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Breathing Forth the Word: Yves Congar's Articulation of the Activity of The Holy Spirit In The Life of Christ

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2024

Adrian J. Brooks
Adrian J. Brooks*
Affiliation:
Abbey House, Durham, UK
*
adrian.j.brooks@durham.ac.uk
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Abstract

Much of Yves M-J. Congar's O.P. (1904-1995) later work concentrates more explicitly on pneumatology, most famously his three-volume I believe in the Holy Spirit (1979-80). Writing shortly after its publication, Congar notes that “if he could draw only one conclusion from [his] studies on the Holy Spirit, it would concern the Spirit's bond with the Word. There is no breath without speaking or articulating something.” Congar later argues in The Word and the Spirit (1984) that the doctrines of pneumatology and Christology should not be treated separately but should inform and shape each other. This led him to develop what he termed a pneumatological Christology and a Christological pneumatology. A criticism that Congar dealt with on several occasions was that Catholic theology suffered from a form of Christomonism, whereby the Holy Spirit appeared to be subordinated to the Son, with dire consequences for the ecclesial life of the church. This essay briefly examines the accusation of Christomonism and evaluates Congar's response to it. It primarily does this by critically engaging with Congar's image of the Son as the Word and the Spirit as the Breath. As well as evaluating Congar's approach, this essay also suggests how his language could be expanded further.

Keywords

CongarHoly SpiritChristomonismWordBreath
Type
Catholic Theological Association 2019 Conference Papers
Information
New Blackfriars , Volume 101 , Issue 1092 , March 2020 , pp. 196 - 205
Copyright
Copyright © 2020 Provincial Council of the English Province of the Order of Preachers

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References

1 Congar, Yves M-J., Christ, Our Lady and the Church: A Study in Eirenic Theology, trans. St.John, Henry (London: Longmans, Green and Co., 1957), p. 5Google Scholar.

2 Congar, Yves M-J., ‘The Holy Spirit and the Apostolic Body, Continuators of the Work of Christ’ in The Mystery of the Church, trans. by Littledale, A. V. (Baltimore: Helicon Press, 1960), pp. 147-186Google Scholar.

3 Famerée, Joseph and Routhier, Gilles, Yves Congar (Paris: Cerf, 2008), p. 149Google Scholar.

4 Congar, Yves M-J., ‘The Human Spirit and the Spirit of God’, in Spirit of God, ed. by Ginter, Mark E., Brown, Susan Mader and Mueller, Joseph G., (Washington D.C.: Catholic University of America Press, 2018), pp. 25, 47CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

5 Nissiotis, Nikos A., ‘The Importance of the Doctrine of the Trinity for Church Life and Theology’, in The Orthodox Ethos: Essays in Honor of the Centenary of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of North and South America ed. by Philippou, A.J. (Oxford: Holywell, 1964), pp. 32-69Google Scholar.

6 See Arteaga, Pablo, ‘How an Orthodox Accusation Became a Source of Inspiration for Congar's Pneumatology’, New Blackfriars, 100: Sept (2019), pp. 526-537CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

7 Congar, Yves M-J., ‘Pneumatology or “Christomonism” in the Latin Tradition?’, in The Spirit of God, pp. 162-196 (p. 162)Google Scholar.

8 Congar, Yves M-J., The Word and the Spirit, trans. by Smith, David (London: Geoffrey Chapman, 1984), p. 113Google Scholar.

9 Congar, “Christomonism”, p. 164.

10 Ibid.

11 Ibid., p. 194.

12 Ibid.

13 Ibid., p. 164.

14 Arteaga, p. 530.

15 Congar, “Christomonism”, p. 164.

16 Congar, The Word and the Spirit, pp. 114-15.

17 Congar, “Christomonism”, p. 194.

18 Congar, Yves M-J., I Believe in the Holy Spirit, 3 vols., trans. Smith, David, (London: Geoffrey Chapman, 1983), I, pp. 167-173Google Scholar.

19 Congar, Yves M-J., ‘A Theology of the Holy Spirit’, in Spirit of God, pp. 75-123, (p. 97)Google Scholar.

20 Nichols, Aidan, Yves Congar (London: Geoffrey Chapman, 1989), p. 61Google Scholar; Groppe, Elizabeth Teresa, Yves Congar's Theology of the Holy Spirit (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004), pp. 48, 75CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Mark E. Ginter et al. The Spirit of God, p. 7.

21 Congar, ‘The Human Spirit and the Spirit of God’, p. 25. See also Congar, Yves M-J., ‘Theology of the Holy Spirit and Charismatic Renewal’ in Called to Life, (Slough: St Paul Publications, 1985), p. 84Google Scholar; Congar, ‘Pneumatology Today’ in Spirit of God, p. 22o; Congar, The Word and the Spirit, p. 1.

22 The Word and the Spirit, p. 1.

23 ‘The Human Spirit and the Spirit of God’, p. 56.

24 The Word and the Spirit, p. 2.

25 ‘The Human Spirit and the Spirit of God’, p. 56.

26 Ibid., p. 33.

27 Ibid. See also, I Believe in the Holy Spirit, I, p. 20.

28 ‘The Human Spirit and the Spirit of God’, p. 52.

29 ‘A Theology of the Holy Spirit’, p. 79.

30 ‘The Human Spirit and the Spirit of God’, p. 33.

31 Called to life, p. 77.

32 ‘The Human Spirit and the Spirit of God’, p. 69.

33 The Word and the Spirit, pp. 48-77.

34 Called to Life, p. 84. See a similar expression in Congar, ‘Pneumatology Today’, p. 221.

35 The Word and the Spirit, pp. 85-100.

36 Congar, Yves M-J., ‘Third Article of the Creed: The Impact of Pneumatology on the Life of the Church’, in Spirit of God, pp. 243-264, (p. 250)Google Scholar.

37 I believe in the Holy Spirit, III, pp. 267-274.

38 Congar, ‘Pneumatology Today’, in Spirit of God, p. 220. See also Congar, Called to Life, p. 84.

39 ‘The Human Spirit and the Spirit of God’, p. 32.

40 ‘A Theology of the Holy Spirit’, p. 111

41 The Word and the Spirit, pp. 85-92; ‘A Theology of the Holy Spirit’ pp. 103, 111.

42 Ibid. ‘A Theology of the Holy Spirit’, p. 111.

43 Métropole de Lattaquié Ignace, ‘Conference D'Ouverture’, Foi et Vie (November-December 1968), 8-23. cited by Congar, I believe in the Holy Spirit, II, p. 33.