Marie-Dominique Chenu was a key figure in the re-vitalization of theology and renewal of the Church that culminated in the Second Vatican Council. He successfully combined a return to the medieval sources of theological reflection with a new sensitivity to the contemporary circumstances of the Church while grounding the theological enterprise in the contemplative experience.

Relying on both Chenu's previously unpublished materials and his many publications, Christophe Potworowski examines the role of faith and contemplation in the Dominican life and in theology as well as considering the historical and social dimensions of the human situation in terms of individual and ecclesial existence. He discusses the prophetic role of the theologian and some of the problems this involves.

Potworowski raises the question of how incarnation as an overall structure is related to the particularities of Christology and provides insights into the development of Catholic theology in the crucial period leading to Vatican II. The accompanying bibliography of Chenu's complete writings, unavailable elsewhere, is a valuable instrument of theological research.