Nature and Grace: Toward an Integral Perspective by James A. Carpenter (review)

BOOK REVIEWS 173 Nature and Grace: Toward an Integral Perspective. By JAMES A. CARPENTER. New York: Crossroad, 1988. Pp. 229. $22.50. Alexander Ganoczy recently observed in his article "Natur" in the Lexikon der katholischen Dogmatik that contemporary theologians increasingly strive to incorporate an enhanced notion of " nature " into their docrtine of creation. Motivated by environmental and ecological concerns, their efforts typically include criticism of human exploitation of the material universe; they seek to reexamine the relationship of nature and culture, while according due recognition to the intrinsic value of the non-human world. The goal of such approaches is a more harmonious conception of the place of the human race within the whole of creation. James A. Carpenter, the author of Gore: A Study in Liberal Catholic Thought (London: The Faith Press, 1960), is professor of systematic theology at General Theological Seminary in New York. Hi.s latest work, Natuff":e and Grace, while fitting clearly into the general pattern of the tendency mentioned above, is distinguished from more typical approaches to these topics by its single-minded focus on integrating grace into nature. Carpenter decries anthropocentrism as a root evil in Christian theology and rejects theological inclinations to envision history, rather than nature, as the privileged locus of divine revelation. In opposition to all such positions, he seeks to promote a theology of nature which assesses created reality as a manifestation of grace and locates grace "in the very constitution of nature" (p. 8). Nature and Grace is largely devoted to pursuit of these themes; its title nonwithstanding , it provides no extended treatment of the topics commonly discussed in Roman Catholic theology under the rubric " nature and grace." Though governed by constructive systematic intent, Nature and Grace is primarily a series of studies of selected theologians, past and pres· ent. Opening chapters examine Augustine and Irenaeus as represen· tatives of Westem and Eastern patristic thought. Carpenter recognizes in the Eastern tradition a stance toward nature more positive than what has normally prevailed in the West, but he diagnoses serious deficiencies in both segments of the Church. Augustine is charged with developing against Pelagius a privatized view of grace as cure rather than as component of nature, while Irenaeus is criticized for a christocentric conception which subordinates nature to history and creation to redemption. In Carpenter's judgment, theocentrism and anthropocentrism (of which christocentrism is a species) are mutually 174 BOOK REVIEWS exclusive, and it is inconsistent to attribute goodness to created reality without characterizing its existence as grace. Prescinding from a study of medieval and early modern thought, Carpenter devotes the next set of chapters to a presentation and critique of four 20th century theologians: Paul Tillich, Karl Rahner, Johann Baptist Metz, and Jurgen Moltmann. In each case, Carpenter notes positive references to nature (in varying meanings) hut detects pervasive anthropocentrism and exaggerated orientation toward history. Tillich receives praise for his concern for the inorganic realm, his recognition of a need to relate God to nature, and his interpretation of the Kingdom of God as a symbol of hope for the fulfillment of all life, hut is criticized for his concentration on culture and his rejection of natural theology. Rahner- is found more comprehensive than Tillich and more focused on the relation of nature and grace hut charged with a low estimation of creation as such. Metz, alleged from the outset to he "highly negative toward the doctrine of nature and grace" (p. 76), receives low marks for his anthropocentrism and for the bifurcation of nature and history in his political theology. The theology of nature inchoatively present in Moltmann's recent work is judged to he blocked from achieving its full potential by the excesses of his anthropocentric eschatology. Thus, in Carpenter's judgment, none of these four major modern authors is able to provide an adequate theology of nature. Seeking a resource to remedy these inadequacies, Carpenter devotes two chapters to a sympathetic account of the process philosophy of Alfred North Whitehead. Whitehead's radical personalization of na1ture appropriately takes account of the impossibility of drawing a fine line between natural and human reality and displays little interest in human history. In his conception, nature could...