Theology, Empowerment, and Prison Ministry

Meins G.S. Coetsier, Ph.D. (2008) in Philosophy; Ph.D. (2012) in Comparative Science of Cultures, Ghent University; Ph.D. (2021) in Theology, Trinity College Dublin, is visiting scholar at the Loyola Institute and an ordained deacon and prison chaplain. He is author of The Existential Philosophy of Etty Hillesum (Brill, 2014).

Preface

Acknowledgements

List of Illustrations

Abbreviations



Introduction



1 Karl Rahner’s Anthropology and Gaudium et Spes

 Introduction

 1 Karl Rahner’s Theological Anthropology

 2 Anthropology of Gaudium et Spes

 3 Anonymous Christianity

 Conclusion



2 Karl Rahner on the Prison Pastorate

 Introduction

 1 Finding Christ in Prisoners (Christus in den Gefangenen)

 2 Finding Ourselves in the Prisoners

 3 The Hidden Truth of Our Own Situation

 Conclusion



3 Rahner’s Limitations – Responses and Challenges

 Introduction

 1 Where Rahner’s Anthropology and “The Prison Pastorate” Fall Short

 2 Response to Rahner’s Limitations

 3 Two Further Questions

 Conclusion



4 Rahner’s Edges – Incarceration from a Prisoner’s Perspective

 Introduction

 1 The Will to Meaning

 2 Three Mental Stages

 3 Prison Perspectives

 Conclusion



5 Beyond Rahner – Towards a Theology of Prison Ministry

 Introduction

 1 The Situation of Prisoners Today

 2 The Need for a Theology of Empowerment

 3 Elements of a Theology of Empowerment (Theologie der Stärkung)

 Conclusion



Conclusion

Chronology

Bibliography

Plates

Index