The Bible and Catholic Ressourcement: Essays on Scripture and Theology by William M. Wright IV

Abstract

Reviewed by: The Bible and Catholic Ressourcement: Essays on Scripture and Theology by William M. Wright IV Jeffrey L. Morrow william m. wright iv, The Bible and Catholic Ressourcement: Essays on Scripture and Theology (Renewal within Tradition; Steubenville, OH: Emmaus Academic, 2020). Pp. 250. $43. William Wright has published a wonderful collection of essays that are concerned with reading the Bible both historically and theologically. The majority of the essays focus more on method, whereas the last three engage the biblical texts themselves. W. divides his work [End Page 167] into roughly three parts: the first three chapters examine the biblical thinking and work of three Catholic theologians whom W. identifies as Ressourcement theologians but who are more often referred to as informal members of La Nouvelle théologie, the term first used of them by Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange: Henri de Lubac, Yves Congar, and Joseph Ratzinger/ Pope Benedict XVI. Chapters 4–7 focus more exclusively on Ratzinger/Benedict's Jesus of Nazareth trilogy. The final three chapters apply the sort of biblical hermeneutics covered thus far, represented by de Lubac, Congar, and Ratzinger/Benedict, to specific texts: John 6:1–21 (chap. 8); the use of Psalm 69 in John's Gospel (chap. 9); and John 8:12–20. This focus on John's Gospel is not surprising since W. wrote his Emory University doctoral dissertation on John 9 (published as Rhetoric and Theology: Figural Reading of John 9 [BZNW 165; Berlin: de Gruyter, 2009]). Wright articulates the theme of his volume as "the interpretation of Scripture in relation to the movement in recent Catholic theology known as the Ressourcement" (p. 1). The figures in this movement were the thinkers involved in the liturgical, patristic, and biblical renewal efforts that played a foundational role in the work of ressourcement, or retrieval, a going back to the sources, that led to the Second Vatican Council, which was also known for its other emphasis on aggiornamento (updating). In chap. 1 ("Patristic Exegetical Theory and Practice in de Lubac and Congar"), W. examines how de Lubac and Congar approached patristic exegesis as having perennial value. In chap. 2 ("The Literal Sense of Scripture according to Henri de Lubac: Insights from Patristic Exegesis of the Transfiguration"), W. looks more closely at de Lubac's discussion of patristic exegesis, focusing on the concrete example of the Gospel accounts of Jesus's transfiguration. W. describes the way de Lubac engaged the early Christian exegesis of Origen, Jerome, and Augustine. Important for W. is understanding de Lubac's nuanced appreciation for the work of historical biblical criticism while at the same time embracing Maurice Blondel's critique of such exegesis. In chap. 3 ("Echoes of Biblical Apocalyptic in the Encyclical Teaching of Benedict XVI"), W. looks to Ratzinger/Benedict, drawing attention to what he refers to as Ratzinger/ Benedict's "biblical apocalypticism" in his papal encyclicals: "Benedict's analysis of the Church's present moment echoes the apocalyptic motif of a present crisis in which the people of God are caught up in a dramatic conflict with an antagonizing opposition. . . . Benedict positions atheistic humanism as instantiating the apocalyptic figure of the false prophet. . . . Benedict emphasizes the Church's Christoform witness of charity-in-truth as the way to confront these antagonistic accounts of humanism" (pp. 61–62). The significance that Ratzinger/Benedict clearly holds for W. is most evident in the four chapters (4–7) he devotes to the three volumes of Jesus of Nazareth: chap. 4, "A 'New Synthesis': Benedict XVI's Jesus of Nazareth: Volume 1"; chap. 5, "Pre-Gospel Traditions and Post-Critical Interpretation in Benedict XVI's Jesus of Nazareth: Volume 2; chap. 6, "Living with the Word of God: The Holy Family in Jesus of Nazareth: The Infancy Narratives"; chap. 7, "Patristic Biblical Hermeneutics in Benedist XVI's Jesus of Nazareth." W. argues that Jesus of Nazareth demonstrates the kind of exegesis Ratzinger/Benedict thinks should be done. W.'s comment about vol. 1 applies just as well as to how he views the entire trilogy: "It is a genuine exercise in Ressourcement theology" (p. 113), wherein, as he explains in chap. 7, "Benedict's theological presentation . . . is identical with his...