Theology Today Series. 25. The Theology of Baptism by Lorna Brockett, R.S.C.J. (review)

BOOK REVIEWS 327 and would certainly have been of considerable use. In spite of such criticism, which is meant to be truly constructive, we must be grateful to the author for his courage (in this non-thomistic age!) in expounding so thoroughly and, one might say, so existentially, the mind of Aquinas on a very actual theological problem. CORNELIUS WILLIAMS, O.P. Munich, West Germany Theology Today Series. 25. The Theology of Baptism. By LORNA BROCKETT, R. S.C. J. Death and Eternal Life. By MICHAEL SIMPSON, S. J. Notre Dame, Ind.: Fides Publishers, 1971. Pp. 94 and 95¢ each. The author of The Theology of Baptism is a religious and a Scotswoman, whose first love was for English and French literature and who lectures in Theology at St. Mary's College, Newcastle-on-Tyne. She has gathered here a florilegium of Christian literature on Baptism and an analysis of the teaching of the New Testament. There is a chapter on the attitude of the Reformers and the reactionary canons of Trent; otherwise there are only passing references to the teaching of the Church. One chapter deals with Baptism in Scholastic Theology, as if it belongs now to history. Problems are also discussed: the salvation of the unbaptized infants and of the unbaptized adults. The author slips into a common misunderstanding concerning the exorcisms in infant Baptism. They were suppressed, she says, because they "were only meaningful in the case of adults." (p. 60) But the new rite for infants contains a prayer of exorcism and the renunciation of Satan. To be born in the state of original sin means clearly that one is not yet possessed by the Holy Spirit of God, and therefore quite open to the influence of the Devil. Death and Eternal Life was written by a philosopher. His treatise is largely philosophical, interesting and partly satisfactory. But what is presented in a book that belongs to a series in Theology is the limited view of the philosopher. He speaks of" love for others as an ultimate value in man's life" and in the same paragraph he says: "to love God is equally an absolute value." A natural unselfish love of one person, one's wife, for instance, can hardly be put on an equal footing with the love of God. Again, he says: " the Divine Mystery never ceases to be a mystery, man always remains a questioner before God." That is good philosophy. But Jesus speaks of a time when we shall ask no more questions. Heaven is the end of our quest. It is hard to know whether or not the author considers Justice as a Divine Perfection. The damned seem to back out at the end acknowledging themselves as unworthy. Still we say: "He will come to 328 BOOK REVIEWS judge the living and the dead." But of the three great creeds-the Apostles' creed, the Athanasian and the Nicene, the author says: " the acceptance of these creeds by long tradition in the Church has given them considerable authority as witness to Christian belief." (p. ft9) Symbolic and nonsymbolic interpretation loop the loop, and one is not sure in the end what is the meaning of the Resurrection of the Body. The author comments on Romans 8: ft1, but St. Paul's fifteenth chapter to the Corinthians is not mentioned in that context. Heaven as a reward slips away; we build it up for ourselves by the grace of God. Merit is not mentioned. Sin and grace are always in inverted commas, as if we Christians had no right to give a new meaning to words as to life itself. There are good things in this book and useful insights into Christian morality, for instance, a timely plea for community prayer for the souls in Purgatory. But I wonder is it fair on the part of the Editor of this series to engage authors who are not competent to deal theologically with their subject. Of course, apart from that consideration, the book in itself is worth reading, keeping in mind that it is dominantly pure Ethics. St. Charles' Seminary Napur, India JEROME TONER, o. P. Chiesa e Utopia. Edited by G. BAGET...