Henri De Lubac Research Articles

Theology and Modernity: Exploring Faith, Morality, and Human Condition Through Dostoevsky and De Lubac

In a world increasingly characterized by secularism and philosophical questioning, traditional theological beliefs face ongoing challenges. This article explores the convergence of religious thought and critical theory in the field of critical theology and demonstrates how theological concepts can critique and reshape social structures and the human existence. It synthesizes insights from the literary works of Fyodor Dostoevsky and the scholarly perspectives of Henri de Lubac, Joseph Frank, David Foster Wallace, and Frederick Copleston. The discussion emphasizes Dostoevsky’s relevance in examining faith, morality, and existential angst while exploring the fusion of theological and secular ideas to promote social justice and human well-being. This article accentuates the essential role of theology in contemporary society and argues for a balanced approach that considers both religious traditions and secular viewpoints. This interdisciplinary perspective provides a solid framework for understanding and improving the human condition.

Salvation in Henri de Lubac: Divine Grace, Human Nature, and the Mystery of the Cross, written by Eugene R. Schlesinger

Salvation in Henri de Lubac: Divine Grace, Human Nature, and the Mystery of the Cross, written by Eugene R. Schlesinger

Eating for Eternity: The Social Dimensions of Gregory of Nyssa’s Interpretation of the Petition for Daily Bread

Abstract Gregory of Nyssa’s interpretation of the Lord’s Prayer’s request for daily bread is difficult to place in the history of the petition’s exegesis. Early interpreters—among them Tertullian, Cyprian, Origen, Cyril of Jerusalem, Ambrose, Augustine, and Peter Chrysologus—stressed what is often called, in Henri de Lubac’s phrase, a “spiritual interpretation” of the bread as knowledge, the Eucharist, or Christian doctrine. The majority of modern commentators, in contrast, understand the petition to ask for material food. Gregory, however, troubles simple contrasts between ancient and modern and spiritual and material interpretation. In his fourth homily on the dominical prayer, he draws upon Origen’s exegesis, interpretating the bread within a metaphysical framework distinguishing between the perceptible and intelligible, but Gregory understands the bread to be material bread and the necessity of eating to be central to the human creature’s imitation of the impassible and immaterial God. Even more unique than this departure from the spiritual interpretation of the bread is Gregory’s argument that luxury and excess—eating more than the minimum required by the body—are practices not only bad for the soul but harmful and unjust to one’s neighbors. This article takes both these dynamics in turn: first, putting Gregory’s interpretation in relief by comparing it not only to the spiritual interpretation of bread by Origen but also the materialist interpretations offered by Chrysostom and Theodore; and second, bringing to light Gregory’s remarkable deployment of a perceptible/intelligible ontology to argue for the purpose of material sustenance and its importance for a just society.

The vein of gold. In search of a methodological renewal of dogmatics based on the reading of Lech Wołowski’s book entitled “The problematics of paradox in the thought of Henri de Lubac and Hans Urs von Balthasar”

This study is presented in the form of a research-review article and consists of reflections informed by a reading of Lech Wołowski’s monograph “The Problematics of Paradox in the Thought of Henri de Lubac and Hans Urs von Balthasar”, while simultaneously drawing from other works by the same researcher. The aim of this article is to present the paradox method as a means to deepen theological research. This method is portrayed as a proposition that can be applied in theological research, much like in other scientific domains. This approach may contribute to addressing the contemporary crisis in dogmatics and serve in formulating responses to current “profound” questions posed by individuals and society.

“An Exchange of Gifts”: Benedict XVI’s Eucharistic Ecclesiology as an Approach to Ecumenism

Christian unity, or the “ecumenical movement,” is one of Joseph Ratzinger’s (turn Benedict XVI) most apparent apostolates during his Pontificate. His thought on the matter is a development of the theologies developed in the Second Vatican Council’s Lumen Gentium and John Paul II’s Ut Unum Sint, borrowing the words “exchange of gifts,” which affirms elements of sanctification present in churches “separated” from Rome. This work will expand on how Benedict XVI’s teachings about the Eucharist as the Sacrament of Unity gained merit in the Church’s ecumenical movement. This theology can be described as a “Eucharistic Ecclesiology,” and it has earlier codification made formal through the thought of Henri de Lubac. It will be done firstly through an exposition of de Lubac’s commentary in Mystici Corporis, which confirms the origins of Eucharistic Ecclesiology through Patristic and Pauline theology. Next is a look at Pope Benedict XVI’s interjection of this theology into his ecumenical thought with a particular emphasis on the essentialities of the ontological reality of the Church, the shared Christian traditions, and “spiritual ecumenism.” In the final discussions, we shall include a quick run through his Pontificate’s ecumenical initiatives where the teachings about Eucharistic Ecclesiology are dispersed in various circumstances.

Henri de Lubac: Cirkev a teológia v sebareflexii a v konfrontácii so svetom

In the article we analyze the theology of Henri de Lubac. We reflect Lubac's criticism of the atheism of L. Feuerbach, F. Nietzsche and A. Comte. We approach Lubac's understanding of the relationship between God's grace and human nature. We discuss Lubac's biblical theology, especially the relationship between the Old and New Testaments. Finally, we approach Lubac's understanding of the Church's problems and their solutions.

Book Review: Salvation in Henri de Lubac: Divine Grace, Human Nature, and the Mystery of the Cross, by Eugene R. Schlesinger

Book Review: <i>Salvation in Henri de Lubac: Divine Grace, Human Nature, and the Mystery of the Cross</i>, by Eugene R. Schlesinger

Book Review Essay: “The Drama of Atheist Humanism” by Henri de Lubac

In “The Drama of Atheist Humanism”, Henri de Lubac meticulously explores 19th-century efforts to overcome the limits of the divine and create a humanism. The book looks at the roots of modern atheism, focusing particularly on the influential contributions of figures such as Feuerbach, Nietzsche, and Comte. These figures were instrumental in shaping the path of contemporary humanism. De Lubac masterfully weaves together historical and philosophical currents with modern perspectives to expose the prevailing ideology that views Christianity as antiquated, a perspective that resonates throughout Eastern and Western societies. A unique aspect of the book lies in its harmonious interplay with literary and philosophical works, providing the reader with a deep insight into the philosophical underpinnings of contemporary atheism. This analysis is enriched by an examination of the theological foundations of humanism that incorporates perspectives from Islamic and Christian traditions.

Pope Benedict XVI &amp; the French Ressourcement. “Lumen gentium cum sit Christus”

What unites Joseph Ratzinger / Benedict XVI to the French is ressourcement, a controversial movement that initiated a brilliant reorientation of Catholic thought and teaching in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. In the light of the significant work that has already been done on Ratzinger’s original contribution to Vatican II, the objectives of the present paper are, first, to situate him as theologian and Christian humanist at the heart of the ressourcement movement and to evaluate his work for peace and harmony in the confines between past and present. It attempts to illuminate a way forward for the Church, based on the anthropological, philosophical, and spiritual foundations of the new Christian humanism of the ressourcement project, championed by the French and their German allies. Secondly, the paper seeks to document the influence of notable, twentieth-century, French Catholic thinkers, theologians and philosophers, on Ratzinger’s thought and future contribution to Church and culture on a global stage, with particular attention to Yves Congar, Henri de Lubac, Jean Daniélou (1905-74), and Jacques Maritain (1882-1973). Thirdly, it presents a fresh consideration of his vision of the Church, his contribution to the ecclesiology of the Second Vatican Council, and of the turbulent post-conciliar period. The key goals in this domain are, therefore, to articulate Ratzinger’s spirituality and his preponderant contribution to theological anthropology, using the lens of Vatican II. This is a point of some considerable importance and fills a critical lacuna in Catholic theology. As a pertinent comment of Congar’s makes clear. “For there is little awareness of the values of anthropology; we have created an ecclesiology without any anthropology”. Like Congar, Ratzinger sought to construct a theological anthropology concerned to serve the pastoral needs of the Church but without neglecting its cultural and social elements. Spirituality and anthropology are then, unsurprisingly, as luminous, intricately interwoven threads that permeate and fortify his entire theological edifice.

Special Report: Autism Spectrum Disorder and Inflexible Thinking—Affecting Patients Across the Lifespan

Special Report: Autism Spectrum Disorder and Inflexible Thinking—Affecting Patients Across the Lifespan

Witnesses to the Living God: Three Paradigms for Approaching the Politics of Nouvelle Théologie*

Witnesses to the Living God: Three Paradigms for Approaching the Politics of <i>Nouvelle Théologie</i>*

The Church of the Dead: The Epidemic of 1576 and the Birth of Christianity in the Americas

Jennifer Scheper Hughes offers a penetrating analysis of archival, theological, and cartological sources as she examines the impact of la gran mortandad (the Great Death) brought about by the 1576 cocoliztli pandemic in Mexico. While the exact disease is uncertain, the signs were visible in bleeding bodies and the victims were unmistakable: 12 million or more Indigenous Mexicans. Ten years in the making, this study underscores the importance of sustained research. The welcomed result is a compelling contribution to the efforts of those who reread colonial Christianity in the Americas with an eye for Indigenous agency. Following the introduction to the context of the pandemic, the author brings to light the devastating impact of cocoliztli with her painstaking study of selected archives. With empathy and rigor, Hughes uncovers the devastating toll of suffering and death as she details various responses to this death event in part 1, “Ave Verum Corpus: Abject Matter and Holy Flesh.” Franciscan friars played a major role—albeit for a limited time—in comforting and treating the sick and dying. As the friars grew weary and the failure of their medicinal care was evident, they, along with other ecclesial communities, began to withdraw to major urban areas or even depart for missionary work abroad. While the Indigenous Mexicans may have needed these religious figures while dying, the friars needed them alive to give meaning to their utopian evangelical endeavor. The “fantasy of care” soon became palpable as the Indigenous population was abandoned. While the people who were left behind were incorporated into the corpus mysticum Christi as articulated by Bartolomé de las Casas and later Henri de Lubac, they appear to be judged as the bloody remains of feet severed from the crucified Christ.

Soldiers of God in a Secular World: Catholic Theology and Twentieth-Century French Politics. By Sarah Shortall

In recent decades, France has figured prominently in international debates on secularism (laïcité) and religion, for instance with respect to its ban on religious iconography in public schools. Following the legal separation of church and state in 1905, this once predominantly Catholic country became increasingly irreligious over the course of the twentieth century. At present, French Republicanism itself is a strident secular belief that tends to accuse religious believers of divisive “communitarian,” subnational commitments. Such ongoing anxieties about traditional religion are rooted in the fact that Catholicism has long been a dominant political and cultural force. If the gradual ascendency of Republican laïcité is familiar, less well-known is how theologians and religiously committed thinkers came to terms with separation. Such is the neglected story that Sarah Shortall tells in her original and engaging reconstruction of French Dominicans and Jesuits from the early 1900s through the Second Vatican Council during the 1960s. Once the victory of anti-clerical politics of the early Third Republic (1870–1940) was assured, French Catholics had a choice: they could pine for yesteryears when they had been in charge, or they could come to terms with the fact that the ground had shifted. For some, secularity provided an opportunity to revisit Christian traditions and rethink theological categories. Loss became an occasion for revival. Shortall argues that a coterie of French priests, some of whom eventually got in trouble with the Vatican, imagined ways of being in not of the world; that is, of being religious in the public sphere without having to fully embrace the saeculum. Such visions, says Shortall, amounted to a “counter-politics,” positions from which secular powers could be criticized in light of sacral time, the incarnation, soteriology, eschatology, and so forth. Innovations came from rereading Thomas Aquinas or reviving Patristic and Augustinian perspectives against the rote authority of neo-scholasticism. In the interwar era, Jacques Maritain theorized the notion of the human person, and “New Theologians” such as Henri de Lubac formulated ecclesiology in terms of a collective mystical body of Christ. Both were opposed to contemporaneous alternatives such as the royalist Action Française, which, nostalgic for a bygone era, sought to reboot theocracy and was condemned in 1926.

New Books across the Disciplines

New Books across the Disciplines

Eucharistic Primacy of the Universal Church: The College of Bishops Makes the Eucharist, The Eucharist Makes the Universal Church

In its Letter to the Bishops of the Catholic Church on Some Aspects of the Church Understood as Communion, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith states that the universal Church is ontologically and temporally prior to the local church. This declaration began a well-known debate between Joseph Ratzinger and Walter Kasper. This article does not adjudicate the Ratzinger/Kasper matter, but it proposes that their debate can be advanced with analyses of Henri de Lubac's famous proclamations that "the Eucharist makes the Church" and "the Church makes the Eucharist." It concludes that the universal Church maintains Eucharistic primacy and is prior to the local church.

De Lubac and Suárez: A Reappraisal

Because of his hostility to pure nature theory, Henri de Lubac has typically been viewed as opposing Francisco Suárez’s metaphysics. His proximate target was the neo-Suárezianism to which he was exposed during his Jesuit formation. Suárez was the Jesuit order’s intellectual founding father and his ideas continued to shape Jesuit philosophy and theology, sometimes in opposition to neo-Thomism. Although de Lubac contested Suárez’s promotion of new and modern theology, Suárez positively informed his approach to key topics: appetite and its end; nature, desire, and the supernatural; the perfection of nature; essences as unique existents; eclecticism; and political resistance.

A Notable Anniversary: Sources chrétiennes and Roman Catholic – Orthodox Relations

Abstract Marking the eightieth anniversary of the founding of the celebrated series of patristic texts, Sources chrétiennes, the article considers the place and role of the series in the patristic renewal that occurred in the Roman Catholic Church in the twentieth century, and the many connections and resonances between that renewal and the patristic renewal that occurred contemporaneously in the Orthodox Church. Key writings of pioneers of that renewal on the respective sides, especially Henri de Lubac, Jean Daniélou, and Georges Florovsky, are studied, and the article ends with some reflections on the significance of the patristic heritage for current Roman Catholic-Orthodox theological dialogue.

Body, Soul and Spirit. Henri de Lubac’s Vision of Tripartite Anthropology

The article discusses “tripartite anthropology” developed by Henri de Lubac, with particular emphasis on the concept of the “spirit”. The analysis carried out herein aims firstly to reconstruct a coherent anthropological vision from the fragments scattered in various works of this classic 20th-century theologian. Secondly, it aims to show that the vision of “tripartite anthropology” is still a valid response to contemporary attempts to reduce human existence to the body and psyche. In this context, particularly important is the paradoxical nature of the “spirit,” as shown in this study, which is understood as the sphere of human openness to transcendence: it represents both the coping and the center of human nature. Bringing to light this dual role of the “spirit-pneuma” within de Lubac’s theological anthropology is one of the significant results of the analysis presented in the text.

From the Three Bodies of Christ to the King's Two Bodies: The Theological Origins of Secularization Theory

This article traces the influence of theology on one particular strand of secularization theory that emerged from the work of Ernst Kantorowicz and Marcel Gauchet. It shows how Kantorowicz's classic text, The King's Two Bodies, was deeply indebted to the insights of one of the leading Catholic theologians of the twentieth century: the French Jesuit Henri de Lubac. By tracing the influence of de Lubac's work on Kantorowicz and, through him, on the secularization theory developed by Marcel Gauchet, the article uncovers a surprising convergence between theology and the secular disciplines. In the process, it draws attention to the limitations of secularization narratives that focus on the premodern theological origins of modern political concepts, by showing how they struggle to account for the ongoing role and relevance of theology in a modern context.

The Paradox of Freedom in the Theodramatic Reflection of Hans Urs von Balthasar against the Background of the Thought of Henri de Lubac and Józef Tischner

The article examines the paradoxicality of the notion of freedom in the theodramatic approach of Hans Urs von Balthasar. The main subject concerns the paradox of finite and infinite freedom and their relationship described in the second volume of Theo-Drama. The thought of the Swiss theologian is compared with the reflections of Henri de Lubac and Józef Tischner. The confrontation of their approaches in the context of the chosen topic made it possible to apply a new research method. Instead of the dialectical method, typically used in this context, a method concentrated on identifying the paradox and exploring the mystery behind it has been applied. This approach has led to a deeper understanding of the key role of the dynamical nature of finite freedom and has indicated the importance of proper identification of its source. It has allowed also displaying the inalienable nature of the Christological dimension to understand correctly the concept of infinite freedom and the most important feature of its essence. Finally, it has also helped to gain an in-depth insight into the conditions regarding the possibility of a genuine, though not symmetrical, relationship between the two freedoms.