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BOOK REVIEWS 314 that studies only great theologians, and shows them all equal veneration regardless of their relationship to, resonance within, and long reception by the Catholic Church, is a ressourcement that leaves me ill at ease. Predestination: Biblical and Theological Paths is strongly recommended for postgraduate and postdoctoral readers working on the theology of grace, and is a necessary addition to seminary and graduate theological libraries. It is a very fine and valuable book, one of many by a prodigious author. It should affect theological work on predestination for decades to come. BERNARD MULCAHY, O.P. St. Thomas Aquinas Priory Providence, Rhode Island Women, Sex, and the Church: A Case for Catholic Teaching. Edited by ERIKA BACHIOCHI. Boston: Pauline Books, 2010. Pp. 251. $15.00 (paper). ISBN: 978-0-8198-8320-4. This volume of essays, edited by Erika Bachiochi, defends the Catholic Church’s teachings on various topics of sexual ethics as particularly “prowoman .” The authors are female scholars, lawyers, and writers, speaking chiefly to a Catholic and popular audience, with a potential for scholarly interest. Most of the authors deploy “personalist” language, but their most effective arguments rely on philosophical arguments or current sociological data. Laura Garcia lays the foundation for the volume with a solid essay on sexual difference and complementarity. She argues that Mulieris Dignitatem and Familiaris Consortio (1980) mark a decisive moment in Church teaching, since they affirm both the challenge and the real good of the shifting roles of women in modern society. She finds in these documents a defense of the equal dignity and value of men and women, in a way that does not negate differences. While admitting that our ability to generalize these differences is limited, Garcia argues that a society that goes so far as to reject even a modest form of gender essentialism might initially seem more committed to equality, but in fact, such a society tends to oppress both men and women under an impersonal, competitive ethic. Garcia notes, as many personalist authors have, that a fundamental issue is the nature of freedom: is it the autonomous right to self-determination, or being ordered to happiness under some telos that is grounded in the language of “natures”? Bachiochi writes on the Church’s teaching on abortion, showing that abortion is harmful, physically and psychologically, and that its legality is founded on frail and outdated arguments that conform women’s bodies to a logic of utility, efficiency, and economic productivity. BOOK REVIEWS 315 The theme of the ambiguous nature of freedom emerges more clearly in Cassandra Hough’s essay on the Church’s teaching on sex. The lifelong union of marriage fulfills the order of justice (recalling ScG III, c. 123) in that it provides the stability of a loving obligation, of fidelity and support, not only to the spouses, but even more to the children produced by the parents’ union. She recounts the now outdated and truly bizarre argument, common from the 1970s on, that sexual promiscuity is “necessary” for female autonomy, and she challenges theologians who argue that celibacy and the prohibition of contraception are clear evidence of institutional hatred of the female body. Behaviors considered normal on university campuses have proven to be obstacles to human intimacy and committed relationships, leaving aside the problems of social isolation, depression, the abuse of women, and various forms of disease. Simone de Beauvoir wrote that freedom was worth it, even if it entailed misery. Perhaps not. Hough concludes by discussing what is really a key challenge for moral theologians and the Church’s pastoral teaching, namely, cohabitation before marriage. It is remarkable that something considered so very much the norm is nevertheless statistically a failure, and a surprisingly high indicator of failure in marriage. Jennifer Morse lays out the Church’s understanding of marriage, as a good for society and for the material, psychological, and social well-being of spouses. She moves beyond individual interest and personal fulfillment to the common good, insofar as marriage is ordered to the good of new life and the constitution of human society. Angela Franks speaks to the Church’s teaching on contraception. Katie Elrod (with Paul Carpentier) discusses the challenge of...

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