Response to Observations by Sr. Elizabeth A. Johnson's on Quest for the Living God (2011)

USCCB Committee on Doctrine's Response Statement on Quest for the Living God by Sr. Elizabeth A. Johnson, October 11, 2011

On 24 March 2011, the USCCB Committee on Doctrine published a “Statement on Quest for the Living God: Mapping Frontiers in the Theology of God, by Sister Elizabeth A. Johnson.” In June 2011, the Committee received a letter from Sr. Elizabeth Johnson dated 1 June 2011, which accompanied a thirty-eight page text entitled, "To Speak Rightly of the Living God: Observations by Dr. Elizabeth A. Johnson, CSJ, on the Statement of the Committee on Doctrine of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops about Her Book Quest for the Living God: Mapping Frontiers in the Theology of God." Both the letter to the Committee on Doctrine and the accompanying Observations were published immediately in the National Catholic Reporter and a month later in Origins. In the intervening months the Committee on Doctrine carefully studied the Observations. Having completed its study, the Committee herewith presents its conclusions.

Having examined both the book and the Observations in detail, the Committee on Doctrine believes that it is its duty to state publicly that on several critical points the book is seriously inadequate as a presentation of the Catholic understanding of God.

statement-quest-for-the-living-god-response-2011-10-11_0.pdf