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190 BOOK REVIEWS more matter for study than all his disciples and commentators together." The work of Father Ramirez can hardly be evaluated as it deserves now until all the unpublished volumes have been made available. Even then the correct evaluation of his writings will not be easy due to the variety and extent of his writings. All those who have the courage to put forth the time and effort required to understand him will find in his work a profundity, clarity, erudition, and vitality probably superior to that of any other theologian since St. Thomas. In this sense the book of Vicente Marrero is excellent. He presents us the man, his life, and his works in an extensive and valuably personal way. The author openly manifests his devotion to Santiago Ramirez and his writings in this book published by the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas of Madrid. St. Albert's College Oakland, California ANToNIO MoRENO, 0. P. The Pentecostal Movement. By EDWARD D. O'CoNNOR, C. S.C. Notre Dame: Ave Maria Press, 1971. Pp. 301. $1.95. Edward O'Connor's book The Pentecostal Movement is without doubt the best general exposition of the present state and attitudes of the Catholic Pentecostal movement. Fr. O'Connor has been inside the movement since its inception, and he has achieved the distinction of being accepted as its major theologian. His book is an attempt to give a more or less complete picture: it includes historical narratives, anecdotal material, theological discussion, as well as many practical pointers. For this reason the work is richly varied and makes for interesting reading, especially since the subject matter itself is so novel to many Catholics. However, it does not escape a certain loss of continuity and the lack of an organic quality of wholeness which (one feels) would be present if the topic were more suited to logical development. What seems the most characteristic feature of the book and the movement it describes is the stress on religious experience. While there is no attempt to deny the presence of the Holy Spirit in the Christian who is not inclined toward Pentecostalism, the emphasis is definitely on the more expressive members of the Body of Christ in whom the action of the Spirit is so strong as to be clearly observable, even to the uninitiated. One is reminded of Karl Rahner's view in" The Nature of Grace," namely, that the overly cerebral approach of the Scholastics has left us a theology of grace which is unappealing precisely because the divine gift cannot be experienced by the persons on whom it is conferred. In fact, the experimental stress of BOOK REVIEWS 191 Pentecostalism does not seem to be closely related to the immediacy and simplicity of the New Testament presentation, and this similarity is repeatedly brought home to the reader. In the light of the modern emphasis on the social or " horizontal " aspect of religion, it is sobering to recall that most of the world's spiritual traditions have as their primary earthly goal the experience of God's presence in the life of the believer; some kind of direct psychological contact is desired. Here the Pentecostal experience is unique among classical spiritualities , because it does not require a long and intense striving on the part of the seeker, rather, (and quite in keeping with the Acts of the Apostles) the presence of God is often made manifest from the outset, in the conversion experience itself and the joy of actual union with him. This may be accompanied by the prayer in tongues or various other charisms which are also closely related to the life of the earliest Christian communities. Fr. O'Connor is eager to allay the fears which may turn us away from the movement, and he endeavors to show that a constant Pentecostal current has been present in the Church from the earliest times. It is true that the institutional aspects most often have overshadowed or even surpressed the charismatic, he tells us, but the latter have managed to have a significance in popular piety and reform movements which has deeply enhanced both the image and the reality of the Church's...

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