
Hope and History
The Communio and Concilium Alternatives
David Collits(Author)
T.& T.Clark Ltd (Publisher)
Will be published approx. on 22. January 2026
Book
Hardback
304 pages
978-0-567-71852-5 (ISBN)
Description
This book enables readers to understand contemporary divisions in Catholic theology. By examining a case study of issues in Catholic fundamental theology, Collits charts a path forward by advocating a rootedness in the Revelation of the Person of Jesus Christ. He does so by exploring metaphysics, the history-ontology and nature-grace relationships, soteriology and Christology. Furthermore, in examining the hope-history debate, this book tackles fundamental political and philosophical questions.
Collits approaches this by examining the competing schools of post-conciliar theology. On the one hand, the Conclilium school of Karl Rahner, Edward Schillebeeckx, JB Metz and Gustavo Gutierrez; on the other hand. The Communio school of Josef Pieper and Joseph Ratzinger.
Collits approaches this by examining the competing schools of post-conciliar theology. On the one hand, the Conclilium school of Karl Rahner, Edward Schillebeeckx, JB Metz and Gustavo Gutierrez; on the other hand. The Communio school of Josef Pieper and Joseph Ratzinger.
Reviews / Votes
With Hope and History, David Collits has done the current and future Church a tremendous service, carefully laying out the fundamental division that arose after Vatican II between the Communio and Concilium perspectives, one that has only become more divisive and will undoubtedly continue to mark the fault lines in Catholic theology for the foreseeable future. The two have long been compared and contrasted, but as the author shows, the choice between them is not simply a matter of taste or emphasis, for they are not theologically, philosophically, anthropologically, or morally equivalent. Collits has traced, in detail, the radically different sources that give rise to divergent trajectories that end in visions of the human persons and their relation to God that are ultimately incompatible. At the same time, it is not simply a question of a contradictory "either/or", as if one must choose, for example, between history or ontology; rather, the Communio perspective sees that polarities point to deeper unities, and that illuminating salvation history under the aspect of eternity is the only thing that gives present history its significance. Thus, this volume makes a vital contribution to the literature on the issue, and, as it unfolds the relation of history to a Christ-centered and Trinitarian eschatological Hope, it is also profoundly beautiful. * Michael Dominic Taylor, Thomas More College of Liberal Arts, USA * This book contains the genealogy of Concilium/Communio theology. In these pages we can understand the dialectical perspective (Joachimite, Hegelian, Marxist), and the dialogical one; within these, there is continuity between Christological ontology, history and eschaton, founded in the Paschal Mystery. Collits, in exploring all this, elucidates the theological positions of Rahner, Metz, Schilebeeckx, Gutierrez, Pieper, Ratzinger, and many others. * Pablo Blanco-Sarto, University of Navarra, Spain *More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Edinburgh
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Dimensions
Height: 240 mm
Width: 161 mm
Thickness: 23 mm
Weight
672 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-567-71852-5 (9780567718525)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

E-Book
01/2026
1st Edition
T.& T.Clark Ltd
€105.99
Available for download

E-Book
01/2026
1st Edition
T.& T.Clark Ltd
€105.99
Available for download
Person
David Collits is an independent scholar and lawyer based in Australia. He was awarded a PhD in Theology from the University of Notre Dame, Australia, in 2021.
Content
Introduction - Hope and History at the Foundations of Theology
1. The Concilium Position on Hope and History in Fundamental Theology
2. The Communio Perspective: Hope Under the Aspect of Eternity
3. The Christological Shape of Hope and Eschatology in the Communio Perspective
4. Hope is Oriented "Beyond Itself" - the Significance of the Nature-Grace Relationship
5. Soteriology and Christology - A Communio Rejection of an Immanentist Soteriology
Conclusion
Bibliography
Endnotes
1. The Concilium Position on Hope and History in Fundamental Theology
2. The Communio Perspective: Hope Under the Aspect of Eternity
3. The Christological Shape of Hope and Eschatology in the Communio Perspective
4. Hope is Oriented "Beyond Itself" - the Significance of the Nature-Grace Relationship
5. Soteriology and Christology - A Communio Rejection of an Immanentist Soteriology
Conclusion
Bibliography
Endnotes