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    On Kierkegaard’s Side: Re-situating Henri de Lubac’s Theology amid the Non-humanist Turn in France


    Furnal, Joshua (2026) On Kierkegaard’s Side: Re-situating Henri de Lubac’s Theology amid the Non-humanist Turn in France. In: Kierkegaard in France: A History of Reception and Influence. Brill, Leiden, pp. 81-114. ISBN 978-90-04-72784-7

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    Abstract

    This chapter explores the significant ways in which de Lubac’s (1896–1991) theological reception of Kierkegaard informed his stance toward humanism. By surveying the default position of negative anthropology in the historiography of the nonhumanist turn in French thought, the chapter locates de Lubac at the center of the debate and observes that de Lubac’s reception of Kierkegaard is neglected, and as a result, scholars wrongly try to conform his views to that of Nietzsche or Heidegger. To identify the origin of this interpretive trajectory, the chapter revisits and evaluates Maurice Blanchot’s critical review of de Lubac’s The Drama of Atheist Humanism (1945), entitled “On Nietzsche’s Side” (1946). Furthermore, the chapter argues that to avoid conflating de Lubac’s theological anthropology with a nonhumanist inheritance, one must not ignore his treatment of Kierkegaard. The chapter re-establishes the link between de Lubac’s correspondence network and his engagement with Kierkegaard studies to suggest that de Lubac’s interest in Kierkegaard was not ornamental but rather fundamental to his ressourcement project. Like this, the chapter recovers the Kierkegaardian inheritance of de Lubac’s Christian humanism that transformed Catholic theology in the twentieth century.
    Item Type: Book Section
    Keywords: Henri de Lubac; Nonhumanism; atheism; Christian Humanism; Maurice Blanchot; theological anthropology; ressourcement; Paul Petit; Dieu Vivant; Jean Daniélou;
    Academic Unit: St Patrick's College, Maynooth > Faculty of Theology
    Item ID: 20920
    Depositing User: Joshua Furnal
    Date Deposited: 16 Dec 2025 11:58
    Publisher: Brill
    Refereed: Yes
    Related URLs:
    Use Licence: This item is available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial Share Alike Licence (CC BY-NC-SA). Details of this licence are available here

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