Religious Sisters (review)

BOOK REVIEWS 548 was sometimes unreasonable in His commands, as in the case of the. sacrifice of Isaac, and Abraham should have disobeyed. " And this would have been eminently reasonabie, for true obedience to the divine entails a refusal to make the innocent suffer. By being more reasonable and yet without ceasing to be religious, Abraham could have avoided terrorizing Isaac. Isaac undoubtedly had nightmares throughout his later life, all because Abraham listened so uncritically and obeyed so unreasonably." (p. 82} No comment is necessary. There are several brief references to Aristotle. In the first, he pits Aristotle the psychologist against Aristotle the moralist. The Philosopher, accordmg to Professor Weiss, "offered' different accounts of man in different places . . . In the Aristotelian biology and psychology a man is defined to be a rational animal . . . In the ethics and politics a man is defined to be a political or social animal . . . The two were not and cannot be brought together ... " (pp. 37-38). This passage speaks for itself. Much more might be said about this book, which the jacket describes as " a profound and original contribution to ethical thought . . . a brilliant inquiry full of revelations, of questio~g, probing, and fresh, arresting views." But perhaps we have already given it more attention than it deserves. One can only hope that Professor Weiss stands alone in his untenable, upside-down position. Since the author prefers " theodicies " to " theologies," it is better to refer him to Aristotle rather than St. Thomas for his philosophical rescue. As an avowed realist, he is not beyond hope. But he cannot start with the realism of the Metaphysics, or Ethics. He must begin at the beginning, with the first book of the Orga:non. Otherwise he will continue to inflict bewildering nonsense like this volume on a world whose thinking is muddled enough already. Except as a sad case history of what can happen to a good mind in modern universities and as a glaring confirmation of the dictum of St. Thomas, error in principio est pessimus, this book is worthless. Providence College, Providence, R. I. D. A. O'CONNELL, O.P. Religious Sisters. A Symposium. Oxford: Blackfriars, 1950. Pp. 325. 15s. This work is basically an English version of two. French works written by a group of French Religious Priests and Prelates for the Sisters and Congregations of France. These works were Directoire des Superiettres and Les Adaptations de la Vie Religieuse. Certain sections of practical interest only in France have been omitted and in place of a section entitled Psychologie Utile a Toute Superieure a paper on Psychology itself written 544 BOOK BEVIEWS by an English medical doctor of wide experience in such matters has been substituted. The purpose of the book is to suggest to Religious Communities of women, and especially to Superiors, the solution of difficulties in·attracting and holding vocations at the present time. It is not, of course, a detailed plan of campaign to accomplish this object, but a setting forth of principles by the use of which it may be accomplished. It professes to be, and is, an analytical exposition of the very foundations of religious life, and it suggests various ways of adapting these foundations to present needs. The compilers themselves were conscious of the danger involved in rash adaptations which could easily become dangerous compromises of the very foundations themselves, and for the most part they have taken care to keep clear of such dangers. The work is divided-into five parts, each part being made up of two or more articles of varying lengths. The First Part treats of the " Theology of the Religious Life " and is composed of five tracts, namely " Christian Perfection in Religious Life" by M. J. Nicolas, 0. P., "The Vow of Poverty" by Stephane Pait, 0. F. M., "The Vow of Chastity" by Dom Massatki, 0. S. B., " The Vow of Obedience " by Pere Nicolas, 0. P. The Second Part on the " Office of the Superior " consists of the paper oii the " Superior and the Sanctification of Her Religious " by Paul Marie de la Croix, 0. C. D., and the "Superior, Servant of the Common Good" by Abbe Kothen. Part ill on the...