May 20, 2020

It has become fashionable in traditionalist circles to blame all
problems in modern theology on the so-called nouvelle
théologie, including a range of thinkers such as
Henri de Lubac, Karl Rahner, Hans Urs von Balthasar, Hans Küng and
Josef Ratzinger. But this is based on a number of misconceptions:
about the nature of the nouvelle théologie
itself, and about the views held by some of these theologians.

Nouvelle théologie is not a unified movement
in which everyone held the same views. Some of the “new
theologians” were radicals and modernists who wanted the Church to
bow to the modern world. Some were orthodox men who wanted to
revitalize theology by a return to the sources: the Fathers,
Scripture, and St. Thomas (in his own words, not as filtered
through the commentators). Others were harder to pin down.

A broad-brush approach to the nouvelle
théologie has resulted in injustices, perhaps as much
to theology itself as to some good Churchmen whose reputations have
been tarnished. Even Ratzinger has been dubbed a modernist by a
certain trigger-happy trad celebrity. It’s time for an
intervention, and theologian Richard DeClue is here to bring some
sobriety.

Links

DeClue’s Views https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCq3P-y0YV1V6owHdCRw4I3A

Richard DeClue’s blog, Sapientia Nulliformis
https://declubac.wixsite.com/sapientianulliformis

Episode 38: The Sacred Monster, on Garrigou-Lagrange
https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/episode-38-sacred-monster-matthew-k-minerd/

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