Like others of his generation, Rahner was much concerned with refuting the propositional approach to theology typical of the Counter Reformation. The alternative he proposes is one where statements about God are always referring back to the original experience of God in mystery. In this sense, language regarding being is analogically predicated of the mystery, inasmuch as the mystery is always present but not in the same way as any determinate possible object of consciousness. Rahner would claim St. Thomas Aquinas as the most important influence on his thought, but also spoke highly of Heidegger as “my teacher,” and in his elder years Heidegger used to visit Rahner regularly in Friburg. At issue here is a debate of a Catholic Theologian, that claims no “Real Christ” is present in the Eucharist of Catholic Holy Communion. Rahner holds to the position that the change is a spiritual awaking in us. This understanding has been condemned by the CC. [Pjm] TRANSIGNIFICATION “The view of Christ’s presence in the Eucharist which holds that the meaning or significance of the bread and wine is changed by the words of consecration. the consecrated elements are said to signify all that christians associate with the Last Supper; they have a higher value than merely food for the body. The theory of transignification was condemned by Pope Paul VI in the encyclical Mysterium Fedei (1965), if it is understood as denying transubstantiation.

¶ 6:48 AM