Religion in America ed. by George C. Bedell, Leo Sandon, Jr., Charles T. Wellborn (review)

330 BOOK REVIEWS ground of these sacraments, and, understandably, weigh in favor of the liturgical tradition's interest in seeing, through actual practice, a greater unity among the sacraments of initiation. The opportunity, however, of bringing out the " cultic " dimension of St. Thomas's sacramentology with respect to baptism and confirmation is oddly bypassed. Surely such a consideration would have tempered Father Austin's remark -stemming from Thomas's ascribing to the "power " of baptism the ability to work for one's personal salvation-that some might consider this a " non-social description of baptism." (p. 246) Taken in the larger context of Aquinas's emphasis on the incorporation into Christ of the baptized and his sharing in the priesthood of Christ with its socioecclesial implications, this becomes a misleading observation. Another such instance is Father Austin's correct paragraph on Aquinas's misfortune in not having available to him accurate liturgical sources when theologizing about confirmation. If, as it is, Aquinas erred in citing the authority of a 'Pope Melchiades,' it does not follow, as the author seems to imply, that what was attributed to the ' Pope ' was not in the authentic tradition of the Church's understanding of the sacrament. Interestingly enough, in the enumeration of reasons for deferring confirmation to a later time after baptism, Father Austin does not mention "pastoral reasons" as a possible explanation for its delay. The only possibilities seem to be either the " rarity of episcopal visits " or " indifference " (p. 247) about the sacrament. On the other hand, Father Cunningham has had no timidity in theorizing that " pastoral concern " had significant influence in determining the practice of infant baptism so widespread in Aquinas's era. None of these observations is meant to take away from the substantial value of this work, evident in the excellent translation and in the informative scholarly footnotes. As a guide to St. Thomas's mature thinking on these sacraments, it serves as a worthy introduction. ALAN MILMORE, o.P. Providence College Providence, Rhode 18land Religion in America. By GEORGE C. BEDELL, LEO SANDON, JR., and CHARLES T. WELLBORN, eds. New York: Macmillan Publishing Co., 1975. Pp. 588. While your reviewer lately has found himself weary of the overworked concept of relevance, he must admit that relevant is what this book in fact is. It addresses itself directly to those areas of historical reality and personal experience currently evoking widespread interest on the part of BOOK REVIEWS 881 American university students relatively ignorant of religion but eager to consider their identities as religious or irreligious Americans. This introduction to religion in America presents much more than a mere anthology, although its documentary selections constitute as healthy a balance of readings as I have seen. The authors present an interpretative point of view and let their anthological inclusions act as an accumulating illumination and criticism of their work. The readings serve as true sources of enlightenment regarding what the authors imply in their developing essay. The readings are not chosen, it seems to me, merely to serve as buttresses and bulwarks upholding and defending what the writers have to say. Indeed, the documents do shed light on the continuing thread of commentary. The result here is that we move away somewhat from the dreadfully sterile neutrality, the dogged objectivity, that renders most introductory works in religion at the college level so inescapably soporific. The authors dare to begin where most Americans are. They consider, first of all, the roots and marks of civil religion in American life both today and yesterday. They demonstrate in their commentary and documents the way civil religion constitutes an amalgamation of elements, such as what I would call Old Testament Christianity, Enlightenment philosophy, and American nationalism, into a popular alloy politically and religiously comforting to the consciences of most pragmatic Americans. I refer to those Americans who want to retain their traditional loyalties to their pre-American or extra-American religious heritages while at the same time participating whole-heartedly and religiously in the experience of being Americans. Looking more closely at the range of documents, we draw the following sample from the greater corpus to indicate the scope of it. Not all of these...