Bogoslovska smotra, Vol. 83 No. 4, 2013.
Original scientific paper
From the Method of Immanence to Fundamental Theology: a Comparative Study of Maurice Blondel and Henri de Lubac
Peter Rožić
; Santa Clara University, USA
Abstract
In the nineteenth century, the theological discipline of apologetics found itself incapable of facing the problem of modernism, which gave primacy to reason and excluded the supernatural. In order to »say something that matters« about faith in the world of his time, Maurice Blondel offers a philosophical approach called »the method of immanence«. Henri de Lubac follows this method by proposing the first contours of fundamental theology. Yet, how did the two authors use the method of immanence to address the question of the supernatural? If for Blondel this method searches for transcendence as present within the will to act, Lubac requires less an encounter between philosophers and theologians than the unity of theology itself. The hypothesis of this paper is thus twofold. Blondel and Lubac were able not only to understand the problem of the separation between apologetics and theology but also to articulate a convincing answer. To connect the two approaches, it was necessary to pass from the philosophical method of Blondel to the theological method proposed by Lubac. The doctrine needs to be in relation to the natural human being and fundamental theology should help one discover the meaning that faith and dogmas may have for a human person.
Keywords
method of immanence; Blondel; Lubac; fundamental theology; reason; will
Hrčak ID:
115778
URI
Publication date:
7.2.2014.
Visits: 3.039 *