«The Religious Sense» by Luigi Giussani: historical and theological context

Roman Konstantinovich Sheshenin, PhD-student, SS. Cyril and Methodius Theological Institute of Post-Graduate Studies (Pyatnitskaya str. 4/2 b.1, Moscow, Russia, 115035)

shesheron@rambler.ru

Sheshenin R. K. «The Religious Sense» by Luigi Giussani: historical and theological context, Religiya. Tserkov’. Obshchestvo. Issledovaniya i publikatsii po teologii i religii [Religion. Church. Society: Research and publications in the field of theology and religious studies], Saint-Petersburg, 2017, vol. 6, pp. 68–90.

doi: 10.24411/2308-0698-2017-00004

Language: Russian

This article observes the work of the Italian priest Luigi Giussani (1922–2005) in the context of the theological discourse of the 20th century Catholic world. The dispute on the so-called «Theology of supernatural» arose in the period of the second scholasticism and regained its relevance in connection with the «anti-modernist» policy of the Catholic Church in the 19th century. The concept of «natura pura», as the main position of the Neo-Thomism, came under criticism by the French theologians of the «return to source». The article illustrates the dynamics of research on this topic starting with philosophical research by Maurice Blondel and theological «discoveries» of Henri de Lubac on the experience of the Milan priest L. Giussani at the Seminary Venegono and at the Berchet Lyceum (classical high school) in Milan. Understanding the «religious sense» as totality of needs and obviousness that accompany the person in comparison with all his things, he «expands» the boundaries of the mind to its «openness» to the Mystery. The article marks the Giussani’s thoughts in connection with the works of Blondel, Lubac, Colombo, Corti, Fabro, Montini. The conclusion points to the original provisions of Giussani on the issue of «theology of supernatural» which are associated with his activity in the student movement.
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Key words: Luigi Giussani, theology of supernatural, Catholicism, M. Blondel, Henri de Lubac, Montini, neo-thomism, new theology, theological anthropology, the Second Vatican Council, anthropological turn

URL: http://rcs-almanac.ru/isaev-2014-en/

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