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262 BOOK REVIEWS tentatione, sed de generali ilia pugna, in qua homo undique difficultatibus obsessus sine gratia non potest non superari.'" (Vol. 3, ed. 1930, p. 144.) By far, the best and most completely developed part of the book is that which treats of sufficient and efficacious grace (pp. 71-98) . Here, the author with clearness and force states the Thomistic teaching, buttressing this position with many quotations from Scripture and tradition. But he does not stop here; painstakingly, he summarizes adverse opinions, and with clearness and logic explains away the difficulties of those who oppose the traditional Thomistic stand. Had the same tactics been used in other portions of the book, in the opinion of this reviewer, the book would have increased not only in length, but in value. In speaking of the dispositions necessary for justification, on page 106, the use of the disjunctive " sive fidei, sive spei, sive amoris, sive paenitentiae " can be misleading, even though it is clarified later (pp. 120-138) in speaking of these preparatory acts in detail. Whether or not an explicit act of each of the virtues mentioned in the Council of Trent (Denz. 798) is required for justification, warrants a clearer and more detailed exposition than the footnote on page 130. To the author's interpretation of q. 114, a. 3, on whether a man in the state of grace can merit eternal life condignly, many theologians will prefer the explanation of Sylvius or John of Saint Thomas as quoted by Billuart (De Gratia, Diss. 8, a. 3). Here again, by curtailing his exposition, the author has failed to be convincing. The publication of class notes can be a real boon to the student who faithfully attends the daily lectures. Authors should remember however, that many who read the published notes will not have the advantage of the accompanying lectures. Consequently, the published work should contain as complete and lucid an explanation and commentary as the lectures themselves provide, as well as supplementary reading for the benefit of both students and readers. Passionist Monastery, West Springfield, Mass. RoNALD MURRAY, C. P. A Scientist's Approach to Religion. By CARL WALLACE MILLER. New York: The Macmillan Co., 1947. Pp. 127. $2.00. Professor Miller's approach to religion is a purely natural one based upon the sclentist's criterion of fruitfulness. His book is an earnest plea for the conservation of our spiritual heritage and for its more extensive application to the problems of progressing mankind. In a series of nineteen meditations the author weaves the warp of scientific theories and findings with the weft of religious belief and practice. The fabric is intended BOOK REVIEWS 268 to clothe those who have been stripped of the comfort and solace of religion by a progressive impoverishment of their spiritual ideals. Unfortunately the fabric will not wear. It lacks strength not by faulty weaving but because the cross-threads themselves have been completely devitalized. The author has chosen to disregard the vital basis for accepting the tenets of religion, their unassailable truth. He proposes in its stead the benefits that accrue to humanity through devotion to Christian ideals, benefits which are temporal for the individual and which acquire immortality by their influence upon future generations of mankind. Unhappily, the few heroes who would keep faith with these ideals under such sanctions could not produce results commensurate with Dr. Miller's hopes. If the fertility of religious principles is their raison d'etre, then by this criterion they are doomed. The general tone of the book is one of kindly tolerance. There is no attempt to grapple with the cross-purposes of science and religion. Scientific theories are introduced as illustrations of the religious topic considered. Since there are no necessary correlations drawn between the findings of science and the Christian principles to which they are applied by way of exposition, the author is free to make comparison and elaborate as he wilt Considerable thought and frequent beauty of ideas are to be found in the development of such topics as the Concept of God, Love of Neighbor, Good and Evil, Prayer, and Christianity and Education: " ... this obedience to moral law is in reality the...

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