An Alternative Middle Position: The Contribution of Joseph A. Komonchak to the Hermeneutics of Vatican II

The article presents, analyzes, and evaluates the contribution of Joseph A. Komonchak to the ongoing debate over the proper interpretation of Vatican II. The article is organized around three issues of the conciliar hermeneutics which Komonchak has addressed: (1) the responsibility of the council for the collapse of pre-Vatican II Catholicism; (2) the continuity and discontinuity of Vatican II with the tradition of the church; and (3) the dynamics between the "letter" and the "spirit" of the council. The author argues that Komonchak's alternative middle position with regard to the hermeneutics of the council is not constructed on the theological data alone, but is also a result of his engagement with the social sciences.