(Quaderni Teologici Del Seminario Di Brescia, 18). Brescia, Morcelliana, 2008

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Interpretare la Scrittura (Quaderni teologici del Seminario di Brescia, 18). Brescia, Morcelliana, 2008. (21×15), 335 p. ISBN 978-88-372-2275-8. /24.00.

D’un contenu très diversifié, le présent recueil aborde la question de l’interpré- tation de la Bible dans des optiques variées. La plupart des contributions ont un caractère formellement théologique, les trois dernières se situent respectivement sur le plan liturgique, éthique et pastoral. Faisons le relevé de l’ensemble. Dans son exposé «La lectio divina nella vita della Chiesa» (pp. 11-29), L. Morani fait à titre exemplatif une lecture de Mt 12,36-44. Il s’y réfère à la voie indiquée par le Card. Martini pour passer «d’un texte biblique à la vie de l’Église» (p. 11). Elle comporte huit étapes: lectio, meditatio, contemplatio, oratio, consolatio, discretio, deliberatio, actio. La contribution de A. Maffeis «Il libro della Chiesa: Il canone del Nuovo Testamento nel dibattito teologico contemporaneo» (pp. 31-75) a un caractère à la fois théologique et historique. L’A. y passe en revue les principales questions soulevées dans le débat théologique et exégétique sur le canon du Nouveau Testament au cours du XXe siècle. Quant à R. Majolini (pp. 77-105), il examine le sens et la portée du principe rappelé par le document de la Commission biblique pontificale du 21 septembre 1993 sur l’interprétation de la Bible dans l’Église où le croyant est dit lire et interpréter l’Écriture dans la foi de l’Église. Le document exprime, dit-il, d’une façon synthétique la relation complexe entre révélation, foi et Église et indique ainsi «le critère herméneutique décisif» (p. 105) pour la lecture et l’interprétation de la Bible. G. Cannobio étudie de son côté l’origine et la signification de l’expression reprise par Vatican II en Dei Verbum (no24): «L’Écriture est l’âme de la théologie» (pp. 107-136). Elle apparaît pour la pre- mière fois dans une ancienne Ratio studiorum des Jésuites d’où elle est passée à l’Encyclique Providentissimus Deus de Léon XIII. Elle a suscité l’enthousiasme des biblistes et des théologiens sans être pour autant comprise et interprétée par tous de la même manière. G.C. énumère à ce sujet trois «modèles» de rapport entre l’Écriture et la théologie: génétique, exemplatif et systématique. La contribution de F. Della Vecchia est consacrée à la crux interpretum que restent encore toujours les textes bibliques sur le Dieu violent (pp. 137-162). Il s’y réfère notamment à Dt 7,1-6 et 20,10-20 ainsi qu’à Gn 5,13-24 qu’il situe dans le contexte du Proche-Orient antique. Il y donne ainsi quelques indications de nature à faciliter une lecture respectueuse du caractère canonique des textes en question et à en dégager la signification à leur accorder dans le cadre du dialogue de Dieu avec son peuple. L’exposé de S. Passeri traite du fondement biblique de la théologie morale (pp. 163-196). Si l’Écriture constitue une référence incontournable pour la théologie morale, l’intérêt que lui portent les théologiens est en fait assez varié. La Bible ne devient un vrai fondement de l’agir chrétien que lorsqu’on la comprend comme une Parole vive qui façonne le comportement de son inter- locuteur. Cela suppose qu’on dépasse la teneur concrète, limitée et partielle du texte sacré pour en dégager le «potentiel universalisant» (p. 195). La contribution

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de M. Zani (pp. 197-235) a un caractère philosophique. Elle est un commentaire sur ce que Jean-Paul II écrit dans son Encyclique Fides et Ratio: «La Parole de Dieu met en évidence le problème du sens de l’existence et donne sa réponse en orientant l’homme vers Jésus-Christ … qui accomplit en plénitude l’existence humaine» (no80). Mais cette réponse n’est-elle pas tout simplement une construction humaine? Dans sa réplique, M.Z. fait surtout appel à la doctrine blondélienne de l’ouverture métaphysique de la raison humaine. L’exposé de O. Vezzoli (pp. 238-272) part du principe que la célébration liturgique est le lieu privilégié de l’interprétation de l’Écriture. Il se demande dans quelle mesure, dans le nouveau Lectionnaire romain publié après le Concile (première édition en 1969), la proclamation de l’Écriture se présente comme un vrai «événement» où la communauté des disciples l’accueille comme la Parole de Dieu adressée à son Église. La contribution «Bioéthique et Écriture sainte» (pp. 273-302) de C. Bresciani occupe une place spéciale dans cet ensemble. La morale catholique en la matière a été élaborée, en règle générale, sans référence explicite à la Bible. Elle doit néanmoins se savoir tenue à montrer que sa vision de l’homme, «de son naître, de son vivre, de son mourir» (p. 298), est en tout point conforme à celle qui se dégage des écrits bibliques. Ce riche ensemble se clôture par l’exposé de R. Tononi, «La sacra Scrittura nella catechesi dei fianciulli» (pp. 302-333). Il s’y agit d’une analyse de l’ouvrage des époux LAGARDE, Caté- chèse symbolique biblique (Paris, 1983). R.T. en reconnaît les mérites tout en posant quelques questions critiques. L’ouvrage s’adresse à un public cultivé relativement large. Il cadre parfaitement dans la série déjà longue des Quaderni teologici du Séminaire de Brescia qui font honneur à cette institution. A. VANNESTE

Alexander DEEG – Walter HOMOLKA – Heinz-Günther SCHÖTTLER (eds.). Preaching in Judaism and Christianity: Encounters and Developments from Biblical Times to Modernity (Studia Judaica, 41). Berlin – New York, de Gruyter, 2008. (23×15,5), X-247 p. ISBN 978-3-11-019665-8. /74.00

The present volume had its origin in the first international conference on “Preaching in Judaism and Christianity” which took place in Bamberg, Germany, in March 2007. This conference included Jews and Christians, rabbis and pastors, students and professors from a variety of European countries and the United States. After a brief preface by the editors (vii-viii), A. Deeg offers an introductory essay “Two Homiletic Twins: Introduction” (1-4). He argues that Jewish-Chris- tian relationships should be seen as the interaction of twin brothers rather than as a “mother-daughter” relationship or as the model of a Jewish root from which Christianity developed. This suggestion focuses attention on the mutual reciproc- ity of the relationship. Deeg notes that a “mother-daughter” paradigm has also dominated the study of Christian homiletics. “It was often recognised that Christian preaching somehow had its origins in Jewish preaching. But Christian homiletics has up till now shown very little interest in how Jews over the centuries

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and in the present interpret the Scriptures in the synagogues, what kind of radical changes and modifications can be observed and what kind of answers Judaism has found and is finding to homiletic and hermeneutic challenges” (2). The Christian study of homiletics has thus overlooked the potential that exists in an earnest appreciation of its Jewish homiletic “brother”. Such a comparative study is worth doing because

Jews and Christians alike share the conviction that the God of Israel made revelations through his efficacious word. Both traditions start with the assumption that this revealed word of God requires interpretation and exegesis for modern listeners to understand it. Homiletical traditions shape both Judaism and Christianity, and it is a worthwhile endeavour for the Jewish-Christian conversation to shine close light on this aspect (5).

The preface is followed by the conference greeting by Cardinal W. Kasper, president of the Commission of the Holy See for Religious Relations with the Jews, to whom the volume is dedicated (5f). The fourteen essays of this collection deal with the history of Jewish and Christian preaching and in particular with the interrelation, or lack of interrelation, between these “homiletic twins”. Later essays in the volume address current challenges and deal with homiletical hermeneutics, Christian preaching of the Hebrew Bible, developments of Jewish preaching in the USA, and new forms of interpreting the Bible. The essays include: G. Stemberger, “The Derashah in Rabbinic Times” (7-21; there is a response by A. Kosman, “On the Spiritual Role of Midrash and Aggada”, 22-24); F. Siegert, “The Sermon as an Invention of Hellenistic Judaism” (25-44; there is a response by G. Stemberger, 45-48). Siegert discusses origins and ancient terms, the problem of orality, offers further remarks on terminology, surveys antecedents of the art of preaching in the Hebrew and Greek Scriptures, sketches the “intelligent worship” of the ancient synagogue and its Christian imitation, and examines Alexandria as a centre of Jewish eloquence. He further introduces specimens of Hellenistic Jewish eloquence (the sermons On Jonah and On Samson), examines the panegyric sermon in the ancient church and closes with remarks on the relationship between Jewish and Christian homilies. This perspective could be taken further, given that there are several examples of Hellenistic Jewish preaching in the New Testament – after all, the first “Chris- tian” sermons were preached by Jesus and Jewish Christians such as Peter, Stephen and Paul. Also, these sermons consist, to a large extent, of specific interpretations of the Hebrew Bible. This is followed by A. von Stockhausen, “Christian Perception of Jewish Preaching in Early Christianity?” (49-70; response by R.S. Sarason, 71f); M. Saper- stein, “Medieval Jewish Preaching and Christian Homiletics” (73-88; response by R.S. Sarason, 89f); K. Herrmann, “Jewish Confirmation Sermons in 19th-Century Germany” (91-112); Y. Amir, “Towards Mutual Listening: The Notion of Sermon in Franz Rosenzweig’s Philosophy” (113-130; response by A. Deeg, 131-135) and W. Homolka, “Leo Baeck – Preacher and Teacher of Preaching” (136-154). Current issues are addressed by H.-G. Schöttler, “Preaching the Hebrew Bible: A Christian Perspective” (155-174); Y. Amir, “Jewish and Christian Bible Read- ing Between Retro-spectivism and Pro-spectivism” (175-181); R.S. Sarason, “‘The Voice is the Voice of Jacob’: Contemporary Developments in US-Ameri- can Jewish Preaching, Homiletics and Homiletical Education” (182-201; response

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by M. Nicol, 202f); A. Deeg and M. Nicol, “Jewish Hermeneutics and Christian Preaching: Scriptural Hermeneutics and Its Homiletical Consequences” (204-220) and U. Pahl-Patalong, “Through the White Fire to the Black Fire: The Bibliolog as a Path for Bible Interpretation in Judaism and Christianity” (221-233). Various indexes (235-243) and a list of the contributors (245-247) round off the well produced volume. This collection contains a number of interesting perspectives both in the historical section and in the essays on current challenges. The contributions raise several issues worth pondering for Christian homiletics, hermeneutics and Jewish Studies. C. STENSCHKE

H. AUSLOOS – J. COOK – F. GARCÍA MARTÍNEZ – B. LEMMELIJN – M. VER- VENNE (eds.). Translating a Translation: The LXX and Its Modern Translations in the Context of Early Judaism (Bibliotheca Ephemeri- dum Theologicarum Lovaniensium, 213). Leuven – Paris – Dudley MA, Peeters, 2008. (24×16), X-317 p. ISBN 978-90-429-2038-5. /80.00.

Les études sur la LXX sont très florissantes aujourd’hui. Ce volume s’insère dans cet horizon, avec une particularité: les contributeurs s’intéressent essentiellement aux traductions de ce corpus qui est déjà une traduction, que celles-ci soient récentes (le projet de la Bible d’Alexandrie, ou la Septuaginta Deutsch par exemple) ou anciennes (versions latines ou arméniennes, par exemple). Le volume présente cinq parties. La première est essentiellement méthodologi- que et offre trois contributions. J. Cook se centre sur les questions de méthode liées à la LXX comme traduction d’abord, puis aux projets modernes de traductions de ce corpus. R. Sollamo s’intéresse à la question de la traduction en tant que méthode, car les traducteurs qui ont donné naissance à la LXX avaient aussi des techniques de traduction et étaient confrontés à des choix. Enfin, H. Ausloos et B. Lemmelijn se penchent sur le cas concret du hapax legomenon dans le Cantique des Cantiques. La deuxième partie porte sur le projet francophone de traduction de la LXX, La Bible d’Alexandrie. G. Dorival explicite et raconte le projet, montrant comment celui-ci a évolué et s’est affiné au fil des ans. K. Hauspie reprend ensuite à son compte la méthode élaborée pour proposer une traduction d’Éz 1,5-28 qui s’appuie non seulement sur le texte reçu mais aussi sur la lecture des Pères de l’Église, en particulier Théodoret de Cyr. Enfin, C. Doignez présente une étude comparative entre LXX et Targum et discute ressemblances et différences. La troi- sième partie s’intéresse au projet allemand de traduction de la LXX. M. Kerr en discute les points de méthode que les deux articles suivants illustrent d’exemples concrets, W. Kraus à partir du Ps 95TM / 94LXX et H.-J. Fabry à partir des hymnes cosmologiques de Na 1 et Hab 3. La quatrième partie du volume se tourne vers le monde anglophone et le New English Translation of the Septuagint (NETS). Après une rapide rétrospective sur le projet, A. Pietersma se penche sur le psautier grec. D. Büchner regarde essentiellement la traduction de Lv, et en particulier de Lv 18,21 à partir du contexte littéraire et historique. Enfin, C. Boyd-Taylor reprend les «défis» de la LXX, les cas difficiles qui embarrassent traducteurs et commentateurs. La dernière partie de l’ouvrage propose un parcours à la découverte

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de perspectives ouvertes dans d’autres univers culturels, en particulier l’Espagne et l’Afrique du Sud. E. DI PEDE

Walter DIETRICH. The Early Monarchy in Israel: The Tenth Century B.C.E. Translated by Joachim VETTE (SBL Biblical Encyclopedia: An Eng- lish Translation of Biblische Enzyklopädie, 3). Atlanta GA, Society of Biblical Literature, 2007. (23×15,5), XVI-378 p. ISBN 978-1-58983- 263-3. $47.95.

Almost a decade after Kohlhammer initiated the twelve-volume German series Biblische Enzyklopädie, in 2003 a start was made with their English translation in the SBL-series Biblical Encyclopedia. The present volume by Dietrich represents the second one of this series, although it chronologically comes third. Unfortu- nately, although 9 volumes have already been published in German, as yet no new volumes in English have been announced. In order to bridge the gap of nine years that have lapsed between the book’s original publication and its translation, the author has revised some sections of the book and expanded the bibliography with more recent works. In accordance with the guidelines for the entire series, the book is composed of four main sections: (1) the recounting of the biblical accounts that cover the period in question; (2) a critical assessment of the extra- biblical evidence that could help to reconstruct Israel’s history of the period; (3) a discussion of the literature that may have originated in this period; and (4) the theological conclusions that can be drawn from the previous sections. In the first part, Dietrich rightly points out that our images about the history of Israel during the early monarchic period are largely shaped by a long reception history, which in its first stages affected the text itself, rather than by the events described or sources contemporary to them. Therefore, he begins by reviewing, in that order, the messianic reinterpretation of the character of David, the depiction of Solomon as the prototypical wisdom teacher, and the early reception history that has been enshrined in the Books of Chronicles, which retells the stories about Saul, David and Solomon from the particular perspective of Judah, Jerusalem, and the Temple. Subsequently, Dietrich presents the account found in 1 Sam 1 – 1 Kings 11 within the framework of the Deuteronomistic History, after which he discusses the portraits of the four main characters Samuel, Saul, David and Solo- mon as they emerge from the pre-Deuteronomistic strata of these texts. The second part aims at a historically accurate reconstruction of the establishment of the first monarchic state in Israel and includes some important reflections on the possibility and method of such endeavours. Dietrich maintains that, although some textual layers may claim a certain degree of credibility, the biblical accounts should not be considered a collection of eyewitness or even reliable accounts, as the writers had no intention of reporting what actually happened back then and were first and foremost concerned with increasing the faith of their current audience: “What actually occurred is important, not necessarily as it precisely happened, but rather as what it intended to become” (p. 108). Contemporary historical scholarship, which is interested in knowledge rather than faith, should therefore pursue a rigorous historical-critical analysis of this conglomeration of texts that

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went through centuries of oral retellings and scribal reworkings, with many breaks and reinterpretations, before they were finally redacted more than half a millennium after the events they describe assumedly occurred. Throughout his extensive survey of archaeological data and material remains pertaining to the early monarchy, which he conducts with distinctive Deutsche Gründlichkeit, Dietrich clearly favours a middle position between what is commonly termed a “minimalist” and a “maximalist” interpretation of the evidence. In his subsequent analysis of the history of Israel in this period, however, he seems to stand closer to the maximalist than to the minimalist position, despite the many caveats he had expressed earlier. Nevertheless, he still maintains the necessary critical attitude and repeatedly emphasises that the text nowhere provides us with a direct historical report. In the third part, devoted to the literature of the time period, Dietrich addresses the most important hypotheses concerning the smaller and larger sources that scholars have postulated for the Books of Samuel and the first chapters of the first Book of Kings. Underlining that neither their actual existence nor their credibility as (possible) eyewitness accounts can be proven, he presents the main arguments in favour of the following collections, as well as the gaps and difficulties they leave unsolved: the so-called “Succession Narrative”, the “Narrative of David’s Rise”, the “Ark Narrative”, the “Narrative of Samuel’s Youth”, the “Book of the History of Solomon” and the “Yahwist History”. Afterwards, he introduces his own diachronic analysis of the literature dealing with the early monarchy, reconstructing the growth of individual oral traditions and the smallest literary units, which may reach back to the tenth or ninth century, into larger narrative collections and novellas until they were finally combined into the large opus of the Deuteronomistic History. Finally, Dietrich explores some interesting theological implications of the narratives in the fourth part of the book. Although he announces that he will discuss the paradigmatic meaning of these narratives about the early monarchy and the first state that became part of Israel’s narrative heritage from the perspective of their final redaction and the topics that were deemed important at the time, in fact he mainly restricts his conclusions to the questions contemporary readers of these texts are struggling with. Thus, he singles out the two faces of the monarchic leadership, which, on the one hand, provides stability and security for the land, but, on the other, implies the people’s loss of autonomy and often drags them along into the instability generated by the monarchy’s continuous pursuit of power. Next, Dietrich deals with the dynamic of election and rejection which is exemplified in the polarity between Saul and David, and, in his mind, raises the issue of God’s presence or absence with suffering human beings. In a similar vein, he considers the depiction of the relationships between men and women as a silent though screaming outcry against the irresponsible behaviour of licentious men taking advantage of innocent women, and interprets the few references to the avoidance of violence within an escalating spiral of wars as a subtle hint that violence is to be overcome. Although such conclusions are understandable and even, to some extent, justified in the light of the current debates upon what A. Thatcher called “the savagery use” of the Bible (in his magnificent book The Savage Text: The Use and Abuse of the Bible; see my review in INTAMS-Review 15 [2009] 95-96), one cannot avoid the impression that Dietrich’s theological conclusions are selective and impose a contemporarily desired interpretation on the text rather than the intentions of its composers. Given the profoundness of the previous parts

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of the book, it is an unfortunately missed opportunity that he did not explore other avenues as well in this final section. H. DEBEL

Thomas RÖMER (ed.). The Books of Leviticus and Numbers (Bibliotheca Ephemeridum Theologicarum Lovaniensium, 215). Leuven – Paris – Dudley MA, Peeters, 2008. (24×16), XXVII-742 p. ISBN 978-90-429- 2094-1. /85.00.

The 215th volume of the BETL-series collects the papers presented at the 55th Colloquium Biblicum Lovaniense, which took place during the summer of 2006 and was dedicated to the books of Leviticus and Numbers. With it, the coverage of all the books of the Pentateuch in the Bibliotheca Ephemeridum The- ologicarum Lovaniensum is brought to completion, after previous volumes addressed the books of Deuteronomy (vol. 68), Exodus (vol. 126), and Genesis (vol. 155). As is customary in the proceedings of the CBL-conference, the contributions are structured in two sections: the first part of the volume contains the invited papers, including the presidential address and the papers presented during the seminars, while the second part offers a selection of the short papers read during the meeting. The detailed indices at the back of the book enhance its user- friendliness and facilitate the study of particular passages. In his presidential address, T. Römer draws attention to a major change that Pentateuchal research has witnessed in recent years: while in the early stages of historical-critical exegesis the books of Leviticus and Numbers were generally neglected, they now take pride of place in the study of the Torah as law-book and foundational narrative. The major issues in this shift of perspective are taken up in several of the main papers. Thus, in a joint contribution, E. Zenger and C. Frevel discuss the central place of Leviticus and Numbers in the Pentateuch, with Zenger putting particular emphasis on Lev 16–17 as lying at the heart of the Torah, and Frevel characterising Numbers as a Janus-faced composition, which in its first chapters is firmly linked to the preceding books, but in the latter part clears the way for the book of Deuteronomy, and, in a sense, also for the book of Joshua. As such, their synchronic study has diachronic implications as well, as it reveals the narrative framework of a Hexateuch rather than a Pentateuch. In similar vein, F. García López points out the pivotal function of Numbers in the composition of the Hexateuch, as it bridges the gap between the “Triateuque” of Gen–Ex–Lev and the otherwise isolated books of Deuteronomy and Joshua. However, the thesis of Numbers originally belonging to a Hexateuch is explicitly opposed in the essay of H. Seebass, who regards the link between Numbers and Joshua as highly prob- lematic and late. A concise overview of some changing tendencies in Pentateuchal research since the CBL that was devoted to Deuteronomy in 1983, is offered in the German article by E. Noort, which reflects his contribution to the Dutch seminar. From his subsequent investigation of the account of Joshua’s appointment as Moses’ successor in Num 27,12-23, Noort infers that this pericope represents the final episode to be attributed to the P-tradition, even if some scattered verses throughout Joshua may reflect a late phase of priestly redaction. The composite redactional

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character of the book of Numbers raises the question of its literary unity and theological specificity, two topics covered in the structural analysis of O. Artus. The diachronical perspective is continued in the essay of R. Achenbach, who dismisses the alleged independent existence of the Holiness Code. In his opinion, the Holiness Code represents a redactional layer that aimed at reworking the Sinai-pericope and involved the Pentateuch as a whole, while its Fort- schreibungen in the book of Numbers belong to the fourth-century “post-pentateuchal” editorial closure of the Pentateuch by Zadokite priestly circles. The reception of Leviticus in Numbers was further explored in the English seminar conducted by C. Nihan. In his profound analysis of the parallel festival calendars in Lev 23 and Num 28–29, Nihan supports Achenbach’s basic insight of a later “theocratic revision” of the Pentateuch in the late Persian period. Another example of the complex literary history of Numbers is addressed in the case-study of the conflicting presentations of the Midianites by T.B. Dozeman, who concludes that the tension between the non-priestly depiction of Moses’ Midianite father- in-law and the priestly accounts of Phinehas and the Midianites represents an unsolved debate in Second Temple Judaism on maintaining relationships with nations outside of the Israelite cult. A. Marx, however, adopts a quite different perspective on the formation of the Pentateuch and on the P-tradition in particular by attempting to demonstrate the inner coherence of the priestly sacrificial code. The final essays of the book’s first part all deal with the Book of Leviticus. J.W. Watts analyses Lev 1–16 from a rhetorical perspective and maintains that these chapters played a vital role during Second Temple times in the process of the Torah’s growing authority and the related establishment of the Aaronite priests. The short essay by D. Luciani, who presided over the French seminar, concerns the literary organisation of Lev 1–3 in triptychs, while T. Staubli’s presentation at the German seminar focused on the interpretation and meaning of the Hebrew rvh in Lev 1,14. Finally, H. Liss advances the challenging hypothesis that the cultic system, as laid down in Lev 11–15, represents a sixth- or fifth-century attempt to uphold the construction of ritual purity through its literary fictionalization, because it was no longer possible to do so in actual practice. The second part of this volume assembles 18 short papers thematically arranged into four subsections: questions of textual criticism, structural analyses, synchronic studies, and redaction-critical investigations. The closing essay consists of a single reception-oriented presentation by M.W. Elliott devoted to the reception of Leviticus in the seventeenth century works of the Dutch exegetes Cornelius a Lapide and Hugo Grotius. The first of four text-critical papers offers a preliminary report on the BHQ- edition of Lev 1–7 by its editor I. Himbaza, who indicates that the full edition is still far from complete as he was only recently assigned the task of preparing the Leviticus fascicle. In the second paper, T. Van der Louw sets out to reassess the significance of the Greek Qumran fragment 4QLXXLeva from his perspective of “transformations” in the Septuagint, but in the end he merely reconfirms E. Ulrich’s conclusion that this Greek Qumran fragment contains fifteen variants vis-à-vis the Göttingen edition by J.W. Wevers that reflect a non-revised and hence “more original” text. M.N. van der Meer investigates a particular point of disagreement in the textual witnesses of the book of Numbers, the long plus in Numb 14,23, within the wider context of similar textual moves, and he thus

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elaborates on the observations made by H. Ausloos during the IOSCS-meeting in Oslo, 1998. Finally, in a discussion of translational problems, L.J. De Regt suggests a new section heading for an English translation of Numbers 4. The three structural analyses deal, respectively, with the macro-structure of the Pentateuch, the book of Numbers as a whole and a few chapters from it. Observing that the boundaries between Exodus, Leviticus and Numbers are rather weak, H.J. Koorevaar proposes regarding the Torah as a triptych rather than a Pentateuch, with the complex Exod–Lev–Num as a literary unity and major inci- sions occurring only between Gen–Exod and Num–Deut. T.L. Brodie discusses the question of the internal unity of Numbers by singling out nineteen diptych structures throughout the book, the diptych about atonement playing a pivotal role in both structure and content. The coherence of Num 5,1–10,10 is subjected to scrutiny by W.W. Lee, who evaluates several outlines for the organisation of the pericope in its wider context. Among the synchronic studies, too, the book of Numbers takes the lion’s share. U. Sals emphasises the coherence of the book by commenting upon its reception history in the medieval Weltchronik of Rudolf von Ems. F. Mirguet sheds more light on the literary and symbolic functions of Numbers’ concept of a “promised land”, which is strongly desired but not yet reached, both in a geographical and an ethical sense. In a combined exercise of narrative criticism and discourse analysis, A. Abela offers some speculative reflections on the punishment of Miriam in Num 12,1-16, while J.-P. Sonnet addresses the sin of Moses and Aaron in Num 20,1-13. Finally, A. Wénin makes a plea in favour of an intertextual reading of the narrative about the bronze snake against the background of the mythical figure of the serpent in the second creation narrative. An intertextual reading of Numbers is also undertaken in the redaction-critical investigation of H.-P. Mathys, who seeks further corroboration of the tendency towards a later dating of Numbers by comparing it to the books of Chronicles. M.A. Christian announces a discussion of the theme of openness to non-Israelites in the book of Numbers, but in fact his essay stands out for its profound meth- odological discussion of the concept of “redaction”. On the basis of Num 14,11-25, V. Sénéchal draws attention to one such distinction in particular, the subtle difference between Fortschreibung and redaction. A nice overview of the complex- ities surrounding research into the P-tradition is given by J.-L. Ska in the first of two essays dealing (again) with Joshua’s appointment as successor of Moses in Num 27,12-23. While Ska’s essay supports García López’ view that this chapter represents the finale of Pg, the essay by D. Nocquet recalls the reflections of Achenbach and Nihan by proposing that the pericope belongs to a postexilic revision of Num 26–36 in which the position of Eleazar the priest foreshadows the political role of the high priest during the Second Temple Period. In sum, the present volume represents a landmark in present-day exegesis of the books of Leviticus and Numbers. Moreover, the issues addressed are also of vital importance for biblical research into the Pentateuch as a whole. New perspectives, both diachronic and synchronic in nature, enable the authors to reconsider long-established theses and to reach well-balanced conclusions. At the same time, apart from some general points of agreement in relative dating and methodology, which are tentatively listed by the editor in his introduction, the contributors to this volume differ in the methodologies they apply and in the conclusions they reach, as well as in many details of their analysis. As such, this collection of

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essays represents the best tradition of biblical research in general and of the CBL in particular. H. DEBEL

Paul L. REDDITT. Introduction to the Prophets. Grand Rapids MI – Cam- bridge UK, Eerdmans, 2008. (23×15), XV-404 p. ISBN 978-0-8028- 2896-5. $26.00. £14.99.

As suggested by its title, the purpose of this book is to introduce students and other interested readers to the prophetic books of the Old Testament, assuming no prior knowledge on the reader’s part and keeping footnotes to a minimum. In light of the fluctuating contents and order of the prophetic corpus in the Hebrew TaNaK, the Greek Septuagint, and contemporary Bibles of different Christian denomina- tions, Redditt decided to follow the scope and sequence of the Prophets in Roman- Catholic Bibles. As a consequence, the book includes chapters on Lamentations and Daniel, both part of the “Writings” in the TaNaK, as well as a discussion of Baruch, one of the so-called “deuterocanonical” books from the Septuagint which has as its last chapter the “Letter of Jeremiah”, that probably once circulated independently. Before embarking on his guided tour through the prophetic books, Redditt’s first chapter offers an introduction to the phenomenon of prophecy in the Ancient Near East and some preliminary remarks on the Old Testament prophets. In the second chapter, he explores some important questions of methodology in the study of biblical texts, thereby providing a clear and user-friendly summary of the different forms of “criticism” that were developed in historical-critical scholarship, as well as a brief outline of the broad contours of Israelite history as it emerges from the biblical texts. The next chapters present each prophetical book in the canonical rather than the alleged historical sequence, because of the latter approach’s penchant for disregarding editorial connections and redactional proc- esses. More in particular, Redditt discusses each book’s place in the canon, its historical setting, structure, integrity, authorship, and main emphases and themes. In addition, he gives an outline of what (if anything) is known about the life of the prophet himself, introduces certain problems raised by the study of the book (such as the Septuagint’s reading “virgin” instead of the more generic “young woman” in Isaiah’s saviour oracle about a boy to be named Immanuel, the theod- icy question raised by Lamentations, the peculiar behaviour of Ezekiel which recalls the pathology of mental illness but did not prevent his recognition as a true prophet, or the anti-feminine potential of Hosea’s symbolic marriage to a whore), and provides some questions for reflection as well as a short annotated list for further reading. Taking into account the source-critical division of the Book of Isaiah into three (or even four, if one adds the Kings-Isaiah parallels in chapters 36–39) major parts, two chapters are devoted to Isaiah, one to proto-Isaiah and the other to deutero- and trito-Isaiah. In a similar vein, a separate chapter on the “deutero- Jeremianic” literature deals with the books Lamentations and Baruch, while the last four chapters of the book treat the twelve Minor Prophets in blocks of three per chapter. These four chapters are preceded by an introductory chapter to the Book of the Twelve as whole, in which Redditt strongly advocates the view that

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they should be read as a single book. As such, he provides a useful overview of recent redaction-critical research into the book as it grew from a “Book of the Four”, or perhaps even a “Book of the Two”, to its present form in which twelve prophetic “collections” have been brought together – or, for that matter, thirteen, if one considers Zechariah 9–14 as a later addition to the Book of the Twelve which was given no separate superscription in order to hold the number of prophets to twelve. In order to substantiate his thesis of the book’s unity, Redditt singles out some recurring themes throughout the oracles of the Minor Prophets, and even attempts to reconstruct the “plot” according to which they were arranged, thereby considering the order attested in the Masoretic Text as more original than that of the Septuagint. The conclusion of the book as a whole likewise discusses eight recurring themes throughout the entire prophetic corpus, before some final notes on the canonisation of the Prophets and on the different approaches to them in the New Testament, the Dead Sea Scrolls and the works of Philo. Finally, a helpful glossary and indices are included at the back of the book. Combining a diachronical with a synchronical perspective on the biblical text, Redditt justifiably emphasises that the prophetic books were not written specifically with twenty-first century people in mind, but simply spoke to the prophet’s contemporary audience about the events in their own time. In this regard, the author points out that, although a motive of predicting the future is not entirely absent from the recorded prophets’ oracles, the majority of them intends to explain past events in the light of the present, in order that the people may live righteously in the future. As a consequence, he characterises the prophets as both “foretellers” and “forthtellers”, but unfortunately he fails to uphold this distinction throughout the book, especially in the digression on inaccurate and/or unfulfilled prophecy in the chapter of Daniel. Regrettably, there are also some inaccuracies to be noted. When the author asserts that the book of Baruch was originally written in Hebrew and that a few fragments of that text have survived at Qumran (p. 143), he does not specify which fragments he is referring to. This is rather awkward, as none of the editions of the Judean Desert texts mentions any such fragment, unless Redditt has in mind the small papyrus fragment from Cave 7 which M. Baillet identified as containing the remains of two verses from the Greek Letter of Jeremiah in DJD III (7Q2 = pap7QLXXEpJer gr). However, that would hardly support his argument about the alleged Hebrew original of Baruch. Unfortunately, when there is good reason to discuss the Qumran evidence, he neglects it, particularly in his chapter on Daniel, where he should have referred to the relatively large amount of Daniel-related literature found in the caves, particularly to the so-called “proto-Danielic” texts which have generated considerable discussion in Dead Sea Scrolls research. With respect to the Book of the Twelve, his statement that 4QXIIa has a different order in which Jonah follows Malachi should have been accompanied by the critical note that this interpretation of 4QXIIa has been called into question by eminent scholars like F. García Martínez and H.-J. Fabry. Nevertheless, in sum Redditt should be credited for having written a sound introduction to the prophetical books for a non-specialist audience. The other side of the coin is that biblical scholars are left somewhat unsatisfied because some complex issues have been simplified or neglected (such as the slightly different texts of Isaiah and Ezekiel in the Septuagint, or the problems posed by the “The- odotionic” Greek text of Daniel), and because the author tends to speak at certain

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junctures in a too historicizing tone about the “predictions” delivered by the prophets. Each of the chapters on the individual prophetical books serves well as a first orientation, but they can hardly be called a complete survey of contemporary research, although the chapters on the Book of the Twelve seem to delve deeper into some questions of redaction criticism than the preceding chapters. However, it would do well to remember that the author explicitly intended to discuss the Prophets “in a conversational rather than a scholarly tone”. Viewed from that perspective, he has certainly accomplished the task he had assumed at the outset. H. DEBEL

John W. OLLEY. Ezekiel: A Commentary Based on Iezekiël in Codex Vati- canus (Septuagint Commentary Series). Leiden – Boston, Brill, 2009. (24,5×16,5), X-589 p. ISBN 978-90-04-17713-0. /163.00.

As prescribed by the guidelines of the “Septuagint Commentary Series”, the text presented and commented upon here is that of one particular manuscript. For the present volume, the author used a transcription of Codex Vaticanus (B), provided by the Vatican Library, and its beautiful 1999 facsimile edition. The commentary notes several instances where Ziegler’s critical edition differs from the codex, influenced by MT. After an opening section in which the contents of the book are briefly described, the rich introduction to the volume (pp. 3-63) comprises a presentation of the main manuscripts of the Septuagint text of Ezekiel, a discussion of the translation including date, place, number of translators, and translation techniques. Then an interesting exploration is undertaken of the language of Ezekiel: of its grammar, its vocabulary, and its handling of the divine double Name. The following section offers an overview of Jewish use of Ezekiel, highlighting issues that may be significant in Christian interpretation. Addressing a more specialised group of readers, the author continues with one of his favourite topics: the divisions in the text as a help to its understanding. He collates divisions in B with those in papyrus 967, A (Codex Alexandrinus), and MTA (Hebrew Aleppo Codex). The Introduction is followed by a transcription of Codex Vaticanus and of its translation, on facing pages (pp. 65-227). Footnotes to the Greek text draw attention to corrections within the manuscript, and to marginal readings. As prescribed by the guidelines of the series, the translation seeks to reflect how the text may have been understood as a Greek text by later Greek readers unaware of the Hebrew meaning (p. 63). The bulk of the book is taken up by a commentary of the Greek text (pp. 229- 542). The composition of a commentary of the Septuagint is a complex endeavour. It may focus on the text of the translated manuscript and treat it as a literary document in its own right, discussing its vocabulary, style, and contents, and perhaps compare it with other Greek manuscripts of Ezekiel, and with other Bib- lical Books. The danger then is that it has to repeat most of what has already been exhaustively dealt with in detailed commentaries of the Hebrew text. Alterna- tively, it may focus on the Greek text as a translation, highlighting the differences between the original Hebrew text and its Greek version. The danger then is that

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insufficient attention may be given to the Greek text as a literary composition in its own right. Olley succeeds in striking a delicate balance between these two approaches. An important contribution to Ezekiel research can be found in his exploration of the relatively unexplored Greek vocabulary of Ezekiel. A list of words explicitly dealt with can be found at the end of the book in the “Greek Words Index”. An interesting example is his treatment of the terms used to render jilvlg. 39 of the 48 instances of jilvlg in MT are in Ezekiel, and only nine of these are translated e÷dwla. The more frequently used renderings are: ênqumß- mata, êpiqjdeúmata, dianoßmata. This selection shows that “LXX draws readers’ attention to thinking and consequent actions, rather than focusing on the futilities of the objects worshipped” (p. 311). One wonders why the author does not link these and similar explorations to the multiple translators’ question. In most instances, the reviewer cannot but agree with the stand points of the author. In some passages one might have wished to find a more critical reading of the Hebrew and a more developed comparison with its Greek translation. In Ezek 20, for instance, the Greek text twice seems to render di awn (“to lift up one’s hand”) as ântilambanómai t±Ç xeirí (“to help with the hand, to give a helping hand”) (20,5.6). Olley duly notes that the Greek expression often means “coming to someone’s aid”, whereas the gesture of the raising of the hand is commonly understood as the action accompanying swearing (p. 362). It is true that many modern translations of the Hebrew render di awn “to swear”, although the normal Hebrew word for swearing is ybw. It should be noted though that in several instances where the deuteronomic (dt) or deuteronomistic (dtr) strands of the Bible refer to the Lord’s “swearing” to give the land to the Israelites, the verb ybw is used (Dt 1,8.34.35 e.a.), whereas the priestly (P) strands, to which Ezekiel belonged, tend to replace this verb by the expression di awn (e.g. Ex 6,8) of which the expressions êkteínw t®n xe⁄ra (Ex 6,8) and ântilambanómai t±Ç xeirí (Ezek 20,5.6) are perfect equivalents. The reason for this replacement may very well be that the priestly writers did not see how the Lord could take an oath or swear, since swearing implies the gods as witnesses to the oath, and not as oath takers (Lust 1994). Olley will allow me to give two other examples of passages where the differences with the Hebrew might have been developed. In 34,31 he duly observes the powerful inclusio of the chapter using the “sheep” metaphor, but he fails to notice the much more powerful inclusio with the end of chapter 36 (verses 37-38). Both there and in 34,31 the Hebrew text identifies the sheep of the flock with jda “Adam, man”. The expression jda fvo “flock of man” surrounds the oracles against jvda, and intends to contrast new “Adam” with “Edom”. These references to the flock of “man” are an insert. In the original version of LXX, verses 36,37-38 are not yet attested (see P967), and 34,31 does not mention the notion “Adam” in most manuscripts and critical editions. For a final example we refer to 41,1-4 where the prophet is brought into the temple proper. As elsewhere in the final vision, the text is rather confused, and the differences between LXX and MT are numerous. Understandably, Olley cannot deal with every particular detail of this complex composition. That would have required the author to write another volume. Nevertheless, in 41,3-4 he might have signalled the perplexing identification of the Holy of Holies with a courtyard (aΔlj), and the baffling length of its doors: 40 cubits. In a recent contribution, probably not yet available to Olley, Schenker presents a tempting explanation of

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these particularities proper to LXX (in FS J. Lust, pp. 359-369). In his view, the most sacred place in Ezekiel’s visionary temple had to be a courtyard since it had to allow the Glory of the Lord to descend into it and to be lifted up from it (see Ezek 10,18-19; 11,22-23). LXX preserved the original text, whereas MT adapted it to the blueprint of the Temple sketched in Moses’ description of the Tent. As a whole one has to say that Olley’s commentary is a model of the genre. The introduction is very informative. The transcription is careful, and the translation is very readable. It is written in decent English, although it is literal and reflects the oddities of the Greek due to its wooden copying of Hebrew syntax. The commentary is well balanced. Its handling of Ezekiel’s Greek vocabulary is particularly interesting, as well as its references to non-biblical literature, and to the reception of the Greek text in the Christian world. J. LUST

John J. COLLINS. Beyond the Qumran Community: The Sectarian Move- ment of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Grand Rapids MI – Cambridge UK, Eerdmans, 2010. (23×15,5), 266 p. ISBN 978-0-8028-2887-3. $25.00. £16.99.

More than sixty years after the first modern discoveries of ancient scrolls in the Dead Sea region, the identity of the religious community living at Qumran around the turn of the Era has become more controversial than ever. As early as the first press release by the American Schools of Oriental Research, one of the initial seven scrolls from Cave 1 was identified as “a manual of discipline of some comparatively little-known sect or monastic order, possibly the Essenes”. Soon this observation gave rise to the “Standard Hypothesis” on the origins of the Qumran Community as the Essenes described by Philo and Josephus, who separated themselves from mainstream Judaism and its Temple on account of a dispute over the succession of the High Priesthood. In recent years, however, some scholars have entirely rejected this hypothesis, pointing to a variety of reasons that stretches from flaws in de Vaux’s archaeological excavations of the site to the rhetorical aims of both Philo’s and Josephus’ portrayals of the Essenes. At the same time, the more nuanced “Groningen Hypothesis” issued by F. García Mar- tínez has clearly separated the origins of the Essenes and the Qumran community by locating the ideological roots of the Essenes in the Palestinian apocalyptic tradition of the third century BCE and the establishment of a sectarian community in a split among the Essenes that occurred during the second century BCE. Proceed- ing along similar lines, and trying to account for the differences between, on the one hand, the Damascus Document or CD, also called the D-tradition in recent research, and, on the other, the Rule of the Community, often referred to as the S-tradition, a siglum that incorporates all the copies of the Serek-texts found at Qumran, a number of scholars have distinguished a married order of Essenes living throughout Palestine with the D-tradition as their rule from the celibate community at Qumran that lived according to the S-tradition. J.J. Collins has already made a number of compelling observations on this point in previously published scholarly articles, in which he suggested, inter alia, that even this explanation of the early history and development of the Qumran community might be too simple,

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because the various copies of the Serek-texts reveal a complicated textual history and both the S- and D-traditions seem to have more than one form of community in view at certain points. In the present book, Collins elaborates on these previous reflections by offering in the first two chapters a thorough discussion of both the Damascus Rule and the Serek-texts, from which he infers that both traditions went through a rather complex process of development and bear witness to different though closely connected branches of a larger movement. Being primarily concerned with house- holds, the Damascus Rule seems to reflect the more primitive form of community organisation in “camps” of married members throughout the country, while the Serek seems to have been directed towards an elite group of celibate men who pursued a higher degree of perfect holiness in the wilderness. In Collins’s view, the communities envisioned are distinct but complementary, living in harmony with each other and not the result of a split between a parent group and a sectarian offshoot, as the Groningen Hypothesis held. In support of this view, the third chapter reassesses the historical context from which the two branches of the movement crystallised, observing that several of the pillars on which the “Standard Hypothesis” was built have eroded in recent years. More specifically, Collins points out that the full publication of the scrolls brought to light neither new references to the Teacher of Righteousness nor chronological clues on the origins of the movement, and thus concludes that the 390 years mentioned in CD are to be taken as a symbolic number rather than a reliable historical datum. Most significantly, so Collins maintains, there are no sound reasons to uphold the suggestions that the movement arose from a dispute over the High Priesthood or that the Teacher of Righteousness held the office during the intersacerdotium. In his opinion, the conflict between the Teacher and the Wicked Priest should instead be dated to the first century BCE and was not a catalyst in the emergence of the movement, but a dispute over halakhic issues that occurred after the movement’s firm establishment. In this respect, Collins revives the proposal of A. Dupont-Sommer that the Wicked Priest may allude to Hyrcanus II, but at the same time vindicates A.S. van der Woude’s intuition that this label refers to a succession of High Priests, in this case both Hyrcanus II and his father Alexander Jannaeus. In the fourth chapter, Collins takes up the heated question of the movement’s identification as Essenes by reviewing Pliny’s famous note in his Naturalis His- toria and the classical portrayals of the Essenes in the works of Philo and Josephus, as well as their interrelationship. In the end, he considers Qumran the only plau- sible site for the community of Essenes mentioned by Pliny, even if the movement behind both the S- and D-traditions was certainly not confined to this single settlement. To account for their discrepancies vis-à-vis the Greek and Latin accounts, he supports Mason’s argument that the descriptions of Philo and Josephus are the product of both their rhetoric and the Greek tradition of ethnography to which they belonged. Bearing these observations in mind, the fifth and final chapter turns to the various archaeological interpretations that have been proposed for the site of Khir- bet Qumran, including the present-day hotly contested issues in Qumran research of the interpretation of the nearby cemetery, the purpose of the toilet at de Vaux’s locus 51, and the connection between the site and the scrolls. Although one could make a case that the site served as a military outpost, Collins still considers its

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identification as a religious settlement the most cogent and refutes some alterna- tive interpretations that have been proposed. However, as he emphasises in the summary of his main arguments in the Epilogue, the movement to which the Qumran community belonged was not an isolated phenomenon, but an association that was spread throughout the land (which, in a sense, strongly recalls H. Stege- mann’s suggestion of an “All-Israel-Union”). To sum up, it may be stated that Collins has provided a thorough, yet at the same time very clear survey of research into each of the topics he addresses, and that the present volume is by no means a mere reiteration of the arguments he had advanced in his earlier studies on the interrelation of the S- and D-traditions. By bringing together these scattered pieces of information laid out elsewhere into a logically structured whole, he has certainly further substantiated his claim that the Qumran community should not be considered an isolated sect but, rather, belongs to a wider movement that evolved over time into various branches that were not hostile to each other. Moreover, his analyses of the recent literature are truly masterful, even if one does not share his conclusions, as he reviews all the significant contributions to the topic in an accessible and well-balanced way, and each time provides the reader with some valuable suggestions that may take the discussions further, without pretending to put an end to the debate. As such, this excellent book is definitely to be recommended to any biblical or historical scholar who wishes to familiarize her/himself with the present state of knowledge on the identity of the community that lived at Qumran and the movement to which its members may have belonged. H. DEBEL

Bengt HOLMBERG (ed.). Exploring Early Christian Identity (Wissenschaft- liche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament, 226). Tübingen, Mohr Siebeck, 2008. (23×15,5), VIII-205 p. ISBN 978-3-16-149674-5. /64.00.

Der vorliegende Sammelband geht auf das Forschungsprojekt „Christian Iden- tity – the first 100 years“ der Universität Lund in Schweden zurück (seit 2003), das einen neuen Zugang zur Erforschung des Urchristentums zu erarbeiten strebt. Die Zielsetzung ist es „to understand early Christian identity as a complex phenomenon of fundamental beliefs, embodied in the myth, rites, and ethos of living communities, evolving and institutionalizing over time in interplay with local realities“ (Preface). Diese Aufsatzsammlung gibt einen „short, kaleidoscopic overview of research in the project, by letting each participant give a summary of his own research and what its results could mean for the understanding of early Christian identity“ (S. VI). Die acht Beiträge lauten: In Understanding the First Hundred Years of Christian Identity (S. 1-32) beschreibt Holmberg einleitend die Entwicklung des Urchristentums von einer kleinen innerjüdischen Erneuerungsbewegung hin zu Außenseitern gegenüber dem Judentum. Dieser Identitätswechsel von der innerjüdischen Erneuerungsbewegung hin zu einer neuen Religion ist der Schwerpunkt des Lunder Forschungsprojekts. Holmberg beschreibt anschließend die sich aus dieser Identitätsverschiebung erge- benden Fragen: War das Urchristentum eine kohärente Bewegung mit einer eigenen

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gemeinsamen Identität? Sollten die Bezeichnungen Christen/christlich (und Juden/ jüdisch) für irgendetwas oder jemanden in den ersten hundert Jahren dieser Bewe- gung überhaupt verwendet werden? Wie ist der Begriff „Identität“ zu verstehen und zu verwenden? Zu letzterer Frage bietet Holmberg einen ausführlichen Forschungsbericht (S. 5-27) und präsentiert die stark anthropologisch orientierte Ausrichtung von Identität des Projektes: …any historical investigation of early Christian identity must start with, and give greater weight to, the earthly elements of identity, or in other words to constructions of self-categorization and of the symbolical universe of the group. The balanced picture should naturally include the institutionalizing power of social cognition (S. 29).

Abschließend führt Holmberg in die folgenden Aufsätze ein: In Memory and Identity in the Gospels: A New Perspective (S. 33-57) analysiert S. Byrskog, wie die Evv. die Erinnerung der Jesusbewegung an Jesus erzählen. In den Evv. werden Biographie und Geschichte miteinander verwoben, um die gegenwärtige Zeit der Autoren und der Leser mit der entscheidenden, identitäts- stiftenden und -gestaltenden Zugehörigkeit zu dem Herrn Jesus in der Geschichte zu verknüpfen. Der Sitz im Leben der Evv. ist dabei eng mit dem sozialen Gedächtnis des Urchristentums verbunden; durch die Evv erhalten die Gemeinden das Gefühl, zu einer bedeutenden Vergangenheit zu gehören, das heißt ihre in Jesus Christus zentrierte Identität. A. Runesson (Inventing Christian Identity: Paul, Ignatius, and Theodosius I [S. 59-92]) geht der Frage nach der Bedeutung von Bezeichnungen nach. Mit ihrer Benennung werden historische Phänomene (z.B. als „jüdisch“ oder „christlich“) in einem bestimmten Erklärungsmuster verortet, das viele Parameter von Anfang an festlegt. Während Runesson mit guten Gründen an den Bezeichnungen Jude/jüdisch festhalten möchte, schlägt er Differenzierungen bei der Bezeichnung Christ/christlich vor, etwa apostolisches Judentum, Christus-Fürchtige, Proto-Christen. Erst ab dem 4. Jh. könne man ohne Modifikationen von „Christen“ reden. In Behaving like a Christ-Believer: A Cognitive Perspective on Identity and Behavior Norms in the Early Christ-movement (S. 93-114) schlägt R. Roitto einen kognitiven Zugang vor, der einen theoretischen, kohärenten Rahmen bietet, in dem der Zusammenhang zwischen der Identitätsbestimmung in Christus und der nar- rativen Bedeutung und sozialen Dynamik von Verhaltensnormen deutlich wird. M. Tellbe (The Prototypical Christ-Believer: Early Christian Identity For- mation in Ephesus [S. 115-138]) beschreibt Ephesus am Ende des 1. Jh. und die verschiedenen dortigen Christus-gläubigen Gruppen. Ferner diskutiert er die Möglichkeiten und Grenzen, aus vorhandenen Texten (die von verschiedenen Gruppen stammen) Schlussfolgerungen über die soziale Wirklichkeit und Geschichte einzelner Gruppen zu ziehen. Tellbe argumentiert für „conflicting perspectives and a commonality of belief and practice that are grounded in the traditions about Jesus the Christ and which point to the underlying identity of the variegated Christ movement“ (S. 32; vgl. auch M. TELLBE, Christ-Believers in Ephesus: A Textual Analysis of Early Christian Identity Formation in a Local Perspective [WUNT, 242], Tübingen, Mohr Siebeck, 2009). Hier (und bei ande- ren Beiträgen) wäre zu fragen, welche Bedeutung die vielfältigen überörtlichen Beziehungen im Urchristentum für Glaube und Leben sowie für die jeweilige Identitätsbildung hatten. Wie historisch plausibel ist die Vorstellung von Einzel- gruppen und Einzelidentitäten? Vgl. dazu ferner die Argumente in R. BAUCKHAM

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(Hrsg.), The Gosples for All Christians: Rethinking the Gospel Audiences, Edin- burgh, T&T Clark, 1998. R. Thorsteinsson untersucht The Role of Morality in the Rise of Roman Chris- tianity (S. 139-157) anhand des Röm, des 1 Petr und des 1 Clem. Den Schwer- punkt bilden die Aufforderungen zu Nächstenliebe. Thorsteinsson vergleicht diese oft als völlig neu verstandene Aufforderung mit der Lehre römischer Stoiker im 1. Jh. und weist auf große Ähnlichkeiten in den Moralvorstellungen hin. Bei den Stoikern ist diese Liebe universal gefasst, in den christll. Texten auf die Bruder- liebe fokussiert. Es ist daher wahrscheinlich, dass die Identität der Christus- Bewegung eher eine attraktive Ähnlichkeit mit bestehenden ethischen Idealen besaß als zumindest in diesem Punkt eine eigenständige Lehre. F. Ivarsson (Christian Identity as True Masculinity [S. 159-171]) zeigt, in wel- chem Ausmaß Paulus zeitgenössische kulturelle Konventionen und Stereotypen von Maskulinität und unmännlichem Benehmen verwendet. Aufgrund von Aussagen im Röm, 1 Kor und Gal argumentiert Ivarsson, dass für Paulus nur die Gläubigen wirklich stark und männlich seien, während Außenstehende verweichlicht seien. Daher spiele Maskulinität eine strategische Rolle in der pln. Konstruktion christl. Identität („… the ancient rhetoric of masculinity and effeminacy is a relevant and significant context for the understanding of Pauline discourse, and an aspect that is well worth pursuing in more detailed exegesis“ [S. 159]). Abschließend fasst B. Holmberg einige Ergebnisse des Lunder Identitätspro- jektes zusammen (Early Christian Identity: Some Conclusions [S. 173-178]; Zusammenstellung der Forschungsfragen, verhaltene Ausblicke, welche Änderun- gen sich das Verständnis urchristlicher Identität ergeben). Holmberg räumt dabei ein, dass sich die Mitarbeiter auf eine Über-Definition urchristlicher Identität nicht einigen konnten. Bibliographie (S. 179-191), Quellen-, Autoren- und Sach- und Begriffsregister beenden den anregenden Band. Auf weitere Untersuchungen aus diesem Projekt darf man gespannt sein, auch wenn man verhalten fragt, auf welche der wirklich neuen Fragestellungen wirklich neue Antworten gefunden werden. C. STENSCHKE

Roger GRYSON. Scientiam salutis: Quarante années de recherche sur l’anti- quité chrétienne (Bibliotheca Ephemeridum Theologicarum Lovanien- sium, 211). Leuven – Paris – Dudley MA, Peeters, 2008. (24×16), XLVI-879 p. ISBN 978-90-429-1904-4. /88.00.

La Bibliotheca a pris l’heureuse initiative de publier une collection d’articles de la main du professeur Roger Gryson, à l’occasion de son soixante-dixième anniversaire. Est sorti un volume impressionnant de plus de 900 pages, réparties en sept sections dont on reconnaîtra aisément la relation avec les livres et éditions de textes qui portent le nom du professeur émérite de l’U.C.L.: I. Les pères apos- toliques. II. Ambrosiana. III. Les ministères dans l’Église. IV. L’Arianisme latin. V. Critique textuelle de la Bible. VI. Les versions latines d’Isaïe et le commentaire de Jérôme. VII. L’Apocalypse de Jean chez les Pères latins. Le premier article date de 1965; le dernier, de 2001. La bibliographie scientifique figurant aux pp. XXXV- XLVI permet en outre de percevoir l’immense travail qui se cache derrière les titres des éditions des textes, depuis les années quatre-vingt dans la publication de la

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Vetus Latina (Isaïe, l’Apocalypse), et auparavant les textes ariens latins. Mais il y a aussi les sections II et III qui nous rappellent les monographies sur saint Ambroise (1968), sur les origines du célibat ecclésiastique (1970), sur le ministère des femmes (1972). La section V indique en outre que le prof. Gryson a enseigné non seulement la patristique latine mais aussi, après la mort de Jean Duplacy, la critique textuelle du Nouveau Testament. La courte section I, avec les articles sur le témoignage de Papias et sur les Lettres attribués à Ignace d’Antioche, nous a fait nous souvenir de nos années d’étudiant et de jeune chercheur quand ces matières nous ont vivement intéressé. Les pages sur Ignace offraient une réaction sur le livre polémique de R. Joly, dont le professeur louvaniste n’a pas manqué jadis de mettre à lumière les forces et les faiblesses. Il est frappant de constater qu’il note maintenant dans son introduction (p. XII) qu’il reste convaincu que Joly a vu juste en ce sens «que le recueil des sept lettres est un faux littéraire tendant à antidater l’ap- parition de l’épiscopat monarchique en Asie Mineure», prise de position toujours actuelle, à laquelle nous nous rangeons depuis longtemps. L’introduction du prof. Gryson contient beaucoup d’autres pages importantes (pp. XI-XXXIII). Elle nous donne non seulement des informations intéressantes sur le contexte dans lequel il a été conduit à mener telle ou telle entreprise scientifique, mais elle se lit surtout comme la description de son parcours intellectuel. Cette introduction ne manque pas d’anecdotes, parfois amusantes, et aussi d’explications p.ex. sur l’affaire de plagiat à propos de l’édition des Scolies ariennes sur le Concile d’Aquilée (pp. XIX-XX). L’auteur n’hésite pas non plus à revenir sur des questions posées par ses publications des années soixante-dix à propos du célibat ecclésias- tique et du ministère des femmes. En ce qui concerne ce dernier, son opinion n’a pas changé: «il en résulte qu’une femme peut recevoir le sacrement de l’ordre en vue d’exercer un ministère de type diaconal» (p. XVII). Et malgré le fait qu’il ne semble plus à la mode d’en parler, Gryson ne cache pas ses opinions à propos du célibat ecclésiastique. Il résume ses vues dans son introduction:

Le principe qui se trouve aux origines de la loi du célibat ecclésiastique est le principe de la pureté rituelle. Le commerce charnel est une souillure; il faut donc s’en abstenir avant de poser un acte religieux. Ce principe, les chrétiens ne l’ont pas découvert dans l’Évangile, mais en milieu païen et dans l’Ancien Testament … Il n’était pas question d’exiger des ministres sacrés le célibat; la plupart étaient des hommes mariés. Aussi longtemps que l’eucharistie fut célébrée seulement une ou deux fois par semaine, cela ne posa pas de problème; mais lorsque la célébration eucharistique, vers la fin du IVe siècle, devint beaucoup plus fréquente, et finalement quotidienne, en Occident, les clercs majeurs se trouvèrent, de ce fait, astreints à la continence perpétuelle … tout en continuant … à vivre sous le même toit que leurs épouses … Pendant plus de sept siècles, les décrétales pontificales et les canons conci- liaires se sont acharnés en vain, avec une obstination digne d’une meilleure cause, à faire observer cette loi inhumaine, avant de se rendre enfin à une évidence …: si on ne veut pas de relations conjugales pour les ministres sacrés, il ne faut pas ordonner des hommes mariés … (p. XV)

Et l’émérite louvaniste de poursuivre, après quelques remarques sur la récep- tion de son livre, et l’impasse dans la question du célibat:

On n’est guère plus avancé aujourd’hui, bien que la crise des vocations … rende plus manifeste que jamais la crise d’identité du prêtre, lié à un modèle qui a pu fonction- ner en d’autres temps mais qui s’avère inadéquat à notre époque. (p. XVI)

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À ces remarques, on pourrait en ajouter beaucoup d’autres, p.ex. en matière de critique textuelle et de sa méthodologie. En défendant l’importance de la tradition indirecte, le prof. Gryson n’hésite pas: «… l’édition du Novum Testamentum graece de Nestle-Aland marque un recul plutôt qu’un progrès» (p. XXVIII). Bien sûr, les articles réunis eux-mêmes méritent d’être relus! Il est vrai que, p.ex., le thème des «élections épiscopales» (pp. 211-335) pourrait être abordé aujourd’hui par le biais d’autres sources et d’autres méthodes; mais, de toute façon, les pages indiquées contiennent toujours une mine d’informations. On pourrait aussi se poser des questions à propos du paradigme du ministère ordonné. Mais ce sont des remarques anecdotiques qui ne voileront pas le fait que la Bibliotheca offre un volume exceptionnel qui ne cessera de rendre service. B. DEHANDSCHUTTER

Mark EDWARDS. Catholicity and Heresy in the Early Church. Farnham – Burlington, Ashgate, 2009. (23,5×15,5), 201 p. ISBN 978-0-7546- 6291-4. £16.99.

Mark Edwards (Christ Church, Oxford) questions the dialectic approach of early heterodox tenets in Christendom. The Hegelian interpretation of heterodoxies values them in an instrumental way: by their exaggerated erroneous stress on an aspect of Christian doctrine, they helped the orthodox theologians to formulate the orthodox doctrine in a clearer way, a doctrine that was already – in an implicit way – present in the beliefs of the main church. Edwards explains that the concepts of an orthodox main church and of theological orthodoxy are often too simplistic to apply to late antique Christianity. Edwards asserts that the so-called heretics did not only contribute to Christian theology in a catalytic way but in a more construc- tive way. Many elements of orthodoxy were developed by authors rejected by the orthodox church of that time. Moreover, some aspects of authors considered as the fathers of orthodoxy are not concordant with this orthodoxy as it was later defined. Other aspects of their thinking were interpreted by the orthodox doctrine in a way that their original authors would have deemed to be heterodox. A first chapter is devoted to Christian gnosticism (pp. 11-33). Edwards demonstrates that thinkers labelled as “Gnostics” do not form a unity, that this is only an empty label.

None of them fits the caricature of the dualist who crudely divorces matter from God and denies that any divine work can be accomplished through the body; on the contrary, it can be said of all but Marcion that they people the void between the corporeal and the incorporeal, whereas Catholics held the Creator to be of a nature that does not admit of mixture with that of his creatures except by miracle (p. 32).

The so-called Gnostics do not differ on every point from catholic teaching. Moreover, they introduced some ideas later considered as orthodox. In a second chapter, Edwards examines the Catholicity of Irenaeus, the fighter of Gnosticism (pp. 35-56). He shows that Irenaeus is a test case that illustrates that orthodox theologians developed theological patterns that later on were considered to be heterodox. Because the bishop of Lyon was too focussed on critizing “Gnostic” teaching, he could not anticipate the later catholic dogma. “Thus the work of

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Irenaeus serves as a matrix for later catholic systems only when it is fused with elements that he considered foreign or repugnant to the teaching handed down by the apostles” (p. 56). Subsequently, Edwards’s hermeneutics to evaluate early Christian orthodoxy are applied to the discussions of the third century, on the thinking and discussions of Theodotus, Tertullian, Hippolytus, Clement and his junior (and perhaps pupil) Origen (pp. 57-77). Origen has a central place in the early Christian debate on orthodoxy (pp. 79-103).

In modern historiography, an Origenist is likely to be a proponent of one of three opinions, all (it is thought) sufficiently untypical of the catholic tradition to deserve this appellation. He may hold that there is no resurrection except for the soul – a position incontrovertibly heretical, but not espoused by Origen. He may believe that any sacred text will be susceptible of an allegorical reading; but so did almost all fourth-century authors who were not later regarded as heretics, for the figurative reading was denounced only when it extruded the literal sense. Finally, he may assume that the Son is a lesser being than the Father; but even if the Bible does not teach this, we have seen in the present chapter that it was taught in Origen’s time by a broad consensus of churchmen, some of whom suspected him of according too much equa- lity to the Son (p. 99).

The fifth chapter discusses the role and meaning of theological labels such as “Origenist” and “Arian”, “Homoiousians” and “Homoousians” in the context of the Nicene council and its early interpretation and reception history (pp. 105-135). Edwards shows that some ideas of Origen and even of the so-called “Gnostics” were at this point recuperated by the orthodox camp in its attempt to reject Arius. Edwards concludes by dealing with the ecclesial approach of Apollinarius in the context of the council of Chalcedon (pp. 137-171). Despite the Chalcedonian condemnation of Theodore and Nestorius, the Chalcedonian creed contains elements of the thinking of Apollinarius of Laocidea. The monograph is complemented with a synthesising epilogue (pp. 173-176), a bibliography (pp. 177-193) and an index (pp. 195-201). Edwards argues in a well structured and an academic way of high standing that the development of theological orthodoxy in the first five centuries should not be understood as a process of dialectic accommodation or attrition. He demonstrates in an elucidating way the diversity and plurality of the theological thinking of early Christianity. At the same time, Edwards discovers a theological unity in places where it was previously not sought, namely in tenets and thinkers considered as heterodox. This original and intriguing study will certainly evoke much discussion in the research of early Christianity. A. DUPONT

Ambrosius, De virginibus / Über die Jungfrauen. Übersetzt und eingeleitet von Peter DÜCKERS (Fontes Christiani, 81). Turnhout, Brepols, 2009. (12,5×19,5), 440 p. ISBN 978-2-503-52158-9 (pb) /52157-2 (hb). /40.10(pb)/46.64(hb).

This book is based on the author’s dissertation defended at the Ruhr-University of Bochum in November 2002. As is common in the Fontes Christiani series, the

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volume opens with a brief general introduction about the author and the writing in question: Ambrose of Milan and his De virginibus. This writing is one of the most studied texts of Ambrose by modern scholars and one of Ambrose’s few ascetical writings, for which there are already several critical editions (Faller 1933; Cazzaniga 1948; Gori 1989; Ramos-Lissón 1999) as well as some (older) German translations (Schulte 1871; Niederhuber 1917). Dückers uses these critical editions, especially that of Cazzaniga, but corrects his text quite a few times and completes its critical apparatus on the basis of Faller’s edition. Against the background of this current state of the art, it must be said that this new Fontes Christiani volume is a welcome addition to the collection. It offers a reliable text and fluent German translation with a thorough commentary. But it is not – as we will see – a truly innovative contribution to scholarship on the Milanese bishop. Ambrose wrote De virginibus for his older sister Marcellina, a consecrated virgin, at the beginning of his episcopate. Most scholars think that it was the first work Ambrose wrote, or that at least it was the first writing of his that was meant to be published and circulated (probably ca. 377). It is based on a couple of sermons he had delivered to his congregation as well as on a sermon Pope Liberius delivered when he consecrated Marcellina (at Christmas, somewhere between 352-354). The writing, divided into three books, follows the scheme laudatio – exempla – praecepta. In the first book we find Ambrose talking about the good things of virginity, without however denigrating marriage. After all, the latter is a good thing too. But the main purpose of the first part is to convince parents to allow their daughters to withdraw themselves from marital ambitions and the world and to live the life of consecrated virgins. Not only will the virgins benefit from this, but the parents will also, by not having to take care of a dowry and by having the close support of their beloved daughters forever. Ambrose also adds another advantage for the parents of the virgins-to-be: they will not have trouble with bothersome sons-in-law. In the second book Ambrose gives us the major exempla that Christian virgins should follow; he begins with Mary, the mater dei (sic), and Thecla, but acknowledges that for contemporary virgins they maybe lived too long ago to be real, inspiring models. So his third example is an anony- mous virgin from Antioch who had lived only a little while before. These three magnificent Christian virgins that Ambrose mentions are followed by two pagan exempla from the Pythagorean tradition. He acknowledges their virtues, but imme- diately adds that they don’t stand the comparison with the Christian virgins. Then he gives the floor to Liberius in the beginning of the third and most theological book of De virginibus for the abovementioned sermon, which – as modern scholars frequently put it – Ambrose has revised even while giving the impression of quoting verbatim. In this section ‘Liberius’ gives some praecepta to virgins, in particular to Marcellina. After Liberius’s sermon, Ambrose gives us a quick peep at his Christology. He ends De virginibus by briefly referring to those virgins who suffered martyrdom to preserve their chastity. Ambrose apparently did not give his work a polished ending; it ends rather abruptly. Dückers’s book makes for pleasant, informative reading and will come in handy for use in the classroom. It will also be of great benefit to a larger readership of non-specialists who have no Latin. For scholars it is a good starting point for further research. Nevertheless, scholars on virginity and asceticism or on Ambrose of Milan and his writings should not expect much more than a clear overview of the present state of the art. Dückers almost never chooses sides in scholarly

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debates and does not bring in many new arguments to the debate. Because of this, his introduction especially is rather poor, but it must be said that the notes with their detailed and extensive commentary make up for this for the greater part. Maybe the major disadvantage of this book is that it reflects the state of scholarship at the end of 2002, while more recent literature is included only sporadically. The generally very detailed and good bibliography also suffers from this; with the exception of a few more recent (mainly German) works it has not been updated. Works such as Dominique Lhuillier-Martinetti’s L’individu dans la famille à Rome au IVe siècle. D’après l’œuvre d’Ambroise de Milan (2008) could have given Dückers a better understanding of the working of Christian families and the real possibilities that daughters had to become virgins. Dionigi Tettamanzi’s Valori cristiani del matrimonio nel pensiero di S. Ambrogio (Studia Ambrosiana 1, 2007), on the other hand, could have been of great help in reconstructing Ambro- se’s thoughts concerning marriage. In this regard, Domingo Ramos-Lissón’s Le binôme liberté-virginité dans les écrits exhortatifs de saint Ambroise sur la virginité (Studia Patristica 38, 2001) would have been a valuable addition too, shedding light on the reasons why – according to Ambrose – virginity gives a woman liberty while marriage does not. A glaring omission is that Dückers didn’t make use of David Hunter’s article about Psalm 45 in Ambrose’s teaching (The Virgin, the Bride, and the Church, in Church History 69, 2000), a frequent reference for Ambrose in his De virginibus. Someone searching for a readable modern translation and a sound critical edition of Ambrose’s De virginibus will get much satisfaction out of Dückers’s book; someone who is searching for more thorough critical research on Ambrose’s De virginibus will only find a good starting point here and will have to search further. L. VAN DER SYPT

Allan D. FITZGERALD, et al. (eds.). Augustine Through the Ages: An Ency- clopedia (paperback). Grand Rapids MI – Cambridge UK, Eerdmans, 2009 (hardback 1999). (19×25,5), L-902 p. ISBN 978-0-8028-6479-6. $75.00.

Augustine through the Ages was first published in 1999. In 2009 a paperback version was released, and that latter caused this review. This review does not however have the intention of giving a critical assessment of Augustine through the Ages more than a decade after its publication. For this we only have to refer to the massive amount of reviews devoted to this encyclopaedia, which were in general very laudatory [e.g., Balge, Richard D., Wisconsin Lutheran Quarterly 100/2 (2003) 156-157; Bernard, Robert W., Southwestern Journal of Theology 43/3 (2001) 76-78; Borel, Jean, Revue de théologie et de philosophie 132/2 (2000) 196-197; Carlson, John D., Journal of Religion 83/3 (2003) 473-475; Chapman, Mark D., Modern Believing 42/1 (2001) 75-76; Charles-Murray, Mary, Expository Times 11/11 (2000) 389-390; Conybeare, Catherine, Church History 69/3 (2000) 644; Coptic Church Review 21/2 (2000) 143; Cunningham, Lawrence S., Com- monweal 127/11 (2000) 27; Davis, Derek, Journal of Church and State 43/1 (2001) 137; Drobner, Hubertus, Augustinian Studies 32/1 (2001) 142-146; Farms

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Review 18/2 (2006) 249-250; Fields, Bruce L., Fides et historia 34/1 (2002) 150-151; First Things 100 (2000) 76; Foley, Michael P., Josephinum Journal of Theology 9/1 (2002) 162-164; Gallaher, Anastassy, ARC 28 (2000) 191-193; Ger- aghty, Richard, New Oxford Review 67/10 (2000) 45-46; Hall, Stuart G., Journal of Ecclesiastical History 51/3 (2000) 596-597; Krentz, Edgar, Currents in Theology and Mission 28/1 (2001) 60-61; Lössl, Josef, Journal of Theological Studies 51/2 (2000) 736-739; Needham, Nick, Scottish Bulletin of Evangelical Theology 18/2 (2000) 182-183; O’Donovan, Oliver, International Journal of Systematic Theol- ogy 2/3 (2000) 353-355; Oldfied, John J., Augustinus 45 (2000) 231; Pang-White, Ann A., Journal of Early Christian Studies 8/2 (2000) 305-309; Rorem, Paul, Lutheran Quarterly 14/3 (2000) 369-371; Seasoltz, R. Kevin, Worship 74/2 (2000) 191-192; Trompf, Garry W., Journal of Religious History 29/1 (2005) 110; Vivian, Tim, Anglican Theological Review 82/3 (2000) 584-586; Wright, David F., Catho- lic Historical Review 86/4 (2000) 652-654]. The majority of these reviews deserv- edly used superlatives to describe its high standing quality. Some reviews indicated some areas where improvement could be made, e.g. adding geographical and archaeological maps, devoting more lemmas to contemporaries of Augustine, etc. These shortcomings can be mitigated by a second edition in the future. But in the end one has also to take into account that restrictions are due both to the encyclopaedia genre and its research topic, namely Augustine of Hippo who himself wrote excessively and about whom libraries of scientific literature are filled. Augustine through the Ages contains almost 500 entries (composed by an international selection of ca. 150 scholars, with a majority of American academics) on Augustine’s thinking, on the philosophical, theological and heterodox tenets of his times, his life, his writings, his contemporaries, the time and region in which he lived, the movements or thinkers he influenced. Each entry summarizes the available primary sources and existing scientific research concerning the issue, writing, tenet, person, event discussed, and is complemented with a bibliography of primary and secondary literature and with cross references to intertwined topics within the encyclopaedia. An alphabetical list of the authors (pp. xvii-xxii), of the entries (pp. ix-xii) and of abbreviations used (pp. xxiii-xvi), a general bibliography of frequently used references in the study of Augustine (pp. xxvii-xxxiii), two bibliographic lists of Augustine’s writings (one with their abbreviation, critical editions and English translations: pp. xxxv-xlii; and one with their chronological data: pp. xliii-il) and a general index at the end (pp. 895-902, navigating the reader to topics that are not dealt with in a separate entry) render it a useful consultation work. It offers a comprehensive guide for the layman in Augustine and is at the same time a consultation work for all specialists who study Augustine. For this reason this encyclopaedia is already translated in Spanish, French and Italian (Diccio- nario de San Agustín. San Agustín a través del tiempo – Director versión española J. García, Traducción por C. Ruiz-Garrido, Burgos 2001; Saint Augustin – la Méditerranée et l’Europe, IVe-XXIe siècle – Édition française sous la direction de Marie-Anne Vannier, Préface par Serge Lancel, Paris 2005 (reviewed: Arnold, Matthieu, Revue d’histoire et de philosophie religieuses 86/3 (2006) 444; Gounelle, Rémi, Études théologiques et religieuses 82/2 (2007) 299-300); Agostino. Dizio- nario enciclopedico – Edizione italiana a cura di Luigi Alici e Antonio Pieretti, Roma 2007). With its own approach and methodology, it can take its own place beside two other Augustine reference works, namely the Augustinus-Lexikon (Mayer, C.P.), an excellent encyclopaedia which is much more detailed and

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exhaustive, but not yet completed and focussed on Augustine alone, and the Augus- tin Handbuch (Drecoll, V.H.), which is not composed as an encyclopedia with alphabetically ordered lemmas but is a handbook that gives both a chronological and thematical overview of the context, content, influence and study of Augus- tine. Since its release, Augustine through the Ages has proven its value as a standard reference work in the study of Augustine, which is illustrated by the fact that references to this encyclopaedia frequently occur in studies on Augustine and in the field of Early Christian studies. This work is in nearly every library devoted to Early Christianity, and many Augustine scholars have a personal copy. For all who still do not have a copy, this paperback version offers the opportunity to fill this lacuna at a very democratic price. A. DUPONT

Gaetano DI PALMA (ed.). Deum et animam scire cupio: Agostino alla ricerca del vero su Dio e l’uomo (Biblioteca Teologica Napoletana, 30). Napoli, Pontificia Facoltà Teologica dell’Italia Meridionale: Sezione S. Tommaso d’Aquino, 2010. (15×21), 270 p. ISBN 978-88-95159- 18-8. /20.00.

This volume contains the proceedings of the 13th and 14th meeting of the Lectio Augustini Neapolitana. This conference aims at discussing theological issues based on reading Augustine, and is especially meant for specialists from the region of Naples. The first part collects the lectures of the 13th edition (June 15 2008), which was devoted to Augustine’s writing De uera religione and the debate on religions. Vittorino Grossi (pp. 11-19) opens by sketching the religious situation of Christianity in the transition from the fourth to the fifth century. Christians, in the background of the religious toleration of the Roman Empire, increasingly created a distinct profile of Christianity as the true religion, and also came to understand the latter as a juridical concept (e.g. in the Decretum Gelasi- anum). Antonio Pieretti (pp. 21-42), with a reading of De uera religione, shows how Augustine perceives Christianity as wisdom, as true philosophy and true religion, offering answers to the problem of evil and an understanding of the history and condition of mankind (as being a pilgrim travelling towards eternity). Gianluca Lopresti (pp. 43-57) explains the relation between Church and State as this is stipulated in the Codex Theodosianus: the influence of Christianity on the compilation of the codex, the history and rationale behind the codification, the normative interventions of the codex towards Catholic Christianity (regarding bishops, apostasy, heresy, paganism and Jews). Elio Dovere (pp. 59-71) goes deeper into the religious legislation present in the Codex Theodosianus. Antonio V. Nazzaro (pp. 73-93) discusses the controversy over the altar of Victoria between Ambrose, the bishop of Milano, and Symmachus, who defended the pagan cult. Domenico Marafioti (pp. 95-138) studies Augustine’s vision in his De ciuitate Dei on the relation between Christianity and paganism, presented by Varro (especially the stoic and [neo-]platonic [poly-]theistic systems). The second part brings together the contributions of the 14th Lectio Augustini Neapolitana (June 14 2009), which dealt with Augustine’s thinking on the soul,

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especially in his De immortalitate animae and De quantitate animae. Giuseppe Balido (pp. 141-162) discusses the structure and content of the first writing, Paola Pascucci (pp. 163-181) the second. Gaetano Di Palma (pp. 183-225), the editor of this volume, broadens the question: the soul in antique culture, the Old Testament, the New Testament, Christian thinking before Augustine, and Augustine (esp. De Genesi ad litteram). Domenico Marafioti (pp. 227-266) indicates the threefold anthropology developed by Augustine in his De Genesi ad litteram and in his De ciuitate Dei, its roots in biblical and Greek anthropology, and its application in Augustine’s thinking on the human psychè and will. We can only but applaud a project such as Lectio Augustini Neapolitana and the publication of its proceedings. This series of conferences is faithful to the adagium ad fontes. It takes as point of departure Augustine’s texts, and this to study Augustine, not only as a purely scientific/academic exercise, but in order to make Augustine relevant to contemporary anthropological, ethical, philosophical and theological questions. To achieve this end, Augustine’s writings and thinking are also put in their original historical context. Specialists in philosophy, exegesis, law, patrology, theology, the history of Christianity, and early Christian literature are invited to exchange their expertise in an interdisciplinary way, and in this way to come to a more holistic understanding of Augustine, his thinking and his rel- evance for today. As such the thinking of the bishop of Hippo can again be fertile for contemporary and future thought. This volume is particularly interesting for our thinking on how to relate to other religions and how we could construct a contemporary anthropology. A. DUPONT

Arne HOGREFE. Umstrittene Vergangenheit: Historische Argumente in der Auseinandersetzung Augustins mit den Donatisten (Millennium Studies, 24). Berlin, de Gruyter, 2009. (24,5×17,5), XI-393 p. ISBN 978-3-11- 020363-9. /99.95.

Hogrefe defended his doctoral dissertation at Philipps-Universität Marburg. The results of his doctoral research are published in this monograph. He studies the historical arguments used in the debate between Augustine and the Donatists. Intertwined with the theological issues debated upon in the Donatist controversy was the more historical question of which Church – Catholic or Donatist – represented the genuine Church. This question was dealt with on the basis of historical data, namely by a discussion on the history of the beginning of the Donatist schism. A rigorist group of Christians in Carthage rejected all traditores and lapsi, who collaborated during the persecutions of the Christians (of 303-311). For this reason, the same group questioned the validity of the bishop ordination of Cae- cilianus, since he was allegedly ordained by the traditor Felix, and appointed Mariorinus as bishop of Carthage. This split in the Carthaginian Christian community, which created a schism, was the historical beginning of the Donatist controversy. Two communities claimed to be the one legitimate Church in North Africa. The Donatists were an elitist and rigorist group of Christians, named after the successor of Mariorinus, Donatus. The Donatists argued that they were the pure Church, since they maintained the authentic line of succession and the true

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traditio. Augustine countered this claim on the basis of historical facts, which were again answered by the Donatists on the basis of historical arguments. The validity and legitimacy of the bishop ordination of Caecilianus was at the core of this historical debate. The use of these historical arguments – with the Council of Carthage of 411 as central focus and as a turning point in Augustine’s approach of the Donatist schism – is the study topic of Umstrittene Vergangenheit. The introductory chapter presents a status quaestionis of the research topic pp. 8-16). Hogrefe’s analysis is divided in three main parts. In the first part (chapter 2) he gives a historical overview of the Donatist controversy, from the very beginning up until Augustine’s involvement in it, especially his fervent wish to end this division in North African Christianity (pp. 17-60). Hogrefe distinguishes three phases in Augustine’s anti-Donatist discourse: before 405 (direct dialogue with Donatist clerics and lay people), around the Edict of Union of 405 (acceptance of religious coercion, but still believing in the value of a general religious conference between the two parties), and after the Conference of Carthage of 411 (Donatists have to be forced to return). This chapter also sketches the political, societal and religious situation in North Africa during the fourth century. Hogrefe lists the most important anti-Donatist writings and situates them in their historical-controversial context. The second part entails a reading of the sources, namely Augustine’s anti- Donatist writings and the acts of the subsequent councils and synods dealing with the Donatist controversy. The third chapter deals with the themes of the content and the rhetorical, polemical, theological and especially historical arguments present in the writings against the grammarian Cresconius (pp. 61-106). Hogrefe applies the same analysis to Augustine’s anti-Donatist epistulae in the following chapter (epp. 43-44, 53, 76, 87-89, 93, 105) (pp. 107-152). These letters reveal that Augustine adapted his anti-Donatist argumentation to the addressee of his letter. In these letters, also, a change can be observed in Augustine’s attitude regarding religious coercion. The fifth chapter is devoted to Augustine’s role at the Conference at Carthage (411) (pp. 153-227). The acts of this conference report the positions of both parties. The history of the council is summarized and the historical argumentation developed by Augustine during this council is discussed. Hogrefe also reports how Augustine himself interpreted this council afterwards. The third part systematically studies the historical references present in the debate between Augustine and the Donatists (pp. 228-269). The Donatist self- understanding of standing in the genuine traditio of the martyrs is discussed, and put against Augustine’s refutation of this traditio-argument. The second systematic concept in the controversy is persecutio, on which the Donatists and Augus- tine have different ideas. The Donatist perspective is revealed in Augustine’s refutation of their arguments. By studying Augustine’s counterarguments the Donatist arguments become clear. Chapter 7 studies how the Donatists dealt with internal schisms and the place the historical argumentation had in this context (pp. 270-329). Augustine’s anti-Donatist writings contain the most historical information we have at our disposal on the history of Donatism and its own schisms. The concluding chapter offers a synthesis and evaluation of the historical arguments of both sides (pp. 330-354).

Mehr als zwanzig Jahre seines Lebens befand sich Augustinus in der Auseinanderset- zung mit den Donatisten. In dieser Zeit entstanden zahlreiche Abhandlungen, die heute als Quellen sowohl über die Geschichte des donatistischen Schismas als auch

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über den donatistischen Streit zur Zeit Augustins Auskunft geben. Eine Auswahl dieser Schriften ist unter der Fragestellung analysiert und diskutiert worden, in welchen Zusammenhängen, unter welchen Bedingungen und mit welchen Absichten die geschichtlichen Ereignisse in der Auseinandersetzung zwischen Donatisten und Katholiken zur Zeit Augustins Verwendung fanden. Die Ergebnisse der Untersuchung zeigen sehr Deutlich: Ohne Augustins Streitschriften würden wesentliche Aussagen und Hintergründe fehlen, um die Entstehung und Entwicklung des Schismas nach- vollziehen zu können. Allerdings verweisen diese Schriften auch darauf, auf welch tönernen Füben manche Geschichtsrekonstruktionen bereits zur Zeit Augustins stan- den und bis heute stehen (p. 330).

The author makes clear that Augustine did not value the historical arguments as such, but always linked them with the theological and ecclesiological issues of the significance of baptism and the church as a corpus mixtum. Augustine empha- sised that the Donatists should stop using violence and that the fact they were punished by the state did not imply they were the genuine Church of martyrs. The crux in Augustine’s historical arguments is, on the one hand, that Caecilianus was ordained in a valid way (not by traditores) and, on the other hand, that the Donatists also counted traditores amongst their members. Despite the fact that Augustine adapted some accents in his historical argumentation to the specific audience he envisaged for a specific writing, the core of his argumentation is that Caecilianus was the rightful bishop of Carthage and that the discussion about Caecilianus did not legitimate a schism. The book is completed with an excursus on the date of the council of Cirta (pp. 355-361), a very instructive timeline of the Donatist controversy (pp. 364-366), an elaborated, international and recent (until 2007) bibliography (pp. 367-384) and indices (pp. 385-393). Umstrittene Vergangenheit is the result of years of solid research, as for example is illustrated by the elaborate footnotes and extensive bibliography. It offers a thorough overview of Augustine’s entanglement in the Donatist controversy and the historical arguments used in this controversy. This study gives a well structured reconstruction of the several lines of argument on the basis of a profound study of the available sources and in constant interaction with the existing scientific literature on this topic. In doing this, Hogrefe elucidates that the Donatists and Augustine have a different way of approaching tradition and history. His merito- rious historical overview of this controversy and its historical argumentation sup- plements existing Donatism studies and is a valuable contribution to the research of early Christianity. A. DUPONT

Paul R. KOLBET. Augustine and the Cure of Souls: Revising a Classical Ideal (Christianity and Judaism in Antiquity, 17). Notre Dame IN, University of Notre Dame Press, 2010. (15×23), XVIII-342 p. ISBN 978-0-268-03321-7. £37.06.

In the last decade(s) a (re)new(ed) interest has arisen in late antique homilies and Augustine’s preaching in particular – previously somewhat neglected –, and quite recently the insight was established that Patristic preaching and teaching go on par. The present monograph of Paul R. Kolbet (Boston College) stands in this

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line and studies Augustine’s appropriation and recontextualisation of the classical tradition of philosophical therapy (psychagogy) in his homiletic activity. The Roman culture was integrated and adopted by Christian leaders – such as the bishop of Hippo – within the Christian framework. They constructed a Christian identity within the Roman society and late antique classic culture. In pursuing this, Augustine made good use of the skills he had acquired through his rhetorical training. Augustine’s preaching testifies to this historical reality of Christian recontextualisation. His ca. 1000 surviving sermons (a number that constitutes perhaps only 10% of the sermons he preached) testify to the importance preaching had for Augustine and the Church of his day. These sermons show how Augustine used the classical rhetoric and gave it a Christian form. He made use of classical rhetoric to explain his theology, and at the same time he gave this rhetoric a theological colour, basis and content. “The very eloquence of this divine Word is what both reveals the world as the contingent sign Augustine perceived it to be and heals by becoming the ultimate object of creaturely desire. In this way, rhetorical theory is so internalized by Augustine that it not only expresses his theological vision, but also informs it. Moreover, even as it is employed, rhetoric itself is revised and infused with theological content” (p. 11). Augustine’s sermons more in particular illustrate his Christian interpretation of the classical ideal of cura animarum. The latter is the core of the present study of Augustine’s homiletic rhetoric and his own interpretation thereof. Augustine – an example of Christian psychagogy – was, at least in theory, quite hesitant regarding the use of rhetoric, but in practice used rhetorical tools in his sermons. The first part of this book discusses the roots and classical thinking concerning the tasks and methods of psychagogy, both (chapter 1) the classical cultural idea and classical form of psychagogy and (chapter 2) the Hellenistic influences it underwent (especially the Hellenistic philosophical appreciation of ancient texts). The author also offers a status quaestionis of the study of late antique sermons and its importance to understand Christianity of that time. The second part shows how Christianity revised and recontexualized the classical ideal of therapy. Chapter 3 sketches Augustine’s first experiences, his early formation: how the ‘ambitious’ orator himself was healed by the sermons of Ambrose and the texts of the platonici. Subsequently, the author describes how Augustine’s first steps in Christianity (his Cassiciacum retreat, his cathecumenate and baptism in Milan, until the period he lived in the religious community in Thagaste which he raised himself) could be considered as the period in which Augustine christianised the classical therapy model he was acquainted with: he laid the fundaments of a Christian philosophy and came to a reflection of Christ’s ‘inner and outer rhetoric’. Kolbet continues to describe the life of Augustine, and shows how Augustine as a young priest and later as a bishop (engaged in several controversies) reflected on the therapeutic task of a priest and bishop as spiritual guide, thus creating a new context for classical therapy. The following chapter studies two tractates devoted to the Christian methods of therapy of the soul, based on Scripture and Liturgy: De doctrina christiana which integrates exegesis in this cure of souls and De catechizandis rudibus which intends to offer guidelines to teach the unin- structed. The third part shifts from theory to practice, and discusses Augustine’s homiletical practice. The seventh chapter summarizes Augustine’s own reflections on the significance of a homily, and describes his homiletic skills. In the final chapter the author shows how Augustine saw Christian therapy related to the

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broader society. Kolbet concludes by arguing that one can only really understand Augustine’s sermons if one takes their psychagogic intention into consid- eration. The monograph is complemented with endnotes, a bibliography and an index. By placing Augustine in his historical and personal context, the link between his thinking and actual life is made and his sermons are situated in the cultural, philosophical, theological and liturgical context of that period. Studying Augustine’s preaching office reveals his great pastoral care and thus it becomes clear that the concern to cure souls is an element of great continuity (“profound continuity in his fundamental concerns”; p. 15) from his earliest until his latest writings and deeds, developed and shaped by his growing pastoral and homiletical experiences. Kolbet both studies Augustine’s reception of the classical ideal of psychagogy and the (Christian) way in which he transformed it in his sermons and compares Augustine’s theoretical discourses on preaching and his factual practices. This study is a new and promising step in the very recent and blooming study of Augustine’s sermons. A. DUPONT

Doctrina Addai de imagine edessena: Die Abgarlegende. Das Christusbild von Edessa. Griechisch – Lateinisch – Deutsch. Übersetzt und eingeleitet von Martin ILLERT (Fontes Christiani, 45). Turnhout, Brepols, 2007. (19,5×12,5), 372 p. ISBN 978-2-503-52114-5. /37.29. John Rufus: The Lives of Peter the Iberian, Theodosius of Jerusalem, and the Monk Romanus. Edited and Translated with an Introduction and Notes by Cornelia B. HORN and Robert R. PHENIX, Jr. (SBL Writings from the Greco-Roman World, 24). Atlanta GA, Society of Biblical Literature, 2008. (23×15), XCII-370 p. ISBN 978-1-58983-200-8. $51.95.

The series “Fontes Christiani” has already provided us with many interesting volumes, including several Syriac authors. But this book contains much more than what one would expect from the title: it is not merely an introduction and annotated translation of the fifth century Syriac Doctrina Addai. Indeed the Doctrina contains passages which were famous prior to its composition, esp. the exchange of letters between the Edessene king Abgar and Jesus (cf. Eusebius, H.E. I,13 and Peregrinatio Egeriae 17-19), and, after the fifth century, the story about the portrait of Jesus painted by Hanan the royal “tabularius” was likewise widely circulated. The tradition about this portrait would become crucial in the days of the iconoclast controversy, but was also taken up in stories about the city of Edessa and its divine protection that were conserved by later historians as well as “apocryphal” texts, and even attested to by epigraphical and papyrological sources. Illert has collected no less than nineteen “fontes” which are here introduced and presented with their Greek or Latin original texts and/or German translation. It is here that we would like to formulate a certain disappointment with the series. The “Fontes Christiani” print Greek and Latin texts but no Syriac (and in this case also no Old Church Slavonic). Syriac would have been pertinent not only

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for the Doctrina, but also for the sources mentioned such as Pseudo-Ephrem, the Transitus Mariae, Jacob of Sarugh, Joshua the Stylite, and the Acts of Mar Mari. But we want to come back for a moment to the Doctrina Addai itself. This long and important Syriac text is available only in the 1876 edition by Philips and its re-edition by Howard in 1981. It can be a bit of a miracle to find one of these editions in one’s library. For this reason it would have been a major achievement if, on the occasion of an edition such as the one under review, the Syriac text had again been made available. The same could be said about the excellent double volume on Aphrahat’s Demonstrationes (Fontes Christiani 5,1-2, prepared by P. Bruns). This important Syriac author is available only through the Parisot edition of Patrologia Syriaca volumes, for which one must have access to a more than well- equipped library. It would be a relief for scholars if such texts could be read in their original language in such editions as the “Fontes”, especially as there seems to be no hesitation to print Greek or Latin. All this is not meant as a criticism against the contents of this book; Illert’s up-to-date research on the Doctrina is more than welcome and the evaluation of the early sources on Edessene Christianity very instructive. We certainly look forward to new volumes of “Fontes Christiani”. The Vita of Peter the Iberian is a long and circumstantial anti-Chalcedonian document written at the turn of the sixth century, a period in which Chalcedonian- ism was decidedly gaining ground in Palestine. The Syriac text was published in 1895 by Richard Raabe. Horn and Phenix re-edit this text with slight improve- ments, with an English translation and the addition of a text on the Death of Theodosius of Jerusalem and on the Monk Romanus, both of them again fervent anti-Chalcedonians, as well as “martyrs” for the case of their opposition against the Council. The latter text was published by E.W. Brooks (CSCO 7-8) and also re-edited here with an English translation, as belonging to the same author John Rufus, otherwise John of Maiuma, who promises to deal with the death of Theo- dosius in the Vita of Peter (§88). The title of this book by Horn and Phenix might be somewhat misleading, inasmuch as it suggests there are three Lives to be dealt with, but that is not the case. The text on Theodosius and Romanus is clearly a kind of “martyrium”, focussing on how they were persecuted and died due to the wickedness of the Chalcedonians. The author does not hesitate to call Theodosius a “confessor” and “martyr” and to emphasize the why and how of his com- memoration (and that of Romanus). But let us return to the Life of Peter. This text, which originally must have been written in Greek, describes the life of John Rufus’ friend and spiritual father Peter, from his childhood in ancient Georgia, his stay in Constantinople, his pilgrimage to the Holy Land, and his years as bishop of Maiuma, Gaza, as well as his wanderings through Egypt, Arabia and Phoenicia, constantly emphasising his struggle to maintain “orthodoxy” against those “of the two natures” and the many miracles he performed. It is conceivable that the somewhat later Vita Sabae of Cyril of Scythopolis and his Vitae of other monks can be read as an answer to John Rufus’ description of his hero, in order to show that there were “orthodox” monks (i.e. Chalcedonians) in Palestine. There is not much theological discussion in the text. The mere fact that a holy man such as Peter is able to perform so many miracles is the best proof of his orthodoxy. And Cornelia Horn has recently devoted a monograph to the whole matter, Asceticism and Christological Controversy in Fifth-Century Palestine: The Career of Peter the Iberian, Oxford, 2006. One feels that she is at her best when she deals with the topic of ascetic leaders in Palestine of the fifth century. On other topics, the

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introduction is rather superficial. What to do with statements such as: “Cyril’s thought would become the standard of orthodoxy at the Council of Chalcedon in 451” (p. XLIV)? From such an assertion one gains the impression that after more than thirty years the only interpretation of Chalcedon remains that of W.H.C. Frend (The Rise of the Monophysite Movement, Cambridge, 1972). Also, the many notes throughout the book are not always beneficial, often referring to tools or literature that readers of this text would be easily capable of finding on their own. However, simply by making the Syriac text available again this book may stand as an important contribution to the study of this Vita. But one is still left in need of any suf- ficient explanation as to why Monophysitism was able to maintain itself so strongly in Egypt and Syria but in Palestine had to give way to Chalcedonianism from the beginning of the sixth century onwards. B. DEHANDSCHUTTER

Encyclopédie. Jésus le Christ chez Saint Thomas d’Aquin. Texte de la Ter- tia Pars (S.T. IIIa) traduit et commenté, accompagné de Données historiques et doctrinales et de cinquante Textes choisis par Jean-Pierre TORRELL, O.P. Paris, Cerf, 2008. (23×17,5), 1462 p. ISBN 978-2-204- 08720-9. /79.00.

Le P. Torrell était tout indiqué pour mener à bien un travail qui présente la christologie de S. Thomas, principalement dans la IIIa Pars. Celle-ci est en effet consacrée au Christ, à sa personne et son œuvre, et aux sacrements, chemin vers le Père et la béatitude éternelle. Dans la première partie «Texte et Notes explica- tives», le lecteur trouvera le texte français des Questions 1 (union hypostatique) à 59 (Christ en sa résurrection et en son exaltation) ainsi que des Notes explicati- ves qui terminent chaque ensemble de Questions (p. 25-965). Le deuxième partie «Données historiques et doctrinales» contient 24 études théologiques de la tradition qui éclairent l’œuvre de Thomas, à commencer par «La christologie dans son histoire jusqu’au XIIIe siècle» (p. 969-982). La troisième partie «Textes choisis» fournit une cinquantaine de passages thomasiens puisés dans les autres œuvres. On y découvre, tantôt la continuité, tantôt l’évolution de la pensée de Thomas sur les diverses questions de christologie. Une quatrième partie regroupe la Bibliogra- phie et les diverses Tables, notamment analytique. Comme le souligne J.-P. TORRELL en introduction, ce travail fait apparaître comment Thomas articule les données positives et la réflexion spéculative; il montre aussi le fort lien qui relie la réflexion sur la personne divine de Jésus et son œuvre de salut, ce que les théologiens pos- térieurs à Thomas n’arriveront plus à faire. Enfin, l’étude fait apparaître chez le Docteur évangélique, outre sa proximité avec les Écritures, sa profonde connais- sance de la tradition, notamment des conciles œcuméniques, et en-deçà, des Pères latins et aussi des Pères grecs. A. HAQUIN

Erika RUMMEL (ed.). Biblical Humanism and Scholasticism in the Age of Erasmus (Brill’s Companions to the Christian Tradition, 9). Leiden –

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Boston, Brill, 2008. (24,5×16,5),VIII-334 p. ISBN 978-90-04-14573-3. /125.00.

The main lines of the debate between biblical humanists and scholastic theologians have come to be common knowledge among contemporary scholars and students of sixteenth century studies, thanks in particular to the publications of the editor of the volume under discussion. Humanists, in order to come closer to the true Word of God, sought to study the text of the Bible by means of philological methods and a thorough knowledge of Greek and Hebrew. They denied that the recognized version of the Latin Church was the translation made by Jerome around the year 400, and did not hesitate to emend its text. Scholas- tic theologians on the other hand, argued that the truths of the faith had to be studied primarily with the help of scholastic theology, and its auxiliary sciences Aristotelian philosophy and dialectics. In as far as reference was made to the Bible, the Vulgate was considered to be the only authoritative text. Any attempt to submit the Vulgate text to revision or to deny Jerome’s inspired authorship, was in their eyes sacrilegious. They refused philologically trained scholars the right of engaging in biblical studies and reproached the latter for introducing doctrinal error. Rummel has succeeded in bringing together several already established scholars who have earned appraisal in the field of “humanist-scholastic studies”, in addition to some young researchers, all of them dealing with an aspect of the matter in hand and pointing to the very different nuances and fine distinctions to be found within the debate. In the first chapter John Monfasani deals with the scriptural studies of some quattrocento authors, amongst whom Lorenzo Valla and Gian- nozzo Manetti, who worked under the patronage of Pope Nicholas V, arguably “the pivotal figure in quattrocento biblical studies” (p. 15). The biblical humanists of quattrocento Italy laid the groundwork for the transformation that biblical studies underwent in the sixteenth century, while at the same time attracting the attention of the inquisitors of the faith. In the second chapter, Daniel Ménager examines the strategies used by the parties involved in one of the earliest polem- ics north of the Alps: the complex case of Johann Reuchlin, who based his understanding of the Scriptures on a thorough knowledge of Hebrew, Cabala and Talmud. He consequently attracted the attention of the Dominican and inquisitor Jacob Hoogstraten, who brought him to the inquisitorial court and charged him with Judaism. Reuchlin, however, had the support of a network of humanists, among whom Erasmus. The third to sixth chapters take a separate look at the developments in Spain, France, the Netherlands and Italy, for the humanist-scholastic debate took on different characteristics along geographical lines. The section The Reaction against Biblical Humanism in Spain begins with Carlos del Valle Rodríguez’ discussion of Elio Nebrija’s contribution to biblical studies. This outstanding grammarian and biblical scholar, after having experienced some trouble with the Inquisitor General, was engaged by the Cardinal Jiménez de Cisneros to collaborate with the edition of the Complutensian Polyglot. He however failed in having Jiménez de Cisneros accepted for the task of introducing some revisions to the Vulgate text. The reaction of Spanish critics with regard to humanist studies is discussed in Alejandro Coroleu’s essay on anti-erasmianism in Spain. Scholars from the Alcalá circle associated with Jiménez de Cisneros, some of them renowned for

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their command of biblical languages and grammar, as is the case with Sancho Carranza de Miranda and, in particular, Diego López Zúñiga (Stunica), nevertheless considered Erasmus’ annotations on the biblical text as not only irreverent, but also as doctrinally questionable. This gave rise to a staunch polemic with the humanist of Rotterdam in the 1520’s. The fact that a skilled biblical scholar as for example Stunica disagreed on more than one point with Erasmus, shows that the debate cannot be reduced to a simple conflict between ignorant conservative scholastic theologians on the one hand and enlightened biblical humanists on the other, but that one has to take a broader range of responses involved in the controversy into account. Luis Vives is perhaps the best-known representative of scholarly Spanish humanism today. Charles Fantazzi’s essay deals with Vives’ criticism that condemns the use of incomprehensible sophisms by the “logicians”, and their corrupting of Aristotelian dialectic. Perhaps because he did not involve himself in theological disputes or in the controversies surrounding the Vulgate, and possibly because his works enjoyed a more limited circulation in his own time, Vives never became a prominent target of the theologians. The section The Faculty of Theology at Paris and the “Theologizing Human- ists” presents two essays. Guy Bedouelle deals with Jacques Lefèvre d’Étaples whose biblical commentaries were harshly debated by fellow-humanists, not least by Erasmus. Both Lefèvre’s and Erasmus’ questioning of the Vulgate text and their commitment to a vernacular Bible was severely attacked by Pierre Coustu- rier, Noël Bédier, Josse Clichtove and other coryphées of the Paris theological Faculty, the magistri even indicating alleged Lutheran heresies in their work. James K. Farge focuses more specifically on Noël Bédier, alias Natalis Beda, whose battles against the “theologizing humanists” are legendary, denying them the right to interpret the Bible and its difficult passages as they were educated only in the humanities and languages. In line with his manifold publications, Farge portrays Beda as “a reforming critic of abuses in the Church, by a return to the Tradition and traditions of the Church”. Farge continues his own protracted battle of many years against “historians whose predilection for humanism or for the Protestant Reformation have … been mistaken to relegate Noël Beda to the status of a ‘reactionary’ opposed to any change or reform in the University or in the Church” (p. 146). Although Farge’s plea for a more balanced judgement with regard to Beda is commendable, the reading of the entire volume has once again demonstrated that Beda can indeed be included with the radical traditionalist wing among the scholastics. This is indicative of a kind of militancy that was concerning even in the opinion of many of his contemporaries, and that was finally to bring King Francis I to take radical measures, in order to silence his voice. The section The Campaign against Biblical Humanists at the University of Louvain deals with the longstanding controversy between the Louvain Faculty of theology and Erasmus, who was resident in the University town from 1517 to 1521. In the first of three essays within this section, Cecilia Asso focuses on two protagonists of the Louvain scene, Martin Dorp and Edward Lee. Martin Dorp was a humanist-minded theologian who, at the insistence of the Faculty of Theol- ogy entered into a debate with Erasmus, firstly because of his implication of the theologians in the Praise of Folly, and secondly because of his intention to publish a revised version of the New Testament. The debate between Dorp and Erasmus never took on an acerbic tone and Dorp let himself become convinced of the

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validity of the humanistic approach. The English Edward Lee belongs to those theologians who were trained in the Scriptures and ancient languages but who eventually turned out to be one of the most formidable adversaries of Erasmus’ New Testament scholarship. In a second article Marcel Gielis deals principally with Jacques Masson, alias Jacobus Latomus, a skilful scholastic theologian, whom Luther considered as one of his most famous opponents and who is also the best known critic of Erasmus’ biblical humanism in Leuven. Even after impe- rial and papal decrees had imposed a moratorium on the warring factions, more militant adversaries such as the Dominican Vincent Dierckx or the Carmelite Nicolas Baechem of Egmond, alias Egmondanus, continued attacking Erasmus. In the final article of this section, Paolo Sartori deals with the Franciscan Frans Titelmans, who was at least partially influenced by biblical humanism, through his study of all three biblical languages and his acceptance of the philological method defended by Erasmus, although it was not endorsed in his defence of the (Latin) Bible’s immutability, its integrity guarded by the uninterrupted and watch- ful presence of God in human history. The critics in Paris and Leuven shared a common background: Beda, Coustu- rier, Masson, and Titelmans had all been educated in houses of the congregation of Montaigu. These institutions were destined for poor clerical students, who were subjected to severe discipline and were trained to become “good” clerics, be it religious men or parish priests. The congregation sought in this way to remedy the corruption in the Church and has, as a result, been labelled as “reform- minded”. Nevertheless, most of the congregation’s members did believe that a renewal of the Church could only come about through a full and uncompromising observance of the Tradition(s) of the Church, and displayed a manifest lack of openness to “novitates” such as biblical humanism, as well as a readiness to persecute obstinate enemies until the end … In the literature at hand, it has however not been sufficiently substantiated that there was an actual difference between Paris and Leuven. In the latter place, where Masson was the most influential figure, the harsh discipline of the domus pauperum had been relaxed after a few years, and the doctrinal conservatism proved to be not as radical as in Paris… The final section deals with Critics of Biblical Humanism in Sixteenth-Century Italy. The section begins with Paul Grendler’s detailed examination of six Italian biblical humanists and their very divergent relations to the papacy in the years 1515-1535. Grendler firstly deals with four “Christian Hebraists”: Felice da Prato, Agostino Giustiniani, Santi Pagnini – the author of a very influential Latin version, which was based on the Hebrew and Greek Bible – and Agazio Guidacerio. Two Biblicists were curial Cardinals, Cajetan (Tommaso de Vio) and Jacopo Sadoleto. With the help of experts in Hebrew and Greek, Cajetan produced numerous biblical commentaries, which proved to be very influential in the course of the sixteenth century, but which were distrusted and investigated by the Parisian theologians and, after his death, by Ambrosius Catharinus. Jacopo Sadoleto for his part wrote commentaries on books of the Old and New Testaments, but became subject to criticism because he was not a qualified academic theologian – which was a typical issue in the debate between humanists and scholastic theologians at the time. Rummel concludes from this comprehensive article: “On the whole, the papal court took a benevolent attitude toward biblical humanism and offered occasional, though not programmatic or institutional support to its protagonists” (p. 11). The greatest contribution of the Italian biblical humanists was to introduce

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Hebrew Old Testament and Jewish scholarship into mainstream Catholic, and sometimes Protestant, biblical scholarship. In contrast to the aforementioned humanists, two Italian Biblicists became deeply involved in the humanist-scholastic debate, and the related causa Lutheri. Nelson Minnich deals with Alberto Pio, the Prince of Carpi. He was an Italian humanist, fully convinced of the importance of language studies for theology, while in the debate with Erasmus also defending the continual value of scholastic theology and urging the humanist of Rotterdam to take a firmer stand against Luther. Finally, Ronald Delph discusses Agostino Steuco’s contribution to the debate. Pushed by both the call of Tradition and piety, and an excellent command of biblical languages, Steuco became convinced that Jerome’s text, which was quite close to the Hebrew, was far superior to that of the Septuagint, and to that of the Vetus Latina, which was based upon it. Steuco’s fundamental conclusions were vehemently opposed by Erasmus who opted for the Septuagint tradition, which was used by the Apostles and the early Church fathers centuries before the appearance of Jerome’s Vulgate. The disagreement resulted in a hostile exchange of letters in the 1530’s. In short, the volume has shown that the battle lines between humanists and scholastics, men of letters and theologians, are not clearly drawn. Although some scholastic theologians, particularly in academic circles, remained stubbornly opposed to the meddling of humanist method in theology, other scholastically trained theologians did embrace philological methods and language studies, while at the same time piously subjecting themselves to the theological tradition of the Church, and accepting the Vulgate’s position as the authoritative text of the Church and the only version fitted for public lectures and liturgy. The suspicion, moreover, that some humanist circles were somehow connected with the rise of lutheranism and/or heterodoxy, exacerbated the debate. The fact that a group of already established scholars, together with junior researchers, under the guidance of Erika Rummel, have succeeded in sketching a balanced picture of the humanist- scholastic debate, in addition to providing the reader with a wealth of factual information and an impressive bibliography, is the most important merit of this companion. And although a volume written by several contributors will never attain the same kind of coherence as a monograph, this companion will definitely show its great value in the next couple of years. Hence, the editor and the contributors should rightly and with reason be congratulated with this achievement! W. FRANÇOIS

Michel VAN MEERBEECK, Ernest Ruth d’Ans «Patriarche des Jansénistes» (1653-1728): Une biographie (Bibliothèque de la Revue d’Histoire Ecclésiastique, 87). Louvain-la-Neuve, Collège Érasme; Leuven, Universiteitsbibliotheek; Bruxelles, Éditions Nauwelaerts, 2006. (25×16), CXLI-631 p. /65.00.

Souvent classé parmi les «petits jansénistes», Ruth d’Ans méritait d’être choisi pour une thèse de doctorat en histoire. Fruit de quinze années de travail, cette thèse fut défendue à la K.U. Leuven en 2000, avec comme promoteur Jan ROE- GIERS, spécialiste du jansénisme dans les Pays-Bas autrichiens. Dans ce travail,

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M. V.M. s’est souvenu de la position de L. Ceyssens, selon laquelle une étude équilibrée se doit d’étudier non seulement le mouvement janséniste mais égale- ment les protagonistes «d’en face», appartenant au mouvement antijanséniste. Ruth d’Ans devint prêtre du diocèse de Liège, puis chanoine de la collégiale S. Gudule à Bruxelles et ensuite chanoine de Tournai; il fut secrétaire d’Antoine Arnauld et participa à l’élaboration de l’ouvrage Amor poenitens de Neer- cassel. L’ouvrage comporte cinq chapitres: Les années de formation 1653-1676 (notamment à Louvain et à Paris); Les années de service 1676-1694 (au service de Port Royal de 1676 à 1681; au service d’Arnauld et de Neercassel de 1681- 1686); Les années d’exil 1694-1706; Les années de collaboration 1706-1716; Les années de vieillesse 1716-1728. Dans sa conclusion, l’A. se demande comment Ruth d’Ans est devenu janséniste et en quoi il a servi ou desservi la cause janséniste dans les divers domaines de la dogmatique, de la morale, de la liturgie (son Année chrétienne), de la pastorale, et des relations entre autorités civiles et autorités canoniques. La quête heuristique engagée pour une telle étude est impres- sionnante: les «Sources inédites» occupent les pages XXXV-LXXXV; les «Sources éditées», les «Ouvrages de Ruth d’Ans» et les «Ouvrages anciens», les pages LXXXV-CIX et la «Bibliographie», les pages CX-CXLI. A. HAQUIN

Georges CHANTRAINE. Henri de Lubac: Tome II. Les années de formation (1919-1929). Préface d’Émmanuel TOURPE (Études lubaciennes, 7). Paris, Cerf, 2009. (21,5×13,5), 843 p. ISBN 978-2-204-08589-8. /56.00.

Le premier tome de la biographie d’Henri de Lubac de G.C. a paru en 2007. Elle couvrait la période qui va de la naissance à la démobilisation en 1919, à la fin de la guerre (cf. ETL 84 [2008] 603-604). De 1919 à 1929, Henri de Lubac a parcouru toutes les étapes de sa formation jésuite. Disposant d’une documentation très abondante (exhaustive?), G.C. les décrit l’une après l’autre: la fin du noviciat et le juvénat à Cantorbéry (1919-1920) (pp. 87-117), les trois années de philosophie sur l’île de Jersey (1920-1923) (pp. 119-217), l’année de régence à Mongré (1923-1924) (pp. 219-264), les deux premières années de théologie à Ore Place (Hastings) (1924-1926) (pp. 495-613), la théologie à Fourvière (1926-1928) (pp. 615-713), la troisième année à Paray-le-Monial (pp. 715-742). La décennie 1919-1929 fut pour le jeune jésuite une période d’activité intense, surtout ses trois années de philosophie (1920-1923). Les «travaux philosophiques» (pp. 363-495) conservés de lui sont en effet nettement plus nombreux que les «travaux théolo- giques» (pp. 684-713).

Henri de Lubac est thomiste … il étudie saint Thomas dans le texte, comme Pierre Rousselot, non dans les commentateurs du XVIe ou du XVIIe siècle comme le font Maritain et d’autres … Il situe (la doctrine thomiste) dans le champ plus large de la tradition philosophique et théologique. (p. 744) [Il est] non seulement thomiste mais aussi blondélien. L’Action vise à restaurer une philosophie, ouverte au Surnaturel sur une base critique … (p. 747)

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[Henri de Lubac exerce donc] le métier de théologien sans cesser pour autant d’être philosophe … Il unit la philosophie à la théologie. Sa réflexion sur Dieu, sur l’athéisme occidental et oriental est mené par un théologien qui se sert de l’instrument philosophique ou, plus exactement, la problématique philosophique de ces thèmes ne trouve sa véritable intelligence qu’éclairée par la Révélation et l’intelligence que le théologien en acquiert. (p. 755)

Muni d’une série d’annexes ainsi que de la liste des sources utilisées (pp. 769- 771), d’une très riche bibliographie (pp. 772-799) et d’un index des noms de personnes (pp. 813-937), l’ouvrage de G.C., fruit d’un travail assidu, est d’un intérêt manifeste pour tous ceux qui désirent se mettre à l’étude des écrits de Henri de Lubac. Il en est de même pour ceux qui s’intéressent à l’histoire des maisons de formation de la Compagnie de Jésus. A. VANNESTE

Hans BOERSMA. Nouvelle Théologie and Sacramental Ontology: A Return to Mystery. Oxford – New York, Oxford University Press, 2009. (24×16,5), XVI-325 p. ISBN 978-0-19-922964-2. $120.00.

Defining nouvelle théologie and identifying its representatives is a very hazard- ous undertaking. Just like in the case of modernism, it was only from the perspective of its opponents that the nouvelle théologie appeared as an organised school of thought. How do historians and theologians today have to interpret this movement? H. Boersma offers an interesting key for interpretation: he shows that the shared sensibility of nouvelle théologie was its sacramental ontology, “the conviction that historical realities of the created order served as divinely ordained, sacramental means leading to eternal divine mysteries” (p. 289). The created order sacramentally represented the supernatural reality of the mystery of God. With this sacramental ontology nouvelle theologians wished to reconnect nature and the supernatural in reaction to their separation by both modernism and neo-Thomism. It is one of the great strengths of this book that it makes the fundamental difference between modernism and nouvelle théologie strikingly clear: “The fundamental difference between modernism and nouvelle théologie lay precisely in the latter’s sacramental ontology” (p. 20). This is why Boersma does not treat modernism as one of the precursors to nouvelle théologie and why he declines the not uncommon presentation of the movement of nouvelle théologie as a historical step in a continuous theological trajectory leading from Modernism to post-conciliar pluralism. Instead, Boersma traces the roots of nouvelle théologie in the thinking of Johann Adam Möhler, Maurice Blondel, Joseph Maréchal and Pierre Rousselot. In the main part of his book he explores how the sacramental sensibility comes to the fore in the most significant works of the resourcement movement. These works embrace a range of divergent theological themes: the relation between nature and the supernatural (Henri de Lubac, Henri Bouillard, Hans Urs von Balthasar, Marie-Dominique Chenu), spiritual and typological exegesis (Henri de Lubac, Jean Danielou), the relation of history and theology (Jean Danielou, Marie-Domi- nique Chenu, Louis Charlier, Henri de Lubac) and ecclesiology (Henri de Lubac, Yves Congar). The expositions are succinct, but very clear and thorough. I would only like to make a critical remark with regard to the discussion of the theological

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position of Louis Charlier. It is surprising that Boersma describes Charlier’s Essai sur le problème théologique as “quite similar to Chenu’s Une école de théologie” (p. 212) when we are confronted in these books with so divergent – one could even say contradictory – expositions on Thomas’s understanding of the nature and method of theology, on the relation between history and theology and on Tradi- tion. Contrary to Chenu, Charlier does not turn to human history as a locus theo- logicus, but to the actual teaching of the magisterium as the expression of an intuitive contact with the revealed deposit in the Church of the present. To say that “a sacramental ontology underpinned Charlier’s Christological mysticism as well as his analogical view of truth” (p. 219) does not fit very well with Charlier’s overall theological approach in which the actual teaching of the magisterium is the only means to acquire certain knowledge of supernatural reality. Instead of a reintegration of nature and the supernatural – so strived for by nouvelle theologians – one can say that in (over-)reacting to the rationalism of neo-Thomism, Charlier gives more the impression of installing a new kind of separation between nature and the supernatural, or more precisely, between reason and faith and between history and theology. Are we right in suggesting that the hesitation Boersma displays in ascribing a sacramental ontology to Marie-Dominique Chenu would have been much more appropriate with regard to the theology of Louis Charlier? W. DE PRIL

Frederiek DEPOORTERE. The Death of God: An Investigation into the His- tory of the Western Concept of God. London – New York, T&T Clark, 2008. (24×16), XI-207 p. ISBN 0-567-03272-8. £65.00.

Dans Le gai savoir, Fr. Nietzsche a proclamé en 1892 «la mort de Dieu». Depuis lors la question n’a cessé de se trouver à l’avant-plan de l’actualité tant philosophique que théologique. Comment dans notre monde occidental cette mort de Dieu a-t-elle pu avoir lieu? F.D. s’est efforcé de l’expliquer en retraçant l’histoire du «concept occidental de Dieu» (p. 5). Elle doit son origine, dit-il, à la rencontre de la théologie naturelle de la civilisation gréco-romaine avec un petit groupe de «pêcheurs juifs qui ne disposaient guère d’une théologie naturelle mais uniquement d’une théologie révélée hautement surnaturelle» (p. 176). La notion occidentale de Dieu a été ainsi le résultat de l’interaction continuelle entre ces deux partenaires, la philosophie grecque et la foi biblique (p. 177). Aussi la distinction entre le Dieu des philosophes et le Dieu de la foi n’est-elle point aussi nette que certains le prétendent. L’Occident n’a pas connu deux dieux mais un seul, celui du «théisme chrétien classique» (p. 22). L’ouvrage se compose de cinq chapitres. Dans le premier l’A. se demande si nous avons pris Nietzsche suffisamment au sérieux (pp. 1-23). Il y explique que l’idée de la mort de Dieu a conduit à la déification de la nature et à «la perte de la transcendance» et à celle d’un «fondement ultime de la morale» (p. 22). Le deuxième chapitre (pp. 25-65) donne un aperçu général de l’histoire du concept occidental de Dieu à partir de ses origines grecques jusqu’au XIVe siècle. L’A. y explique comment la soi-disant irréconciliable opposition entre la théologie naturelle et la foi biblique n’a pas empêché des Pères de l’Église d’en élaborer une

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«synthèse» qui s’est imposée durant des siècles. Le troisième chapitre s’intitule «Descartes, l’omnipuissance divine et les origines théologiques de la modernité» (pp. 67-122). L’A. s’y emploie à réfuter la thèse de Gillespie pour qui le Cogito cartésien et la conception moderne du sujet doivent leur origine au problème théologique posé par le nominalisme de Guillaume d’Ockam, qui radicalisait l’idée de l’omnipuissance de Dieu au détriment de sa bonté et de sa crédibilité. Il estime que Gillespie accorde une importance exagérée à la doctrine d’Ockam: le soi-disant «Dieu obscur du nominalisme n’a jamais existé» (p. 121). La question de la relation entre la science moderne et la mort de Dieu fait l’objet du quatrième chapitre, «Science moderne et la disparition de Dieu dans la culture occidentale» (pp. 123-152). L’A. y accorde une grande importance au concept scolastique de natura pura. L’idée d’une nature se suffisant à elle-même ne doit pas uniquement son origine à la révolution scientifique, elle a été préparée par la théologie de la natura pura de Cajétan et de Suarez: la question de l’athéisme y devenait un problème purement philosophique (p. 152). Enfin, au cinquième et dernier chapitre, «Luther, Hegel et la mort de Dieu» (pp. 153-174), l’A. tient à souligner qu’en fait Nietzsche est loin d’avoir été le premier à lancer l’idée de la mort de Dieu. On la trouve déjà chez Luther qui, par son interprétation de la doctrine patristique de la communicatio idiomatum, en était arrivé à affirmer que le Christ était mort non seulement selon son humanité, mais également selon sa divinité. Quant à Hegel, il fait figure de médiateur entre Luther et Nietzsche. Le grand réformateur avait utilisé la formule «Dieu est mort» dans le contexte de sa sotériologie. En la reprenant à son compte, Hegel y voit la négation de toute vraie transcendance. La proclamation de la mort de Dieu par Nietzsche date déjà de plus d’un siècle. Elle constitue plus que jamais un défi lancé à l’ensemble de la chrétienté. L’A. nous le rappelle, mais son mérite est surtout d’avoir mis à profit sa riche érudition historique pour montrer à quel point ce défi constitue une dimension essentielle à la pensée chrétienne telle que dès le début elle a cherché à se structurer. A. VANNESTE

Gisbert GRESHAKE. Perché l’amore di Dio ci lascia soffrire? Traduzione dal tedesco di Anna BOLOGNA (Giornale di teologia, 330). Brescia, Queri- niana, 2008. (19,5×12,5), 140 p. ISBN 978-88-399-0830-8. /12.50.

En tout temps l’humanité s’est interrogée sur le sens de la souffrance. De son côté, le chrétien se demande comment elle est conciliable avec sa foi en un Dieu bon et tout-puissant. N’a-t-on pas dit que la souffrance est «le roc de l’athéisme»? L’A. aborde la question sous deux aspects. Dans une première partie, il explique comment la souffrance est en fait «le prix de l’amour» (pp. 9-100). Vatican II enseigne que Dieu a créé «le monde par amour et pour l’amour» (p. 40), c’est-à- dire, précise l’A., pour manifester et communiquer son amour et en même temps pour être aimé à son tour. Il n’y a toutefois pas d’amour en dehors du «jeu réci- proque» (p. 41) de la liberté. La liberté, quant à elle, implique la possibilité du mal et, du même coup, de la souffrance. Le mal et la souffrance constituent donc en fait «l’autre face» (p. 43) de la bonté infinie de Dieu. Il importe dès lors de se rendre compte du «poids du péché» (p. 54), cause dernière de la souffrance. La question se pose néanmoins si, en fin de compte, Dieu ne paie pas trop cher la

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liberté accordée à sa créature et à l’amour qu’Il espère en obtenir. C’est dans ce contexte que l’A. fait appel à l’idée du «Dieu compatissant» (p. 78). Elle a ses racines dans l’Ancien Testament où Yahvé est parfois dit participer à la souffrance de peuple. Elle a acquis une grande importance dans le Nouveau Testament, tout particulièrement en 1 P 1,20 où l’Agneau de Dieu est dit avoir été, dès la fondation du monde, prédestiné à venir nous sauver par son sang (p. 80). Dieu lui-même a donc été le premier à payer «le prix de l’amour»; Il l’a fait «d’une manière si complète que toute souffrance humaine a pu trouver refuge dans son amour compatissant» (p. 86) et acquérir ainsi un sens. L’A tient à insister en terminant sur le fait que, si la douleur ne sera vaincue définitivement qu’à la fin des temps, la «négativité absolue de la souffrance» l’est déjà maintenant et la victoire définitive «commence déjà à briller» (p. 91). Il reste que l’homme doit accepter de vivre avec des limites. L’A. l’explique dans la deuxième partie de son livre (pp. 101-133), où il démontre l’inanité du «mythe de la toute-puissance narcissique», c’est-à-dire de l’idée très répandue selon laquelle désormais «tout est devenu faisable, tout est disponible, tout peut et doit être changé et tout changement signifie amélioration» (pp. 107-108). Mais s’il est donc impossible d’éliminer la souffrance de notre monde actuel, nous pouvons l’intégrer dans notre vie et la surmonter ainsi par «l’interaction de l’amour» (p. 126). A. VANNESTE

Jean-Claude LARCHET. Le chrétien devant la maladie, la souffrance et la mort (Théologies). Paris, Cerf, 2002. (23,5×14,5), 280 p. ISBN 2-204- 07094-7. /22.00.

Patrologue et théologien orthodoxe reconnu, l’A. a beaucoup publié, notamment sur le sujet qu’il reprend de manière synthétique dans le présent ouvrage (cfr. Théologie de la maladie, 1991; Théologie des maladies mentales, 1991; Théologie des maladies spirituelles, 1992). Pour le lecteur occidental, de telles perspectives sont souvent déconcertantes parce qu’elles s’enracinent dans la pen- sée patristique culturellement loin de nous et que le discours scientifique médical de l’Occident éclipse souvent d’autres approches. Par ailleurs, le discours orthodoxe a le mérite de se fonder sur une anthropologie unifiée: l’homme est à la fois un être corporel, psychique et spirituel. Cette triple dimension trouve sa place ici: Les maladies corporelles (p. 63-94); Les maladies mentales (p. 95-141); Les maladies spirituelles (p. 169-205). Le chapitre consacré à la bioéthique ne manque pas d’intérêt (p. 31-46) à condition d’avoir en tête qu’il n’y a pas de Magistère central en Orient et que les théologiens ont des positions qui diffèrent, soit selon les pays, soit selon les personnes. L’avortement est condamné par les canons et cependant toléré par «économie» (miséricorde) dans des cas exceptionnels (danger de mort de la mère ou maladie incurable pour l’enfant). La contraception est refusée par principe, mais peut être acceptée par économie pour les couples mariés si la motivation principale n’est pas le pur égoïsme. Toutefois, les pays comme la Grèce et la Russie la rejettent totalement tandis que les théologiens orthodoxes des pays occidentaux s’en remettent à la conscience des époux. La procréation médicalement assistée est rejetée en principe, car elle fragmente la sexualité

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humaine; elle est cependant acceptable dans un couple stable qui n’a pas d’autre solution. Quant à la fécondation in vitro, elle est refusée en raison des embryons surnuméraires. La maternité de substitution est rejetée ainsi que la conception post mortem. Les manipulations génétiques (modification du génome humain) et le clonage sont rejetés. Lorsqu’elles sont pratiquées dans un but thérapeutique, les manipulations génétiques sont acceptables. L’euthanasie active est condamnée; cependant l’Église accepte de célébrer les funérailles, en raison de l’économie. L’acharnement thérapeutique est à éviter, dans la mesure où la lutte contre la maladie est sans espoir. Bien des chapitres de ce livre ont été publiés dans des revues ou des recueils dont la liste est donnée aux pages 8 à 10. A. HAQUIN

Michael Alban GRIMM. Lebensraum in Gottes Stadt: Jerusalem als Sym- bolsystem der Eschatologie (Jerusalemer Theologisches Forum, 11). Münster, Aschendorff, 2007. (15,5×23), 489 p. ISBN 978-3-402-11015-7. /62.00.

Die vorliegende interdisziplinäre Untersuchung geht auf eine Doktoraldisserta- tion an der Universität Münster im Jahr 2006 zurück. Sie will das Theologumenon „Jerusalem“ durch den Prozess einer Relecture für die christliche Eschatologie fruchtbar machen. Dabei soll Jerusalem als Grundsymbol biblisch-christlicher Hoffnungsrede im Zeitalter der Urbanisierung und ihrer Folgen, aber auch angesichts des lebendigen Judentums und des israelisch-palästinensischen Konflikts untersucht werden. Nach einführenden Überlegungen zu „Modernen Stadtwirklichkeiten in theo- logischer Sicht“ (15-25) sowie zur Hermeneutik eschatologischer Sprachbilder (26-39, die Bilderlosigkeit der Eschatologie als Defizit, die eschatologischen Aus- sagen als Handlungsorientierung und die symbolhafte Struktur von Eschatologie nach der pragmatischen Wende) beschreibt Grimm in einem ersten großen Teil zunächst die Grundtypen der Interpretation Jerusalems in der Eschatologie des 20. Jahrhunderts (43-162). Nach instruktiven Beobachtungen zu einer „relativen Jerusalemvergessenheit“ (die Grimm in Jerusalem als bloßem „Steinbruch“ biblischer Vollendungsmotive sowie in Jerusalem als bloßer Ausmalung der Vollen- dung sieht, 43-51), geht es detailliert um Jerusalem als Vollendungssymbol der Kirche, Jerusalem als Vollendungssymbol der Schöpfung (z.B. bei R. Guardini, H.-U. von Balthasar, J. Moltmann und M. Kehl), Jerusalem als eschatologischer Horizont menschlicher Geschichtspraxis und Jerusalem als ortsgebundene Utopie bei F.-W. Marquardt. Grimm schließt, dass die Theologie im 20. Jh. Jerusalem nur in begrenztem Maß als eschatologisches Symbol wahrgenommen hat. Dass das Theologumenon „Jerusalem“ „für eine beachtliche Anzahl eschatologischer Entwürfe und Traktate keine substantielle Relevanz“ besitzt, dürfte nach Grimm mit einer seit Bultmanns Entmythologisierungsprogramm grundlegenden Zurück- haltung gegenüber der Bildhaftigkeit biblischer Hoffnung in Verbindung stehen (158). Die vorhandenen Grundtypen der Interpretation Jerusalems stehen in einem engen Bezug zu den jeweiligen eschatologischen Grundanliegen und Argumen- tationsfiguren, ohne dass sie nach konfessioneller Herkunft klassifiziert werden könnten. Nach Grimm ist es nicht möglich, christliche Eschatologie ohne das

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Potential des Vollendungsbildes Jerusalem authentisch auszusagen noch dessen Orientierung von dem konkreten Jerusalem zu lösen. Daher will Grimm anhand der Relecture biblischer Jerusalemtheologie im Horizont des jüdisch-christlichen Dialogs Jerusalem als eschatologisches Symbol so entwickeln, „dass es nicht nur im Kontext heutiger Urbanisierung, sondern auch angesichts des politischen Konflikts um die Stadt sein kritisches und konstruktives Potential entfalten und dadurch christliche Praxis orientieren kann“ (162). Im zweiten Hauptteil untersucht Grimm das neue Jerusalem als Verheißung der Heiligen Schrift Alten und Neuen Testaments. Nach hermeneutischen Vorüber- legungen (165-170) bietet er eine detaillierte Behandlung von Offenbarung 21–22 (Vorbemerkungen zur Forschungsgeschichte, Zugang zum Text und knappe Text- analysen). Die Kapitel bieten als Collage aus biblischen Anspielungen eine pro- phetische Aktualisierung biblischer Jerusalem- und Zionstraditionen (Überblick über die Jerusalems- und Zionstraditionen im Alten Testament, 201-221). Insbe- sondere befinden sich die Kapitel im Dialog mit Jesaja 65f und mit Hesekiel 40–48 (221-239). Ferner geht es Grimm um die Profilierung dieser Kapitel vor dem Hintergrund frühjüdischer Rezeption der Jerusalems- und Zionstraditionen und vor dem Hintergrund der Bedeutung Jerusalems im Urchristentum (239-255), um Offenbarung 21f vor dem Hintergrund der Bedeutung Jerusalems im Urchris- tentum (255-279) sowie um Offenbarung 21f als urbane Utopie für die christlichen Gemeinden Kleinasiens (279-306; ist die neue Stadt nur ein Vollendungssymbol des Gottesvolkes?, zur Situation der kleinasiatischen Gemeinden, neues Jerusalem und hellenistisches Stadtideal). Das neue Jerusalem der Johannesoffenbarung erscheint als polyvalentes eschatologisches Symbolsystem (307-312). Weiter geht es um „Grundkonstellationen von Offenbarung 21f im christlichen Kanon“ (313-392), nämlich um die Bedeutung im kanonischen Kontext, um Bezüge zum Pentateuch, um die Jerusalem-Orientierung in den historischen und poetischen Schriften des AT sowie um Offenbarung 21f als „Achtergewicht des zwei-einen christlichen Kanons“ (345-347). Nach Grimm zeigt sich die Notwen- digkeit einer weiterführenden kanonischen Hermeneutik: „Offenbarung 21f ist in einer leserorientierten Perspektive als Schlussstein der Heiligen Schrift Alten und Neuen Testaments zu begreifen und somit als ein exponiertes Zeugnis des christlichen Ausgangs der Bibel Israels“ (312). Ein weiteres Kapitel skizziert die Auslegungsgeschichte dieser Kapitel (348- 387). Neben dem konkreten Festhalten an Jerusalem im rabbinischen Judentum stehen die Interpretationen der biblischen Jerusalem-Hoffnung in der patristischen Theologie, nämlich die Hoffnung auf eine irdische Wiederherstellung Jerusalems bei Irenäus, das allegorische Verständnis Jerusalems als Himmel, Seele und Kir- che bei Origenes, Jerusalem als Kirche bei Hieronymus und bei Augustinus Jeru- salem als die Bezeichnung der civitas Dei. Dabei macht Grimm drei Grundten- denzen in der patristischen Auslegung deutlich, die die weitere christliche Jerusalem-Rezeption bestimmt haben: die Bestreitung einer jüdischen Identität Jerusalems, die Ablösung des Theologumenons „Jerusalem“ von der konkreten Stadt und den Verlust der eschatologischen Relevanz. In der abschließenden Reflektion des biblischen Befundes (388-392) schreibt Grimm: Jerusalem leistet einen unverzichtbaren inhaltlichen Beitrag zur Verhältnisbestimmung von Symbolstruktur und praxisorientierender Funktion christlicher Eschatologie. Doch die Zurückgewinnung einer konkreten Dimension Jerusalems muss angesichts des gegenwärtigen Konflikts um Jerusalem, in dem politische und religiöse

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Argumentationsmuster oft unheilvoll ineinander verwoben sind, explizit verantwortet werden (392).

In den abschließenden Perspektiven beschreibt Grimm zunächst das neue Jeru- salem als Symbolsystem („Der Text besaß eine konkrete pragmatische Funktion in einer rekonstruierbaren historischen Situation. Offenbarung 21f eröffnet den kleinasiatischen Christen, die sich angesichts römischer Allmachtsansprüche und ihrer Ausgrenzung aus dem jüdischen Synagogenverband in einer existentiellen Bedrängnis erlebten, eine utopische Gegenwelt, die zum Standhalten motivieren will, bis Gott bald die Weltgeschichte wendet“, 389) und skizziert eine Jerusalem- Eschatologie im Umriss (408-438). Dazu gehört das neue Jerusalem als Telos des realen Jerusalems, die Teilhabe der Kirche an der Orientierung nach Jerusalem, eine Vision des Friedens im Zeitalter der Urbanisierung und die Vollendung der gesamten Schöpfung. Der gelungene Band endet mit Literaturverzeichnis und Personenregister. Grimms Analyse der weitgehend fehlenden Bedeutung des konkreten Jerusa- lems für die christliche Eschatologie sowie von Offenbarung 21f überzeugt. Seine Vorschläge sind anregend und verdienen gründliche Prüfung. Neben den erwähn- ten Eschatologien des 20. Jh. wäre der Blick auf einige pietistische, dezidiert heilsgeschichtliche oder dispensationalistische Entwürfe hilfreich gewesen, in denen das neue Jerusalem als konkrete Stadt eine bedeutend größere Rolle ein- nimmt als in der deutschsprachigen universitären Eschatologie. Neben manchen fragwürdigen Blüten erscheinen dort einige der Vorschläge Grimms längst zum festen Repertoire christlicher Zukunftshoffnung (wobei man dort zumeist viel von Grimms Sensibilität für die Situation im heutigen Jerusalem lernen müsste!). Von Interesse wäre ferner etwa der Vergleich mit der theologischen Motivation der „Back to Jerusalem“-Bewegung (vgl. en.wikipedia.org/…/Back_To_Jerusalem_ movement). Im Abschnitt zum lukanischen Doppelwerk wäre stärker zu berück- sichtigen, wie sehr die christliche Mission und Kirche unter den Völkern auf Jeru- salem zurückbezogen bleibt. In gewisser Weise ist die urchristliche Mission nach der Apostelgeschichte ein Unterfangen der Jerusalemer Gemeinde. Wenn man dies und die paulinische Kollektenaktion unter den heidenchristlichen Gemeinden für die Heiligen in Jerusalem (die in diesem Zusammenhang auch herangezogen werden müsste und wichtige Aspekte beisteuert) ernst nimmt, wird deutlich, dass die Kirche auf ihrem Weg unter den Völkern vom alten Jerusalem herkommt und auf das neue Jerusalem bleibend bezogen bleibt. C. STENSCHKE

Adolfo Vicente IVORRA ROBLA. Las anáforas De cotidiano del Missale Hispano-Mozarabicum: Estudio teológico-litúrgico (Dissertationes Theologicae, 4). Madrid, Facultad de Teología «San Dámaso», 2009. (22,5×16,5), 379 p. ISBN 978-84-96318-78-6. /25.00.

Au sein de la grande famille liturgique des rites latins, les rites ambrosien et hispano-mozarabe font surtout l’objet de recherches historiques. L’intérêt des chercheurs est en effet le plus souvent orienté sur les sources anciennes, témoins d’une importante variété liturgique lors des siècles d’émergence et de fixation des

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usages liturgiques en Occident. On le voit dans la bibliographie de l’ouvrage. Suivant les orientations et principes théologiques du concile Vatican II, ces rites furent revisés après le rite romain. C’est ainsi que furent publiés le Missale Ambro- sianum (1981) et le Missale Hispano-Mozarabicum (1991-1995). La théologie liturgique se trouve le plus explicitement dans les prières eucharistiques ou anaphores, modèles de la prière chrétienne. Les étudier est une méthode éprouvée de recherche théologique. Or le rite hispano-mozarabe n’a jamais connu de limitation à ces prières, le principe étant d’utiliser un formulaire adapté aux dimanches et aux fêtes des saints. Les jours de semaine, on utilise la prière eucharistique ou anaphore du dimanche précédant ou du temps pour le carême. L’objet de l’étude d’Adolfo Vicente IVORRA ROBLA est le corpus des anaphores revues pour le nouveau missel et disponibles pour le temps ordinaire en semaine. D’un point de vue méthodologique, l’auteur s’appuie sur le travail de référence de J. SANCHO ANDREU (Los formularios eucarísticos de los domingos de quotidiano en el rito hispánico: Edición crítica y estudio teológico, Valencia, 1981) et sur la thèse de I. TOMÁS CÁNOVAS (Teología de las celebraciones del tiempo de Navidad en la liturgia Hispano-Mozárabe revisada en 1991, Bilbao, 1991). À partir de 17 formulaires (contre 26 dans la liturgie ancienne), l’auteur aborde ainsi les origines de chaque anaphore successivement avec ses références bibliques, liturgiques et patristiques (pp. 51-230), pour élaborer une analyse thématique plus proprement théologique, en trois chapitres successifs sur la lex credendi [avec la malencontreuse faute de frappe qui en fait une lex credenci à chaque haut de page] (pp. 230-258), la lex orandi (pp. 259-295) et la lex agendi (pp. 297-304). L’auteur aurait pu respecter l’ordre traditionnel. Quant à la dernière, inventée récemment par rapport à l’axiome de Prosper d’Aquitaine du Ve siècle, elle est en effet régulièrement évoquée désor- mais dans les recherches en théologie liturgique. Une brève synthèse, intitulée curieusement “troisième partie” (pp. 307-325) résume les acquis de la recherche avant la conclusion finale de l’ouvrage (pp. 327-330). L’auteur relève ainsi la dimension consacrée à la création et la rédemption, le Christ comme origine et but du culte chrétien, la foi trinitaire comme fondement de la prière, l’insertion du mystère de l’Église dans celui de la Trinité, l’importance des dimensions anam- nétique et épiclétique. En annexes, l’auteur publie les 17 formulaires en latin, aidant utilement le lecteur à accéder à ces sources. Cet ouvrage enrichit sans conteste la vaste recherche sur l’eucologie, première source de la théologie liturgique et source fondamentale de toute théologie. A. JOIN-LAMBERT

Jean-Philippe REVEL. Traité des sacrements. VI: L’onction des malades. Rédemption de la chair et par la chair (Théologies). Paris, Cerf, 2009. (23,5×14,5), 227 p. ISBN 978-2-204-08784-1. /30.00.

Jean-Philippe REVEL poursuit la publication de son vaste projet d’un Traité des sacrements. Après les volumineux tomes sur (I,1) Baptême et sacramentalité: Origine et signification du baptême (2004 – voir ETL 81 [2005] 248-249), (I,2) Baptême et sacramentalité: Don et réception de la grâce baptismale (2005 – voir ETL 83 [2007] 537-538) et (II) La confirmation: Plénitude du don baptismal de l’Esprit (2006 – voir ETL 83 [2007] 538-541), il propose ici un livre de 227 pages

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sur l’Onction des malades. Comme les autres tomes, il s’appuie clairement sur les cours qu’il donne depuis des années. Ce qui était pesant dans les autres volumes l’est moins ici. En effet, peu d’ouvrages abordent systématiquement ce sacrement, en fait le plus négligé de la théologie sacramentaire actuelle, car le plus complexe du catholicisme et le plus problématique aujourd’hui dans la pastorale liturgique. La brève bibliographie contient seulement des titres anciens (DIDIER 1962, ORTE- MANN 1971, FOUCHÉ 1959, VALABREGA 1962, Collectif in Présences 74 [1961]). Ce signe révèle certes une faiblesse de l’ouvrage, mais aussi le peu de recherches actuelles sur le sujet, même s’il y en a que l’auteur ne semble pas connaître. Il ne fait aucune référence à des livres ou articles publiés dans d’autres langues, ce qui est peu admissible pour un ouvrage de ce type. On aurait donc pu espérer que Jean-Philippe REVEL aille au-delà de la synthèse historico-théologique qu’il fait très bien. Mais ce n’est malheureusement pas le cas. Dans les détails, on peut saluer un dossier complet, plus que dans les ouvrages similaires anciennement disponibles et qui se répètent tous: Claude ORTEMANN (1971), Bernard SESBOUË (1972) et, le dernier en date, Pierre ADNÈS non cité par l’auteur (L’onction des malades: Histoire et théologie, Paris, 1994). Jean-Philippe REVEL exploite à merveille la thèse incontournable et monumentale d’Antoine CHAVASSE (1942), notamment l’inaccessible volume 2, non publié. La partie sur les liturgies orientales (pp. 124-155) est utile, car il n’y a pas de synthèse similaire en français. Sa réflexion sur la grâce sacramentelle de l’onction des malades est bien menée, mais ne sort pas des catégories scolastiques, tout en cherchant à dépasser les impasses des théologiens médiévaux. Quant aux questions actuelles, elles sont seulement évoquées. La pratique pastorale de célébrations annuelles est balayée comme «certainement un abus» de la latitude donnée pour la réitération (pp. 179s). La question du ministre est traitée en trois pages (pp. 190-193). Celle des destinataires est très insuffisante par rapport aux recherches actuelles, notamment en ce qui concerne le handicap mental (pp. 193-196). On aurait aimé que l’auteur aborde aussi la dimension liturgique concrète du sacrement. Notons une approximation à propos du texte biblique de référence qu’est Jc 5,13-15. L’auteur écrit à propos des verbes sosein et egeiren: «Il ne fait aucun doute qu’il s’agit ici de la guérison corporelle du malade» (p. 40). Puis il élargit le champ interprétatif. Or c’est loin d’être aussi simple et les emplois de ces verbes dans le Nouveau Testament plaideraient plutôt pour un sens spirituel (voir Ambroise VERHEUL, Le caractère pascal du Sacrement des malades: L’exégèse de Jacques 5,14-15 et le nouveau Rituel du Sacrement des malades, in La maladie et la mort du chrétien dans la liturgie [BEL.S., 1], Roma, 1975, pp. 361-379). Enfin, comme dans les autres tomes, l’auteur parle d’Hyppolite comme auteur de la Tradition apostolique. Il serait opportun de mentionner la pseudépigraphie de l’ouvrage. C’est donc un ouvrage utile de présentation assez poussée des sources historiques et de la théologie de ce sacrement, qui ne renouvèle pas pour autant ce qui est déjà connu et ne fait qu’effleurer quelques nouvelles questions qui se posent. A. JOIN-LAMBERT

Eugenio SAPORI (ed.). La morte e suoi riti: Per una celebrazione cristiana delle esequie. Atti della XXXIV Settimana di Studio dell’Associazione Professori di Liturgia. Assisi, 27 agosto-1 settembre 2006 (Bibliotheca

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«Ephemerides Liturgicae»: «Subsidia», 143). Roma, C.L.V. – Edizioni Liturgiche, 2007. (17×24), 426 p. ISBN 978-88-7367-068-1. /42.00.

Les pays occidentaux sont aujourd’hui témoins de profonds changements dans les mentalités concernant la mort et l’au-delà, les lieux et les pratiques funéraires, et la signification de la mort elle-même. C’est la raison pour laquelle l’APL (Asso- ciation italienne des professeurs de liturgie) a consacré son congrès de 2006 à cette question. Sans attendre une nouvelle édition typique de la liturgie des funérailles, sorte d’aggiornamento du premier rituel Ordo exsequiarum de 1969, les liturgistes italiens font le point sur ces diverses questions avec une triple préoccupation: l’interdisciplinarité, le ressourcement dans la tradition chrétienne, les sciences humaines et la pastorale. Les divers exposés esquissent un vaste panorama des situations et des questions en s’efforçant de les éclairer: présentation des positions théologiques en matière d’eschatologie (Rosino GIBELLINI); positions philosophiques contemporaines sur la mort: M. Scheler, K. Jaspers, M. Heidegger, E. Bloch, E. Levinas, J. Derrida (Carlo SCILIRONI); proclamation de la résurrection aujourd’hui (Roberto VIGNOLO); incidences psychologiques dans les rites funérai- res (Lucio PINKUS); prière pour les morts dans la tradition anaphorique ancienne: alexandrine, antiochienne, syro-orientale et occidentale (Goffredo BOSELLI); pour une euchologie qui rende compte de l’espérance (Pietro SORCI); liturgies du 7e, 9e, 30e jour et de l’anniversaire de la mort (Gianni CAVAGNOLI); symboles et images exprimant l’espérance chrétienne (Silvano MAGGIANI). D’autres questions concernant les lieux de mémoire ont été touchées lors de la Table ronde: sépulture, crémation, aménagement des cimetières, bénédiction des lieux. Une bibliographie raisonnée est proposée par l’éditeur des actes: elle concerne la théologie, la liturgie, la philosophie, la bioéthique, la pastorale, les sciences humaines, la culture et l’histoire, et enfin l’architecture (p. 347-389). A. HAQUIN

Beato Iacopo da Varazze, Leyenda de los santos (que vulgarmente Flos Santorum llaman), Flos Sanctorum. [Sevilla, Juan de Varela, 1520-21]: Trascripción del ejemplar existente en el Archivo Histórico de Loyola, único conocido de la edición hecha en Sevilla, en 1520-1521, por el impresor salmantino Juan de Varela. Introducción, transcripción y anotaciones por Félix Juan CABASÉS, S.I. (Monumenta Historica Societatis Iesu Series Novan, 3). Madrid, Servicio de Publicaciones Universidad Pontificia Comillas, 2007. (18×25), XCVIII-915 p. ISBN 978-88-7041-203-1.

The story is well known, but as Jesuits say: bis repetita placent. Before his conversion, Ignatius was a man of the world, a courtier at Loyola. He converted existentially to Christendom during his convalescence after being seriously wounded in his leg in May 1521 while defending the fortress of Pamplona from a violent attack by the French army. The French respected his courage and kept him alive. He was allowed to return to Loyola. During the long weeks of his recovery in the family’s castle, he was extremely bored and asked for some

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romance novels to pass the time. There were none in the castle of Loyola, but there were two other books which would change the course of Church history. Ludolph of Saxony’s De Vita Christi is mentioned in almost every biography of Ignatius. He read it in an edition in Castilian. Ludolph proposes a method of prayer which asks the reader to visualise the events of Christ’s life (known as simple contemplation). The second book was a Spanish translation of the Flos Sanctorum by Jacobus de Voragine. Ignatius began to read them. The more he read, the more he considered the exploits of the saints worth imitating. However, at the same time he continued to have daydreams of fame and glory, along with fantasies of winning the love of a certain noble lady of the court, the identity of whom we have never discovered but who seems to have been of royal blood. He noticed, however, that after reading and thinking of the saints and Christ he was at peace and satisfied. Yet when he finished his long daydreams of his noble lady, he would feel restless and unsatisfied. Not only was this experience the beginning of his conversion, it was also the beginning of spiritual discernment, or discernment of spirits, which is associated with Ignatius and described in his Spiritual Exercises. The Legenda Sanctorum – Flos sanctorum in the vulgar – is one of the best known manuscripts of the Middle Ages. Together with the Bible, it is the book of which most medieval copies have been preserved: more than a thousand manuscript copies of the work have survived, and after the 1450s, printed editions appeared quickly in Latin and in every major European language. The Legenda Sanctorum is a compilation of sketches of different length, which describe the saints’ lives according to the order of their feasts in the liturgical year. The author embellishes the biography with supernatural tales of incidents involving the saint’s life. Major feasts are treated too (Nativity, Purification, Easter, Pentecost…). The Legenda Sanctorum is written in simple Latin. It is considered to be a kind of encyclopedia of medieval hagiography and saint lore. As such it is invaluable to hagiographers, but also art historians and medievalists who seek to identify saints depicted in art by attributes (often linked up with their ‘biography’). The edition of the Legenda Sanctorum used by Ignatius was highly probably the Spanish version which appeared in Sevilla in 1520 with the printer Juan de Varela. If it is not exactly this copy, it will surely be closely related to this edition. The editor, Félix Juan Cabasés, has taken care of a complete transcription of the only copy of this book which – to our knowledge – survived. The edition appeared in the truly monumental series Monumenta historica societatis Jesu. It is an exem- plary scientific edition with an extended introduction and lots of indexes. Because the manuscript is so huge, the editor made no annotations to the text. The main importance of this edition is twofold: Firstly ‘spiritual’: the meaning of this book for the Society of Jesus. Secondly: printed, contemporary vulgar editions of the Legenda are rather rare. H. GEYBELS

Robert Aleksander MARYKS. Saint Cicero and the Jesuits: The Influence of the Liberal Arts on the Adoption of Moral Probabilism. Aldershot, Ashgate; Rome, Institutum Historicum Societatis Iesu, 2008. (16×24), XIII-168 p. ISBN 978-0-7546-6293-8. £55.00.

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Robert A. Maryks has a gift for bringing new and thought-provoking perspectives to age old and complex debates. In calling Cicero a saint and the Jesuit order a synagogue of Jews, he gives his readers no chance but to appreciate his ability to stir up controversy. In the book at hand, the official account of a most important chapter in the history of moral theology – probabilism and its adoption by the Jesu- its – is at stake. Probabilism is known to be a rather benign method of settling cases of conscience, allowing agents to act on the basis of an opinion that is sufficiently probable even if the contrary opinion is more probable. Traditionally, its rise as a principle of moral decision making has been associated with the rise of the Jesuits, although it was first formulated in 1577 by Bartolomé de Medina, a Dominican. Maryks tries to show, however, that the widespread adoption of probabilism by the second generation of Jesuits stands in marked contrast to the profound tutioristic tendencies in the writings of the first Jesuits. Moreover, the overall aim of this book is to demonstrate that the Jesuit turn towards moral probabilism from the late sixteenth century onwards must be explained by the influence of Cicero and the liberal arts on Jesuit thought in general. There is a fundamental divide between the tutioristic attitude of the first generations of Jesuits and the probabilistic approach by subsequent Jesuits, says Maryks, because the latter were ‘rooted in the classical rhetoric promoted by Renaissance Humanism’ (p. 3). An attempt to articulate this rather uncommon argument is made in a reader- friendly essay composed of five small chapters. The first chapter highlights the Jesuits’ concern for the sacrament of confession and the consolation of souls, as expressed in the foundational document Formula instituti (1540). It also includes a useful census of 39 Jesuit authors who, taken together, published 58 different penitential handbooks between 1554 and 1650. The second chapter focuses on Juan Alfonso de Polanco’s Directory for confessors, the first Jesuit manual for confessors. It was decisive in promoting tutiorism among the Jesuits from its publication in 1554 until its decline in the 1590s. As Maryks has it, ‘the mathema- tician Pascal’s words, “Je ne me contente pas du probable, je cherche le seur [sic]” could have been very well Loyola’s, Polanco’s or Laínez’s’ (p. 70). It is maintained that the Aristotelian/Thomistic framework of the Directory helps to explain its tutioristic overtone. The same deference to Aristotle and Thomas is said to have determined the alleged tutiorism inherent in the Constitutions of the Society of Jesus. In sum, ‘the tutioristic mindset of Loyola and the first Jesuits was deeply shaped by the prophetic “culture of Jerusalem”’ (p. 75). It is claimed that the revolution of probabilism could only have taken place because of the infiltration of the ‘culture of Athens’ into Jesuit thought. A modest attempt at describing this process is made in the third chapter. Originally, the foundational documents did not include the ministry of education at colleges and uni- versities. From the actual foundation of the college at Messina in 1548 onwards, however, educational efforts required an ever growing engagement by the Jesuit professors with the classics and the liberal arts. A synoptic study of three subsequent editions of the Ratio Studiorum (1586, 1591, 1599) is supposed to demonstrate the gradual turn from tutiorism to probabilism in the Jesuit order in connection with their involvement in education. This revolution is chiefly ascribed to the influence of Cicero, ‘to whom they assigned a “sacred” place in their classes’ (p. 88). Cicero’s epistemological acceptance of probability rather than absolute truth in line with Pyrrhonistic skepticism is pointed out as a main factor in the adoption of probabilism. Maryks notes a strong resemblance between the procedure that

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Cicero describes for an ideal orator to follow in trying to persuade his audience by probable opinions, on the one hand, and the probabilistic method prescribed in the Ratio Studiorum for Jesuit professors to follow in dealing with cases of conscience, on the other (p. 101). This seems to be one of the major original conclusions to be drawn from this book. Chapter four is less interesting as it merely repeats what other scholars have already written about the probabilistic attitude of Bartolomé de Medina, Gabriel Vázquez and Francisco Suárez. Unfortunately, the same holds true of chapter five, which describes the well-known Jansenist attack on Jesuit probabilism and the rise of probabilioristic tendencies in Jesuit ethics in the later seventeenth century, notably with Tirso González de Santalla. Sometimes there is no avoiding a feeling that the argument lacks precision and consistency. For example, while suggesting at one point that the Jesuits’ original conservatism in ethics could be explained by their Jewish background (p. 5), a little further on the converso Manuel Sá is – rightly – mentioned as a main representative of Jesuit probabilism (p. 10). Typically, ‘medieval tutiorism’ is opposed as a fixed couple of terms to ‘modern probabilism’ (p. 146), while a few lines higher and throughout the book it is shown that there were as many probabilistic tendencies in the Middle Ages as there were tutioristic lines of thought in Modern Times. The first Jesuits are reported to have been imbued with a tutioristic spirit. Yet, at the same time, the most renowned document of pristine Jesuit spirituality, the Spiritual Exercices, is held to contain an embryonic form of probabilism (p. 81). The cult of Loyola by Polanco and Nadal, amongst others, is said to have had a possibly negative effect on the engagement of the first Jesuits with culture and academic teaching (p. 76); still, Polanco and Nadal are held on the next page to have been well trained in theology and familiar with Renaissance Humanism. Embarrassingly, in misreading a crucial passage from Bartolomé de Medina, the ‘magisterial rule’ is said to coincide with the rule that in doubtful cases the lot of the owner should be preferred (p. 117, note 31). In fact, for the scholastics, the ‘magisterial rule’ is exactly the principal tutioristic rule, stating that in case of doubt the safer course of action must be followed. The rule taken from Roman and canon law that in doubtful cases the lot of the owner should be preferred, on the other hand, is the most original expression of probabilism… One might also wonder why the moral theological treatises On Justice and Right by famous Jesuits such as Luis de Molina, Leonardus Lessius and Juan de Lugo have been excluded from the census of penitential handbooks, even though they addressed themselves expressly to confessors. Incidentally, it is a pity that no use has been made of former attempts to classify and order the massive amount of penitential literature in the early modern period, notably H. Braun and E. Val- lance (eds.), Contexts of Conscience in Early Modern Europe, 1500-1700, Lon- don, 2004. Moreover, it seems odd in a book on probabilism to give an overview of Jesuit penitential handbooks, while omitting the task of making a census of Jesuit commentaries on Thomas’s Primae Secundae. After all, that was the locus classicus for all theologians, including the Jesuits, to expound their theoretical views on the doubtful conscience and moral probabilism. More regrettable, however, is the absence of any reference to the recent two- volume standard work on the history of probabilism by R. Schüssler: Moral im Zweifel, Paderborn, Band I: Die scholastische Theorie des Entscheidens unter moralischer Unsicherheit, 2003, and Band II: Die Herausforderung des Probabi- lismus, 2006. Maryks’s argument could have gained in strength considerably, if

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only it had confronted Schüssler’s thorough analysis of the juridification of early modern moral theology as the main explanatory factor behind the rise of moral probabilism. It is difficult to imagine how Maryks would have squared his elusive thesis about Cicero’s role as a catalyst in the rise of probabilism with Schüssler’s profound analysis of the radically juridical foundations of moral probabilism. This is a lost opportunity, for the conclusions that can be drawn from Schüssler’s research seem to be at odds with Maryks’s chief hypothesis. As regards Cicero, for instance, Schüssler shows that in his work on ethics, De officiis, Cicero held the same ‘conservative’ tenets as Augustine and the Medi- eval tutiorists, namely that one should prefer the sure to the doubtful course of action. This interpretation goes radically against Maryks’s hypothesis. Inciden- tally, Schüssler’s view seems to be confirmed by an analysis of the way very concrete cases of consciences were dealt with by the Jesuits. As has been demonstrated in Lessius and the Breakdown of the Scholastic Paradigm, in Journal of the History of Economic Thought 31 (2009) 57-78, Molina and Lessius expressly refuted Cicero’s analysis of the ‘Merchant of Rhodes’ in order to defend the ‘pro- gressive’ standpoint that making profits on the basis of asymmetric information is licit. Humanist writers like Caspar Barlaeus, on the other hand, were unable to take this accomodating view, precisely because they wished to remain true to the rigorist ideas of Cicero. Ironically, Maryks mentions the case of the Merchant of Rhodes as a testimony to the Ciceronian influence on the Jesuit probabilists (p. 77). It is true enough that the Jesuits were very familiar with Cicero, but that does not mean that they adopted his ethical viewpoints altogether. To conclude with, Maryks’s is a must-read book for intellectual historians, historians of moral theology, and researchers in the field of Jesuit studies. These scholars will remain unconvinced by its thesis, however, as long as it does not deal with the conclusions about the juridical origins of moral probabilism that can be drawn from Schüssler’s magnum opus. Generally speaking, this book falls short of expectations. Typically, the reader is warned in the midst of chapter four that ‘despite the title of this chapter [The genealogy of Jesuit probabilism], tracing the exact genealogy of Jesuit probabilism, however, is not the major purpose of the present work.’ (p. 112) This book, then, creates a lot of expectations only to leave its reader tantalized. The argument about a Ciceronian influence on the Jesuits’ adoption of probabilism is appealing, but it should be made more robust. It seems beyond doubt, therefore, that following traditional interpretations of the rise of probabilism is still the safer course of action. W. DECOCK

Jean-François GALINIER-PALLEROLA. La résignation dans la culture catholique (1870-1945). Préface par Claude BRESSOLETTE. Postface par Gérard CHOLVY (Histoire). Paris, Cerf, 2007. (23,5×14,5), III-497 p. ISBN 978-2-204-08285-3. /49.00.

G.-P. a «entrepris une enquête approfondie pour comprendre l’évolution des mentalités catholiques. Comment, en moins de cent ans, depuis la guerre franco- prussienne de 1870 à la Seconde Guerre mondiale, est-on passé d’une insistance sur la résignation à un quasi rejet?» (p. I). Son ouvrage se compose de trois parties:

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«La résignation dans les lettres de carême des évêques» (pp. 31-128), «La rési- gnation dans la vie privée» (pp. 129-280) et «La résignation dans la vie sociale» (pp. 281-414). Pour les évêques, «se résigner, c’est accepter librement et volon- tairement les souffrances et les épreuves, du reste inévitables, que Dieu envoie aux hommes et qui deviennent alors utiles au salut éternel» (p. 43). Très diversi- fiés, les discours épiscopaux ne sont pas non plus sans contenir certaines ambi- guïtés. Ils ne distinguent pas suffisamment le plan individuel et le plan collectif, ils témoignent souvent d’une conception simpliste de la toute-puissance et de l’omniscience de Dieu: «rien ne se produit», disent-ils, «que Dieu ne veuille ou, du moins, ne permette» (p. 126). Les réalités terrestres s’y trouvent dévalorisées au profit des réalités surnaturelles et des récompenses de l’au-delà. Dans la deuxième partie du livre, la plus importante à nos yeux, G.P. s’efforce de saisir de près la mentalité des chrétiens «ordinaires». Il a rassemblé à cette fin une très riche documentation. Il y expose notamment les résultats de son enquête dans les romans de jeunesse parus vers la fin du XIXe siècle tant chez Hachette (maison d’édition de tendance laïque) que chez Mame (catholique). Dans ces derniers, s’il a observé «surtout dans les personnages féminins, un comportement résigné devant la souffrance, les revers de fortune et toutes les épreuves de la vie privée». Aussi forment-ils à ses yeux «un maillon dans la culture catholique du sacrifice et du dolorisme moral et spirituel amplement développée par les auteurs de livres de théologie, de spiritualité, de sermons, de catéchismes et de cantiques» (p. 269). Il tient néanmoins à mettre en garde contre des généralisations trop massives: «des voix dissidentes», dit-il, «se font entendre, principalement dans la génération des années 20-40 sans parvenir à formuler un discours alternatif global». Il cite à titre exemplatif le projet humain «intégral» proposé par Maritain et la vue synthétique développée par Teilhard de Chardin «à partir de l’idée d’un monde qui se construit comme un arbre qui grandit» (p. 271). Quant à l’attitude des catholiques devant les questions de société, G.P. estime qu’elle se situe pour une très large part dans «une position conservatrice, tant en ce qui concerne les conflits des classes que les conflits internationaux et le respect des lois» (p. 285). L’encyclique Rerum novarum (1891) de Léon XIII a inauguré en cette matière une époque nouvelle. Mais, pendant plusieurs années encore, l’ouverture ainsi créée ne sera pas explorée, «le clergé n’a pas songé, ou pris le risque, de l’interpréter comme une invitation à développer le jugement moral des fidèles laïcs, pour leur permettre de faire eux-mêmes un choix éclairé, au lieu de se remettre à l’autorité de leurs pasteurs» (p. 328). Il a fallu attendre «les années 20 à 30» avant que la doctrine sociale de l’Église ne «pénètre effectivement dans la prédication» (p. 394). G.P. estime pouvoir conclure: «Par le biais de la résignation nous avons mon- tré comment les catholiques français passent d’un système de pensée à un autre, à partir du même donné révélé et de la même tradition» (p. 418). D’un contenu très dense et d’une lecture souvent passionnante le livre est le fruit d’une thèse soutenue à la Faculté de théologie de l’Institut catholique de Toulouse. A. VANNESTE

Mathias NEBEL. La catégorie morale de péché structurel: Essai systéma- tique (Cogitatio fidei, 252). Paris, Cerf, 2006. (21,5×13,5), 597 p. ISBN 2-204-08088-8. /45.00.

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Les termes péché de structure et structure de péché se sont répandus surtout à partir des Conférences de l’épiscopat latino-américain à Medellin (1968) et à Puebla (1979), qui ont dénoncé vigoureusement les situations d’injustice sociale dont sont victimes les populations de l’Amérique du Sud. Ils ne sont toutefois pas sans poser des problèmes d’ordre théologique. Quel péché peut commettre une structure? Com- ment un péché peut-il être structurel? Tout péché n’est il pas personnel? Dans une première partie (pp. 27-141), l’A. examine deux types de structures de péché: d’une part, l’appareil de répression brésilien durant les années de dictature militaire (1964- 1979) et, d’autre part, les structures occultes de corruption des marchés publics mises au jour par les juges du parquet de Milan au début des années 1990 lors de l’enquête «Mani pulite». Il étudie ensuite dans une deuxième partie deux éléments d’histoire relatifs au concept de structure de pensée (pp. 147-260). Il y examine d’abord les développements de la question dans le magistère (pp. 147-192), concrè- tement dans les Conférences générales de l’épiscopat latino-américain et dans les documents du magistère universel. Il trouve que la situation sociale y est encore pensée «à partir de l’individu, c’est-à-dire à partir de la personne comme sujet de moralité … ce schéma d’analyse», estime-t-il, «peine à intégrer un agir social où l’entreprise commune, composée d’une multitude d’interactions, est fondamenta- lement ouverte et inachevée» (p. 192). L’A. pense pouvoir clarifier la question en examinant «l’emploi de l’analogie dans la formalisation de la notion de péché» (pp. 193-260). La pensée théologique, dit-il, s’est vue obligée «de passer par l’analogie pour parler du péché» (p. 201). C’est ce qui l’amène à examiner dans cette optique la doctrine d’Abélard et de Thomas d’Aquin ainsi que les conceptions modernes de péché telles que celles de Rahner, de Schoonenberg et de Balthasar. La troisième partie, la plus longue et la plus importante, s’intitule «une systéma- tique du péché structurel» (pp. 260-562). L’A. y explique d’abord ce qu’il en appelle les présupposés, c’est-à-dire une phénoménologie du fait institutionnel qui précise le rapport existant entre personnes et institutions (pp. 265-327), une théologie narrative qui analyse le concept de «péché commun» selon l’ancienne et la nouvelle Alliance (pp. 329-410) ainsi qu’un essai de définition formelle du péché (inspiré concrètement par celle de Balthasar) (pp. 411-476). C’est sur cette large base qu’il s’efforce alors de définir ce qu’est à ses yeux «la catégorie morale de péché structurel» (pp. 477- 562). Le péché structurel est, dit-il, «l’actualisation de la rupture du péché par la communauté rassemblée dans une interaction instituée» (p. 565). Il tient à distin- guer les expressions structure de péché et péché structurel. La première désigne le caractère objectif de la rupture du péché; la deuxième, le caractère subjectif de cette rupture: le péché structurel est un péché commun, personnel et actuel. L’ouvrage est une thèse présentée le 3 juin 2003 à la Faculté de théologie de l’Université de Fribourg (premier censeur: Prof. R. Berhouzoz). A. VANNESTE

Johan VERSTRAETEN (ed.). Scrutinizing the Signs of the Times in the Light of the Gospel (Bibliotheca Ephemeridum Theologicarum Lovaniensium, 208). Leuven, University Press – Peeters, 2007. (24×16), X-334 p. ISBN 978-90-5867-635-1. /74.00.

Ce volume est le résultat d’un séminaire inter-universitaire organisé pour étu- dier et mesurer l’impact qu’a encore la Constitution Pastorale du Concile Vatican

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II, Gaudium et Spes, promulguée il y a un peu plus de 40 ans, au niveau de la vie ecclésiale et des documents qui émanent de la hiérarchie catholique. Le séminaire s’est déroulé en deux temps. Le premier se penchait essentiellement sur la pensée sociale de l’Église dans le contexte actuel de la globalisation. Il y est apparu que le défi est de clarifier ce que signifie aujourd’hui analyser les signes des temps à la lumière de l’Évangile, et de voir quelles peuvent en être les implications pratiques et théoriques. Le second volet du séminaire, organisé juste avant les commémorations de 2005 pour GS, a donné lieu à des discussions qui constituent le background du présent volume. Celui-ci se présente au lecteur en six parties proposant chacune des contributions sur un aspect particulier. Après une première partie introductive présentant une vue rétrospective sur le document conciliaire, la deuxième partie pose les bases pour une analyse des signes des temps (à la lumière de l’évangile, de la théologie de H.U. von Balthasar et de la pratique jésuite), alors que la troisième et la quatrième parties se penchent respectivement sur la post- modernité et le contexte socio-politique. La cinquième partie envisage des cas concrets, en particulier la vie familiale et professionnelle. Le volume se clôt sur un commentaire critique (6e partie). Pour des raisons d’espace et d’homogénéité propres au volume, toutes les contributions n’y ont pas été publiées, mais elles sont accessibles sur le net à l’adresse http://www.kuleuven.be/ccst. E. DI PEDE

François MOOG. Accueillir ceux qui frappent à la porte de l’Église: La grâce de la reconnaissance (Le point catéchèse). Paris, Le Sénevé – ISPC, 2009. (21×14), 161 p. ISBN 2-35770-016-1. /15.00.

Directeur de l’ISPC (Institut Supérieur de Pastorale Catéchétique) de l’Institut Catholique de Paris, François MOOG livre dans cet ouvrage ses réflexions sur une des dimensions du nouveau rapport entre l’Église catholique et la société fran- çaise: l’accueil des personnes désirant entrer dans cette Église ou y revenir après une longue période de prise de distance. Il s’agit à l’origine d’une conférence prononcée lors du grand congrès Ecclesia 2007 à Lourdes, rassemblant sept mille personnes (conférence reproduite en annexe dans le livre, pp. 143-157, ce dont on peut douter de l’utilité). Cet événement est considéré par les analystes de la question religieuse en France comme une sorte de moment fort dans le processus inauguré et voulu par la Lettre aux catholiques de France: Proposer la foi dans la société actuelle (1996). À la suite des réactions à sa conférence, François MOOG a repris et développé sa réflexion. La ligne directrice de l’ouvrage est la dimension primordiale de l’accueil dans tout processus de prise de contact d’une personne avec l’Église. L’auteur essaie de développer des fondements théologiques à ce qui pourrait seulement paraître comme une conviction de bon sens. Il retient la notion de reconnaissance, en se basant sur des écrits de Paul Ricœur (2004). Processus d’identification dans le respect de l’altérité, la reconnaissance passe par trois moments: identifier, se reconnaître soi-même et se reconnaître mutuellement. Mais cela ne suffit pas. «Dans le cas de la rencontre avec ceux qui frappent à la porte de l’Église, il s’agit de dépasser la perspective d’une reconnaissance mutuelle pour explorer les fondements d’un principe de reconnaissance en régime chrétien» (p. 25). François

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MOOG propose une réflexion en trois temps: la place centrale de la reconnaissance dans le mystère de la foi (pp. 27-59); «comment la reconnaissance fait entrer dans l’expérience chrétienne dont elle procède» (pp. 61-89); des conséquences ecclé- siologiques de cette reconnaissance (pp. 91-130). Écrit dans un style alerte et illustré dans la 3e partie par plusieurs schémas très éclairants, ce livre est une contribution utile aux réflexions et recherches les plus brûlantes sur l’avenir du catholicisme européen, ici réduit à la situation parti- culière de la France. A. JOIN-LAMBERT

Denis VILLEPELET. Les défis de la transmission dans une société complexe. Nouvelles problématiques catéchétiques. Préface de Jacques AUDI- NET (Théologie à l’Université). Paris, Desclée de Brouwer, 2009. (23,5×15), 457 p. ISBN 978-2-220-06132-0. /35.00.

Cet ouvrage fait suite à la thèse sur travaux soutenue par l’auteur en 2007; elle fonde et articule la réflexion catéchétique de l’ancien directeur de l’Institut Supérieur de Pastorale Catéchétique (ISPC, ICP) en développant particulièrement l’argumentation philosophique. L’ouvrage se divise en trois parties, dont la première s’intitule: «Les enjeux actuels de l’action catéchétique. Réflexion fondamentale sur la catéchèse comme praxis communicationnelle». Partant de l’actuelle crise du croire, l’auteur souligne le paradoxe anthropologique de l’acte de croire: le «pour l’autre» qu’il engage requiert un dépassement éthique de la logique spontanée de l’intéressement. Reli- sant le «procès de l’amour» vécu par Jésus, l’auteur montre que la foi chrétienne est redoublement de ce paradoxe: en prêchant un messie crucifié, elle s’appuie sur le mouvement de l’acte de croire tout en le «[transmuant] vers sa vérité sa plus radicale qui est l’amour» (p. 93). Ce redoublement ne peut être découvert de façon réflexive et est le fruit du don gratuit de Dieu qui ressuscite Jésus. La foi chré- tienne est donc une proposition kérygmatique – celle de la foi pascale – qui rejoint une dynamique anthropologique – celle de l’acte de croire, ce qui conduit à défi- nir la catéchèse «comme un arc tendu qui relie de façon dialogique deux dynami- ques» (p. 101). La nécessité de proposer et d’exposer cette «surabondance divine» conduit Denis Villepelet à établir que l’enjeu de la catéchèse est de «donner la parole à la Parole», dans une perspective de communication (et non d’information). Cela fait de la catéchèse un agir communicationnel. S’en référant à Aristote qui place la praxis (action) entre la poïesis (production) et la théoria (théorie) et suivant Hannah Arendt et Paul Ricœur, il montre que la praxis ne se réduit pas à la production parce qu’elle est en elle-même un espace d’initiative, de persé- vérance et de risque. Il en tire les conséquences pour la praxis catéchétique: la regarder comme un faire praxéologique la situe du côté de la production soit comme l’application d’une théorie, alors que la considérer comme une praxis communicationnelle transforme ses relations à la poïesis pédagogique et à la théologie car en tant qu’action, elle «est un vrai lieu théologique». Elle a besoin du travail théologique pour «sonder et consolider [la] pertinence» de ses engage- ments et de ses innovations, et son apport donne à la théorie de vérifier la vérité de ses propositions dans leurs effets pratiques (p. 168). Cette première partie fonde

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philosophiquement et théologiquement l’option kérygmatique de l’auteur, tout en situant celle-ci au sein d’une catéchèse envisagée dans une perspective dialogique qui prend au sérieux les différents partenaires de la communication. La deuxième partie a pour titre «La catéchèse aux prises avec la complexité. Mise en place philosophique de la notion de paradigme». Le deuxième élément du titre précise l’objectif visé. L’auteur commence par montrer que l’approche complexe des réalités actuellement pratiquée dans le monde scientifique permet de sortir des dichotomies de la pensée analytique pour une organisation plus dialogique de la pensée. Cette façon d’aborder la réalité qui met les éléments en relation échappe à la tentation de simplifier le réel et à celle de la pensée unique. Dans un deuxième temps, il démontre l’intérêt du recours à la philosophie en catéchétique: l’appel aux sciences humaines en théologie pratique a conduit à la confrontation de différentes rationalités à l’égard desquelles la démarche philosophique offre une prise de distance, ouvrant par là au dialogue. Par ailleurs, la complexification des savoirs invite «à privilégier une raison plus communicationnelle et herméneutique qu’instrumentale et explicative» (p. 275) qui compte sur tous les partenaires pour éclairer la réflexion selon le but commun de la recherche. L’approche complexe de la réalité et le recours à différentes approches épistémo- logiques (Kuhn et Morin) conduisent à l’auteur à élaborer la notion de paradigme catéchétique: on peut le définir comme une construction systémique qui rassemble des pratiques exemplaires et des clés de lecture théoriques et qui permet de réfléchir et d’orienter la pratique. Ce parcours philosophique aboutit donc à l’élaboration d’un outil au service de la réflexion catéchétique qui sauvegarde le caractère tran- chant, critique, de la foi pascale tout en s’inscrivant dans une approche complexe de la réalité. La troisième partie de l’ouvrage est intitulée «Présentation analytique et systé- mique des paradigmes catéchétiques. Modélisation». L’introduction présente les différents champs impliqués dans chacun des trois paradigmes: le champ anthropologique, le champ ecclésiologique, le champ pédagogique, le champ sociologi- que et le champ catéchétique. Il présente ensuite champ par champ les variations de paramètres paradigmatiques; l’analyse met particulièrement en avant comment un paramètre n’est jamais exclusif des deux autres, ce qui en fait saisir le caractère systémique. Dans un second temps, l’auteur s’arrête à la conception de la «fides quae» dans chacun des paradigmes et au modèle pédagogique qui en découle. À la «fides quae» conçue comme doctrine correspond la pédagogie d’enseignement du premier paradigme: la catéchèse est dès lors exposition organique de la «fides quae». À la «fides quae» comme message répond la pédagogie d’appropriation du deuxième paradigme: la catéchèse est ici mouvement de maturation de la foi. Ce dernier chapitre s’arrête plus largement à la «fides quae» proposée comme médiation et reliée à l’idée de bain de vie chrétienne dans le troisième paradigme. «C’est la foi pascale vécue dans toutes ses dimensions en Église et par l’Église qui est la médiation ou le milieu de maturation de la ‘fides qua’» (p. 426), ce qui fait de la catéchèse d’initiation «l’apprentissage de toute la vie chrétienne». L’ouvrage se conclut sur un appel à poursuivre la recherche-action catéchétique afin de transmettre le trésor de la foi d’une façon qui réponde à la culture de ce monde complexe. S’il nous a paru important de passer en revue les grandes articulations l’ouvrage majeur, c’est parce que l’auteur y propose «un vision, des critères et des perspectives d’action, élaborés et confrontés à l’expérience» (préface de Jacques Audinet,

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p. 16). Cette réflexion structurée et argumentée bonifie l’apport de Denis Ville- pelet à la théologie catéchétique car elle permet d’éprouver le bien-fondé de ses propositions et offre par son argumentation un espace de dialogue avec d’autres visions. C. CHEVALIER

Georges-Henri RUYSSEN s.j. Eucharistie et œcuménisme: Évolution de la normativité universelle et comparaison avec certaines normes par- ticulières. Canon 844/CIC et 671/CCEO (Droit canonique). Paris, Cerf, 2008. (21,5×13,5), 822 p. ISBN 978-2-204-08554-0. /48.00.

Jésuite belge, professeur de droit canonique oriental à l’Institut pontifical oriental de Rome, G.-H. R. est docteur en droit canonique de la Grégorienne; c’est sans doute le fruit de sa thèse qui nous est livré ici, bien que rien n’en soit dit explicitement. L’étude fouillée est essentiellement de nature canonique et porte sur la communicatio in sacris dans le Code latin (c. 844) et dans le Code des Églises orientales catholiques (c. 671). Ces deux codifications ont pris en compte les textes majeurs de Vatican II en la matière, en particulier le Décret sur l’œcumé- nisme Redintegratio unitatis (no 8, 15, 22) et le Directoire œcuménique de 1967. En 1993 un second Directoire a paru, qui suit l’évolution et offre de nouvelles possibilités. Le livre comporte trois chapitres: «Terminologie et fondements» (Chap. 1, p. 21-125). La terminologie de l’intercommunion est d’abord proposée, ensuite les positions des diverses confessions chrétiennes qu’on peut présenter schémati- quement comme suit: «communion fermée» (refus de l’intercommunion) pour les Églises orientales non catholiques; «communion ouverte» pour les communautés ecclésiales de la Réforme (offre généralisée d’intercommunion); communion «limitée», «graduelle», «conditionnée» pour l’Église catholique, sur base des deux principes de U.R. 8 (la communion eucharistique est intimement liée à la communion ecclésiale; faire participer aux sacrements, moyens de grâce). «Nor- mativité post-conciliaire universelle en matière de Communicatio in sacris» (Chap. 2, p. 127-533). Les normes générales ou universelles de l’Église catholique sont présentées, notamment grâce à l’étude serrée des canons 844/CIC et 671/ CCEO: la tension entre les deux principes mentionnés ci-dessus est au cœur du débat. Toutefois, l’évolution aidant, la foi des individus en l’eucharistie, les positions des confessions chrétiennes en matière ecclésiologique et sacramentelle, les nécessités pastorales et spirituelles des fidèles auront de plus en plus de place. Les différences de positions doctrinales et les sensibilités sont toutefois considé- rables entre les Églises orientales non catholiques et les communautés ecclésiales issues de la réforme. «Normativité particulière en matière de Communicatio in sacris» (Chap. 3, p. 535-719). Il revient aux conférences épiscopales et à chaque évêque d’établir des normes particulières, par mode de subsidiarité, pour rencon- trer les situations pastorales concrètes, tout en respectant les grandes lignes des normes universelles. Bien des pays ont déjà réalisé pareil travail: ces normes sont qualifiées par l’auteur de «prudentes» (France et Suisse), «libérales» (Afrique du Sud), «pastorales» (Australie), «doctrinales» (Royaume Uni et Irlande). Il n’est pas question pour les diocèses catholiques de s’engager dans une «communion

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ouverte» ou de proclamer une «invitation générale» à la communion qui obscur- cirait le principe de la significatio unitatis (la pleine communion sacramentelle suppose la pleine communion ecclésiale), mais de sérieux besoins spirituels peuvent/doivent être pris en compte, de sorte qu’on évolue aujourd’hui d’une communicatio in sacris exceptionnelle à une autre qui peut même être «répétable». Ce travail n’est pas facile à suivre pour des non canonistes, mais il touche des questions pastorales importantes et il présente une documentation considérable. Il a aussi le mérite de clarifier le vocabulaire et les principes en tension dans cette douloureuse question. Il est source d’espérance, car des progrès sont réalisés dans la marche vers l’unité au sein de toutes les Églises et communautés ecclésiales. Des schémas et documents sont donnés en annexe, ainsi qu’une bibliographie. Un seul regret: les 1.812 notes de l’ouvrage sont isolées du texte et proposées en fin de chaque chapitre, ce qui rend la consultation difficile. A. HAQUIN

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