Theologian · Contemporary
Réginald Garrigou-Lagrange, OP
1877–1964 · Strict (Bañezian) Thomism
Dominican; professor at the Angelicum 1909–1960; consultor of the Holy Office; said to have contributed to Humani Generis.
The “sacred monster of Thomism,” who for fifty years taught the metaphysics of St. Thomas according to the commentators (Cajetan, Bañez, John of St. Thomas), defended intrinsically efficacious grace and predestination ante praevisa merita, wrote “The Three Ages of the Interior Life” arguing that infused contemplation is the normal flowering of the life of grace, and attacked the nouvelle théologie in “Where is the New Theology Leading?” (1946).
Why he matters: The pillar of twentieth-century scholastic Thomism and the chief opponent of de Lubac's school; his spiritual theology remains a standard and his thesis that all are called to mystical union was vindicated by Vatican II's universal call to holiness.
School of Thomism · Strict-observance and manualist Thomism
The Thomism of the twentieth-century seminaries, Garrigou-Lagrange its monument: the Twenty-Four Theses, deductive certainty, the manual's thesis-objection-reply. Pieper's complaint was that this “Thomism” lost Thomas's negative theology and sense of mystery; its defenders reply that without it Thomas dissolves into history. Both the sedevacantist and the SSPX worlds live here, usually without Garrigou's own obedience to the living Magisterium.
Others in this strand: Charles De Koninck, Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre
Reading
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The Three Ages of the Interior LifeRéginald Garrigou-Lagrange, OP · His synthesis of ascetical and mystical theology.
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Reality: A Synthesis of Thomistic ThoughtRéginald Garrigou-Lagrange, OP · The whole system in one volume.
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Where Is the New Theology Leading Us?Réginald Garrigou-Lagrange, OP · The 1946 article that opened the battle with the nouvelle théologie.
Documented positions
Where this thinker stands on each dispute the test covers.