Icon and Pulpit by Carnegie Samuel Calian, and: Ecclesia Sponsa Apud S. Ambrosium by Joannes Josephus Marcolíc, T. O. R. (review)

186 BOOK REVIEWS could well serve as an antidote to the poison of contemporary pagan humanism, and it might even prod some of the moderns, alienated from God and religion, to face the disturbing problem of Christ and the Gospel. JoRDAN AuMANN, 0. P. Chicago, IUinoia Icon and Pulpit. The Protestant-Orthodox Encounter. By CARNEGIE SAMUEL CALlAN. Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1968. Pp. 220. $6.50. Ecclesia Sponsa Apud S. Ambrosium. By JoANNES JosEPHUS MARcoLic, T. 0. R. Rome: Pontificia Universita Lateranense, 1967. Pp. 175. The understanding of other religious traditions is certainly a giant step in ecumenical conversations. Dr. Calian's book is a contribution toward that understanding. His background is ecumenical, for he was baptized in the Orthodox tradition and raised as a Protestant. Now a Presbyterian minister, Dr. Calian teaches at the University of Dubuque Theological School, a Presbyterian institution closely united with Lutheran and Catholic seminaries. The book, while presenting Orthodoxy to a Protestant audience, tries to go beyond this immediate aim and to lead to a deeper understanding of the Church by a renewed appreciation of the Eastern or Greek dimension of its life and heritage. After a brief historical survey of Protestant-Orthodox relations, Dr. Calian contrasts the ecclesiology of Orthodoxy with that of Western Christianity, and in a concluding section he points out the distinct contribution to Church renewal that can come from a full incorporation of Eastern themes into Western Christianity. One defect worth noting: although Dr. Calian distinguishes Eastern Rite or Oriental Catholics from other parts of Eastern Christianity, he seems then to ignore the distinction. Thus, liturgical practices and theological or juridical positions common to Eastern Christians are attributed to the Orthodox alone, and Roman Catholicism becomes identical with Latin Catholicism. Despite this unfortunate tendency to ignore Eastern Catholics the book does give a useful introduction into important themes of ecumenical concern. An eleven-page bibliography is a useful addition. Taking the wider dimension, the past decade has been marked by ever growing interest in the Church as an object of theological investigation. Ecclesia Sponsa apud S. Ambrosium examines one title or analogy, frequent in Scripture and the Fathers, by which the Church is described: the BOOK REVIEWS 187 Church as Bride or Spouse of Christ. In particular, this theme is studied in. the works of St. Ambrose of Milan. For Ambrose this theme was not something incidental but a central motif through which he presented doctrinal, moral, and ascetical teaching. The redemptive work of Christ, the sacraments (especially Baptism and the Eucharist) , the relation of the Holy Spirit to the Church, the condition of the sinful or apostate Christian: these and other doctrinal themes are, in the thought of Ambrose, aspects of the fundamental comparison between marriage and Christ's union with the Church. Ambrose, as an energetic pastor, found this theme of great value also in describing the love of God for men and in reminding his people of their moral obligations. Although Ambrose continued the earlier patristic theme that the title " Spouse of Christ" belongs in a special way to those who lead a virginal life in the Church, he also developed a less common patristic notion that the union of every Christian to Christ might aptly be described in terms of spiritual matrimony. The author notes that Ambrose is at times not particularly original but merely summarizing and putting into order theological themes presented in a disparate way by earlier Fathers of the Church. This can enhance his value for us, since he is not so much a single witness as a sign of an entire theological tradition. He has a significant place in the patristic writers of the West, especialJy because of his influence on St. Augustine. Besides its obvious value to those working in ecclesiology, this book has a further usefulness. In it those searching for a truly pastoral theology can learn of that fruitful union of dogmatic and moral teaching so frequent in the Fathers. Often they were concerned with the formulation of doctrine, but they also labored to make it operative in the lives of those they taught. Albertus Magnus CoUege New Haven, Conn. JusTIN HENNESSEY, 0. P. Patterns of Promise. Edited and...