In memory of Marie-Joseph Lagrange, doctor of biblical tradition. Author Xavier Zubiri

P. Lagrange--

 

 

Xavier Zubiri’s praise of Marie-Joseph Lagrange appears in an unconventional context if we have in mind it was written in 1938. His thesis is that Lagrange understood the teachings of Leo XIII in his encyclical Providentissimus Deus (1839) better than other biblical scholars. It is clear that God’s revelation is done by inspiration. But the inspiration of the hagiographer is not an infusion of words, nor pure reception of concepts. It is more of an illumination that permits a clearer and more in depth judgment of the ideas that the writer pretends to express. In inspiration, the hagiographer explains –illuminated by a special divine light – ideas that he has acquired naturally and supernaturally. Because of this, as we read the hagiographers’ work we may discover what God has tried to teach us. This is what the priority of the literal sense and the importance of the historical-critical method is based on. This was the thesis of Thomas of Aquinas, that Lagrange shares. Because of this, Zubiri says that Lagrange understood tradition better than the traditionalists. (Read the full text in Spanish)

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