Joining the Revolution in Theology: The College Theology Society, 1954-2004 (review)

This was not an easy book to write. How does one capture the story, indeed the history, of any academic professional society? There is organizational life, reflected mostly in minutes of meetings; and academic research and discourse, expressed in meetings and the group's academic journal. The College Theology Society (CTS) did not have a journal through its first twenty years, until Horizons, its meaty, semiannual journal, emerged in 1974. It did, however, have proceedings from its annual meeting, which evolved into a thematic annual publication that was shaped by the theme of the annual meeting, but also at times included some material not presented at the meeting. There was also the possibility of oral history, since some founders and many key leaders of this group were available.

Given these choices, Mize, making good use of the CTS archival materials at The Catholic University of America, has opted to feature the founding and ongoing organizational life in her five odd-numbered chapters and the theological dialogue for each decade in her five even-numbered chapters. The theological chapters focus mostly on that decade's annual volumes and ignore the material in Horizons, which understandably lacked the thematic unity of the annual publications. There is a loss in setting aside that material, but given the vastness of her task, her choice was a prudent one. She also confined any oral history to a single interview with the remarkable Father Gerard S. Sloyan, who was a founder and participant throughout the life of the CTS and remains active in the organization today. His input, however, was clearly not in any way controlling of Mize's work.

The CTS began as the Society of Catholic College Teachers of Sacred Doctrine (SCCTSD), largely through the drive and determination of Sister M. Rose Eileen Masterman, C.S.C., a religion professor at Dunbarton College. The formation of this group is the major marker in the effort to professionalize theology in Catholic higher education. In 1954, taking Catholic theology seriously was mostly confined to the seminaries. In Mize's graceful narrative, we see the major place for theology shift decisively to the colleges and universities. We also see the evolution in the composition of those doing theology. A group photo of about ninety of the 143 attending the first meeting in 1955 at Trinity College in Washington, D.C., shows no one not in black cloth. There are about ten brothers and thirty sisters, and the rest are priests. The group photo fifty years later shows 250 of the attendees, about equally split between male and female, and no black cloth, although perhaps fifty priests are among the group.

These fifty years include the Second Vatican Council; rapid social, economic, and political change; ecumenism; questions of academic freedom; a more contextual and inclusive theologizing; and much more. There is a virtual parade of Catholic theologians and theology through each decade. Mize is a master at digesting a lengthy scholarly article to a paragraph or two and carrying the story forward. She is equally as good at capturing the distinctive style of this admirable professional society, with its conventions on college campuses rather than in big hotels, its communal meals, and its quite evident dedication to research and the craft of theology, as well as their equal dedication to the students in their classrooms.

Sandra Yocum Mize, chair of the religious studies department at University of Dayton, has made a major contribution to our understanding of both theology and Catholic higher education. Her book offers more breadth and depth than Rosemary Rodgers's quite serviceable A History of the College Theology Society (1983). Joining the Revolution in Theology complements nicely such other important works on Catholic higher education as those of Philip Gleason and Alice Gallin. This book belongs in the library of every college and university.