Description
More than ever, as the Christian Church wrestles with issues of relevance and reform, it needs to listen the voices of its giants of faith. For the fifth centenary of Luther’s birth, Fr Yves Congar OP—himself an unparalleled Catholic scholar–committed to print the fruits of a lifetime’s study of the great reformer’s world-changing biblical discoveries.
Congar first of all offers a honest interpretation of Luther’s journey of faith, leading into an account of his pathway to reform. Comparisons are drawn with the work of reform at the Second Vatican Council, from the perspective of Congar’s own involvement. He then proceeds to a searching study of Luther’s Christology and his Eucharistic faith, showing how close we are, despite significant differences, especially in the case of the Eucharist. His work concludes with another important essay, clarifying what has been called Luther’s ‘anguish.’
This work crosses two language barriers and connects past and present, twice over. Yves Congar, significant French theologian and Roman Catholic participant in Vatican Council II, is here presented via a set of his Studies of Luther’s life and time. Well translated from French by Dr Whittall, Congar’s pieces reflect research and review over several decades. And they reveal ecumenically challenging dimensions of the Reformer’s ecclesial career while critically considering his Gospel-centred theology. Both were of course abiding concerns of Congar the Council theologian. In his Journal of the Council he himself relates, unforgettably, that: on leaving Rome (1965), he ‘stopped for a minute’ at the tomb of St Paul: ‘because he was there, I spoke to him… I spoke to him about Luther, who had wanted to re-affirm “the Gospel” for which Paul had struggled’.
Maurice Schild, Emeritus Professor Australian Lutheran College, Adelaide
To coincide with five hundred years since the birth of Martin Luther, Yves Congar published this work in 1983. His aim was to help Catholics recognise that Luther was indeed a true Christian, and to lead Lutherans closer to the Catholicism of the undivided Church. Roger Whittall’s translation makes the work available to English readers for the first time. His introductory essay offers a Lutheran response to Congar and brings out the significance of this work for continuing the task of reconciliation.
Gerard Kelly, Catholic Institute of Sydney
Translator and editor Roger Whittall is a pastor of the Lutheran Church of Australia and New Zealand, a long-standing member of the Australian Lutheran-Roman Catholic Theological Dialogue, and a Post-Doctoral Research Associate at Australian Lutheran College, Adelaide/University of Divinity, Melbourne.
Yves Marie-Joseph Congar OP (1904–1995) was a French Dominican friar, priest, and theologian. As an ecclesiologist and the author of numerous books and articles, Congar is widely recognised as one of the most important theologians of the twentieth century. After a long struggle to advocate for the cause of church reform, and a period of imposed ‘exile’ from teaching and writing, he was called to service at Vatican II, and his significant influence can be seen in many of its documents.
