Skip to main content

De Lubac's critique of Thomistic neo-scholasticism and what he dubbed the "baroque theology of grace" was adopted wholesale to the extent that he is credited with having "created the intellectual climate that made possible the Second Vatican Council"

 http://purenatureinaquinas.blogspot.com/2014/06/welcome.html

 

A Brief Introduction to the Debate / Controversy

The debate originates with the publication of Henri De Lubac's Surnaturel in 1946 and the controversy that ensued, in which he charged Thomistic theologians (chiefly from Cajetan onwards) had misunderstood -- and consequently misrepresented, to detrimental effect -- man's relationship to God as a "two tiered" system of nature and the supernatural existing in isolation to each other. According to De Lubac, the theological exchange of the "natural / moral" paradigm for that of "natural / supernatural"; the theoretical consideration of man's "natural end" or state of pure nature [natura pura] as distinct from his calling to the beatific vision, negatively reinforced man's sense of secular autonomy and modernity's abandonment of the divine.

It is important to note here that De Lubac's concern was born of good intentions: horrified with first, French Catholic massive support of the fascist movement Action Francaise in the 1930's, and secondly its collaboration with the Petain’s Vichy regime during the Second World War, which had deported six thousand Jews to Germany from 1941-1945. This was the historical context under which De Lubac developed his theology. Hans Boersma explains (Nouvelle Théologie and Sacramental Ontology):

As de Lubac came to see it, the French cultural and political situation was intimately tied up with the theological question of the relationship between nature and the supernatural. The reason, he believed, why so many accommodated uncritically the fascist neo-paganism of the Vichy regime was the long-standing separation between nature and the supernatural, as if the two formed two hermetically sealed compartments. Such separation, de Lubac believed, granted the realm of nature a nearly autonomous status in relation to the supernatural. In no way related to the supernatural, the realm of nature could move in its own, self-chosen direction, unencumbered by a higher call that the gospel, Jesus Christ, or the Church might issue.
De Lubac's thesis was subjected to fierce criticism from neo-scholastic Thomists like Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange, while he was in turn defended by Etienne Gilson, Hans urs von Balthasar and members of the nouvelle theologie. (For a detailed historical review of the surnatural controversy and De Lubac's relationship with Etienne Gilson, see chapter 11: "Ecclesial Cold War", pp. 227-243 in Art and Intellect in Philosophy of Étienne Gilson).;

Eventually, however, De Lubac's critique of Thomistic neo-scholasticism and what he dubbed the "baroque theology of grace" was adopted wholesale to the extent that he is credited with having "created the intellectual climate that made possible the Second Vatican Council" (Oxford Dictionary of the Catholic Church). De Lubac was also publicly vindicated in 1983 with his elevation to Cardinal by Pope John Paul II.

That being said, the fundamental questions of the surnaturel controversy have never been satisfactorily resolved. Within the past decade, a number of American Thomistic theologians have renewed criticism of De Lubac's position on nature and grace, beginning in large part with the publication of the magisterial work by Lawrence Feingold: The Natural Desire to See God According to St. Thomas and His Interpreters (Catholic University of America Press, 2nd ed., 2004).

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Former advisor to Sec. of Defense, Col. Douglas MacGregor: "the next phase of the Ukrainian War will not only destroy the Ukrainian state. It will also demolish the last vestiges of the postwar liberal order"

Macgregor appears to cite intel sources for his numbers and timetable—and I assume he really does have good sources. He says the offensive will happen “not sooner than 12/10 and not later than 12/19.” It will involve something like 540,000 troops with 1,500 tanks, thousands of other armored vehicles, huge numbers of helicopters, fixed wing aircraft, and bombers. These are numbers he says that have been confirmed by US intel. - Mark Wauck [https://meaninginhistory.substack.com/p/doug-macgregors-timetable-and-scale?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=473679&post_id=89073832&isFreemail=true&utm_medium=email] Modern Diplomacy reports that  "Douglas Macgregor , Col. (ret.), who was the former advisor to the Secretary of Defense in the Trump administration" says that  "the next phase of the Ukrainian War will not only destroy the Ukrainian state. It will also demolish the last vestiges of the postwar liberal order": The Biden administration repeated

Mainstream Media: "Is America the Real Victim of Anti-Russia Sanctions?" & "Biden's arrogant anti-Russian sanctions have amounted to a price hike on working class Americans that have so far failed to weaken the Russian economy"

  Mainstream Media Acknowledges Biden’s “Arrogant” Sanctions On Russia Are Damning Americans:     @MaxBlumenthal Biden's arrogant anti-Russian sanctions have amounted to a price hike on working class Americans that have so far failed to weaken the Russian economy. His neocon policy accelerates the process of de-dollarization, diplomatic isolation & imperial decline. The mainstream new outlet asked "Is America the Real Victim of Anti-Russia Sanctions?": Remember the claims that Russia’s economy was more or less irrelevant, merely the equivalent of a small, not very impressive European country? “Putin, who has an economy the size of Italy,” Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said in 2014 after the invasion of Crimea, “[is] playing a poker game with a pair of twos and winning.” Of increasing Russian diplomatic and geopolitical influence in Europe, the Middle East, and East Asia, The Economist asked in 2019, “How did a country with an economy the size of Spain … ach

Funny: "Stevie, You know I normally do not let CIA agents comment at FromRome.info. But I cannot resist pointing out that you need to look at the Latin of Lument Gentium"

https://www.fromrome.info/2022/11/05/pope-benedict-xvis-teaching-on-munus-and-ministerium/  Steven O'Reilly NOVEMBER 5, 2022 AT 10:12 PM Brother, gratuitous assertion? Hardly. Your readers may benefit from reading the following article: https://romalocutaest.com/2022/11/04/lumen-gentium-destroys-benepapism-in-toto/ God bless, Steven O’Reilly REPLY NOVEMBER 5, 2022 AT 10:52 PM Stevie, You know I normally do not let CIA agents comment at FromRome.info. But I cannot resist pointing out that you need to look at the Latin of Lument Gentium, and then you will see that your argument’s foundations do not exist. It is really pathetic how much you push against reality, when you cannot even read Italian or Latin and resort to lousy translations. Here is the Latin, of Lumen Gentium, for reference. The word munus is all over it. https://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_const_19641121_lumen-gentium_lt.html But, one cannot appeal to any Latin text outside o