| Saturation and Sacrament: Sacramental Revelation and the Philosophy of Jean-Luc Marion Cory Dixon, Ph.D. Dominic Serra, S.L.D. In the theology of revelation, a dichotomy can be found between two trends: an immanence trend, which sees God's presence disclosed throughout the world, and a transcendence trend, which insists that God must break into the world in a radically distinct manner. A strong theology of revelation would reconcile these two trends, demonstrating how God's radical alterity may be displayed through the ordinary physical media of the world. This dissertation proposes that using the phenomenology of Jean-Luc Marion, particularly the related concepts of givenness and the saturated phenomenon, as a philosophical foundation for sacramental theology allows for an understanding of sacraments that recognizes them as a means for just such an understanding of God's self-disclosure.;After highlighting the problem, this dissertation covers basic issues of sacramental theology and the theology of revelation in order to propose the notion of sacramental revelation. It then gives an overview of Marion's phenomenology, introducing the concepts of givenness and the saturated phenomenon. Drawing in some related authors, it then shows how Marion's thought develops the ideas of haecceitas and excess and how the application of Marion's phenomenology to the sacraments allows for the sacraments to be understood as offering an unexpected experience of a limitless God. Finally, it explores some of the consequences of this contribution to sacramental theology in its relationship to the liturgical experiences of the faithful, addresses possible critiques of the argument, and notes further areas for study.;By drawing upon concepts extracted from Marion's philosophy, this dissertation shows not just how the otherness of God can be mediated by the mundane world, but how this same mundane world is available for worshippers to provide an embodied response to God's incarnated self-disclosure. Highlighting God's initiative in the sacraments, it proposes the entire world as potentially sacramental. It then draws out implications for ecclesiology (promoting lay involvement in the Church's mission), for liturgical architecture (encouraging lay liturgical engagement), and for ecology (humanity's role as priests of creation). |
