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BOOK REVIEWS errors and superstition while preserving the dimly discerned truth of mythology and temple and adding to it the certainty and depth of reason. The Phaedo, I think, would document this assertion: the condemnation of Socrates is proof that the Greek world itself correctly saw philosophy as a religious heresy. Thus Greek philosophy is a pagan philosophy. It is the same pagan philosophy which, continued during the Empire, caused St. Paul to write to the Colossians: "beware lest any man cheat you by philosophy and vain deceit." The philosophy which, qua philosophy, is neither Christian nor pagan, may find itself in the Christian state: in Greece it found itself in the pagan state. If I conclude, then, that Mr. Maisels' doctrine is a pagan humanism, I would give neither scandal nor offence. For I do not mean thereby to detract from his obvious sincerity nor from his sufficiently clear resources of good will. I do not mean to deny the power of his intellect nor the depths of his insight. Nor do I mean to ignore the value of his work, either historically, as the most recent testimony to the fact that the Kantian revolution is reaching the apex of its success, or in itself, as a document which by reason of its completeness, thoroughness and lucidity stands as one of the best statements of a humanism that is neither simple-minded nor superficial. I mean simply that Thought and Truth is at once typically contemporary and Classical in spirit as it harks back to the proto-gnosticism of the best Greek tradition: a double compliment that many would be happy to own and which not all, as Mr. Maisels, so abundantly deserve. .St. Michael's College, University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. LESLIE DEWART Lay People in the Church. By YVEs M. J. CoNGAR, 0. P. Translated by Donald Attwater. Westminster: Newman Press, 1957. Pp. 483. This work was originally published in French under the title Jalons pour une theologie du laicat. It btrars a sub-title, " A study for a theology of the laity," which sufficiently reveals its nature. It is a study of the laity in the light of theology, natural and sacred, in order to determine their position and function in the Church. There is no question of the opportuneness of such an inquiry. Less than justice has been done to the laity by those who think of the Church exclusively in terms of the clergy and hierarchy. The laity in this view are let into the Church only on sufferance: they do not constitute the Church in any real sense of the term. This attitude is a reaction against the opposite extreme which flourished in the sixteenth and succeeding cen- 230 BOOK REVIEWS turies. The Reformers commonly looked upon the Church as the assembly of the faithful, to which its presiding officials, the clergy, are completely subordinate and secondary. Father Congar attempts to establish the rightful position of the laity in the Church, avoiding both these extremes. He draws upon a wealth of learning and scholarly competence in Scripture, tradition, patristic and medieval literature, liturgy, the history of theology, especially its modern developments. That he has succeeded in rescuing the layman from " ecclesial " (a favorite word) outer darkness cannot be denied. We may question at times whether the author has gone too far in his rehabilitating of the layman in the Church, but we cannot question his good intentions or his ability in a difficult field. Far from regarding the laity as in any sense outside the Church or merely an adjunct to it, it is necessary in the mind of the author for the Church to have laity for the full accomplishment of God's plan. It is just as essential to have some members who will do the work of the world as it is to have others who are dispensed from the world's work in order to dedicate themselves directly and exclusively to the work of God's kingdom, such as priests and monks. Some of the finest pages in the book occur in the last chapter where the problem of lay holiness is discussed. Those whose lot lies in the...

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