Eugène Lempert

This article by Eugène Lempert, drawn from a talk given at Oxford in 1963, examines the possibility and conditions of an authentic theology in the face of contemporary atheism. Adopting a reflective and critical approach, the author questions the epistemological foundations of theological discourse, which he considers too often complacent, didactic and impervious to doubt. The central idea is that any honest theology must integrate the apophatic dimension inherited from the Eastern Fathers, notably Gregory Palamas: God remains radically unknowable and cannot be reduced to a system of concepts. The theological contribution of the article lies in the articulation between apophaticism and kenosis: God reveals himself in the humanity of Christ while remaining hidden, which implies that the theologian must renounce all magisterial certainty and accept ambiguity as an irreducible condition of faith.