In Ressourcement: A Movement for Renewal in Twentieth-Century Catholic Theology. Ed. Gabriel Flynn and Paul D. Murray. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012. Pp. 157–71
Analogy of Truth: The Sacramental Epistemology of Nouvelle Théologie
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The French renewal movement of nouvelle théologie remains, in some ways, an enigma. Questions remain about what constituted the theological raison d'être of the Jesuits from Lyon Fourvière and the Dominicans from Le Saulchoir. This enigma is especially noteworthy considering the influence that the movement has had on Catholic theology, particularly through the Second Vatican Council. Part of the problem is the fact that these theologians hardly formed a distinct school of thought. Theologians associated with the Fourvière scholasticate—Henri de Lubac (1896–1991), Jean Daniélou (1905– 74), Henri Bouillard (1908–81), and Hans Urs von Balthasar (1905–88)—as well as those linked with the Saulchoir studium—Marie Dominique Chenu (1895–1990) and Yves Congar (1904–95)—shared common interests, to be sure. But they did not set out to establish a particular theological system or school. Another reason for the difficulty in locating these thinkers on the theological map is the remarkably negative assessments that many of them gave of (p. 158 ) post-conciliar developments in the Catholic Church. De Lubac, Daniélou, and Balthasar all expressed themselves negatively—sometimes sharply so—about the changes after Vatican II, even though these would have been unthinkable without the impact of nouvelle théologie. Even Congar, although largely positive about the changes, expressed words of caution at times. The establishment, in 1971, of the journal Communio reflected the growing unease of a number of the former ‘rebels’. It is not easy to identify a group of theologians that hardly formed a distinct school of thought and who were often reticent about the developments that they themselves appeared to have put in motion.
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