Charred Root of Meaning: Continuity, Transgression, and the Other in Christian Tradition by Philipp W Rosemann (review)

Abstract

into some of the major developments in politics and the economy. He expresses a real understanding of the challenges facing politicians who try and do the right thing by the country. He tells the story of the famous budget debacle of January 1982, when John Bruton’s decision not to exempt children’s clothing and footwear from the imposition of VAT led to the collapse of the government. He reveals that Bruton’s intention was actually to restrict the measure to clothing and footwear for adults, but he was dissuaded as ‘the Department of Finance recommended in trenchant terms, under my signature, that an exclusion of children would probably be unworkable and wide open to abuse’. The episode made him listen more closely to politicians’ concerns. AsgovernoroftheCentralBank,heoversawIreland’stransitiontotheeuro and, almost a decade before the financial crash, publicly expressed concerns about the overheating of the economy, particularly the Dublin housing market. The crash gave him cause for deep reflection on the responsibilities of civil servants and politicians to act at all times in the public interest. The book is a truly honest assessment by the author of his life and work and is utterly devoid of any notion of self-importance. His modesty, however, cannot disguise the important contribution he made to public service in this country. Stephen Collins is a political columnist with the Irish Times. PhilippWRosemann, Charred Root of Meaning: Continuity, Transgression, and the Other in Christian Tradition (Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2018), 237 pages. In a theological context, tradition refers to the apostolic heritage and the development of the Christian Church through history. For all of its virtues, Christian tradition carries risks for both the Christian and non-Christian. Professor Philip W Rosemann, a German-born philosopher and Chair of Philosophy at NUI Maynooth explores the development and the implications of Christian tradition in his latest book. He offers us a unique perspective into the importance of an interdisciplinary approach to the development and understanding of tradition. I appreciated how Rosemann’s study highlights both the positive and negative power of the Christian Tradition, to recognise Studies • volume 110 • number 438 264 Summer 2021: Book Reviews and to disrespect the other. To place his contribution in context, Rosemann details his study of tradition, beginning from Moses and God’s radical and unprecedented entry into human affairs, and spanning across time to the present day. Before launching into how Rosemann understands Christian tradition specifically,itisworthrecallingthattraditionisageneralhumanphenomenon, with significance for cultures and societies. Conventionally, tradition is read as the transmission of beliefs, statements, and customs from one generation to the next. Catholic theology, for instance, understands revelation as having two necessary well-springs: Scripture and tradition. Rosemann not only resources theologians and Scripture for his task but also utilizes philosophers to argue for a renewed appreciation of tradition’s dynamic character. For Rosemann, tradition is never a settled matter. Irruption is specific to his understanding of tradition – Divine irruption or transgression from outside into human affairs. In his first three chapters, Rosemann considers that God’s transformation of tradition is a vertical movement of the Divine into humans’ affairs. In both expressing and developing this point, the author initially signals two great moments of irruption in salvation history: Exodus and the Incarnation. Both these historically changing moments are explored for their respective significance in the development of a Christian tradition. In delineating the dynamic operative in the Christian tradition, Rosemann first utilises Michael Foucault’s philosophical understanding of transgression. In doing so, Rosemann uses philosophical terms to narrate and give meaning to the Christian faith’s significance and its self-confessed priority and privilege amongst the other faith traditions. Transgression describes the encounter with the Divine and marks it as unique and distinctive amongst world religions. Transgression by the Divine is not simply a theoretical position in the existentialdevelopmentoftradition.Rosemann’sbookclarifiestransgressions as crafting relational spaces of encounter. Here, one encounters the redemptive out-pouring of divine presence itself. Illustrating Foucault’s specific understanding and application of transgression as a resource for theology, Rosemann signposts an interdisciplinary approach to studying Christian tradition. This reach toward an interdisciplinary approach to human meaning is a value for theology and...