Date of Award
Fall 2005
Document Type
Dissertation - Restricted
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Department
Theology
First Advisor
Carey, Patrick
Second Advisor
Kurz, William
Third Advisor
Hughson, Thomas
Abstract
Christ said to the Apostles: "Go, therefore, make disciples of all nations; baptise them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teach them to observe all the commands I gave you" (Mt 28: 19-20). By this command, the Lord conferred on the Church her perpetual obligation to evangelize, and with it, the perennial challenge of expressing revelation through mutable human language. It was a desire, in part, to meet this challenge anew that Pope John XXIII convened the Second Vatican Council (1962-5). The manner in which sacred doctrine is spread, . . . [makes] clear how much is expected from the Council in regard to doctrine. That is, the Twenty-first Ecumenical Council ... wishes to transmit the doctrine, pure and integral, without any attenuation or distortion, which throughout twenty centuries, notwithstanding difficulties and contrasts, has become the common patrimony of men.But decades before the Council, Francis Joseph Sheed (20 March 1897 - 20 November 1981) had already undertaken the kind of teaching effort that Pope John had called for. Sheed reiterated the articles of faith in colloquial English using a Catholic theology designed specifically for modern audiences, advancing the Church's teaching mission through a career of street corner evangelizing, lecture tours, Catholic publishing and writing theological books. These diverse efforts have been the object of both praise and academic recognition...