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‘Haec Traditio proficit’: Congar's Reception of Newman in Dei Verbum, Section 8
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 01 January 2024
Abstract
The 1960s were an incredibly busy and productive time for the Dominican Yves Congar (1904–1995). In addition to drafting many seminal passages of Council documents, including Dei Verbum 8, which is the subject of this paper, he also wrote his historical-theological masterpiece, Tradition and Traditions between 1960 and 1963. Drawing on the latter's explicit references to John Henry Newman, this article unpacks the particular ways in which Newman's thought contributed to the Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation through the reception by and writing of Congar. Particular attention is paid to the connatural way of knowing which stems from the gifts of the Holy Spirit, typically alluded to by Newman in his meditations on the faith of Mary.
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References
1 Congar, Yves, Tradition and Traditions: An Historical and a Theological Essay (London: Burns&Oates, 1966), p. 118Google Scholar.
2 Congar, Tradition and Traditions, p. 318.
3 Congar, Tradition and Traditions, p. 332 n.4.
4 He further cites Newman's ‘eirenic and lucid’ exposition of how an encounter with a reality is the chief vehicle for acquiring further insights into it (Tradition and Traditions, 356–7). Later, Congar also examines what it might mean for one to attribute a ‘conscience’ or ‘consciousness’ to the church as Newman and other modern theologians have done.
5 For Congar's contributions at Vatican II, see the helpful article by Wicks, Jared, ‘Yves Congar's Doctrinal Service of the People of God’, Gregorianum 84 (2003): pp. 499–550Google Scholar.
6 Wicks, ‘Yves Congar's Doctrinal Service’, pp. 533; 524n.
7 Ratzinger, Joseph, ‘Chapter II: The Transmission of Divine Revelation’ in Commentaries on the Documents of Vatican II. Vol.III, ed. Vorgrimler, Herbert (London: Burns and Oates, 1969), p. 184Google Scholar.
8 Dei Verbum 8. (Vatican website's —http://www.vatican.va— translation with my modifications) The most important clause ex intima spiritualium rerum quam experiuntur intelligentia, has been mistranslated by numerous editors. The important point here is to make clear that the object of experiuntur is not spiritualium rerum, but rather intelligentia.
9 Luke 2: 19.
10 John Henry Newman, University Sermons, XV, 3: ‘Thus St. Mary is our pattern of Faith, both in the reception and in the study of Divine Truth. She does not think it enough to accept, she dwells upon it; not enough to possess, she uses it; not enough to assent, she develops it; not enough to submit the Reason, she reasons upon it; not indeed reasoning first, and believing afterwards, … yet first believing without reasoning, next from love and reverence, reasoning after believing. And thus she symbolizes to us, not only the faith of the unlearned, but of the doctors of the Church also, who have to investigate, and weigh, and define, as well as to profess the Gospel; to draw the line between truth and heresy; to anticipate or remedy the various aberrations of wrong reason’, quoted in Congar, Tradition and Traditions, p. 254.
11 Congar, Tradition and Traditions, p. 363.
12 Congar, Yves, Lay People in the Church (London: Geoffrey Chapman, 1965), p. 275Google Scholar.
13 Congar, Tradition and Traditions, p. 327.
14 ‘tum ex contemplatione et studio credentium.’ The ‘et studio’ was added to the original draft, which simply had contemplatione credentium standing alone, followed by tum ex intima spiritualium rerum experentia. See Hellin, Francisco Gil ed., Concilii Vaticani II Synopsis: Consitutio Dogmatica De Divina Revelatione Dei Verbum (Vatican City: Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 1993), 64–65Google Scholar.
15 ‘Praeconio eorum qui cum episcopatus successione charisma veritatis certum acceperunt.’ This was added only to the final draft, which became the definitive text. See Hellin, Concilii Vaticani II Synopsis, 66–67.
16 ‘Original drafts’ hear refers to the first drafts treating the progress of Tradition: namely, draft no.'s II and III according to the Synopsis.
17 Congar, Yves M.-J., A History of Theology (Garden City: Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1968), p. 205 (my emphasis)Google Scholar. Original French from Congar's entry, ‘Théologie’ in Volume XV of Dictionnaire de Théologie Catholique. (Paris: Editions Letouzey et Ané, 1946), p. 450Google Scholar.
18 Congar, A History of Theology, p. 205 (my emphasis).
19 Congar, A History of Theology, p. 205. In the case of supernatural contemplation, Congar is quick to add, ‘It is not so much that the soul works on the mystery of God, as it is this mystery which works on the soul interiorly rendering it vitally agreeable, conformed, and sympathetic. In the theology of St. Thomas this activity of perception in a vital manner is attributed to the gifts of the Holy Spirit, especially to the gifts of intelligence and wisdom.’
20 Originally, the dual motif consisted of contemplation and ‘intima experientia’. The ‘et studio’ was added in the second draft in order to better clarify the rational nature of the dual motif's first kind of contemplation, and to solidify the role of theology in dogmatic progress.
21 Congar, A History of Theology, p. 205. Also see St. Thomas: ‘Now rightness in judging can come about in two ways, through the perfect use of reason or through a certain natural kinship with the things one is judging about … . A correct judgment made through rational investigation belongs to the wisdom which is an intellectual virtue. But to judge aright through a certain fellowship [quamdam connaturalistatem ad ipsa] with them belongs to that of wisdom which is the gift of the Holy Spirit.’ St. Thomas continues in ad.3: ‘The intellect has two acts, to perceive and to judge. The first is guided by the gift of understanding, the second by the gift of wisdom if the judgment is formed according to the divine reasons, and by the gift of knowledge if it is formed according to human reasons.’ ST. IIa. IIae. q.45, a.2. All texts and English translations, unless otherwise specified, are taken from the Blackfriars edition of the Summa Theologiae (London: Eyre & Spottiswoode, 1963 — 60 volumes).
22 Emery, Gilles, The Trinitarian Theology of St. Thomas Aquinas (Oxford: OUP, 2007), p. 394Google Scholar.
23 Cunningham, Francis B. L., The Indwelling of the Trinity: A Historico-Doctrinal Study of the Theory of St. Thomas Aquinas (Dubuque: Priory Press, 1955), p. 198Google Scholar (my emphasis).
24 Cessario, Romanus, Christian Faith and the Theological Life (Washington D.C.: CUA Press, 1996), p. 170Google Scholar.
25 He makes reference to St. Augustine's ‘spiritual senses’ of light, melody, fragrance, meat, and embracement. He concludes, ‘What must we understand by these spiritual senses? It would seem that they are but functions or operations of the gifts of the Holy Ghost, notably of the gifts of understanding and of wisdom’. See Tanquerey, Adolphe, The Spiritual Life: A Treatise on Ascetical and Mystical Theology (Tournai: Desclée & Co., 1930), p. 635Google Scholar. Like Augustine, Thomas also likens this supernatural mode of perception to a physical sense, in particular, taste. ‘et ideo experiential divinae bonitatis dicitur gustatio … ’ Thomas Aquinas, Lectura in Psal. 33.
26 Newman, , Meditations and Devotions of the Late Cardinal Newman (London: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1893), pp. 520–522Google Scholar.