The History of the Church by Guy Bedouelle (review)

478 BOOK REVIEWS The History of the Church. By GUYBEDOUELLE. New York: Continuum, 2003. Pp. 306. $59.95 (cloth), $29.95 (paper). ISSBN 0-8264-1480-X (cloth), 0-8264-1481-8 (paper). C. S. Lewis once labeled the "theologizing" of history as "Historicism," and said that it was a vain attempt to guess at the plan of God as opposed to writing real history ("Historicism," The Month [October 1950]). To see theological patterns and directions is not the job of the historian, maintained Lewis, because "we ride with our backs to the engine." We have no idea where we are going or how soon we are going to get there. We do not know if we are in the first act of a drama, or the fourth act. So to assign theological significance to history is a futile business. Fr. Guy Bedouelle, a French Dominican scholar of note, begs to differ. In his History of the Church he makes the case for the retention of some sense of the theological and even the eschatological in the writing of Church history. He claims that we may not be aware of the exact end of God's providence, but we, as believers, must be aware that there is a providential direction and should not keep that out of our histories of the Church. Bedouelle does not merely theorize about this or suggest how it might be done, he writes several historical chapters himself as examples about how it can be accomplished. Thus the book is divided into two main sections: first, the "manual" of factual information, and second, the "essay," or the argument for the inclusion of some theological awareness. The manual, or historical chapters (nos. 3-15), are prefaced by the author's disclaimer that they are a very summary overview; in fact, however, they are surprisingly informative. The chapters on the Renaissance and Reformation are particularly insightful and helpful. Here Bedouelle shines-his wide reading and knowledge of art and music are brought to bear in a manner that thrills the teacher of Western Civilization, the person who will most benefit by reading this book. Bedouelle knows that we cannot understand the society of the time without understanding every aspect of that society. Yet, he can be critical. While he is sympathetic to a scandalized and angry Luther, he perceptively calls him "a muddle-headed genius." He also places the Christian humanism of Erasmus between its ease with paganism and its unease with the "indignant vigor" of Protestantism, a dilemma not entirely overcome by the humanists. The section on the debate between Bossuet and Leibniz, over the real issues of what would become Revolution, is also lively and instructive. There is also a very fine summary of Christian intellectual currents that emerged after the Second World War. Running throughout the book is the idea that there is always conflict between the prevailing secular world and the faith as proposed by Jesus Christ and his Church. Bedouelle notes, "The challenges encountered by the Church throughout its history do not seem to disappear, but rather to surface in other forms" (183). By way of emphasis, he adds two chapters on the Eastern Churches and on the development ofProtestantism since the Reformation. These chapters, in contrast to the previous summaries, are intensely detailed. Bedouelle BOOK REVIEWS 479 says that he wants the reader to know more about the Eastern Churches and about the Reformed Churches since the Reformation, with a view toward reconciliation, and that these are two areas which Christians know very little about. Where Bedouelle is most successful-and where he is helpful to any teacher of the humanities-is in his synthesis of political acts, religious engagement, and artistic manifestation. One is reminded of the great Christopher Dawson, who could see in such works as "Piers Plowman" their relevance to history. Bedouelle knows theology, and this makes him a better historian. It is, perhaps, precisely in Dawson's historical approach that he might find what he is calling for. Dawson demonstrated that the history of the Church is both cyclical and linear. It is cyclical in the sense that it experiences both notable achievement and notable decline in regular...