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Two Concepts of Fundamental Theology.
Based upon the concept previously introduced, [Conversion] the author goes on to define two concepts of Fundamental theology; he starts by stating that in the context of fundamental theology, the decision to become a Christian can be a responsible exercise of human freedom. He further states that Christian faith, in his estimation cannot be justified by public criteria offered in common human experience. The linkage of fundamental theology with conversion does not mean a limit in the scope of the discipline so that it deals only with the initial approach to faith on the part of one who has previously been a nonbeliever. .
He again argues that conversion is a continuous process demanded in every stage of Christian life, and that fundamental theology is therefore of existential import to all believers. The concept fundamental theology just proposed will gain in clarity if contrasted with another, more familiar to most Roman Catholics. Fundamental theology is traditionally defined as that discipline which seeks to demonstrate the credibility of the Christian message and of the church's claims by the unaided light of reason. .
Although, fundamental theology focuses its study on faith, and apparently there is an impermeable wall between faith and reason. Dulles also believes that reason is at work not only in the approach to faith but in the very act of conversion, and indeed in all the mental activity of the believer. However, faith takes primacy because, Fundamental theology necessarily operates within the circle of faith, for the Christian believer cannot conceive of authentic religious conversion apart from the gracious self-communication of God and the gift of faith, which is known only form within the faith-commitment. To attempt an explanation of Christian faith that draws only upon data derivable from universal experience is to foreclose the very possibility of a satisfactory account of faith.