Everything Is Sacred: Spiritual Exegesis in the Political Theology of Henri de Lubac (review)

Brian Hollon’s book, which began as a dissertation under Barry Harvey at Baylor, elucidates the central concerns of Henri de Lubac’s theology by examining it both in its original context and in conversation with George Lindbeck and John Milbank. After a brief introductory chapter, Hollon explores the political and ecclesial context of de Lubac’s nascent theological vision. Hollon offers a shorthand account of the rise of atheist humanism, the collapse of the ancien régime, and the Roman Catholic response to these developments—the reassertion of magisterial authority and the entrenchment of neo-scholastic orthodoxy. De Lubac believed the Church was partly responsible for its increasingly tenuous position in European society, for two reasons: the Church was unwilling to seriously engage new atheistic philosophies (34), and its neo-scholastic conception of dogma was “a block of revealed truth with no relationship whatsoever to natural man” (35).

In chapter 3, Hollon suggests that de Lubac saw that the Church’s ambiguous response to fascism was the low point of Catholic political engagement. De Lubac attributed this political laxity to “integrism” (41). De Lubac claimed that Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange and other integrists were willing to endorse any political vehicle that supported the Church’s divine right to exercise temporal authority; Garrigou-Lagrange’s position had disastrous political consequences (45). De Lubac maintained that shifts in Eucharistic language in the twelfth century contributed to integrism’s juridical understanding of the Church. These shifts in Eucharistic language increasingly led Europeans to imagine that the state, not the Church, was the fundamental sociological organism (66). Nonetheless, one wonders if a social understanding of Christ’s body entails de Lubac’s political theology. Indeed, it would appear that medieval Christians simultaneously affirmed a social understanding of the Eucharist and an integrist political theology. Hollon does not address the question of whether the Church can be the fundamental sociological organism without also being the fundamental political organism.

Chapter 4 explores the relationship between de Lubac’s political theology and his biblical exegesis, via the related concepts of “pure nature” and “extrinsicism.” By emphasizing that the beatific vision is in no way intrinsic to creation, de Lubac holds that the neo-scholastic doctrine of “pure nature” preserves the gratuity of grace. Thus, he argues that pure nature makes grace extrinsic to creation, removes grace from everyday life, and paved the way for the Church’s exile (93). De Lubac’s ressourcement of spiritual exegesis relates to his ressourcement of a more intrinsic Thomistic doctrine of grace (105). However, Hollon does not articulate the precise relationship between de Lubac’s ressourcement of spiritual exegesis and his political theology. This may come as no surprise to the reader, since—in our day—hermeneutical theories do not blend in neat or obvious ways with political ones. The new exegetical landscape finds theological exegetes on one end of the spectrum, historical critics on the other, and conservatives and liberals equally comfortable in both camps.

Chapters 5 and 6 bring de Lubac’s theology into conversation with those of George Lindbeck and John Milbank. In these chapters, Hollon focuses on the relationship between Christology and exegesis. He finds that, because Lindbeck emphasizes the ability of the literal text to divulge Christological identity, he discovers a Jesus left in the past (130). Conversely, Milbank’s emphasis on the inability of the literal text to divulge Christological identity leads him to emphasize the Christological principles that now express themselves in the Church. Hollon doubts that this collapse of Christology into Ecclesiology leaves room for the historical Jesus (144). Nonetheless, because de Lubac affirms both the literal and spiritual meanings of the text, he can adequately account for both the historical Jesus and Christ’s ongoing presence and ministry in the Church.

Hollon concludes with de Lubac’s endorsement of any hermeneutical method that affirms both Scripture’s literal and spiritual meanings (185). Here Hollon insists...