Caritas est in ratione. Die Lehre des Hl. Thomas über die Einheit der Intellectiven und Affectiven Begnadung des Menschen by Tibor Horvath, S. J. (review)

514 BOOK REVIEWS faith and hope. In short, elements in the presentation appear now to be unnecessarily " dated," and the reader is forced at several points to consider the work as a " period production." To concede the shortcomings of the collection, however, is not to dismiss the work as entirely unedifying. It is like the layman who, when asked by his priest, " How is your wife? " replied: " In comparison to what?" The articles do focus reflection upon some universal and crucial problems in the church and in the world: What is the relationship of Christian morality to the modern world? Upon what norms, if any, can the twentiethcentury Christian depend? What tasks are essential, what commandments irreducible for the believer? How are collegiality, co-responsibility, and primacy related? What place does love occupy in daily life? Not only do the authors present readable meditations on these and other questions, they also stress the complementarity of traditions, the positive interaction of Catholic belief and humanism, agnosticism, and even with professed atheism. They offer a sound expression of human solidarity. They afford a glimpse at the meaning of " embodied " religion. And they look continually at the dynamic movement of Christian ethics, at the very core of a living faith. Throughout, all three writers retain an openness to other points of view, a measure of modesty concerning their own formulations. Compared with several of the recent, vigorous discussions of Christian morality and Christian ethics, then, the present volumes appear to be of limited value. But in comparison with the dry dogmatism repeated in many efforts at Christian instruction, Le Dynamisme de la Morale Chretienne contains expressions of the faith which are refreshing, useful, and engaging. 1044 Alta Vista Road Louisville, Kentucky Louis WEEKs Caritas est in ratione. Die Lehre des HZ. Thomas iiber die Einheit der Intellectiven und Affectiven Begnadung des Menschen. By TmoR HoRVATH, S. J. MUnster: Verlag Aschendorff, 1966. Pp. 304. This book is based on the following text of the Summa Theologiae (11-11, q. 24, aa. 1-2): "... charity is ... in the reason ... by a certain kinship of the will to the reason." The text indicates the contemporaneity of St. Thomas in that his work serves as a launching pad for new and challenging ideas which speak to man's searchings today: the basic BOOK REVIEWS 515 unity of the human person, the mutual relationship between natural and supernatural happiness, the influence of Scripture on scholastic theology, the experience of God's transcendent love for men, the synthesis of physical and ecstatic love, the role of Christ as the reflection and foundation of the union between grace and salvation. The present work examines all of the foregoing notions and relates them to the theological vantage point of St. Thomas. Fr. Horvath replies to the difficulties posed by Pere Rousselot in his Pour l'HU!toire du probleme de l'amour au moyen age and by A. Nygren in his Eros and Agape. The latter, in the preface to his 1953 edition (republished as a Harper Torchbook in 1969) found no reason to modify his original position or to make changes. However, further scholarly editions of Eros and Agape will have to take account of the contributions of Fr. Horvath in Caritas est in ratione. Regis CoUege Willowdale, Ontario T. PRENDERGAST, s. J. Theology Today Series: 4. The Theology of the Trinity. By LAURENCE CANTWELL, S. J. Pp. 94; 5. The Theology of Creation. By RoBERT BuTTERWORTH, S. J. Pp. 91; 7. The Theology of History. By OsMUND LEWRY, 0. P. Pp. 96; 8. The Theology of the Church. By PETER HEBBLETHWAITE, S. J. Pp. 93. $.95 each. Notre Dame: Fides Publishers , 1969. The mystery of the Trinity has in many ways become the neglected mystery of the Christian Faith. It is the most mysterious of all the mysteries. This mystery has always been regarded as too complicated for the ordinary Christian and as something which is best left to the theologians. And this has had a detrimental effect in the spiritual life and the devotion of the Christian. This little book by Father Cantwell is an attempt to dispel the excessive mysteriousness, and this he does very successfully. It...