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Sacramental Ontology: Nature and the Supernatural in the Ecclesiology of Henri De Lubac Hans Boersma

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Sacramental Ontology: Nature and the Supernatural in the Ecclesiology of Henri De Lubac Hans Boersma doi:10.1111/j.1741-2005.2007.00160.x Sacramental Ontology: Nature and the Supernatural in the Ecclesiology of Henri de Lubac Hans Boersma Abstract This essay argues that for Henri de Lubac, a sacramental ontology provides the link between a Eucharistically based ecclesiology and the issue of the relationship between nature and the supernatural. For de Lubac it is the sacramental order of reality that draws humanity to a deeper participation in the divine life. Maurice Blondel’s substitution of Tradition for the dilemma between extrinsicism and historicism shapes de Lubac’s sacramental ontology. The latter’s concern for the social character of the Church and his opposition to an individualist ecclesiology are key to his understanding of the relationship between the supernatural and the Eucharistic character of the Church. Arguing that Eucharist and Church are mutually constituting, de Lubac wants to counter both extrinsicist and historicist approaches to the Church. For de Lubac, the Eucharist provides an avenue for the mutual interpenetration of nature and the supernatural, thereby overcoming the dualism between extrinsicism and historicism. It is through the sacramental means of Christ, the Church, and the Eucharist, that God is present in the world. This presence means for de Lubac neither an acceptance of the State on its own terms nor an exaggerated spiritu- alist critique of Constantinianism. Keywords Henri de Lubac, Maurice Blondel, Eucharist, sacramental ontology, supernatural Introduction While the numerous attempts to find a central key to unlock the theology of Henri de Lubac (1896-1991) have yielded many an insight in his thought, the quest for a central or focal point has nonetheless C The author 2007. Journal compilation C The Dominican Council/Blackwell Publishing Ltd. 2007, 9600 Garsington Road, Oxford OX4 2DQ, UK, and 350 Main Street, Malden MA 02148, USA Sacramental Ontology 243 remained somewhat elusive. One of the reasons, no doubt, is simply the great variety of de Lubac’s work. It is a variety in terms of the topics that he addresses in his writings1 as well as in terms of the approaches that he takes, with some of his books being the result of meticulous historical theological research and others being occasioned by more immediate needs.2 Regardless of topic or genre, however, de Lubac desires to be—using the phrase of his beloved Origen—a vir ecclesiasticus. As a result, the doctrine of the Church is one of his key concerns. Hans Urs von Balthasar, in his book on de Lubac’s thought, makes the comment that the Church “is the real center of his whole life’s work: the meeting point of God’s descending world and man’s world ascending to him.”3 A focus on de Lubac’s ecclesiology, therefore, gives insight into one of the deepest motivations permeating his life and work. Merely observing the centrality of the Church in de Lubac’s thought is not sufficient, however. Questions remain: is there an element within his ecclesiology that gives insight into his overall doctrine of the Church? Is there a particular link that we can discern between his ecclesiology and his overall theological approach? Does de Lubac operate on the basis of a certain metaphysical or ontological approach that gives shape to his ecclesiology? John Milbank, recognizing that de Lubac never explicitly presents a distinct metaphysic, playfully suggests that de Lubac offers a “non-ontology” by way of return to authentic Christian discourse. Milbank is surely right to claim that much of de Lubac’s “non-ontology” represents an exploration of the field of the “suspended middle” between nature and the supernatural, something that I will explore in detail in this essay.4 At the same time, I believe that at the heart of de Lubac’s theology lies a con- cern for sacramentality, which informs not only his ecclesiology, but 1 De Lubac’s theological writings broadly cover four overall areas: (1) nature – su- pernatural relationship; (2) spiritual interpretation of scripture; (3) ecclesiology; and (4) non-Christian worldviews. 2 As a result of his involvement with Vatican II, for example, de Lubac interacted with Lumen Gentium in Paradoxe et mystere` de l’Eglise´ (Paris: Editions Montaigne, 1967); with Gaudium et Spes in Atheisme´ et sens de l’homme: Une double requite de “Gaudium et Spes” (Paris: Cerf, 1968); and with Dei Verbum in La rev´ elation´ divine: Commentaire du preambule´ et du chapˆıtre I de la Constitution “Dei Verbum” du Concile Vatican II (Paris: Cerf, 1968). 3 Hans Urs von Balthasar, The Theology of Henri de Lubac: An Overview, trans. Joseph Fessio, Michael M. Waldstein, and Susan Clements (San Francisco: Ignatius, 1991), 105. 4 Milbank clarifies: “By ‘non-ontology’ (my term) I must stress that I do not mean that de Lubac refused ontology: rather I mean that he articulated an ontology between the field of pure immanent being proper to philosophy on the one hand, and the field of the revelatory event proper to theology on the other” (The Suspended Middle: Henri de Lubac and the Debate concerning the Supernatural [Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2005], 5). The term “suspended middle” originates with Von Balthasar, Theology of Henri de Lubac, 16-17. C The author 2007 Journal compilation C The Dominican Council/Blackwell Publishing Ltd. 2007 244 Sacramental Ontology also his understanding of the nature – supernatural relationship.5 The conviction behind this essay is that de Lubac does, therefore, con- sciously operate with a particular ontology, one that is sacramental in character.6 One could elucidate each of his main theological concerns through a focus on his understanding of the sacramental character of all created existence. Numerous scholars have traced Henri de Lubac’s ecclesiology and, in particular, the role of the Eucharist in his doctrine of the Church.7 A number of theologians have also discussed de Lubac’s opposition to the regnant neo-Thomist separation between nature and the super- natural.8 None, however, have extensively analyzed the connection between these two topics. The close chronological proximity of de Lubac’s first publications on the Church and those on the supernat- ural indicates that he was mining the Church Fathers and the later medieval theologians on both of these topics at the same time. While 5 While it lies beyond the scope of this essay, it seems clear to me that de Lubac’s sacramental ontology also shapes his approach to the interpretation of scripture and his evaluation of non-Christian belief systems. 6 Dennis M. Doyle uses the term “sacramental ontology” to describe Henri de Lubac’s approach (“Henri de Lubac and the Roots of Communion Ecclesiology,” Theological Stud- ies 60 [1990]: 226-27). 7 Christofer Frey, Mysterium der Kirche, Offnung¨ zur Welt: Zwei Aspekte der Erneuerung franzosischer¨ katholischer Theologie (G¨ottingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1969); Robert Franklin Gotcher, “Henri de Lubac and Communio: The Significance of His Theology of the Supernatural for an Interpretation of Gaudium et Spes” (Ph.D. Diss. Marquette University, 2002); Doyle, “Henri de Lubac,” 209-27; Austin J. Lindsay, “De Lubac’s Images of the Church: A Study of Christianity in Dialogue” (Ph.D. Diss. Catholic University of America, 1974); Paul McPartlan, “Eucharistic Ecclesiology,” One in Christ 22 (1986): 314-31; idem, The Eucharist Makes the Church: Henri de Lubac and John Zizioulas in Dialogue (Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1993); idem, “‘You will be changed into me’: Unity and Limits in du Lubac’s Thought,” One in Christ 30 (1994): 50-60; idem, “The Eucharist, the Church and Evangelization: The influence of Henri de Lubac,” Communio 23 (1996): 776-85; Mark Pelchat, L’Eglise mystere` de communion: L’ecclesiologie´ dans l’oeuvre de Henri de Lubac (Paris: Mediaspaul; Montreal: Editions Paulines, 1988); Hu- bert Schnackers, Kirche als Sakrament und Mutter: Zur Ekklesiologie von Henri de Lubac (Frankfurt: Peter Lang, 1979); Jean Stern, “Henri de Lubac et le myst`ere de l’Eglise,” Gregorianum 78 (1997): 647-59; Christopher J. Walsh, “De Lubac’s Critique of the Post- conciliar Church,” Communio 19 (1992): 404-32; idem, “Henri de Lubac and the Eccle- siology of the Postconciliar Church” (Ph.D. Diss. Catholic University of America, 1993); Lisa Wang, “Sacramentum Unitatis Ecclesiasticae: The Eucharistic Ecclesiology of Henri de Lubac,” Anglican Theological Review 85 (2003): 143-58; Susan Karaus Wood, “The Church as the Social Embodiment of Grace in the Ecclesiology of Henri de Lubac” (Ph.D. Diss. Marquette University, 1986); idem, “The Church as Communion,” in The Gift of the Church: A Textbook on Ecclesiology in Honor of Patrick Granfield, O.S.B., ed. Peter C. Phan (Collegeville, Minn.: Michael Glazier – Liturgical, 2000), 159-76. 8 See Joseph A. Komonchak, “Theology and Culture at Mid-Century: The Example of Henri de Lubac,” Theological Studies 51 (1990): 579-602; Tracey Rowland, Culture and the Thomist Tradition after Vatican II (London: Routledge, 2003); Milbank, Suspended Middle; Hans Boersma, “Accommodation to What? Univocity of Being, Pure Nature, and the Anthropology of St Irenaeus,” International Journal of Systematic Theology 8 (2006): 266-93. C The author 2007 Journal compilation C The Dominican Council/Blackwell Publishing Ltd. 2007 Sacramental Ontology 245 the storm of controversy surrounding nouvelle theologie´ , and de Lubac in particular, centred on Surnaturel, published in 1946, this historical study on the supernatural had of course been preceded by his wide-ranging Catholicisme (1938), in which de Lubac had pre- sented an initial exposition of the Eucharist and the Church, which he had subsequently outlined in detail in his Corpus mysticum (1944).9 There seems to be little doubt that de Lubac developed his Eucharist- focused ecclesiology and his approach to the relationship between nature and the supernatural roughly around the same time.10 Indeed, it would not be an overstatement to say that de Lubac’s reaction against neo-scholasticism concerned both the nature-grace relation- ship and the Eucharist, and that the French theological establishment was deeply concerned about the relativism that de Lubac’s more his- torical approach seemed to advocate.
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