Soldiers of God in a Secular World

Witnesses to the Living God: Three Paradigms for Approaching the Politics of Nouvelle Théologie*

“…For de Lubac, like Fessard, continued to ascribe theology a negative role in the assessment of political engagement, namely by denying the distinction between spiritual and temporal and so tending to equate the temporal body of Christ with its eschatological form. 86 Chenu, on the other hand, endorsed the early Jacques Maritain's insistence on the autonomy of the economic and viewed Christian political engagement as apolitical precisely because grace could work dialectically to construct nature into its redeemed form. 87 Shortall's distinction here is supported by Fouilloux's assessment of the circle that produced the journal Dieu vivant during this period.…”

“…86 Chenu, on the other hand, endorsed the early Jacques Maritain's insistence on the autonomy of the economic and viewed Christian political engagement as apolitical precisely because grace could work dialectically to construct nature into its redeemed form. 87 Shortall's distinction here is supported by Fouilloux's assessment of the circle that produced the journal Dieu vivant during this period. As noted, the flagship issues in 1945 of Dieu vivant signal their project as taking aim at "incarnationalist" Christianity, above all Dominicans behind the movement Jeunesse de l'église and its push for a "Christian civilization."…”