|
|
Article: Supernaturalism
- Article from:
- Encyclopedia of Science and Religion
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2003 The Gale Group Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
|
Supernaturalism
The meaning and the history of the word
supernatural
depends entirely upon the order that it seems to supersede: the natural. The French Jesuit theologian Henri de Lubac (1896
–
1991), in his erudite and controversial book
Surnatural
(1946), provides a significant history of the transmission of the word. He informs us that it was only in the ninth century, with Carolingian translations of Pseudo-Dionysius (c. fifth century c.e.) and John Scotus Eriugena (c. 810
–
877), that the Latin word
supernaturalis
entered theology. Even then its usage was rare until the middle of the thirteenth century, and it did not come into standard use until after the Council of ...