The Philosophy of the Church Fathers. Volume I. Faith, Trinity, Incarnation by Harry Austrin Wolfson (review)

BOOK REVIEWS 319 being." The chapter concludes with a practical " Strategy in Defense of Life," for the use of those deeply concerned to act in defense of the rights of the most defenseless of humans. An epiloque discusses the nature and the deep roots of what should properly be called a prejudice of many against the unborn, a prejudice as dehumanizing as that of racism. This review can only suggest the wealth of information and the richness of the analysis in Grisez's study. This book would certainly be a precious tool for any class in contemporary moral questions. It honestly faces all the terrible complexity of live moral debate and manages to escape a question-begging commitment on one side and scepticism or relativism on the other. No one seriously interested in the abortion controversy can afford to neglect this outstanding work. The Catholic University of America Washington, D. C. RoNALD D. LAWLER, 0. F. M. Cap. The Philosophy of the Church Fathers. Volume I. Faith, Trinity, !nearnation . By HARRY AusTRIN WoLFSON. Third Edition, Revised. Cambridge : Harvard University Press, 1970. Pp. 663. $12.50. The present controversy about the value of dogmatic formulas and the modern form to be given to the depositum fidei, to make it meaningful for today, has again raised the question of the "Hellenization of Christianity ." Anyone interested in this problem should read Professor Harry A. Wolfson's book on Faith, Trinity and Incarnation which was published first in 1956 and has become a classic in the field. The recasting of Christian beliefs in the form of a philosophy and the producing of a Christian version of Greek philosophy is one of the most interesting subjects in the history of theology. While the work is primarily a study of the Church Fathers, chapters on the New Testament appear as background. Part One provides an investigation of St. Paul's allegorical interpretation as related to that of the Fathers. The faith theories of Clement of Alexandria, Origen, Tertullian, and Augustine are given an excellent analysis. Part Two traces the origin of the Trinitarian formula and the differentiation of the Logos and the Holy Spirit ending with a study of the Logos and Platonic ideas. Part Three deals with three mysteries of the faith, the mystery of the generation, the mystery of the Trinity with the solutions proposed by Origen, Tertullian, Basil, Augustine, and John of Damascus, and the mystery of the Incarnation. Part Four presents an analysis of Gnosticism as an attempt to Christianize pagan 320 BOOK REVIEWS philosophy. The discovery of the papyri of Nag Hammadi has shed an entirely new light on this development. Wolfson's book, here in its third and revised edition, forms volume I of the Philosophy of the Church Fathers. It is to be hoped that the other volumes will soon follow. Even if one does not agree with all of the author's conclusions, his book remains one of the most challenging of our times. The Catholic University of America Washington, D. C. JoHANNES QUASTEN Readings in Ancient Western Philosophy. Edited by GEORGE F. McLEAN, 0. M. I. and PATRICK J. AsPELL, 0. M. I. New York: Appleton Century Crofts, 1970. Pp. 35~. $3.50. The traditional introductory course in ancient philosophy threatens to become a true " dark night " for those who lecture undergraduates as we move into the tempestuous nineteen-seventies. Although some teachers will devise gimmicks-are Heidegger and Hesse, after all, so far removed from Hesiod and Heraclitus?-it will be difficult to do so without brooding over the fact that content has been sacrified for contemporaneity . The present anthology probably does as much as can be done to present one segment of our intellectual history for the college audience without attaching itself to a scheme which might attract attention at the expense of allowing the development of thought in the West to manifest itself. McLean and Aspell take us from the myth-like origins of philosophy to the " standard " pre-Socratics, and then through Plato, Aristotle, and the ethical philosophies of the so-called Hellenistic-Roman period, concluding with a substantial portion of Plotinus. This latter is especially welcome, since the mystical disciple of Ammonias...