O’Sullivan, Nöel. Christ and Creation: Christology as the Key to Interpreting the Theology of Creation in the Works of Henri de Lubac (Religions and Discourse, 40) (Peter Lang Publishing, 2008), 490 p., $103.95.
Book synopsis
This book sets out to interpret Henri de Lubac’s theology of creation from a christological perspective. The challenge of this research has been the absence of a systematic christology in the writings of de Lubac. Yet it is possible to posit a Lubacian christology by sifting through the author’s work on a myriad of subjects. The point of entry is the patristic distinction between ‘image’ and ‘likeness’, whereby ‘image’ is understood as an inamissible seal which bestows the divine prerogatives of reason, freedom, immortality and dominion over nature. ‘Likeness’ is a potential given at creation and realised in the course of the economy of salvation. De Lubac describes it variously as divinisation, divine union, the supernatural dignity of the human being, and participation in the internal movement of the Trinity. The originality of this book consists in the gradual emergence of the role of Christ in the process whereby image becomes likeness. De Lubac records his intention to publish a book on Jesus Christ, an ambition he never realised. The present book does not just illustrate the omnipresence of Christ in the writings of de Lubac but dares to delineate what a Lubacian christology would look like.
Contents— these are not chapter titles, but explications of what is in the chapters instead.
Contents: Pt.I: Widening the Horizon: 1. covers De Lubac’s development of a new type of theology – The principle of auscultation and the catholicity of truth as the foundational principles underlying de Lubac’s new type of theology – A contextual study of contemporary cultural and theological issues – 2. His work toward Understanding Creation as a theological concept. 3.Explores the emerging christology of the ‘supernatural’ debate in the early 20th century, including the incarnation as continuity and rupture. Pt II.The fulfilment of the scriptures and the transcendent newness of the incarnation. 4.The light of Christ is explicated herein. 5.Jesus Christ is propounded and shown to the Revelation of the Trinity. 6.The Church is pictured as the sacrament of Christ. Conclusion: Speaks of the Recapitulation of all things in Christ.
The Author: Noel O’Sullivan was Dean of Students at St Patrick’s College, Maynooth, where he studied for his B.A. and B.D., and then President of St Finbarr’s College, Farranferris, Cork. He was awarded a doctorate in theology by the Institut Catholique, Paris, and now lectures in systematic theology at St Patrick’s College, Thurles, County Tipperary.