The Christian Trinity in History by Bertrand de Margerie, S.J.

Abstract

The Christian Trinity in History. (Studies in Historical Theology, Vol. I.) By BERTRAND DE MARGERIE, S.J. Translated by Edmund J. Fortman , S.J. Still River, Massachusetts: St. Bede's Publications, 1982. Pp. xxii + 387 including indexes and bibliography. $29.95. After centuries of neglect, Christian theologians have begun to readdress the doctrine of the Trinity relegated for so long to the realm of " mystery " suggestive of higher mathematics and deemed of little concern to the believer. Now the challenge first thrown down by Karl Barth, who inaugurates his massive Ohitrch Dogmatics with an in-depth exploration of the Trinity (Vol. I/l), has been taken up by others. Notable among the products of this new concern are Karl Rahner's Mysterium Salutis article, translated into English as The Trinity, Eberhard Jungel's Doctrine of the Trinity, Jurgen Moltmann's The Trinity and the Kingdom, Heribert Muhlen's Der Heilige Geist als Person, and George Tavard's The Vision of the Trinity. To these efforts must now happily be added this English translation of the 1975 work of the Jesuit theologian Bertrand de Margerie. All of these studies differ in radical ways from one another and de Margerie 's contribution does not follow the lead of any one of them but offers a distinct approach of its own. Its strong suit is history-as the title leads us to expect, and as we would anticipate from an author whose more recent work is concerned with exegesis: Introduction al'histoire de l'exegese , Vol. I, Les Peres grecs et orientaux (1980). The history in question is mined extensively, with scrupulous attention to the texts, making use of interpretative norms that are clear, consistent and controlled. The net result of this procedure is a strong sense of living tradition, one in which the continuities are rather more pronounced than the discontinuitiesthough de Margerie does observe that Gregory of Nazianzus is "generally regarded as the only Father who put forth no heresy" (p. 275). It is herein that lies the preeminent trait of de Margerie's work: he knows with crystal clarity "who it is in whom he has believed". This is to say that the theological methodology at work throughout is one that starts in the very midst of, and within the fullness of, an avowed faith commitment. The Oatholica, the "Catholic thing", comes forth impressively because the point of departure is always the historical revelation made in Jesus of Nazareth, articulated normatively in the New Testament, and mediated in living tradition. In this sense, the work is pre-critical. It is not an employment of theology as hermeneutics in the sense of a reinterpretation£97 298 BOOK REVIEWS of sources. This does not preclude an interpretative element on de Margerie 's part in his role as one who is reflecting theologically on what is given in tradition. But it does emphasize that ultimately it is the Word of God that interprets us rather than the other way around. He prefers to preserve the lectio dijficilior against any facile rationalizing of the text on the basis of present experiences as having a revelatory power on their own. Occasionally this gives a conservative tone to the resultant theology, but it would be a mistake to dismiss de Margerie's study as deteriorating into a sterile traditionalism. His reverence for tradition does not belie the fact that he is familiar with, and able to cope with, the views of others. This is true at least to a degree. The positions of Hegel, Feuerbach , Luther, and Karl Barth are extensively presented if usually reacted to negatively; Karl Rahner provokes a generally favorable but reserved response; Bernard Lonergan fares somewhat better; Heribert Muhlen's I-Thou-We analogy is adopted and richly used, even as objections to it are taken note of. Entirely lacking, however, are any dealings with Process Theology, with Paul Tillich, whose name does not even appear in the index, with the eschatological hermeneutics of vVolfhart Pannenberg and Jurgen Moltmann, or with Eberhard Jungel's elaboration upon Barthian trinitarianism . There is, of course, an alternative methodology available for dealing with the mystery of the God's triunity. This alternative method is markedly critical...