Alba House Research Articles

Environmental Crisis as The Ultimate Life Issue

Environmental Crisis as The Ultimate Life Issue

Christ Our Hope: An Introduction to Eschatology by Paul O’Callaghan

BOOK REVIEWS 621 background. In general, Ayres treats his subject matter chronologically. Yet whenever something new emerges in Augustine’s Trinitarian thought, Ayres stops to provide detailed historical surveys of theological or exegetical traditions informing that development. Given the complexity and volume of source material Ayres must marshal, as well as the long period of development in Augustine’s theology, this reviewer cannot think of a better method for historical contextualization. To have presented so much background material all at once at the outset would have dulled the reader’s sense of Augustine’s continued search in many places and over many decades for insight into the triune God. So are there lingering questions? At points, Ayres gestures towards, but does not expound, the ecclesial (and ecclesiological) context in which Augustine’s Trinitarian thought develops. And although he expends a great deal of energy trying to demonstrate how even Augustine’s most philosophical or speculative Trinitarian moments are themselves dependent upon prior theological commitments, the question—posed most strongly in recent years by Johannes Brachtendorf and Roland Kany—of what exactly Augustine means in De Trinitate when he promises to provide reasons to the more skeptical members of his audience can at times feel as if it has gone unanswered. To be sure, Ayres has argued that, for Augustine, to strive to reason at all about the triune God is to bump against the weakness of the fallen human mind and the need for ongoing transformation and reorientation of one’s errant desires, if one is ever to attain to anything like understanding in the Augustinian sense. The more historically minded will possibly chafe at Ayres’s persistent use of the first person plural throughout the work, but, viewed from another perspective, perhaps this challenging style is fitting for a book aimed at showing the unity of Trinitarian theology and the dynamic, decentering method Augustine employs when pursuing it. DOUG FINN Boston College Boston, Massachusetts Christ Our Hope: An Introduction to Eschatology. By PAUL O’CALLAGHAN. Washington, D.C.: The Catholic University of America Press, 2011. Pp. 358. $35.00 (paper) ISBN: 978-0-8132-1862-5. Tides ebb and flow in theology. The twentieth century witnessed a blossoming of interest among both Catholics and Protestants in eschatology, especially as an overarching category for understanding the fundamental nature of Christian faith. Catholic theologians in the second half of the 622 BOOK REVIEWS century engaged in wide-ranging speculation about the nature of death, judgment, hell, and purgatory. The leading figures of the day—Rahner, Balthasar, Ratzinger—put forward novel ideas: death as a privileged moment for the exercise of the “fundamental option,” the possibility of universal salvation, resurrection occurring immediately at death, purgatory as an aspect of the encounter with Christ. Liberation theology recast eschatology in a thisworldly mode. These ideas were not always greeted with approbation. In 1979 the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith issued a monitory “Letter on Certain Questions in Eschatology,” followed by a more detailed statement from the International Theological Commission in 1992 on “Some Current Questions in Eschatology.” Signs are now appearing, however, of a certain return to normalcy in Catholic eschatology. Two comprehensive eschatologies by Catholic theologians have appeared in English recently: the book here under review and Cándido Pozo’s Theology of the Beyond (New York: Alba House, 2009, translated from Spanish). In both, some new conceptions from recent discussions are appropriated, but the outlook of the tradition is given a greater weight. O’Callaghan consistently respects magisterial teaching (which is not very extensive on eschatological topics). His book seeks to introduce the reader to the Church’s faith and theological tradition in relation to last things, rather than to argue for a unique perspective. O’Callaghan notes that he has taught seminary courses on eschatology for many years (at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross in Rome) and the text seems intended for the seminary classroom. It is not introductory in the sense that one might recommend it to lay people interested in last things; it assumes too great a grasp of the fundamentals of theology. The ideal reader is someone who already has such a grasp and...

Tony Hanna, New Ecclesial Movements: Communion and Liberation, Neo-Catechumenal Way, Charismatic Renewal. Staten Island, NY: Alba House, 2006. 282 pp. $17.95. Shawn Christopher Reeves. Embracing the Mystery of the Holy Spirit: The Son, the Sacred, and the Holy Spirit. Staten Island, NY: Alba House, 2007. 166 pp. $9.95.

Tony Hanna, New Ecclesial Movements: Communion and Liberation, Neo-Catechumenal Way, Charismatic Renewal. Staten Island, NY: Alba House, 2006. 282 pp. $17.95. Shawn Christopher Reeves. Embracing the Mystery of the Holy Spirit: The Son, the Sacred, and the Holy Spirit. Staten Island, NY: Alba House, 2007. 166 pp. $9.95.

Discere et Docere: The Identity and Mission of the Dominican House of Studies in the Twenty-First Century

The Thomist 73 (2009): 111-27 DISCERE ET DOCERE: THE IDENTITY AND MISSION OF THE DOMINICAN HOUSE OF STUDIES IN THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY1 J. A. DI NOIA, 0.P. Secretary, Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments Vatican City I. LEARNING AND TEACHING IN THE DOMINICAN ORDER WHEN HE WAS ASKED once to state what rule he professed, Blessed Jordan, the successor of St. Dominic at the head of the Dominican Order, declared: "Nothing beyond the rule of the Friars Preachers, which is to live virtuously, to learn, and to teach" (Lives of the Brethren 4.31). To live virtuously, to learn and to teach (honeste vivere, discere et docere)-for Blessed Jordan, it was a phrase that summed up the whole Dominican vocation. For us today, as we celebrate the dedication of this new academic center and theological library, Blessed Jordan's simple phrase can serve as a compact description of the mission of the Dominican House of Studies: learning and teaching in the setting ofa life of prayer. It will hardly be news to you-though it bears repeating-that the centrality of learning and teaching in the Dominican charism derives directly from St. Dominic himself.2 Blessed Jordan's succinct formula expressed what he had learned from St. Dominic whose experience with the Catharist heresy in southern France 1 This article was presented at a convocation marking the formal dedication of the new Academic Center and Theological Library at the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, D.C. (18 April 2009). 2 Guy Bedouelle, O.P. St. Dominic: The Grace of the Word, trans. Mary Thomas Noble (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1987). 111 112 J. A. DI NOIA, O.P. convinced him of the absolute necessity of a solid intellectual formation for his new band of preaching friars. The link between study and the apostolic aims of the Order was thus clear from the very beginning. The primitive constitutions state: "Our study must aim principally at this, that we might be useful to the souls of others."3 Blessed Jordan makes this point vividly when, in his encyclical letter of May 1233, he complains that brethren who are uninterested in study, "apart from neglecting their own benefit and depressing their teachers . . . deprive many people of a chance of salvation, when they could have helped them on their way to eternal life if only they had studied properly, instead of being careless about it"4 The Lives of the Brethren recount the story of a certain friar in the early days of the Order who, because he neglected study for the sake of long prayers and works of asceticism, was accused by the brethren "of making himself useless to the Order by not studying."5 With his usual clarity, Blessed Humbert of Romans, the fifth master general, sums it up nicely: "Study is not the purpose of the Order, but it is of the greatest necessity for the aims we have mentioned, namely, preaching and working for the salvation of souls, for without study we can achieve neither."6 The centrality of study for the apostolic aims of the Order meant that learning and teaching could not be left to chance. Successive general chapters created the organization and structures that would provide a solid institutional basis-unique at the time-for studies in the Order. They were organized in such a way that every priory took on the responsibility of structured learning and teaching in a system that was capped by the establishment of studia generalia, first in Paris, and subsequently at Oxford, Cologne, Montpellier, and Bologna.7 3 James A. Weisheipl, O.P., The Place ofStudy in the Ideal ofSt. Dominic (River Forest, Ill.: Dominican House of Studies, 1960), 11. 4 Simon Tugwell, O.P., ed., Early Dominicans (New York: Paulist Press, 1982), 123-24. 5 Weisheipl, The Place ofStudy in the Ideal ofSt. Dominic, 13. 6 Ibid., 5. 7 William A. Hinnebusch, O.P., The History ofthe Dominican Order, vol. 2, Intellectual and Cultural Life to 1500 (New York: Alba House, 1973), 37-82. THE IDENTITY AND MISSION OF THE DHS 113 It is only within the framework of this long tradition...

A Missional Spirituality: Moravian Brethren and eighteenth-century English evangelicalism

it says and for the clarity and sensitivity of its presentation. Here both dialogue and proclamation are upheld and promoted, with priority being accorded to proclamation, in the service of truth. 3 See Ratzinger, Truth and Tolerance: Christian Belief and World Religions (Ignatius, 2004), 106-9. 4 Dominus Iesus is mainly concerned with “salvation”. But other religions use this term to mean rather different things. To put it somewhat crudely, Christianity is about rescuing the human person from sin and from the second death that is consequent to sin, through union with God in Christ and participation in the divine nature. Hinayana Buddhist salvation, on the other hand, is about release from suffering through detachment and entrance into the state of Nirvana, Islam about “submission” to the will of God and return to Paradise, and so on. In a sense, it may turn out that the various religions are not different answers to the same question, but various answers to different questions. See J. A. DiNoia, The Diversity of Religions: A Christian Perspective (Catholic University of America Press, 1992); Gavin D’Costa, The Meeting of Religions and the Trinity ( Orbis and T&T Clark, 2000). The Christian doctrine of salvation also presupposes a whole set of assumptions about the nature of the self and of God. These are the kinds of differences that need to be explored further in today’s interfaith dialogue. 5 J. Ratzinger, Many Religions – One Covenant (Ignatius Press, 1998), 110-12. 6 Ibid. 7 Fall 2002. See also his article on the Word of God in dialogue with Judaism and Islam in the Fall 2001 issue of the same journal, and the fifth chapter of his remarkable Jesus Christ: Fundamentals of Christology (Alba House, 2002). 8 For an example of shallow ecumenism, one might look at the “United Religions Initiative”. For an example of deep ecumenism, see Massimo Serretti (ed.), The Uniqueness and Universality of Jesus Christ: In Dialogue with the Religions (Eerdmans, 2001). 9 Adrienne von Speyr, John, Vol. 1 (Ignatius, 1994), 36. 10 A longer and somewhat different version of this article is published in the Spring 2006 issue of the international review Communio.

The Life and Thought of St. Edith Stein (review)

New York: Alba House, 2001. 164 pp. $12.95. In May 1997, ten years after her beatification, the last hurdle for the canonization of Edith Stein cleared when Pope John Paul II, on the recommendation of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, recognized that a miracle had occurred as a result of her intercession. The miracle involved the remarkable healing of a young Catholic child in a Massachusetts Jewish hospital. Blessed Edith Stein was formally canonized as St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross on October 11, 1998, corresponding with the seventh day of the Jewish High Holy Day, Succor. The story and spiritual pilgrimage of this Jewishborn convert to Catholicism, who was gassed along with her sister, Rosa, at Auschwitz on August 9, 1942, is reverently told by Freda Mary Oben, herself a convert from Judaism to Catholicism. Edith Stein was born in 1891 to a wealthy Jewish family in Breslau (now part of Poland known as Wroclaw). She studied philosophy at the University of Gottingen and earned a doctorate in 1916. She was an atheist, but in 1922, inspired by a biography of St. Teresa of Avila, she was baptized as a Catholic, and in 1933 she became a cloistered Carmelite nun in Cologne, Germany, taking the name Teresa Benedicta of the Cross. Soon after, she appealed to Pope Pius XI to speak out against the Nazi persecution of the Jews, but she received only a papal blessing for her and her family. That same year, she started her autobiography, Life in a Jewish Family (Washington, D.C.: Institute of Carmelite Studies, 1987). Reichspogromnacht, November 9-10, 1938, caused Stein to flee from Germany for a safer Carmelite order in Echt, Holland. On May 10, 1940, the Germans marched into Holland and ushered in the period of occupation. Two years later, the Dutch Catholic bishops protested the Nazi transportation of Jews to concentration camps in Eastern Europe. In reprisal, the Germans ruled that Jewish converts to Catholicism were to be seized and shipped to the camps. When the deportation order came, accounts say, Stein told her sister Rosa, who had also joined the church and became a nun, Come, Rosa, we are going for our people. Oben introduces the life and thought of St. Edith Stein in three equal sections. Part One speaks of Stein's affection and respect of her Jewish heritage, reasons for her conversion to Catholicism, and her vocation as Carmelite. Part Two talks of her writings in Christian philosophy, highlighting her talent for uniting phenomenology and scholasticism; also noted is her leadership in the Catholic Women's Movement in Europe and her advocacy for the dignity of the person in society. Part Three surveys the problems and continuing controversy regarding her canonization, and the meaning of her sainthood for the Church and the world today. …

The Scotist Background in Hervaeus Natalis’s Interpretation of Thomism

The Thomist 66 (2002): 607-27 THE SCOTIST BACKGROUND IN HERVAEUS NATALIS'S INTERPRETATION OF THOMISM ISABEL IRIBARREN Linacre College, Oxford University Oxford, United Kingdom UNDERLYING HERVAEUS NATALIS'S work is an intelligent development of Thomistic theses that, while not altogether deviating from Thomas Aquinas, prepares the ground for an elaboration of Thomism along the lines ofJohn Duns Scotus's theological insights.1 This is already apparent in Hervaeus's Sentences commentary, and becomes explicit in his quodlibetal questions. Thus, as Thomistic enthusiasm develops within the Dominican order, Hervaeusgraduallyincorporates (and endorses) elements alien to Aquinas's theology-an aspect of Hervaeus's thought worth remarking as it stands in contrast to a meeker image of the Dominican as the "champion of Thomism." As a leading Dominican, Hervaeus2 serves as a good example of the type ofinterpretation ofAquinas's thought undertaken by secondgeneration Thomists. An examination of Hervaeus's work will therefore shed some light on our understanding of the evolution 1 Hester G. Gelber is, to my knowledge, the first to point out this development in Hervaeus's interpretation of Thomism. See her Logic and the Trinity: A Clash ofValues in Scholastic Thought, 1300-1335 (Ph.D. diss., University ofWisconsin, 1974), especially 11026 . 2 Hervaeus Natalis (d. 1323) became provincial of France in 1309 and General Master in 1318. For a biographical study of Hervaeus, see B. Haureau, "Herve Nedelec, general des Frl!res Prl!cheurs," in Histoire litteraire de la France 34 (1915): 308-51; A. De Guimares, "Herve Noel (m.1323): Etude biographique," inArchivum Fratrum Praedicatornm 8 (1938): see esp. 5-77 607 608 ISABEL IRIBARREN of Thomism as a theological authority within the Dominican order.3 Hervaeus's view of relations in Trinitarian theology proves to be a good vantage point from which to appreciate his elaboration of Aquinas's teaching, since it reveals his willingness to borrow from sources alien to Thomism if only to update the material according to the subtleties of the day. In what follows, I shall first give a brief account of Aquinas's view of relations as the main sounding board for Hervaeus's own elaboration of this view; second, I shall present Scotus's notion of 'formality' and the connected notion of 'formal distinction'; third, I shall give an account of Hervaeus's Scotist development of the Thomistic theses in his Sentences commentary and, fourth and finally, in his quodlibetal questions. The question at hand concerns the type of distinction between relation and its foundation, especially in its repercussions on the issue of the distinction between the divine processions. L THOMAS AQUINAS ON RELATIONS With respect to categorical relations,4 Aquinas holds that for each of the nine accidental categories there is a distinction between the accidental being common to all categories and the 3 By 1286 there was already clear evidence that the Dominican order had begun to recognize itself in the figure and teaching of Thomas Aquinas. In that year, the General . Chapter in Paris commanded its friars to teach and defend according to Aquinas, thus actively promoting the Thomistic doctrine within the order. The doctrinal allegiance to Aquinas was repeatedly emphasizedin subsequentDominican legislations, notably in Saragossa in 1309 and in Metz in 1313. See B. M. Reichert, Acta Capitulorum Generalium Ordinis Fratrum Praedicatorum I (Rome, 1889), 235. For a standard history of the order and the significance of Thomism for the shaping of the order's identity, see W. A. Hinnebusch, The History ofthe Dominican Order in the Middle Ages, vol. 2 (NewYork: Alba House, 1966), especially 154ff. See also M. Mulchahey, "First the Bow Is Bent in Study ...": Do-minican E.ducation before 1350, Studies and Texts 132 (Toronto: Pontifical Institute of Medieval Studies, 1998); M. Grabmann, "Die Kanonisation des hi. Thomas von Aquin in ihrer Bedeutung for die Ausbreitung und Verteidigung seiner Lehre im 14. Jahrhundert," in Divus Thomas, 1 (Freiburg, 1923), 233-49. 4 For a comprehensive study of Aquinas's theory of relations, see A. Krempel, La doctrine de la relation chez saint Thomas (Paris, 1952). See also M. Henninger, Relations: Medieval Theories 1250-1325 (Oxford, 1989), 13-39. HERVAEUS'S INTERPRETATION OF THOMISM 609 ratio that defines each particular category.5 The...

Christian Totality: Theology of the Consecrated Life by Basil Cole, O.P., Paul Conner, O.P.

BOOK REVIEWS 147 Christian Totality: Theology ofthe Consecrated Life. By BASIL COLE, O.P., and PAUL CONNER, 0.P. New York: Alba House, 1997. Pp. 336. $18.95 (paper). ISBN 0-8189-0798-3. The revised edition of this book appeared in 1997 and has gone largely unnoticed by theological and religious reviewers. In its first edition (Bombay: St. Paul Publications, 1990), the text was perhapstoo narrow, but in its present form it provides what is probably the most comprehensive theological manual on the consecrated life today. Coauthored by two theology professors, the book skillfully integrates theological themes with documents of the magisterium in such a way as to restate the classical theology ofthe consecrated life in a manner accessible to the contemporary reader. Firmly grounded in the theological perspective of Vatican II, the revised edition pays careful attention to the provisions ofthe 1983 Code ofCanon Law, the post-synodal exhortation Vita consecrata, and other documents pertaining to the religious and consecrated life issued over the last thirty years. For this reason, as well as for its style, I refer to the work as a "manual," for it contains, in summary fashion, a comprehensive understanding of the consecrated life from "scriptural, historical andtheological perspectives." For good measure, the authors include a good bit of sensible pastoral guidance, particularly in the sections on the three evangelical counsels. The vision of the "vowed life" portrayed in Christian Totality is that of an all-encompassing way of life. Based not on moral obligation, but on God's initiative and the mystery of transformation in his love, the authors draw upon the theology of the "states" of life to explain how religious profession places one in a new relationship with God. All of the observances of that way oflife are orderedto the transformation of the person into the likeness of Christ, and in Christ to contemplate the Father. In their insistence on the centrality of the life ofvirtue and the relationship between virtue and vow, the authors manifest their clear reliance on the teaching of St. Thomas. While their account of the vow of obedience is less emphatic regarding its sacrificial nature, they are always fundamentally in accordwiththe Angelic Doctor (cf. Summa Theologiae 11-11, q. 186, aa. 5, 7, 8). Given Conner's and Cole's Thomistic background it is important to note their careful and even-handed portrayal of other lines of thought and traditions , which makes the book useful to a wide range of persons and traditions. Perhaps the best example of this is found in the chapter on obedience. Building on the biblical data, and teasing out a theology of consecrated obedience, the authors are careful to portray the various traditions of obedience with accuracy and respect, while never relinquishing their basic Thomistic orientation. They view obedience as the central act of religious consecration, embodying "a religious attitude of wholehearted, unconditional cooperation with and submission to the saving plan of the Father, even when it confounds human judgment" (176). 148 BOOK REVIEWS The authors claim that the heart of the book is to be found in their treatment of the evangelical counsels of chastity, poverty, and obedience. It is here that they are at their best. Their positive theology ofthe vows is clear and serves as a corrective for the more negative accounts of the post-Reformation era and the confused explanations found in some contemporary books on the religious life and the vows. The wide range of material included in the text, from biblical and patristic reflections to historical references drawn from the ancient and medieval periods, evidences scholarship and a breadth of theological perspective. In an age preoccupied with matters sexual, the exposition ofthe vow ofchastity (75-110) is especially helpful. The underlying anthropology here, a mixture of St. Thomas and John Paul II, renders a view of the Christian person vowed to chastity as creative, productive, and optimistic. There is no doubt, in their theological view, that humankind has been made for happiness. While the authors are careful to respect the current distinction between religious life and other forms of consecrated life, particularly secular institutes and societies of apostolic life, their principal intention is to address institutes...

Thérèse of Lisieux and Marie of the Trinity. By Paul Descouvemont. Translated by Alexandra Plettenberg-Serban. New York: Alba House, 1997. xxi + 147 pages. $14.95 (paper). - Saint Thérèse of Lisieux: Her Life, Times, and Teaching. Edited by Conrad de Meester. General ed. of the English-language translation, Steven Payne. Washington, DC: ICS Publications, 1997. 287 pages. $44.95. - Light of

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Recent Moral Theology: Servais Pinckaers and Benedict Ashley

The Thomist 62 (1998): 117-31 RECENT MORAL THEOLOGY: SERVAIS PINCKAERS AND BENEDICT ASHLEY WILLIAM E. MAY John Paul II Institute Washington, D.C. TWO RECENT STIJDIES by Dominican theologians, one a Belgian (Pinckaers), the other an American (Ashley), are among the most significant in the field of moral theology in the postconciliar period, Pinckaers in particular.1 Although quite different in structure, content, and purpose, a central theme is common to both: the Christian moral life is emphatically not, as too many people mistakenly and unfortunately believe, basically a question of meeting obligations and obeying laws that inhibit human freedom. It is, rather, a matter of striving to become fully the beings God wants us to be, that is, persons who share forever his own divine life and happiness, an end attainable, with the help of God's never-failing grace, by living a life of excellence, shaped by virtues, rooted in faith and hope, and animated by love. I. PINCKAERS A) Overview Pinckaers divides his study into two introductory chapters and three major parts. The introductory chapters provide a definition 1 Servais Pinckaers, O.P. Sources of Christian Ethics. Translated from the third edition (1993) by Sr. Mary Thomas Noble, O.P.; foreword by Romanus Cessario, O.P. Washington, D.C.: The Catholic University of America Press, 1995. Pp. xxi + 489. $44.95 (cloth), $24.95 (paper). ISBN 0-8132-0834-3 (cloth), 0-8132-0818-1 (paper). Benedict Ashley, O.P. Living the Truth in Love: A Biblical Introduction to Moral Theology. Staten Island, N.Y.: Alba House, 1996. Pp. xiv+ 558. $24.95 (paper). ISBN 0-8189-0756-8. 117 118 WILLIAM E. MAY of Christian ethics and an overview of the basic questions of concern to it. Part 1, "Ethics, Human and Christian," embraces five chapters. The first of these (chap. 3) treats deftly the profound differences between the kind of knowledge of human acts proper to the empirical behavioral sciences and that proper to moral thought, and the way in which these disciplines can fruitfully collaborate provided that these differences are respected and that their practitioners do not attempt to pontificate on issues beyond their competence. Chapter 4 introduces the question of the distinctive character of Christian ethics. Pinckaers, noting that the terms of the contemporary debate over this issue have been framed by an ethics of obligation, shows that this has led to a search, one bearing little fruit, for obligatory precepts unique to Christians. The result has been the widespread acceptance of the view proposed by Joseph Fuchs, S.J. This position, sharply distinguishing between the "categorical" level of morality (concerned with specific behavioral norms) and the "transcendent" level (focusing on internal dispositions and attitudes), contends that nothing distinguishes Christian ethics at the categorical level but that it is quite unique at the transcendent level. Pinckaers judges that this approach, dictated by the ethics of obligation, is not only wrongheaded but also leads to the separation of the categorical and transcendent levels, seriously underestimating the impact of specific kinds of behavior (categorical) on moral character (transcendent). Thus in subsequent chapters of part 1 Pinckaers turns to the sources of Christian ethics for an answer to the question of its distinctive character. He begins with the teaching of St. Paul (chap. 5), who clearly expressed the uniqueness of Christian ethics in confronting the Jewish view of morality as justification through the works ofthe Law and the Greek understanding ofthe moral life as the work of purely human wisdom and virtueapproaches that inevitably give rise to legalistic hypocrisy on the one hand and pagan vice and pride on the other. For Paul the unique foundation of the Christian moral life is faith in Jesus Christ and union with him, the living source of an entirely new RECENT MORAL THEOLOGY 119 kind of life and power. Given this foundation, Paul can then integrate into a moral life the human virtues extolled by the Greeks, for these virtues have been purged of pride and find a new source and center: Christ crucified and risen and living now in his members. Chapter 6 turns to another great source of Christian ethics: St. Augustine, who saw in the...

Book Review: Medicine and Christian MoralityMedicine and Christian Morality by O'DonnellThomas J., S.J. Staten Island, New York: Alba House, 1991. 331 pages, paperback.

Book Review: Medicine and Christian MoralityMedicine and Christian Morality by O'DonnellThomas J., S.J. Staten Island, New York: Alba House, 1991. 331 pages, paperback.

Gender and the Priesthood of Christ: A Theological Reflection

GENDER AND THE PRIESTHOOD OF CHRIST: A THEOLOGICAL REFLECTION BENEDICT M. ASHLEY, 0.P. Aquinas Institute of Theology St. Louis, Missouri I. Does "Patriarchy" Explain the Tradition? HE CONGREGATION for the Doctrine of the Faith, n its 1976 Declaration on the Question of the Admission f Wonien to the Ministerial Priesthood, based its negative response primarily on tradition.1 For many this argument 1 Inter Insigniores (Oct. 15, 1976, AAS 69 [1977]), Origins 6, 33 (Feb. 3, 1977) : 518-531. For a general bibliography on women's studies see Patricia K. Ballou, Women: A Bibliography of Bibliographies, 2nd ed. (Boston: G. K. Hall, 1986). For select bibliography pro and con on the present topic see note 92, p. 560 of my Theologies of the Body: Humanist and Christian (St. Louis: Pope John Center, 1985) and Wendell E. Langley, S.J. and Rosemary J ermann, " Women and the ministerial priesthood: An annotated bibliography," Theology Digest 29 :329-42 (Winter '81). Strong cases against ordination are made by Louis Bouyer, W onzan in the Church, tr. by Marilyn Techert [Epilogue by Hans Urs von Balthasar and Essay by C. S. Lewis, "Priestesses in the Church"] (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1979) ; Manfred Hauke, Women in the Priesthood? A Systematic Analysis in the Light of the Order of Creation and Redemption, tr. by David Kipp (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1988); L. Ligier, "Women and the ministerial priesthood," Origins, 7:694-702 (April 20, 1978); and Patrick Dunn, Priesthood: A Re-Examination of the Roman Catholz'.c Theology of the Presbyterate (Staten Island, NY: Alba House, 1990), pp. 173-196. Strong cases for ordination are made by Ida Raming, The Exclusion of Women from Priesthood: Divine Law or Sex Discrimination, tr. by Norman R. Adams (Meutchen, NJ: Scarecrow Press, 1976) ; Haye von der Meer, Women Priests in the Catholic Chitrch: A Theological -Historical Investigation, tr. by Arlene and Leonard Swidler (Philadelphia : Temple University Press, 1973) ; George Tavard, Woman in Christian Tradition (Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, 1973) ; Karl Raimer, "Priestertum der Frau," Stimmen der Zeit, 195 :291-301 (May 1977) ; Joseph Komonchak, " Theological Questions on the Ordination of Women," Catholic Mind 75 CJan. 1977) : 13-28; Carroll Stuhlmueller, C. P., ed., Women and Priesthood: Future Directions (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 1978); and Elizabeth Schussler Fiorenza, In Memory of Her: A Feminist Theological Reconstruction of Christian Origins (New York: Crossroad, 1983). 343 344 BENEDICT Mo ASHLEY, OoPo fails to persuade" It seems obvious to them that this " tradition " merely reflects the " patriarchalism " of the Jewish and pagan milieu of the early Church" The Declaration anticipated this objection when it pointed out (a) that Jesus was counter-cultural in many respects, especially in his attitude toward women; (b) a better explanation for the tradition can be found in the reality (res) which the sacrament of ordination symbolizes, namely, that the priest acts ini persona Christi capitis ecclesiae" Thus the essential role of a Christian priest is to represent Christ present and acting in his Church as its male Head" The Congregation formulated its conclusion cautiously: "The Church, in fidelity to the example of the Lord, does not consider herself authorized to admit women to priestly ordination." 2 Thus no other opinion may be followed in practice, and if bishops or theologians raise questions about the meaning of the tradition they must not trivialize its importance nor arouse illusory expectations of change. Final judgment on the matter can only pertain to the magisterium. In what follows I will not explore the argument from tradition as such, but only the supporting argument from symbolism, in an attempt to fill in certain steps which it seems to me the Declaration passed over. Nor will I deal here with other secondary arguments against the Declaration's conclusion, particular the pragmatic argument that since Christians have a right to the Eucharist, the decline of male priestly vocations in many secularized countries justifies the ordination of women" H the Church has no power to ordain women validly, obviously that argument, however practically attractive, is beside the point2 2 Inter Insigniores, last paragraph of the Introduction. 3 The members of a local church have a " right " to the Eucharist only if they...

Book Reviews: Leland J. White, Christ and the Christian Movement: Jesus in the New Testament, Creeds and Modem Theology. New York: Alba House, 1985. Pp. xviii + 289. Paper, $10.95

Book Reviews: Leland J. White, Christ and the Christian Movement: Jesus in the New Testament, Creeds and Modem Theology. New York: Alba House, 1985. Pp. xviii + 289. Paper, $10.95

Book reviews

So Who's Perfect! People with visible differences tell their own stories. By Dhyan Cassie. Scottsdale, Pennsylvania: Herald Press. (1984). 247 pp. $12.95 (paper). Dear Children. By Hattie Larlham. Scottsdale, Pennsylvania: Herald Press. (1983). 141 pp. $9.95. Pastoral Ministry with Disabled Persons. By Reverend Walter Kern. New York: Alba House. (1985). 248 pp. $6.95 (paper). The Church and People with Handicaps. By H. Oliver Ohsberg. Scottsdale, Pennsylvania: Herald Press. (1982). 123 pp. $7.95 (paper). The Vulnerable Social Worker: Liability for Serving Children and Families. By Douglas J. Besharov. Silver Spring, Maryland: National Association of Social Workers. (1985). 275 pp. $14.95 (paper). Who is David? The Story of an Adopted Adolescent and His Friends. By Evelyn Nerlove. Washington: Child Welfare League of America, Inc. (1985). 113 pp. $13.20.

Doors to the Sacred: A Historical Introduction to Sacraments in the Catholic Church. By Joseph Martos. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1981. xiii + 531 pages. $15.95. - The Sacraments: Readings in Contemporary Sacramental Theology. Edited by Michael J. TaylorS.J., New York: Alba House, 1981. xiv + 274 pages. $7.95 (paper).

Doors to the Sacred: A Historical Introduction to Sacraments in the Catholic Church. By Joseph Martos. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1981. xiii + 531 pages. $15.95. - The Sacraments: Readings in Contemporary Sacramental Theology. Edited by Michael J. TaylorS.J., New York: Alba House, 1981. xiv + 274 pages. $7.95 (paper).

Karl Rahner as a Dogmatic Theologian

KARL RAHNER AS A DOGMATIC THEOLOGIAN 1 AMOST THIRTY YEARS AGO Karl Rahner proposed " a single requirement " for the improvement of theological literature: More dogmatic theology in the handbooks, more dogmatic theology in the historical studies, more dogmatic theology in the special studies over the whole range of dogmatic theology and not just in limited fields.2 What does Rahner mean by this? More importantly, what would it be like for us to take up or turn down Rahner's recommendation ? 1 I will use the following abbreviations for the texts by Rahner cited: D.T. =Dictionary of Theology. With Herbert Vorgrimler. Second Edition . Trans. Richard Strachan, et al. (New York: The Crossroad Publishing Company, 1981). F.C.F. =Foundations of Christian Faith. An Introduction to the Idea of Christianity. Translated by William V. Dych. (New York: The Seabury Press, 1978). S.M. = Sacramentum Mundi. An Encyclopedia of Theology. Edited with Cornelius Ernst and Kevin Smyth. (6 volumes. New York: Herder and Herder, 1968-1970). S.z.T. = Schriften zur Theologie. (14 volumes. Ziirich: Benzinger, 19591980 ). T.C.C. = The Teaching of the Catholic Church as Contained in Her Documents . Originally Prepared by Josef Neuner, S.J., and Heinrich Roos, S.J. Edited by Karl Rahner. Trans. Geoffrey Stevens (Staten Island, New York: Alba House, 1967) . T.I. = Theological Investigations. Various translators. (17 vols. London: Darton, Longman, and Todd, 1961-1982; New York: Seabury, 1974-1982). 2 T.I. I: 14 (The Prospects for Dogmatic Theology); cp. S.M. 2:95-111 (Dogma ) . A scrupulously documented treatment of Rahner would yield lengthy footnotes referring to early and late books and articles, encyclopedic and dictionary summar~es, preaching and " spiritual writings," and massive secondary literature. I have preferred to simply give what I take to be " representative texts " at key points. I hope that the claims I make are modest yet distinct enough to justify this procedure. 364 KARL RABNER AS A DOGMATIC THEOLOGIAN 365 My aim is to propose an interpretation of Karl Rahner as a "dogmatic theologian," with particular attention to the way he might be a model of that odd creature. I will not argue that this is the only or even the central clue to Rahner's diverse writings. He has, for example, rightly been taken as a philosopher , apologist, spiritual guide, historian, preacher, and in other ways. But I do think that new light can be shed on Rahner's other activities (particularly his preaching and philosophy ) by studying their relationship to his dogmatic theology . Rahner's supporters and critics have sometimes made things too easy and sometimes too difficult for themselves by neglecting the important role dogmatics play in Rahner. Most importantly, taking Rahner as a dogmatic theologian can help us understand both the potential and the limits of engaging in dogmatic theology in the last decades of the twentieth century. I will propose that, for Rahner, dogmatic theology is limited because it functions by way of contrast to the "kerygma" as well as philosophical and scientific truth-claims. This will require some explaining. I will then offer some examples of Rahner's dogmatic practice, focusing on a largely unstudied text: Rahner's edition of Denzinger's Enchiridion Symbolorum. The first part will emphasize what Rahner says dogmatic theology is, while the second part highlights Rahner's practice of dogmatic theology; but, because of the connection between Rahner's theory and practice of dogmatic theology, each section has influenced the other. Finally, I will summarize the way a focus on Rahner's dogmatic theology can show some of the fairest ways to dispute Rahner's proposals as well as diagnose the claims of other dogmatic theologians. I. Dogma, Kerygma, and Philo:wphy: The Limits of Dogmatic Theology In one sense it is easy to say what the " dogma " is with which dogmatic theology deals. Dogmas are the kinds of things gathered together in Rahner's edition of Denzinger's Enchiridion Symbolorum, translated into English as The Teaching of 366 JAMES J. BUCKLEY the Catholic Church (hereafter TCC) .3 The main body of this lext is eleven chapters on topics ranging from Revelation and Tradition to Grace and Last Things. It includes fallible and infallible teachings...

Book Reviews: Rev. Thomas E. Crane, The Message of St. John: The Spiritual Teaching of the Beloved Disciple. New York: Alba House, 1980. $5.95

Book Reviews: Rev. Thomas E. Crane, The Message of St. John: The Spiritual Teaching of the Beloved Disciple. New York: Alba House, 1980. $5.95

Book Reviews: Ernest Lussier, S.S.S., Jesus Christ is Lord: Adoration Viewed Through the New Testament New York: Alba House, 1979. $7.95

Book Reviews: Ernest Lussier, S.S.S., Jesus Christ is Lord: Adoration Viewed Through the New Testament New York: Alba House, 1979. $7.95

Finding Jesus Through the Gospels: History and Hermeneutics. By Rene Latourelle. Translated by Aloysius Owen. New York, Alba House, 1979. 284 pp. $6.95

Finding Jesus Through the Gospels: History and Hermeneutics. <i>By Rene Latourelle. Translated by Aloysius Owen</i>. New York, Alba House, 1979. 284 pp. $6.95

The Jesus Event and Our Response. By Martin R. TripoleS.J., Staten Island, NY: Alba House, 1980. xi + 249 pages. $6.95 (paper).

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