HISTORY OF THE NOUVELLE THÉOLOGIE FORMATION: PERIODIZATION, BASIC IDEAS, STRATEGIC GOALS
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.31392/cult.alm.2024.1.9Keywords:
tradition, neo-scholasticism, secularism, modernism, Church reformAbstract
The article contains an analysis of the emergence history and formation of the Catholic theological movement’s nouvelle théologie basic ideas (another title for this trend is ressourcement). The historical background of this movement’s theological development is interpreted through the prism of such theologians’ ideas as Johann Adam Möhler, Maurice Blondel, and Pierre Rousselot. The research offers a detailed examination of the nouvelle théologie concept’s meaning and the attitude towards it both on the part of the main inspirers of the movement and the part of their opponents, i.e. supporters of the scholastic tradition. The research also includes an explanation of Jürgen Mettepenningen’s theory concerning the nouvelle théologie as a cluster concept which implies a plurality of various visions regarding the biblical, patristic, and liturgical renaissance. The scholar has put forward this idea in opposition to alternative and barely legitimate attempts to present the nouvelle théologie as a homogeneous movement. Attention is also paid to the paradoxical fact that neo-scholastic theologians, while declaring their disagreement with the secular ideas of the Enlightenment, willingly agreed to recognize the concept of “pure nature” as relevant, as well as a distinct demarcation between natural and supernatural orders, which, in itself, is the fruit of the Enlightenment era. In the light of Hans Boersma’s sacramental ontology, the key goal of the movement is highlighted as an attempt to preserve God’s mystery, which is hidden and not subject to any attempts at rational understanding or comprehensive analytical research. A comparison of the nouvelle théologie with the modernist movement of the 19th – 20th century is presented in the article as well. At the end of the research, there is a brief overview of Vatican II, which is evaluated by many contemporary historians (Weigel, Kirwan, Blanchard, and Bullivant) in the categories of the final triumph of the nouveaux théologiens and the defeat – or, at least, marginalization – of the neo-Thomist theological discourse’s representatives.
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