Charles W. Stewart

Pondering the Profundities of Suicide

I wrote this review at the time of the suicide of a famous Washington personality-Mitch Snyder, head of the Community for Creative Non-Violence. He had an impact on various national and international causes during the Vietnam War in the late 60s and early 70s. He was a leader in the protest against that war. He was an active Roman Catholic layman, influenced by the Berrigan brothers. His impact in Washington, on several Presidents and Congress, rivals that of Martin Luther King, Jr. He was a friend of both John and Robert Kennedy.

Book Review and Notice: The Psychological Dynamics of Religious ExperienceThe Psychological Dynamics of Religious Experience.GodinAndré. Translated by TurtonMary. (Birmingham, AL: Religious Education Press, 1985). 279 pp.

THE PSYCHOLOGICAL DYNAMICS OF RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE. Andre Godin. Translated by Mary Turton. (Birmingham, AL: Religious Education Press, 1985). 279 pp.

13.95. (paper)

13.95. (paper) Andre Godin, Belgian priest-psychologist, has made his name both here and abroad for his empirical studies of adolescent religious experience as well as original and highly creative works in pastoral psychology. This book represents his attempt to write on the border of theology and psychology. It is a well reasoned book, yet it has about it the quality of poetry as he expresses his own experiential faith. Godin sets out to do two things in this book: (1) to analyze religious experience in terms of its human determinants and social contexts, and (2) to structure a living faith, as a Christian, particularly in the light of Freuds critique of religion. In the first part he proposes to work as a disinterested scientist; in the latter as a committed man of faith. Religious experience is the keystone which connects the two sections of the book. What enables him to use religious experience for that task? It lies in his definition of religious experience as having two components: Erlebnis (the passive emotional type) and Erfahrung (the active synthetic type). Psychologists of religion have studied religious experience of the first type since William James wrote the Varieties in 1900. Godin says experience (Erlebnis) can be studied functionally, although psychology cannot authenticate that experience as real. Such experience consists of the beliefs, prayers, mythical tales,

Book Review and Notice: The Right to RemarryThe Right to Remarry. HarveyDwight Small (Old Tappan, NJ: Fleming H. Revell Co., 1975), 190 pp.

volumes, and contains articles on every significant topic in the field. The goal of the editors was to gather together, as comprehensively yet as succinctly as possible, what is known about the questions of bioethics, the data from which they arise, a full range of responses to them, and the principles and values that account for those responses. The effort is successful, in my opinion, and the text has become a basic source for the field. The danger of any such publication is that it might be outdated by the time it is published, especially in a field that is so new, and so quickly expanding. The articles in this text do an outstanding job of looking at the history of a topic, seeing what is happening now in the field, but also serving to stimulate further research and thought. It is an openended text in that regard. The scope of the encyclopedia is in several levels: 1) the range of concrete ethical and legal problems included within bioethics; 2) the basic concepts that clarify bioethical issues and the principles appealed to as guides for human behavior in this area; 3) the various ethical theories that account for how one knows human values and justifies the norms that should guide human conduct; 4) the religious traditions, which also account for what is good and bad, right and wrong in bioethical matters; 5) historical prospectives, particularly in the area of medical ethics which deals specifically with the physician-patient relationship; and 6) information about disciplines bearing on bioethics. The cross references, bibliographies, and topical outlines allow the reader to use these volumes cover to cover, topically, or just specifically. Hospital chaplains should find this text a necessary addition to the medical library. It is an invaluable reference work, the classic of the time. Theological schools will find it equally useful and important for classes dealing with the whole field ofethics. It is probably too expensive for individual purchase, except by those studying in the field, for whom it should be required reading. CDR. J .F. ODONNELL, CHC, USN • The Right to Remarry. Dwight Harvey Small (Old Tappan, NJ: Fleming H. Revell ce., 1975), 190 pp.

5.95.

5.95. A study of New Testament ethics, into which the teaching regarding divorce and remarriage are interspersed, this book is directed to evangelical Christians who have been locked into a hard-line approach. The author believes an interim ethic to be appropriate for the church, set against the extraordinary ethical ideal which Jesus taught and which Paul appropriated looking for the eschaton. As marital dissolution may be a display of the fact of failure of fallable persons, so remarriage may display the fact of redemption, and the Gospel of the second chance, says Professor Small. Although most pastoral counselors may have moved beyond this battle line in their own consciences, the book may provide a useful study for conservative counselees facing issues of divorce and remarriage. CHARLES W. STEWART

Book Review and Notice: The Mid-Life Crises of a MinisterThe Mid-Life Crises of a Minister: RagsdaleRay W.; Word Books Publisher, Waco, Texas, 1978. 106 pages,

extremely useful to clergy in parish and chaplaincy settings. In both areas of ministry the clergys therapeutic contact with a person isoften, if not usually, crisis oriented and of a time-limited nature. The approach described by Ewing will be most useful when it is embedded in the practitioners own psychological theoretical foundation. In fact he points out that crisis intervention is compatible with a variety of psychological theories. His emphasis on the growth dimensions of crisis intervention can be approached fruitfully from any theologicalperspective with interesting results.

4.95.

for 65 percent of army chaplains). The writing vacillates from a style congruent with historical and theological reflection to a reporting out of quantifiable findings of statistics and tables that give a certain uneven quality to the reading. The reader must be able to shift methodologies of disciplines rather quickly, often without benefit of transitional help. Any reader, however, should find the insightful quotations at the beginning of chapters interesting, the personal accounts of the author most understandable, and his honesty (in admitting how his assumptions about chaplains change) most refreshing. Finally, the author suggests the development of a prophetic ministry in the military, with a concern for sin and integrity (pp. 146 and 147), and with an understanding of the churchs mission to the world (p, 138). In reading this book, chaplains will probably feel reinforced in what they already know. But civilian clergy and lay people may discover the attitudes of chaplains are more similar to their own than they had supposed. JOHN w. WARD

Book Review and Notice: The Roots of RitualThe Roots of Ritual. ShaughnessyJames, (Ed.). Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1973. 251 pp.

noted, together with a fine presentation of the work of the Middle Atlantic Career Center (Washington, D.C.). While it is certainly true that career counseling facilities designed for clergymen originally came into existence to assist those with problems, there has been a general shift in most such centers toward working with those who are not in an overt crisis but who simply seek that heightened self-understanding which usually comesto those who have participated in career evaluation programs, and who intend to use such knowledge in making career decisions of a general as well as a specificnature. It was disappointing, therefore, not to find more of an understanding of the role of career assessment programs under the theme ofcontinuing education. Since the number of agencies and centers offering career counseling for religious professionals has mushroomed in recent years, and in view of the fact that this book would be expected to have a coast-to-coast distribution, it is sad that no indication is given as to whether the various centers are or, more importantly, how they may be evaluated for professional competence. Although Stewart notes the existence of the Church Career Development Council (without naming it), he does not seem to be aware of the existenceoj the Conference of Consulting Centers (which serves a predominantly Roman Catholic population), nor is any mention made of the use of the American Personnel and Guidance Associations International Association of Counseling Services as an accrediting body. This last would seem to be significant for readers of Stewarts book who may be interested in seeking career counseling but are in the dark as to how to know whether a particular facility is really qualified to offer such services. Excellent material is presented in a most sensitive and perceptive manner by the author as he examines the twin problem areas ofmarriage and the single life for ministers. One might well hope that all religious leaders would read and give serious consideration to this insightful writing. While many may not agree with Stewart in all respects (and this reviewer does not), the material is exceptionally well presented and worth pondering, especiallythe consideration of the needs of clergy wives. The last two chapters seemed to be particularly disappointing. Neither the material on continuing education for the clergy nor a Nostradamus-like assuming the mantle of the seer seemed to present much more than somewhat superficial observations. Thus, the book ended in a downward direction. Lest this review do the same, let it be said that it is far easier to criticize than to create, and Dr. Stewart deserves the gratitude of all connected with the field for what he has given us. Some of us will feel that his creation is both lopsided and uneven in quality, but at least he did create! In balance, he deserves more roses than thorns for his contribution to the literature of what is still an infant field.

3.95 (paper).

This dialogue began at Fall Conference a year ago, at an 8 A.M. breakfast. I formulated the questions and they were reformulated with some idea of the shape of our dialogue emerging. I have reconstructed the conversation in order to make it more fluid and lesswritten in form, but it should giveyou the flavor of some of the men and women in the movement for a period of time and what they have learned as well as what they have taught under the banner of Clinical Pastoral Education. The issues which emerge are living issues and reflect what experiential learning is all about.

Book Review and Notice: Competent Ministry: A Guide to Continuing EducationCompetent Ministry: A Guide to Continuing Education:RouchMark; Abingdon Press, Nashville, Tenn., 1974. 190 pp.

What will marriage and the family be like in the year 2,000? Carl Rogers question gives us an opportunity to talk about the major changes happening in this most intimate of relationships in America. Without our fantasy taking the shape of Robert Rimmers novels where sexual experimentation and group pairing among the young portend the future, we can say that the traditional sex roles (husband = breadwinner; wife = homemaker) have changed radically and that the mothering and fathering roles are diffuse and undergoing change. To be a counselor is to be aware of the kinds of anxiety being expressed when couples throw off traditional roles and do not have role models to follow. It is to learn, too, how difficult it is to be a parent when challenged by your offspring as to the basis of your authority in sex, use of drugs, education or politics. When parents are not sure of their values and become unstable in their faith, is it any wonder that youth do not turn to them as interpreters of the human scene, nor confide in them as having anything to say to them about their lives?