doctorsutton writes
I am drawn to researching and writing Catholic Systematic Theology in the classic sense of faith seeking understanding, which means that my task as a systematic theologian attempts to serve the deepening understanding of the Catholic Christian faith. My research, presenting, and writing strive for greater convergence of thought regarding Mystical theology, Trinitarian theology, Christology, Pneumatology, and Ecclesiology. Through an integrative methodology, I constructively interact the articulations of God in Mystical Theology with the articulations of God in contemporary Trinitarian theology. The theologies of Adrienne von Speyr (1902-1967), who was a lay woman, doctor, and mystic, and Hans Urs von Balthasar (1905-1988), who was a significant twentieth-century Catholic theologian, provide a fruitful example of the synthesis that I would like to achieve in my own research.
My published writings (grouped and in reverse chronology):
Single-Author Volume
- Heaven Opens: The Trinitarian Mysticism of Adrienne von Speyr (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2014) Available: amazon, bn, fortress
Edited Volumes
Handing on the Faith, eds. Matthew Lewis Sutton and William Portier (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, forthcoming 2014). Available: amazon, orbis
On Suffering: An Inter-disciplinary Dialogue on Narrative and the Meaning of Suffering, edited by Nathan Hinerman and Matthew Lewis Sutton (Oxford, United Kingdom: Inter-disciplinary Press, 2012). Available: amazon, interdisciplinary.net press
Published Articles
“Retrieval of Fatherhood through a Retrieval of Faith in God the Father,” in Life and Learning XIX: Proceedings of the Nineteenth University Faculty for Life Conference, ed. Joseph Koterski (New York: University Faculty for Life, 2013), pgs. 191-203
"Hans Urs von Balthasar and Adrienne von Speyr's Ecclesial Relationship," New Blackfriars, 94 (2013): 50-63
"A Compelling Trinitarian Taxonomy: Hans Urs von Balthasar’s Theology of the Trinitarian Inversion and Reversion," International Journal of Systematic Theology, 14 (2012): 161-176
"Does God Suffer?: Hans Urs von Balthasar’s Theology of Holy Saturday," in On Suffering: An Inter-Disciplinary Dialogue on Narrative and the Meaning of Suffering, eds. Matthew Lewis Sutton and Nate Hinerman (Oxford, United Kingdom: Inter-disciplinary Press, 2012), pgs. 171-183.
"Does God Suffer?: Hans Urs von Balthasar’s Theology of Holy Saturday," in Making Sense of Suffering: Theory, Practice, Representation, ed. Bev Hogue and Anna Sugiyama, eBook (Oxford, United Kingdom: Inter-Disciplinary.Net Press, 2011), pgs. 31-39
"Life is Beautiful: A Theological-Aesthetic Argument for Life," Life and Learning Conference XVIII Proceedings of the University Faculty for Life, ed. Joseph Koterski (New York: University Faculty for Life, 2011), p. 309-322 ISSN 1097-0878
"Life is Beautiful: A Theological-Aesthetic Argument for Life," University of St. Thomas Journal of Law and Public Policy 3 (Spring 2009): 15-25
"Mysterium Christi: The Christologies of Karl Rahner and Maurice de la Taille," International Journal of Systematic Theology, 10 (October 2008): 416-430
Published Reviews
“Review of God and the Mystery of Human Suffering by Robin Ryan,” Horizons 39 (Fall 2012): 341-342
"Review of Faith in the Fight: Religion and the American Soldier in the Great War by Jonathan H. Ebel," Church History: Studies in Christianity and Culture, 80 (March 2011): 216-218.
“Review of Scattering the Seed: A Guide through Balthasar’s Early Works on Philosophy and the Arts, by Aidan Nichols,” Horizons 36 (Spring 2009): 146-147