The Eyes of Faith ─ The Sense of the Faithful & the Church's Reception of Revelation

Winner of the 2010 Lynlea Rodger Australia Theological Form (ATF) Press Theological Book Prize

The Eyes of Faith presents a systematic theology of the sense of the faithful (sensus fidelium) and shows the fundamental and necessary interrelationship between sensus fidelium, tradition, Scripture, theology, and the magisterium. Ormond Rush provides fresh perspectives on a number of issues. He proposes that tradition and Scripture are the products of the sensus fidelium and that the inspiration of Scripture is best understood in terms of the Holy Spirit working through the sensus fidelium.

In addressing the role of the sensus fidei in the lives of individual believers, the book provides a unique approach to the way Christians make sense of their faith within the diverse contexts of daily life. It shows how the imaginative capacity of the sensus fidei forms a foundational notion for understanding the diversity of spiritualities, inculturations, and contextualizations of the Gospel in the history of the church up to the present. This ecclesial activity of interpreting the Christ event through the sensus fidelium enables the church to proclaim the Gospel in new times and cultures throughout history.

The Eyes of Faith proposes that, for an effective teaching of the faith to contemporary Christians, the distinctive roles of the magisterium and of theology must be conceived primarily in terms of, and in relationship to, the ecclesial Spirit-given capacity of the sensus fidelium.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Ormond Rush is lecturer of theology and former president of St. Paul's Theological College in Banyo, Australia, and is president of the Australian Catholic Theological Association. He is the author of Still Interpreting Vatican II: Some Hermeneutical Principles and The Reception of Doctrine: An Appropriation of Hans Robert Jauss' Reception Aesthetics and Literary Hermeneutics.

PRAISE FOR THE BOOK:

"In addition to its internal argumentation, the book's extensive footnotes, Scriptural references, and Church documents will make it a tremendously valuable tool for advanced researchers in several theological areas, including pneumatology, ecclesiology, Scripture studies, and hemeneutics. . . . Highly recommended." — C. A. Montevecchio, Choice

"Some works of scholarship stand out, providing a point of reference and showing the way forward. Orm Rush's study is in this class, and it is not surprising that its first release by CUA Press is a splendid hardback volume. This work makes a significant contribution to Catholic Theology." — Rev. John Thornhill SM, The Australasian Catholic Record

"Rush provides a theologically perceptive panorama of the sensus fidelium at work in the church under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. In addition to offering numerous insights—usually beneficial and sometimes provocative—Rush's study is extraordinarily well-researched. . . . [T]his volume is an outstandingly creative and comprehensive theological study of the grace of the Holy Spirit acting through the sensus fidelium in the reception of revelation in the church."—John Ford C.S.C., Theological Studies

"Rush has here provided us with a sophisticated study of theological hermeneutics, as well as a foundational work in ecclesiology."—Lawrence S. Cunningham, Commonweal

"This detailed and well-argued book explores the phenomenon of reception in both the Bible and in contemporary Roman Catholic tradition. . . . An insightful study for those interested in the newest wave of Roman Catholic dogmatic theology, which tends to draw deeply from biblical sources as well as Vatican teaching, this book genuinely advances discussions of the doctrine of reception." —Aaron Klink, Religious Studies Review