The principles of the “new theology” in the works of cardinal Yves Congar

The aim of the article is to demonstrate how the principles of the “new theology” are reflected in the works of the French theologian Dominican Yves Congar (1904-1995). The four fundamental principles are presented: the connection of theology with history, applying to sources, the synthesis of positive and speculative theologies, applying to Thomas Aquinas. It is demonstrated that the principles are realized for the renovation of the ecclesiastic preaching in accordance with the new requirements of the modern time through applying to the Christian tradition. The tradition for Yves Congar is a living attendance of the past in the present, aspired to the future. Applying to the tradition for him is a creative approach, a reconsideration of the centuries-old heritage and a permanent search for the Truth which he tries to find in the Holy Scripture, in the works of the Fathers of the Church, in the Divine Liturgy, in the exemplary lives of Christians and in the works of Thomas Aquinas. This creative approach permitted Congar on the one hand to find the answers to the questions of modernity (particularly in the domain of ecumenism and ecclesiology), and on the other hand to see the integral image of theology: due to this approach he was able to make synthesis of such domains as ecclesiology, pneumatology, and anthropology. The relevance of Yves Congar’s theology in modern conditions lies in fact that it points to the pluralism of the Christian tradition that is able to inspire for the reconsideration of the past and the present. Basing on the tradition and reconsidering it in the relation to the modernity, he was able to form his own theology.