This article examines Augustine's doctrine of the totus Christus, “the whole Christ” with Christ as Head and the Church as Body. It considers the new identity as Christ that Christians receive in the sacraments of initiation that unite individuals in the Church community, and the sacramental presence of the Church in the world as one of unifying love. This new identity forms the Church for mission as it joins Christ in a mission of love that unites people to one another as it unites them to God. The Church joins Christ in standing in solidarity with those in need, thus radiating Christ's unifying, transformative love in the world. The article ends with a suggestion that Augustine's view of the totus Christus might be a valuable resource for delving more deeply into Vatican II's vision of the sacramental unity of the Church.

In Christian tradition, accounts of religious language have commonly centered on analogical predication arising from a created world that reflects its Creator. Recent decades have witnessed a change: metaphor has gone into ascendance while analogy has suffered an eclipse. This essay critiques four trends in contemporary accounts of religious language: the ascription of universal range to metaphor; inadequate accounts of the nature of metaphor; insufficient attention given to the nature of literal speech; and the consequent deficient understandings of the relationship of metaphor and analogy. I then draw on Thomas Aquinas for an account of religious speech that defends the cognitive indispensability of metaphor while arguing for the logical primacy of analogy.

In the last decade a number of publications have appeared regarding the life and work of the French Dominican Yves Congar. The present essay presents the “young Congar” of the 1930s, in particular his vision of what Catholic theology should be. The author defends the thesis that it is Congar who initiated the “program” of (the first phase of) the so-called nouvelle théologie (“new theology”). After a general survey of the central features of the nouvelle théologie and its development, the author gives an overview of the three ways in which Congar is to be understood its pioneer and representative.

Current theological literature on dating emphasizes issues of premarital sex and chastity. At the same time, recent sociological research suggests that dating is being replaced by the alternative practice called “hooking up” among college-age students. A key issue not addressed in these discussions is whether the current generation's contraceptive practices influence the decision to hook up rather than date. I argue that one cause of younger women's sexual assertiveness today is the increased use of contraception, which in turn promotes a mentality that sustains the practice of hooking up and an insufficient anthropology. For theologians who attempt to discuss these issues with their students, a more adequate anthropology is necessary in order to better ground a theology of dating that is able to compete against the practice of hooking up.