Jesus’ Resurrection and Catholic Apologetics

Abstract

This chapter explores the importance of theologically defending the historicity of Jesus’ Resurrection. Specifically, it engages the work of Joseph Fenton, Pierre Rousselot, and Bernard Lonergan. Lonergan’s philosophical theology gives room for natural reason’s work of understanding and judging, and thus for an apologetics rooted in natural reason rather than in supernatural faith. Lonergan does this while appreciating the great significance of what he calls “the eye of love.” The chapter also credits Lonergan for defending the quest to know the concrete historical particulars in all their messy particularity. At the same time, Lonergan’s appreciation for historical particulars does not guide his own theological apologetics, which focuses instead on the universal dynamism of human nature toward maximal self-transcendence. Therefore, the chapter argues that Lonergan’s approach to theological apologetics could learn from Fenton’s insistence upon explicitly defending the historicity of Jesus’ Resurrection.