Hefling, Charles C., Jr. 1949-

views updated

Hefling, Charles C., Jr. 1949-

PERSONAL:

Born 1949. Education: Harvard College, A.B., 1971; Harvard University, Divinity School, B.D., 1974, Th.D., 1981; Boston College, Andover Newton Theological School, Ph.D.,1982.

ADDRESSES:

Office—Theology Department, Boston College, 21 Campanella Way, Rm. 345, Chestnut Hill, MA 02467. E-mail—charles.hefling@bc.edu.

CAREER:

Ordained priest, Episcopal diocese of Massachusetts, 1974. Priest in parochial ministry, 1974-77; Boston University, Boston, MA, associate professor of theology; instructor in theology, vocational diaconate program, Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts; freelance illustrator, calligrapher, and caricaturist. Member, Fellowship of Saint John (S.S.J.E.); fellow, Episcopal Church Foundation.

MEMBER:

American Academy of Religion, Society of Anglican and Lutheran Theologians.

WRITINGS:

Jacob's Ladder: Theology and Spirituality in the Thought of Austin Farrer, Cowley Publications (Cambridge, MA), 1979.

Why Doctrines?, Cowley Publications (Cambridge, MA), 1984, 2nd edition, Lonergan Institute (Boston, MA), 2000.

(Editor) Charles Williams: Essential Writings in Spirituality and Theology, Cowley Publications (Cambridge, MA), 1993.

(Editor) Our Selves, Our Souls, and Bodies: Sexuality and the Household of God, Cowley Publications (Cambridge, MA), 1996.

(Editor, with Stephen J. Pope) Sic et Non: Encountering "Dominus Iesus," Orbis Books (Maryknoll, NY), 2002.

(Editor, with Cynthia L. Shattuck, and contributor) The Oxford Guide to the Book of Common Prayer: A Worldwide Survey, Oxford University Press (New York, NY), 2006.

Also contributor of essays to collections, including A Heart for the Future: Writings on the Christian Hope, edited by Robert Slocum, Church Publishing, 2004;The Dialogue between Science and Religion, edited by Patrick Byrne, University of Scranton Press, 2005; The Importance of Insight, edited by D. Liptay and J. Liptay, University of Toronto Press, 2006; and Other Voices, Other Worlds, edited by Terry Brown, Darton, Longman & Todd, 2006. Contributor, Lonergan Workshop; editor and contributor, Anglican Theological Review; editor, METHOD: Journal of Lonergan Studies.

SIDELIGHTS:

Christian theologian Charles C. Hefling, Jr., specializes in questions about the nature of Jesus, the ways in which people seek and find forgiveness, and the means by which thinkers about spirituality and religion examine themselves, each other, and their ideas. In books like Why Doctrines?, Sic et Non: Encountering Dominus Iesus, and The Oxford Guide to the Book of Common Prayer: A Worldwide Survey, Hefling reveals links between spiritual practices of the past and the ways in which the contemporary world thinks about divinity.

In Sic et Non, Hefling and his fellow editor, Stephen J. Pope, examine contemporary issues: the ecumenical movement in modern Christian churches, the increase in discourse between different religions, and how these two issues have been affected by movements and pronouncements within Roman Catholicism. Modern ecumenical thinkers believe that the similarities between different Christian sects are more important than their differences of belief or practice, and that the sects should learn to work to overcome those differences. The Catholic Church, the largest church in the world, endorsed the ecumenical movement during the Second Vatican Council (1962-65). In 2000, however, the Vatican issued a document entitled Dominus Iesus, which "provoked widespread comment in the media for what many saw as its negative attitude to ecumenism and interreligious dialogue," explained Michael Amaladoss in Theological Studies. On the other hand, Amaladoss continued, "others thought that it presented traditional doctrine." "This book," the reviewer concluded, "is a very good aid to a critical study of the document."