A History of Theology by Yves M.-J. Congar, O. P. (review)

BOOK REVIEWS 815 elements of a solution to the questions enumerated above. All the more reason to look forward to its publication in the profound hope that our dialogue with our brothers may progress towards that ultimate unity which Christ desired for his Church, and for which the late Karl Barth devoted his life. Dvminican Faculty of Theology Ottawa, Canada THOMAS R. PoTviN, 0. P. A History of Theology. By YvEs M.-J. CoNGAR, 0. P. Translated and edited by Hunter Guthrie, S. J. Garden City, N. Y.: Doubleday, 1968. Pp. 312. $5.95. A new History of Theology by Father Yves Cougar, 0. P.! This would indeed be welcomed by all theologians, students of theology, or people interested in the deeper understanding of their faith. For nobody can deny that there is a real need for a good History of Theology, especially in English, and that Father Cougar is undoubtedly one of the very few scholars who would be competent to write such a book. Unfortunately, for several reasons to be explained below, this is not such a book. And this is doubly said, for it could have become it: and thus one constantly feels frustrated while reading it and realizing that it did not. First of all, the book is really far from being new. It "substantially reproduces "-as one reads (p. 7) with some surprise and disappointment in the first lines of the "Preface" (signed by Fr. Cougar)-" the article entitled 'Theologie' which appeared in the Dictionnaire de Theologie Catholique published at Paris in 1938-39." 1 One may wonder whether It is really worthwhile to translate and publish today, in the form of a ·hardbound book, a thirty-year old article from a theological encyclopedia. In order to answer this question, we must examine both the original article (1) and the present book (2), the latter first in those points in which it claims to surpass the original (a, b) and then as translation (c). 1. The original article in D. T.C.: its values and limits. The original article, of which the present book is a translation, was composed by Fr. Cougar in 1938-39 and is entitled " Theologie." Its 1 As a matter of fact, the article was composed in 1938-39 but published in 1943. Cf. P. Quattrocchi, "Bibliographie generale du Pere Yves Congar," in J.-P. Jossua, Le Pere Congar: La theologie au service du peuple de Dieu (Paris: Cerf, 1967, p. ~~7, item 150). An English translation of this book was published by the Priory Press, Dubuque, Iowa. 316 BOOK REVIEWS aim is to explain the notion of Catholic theology, its nature and methods. The article consists of three parts of unequal length. The first, cols. 841-46, gives a short but very valuable survey on the emergence and meanings of the term " theology " (or rather theologia in Greek and Latin) , a survey which is not only of philological interest but already reveals a great deal concerning the discipline itself. The second and longest part, cols. 846-447, presents a rather detailed history of the notion and methods of theology from the patristic beginnings to the ~Oth century. It is not, and was not intended to be, a " History of Theology " in the sense of a history of theological literature (as patrologies are for the patristic period, or Grabmann's Geschichte der katholischen Theologie is for the medieval and modem periods) nor a history of dogmas or Christian doctrines (as, e. g., the classical Protestant works of Adolf von Harnack and Reinhold Seeberg, or, more recently, of Alfred Adam). The third part, cols. 447-501, entitled " La notion de theologie. Partie speculative," contains a systematic description of the nature and method of theology. This original article had, for its times, very great merits. It was really the first full-sized treatise of such proportions and quality in Catholic theological literature, encompassing both historically and speculatively the nature and method of theology. It was carefully written, reliably and richly documented, with numerous references to both the original sources and the best available literature. Moreover, it was truly forward-looking and, as did Fr. Cougar's work in general, in many points it...