Abstract

Mgr Philips, as is known, played a very important part in the elaboration of the Dogmatic Constitution Lumen Gentium. Shortly before its promulgation by Pope Paul VI in November 1964 he was a member of the small commission set up to formulate the explanatory note destined to set forth succinctly the reasons for the various modifications introduced into the text of the constitution as a result of the reservations put forward by many of the fathers. He is consequently in a position to expound the precise literal meaning of the conciliar text as discussed and accepted by the Council. Just that is his avowed intention in the present volume which is the first of a two-volume work on the constitution. After a short introduction the author gives a detailed account of the various steps that lead up to the final formulation of the constitution as we received it from the Council. The rest of the present tome brings, chapter by chapter and paragraph by paragraph, a French translation of the conciliar text and a detailed and indeed authoritative commentary on the first three chapters. It is perhaps the most detailed and satisfying work of its kind.