Duquesne University: Book Reviews

BOOK REVIEWS 723
But contemplation gives birth to questions, too, and I certainly expe-

rienced a number of recurring ones. Why look only or mainly to "official"
saints/mystics? Sometimes the unofficial or marginal reveal elements of
revelation's beauty left unexplored by the "greater" Church. Why no
women? B. does pay great attention to von Speyr and St. Thérèse de
Lisieux in some of his works. Why not a similar sensitivity to women in
this volume? Does not looking back and forth restlessly between the
tradition and contemporary experience (see B.'s treatment of Denys) not
sometimes lead to an excessively narrow disclosure of the full richness
of revelation's beauty? But these questions are not meant to detract from
the book's significance and beauty; they are rather a testament to its
ability to provoke while absorbing.
Duquesne University WILLIAM M. THOMPSON
THE GOD OP JESUS CHRIST. By Walter Kasper. Translated by Mat-

thew J. O'Connell. New York: Crossroad, 1984. Pp. χ + 404. $27.50.
In this major work by Kasper, there are three main parts. In the first,
"The God-Question Today," he examines the denial of God in modern
atheism, the predicament of theology in the face of atheism, experience
and knowledge of God, religious language and faith. Modern atheism is
primarily a reaction, in the name of freedom, against an absolutist image
of God (10). Thus the basic answer is to present God as love that does
not result in heteronomy but in union. This answer is found in the
mystery of the Trinity, not in "theism." Thus the answer is the God of
Christian faith, but some treatment of "natural theology" is necessary as
a reflection on the presuppositions of faith. This reflection presupposes
faith and a concrete history. From this context we can show that faith is
reasonable by showing that arguments against it are invalid and that it
gives a meaningful interpretation of history in a prophetic way. We can
also present "proofs" for the existence of God in the sense of "a reasonable
appeal to human freedom and an account rendered of the intellectual
honesty of faith in God" (100). The divine mystery is manifest in the
midst of our world, though it is also hidden and interpreted in varied
ways. If it is to be accessible to us, it must disclose itself to us in
revelation. But even here God remains mystery, for Hé is Freedom that
is reserved to itself and withdrawn from our grasp.
In the second and third parts, "The Message about the God of Jesus
Christ" and "The Trinitarian Mystery of God," K. presents the Christian
understanding of God in a way that relates God to the modern proble-
matic. For example, in discussing the Father, he transposes the classical
scholastic definition of God's essence into the horizon of the modern
philosophy of freedom and considers the meaning of God as personal. In
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724 THEOLOGICAL STUDIES
treating Jesus Christ, he gives primacy to kenosis Christology (subsuming

a Logos Christology within it); he holds that we must approach the
question of Jesus' Sonship from the vantage point of his death (189), and
he faces the question of the suffering of God. In reflecting on the Spirit,
he gives attention to the differences between Western Christianity and
Orthodoxy. In his exposition of the mystery of the Trinity, he shows the
correspondence between the mystery of man and the mystery of God,
while avoiding Hegel's reductionism. He starts with God's sovereign
freedom in love as the focus of unity in the Trinity (299). This shows
that the Trinity is the model for a Christian understanding of reality and
a summation of the entire Christian mystery of salvation. It is both a
soteriological and a doxological mystery.
This book is a very impressive achievement and a genuine contribution
to the present theological study of God. A brief review cannot capture
the rich analyses that K. gives of many aspects of his theme. In his
interpretation of the present problematic and his basic response to it, K.
seems to agree largely with his Protestant colleague at Tübingen Eber-
hard Jüngel, though he differs from Jüngel in the way he takes the
problem of natural theology seriously and clearly preserves the tran-
scendence of the Trinity over history. Among Catholics, his theology
seems closer to that of Urs von Balthasar than to that of Rahner, whose
theology he profits from but also in part criticizes as being too anthro-
pological.
While there is much to be said for K.'s position, it seems to me that,
to be effective, his answer to modern man's autonomy needs a more
developed anthropology. For example, his favored argument for the
existence of God appears to be one based on a postulate of practical
reason to which an invocation of Pascal's wager is added. He does not
specify the epistemology behind this option, and he leaves this reader
wondering whether he does sufficient justice to the intellectual dimension
found in many seekers' conversion to Christianity. His position would be
helped as well by a philosophical dimension to his dialogue with modern
man's claim to autonomy. We should critique in part modern claims to
autonomy as well as a classical view of God. Also, I would think that the
classical understanding of predestination is a major reason for a modern
sense that God is adverse to human freedom, but K. finds "theism" as
distinct from the God of Jesus Christ to be the source of these difficulties.
In reference to his way of relating the Trinity to history, I suspect that
more emphasis on the kingdom of God as apocalyptic and on its present
impact would show that Jesus as Lord and the Spirit he has sent come
to us, in a sense, from the future and give an answer to our concern for
our future in history, since they seek to transform our personal and social
or political life even in present history. Though I have these questions, I

BOOK REVIEWS 725
think that the book is a major contribution to present theological discus-

sion of the question of God.
De Sales School of Theology, D.C. JOHN FARRELLY, O.S.B.
THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF VIRTUE. By Gilbert C. Meilaender.

Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame, 1984. Pp. xi + 191. $16.95.
Meilaender offers here some significant reflections which further the
reconsideration of the virtue tradition taking place in contemporary
theology. In this series of connected essays he examines both the char-
acteristic emphases and difficulties of virtue thinking. His work is not a
practical one in the sense of how to practice daily virtue but rather in
the sense that its balanced and clear thinking can help in effective living.
For M., "if action flows from vision and vision depends upon character,
then religious beliefs will inevitably be of great importance in the shaping
of an ethic" (ix). M. is not reluctant to emphasize the Christian half of
the virtue tradition as he discusses the thinking of Plato, Augustine,
Aquinas, Maclntyre, Kohlberg, and others. His work is rather broad in
its compass and surprisingly traditional in much of its tone.
The book begins with some exploration of the meaning of virtue. Here
M. notes that concentration on virtue can lead to a certain self-conscious-
ness which can be redeemed by seeing virtue within the broader context
of a faith where virtues are not merely human achievements. In his
second chapter, M. discusses Josef Pieper's contemporary interpretation
of St. Thomas on the virtues. The discussion enables him to reflect on
Pieper's work and expose several of the classic questions raised in regard
to virtue thinking. His thoughts on the unity of the virtues, e.g., point to
the importance of seeing the self as a whole and not just in terms of
individual virtues.
The following two chapters deal with moral education. M. begins by
reflecting on Plato. Moral knowledge must begin in childhood, as the
child is formed by image and example to a love for the good. Later
disciplines such as mathematics, which foster reasonable certitude and
disinterestedness, also prepare for virtuous living, as does insight derived
during the final stage of dialectic. These stages lead ultimately to moral
knowledge rather than opinion. They are the preludes to a virtuous living
which may see the person having virtues in various stages of development
moving toward a unity which is the end of moral development. In the
following chapter, M. considers both values clarification and Kohlberg's
theory of moral development. He is highly critical of both as he argues
for the primacy of character.
In perhaps his most significant chapter, M. examines Luther's maxim
simul Justus et peccator. He believes that Luther speaks in two ways

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BOOK REVIEWS 723

But contemplation gives birth to questions, too, and I certainly expe-

THE GOD OP JESUS CHRIST. By Walter Kasper. Translated by Mat-

Downloaded from tsj.sagepub.com at UNIV OF PENNSYLVANIA on June 20, 2015

treating Jesus Christ, he gives primacy to kenosis Christology (subsuming

Downloaded from tsj.sagepub.com at UNIV OF PENNSYLVANIA on June 20, 2015

think that the book is a major contribution to present theological discus-

De Sales School of Theology, D.C. JOHN FARRELLY, O.S.B.

THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF VIRTUE. By Gilbert C. Meilaender.

Downloaded from tsj.sagepub.com at UNIV OF PENNSYLVANIA on June 20, 2015

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