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4.5
Rosemary's correspondence with Merton so early in her career as a groundbreaking feminist theologian is a model insiration and the intimacy of the letters is an insight to Merton's struggle with his own faith and spiritual restlessness. One can count on Ruether's honesty in showing us the human side of faith and how even those in religious life struggle with doubt and questioning. However, that is the movement of faith and one that Ruether writes about here.The monk and the newly-minted theologian were "ships that happened to pass each other on our respective journeys." Merton's journey would end in 1968, when he was accidentally electrocuted in Bangkok. Radford Ruether's has continued on for nearly five decades, making many original and significant contributions to ecofeminist theology. Merton was quick to respond to many questioners, however his engagement with a young female theologian in the heady days after Vatican II, and the challenges she posits to his faith and practice, are unique. While these letters do not represent polished theological thought on the part of either author, the "very nature of informal letter writing," as Merton wrote Ruether, "lends itself to self-revelation on a personal level....disclosing profound intutions and deeply held personal convictions."Rosemary Reuther was way ahead of her time and ahead of Thomas Merton, too. A fascinating read.
