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Apophaticism or Analogy in Anselm's Argument? Paul Evdokimov's Contribution to La Nouvelle Théologie and the Nature-Grace Debate

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2024

Andrew Cuff
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New Blackfriars , Volume 97 , Issue 1072 , November 2016 , pp. 713 - 731
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Copyright © 2016 Provincial Council of the English Province of the Order of Preachers

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References

1 Card. Domenico Tardini, Letter of 11 June 1959 to Dom Grammont, Abbé du Bec, in Specilegium Beccense I (Libraire Philosophique J. Vrin: Paris, 1959), p. 1Google Scholar.x “Sa Sainteté se réjouit donc paternellement de cette heureuse initiative et vous en félicite. C'est de grand coeur qu'Elle invoque sur tous ceux qui prendront part à ce Congrès Anselmien l'abondance des divines lumières et qu'elle leur accorde, en gage de fructueux travaux, la Bénédiction Apostolique implorée.”

2 Grabmann, Martin, Die Geschichte der scholastischen Methode (Berlin: Akademie-Verlag, 1956), pp. 271-72Google Scholar.

3 Evdokimov, Paul, Orthodoxy, trans. Hummerstone, Jeremy (New York: New City Press, 2011, orig. 1959), p. 333Google Scholar.

4 Kant, Immanuel, Critique of Pure Reason, trans. Weigelt, Marcus (New York: Penguin Classics, 2008)Google Scholar. Kant famously argued that “existence” as a predicate adds nothing to the essence of a being (e.g., God); therefore, there is nothing intrinsically better (or even different) about God's existing in reality as opposed to God's existing in the mind alone. This argument corresponds to Kant's transcendental idealism, which holds the cognitive level of reality as the only subjectively accessible realm, and as such the only realm under the purview of philosophy.

5 Evdokimov, “L'Aspect Apophatique de L'Argument de Saint Anselme,” in Specilegium Beccense I (Libraire Philosophique J. Vrin: Paris, 1959), p. 257Google Scholar.

6 Gilson, Étienne, “Sens et nature de l'argumet de saint Anselme,” in Archives d'histoire doctrinale et littéraire du Moyen-Age (1934), pp. 5-51Google Scholar.

7 Cf. Stolz, Anselme, Zur Theologie Anselms im Proslogion, in Catholica, (Paderborn, 1933), pp. 1-24Google Scholar.

8 This appears to be Evdokimov's corollary reading (by modus tollens) of Bonaventure's actual statement from Quaestiones de Mysterio Trinitatis I, i, 29: Similiter argui potest: si Deus est Deus, Deus est; sed antecedens est adeo verum, quod non potest cogitari non esse; ergo Deum esse est verum indubitabile. In Doctoris Seraphici S. Bonaventurae Opera omnia, edita studio et cura PP. Collegii a S. Bonaventura, ad Claras Aquas (Quaracchi) ex Typographia Collegii S. Bonaventurae, 10 vol. (1882-1902) vol. 4, p. 48.

9 Recently, the philosopher J. Burton Fulmer has drawn similar conclusions about the Proslogion, not on a historical level, but with an eye to the philosophical ramifications of Anselm's affirmations. Cf. J Burton Fulmer, “Anselm and the Apophatic: Something Greater than Can Be Thought,” New Blackfriars (89:1020), 2007. For historial comments and speculation about Anselm's apophatic Greek influences, cf. Gasper, Giles E. M., Anselm of Canterbury and His Theological Inheritance (Burlington, VT: Ashgate Publishing Company, 2004), pp. 119, 127Google Scholar.

10 Gregory of Nyssa, Vit. Moys., PG 44:1001 B. Cf. Orthodoxy, p. 63 n. 53.

11 Evdokimov cites the passage from the Patrologia Graeca as Théol. Mystique, I, 3; PG 3:997. “Au-delà même de l'inconnaissance jusqu’à la plus haute cime des Ecritures mystiques, là où les mystères simples, absolus et incorruptibles de la théologie se révèlent dans la Ténèbre plus que lumineuse du silence.”

12 Orthodoxy, 25 n. 19, pp. 180-81, et passim. Evdokimov was joined by most twentieth-century Orthodox theologians in drawing a necessary connection between apophaticism and the Palamite essence energies distinction. Cf. Papanikolaou, Aristotle, “Eastern Orthodox Theology,” in The Routledge Companion to Modern Christian Thought, eds. Meister, Chad and Beilby, James (Routledge, 2013): pp. 543-4Google Scholar et passim.

13 Evdokimov, “L'Aspect Apophatique,” p. 250 n. 13. Cf. John Damascene, De fide orthodoxa, I, 4; PG 94:800 A-B.

14 Evdokimov, Orthodoxy, 61. Evdokimov cites Maximus the Confessor (PG 91:1229 C, 1224 B-C) as the source of this principle.

15 Evdokimov, “L'Aspect Apophatique,” p. 249.

16 Maximus the Confessor, Quaestiones ad Thalassium, PG 90:320 A.

17 Evdokimov, “L'Aspect Apophatique,” p. 245. “Dieu n'est pas à notre image.”

18 Ibid., p. 235.

19 Ibid., p. 251 n. 17.

20 Lubac, Henri De, “Sur le chapitre XIV du Proslogion,” in Specilegium Beccense I (Libraire Philosophique J. Vrin: Paris, 1959), p. 295-312Google Scholar.

21 Humani Generis, 18. < http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/pius_xii/encyclicals/documents/hf_p-xii_enc_12081950_humani-generis_en.html> Although this passage refers to ecclesiology, its spirit can be taken to refer to non-western theology more generally.

22 Charles Journet, Letter of 27 December 1945, in Archives de Cercles Jacques et Raissa Maritain, Kolbsheim, cited in Nichols, Aidan, “Thomism and the Nouvelle Théologie,” The Thomist 64 (2000), p. 7 n. 13CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

23 Lubac, Henri de, Medieval Exegesis Vol. 3, Trans. Sebanc, Mark (Grand Rapids: T&T Clark, 1998), pp. 187-8Google Scholar.

24 A notable exception being the recent article by Andrew Louth, “French Ressourcement Theology and Orthodoxy: A Living Mutual Relationship?” in Ressourcement:A Movement for Renewal in Twentieth-Century Catholic Theology (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012). Also, an older work detailing the activity of the Russian emigré theologians in Paris is Olivier Clément, Deux passeurs, Vladimir Lossky et Paul Evdokimov (Geneva: Labor et Fides, 1985).

25 Julia Marie Desilets, “The Woman and Her Mission in the Church,” Unpublished Article, Pontificia Universitàs An Tommaso D'aquino Angelicum (2013). Evdokimov first coined the phrase “We know where the Church is, but we should not presume to say where the Church is not.” Cf. Evdokimov, Orthodoxy, p. 350. Its citation in Metropolitan Kallistos Ware's bestselling The Orthodox Church has made it a sort of “subsistit in” for twentieth-century Orthodoxy. Cf. Ware, Timothy, The Orthodox Church (London: Penguin Books, 1963), p. 308Google Scholar.

26 Thomas Merton, Journal entry of September 18, 1959, in A Search for Solitude: Pursuing the Monk's True Life (The Journals of Thomas Merton, Volume 3: 1952-1960), p. 330.

27 For an example of Merton's active intention to disseminate the ideas of Vatican II in America, cf. Thomas Merton, Vatican II: The Sacred Liturgy and the Religious Life (Audio Lectures 1963-65), Gethsemani Classroom Series (Rockville, MD: Now You Know Media, 2012).

28 Ron Dart, “Thomas Merton and Nouvelle Théologie,” Clarion Journal (July 2011).

29 Former Archbishop of Canterbury and theologian Rowan Williams has emphasized the need for a full study of Thomas Merton's treatment of Anselm. Cf. Rowan Williams, A Silent Action: Engagements with Thomas Merton (Louisville, KY: Fons Vitae, 2013), p. 75.

30 Thomas Merton, Letter of September 12, 1966 to Hans Urs Von Balthasar, in Hart, Br. Patrick, ed., The School of Charity: Letters on Religious Renewal and Spiritual Direction, (New York: Harper Collins, 1990), p. 312Google Scholar.

31 For instance, the seeds of Merton's 1963 poem “Hagia Sophia” (discussed in more detail below) can be clearly seen in a 1961 journal entry where he mentions Evdokimov's Orthodoxy: “Long quiet intervals in dark hours. Evdokimov on orthodoxy—once again, as I have so many times recently, I meet the concept of natura naturans—the divine wisdom in ideal nature, the ikon of wisdom, the dancing ikon… Faith in Sophia, natura naturans, the great stabilizer today—for peace.” Thomas Merton, Turning Toward the World: The Pivotal Years: The Journals of Thomas Merton, Vol. IV (1960-1963), ed. Victor A. Kramer (New York: Harper Collins, 1996), p. 91. In 1965, Merton wrote a very positive appraisal of Evdokimov's writings on eastern monasticism, calling them “splendid and challenging.” Thomas Merton, Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander (New York: Image Books, 1965), p. 337. His joke in this journal entry about being overweight―“As an ikon, I am not doing too well.”―recalls the language of Paul Evdokimov, Saint Seraphim of Sarov: An Icon of Orthodox Spirituality, orig. printed in The Ecumenical Review (April 1963), Geneva: World Council of Churches Publications Office, reprinted by Light and Life Publishing Company, Minneapolis, MN, 1988.

32 Thomas Merton, Letter to Herbert Mason on August 24, 1959, in Shannon, William H., ed., Witness to Freedom: The Letters of Thomas Merton in Times of Crisis, (Toronto: Harper Collins, 1994), p. 263Google Scholar.

33 Merton, Thomas, “Anselm and His Argument,” The American Benedictine Review 17 (2), June 1966, 238-62Google Scholar.

34 Barth, Karl, Anselm: Fides Quaerens Intellectum (1931), trans. Robertson, Ian W. (New York: Meridian Books, 1960)Google Scholar.

35 Barth, p. 11.

36 Barth, p. 73.

37 Evdokimov, “L'Aspect Apophatique,” p. 233 n. 2.

38 Merton, “Anselm and His Argument,” p. 253.

39 Evdokimov, “L'Aspect Apophatique,” p. 245.

40 Scruggs, Ryan, “Faith Seeking Understanding: Theological Method in Thomas Merton's Interreligious Dialogue,” Journal of Ecumenical Studies 46:3 (2011), pp. 411-26Google Scholar.

41 Teahan, John F., “A Dark and Empty Way: Thomas Merton and the Apophatic Tradition,” The Journal of Religion 58:3 (1978), pp. 263-87CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

42 Barth, Karl, Church Dogmatics I.1 (Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1956), p. xiiiGoogle Scholar.

43 Denzinger, Heinrich, Enchiridion Symbolorum, 43rd edition, ed. Hünermann, Peter (San Francisco: Ignatius, 2012), 806Google Scholar: Conc. Lateran. IV, Canon II. Inter creatorem et creaturam non potest tanta similitudo notari, quin inter eos maior dissimilitudo sit notanda.

44 Hans Urs Von Balthasar, for example, calls Barth's critique a “straw man” in his 1951 book The Theology of Karl Barth, trans. Oakes, Edward T. (San Francisco: Ignatius, 1992), p. 382Google Scholar.

45 Cf. Murphy, William F., “Thomism and the Nouvelle Théologie: A Dialogue Renewed?” in Josephinum Journal of Theology 18.1 (2011), pp. 1-36Google Scholar.

46 Fields, Stephen M. S.J., “Ressourcement and the Retrieval of Thomism for the Contemporary World,” in Ressourcement: A Movement for Renewal in Twentieth-Century Catholic Theology (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012), p. 356Google Scholar.

47 Lubac, Henri De, Surnaturel: Études historiques (1946), nouvelle edition, ed. S.J.Sales, Michel (Paris: Desclée de Brouwer, 1991)Google Scholar.

48 This point is most explicitly made in the article by LeBlond, Jean-Marie, “L'analogie de la vérité: Réflexion d'un philosophe sur un controvérse théologique,” Recherches de science religieuse 34 (1947), pp. 129-41Google Scholar.

49 Lubac, Henri De, Catholicism: a Study of Dogma in Relation to the Corporate Destiny of Mankind, trans. Sheppard, Lancelot (New York: New American Library, 1961), p. 189.Google Scholar

50 O.S.B.Mansini, Guy, “The Abiding Significance of De Lubac's Surnaturel,” The Thomist 73 (2009), p. 617CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

51 Boersma, Hans, Heavenly Participation: The Weaving of Sacramental Tapestry (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2011), p. 70Google Scholar.

52 Boersma, Hans, Nouvelle Théologie and Sacramental Ontology: a Return to Mystery (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009), pp. 66-7CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

53 Ibid., p. 104.

54 Evdokimov, Orthodoxy, p. 95.

55 Ibid., p. 79.

56 Ibid., pp. 96-7.

57 Merton, Thomas, Disputed Questions (London: Harcourt Brace & Co., 1953), pp. 77-8Google Scholar.

58 Evdokimov, Paul, La femme et la salut du monde (Paris: Casterman, 1958), p. 203Google Scholar. Loc. cit. and trans. Pramuk, Christopher, Sophia: The Hidden Christ of Thomas Merton (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2009), p. 160Google Scholar.

59 Several books and articles have recently been devoted to the question of reconciling Palamas with Aquinas. Bradshaw, David, Aristotle East and West (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004CrossRefGoogle Scholar. Divine Essence and Divine Energies: Ecumenical Reflections on the Presence of God in Eastern Orthodoxy, ed. Athanasopoulos, Constantinos and Schneider, Christoph (Cambridge: James Clarke & Co, 2013CrossRefGoogle Scholar. Plested, Marcus, Orthodox Readings of Aquinas (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012)CrossRefGoogle Scholar.Reid, Duncan, Energies of the Spirit: Trinitarian Models in Eastern Orthodox and Western Theology (Atlanta, GA: American Academy of Religion, 1997)Google Scholar and Williams, A. N., The Ground of Union: Deification in Aquinas and Palamas (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999)CrossRefGoogle Scholar. Philips, Gérard, “Neo-Palamism,” in Partakers of the Divine Nature: The History and Development of Deificiation in the Christian Traditions, ed. Christensen, Michael J. and Wittung, Jeffery A. (Cranbury, NJ: Associated Univ. Presses, 2007), pp. 243-44Google Scholar.

60 On the potential compatibility of Palamism and Thomism, cf. O.P.Lévy, Antoine, “The Woes of Originality: Discussing David Bradshaw's Aristotelian Journey into Neo-Palamism,” in, Athanasopoulos, Constantinos and Schneider, Christoph, eds., Divine Essence and Divine Energies (Cambridge: The Institute for Orthodox Christian Studies, 2013), pp. 96-121CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Russell, Norman, “The Reception of Palamas in the West Today,”THEOLOGIA 3 (2012), pp. 7-21Google Scholar.

61 Thomas Merton, Conjectures, 21.

62 This is Fr. Alexander Schmemann's private comment about a Trappist monastery in Massachusetts that practiced Buddhist spirituality and meditation. One wonders what he would have thought about Thomas Merton's diverse theological interests, and later exploration of Buddhism. The Journals of Father Alexander Schmemann 1973-1983, trans. Schmemann, Juliana (Crestwood, NY: St. Vladimir's Seminary Press, 200), p. 183Google Scholar.

63 Evdokimov, Orthodoxy, p. 31.