Cardinal Yves Congar adheres to progressivist anthropocentrism. This theory inverts the main objective of theology, which is the study of the word of God (Theos = God; logos = word). According to progressivist anthropocentrism, God did not intend to reveal Himself to man so that man could know, love, and serve Him, but rather to help man to know, love and resolve the human problems he was facing in this or that historic situation. This inversion of goals represents a total revolution in theology. Many have referred to this inversion as being nothing less than a Copernician Revolution.
In an often twisted and contradictory language, Congar offers this reasoning for his thesis in the text below :
1. Theology must refer to man because people today are drawing away from religion;
2. Atheism has a positive input that theology must adopt;
3. God and the mysteries of religion have lost hold on life because they do not speak about man;
4. The blame for this should be placed on the past Magisterium (spoken of as "clerics") and not on revelation, which is a message to man to help him;
5. Therefore, theology should be re-elaborated to present its treatises with man as the focus;
6. Man should be engaged in building a new world in progress, instead of being charged with duties toward God and his neighbors.
At right, we reproduce a facsimile of the frontspiece of Renewal of Religious Thought, the first of a two-volume work entitled Theology of Renewal. Congar wrote the 19-page collaboration entitled "Theology's Tasks After Vatican II," from which we reproduce an excerpt below.
(Yves Congar, "Theology's Tasks After Vatican II," in Theology of Renewal, Montreal: Palm Publishers, 1968, vol. I, pp. 60-1)
| |
