this issue
previous article in this issuenext article in this issue

Document Details :

Title: Edward Schillebeeckx
Subtitle: De laatste twintig jaar
Author(s): SCHOOF, Ted
Journal: Tijdschrift voor Theologie
Volume: 50    Issue: 1   Date: 2010   
Pages: 144-152
DOI: 10.2143/TVT.50.1.3203431

Abstract :
Edward Schillebeeckx lived another twenty years after publishing his third book on Jesus, Mensen als verhaal van God (Church: The Human Story of God, 1990) in 1989. What happened with and around him in those years, is little known but not without surprises. At first, he simply continued studying and writing, often on issues related to his recently published book. In addition, he took part in discussions on the environment and on violence — including from a historical perspective — and he wrote an important study on ‘cracks’ in church tradition. At the same time, the Edward Schillebeeckx Foundation started to work seriously on the dissemination of his work and ideas among scholars and the broader public. As his 80th birthday approached, he published the retrospective collection Theologisch Testament that contained a welcome and valuable summary of his basic convictions alongside autobiographical information. At the same time he announced his desire to rework his early book Christus: Sacrament van de Godsontmoeting from the new perspective he had reached in recent years. His role as cultural theologian came under discussion in a special issue of Tijdschrift voor Theologie and in a symposium organised especially for him. In the meantime, he still published his ‘normal’ studies and his ‘temporarily definitive biography’ appeared, as did the first part of an intellectual biography. After moving to a smaller Dominican community, Schillebeeckx published once again on the potential and perimeters of ‘language’ to touch upon God, giving special attention to ‘imagery’. But there were other studies as well, including a striking article with a foretaste of how he intended to rework his book on the sacraments from the perspective of Ritual Studies and with unremitting attention for the role of contrast experiences. As of 2004, however, his failing health imposed many restrictions so that in the end, he had to entrust the publication of this book and of a planned collection with sixty recent sermons to other hands.

Download article