BOOK NOTICES

The intention of these book notices is very simple: to draw attention to new spiritua- lity books that could be of interest to readers of Studies in Spirituality. Henk Rutten, the librarian and information manager of the Titus Brandsma Institute, lists here some fifty titles with short descriptions. They are not meant to be comprehensive and in-depth book reviews.

Alfeyev, , St. Symeon the New Theologian and Orthodox Tradition, Oxford [etc.]: Oxford University Press, 2000 (Oxford Early Christian Studies), XIII, 338 pages, ISBN 0-19-827009-7. This book is a study of the mystical nature of tradition, and the traditional nature of , and of St. Symeon as both a highly personal and very traditional ecclesiasti- cal writer. The teachings of St. Symeon (949-1022) created much controversy in Byzan- tium and even led to a short-lived exile to Asia Minor in 1009. For the first time in modern scholarship these teachings are examined from within the tradition to which both St. Symeon and the author belong.

Benke, Christoph, Die Gabe der Tränen: Zur Tradition und Theologie eines vergessenen Kapitels der Glaubensgeschichte, Würzburg: Echter, 2002 (Studien zur systematischen und spirituellen Theologie, Band 35), XII, 446 pages, ISBN 3-429-02416-1. Feelings are more and more in the centre of attention lately. The phenomenon of cry- ing is an elementary expression of the feelings. Tears are an eminent place for the emer- gence of man’s greatness as well as his vulnerability. In the history of Christian faith the ‘gift of tears’ is a neglected chapter, for which there is a rich, until now hardly discussed religious-theological tradition available. This book brings up a basic draft for a ‘science of tears’ with the help of testimonies of spiritual tradition from different periods in history. The theological reflection founded upon this shows, that the ‘way of tears’ is in no way dark, but that it opens the door to resurrection in this life. The gift of tears is an expression of the redemption, which moves the believer, even into his corporality. By weeping life lands salutarily in a flow. Tears are grace made corporeal, sign of the hea- ling attention of God. Insofar this book deals with a piece of concrete soteriology.

Berger, Klaus, Was ist biblische Spiritualität?, Gütersloh: Quell, 2000, 245 pages, ISBN 3-579-03308-5. From the point of view of the New Testament contact with heaven is the only meaning of spirituality and mysticism. The author shows ways to discover the bible once again as the source of this spirituality. Jesus prays in solitude at night and celebrates with the people during the day. His connection with heaven awakens messianic joy. Jesus’ pas- sion and Paul’s path of life show, that contact with God can also mean obedience and 334 BOOK NOTICES suffering, but joy is central. This joy, a gift of the Holy Ghost, is until this day the cen- tre of all Christian spirituality. The author tries to uncover the spiritual treasures of the bible for faith and life again and to understand the roots of spirituality and mysticism.

Buckley, Thomas, Standing Ground: Yurok Indian Spirituality, 1850-1990, Berkeley (CA) [etc.]: University of California Press, 2002, XII, 325 pages, ISBN 0-520-23358-1 (hbk), 0-520-23389-1 (pbk). This account of spiritual training and practice within an American Indian social net- work emphasizes narrative over analysis. The author’s foregrounding of Yurok narratives creates one major level of dialogue in an innovative ethnography that features dialogue as its central theoretical trope. He places himself in conversation with contemporary Yurok friends and elders, with written texts, and with twentieth-century anthropology as well. He describes Yurok Indian spirituality as ‘a significant field in which individual and society meet in dialogue – cooperating, resisting, negotiating, changing each other in manifold ways. “Culture”, here, is not a thing but a process, an emergence through time’.

Burkhardt, Margaret A. and Mary Gail Nagai-Jacobson, Spirituality: Living Our Con- nectedness, Albany (NY): Delmar, 2002, XVIII, 380 pages, ISBN 0-7668-2082-3. This book is designed to assist participating nurses and students in developing confi- dence and competence in integrating spirituality into their practice. Users are encoura- ged to address and nurture their own spirituality and recognize spirituality in everyday life as a means of effectively assessing the spiritual concerns of their patients. This work discusses methods of heightening spirituality such as prayer, meditation and mindful- ness; bodywork, touch and movement; rest and leisure; music and ritual; and play and creativity, that can be applied both personally and professionally.

Caner, Daniel, Wandering, Begging Monks: Spiritual Authority and the Promotion of Monasticism in Late Antiquity, Berkeley (CA) [etc.]: University of California Press, 2002 (The transformation of the Classical Heritage; 33), XIV, 325 pages, ISBN 0-520- 23324-7. An apostolic lifestyle characterized by total material renunciation, homelessness, and begging was practiced by monks throughout the Roman Empire in the fourth and fifth centuries. Such monks often served as spiritual advisors to urban aristocrats whose patronage gave them considerable authority and independence from episcopal control. This book is the first comprehensive study of this type of Christian poverty and the challenge it posed for episcopal authority and the promotion of monasticism in late antiquity. Focusing on devotional practices, the author draws together diverse testimony from Egypt, Syria, Asia Minor, and elsewhere to reveal gospel-inspired patterns of asce- tic dependency and teaching from the third to the fifth centuries. Throughout, his point of departure is social and cultural history, especially the urban social history of the late Roman empire. BOOK NOTICES 335

Cazzulani, Guglielmo, Quelli che amano conoscono Dio: La teologia della spiritualità cristiana di Giovanni Moioli (1931-1984), Milano, Glossa, 2002 (Dissertatio SR 35), 402 pages, ISBN 88-7105-143-2. Although he passed away after a short life, don Giovanni Moioli (1931-1984) was a lea- ding figure in the field of modern Italian theology. In the short lapse of thirty years of tea- ching, he left a rich academic production with regard to different fields of theological reflection. Jesus of Nazareth, the hope, the fourth sacrament, spirituality… attracted his attention. This publication is presenting reflections of Moioli concerning Christian spiri- tuality. Since this expert of Milan was attracted to this field of research from the begin- ning of his academic career, the result is very fruitful. We can find here an interesting pro- posal to rethink the epistomological principles of spiritual theology, an argument that during a long period remained rather left aside but discussed at length at the moment.

Chase, Steven, Angelic Spirituality: Medieval Perspectives on the Ways of Angels, New York [etc.]: Paulist Press, 2002 (The Classics of Western Spirituality), XXIII, 375 pages, ISBN 0-8091-0513-6 (cloth), 0-8091-3948-0 (paper). What is it about angels that so fascinates us, inspires us and makes us want to know more about them? In this work the author introduces readers to the rich and varied tra- dition of angels in the lives of men and women. Drawing on works from a variety of medieval writers from roughly the 4th to the 13th centuries, he explores the extensive landscape of angels in medieval Christian devotion and, for the benefit of modern rea- ders, retrieves a very rich vein in the Christian spiritual tradition. Section One explores issues in angelic spirituality ranging from metaphysical speculation to practical, forma- tive, devotional and contemplative themes as developed in the works of, among others, Augustine, and Gregory the Great. Section Two offers selections from medieval commentaries that explore angelic spirituality in the light of symbolic theology, the moral life, contemplation, aesthetics and mystical consciousness.

Connor, Peter Tracey, Georges Bataille and the Mysticism of Sin, Baltimore (MD) [etc.]: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2000, XII, 198 pages, ISBN 0-8018-6268-X (hbk), 0-8018-7735-0 (pbk). In this book, the author argues that literary scholars have tended to neglect or misunder- stand Bataille’s interest in mysticism. This study corrects this distorted view of Bataille, giving us a more complete picture of the complex and influential writer. With careful attention to Bataille’s historical and intellectual context, the author raises many important questions: What drew Bataille to the mystics? How did he conceive of their thought in relation to his own? And what is the connection between mysticism and morality? This last question raises an especially interesting issue for Bataille, an atheist whom readers generally associate with images of transgression and sin. Through examination of Batail- le’s writings the author shows the surprising connection between Bataille’s mysticism and his sense of personal and political ethics. Mysticism, the author argues, lies at the heart of Bataille’s double identity as an intellectual and as a kind of anarchic prophet. 336 BOOK NOTICES

Crossing Boundaries: Ethics in the History of Mysticism / edited by G. William Barnard and Jeffrey Kripal, New York [etc.]: Seven Bridges Press, 2002, 471 pages, ISBN 1- 88911-925-3. The contemporary study of religion has witnessed a consistent interest in and concern about the relationship between the unitive, ascetic, and ecstatic tendencies of mystical traditions and the more mundane but ethically pressing realms of society, custom, and civilized life. What, if anything, does the mystical have to do with the ethical? Is mysti- cism, with its consistent emphasis on union or communion, the very source of ethical feelings and intuitions? Or can this same unity just as easily become the ontological basis for a kind of ethical nihilism? Why do mystical traditions so often dramatically cross the ethical boundaries set up by a particular society? The present volume explores such issues anew through a series of essays on the mystical traditions themselves (from Kabbalah to Chinese religion) and on some of the most pressing theoretical issues and theorists (from Bergson to Schuon) of the twentieth-century study of religion.

Davis, Stephen J., The Cult of Saint Thecla: A Tradition of Women’s Piety in Late Anti- quity, Oxford [etc.]: Oxford University Press, 2001 (Oxford Early Christian Studies), XIV, 288 pages, ISBN 0-19-827019-4. Thecla, a disciple of the apostle Paul, became perhaps the most celebrated female saint and ‘martyr’ among Christians in late antiquity. In the early church, Thecla’s example was associated with the piety of women – in particular, with women’s ministry and tra- vel. Devotion to Saint Thecla quickly spread throughout the Mediterranean world: her image was painted on walls of tombs, stamped on clay flasks and oil lamps, engraved on bronze crosses and wooden combs, and even woven into textile curtains. Bringing together literary, artistic, and archaeological evidence, often for the first time, the author here reconstructs the cult of Saint Thecla in Asia Minor and Egypt – the social practices, institutions, and artefacts that marked the lives of actual devotees. From this evidence he shows how the cult of this female saint remained closely linked with com- munities of women as a source of empowerment and a cause of controversy.

Evans, Gillian Rosemary, Bernard of Clairvaux, New York [etc.]: Oxford University Press, 2000 (Great medieval thinkers), VIII, 220 pages, ISBN 0-19-512525-8 hbk, 0- 19-512526-6 pbk. After a brief overview of Bernard’s life, the author focuses on the major themes in his work, including his theology of spirituality and his theology of the political life in Church. She examines the literary and structural elements of his work as a writer and speaker and discusses his theology of preaching. In addition, she shows how, in his pre- aching of (and subsequent apology for) the Second Crusade, his role in attempting to prevent academics from leading the faithful astray, and his encounters with popular history, Bernard figured as a significant forerunner of the thirteenth century and after. This book provides the only available general introduction to Bernard’s life and thought. BOOK NOTICES 337

Fox, Mark, Religion, Spirituality and the Near-Death Experience, London [etc.]: Rout- ledge, 2002, IX, 380 pages, ISBN 0-415-28830-4; 0-415-28831-2 pbk. Whether resuscitated in the emergency room, struck by lightening or rescued at sea, people snatched from the jaws of death have long reported uncanny or otherworldly phenomena. Survivors of these mystical and occasionally traumatic voyages repeat the same familiar stories; testimonies of tunnels and flowers and light, of hellish or heavenly visions. Where do people go during these encounters? What do they see? Why are their remarkable stories so often correlative? Are they persuasive evidence of life after physi- cal death?

Frömmigkeit im Mittelalter: politisch-soziale Kontexte, visuelle Praxis, körperliche Aus- drucksformen / herausgegeben von Klaus Schreiner in Zusammenarbeit mit Marc Müntz, München: Fink, 2002, 566 pages, ISBN 3-7705-3625-8. Christians in the Middle Ages were not only devout in order to find themselves a mer- ciful God, who will give them eternal life on Judgement Day. People were also devout, because they wanted to make certain, that they could count on the assistance of the heavenly powers, that will help them to find their way through daily life. Religion had a practical function. Commonly practised devotion should avert life-threatening dan- gers, and saints guaranteed the freedom and independence of urban communities. Devotion connected inner and outer man. Devout people, who looked at pictures, tou- ched them and kissed them, were looking for help, piety and teachings. Images of grace proofed to be effective helpers in times of hunger, pestilence, drought and imminent war. This book is about devotion as visual, physical and political-social practice during the Middle Ages.

Gallup, Jr., George and Timothy Jones, The Next American Spirituality: Finding God in the Twenty-first Century, Colorado Springs (CO): Cook Communications, 2000, 205 pages, ISBN 0-7814-3316-9. On the edge of a new millennium, the author digs into our resurgent hunger for God and what it signifies; then turns his gaze toward what the future may hold. Based on a twenty-four-hour survey of our spiritual habits, this book is rich with revealing glimp- ses of real Americans, young and old, male and female, racially diverse, churchgoers and not. The findings hold life-shaking potential for anyone who has wondered what to expect on the religious landscape in years to come.

Gerardus Magnus, Opera omnia I 1. Prolegomena, 2. Contra turrim Traiectensem / edited by R.T.M. van Dijk, R.H.F. Hofman, Turnhout: Brepols, 2003 (Corpus Christianorum Continuatio Mediaevalis CCCM 192), 817 p., ISBN 2-503-04921-4 (hardback). Volume 192 of the CCCM series is devoted to Geert Grote or Gerardus Magnus, the founder of the Deuotio Moderna, a religious reform movement which was widely influ- ential in the Low Countries and beyond towards the end of the Middle Ages and fairly long after that. The volume, Vol. 1 of the subseries Gerardi Magni Opera omnia, opens 338 BOOK NOTICES with a general introduction to the life and works of Grote. This section is followed by a survey and analysis of all extant manuscripts containing works of Grote and by a cri- tical evaluation arranged in the order of Grote’s works, in addition providing informa- tion on manuscripts transmitting the individual works and earlier editions. After this Part 1, which is more general in nature, follows Part 2, the critical edition of Grote’s little treatise Contra turrim Traiectensem, a venomous invective in which Grote tries to prevent further building activities having as their aim to enlarge the Dom tower in Utrecht, the tower of the cathedral church of the Dutch diocese.

Green, John D., ‘A Strange Tongue’: Tradition, Language and the Appropriation of Mysti- cal Experience in Late Fourteenth-century England and Sixteenth-century Spain, Leuven [etc.]: Peeters, 2002 (Studies in Spirituality; 9. Supplement), VIII, 227 pages, ISBN 90-429-1236-7. This book is the product of both historical and personal interest in the ground of reli- gious conviction. It deals with the practice and development of the tradition of ‘dis- cernment of spirits’ in the late fourteenth-century England and sixteenth-century Spain as reflected in the classical texts of the mystics of the periods: , the Cloud author and Walter Hilton in England and and in Spain. The tradition of ‘discernment’ came into being at the very beginning of the Church’s history and has been appropriated, adapted and developed throughout its history. The book explores how the tradition is expanded and maintains continuity with its origins and suggests that it reaches some apogee in sixteenth-century Spain for Christian lives of apostolic mission and contemplation. It illustrates how the cultural circumstances of the times moulded the manner in which the experiences of the mystics were perceived.

Hahn, Cynthia Jean, Portrayed on the Heart: Narrative Effect in Pictorial Lives of Saints from the Tenth through the Thirteenth Century, Berkeley [etc.]: University of California Press, 2001, XIII, 442 pages, ISBN 0-520-22320-9 cloth. After two informative introductory chapters setting the historical and narrative context of pictorial hagiography, Hahn considers the lives of martyrs and virgins, bishops, monks and abbots, and kings and queens, and concludes with an examination of the extraordinary chronicles and illustrations of the lives of saints by the English monk Matthew Paris. She considers such questions as: Why were illustrated saints’ lives pro- duced in such great numbers during this period? Why were they illustrated at all given the trouble and expense of such illustration? And to whom did the saints’ lives appeal, and how did their readers use them? As she addresses these and other intriguing questions, Hahn traces changes that occur- red over time both in the images and the stories, and shows how their creators, mostly the intellectual elite, were finely attuned to audience reception. This important aspect of hagiographic production has received scant attention in the past, and as she considers this issue in light of contemporary narrative theory, Hahn brings us to a fresh appreci- ation of these intricately illustrated manuscripts and their multiple audiences. BOOK NOTICES 339

Haliczer, Stephen, Between Exaltation and Infamy: Female Mystics in the Golden Age of Spain, New York: Oxford University Press, 2002, VI, 349 pages, ISBN 0-19-514851-7 cloth (alk. Paper); 0-19-514863-0 paper (alk. Paper). The Counter-Reformation saw an upsurge of feminine religious enthusiasm without parallel since medieval times. Inspired by new translations of the lives of the saints, devout women all over Catholic Europe sought to imitate these ‘athletes of Christ’ through extremes of self-abnegation, physical mortification and devotion. Just as in the Middle Ages, women’s piety expressed itself especially in mystical experiences mani- fested in such phenomena as visions, revelations, voices, stigmata and ecstasies. This book offers a comprehensive look at this Golden Age of women’s mysticism as it flou- rished in 16th- and 17th-century Spain, where it almost took on the character of a mass movement. For his study the author draws on 15 cases brought by the Inquisition against women accused of ‘feigned sanctity’ and on 30 biographies and autobiographies of women mystics. By examining their lives, the author seeks to understand the forces that caused these individuals to choose a life of self-abnegation and ecstatic worship. Overall, he shows how mysticism provided women with a way to transcend, rather than to disrupt, the control of the male-dominated Church.

Health Care & Spirituality: Listening, Assessing, Caring / edited by Richard B. Gilbert, Amityville (NY): Baywood, 2002 (Death, Value and Meaning Series), XIX, 313 pages, ISBN 0-89503-250-3 paper. Health care is an area where nothing feels ‘safe’ and everything is threatened with reexa- mination and redefinition. Accompanying this situation is a new appreciation for the human spirit and the gift of things spiritual, including the soul of the work place. This book explores this area, that is continually being introduced to new treatments, new challenges, new people, new regulations, new expectations, and new time limits. While no one likes to feel marginalized, unfortunately people often are by gender, race, sexual preference and other areas commonly addressed in social discourse. This book addres- ses the marginalization that accompanies disease, trauma and dying and how the care that must be provided by professionals is easily marginalized by the language of the ‘bottom line’, regulations, managed care, and human limits. It is brought together around the common theme of spirituality, the spirit of the patient, the spirit of the work place, and the spirit which transcends it all to give meaning to it. The theme of the book is listening, to the patient’s whole story; assessing, or giving meaning in con- versation with the patient; and caring, for the whole person and the whole story.

Huls, Johannes Andreas, ‘Seuen maniren van minnen’ van Beatrijs van Nazareth: het mystieke proces en mystagogische implicaties, Leuven: Peeters, 2002 (Miscellanea Neerlan- dica; 28), 2 volumes (XX, 1063 p.), ISBN 90-429-1190-5. A historical introduction discusses the manuscripts of the seuen manire van minne (Seven Ways of Love), the author of this mystical treatise, and the religious context in which it came into being. The reasons for choosing the manuscript from The Hague as a basis, the three manuscripts themselves, and the translation of ms. H follow. The study of the text 340 BOOK NOTICES is divided into two parts. A textual analysis or hermeneutical approach is used in the first part. For each manire, concise word-studies are presented from each stanza, followed by an interpretation of the stanza. A systematic analysis of the structure of the entire treatise follows in the second part. To conclude, this section presents as third step a mystagogical interpretation which reveals the nature of the text as guidance along the mystical journey. Even though the three steps are methodologically distinct, the mystagogical perspective was definitive for the entire study. The mystagogical dynamic as it is expressed in the tre- atise colors the Middle Dutch terminology that uses to depict the mystical journey. Therefore this study tries conscientiously to analyze what the writer expresses, why she attempts this description and what process she is trying to set in motion in the reader. In spite of the great distance that separates this thirteenth century mystical text from the socio-cultural and religious context of the twenty-first century, the mystagogical action of this treatise is still effective for modern readers.

King, Robert Harlen, and Thich Nhat Hanh: Engaged Spirituality in an Age of Globalization, New York [etc.]: Continuum, 2001, IX, 202 pages, ISBN 0-8264- 1340-4. Thomas Merton and Thich Nhat Hanh were and are two of the foremost spiritual writers of their times. They met only once – at Gethsemani Abbey on May 26, 1966. ‘Individu- ally’, says the author, ‘they are important, but considered together they may be even more significant. For although their lives developed independently of one another and took quite different forms, they shed light on each other in wonderful and unexpected ways’. What binds the two is the theme of contemplation and action. The author explores how they came to understand the relationship between contemplative practice and social action in the context of their respective religious traditions, and he identifies the common features in their approach to engaged spirituality, a form of religious practice that could serve as a unifying paradigm for the world’s religions in an age of globalization.

Lack, Katherine, The Eagle and the Dove: The Spirituality of the Celtic Saint Columba- nus, London: Triangle, 2000, XII, 148 pages, ISBN 0-281-05323-5. Columbanus was an extraordinary man, even by the standards of the sixth century. Named for the dove, and feeling the dove’s humility, he was none the less encountered more often by his contemporaries as an eagle – imperious, majestic and masterful. From Ireland to Italy he blazed a trail, setting up monastic communities, most notably Luxeuil and Bobbio, and contributing to a wealth of stories and legends along the way. This vivid biography draws on the Life of Columbanus by his contemporary, the Italian monk Jonas, and includes new translations of selections from Columbanus’ own wri- tings. Anyone interested in Celtic spirituality will find much to ponder in the life of this lively and deeply passionate saint.

‘Laßt euch vom Geist erfüllen!’ (Eph 5,18): Beiträge zur Theologie der Spiritualität / Arbeitsgemeinschaft Theologie der Spiritualität (AGTS), Münster: Lit, 2001 (Theolo- gie der Spiritualität; Bd. 4.Beiträge), 307 pages, ISBN 3-8258-5195-8. The Beiträge zur Theologie der Spiritualität are meant to be introductory drafts without claiming to be comprehensive. The authors are from different theological disciplines BOOK NOTICES 341 and are members of the Arbeitsgemeinschaft Theologie der Spiritualität (AGTS), a society of lecturers, who take up themes of spirituality or do research in this field. They discuss fundamentals and key problems of spirituality from the point of view of their discipline. B. Fraling reflects upon the concept of spirituality. K. Waaijman discusses the principle motive of the way. M. Scheuer sketches spiritual life as tension dynamics. C. Benke explains the multiplicity of spiritualities and G. Switek illustrates basic forms and types of spiritual life. T. Dienberg describes the forms of spiritual life under the headword ‘practice’ and M. Plattig under the headword ‘fruits’. J. Weismayer writes on the often difficult relationship between spirituality and theology.

Leyerle, Blake, Theatrical Shows and Ascetic Lives: ’s Attack on Spiritual Marriage, Berkeley [etc.]: University of California Press, 2001, XV, 244 pages, ISBN 0- 520-21558-3 hbk. This book provides an original and rewarding context for understanding the prolific fourth-century Christian theologian John Chrysostom and the religious and social world in which he lived. The author analyzes two highly rhetorical treatises by this early church father attacking the phenomenon of ‘spiritual marriage’. Spiritual marriage was an ascetic practice with a long history in which a man and a woman lived together in an intimate relationship without sex. What begins as an analysis of Chrysostom’s attack on spiritual marriage becomes a broad investigation into Chrysostom’s life and work, the practice of spiritual marriage itself, the role of the theater in late antique city life, and the early history of Christianity. Though thoroughly grounded in the texts them- selves and in the cultural history of late antiquity, this study breaks new ground with its focus on issues of rhetoric, sexuality, and power. The author argues that Chrysostom used images and tropes drawn from the theater to persuade religious men and women that spiritual marriage was wrong.

Mark, Birgitta, Mysticism and Cognition: The Cognitive Development of John of the Cross as Revealed in his Works, Aarhus [etc.]: Aarhus University Press, 2000 (Studies in reli- gion; 1), 299 pages, ISBN 87-7288-782-6 pbk. In this book, the author delves into the writings and subsequent interpretations of the mystical experience of John of the Cross (1542-1591), connecting evidence and hypo- thesis within his writings. She examines his , which, because of the repeated modifications made by John himself during a period of several years, particu- larly documents his conceptual development through the display of the process of inter- pretation. The author shows how mystical experience covers three aspects of a person’s general experience: mystical ideas, mystical states of consciousness and mystical deve- lopment. She explores the and theory of mysticism, and examines the credibility of evidence for mystical experience, including the current theories of consciousness and neuronal activity and their influence on mysticism.

Myers, David G., The American Paradox: Spiritual Hunger in an Age of Plenty, New Haven (CT) [etc.]: Yale University Press, 2000, XV, 414 pages, ISBN 0-300-08111-1. The author explores the research on social ills from the 1960s through the 1990s and concludes that the materialism and radical individualism of this period have cost us 342 BOOK NOTICES dearly, imperiling our children, corroding general civility, and diminishing our happi- ness. However, in the voices of public figures and ordinary citizens he now hears a spi- rit of optimism. The national dialogue is shifting – away from the expansion of perso- nal rights and toward enhancement of communal civility, away from efforts to raise self-esteem and toward attempts to arouse social responsibility, away from ‘whose values?’ and toward ‘our values’. The author analyzes in detail the research on educatio- nal and other programs that deal with social problems, explaining which seem to work and why. He then offers positive and well-reasoned advice, suggesting that a renewed social ecology for America will rest on policies that balance ‘me thinking’ with ‘we thin- king’.

Neudecker, Reinhard, The Voice of God on Mount Sinai: Rabbinic Commentaries on Exo- dus 20:1 in the Light of Sufi and Zen-Buddhist Texts, Roma: Editrice Pontificio Istituto Biblico, 2002 (Subsidia biblica; 23), XVI, 157 pages, ISBN 88-7653-619-1. This study presents an attempt to read the biblical verse that introduces God’s revela- tion on Mount Sinai – a verse which, for the Rabbis, bears deep meaning – in a quite unusual and very broad context. In the hope of throwing more light on the often brief and enigmatic rabbinic views on Exodus 20:1, relevant texts, often equally enigmatic, from Sufism and from the Zen-Buddhist tradition are taken into consideration. All these texts express various degrees of spiritual insight or mystical experience. The Sufi and Zen-Buddhist texts offer, at various levels, similar material of great interest. These sources are here presented as far as possible in their own contexts and with their own emphasis. Maybe this study, besides providing help for a better understanding of some profound rabbinic texts, will also contribute to the much-advocated interreligious dia- logue and encounter which promise to be most fruitful when they take place on the level of Sacred Scriptures and their interpretation.

O’Duinn, Seán, Where Three Streams Meet: Celtic Spirituality, Blackrock (CO); Dublin: The Columba Press, 2000, 336 pages, ISBN 1-85607-288-6 pbk. While much has been written and said in recent years about Celtic spirituality, scholars have long been sceptical about the subject. How can we speak of Celtic spirituality when virtually all of the sources are from the Christian, post-Celtic era? Furthermore, how can we speak with certainty about what elements of the early history of Ireland are truly Celtic? What about the builders of the great megalithic tombs, for example? In Part 1 the author outlines what is known about the Celts, their lifestyle, their customs and their beliefs, and in Part 2 he shows how some major themes from the Celtic heri- tage interface with the Easter Mystery of the Christian tradition. In Part 3 he presents various aspects of Celtic piety – traditional Irish folk prayers, Irish monasticism, inter- cession for the dead, the spirituality of Gaelic Scotland. Finally, in Part 4, he draws together the Celtic year, with its great Feasts of Samhain, Imbolc, Bealtaine and Lugh- nasa, and the Christian liturgical year which also follows the cycle of nature. The poten- tial for enrichment and development of spirituality and the worship of God becomes clear. BOOK NOTICES 343

Payne, Steven, Saint Thérèse of Lisieux: Doctor of the Universal Church, St.Pauls: Alba House, 2002, XV, 240 pages, ISBN 0-8189-0923-4. On October 19, 1997, St. Thérèse of Lisieux was declared a ‘Doctor of the Universal Church’. This event marked not only the culmination of an unprecedented series of honors bestowed on ‘the greatest saint of modern times’, as Pius X called her, but it also represented a watershed in the evolution of the understanding of this ecclesiastical title bestowed on only 33 saints in the history of the Church. Certainly, at the time of her death in 1897, no one would have guessed that this 24-year-old Carmelite nun, with such a limited education and imperfect literary style, who never wrote a treatise or published an article and who died virtually unknown in an obscure French Carmel, would one day come to be ranked alongside such eminent personalities as St. Augustine and St. , as a doctor ecclesiae. Her selection did not come about in a vacuum, nor did it happen easily. The story behind the title and her reception of it as documented in these pages makes for truly fascinating and thought-provoking reading.

Ruusbroec, Jan van, Dat rijcke der ghelieven / introduced and edited by J. Alaerts; trans- lated into English by H. Rolfson; translated into Latin by L. Surius (1552) Regnum Deum amantium, Turnhout: Brepols, 2002 (Opera omnia; 4) (Corpus Christianorum, ISSN 0589-7963; 104. Continuatio mediaevalis), 511 pages, ISBN 2-503-04081-0 relié, 2-503-04082-9 broché. It is certain that Dat rijcke der ghelieven was Ruusbroec’s first treatise and it was written in Brussels (possibly ca. 1338). His next work, Die geestelike brulocht, takes a good number of themes from the first treatise and expands them considerably, while the fun- damental vision of the ordinary and mystical life of prayer is identical in the two works. The three levels of spiritual life (the ‘active’ life, the ‘life of longing’, and the ‘superes- sential life’), forming the principal structure of Brulocht, are already determinative for the structure of the first treatise. However, the treatment of the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit in Rijcke is mainly a literary procedure. Ruusbroec’s first audience of readers/lis- teners consisted of a few priests and their friends. The Middle Dutch text is based on a critical study of all manuscripts. Besides the Middle Dutch text the edition contains a new American-English translation and the Latin translation by L.Surius O.Carth (1552). The edition of the Middle Dutch text is critically recontructive. The text is accompanied by a variant apparatus, paleographic annotations, a source apparatus, a textcritical commentary and a lemmatized vocabulary with localizations.

Schreurs, Agneta, Psychotherapy and Spirituality: Integrating the Spiritual Dimension into Therapeutic Practice, London [etc.]: Jessica Kingsley, 2002, 313 pages, ISBN 1-85302- 975-0. This detailed study of the interface between psychotherapy and spirituality introduces professionally trained psychotherapists and mental health specialists to the subject of spirituality and the influence it may have in a therapeutic context. The majority of psychotherapists receive no formal training in the psychology of religion and many stu- dies report that most psychotherapists either avoid the theme of religion, or handle it 344 BOOK NOTICES with insufficient skill, feeling uncomfortable and ill-equipped to deal with the spiritual concerns of patients. This book contributes to the development of professional know- how in the field of spirituality in a straightforward and practical way, avoiding complex doctrinal terminology. The author focuses primarily on the connections between group analysis and mainstream Christianity, while bearing in mind the wider implications of other therapeutic schools and other spiritual traditions. She presents a range of thera- peutic situations, analogies and case-studies in which spiritual concerns may arise, and explores them from a spiritual and a psychological perspective, showing where and how they connect and differ.

Science and the Spiritual Quest: New Essays by Leading Scientists / edited by W. Mark Richardson, Kirk Wegter-McNelly, Robert J. Russell, Phillip Clayton, London [etc.]: Routledge, 2002, XI, 264 pages, ISBN 0-415-25766-2 hbk, 0-415-25767-0 pbk. Addressing fundamental questions about life, death and the universe this work exam- ines the ways in which scientists negotiate the complex frontiers between their scienti- fic and religious beliefs. Distinguished cosmologists, physicians, biologists and compu- ter scientists of different faiths explore the connections between the domain of science and the realms of ethics, spirituality and the divine. Through essays and frank inter- views, they offer honest, stimulating, and often intensely personal thoughts about life’s most impenetrable mysteries. This volume presents radical new approaches to the reli- gion/science debate and highlights the continued importance of the ‘spiritual quest’ in a world transformed by the developments of science.

Sonsino, Rifat, 6 Jewish Spiritual Paths: A Rationalist Looks at Spirituality, Woodstock, Vermont: Jewish Lights Publishing, 2000, IX, 180 pages, ISBN 1-580-23095-4 hc. There is not one correct way to Jewish spirituality; life just isn’t that simple. Spiritual expression takes many forms, which often leads us to ask, ‘Where do I begin to find the right path for me?’ In this practical guide, Rabbi Rifat Sonsino a self-proclaimed ratio- nalist shows six paths to spirituality within the framework of Judaism and how each can help us in our quest to nourish the soul and enlighten the mind: Acts of Transcendence, Study, Prayer, Meditation, Ritual, Relationship and Good Deeds. For each path, Rabbi Sonsino explains its basis within Jewish tradition and how you can follow it. By discus- sing alternative approaches to Jewish spirituality in such a straightforward manner, he provides solid ground from which we can find the spiritual path, or combination of paths, that is best for our own personal journey.

Spirituality and Intellectual Disability: International Perspectives on the Effect of Culture and Religion on Healing Body, Mind, and Soul / edited by William C. Gaventa, Jr. and David L. Coulter, New York [etc.]: Haworth Pastoral Press, 2002, 182 pages, ISBN 0- 7890-1685-0. With a multidisciplinary and anthropological perspective, this book takes a fresh, inno- vative look into the world of religious and spiritual practices for the intellectually disa- bled. Containing vital insights from the first strand on spirituality and disability at the quadrennial conference of the International Association for Scientific Study of Intellec- tual Disability (Seattle, 2000), this book provides a framework for bridging the gap BOOK NOTICES 345 between science and faith. It explores the ways in which faith traditions, cultural back- grounds, and professional roles can help bring about a consensus about what spiritual health means within specific cultures and faiths and across disciplines.

Spirituality Renewed: Studies on Significant Representatives of the Modern Devotion / edi- ted by H. Blommestijn, C.M.A. Caspers and R. Hofman, Leuven [etc.]: Peeters, 2003 (Studies in Spirituality; 10. Supplement), 275 pages, ISBN 90-429-1327-4. This volume contains nine essays on aspects of the Modern Devotion and its influence. Six studies deal with the spiritual development of important representatives of this late medieval church reform movement: Geert Grote, founder of the movement, Jan Brinckerinck, Gerard Zerbolt van Zutphen and Alijt Bake, a female mystic who is not widely known outside the Low Countries. The three remaining studies bear upon the nunnery ‘Sanct-Agnetenhuus’ in Kampen, the devotion to Liduina, the ‘Virgin of Schiedam’, from the Middle Ages until the present day and a fifteenth-century ‘ars moriendi’ here for the first time edited with full commentary. The collection has been edited by staff members of the Titus Brandsma Institute in Nijmegen. The study of the spirituality and history of the Modern Devotion is one of the key topics of interest in this Institute. In 2003 ‘Gerardi Magni Opera omnia, vol. I, Ad Gerardi Magni Opera omnia Prolegomena’ was published in the Corpus Christianorum series, which con- tains a detailed inventory of the transmission and earlier editions of the works of Geert Grote by Rudolf Th. M. van Dijk O.Carm., to whom this collection of essays is dedicated.

Stuhlmueller, Carroll (1923-1994), The Spirituality of the Psalms / foreword by Donald Senior; edited by Carol J.C. Dempsey and Timothy Lenchak; Carol J.C. Dempsey; Timothy A. Lenchak, Collegeville (MN): Liturgical Press, 2002, VIII, 208 pages, ISBN 0-8146-2599-1 alk. Paper. In this book the author looks at the structure of the psalms to explain how they can have bearing in our lives today. He describes how we can apply the psalms to our spiri- tual lives and integrate the psalms in the Church’s prayer life and ministry. This volume is the last work of Stuhlmueller which was uncompleted upon his death in 1994. He had completed a first draft of all but two chapters, 12 and 13, which Timothy Lenchak, S.V.D., added from Stuhlmueller’s commentary Psalms 1 and 2. The completed text was then edited, revised, and updated by Carol Dempsey, O.P., who did so with care so as not to lose Stuhlmueller’s ‘voice’ and ‘hand’ in the text.

Tacey, David John, ReEnchantment: The New Australian Spirituality, Sydney: Harper Collins, 2000, 283 pages, ISBN 0-7322-6524-X. The spiritual quest is timeless and ongoing. For the author, the quest incorporates key issues such as the redefining of our human identity, a new consciousness about Abori- ginal reconciliation, a recognition of youth culture and its spiritual directions, our quest for environmental integrity, and our responsibility to community and to each other. Ultimately, the quest is for a re-enchantment that enables us to overcome our aliena- tion, allowing us, at the beginning of this new century, to build a more harmonious and integrated Australian society. 346 BOOK NOTICES

Viagulamuthu, Xavier Paul Bowlis, Offering Our Bodies as a Living Sacrifice to God: A Study in Pauline Spirituality Based on Romans 12,1, Roma: Editrice Pontificia Università Gregoriana, 2002 (Tesi Gregoriana; 7. Serie spiritualità), 526 pages, ISBN 88-7652- 948-9. Romans 12,1 is a very powerful and vibrant exhortation in Paul’s paraenesis. The first of the paraenesis in Romans, it also plays a pivotal role in the same letter. All the ele- ments this verse contains are linked to its two major concepts: body and sacrifice. Pro- posing the concept of belonging as a key to Pauline spirituality, this present work stu- dies the spirituality of Paul from the particular perspective of Rom 12,1. The study uses an exegetico-phenomenologico-theo-logical method. The method also takes into account patristic exegesis. This exegetical approach enables one to penetrate Paul’s mind on the matter. In accordance with the phenomenological method, this work also studies how Paul offered his body as a sacrifice to God and how the Church understood and lived this Pauline exhortation. The theological method, moreover, permits us to theolo- gically evaluate all the findings gained through the exegetical and phenomenological methods. The fruit is a rich understanding of what the body and its value are, what the sacrifice of the body is, and how and when the human body becomes a living, holy and pleasing sacrifice to God – all vital themes in an authentic spirituality.

Viktor Frankl’s Contribution to Spirituality and Aging / edited by Melvin A. Kimble, New York [etc.]: The Haworth Pastoral Press, 2000, XIII, 168 pages, ISBN 0-7890- 1155-7 (hard cover), 0-7890-1156-5 (soft cover). Viktor Frankl, a holocaust survivor who experienced firsthand the horrors of Auschwitz, saw man as ‘a being who continuously decides what he is: a being who equally harbors the potential to descend to the level of an animal or to ascend to the life of a saint’. Dr. Frankl’s insights led him to found the therapeutic system of logotherapy, which views man as a spiritual being rather than simply as a biological construct. He left a rich legacy of theory and insights especially relevant to the search for meaning in later life. The tenets of logotherapy provide many clues and approaches to what an ever-increa- sing body of evidence suggests regarding the crisis of aging as a crisis of meaning. Fran- kl’s insightful work increased man’s understanding of the spiritual dimension of huma- nity and the dignity and worth of every person in the face of what he called ‘the tragic trial of human existence: pain, guilt, and death’. This volume represents varying profes- sional perspectives on the application of Frankl’s logotherapy for ministry with older adults. Chapters are written by authors representing diverse professional backgrounds in medicine, pastoral theology, the behavioral sciences, and pastoral ministry. Each chap- ter addresses issues such as death and dying, dementia and depression, and the spiritual meaning of aging, and several chapters address the conception of the nature of huma- nity as it is set forth by Frankl.

Waaijman, Kees, Spirituality: Forms, Foundations, Methods / translation: John Vriend (†), Leuven [etc.]: Peeters, 2002 (Studies in Spirituality; 8. Supplement), VIII, 968 pages, ISBN 90-429-1183-2. Two years after the Dutch original was published, the English translation of this book has come out. This textbook is a systematic guide to the extensive field of spirituality. BOOK NOTICES 347

The author charts the multiform phenomenon of spirituality: the spirituality of ordi- nary people, the great spiritual traditions and the force of counter-movements. From the foundation of this survey he answers questions like: What exactly is spirituality? What forms can a scholarly approach take? Finally, the book provides methodic access to the study of spirituality, focusing on the following questions: Which are the different forms of spirituality and how can we describe them? How can spiritual texts be given a reliable reading? Which themes can be distinguished in the field of spirituality and what would be a meaningful way to address them? What do we mean by spiritual guidance and what can we learn from it? This textbook is indispensable to scholars wishing to study the subject, but also to others who want to learn about spirituality

Writing Religious Women: Female Spiritual and Textual Practices in Late Medieval Eng- land / edited by Denis Renevey and Christiania Whitehead, Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 2000, XI, 270 pages, ISBN 0-7083-1642-5 hbk, 0-7083-1641-7 pbk. Recent critical work upon medieval theological and devotional writings has identified a substantial body of work which can usefully be termed ‘vernacular theology’. This book addresses the question of female spirituality within this tradition by looking at devotio- nal texts in which women play a significant role, either as authors, recipients, or sub- jects, and suggests that these texts participate in the expression of ‘female vernacular theology’. The volume is organized around four main thematic interests: the influence of ancho- ritic spirituality upon later lay piety; Carthusian links with female spirituality; the representation of femininity in vernacular religious poetry; and the anchoritic, hagio- graphical and liturgical influences which underlie the textual representation of .

Wuthnow, Robert, Creative Spirituality: The Way of the Artist, Berkeley [etc.]: Univer- sity of California Press, 2001, X, 309 pages, ISBN0-520-22500-7 hbk. In this book that explores the fascinating link between the creative and the sacred, the author claims that artists have become the spiritual vanguard of our time. Drawing on in-depth interviews with painters, sculptors, writers, singers, dancers, and actors, the author includes the spiritual insights of accomplished artists. Situating these artists’ reflections in the context of wider cultural ferment, the author argues that spirituality is coming increasingly to focus on the inherently ineffable character of the sacred, what artists refer to as divine mystery. As growing numbers of Americans doubt the adequacy of religious creeds in defining the sacred, they are turning to artists who seek a more intuitive sense of the sacred through symbols and imagery. These artists provide rich insights into the social and cultural problems of our time. Many have been shaped by the growing ethnic, racial, and religious diversity of the United States. Many are at the cutting edge of new thinking about body, mind, and spirit, and many are seeking ways to integrate their understandings of spirituality with interests in nature and preserving the environment.