Dylan Schrader - Böcker

Saint Thomas Aquinas famously held the opinion that, in God’s actual plan for the world, the Word would not have become flesh except to redeem us from sin. Conversely, Blessed John Duns Scotus argued that God intended Christ first, such that Christ would have come even if there had been no sin. While Aquinas and Scotus were far from the first to consider this question, they became emblematic of two seemingly irreconcilable approaches. In this book, Father Dylan Schrader recovers the thought of the Salmanticenses, the Discalced Carmelites writing at the University of Salamanca in the seventeenth century. The Salmanticenses argue that Christ is primary in God’s intention precisely as redeemer, so that it is true both that God has made everything else for the sake of Christ and that Christ’s coming is essentially redemptive, connected with sin. In this way, the Salmanticenses offer a Thomistic Christocentrism.This book summarizes the historical background to the Salmanticenses, from the time of Anselm up through the early-modern period. Next, it presents and defends the Salmanticenses’ argument for the primacy of Christ the redeemer. A Thomistic Christocentrism then turns to two key post-conciliar figures, Karl Rahner and Hans Urs von Balthasar. Rahner sees Christ as the culmination of the world’s opening up to God. Balthasar sees Christ as the reconciler of divine and human freedom through his cross, descent, and resurrection. Both Christocentric approaches have good aspirations but suffer from serious flaws. In its final chapters, this book applies the Salamanca theory to Rahner and Balthasar, showing its enduring value for post-conciliar Christocentrism.

This book summarizes the historical background to the Salmanticenses, from the time of Anselm up through the early-modern period. Next, it presents and defends the Salmanticenses' argument for the primacy of Christ the redeemer. A Thomistic Christocentrism then turns to two key post-conciliar figures, Karl Rahner and Hans Urs von Balthasar. Rahner sees Christ as the culmination of the world's opening up to God. Balthasar sees Christ as the reconciler of divine and human freedom through his cross, descent, and resurrection. Both Christocentric approaches have good aspirations but suffer from serious flaws. In its final chapters, this book applies the Salamanca theory to Rahner and Balthasar, showing its enduring value for post-conciliar Christocentrism.

Mary, Mother of God Made Flesh overviews Catholic teaching on Mary, with a special focus on the "four Marian dogmas" and other major doctrines, such as Mary’s cooperation in the work of salvation and the distribution of graces. The book takes the relationship of Mary to Jesus as its starting point, while also drawing on insights from ecclesiotypical and Christotypical approaches to Mariology.This book emphasizes that Marian doctrine must be grounded in the revealed Word of God. Thus, it does not rely on private revelations but instead draws on scriptural, magisterial, patristic, and liturgical sources. At the same time, Mary, Mother of God Made Flesh is systematic and not merely historical. It strives to show how Catholic teachings on Mary fit together and explores precisely what they mean.In this task, Mary, Mother of God Made Flesh draws in a special way on St. Thomas Aquinas and the Thomistic school, while also incorporating insights from other approaches. Thus, it also engages with some speculative questions that have not received as much attention in other recent works of Mariology but that remain important for the correct understanding and elaboration of magisterial teachings. For example, it deals with the issue of the debitum peccati ("debt of sin"), which touches on how to connect the Immaculate Conception with the notion of redemption, and the question of precisely how Mary is involved in the conferral of graces.The most important parts of this book are the chapters on the dogmas of the divine maternity, the immaculate conception, the perpetual virginity of Mary, and her assumption intoheaven. There are also chapters on Mary’s holiness of life, her participation in Christ’s saving work, and Marian devotion in the life of the Church. The first appendix overviews the problem of what St. Thomas Aquinas taught about the Immaculate Conception, while the second discusses the magisterium’s current approach to private revelations and extraordinary phenomena.