AUGUST 2005 - ISSUE 5 - ISSN 1448 - 632

	DONALD COZZENS   Faith That Dares to Speak   Collegeville MN : Liturgical Press, 2004.   Reviewed by John O'Gorman

There would be few, Catholic or non-Catholic, who would have remained unmoved by the Requiem Mass for Pope John Paul II, televised from St Peter's square. A simple wooden coffin for a humble man served as a dramatic counterpoint to feudal splendour, in purple and red, as rank after rank of the princes and dukes of the Church venerated the altar. Stirring though it was, the scene captured for television symbolizes much of what is wrong with the Catholic Church at the dawn of the new millennium, according to Donald Cozzens in this book, written before the death of the late Pontiff. The Church, for Cozzens, is characterised by too little humility and too much feudalism, too much maleness, too much celibacy, and an age structure of the clergy that points to the end of ministry as we know it. This is a short book, but a challenging one, as Cozzens seeks, as he puts it in the words of St Catherine of Siena , ‘to speak the truth in love'.

According to Cozzens, the Church is the last of the great feudal organisations. It is a ‘society of unequals' rather than, as the Gospel and the documents of Vatican II would have it, ‘a communion of the baptised'. Cozzens sees many of the Church's current problems as stemming from this outdated form of organisational structure. It is feudalism that, for Cozzens, is responsible for everything from the lack of pastoral leadership to the clergy abuse scandals. The latter haunt the pages of this book, with Cozzens returning to them repeatedly, almost obsessively, in an attempt to understand how and why they could have happened. An important part of the answer he offers is that a Church culture of princes and serfs leads necessarily to concern for the institution being placed above concern for its members. Attempting to entrench this feudal culture, as some of a pre-conciliar cast of mind seek to do, runs counter to the long-term survival of the institution. Although Cozzens does not quite put it this way, those who seek a return to past splendours are like the dinosaurs enjoying the light show in the sky that heralded their demise.

As for his other ‘laments,' as Cozzens terms them: celibacy should be considered a gift of the few and not a requirement for all who seek to serve as diocesan priests: there must be a larger role for women in the Church than Rome's discernment has so far arrived at; with more priests in the U.S.A. currently over the age of 90 years than under the age of 35 and the overwhelming majority of American Catholic parents not supporting the entry of their sons and daughters into the priesthood or the religious life, the Church does not have a problem it has a crisis. These issues are of course not new with Cozzens' book but they have yet to be faced in some quarters. Cozzens' forthright but compassionate style may go some way to inducing the necessary confrontation, as he seeks to remove the adversarial style that so often colours contemporary discussion, sets ‘progressives' against ‘conservatives', and serves only to feed a news-hungry press.

Cozzens' answer to the current problems and crises is that the laity must accept their responsibility to speak the truth in love. Rising levels of education and Vatican Council II have empowered the laity in the U.S.A., and by implication in other first world countries, and the laity must take the risks that empowerment affords, the risks of speaking out, of being misunderstood or ostracized, and the risks of assuming roles of leadership and ministry. Denial is not an option for the educated. Engaging with the modern world to build the Kingdom of God must involve overcoming the Church's feudal past.

	Judith A., S.N.D. De N. MERKLE   From the Heart of the Church: The Catholic Social Tradition   Collegeville , MN : The Liturgical Press, 2004   Reviewed by John O'Gorman

I recently attended a training session on how to deal fairly and justly with one's fellows in the workplace. The ‘consultant' introduced the session with the justification for acting in this way in terms of the ‘business case'. A few days later I watched an item on the nightly television news about domestic violence that was framed by the observation that the cost to the national accounts of violence of this kind is eight billion dollars a year, with the clear implication that this is the reason for taking the problem seriously. The next morning in the daily newspaper an expert from a conservative ‘think tank' took the government to task for pursuing a set of policies that had not widened the gap between the rich and the poor, with a consequent loss of incentive. The triumph of bourgeois liberalism and Chicago school monetarism is so complete that the only way we seem able to address social issues is in terms of economic considerations. To borrow Oscar Wilde's aphorism, we have come to the situation where we know the price of everything and the value of nothing or, as the author of this book observes, the ‘only standard is money and the only thing more sacred than money is more money'.

It is in just such an environment that the social teaching of the Church becomes more important than ever it has been, more so than in Leo XIII's time of social division and exploitation when the social encyclical was born. There is an even greater need today to assert that there is value in the lives of people and in the communities in which they live, irrespective of the ‘bottom line', that human dignity, social justice, and the common good are principles for ordering the affairs of citizens of greater significance than the dictates of the market. The Catholic Social Tradition, the subtitle of Merkle's book, provides just such a source of critique and the possibility of an alternative to today's dominant culture of rampant individualism.

The book can be read by the agnostic from the perspective of social philosophy, but the Catholic social tradition, as the author makes clear very early on, is not simply an intellectual exercise It is not a form of social welfarism to be read along with the various communitarian accounts of political theory to be accepted or rejected in terms of where one stands on the left-right axis of party political affiliation. It is instead a central expression of the mission of the Church to build the Kingdom of God . Unpalatable though these sentiments might be to sympathetic agnostics, Merkle argues that we should not, in seeking common ground with them, downplay the essential spiritual character of the Catholic social tradition. It comes, as her main title makes clear, ‘from the heart of the Church'. It is theologically mainstream, grounded in Holy Scripture and in 2000 years of Church tradition. As such, and this is even more awkward, it should form the lived experience of those who seek to participate in the Church's mission.

The book is in three sections, with almost half of it being devoted to the second section that provides a synopsis of Catholic social teaching. In this second section, there is a chapter on social teaching pre-Vatican II, the burden of which is the social encyclical tradition of Leo XIII, one on social teaching post-Vatican II, and one each on the teaching of John XXIII, Paul VI, and John Paul II, with additional chapters devoted to political theology and liberation theology. This second section is a highly readable introduction to a large literature, with extensive footnotes providing the reader with access to original sources and contemporary commentary.

For me, however, it is the first and the final sections that were of greatest interest. The first builds the case for the centrality of the Catholic social tradition in the life of the Church from earliest times and links it to the expression of justice and love traceable from Old Testament sources. It is thus not an optional extra, to be repudiated by ‘muscular Christians' (as they are referred to in the Australian press) who reject social justice initiatives as ‘limp-wristed' and distractions from the proper exercise of one's religion. This first section as well outlines various ways of thinking about Catholic social teaching as "social policy, prophecy, moral doctrine, and social principle". For Merkle it is all of these and yet none of them, defying neat categorization. It is not, for example, a set of answers to social problems or some sort of ‘third-way' between capitalism and communism, but a foundation for social analysis and social action.

The final section, one chapter, is an essay on the implications of the Catholic social tradition for life today and specifically for the building of communities that express the fullness of human nature. Merkle admits that this is not an easy task, given the hostility of the host culture. She bases the chapter around fundamental principles, such as subsidiarity, autonomy, mutuality, and argues that these must be kept in tension, with no one subordinating the others. Autonomy, for example, is not an absolute and life in a community requires at times acceptance of authority, as when the Church speaks in a deliberate and careful way demanding public assent. This may not be what some would want to hear. Nor would they necessarily expect to be told that the pursuit of social justice can lead to self-righteousness and intolerance, which are of course inconsistent with the tradition. The chapter overall does a good job of teasing out the implications of the basic principles and outlining, as Merkle puts it, the ‘option for the poor' that can serve as an antidote to the popular culture of personal aggrandizement.

This is a wise as well as a scholarly book, the two not always being joined. For those wanting a way of breaking in to the richness of the Catholic social tradition this is an excellent introduction.

	D. Vincent TWOMEY SVD. The End of Irish Catholicism?   Dublin :Veritas. pp. 220. (2003)   Reviewed by John O'Gorman

It is a surprise to learn that a country, where three in four of its citizens claim to be Roman Catholic, where there is one priest for every 800 of the faithful, where the level of practice of the faith is the highest in the world, does not consider itself Catholic. But that is modern Ireland . A country with an inspiring history of Christian mission, to Europe in feudal times and to North America and the British colonies in the nineteenth century, has moved over a period of 50 years from close identity of Catholic and Irish in the consciousness of its citizenry (to say nothing of Hollywood script writers) to a disjunction of the two. Irishness in twenty-first century Ireland is identified with the values of a modern secular state with a liberal agenda. How did this happen and can it be changed? These are the questions Fr Twomey is primarily concerned with in this collection of essays on Irish Catholicism, which he describes as an exercise in pastoral theology.

Twomey sees many reasons for the current situation, not the least of which is the set of social changes that are described as modernity. In this regard, he cites the observation of Karl Marx that Dublin at the beginning of the nineteenth century was the ‘crucible of modernity' But those changes had an impact on other ‘Catholic countries' without quite the same effects (e.g., Austria), and Twomey is concerned to probe further. He sees the too ready use of religion as a way of cementing nationalism at the time of Independence as sowing the seeds of later disaffection. Religion, Twomey argues, should transcend national political interests and not allow itself to be appropriated by them. The latter happened in Ireland at the time of Independence because Roman Catholicism was the only remaining emblem of cultural unity, the Irish language having being lost.

The adoption of English as the language of Ireland , as a consequence of occupation, had several effects, according to Twomey, who draws on the work of a number of others in his analysis. It led to a mercantile mind set, with the details of the market replacing in conversation what would have been previously a much richer cultural experience. The phenomenon of the ‘Celtic Tiger' economy could on this account be traced at least partly to the change of language. A second effect was that it led to Puritianism being imported into Irish thought and practice, reinforcing a hard-line on sexual morality and engendering a black and white (or perhaps an orange and green) way of thinking about issues. When these effects were combined with the political appropriation of the faith, the result was a stultifying conformity and lack of independence of thought, with neither priests nor laity asking questions or even knowing what questions should be asked.

The mix of authoritarianism, sentimentality, and complacency that was Roman Catholicism in Ireland in the early part of the twentieth century may have seemed set to last forever, but it was extraordinarily vulnerable to the social changes that were even then beginning to be felt. When the pressure built, the Church as a state religion imploded, leaving it without a moral presence in the modern State. The loss of the old version of Irish Catholicism is, however, no bad thing, according to Twomey, because it lacked the dynamism to be found in some other European countries.

What then is to be done to bring about a more vibrant, more authentic Church in modern Ireland ? Twomey is no radical; he writes in warm support of Humanae vitae , for example. His suggestions are wide ranging and some, to those with local knowledge, may not be realistic, but they are interesting and not just to the Irish. Prime among them is a restoration of theology to its place of importance, not just in an institutional sense but in the minds of priests and laity. Unquestioning faith is not going to last long in the gales of a postmodern world where rising education levels and media influence have changed discourse so significantly. The liberal agenda (or libertarian, as Twomey prefers to call it) of a modern secular state cannot be engaged by those whose sophistication of understanding of their faith is at the level of the penny catechism, and would-be advocates for the faith need the discipline that theological training brings. A restoration of theology, for Twomey, would see in time Irish theologians in numbers taking their place beside the Dutch and the Germans.

Second, Twomey proposes a renovation of the public culture of Irish Catholicism, by drawing on the rich history of the country. Why should the existing public festivals be so secular in a country of saints, he asks. The memory of St Stephen and St Patrick are marked by public holidays but ‘the Bank' does better than that, with three holidays in the Republic and two in the North (the triumph of mercantilism?), and even the socialists get May Day. Without returning to some of the sentimental excesses of the past, Twomey advocates a richer liturgical experience for the faithful. The post-Vatican II liturgists and religious educators come in for a bit of stick in this regard, but by no means as extravagantly as elsewhere (see, for example, Creeley's The Catholic Revolution ). Signs are very powerful things for people and the Church, Twomey suggests, needs to relearn this.

Along with these and other proposals, Twomey ventures a restructure of the Church in Ireland , moving it from a focus on country parishes to the cities. How sensible this is in the context of modern Ireland is best debated by those who know the country well, but restructuring has a good pedigree in corporate managerialism as a way of dealing with change in the external world and to that extent Twomey might be on the right track. However, the larger issue is whether restructuring is really a solution here or elsewhere for the crises faced by the Church in the twenty-first century. As a former colleague of mine, Bob Dick, observed, restructuring is fiddling with a model whose shelf life is up. The model is bureaucracy, with its hierarchical organisation, specialisation of function, codification of correct procedures in manuals, and requirement for obedience. The model has been used by the Church to good effect in organising its temporal affairs up to now. The problem with it is that it assumes a stable external environment, and it is this assumption that has been called into question by the social changes beginning on the threshold of the twentieth century and continuing. In times of profound change, problems arise for which specialisations do not yet exist and the solutions for which are not to be found in the manual. Worse yet, what might become a problem cannot be predicted ahead of time. To deal with this world, a more open system of organisation is required in which all members have and accept a shared responsibility for problems and their solution. How well this thinking translates to a faith community needs to be worked through, but an effective response of the Church to the modern Irish State may take something more than moving the deck-chairs, or the dioceses.

Many Roman Catholics in English-speaking countries around the world owe their formation in the faith to the work of the Irish missionary orders and to an Irish Catholicism that was. Twomey's analysis and critique of it should therefore prove interesting to many.

Professor John O'Gorman, Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Quality and Outreach) McAuley at Banyo, Australian Catholic University

J.O'Gorman@acu.edu.au

	M.R. MacGinley A Dynamic of Hope: Institutes of Women Religious in Australia Crossing Press, Sydney (2nd ed.), 2002. Pp. 440 + viii.   Reviewed by T.P. BOLAND

In a foreword to the first edition of A Dynamic of Hope, Edmund Campion suggested that this work is 'indispensable'. Certainly, no account of the Roman Catholic Church in Australia can be considered complete without this comprehensive analysis of institutes of women religious in Australia.

Rosa MacGinley puts into 440 pages a smoothly developed history of the nature and function of vowed life for women. She develops in ten stages the unfolding growth of the vision and practical achievements of remarkable founders and committed followers through two millennia. In the second half of the story she focuses on the peculiarly Australian mission of a variety of institutes.

Perhaps, her greatest contribution to the study of Roman Catholic life in Australia is in her understanding of the factors shaping religious life: social, cultural, missionary and - let it be said definitely - canonical. Through the centuries, there has been a constant interplay between cloistered and interventionist, centralist and localist, male-directed and female-run.

There are clearly recognisable turning points in style and purpose; but rigid cut-off points and points of total departure are not acceptable. Development is gradual, not always uni-directional. As this study shows, judgements on the role of major players in history need modification; goodies and baddies are usually creatures of the imagination. A recognition of the vision and practical purpose of ecclesiastical persons needs to be       harmonised to have an adequate and workable plan for the future of the Church in general and of the institutes of women religious in particular.

Those not familiar with this fertile factor in Church life will be astonished at the statistical tables meticulously provided. The provenance and purpose of the extraordinary number of institutes coming to Australia is clearly related to the needs of the Church at different stages in the Church's and the nation's development.

In the last seven chapters of the book, the reader is given a detailed, factual history of the founding and development of the many institutes that have served in Australia. This account is within the framework established in the first chapters. Among the facts are the mistakes and failings of some of the players, the bishops being the most frequently singled out. However, the account is always objective; and some of those usually demonised are shown to have much to be said for their positions.    This work is clearly in itself a dynamic of hope.

T.P. BOLAND

	NOEL ROWE NEXT TO NOTHING   Vagabond Press, Sydney, 2004     Reviewed by GERARD HALL SM

Noel Rowe, senior lecturer in Australian literature at the University of Sydney, has been awarded the prestigious William Baylebridge Prize for this recent anthology of poems, Next to Nothing. The award also won him an invitation to read his poems at the Poetry International Foundation Festival in Rotterdam in June 2005 -- one of the most significant literary festivals in Europe.

Australian editor of the Foundation, award-winning poet Michael Brennan, describes Rowe's poetry in this volume as "a meditative and compassionate vision of the human beast" which "sings with wisdom and grace through to the dark heart of contemporary existence". Another poet and former winner of the Baylebridge Prize, Vivian Smith, compares Rowe with poets like Francis Webb and Thomas Merton before moving on to state "there is no other voice quite like (Rowe's) . . . and no recent volume that plumbs this depth and range of personal experience".

Next to Nothing emerges from Rowe's exceptional talent with words, playfulness with metaphors, attentiveness to the spiritual heights and depths within contemporary experience, sharpness of insight, love for irony, and willingness to explore the margins between meaning and non-meaning, emptiness and fullness, life and death, humanity and divinity, the ordinary and the sacred. He ranges across a myriad of topics, people and places with wry humour, unnerving honesty, intelligence, compassion and a gift to say the unexpected.

A number of poems in the anthology are subject of the poet's own reflections in his "The angel did not draw attention to himself': poetry, theology and emptiness" (Article in this Issue). Rowe's interest in spirituality and emptiness is never far beneath the surface of his poetry and emerges from a depth of religious experience in his own journey that uniquely embraces Catholicism and Buddhism. He states that, at least in his own narrative, these two are not enemies. His anthology could well be described as a Christian-Buddhist dialogue or meditation since both voices figure so prominently.

Then, of course, there is the voice of the ironically musing Bluthorpe who "thinks the way to save the world from terrorists is to tell them better stories". Bluthorpe reminds one of T. S. Eliot's J. Alfred Prufrock with his peculiar sensibilities and dithering inability to make decisions or introduce himself at parties or talk about religion (even though he's interested in the topic). A lot goes on inside Bluthorpe's post-modern head with its mixture of grandiose visions, redemptive aspirations, confused desires and personal paranoias. Rowe says that Bluthorpe was invented to establish some ironic perspective on political issues ranging from the Iraq war to Sydney's train crisis. He certainly achieves this while also enabling us to take an ironic view of ourselves and our own sensibilities and idiosyncrasies.   

Is such a view also redemptive? This is the theological question one is left to ponder. For Rowe, it would seem there can be no divine imposition, possibly no revelation, outside of the depths of one's personal experience. His intrigue with nothingness and emptiness may seem at odds with the God of Judao-Christian revelation. But there is another kind of theology--which some name apophatic or negative theology or even mysticism--which centres on a God revealed in silence, suffering and surrender. Indeed Rowe states he "wants to give God back to mystery". In this he aligns himself with the Book of Exodus ("No one can see God and live" [33:20]), John's Gospel ("No one has ever seen God" [1:18]) and the medieval Dominican mystic Meister Eckhart ("Let God be God"). 

This puts Rowe out of step with the contemporary demand for certainty, whether in religion or politics. "What are poets for", asks Heidegger, if not to make us question prevailing cultural, ideological and religious assumptions? While so many are racing headlong to demand clarity and certainty, Rowe's poetry would have us enter into life's mystery where one's experiences, however banal, negative or life-threatening, all count. This is, after all, the journey of the mystics--and the simple folk. Rowe would have us believe (again) in the message of Mary's Magnificat and Jesus' Sermon on the Mount: it is to the little ones that the Kingdom of God belongs. As he wrote on another occasion:

Lord, let me know

my own nothingness,

the surprise and emptiness

of love, given and received.

Only then will I

surrender to your heart

and leave you free

to redeem a people loved

with an unexpected depth,

humility and tenderness

by Father, Son and Spirit.

This volume, Next to Nothing, by "a farmer's boy from the edge of town", celebrates the mystery at the heart of things where sacredness and solemnity are not reserved for the Church and her doctrines but may be more real in the every-day struggle to empty oneself of illusion and embrace life's ambiguities where, despite the darkness, there are fleeting glimpses of light.

Dr Gerard Hall sm, Senior Lecturer, School of Theology, ACU McAuley Campus. Editor, AEJT.

g.hall@mcauley.acu.edu.au

	LUCE IRIGARAY Between East and West: from singularity to community Columbia University Press, 2002. (ET of Entre Orient et Occident, Editions Grasset et Fasquelle, 1999). Reviewed by BRONWEN NEIL

Luce Irigaray, celebrated linguist and psychoanalyst, and the leading feminist philosopher in France, took up yoga lessons in her late sixties. The result is this book: a meditation on what the Hindu and Buddhist traditions that underpin yoga can teach its Western practitioners about the importance of the breath. For Irigaray, breath is the foundation of spiritual life as well as of our existence:

What then can safeguard existence in a living being that is partly nomadic in body and spirit? The breath. Breath is the source and food of natural and spiritual life for the human being (p. viii).

Conscious cultivation of the breath is a means to overcoming body-soul dualism in order to reclaim the whole that is the basis for male-female relations. Irigaray points to a correspondence (which may be contentious) between the typical Western valorisation of spirit over body, disembodied speech over embodied breath, culture over nature, male over female. Her solution to the problem of sexual difference is not a radical separatism or a naïve aspiration to self-effacing equality, but a recognition and valuing of difference based on respect for the other as other, and not as greater or less than oneself. “Instead of the male-female relation being determined by the immediacy of instinct, the transformation of instinct into desire could mark the passage to humanity as such” (p. x).

Irigaray’s metaphysics for the twenty-first century is predicated upon a Lacanian understanding of desire as a primary motivator, especially the desire for the desire of the other, which is nourished by difference. Her description of history as dialectic is clearly Hegelian. Some background knowledge of these thinkers’ contributions would be a great advantage to the reader of this book. Caveat lector: the English translation of the French by Stephen Pluháček is sometimes less than clear, though this may simply reflect the linguistic richness and complexity of the original. As a linguist and philosopher, Irigaray chooses her words – and her translators – with great care.

Her approach to gender difference serves as a model for approaching other kinds of difference – those of race, ethnicity and religion – which increasingly confront us as our previously homogenous communities expand under the pressures of globalisation. Societal and cultural blending (mixité), however, could be the salvation of our species, starting with the family unit. In a chapter entitled “The Family Begins with Two”, she rejects John Paul II’s (1994) description of the “sacred” natural character of the family. Rather than reducing the family to its natural dimensions, she believes the future of the family lies in cultivating the union between woman and man, founded upon respect for difference, which “implies that nature becomes consciousness”, and that the “body become flesh awakened by consciousness” (p. 118). This illustrates the movement from “natural” instinct to “cultivated” desire which makes us human.

For Irigaray, “mixed families represent a key place for the construction of future societies” (p. 144). How we react to such challenges to our own subjectivity will determine whether we succumb to a decline in human consciousness, or participate in a peaceful world revolution.

Thus Irigaray’s theory of difference offers a new lease of life to an age which is dying from increasing disconnectedness. It suggests a means to kickstart the process of human becoming, “to renew a cultivation of life, and recover our energy, the path of our growth” (p. viii). This book challenges Western preconceptions about the relationship between the soul and the body, about relations between the sexes and between human beings and the earth. Irigaray grounds highly abstract concepts in the concrete language of the body, making this work somewhat more accessible than others such as I Love to You (1995) and her Elementals series, including Marine Lover of Friedrich Nietzsche. Irigaray opens up the reader’s mind to her ideas in a way that I found both inspiring and rewarding. I hope you will find the same. 

Dr Bronwen Neil, Centre for Early Christian Studies, ACU McAuley Campus

b.neil@mcauley.acu.edu.au                                                                                     

	Ola Tjørhom Visible Church – Visible Unity: Ecumenical Ecclesiology and “The Great Tradition of the Church” Collegeville, Minnesota: Liturgical Press, 2004. ISBN 0-8146-2873-7   Reviewed by DAVID PASCOE

 The fundamental concern in Ola Tjørhom’s work, as the title of the book suggests, is the unity of the church and in particular the visible unity of the one church of Jesus Christ. A strong form of visible unity is argued for in line with the vision of the New Delhi Assembly of the World Councils of Churches of 1961. This is a visible unity that Tjørhom considers is an “organic communion between truly united local churches (76);” “a unity in the sacraments and in sacramental celebration, and a unity in ministry, mission and love (73).” Critical to this form of unity for the church is its sacramental character, which is expressive of the visible nature of the church’s oneness simultaneously as communion the Triune God and as a human communion. Tjøhom finds the theological criteria for what might provide such a unified and visible expression of the church in an ecclesial self-understanding derived from that he describes as the “Great Tradition of the Church.”

Tjørhom proposes his study in response to both a theological and personal dilemma. The first is that the church, by nature, is called to be one. However, the concrete historical experience of the church is that it is not one. Tjørhom then seeks to offer a theological solution to this dilemma arguing from the two central foci of ecclesiology and ecumenism. His argument is proposed through a recovery of the “Great Tradition of the Church.” Simultaneously, Tjørhom seeks to solve a personal dilemma, not unconnected to the first, of being “homeless in my own church (xvi).” Over against the “authentic catholicity and ecumenicity of the Reformation (xvi),” there exists what he describes as a tendency toward “liberal pietism” in the Lutheran Church today. This tendency is a departure from an ecclesial self-understanding that considers the concrete visible nature of the church in history as essential, particularly as this is held by the original movement of the Reformation. Again, a recovery of the “Great Tradition of the Church,” to which the original Reformation movement was in tune, is interpreted as offering a corrective to the “liberal pietist” tendency.

The work is in five chapters. The first chapter addresses the present “crisis” in the contemporary Reformation movement seen now to be at a vast difference from its roots. Tjørhon provides an interpretation of the original intention of the Reformation that he considers renders the authentic catholicity and ecumenicity of the Reformation. This interpretation recovers the empirical nature of life in Christ in terms of the church’s essential sacramentality. Chapter two investigates the concept of the “Great Tradition of the Church,” the key elements of which are named as providing the content of “classic Christianity (29).” For Tjørhon the theological content of this concept offers, a way for the Lutheran Church to recover its theological roots, a renewed ecclesiology that offers a more authentic grounding for the Christian way of life and an ecumenical program that is broader than any one Christian denomination. The concept is detailed in ten theses and includes, for example, a church that is, grounded in the apostolic witness to Christ; based in the ecumenical creeds of the Church; sacramentally, ecclesiologically and liturgically based; one and has a fundamental ecumenical orientation; and, a church that places a significant weight on the Church’s mission and service to the world.

The following three chapters of the book proceed to offer some of the implications of the argument set up in the first two, with particular regard to explicating the meaning of the concept of the “Great Church:”  That is, in the church’s ecclesiological foundations (Chapter 3), some ecumenical implications (Chapter 4), and the consequences for Christian life (Chapter 5).

The theological foundation of the church is grounded in the images of People of God, Body of Christ and Temple of the Holy Spirit where a primary concern is the corporate nature of Christian faith and its expression. The church is one, holy, catholic and apostolic and as concretely visible in these ways provides the “sign” of God’s kingdom through what the church is and does. To be an effective and credible sign the church needs to be visibly unified. The Christian way of life is signified by Tjørhon in the terms of a “materialist spirituality:” it is a way of life that is ecclesial, visible and a sacramental witness in the Spirit founded in the “Great Tradition of the Church.”

Tjørhon’s work reads with a passion for the ecumenical endeavour and proposes a way forward for the churches to realise concrete unity as a sacramental and corporate reality the one church of Christ. The core of his ecclesiology reflects the intention of this work, “to open as many eyes as possible to the vast richness that is reflected in the life of the Church across time as well as space (71).”

	GERARD MOORE sm. (Ed). A Hunger for Reconciliation:In Society and the Church. Strathfield: St Pauls Publications. 2004. ISBN: 1876295864   Reviewed by DAVID PASCOE

When I finished reading this book I took another look at its front cover. The image depicted is Egino Weinert's Reconciliation Cross. The image of Jesus' compassionate embrace of the one he lifts, and holds to himself on the cross, is poignant. It provides an apt symbol of the books contents, which reflects on the meaning of God's hunger for reconciliation and the human response, particularly by the church, to this divine initiative of love. Each of the contributions connects to this image in its own way, so the book offers a broad, thoughtful and relevant understanding of the theological notion of reconciliation for the church in the world of today.

Editor, Gerard Moore, introduces this volume in the ‘St Pauls WINDOWS INTO..' Series with the words: Christ has reconciled the world to God.

This statement of belief provides a theological ground to the various dimensions of reconciliation that are addressed in this work. As Moore notes, the contributions that make up the book “took shape as a series of talks on reconciliation in Lent 2003 of the faculty of the Catholic Institute of Sydney (10).” Two further contributions were added to broaden the initial offerings along with an epilogue that provides an indigenous voice for reconciliation from the Australian context.

Neil Brown's contribution is “Reconciliation: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow.” It is the first chapter and one of the additions noted above. The deep divisions in human life are addressed with the equally deep need for reconciliation. In a global context of divisions, both inherited and contemporary, that cause violence and conflict there have been attempts for reconciliation. However, these attempts have slowed and require new impetus and the formation of new relationships between those who injure and those who are victims.

Brown argues that recognition by those who participate in hurting others and apology open the way for victims to forgive and initiate the progress to new relationships and a new future. He connects this at one point with the issue of “apology” in the Australian context by the Federal Government to the indigenous peoples. “The point of reconciliation is the restoration, repair and reconstruction of relationship (20).” Important throughout this study is the significance of reconciliation seen in relational terms.

Richard Lennan's chapter follows: “Sin: Struggling with God and Our Humanity.” The theological concept of sin is located within the relationship between God and humanity, while holding together the theological notions of creation, sin and redemption. The first two sections of this chapter situate an understanding of sin within a theology of creation, human freedom and God's forgiveness. The latter is understood within the whole story of humanity's relationship with God and fulfilled in the new life offered in the Spirit of Jesus Christ. The final section of the chapter then explores the convergence between the social dimension of sin and the concerns of contemporary Western cultures. Throughout this chapter and focused in the final section Lennan considers the importance of the social or relational nature of reconciliation and humanity and between human persons.

Neil Ormerod “unpacks” Col 1: 20-22 in chapter three, “Reconciliation and the Paschal Mystery.” He endeavours to uncover the theological significance of this text for the meaning of reconciliation. Ormerod highlights reconciliation as God's initiative, born of divine compassion for all who are “victims” of original sin. God restores humanity so it is holy, blameless and irreproachable. The heart of the paschal mystery, Jesus' death, is explored to elucidate this phrase from Colossians.

In conclusion Ormerod connects his reflections to the pastoral significance of reconciliation, as a sacrament in the church that is to be a “joyful experience of liberation from sin”; with the recognition that it is not only sin that needs to be addressed by reconciliation, but the sense of estrangement from God and hostility to the world; and that priests need to address these issues in themselves, so that they do not become “obstacles to the experience of healing the sacrament offers (52-53).”

Chapter four is David Ranson's work “Becoming Reconciled.” He looks to the process of becoming reconciled through a reflection on the “peculiarly evangelical way,” the “gospel strategy” for reconciliation (57). Key to this chapter is an understanding of reconciliation as the movement from exclusion to embrace. It is understood, for example, in the light of Jesus call to repentance, which is for a person to change from the “instinct to seek revenge, to strike back (59): … when it is possible – as gift from God – (it) paves the way for the practise of forgiveness (60).” Reconciliation then is depicted as a “Four-Act Drama” of embrace: “opening” ones arms, that is a gesture of invitation; the “waiting” that is no coercion, which respects freedom; the “closing” of arms, which is a gentle touch; and the “re-opening” in genuine respect that the other is other. Ranson concludes this chapter with a reflection on Jn 21 where Jesus is the model of ministry for reconciliation and the formation of communities of reconciliation. “They are communities of hope from which people can go forth empowered, commissioned to bring forth life in abundance (65).”

Gerard Kelly's “The Sacramental Church and Its Sacrament of Penance,” as chapter five, is the other article specially commissioned for this book. Kelly frames his work through thee theoretical approaches to sacramental theology as this developed in the second half of the twentieth century. These approaches are: first, studies of the individual sacraments within the sacramentality of the Church and Christ; second, studies that approached the sacraments from a history of their celebration; and, third, a development of a more systematic approach that builds on the first two to provide “a basic pattern or ordo of every sacrament (68).”

Each of the three threads is worked through in terms of the sacrament of Penance. A fruit of Kelly's study of this development is born out in the consideration of the sacramental structure of Christian existence with human existence (79) and its application for the sacrament of Penance. On the whole the study of these approaches provides “a comprehensive and integrated understanding of the sacrament (82.).”

Gerard Moore's work, “Rituals for Forgiveness the Rites of Penance and the Healing of the World,” concludes the chapters of the book. This chapter is in three sections: the current ritual forms of for forgiveness of sins; the rite of penance; and, the application of these rites for healing our world. Moore takes us beyond simply the sacrament of Penance as the way the church ritually deals with forgiveness and reconciliation. The reader's sacramental imagination is stretched to the sacraments of baptism, Eucharist, Anointing of the Sick, devotional practices and rites of penance. This fulfils a comment by Moore in his Introduction to this work that “reconciliation is one of the most compelling Christian imperatives (11).”

The epilogue provides a fitting conclusion to this work that crosses over and connects reconciliation in part in its ecclesial, social, cultural and political aspects. It is a part of Peter Smith's - Chair of the National and Torres Strait Islander Catholic Council – speech, to launch the 1999 Social Justice Sunday Statement. As such, it exemplifies the intention of the book to connect theological reflection to the concrete issues of reconciliation in the world. Further, the whole work is an illustration of a theological project that demonstrates the excellence of scholarship of its contributors that is relevant to our contemporary context and accessible to a wide readership.

Rev. Dr David Pascoe, St Paul's Theological College

d.pascoe@st-pauls.qld.edu.au

	JANE ANDERSON Priests in Love: Australian Catholic Clergy and Their Intimate Relationships Mulgrave, Victoria: John Garrett Publishing, 2005. Pp. 215.   Reviewed by TOM RYAN SM

This is a book that had to be written in this part of the world. Jane Anderson joins authors such as Donald Cozzens and Richard Sipe from the northern hemisphere in their analysis of the current state of the priesthood and, in particular, of celibate priests within the Catholic Church. Decline in vocations, social and cultural changes, sexual and structural crises facing the Church, the distrust of authority and of institutions –all these form the context of this discussion.

These are the questions that drive this book. Its concern is the experience of priests and their intimate relationships. It is not a research survey based on objective statistics and questionnaires but through the medium of a personal interview with those concerned. The author accompanies fifty priests and their companions in Australia as they explore their yearnings, struggles and pain in coming to terms with priestly celibacy.  For ‘priests with friends’ the institutional view and their personal experience of celibacy raises too many contradictions and anomalies. They resolve their difficulties by enjoying a sexually intimate relationship that provides them, in their view, with the mature disposition they require for their lives and ministries [38].

Naturally, this raises many questions dealt with by the author – about personal integrity, commitment, their relationship with God and the Church, moral dilemmas, discipleship, the kingdom, and most importantly on the nature and future of celibacy as a requirement in the priesthood. The main argument of this book is that celibacy is not integral to the ordained priesthood. Jane Anderson supports this position by correlating these priests’ stories with historical, theological, scriptural, ecclesial and canonical sources.

With sensitivity and thoughtfulness, Jane Anderson gives good priests a voice. To dismantle the apparatus of what was originally a Ph.D. project and shape it into accessible format and language is commendable in itself. Beyond that, the author in this study provides a sense of humanity and of emotional anchors for the whole discussion. This celibacy question is not far away in the northern hemisphere. It is in our midst right here, touching real people living real lives. For that reason alone, it is an important study and is worth reading.

Nevertheless, by the end of the book, I could not avoid certain reservations. These are, to a large extent, due to the methodological and interdisciplinary implications of much of what the author is attempting to do.

Firstly, the book builds on data drawn from the use of a qualitative research instrument [interviews with 50 catholic priests in Australia]. The non-specialist reader can only assume that the book’s findings satisfy the accepted criteria to justify the phrase ‘Australian Catholic Clergy’ in the subtitle.

Secondly, Jane Anderson does not appear to clarify the methodological issues involved in correlating sociology, Church and papal documents, theology and scripture scholarship. These fields or disciplines differ in their data, contexts and interpretative frameworks.

Consequently, Jane Anderson, either by design or by default, appears to use one particular hermeneutical lens in interpreting her sociological findings in relation to official Church statements and to theological and scriptural scholarship. The lens is that the Pope and the Curia measure everything [including God’s will] in terms of power and control. This is such a persistent preoccupation in the book that it is hard, at times, to avoid a sense of irritation. Even if such a view emerges consistently in the interviews, the author’s warrant for adopting it uncritically as the dominant frame of reference remains a matter of conjecture.

Overall, the outcome is a rather partial, even monochromatic picture of what, in reality, is a rich theological and scriptural conversation about celibacy, ministry and the Church itself. The Church is more than a social institution driven by power and control. It can be viewed and understood through forms of meaning beyond but not in opposition to those drawn from the empirical and human sciences. As with those fields of enquiry, theology itself uses ‘models’ to try to capture the breadth and depth of the mystery of Christian faith and of the Church itself. A dip into the writings of John Henry Newman or Avery Dulles SJ could have helped JA achieve a more balanced view of that same Church.

For all that, the author’s perspective is salutary, particularly if we share her hope that the Church will become a community of conversation, reconciliation and forgiveness [as Paul VI and John Paul II called it to be]. We are reminded of the life-giving and healing power of true dialogue in that it is both listening and critical. It demands of us that we cannot be blind to bias, self-interest and, to adapt Acton’s adage, power’s tendency to corrupt even people of faith, their leaders and institutions. It also implies that we should, at the least, assume good will and integrity in everyone, including those who are official teachers or who hold positions in the Curia. Finally, it brings us back to the broader frame of reference, the wider lens of Christian faith. Its scope is the saving action of the Spirit of the Risen Jesus leading us, despite our resistances, into the complete truth.

While recognizing both the limitations and the opportunities of this book, Jane Anderson is to be congratulated on this significant, compassionate and even courageous study. Arguably, it could have been an even more helpful resource for an expanding theology of priestly ministry [even in alternative forms] and of the future of the Church itself. It is a shame that, in some ways, it is an opportunity missed…   

	Kathleen A. CAHALAN Formed in the Image of Christ: The Sacramental-Moral Theology of Bernard Häring, C.Ss.R. Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2004. pp.  251. US $26.95.   Reviewed  by TOM RYAN SM

 As I thumbed through this book, I stumbled across a half-remembered comment about Häring made by Richard McCormick in his ‘Notes on Moral Theology.’ McCormick says ‘His essay is vintage Häring, which is to say it is characterized by obvious Christ-like kindness and compassion, pastoral prudence, a shrewd sense of the direction of things, and a generous amount of haziness’ [27].

In a footnote on the same page, there is a related observation of James Gustafson in 1974 that ‘[I]t has become fashionable in theological circles to respond to the work of Bernard Häring in a somewhat condescending way. It is my judgment, however, that he will be seen to be a pivotal figure in the history of moral theology in the twentieth century both in the Catholic tradition, and in an ecumenical perspective.’ [25].

In many ways, Kathleen Cahalan’s book is a timely response to those comments, for two reasons. First, Häring’s The Law of Christ was not simply an effort to move beyond the manualist and neo-Thomist traditions. Häring’s aim was ‘to relate worship, sacraments, and prayer to moral theology and the Christian moral life’ [v]. When it was first published in 1954, this was a major step, even a watershed. 

Second, Cahalan’s study alerts those exploring a more integrated relationship between moral theology and spirituality half a century later that we can still learn much from Häring. It is not only that he is primarily a pastoral theologian trying to help the Christian respond to the love of God through Christ. It is also that theology as such, and moral theology in particular, must be seen in its proper setting, namely in the Church and specifically in its liturgical life and worship. Cahalan's central thesis is that Häring's understanding of worship and morality is an area of his work ‘that has yet to be fully examined and appreciated’ [vi]. Häring has something valuable to offer contemporary investigations on the relationship between liturgy and ethics.

In Part 1, Cahalan lays out the historical setting of Häring’s work, four well-documented accomplishments and criticisms of his thought plus the influence of the Catholic Tübingen tradition and of the Liturgical movement on him. Part 2 outlines the key ideas of Häring’s sacramental-moral theology: responsibility, Christ as Word of God and High priest, the human person as word and worshipper shaped by the Holy Spirit and the sacraments as dialogue and response. Cahalan then examines how Häring’s approach to religion is shaped by Scheler, Otto, Buber. She also traces the impact of Karl Adam and Romano Guardini on his Christology and Sacramental Theology. The virtue of Religion [in inner form of devotion and outer expression in worship] as the centre of the Christian moral life for Häring takes up Part III. In the final section, after correlating Häring’s work with contemporary Catholic and Protestant approaches to the relationship of liturgy and ethics, Cahalan suggests ways in which they can engage in a mutually critical conversation.

Cahalan argues that, for Häring, the liturgy and sacraments are central in the transformation and conversion of the inner person’s attitudes, dispositions, and virtues. This marks an important shift of emphasis. As one commentator remarks ‘to place the sacraments “at the heart of life” is, in fact, to renounce the conception of morality as simply a perfecting of oneself through personal effort, and to place oneself in the sphere of influence of Christ dead and gloriously risen’ [28].

Cahalan rightly notes that Häring’s approach is experiential and relational rather than metaphysical, its spotlight being the descriptive and explanatory rather than the philosophically reasonable. Against the academy’s benchmark of rigor, coherence and adequacy he can often be faulted. Häring’s moral theology is primarily theological, one that rests on faith. His concern is helping people to respond to the gift of God’s love through discipleship in the praying Church rather than offering a philosophically coherent foundation for morality. Such an approach is a reminder, as with John Henry Newman, that the intellectual project of theologians [as also of the Church as an institution] is at the service of the religious quest – of bringing people closer to God in holiness.  

This book is a very fine work of scholarship. It reveals a skilled and insightful theologian. She shows a firm grasp of her sources as too of the historical, philosophical and theological influences that moulded Häring’s thought and its development. This study makes an important contribution in its field and is a valuable addition to a theologians’ bookshelf.

	Joseph F. KELLY Responding to Evil Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2003. pp. 80. RRP US 8.95.   Reviewed by TOM RYAN SM

This book was triggered by the events of Sept. 11, 2001 with the destruction of the Twin Towers. It consists of three chapters and some final thoughts.

Kelly takes the reader through a discussion of ‘What Evil Does to Us.’ His primary focus is moral evil. He suggest resources that capture something of the multiple imaginative frameworks used by humans to make sense of the presence of evil and suffering in people’s lives [e.g., The Book of Genesis, Augustine, Dante, Milton and Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein]. He draws on Kathleen O’Connor’s feminist interpretation of Job to capture the ways evil touches women in ways often not captured in the Scriptures.

Kelly then pursues what is traditionally known as Theodicy – how can we reconcile a good, all powerful God with the existence of evil. He surveys the various questions and difficulties that are still raised. He comes to the God of love and hope embodied in the crucified Jesus as God’s statement about this impenetrable of mysteries.

The final chapter deals with ways that we can respond to evil – with love, justice, forgiveness. Each of us can respond to evil positively in our daily lives. He highlights the power of reconciliation and restorative justice as in South Africa and amongst the Maori people in New Zealand.

Kelly brings to his writing the benefit of years of teaching. He shows too that he is au fait [in a sensitive way] with recent thinking of theologians and scripture scholars in this field. 

This is a very accessible book. Each chapter has suggestions for Reflection and Discussion. Its style is clear. It is written with imagination and pastoral sensitivity. It is a very useful resource for a parish or students’ group.   

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

	Bonnie B. Thurston and Judith M. Ryan Daniel J. Harrington, S.J. (Ed) Phippians &Philemon. Sacra Pagina 10 Collegeville , MN : Liturgical Press, 2005

Book Notices

Sacra Pagina 10 is a worthy member of this splendid series; and both the editor and publisher are to be congratulated once more. This volume is slightly smaller than most of those that have preceded it, and different, too, because of the two authors involved. Neither of them is as well known as some of the eminent scholars who dealt with the earlier commentaries, but the quality is there, and both commentaries exhibit impressive scholarly expertise and clarity of presentation and expression.

BBT's exposition of Philippians and her concise commentary is quite an achievement, compressed as it is into a mere one hundred and sixty pages or so. The nuances of translation she offers bring out the distinctively Pauline character of the letter. Her treatment of the hymnic passage in 2:5-11 is rich in theological insight, while at the same time alive to the variety of often conflicting interpretations. Her balanced and informed treatment of this much-loved letter will be a resource for both the general reader, as well as for teachers and students in biblical and theological studies.

JMR has, to some degree, a less rewarding task in translating and commenting on Paul's Letter to Philemon. But within slightly less than a hundred pages, she brings this often puzzling letter to life and sets it in the social and ecclesial context in which it written. The thirty page introduction is valuable in locating the institution of slavery in the ancient world, and setting the context in which the letter is to be interpreted. What emerges is that the Letter to Philemon is indeed a pastoral letter in the deepest sense. Probably written in Ephesus , one of major slave-trading centres of the empire, it offers a valuable insight into the Christian community for whom all, slave or free, are one in Christ.

In short, Volume 10 is a valuable addition in this outstanding series.

 

Prof. Anthony Kelly, CssR., Australian Catholic University.

a.kelly@mcauley.acu.edu.au

	ROGER HAIGHT S.J Christian Community in History Volume I: Historical Ecclesiology Continuum. NY. 438p $35 US   Reviewed by YURI J. KOSZARYCZ

Roger Haight is no stranger to controversy, and in this work he succeeds to present a historically conscious ecclesiology - in contrast to the ethereal and abstract ecclesiology often found in more traditional approaches. 

The controversial aspect of his methodology is found in the rejection of Christocentric approaches to ecclesiology. These are judged to reflect an ecclesiology “from above”: “the risen Christ is located at the centre of an ecclesiology from above. And God as Spirit is subordinated in a variety of ways to Christ in this christocentric form of understanding of the church.” Haight's approach is more “pneumatocentric” so that the church is understood to be “the community of God as Spirit unleashed into world history in the name of Jesus.”  

This first, of a two volume work, takes the reader from the church's origins up to the middle ages. In it he explores the theology and history of the church through the prism of the culture, society and politics that have affected the church's self-understanding. 

Haight's approach is termed “an ecclesiology from below”, as he focuses on actual and historically concrete issues that shaped the church's sociological self-understanding – thus avoiding the theological abstractions that are too intently confessional. Haight's sense of history is marked with a recognition of cultural pluralism that allows him to recognise both the distinctiveness and diversity of church teachings. 

He concentrates in this first volume on theological influences within the Western Church, by examining five major historical epochs: the historical genesis and formation of the church as presented in the writings of the New Testament, the pre-Constantinian second and third century church of the early Fathers, the growth of the church after Constantine 300 – 600 AD, and finally two chapters on the Church in the Middle Ages treating the Gregorian reforms and the development of conciliarism within the late medieval church. 

Haight differs from other historians who have minutely examined many of the events of these centuries in that he systematically theologises about this history. How did the church begin to unravel its complex self-understanding by confronting difficult theological themes and even more difficult historical events when heresy and papal rivals vied for power and supremacy? How were crises averted through the convocation of synods and general councils? What were the issues that intersected in theological and political controversy in dealing with relationships between the various local churches and their allegiance to Rome? How is papal primacy and episcopal collegiality understood, and how were emerging tensions resolved? 

Haight's ecclesiology unfolds from the ministry of the historical Jesus and the movement started by him as it developed into the community's ongoing experience of God's presence as manifested through his Spirit. His second volume will take the same “ecclesiology from below” approach in examining the history of the Church from the reformation to the present. One limitation of Haight's present volume is that the rich spiritual heritage and theological traditions of the Byzantine churches are omitted from this work. Nevertheless his approach is commendable and refreshingly open to the ecumenism which would allow for sociological, cultural and historical diversity while professing a unity of belief in a common confession in Jesus as the revelation of the Father. 

Yuri Koszarycz, Senior Lecturer, School of Theology, ACU McAuley Campus

y.koszarycz@mcauley.acu.edu.au 

 

A selection of recent titles in THEOLOGY chosen by HUGH McGINLAY of RAINBOW BOOKS. Available from all Christian book shops or contact Hugh directly for further information hugh@rainbowbooks.com.au

 

WISDOM FOR LIFE

Michael Kelly and Mark O'Brien (eds)

$34.95 1920691294 Hindmarsh, ATF Press, 2005

Festschrift for Campion Murray OFM in which scholars from a variety of theological disciplines encourage readers to become more critically reflective as they engage with biblical texts and contemporary concerns.

TEILHARD IN THE 21 ST CENTURY

The emerging spirit of earth

Arthur Fabel and Donald St John (eds)

$49.95 1570755078 Maryknoll, Orbis, 2003

Contemporary writers describe Teilhard de Chardin and his challenge for the 21st century, showing how this giant of the twentieth century sheds light on the most urgent spiritual challenges of our time. Includes contributions from Thomas Berry, Brian Swimme, Ursula King and many more.

STILL INTERPRETING VATICAN II

Some hermeneutical principles

Ormond Rush

$24.95 0809142856 New York , Paulist, 2004

Proposes that a comprehensive interpretation of Vatican II requires that the interpreter not only attempt a reconstruction of the 'spirit' of the council emerging during the conciliar debates, but also take into account the various linguistic dimensions of the 'letter' of the documents, including genre, structure, rhetoric, intratextuality and intertextuality.

THE MYSTERY OF FAITH

An introduction to the teaching and spirituality of the Orthodox Church

Bishop Hilarion Alfeyev

$41.95 0232524726 London , DLT, 2004

Offers a clear exposition of the central doctrines of the Orthodox Church - about God, the Church, sacraments, etc. and explores their meaning for today. Draws on ancient texts and contemporary examples.

DISCOVERING GIRARD

Michael Kirwan

$34.95 0232525269 London , DLT, 2004

Presents René Girard's hugely influential work in a lively way that explains and appraises his work, showing its impact on theology and other disciplines and conveying the possibility of a completely new understanding of Christianity.

NEWMAN AND HIS AGE

Sheridan Gilley

$51.95 0232524785 London , DLT, 1990 and 2003

Highly acclaimed as a most scholarly and accessible introduction to the life and thought of John Henry Newman, one of the most fascinating and important figures of the nineteenth century.

ASPECTS OF ISLAM

Ron Geaves

$47.95 0232525358 London , DLT, 2005

Fascinating introduction to a number of contemporary controversies in the Muslim world (including martyrdom, Sharia law, Jihad, fundamentalism, the place of women) and helping us to understand that Islam is not a homogeneous entity, and to examine our perceived stereotypes of Islam.

MISGUIDED MORALITY

Catholic moral teaching in the contemporary church

Michael M. Winter

$55.00 0754607429 Aldershot , Ashgate, 2002

Combining loyalty to the Church with constructive criticism of shortcomings in implementing moral policies, the book claims that the Catholic moral program has failed to make a decisive impact on the behaviour of the Church's members and offers positive suggestions for improvement in each area where shortcomings have been revealed.

ANSELM OF CANTERBURY

The beauty of theology

David S. Hogg

$46.20 0754632326 Aldershot , Ashgate, 2004

Provides a fresh approach to the study of this great figure, fitting him into the wider medieval context; and revealing how Anselm's theology integrates the atonement and questions of predestination, the fall of the Devil and free will, and other issues.

THE CHURCH UNFINISHED

Ecclesiology through the centuries

Bernard P. Prusak

$44.95 0809142864 New York , Paulist Press, 2004

Puts the present period of the Church in vast historical context, tracing how the Church came from the 'community of unexpected persons' whom Jesus gathered around himself and was then shaped, over the course of centuries, by human decisions made in the Spirit.

AN ENCYCLOPEDIA OF JUDAISM AND CHRISTIANITY

Dan Cohen-Sherbok and Lavinia Cohn-Sherbok

$54.95 0232525641 London , DLT, 2004

An updated re-issue of this encyclopedia that explains and compares the key concepts, beliefs and practices of both Judaism and Christianity.

CONSECRATED WOMEN

A contribution to the women bishops debate

Jonathan Baker (ed.)

$47.95 1853115096 Norwich , Canterbury Press, 2004

Representing both evangelical and Anglo-Catholic views, provides essential reading for those for, those against and, more importantly, the many who do not fully realise the issues involved.

GLORY, GRACE AND CULTURE

The work of Hans Urs von Balthasar

Ed Block (ed.)

$47.95 0809143054 New York , Paulist Press, 2004

Examines and celebrates the life and thought of Hans Urs von Balthasar - one of the twentieth century's greatest Catholic theologians, humanist, expert on culture, philosophy and literature, publisher and editor - showing the interdisciplinary facets of Balthasar's thought that synthesize into a concise, deeply-held Christian account of God and the world.