The Mystery of the Supernatural (Milestones in Catholic Theology)

From nearly the first page to the last, “The Mystery of the Supernatural" puts the reader through quotes and references to other authors, many ‘isms’ and arguments from theologians like Cajetan, Suarez, Baius, Blondel, Chenu, Gilson, von Balthasar, Doucet, Origen, Scotus, and so on. You better know something about these authors if you want to follow this book. For me, it was hard to discover what the author actually believes without the ceaseless nuance, facets and details.De Lubac states that the present book offers a more complete analysis of beliefs from his 1940s book titled ‘Le Surnaturel’, which “was written in haste at the request of various people” and caused significant controversy when published.Why did I read this book in the first place? I was driven by Bishop Barron’s positive assessment of De Lubac and wanted to read him myself.Why will I likely never read De Lubac again? For some reason I expected this book to be different; to help the reader understand God more, perhaps to pray better and try to become holier and grow in virtue. Maybe my problem with this book was that I recently read (and thus compared) a book by Fr. Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange called ‘Knowing the Love of God’ which was intended to help the reader reach heaven through humility, prayer and growth in the virtues. No so with ‘The Mystery of the Supernatural’. It seems that De Lubac writes as if understanding God and the supernatural is more of an academic exercise, without prayer (not a topic in the book) and without attention to our fight against sin (which is more of a footnote in this book). It also seems that to De Lubac, it’s critical what other theologians think of your speculation—for instance, the index provides an endless list of the authors he references but not many theological topics (e.g. Trinity). It’s as if De Lubac thinks the truths of theology are a product of the historical development from a consensus of scholars.What I learned: This book motivates me to go ‘back to the sources’. I have an easier time reading Aquinas, Augustine and the Bible. And from what I understand about De Lubac, he would strongly encourage that.

This book, which is one of the most important theological books of the 20th Century, is a difficult read. It is also worth the difficulty. Cardinal De Lubac speaks of the question that continues to cause controversy to this day: the question of the relation between the natural and supernatural, nature and grace. The book was more derivative (I don't use that pejoratively) than I was expecting. De Lubac covers much theological terrain, quoting from scads of theologians and philosophers in the tradition. He makes a persuasive case that Cardinal Cajetan and Suarez misread Aquinas and the tradition in their attempts to describe pure nature.The most compelling part of De Lubac's argument is its rootedness in reality, in the anthropology of man as he is. I think this might be De Lubac's greatest contribution. Both explicitly and implicitly throughout the book he makes the case that in examining the question of man's natural desire and the object of that desire, one must look to man as he really is, not as he could have been, but as he exists. I saw some correspondence here between De Lubac and Msgr. Luigi Giussani's  The Religious Sense , which speaks of man's desire for the infinite.At the same time as he talks of man's natural desire or openness to the infinite, for supernatural beatitude, De Lubac maintains the gratuity of grace. That we have been made this way does not mean that God is required to fulfill our desire. I probably am making a hash of the book -- I know just enough to make myself sound stupid -- but I think it is worth the hard read.

In this work Fr. DeLubac proposes to study what he posits to be one of the central paradoxes of Christianity; namely that man is disposed towards and deeply desires the Beatific Vision but, if left to his own means, is incapable of attaining this end. What Fr. DeLubac proceeds to do is work his way systematically through the history of this classical Christian idea, giving copious refrences, and subsequently showing that certain modern trends in theology, while trying to preserve the gratuitiousness of this great gift from God, acutally serve to undermind the integrity of the classical idea. This is not lightweight reading to be sure but this new edition is more suited to the english speaking reader in that all the quotes and footnotes have been translated from the original Latin and Greek into English. Furthermore the introduction gives a fine overview of the historical circumstances surrounding this monumental work.

Hard to understand

Just an incredible anthology of Christian thinking. Very dense reading, but well worth the time!

I have received the product in good condition and on time.It is easier and cheaper to by through Amazon.Well done. Hope to buy from you again soon.Thanks. God bless you all.Ranee B. Paul

great book

A good academic read