Karl Barth by Jerome Hamer, O. P. (review)

144 BOOK REVIEWS and words like ' superior ' and ' ultimate ' tell us precious little about either of them " (p. 18~) . Granted that the terminology in which the question is often posed is ambiguous, it would still seem to be of great importance to decide in what sense Church is superior to Scripture or Scripture is norm for the Church. The Ecumenical movement would profit greatly from just such a clarification of terminology. Father Mackey has done a service to the American reader by bringing together a vast amount of writing on the notion of tradition. To provide a broader view of the concept of active tradition is perhaps all that ought to be demanded from one work. It seems, however, that for a full understanding of tradition there is need for further detailed studies on the nature of revelation, the role of Holy Scripture, and the development of dogma. The Catholic University of America Washington 17, D. C. GABRIEL MoRAN, F. S.C. Karl Barth. By JEROME HAMER, 0. P. Trans. by DoMINIC M. MARUCA, S. J. Westminster, Md.: The Newman Press, 196~. Pp. xxxviii, 300, with An Introduction to the American Edition and index. $4.95. The French original of this work was reviewed in THE THOMIST XV (195~) 503-506. The present edition has a lengthy introduction written by the author with an appeal that the reader not pass it over; it is subtitled : A Reflective Glance and Precisions. In the twenty years since he first published his study of Barth, much has developed. Barth's own thought; several studies by Catholic theologians; Hamer's own views of Barthian theology. This introduction is not a retraction of the main work; the author wishes to restate better what he had said earlier. To do this·, he gives a brief summary and some appreciation of the major contributions of Catholic theologians, such as von Balthasar, Bouillard , S. J., and Kling. He is clearly sceptical of the effort of Fr. Kling to establish agreement between Barth and Catholic doctrine on the question of justification. While appreciating the work of von Balthasar and Bouillard, he is still convinced that whatever development has taken place in Barth's thinking is in line with the original positions he took. True there is no longer the emphasis on the event of the Word of God with its sheer vertical descent into the humanity. Karl Barth can speak of the Humanity of God, meaning Christ. Yet there remains the question of a completely "coherent Christology." "Can one treat of the humanity of God without its full dimension to the humanity of man? This is the whole problem. In Christology the instrumentality of the human action BOOK REVIEWS 145 is stripped of all true density. . . . The history of salvation is transported outside of concrete human existence . . . Barth does not know a history of salvation in the strict sense, which would pass into the humanity of man " (pp. xxix-xxx) . In support of his contention that Barth's position has not really changed, Hamer suggests that the basic ambiguity of the Protestant theologian's theology lies in the realms of faith, theology and reason. Catholics must enter into dialogue with Barth on the nature of faith, as illumination, as truth as well as gift of God, and on the legitimate role of human reason in formulating and developing the truth aspect of faith in theology. J. M. EGAN, 0. P. St. Mary's College Notre Dame, Indiana. ...