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| | Seattle Catholic - Lose the Past, Lose the Present |
 | | Humanist love for language, literature and antiquity in general was valuable in the development of what is called "positive theology", a theology dedicated to exploration of the primary historical sources of Christian life: the Scriptures, the Fathers, liturgical texts, early canonical legislation, conciliar decrees, and references to the behavior of the faithful through the ages. |
 | | On the other hand, Catholics concerned for the presentation of a general picture of history from an orthodox viewpoint, simultaneously drawing from positive theology and yet aware of the need to operate under the guidance of systematic theology, were not given the full support that the importance of their work deserved. |
 | | Finally, digesting the fact that the victorious historical picture has been drawn to their disadvantage, and that much of positive theology's raw data has been dragged into a systematic attack upon the Church, many Catholics have drawn the conclusion that history, its sources, and its tools must be rejected as innately suspect. |
| www.seattlecatholic.com /article_20041101.html (3135 words) |
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