Man's capacity for self transcendence : on "conversion" in Bernard Lonergan's method in theology

Abstract

The concept of "conversion", while seldom used in his writings until the late 1960's, constituted the major interest of Bernard Lonergan (1904-1984) for more than a generation. For him, the core of conversion itself is the transformation of the "subject". It is man's call to the realisation of ever higher levels of self-transcendence putting into action the cognitive, ethical and affective response to the religious object. Especially in his Method in Theology, Lonergan explains that only in undergoing a series of conversions - intellectual, moral and religious - culminating in the experience of the love of God (Rom 5,5) by obeying the transcendental precepts that the subject can progressively expand his horizons. In studying the relationship among the different conversions, this essay shows that even if the religious conversion can indeed enjoy a priority over the others, still one is in relation to the other and yet so meaningful on its own. It is a three-dimensional process of self-transcendence taken in whatever order.