Principles of Sacramental Theology by Bernard Leeming, S.J. (review)

Principles of Sacramental Theology. By BERNARD LEEMING, S. J. Westminster , Md.: The Newman Press, 1956. Pp. 748 with index. $6.75. According to the author's preface, this dogmatic treatise on the Sacraments in General is meant for readers innocent of formal training in theology and yet desirous of a complete, solid and clear exposition of the subject. But the book seems to have forgotten its intended audience, in that it spreads before the reader practically aH the fruits of Fr. Leeming's many years of study, teaching (Gregorian University, 1931-1937; Heythrop College), and writing in the field of general sacramental theology. Hence, even though appetizingly presented in non-technical language and with every enticement known to the printer's art, the intellectual fare here offered will, one fears, prove too rich and too much for any but the professional theologian. As to the latter, he may be displeased by this or that item on the menu and disappointed by the omission of others, but for the most part he will devour l<'r. Leeming's Principles of Sacramental with gusto and gratitude. In other words, despite not a few flaws this work is a major contribution to sacred science. Hs historical erudition alone would suffice to make it that. Compressed into these pages is a vast amount of up-to-date information on the pertinent teachings of Church Fathers and of medieval, preand post-Tridentine theologians, as well as on the history of sacramental theology in the Dissident and the Protestant Churches, from their inception down to the present. All this is invaluable in a treatise which ranks with Mariology as a prime example of doctrinal development, and which, moreover, is at the very center of current ecumenical debates, as Fr. Lemming emphasizes in many a dialog with Anglican divines. Another singular excellence of his book is its preoccupation with the " symbolic reality" (Fr. Leeming's apt translation of res et sacramenturn), as well as its strongly Christological and ecclesiological orientation-the sacred rites are exhibit,•d in proper perspective, as the sacraments of Christ and of His Church. These and other merits of the volume under review, as well as some shortcomings, will best emerge from a more systematic scrutiny of the work. By reason of its thoroughness, the book inevitably sheds precious light on the individual sacraments, but its proper task is, as the title indicates , to gather together the principles which apply to all sacraments. This task the author accomplishes in eighteen chapters, organized into six 350 BOOK REVIEWS 351 distinct sectionso In marshalling these sections and chapters Fro Leeming chose, for good and sufficient reasons (do po xxxvii), to forego a strictly historical ordero As to the individual chapters, the general plan in each " is to give something of the history of the question and of the different views held; after that, to cite relevant declarations of the Church; then to summarize the doctrine in a brief ' principle,' and to indicate the main reasons for it; and, lastly, to treat of the objections 0 0 0 ,with any further subsidiary questionso 0 0 0 Thus, an attempt is made to combine the historical and the ' scholastic,' or rational, methods of theologizing!' Throughout , Fro Leeming is at pains to distinguish between what is of faith or at least certain and what is merely tenable opiniono Incidentally, whether in upholding the former or in debating the latter, he is ever the soul of courtesy toward opponcntso Study of the volume is facilitated, and its usefulness enhanced, by a summary table of contents, a brief preface, a fine analytical table of contents, a lengthy introduction, division of chapters into 755 consecutively numbered subsections, captivating headings on every other page, extensive biblioraphies both general and special (with additional titles in footnotes), and an exhaustive index (72 columns!) 0 For good measure, the author adds an appendix on "The False Decretals and the Medieval Doctrine on Confirmation!' So much for the general structure and contents of this magnificently worko To descend now to some the introduction's " cursory " indication of relevant literature xxxviii-lviii) is valuable also as an outline-history of the development of sacramental doctrineo Some regrettable omissions and errors must be notedo Among the Fathers, surely SL Ignatius of Antioch deserved mention; his letters marked the beginning of sacramental theologyo Neither in the introduction nor elsewhere does Fro Leeming notice such important modem authors as Ho Schillebeeckx, 00 Po, De Sacramentele Heilseconomie, Jo Puig de Ia BeHacasa , So Jo, De Sacramentis, to name but two. The list of " Official Declarations of the Church " (ppo unaccountably ends with the Encyclical Pascendi of HHO; however, some later documents of the Magisterium are eventually cited elsewhereo Eventually, too, it comes to light that Fro Leeming regards the Decree for the Armenians as a dogmatic definition by the Council of Florence or, at the very least, as having infallible authority from the universal ordinary Magisterium (cf. ppo 27, 421 L) 0 While on the subject of the Magisterium we may also advert to some inconsistency in Fro Leeming's use of the Council of Trent. Notwithstanding his repeated admissions that Trent did not wish to settle any disputes between Catholic theologians (do ppo 1;!, 331, 425, 451), he sometimes invokes the Council against certain preTridentine views (ppo 296, 302, 317) . For a final remark suggested by the introduction, its many wrong dates- 352 BOOK REVIEWS over a half dozen on one page alone (xlix) -serve warning that Fr. Leeming is not a safe guide in such matters; this is most unfortunate in a book full of dates. Section I has as its theme "The Sacraments and Grace." Chapter l, on " The Objective Efficacy of the Sacraments," offers a lucid explanation and brilliant vindication, over against Protestant views which are heard at length, of the Catholic dogma that the sacraments of the New Law confer grace ex opere operato on those who place no obstacle in the way. The demonstration from Sacred Scripture, though not rising much above the "proof-text" method, is adequate. However, the argument from John 3:£-lll can and should be managed without Fr. Leeming's recourse (p. 32) to John l: 13, since the latter text is not certainly relevant (Braun, Boismard, Le Frois, MoUat, Bouyer prefer or incline to the singular reading, "Who was born o . o ," in which case the verse refers to the Incarnation rather than to baptismal regeneration) o The foregoing doctrine is confirmed, in the next chapter, by appeal to infaut baptism (which practice is shown, with much help from 0. Cullmann and other Protestant theologians, to accord perfectly with the evidence of the New Testament), and by solution of objections. The author's assertion that the sacraments presuppose living faith, " faith informed by charity" (po 81), should be modified to allow for the "sacraments of the dead." Chapter 3 is to be hailed as a notable attempt to do justice to that sadly neglected topic, "Sacramental Grace." Fr. Leeming's presentation and conclusions might have turned out otherwise had he consulted aU the available literature, but, even so, his is a most praiseworthy effort. In proving that each of the sacraments gives its own special help or grace, the author overlooks Pope Pius XU's 1945 Pastoral Instruction on the Sacraments, ll meno (AAS, XXXVII (1945), 33-43), and the same Holy Father's marvelous passage in the Encyclical Mystici Corporis Christi, on the " consecutive, graduated graces " of the sacraments (AAS, XXXV (1913), QOl-20£). That his statement of the various views on the nature of sacramental grace (pp. 99-102) is guilty of some oversimplification, and misrepresents Capreolus, may be gathered from the present writer's " Survey of the Theology of Sacramental Grace" (Proceedings of the Eighth Annual Convention , Catholic Theological Society of America, 1953). There, too, will be found some of the difficulties which press against Fr. Leeming's own view of sacramental grace, " a reality in the soul comparable to an infused habit" (along with a right to actual grace), as well as some replies to his arguments. The same " Survey " stresses the importance of the distinction between the effects of the sacraments and their proximate ends, a distinction which Fr. Leeming nowhere makes explicitly, although it is implicit in much of his book. BOOK REVIEWS 353 In Section H, entitled" The Sacraments and the Character," Fr. Leeming is at his learned and brilliant best. Three masterful chapters establish the existence of the sacramental character, and the giving of distinct characters in Baptism and Confirmation (against Puller, Mason, Dix, Thornton on the one hand, and Lampe, etc., on the other). By a skillful combination of regressive and progressive exposition, one is led back from the Council of Trent to the Rebaptism and Donatist controversies; then, after the stage has been thus set, to St" Augustine's contribution, and to its antecedents in earlier Patristic doctrine on the "seal." Unfortunately, Fr" Leeming is among those who still believe that SL Augustine used the term " character " in our modern sense (the author must have missed the important article by N. Haring, "St. Augustine's Use of the Word 'Character,'" Mediaeval Studies, XIV (195~), 79-97), but this does not invalidate his demonstration, since he knows that sacramentum, consecratio, sanctitas, baptismus, ordinatio are often the Augustinian equivalents for character in the modern sense" The weakest feature of these pages would be Fro Leeming's attempt to prove the sacramental character from Sacred Scripture (p" 163), and his inability to decide whether to refer Eph" 1:18; 4:30; ~Cor. 1:21-2:'1: to Baptism or to Confirmation (cf. pp" 163, 224)" A fourth chapter devotes itself to the ontological and theological nature of the sacramental character, and to its properties" The final in this section broadens out to a consideration of the "symbolic reality,'' the res et sacramentum, of all the sacraments, and ol' its significance for the reviviscence of sacraments received validly but unfruitfully" Treating of sacramental causality (Section III), Fr" Leeming rejects the suggestion that different kinds of causality may apply to different sacraments " Arguing forcefully against "occasional," "moral,'' and " perfective " causality, the author builds a powerful case for "dispositive" causality, and for his contention that the latter theory was the constant doctrine of St. Thomas Aquinas. Fr. Leeming reduces Dom Odo Casel's "mysteriespresence " theory to the theory of "moral" causality, but bases his rejection of the theory on other grounds as well. His critique of the Case! thesis, though adequate, neglects much of the pertinent literature on the subject (for example, Filthaut, Fittkau), and fails to invoke Pope Urban IV's Bull Transiturus de hoc mundo, Aug" U, 1264 (Denzinger n" 5004) and the highly relevant letter of the Sacred Congregation of the Holy Office, Nov" 25, 1948 (cL Ephemerides Liturgicae, 1949, 2£6)" After a critique of the " physical " and " intentional " systems of " dispositive " causality, Fr. Leeming puts forward his own view, in the highly original but quite mystifying Chapter XI. His theory, described as "only a modification of the older view of 'dispositive' causality" ("the modification consists in substituting ' union with the Church ' for the older term 354 BOOK REVIEWS res et sacramentum ") , is formally stated in this fashion: " The efficacy of the sacraments flows through the union which they cause with the Mystical Body of Christ, the visible Church: inasmuch as the sacrament, by uniting the recipient in a special manner to the Church, expresses Christ's will to confer grace upon him if he places no obstacle " (p. 355). In his further pages Fr. Leeming strives to clarify and vindicate this view, but in the end he acknowledges that his theory of how the " symbolic reality " causes grace "remains very obscure" (pp. 380 f.). Obscure, too, in fact never stated, is the author's position on how the sacramentum tantum causes the res et sacramentum, the "symbolic reality." Further, if a valid sacrament unfailingly involves some special union with the Church, how is this union to be conceived in the case of non-Catholic recipients? Does a valid sacrament make them somehow members of the Church? One would have welcomed some light on this problem, but Fr. Leeming does not even advert to it. Noteworthy and meritorious is Fr. Leeming's frequent suggestion (d. e. g., pp. x, 377-378), put forward in connection with the above theory but not necessarily bound up with it, that the definition of a sacrament ought to include reference to the res et sacramentum. With Section IV, on "The Institution of the Sacraments," Fr. Leeming returns to his best form. His first chapter, after quickly disposing of the "syncretist" hypothesis about the origin of the Christian sacraments (at which point one would have expected to hear something about the Dead Sea Scrolls-the book never mentions them) , solidly establishes the doctrine that Christ institute all the sacraments immediately. The remaining chapter makes an impressive case for the theory of generic institution of Confirmation, Penance, Extreme Unction, Holy Orders and Matrimony. Section V, on "Requirements in the Minister," gives us, among other things, a most thorough and illuminating discussion of the intention requisite in the minister of the sacrament, along with a page or two on the intention of the recipient (other requirements in the recipient are touched upon elsewhere in the book, for instance, in connection with the Rebaptism controversy). The last Section, on " The Sacramental Economy," after an outstanding chapter on the number of the Christian sacraments, concludes with a brilliant apologia for the sacramental system, a discussion of pre-Christian sacraments, and a few lively and informative pages on the sacramentals. All in all, this is a tremendous book ,the finest ever produced in English on the subject, and one which will long rank among the best m any language. Immaculate Conception Seminary, Darlington, IV.]. GEORGE w. SHEA ...