The Suspended Middle: Henri de Lubac and the Debate Concerning the Supernatural by John Millbank


The Suspended Middle: Henri de Lubac and the Debate Concerning the Supernatural
Title : The Suspended Middle: Henri de Lubac and the Debate Concerning the Supernatural
Author :
Rating :
ISBN : 080282899X
ISBN-10 : 9780802828996
Language : English
Format Type : Paperback
Number of Pages : 127
Publication : First published January 1, 2005

French Jesuit Henri de Lubac (1896-1991) was arguably the most revolutionary theologian of the twentieth century. He proposed that Western theology since the early modern period had lost sight of the key to integrating faith and reason -- the truth that all human beings are naturally oriented toward the supernatural. In this vital book John Milbank defends de Lubac’s claim and pushes it to a more radical extreme. The Suspended Middle shows how such a claim entails a ‘non-ontology’ suspended between rational philosophy and revealed theology, interweaving the two while denying them any pure autonomy from each other. As de Lubac’s writings on the supernatural implicitly dismantled the reigning Catholic (and perhaps Protestant) assumptions about Christian intellectual reflection, he met with opposition and even papal censure. Milbank’s sophisticated account of de Lubac delineates the French theologian’s relations with other proponents of the nouvelle theologie , such as Hans Urs von Balthasar, and clarifies the subtle but crucial divisions within recent Roman Catholic theology. The most substantial treatment in English of de Lubac’s as yet untranslated Surnaturel and the subsequent debate, Milbank’s Suspended Middle lays down an energetic challenge that every serious student of theology and Christian philosophy will want to engage.

The Suspended Middle: Henri de Lubac and the Debate Concerning the Supernatural Reviews

  • Justin Evans

    For Milbank, this is beautifully written, which is not at all an absolute statement of quality prose. On the upside, it's short and ably sets out Milbank's reading of Lubac: against the scholastic, and 'modernist', distinction between the supernatural and the natural. Probably could have been a short article rather than a short book.

  • Earl

    Milbank's analysis of de Lubac's reading of St. Thomas (plus some comparison with von Balthasar) proves to be helpful at this point. I don't think I will be using him for my upcoming paper... maybe a little. But I think it's a must if I'm going deeper and deeper into de Lubac's own theology.

  • Steve

    relatively understandable for Milbank, but towards the end it bevomes thick and dense. It also assumes knowledge of de Lubac.

  • Liam Marsh

    A great introduction to the supernatural debate within Catholic 20th century theology. My one complaint is that readers do not get a clear definition of aesthetic theology until the final chapter. But Milbank's book is a helpful introduction to where the grace and nature discussion is.

  • Jeremy

    This mostly went over my head. I need someone to explain this stuff to me, lol.

  • Akhogba Andrew

    quite a good explanation of an important aspect the theology of Henry de Lubac. John Milbank here throws light on Lubac's belief that all humans are naturally oriented towards the supernatural.