Voting Station

Karl Rahner

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Religious Figure

The Resume

    (March 5, 1904-March 30, 1984)
    Born in Freiburg, Germany
    Catholic theologian and Jesuit priest
    Most of his works were dedicated to furthering the Christian's understanding of the relationship between God and Man and the dynamics of the Holy Trinity
    Believed that grace and God shared a very real and literal inter-relationship so that when a Christian received grace from God he or she received God Himself
    Influenced by St Thomas Aquinas, Immanuel Kant, Karl Heidegger, Joseph Marechal and Bernard Lonergan
    PhD in Philosophy from the University of Freiburg
    Over 1650 published articles in his career, books include Foundation of the Christian Faith, Trinity, The Need and Blessing of Prayer and Prayers for a Lifetime
    Theological adviser at Vatican II

Why he might be annoying:

    Some of his works were criticized by Pope Pius XII in his encyclical, Humani Generis and by Pope Paul VI in Mysterium Fidei
    He refused to wear the robes of a priest and usually wore business suits.
    His writings were so dense and complex (and usually written in his native German) that most people know his writings from writings about them (taken from translations) instead of actually reading them for themselves.
    Much of his work dealt with theological minutiae and not with the questions of morality/ethics and other issues that the day to day Catholic faced.

Why he might not be annoying:

    He was really, really smart.
    He strongly believed that a person who through no fault of their own had never heard the Gospel of Jesus Christ could still be saved through Christ and successfully fought to have that idea incorporated into the official documents of Vatican II.
    His works have been well-received by many protestants and are very popular among younger (under forty) Catholic priests.
    He was never involved in any type of scandal.

Credit: tom_jeffords


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2022, Out of 4 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 11 Votes: 90.91% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 6 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 14 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 4 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 9 Votes: 55.56% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 11 Votes: 63.64% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 20 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 16 Votes: 56.25% Annoying
    In 2013, Out of 10 Votes: 60.0% Annoying
    In 2012, Out of 13 Votes: 76.92% Annoying
    In 2011, Out of 22 Votes: 54.55% Annoying
    In 2010, Out of 13 Votes: 38.46% Annoying