Conférence donnée par le R.P. Liagre, de la Congrégation du Saint-Espirt, le 2 février 1926, à l'Abbaye Blanche de Mortain, où les Pères du Saint-Esprit ont leur grand Séminaire de Philosophie.

'Sola gratia' is the core of 'spiritual childhood' for Therese of Lisieux (1873--1897) as an existential theology centered on the redemptive work of God. This theological aspect is shared both by Therese's spirituality and by Dietrich Bonhoeffer's (1906--1945) theology. This study offers for the first time a comparison between their thought, mainly with regard to the Lutheran doctrine of justification by faith, analysed through the notion of kenosis and the question of otherness. The first part (chapters 1 to 3) is more philosophical. It deals with Bonhoeffer's theology in its early stage and analyses his debate with Erich Przywara (1889--1972) concerning the 'analogy of being' ('analogia entis'). The second part (chapters 4 and 5) expatiates on the proper basis for the comparison between Bonhoeffer and Therese offered by the notion of kenosis (chapter 4) and by the communicative structure of faith experience (chapter 5). This part is the pivotal one, from the first phase of Bonhoeffer's theology---his discussion with Przywara's philosophical and theological endeavour---to the second and third phases of Bonhoeffer's theology then compared to Therese's spirituality. The third part (chapters 6 to 9) deals with the kenotic structure common to Bonhoeffer and Therese, and basic for a genuine understanding of justification by faith. / Justification by faith is thus the unifying aspect of this study, whose three-parts structure reflects the evolution of Bonhoeffer's theology traditionally divided up in three different periods. This study deepens the way Bonhoeffer understands otherness and the shifted emphasis in his thinking from the subject/object scheme, through otherness as exteriority, and finally to otherness as interiority. / The many cultural and thematic differences between the Roman-Catholic nun and the Lutheran pastor are being taken into account, along with the common elements central to their thinking. The emphasis on the kenotic structure sheds light on questions never asked in theresian studies so far, e.g. the relationship between 'faith' and 'works'. Through the gratuitousness of redemption implied in justification and in sanctification as well, Therese's teaching and Bonhoeffer's theology are on the same line: the freeing of the self does imply the conformation to Christ's kenotic existence. / This study pertains to the following three major concerns: oecumenical (doctrine of justification by faith), philosophical (otherness), and spiritual (authentic self-accomplishment). This study offers a polyphonic analysis pertaining to issues christological (kenosis), theological (grace and freedom), and spiritual (maturity in faith). Thus, it shows how theological discourse can be developed in a new way mainly with regard to the anthropological foundation of spiritual experience and the relevance of it for systematic theology; this cannot be achieved without a more critical use of the philosophical argumentation in theology.

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