Myth and Mystery

By Jean Daniélou, S.J. “It is impossible to say of God what he is.” These words of Saint John Damascene, repeated time and again by St. Thomas Aquinas, are by no means an endorsement of evangelical silence or an excuse for saying nothing about God to mankind. On the contrary, as the life and works of both saints makes evident, it is not only possible but also necessary to speak of God; even if one cannot say what God is, he can proclaim that He is and how He has revealed Himself to man. The question, as Jean Daniélou identifies it, is one of language. How can and should one put these truths into words, to express them in such a way that the path from man to God is illuminated? Myth and Mystery ventures to answer this question by examining both “myth,” all the representations through which men have tried to express their knowledge of God, and “mystery,” the revelation which God has made of Himself in the Old and New Testaments.  Developed from a series of lectures for young people and later published in Henri Daniel-Rops’ Twentieth Century Encyclopedia of Catholicism, Myth and Mystery sifts through mankind’s various encounters with and expressions of God through the ages, to arrive at and affirm the fullness of truth: Christ Jesus. Many have been at pains to set forth the history of what time has brought to fulfilment among us… (The Gospel of Luke) * * * Jean Daniélou, S.J. (1905–1974) was one of the leading theologians of the twentieth century. Renowned for his scholarship in the field of Patristics, he was the author of numerous works, including The Lord of History, Prayer as a Political Problem, and The Advent of Salvation (all available from Cluny). Paperback: 176pp. ISBN: 978-1685954239