In the decades leading up to the Second Vatican Council, the movement of nouvelle théologie caused great controversy in the Catholic Church. The interpretation of the movement continues to be a matter of scholarly debate. This book argues that a return to mystery was the movement's deepest motivation. Countering the modern intellectualism of the neo-Thomist establishment, Jesuits from Lyons–Fourvière and Dominicans from Le Saulchoir turned to the Great Tradition for inspiration. There they found an approach to theology that did not suffer from the later neo-scholastic separation between nature ... More

In the decades leading up to the Second Vatican Council, the movement of nouvelle théologie caused great controversy in the Catholic Church. The interpretation of the movement continues to be a matter of scholarly debate. This book argues that a return to mystery was the movement's deepest motivation. Countering the modern intellectualism of the neo-Thomist establishment, Jesuits from Lyons–Fourvière and Dominicans from Le Saulchoir turned to the Great Tradition for inspiration. There they found an approach to theology that did not suffer from the later neo-scholastic separation between nature and the supernatural. The nouvelle theologians were convinced that a ressourcement of the Church Fathers and of medieval theology would point the way to a sacramental reintegration of nature and the supernatural. This book begins by setting the historical context for nouvelle théologie with discussions of significant theologians and philosophers like Möhler, Blondel, Maréchal, and Rousselot. The exposition then moves to some of the most characteristic elements of the ressourcement movement: its reintegration of nature and the supernatural (de Lubac, Bouillard, Balthasar, and Chenu), its reintroduction of the spiritual interpretation of Scripture (de Lubac and Daniélou), its approach to Tradition as organically developing in history (Daniélou, Charlier, de Lubac, Congar), and its communion ecclesiology that regarded the Church as sacrament of Christ (de Lubac and Congar). Boersma argues that in each of these areas, the nouvelle theologians advocated a return to mystery by means of a sacramental ontology.