The book The Foundation of Christian Hope: An Introduction to Fundamental Theology (Studium Catholicum, 2026) by the Dominican friar Marie-Augustin, who serves in Helsinki, is a significant event in Finnish Catholicism. This 452-page volume offers a comprehensive presentation of Catholic fundamental theology and is suitable for anyone interested in the intellectual reflection of Catholic Christianity.
One hopes that the book will be widely read also among Finnish Catholics. The work of the French-born Brother Marie-Augustin breathes the fresh air of an intellectually alert and culturally cultivated European Catholicism. It also challenges us to reflect on what kind of Catholicism is truly needed in Finland. Brother Marie-Augustin’s excellent and creative command of the Finnish language and culture is remarkable and makes the book genuinely accessible to a Finnish audience.
“Fundamental theology” is admittedly a rather dull name for one of the most fascinating fields of theology. Fundamental theology derives from the biblical exhortation to “always be prepared to make a defence to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you” (1 Pet. 3:15). The hope in question is, of course, the Christian hope given to the world through the death and resurrection of Jesus. From the very beginning, Christians, driven by this hope, have sought dialogue with those who do not yet share it. Since God desires “all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Tim. 2:4), Christians seek dialogue with all people. Any form of inward-looking fundamentalism or sectarian mentality is fundamentally foreign to the ethos of Christianity. Fundamental theology seeks to advance this Christian dialogue of hope especially through intellectual and academic discussion.
Why, then, speak of “fundamental theology”, a term that is all too easily confused with “fundamentalism”, even though fundamental theology is precisely not that? The answer lies in the Latin word fundamentum, meaning “foundation”. When fundamental theology emerged as a modern academic discipline in the nineteenth century, it was thought to provide the foundation upon which the rest of theology could be built. Fundamental theology was to precede faith through reason alone (praeambula fidei) and prepare the way for faith. The conviction was that if the intellectual foundation of faith were strong and stable, faith itself would be able to withstand the challenges of the modern world.
The intellectual upheavals of the twentieth century, however, transformed the self-understanding of fundamental theology. It is no longer credible to think that reason alone can govern human existential choices. Indeed, the very idea of a single, ahistorical reason has become questionable. We have become aware of the stream of history in which we all stand and in which nothing remains unchanged. Globalisation confronts us with a wide variety of religious and spiritual worldviews. In this postmodern situation, no one possesses an unquestionable foundation on which to stand unshaken, at least not if we wish to be honest with ourselves and not flee from reality. Brother Marie-Augustin offers an excellent description of our postmodern age in the opening pages of his book (pp. 18–31).
For quite a long time, the hierarchical leadership of the Catholic Church attempted to resist the reality of global pluralism and to maintain its former position of authority. The great turning point came with the Second Vatican Council in the 1960s. There, through the voice of the bishops, the Church no longer merely condemned the errors of the modern age but courageously entered into historical reality in order to share the joys and hopes, the griefs and anxieties of contemporary humanity, as the Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et spes famously states. The key term of this new form of Catholicism, in the words of Pope John XXIII, is “pastorality”: the desire to be close to people in their many different life situations and to learn to recognise the presence of Christ in them.
Brother Marie-Augustin’s book beautifully reflects such a pastoral approach to theology. When we seek to offer an answer (apologia in Greek) to everyone who asks about the meaning of the Christian faith, the fundamental theological challenge is twofold: on the one hand, we must remain faithful to the apostolic tradition; on the other, this tradition must be made accessible to contemporary people. However orthodox my words may be, they are of no significance if the content of faith does not reach another person. Christian faith is relational by nature; it lives from a relationship with God and neighbour. Brother Marie-Augustin’s phenomenological analysis of faith as a vulnerable openness to the other (pp. 139–146) is, in my view, one of the most important sections of the book, because it makes a genuinely pastoral approach to the Church’s message possible.
Brother Marie-Augustin understands the relationship between faith and reason as an open dialogue about the deepest meaning of human life. Thus, “Christian faith can prove true only when it engages with modern and postmodern conceptions of reason and truth, which requires that Christian faith interpret the present postmodern situation in the light of Scripture and Tradition” (p. 194). The decisive question is whether the holiness of the Church and of the bearers of faith (tradentes) succeeds in convincing those approaching the faith that here a genuine and future-oriented way of life is being offered. We cannot outsource the task of fundamental theology to others. Ultimately, it concerns whether we ourselves live, or fail to live, the Christian faith authentically.
In difficult times such as those we are experiencing now, Christians too may be tempted to retreat into themselves and criticise the wider world from the standpoint of a supposedly “strong” and “unchanging” faith. This temptation may be particularly strong in minority churches, which today includes virtually all churches in Europe. Yet yielding to this temptation would mean betraying the legacy of the Second Vatican Council and its pastoral approach. If, as Christians, we wish to participate in the present transformation of our age, we must have the humility and maturity to continue on the path of conversion and renewal. In the words of John Henry Newman, quoted as the motto of Brother Marie-Augustin’s book, to live is to change, and to be perfect is to have changed often. The book itself is a hopeful sign of a form of Catholicism that possesses genuine potential for the future and the ability to enter into authentic dialogue with Finnish society.
Alpo Penttinen
An Important Foundational Work Asks: What Is Your Faith Based On?
Brother Marie-Augustin Laurent-Huyghues-Beaufond OP, who serves at the Dominican Cultural Centre here in Helsinki, has written an excellent work, well suited as a textbook and perhaps intended as one from the outset: The Foundation of Christian Hope. It is, in its own way, a comprehensive introduction to fundamental theology, that is, to questions at the boundary between faith and unbelief – or, put simply, to the question: “What is your faith based on?”
The book explores answers to this and other questions concerning the fundamental truths of the Christian faith from a variety of perspectives. At the same time, it emphasises both the faith and doctrine of the Church as truths to be embraced and the experiential dimension of God and the divine within the human soul and inner life.
Traditionally, in European thought rooted in the philosophy of the medieval theologian Thomas Aquinas, fundamental theology has been understood as dealing with the relationship between faith and reason, as well as between revelation and nature. In brief: sicut natura praeambula est ad gratiam – nature precedes grace. The book also contains illustrations and tables that help to clarify the subject matter.
It is wonderful that such a work has become available in our own mother tongue, Finnish, and that, as far as I understand, it was largely written in Finnish, even though the author is not Finnish by birth. This excellent volume also contributes to the development of a still incomplete Finnish Catholic terminology and strengthens what already exists. This alone is a significant achievement.
The book is based on lecture materials, which can occasionally be noticed while reading it. There is some repetition in the treatment of certain topics, but in my opinion this is a positive feature. At least for a layperson interested in theology, a little repetition is never a bad thing.
The philosophical concepts presented in the book are also easy to grasp: epistemology, hermeneutics, apologetics, and many others. In addition, the volume offers a comprehensive presentation of Church history and the various currents that have shaped it.
I warmly recommend this work to everyone who enjoys reading and is interested in the subject. As a foundational text, it is likely to be of particular importance, for example, in the formation programme for deacons in our diocese.
Pilvi Listo-Tervaportti