Memoirs

No, not mine!!

I have recently been reading the memoirs of Hans Kung.

I have finished Volume 1 and am reading Vol 2 at the moment.

They are fascinating.  The first volume paints an intriguing picture of the church before and during Vatican 2.  Following all the twists and turns and meeting the people involved is interesting in itself but Kung goes much further.  He is also tracing the history of his own theology and to do that, he briefly summarises his theological arguments for his major works.  I have always admired his work and this behind the scenes insight I find gives a powerful extra dimension to the original books.

Volume 2 is very different.  Writtem after Ratzinger becomes Pope, the early part concentrates as much on Ratzinger as it does on Kung himself.  Not surprisingly as they were both professors together in the same university, in fact it was Kung who got Ratzinger into Turbingen.  A critical comparison of Kung's theology and theological appraoch with that of Ratzinger is given.  It makes it easier to see why B16 has taken some of his post papal stances.

Kung denies the charge that Ratzinger has changed, in fact he argues strongly that Ratzinger has not changed, that he still maintains the viewpoint inculcated in him as a Bavarian Catholic.  On the other hand, Kung says that he, Kung has changed, influenced by his observations, his researches and his insights, he has moved from a neo-scholastic training to a historo-critical exegesis position.  I can't do it justice here, but for anyone wanting to understand the theological arguments and crises of the last 50 years which so shape the church today, these 2 books are an excellent read.