All thinkers

Theologian · Contemporary

Yves Congar, OP

1904–1995 · Ressourcement ecclesiology; ecumenism

Catholic Latin

Dominican; restricted and exiled 1954–1956; peritus at Vatican II; cardinal 1994.

The French Dominican whose “Divided Christendom” (1937) founded Catholic ecumenism, whose “True and False Reform in the Church” (1950) distinguished reform that serves the Church's tradition from reform that breaks it, whose “Lay People in the Church” and “Tradition and Traditions” reshaped the theology of the laity and of Tradition, and whose “I Believe in the Holy Spirit” is the fullest Catholic pneumatology, including a long treatment of the Filioque.

Why he matters: The theologian most present in the texts of Vatican II (Lumen Gentium, Dei Verbum, Unitatis Redintegratio, Ad Gentes); his distinction of Tradition from traditions and his respect for the Eastern tradition on the Spirit are foundational for the two-lung Church.

Reading

  • The Meaning of Tradition
    Yves Congar, OP · A short masterpiece on Tradition and traditions.
    Journal
  • True and False Reform in the Church
    Yves Congar, OP · The conditions of a reform without schism.
    Journal
  • I Believe in the Holy Spirit (3 vols.)
    Yves Congar, OP · The fullest Catholic pneumatology; vol. 3 on the Filioque.
    Journal

Documented positions

Where this thinker stands on each dispute the test covers.

Settled teaching Its center Open question Beyond teaching, not condemned Condemned error
I

God and Being · What is, and whence it is.

Can reason know that God exists? Natural theology
Fideism or agnosticism Natural theology
How is God related to the world? Creation from nothing
Pantheism or emanation Creation from nothing
Is the world governed by purpose? Providence and final causes
Chance and mechanism Providence and final causes
Do natures and essences really exist? Realism
Nominalism Realism
God's essence and His energies Absolute simplicity
Essence–energies distinction Absolute simplicity
II

Faith, Reason and Truth · How we know, and whom we trust.

Faith and reason: who has the last word? Between
Rationalism Fideism
Where does knowledge begin? Senses and abstraction
Senses and abstraction Illumination and innate ideas
Is truth objective? Objective truth
Relativism and pragmatism Objective truth
Who interprets revelation? Living Tradition and Magisterium
Private judgment Living Tradition and Magisterium
How should Scripture be read? Between
Critical reductionism Fundamentalist literalism
What is theology for? A wisdom ordered to loving
A science ordered to knowing A wisdom ordered to loving
Does doctrine develop? A living development
Always the same, in the same words A living development
Are the world's learning and arts a danger or a gift? A gift to be baptized
A danger: Athens has nothing to do with Jerusalem A gift to be baptized
III

The Human Person · Soul, body, freedom and the Fall.

Is there a spiritual soul? Immortal spiritual soul
Mind is brain Immortal spiritual soul
Is the body really you? Body–soul unity
Dualism Body–soul unity
Are you free? Free will
Determinism Free will
How fallen is human nature? Between
Totally depraved Basically good
Does nature desire God? Natural desire for the vision of God
Pure nature Natural desire for the vision of God
Person and community Collectivism
Individualism Collectivism
Marriage, sex and the body's meaning Given by nature and grace
Given by nature and grace Defined by consent and identity
What is suffering for? A share in the Cross
An evil to be relieved A share in the Cross
IV

The Moral Life · Law, virtue, conscience and the good.

Is morality objective and knowable? Natural law
Relativism Natural law
What is conscience? Conscience bound to truth
Autonomous conscience Conscience bound to truth
What is happiness? Beatitude in God
Earthly flourishing Beatitude in God
V

Grace and Salvation · How God saves, and whom.

How are we made right with God? Infused, transforming grace
Forensic imputation Infused, transforming grace
Who can be saved? Between
Strict exclusivism Indifferentism
What is salvation for? Deification
Pardon and escape Deification
Hell and hope All will be saved
The many are lost All will be saved
VI

Church and Society · Authority, the state, wealth and the nation.

Church and state Between
Laicism Social kingship of Christ
The economic order Socialism
Socialism Laissez-faire capitalism
Reform or tradition? Guided by tradition
Remake by reason Guided by tradition
May the state restrain false religion? Civil liberty for every religion
The confessional state: error has no rights Civil liberty for every religion
Which form of government best suits a Christian people? Democracy and participation
Monarchy and hierarchy Democracy and participation
May a Christian take up the sword? Between
Never: the way of the Cross is nonviolence Yes: war can be just and sometimes a duty
VII

Worship, Prayer and the Two Lungs · Liturgy, icons, the Spirit, and the See of Peter.

Liturgical development Receive and develop organically
Reconstruct and innovate Receive and develop organically
The procession of the Holy Spirit From the Father and the Son (Filioque)
From the Father through the Son From the Father and the Son (Filioque)
The office of Peter Universal and immediate primacy
Conciliarism Universal and immediate primacy
What do the sacraments do? Efficacious ex opere operato
Signs only Efficacious ex opere operato
The Second Vatican Council A new beginning
Reject the Council A new beginning
When the Pope speaks Every word binds
Resist and judge Every word binds
Holy Orders and the Church's constitution Between
A clerical Church Reformable by the people
Should the faith take the forms of each culture it enters? The Gospel in each people's own forms
One form everywhere The Gospel in each people's own forms
What are the Eastern Catholic Churches? Sister Churches with their own rights and theology
Rites of the one Roman Church Sister Churches with their own rights and theology
Contemplation or action? Action: the apostolate and the works of mercy
Action: the apostolate and the works of mercy Contemplation: the one thing needful
Where does the Roman liturgy stand at its fullest: the old rite, the reformed, or both? The reformed rite alone
The old rite alone The reformed rite alone

A profile of your philosophical and theological leanings, measured against the settled teaching of the Catholic Church, East and West. It is a tool for examination and reading, not an instrument of judgment.

Ad maiorem Dei gloriam.