagement with grace requires the church’s conversion, the ongoing formation of a community whose words and actions reflect the hope that grace engenders.