The Christian Dilemma: Catholic Church—Reformation by W. H. van de Pol (review)

BOOK REVIl!JWS 585 These two examples, which were selected because they have to do with Lbe core of Dr. Welch's Trinitarianism, furnish some indication of what the reader can expect from this loosely-argued book. As a further instance of the author's lack of logic, his ambivalent attitude towards the New Testament might be mentioned. Early in the book he writes off the New Testament as a" fallible" witness. Yet later, on, he is incessantly appealing, for reasons that elude me, to " the New Testament witness." Again, the author rejects the societal analogy of the Trinity, apparently oblivious of the fact that he himself is using it on every occasion (and they are innumerable} that he employs the terms, Father and Son. So far as Catholic theology is concerned, the author betrays an almost complete lack of comprehension of what the psychological analogy is all about; while his ignorance of what the Trinitarian relations are, can only be described as total. Weston OoUege Weston, Maas. JoHN J. WALSH, s..J. The Ghmtian Dilemma: Catholic Church-Reformation. By W. H. VAN DE PoL. Translated by G. van Hall. New York: Philosophical Library, 1952. Pp. 314 with index. $4.75. This important discussion of the problem of Christian unity comes from an author well qualified for the subject by experience. Formerly an active participant in Protestant religious life, both Reformed and Anglican, Fr. van de Pol is now a Catholic priest and Professor of the Phenomenology of Protestantism at the Catholic University of Nijmegen. He tells us that for more than thirty years the ecumenical problem has been the " all-absorbing interest " of his life. This book is the outcome of hundreds of interviews with Christians from all parts of the world and of numerous lectures to both Catholics and Protestants. The Look .is not meant to be a positive apologetic vindication of the Catholic position. It is devoted mainly to clarifying the fact that, in all the differences and schisms among Christians, there is one crucial point of disagreement, and that is between the Catholic interpretation and the Reformed interpretation of Christian revelation. Fr. van de Pol distinguishes between " Reformed " Christianity and " Protestantism," as between part and whole, using the term Reformed only of "those groups and movements which have tried to remain faithful to the original principles of the Reformation." Reformed Protestantism is differentiated especially from Liberal Protestantism, and, according to Fr. van de Pol, 586 the main difference is in the fact that the Reformed Christian accepts the " absolute and universal " character of Christian revelation while the Liberal rejects that absolute character. In other words, the Reformed Christian accepts the authority of external divine revelation as superior to human judgment and binding on all men and in its entire content. The Liberal accepts intemal revelation, the authority of God as found in the internal witness of the religious conscience and of human reason. But he rejects external revelation or, at best, considers it very scondary and subject to human judgment. Since he attributes only a relative and subordinate value to Christian revelation, the Liberal is not a true Christian, supposing that by Christian we mean one who acknowledges at least the absolute and universal character of Christian revelation. For that reason Fr. van de Pol regard!! the Liberal view as not directly pertinent to the focal problem of Christian disunion. That central problem is one of disagreement between groups, particularly two groups, the Catholic and the Reformed, who do agree on the absolute character of Christian revelation. Liberal Christians are, in that sense, outside of Christianity and outside of the Christian dilemma," and the author accordingly devotes little attention to them in his book. In stating that the central disagreement is between the Catholic position and the Reformed position, Fr. van de Pol recognizes that" most Churches and sects of Protestantism . . . have departed from the original tenets and convictions of the Reformation." (p. ~9) But his point is that among those Christians holding to the absolute nature of Christian revelation, there are only two fundamentally different interpretations of that revelation, the Catholic and the Reformed, and that " Christendom on the question of its division is faced...