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In The Dogma of the Immaculate Conception: History and Significance (University of Notre Dame Press, 1958; reissued 2016), thirteen European and American theologians treat the historical development and theological significance of a major Roman Catholic doctrine. Edward Dennis O’Connor, C.S.C., a specialist in mediaeval theology, notes in his preface that the subject of the Virgin Mary's Immaculate Conception was first discussed about the year 1100. The doctrine was defined by Pope Pius IX in 1854 after about seventy-five years of "what was perhaps the most prolonged and passionate debate that has ever been carried on in Catholic theology." The importance of any doctrine, however, "does not lie chiefly in its history, but in its intrinsic significance as truth, and in its rank in the hierarchy of truth, which do not depend on historical contingencies." From this point of view, the Immaculate Conception is of immense importance not only for Mariology but also for the theology of the Redemption and of the Church.
The essays in The Dogma of the Immaculate Conception are broad-ranging studies both of the history of doctrinal development and the major aspects of the doctrine. The volume includes chapters ranging from "Scripture and the Immaculate Conception" to "The Immaculate Conception in Art,” over fifty illustrations, and an exhaustive bibliography of the European literature on the doctrine published from 1830 to 1957.
"This work is done by such well-known scholars as Jouassard, Dvornik, Balie, Sebastian. The last two authors give a fascinating account of how in spite of serious opposition the doctrine gradually came to hold the field. The essay of Laurentin which follows these two articles is particularly fine. Entitled "The Role of the Magisterium in the Development of the Dogma", it shirks none of the difficulties with the documents and disciplinary decisions of the Holy See on the doctrine itself and its related feast, throw up." –Irish Theological Quarterly
Edward Dennis O’Connor, C.S.C., is associate professor emeritus of theology at the University of Notre Dame. He was involved in the charismatic movement and has authored several works about it, including The Pentecostal Movement in the Catholic Church and Marian Apparitions Today: Why So Many?.
Contributors include Monsignor Charles Journet, Monsignor Georges Jouassard, Francis Dvornik, Cornelius A. Bouman, Carlo Balíc, O.F.M., Wenceslaus Sebastian, O.F.M., René Laurentin, Marie-Joseph Nicolas, O.P., Urban Mullaney, O.P., Charles DeKoninck, George Anawati, O.P., Maurice Vloberg, and Edward O’Connor, C.S.C.
Preface
Summary of the Volume
I. Introductory Chapter: Scripture and the Immaculate Conception / Monsignor Charles Journet
Part I. History of the Dogma
II. The Fathers of the Church and the Immaculate Conception / Monsignor Georges Jouassard
III. The Byzantine Church and the Immaculate Conception / Francis Dvornik
IV. The Immaculate Conception in the Liturgy / Cornelius A. Bouman
V. The Mediaeval Controversy over the Immaculate Conception / Carlo Balíc, O.F.M.
VI. The Controversy after Scotus to 1900 / Wenceslaus Sebastian, O.F.M.
VII. The Role of the Papal Magisterium in the Development of the Dogma / Renè Laurentin
Part II. Theology
VIII. The Meaning of the Immaculate Conception / Marie-Joseph Nicolas, O.P.
IX. The Immaculate Conception in God's Plan of Creation and Salvation / Urban Mullaney, O.P.
X. The Immaculate Conception, and the Divine Motherhood, Coredemption and Assumption / Charles DeKoninck
XI. The Immaculate Conception and the Spirituality of the Blessed Virgin / Edward O'Connor, C.S.C.
Part III. Supplementary Studies and Appendices
XII. Islam and the Immaculate Conception / George Anawati, O.P.
XIII. The Immaculate Conception in art / Maurice Vloberg
Notes on the Figures
Documents
I. Protogospel of St. James: Legend of Anne and Joachim
II. Pseudo-Matthew: Legend of Anne and Joachim
III. Liber de nativitate Mariae: Legend of Anne and Joachim
IV. Mediaeval sermon on the Conception of Blessed Mary
V. The Aurora of Peter Riga: Biblical Symbols of the Blessed Virgin
Bibliography
Indices