The Eucharistic Ecclesiology of Henri de Lubac - Research Paper Example

Lubac’s first book known as Catholicism (1938) showcases in 3 seminal structures his basic theological beliefs, where he accentuates on the fact that it is the entire community which as a whole takes part in the process of attaining salvation. However, his fame as a scholar was ascertained with the publication of two books, Surnaturel in 1946 and Corpus Mysticum in 1949. Surnaturel was a direct attack on the Catholic (and also on the Protestant) conjectures and on the attributions of the modern intellectual Christian reflective mind.

Henri de Lubac in his entire theological career broke down many of the recent Christian tradition and sought to move closer to the source, that is, the authentic form of Christianity. The basic theology of Henri de Lubac purports to “recover Christianity in its fullness and purity [through the process of] returning to its sources, attempting once more to seize it within its periods of explosive vitality”2. Thus in Lubac, we will see find that his theology moves towards the more ancient form of the Catholic faith, yet does not include any of the archaic superstitions, that we generally attach with the religious practices of the medieval era.

‘Eucharistic ecclesiology’, this term consists of two words: the Eucharist and Ecclesiology. The term Eucharist can be said to be a representation of the Church, as Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger frames it “the church is the celebration of the Eucharist; the Eucharist is the church.they are one and the same”3. The term ecclesiology simply means the study of the church axioms. So the term together means the comprehension of the church, based mainly upon the concept of the Eucharist.

This article will thus explore Henri de Lubac’s interpretation of the Church, based upon the Eucharist, which will be examined mainly from a Catholic viewpoint.