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Henri de Lubac, S.J. | Ignatius Insight Author Page
NEW! Meet Henri
de Lubac: His Life and Work
by Rudolph Voderholzer
This work traces the life and writings of this French Jesuit priest, revealing the importance and brilliance of de Lubac's works,
the holiness of his life, and his deep love for the Church, which sometimes persecuted this faithful son and devoted priest.
Pope John Paul II, who had the highest esteem for de Lubac, stopped his address during a major talk and acknowleged the presence of
de Lubac saying, "I bow my head to Father Henri de Lubac." Subsequently, the Pope appointed the holy and beloved theologian a Cardinal.
This book reveals who this great Churchman and theologian was, and the importance of his writings.
130 pages | Paperback | More information
Henri de Lubac, S.J. (1896-1991) was
a French Jesuit and one of the greatest theologians of the twentieth century.
Born in Cambrai, France on February 20, 1896, he joined the Society of
Jesus in Lyon on October 9, 1913. He served in the French army during
the First World War, suffering severe wounds in combat. He was educated
at the Jesuit Houses of study at Jersey and Fourvière.
De Lubac was ordained a priest on August 22, 1927, pursued further studies
in Rome until 1929, and then became a faculty member at Catholic Faculties
of Theology of Lyons, where he taught history of religions until 1961.
His pupils included Jean
Daniélou and Hans Urs
von Balthasar.
In 1942 he co-founded, with Daniélou, Sources chrétiennes,
a series of patristic texts with translations. During the Second World
War he fought against Naziism and anti-Semiticism through his writings;
he would recount those efforts and the efforts of the Church at large
in Christian Resistance to Anti-Semitism: Memories from 1940-1944.
He was finally forced to leave Lyon because of his involvement in
the Resistance; he took refuge in Vals, near Puy.
During the 1950s de Lubac came under suspicion from the Vatican for his
teachings about the supernatural and grace. He was eventually obligated
to stop publication of his works because of doctrinal objections against
his controversial book, Surnaturel. However, he continued
his prolific output of other work, including studies on atheism, Buddhism,
medieval biblical exegesis, ecclesiology, and the sacramental nature of
Catholicism.

He became a member of the Academy of Moral and Political Sciences in 1957
and a faculty member at the Catholic Institute of Paris two years later.
He would then participate in Vatican II as a peritus, or theological
expert, from 1962-5. The Oxford Dictionary of the Catholic Church
states: "De Lubac was one of the thinkers who created the intellectual
climate that made possible the Second Vatican Council, largely by opening
up the vast spiritual resources of the Catholic tradition which had been
cramped by post-Tridentine 'baroque' theology."
De Lubac was created cardinal deacon by Pope John Paul II on February
2, 1983 and received the red biretta and the deaconry of S. Maria in Domnica,
February 2, 1983. He died on September 4, 1991, Paris and is buried in
a tomb of the Society of Jesus at the Vaugirard cemetery in Paris. His
reflections on his life and writings are captured in his book, At the
Service of the Church: Henri de Lubac Reflects on the Circumstances that
Occasioned His Writings.
Books by Henri de Lubac translated and published by Ignatius Press:
NEW! History and Spirit:
The Understanding of Scripture According to Origen
At
the Service of the Church: Henri de Lubac Reflects on the Circumstances
that Occasioned His Writings
Brief
Catechesis on Nature and Grace
Catholicism:
Christ and the Common Destiny of Man
The
Christian Faith
Christian
Resistance to Anti-Semitism: Memories from 1940-1944
The
Drama of Atheist Humanism
More
Paradoxes
The
Motherhood of the Church
Paradoxes
of Faith
The
Splendor of the Church
Theology
in History
Dr. Tracey Rowland, who is Dean and Associate Professor of Political Philosophy and Continental Theology at the John Paul II Institute
(Melbourne) provides a helpful overview of (most of) de Lubac's books that have
been translated into English.
Related Books:
Meet Henri
de Lubac: His Life and Work, by Rudolph Voderholzer
The
Theology of Henri De Lubac, by Hans Urs von Balthasar
Related IgnatiusInsight.com Articles and Book Excerpts:
The Cardinal | Rudolf Voderholzer |
From Meet Henri de Lubac: His Life and Work
Motherhood of the Entire Church | Henri de Lubac, S.J.
Origen and Allegory | Introduction to History and
Spirit: The Understanding of Scripture According to Origen | Henri de Lubac
The Tragic Misunderstanding of Atheist Humanism | From
Chapter One of The Drama of Atheist Humanism | Henri de Lubac
Getting started with the work of Henri de Lubac, S.J. | Carl E. Olson
Other Articles about Henri de Lubac:
Henri de Lubac: In Appreciation | Avery Dulles, S.J. | America, Sept. 28, 1991
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