The Theology of Original Sin by Edward Yarnold, S. J. (review)

702 BOOK REVIEWS The Theology of Original Sin. By EDWARD YARNOLD, S. J. Pp. 96. The Theology of Marriage. By RosEMARY HAuGHTON. Pp. 9~. Theology Today Series ~8 & 31. Notre Dame, Ind.: Fides, 197~. 95¢ each. In The Theology of Original Sin we read: ". . . the biblical doctrine of corporate personality cannot be totally demythologized," (p. 81) and "... it is inconsistent to reject fundamentalism in the exegesis of the Bible while insisting on a fundamentalist interpretation of the Church's definition of dogma." (p. 88) These two crucial assertions give the key to the author's position on the highly topical doctrine of Original Sin: the Genesis Adam is to be thought of not as an individual but as a symbol for the whole human race; and neither St. Paul nor the Council of Trent may be cited as favoring monogenism rather than polygenism, since their interests lay elsewhere. But what about Humani Generis? Father Yarnold does not tell us how this Encyclical of Pius XII is to be understood, and, indeed, the extract from it which he quotes on page 7~ states that Original Sin " proceeds from a sin truly committed by one man Adam...." His silence on this point is unfortunate . One of the many excellent features of this little book is a remarkably detailed historical summary of the subject from Genesis to llumani Generis in which, for example, Didymus the Blind and Henry of Ghent are allotted, respectively, fifteen and five lines. It will be all the more surprising, therefore, to readers of The 1'homist, that St. Thomas's quota for the entire book should be a meagre ten! Mrs. Haughton in The Theology of Marriage attempts to discover for us God at work in a human union, disclosed first in Scripture, and then progressively unfolded, in spite of mistakes and failures and crimes, through the centuries. (p. 85) It is a very readable exposition. The fact that it has been written by a married person enhances its value, because, as Father Yarnold says in the Preface, the ideal person to write on the theology of marriage is one who has experienced it for himself. (p. 11) I found Mrs. Haughton's sources a bit too selective and exclusively confined to publications in English, which are by no means the best on the subject. On p. 75 we are told that " up to about the eighth century, at various times and in various places, re-marriage was allowed by the Church in cases of adultery." Mrs. Haughton is not the first of some contemporary writers to attempt to defend this claim in the case of the innocent husband of an adulterous wife, but, according to scholars of accuracy and reliability, it is a claim that has no solid support apart from Ambrosiaster and an Irish canon of St. Patrick. In the Greek world there is no worthwhile evidence for it in the first five centuries. St. Charles Seminary Nagpur, India Loms M. HuGHES, 0. P. KILIAN DWYER, o. p. ...