Cajetan Responds: A Reader in Reformation Controversy ed. by Jared Wicks, S. J. (review)

BOOK REVIEWS 301 tions, it merits a separate publication, and it should be translated into other languages. To present an exposition of the doctrine of Cajetan, to defend it, or merely to judge its value, to say that Thomas de Vio (Cajetan) resolves all the questions which he raises-all these are far from the intent of Father Wicks. His aim is simply to provide those who are interested in the problems of the Reformation with a tool for studying the theological works of one who was a witness of this movement of the 16th century. The choice of Cajetan was a happy one. Grasping the actual climate of the times, without the passions which affected many generations of historians and having a profound understanding of Cajetan's encounter with Luther, the author penetrates to the heart of the teachings of the Legate of Leo X in the innovative movement of the 16th century. Elsewhere, in the present day, one looks in vain, among Protestants as among Catholics, for such a precise delineation of the Cardinal of St. Sixtus, free from superficial or preconceived theses-for example, in G. Henning, K. V. Selge, or 0. H. Pesch. Even so, this is not to say that the author has succeeded in describing perfectly the theological and spiritual viewpoint of Cajetan, nor in portraying exactly its relation to the attitude of Luther. That question remains partially open. Univei·sity of St. Thomas Aquinas Rome, Jtal,y A. F. VON GuNTEN, O.P. AN ALTERNATE VIEW-Jared Wicks has made available for the first time in full English translation, or in synopsis, the eleven controversial treatises of Thomas Cardinal de Vio Cajetan, spanning the years 1518-1534. Excellent notes accompany the translations. A brief biography of Cajetan serves as an introduction. Of special interest is Wicks's account of the background and circumstances surrounding Cajetan's meeting with Luther at Augsburg in October, 1518. He provides us with the chronology of the meetings and a summary of the matters discussed. His research does much to put Cajetan's role at Augsburg, and his later involvement in the Reformation controversy, in a new perspective, one most favorable to the Dominican Cardinal. Eight of the eleven treatises deal with his response to Luther and his movement, two with the Marriage Question of Henry VIII, and one is a critique of the Eucharistic doctrine of Ulrich Zwingli. Readers familiar with the controversial writings of Cajetan's contemporaries, both Catholic and Protestant, will discover in his works a marked difference in style, methodology , and argumentation. They are devoid of all polemics against person- 302 BOOK REVIEWS alities, reveal a conscientious use of sources available to him, are brief and clear. He did not attempt, as did his Catholic colleagues, a line by line response, but rather isolated major dogmatic issues, clarified his opponents' objections, and responded with his own concise arguments. The treatises dealing with the Lutheran question cover two periods: 1518-1521, the early years of controversy, and 1531-1532 when Cajetan commented on the Augsburg Confession and the Apology of Melanchthon. The Augsburg Treatises of 1518 are in reality a collection of thirteen position papers written by Cajetan for his own benefit in preparation for his meeting with Luther. They reveal his careful analysis of Luther's Explanation of the Ninety-five Theses, the Sermon on Penance, and the Sermon on Excommunication. In these writings Cajetan discerned two major issues at divergence from Catholic teaching. The first involved a new understanding and description of the nature of justifying faith, which Luther claimed rested solidly on the authority of Scripture. The traditional Catholic formulation of justifying faith as fides caritate formata had become in Luther fides certitudine remissionis peccatorum formata. Cajetan quickly perceived the far-reaching doctrinal consequences of such a position. The second point of difference concerned Luther's rejection, on the grounds of the lack of clear scriptural evidence, of the authoritative teaching of Clement VI on the nature, extension, and efficacy of indulgences. Thus in the Augsburg Treatises Cajetan responded to various aspects of Luther's doctrine bearing on these two issues. It is significant that at this early date he perceived in...