BOOK REVIEWS.

La Théologie de Saint Paul. F. Prat, S. J. Deuxieme Partie. Paris, Beauchesne, 1912. Pp. 579.

Biblical theology, as a science distinct from dogmatic, is not yet a hundred years old. It has taken on a renewed interest among Catholics since the present supreme pontiff bespoke for it a larger measure of consideration. The volume to hand, forming part of the library of historical theology published under the direction of the professors of theology in the Catholic Institute of Paris, fills, with its companion volume, a want long and keenly felt. The inherent difficulty attending the composition of a work of this kind is condensation. This difficulty the author has successfully overcome by a series of notes in fine print, which allow of a more detailed consideration of important points, the fuller treatment of which would otherwise have to be sacrificed to the exigencies of method.

The first part of the work is taken up with a searching critical review of the modern conceptions of Paulinism-evolutionary, subjective, and radical-and the various attempts-all of them too simple to define the doctrine of Saint Paul or to discover the centre of his thought. The phrase "theology of Saint Paul" is a misnomer, but it is in possession, as the author well says, and may rightly be understood as "the sum of the divine revelations handed down through the instrumentality of the Doctor of the Gentiles." He disavows all responsibility for any other implications read into the phrase by interested parties. It has long been the fashion to seek for a central thought in the teachings of Saint Paul, and this tendency has mislead many critics into the formulation of ideas too simple altogether to hold the bursting thought of the many-sided genius they were studying. The Protestants imagined that Saint Paul was defining justification in the first five chapters of his epistle to the Romans, whereas he was refuting the Pharisees and the Judaizing party. It is this fact which Luther did not understand; hence his false theory of salvation by faith alone. Our author discusses and rejects all the mis

guided attempts of the modern simplifiers to reduce the thought of St. Paul to a simple metaphysical formula. The thought of the Apostle to the Gentiles is neither theocentric, nor anthropocentric; it is Christocentric, and consequently his theology is a soteriology. The only comprehensive formula capable of expressing Saint Paul's mind fully, is, according to the author, the following: Le Christ Sauveur associe tout croyant à sa mort et à sa vie. Calvary is the true centre of Saint Paul's thought.

Is there, strictly speaking, a psychology of Saint Paul? The author decries the attempts of critics to reduce the Apostle to the level of the philosophers. A systematic psychology is no more to be found in his writings than a systematic philosophy. In fact, his psychology is biblical, and his conception of man is especially so, as may be seen in his employment of the word "heart" to designate the centre of all intellectual, moral, and sensible life, the seat of all the affections and passions. He shows some influence of the prevailing Greek culture, in the use of the terms "conscience" and "reason," but he is no crude dualist; rather is he an eclectic, who pressed into service the language of his time to express ideas personal and proper to himself, which did not come from words then in usage among the pagans, but sought these as vehicles of expression. It is vain to seek in his language the influence of Greek dualism or Asiatic pantheism, for the simple reason that it is not his psychology which inspires and dominates his theology, but the reverse. All this is brought out by the author with a wealth of detail and analysis truly admirable.

Then follow in order critical reconstructions of the doctrine of Saint Paul on the prehistory of the redemption, the person of the redeemer, and the fruits of the redemption, in which the many and varied teachings of the great Doctor are set forth in all their bearings, with an ease and grace which disposes of false interpretations, at the same time that the true meaning is made to shine forth clearly and convincingly, in the light of contemporary ideas for its setting and background, but with the distinct light of revelation made unmistakably evident all the while.

It is impossible, in the limited space allotted for this review, to give anything like an adequate idea of the precious contents of this volume. The great mistake of critics all along in reading Saint Paul has been their conspicuous neglect of the primarily spiritual, religious and moral character of his writings. He has been read in the false light of contemporary systems and made

to stand sponsor for the vagaries of modern rationalism. It is good to have this unscientific procedure rebuked and laid bare in all its naked sophistry. The whole tendency of our times is to simplify everything, to find what is called a master idea, which will explain all. The result is that liberty is taken with everything under the sun, as if forsooth a simple formula could be found for what is by nature complex. The author has dealt this method a mortal blow throughout, and in so doing has revealed the essential shortcomings of modern methods based on the systems of Kant and Hegel or on the pietism of Ritschl.

The life-size portrait of the Apostle to the Gentiles has been restored, and the caricatures drawn by critics have been revealed in all their prodigious deficiency, by the author of this scholarly volume, who attempts no composite photograph after the manner of his times, but seeks to paint true to life the distinct personality of Saint Paul. One impression which the modern critics should receive from a reading of this work of Father Prat is breadth of method and sympathy of treatment. Instead of running round in search of literary and philosophical ancestors to explain the genesis of his illustrious subject, Father Prat first tries to grasp the mind of Saint Paul in its complex fulness, and once he has succeeded in this, he has on his hands and before his eyes a problem of originality and distinctiveness to explain, and not one of dependence or reducibility. There is so much partial criticism now in vogue, so much of this habit of comparing detached phrases of one man with detached phrases of another, that it is a relief to see a criticism that aims at being integral and complete. The total effect of the employment of such a just method is to accentuate the smallness of prejudice and the greatness of truth.

Bibliographies, a philological and topical index, extensive notes, all the scientific apparatus of the best works of this kind, abound. In matter and manner, the volume is masterly. It ought, with its companion volume, to be on the shelf of every professor as a most welcome addition to his library; for it is a work which we have long needed from a Catholic source, and now have at last, to set over against the volumes of Stevens and others. Si monumentum quaeris, circumspice!

EDMUND T. SHANAHAN.

Tractatus de Deo Creatore. G. Van Noort. Van Langenhuysen, Amsterdam, 1912. Pp. 204.

This is as clear a presentation of the subject-matter of this tract as the reviewer has ever seen. In fact, the clearness is remarkable both in thought and language. One is not surprised that a second edition has followed so fast on the heels of the first, the reason therefor being all too apparent. It would be invidious to single out one part of the treatment for special commendation; nevertheless we venture to say that the chapters on creation, the supernatural, and the effects of original sin are exceptionally well done. The criticism of evolution is cogent and incisive, the author manifesting a thorough grasp of his subject on its scientific and theological sides. The question of the supernatural is treated with a rare discrimination, and the student must be dull indeed who would not profit by the exposition. We think, however, that the author would have made his point better, on the vexed question of what St. Thomas meant by the naturalness of man's desire to see God, if, instead of trying to reduce the texts to logical consistency, as he does, a more satisfactory solution had been sought in the mental development of Saint Thomas himself. At the time that Saint Thomas wrote the statements which he afterwards corrected, he was still under the influence of Saint Augustine's historical point of view, and had not yet clearly formulated the distinction between actual and possible man. Hence it is only reasonable to suppose that his language should have been inconsistent, because of the change in the angle of view. This psychological way of settling the discrepancy in the texts seems more convincing than any attempt at a logical explanation of the difficulty. But this is a minor matter, made much of only by modernists in their grasping at straws, and detracts in no wise from the solidity of the exposition.

The reviewer also thinks that the "middle theory" of the divine motion is deserving of more than a passing mention in a foot-note (p. 37). The conception of an intrinsically efficacious motion which is not predetermining in character, or in any sense temporally prior to the creature's action, rids the problem of many conceptual difficulties. By conceiving the divine motion as identical with the operation of the creature, and by regarding the free mode of this motion as within it rather than without, the mul

tiplication of the concursus divini" is rendered unnecessary and superfluous. "Unicus motus nostrae operationi identicus" sufficit. This motion, efficacious in itself, is objectively conditioned by the consent of the creature if the latter be free. In other words, God does by one all-inclusive motion, containing both the motion and its mode, what in the other theories He does successively and not simultaneously. This theory of Cajetan, Pecci, Satolli, and others shows its worth by the consistent light it throws on the problems of foreknowledge, grace, and predestination. We feel quite sure that, on looking into the matter, the author will agree with the reviewer as to the title of this middle theory to a more detailed recognition. It avoids predeterminism and the "scientia media," and in doing this it makes a contribution to simplicity and clearness, which will appeal to the author's sense of these two virtues.

We are glad to see that the author rejects as insufficient explanations of original sin the theories of pact and inclusion, which increase rather than diminish the difficulty of accounting for its transmission to posterity. We are also impressed with his good sound reasoning on the meaning of the axiom, "vulneratus in naturalibus," which he rightly understands to imply a privative and not a positive intrinsic deterioration. Throughout, the impression is constant that every point has been well weighed in a good Catholic balance, and that the author has been most judicious in selecting both the matter and the manner of his presentation.

An alphabetical index, abundant notes, references, citations, and sagacious reflections make the volume still more valuable to the student. The former professor at Warmund is publishing his course, and this is the eighth volume that has appeared, or rather the second edition of the fifth volume in the series. We wish it and its companion volumes every success, and we recommend them. to students and professors as models of clear and judicious presentation. The present work maintains the reputation established by its predecessors.

EDMUND T. SHANAHAN.

Lehrbuch der Dogmatik. Dr. Bernhard Hartmann. B. Herder, St. Louis, 1911. Pp. 861.

This manual of theology is out of the ordinary in many respects. It follows the thesis form of presentation, as all works of the kind.