Theological Truth Research Articles

VIEIRA E OS ESTILOS CULTOS: "UT THEOLOGIA RHETORICA"

Among the many redefinitions Counter-Reformist action and practices effected during the 16th and 17th centuries, the reinterpretation of Aristotle’s Poetics and Rhetorics pose some crucial questions. The first and most important of all is related to the necessity of postulating an equivalent to Horace’s ut pictura poiesis that could determine the necessary and desirable relation between theological dogma and sacred discourse, an ut theologia rhetorica, a rhetorical system that could be a device for the transmission of theological truths, particularly the biblical truth. These practical adjustments and accommodations required a vivid awareness to issues like the use of fantastical figures and metaphors. Counter-Reformation did not consider wonder and fantasy as essential to sacred discourse, but rather as poetic license. However, this configuration did not entail a complete invalidation of fantasy, but rather its conformity to the good transmission of biblical truth. This function implied a peculiar notion of metaphor and figure, which is here analyzed. Following Aristotle’s conception that every discourse is by nature metaphorical, allowing quick learning, the question of wit was crucial for the definition of fantastic and icastic representation. In centralized monarchies, metaphor is the basic substance for the so-called ‘agudeza’, a category that circumscribes the thought system during the Ancient Regime. The use of images, even fantastical, is not an act of pure fantasy that dissociates itself from theological common places, but the ordering of images that configure them in their sensible species, historical and natural. This study investigates these questions conceptually and in detail. It concentrates on Antonio Vieira’s discursive program, in which oratory invention stands as the designing of theological places, rhetorically adjusted to sacred matters. His program must then include also the censoring and control of arbitrary and colorful confusing topoi, defined by Vieira as the fantastical delectare of his Dominican rivals.

Preface

Preface Michael C. Jordan, Editor We are in an odd position in relation to visual images. Technologists and entrepreneurs have invented and produced powerful devices of various types that enable us to summon to appearance images both still and moving from almost anywhere at almost any time. We are saturated with images. But are we generally attentive and responsive to the spiritual quality of images, especially considering that the human capacity to imagine and artistically render and preserve images seems to have emerged for spiritual purposes in the first place? I am thinking here of the words of Jean Clottes, a French expert in prehistoric cave paintings, who, when contemplating the images drawn on the walls of what is now called Chauvet Cave in southern France more than 30,000 years ago, summarized how he regards human beings in relation to our remote ancestors who drew these images: "Homo sapiens is Homo spiritualis."1 These words indicate that we find the origins of our kind in the capacity for spiritual experience rather than knowledge. Clottes disavows for himself any specifically religious claims, but when considering what we might now call the remarkable collected words in numerous caves completed in the Paleolithic age by our remote ancestors, [End Page 5] it seems right that we can discern something like spiritual ancestry in relation to the unknown artists or religious celebrants who painted these images. The cultural differentiation indicated by the terms "art" and "religion" makes it necessary for us to imagine the fusion of these concepts in an undifferentiated form that probably prevailed for the makers and users of these images. We live in a time in which we possess the technological capability of discovering, studying, comparing, reproducing, and preserving these images to an extent never before possible. But the ability to discern the spiritual qualities and purposes of these images is probably rare. Although we might think that the extensive knowledge of ancient and contemporary religious doctrine and practice in Christianity would place us in a position of ready responsiveness to Christian religious images, there is reason to believe that this is not generally the case. This point is made clear by Dominican theologian and historian of art François Boespflüg, who has recently published a monumental history of artistic images of God in the Christian tradition titled Dieu et ses images (God and His Images), which he calls in the title of his introduction "Une histoire iconique de Dieu" (An Iconographic History of God).2 Boespflüg asserts that God seems to have departed from contemporary art, that in European art of the second half of the twentieth century depictions of the crucified Christ are almost the only images of God to be found and that these depictions generally seem disconnected from the essential Christian affirmation of Christ as the Incarnation and the Savior, and that generally those contemplating these images are not inclined to make the same declaration as the centurion who, while gazing at Christ on the cross, exclaimed: "Truly, this was the son of God" (484). But the purpose of Boespflüg's book is not to bemoan this current cultural condition, which may, after all, turn out to be temporary. Instead, he recognizes that a number of confluent conditions make an iconographic study such as his possible today, especially the accessibility of an enormous number of images from across long periods of history and the possibility of easy consultation among [End Page 6] experts facilitated by the Internet, and the development of the disciplines of art history and theology such that the former no longer need restrict itself to analyses of provenance and style and the latter need no longer rely exclusively on written documents and linguistic sources in seeking to understand theological truths. Nor is it necessary to subordinate an iconographic history to biographical, political, social, and economic strands of historical change—artistic images can be understood as expressions of faith, and however contested and even sometimes interdicted such expressions might be, they form their own pervasive history and exist in a kind of communal relation to one another in ways that are often independent of other strands of historical change. This iconographic...

Book Review: Truth and Fiction in Literature and Theology

Book Review: Truth and Fiction in Literature and Theology

Truth and Proof in Mathematics and (Philosophical) Theology

In this article the author ponders the question as to whether there is an intrinsic relation between mathematics and theology with regard to their understanding of truth. Various concepts of truth drawn from philosophy (Plato, Aristotle) and theology (e.g. scripture, apophatic theology, Augustine, Thomas Aquinas, Ockham, Luther, Scholz, Barth, Pannenberg) are introduced. The concept of truth in mathematics with its relation to proof is discussed with regard to results in proof theory acquired by Gödel and Gentzen. The basic idea is that there is an interesting analogy between the way mathematical truth is sought in Gentzen's work and in apophatic theology.

Ancient Economics—Modern Interpreters: The World of Jesus

Jesus was keenly aware of the economic realities in his age, and many of his sayings and parables reflect these realities. Contemporary readers, however, tend to “de-economize” them in order to extract theological truths or to read Jesus' words through capitalistic lenses. A considerate reader of the New Testament, however, needs an appropriate template for reading economic situations within their original contexts. Jesus' economic world was embedded within two major social domains: Kinship and politics (powers). These two social domains serve as twin institutions for understanding the economic language, imagery, and focus of Jesus' words. Jesus' saying about leaving family and land in Mark 10:29–31 serves as a test case for examining some of the prominent economic issues of Jesus' day.

Reconciliation and the Church

This article explores the Christian doctrine of reconciliation with a particular focus upon reconciliation between the indigenous people of Australia and those whose ancestry lies in other continents. The Christian rhetoric of reconciliation, derived from its biblical roots, has to confront a tension between the theological truth and the historical reality of reconciliation. This leads to the question concerning the extent to which the church may claim to be a reconciled and reconciling community. While all claims about reconciliation are subject to the eschatological proviso, and hence to nuance, the church is nonetheless obliged and entitled to claim something for the power of the gospel of reconciliation, including the power to create a new, redeemed sociality. The biblical claim that Christ has brought Jews and Gentiles together in one body raises questions about the relationship between Christians and Jews today, as well as the relationship between Christians of different ethnicity. Though first a gift received, reconciliation confronts the church with many challenges.

On the Scope and Truth of Theology: Theology as Symbolic Engagement

On the Scope and Truth of Theology: Theology as Symbolic Engagement

On the Scope and Truth of Theology: Theology as Symbolic Engagement (review)

On the Scope and Truth of Theology: Theology as Symbolic Engagement (review)

Seeking the Identity of Jesus: A Rejoinder

Bauckham’s response, while focusing on the historical dimensions of Jesus, is right to raise the question of the meaning of ‘identity’. It perhaps invests too much confidence, however, in memory and recollection. Riches’ thoughtful unpacking of some of the tensions in the volume nevertheless downplays the apocalyptic and the narrative contours of Paul’s thought. While Riches’ call for a wider global view might offer fresh perspectives on the situation of poverty in Jesus’ own context, it would hardly enable us to relativize the demonic realm. Seeking the Identity of Jesus calls for an epistemological approach that recognizes not only ‘the historical nature of theological truth’ (Riches) but also the theological nature of historical truth.

Authorship and Publicity before Print: Jean Gerson and the Transformation of Late Medieval Learning (review)

Reviewed by: Authorship and Publicity before Print: Jean Gerson and the Transformation of Late Medieval Learning Takashi Shogimen Hobbins, Daniel, Authorship and Publicity Before Print: Jean Gerson and the Transformation of Late Medieval Learning (Middle Ages), Philadelphia, University of Pennsylvania Press, 2009; cloth; pp. xii, 335; 14 b/w illustrations, 3 b/w maps; R.R.P. US$49.95, £32.50; ISBN 9780812241556. In the last decade, we have witnessed a series of new major publications on Jean Gerson. Patrick Brian McGuire's editorial efforts, such as Jean Gerson: Early Works (1998) and A Companion to Jean Gerson (2006), were accompanied by his own biographical account, Jean Gerson and the Last Medieval Reformation (2005). Marc Vial produced a theological study, Jean Gerson: Théoricien de la théologie mystique (2006). Daniel Hobbins' book, however, is not merely 'another' monograph on Gerson. In fact, it marks a significant departure from the existing scholarship: Hobbins attempts not only to offer a fresh reinterpretation of Gerson as a late medieval intellectual – which alone would have been significant enough – but also to reconstruct the rapidly transforming intellectual landscape in which Gerson lived and worked. In this context, Gerson is viewed as a 'mirror' of the intellectual and cultural shifts of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. Hobbins' aim is to understand Gerson as an author who was 'self-conscious about the task of writing and skilled in putting it to good use' (p. 1). The book is neither a conventional biography nor a study of 'straight' intellectual history. It steers a middle course between conventional intellectual history that highlights intellectual 'giants' and their 'canons', and the social history of ideas and the history of the book that look at the circulation and impact of books and pamphlets written by anonymous or unknown authors as well as famous ones. Hobbins rises to this methodological challenge. The question underlining this erudite work is: how and why was Gerson enormously successful in reaching a wide international audience? Hobbins begins his enquiry by exploring Gerson's literary motives. In the later Middle Ages, ancient authorities were still embraced, while new works continued to be produced by schoolmen. Living in the growing world of books, Gerson discerned the urgent need to establish the sources of a safe and secure theology, what he called the 'common school of theological truth'. Gerson privileged 'great books' which offered 'a blend of learning and piety'. Through this endeavour, Hobbins argues, Gerson transformed late medieval learning in many ways. First, he redefined the role of a theologian [End Page 221] as a physician who diagnosed moral diseases, in opposition to the impersonal legalism of the canonists. His desire to safeguard Christian piety and the language by which to verbalize orthodox faith was also accompanied by his extraordinary drive to produce literary works one after another across literary genres ranging from sophisticated theological treatises to poetry. Further, Gerson refashioned contemporary prose: while he remained respectful of the scholastic logical style, he recognized the importance of rhetoric, thus seeking to achieve the readers' understandings as well as their devotional affections. Unlike those of most schoolmen, Gerson's literary output was appealing to a lay audience because he was conscious of the reading public's needs. Thus he never wrote anything like a summa; instead, he wrote numerous short pieces on specific topics. Gerson's editorial attention to readers' needs allowed him to add colophons, diagrams, headings and subdivisions to the text. As a result, Gerson was no longer a conventional schoolman in the ivory tower; he increasingly emerged as a 'public intellectual'. Gerson's ambitious undertakings, however, could not materialize unless as many copies as possible of his writings circulated far and wide in Western Europe. 'Publishing' in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries posed problems unique to the time, such as how to ensure the accuracy and authenticity of copies produced by scribes. Hobbins concludes the book with two extensive chapters dealing with the highly complex questions of book production and distribution. While no 'open market' for books existed, Gerson's massive output was disseminated widely, if not evenly, in Western Europe through what Hobbins calls 'distribution circles' such as the Councils of Constance and Basel...

RESPONSE TO JORETTA L. MARSHALL, “DIFFERENCES, DISCOURSES, AND DIALOGUES: FROM SEXUALITY TO QUEER THEORY IN LEARNING AND TEACHING”

First, I want to join Sam and, I assume many other members of the Society, in thanking Joretta for her thoughtful, self-disclosive paper and presentation. Joretta has been a prominent leader in calling for and personally embodying greater diversity in the field of pastoral theology and in mainline Protestant theological education. As Andy Lester (1997) observes in the foreword to her work Counseling Lesbian Partners, Joretta is one who knows the issues clinically, academically, and experientially. I would like to affirm Joretta's employment of a perspectival approach to the question of theological truth. I think it is helpful to think of a person's understanding of truth as one strand of a much larger narrative. As a Christian, I believe that the mystery of God is infinitely greater than my socially-located and historically-shaped perspective on God. As I share with my students, Christian theology teaches that we cannot comprehend God, but only apprehend God. As Paul declared in 1 Corinthians 13: For we know only in and we prophesy only in part (13:9 NRSV). Since I am a Christian, I believe that the fullness of God's truth has been, is being, and will be revealed to humanity in the resurrected Jesus Christ through the power of the Spirit.

Is There Such a Thing as Anglican Education?

In posing the question is there anything that distinguishes Anglican education from other forms of education, this lecture laments the fact that Sydney Anglicans have never seriously addressed the task of developing coherent thought about what constitutes Anglican education. In the absence of clearly defined conversation partners and the institutional arrangements for exploring the issue in depth, the author proposes that, as the contest for the gospel is fought in the realm of ideas, three theological truths must govern this exploration—knowing God, knowing God the Creator, and knowing God the Redeeemer.

Barth's Apocalyptic Exegesis and the Question of Israel in Römerbrief, Chapters 9–11

Abstract: Karl Barth's Der Römerbrief (1921) is considered by all to be a major milestone of modern theology, but is rarely considered by New Testament scholars as a reliable guide to Paul's theology and the message of Romans. In this essay I argue that Barth's “dialectical” reading of the epistle is in fact a very successful attempt to convey the truth and power of Paul's apocalyptic theology. While a critical comparison of Barth's dialectic and Paul's apocalyptic reveals some weaknesses in Barth's construal, his commentary stands as a penetrating and powerful rendition of Paul, and not simply as an example of Barth's early theology. This thesis is tested with particular reference to Romans 9–11, and the question of Israel and supersessionism. I show that Barth's reading of these chapters cannot be regarded as supersessionist, precisely because he rigorously subverts any historicist or heilsgeschichtlich readings of the relation between Israel and the Church. In this respect Barth's dialectical reading follows Paul's apocalyptic understanding of history, even though it must be corrected at points with a better reading of Paul.

What did the Barmen Declaration have to say to the churches of the German Democratic Republic?

What did the Barmen Declaration have to say to the churches of the German Democratic Republic?

William Empson: The Milton Controversy

A leading article in the TLS on September 5, 19581 warmly endorsed the critical assessment by Rosemond Tuve, as reported in her talk published in a recent issue of The Listener (August 28), of the ways in which critics of Milton over the last 150 years have approached his imagery. For example, it said, the Victorians over-emphasized the merely descriptive function of Milton's images; more recently, the fashion has been to harp upon their archetypal or “mythical” significance. But the true way to appreciate the dynamic of Milton's images is to understand them in the intellectual setting of his age: “We may not be able to accept them literally as theological truth, but we ought to be able to enter into them as a living pattern of thoughts about liberty and authority, dignity and obedience, order and impulse…” F. R. Leavis—the “arch-anti-Miltonist,” as he wryly reckoned himself to be labeled (“malign influence being the criterion”)—objected2 to such a thoroughgoing endorsement of Rosemond Tuve's views, with all their shallow misrepresentation of recent critical positions. “Miss Tuve clearly implies that it was characteristic of the notorious adverse critics of Milton to refuse to take Milton's theological scheme seriously; ‘taking seriously’ is defined by her references to Charles Williams and C. S. Lewis… Mr John Peter, writing in Scrutiny a half-dozen years ago (October 1952)…examined at length the habitual way in which the Miltonists—and the Miltonists command the academic world—virtually ignore the case that has been made against Milton (he refers especially to A. J. A. Waldock and myself), even while they make a showing of discussing it. There prevails in the academic world, he observed (with illustrations), a tacit agreement either to ignore it altogether or to pretend that it is disposed of…”

The Johannine Prologue and Jewish Didactic Hymn Traditions: A New Case for Reading the Prologue as a Hymn

(ProQuest: ... denotes non-US-ASCII text omitted.) The problem of identifying and classifying early Christian hymns within the NT has not gone away, and no identifiable consensus has emerged with regard to the nature, structure, and purpose of any single purported NT hymn. The Johannine prologue is a case in point. Though many scholars recognize the prologue as something of an early Christian hymn, others suggest that the whole enterprise of identifying early Christian hymns is ill-advised. The sharp differences of opinion on the issue of early Christian hymns indicate that this continues to be an important issue; it is particularly important in that it affects the way scholars interpret the rich and complex thought of John 1:1-18. In this essay I wish to carve out some conceptual space for a position between those who identify hymns in the NT and those who dismiss that impulse as methodologically unsound. I will argue that we have in John's prologue an instance of a particular kind of hymnody-didactic hymnody-an instructional strategy with roots in the Hebrew Bible and Second Temple Jewish writings, but that also resonates with instructional approaches of the Greco-Roman world. To make this case I first define the concept of didactic hymnody as it existed in the centuries before the Gospel of John. Second, I analyze the prologue as a didactic hymn showing that this perspective provides a satisfying reading of the prologue on a number of levels as it takes account of primary features of the prologue. Since this reading leads to the conclusion that the John the Baptist materials are interpolations, I devote a section to addressing this problem. Next, I review objections to the claim that the Johannine prologue is a hymn, responding in detail to arguments made by Daniel Boyarin.1 Finally, I contrast Boyarin's approach with my own and show that, while Boyarin identifies some serious problems with the traditional hymn view, he also sets aside some important clues to the true nature of the prologue as a didactic hymn. I. THE ANCIENT PHENOMENON OF DIDACTIC HYMNODY Scholars have long recognized the existence in ancient times of didactic hymnody-a kind of composition that instructs an audience even as it praises the divine.2 Although the term has been used for decades, the concept of didactic hymnody has never been adequately defined. In this essay I use the term didactic hymnody as a shorthand phrase for a larger set of texts that includes psalms, hymns, prayers, and religious poetry whose primary purpose is to convey a lesson, idea, or theological truth to a human audience. Thus, a number of different kinds of poetic or religious compositions can be considered didactic hymns when their contents register a didactic tone and their style participates in hymnic conventions. Didactic hymns often use traditional language and expressions to paint a portrait of ultimate reality that a human audience is expected to embrace. By adapting time-honored conventions to address the needs of the present community, didactic hymns invite the audience to see its current circumstances in the context of a larger picture of reality that takes account of the divine realm as well as the human world. In fact, this appears to be the value of the didactic hymn: it teaches not merely through direct instruction but also through imagery and metaphor, creating a vision of ultimate reality. This vision may or may not align with visible realities that the community is experiencing, and thus a didactic hymn has the potential to serve as a powerful vehicle for articulating an alternative view of the world and how God is at work in it through people. In this regard didactic hymns and prayers are well-suited to play a role in communal formation.3 In ancient Jewish writings instructional hymnody is most clearly seen in psalms that state their intent to teach in explicit terms (e.g., Pss 34:11; 78:1). Many other psalms lack this explicit reference to their teaching function though it is clear that they also intend to convey a lesson to the audience. …

Preface

Preface Michael C. Jordan "There is a mysterious and deep kinship between music and hope, between song and eternal life: not for nothing does the Christian tradition portray the Blessed in the act of singing in a choir, in ecstasy and enraptured by the beauty of God."1 Pope Benedict XVI offered this observation in response to a concert performed to celebrate the third anniversary of his pontificate in April 2008. Note that the emphasis here is on the profound affiliation between music and the life of faith rather than on music as an auxiliary expression that might somehow accompany or augment verbal expressions of theological truths. Recognition of this "mysterious and deep kinship" reaches back into both ancient pagan and patristic sources, as Orthodox theologian David Bentley Hart has reminded us recently, and Hart explains why this tradition has strong appeal: "The image of cosmic music is an especially happy way of describing the analogy of creation to the trinitarian life. Creation is . . . another expression or inflection of the music that eternally belongs to God, to the dance and difference, address and response, of the Trinity."2 If the prevailing tendency in most modern cultures is to regard music as a kind of decorative art, or as an art form that is limited to the [End Page 5] expression of emotional states, then such tendencies threaten to render us deaf to the deepest sources from which music emerges. The modern Catholic composer who has reaffiliated music and the truth of Catholic theology most fully is surely Olivier Messiaen (1908–92), the centenary of whose birth continues to be celebrated throughout the world of music this year. Reviewers of Messiaen's distinctive compositions frequently consider whether it is necessary to share the intensity of Messiaen's Catholic faith to appreciate his music properly—and this question is sometimes asked with an air of exasperation by reviewers who find themselves uncomfortable with the intensity of Messiaen's theological convictions. While it is simplistic to speak of Messiaen's music as though it could appeal only to those who practice the faith tradition in which his music is rooted, it is nonetheless true that the fullness of beauty of this music blossoms especially when the listener remains receptive to the profound theological truths that are given musical expression by Messiaen. Andrew Shenton expresses a similar point in this way as he considers the attributes necessary to listen with comprehension to Messiaen's "Méditations sur le mystère de la Sainte Trinité"; one should possess, he writes, "sympathy for Messiaen's theological beliefs. A good listener does not have to be a Catholic or even a Christian, but must at least have some understanding of the fundamental aims of Messiaen's music, as well as an acquaintance with the basic tenets of Catholic theology."3 Every great work of art and every art form offers a high invitation, but we are also called upon to expand our power of spiritual attentiveness as a prerequisite to accepting such an invitation. Musicologist and pianist Siglind Bruhn has provided us with a comprehensive and insightful guide to what she calls the "metaphysical, theological, and sometimes mystical visions" offered by Messiaen's music.4 In a new book titled Messiaen's Contemplations of Covenant and Incarnation: Musical Symbols of Faith in the Two Great Piano Cycles of the 1940s (the opening volume of a trilogy with second and third volumes published in fall 2008), Bruhn explores the religious [End Page 6] milieu and theological context of Messiaen's compositions and then leads us deep into Messiaen's musical language through which he gives symbolic expression to profound theological truths.5 Bruhn demonstrates the musical elements out of which Messiaen constructs "a miraculously ordered universe" (47). She then examines in depth the musical structures together with the extra-musical theological sources Messiaen associates with them through which a contemplative approach to theological truth is attained. Bruhn consistently presses beyond Messiaen's assertions about his theological and musical sources to help us see his work in its full and proper context. For instance, she looks beyond the claim consistently made by Messiaen that he was "born a believer...

On the Scope and Truth of Theology: Theology as Symbolic Engagement - By Robert Cummings Neville

On the Scope and Truth of Theology: Theology as Symbolic Engagement - By Robert Cummings Neville

Robert. Neville, On the Scope and Truth of Theology: Theology as Symbolic Engagement. New York: T&T Clark, 2006. xx+236 pp. $29.95 (paper).

Previous articleNext article No AccessBook ReviewRobert. Neville, On the Scope and Truth of Theology: Theology as Symbolic Engagement. New York: T&T Clark, 2006. xx+236 pp. $29.95 (paper).Schubert M. OgdenSchubert M. OgdenSouthern Methodist University. Search for more articles by this author Southern Methodist University.PDFPDF PLUSFull Text Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by The Journal of Religion Volume 88, Number 2April 2008 Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/587592 Views: 5Total views on this site © 2008 by The University of Chicago Press. All rights reserved. For permission to reuse, please contact [email protected]PDF download Crossref reports no articles citing this article.

The Sacrament of Anointing of the Sick by Lizette Larson-Miller

book reviews 611 juridic institute of incardination of any meaning. In other words, in as much as all rights and obligations on the part of the institute and of the individual cease with definitive dismissal, any bond between the two exists only on the abstract level, without any substantive content. But this issue remains disputed and does not detract from the value of the author’s work. Robert J. Kaslyn, S.J. School of Canon Law Catholic University of America Washington, D.C. THE SACRAMENT OF ANOINTING OF THE SICK by Lizette Larson-Miller. Lex Orandi Series. John D. Laurence, S.J., General Editor . Collegeville: Liturgical Press, 2005. Lizette Larson-Miller’s carefully written book on the anointing of the sick takes the post-Vatican II rite as its source for elucidating the theological and pastoral significance of this sacrament. That is precisely the task assigned all the authors of the books in the Lex Orandi Series as stated in the preface to the series by its editor, John D. Laurence. When Prosper of Aquitane referred to the “lex orandi” in the solemn prayers of Good Friday to make his case against the semi-Pelagians, he was not concerned to produce a theology of the Good Friday liturgy, but rather to highlight the human need for divine grace identified in its orations. Prosper knew that the words and actions of liturgy produced insight about theological truths even beyond the meaning of the particular rite in which they may be found. Larson-Miller also knows that the Church’s liturgical tradition reaches beyond itself to establish theological truths that are not narrowly liturgical. This book shows how the reformed rite of anointing not only generates a lucid picture of the meaning of the sacrament but also serves as a source for a theological understanding of human suffering , sin, dependence upon God and community, the Paschal Mystery, ecclesiology , pastoral care, and more. The “lex orandi,” in this more expansive sense, is the project of this book. The first chapter establishes the rite of anointing within the context of the new ritual’s overall program of pastoral care for the sick and dying so that the second chapter can take on the task of studying the heart of this ministry found in the sacramental anointing. This analysis gives rise to a third chapter on the theological issues and questions the author finds in the new rite. A final chapter brings the insights of the liturgy to bear on the cultural circumstances, both general and ecclesial, that shape the way we think about sickness and dying. These “theological questions” and these “insights” come both from the rite and from modern human experience . Thus, the author places modern culture and liturgical tradition in dialogue. Some of the issues raised here include the debate about the necessity of presbyteral ministry in the rite of anointing, the ability of the anointing to effect the forgiveness of sins, the question of physical healing, the effect of the sacrament on those who are at the point of death, and the ecclesial nature of the sacrament. The cultural presuppositions about human suffering, its apparent futility, and the relationship between sickness and sin likewise are raised. These are very big questions, bound to generate far-reaching discussions and expansive theologizing. The very fact that they are raised is evidence of the author’s knowledge of the tradition and familiarity with both the cultural climate and pastoral ministry . It is impossible for a book of this size to resolve all these issues but Larson-Miller raises them in a way that will encourage readers to seek further insight from our liturgical tradition and theology. Some readers will be disappointed to find here many more questions than answers. This, however, may well be one of the great contributions of this book destined to be read in upper level undergraduate or master’slevel theology courses. It raises unavoidable questions in a way that will inevitably stir discussion. In the hands of a knowledgeable instructor, Larson-Miller’s book will provide opportunities for the discussion of historical details, comparative liturgy, and the fundamentals of sacramental theology with a group of students now ready to recognize...