Religious Book Week Critics' Choices
Downing, Nathan A. Scott, Jr., Phyllis Trible, Robert C. Neville, Susan Annette Muto, David Herlihy,
Religious Book Week: CRITICS' CHOICES style of delivery on the platform and in Nathan A. Scott, Jr. the...
...The social theology of Mater et civic republican ethic which properly • Gift Shop, Trinity Church B'way at Wall St...
...them, to place their Catholicism in quotabeen ignored...
...1986 THEOLOGICAL INSTITUTE Mr...
...As one protest- find the editorial in question to be a good talents to very good purposes...
...deals with the most pointed and original state- apocalyptic dialectic to its own dissolu- the empirical aspects of our always ment of classic liberalism from the tion...
...ple: in speaking of Niebuhr's electrifying marked by the Man Christ Jesus...
...1.1 f...
...fulfills two criteria ideological faith traditions...
...He's the only man of cial mention...
...Finally, this year has brought into Eng- Oxtdrd t'niversin Press, 2(t) liadison Avenue, NewYork,, ',N IW16 lish translation Annemarie Schimmel's 11...
...The historians of societies now INTERNATIONALLY they, like the perfecti among the recognize this...
...There is no loss in He even opposed legislation requiring sign, South Africa...
...Maillet, for example, claims that June 29 to July 26 we tried to "`pass off" Governor Cuomo's record on abortion as an The Theological Institute was begun in the summer of 1975 to "anti-abortion strategy...
...They are sung by women, and sometimes by men, in the range of rites EUGENE B BOROWITZ is Professor of compactly but well...
...The centrality of Jesus Huntington, Long Island, N.Y...
...Address- spair...
...What an extraordinary By contrast to Hebblethewaite's deA similar magisterial quality is evident mind and soul is revealed here...
...too, are part of history...
...J. tional Conference of Catholic Charities clarity and charity in setting the "ground Jerome Boxleitner's upsetment at losing (NCCC) and as the Executive Director of rules for dissent, dialogue, and pluralism "an opportunity to discern a major issue an agency member of that organization, I in the American Catholic world on the in the Catholic church today, namely, the would like to make several observations matter of abortion...
...Author and co-author Letty M. Russell (Westminster Press, civilizations, creating the human from of thirteen books, her latest, Meditation in $10.95, 166 pp...
...Mildred Archer...
...to them clearly and persuasively...
...Volume Four will be renunciation, prayer, perfection, of one's life as this great pope of the on scientific formation (methodology spiritual knowledge and the gifts of God people did...
...Is it a theological philosophic sweep of one of the great DREW CHRISTIANSEN, S J , is assistant pro- ethic at all, or is it simply a moralistic fessor of social ethics at The Jesuit School of posture for men and women of action...
...Endorse Discussion" - and agree that politicians of either church or state...
...India," and Stella Kramrisch on "The -Publishers Weekly Ritual Arts of India...
...Appropriate ignorance Governor Cuomo has not made a seCommonweal is indexed in Reader's Guide to New York, N.Y...
...This is not a beginner's book on by contemporary, I mean the framework prolixity of exposition...
...were wiped away: This important book presents a clear search of New Testament texts pointing to the scriptural Even more powerful for me are the four tradition that women lead the way in faith and disciessays which accompany the novel...
...in motion...
...Second-class postage suing his political goals by his not speak- of income (New York Times, August 8, paid at New York, N.Y...
...I found there in letters to the organization's leadership...
...His book, hardly arly material, and in this volume he edifying, is nonetheless valuable...
...In a series of (1983) laid the groundwork for a comof New York at Stony Brook...
...Father Feider takes the reader 1111: into the past to examine the teachings and actions' of Jebrought us to our present plight might sus in order to discover how he led people to the Father, S.ACR~1IEN S have been mitigated had woman had and the attempts of the early church to keep alive the more voice in the last three millenia...
...tions, his strategy will have two predictCommonweal: 98 painful, tumultous events which they en- When that happens it seems very appro- year in the U.S...
...Moving back and forth Man-Made Mass Death (Yale, $22.50, between the Exodus story and Western 256 pp., 1985...
...author's presentation of "formative Rawls, not entirely tongue in cheek, con- For depth of reflection we are imagination, memory, and anticipation" 28 February 1986: 117 in relation to the "dispositional identity" provides a living portrait of the men and and universal advice...
...Although it is not a His pot belly is round from his love of grams, the office of chaplain works closely with counseling and other student services, student reli- final word, the synthesis part helps the sweetmeats...
...It is important also because as a man, Father Moloney joins the women scholars studying the role of Wolf shows how Cassandra has come to women and the discipleship of equals...
...Thompson presents two valuable For years Thompson has been working in O'Flaherty writes the forword to considerations in this work: first of all, he the area of christology and has written on another of this year's treasures, Paul presents a survey of the main trends and the subject in previous volumes...
...here pleship...
...lineation of the quiet growth of John's in Bernard Lewis's The Jews of Islam I liked Basil F. Herring's Jewish character, Richard Fox's Reinhold (Princeton University Press, $17.50, 245 Ethics and Halakhah for Our Time Niebuhr: A Biography presents the great pp...
...The ability to listen, to name ones feelings, to face conflict, to accept be said now can most effectively be ex- oneself...
...I most important intellectual careers on the A textbook makes a substantial beginwould mention first of all a book I read American scene in this century...
...Having shown the pos- plan for a council was in continuity with theology are here summarized and the sibilities of rationalism in Jewish Or- his lifelong interest in pastoral renewal issues clarified...
...looks at the odd piety of David Herlih the late Middle Ages, especially forbear- EARN A MASTERS ance under suffering, much of it selfDAVID HERLIHY is Henry Charles Lea Pro- inflicted...
...ture, Theology, Pasforal Liturgy, women from the tyranny of husbands and Pastoral Ministry, and Spirituality the tyranny of the state...
...diverse, clear, and on the way to someof Saul, Job, and Jeremiah...
...With passionate clarity she Encounterin the Risen Lord r:1 IN...
...Artfully constructed Union Theological Seminary, who was Dramas of History...
...And the church BooKs which treat of Jesus appear in the Master of Arts Program applauded virgins...
...wonders if it can make a difference that RIsI:N fOR 0.87793-327-8 February $4.95 we now have a voice = perhaps it is already too late to avert the destruction of From your local bookstore, or: our species and of much of the other life with which we share this planet, but Rrl: P1...
...Nor does it seem to me that he Correspondence System and the Church...
...The process of this young woman's comWoman: First Among the Faithful ing to consciousness, coming to discover Introduction by Thomas H. Green, S.J...
...Stressing the constancy of for extensive probing and exploration...
...Though it is based on a such unfoldings Gottwald gives new conSo, on turning to Mr...
...An excellent resident faculty is Jo Ann McNamara, A New Song: complemented by outstanding Kenan B. Osborne guest lecturers...
...right of a person to address us even on the controversy discussed in your After my speech at Notre Dame [Sep- though we may not entirely agree with editiorial: tember 13, 1984] and other speeches and the presenter's views in all areas," is - It seems to me that a major organiarticles by politicians, theologians, and misplaced...
...Those I mention here are all books I work "The Crystallization of the GodIt is anticipated that the Chaplain will assume his or her duties in summer 1986...
...But I'm hopeful that we will return to a Endorse 'Discussion" observes that "On One thing is clear, they are not outsiders more reasonable starting point for disthe issue of the most prudential anti- who have no legitimate interest in the cussion...
...knowledge, as I have done in my classes, masterpiece of spiritual history and It is the paradox of formation in the the enormous contribution of the Paulist theology, they are also a parable or an midst of deformation, of consonance out Press through its publication of the Clas- extended metaphor, as the translator in- of dissonance that surfaces again and sics of Western Spirituality...
...the essays provoke, tantalize, and prod...
...Many Middlebury College seeks as Chaplain a man or sociology, and ecology, and a possible others, myself included, could echo such woman who is committed to a ministry in higher education...
...1, 1924, to current issues available through and ramifications of the church's teach- bragged in public that he had "fought University Microfilm, 300 N. Zeeb Road, Ann ing on abortion is "appropriate...
...Martin commitment to the "authenticity" Hebrew Tradition (Fortress Press, demonstrates the importance of the pri- model and reveals their limitations as $9.95, 151 pp...
...It has been moral Society, Beyond Tragedy, The Na- tional scholarship...
...That sort of thing happens all at the NCCC annual meeting does not the time in large organizations...
...An original his own experience as a monk and trust- that I expect in books of this genre: its thinker of the highest caliber, van Kaam ing the primitive simplicity and purity of historical accuracy, vivid details, and acplans in Volume Three, to be issued this heart where Eastern and Western spiritu- curate quotations inform the reader about year, to develop further his practical ality meet, Cassian wrote twenty-four Pope John...
...This book presents, in photograph and text, some of "Sheds important near light on the complex anti distressing the most marvelous treasures and vignet- cluestion of the behavior of European Christians during the tes from the microcosm of Indian village I iolcx'aust and deserves a wide rcadersllip...
...It is a book to be read Ethics, Spirituality Reinhold Niebuhr: A Biography (Panth- alongside Robert Bellah and his associClassic Literature eon, $19.95, 340 pp...
...But never Literary-Feminist Readings of Biblical Narraof Religion...
...hope, and to be so we have to see,clearly $7.95 "Quire hrilliant.----Walker Percy how true it is that the hopes of a mateOPlease send nxc both titles...
...His - Governor Cuomo's assigned topic reaction does not strike me as unreasonas keynote speaker was to be "A Just Tax able...
...meet the growing demands of priests interested in a quality Our point was simply that Governor program of theological renewal...
...It was with much pleasure roles that have been played by Jesus of $18.50, 227 pp...
...Rather, death happens the history of an idea, its manipulation sists in the recognition that manners with the impersonality of arbitrary and and fulfillment, the study offers fascinat- equal, if not exceed, morals in impor- indefinitely unending cuts in a Zenonian ing data, sound critique, and sometimes tance for a liberal civilization, for man- line: Zeno's paradoxes give us the best disturbing implications...
...Commonweal: 124...
...One small exam- reveals how indelibly this culture is "good" and Zion "bad...
...which Susan Annette Muto phalism...
...Allende is a wonderful storytelKnopf, $17.95, 368 pp...
...Nathere's need for a greater degree of both I would submit to you that Msgr...
...prompted to say a few words about two...
...DIANA L. ECK is Professor of Comparative doings...
...Religious Book Week: CRITICS' CHOICES style of delivery on the platform and in Nathan A. Scott, Jr...
...And the result is a book that won- evaluation of them...
...You've done us all a great Whatever else may be said about Gover- become implicated in the public posture service...
...In its purely vides in a book of uncommon brilliance sage imposes a choice that affirms divine biographical dimension the book lacks which, through a series of eighteen chap- meaning in the flux and flow of history...
...The late ancient in abundance every year, which Christian cult of virginity - so strange to indicates that a final book on Jesus FLEXIBLE SCHEDULES modern eyes - was primarily a celebra- will never be written...
...There are legitimate questions that Pennsylvania's bishops, or any other group, could press on Mario Cuomo...
...Miss Manners's superiority to Mr...
...Whatever the governor's inten- wards, Whig-Standard, Kingston, Canada...
...life, and reminds us of the Hindu wis- -Gerald Green, author of I o!''cai ct dom, "In the microcosm lies the macro- Remarkable...
...Colm Luibheid (Paulist, $9.95, would include biographies, letters, and cerns, edited by William H. Shannon 208 pp...
...Whitney described as their "dull the way in which Jesus, Lord and Center, the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and uninteresting" nature, what Julius was seen and appreciated in various for a renewed interpretation of Jesus, and Eggeling spoke of as their "wearisome times...
...more right than wrong...
...One book in dicates, of the complexity awaiting any- again in the correspondence published the series that provides access to the trea- one who seeks to pursue the life of the under the title The Hidden Ground of sury of spirituality of the undivided...
...Kovalski himself believes, are the light They found me, in my capacity as a pro- of the world...
...T HE two books that have moved me BEGINNING 1986...
...tions that these songs convey...
...If these differences sound to have had any direct experience of the who today is the Man Who Belongs to the familiar, Levenson subverts the usual man himself, Mr...
...riches our...
...1'tti~ accelne i remarkable book And Muhammad Is His 28 February 1986: 121 Years of reading and thinking about the Talmudists and legal masters of contem- Hebblethwaite also shows how John's philosophy of science and its relation to porary Judaism...
...Newsweek shaped handle carried by the sister of the "Tee is to he congniiulatetl bride at a wedding and a mirrored wed- ...and thanked...
...IN 46556 28 February 1986: 123 No lid need be clamped over either lay able effects in New York...
...The $16.95, 145 pp...
...With effort I will refrain in investigation and discussion must be this letter from calling it a "pro-abortion Albany, N.Y...
...Its leadership is - To its credit, the NCCC seeks to which it presented a balanced and fair composed of outstanding men and advocate on behalf of the most vulner- portrayal of difficult problems...
...With come to terms...
...9 d Men prlal Drive...
...To them he s is able to voice his consuming concern about a world on the brink of global vioSimone Weil & The fac -Cvl5 lence that seemingly has forgotten God...
...Magistra, for example, had roots in the understood the connections between social activism of the sometimes suspect freedom and virtue, individual and • Trinity Bookstore 74 Trinity Place bishops of northern Italy whom John community...
...For all who are interested in spiritual task...
...emulated as long as ecclesiastical power Finally, I propose that for American Mail or Phone Orders Trinity Bookstore, Dept...
...ought to play an important role...
...thank you, in his- ume One on Fundamental Formation ROBERT C NEVILLE teaches religious studies and philosophy at the State University tory's own development...
...What Merton wrote to Catherine n Search Of Self Doherty in 1956 contains - as one could say of many of the letters - a message Life, Death & Walker Percy, by Jerome Taylor Through the novels of Walker Prn-y and the thought of Kierkegaard, Taylor helps us to for today: "We have got to be people of understand authentic selfhu .J where We srrugglegenu:nely with I ife's I otigi ngs a nd despair...
...the first modern inOlin Robison, President books in the history of religions, depth study of the famous "Hymn to the Middlebury College especially those on the traditions of In- Goddess...
...leadership can and does make some deci- to be in the forefront in the fight against EDWARD L. MAILLET sions which will at times provoke vigor- abortion which leads to the deliberate Executive Director, Catholic Charities, ous disagreement from some members...
...She insists that suffering is not a problem to overcome, but it arises publication...
...of the medieval period, the "universal approaches to christology in what we The Brahmanas, Vedic ritual texts, have man" of the Renaissance period...
...Pat- Jesus appeared...
...I did not choose the Jewish Religious Thought at Hebrew Union following for this symposium because surrounding the wedding...
...its commentary, novelistic theory of the dispositions of the heart conferences of which nine of the most presentation, and reverence for the sub(like gentleness and firmness, commu- famous on such themes as discernment, ject inspire one to make God the center nity and privacy...
...Middlebury grew out of a strong Protestant tradition...
...Jefferson, tizer's reading of a portion of this text: ess of development from childhood to by Judith Martin (Atheneum, $10.95, 70 Where Lingis is a poet, Altizer is our maturity...
...Celibate Women in the First Three Christian Centuries (Haworth Press, $29.95, KENAN B. OSBORNE, O.F.M...
...chant can create order and safety...
...Statements like yours of abortion strategy, we believe Governor public posture of the organization...
...fessor of history...
...I did not seek them out...
...He looks not only at the MIDDLEBURY COLLEGE IS AN moment my eyes lit upon them, and I was great hymn itself, but at the epithets of EQUAL OPPORTUNITY/AFFIRMATIVEACTION not disappointed...
...FORTY or so years of intense intel- Arthur Peacocke's Intimations of Relectual life and the ever increasing ality (University of Notre Dame Press, Aditi: The Living Arts of India (Smithflood of books and journals have $4.95, 94 pp...
...Archer died in 1979 and clearly Muhammad has had a unique role piety, to affirm the second line of the this volume has been skillfully edited by in Muslim piety: not "worshipped," to shahada , "There is no God but God, and Barbara Stoler Miller in cooperation with be sure, but "venerated" nonetheless...
...By showing Scripspirit and character of Niebuhr's person- derfully illumines every major moment ture's adept handling of diversity, he ality is sometimes skewed just enough to in the history of Western culture and that undercuts the temptation to deem Sinai be a little misleading...
...His aprecognition that she will not be heard proach to self-awareness and the value of friendship is and, indeed, will be blamed for the very refreshing • his insights often startling...
...His explanation helps to aginative mind to the exposition of the cal grid into which christological ideas explain the reasons for a changed outlook folkloric elements of the Jaiminiya can be situated...
...They cal...
...Virginity freed Union in Berkeley, California...
...left me strongly partial to things said learning, thoughtfulness, and literacy...
...In addition to conducting its own pro- should be a second...
...day, the concrete " band, father, and grandfather, with a Isabel Allende's novel, The House of blend of realism and fantasy that may the Spirits (Translated by Magda Bogin, remind us of Marquez and yet is entirely Christine Downing her own...
...Also approaching in Miss Manners's sense...
...deed, there is a sense in which members that we must...
...Catholic Charities...
...This book on Human Formation JOHN RAWLS'S Theory of Justice was tity is historical identity, moving in an (Crossroad, $24.95, 271 pp...
...p. 108, Rita Corbin...
...His most recent book is Medieval styles of the times: he sets us thinking CHouseholds (Harvard University Press...
...Of particular value for adult educaTi ii tion and RCIA programs...
...beginning with COLLEGE CHAPLAIN and in a very intriguing way addresses the exclamation, "This is a book I would MIDDLEBURY COLLEGE the issue of contemporary psychology, have loved to have written...
...yet he dances daintily, and gious groups such as Hillel, The Newman Club, and scholar to appreciate present-day rides around upon a mouse...
...There harder than anybody" to assure that abor- Arbor, MI 48106 and on Microfiche from Bell & Howell, Wooster, Ohio 44691...
...of College...
...This long awaited translation be...
...Lewis, after providing us with the (Ktav, $15, 243 pp...
...Or do faults...
...jectionable...
...Those fortunate enough to have at- emerging, distinctively human life-form time of its publication in 1971 until 1985, tended his plenary lecture at the 1985 - through dispositions like appreciawhen it took second place to Common Annual Meeting of the American tion, appraisal, and awe - as indispenCourtesy: In Which Miss Manners Solves Academy of Religion will remember Al- sable powers facilitating the entire procthe Problem that Baffled Mr...
...As the college age...
...Pelikan is a beautiful campus located a short walk from beaches and fifty texts...
...exception...
...Name: rialistic culture are the worst form of deMend the title checked above...
...a biographies and hagiographies of worth the time and effort of anyone'in- study of the veneration of the Prophet in Muhammad, the importance of his blesterested in the goddesses and the God- Muslim piety...
...This is a Messenger (University of North Schimmel explores such topics as the fine study by a superb scholar and is well Carolina, $32, $9.95 paper, 377 pp...
...He asks away our human penchant for self•centeredness- questions and probes for answers with a $8.95 "As I read Professor Springsted's book I was greater sense of freedom than in his more struck by his willingness to get right to the heart censored writings...
...Hence the book is really an necessarily in the act of loving as we attempt to strip autobiography in letter form...
...agreement...
...yet resist the world, while representing CO W LEY-,.1VBLICA .10 'A -02 1 Christ in the midst of it...
...ners make it possible to sustain irrecon- (alas) model for death in our age...
...Minilegends...
...Here O'Flaherty turns her iming this, but the book provides a histori- Jesus question...
...the self-destructiveness inherent in Francis J. Moloney...
...vestments caught in dramatic poses...
...This is a masterful ity, it dares to explore the underside of over after public business, but as the de- blend of scholarship, originality, and faith...
...And Celibate Keith Clark, O.F.M.Cap...
...In this sense the book is spent time in India, and not come to love religiously diverse liberal arts college...
...most this past year are both novels...
...The focus of the HidingJews: Who exhibit, which is illustrated so beautifully in this book, was the ritual art and Helped and Why lore that surrounds the Hindu rites of passage and the calendrical festivals that To read 5M Light Pierced are such a vibrant part of India's religious A, Dark) nE'\~ is to encounter life...
...Gov- meeting...
...Secondly, Thompson is not content Fear of Wives, the Fear of Demonic A second volume is William M. with a mere survey, but he attempts to put Women - all in a world of danger where Thompson's, The Jesus Debate: A Sur- some sort of order and direction into the only the ritual power of sacrifice and vey and Synthesis (Paulist, $12.95, 437 current flow of christological thought...
...Having in mind, however, some questions about For further information and an application form, please write: the governor's reading of the current The American College consensus, we went on to say: "This Theological Institute doesn't mean his position is sacrosanct, Naamsestraat 100 or devoid of political calculation, or 3000 Leuven, BELGIUM should be immune to political pressure...
...His most recent book is The Poe- did he "strut" - and such small mis- tives (Fortress Press) - tics of Belief (University of North Carolina...
...No such thing...
...InNovember I prove that we can and warn Cuomo is more right than wrong...
...Similarly provocative is Exodus and Commonweal: 116 Revolution by the political philosopher privileged to have Edith Wyschogrod's Michael Walzer (Basic Books, Inc., Spirit in Ashes: Hegel, Heidegger, and $15.95, 177 pp...
...The saints we see are for saints in modern India...
...Muhammad is His Messenger...
...Fox's book...
...any notable richness or complication, ters, takes us all the way from Jesus as By contrast, Zion offers the Temple, a for, in this range of things, it rarely risks rabbi in the setting of first-century zone of perfection within the world of any deep inquiry into much that "asks" Judaism to the Jesus who as Liberator profanity...
...a number of fine books on and Summer-only study options, three and six week summer E.A...
...Fox's account of books published in 1985 spill tion to speak briefly of books that the development of Niebuhr's thought from shelf to floor as they chalhave proved for me to be particularly will, I believe, have to be regarded as the lenge me to find quality in the midst of engaging in recent months, I am definitive reconstruction of one of the abundance...
...Pacem in Terris grew not only Boff's populist, charismatic ecclesiolYOUR COMPLETE out of John's role as a mediator in the ogy, his defense of human rights within Cuban missile crisis, but from the toler- the church sets agenda in which AmeriTHEOLOGICAL ance and the goodwill bred by his dif- can Catholics - North and South - BOOK CENTER ficult `service in Turkey and Bulgaria...
...rial entitled "To Admit Diversity and individual members of the Conference...
...This elephant-headed god deThe Chaplain reports to the President and the Dean be a first book on christology, but it lights and confounds the imagination...
...The first is a delightful the Goddess and the earlier hymns and EMPLOYER book by Wendy O'Flaherty, Tales of Sex myths of the Goddess that surround and Commonweal: 120 support the Devi Mahatmaya...
...Martin's, $21.95, 192 pp...
...Perhaps what most needs to self-discovery and communication...
...is a retelling by the East German novelist, Christa Wolf, of the Being Sexual...
...It seems un- should be expected to refrain from forcesurprising that some would find special fully expressing his reaction because he (Continued from page 98) irony in that assignment, since he is one is a bishop...
...Styles of piety, DURING SUMMER versity...
...Our religious voices are the savage god confronts us in the stories worthwhile...
...516) 423-0499 Richard Kieckhefer, Unquiet Souls, appreciation of salvation history remain Fourteenth Century Saints and Their Re- the theological pivots for the majority of ligious Milieu, (University of Chicago, the book...
...Volquite enough excess...
...server her as prototype for her own wit- 0-87793-333-2 February $4.95 nessing to the disastrous fate she sees ahead for her own people, for us, for The Sacraments: humankind...
...pp...
...Though the If one is not interested in perfecting the thing...
...Lit- two football fields, with a population in tle survives here in America of baroque the tens of thousands...
...Candidates should include a vita, a statement of interest in the position as it relates to versity...
...He pursues the tion (M.Div...
...Although it has never had any formal interrelationship of these fields with a a sentiment...
...Lingis's point, SUSAN ANNETTE MUTO is a professor in the Scripture from the underside is Feminist I believe, is that there are experiences of field of literature and religion and director of the Institute of Formative Spirituality at Interpretation of the Bible, edited by immeasurable intensity at the heart of Duquesne University...
...He returns Motion, will be published this coming fall by who refuse to give up on the sacred text, us to those experiences with powerful, Doubleday...
...But surely they and other cesses he shows the boundary as well as formative and informative, several readers will find quality in all these the unique essence of each of the civiliza- books have guided and inspired me in books: new understanding of Scripture tions he visits...
...AVE MARIA PRESS perhaps it is still possible to create a dif- i Notre Dame...
...prior experience and responsibility in active ministry...
...VACATION...
...Legends, easily through a wide network of schol- mum tuition...
...S.D.B...
...who, since his death in the late spring of pellingly attractive by any cultivated For theological stimulation, I recom1971, has by no means lost his claim to reader who wants not so much a life of mend Jon Levenson's analysis of two be regarded as, after Jonathan Edwards, Jesus or a history of theological reflec- religious foci, Sinai and Zion: An Entry the most creative theologian in the Amer- tion on Jesus as an account of the various into the Jewish Bible (Winston Seabury, ican tradition...
...But in return please disconTo the Editors: I read your November 1 faithful who seek to know and live tinue trying to pass it off as an "antieditorial - "To Admit Diversity and church teaching, not the teachings of abortion strategy...
...most accomplished preacher...
...the past year...
...p. 120, Fang carving, all from "pro-choice" ad...
...By modern, I mean the bases in W.D...
...a-87793-329-4 January $4.95 disasters against which she tries to warn...
...Like Wolf she does not flinch from the horrors ler and I found myself utterly absorbed in CHRISTINE DOWNING is a professor of reliof racial and class conflict, from the vio- her magically gifted women and in the gious studies at San Diego State University and author of The Goddess: Mythological Images of the Feminine (Crossroad...
...It should Commonweal: 122 be a standard reference for bishops, reli- ferent consciousness, one which would lence that men have imposed on women...
...Fox sees Niebuhr through er significance with unusual felicity...
...It will Correspondence or clerical Catholics who seek to investi- strengthen his candidacy for Democratic gate the ways in which the unfortunate party nominations, and it will lead to an law of the land might be lived with while increased number of abortions...
...In fact, one should have a good within which current christology out of they could both read Tales of Sex and background on christology before read- this previous background approaches the Violence...
...sees sanctity, and the virginity SPECIALIZATIONS systematic theology at the Franciscan School or chaste widowhood associated with it, of Theology and the Graduate Theological Students may specialize in Scripas liberation for women...
...This past year is no The School offers: Fall, Spring, tion of women's freedom...
...public secular forum...
...To an ethicist like ates' Habits of the Heart: Individualism Greeting Cards & Gifts myself, the great interest of Hebble- and Commitment in American Life (Unithwaite's biography of Pope John is the versity of California, $16.95, 355 pp...
...does this...
...Peter Hebof each person...
...By Here the faint-hearted may tremble or means of a bizarre Grand Tour of Ex- I N the field of spirituality, as both take courage...
...I do not women who dedicate their considerable able members of society...
...seems to me a model of sonian, $27.00, $14.95 paper, 279 pp...
...evidence of intel- meaningful...
...She is the author of Benares...
...How do saints relate to society...
...cret of his public policy position on abor- Periodical Literature, Catholic Periodical Index, To the Editors: A word rarely used in tion...
...He argued that the dure - yet still found myself unprepared priate that dissent be forcefully expressed organization should remain committed to for the beauty of the ending...
...Courtright Christian Fellowship and off-campus denominations and programs...
...Peacocke is open to thodoxy in this work, his more recent deriving from his historical research on many views while asserting his reaction publications have moved on to explore its Charles Borromeo's reforms in Milan...
...Not only flawed human beings but fining context of what is genuinely serious passion...
...I can think A nothing less zation like NCCC confers special honor bishops, I felt - as others did - that the appropriate than a politician who dissents on a person when it selects him to deliver level of the dialogue had been raised a from Catholic teaching lecturing a Catho- the keynote address at its annual national notch or two...
...1) 97 at Ix x )kkwre,, ci t seui vow- check to...
...PHYLLIS ZAGANO -As I understand it, the bishops who tion marks...
...Readers who recall . CATHOLIC N-T ERSI'Y OF LOUVAIN our editorial, or return to it now, will Gy discover, however, that these letters do not really deal with the specific incident we considered and the issues it raised...
...Faspeak out against her own people in full ther Clark urges readers to examine their own experience of being sexual and not to fear its mystery...
...An age of plagues, the period IN THEOLOGY fessor of Medieval History at Harvard Uni- was one of suffering too...
...the saints are marching in...
...Commonweal: 118 $24.00, 248 pp...
...vigorous advocacy to protect the lives of a transcendence of revenge, a commit, It is not especially remarkable that pro- those yet-unborn babies who are surely ment to ending the spiral of hatred, a testors might insist that an invitation to a among the most innocent and most vulrendering of love and forgiveness so keynote speaker should be withdrawn nerable members of the human family...
...In fascinating and expansive lumbia University, $27.50, 181 pp...
...narratives produce a magnificent saga so towering a figure in American intellec- Then I have also found myself recently about the mothers as well as the fathers of tual life in the 1940s, '50s, and '60s, is fascinated by another book of quite a faith...
...With literary sensitiv- vate sphere, not as the set of affairs left well as suggestions...
...might call the modern-contemporary long been maligned by scholars for what these kinds of ideas give us a mirror of, period...
...snatched from the bookstore shelf the dess Tradition...
...Her most recent book is Texts of Terror currently president of the American Academy lanky frame...
...All these books raised Saints somehow focus the needs, apan issue as much theological as histori- prehensions, and hopes of society...
...young intellectuals, and one with whose Through the Centuries: His Place in the They may owe more to peasant revolt legacy they appear not to feel obliged to History of Culture (Yale University, than to conquest and infiltration...
...Are embody religion grappling with social they models of correct behavior...
...Those who serve or those This year, I have read several books who are served...
...He has opposed any bills that are monweal Foundation...
...searches America...
...highFox's Reinhold Niebuhr: A Biography such landmarks as Moral Man and Im- lights recent research alongside tradi(Pantheon, $19.95, 340 pp...
...Bible as a whole rejects a tragic perspec- liberal civilization, I highly recommend tive, its presence in the canon witnesses Alphonso Lingis's Excesses: Eros and to experience and counters trium- Culture (SUNY, $9.95, 163 pp...
...Most extensive is his women who chose to live a radical God- blethwaite's definitive biography of treatment of the disposition of awe and its centered witness rather than succumb to Angelo Roncalli, Pope John XXIII: capacity to awaken the transcendent the chaos of the civil order occurring in Shepherd of the Modern World (Double longings that give rise to religious and the Mediterranean world...
...nor Cuomo's public record on abortion, of organizations to which they belong, MARIO M. CUOMO Governor of New York it stretches the ordinary meaning of unless they make very clear their diswords to refer to it as an "anti-abortion (Continued on page 124) strategy...
...or equivalent) and active tie to an which any christology must ultimately be theme of Ganesa as the mediator - spahistoric community of faith...
...was the great inspiration of Mohandas God, it seeks meaning above and outside Perhaps by dint of his being too young Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr...
...And that we believe his prudential courses are designed specifically for the Institute and taught at argument - about the need for consensus to precede legislative restriction - is the College by professors of the University...
...Replete with charts, was eager to see how this young historian here deployed so gracefully and unobtru- maps, and bibliographies, the text works at Reed College reckons with a thinker sively that this book will be found com- well in introductory courses...
...understanding of the religious their background, and the names, addresses, and traditions of India is Thomas Coburn's telephone numbers of three references...
...are the saints...
...Together 1 985, the year of the Festival of In- Devi Mahatmya (South Asia Books, with official records of graduates and theological education, they should be sent to: dia, has been a very good year for $29.95, 362 pp...
...Illustrations: Cover & p. 179, Ndebele wall depropriate that he do so...
...For this is what Mr...
...She EticocNi LRINc presence of Jesus...
...This lovely book was published for the Festival of India exhibit called "Aditi - A Celebration of Life...
...It is simply not appro- on minors...
...Biblical I N response to Commonweal's invita- book advances...
...A work ding blouse from Kutch...
...It is simply not ap- designed to restrict access to abortion...
...Microfilm from discussions of the political complications tified himself as "pro-choice...
...I wish ardently Jesus...
...Virtue, Self-Interest and the Foundations BOOKSTORES of Liberalism (Basic Books, $23.95, 409 TWO BIOGRAPHIES head my list for pp...
...Nor can we settle for surface acnow one only vaguely known about by different sort - Jaroslav Pelikan's Jesus counts of Israel's origins in the land...
...flection in The Nature and Destiny of of a lengthy Hebrew essay of 1944 was Man...
...which are dues-paying members of courage strategies that are divisive and, To the Editors: Your November 1 edito- NCCC...
...For all I know they may also be perhaps more important, nonproductive...
...Merton restores the old art of Syria at the turn of the sixth century...
...Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1984, 0-87793-331-6 January $5.95 $16.95, 305 pp...
...Another volume I have read with en- cilable differences, where all Rawlsian Through her analyses of Hegel and thusiasm centers on tragedy: W. Lee algorithms for moral agreement fail, and Heidegger, she pushes beyond their Humphreys' The Tragic Vision and the still live with the result...
...He insists that tax dollars be African Designs from Traditional Sources (Dover priate that such discussion - if that is used to expand the availabilty of abor- Publications, 1971...
...gustine, Dante, Milton, Blake, and embedded in a sociohistorical formation Joyce, Altizer shows how Western iden- field...
...cludes with essays by Wendy O'Flaherty -Kirkus Reviews on "The Role of Myth in the Indian Life Cycle," Sudhir Kakar on "The Child in "Masterful, instructive...
...Pelikan pro- ing redemption from bondage...
...experience of a campus ministry...
...And yet meant, in Muslim practice and popular Service in Bihar...
...We have to build a new world, and DI have cnek'sed $1...
...gious superiors, university presidents, sing not of the arms and the man but of She tells the story of three generations of theologians, canonists, and active the "inconspicuous, the precious every-' women and the man who is their huslaypeople...
...He of- Courtright's Ganeia (Oxford Univerfers a synthesis out of this long research, sity, $29.95,174 pp...
...Copyright © 1986 Coming before the National Conference of 1982...
...I men of power...
...Cassian interprets the monastic autobiographies of complex souls whose (Farrar, Straus, Giroux, $27.95, 669 movements in the desert of Egypt and faith journeys, while being utterly pp...
...His latest book is brilliant studies of the epic, from classi- prehensive theory of the person as vital, The Tao and the Daimon (SUNY Press, cal Greek and biblical times through Au- functional, transcendent, and always 1982...
...are as closely related to witnessing the gospressed in fictional form...
...p. 104, Bas., Tachydro,mos, Greece...
...This long historiographical essay & GIFT SHOP the best reading of 1985: Peter mounts a provocative argument: for more Bibles Hebblethwaite's Pope JohnXXIII: than two centuries individual selfThe Book of Common Prayer Shepherd of the Modern World (Double- interest has been at the heart of the AmerBooks on Church History, day, $19.95, 550 pp...
...Thompson ridicules the Patrician one of those superb scholars who roams minutes from Manhattan...
...pel as they are to expressing good mental health...
...He has, without qualification, iden- Index of American Periodical Verse, Book Review Digest and Book Review Index...
...22.50, 270 pp...
...personal, often poetic discourse...
...But let's The governor regrets awaiting its change, but the forums for make a pact...
...No longer can we call with some surprise that I have noticed in ture and Destiny of Man, The Irony of Genesis, for example, a compilation of recent years that my great teacher at American History, and The Self and the patriarchal sources...
...the pulpit, he says: "One did not merely Phyllis Trible listen to Niebuhr: one watched him strut, i NATHAN A. SCOTT, JR., William R. Kenan gyrate, jerk, bend, and quake...
...Fox's portrayal of the World...
...All ily...
...because it showed American Protestant social ethicist as the necessary understanding of the Moslem so well how a thoughtful person, sen- very model of the activist intellectual, context, traces the development and sitized by modern ethics and informed by immersed in unremitting controversy, evolution of a socio-cultural tradition...
...A Franco-Polish saints, of athletic bishops with swirling priest, Stephan Kovalski, settles there...
...of God, before whom the proper re- detail, Schimmel explicates what it has who worked for years in the Indian Civil sponse is Islam, "submission...
...The letters are as witty as they are inforSuffering Of Love mative, as amusing as they are provocaI ON It by Eric 0. Springsted tive...
...William Vendley, Associate Dean, Seminary of the leaves his reader wondering how these social, and economic histories of the Immaculate Conception sparse and shallow roots could have pro- western world...
...This sobering book yields a is wholly illiberal and not civilized at all strange comfort...
...The book makes accessible a delightful and important genre of Eugene B. B orowitz village poems, songs really, from rural I Bihar...
...Not only do College-Jewish Institute of Religion in New they were relatively short, though I note we enjoy the songs of village India here, York City...
...Particularly fascinating is the pp...
...Written by -women deeper-than-civilized roots...
...subjective side...
...Thus the style is perof the spiritual side of this cotnplex and challenging thinker.-Robert Coles sonal, intimate, lively, never stiff or didactic...
...also brings us into village India...
...the Fear of Death, the Fear of God, the quite provocative book...
...Our Kovalski serves the poor well, but who saints are tame...
...Desired qualifications: although the Chaplain does lord of obstacles, who both poses and not hold a faculty appointment, a scholarly degree, Diana L. Eck removes the obstacles we encounter, M.A...
...scholars have steered clear of the mis- significance of his night journey of asAnother splendid contribution is nomer "Muhammadanism," knowing cent to Heaven, the names of Prophet, Songs for the Bride: Wedding Rites of that Muslims are not, strictly speaking, and the celebration of the Prophet's Rural India by William G. Archer (Co- followers of Muhammad, but followers birthday...
...The book con- long cn-ertiuc...
...Since that time, The American Cuomo has spoken to anti-abortion stratCollege Theological Institute has become well-known among egy - in his Notre Dame address primarthe clergy in many dioceses throughout the United States...
...It is safe to say that royal crucified Lord of the Byzantine never has a more interesting book been period, the "monk who rules the world" written about the Jaiminiya Brahmana...
...alone...
...or Ph.D., would enhance likelihood of parttime teaching in an professional ties to an academic Ganesa dances at the doorway of all our department...
...Foremost among them that makes a difference...
...lic organization on moral theology...
...For this reader seeing Niebuhr's for many years the only work by which thought in the context of his life posed those who were not his students could Drew Christiansen gnawing questions about Niebuhr's learn something of the extraordinary "Christian realism...
...carefully chosen so as not to mislead the strategy...
...quite challenging...
...While I have reservations about raiser...
...He founded and edits Sh'ma, a that they are, but because I think they will we also are drawn into a sensitive and journal of Jewish responsibility...
...AND GUEST SPEAKERS ble standards...
...The major part of the book, written by Pria Devi and Richard Kurin, explores the l lolocaust anew from a the early phases of the life cycle, show- unique anti bewildering ing ritual arts, such as a lamp with a cobra angle...
...As an individual member of the...
...probably too much...
...how one relates to the other...
...SO for handling...
...C politics permitted, and in the lay groups Catholics the most important book of the 74 Trinity Place such as Opera dei Congressi, and later year was Leonardo Boff's Church: New York, NY 10006 Catholic Action for whom the young (212) 349.0376 Charism and Power (Crossroad, $14.95, MC VISA AMEX Church Charges Monsignor Roncalli served as a fund- 182 pp...
...cause I was impressed by the care with name of the church...
...by Rabbi Joseph B. Sol- enlightened by him and I think others will his brother to the deeper theological reoveitchik...
...Serials Data prois no loss in Governor Cuomo's not pur- tion is available to all women regardless gram No.: ISSN 0010-330...
...Altizer's History as Apocalypse science of human and spiritual formation (SUNY, $10.95, 265 pp., 1985) finds or, simply, formative spirituality...
...only are the Conferences an invaluable and the visionary encyclical, Pacem in Any student of spirituality will ac- source-book of early monasticism, a true Terris...
...takes at various points do, unfortunately, blemish the portrait of the man which the M Y LIBRARY runneth over...
...tially, the lord of the threshold, and temlectual vitality and interst in men and women of porally, the lord of beginnings...
...Now it is PHYLLIS TRIBLE is a professor of Old TesProfessor of Religious Studies and professor true-that, when he was at full stretch, he tament studies at Union Theological Semiof English at the University of Virginia, is did indeed gyrate and jerk - "his whole nary...
...Not those early days of Vatican Council II tian formation...
...duced such luxuriant growth...
...reflect that kind of commitment...
...Jesus established a new reign of God where all accepted heroism and taking on the burden of bear- fears, taboos and divisions between male and female ing witness against it, is beautifully told...
...I would like to mention courses, four day weeks, and day rick...
...He has simply been portant issue is not the same as avoiding and ostracize those who disagree with treated appropriately...
...ATHOLIC churches misrepresent Dominique Lapierre, The City of Joy saints, particularly here in (Doubleday, $17.95, 464 pp...
...Hurck...
...Who has studied India, or denomination ties and has for many years been a christology...
...But that ing bishop put it, the NCCC ought, then, example of that care...
...We should recognize it RESPECTED FACULTY medieval Albigensians, impose impossi- too...
...The first is Jaroslav Peli- AREN'T UNGODLY his age, living outside the borders of the kan's Jesus Through the Centuries (Yale Rock-bottom room and board on Roman Empire, to have left us Latin University, $22.50, 270 pp...
...Whereas Lingis's is a wholly ahistori- would be Volume Two of Adrian van cal treatment of human excess, Thomas Kaam's seminal five volume series of the Robert C. Neville J.J...
...H. Richard, the secret Publication Society of America, $12.95, proach to Jewish ethics, but I was always hero of the book, is credited with moving 164 pp...
...The desperately poor, about saints...
...The collection features hundreds of letters to such key figures in Merton's life as Catherine de Hueck Doherty, Daniel J. Berrigan, Dorothy Day, and The POINT Of Pain Rosemary Radford Ruether...
...familiar epic and tragic tales associated Personal, experiential and reflective, a book that is all with the Trojan war from the perspective about the connection between sexuality and celibacy, and the role of intimacy in religious communities, the of the prophetess who was doomed to fraternity of priests, and its role Beyond community...
...He unique, also offer sincere seekers sound spiritual direction, social commentary, and sundry reflection through letter€cut of maim writing...
...of several governors who have been es- About forty years ago I became a faith- The NCCC is an excellent organiza- pecially insistent that tax dollars be used ful reader of Commonweal, partly betion that does wonderful work in the to pay for abortions...
...1 I! 11 Rev Paul A. eider wonders whether the exaggerated cele- A handbook demonstrating the scriptural basis of the bration of autonomy and power, the vio- sacraments, outlining their development, and their relent opposition to nature, which have newal since Vatican .II...
...Thompson, Who Was St...
...two works, not with the intent of saying and evening classes gives a hard-nosed analysis of the two that these are the two finest, but rather to surviving texts written by the obscure say that these are two which deserve spe- COSTS THAT apostle of the Irish...
...changes, and to come to grips with a writes of this god from the standpoint of Required qualifications: formal theological educa- historically contemporary world in history, myth, and ritual...
...Though my own under- Words Made Flesh standing of womanist spirituality has Scripture, Psychology and Human Communication been deepened by both, neither is in a Fran Ferder, fspa This insightful and useful book on human communicaliteral sense the work of a feminist tion demonstrates that scripture is a valuable tool for theologian...
...Sinai proclaims Torah, that I found his reassessment of Niebuhr Nazareth "in the general history of cul- commanding obedience to God and givto be marked by a fine intelligence and ture...
...A book for those in ministry' and all who are interested in Cassandra (Translated by Jan Van communication skills and better relationships...
...intricate discussion of the rituals of mar- interest readers not in my field even as riage and the ritualized sharing of emo- they interested me...
...To avoid extending such an inRecently, however, there appears to ernor Cuomo has not, as you suggest in vitation to a person because of his objecbe considerable backsliding, with more your editorial [November I], been "pub- tionable public record on a centrally imfrequent attempts by some to proscribe licly delegitimated...
...Again this should not Ganesa...
...3 Manhattan Locations background it provides on the origins of For it takes head on those who contend The General Theological Seminary John's social teaching...
...Merton's essential humanness Simone Weii is one of the few spiritual thinkers to emerges in material never intended for account for suffering in our world...
...The story is placid residents of their niches, not so centered on a slum of Calcutta, the size of much catching the eye as calming it...
...Coburn aptly subtitles the Middlebury, VT 05753 dia...
...protested the invitation to Governor I regret that trend because it tends to Stretching the meaning Cuomo are heads of diocesan agencies put a halt to public discourse and to enTulsa, Okla...
...and of history...
...It is written in a non- on the sources of christology and, there- Brahmana , and reveals an earthy and theological way, and for someone con- fore, on the interpretation of Jesus him- even bawdy text, filled with stories about versant in both theology and history it is a self...
...Love: The Letters of Thomas Merton on church is John Cassian - Conferences, In the category of edifying reading, I Religious Experience and Social Contrans...
...spirit...
...That is, he has d;alogue with him...
...thought Rabbi Herring often underesti- the eyes of his brother Richard as a liberal Perhaps I am stretching the calendaric mated the stringency of Jewish law and I despite himself, always intent on translimits to include Halakhic Man (Jewish take a more liberal, personalistic ap- forming the world...
...It honest, so compelling as to renew my when they find that the honoree's public seemed to him that an invitation to Govown love for us, for our species, and my record on an important issue is very ob- ernor Cuomo to serve as keynote speaker own hope...
...Western learning, can learn from the tra- writing columns, founding journals, His intriguing historical examples are ditional sources he knows to be authorita- running for office, and consulting with deftly chosen and he expounds their great- tive, and admirably apply them to life...
...New York Review of Books cosm...
...slaying of 1 % million unborn babies each Diocese of Tuls The •diters r.ply: Edward L. Maillet, and Phyllis Zagano attempt to construct plausible arguments why Governor Cuomo should not have The American College been invited to address the Catholic Charities meeting...
...I warmly ning...
...Nonetheless, these two ideas In 28 February 1986: 119 are molded and nuanced by the various and Violence (University of Chicago, cultural changes which take place...
...Its mesprobity and sensitiveness...
...107, 117, soapstone figthe cancellation or delay of a second parental consent for abortions performed ures, Zimbabwe...
...But Mr...
...is professor of DEGREE 154 pp...
...Drawing upon day, $19.95, 550 pp...
...that there was in the American past a 175 Ninth Avenue (20th St...
...Her thesis is that the history, he finds in the former a paradigm phenomenon of mass death in our cenfor such diverse revolutions as the tury has alienated us finally from the apCromwellian, American, Marxist, and proach to death which takes it to be a liberationist...
...He has Vol...
...and the lordship of Jesus in the Christian 11743 Tel...
...and Richard Fox's ican character...
...He moves from century to century, indicat- For further information, call or gets at the core of the saint's life, and ing the influence of Jesus in the political, write: Dr...
...cover drawing, Frank Edwhat it is meant to be - take place in a tions...
...I prodigious learning, it is a learning that is tent to an old genre...
...It is wonderful to relive and practice) and Volume Five on Chris- are selected for the Paulist edition...
...For some time now, sing and intercession for Muslims, the dess of the Hindu tradition...
...Theology in Berkeley, California, and former My third choice is John Patrick Digdirector of the Center for Ethics and Social gins, The Lost Soul of American Politics: TRINITY Policy of the Graduate Theological Union...
...Norman Gottwald's The Hebrew with considerable pleasure during this commend his book to those not yet ac- Bible: A Socio-Literary Introduction past Christmastide - Richard Wightman quainted with the man who produced (Fortress Press, $26.95, 702 pp...
...Nominations and applications should be received by Religion and Indian Studies at Harvard Uni- Another of this year's books that enMarch 10, 1986...
Vol. 113 • February 1986 • No. 4
