Between Apocalypse and Eschaton: History and Eternity in Henri de Lubac

Description

Between Apocalypse and Eschaton examines the systematic theology of Henri de Lubac, SJ, one of the most significant Catholic theologians of the twentieth century. While much of the recent work on de Lubac centers on the controversies surrounding his theology of the supernatural, Between Apocalypse and Eschaton argues that eschatology is the key to de Lubac's theological project and critical to understanding the nouvelle theologie, the group of theologians with whom de Lubac was associated. At the time, intra-Catholic controversies arose around the nouvelle theologie as part of a broader anxiety over the loss of the eternal in twentieth-century Europe. The German occupation of France in World War II was the backdrop for a renewed apocalyptic and eschatological thinking among French Catholics. The nouvelle theologiegenerated a debate over the meaning of "the end" that was critical to understanding the theological, spiritual, and political fissures in the postwar period. After World War II, de Lubac's writings increasingly focused on the theology of history and eschatology. The present work returns focus to this often neglected aspect of de Lubac's work. About the Author Joseph S. Flipper is assistant professor of theology at Bellarmine University in Louisville, Kentucky. He completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and was a Ford Foundation fellowship recipient. His most recent publication is the article "Suffering as Glory in Hans Urs von Balthasar and James Cone" in The Journal of the Black Catholic Theological Symposium (2013). Acknowledgements vii Introduction 1 Part I. Eschatology as the "Storm Center" 1. An Eschatological Modernity 21 2. Time and Eternity in the Nouvelle Théologie 47 Part II. Temporal Ruptures 3. Scripture and the Structure of History 91 4. Christ is the Center of History 129 5. Between Apocalypse and Eschaton 151 Part III. The Eschatological Structure of De Lubac's Thought 6. Sacraments of the Eschaton 209 7. Eschatology in the Theology of the Supernatural 257 Conclusion: Eternity in Time 301 Bibliography 311 Index 327