Filiación-Fraternidad: The Hope of Human Existence in Light of Global Disparity. Exploring the

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Dissertations Theses and Dissertations
2011
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Scott M. Myslinski
Loyola University Chicago
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Myslinski, Scott M., "Filiación-Fraternidad: The Hope of Human Existence in Light of Global Disparity.
Exploring the Theological Anthropologies of Karl Rahner and José Ignacio González Faus." (2011).
Dissertations. 277.
https://ecommons.luc.edu/luc_diss/277
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Copyright © 2011 Scott M. Myslinski
LOYOLA UNIVERSITY CHICAGO

FILIACIÓN-FRATERNIDAD:
THE HOPE OF HUMAN EXISTENCE IN LIGHT OF GLOBAL DISPARITY.
EXPLORING THE THEOLOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGIES OF
KARL RAHNER AND JOSÉ IGNACIO GONZÁLEZ FAUS.

A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO

THE FACULTY OF THE GRADUATE SCHOOL

IN CANDIDACY FOR THE DEGREE OF

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY

PROGRAM IN THEOLOGY

BY

SCOTT M. MYSLINSKI

CHICAGO, IL

MAY 2011
Copyright by Scott M. Myslinski, 2011
All rights reserved.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This dissertation project can be characterized as a journey that began sixteen
years ago when I was accepted into the Society of Jesus (Jesuits). I owe much of my
current vision of the world and human existence as well as my commitment to the poor
and marginalized to the Jesuits. As a Jesuit I was given the opportunity to accompany the
poor and marginalized of society on many occasions and it was in these experiences of
accompaniment that I began to see human existence and Jesus Christ’s mission of the
kingdom of God in a new light. I am further grateful for the many individual companions
of Jesus who have become brothers to me along the way and who I continue to call my
brothers.
This journey was given direction ten years ago with an interesting graduate class
taught by Dr. Jon Nilson on contemporary Christian anthropology. One year later, that
interest was nurtured and directed toward a particular path in a course on Latin American
liberation theology taught by Fr. Daniel Hartnett, S.J. It was in that class that Fr. Hartnett
introduced me to the works and thought of José Ignacio González Faus, S.J. and
encouraged me to pursue his thought further. Two years later, Fr. David Stagaman, S.J.
introduced me to, and gave me an appreciation for, the foundational work of Karl Rahner,
S.J. To these three dedicated teachers, mentors, and friends I owe immense gratitude. I
especially want to thank my director Jon Nilson for his guidance and mentoring
throughout this long process. He was always there to encourage me along the way. He is
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truly a person who exemplifies the Jesuit adage cura personalis. In addition to my
committee, I want to extend a note of gratitude to Fr. González Faus who faithfully
remained in correspondence with me during the research and writing stages of this
project. He was kind enough to answer my many questions while I flooded his e-mail
inbox.
In addition to my dissertation committee, I want to thank the many individuals
and communities that gave me encouragement and support along the journey. I want to
thank the members of the faculty, my fellow graduate students, and the staff of the
Theology Department at Loyola University, especially Catherine Wolf and Marianne
Wolfe whose hard work, dedication and humor made the process much easier than it
could have been. I am also grateful for the Theology Department at Loyola Academy
Jesuit College Preparatory where I truly experience a community “on-the-way” to
filiación-fraternidad.
Most importantly, I want to thank my family for all of their love and support. The
real journey began with the faithfulness and love that I experienced in the life of my
parents, Ruth and Peter (d. 1999), and my siblings, Michèle, Teresa, Thomas, Paul and
Kelly. From them I learned the value of faith and the truth of agapic love. I also want to
thank my wife’s family for their encouragement and love along the way. But above all, I
want to show my deepest gratitude to my wife, Lourdes, whose love, understanding,
patience, and many sacrifices made this project possible. This dissertation is just as much
as hers as it is mine. Te quiero, Lourdes. To her and to my two children, Rebecca and
Adam I dedicate this dissertation.
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I realize that there are many who have not been acknowledged here but have
contributed to this project in many personal and special ways. Your love and care have
not gone unnoticed.
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For Lourdes, Rebecca, and Adam.
El hombre es creado por Dios para alabar, hacer reverencia, servirle y así llegar a
la salvación. Todas las cosas, fuera del hombre, están creadas en relación con el
hombre para ayudarle en este plan de Dios. Por lo tanto, el hombre ha de usar de
las cosas tanto cuanto le ayuden dentro del plan de Dios, y debe abstenerse de las
cosas tanto cuanto le apartan de ese plan. Esto implica que debemos procurar
estar interiormente libres de todo apego desordenado, de tal manera que, de
nuestra parte, antes de conocer la voluntad de Dios, no valoricemos más la salud
que la enfermedad, la riqueza que la pobreza, el honor que el deshonor, la vida
larga que la corta…Solamente hemos de desear y elegir lo que más nos conduce
para cumplir el plan de Dios.
Ejercicios Espirituales de San Ignacio
TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS iii

ABSTRACT ix

CHAPTER ONE: SITUATING THE PROBLEM 1
Globalization, Global Disparity, and Global Awareness 3
Responses to Global Disparity 9
Why Theological Anthropology? 22
Concluding Remarks 31

CHAPTER TWO: SITUATING THE THEOLOGIANS 33
The Challenge of Modernity and the Response from the Catholic Church 34
Karl Rahner: Context and Theological Foundations 42
José Ignacio Gonzalez Faus: Context and Theological Foundations 58
Concluding Remarks: The “Ignatian Vision” 78

CHAPTER THREE: DESCRIPTION OF THE HUMAN PREDICAMENT 83
Rahner: Human Existence as Transcendent Spirit and Created Being 84
González Faus: Human Existence as Creature and Divine Image of God 96
Rahner: The Fragility and Vulnerability of Human Existence 109
González Faus: The Project of Enmity (Rupture of the Filial; Corruption of the
Fraterno) 118
Concluding Remarks 135

CHAPTER FOUR: THE SAVING ACTIVITY OF GOD 139
Rahner: Grace as the Gift of Divine Self-Presence 141
González Faus: The Radical Gifts of Filiación and Fraternidad 161
Concluding Remarks 186

CHAPTER FIVE: ECCLESIAL IMPLICATIONS 190
Dulles’ Ecclesial Models 192
Root Metaphors and Implications of Rahner’s Ecclesiology 204
Root Metaphors and Implications of González Faus’ Ecclesiology 220
Concluding Remarks: Filiación-Fraternidad as the Transformation of
Globalization 249

APPENDIX A: LIFE CHRONOLOGIES OF KARL RAHNER AND JOSÉ
IGNACIO GONZÁLEZ FAUS 252

BIBLIOGRAPHY 256

VITA 265
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ABSTRACT
This dissertation argues that there is a need for Christian theology to critically re-
examine human existence through social and structural categories in response to the
current direction of globalization which threatens the humanization of human existence.
Specifically, there exists a need for a contemporary Christian theological anthropology
that is in dialogue with the social sciences and that attempts to develop an understanding
of human sin, grace, and redemption in structural and social categories in order to offer
an alternative vision of what it means to be human in light of the prevailing anthropology
that is at the heart of the current trajectory of the globalizing world. This alternative
vision of human existence will have to meet the challenge of a globalizing world that is
creating greater dependency and interconnectedness among peoples and nations and a
globalizing world that cultivates and encourages an anthropology of egocentrism and
radical individualism.
In order to contribute to contemporary theological anthropology which meets the
challenge of a crisis of being human within the complex context of a globalizing world,
this dissertation will draw on the theological anthropologies of two Jesuit theologians:
Karl Rahner and José Ignacio González Faus. This dissertation attempts to bring these
two theologians into a dynamic dialogue and ultimately offer a critical analysis of the
nature of sin, grace, and redemption in their respective understanding of human existence
in order to offer a more adequate theological anthropology for contemporary Christian
theology.
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