Christian Political Theology: A Marxian Guide by Joseph Petulla (review)

6U BOOK REVIEWS sixteenth-century Spain and Portugal. It also indicates how little of this material is ever discussed in general histories of philosophy and how little it is known outside of Spain and Portugal. Though much of the sixteenth -century philosophical activity was indeed of purely local interest, the impact of Sanches on French sceptical thought, of Fonseca on the development of logic, of Suarez on German scholasticism (both Catholic and Protestant), and of the Cursus Conimbricensis on Decartes have new been clearly documented. It remains yet to study all of this more carefully before we can see precisely how seventeenth-century philosophy, theology, and science are to be linked with the late Middle Ages. The sixteenthcentury developments in these fields are still not clearly understood, but, with research tools such as the present volume available, it is now becoming easier to study the extant materials with the view of eventually making sense of this very complex cultural situation. The Repertorio is well printed, though there are many misprints, especially in bibliographical entries in foreign languages. It has an index of manuscripts cited (which is quite extensive), as well as an index of authors, and is a scholarly tool which should be in every research library. CHARLEs B. ScHMITT The Warburg Institute University of London, England Christian Political Theology: A Marxian Guide. By JosEPH PETULLA. Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books, 1972. Pp. 266. $3.95 The contention of the author is that Christianity and Marxism share ab asic " commitment perspective " on the questions of man's alienation and liberation which justifies the theologian's use of Marxian analysis of history. He tries to recover some historical evidence that shows that Christianity " has reason to look at the world in a manner compatible with a Marxian world view. " The primary purpose of the book is said to be " the presentation of a Marxian conceptual device as a contribution to an understanding of economic, political and social processes from within a Christian theological perspective." (p. 3) Mr. Petulla feels that this is necessary because " the man of our current moral treatises is the individual loaded with obligations toward God and neighbor; he is not the man engaged in the construction of the world and called to take a position in the cause of justice, of peace, of progress and organization. " Whatever use this effort may have, it depreciates, on the one hand, the roots of Marxist concepts and their own unique revolutionary meaning, and on the other, the political revolutionary quality of Christian theology itself. Rather than suggest that the Old and BOOK REVIEWS 625 New Testaments are radically Marxist, it would be more nearly accurate to say, with Barbara Ward, that Marx was the last of the great Jewish prophets. Mr. Petulla seems to feel that religious values of themselves are inadequate to furnish significant interpretation of man's role in " the construction of the world. " The great early theologians are accused of failing " to include provisions for social change in the temporal order." (p. 10) One wonders what Mr. Petulla would make of the text of St. Thomas which reads: " The world was made to be man's dwelling. Therefore it should benefit man ... Man has some likeness to the universe, wherefore he is called a little world. Hence man loves the whole world naturally, and consequently desires its good. Therefore, that man's desire be satisfied the universe must needs... be made better." The renewal of the world after the Last Judgement is made to serve as an inspiration to man to change the world now: St. Thomas insists that politics is concerned not only with " government " of the status quo but with creating a perfect society by continually renewing its structures. (Chapter XIII, On the Rule of Princes) St. Augustine, to whom Mr. Petulla imputes the view that " the history of the earthly city will never improve, " called upon men to care for and to distribute earthly goods in imitation of " that most just Disposer of all the adjuncts of temporal peace-the visible light, the breathable air, the potable water, and all the other necessaries of meat, drink, and clothing. " " Alienation, " " liberation, " and " praxis " have very...