Nicholas Lash - Theologian

Theologian

Nicholas Lash is the author of numerous theological books, and a regular contributor to The Tablet. A Roman Catholic, and considered a liberal, Lash has voiced strong but measured criticism of authoritarian practices among leading figures in his tradition, arguing for open debate on a variety of topics, including the ordination of women.

He is reportedly one of the few Roman Catholic theologians who have read, slowly, the whole of Karl Barth's Church Dogmatics and the whole of Karl Rahner's Theological Investigations. One of Lash's strongest intellectual influences seems to have been the recovery of Aquinas's theology, using forms of philosophical argument influenced by Ludwig Wittgenstein, which became influential in the 1970s, associated with Cornelius Ernst and Fergus Kerr. Arguably his most significant piece of writing is also one of his shortest, his reflections on the Apostles' Creed, which includes discussion of the doctrine of the Trinity.