Yann Vagneux / Roderick Campbell Guion
The definitive work on the mystical theology of Jules Monchanin, a luminary of early 20th century religious thought and an integral part of the dialogue between the Catholic Church and Hinduism. Before leaving for India in 1939, Jules Monchanin (1895-1957) was one of the beacons of the theological, philosophical and missiological renewal that filled the French city of Lyon during the 1930s. His thinking has remained largely in the shadows. For the first time, this book reveals Monchanin as a key thinker of the Mystery of Trinity who was a central influence on philosophers and theologians including Henri de Lubac and Hans Urs von Balthasar. Now available in an English edition, Yann Vagneux’s text undertakes a thorough synthesis of Monchanin’s thought based on his unpublished notebooks and letters, and at the same time raises theological questions and conundrums that few thinkers involved in Hindu-Christian studies dare to tackle. This volume first reveals Monchanin’s contribution to the intensity of intellectual life in Lyon in the 1930’s and sets out his foundation of a Trinitarian Ontology; the companion second volume, Jules Monchanin’s Interreligious Philosophy: The Encounter of Christian and Hindu Mysticism (1939-1957),outlines how his thought was influenced by dialogue with Hinduism during his time in India. The book will be a key text for scholars studying comparative philosophy of religion, including scholarly material in several appendices: a chronology of Monchanin’s writings; a bibliography of works by and about Monchanin, published and unpublished; a reconstruction of his thinking on time, which he elaborated in letters and fragmentary notes but was unable to complete before his death.
