The Notion of Faith in the Early Latin Theology of Bernard Lonergan
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The Notion of Faith in the Early Latin Theology of Bernard Lonergan Author: Nicholas Pace DiSalvatore Persistent link: http://hdl.handle.net/2345/bc-ir:107189 This work is posted on eScholarship@BC, Boston College University Libraries. Boston College Electronic Thesis or Dissertation, 2016 Copyright is held by the author, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise noted. The Notion of Faith in the Early Latin Theology of Bernard Lonergan Nicholas Pace DiSalvatore A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of the department of Theology in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Boston College Morrissey College of Arts and Sciences Graduate School May 2016 ii © Copyright 2016 Nicholas Pace DiSalvatore iii The Notion of Faith in the Early Latin Theology of Bernard Lonergan Nicholas Pace DiSalvatore Advisor: Frederick G. Lawrence, Ph.D. This dissertation, an exercise in interpretation, is on Bernard Lonergan’s notion of faith as expressed in his early Latin theological writings—especially his scholastic supplement Analysis Fidei (1952). This interpretation consists largely of an analysis of the intellectual horizon in which Lonergan did his earliest thinking on faith; without a grasp of this horizon Lonergan’s early, especially scholastic notion of faith is almost overwhelmingly difficult to understand. The horizon analysis is completed in the first four chapters of the dissertation. Chapter One aims to show that Lonergan’s analysis of faith is rooted in the theological context informed by the decrees of Vatican I (especially Dei Filius) and its focus on the question about the relation of faith to reason, and by the effort especially in Catholic theological circles of the time to mine the works of Thomas Aquinas, the Doctor of the Church, for a deeper understanding of the revealed mysteries. Chapter Two situates Lonergan’s notion of faith in his understanding of a developing world-order; coming to faith is understood as a part of a larger process that, on the one hand, begins with a natural desire to see God (a natural desire to understand everything about everything) and, on the other, terminates in the absolutely supernatural goal of beatific knowledge: knowing God as God. Chapter Three narrows the scope and situates the act and virtue of faith in Lonergan’s rigorously systematic theology of grace that distinguishes clearly between grace as operative and cooperative on the one hand, and actual and habitual on the other. Chapter Four offers a very brief sketch of Thomas Aquinas’s understanding of the notion of faith, from which Lonergan’s own work takes its bearings. After this horizon analysis, Chapter Five offers an exposition of Lonergan’s own treatment of the notion of faith as found in his early Latin theology. The chapter investigates three principal sources, giving most attention to the third: first, the Gratia Operans dissertation (1940) together with the Grace and Freedom articles (1941–42); second, De Ente Supernatural (1946); and third, Analysis Fidei (1952). The chapter claims that Lonergan’s early presentation of faith breaks new ground by bringing into view, alongside a logical analysis of the act of faith, the psychological dimension of the conscious process of coming to believe revealed mysteries. Finally, a brief concluding chapter looks ahead to Lonergan’s later understanding of faith in Method in Theology (1972) in order to indicate some of the challenges that would need to be met in a full-scale treatment of the development of Lonergan’s notion of faith throughout his entire intellectual career—a project for which this dissertation can serve as a perhaps helpful prolegomena. iv Table of Contents Abbreviations . v Preface . vii Introduction . 1 I. Faith’s Illumination of Reason: The General Context . 18 II. A Dynamic Universe: The Broad Context of Faith . 27 III. A Universe of Grace: Narrowing the Context of Faith . 67 IV. A Sketch of Thomas Aquinas’s Theology of Faith . 100 V. Faith in the Early Latin Theology . 127 Conclusion: Anticipating the Eyes of Love . 188 Works Cited . 198 v Abbreviations Works by Lonergan AF Analysis Fidei (“Analysis of Faith”), pages 412–81 in Bernard Lonergan, Early Latin Theology, vol. 19 of Collected Works of Bernard Lonergan (eds. Robert M. Doran and H. Daniel Monsour; trans. Michael G. Shields. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2011). C Collection: Papers by Bernard J. F. Lonergan, vol. 4 of Collected Works of Bernard Lonergan (eds. Frederick E. Crowe and Robert M. Doran. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1993). CWL Collected Works of Bernard Lonergan DES De Ente Supernaturali: Supplementum Schematicum (“The Supernatural Order”), pages 52–255 in Bernard Lonergan, Early Latin Theology, vol. 19 of Collected Works of Bernard Lonergan (eds. Robert M. Doran and H. Daniel Monsour; trans. Michael G. Shields. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2011). FLM “Finality, Love, Marriage.” Pages 17–52 in Bernard Lonergan, Collection: Papers by Bernard J. F. Lonergan, vol. 4 of Collected Works of Bernard Lonergan (eds. Frederick E. Crowe and Robert M. Doran. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1993). GF Grace and Freedom: Operative Grace in the Thought of St Thomas Aquinas, pages 1–149 in Bernard Lonergan, Grace and Freedom: Operative Grace in the Thought of St. Thomas Aquinas, vol. 1 of Collected Works of Bernard Lonergan (eds. Frederick G. Lawrence and Robert M. Doran. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2000). GO Gratia Operans: A Study of the Speculative Development in the Writings of St Thomas of Aquin, pages 151–450 in Bernard Lonergan, Grace and Freedom: Operative Grace in the Thought of St. Thomas Aquinas, vol. 1 of Collected Works of Bernard Lonergan (eds. Frederick G. Lawrence and Robert M. Doran. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2000). I Insight: A Study of Human Understanding, vol. 3 of Collected Works of Bernard Lonergan (eds. Frederick E. Crowe and Robert M. Doran. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1992). MIT Method in Theology (New York: Herder and Herder, 1972). vi NDSG “The Natural Desire to See God,” pages 81–91 in Bernard Lonergan, Collection: Papers by Bernard J. F. Lonergan, vol. 4 of Collected Works of Bernard Lonergan (eds. Frederick E. Crowe and Robert M. Doran. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1993). V Verbum: Word and Idea Aquinas, vol. 2 of Collected Works of Bernard Lonergan (eds. Frederick E. Crowe and Robert M. Doran. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1997). 2C A Second Collection (eds. William F. J. Ryan and Bernard J. Tyrrell. University of Toronto Press, 1996). Works by Other Authors DV Thomas Aquinas, De Veritate SCG Thomas Aquinas, Summa Contra Gentiles ST Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae vii Preface Granted that Ph.D. dissertations serve specific, academic purposes and therefore have particularly narrow, often specialist audiences, one can still wonder at the apparent disjunction between a scholarly investigation of the notion of faith—one that aims to be clear, precise, even systematic—and the living reality of faith itself. Is there not something about this seemingly purely intellectual exercise that runs the risk of missing the point entirely? Even within academia there will be those who will question the value of such a work. This is perhaps especially so of a dissertation on the notion of faith in Lonergan, to say nothing of a dissertation on the early scholastic writings of Lonergan. What really is the relevance to faith of a dry work of scholarly prose that aims to interpret another dry work of scholarly prose? Where is the existential dilemma of Abraham, the father of many who was commanded in that dreadful moment to make himself (once again) father of none, whose gift of faith in God and God’s promises became the virtue’s paradigm? Where is the warmth of heart that overcame Jesus’ friends on the road to Emmaus as they had the scriptures unfolded to them? Living faith is indeed, as it is portrayed in the Bible, a matter of encounter with other persons—with the faithful persons who first embody the faith in our lives, with the persons we ourselves are and are becoming, and ultimately (but also primarily) with the three Persons who are the one God. Such was Lonergan’s understanding of faith, despite what some critics believe about his theology without having read his works closely or at all. But the encounter between persons is not just relevant to a proper understanding of faith, it is also relevant—and especially so viii in my case—to the reasons why students find themselves interested (or disinterested) in this or that body of work. In an important way, my coming to appreciate and dedicate this first real effort of my scholarly career to the writings of Bernard Lonergan is also a matter of encountering other persons: friends and teachers whose own lives—not just as scholars, but also as men and women of faith and integrity—have been greatly shaped by the work of a brilliant individual whose contributions to theological and philosophical scholarship were the precise, clear, and systematic expressions of a heart and mind on fire for God. Bernard Lonergan was a believing theologian whose life and work made and continues to make a remarkable difference in the lives of (among others) scores of believing theologians. I cannot speak to how many of Lonergan’s students come to love the work merely by encountering the books themselves. My own sense is that many are rather repelled by the work than attracted to it, at least at first blush. Indeed, my own first encounter with the writings themselves—assigned to me in class—was not to be the great turning point in my graduate studies. The moment came, as it did for so many of those of us who have fallen in love with the mind and work of Lonergan, when a close friend invited me to take a closer look, and when by the grace of God I trusted him and did so.