An anonymous commentator on my last post suggests that this blog is much better without Fr. O'Leary dominating the comment boxes. He may be right. But he also asks us to let "sleeping O'Learys lie." In response, I said that I have a couple of reasons for not giving Fr. O'Leary the brush-off quite yet. I mentioned my friendship with him, which goes back to my graduate school days. I also mentioned that his views represent a particularly articulate challenge to orthodox Christians that warrant honest answers. "At least to a point," I said: "I don't intend to pursue this little debate forever, having pleny of other fish to fry."
For those of you interested, the widely-respected Al Kimel of Pontifications fame has posted an extensive discussion of O'Leary's theology, contextualizing his discussion within the framework of several key questions he says that he always asks himself when reading a theologian. The results are quite revealing. Perhaps Fr. O'Leary will enjoy the give and take as well. Al Kimel jumps in with both feet from the get-go, entitling his post, "Is the 'Spirit of Vatican II' Christian?"
The already extensive discussion in the comment box on Kimel's site carries some very interesting exchanges between Catholics, Anglicans, and Eastern Orthodox Christians. One of the most interesting summaries of O'Leary's thought I've seen is Michael Liccione's succinct observation:
In the subtlest and most plausible of ways, he has elided from a thinker who assesses things from the standpoint of the Gospel to one who assesses the Gospel from the standpoint of other things. Such is the occupational hazard of theologians who don't keep in full view the ecclesial vocation of the theologian. The Church is now more his platform than his home.
I plan to publish (in installments) a detailed analysis of O'Leary's essay, "Demystifying the Incarnation." I think it's a key discussion for the purposes of understanding his perspective, and, as a friend, I think I owe him at least a careful reading of this piece, which he recommended to me. I realize that I will be taxing the patience of many of my readers with more on O'Leary, but I ask them simply to bear with me for the next couple of weeks (if it takes that long). Eventually, I'll post the completed piece off site, on my "Scripture and Catholic Tradition" blog, for anyone who wishes to consult it entire. In the meantime, I ask for your prayers.
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