Henri de Lubac and the Drama of Human Existence

Jordan Hillebert

Description

The French Jesuit Henri de Lubac (1896–1991) was one of the most influential theologians of the twentieth century. The publication of his Surnaturel in 1946, addressing the issue of the interrelation of nature and the supernatural, precipitated one of the most far-reaching theological debates of the century, culminating in a new historical, methodological, and theological consensus on the topic. And yet the question continues to be debated: How should de Lubac’s position be understood? Although many have suggested that de Lubac saw human nature as always-already graced, in Henri de Lubac and the Drama of Human Existence, Jordan Hillebert advances a new reading of de Lubac’s theology of the supernatural that is at variance with most prevailing interpretations. Through his analysis of how a “hermeneutics of human existence” pervades de Lubac’s writings, Hillebert argues that, in de Lubac’s theology, the relation between the human being and humanity’s supernatural finality is best considered in terms of the “supernatural insufficiency of human nature.” In this way, Hillebert demonstrates that de Lubac’s theology of the supernatural offers a via media between neo-scholastic “extrinsicism” on the one hand and post-conciliar “intrinsicism” on the other.

Although some authors have drawn attention to the theme of human existence in de Lubac’s writings, Henri de Lubac and the Drama of Human Existence is an original study that shows how a hermeneutics of human existence provides an interpretative key to his writings—especially in regard to the controversial question of the relation of nature and the supernatural. Due to the book’s broad ecumenical appeal, it will interest scholars in the fields of modern theology and, more specifically, Roman Catholic theology.

Sujets

• Religion
• Christianisme
• Christian Theology
• Philosophie et théologie
• Catholic Church
• Theology
• Systematics
• Catholic
• Christianity
• Anthropology

Informations

• Publié par: University of Notre Dame Press
• Date de parution: 15 janvier 2021
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780268108595
• Langue: English

Extrait

Henri de Lubac and the Drama of Human Existence
Henri de Lubac
and the Drama of Human Existence

Jordan Hillebert
UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME PRESS
NOTRE DAME, INDIANA
Copyright © 2021 by the University of Notre Dame
Notre Dame, Indiana 46556
undpress.nd.edu
All Rights Reserved
Published in the United States of America
Library of Congress Control Number: 2020946987
ISBN: 978–0-268–10857–1 (Hardback)
ISBN: 978–0-268–10860–1 (WebPDF)
ISBN: 978–0-268–10859–5 (Epub)
This e-Book was converted from the original source file by a third-party vendor. Readers who notice any formatting, textual, or readability issues are encouraged to contact the publisher at [e-mail]
In grateful and loving memory of
John B. Webster
CONTENTS

Acknowledgments
Abbreviations of Works by Henri de Lubac
Introduction: A Hermeneutics of Human Existence
ONE . A Hermeneutics of Atheist Humanism
TWO . The Desire of Nature
THREE . The Knowledge of God
FOUR . Being in History
FIVE . Being in Mystery
Conclusion: Paradox and Postconciliar Theology
Notes
Bibliography
Index
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I had no intention of writing a book on de Lubac’s “hermeneutics of human existence” or of venturing too deeply into the stormy waters of twentieth-century debates on nature and grace. This book began as a doctoral thesis (first at the University of Aberdeen and then at St. Andrews University) that was meant to adjudicate between de Lubac and his (primarily Protestant) detractors on the sacramentality of the church, a means, I suppose, of sorting through the ecclesial tensions in my own “Catholic and Reformed” intuitions on my journey to becoming a postulant for holy orders in the Anglican Church. Early into my research, however, I found myself continually bumping up against statements in de Lubac’s writings that seemed to sit uncomfortably within prevailing interpretations of his famous Surnaturel thesis. A few marginal notes soon multiplied, swiftly taking on a life of their own, and eventually led to an entirely different book from the one I originally set out to write. I was guided and encouraged throughout these investigations by the generous and insightful supervision of my doctoral supervisor, the late John Webster. Studying with John was an immense privilege. His patience and clarity as a thinker, his charity as a reader, and the joyful seriousness with which he approached the “delightful activity” of Christian dogmatics made him an invaluable mentor. John exemplified the intellectual and spiritual virtues of the theologian-as-disciple. The words of Tilliette, reflecting on his time spent studying with de Lubac at Fourvière, apply just as aptly to John: “He himself was never concerned about having ‘disciples’—‘One is your Master’—but rather about inspiring them to be diligent theologians. Their studies were supposed to give form to their existence and train them to be witnesses to Christ.” 1 It is to John that I owe the greatest intellectual debt of gratitude in the writing of this book, and so it is to John especially that the following pages are dedicated.
This book began in Aberdeen, was written largely in St. Andrews, and was finally completed in Cardiff. Along the way it benefited from innumerable friendships, scholars, churches, and pubs. Tim Baylor and Tyler Wittman were (and remain) a constant source of theological insight and lively conversation. Countless afternoons spent playing croquet together and discussing Thomas Aquinas may have delayed the completion of this work, but they also deeply informed the theological intuitions and commitments contained herein. I am sincerely grateful for their wisdom and their friendship. I am grateful also for my doctoral examiners, Fergus Kerr and Karen Kilby, for their probing questions and warm support for the original thesis. Karen’s continued enthusiasm for the project has been a source of great encouragement throughout the revision and preparation of this manuscript for publication. My thanks to Francesca Murphy for warmly recommending this work to University of Notre Dame Press, to the UNDP readers for their very helpful suggestions, and to Stephen Little for his editorial support and encouragement.
My thanks also to Adonis Vidu for first introducing me to the writings of Henri de Lubac and for encouraging me to pursue doctoral studies, to Mark Clavier for welcoming me to Wales and for modeling so well the vocation of a scholar-priest, to the congregation of Christ Church Roath Park for supporting me and my family throughout my curacy, and to the staff and students at St. Padarn’s for collaborating to create such an edifying context for theological study and conversation. Finally, the writing of this book owes much to the love and encouragement of family—my parents and sister, my mother- and father-in-law, and my surrogate family in the United Kingdom, the Baylors, Lowerys, and Burdetts. As ever, words fall short of expressing the depth of my gratitude for Krisi—for her love, her wisdom, her generosity, and her tireless support.
Jordan Hillebert
Cardiff, Feast of St. Cuthbert,
2020
ABBREVIATIONS OF WORKS BY HENRI DE LUBAC

(See bibliography for complete bibliographic details) AMT Augustinianism and Modern Theology ASC At the Service of the Church: Henri de Lubac Reflects on the Circumstances That Occasioned His Writings BC A Brief Catechesis on Nature and Grace C Catholicism: Christ and the Common Destiny of Man CF The Christian Faith: An Essay on the Structure of the Apostles’ Creed CM Corpus Mysticum: The Eucharist and the Church in the Middle Ages CPM The Church: Paradox and Mystery DAH The Drama of Atheist Humanism DG The Discovery of God HS History and Spirit: The Understanding of Scripture according to Origen MC The Motherhood of the Church ME Medieval Exegesis MP More Paradoxes MS The Mystery of the Supernatural PF Paradoxes of Faith PS La Postérité spirituelle de Joachim de Flore RD La Révélation divine S Surnaturel: Études historiques SC The Splendor of the Church TF Theological Fragments TH Theology in History VCN Vatican Council Notebooks
Introduction
A Hermeneutics of Human Existence
The publication of Henri de Lubac’s Surnaturel (1946) was a pivotal event in twentieth-century Roman Catholic thought, precipitating one of the century’s most heated and wide-ranging theological debates and culminating in a new (or rather a renewed ) historical, methodological, and theological consensus. On the surface, the controversy engendered by Surnaturel centered on rival interpretations of Thomas Aquinas. At the time, most Thomist commentators discovered in Aquinas an account of humanity’s twofold finality—one purely natural, the other supernatural. De Lubac’s reading of Aquinas advanced, to the contrary, a single, supernatural finality: humanity’s graced enjoyment of the beatific vision of God. Even as a strictly exegetical dispute, this discrepancy over the proper interpretation of Aquinas would have been enough to place de Lubac at the center of controversy. St. Thomas is, after all, the Common Doctor: “His teaching above that of others, the canonical writings alone excepted, enjoys such a precision of language, an order of matters, a truth of conclusions, that those who hold to it are never found swerving from the path of truth, and he who dare assail it will always be suspected of error.” 1 This assertion by Innocent VI was taken up with equal resolve in Leo XIII’s 1879 encyclical Aeterni Patris, exhorting all clergy and Catholic educators “to restore the golden wisdom of St. Thomas, and to spread it far and wide for the defense and beauty of the Catholic faith, for the good of society, and for the advantage of all the sciences.” 2 In offering a seemingly novel interpretation of Aquinas on a matter as consequential as humanity’s telos, de Lubac risked muddying those crystalline waters drawn from the fount of the Angelic Doctor, “or at least from those rivulets which, derived from the very fount, have thus far flowed, according to the established agreement of learned men, pure and clear.” 3 For de Lubac, however, as indeed for his critics, what was ultimately at stake in the études historiques undertaken in Surnaturel went well beyond a decision concerning the proper interpretation of Aquinas. What concerned de Lubac was the contemporary urgency of a distinctly Christian interpretation of human existence, a theological account of the imprint of a transcendent finality upon human being and human history more generally. Like so many of de Lubac’s writings, Surnaturel thus makes a case for a particular “hermeneutics of human existence,” the implications of which, according to de Lubac, determine both the church’s response to modern unbelief and her own confident articulation of the gospel’s claim on human beings.
The purpose of this book is twofold: first, to offer a critical exposition of de Lubac’s hermeneutics of human existence, demonstrating the pervasiveness and the significance of this interpretive enterprise throughout de Lubac’s writings and the precise role prescribed by de Lubac for such a hermeneutics in the church’s contemporary apologetic endeavors; second, to defend a particular reading of de Lubac’s theology on this point in contradistinction to what is quickly becoming one of the—if not the —most influential interpretations of his work. In recent years, de Lubac’s decades-long confrontation with theological extrinsicism has been enlisted to great effect by proponents of a radical theological intrinsicism. That is, de Lubac’s refusal of a purely immanent teleology has been taken as a tacit acknowledgment that human nature always already participates in the supernatural that fulfills it. Such a construal of the relation between human nature and the supernatural mounts a provocative theological rejoinder to the bourgeoning hegemony of “secularized” nature in modern philosophical and political (not to mention theological) discourse, bu