Bookshelf

National Catholic Reporter, March 15, 1996 by William C. Graham

Alert reader Tom Klonoski sent me a copy of Rotten Reviews II: A Literary Companion, which excerpts a 1960 review from The Guardian of Jesuit Fr. Pierre Teilhard de Chardin's Phenomenon of Man. It reads, "The attempt to turn the concept of evolution into a metaphysical key to the universe is one of the grave-yards of the intellect, and the present work is merely one more testimony to that fact."

I hope I have not so thoroughly missed either the point or the boat in any of the following considerations.

Oblate of Mary Immaculate Fr. Achiel Peelman has concluded that building "a truly Amerindian church" will not happen without first reflecting on the relationship "between Christianity and the Amerindian cultures and without a corresponding Christological vision." He asserts that there can be no Amerindian church without an Amerindian Christ.

In Christ Is a Native American (Orbis, 253 pages. $20 paperback), Peelman presents and analyzes testimonies from native witnesses that he has collected since 1982. He hopes his work, which is scholarly and well-written, will assist the Christian churches in redefining their mission among the Amerindian peoples with whom they hope to establish a new covenant.

Daily Meditations (with Scripsure) for Busy Dads, by Patrick T. Reardon (ACTA, 368 pages, $8.95 paperback), is a nice little resource for those looking for prayer-time help. I sent my copy off to an old friend who may have more reason to pray today than he did when we were in college.

In When God Becomes Goddess: The Transformation of American Religion (Continuum, 155 pages, $22.95 hardbound), Richard Grigg seeks a new understanding of the divide. To say that God becomes goddess is not to suggest that God is dead, but to acknowledge that some of the trappings of the concept of God change so that the essential core can be preserved.

Grigg attempts to show how a current of feminist religious thought accomplishes the transformation from God to goddess. He then deals with some of the implications and results of the transformation in a very readable, well-documented manner.

Gender and the Creed, by Elizabeth Rankin Geitz (Morehouse, 147 pages, $11.95 paperback), seems to be into the same issue but with a title less likely to frighten the timid. Geitz asks if the totality of the experience of God can be contained within one image or if more are necessary. She reflects on the Nicene Creed, looks to the writings of theologians, mystics and scholars and finds the Trinity essentially and eternally beyond

Fr. William C. Graham edited the recently released More Urgent Than Usual: The Final Homilies of Mark Hollenhorst (Liturgical Press). the label of a specific gender.

In scripture, she finds diverse images describing God, from judge to midwife, gardener to rock. These images, written as metaphors and similes, describe a God beyond naming.

I sent my copy of this interesting book to a holy woman, 50 years in vows, who intuited the conclusion long ago and who will be happy to read all about it.

The certitudes of many members of mainline churches have unraveled in recent years. Some who remain seek answers if not certainty. They are the intended audience for A Context for Christianity in the 21st Century, by Joanmarie Smith (Thomas More, 188 pages, paperback).

Smith, not wanting to be the author of just one more how-to book, suggests what she considers practical ways to dispose oneself to conversion, as well as ways to nourish commitment. She quotes Corita Kent: "If you ice a cake, light sparklers and sing, something celebrative may happen." Smith doesn't mention, early on, reading and believing the gospel. She may have mentioned it later, after the cake, but I didn't read that far.

I had greater appreciation for Transforming Christianity: Ten Pathways to a New Reformation, by Stephen Glauz-Todrank (Crossroad, 123 pages, $15.95 hardbound), which may be a better approach to the problem that Smith helps to identify.

Glauz-Todrank believes Christianity is beginning to undergo a metamorphosis from traditional Roman Catholic and Protestant worldviews into something -- altogether new. His first change in direction is from "exclusivistic to pluralistic," and the 10th is from a religion about Jesus to a religion of Jesus.

Glauz-Todrank looks not just to a new Reformation, but a renewal for all the earth, believing that pain and suffering will lead to resurrection and a new future. He is clearly hopeful arid also seems both insightful and sensible.

Would that last week I had had a copy of Augustine: His Thought in Context, by T. Kermit Scott (Paulist, 253 pages, $14.95 paperback), when students were busy considering Augustine and what he thought about predestination. Scott answers that query and others clearly. This volume is sure to be welcomed by the many who, like Scott, are fascinated by Augustine.

Curious students as well as pastoral workers may also want to look at What Are They Saying About Unbelief by Jesuit Fr. Michael Paul Gallagher (Paulist, 84 pages, $6.95 paperback). The author surveys theological and pastoral approaches to unbelief, examining the perspectives of many important theologians.