I have not read “Quest for the Living God: Mapping Frontiers in the Theology of God” nor do I know its author Sister Elizabeth A. Johnson, but I have to wonder how and why her letter to the U.S. bishop’s committee on doctrine ended up in the Catholic press (CatholicReview.org, June 9).
Her published self-defense arguments struck me as arrogant. Rather than address concerns the press report simply quoted her claim that committee members erred and misunderstood what she wrote. I can well imagine that if a committee of bishops misunderstood what she wrote it would not take much for student readers, like me, to do the same. I would be more interested in the issues and her response than her accusation that the committee misunderstood what she wrote.
It is interesting that an entire Anglican community would convert to Catholicism on the basis of seeking a sound and central apostolic authority in understanding their faith while some Catholic theologians these days seem to consider themselves above such authority and wise enough to judge the intellectual capacity of a committee of bishops.