Actuality of the Discernment of the Signs of the Times of Marie-Dominique Chenu

Abstract

The reading of the “Signs of the Times”, a determining concept in the theology of the second half of the 20th century, guided the renovating path of the Second Vatican Council under the impulse of the magisterium of John XXIII, but it is formally mentioned only once in the final document due to biblical and Christological objections from Catholic and Protestant theologians. In the post-council, this concept allowed the renewal of Latin American and world theology because it created the foundations of an inductive theology. Despite its theological contribution, the concept has been stereotyped, misinterpreted and trivialized.
The objective of the research has been to identify the meaning and scope of the term in Marie-Dominique Chenu, an influential theologian of the Second Vatican Council, who championed the alleged aggiornamento from the reading of the signs of the times. Before the Council, this method allowed him to develop theologies of earthly realities such as the theology of work. From the analysis of various writings by the author, the nature of the signs of the times is identified as a criterion for their discernment in theologies attentive to both the revealed data and the evolution of history, the objections to their use in the conciliar environment are mentioned and the relevance of the use of the term signs of the times by some authors is analyzed when referring to all kinds of changing situations today.
Now that the expression “reading the signs of the times” is the leitmotif of theologians and pastors close to the people, driven by the novelty of Pope Francis and in the line of Gaudium et Spes, it is convenient to review the history of the concept, specify its scope and avoid its indiscriminate use. Chenu continues to be a proven master for such an operation; his attention to history teaches the conscientious function that all embodied theology should promote.