New York: Oxford University Press, 2003.
Book Review by JOHN O'GORMAN
Growing up Catholic in Australia in the 1950s I was fortunately spared much of the sectarianism that plagued an earlier generation. Yes, we were taunted by State school pupils for our knees, dirty from praying, and, when we got older, by private school students for not being able to pronounce our aitches, but the jibes were largely ceremonial and were willingly reciprocated. Earlier generations had a harder time of it: an Irish name in some quarters was akin to a physical disability, and departments of the Public Service were either enclaves or no-go areas for Catholics. A little religious tolerance and a good deal of religious indifference, coupled with a workable solution to the issue of government funding for Catholic schools, led to a reasonable consensus in Australia that politicians or prelates would now unpick at their peril. Not so in the USA, to judge from this book by Philip Jenkins, a former Catholic who now claims an Episcopalian affiliation and as such sees himself as without an axe to grind.
Jenkins’ thesis is that anti-Catholicism is alive and well in contemporary American society, just as it has been since the foundation of the country. It is new inasmuch as it is based in left wing politics whereas formerly it was an expression of extreme right wing thinking. It is the product, he argues, of an alliance of gays and feminists, aided and abetted by anti-clerical sentiment within the Catholic community itself. It is expressed in the media, print, film, and television, often in a form so strident that it would, if directed against any minority group in the society, be considered racial, ethnic, or religious vilification, actionable under anti-discriminatory legislation. Moreover, Jenkins maintains, it is likely to continue, despite any accommodations the Church might seek to make with the Left (an increasing unlikely possibility), and may in fact intensify over issues to do with gay marriage and adoption, the secrecy of the confessional, and the rise of the Latino population in the USA.
Although citizens of the USA constitute less than one percent of the world’s Catholics, the hegemony of American culture, in the English speaking world at least, means that Catholics outside the USA would do well to examine the substance of Jenkins’ thesis and its implications. Jenkins is a writer rather than a social scientist and his approach is literary. That is, he gathers examples that lead to his conclusions rather than tests hypotheses. He does, however, in plying this inductive approach, form his arguments carefully. He attempts to be objective and even-handed but there is, from time to time, something of the style of the apologist, which, for me, detracts somewhat from the work. He assaults the myths on which the old and the new anti-Catholicism were and are based. Although he dispatches several of them, there is less of the humility about our past than counselled by John XXIII and Vatican II. For example, for Jenkins the Inquisition was not so bad to judge from the body count, and the Crusaders were only playing catch-up. We are not called to judge our fellows, past or present, but we need to honestly acknowledge when a Catholic community fails to be the sign of faith that it is called to be, even though that might give our detractors ammunition.
The book begins with an introductory chapter to set the argument and then moves to an historical review of anti-Catholicism in the USA. This is by way of background to the development of the ‘new’ anti-Catholicism. Jenkins describes how the early alliance of left liberal politics with Catholicism based on similar approaches to labour issues was shattered with the liberation movements of the 1960s. Even the social activism of the Kennedys, particularly Bobby, or the aggiornamento of the Second Vatican Council could not prevent the Left turning on the Church for its stand on women and homosexuals. Jenkins reviews this recent history in detail, recording an increasing bitterness and extremism in the attack. He argues that dissatisfaction among the faithful over the Church’s uncompromising stand on a number of issues to do with gender and relationships, sparked by the denunciation of contraception in Humanae Vitae, provided a corps of fellow-travellers complicit by their silence in attacks on the Church. With the demonstration of sexual abuse of children by Roman Catholic clergy in the 1990s, Jenkins argues, the case for the intelligentsia was complete: the Catholic Church is obscurantist and intolerant, repressive and controlling, hypocritical and downright corrupt. What flows from this, according to Jenkins, is a warrant for attack on the Church without limit.
One example he gives of this show-no-quarter approach is the treatment of Catholic protest against art that is sacrilegious, such as Ofili’s depiction of the Virgin Mary covered in dung and cuttings from pornographic magazines or Serrano’s image of Christ submerged in urine. Expressions of this sort are deeply hurtful and offensive to many members of the Catholic community and might be expected to draw reasonable protest. But such protest, when it inevitably comes, is treated as a dangerous attack on freedom of expression that must be dismissed or ridiculed in the interests of maintaining an open society. Jenkins argues that emotional upset of the sort experienced by Catholics, if engendered by work targeting the beliefs of other groups in the society, would be prima facie evidence of prejudice and treated sympathetically by the media. Why not when it is directed at Catholic beliefs? Is it that prejudice against Catholics is acceptable, as Jenkins puts it, the last acceptable prejudice?
Jenkins is careful to recognize that in a free society the limits for comment and expression are set deliberately wide and that as a consequence some members of society or groups within it are liable to take offence when, from time to time, particular comment is made. This is a price that needs to be paid for freedom. But he asks, doesn’t such freedom cut both ways? Are not the rights of those who protest in lawful ways when they are offended of equal importance in a free society to those who make the offensive comment in the first place? There is a bias, he maintains, and it arises from the perception of the Church as an ‘evil empire’ to be opposed at all cost. The sexual abuse crisis in the Church in the USA in the late 1990s and early 2000s is seen to provide further evidence for this position.
Jenkins tries to show that the media deliberately sensationalised the issue by using headlines such as ‘paedophile priests’ and implied that the problem was more widespread than a sober reading of available statistics indicates. For example, not all instances of sexual abuse that came to light were instances of paedophilia, because not all involved children. Estimates based on the best available data put the incidence of clerical abuse at 2%, substantially lower than the impression created of wholesale corruption of the priestly office. Jenkins points are valid, but they do not address the failure of risk management by the hierarchy that led to many children being abused by the same priests over long periods of time. In their defence, it can be claimed that bishops were concerned not to scandalise the laity, that they had a commendable faith in the capacity of individuals to rehabilitate themselves, that their ignorance of the prevalence and dynamics of childhood sexual abuse was on a par with that of the general community of the time. But any large corporation in which risk management fails on such a serious matter and on such a widespread scale can expect to pay a huge price and receive little mercy. The time is not yet right for a dispassionate analysis of the problem, so recent is the hurt, the sense of betrayal, and the outrage. When it does come, Jenkins points will be important, but for the present it would be better to accept that the triumphalism expressed by some in the Church in the not so distant past and the rush to judgement on issues of sexual mores are now reaping the whirlwind.
In a society where the unofficial State religion is secularism, those who advise people on how to live their lives based on the love of a personal God and who seek to evangelise in the name of Jesus Christ will be out of step with or, worse yet, an affront to that society. Catholics can expect their beliefs and practices to be questioned and on occasion ridiculed. In some cases, they can expect those practices to be the target of legislation, for example the secrecy of the confessional, which is increasingly seen by some as a haven for criminal offenders. Catholics have the right to challenge when this occurs, although Jenkins suggests that some forms of challenge may be counterproductive. That is a matter of tactics, and as a general rule the best defence of one’s rights in a free society is the exercise of them. Catholics need to have the confidence as members of a pluralist society to assert their beliefs and values and defend their position when attacked, and of course to extend the same right to all other members of a pluralist society. To the extent that Jenkins’ book helps build that confidence then it is to the good. The danger, for me, is that in collecting instance of anti-Catholic behaviour and expression and cases of individual bigotry into a pervasive underlying prejudice of anti-Catholicism Jenkins may be fashioning an enemy rather than finding one.
CAMILLA J. KARI , PUBLIC WITNESS: THE PASTORAL LETTERS OF THE AMERICAN CATHOLIC BISHOPS
Liturgical Press: Collegeville. Minnesota 2004. 202 pp. + xxi.
Book Review by JOHN O'GORMAN
This book will appeal to those interested in the way the Church exerts moral suasion in a secular world. As its title implies, it is concerned with the pastoral letters of the Bishops of the United States, from their first in 1792, up to those issued towards the end of the 20th century. Most attention is paid to the pastoral on nuclear weapons issued in 1983 (The Challenge of Peace), the one on economics issued in 1986 (Economic Justice for All: Catholic Social Teaching and the US Economy), and one that did not see the light of day, ‘the pastoral that wasn't, on the role of women in the Church. The author argues that these three can be seen as end points in a trajectory that began with the earliest of the pastorals. It is moot whether she establishes this argument, but there is much of interest notwithstanding.
Two early chapters cover the pastorals in the 19th and early 20th centuries, which leaves the bulk of the book to cover in greater detail the two pastorals that were and the one that wasn't. There is, as well, a chapter that places the work in the context of other scholarly writing on the Bishops' pastorals and one that attempts to draw the threads together at the end. The work is well-written, refreshingly free of the post-modern fashion for obfuscation, with copious footnotes that do not detract from readability. One carping criticism: I would have liked an index.
Kari sees the early pastorals as a way for the Bishops to bring their scattered flock to identify with the Church and to remember its teachings in a physically and socially hostile environment. Enmity to Catholics was carried across the Atlantic in the baggage of many of the early American settlers and there was a view abroad at that time that members of this Church were ‘Papists', to be feared or loathed or both. With the vastness of the country and the few clergy available for the task, keeping Catholics Catholic was the primary mission. This was followed in time by the need to convince Catholics, and those of other religious affiliations, that Catholics could be American as well as Catholic, that they too could be patriots. The audience widens as the Bishops gain greater confidence that they have a flock to lead.
The letters of the 19th century do not have the authority of ‘the civic voice' that was to develop and do not address major issues of the time. There was, for example, no pastoral condemning slavery, partly because, according to Kari, there was a concern not to offend the wealthy in society who had slaves. Nor was there any support towards the end of the century for universal suffrage. The Bishops were not yet ready to ‘take on the big end of town'. This changes in the 20th century but not before a period of silence, ushered in by conflict with Rome. ‘Americanism' was seen by the Vatican as a heresy akin to Modernism, which was crystallised and then cauterised by Leo XIII. Catholic social teaching developed considerably in the 20th century and not necessarily in the fertile soil of the USA, but with Roosevelt's New Deal there begins an era of the episcopate engaging with social issues and, of course, of controversy within and without the Church about that.
For the pastoral letters Kari analyses in detail, the Bishops, contrary to previous practice, did not simply write and issue the letters, but undertook a public deliberative process. Expert non-theological commentary was sought, an inductive rather than deductive form of rhetoric was employed, statements were drafted and circulated for comment, and then amended. The process was time consuming and exposed the statements to challenge but, at least in the case of the first two of the three considered, led to statements that had wide support beyond their Catholic audiences and that proved difficult to controvert by sectional interests offended by their contents. The Church in America was seen to be leading debate on important social issues by making statements that could not be dismissed as ‘unworldly'.
There were critics aplenty and the Vatican could be counted in their number, because of concerns that statements in the USA might have adverse impact on the Church in other parts of the world. Europeans, without first hand exposure to the way of politics in the USA, were concerned about the challenge to authority involved in publicly seeking opinion on an issue before making a statement.
The pastoral letters on economics and nuclear weapons extended the Church's social teaching by serving to wrestle with new issues. How for example does just-war theory contend with the stock-piling of nuclear weapons? Is it right to seek one's protection by building fear in another? The Bishops pulled back from an unequivocal “No” to the latter question. Kari is clearly sympathetic to the Bishops in her summary judgement that the first two pastorals of this ‘progressive activist' period brought great credit to the Bishops and the Church, irrespective of the concerns of some Catholics who saw the statements as politicising it. The pastoral that never was shows, however, the limits of this democratic process. Although witnesses were called, drafts prepared, time taken, and compromises tried, a statement that could achieve even some limited consensus was not to be found. The topic of the role of women within the Church was one that seemed to increase division rather than reduce it, the more discussion continued.
Although this book is about the pastorals of the Bishops of one country, it raises issues of broad interest. What is the teaching role of Bishops, given that the pace of political change around the world varies from place to place? If no attention is to be paid to the pace of change locally, are some of us to be locked in a time warp, while others are catapulted into a future for which they are not ready? How does this relate to the principle of universalism central to Catholicity? What is the right balance between the teaching authority of the Bishops of a country and the voice of Rome, an unresolved issue in theory if not in practice?
Kari's book shows the way the Church can be shaped by the political climate in which it exists while it seeks to shape that climate. The history of the USA is the history of many things but it includes the development of a sophisticated political consciousness that values an open and pluralist society. To be taken seriously in such a society, to begin to shape it, the Church must respect the sophistication, the openness, and the pluralism, and model these in its deliberative processes. To some this may seem a ‘sell-out' of the magisterium, to others simply a reading of the signs of the times.
Professor John O'Gorman, Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Quality and Outreach) McAuley at Banyo, Australian Catholic University Limited
Email: J.O'Gorman@acu.edu.au
MICHAEL L. PAPESH. CLERICAL CULTURE: CONTRADICTION AND TRANSFORMATION:
THE CULTURE OF THE DIOCESAN PRIESTS OF THE UNITED STATES CATHOLIC CHURCH
Collegeville, Minnesota: Liturgical Press. 2004. 194 pages. ISBN 0-8146-3001-4
Book Review by DAVID PASCOE
The impetus for Michael Papesh's work is the clergy sexual abuse scandal as it emerged into public awareness in the United States in 2002. The context that it addresses is the “clerical culture” which is the “accomplice in the sexual misconduct scandal. It is the context of all other causes, and it nurtures and nourishes them (9).” In this context clerical culture is defined as “the constellation of relationships and the universe of ideas and material reality in which diocesan priests and bishops exercise their ministry and spend their lives (17).” Papesh's sets out to elaborate the history and content of this culture by asking, what it is and how it works, so as to offer a critique with a view of bringing about transformation of this culture. He states:
The purpose of this book is to expose the clerical culture and some of its contradictions to the light of day and then point to some realistic ways in which ordained and lay people together might transform it (18).
The book achieves its purpose in a thorough and insightful way.
The work is in three parts. The first part is historical and theological. It presents a necessarily brief history of the development of ordained ministry, focused on the presbyterate and concludes with the theological underpinnings of this development. However, this description is well researched and captures the major threads and changes of how the presbyterate emerged and developed its particular ecclesial culture to the present. The second part is also descriptive, of the present clerical culture in the United States, and presents a critique of this culture in the form of eleven contradictions under the headings: “Priestly Formation,” “Priest Accountability,” “A Priest's Personal Support System,” and “Living a Contradictory Life.” Papesh responds particularly well in this part to one of the book's primary goals: to describe the clerical culture so that it may be better understood by laity and clergy alike so that where it is seen to contradict the gospel it might be open for transformation where necessary.
Part three presents a “spiritual way” forward for the presbyterate in response to the contradictions offered and in terms of the type of leadership that the priesthood is called to live in the church: that is, leadership in holiness, love and justice. Insightful in these three chapters is Papesh's use of the term “tender” in regard to these characteristics of leadership. Papesh notes that Donald Cozzens used the term for priests as tenders of the Word in The Changing Face of Priesthood, and continues in this line in regard to leadership in holiness. He then goes on and looks to priests as leaders in love through their wisdom of tenderness, which is particularly related to the priest's ability to love and be loved (151). This is developed in regard to four elements of sexual wholeness: healthy sexual self-awareness, healthy sexual attitudes, healthy relationships in general, and healthy relationships among priests (152). Leadership in justice is informed by a positive notion of the priest as leader in the administration of the church's life: priests as tenders of the church's mission over against a individuals “self-absorption;” of the Holy Spirit's gifts asking always “What does God want of us?; of the Light, which involves transparency in decision making, communication, and processes of evaluation; of celibate commitment, “a kind of stewardship, through which the priest offers the gift of himself;” and of their own way of life in regard to the just use of material goods and money.
These characteristics of the way of spiritual presbyteral leadership in the church are opened from a theology of hope (119) that reflects well the tenor of the whole work and some of Papesh's opening remarks that he is not engaged in an “angry rant” (10), rather a transformation of what needs to change in the light of the gospel. The work concludes in this tenor of hope that transformation is not simply necessary but possible when “we all as Church, lay and ordained together, grow in love and mission, alive with God (173).
Rev. Dr David Pascoe, St Paul's Theological College
d.pascoe@st-pauls.qld.edu.au
STEPHEN B. BEVANS & ROGER P. SCHROEDER. CONSTANTS IN CONTEXT: A THEOLOGY OF MISSION FOR TODAY
Maryknoll NY: Orbis Books, 2004. ISBN: 1-57075-517-5 (pbk)
Book Review by GERARD HALL SM
Constants in Context is a timely, scholarly work whose self-declared, ambitious aim is to provide "a contemporary theology of mission in light of the faithful but always contextual growth of the Christian movement" (p.xvi). It takes its place alongside David Bosch's monumental study, Transforming Mission: Paradigm Shifts in Theology of Mission (Maryknoll NY: Orbis, 1991), which Constants in Context duly acknowledges and in many ways complements. Both works deserve pride of place in any missiological course and other theology studies which seek to illuminate Christian faith today from biblical, historical and ecumenical perspectives.
Constants in Context is divided into three major sections: (I) Biblical and Theological Foundations; (II) Historical Models of Mission; (III) a Theology of Mission for Today.
Part I begins with biblical data in the Books of Acts which the authors divide into seven missionary stages starting with the time before Pentecost and ending with explicit mission to the Gentiles. Mission is not something that emanates from an established church; rather, mission is prior to Church, representing the early Christian movement's response to constantly changing contexts. "To be church is to be in mission". This, according to the authors, is the ongoing motif that characterizes Christian history. It forms the basic sub-text and theological argument of the book.
Theological foundations are introduced in the form of six constants and three theology types. The six constants are best understood as questions to which there are diverse responses according to changing contexts and theological paradigms: (1) Who is Jesus Christ? (2) What is the church? (3) How do we approach the eschatological future? (4) What is the meaning of salvation? (5) How is the human person understood? (6) What is the role of culture? Relying on the work of Justo González (who also provides the book's Foreword), theological typologies are identified with Tertullian (Carthage, law, Roman culture), Origen (Alexandria, truth, Hellenistic culture) and Irenaeus (Antioch, history, near-Eastern culture) respectively. The categories and typologies provide the systematic framework for describing and organising the church's diverse missionary strategies.
Part II provides six historical snapshots of missionary endeavour arranged chronologically: early church (100-301); monastic movement (313-907); mendicant movement (1000-1453); age of discovery (1492-1773); age of progress (1792-1914); twentieth century (1919-1991). For the historical non-specialist (especially those from the West), there is a wealth of little-known information on missionary approaches, especially in Africa and the East (such as Ethiopia, Syria, Asian Minor, India, Egypt, Persia, China, Japan, Korea and Russia) that makes engaging reading. Each chapter gives attention to the role of laity and especially women in mission. Socio-political, religious and institutional contexts of time and culture are provided. The approach is intentionally ecumenical so that we are presented with missionary strategies of Arians and Nestorians, Benguines and Jesuits, Reformists and Orthodox, Evangelicals and Pentecostals, to name examples from different epochs.
There is a methodical attempt to describe various missionary strategies in each epoch according to the constants and typologies outlined above. Most intriguing in this regard is use of theological types (A = Tertullian; B = Origen; C = Irenaeus). In missionary terms, Type A is concerned with saving souls and extending the church, Type B focuses on the discovery of truth, and Type C highlights commitment to liberation and transformation. Each historical epoch may emphasize one typology over another but, in the mind of the authors, there are examples of all types in all epochs.
For example, in the second and third centuries there is: mission in the Latin-speaking Roman world with its emphasis on law and order (Type A); mission in the Greek-speaking Hellenistic world with its search for truth and cultural adaptation (Type B); and mission in the Syriac-speaking near-Eastern world with its more radical openness to historical diversity (Type C). These patterns are repeated throughout missionary history influencing the manner in which Christology, ecclesiology, eschatology, salvation, anthropology and culture are understood. In the main, western Christianity following Augustine adopts the first model, Orthodox-Byzantine Christianity follows the second, whereas the third type is embodied in prophetic figures (e.g. Francis of Assisi, Luther, Wesley, Teilhard de Chardin and liberation theologians) who emerge in different times, cultures and situations.
The reader will inevitably have questions to bring to the use of González' theology types. One wonders, for example, of a hypothetical conversation among Francis of Assisi, Karl Barth and Gustaf Gutiérrez (all depicted in Type C). To what extent is Aquinas or even Augustine more associated with Type A's emphasis on law and order (according to CC) rather than Type B's celebration of truth wherever it may be found? The authors are well aware of the problem of over-reliance on typologies which they often resolve through combining types to describe complex missionary realities. For example, in the chapter on the age of discovery (1492-1773), Roman Catholic missionary work in Asia is both tabula rasa (Type A) and accommodational (Type B); Protestant missionary work in the Americas and elsewhere is focussed on both law (Type A) and history (Type C). As all good authors realise, typologies are at best an aid to understanding when they are not taken as absolute.
Part III is the book's attempt to fulfill the requirements of its sub-title: A Theology of Mission for Today. Relying mainly on twentieth century documents from Roman Catholic, Orthodox, Reform, Evangelical and Pentecostal churches, the authors outline a preferred model of mission as “prophetic dialogue”. This model integrates insights of the major Christian traditions including more recent biblical emphases on Missio Dei and reign of God. The prophetic dialogue model also takes up the challenge of reflecting on what it means to proclaim the Universal Lordship of Jesus Christ in a pluralistic world with its new sensitivity towards the religious ‘other'. The model has various foci: witness; proclamation; liturgy; prayer and contemplation; justice; peace; integrity of creation; reconciliation. These are each discussed in some detail.
The basic thesis of the book is reiterated in Part III and in the concluding reflections: Christianity has been radically contextual since its very beginnings. With the collapse of colonialism, Christian mission had to some degree lost its nerve. In face of the new challenges of globalism, and with the gravity of Christianity fast moving from the North to the South, the prophetic dialogue model provides the best hope of responding to the church's missionary calling. We recall that “to be church is to be in mission”. Moreover, the authors provide evidence for the “missionary rebirth at the end of the twentieth century”, a rebirth that is strongest among Pentecostal and Evangelical churches.
The proposed prophetic dialogue model of mission wishes to be a synthesis of all three theological typologies. Presumably, as in the past, different Christian groups and denominations will emphasise diverse aspects. The authors do not presume to judge the adequacy of one type over another since “all three approaches are valid”. In historical terms they do admit that, in particular contexts, some missionary strategies show greater or lesser fidelity to the Gospel and/or to the church's missionary effectiveness. Still, the systematic theologian may be inclined to suggest there is room for more historical and theological critique of various strategies than the authors are sometimes inclined to employ.
Constants in Context is a work of historical and theological scholarship which provides many thought-provoking ideas in regard to how the Church should see and practice its missionary vocation in the twenty-first century. Its readability is aided by the use of Maps and Tables that clarify matters of historical, geographical and theological complexity. There is also a helpful Index. This work will stand the test of time.
Dr. Gerard Hall is the Head of the School of Theology, McAuley Campus, Australian Catholic University
JAMES T. BRETZKE. A MORALLY COMPLEX WORLD: ENGAGING CONTEMPORARY MORAL THEOLOGY
(Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2004. 248 pages. US $26.95.
Book Review by TOM RYAN
This book is built on two questions and two affirmations. As Christians who celebrate the Gospel of life, how should we lead our moral lives on a daily basis? What signposts and methods guide us along that path especially in complex moral issues? Behind these two questions are two affirmations. Firstly, the key to Christian moral living is discipleship with Jesus. Secondly, a central element in the Church's Tradition of moral teaching is that ‘if we honestly try to seek God and respond to God in our lives, then we shall grow in goodness' (2).
With these as his markers, Bretzke guides us through seven stages in his book. He outlines in the first chapter the various understandings of Moral Theology, its contrasting paradigms (i.e., physicalist vs personalist) in order to present a moral methodology around four intersecting sources for Moral Theology – sacred texts, the normatively human, human experience, the tradition of the community.
Bretzke's discussion of the interplay of faith and reason is emblematic of a discipline enriched by inter-confessional sources, e.g., James Gustafson's work on what is used, ignored, rejected, re-interpreted, or decisive in the use of the four sources. Further, Bretzke highlight's Gustafson's treatment of the role of a basic stance or organizing concept that shapes our perspective and judgments.
On this foundation, Bretzke leads us in Chapters 2 - 7 through the areas and questions one would expect in such a book on fundamental moral theology: natural law and moral norms; the Bible and ethics; the sanctuary of conscience where the four sources intersect, the modes of moral decisions (various criteria for judgment) in relation to one concrete moral issue (abortion). The book closes with an extended treatment of casuistry with a human face as applied to one issue and closes with a brief account of sin and failure.
In many ways, this book harnesses a standard approach to contemporary Moral Theology with the insights from a developing discipline over the past two decades. What is striking (and commendable) is the way the author interweaves the conceptual with the pastoral, the practical and the uniquely Christian. There is a constant interplay of Gospel ideas, moral theory, the authors' own experience and the complex realities of people's lives. There is also a sense of respect for the other and the sanctuary of personal conscience that threads its way throughout this book. This is reflected in the way Bretzke, in his case studies, consistently refrains from offering expertise in a paternalistic form or of imposing (his) closure to the process of moral decision – making he presents in detail in the book.
This is a work that has been honed and tested with students and the wider Christian community. Its thought and language are very clear and accessible. For instance, it would be hard to improve on his treatment of natural law and moral norms, the sanctuary of conscience and his casuistry with a human face. The book's index is enhanced by a comprehensive (and commendable) glossary of terms.
I only have one hesitation, one that could be true in general of foundational texts in Moral Theology. Jesus Christ is acknowledged by Bretzke as the definitive revelation and benchmark of the Christian moral life. The implications of this are developed in various ways throughout the text. But there is no explanation or elaboration, right at the start, of the Trinitarian origins of the Christian life and the offer of God's love that forms its foundation.
James Keenan SJ makes this point in his recent Moral Wisdom: Lessons and Texts from the Catholic Tradition . Why begin with freedom or moral methodology? Why don't we ground the basics of Moral Theology in God's love? A shared life with God and the transforming effects of grace are the factors that make ‘Moral Theology' distinctively theological and essentially Christian. Consequently, one can better appreciate, for instance, that the Holy Spirit is present from the very start of the Christian life and is guiding individuals (and the Christian community) in their moral discernment through the gifts, especially that of Wisdom.
With this caveat, this is a very helpful book for someone teaching in the field or as a foundational text for students.
Tom Ryan is a Marist priest who is an Adjunct Lecturer at the Australian Catholic University and a Visiting Fellow at Griffith University, Brisbane.
tomryan@starwon.com.au
BOOK NOTICE
GERALD GLEESON, FROM ETHICS TO SPIRITUALITY
Catholic Social Justice Series, no. 49, North Sydney: Australian Catholic Social Justice Council, 2004, pp. 33.
This little book is a remarkable distillation of key issues related to Catholic moral life. The author lectures at the Catholic Institute of Sydney, researches at the Plunket Centre of St Vincents Hospital, and serves as the parish priest of Summer Hill – some indication of the experience he brings to the present task. Long used to meticulous examination of particular issues of bioethics, GG here works on a larger canvas. It is framed by the prophet Micah's words regarding what God asks of us: “to act justly, to love tenderly and to walk humbly with your God”.
It would take more than this brief notice to suggest the content of each of these divisions. Suffice it to say that it is unlikely that we could find a more generally accessible and succinct treatment of such matters as intrinsic morality and the divine will, virtues and conscience, wisdom and true humility. Morality and spirituality interweave at every point.
An ideal book for discussion at all levels – and even for theology students and their teachers interested in writing with precision and inspiration on all-important matters.
Anthony J Kelly CSsR
BOOK NOTICE
GERARD MOORE, SM, WHY THE MASS MATTERS. A GUIDE TO PRAYING THE MASS
Strathfield: St Paul's Publications, 2004, pp. 92.
GERARD MOORE, SM, THE BEATITUDES AND SOCIAL JUSTICE
Catholic Social Justice Series, no. 52. North Sydney: Australian Social Justice Council, 2004, pp. 28.
These two small works by the eminent Marist liturgist at the Catholic Institute of Sydney are a good indication of the catholicity of his liturgical vision.
The first, Why the Mass Matters, is exactly what it sets out to be, a practical guide for those who wish to participate more meaningfully in the eucharistic celebration. With a sure pastoral touch, the GM takes us through the various parts of the Mass and explains their significance in relation to the whole.
He is particularly helpful, not only in citing recent Church documents, but in bringing out the scriptural basis of the liturgy. The reader will also profit from author's frequent citing of examples from the early history of the Church and its practices. Our rather undemonstrative modern style is challenged by the encouragement of the great Origen, to lift up hands and eyes in the liturgical celebration.
The book ends with a brief historical overview, and there is a glossary attached to explain the more unusual terms of references. It is hard to imagine anyone not profiting from this book. It would be ideal for adult education discussion and a basic reference in any religious education program. In style and content, it is accessible to a wide range of readers; and, given the current pastoral urgency of the topic, it deserves the widest possible readership.
The Beatitudes and Social Justice is the fifty-second in the excellent ACSJC series. In a brief space GM brings the (10!) Beatitudes as they are found in Matthew's Gospel into contact with contemporary issues. He does this in a way that makes these words of the Lord spring to life in the world today. The beatitudes “invite us to stretch our love across our families and friends, our communities, meetings and businesses, our local councils, states and countries” (26). This small book on the largest of subjects invites its readers into prayerful reflection and concerned discussion. It is ideal for provoking a good Lenten examination of conscience.
Anthony J Kelly CSsR
BOOK NOTICE
ORMOND RUSH, STILL INTERPRETING VATICAN II. SOME HERMENEUTICAL PRINCIPLES
New York: Paulist, 2004. Pp. viii + 125.
This succinct and lucid book is small in size but quite comprehensive in its scope. The actual text runs to only 85 pages, but the 32 pages of endnotes are an erudite distillation of an immense range of useful references. The basic thesis is this: Vatican II is still a living reality in the Church, and its ongoing “reception” is no less a work of the Spirit than the original writing of the conciliar texts.
We have now entered the fifth decade of the time after the Council. In some obvious ways, it is vanishing into the past, now that nearly all the bishops that were once gathered for it have died. But Ormond Rush argues that, given the immensity of the ecclesial event that the Council was, it continues as a fertile contemporary source for the life of the Church today.
What was once written, continues to be read; and as it is read it is takes on new shape in the “reception” of the faithful, even as they live in a world that has rapidly changed since the Council ended. Council that came up with the unprecedented pastoral constitution of the “The Church in the Modern World” could little imagine that it would soon have to accept the reality of its being the Church in the “Postmodern” world.
Rush's book nicely divides into four chapters. The longest is “The Hermeneutics of the Authors” (1-35). It takes us back into the world in which the texts were written, to its concerns, conflicts and compromises, as an Augustinian critique of the world and a Thomistic openness to creation vie with another to discern the movement of the Spirit. In this regard, OR acknowledges the value of the massive work of Alberigo and Komonchak on the history of the Council. The momentum of the time was expressed in the language of aggiornamento and ressourcement, with its aim to effect a reprise of the fullness of living tradition in the face of the inevitable ossifications that had occurred, and thus to revitalise the Church's relationship to modernity and to the separations that has scarred Christian history.
But a return to the authors is not enough. Chapter 2 deals with the hermeneutics of the conciliar texts themselves (35-51). Ormond Rush notes the elusive but palpable rhetorical style of the Council. To ignore that is to miss the full meaning. It expresses itself in a holistic appreciation of faith as the shared experience of the People of God, and invites us to see all the documents as interrelated. It is the expression of a living tradition which is more an intentional movement than the linear and static of this document or that.
But a return to the texts is insufficient as well. Chapter 3 accordingly deals “A Hermeneutics of the Receivers” (52-68). In the end, the achievement of the Council will depend on how it is assimilated into every aspect of Christian life. The whole People of God is involved, with all the unevenness that this allows, in making the Council its own. The documents of the Council will be a dead letter if they are not read, received and spring into life within each Church community, be it in South America, Vietnam or Australia. A dialectic of interpretation will always be in evidence as history unfolds. However uncomfortably, it allows for both an Augustinian (“conservative”?) critique, and a Thomistic openness (“progressive”?). One supposes that only a vivid sense of the eschatological reality of the Church can provide the space in which these dialectic positions enter into what Ormond Rush refers to as a larger “synthesis” (64).
But “reception” alone is insufficient. There is the deeper theological reality described in chapter 4, “A New Pentecost: A New Pneumatology” (69-85). Here, Rush calls for nothing less than a large-scale trinitarian “discernment of spirits” in the ongoing history of the Church if Vatican II is to continue to bear fruit. It is not as though the Council captured the Spirit, but more that the Holy Spirit, through this conciliar “event”, has drawn the whole Church along new paths. In that lies the essence of the great traditio of the gifts of God to the Church through time.
This is a timely book. It presupposes some theological background, and it will be a good resource as theological students and their lecturers continue to ponder how God guides the Church to an ever-greater integrity of faith and generosity of mission. It keeps the spirit of Vatican II alive.
Anthony J Kelly CSsR was Head of Sub-Faculty of Philosophy and Theology at the Australian Catholic University from 1999 - 2004.
BOOK NOTICE
GERALD A. ARBUCKLE, VIOLENCE, SOCIETY, AND THE CHURCH - A CULTURAL APPROACH
Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2004. 252 pages. US $23.95
Following the destruction of approximately 130 million persons in the last century through acts of war and violence, we have entered this new century where "ideological conflicts, terrorism in increasingly violent forms, patholigical forms of nationalism, racial violence, ethnic cleansing, famine, domestic violence, workplace abuse, cyberspace violence, intercultural violence" still divides the planet which now lives with the potential to destroy all living species. Arbuckle's book searches for the roots of such violence questioning why certain cultures facilitate and legitimate such violence. Using the insights from cultural anthropology, history, theology. scriptures and psychology he examines the historical and cultural pressures as well as social realities that explain entrenched processes in cultures that foster violence. The author identifies culture models and their mythologies (premodern, modern, postmodern) which had the potential to legitimise violence; a fourth model - 'paramodern' - decribes people's efforts to counter violence. An introduction is given to the Catholic Church as a culture, and it is used throughout the text as a case study to illustrate theoretical analyses.
Arbuckle applauds the example of John Paul II in offering long-delayed apologies for "the Church's participation in violence in the past" but then notes that the present Church also has massive gaps between its cultural reality and Gospel-based tradition. He notes particularly the authoritarianism and patriarchal nature of the Church which leaves women's participation being "minimal, unappreciated and intimidated." Arbuckle points to the breakdown of trust in the institutional church through the ongoing revelations of sexual abuse where too often the rights of victims have been ignored.
In the first chapter, culture is defined and looks particularly at the operational dynamics that legitimise violence. The next two chapters examine the relationship between violence and premodern cultures concentrating on particular sources and elements of violence such as gossip, honour, and humour. This chapter also examines the issue of shame which encouraged the concealment of the sexual failings of clergy and religious within the Church. Chapter five examines the cultural model of modernity focusing on "the mythology of modernity as a legitimating source of violence." This is followed by an analysis of "the relationship of envy, jealousy, and scapegoating as forces of violence in modernity." The next chapter looks at what John Paul II termed as the "cultures of death" - cultures which approve euthanasia and abortion - examples of 'anti-order' violence and this is followed by a further analysis of 'pro-order' reactions which Arbuckle identifies with right-wing political and religious movements such as Thatcherism, Reaganism, and restorationism in the Catholic Church.
Chapter eight looks at the complex world of terrorism and its ability to use new technology to sustain violence. The point is clearly made that "religious fundamentalism and fanaticism are behind contemporary terrorism, but they cannot be understood without grasping their cultural roots." The final chapter and epilogue look to the 'paramodern' model of culture noting the many holistic and positive movements in the secular and the religious sphere (signals of transcendence) that emphasise processes of collaboration, reconciliation and non-violence. The Gospel quality of these approaches emphasises the ecological and human interdependence as well as creating a sense of hope for positive change and action - "Let us love, then, because Christ first loved us (1 John 4:19)."
Gerald Arbuckle's book is easy to read, clear in its definitions, well-organised, and overall provides a wonderful stimulus for further reflection and action. Each chapter ends with a brief summary of the most important points made within the preceeding pages. Relevant discussion questions, that could be particularly useful in furthering group participation and discussion at a school, university or even parish level, are thoughtfully presented as a continuing challenge to the reader to accept the reality, in the words of John Paul II, that "there is no justification for despair or pessimism or inertia."
Yuri J. Koszarycz - Senior Lecturer, School of Theology, McAuley Campus.
BOOK NOTICE
THOMAS FISCH (Ed)., PRIMARY READINGS ON THE EUCHARIST
Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press. 2004
The stated objective of this collection of readings on the Eucharist is to address the needs of both liturgist and sacramental theologian: to bring together a wide variety of biblical, historical, patristic and theological scholarship “not readily accessible to students because of being out of print, available only in foreign or limited scholarly editions or published journals” (p. xi). There are in all eleven articles in this collection by ten different authors, among them several liturgists (Taft, Vogel, Serra, Storey, Rasmussen), a biblical scholar (Childs), a medieval historian (Snoek), and a number of notable theologians (Schillebeeckx, Bouyer, Ware, Zizioulas).
The collection is quite eclectic in style and scope, from the highly technical to the pastoral and the practical. This can be either a strength or a weakness, depending on the reader's needs and expectations. From this reader's point of view it was mostly a strength: as a university teacher I would be able to draw on this text in a number of courses and at a number of levels.
My main concern, however, was with what the collection omits. Firstly, there are no women contributors, much less an acknowledgement of the important feminist contribution to liturgical and sacramental theology. (Perhaps they were considered “readily accessible” and “available”?) Secondly, there are no Latin America, Asian or African voices here either. Both omissions (or are they the same?) seem curious in our day and age. Whether one agrees with the feminist and “third world” perspectives or not, they are significant and need to be included in something as “basic” as a “Primary Reader” on the Eucharist. (On the other hand, the book's ecumenical inclusiveness is to be commended, with some contributions from both the eastern Orthodox and Reformed traditions.) And thirdly, there is no specific article on the important issue of Eucharist and sacrifice. (The matter is barely touched on in Bouyer's contribution [pp.122-24] in connection with Cranmer's Anglican liturgy.)
Overall this is a supplementary text (as, in fact, it acknowledges in its stated aim) rather than a “primary” one (as its title claims). As a supplementary text it will be a useful resource for students and teachers in the field of sacramental, liturgical and practical theology.
Drasko Dizdar
BOOK NOTICE
C. J. DEMPSEY & M. M. PAZDAN (Eds)., EARTH, WIND AND FIRE: BIBLICAL AND THEOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES ON CREATION
Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press. 2004
This is an important feminist contribution to the growing body of theological reflection on the vital question of ecology and justice. The twelve scholars who contributed to this collection include both biblical scholars and theologians, all of them Catholic (?) and most of them Religious Sisters. The focus, however, is weighted in favour of biblical reflection, with some very fine exegesis by several contributors: all the chapters are either presenting or responding to biblical texts and scholarship. This is a strength in so far as it gives the book unity and cohesion; but it could also be a weakness in that it leaves important questions largely unexamined (e.g., sacramentality, liturgy, and perhaps most curiously of all, sexuality).
The authors' indebtedness to the likes of “eco-theologians” such as Teilhard de Chardin and (Australia's own) Denis Edwards, is clear in many places; and even more clear (and acknowledged) is the influence of feminist doyens, Elisabeth Schussler-Fiorenza and Elizabeth Johnson (who contributes a Foreword). This is certainly one of the strengths of this book. However, like most collections of largely independent articles by various authors, there is a certain “unevenness” to this book – if not in basic perspective and presuppositions than certainly in style and scholarly interest. For example, Carol Dempsey's initial chapter is a very thorough scholarly treatment of Genesis 1—2, where she draws extensively on numerous scholars' views, though only those with whom she agrees. The result is somewhat apologetic in tone (in the sense of apologia not apology!). By contrast Sheila E. McGinn's excellent, and brief, close reading of Romans 8:18-31, is clearly both more polemical in intent (contra “patriarchal dualism”) and critical in engagement with scholarship (specifically, Elisabeth Castelli). In her reading of Paul (and Castelli's interpretation of him), McGinn makes a clear and convincing case “for an outline of a Pauline theology of creation” (p.120) that enables us “to reconsider the role of eschatology in a constructive Christian theology” (p.122) (a project that has already had a valuable contribution made to it by Brendan Byrne in his 1990 book Inheriting the Earth: a Pauline basis for a spirituality for our time [Homebush, NSW: St Paul Publications]).
This is a scholarly collection of articles (and addresses) intended for fellow academics and university students (despite the odd, and largely unsuccessful, attempt here and there to use a more personal voice). As such it is an excellent contribution to the growing literature of its kind: feminist, ecological, and politically liberationist “advocacy scholarship”.
Drasko Dizdar, Lecturer, School of Theology, McAuley Campus
 |
INTERFACES
New Series from Liturgical Press
Ian J. Elmer |
INTERFACES is the title of a new monograph series from Liturgical Press. The series editor, Barbara Green, O.P., describes the series as ‘a curriculum adventure and a creative opportunity in teaching and learning' (Green, 2004b) . Aimed specifically at the undergraduate level in scriptural studies, the series seeks to introduce students to the discipline of biblical criticism by a selective exploration of various characters that populate the more notable narratives of the bible. Each subject has been chosen specifically because he, she or they offer an ‘opportunity' to bring together different avenues of scripture study, and to investigate the ‘interface' between history, literature, culture, ideology, and theology.
Most of the ten volumes presently available concentrate on a single celebrity from the scriptures, such as James of Jerusalem (Hartin, 2004) and Pontius Pilate (Carter, 2004) . Others focus on a group of characters, the Pharisees (Mullen, 2004) or the demonic host ‘Legion' and their victim, the Gerasene Demoniac (Newheart, 2004) . While the roster of subjects includes many who are prominent figures in the Scriptures, as with the aforementioned James and Pilate, there are some studies that consider more marginal members of the bible's dramatis personae. For instance, there are three volumes offering intriguing examinations of four shadowy female figures: Jezebel, the infamous, idolatrous Queen of King Ahab (Dutcher-Walls, 2004) ; Herodius (Gillman, 2004) , who plotted the death of John the Baptist; and the two obscure women whose resort to cannibalism in a time of famine so disturbed King Ben-Hadad of Aram (2 Kings 6:24–33) (Hens-Piazza, 2004) . The remaining three books centre on John the Baptist (Murphy, 2004) , King Saul (Green, 2004a) , and Joseph (Kalter, 2004) .
Readers will find in these books an excellent introduction to the critical study of biblical texts. Each volume in the series runs to no more than 150 pages, and the style and content of each makes the series easily accessible to students and the general public alike. However, neither the brevity nor the popular tone of the series compromises its academic value. Lecturers of undergraduates, as well as R.E. teachers of high school seniors, will find in the Interfaces series an invaluable tool for teaching students to make connections between the world encountered in biblical literature and the worlds, both behind – the historical-cultural context – and in front of the text – present-day relevance. As a case in point, we might cite James of Jerusalem, which is authored by Patrick J. Hartin of Gonzaga University, Spokane, who is a recognised authority on the Letter of James and author of three earlier volumes on James (Hartin, 1991, 1999, 2003) . Drawing on his familiarity with the subject. Hartin presents a concise examination of the three disparate images of James offered by the canonical sources (Synoptics and John, Paul and Acts, and the
Australia