Method to mission: the ecclesial vocation on the theologian

One cannot think abut the ecclesial vocation of the theologian without also being cognisant of the importance of theological method. These, this study shows, are two co-relational method. Firstly it is the method used that allows one to assess the presence of an ecclesial vocation to do theology, and secondly it is by means of a good theological method that the theologian best fulfils this vocation in the Church today. This work is an acknowledgement of the importance of the relationship between method and mission in the life of the theologian. In the pursuit of this, the author explores the ecclesial vocation of a post-conciliar theologian as it is exemplified in the writings of Francis A. Sullivan SJ. As the first monographical study of Sullivan's thought, this work situates him within the context of three post-conciliar proposals for method in theology which were offered by the Gregorian professors B. Lonergan, Z. Alszeghy M. Flick and J. Wicks. The author offers a developed understanding of the ecclesial vocation of the theologian within the Church today.