Twentieth-century Catholic theology was strongly affected by Henri de Lubac's claim that the western theological tradition went awry by allowing that one could have an adequate idea of human nature without reference to humanity's supernatural end. According to de Lubac, the culprits were early modern scholastics, and their mistake was the idea of pure nature. Aquinas's Notion of Pure Nature and the Christian Integralism of Henri de Lubac: Not Everything Is Grace contributes to the current literature criticizing de Lubac's thesis. Specifically, it offers an explanation for its enduring power and popularity with particular attention to the contemporary Radical Orthodoxy movement.

The T&T Clark Companion to Henri de Lubac introduces the life and writings of one of the most influential theologians of the 20th century. A highly controversial figure throughout the 1940s and 50s, Henri de Lubac (1896 - 1991) played a prominent role during the Second Vatican Council and was appointed cardinal by Pope John Paul II in 1983. His work, which covers an impressive range of theological, philosophical and historical inquiries, has left an indelible mark on modern Christian thought. This volume, including contributions from leading Catholic, Protestant and Anglican scholars of de Lubac's work, introduces readers to the key features of his theology. By placing de Lubac's writings in both their immediate context and in conversation with contemporary theological debates, these essays shed light on the theological ingenuity and continuing relevance of this important thinker.

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.

This study provides a compelling account of the major works of Henri de Lubac, one of the most influential theologians of the twentieth century, and argues that soteriology provides a lens through which their inner unity can be discerned. The writings of Henri de Lubac have left an indelible mark on Catholic theology, preparing the ground for, giving shape to, and explaining the seminal event of twentieth-century Catholicism: the Second Vatican Council. Like the Council itself, though, de Lubac remains a contested figure, difficult to classify. Salvation in Henri de Lubac presents an overview of de Lubac’s major works in light of his own statements that a mystical vision animated them all. De Lubac’s mystical theology hinges upon a vision of salvation, understood as humanity’s incorporation into the triune God through the cross and resurrection of the incarnate Christ. From his writings on the supernatural and theological epistemology, to his treatments of the spiritual interpretation of Scripture, ecclesiology, sacramental theology, and the theology of history, the mystery of the cross looms large, gathering these disparate topics into one focal center while also allowing their distinct contours to remain. By attending to de Lubac’s work in this light, Eugene R. Schlesinger brings important themes from French language scholarship into the English-speaking conversation and clarifies the nature of de Lubac’s ressourcement. It is not a method, nor a sensibility, but the outgrowth of a conviction: in the mystery of Christ a definitive and unsurpassable gift has been given, one that constitutes the meaning of the world and its history, one whose riches can never be exhausted. Schlesinger claims that unless we understand de Lubac and his work in light of his own motivations and emphases, we risk distorting his contribution, reducing him to a proxy in the struggle for post-conciliar Catholic self-definition.

The debate in Catholic theology over the relationship between the natural and the supernatural has only occasionally engaged with Bernard Lonergan's philosophical and theological contributions on the topic. The Ambiguity of Being argues that more detailed engagement with Lonergan's work implies an oversight in both the 20th- and 21st-century debates. Ambiguity argues the controversy has failed to notice how the problem of the natural and the supernatural is, in fact, two problems. Ambiguity takes both problems in their widest sense to be about action?both divine and human. The first problem asks how God can act in human action. A question for Christians at least since St. Augustine faced the Pelagian controversy, Lonergan retrieved what he understood to be St. Thomas Aquinas' mature solution. It is a solution gathering together a whole series of theological and philosophical developments into a subtle metaphysical theory of divine and human cooperation. But the recent debates have resituated this problem (and various interpretations of St. Thomas's solution to it) in a modern world with modern concerns about culture and politics for the sake of answering a second, intrinsically related, but really distinct question: what is God doing in human action? Ambiguity finds that the recent controversy almost always finds participants attempting to deduce an answer to the second, modern problem from the medieval, metaphysical Thomist solution to the first. By contrast, Ambiguity argues at length the modern problem cannot be reduced to, nor an answer deduced from its medieval, metaphysical partner because the modern problem of the supernatural?what is God doing in human action??is a hermeneutical problem that calls out for a hermeneutical answer. Ambiguity sketches a heuristic for what a fully adequate answer to this question would require, suggesting a radical re-conception of modern theology's scope.

In A Companion to Jesuit Mysticism, Robert A. Maryks provides thirteen unique essays discussing the Jesuit mystical tradition, a somewhat neglected aspect of Jesuit historiography that stretches as far back as the order’s co-founder, Ignatius of Loyola, his spiritual visions at Manresa, and ultimately the mystical perspective contained in his Spiritual Exercises. The volume’s contributions on the most significant representatives of the Jesuit mystical tradition—from Baltasar Álvarez to Louis Lallemant to Hugo Makibi Enomiya-Lassalle—aim to fill this lacuna in Jesuit historiography. Although intended primarily as a handbook for scholars seeking to further their own research in this area, the volume will undoubtedly be of interest to scholars and students of Jesuit studies more broadly.

Fr. Alexander Schmemann continues to influence liturgical and sacramental theologies some thirty-five years after his death. Despite the wide acceptance within Protestant circles of his timeless classic, For the Life of the World, there has been relatively little written about him from an ecumenical context. This volume of collected essays seeks to explore his theological legacy and further his work. With essays from leading scholars such as David Fagerberg, Bruce Morrill, Joyce Zimmerman, and more, this volume is meant for both teachers and students of liturgical and sacramental theology. In an effort to introduce Schmemann to a wider audience and to celebrate his work through meaningful engagement and dialogue, contributors come from a wide variety of ecclesiastical backgrounds: Anglican, Roman Catholic, Orthodox, Lutheran, Presbyterian, Methodist, Free Church, and more. "The Eucharist is therefore the manifestation of the Church as the new aeon; it is participation in the Kingdom as the parousia, as the presence of the Resurrected and Resurrecting Lord. It is not the 'repetition' of His advent or coming into the world, but the lifting up of the Church into His parousia, the Church's participation in His heavenly glory." Fr. Alexander Schmemann, Introduction to Liturgical Theology, p. 72.

Questions concerning free will are intertwined with issues in almost every area of philosophy, from metaphysics to philosophy of mind to moral philosophy, and are also informed by work in different areas of science (principally physics, neuroscience and social psychology). Free will is also a perennial concern of serious thinkers in theology and in non-western traditions. Because free will can be approached from so many different perspectives and has implications for so many debates, a comprehensive survey needs to encompass an enormous range of approaches. This book is the first to draw together leading experts on every aspect of free will, from those who are central to the current philosophical debates, to non-western perspectives, to scientific contributions and to those who know the rich history of the subject. Chapter 37 of this book is freely available as a downloadable Open Access PDF at http://www.taylorfrancis.com under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives (CC-BY-NC-ND) 4.0 license.

This book contributes to the literature on jurisprudence and theology by arguing for the role of a theoretically robust Christian theology in a legal community dominated by secular and liberal ideology. It is not a doctrinal or empirical analysis, but a theoretical exposition of the way in which modern law has contingently drifted from its theological origins. As a result, the legal system and the ideal of individual and communal relationship it envisages is characterised by antagonism and alienation, or more broadly, violence. The book contends that the way to restore a legal community of peace is to return to a Christian theology which is informed by Trinitarian thinking or the notion of unity in diversity, and reunites faith with reason. Returning reason to its ground in being allows peaceful persuasion by the revelation of God's perfect being through the Trinity and Incarnation, which models and enables the peaceful coexistence of difference through self-sacrificing love. This in turn produces the law of love – to love your neighbour as yourself. Since love does no wrong to a neighbour, a legal community operating by the law of love can fulfil the obligations of law by going beyond merely what is required by law and love individuals as part of a community.