Mysticism, politics and inter-religious dialogue in the theology of Claude Geffre

In this study the author gives an outline of the theology of the French Dominican theologian Claude Geffre. In his theological research, which has lasted more than forty years, Geffre has developed many aspects of the theme of dialogue: dialogue between faith and modern reason, between faith and human experience, between Christian faith and other religions. The article investigates the roots of Geffre's theology, which intends dialogue as an essential issue of Christian faith. The relationship between Geffre and the Saulchoir school is especially stressed, particularly with M.-D. Chenu and his conception of the theology of the 'signs of times'. Geffre, who began his 'profession' as a theologian studying and teaching the works of Aquinas, departed from the metaphysical tradition in theology and developed a hermeneutical approach. However, he has always dealt with the question of truth. The hermeneutical theology of Geffre tends to propose a perspective of dialogue between faith and modern reason and is very sensitive to the political dimension of faith. In the new cultural context of the pluralism of religions Geffre has devoted many studies to the question of inter-religious dialogue: he sees in this field the most important challenge for Christian theology in the future. He proposes to arrive at a form of 'inter-religious theology' and to find a way to overcome the separation between the mystical and the political dimension in theology through inter-religious dialogue. His research has in view a spirituality of the 'truly human'.