Elizabeth Johnson (theologian) - USCCB Critique of Quest For A Living God

USCCB Critique of Quest For A Living God

In 2011, the Committee on Doctrine of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops issued a statement saying that Quest for the Living God "does not recognize divine revelation as the standard for Catholic theology" and "differs from authentic Catholic teaching on essential points."

Additionally, the Committee felt "obligated to state publicly that the doctrine of God presented in Quest for the Living God does not accord with authentic Catholic teaching on essential points" because of "the fact that the book is directed primarily to an audience of non-specialist readers and is being used as a textbook for study of the doctrine of God."

In Johnson's view, the Committee's statement "in several key instances...radically misinterprets what I think, and what I in fact wrote" and is a "misrepresentation." She noted that she had not had a conversation with the bishops.

Johnson's position was defended by Fordham President Joseph M. McShane, Boston College theologian Stephen J. Pope, Terrence W. Tilley, chair of Fordham's theology department and the board of the Catholic Theological Society of America".

Later the same year, the Committee "reviewed the arguments presented by Sister Johnson in defense of her book," and issued another statement which "reaffirmed its critique of Quest for the Living God." The Committee claimed that Johnson's arguments " not in fact demonstrated that the Committee has misunderstood or misrepresented the book."