Theology of Social Life in Augustine's "De civitate Dei." by Miikka Ruokanen (review)

146BRIEF NOTICES in a five-year period, 1842—1847, were contemporary with other artists of that romantic time, George Catlin, for example. Some of these Point paintings appear in SacredEncounter, along with plain but authentic sketches and maps made by DeSmet. It is not easy to find reasons for criticism of this book. Two points, however, should be mentioned. First, the balance of the text and illustrations, especially the latter, weigh heavily in favor of DeSmet's European origins. Some outstanding pieces directly related to his work on the plateau, the focus ofPoint's paintings and the exhibition itself, have been overlooked, for example, DeSmet 's multi-colored chasuble used at Mass on the trail, the remnant of his buffalo robe, the cross with chain presented by DeSmet to arenowned Flathead Chief, and the exquisite Corpus for the cross, carved by Ravalli, used in the Flathead "Christ taken down from the cross ceremony" on Good Fridays. AU of these were readily available in the Jesuit Oregon Province collection. Obviously , not everything available could be used. These, however, were so intimately identified with the Sacred Encounter that their omission in favor of so much of DeSmet's Belgian memorabilia appears to be an oversight. A more specific criticism concerns an occasional lapse of fact, for example, the text concerning DeSmet's first printed book and the illustration (p. 126) which presents the title page of the 1848 French edition of Oregon Missions. In view of the broad sweep of the text and the splendid illustrations, rich in color and variety, this is not a severe complaint. It follows, then, that Sacred Encounters deserves to be in as many collections ofAmericana as Wilderness Kingdom, to which it is superior in some respects. Wilfred P. Schoenberg, SJ. (Gonzaga University) Ruokanen, Miikka. Theology ofSocial Life in Augustine's "De civitate Dei" [Forschungen zur Kirchen- und Dogmengeschichte, Band 53] (Göttingen : Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht. 1993. Pp. 179 DM 68,-.) If the amount written about Augustine is massive, the City ofGod probably ranks second only to the Confessions as die work most frequently studied. Here a Finnish scholar reviews the older school of Augustinian scholarship and finds it wanting in its interpretation of the De civitate Dei Specifically, it failed to take note of changes in Augustine's views and deemed it sufficient to trace certain concepts from his earlier, more philosophically oriented writings which are more optimistic about the capabilities of human nature. The later Augustine is characterized as a "moral pessimist" even though still a "natural optimist." While remaining essentially good, creation has become thoroughly flawed because of sin, and for Augustine, says Ruokanen, sin is decisive. Thus, Augustine has long been mistakenly regarded as the ideological father of a sacral medieval political order. But the social order of this BRIEF NOTICES147 world is founded on pride and moved by the lust for domination. Even if all citizens were good Christians, human society would still be under sin. There is no such thing as a Christian commonwealth, only "a secular society based on the social contract of collective self-interested love" (p. 154). Christians must make the best of a bad situation but can, at most, make it less evil, not really good. They are sustained by the hope of heaven, their true goal. Her conclusions are based on analyses of ordo, civitas, and love. While her findings are not new, this work contributes to scholarship on the City of God by its synthesis of previous research. Robert B. Eno, S.S. (The Catholic University ofAmerica) Ryan, James G. (Ed.). Irish Church Records: Their History, Availability and Use in Family and Local History Research. (Glenageary, Co. Dublin, Ireland: Flyleaf Press. 1992. Pp. 207. »46.00.) Although Ireland is well known as the "land of saints and scholars," one of its richest historical lodes remains unmined for the most part—the records kept, often haphazardly, by various major and minor religious denominations over the past two centuries. James G. Ryan seeks to rectify this state of affairs by providing this very useful guide to the content, location, and accessibility of the extant ecclesiastical records of not only the Roman Catholic Church and the Church of Ireland...