John Roberts

Review of Book: Immortal SacrificeImmortal Sacrifice by BlenkinHugh. Pp. x + 101 (Darton, Longman and Todd) 16s.

it before he wrote his own book. And the same applies to the admirable book by Fr W. G. Most, Novum Tentamen ad Solutionem de Gratia et Predestinatione (also reviewed last July), which covers much of the same ground as this book, but deals more fully with objections. The reader should clearly understand the limits within which the discussion is kept by Dom Farrelly. For example, we are told: It is true that God, who is omnipotent, can when he wishes in either the natural or the supernatural order give the will a premovement to good that antecedent to the wills response is infallibly destined to elicit the act (p. 205). This obviously raises the question: if God can so order things that sin will be avoided why does he not always do so? a vital problem. Moreover, how does this fit in with saying: The purpose of mans freedom is the purpose of the will, of which freedom is a characteristic perfection (p. 31O)? Again we are told: If the creature has already sinned seriously against God, God can in justice withdraw his sustaining power from the creature in punishment for the previous sin and thus allow him to fall into further sins; if he does not, it is simply due to his divine mercy (p. 222). Yet on p. 241 a theory is criticised because it seems to us that this view reduces mans good acts to Gods mercy in such a way that it reduces his sins to Gods lack of mercy (p. 241). All this needs far more discussion. On the other hand, a point which is well dealt with is that of Gods alleged knowledge of acts of free choice which in fact are never to be performed. Such knowledge is rejected as meaningless. This book, then, is a useful one, and the solution which it proposes deserves study. It seems open to criticism because it leaves so much undiscussed which is involved in the central problem.

Review of Book: The Man for othersThe Man for Others by RoutleyErik. Pp. x + 107 (Peter Smith) 9s. 6d.

that it serves the authors purpose. Here the Douay is used throughout. The dangers of the uncritical use of so old a version are shown when on p. 104 Luke i, 3, in the Douay is immediately followed by comment which presupposes a quite different translation. On p. 121 we are given the translators English version of Dom Duponts French version of a passage from H. J. Cadbury. Surely we should have been given Cadburys original words. Harnacks Die Apostelgeschichte and Dibeliuss Aufsätze zur Apostelgeschichte (works which receive extended discussion in the text) are available in English translations, and the footnotes should have included references to these. On pp. 98-102 and again on pp. 145-7 the numbering and positioning of the footnotes is in hopeless confusion. We hope for further translations of important works by continental scholars, and I have devoted what may seem a disproportionate space to these criticisms because it seems to me that imperfections of this kind could easily diminish the force of the original authors message, and that they could and ought to be avoided. These remarks should not obscure our debt to the translator and publisher; they deserve gratitude for making this book available to the English public. It is a most useful and important book, and should be in every scripture library, public or private. MICHAEL LACE

The Injustice of Sin

N O one is likely to quarrel with these definitions, which are quite generally accepted. It is interesting, however, to bear them in mind when we embark on a discussion of the nature of sin, or at least when it is considered as Divine Offence, or as an injury to, or injustice against, God. For while it is admitted that, properly speaking, God cannot be injured, that is that no injury can be done to him in his being, yet it is common in the context of such a discussion to take the view, as Mgr Journet does in a recent essay, What we are considering here is the extrinsic effect of sin, the offence itself inasmuch as it affects God, whom we must regard as veritably injured and offended, not indeed in the light of any injury suffered in His Being, but in the light of a just moral estimate. And if God cannot be injured in his being, it is natural to speculate as to how he can be injured at all, so it may be supposed that our inquiry will be satisfied if we consider the matter in the light of a just moral estimate. And if it is not perfectly clear what this latter phrase might mean, we may presumably suppose that it is not unconnected with those definitions which we have given above. But if we recall those definitions it becomes extremely difficult to discover in what sense we may validly speak of an injury or an injustice against God lit all. We all 1 Noldin-Schmitt. Summa Theol. Moralis. Editio xxvii, III. Para 299. Op. cit. II. Para 409. a Op. cit. I. Para 269. • Sin as Fault and as Offence in Conflict and Light (Sheed and Ward).

Reviews of Book: Faith Seeks Understanding—An essay on faith and reasonFaith Seeks Understanding—An essay on faith and reason by CoventryJohn, s.j. Pp. 117 (Sheed and Ward) 7s. 6d.

On the theology of penance much remains to be done. St Thomass great achievement was to establish firmly the place of the sacrament within the process of justification, but his mature thought-incompletely expressed in the Summa-remains obscure, and the relation between the subjective, personal element in penance and the objective authoritative act of the Church is still open to clearer definition. The sacrament of Extreme Unction has had a chequered history. The practice of administering it fell for a long time far short of the Churchs directives. The theology emerged at a comparatively late date, but there was agreement among the leading theologians that it was indended as an aid to the dying: the precise stage at . which it should be given was sometimes debated and there is still some uncertainty as to the nature of the reliquiae peccati and the manner in which the sacrament prepares us for eternity.

Reviews of Book: La République Communiste Chrétienne des Guaranis, 1610-1768La République Communiste Chrétienne des Guaranis, 1610-1768 by LugonC.. Pp. 293 (Paris: Les Editions Ouvrières) 550 frs.

the illustrations of the images of the Saints and of the scenes from their legends, both in the approximate order of execution. For the latter, Dr Kaftal has, in both cases, chosen the most authoritative sources: the Life of St Dominic written by Theodoric of Apolda (about 1290), and an early seventeenth century English version of Dr Caterinus Senensiss Life cif the Blessed Virsin S. Catharine cif Sienna, which was compiled in the sixteenth century after the contemporary account of the Saints life. The illustrations are excellent, and the excerpts from the texts which accompany each plate are followed by concise technical notes on the paintings. In these the student will find all the information he requires. Dr Kaftal has selected his illustrations with scholarly and loving care. Two further volumes of this series, on St Thomas Aquinas and StPeter Martyr, are in preparation. One can only express the hope that other religious Orders may be induced to follow the lead given by the Dominicans. H. D. GRONAU.

Reviews of Book: The Salvation of the NationsThe Salvation of the Nations by louJean Danié. Translated by BouchardAngeline. Pp. ix + 118 (Sheed and Ward) 6s.

of nada. We must discover how to direct all things to Christ. It should, however, be clear that my criticism is not of the book as a whole but only of the phraseology of a few pages, which might lead to a wrong interpretation. For, indeed, the whole direction of the letter is existential in the best sense of the word. Life must be experienced in all its height and breadth, for in life is the way to Christ.