VERBUM: Word and Idea in Aquinas by Bernard J. Lonergan, S. J. (review)

BOOK REVIEWS 663 Lonergan's mediating theology) the theologian seeks to understand the sources of faith and the inner dynamics of development leading, for example, from the scriptural affirmation of Christ's mission to the Chalcedonian formulation of what Christ is. But the theologian did not evaluate the acceptability of such pronouncements. He simply accepted them as true. Similarly, in the synthetic mode the theologian might propose theories, but he left it to the Church to judge the truth and acceptability of the consequences flowing from his theories. Such an approach effectively precluded any possibility of a radical revision in theology. In the last few years, when the problem of radical reinterpretation has become a paramount concern of theologians, Lonergan has devoted himself to the problem of method in theology. This surely is important. But, if this is to be a programming for the future rather than a systematization of the past, this methodology must be brought to bear on the pressing problems of current theology. Such considerations bring us back to the question of the role that should be played by Lonergan's followers. If Lonerganism is to be a vital force on the current intellectual scene it must enter into the on-going dialogue. This, in turn, entails a re-examination of the foundations of Lonergan's philosophy and a critical coming to grips with the crucial theological problems that beset contemporary Christian theology. Tracy's book contributes to this by making Lonergan's thought accessible to a wider public. Though this work does not initiate the critical discussion of Lonergan's views necessary to insert Lonerganism into the on-going dialectic that is the philosophical enterprise, it may help to make such a discussion possible. This would be a significant and desirable achievement. EnwARD MAcKINNON, S. J. Boston College Chestnut Hill, Ma.ss. VERBUM: Word and Idea in Aquinas. By BERNARD J. LoNERGAN, S. J., edited by David B. Burrell, C. S.C. Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, 1967. Pp. 318. $3.~5. If an adequate history of scholasticism is ever written, the idea that modern scholastics were unresponsive to their own times may be due for some revision. The rationalism of the late and unlamented textbook Thomism came from somewhere. .Most likely it came from the Cartesian attempts to establish deductive certitude for all truth. The close study of the great scholastics indicates that the later tradition was more likely guilty of abandoning past riches in pursuit of modern accomodations than 664 BOOK REVIEWS of an excessive attachment to tradition. Certainly Bernard Lonergan in these textual studies giv~ us a welcome corrective to the conceptual rationalism of the late scholastics. The chapters of this book were originally published between 1946 and 1949 as separate articles in Theological Studies. They constitute what has become known as the Verbum series which, with the Gratia series of articles, constitutes Lonergan's most fundamental research. As a result of their original publication these articles received wide attention and extensive criticism along with the author's other works. Readers of this review may recall the articles by Edward l\I. Mackinnon, S. J., "Understanding According to Bernard Lonergan, S. J.," in The Thomist 28 (1964), 97-132, 338-72, 475-522. This new edition gathers all the Verbum articles between one set of covers. Its most valuable feature is the eighty p::tgcs of indices prepared in substance by Frederick Crowe, S. J., according to concepts and names and according to loci both Thomistic and Aristotelian. The original articles are presented unchanged with the addition of a brief introduction by the author. The editor assures us that the notes and references have been checked. In response to a number of requests the purpose and method of these studies were indicated in an epilogue to the last of the series. (215-20) This passage may well be read as an introduction to the entire work. Under the Leonine motto, vetera navis augere et perficere, Father Lonergan makes it his business to discover what the old learning really was, especially in Aquinas. This task has been performed in this series of textual studies and in the series on grace. In the...