L'Immaculée Conception dans l'Écriture Sainte et dans la Tradition Orientale by Martin Jugie, A.A. (review)

Abstract

BOOK REVIEWS L'Immaculée Conception dans l'Écriture Sainte et dans la Tradition Orientale, by Martin Jugie, A.A., Rome, 1952; 477pp. Summarily, the author, the Reverend Martin Jugie, A. A., gives a rather comprehensive treatment of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception in a chronological historical development, stressing the place of Holy Scripture and Oriental Tradition. In the preface, the Reverend Charles Balic, O. F. M., Director of the Bibliotheca Immaculatae Conceptionis tells us of the thesis proposed by the author: Mary existed in a particular state (status naturae reparantis) having the right to each and every preternatural gift of the state of innocence. The book itself is a chronological treatment of testimonies, both favorable and unfavorable , especially from the Scriptures and from Oriental Tradition. In treating of the Immaculate Conception in the Oriental Church from its origins down to the present time, this book is unique. The book itself is divided into three major parts. In the First Part is treated the Immaculate Conception in Holy Scripture and in the Oriental Tradition during the Patristic Period. In the Second Part, Byzantine Tradition from the Ninth to the Fifteenth Century is considered. The Third Part gives place to the Immaculate Conception in the Greco-Russian Church from the end of the Sixteenth Century up to the present day. Then follows a brief conclusion for the entire work. After a prologue, the author spends forty pages in treating of some preliminary questions. He discusses the notion of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception, the nature of original sin, the preternatural gifts and the state of innocence, the doctrine of original sin among the Greek Fathers, different methods of formulating the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception, and finally, the controversy in the Oriental Church on the Immaculate Conception previous to the Sixteenth Century. AU these points enumerated constitute the first chapter. In the second chapter the author treats of the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception in the Sacred Scriptures. He states the question, and then under separate headings investigates: Mary as all holy and always holy, Mary blessed as Jesus and always blessed, the Mother of God, the victory of the woman over the serpent, and Mary redeemed. In the conclusion to the second chapter. Father Jugie asserts that Scripture is ,,not completely silent on the dogma defined by Pius IX." Rather, Scripture has expressions which suggest this truth. In the third chapter, the original sanctity of the Mother of God in Oriental Tradition of the first five centuries is proposed. The most ancient tradition from the Council of Nicea to the Council of Ephesus and the Fathers of the Fifth Century are considered. 210 Book Reviews211 In the last chapter, after discussing the Immaculate Conception in the Byzantine Church from the Sixth to the Ninth Century in the fourth chapter, the doctrine of the Nestorian and Monophysite Churches on the Immaculate Conception is examined, in the fifth. Part Two deals with Byzantine Tradition from the Ninth to the Fifteenth Century. The two chapters of this Part include the Byzantine Theologians of the second half of the Ninth Century to the end of the Thirteenth (chapter one), and the theologians of the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Centuries (chapter two). In the Third Part, the author is concerned with the Immaculate Conception in the Greco-Russian Church from the Sixteenth Century to the present day, in five chapters. Chapter One contains the Greek Theologians in the Sixteenth and the Seventeenth Centuries, both favorable and unfavorable. In the second chapter the Greek Theologians of the Eighteenth Century, and in the third chapter the belief of the Russian Church previous to the Seventeenth Century are examined. In the fourth chapter, the Immaculate Conception in Russia during the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries is presented. The final and fifth chapter concludes by proposing the Russian Theologians of the Ninteenth and Twentieth Centuries. The work is summarized in a five page resume, with an index of proper names and table of contents appended. In this conclusion, the author states some resulting principles, in a synthesis of the work. Holy Scripture "in its literal sense, independent of the interpretation of certain Fathers, does not furnish us with explicit...