Nouvelle théologie is a school of thought in Catholic theology that arose in the mid-20th century, most notably among certain circles of French and German theologians. The shared objective of these theologians was a fundamental reform of the dominance of Catholic theology by neo-scholasticism, which had resulted in the dominance of teaching by scholastically influenced manuals, criticism of modernism by the church and a defensive stance towards non-Catholic faiths. The influence of the movement was important as a counterpoint to the widespread neo-scholasticism of Catholic thought, especially through its influence on the reforms initiated at the Second Vatican Council.
Origins
In the late nineteenth and first half of the twentieth century, Roman Catholic thought was dominated by neo-scholastic forms of thought. This, in reaction against modernist theology, insisted on a rigid adherence to the thought, methods and principles of the 13th-century thinker Thomas Aquinas. This dominance became particularly pronounced in the early twentieth century, as exemplified by the issuing of the anti-modernist oath by Pope Pius X in 1910, and the publication in 1914 of the 24 Thomistic theses which had to be taught in all colleges as fundamental elements of theology. The roots of a questioning of the dominance of neo-scholasticism may be traced to work done from the 1920s onwards. Some French Jesuit studies made in exile at Ore Place, Hastings, in 1906–1926 might be seen as forerunners of the nouvelle théologie. However, the nouvelle théologie movement itself is generally associated with the period between 1935 and 1960. The movement in its early stages is also particularly associated with the French language, a contrast with the Latin used in seminary teaching at the time. Theologians who are nowadays identified as early forerunners of the nouvelle théologie sought a return of Catholic theology to its original purity of thought and expression. To accomplish this, they advocated a "return to the sources" of the Christian faith: namely, scripture and the writings of the Church Fathers. This methodological move is known by its French name, ressourcement. Along with this, the movement adopted a systemic openness to dialogue with the contemporary world on issues of theology. They developed also a renewed interest in biblical exegesis, typology, art, literature, and mysticism.
Criticism
The developing movement received fierce criticisms in the late 1940s and 1950s. A first attack was made by the influential Dominican theologian Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange in a polemical 1946 article in the journal Angelicum. While the theologians of the movement generally preferred to call their movement a ressourcement, based on their return to original patristic thought, Garrigou-Lagrange claimed that they did not "return to the sources" but deviated from the long-standing theological tradition of the Catholic Church, thus creating a "new theology" all their own which, he argued, was essentially Modernism in disguise). Although another writer, Pietro Parente, had used the term "teologia nuova" in 1942, it was from Garrigou-Lagrange's article that the label entered into widespread use. In his essay in Angelicum, Garrigou-Lagrange quotes Henri Bouillard as saying, "The ideas employed by St. Thomas are simply Aristotelian notions applied to theology ... By renouncing the Aristotelian system, modern thought abandoned the ideas, design and dialectical opposites which only made sense as functions of that system." Thus, Garrigou-Lagrange asks, "How then can the reader evade the conclusion, namely that, since it is no longer current, the theology of St. Thomas is a false theology? ... Further, how can 'an unchanging truth' maintain itself if the two notions united by the verb to be, are essentially variable or changeable?" Subsequently, many of these criticisms of the ideas involved in the nouvelle théologie were developed by Pope Pius XII in his 1950 encyclical Humani generis. These are, for example, rejecting the traditional dogmatic formulations that emerged throughout church history as a result of scholastic theology, re-interpreting Catholic dogma in a way that was inconsistent with tradition, falling into the error of dogmatic relativism and criticizing biblical texts in a way that deviated from the principles of biblical hermeneutics outlined by his predecessors. Pius XII warned that the movement approached the error of modernism, a heresy vehemently condemned by Pius X in 1907.
Ideas
Although lumped together as a set by their opponents, the theologians associated with the nouvelle théologie had a great range of interests, views, and methodologies, and were not themselves a co-ordinated group. In later writing, Yves Congar, Henri de Lubac, and Henri Bouillard all denied that the nouvelle théologie was anything but a construct of its opponents. However, subsequent studies of the movement have suggested that there did exist a set of shared characteristics among writers of the nouvelle théologie. These include:
A tendency to ascribe a worthy place to history within the theological endeavour.
Theologians from this school of thought had a significant influence on the reforms brought about in the Catholic Church by the Second Vatican Council. In the aftermath of the council, the movement became divided into two camps, splitting in effect into left and right wings, over the interpretation and implementation of the council, with Rahner, Congar, Schillebeeckx, Küng, and Chenu founding the more progressive theological journal Concilium in 1965, and de Lubac, Balthasar, Ratzinger, and others founding the theological journal Communio in 1972.
