book reviews

A walk through the Summa

Brian Davies, the brilliant English Dominican on the philosophy faculty at Fordham University, has written a remarkably clear, thorough account of St. Thomas's Summa Theologiae. It comes as no news that St. Thomas has not been studied with the care and thoroughness with which he once was or with which he deserves for anyone seriously pursuing the truth. Davies's book dispels any notion that Aquinas is any less interesting or profound than our tradition has always held about him.

Davies works his way systematically, clearly through the Summa, giving a cogent, step-by-step walk through the three major books of the Summa. The choice of citations from Aquinas is very helpful and persuasive. My edition of the Summa (the Ottawa) is 3089 pages, so Davies has his task set out for him in giving the major outlines and structures without pretending to have covered everything. When appropriate, of course, Davies will cite from the many other works of St. Thomas.

Likewise, one of the most valuable features of Davies's work is the way he deals with objections to St. Thomas that have arisen after St. Thomas's time, both those of, say, the Reformation, and those of recent times. Davies tries to state such objections, St. Thomas-style, in the most fair, succinct way possible and to respond to them in terms that derive from Aquinas's principles. Davies's presentation of ancient and modern controversies about classical Thomistic positions is excellent. The result is that we rightly begin to wonder about the ease and unconcern with which our time has decided it can afford not to teach its students and priests according to St. Thomas's wisdom.

Davies demonstrates a thorough knowledge of the secondary literature on St. Thomas, especially that coming from his various learned Dominican colleagues, to whom we owe so much for keeping St. Thomas in the foreground of their intellectual formation. As we work our way through the Davies book, we realize again the enormous scope of St. Thomas's mind, its calmness and precision, its love of God and truth, its love, as Chesterton himself remarked, of all things, no matter how small.

Every couple of semesters, I teach a course on St. Thomas. One must simply assume that neither undergraduate nor graduate students have the slightest preparation for reading and appreciating St. Thomas. They have hardly any clue about what they are missing, why it has been removed from their academic curriculum, or how to go about repairing the damage. It is, I confess, always a delight, once the semester gets going and we have read some beginnings, to see students brighten up, to begin themselves to be amazed at this extraordinary Dominican who died before he was fifty but who left us so much that we hardly can imagine how he was possible, let alone how he was so lucid.

My experience, such as it is, has led me to five introductory or preparatory books that I have found students must read with me prodding in order for them to approach the wonder and depth of St. Thomas's work-and here I am not mentioning Aristotle or Scripture, without some knowledge of which, St. Thomas will seem merely alien. These books are the following: 1) Josef Pieper, Guide to St. Thomas, 2) Ralph McInerny, St. Thomas Aquinas, 3) G.K. Chesterton, St. Thomas Aquinas, 4) Peter Kreeft, The Summa of the Summa, and 5) Josef Pieper, The Silence of St. Thomas. I also add the two wonderful essays on St. Thomas-"Perennial Philosophy of St. Thomas for the Youth of Our Times"; "Method and Doctrine of St. Thomas in Dialogue with Modern Culture"-that John Paul II gave in the early days of his Pontificate, one to the Angelicum in Rome and one to the Eighth Thomistic Congress, essays that appear in my collection, The Whole Truth about Man: John Paul II to University Faculties and Students.

Clearly, we can find other books in every language that could easily be added or substituted-certainly Maritain, Gilson, Pegis, Charles N. R. McCoy, Simon, Herbert McCabe, and so on. There is no doubt that Davies's book will become central to this list. On my list, I would not advise reading it first. I think I would read most of the others first, reading it last. It becomes the final preparation for seriously reading the Summa and the other works of Aquinas. It is valuable, probably necessary, to know what the Summa is about before we tackle it.

Once someone is ready to study St. Thomas, where does he go to study him seriously? Of course, we must learn St. Thomas's wonderfully clear Latin, which should present no difficulty with a little guidance and effort. Then what? Joining the Dominicans is still about the best option! The Jesuits, alas, have mostly dropped him with stubborn exceptions. The best places are the philosophy faculty at Catholic University and Fordham itself, Notre Dame, Dallas, and Boston College can still get one started. Some of the Roman houses will still be possible. But I do not intend this review as a guide book to colleges. The most important beginnings are those that make us realize that something ought to be studied, seriously studied. For this Brian Davies has given us all a wonderful gift in this account of Thomas Aquinas and the structure of the Summa.

Fr. James V. Schall, S.J.

Georgetown University

Washington, D.C.

Food for contemplation

The lives of the saints are timeless and enduring, classics of spiritual reading that nourish the heart and soul and lift the mind to the contemplation of God. Like other great works of literature and art, the lives of the saints contain riches and depths that are inexhaustible and unlimited. Like all masterpieces, the lives of the saints invite re-reading and deeper appreciation.

Father Myers's book offers a fresh, unique approach to the lives of the saints. Arranged as short reflections for every day of the year, each approximately one page long, these brief biographical sketches are solid, meaty, and substantive-not cursory, general, or superficial. Each vignette concentrates on some important biographical event in the life of the saint or some important teaching from the saint's writings. Different episodes from these saints' lives and various teachings and quotations from their writings are interwoven through the 365 meditations so that in the course of the whole book the main outlines of the saint's biography and thought are clearly delineated. In a brief account of about five paragraphs, Father Myers uses significant events and major statements from the life and teaching of the saints to illuminate Christian doctrine, the mystery of God's eternal providence, the depths of divine love, and the meaning of sainthood. In one book we learn the important facts or read of the inspiring, heroic lives of fifty different saints.

Like all good and great literature, the lives of the saints embody wisdom-the kind of knowledge that, in Samuel Johnson's words, allows us to enjoy life more or to endure life better. For example, we learn that St. Francis "was one of the happiest persons who ever lived. And he was poor." Likewise, St. Catherine of Siena communicated the same pure happiness: "And she had such a love of God that when a person conversed with her he could no longer be sad." St. Philip Neri "was always cheerful, always pleasant, many times joking . . . . Philip was God's jester. After all, God made laughter." St. John Bosco was also mirthful and full of good spirits, enjoying magic tricks and loving to play sports with boys and relishing practical jokes on humorless clergy who attempted to take John to a mental hospital for examination. Instead of entering the carriage first, John politely opened the door for the other priests to grant them the honor, "but instead of getting in, he slammed the door and shouted to the driver, "Off to the mental hospital." The saints increase our capacity for joy.

These noble lives also instruct us on how to endure life more patiently, courageously, and heroically. St. Bonaventure advises that meditation on the sorrows of Christ gives strength to those suffering hardships: "When you are sad, look at the crucifix and see how much you are loved. When you enumerate your hardships, Bonaventure said, think of Christ on the Cross." St. Teresa of Avila counsels fearlessness in the struggles of life, for "Whoever possesses you, O Jesus, can go forth boldly and battle the enemy." St. Francis de Sales recommends serenity and self-possession in the trials and temptations of life: "Grace helps us bear our troubles patiently and assists us in overcoming temptations." Though God loved his son with an everlasting love, Jesus suffered. Though God loved Joseph and Mary with a special love, they too were not spared pain and sorrow: "They simply bore their troubles and prayed. They were calm in the midst of numerous trials and allowed God to look after them." Mother Seton, who lost two of her daughters to illness in a very short time, never submitted to hopelessness or depression because of her great faith and courage: "What grace God gave her to keep her from despair!" The saints know that there is no Christianity without the cross.

These saints not only radiate joy, hope, patience, and courage but also illuminate the meaning of Christian love in their understanding of the Eucharist and in the charity of their hearts. The reflection on St. Peter Julian Eynard for August 10 depicts the Last Supper as "the beautiful day in our Lord's life" because the Eucharist assures us of God's boundless love and constant presence: . . . in the Eucharist there is no end to his love, until the end of the world," and Jesus gives himself "day and night" and remains present though he goes to heaven. The reflection on St. Thomas Aquinas for August 9 explains that the gift of eternal life proffers God's superabundant, immeasurable love: "Scripture says, 'Thou shalt abound in delights in the Almighty.'" St. Monica also marvelled at God's infinite love that surpasses all of man's expectations: "She blessed God who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think." The sacrifices and martyrdom of the saints further reflect the depth of their love of God. St. Elizabeth Seton suffered rejection and ostracism from her family because of her conversion to the Catholic faith. The brilliant St. Francis Xavier whose eminent learning earned him honors at the University of Paris accepted God's call to be an obscure missionary in Asia. St. Jean de Brebeuf, a Jesuit missionary to America, was martyred by the Indians who tortured him by burning his face and pouring boiling water on him. St. Maximilian Kolbe volunteered to die for a Nazi prisoner who was the father of a family. The lives of the saints testify to the love that goes on forever.

Father Myers's collection of stories is beautifully designed, not haphazardly arranged. The daily readings are succinct and pithy, rich in content and food for contemplation. In reading these accounts of the saints from all nations and from all centuries and in admiring their simplicity and humility, one grasps the real meaning of sanctity and sainthood and feels inspired to want to be a saint. Sainthood consists in such daily acts and ordinary virtues as the ones recommended by St. Columban to his monks: "Be gentle to the weak and poor, always generous; stay unmoved in turmoil, bold in the cause of truth, joyful always. Be grateful, unweary in kindness, and forgetful of past injuries."

Mitchell Kalpakgian, Ph.D.

Simpson College

Indianola, Iowa

Darwin or design?

In 1802 Anglican theologian William Paley published his Natural Theology, an elegant exposition of the Argument from Design for the existence of God. In the opening passage Paley speculates on what his mental processes would be were he to find a watch upon the ground. He decides that after examining its amazing contrivances he would conclude that the watch must have had a maker, "that there must have existed at some time and at some place or other, an artificer or artificers, who formed it for the purpose we find it actually to answer." Paley observes that "every indication of contrivance, every manifestation of design, which existed in the watch, exists in the works of nature, with the difference, on the side of nature, of being greater or more . . . ." Paley's argument for the existence of God then is that the evidence of design in nature implies a Designer, for "where there is design, there must be a designer; where there is contrivance, there must be a contriver."

Paley's argument from design held sway in both theological and scientific circles for nearly sixty years, until Charles Darwin published his Origin of Species in 1859. Darwin and his associates were intent upon advancing the Argument from Imperfection for the absence or non-existence of God, and Darwin's favorite examples of "imperfection" were whale fins and the reproductive organs of orchids. Satisfied that these evidences of imperfection precluded the idea of a Designer, Darwin set forth his theory of evolution by natural selection as a way of explaining how nature "created" itself in the absence of God, particularly how life originated and subsequently manifested itself in a multitude of varieties, from ferns and insects to man. Darwin's idea of evolution by natural selection quickly captured the imagination and allegiance of scientists-and theologians-around the world, establishing itself from 1859 to the present as the dominant paradigm for explaining the origin and development of the biosphere.

But in 1958 as a result of Watson and Crick's discovery of the DNA molecule, the "software" controlling life and its reproduction, a new science was born, the science of biochemistry, the study of life at the molecular level. The science of biochemistry has revealed the living cell to be a Lilliputian world in which the processes of life are carried on by molecular machines working together in chemical systems of fantastic complexity. Charles Darwin once said relative to the possible falsification of his theory, that "if it could be demonstrated that any complex organ existed which could not possibly have been formed by numerous, successive, slight modifications, my theory would absolutely break down." The science of biochemistry, after forty years of painstaking research on the living cell, is now ready to present its challenge to Darwinian orthodoxy, and if the "new thinking" of the biochemists is correct, it will falsify the Darwinian hypothesis of evolution by natural selection.

Michael J. Behe is Associate Professor of Biochemistry at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. He has written a book sure to be a landmark in the history of science, Darwin's Black Box: The Biochemical Challenge to Evolution, in which he makes the point that biochemical systems are typically characterized by irreducible complexity. An irreducibly complex system is a single system composed of several well-matched, interacting parts that combine to form the basic function, in such wise that the removal of any one of the parts causes the system to cease functioning. Irreducibly complex systems defy explanation in terms of Darwinian, step by step natural selection of functional variation, because prior to assemblage of all the parts there is no function for selection to "work on." So what is the explanation? Behe declares that the result of the cumulative efforts, over a period of forty years, of scientists investigating the cell at the molecular level is a loud, clear, piercing cry of "design!" Paley's Watchmaker rides again!

Behe's book is sure to provoke a storm of debate among scientists on the question: Darwin or Design? In the end the scientists urged by the molecular evidence will acknowledge that Darwin has had his day, and that the future belongs to Behe and the biochemists who have embraced Design. Liberal theologians who have bent over backwards to accommodate Darwin will be the last to surrender.

Fr. David R. Becker

Shade Gap, Pa.

A heavenly place

Every once in a while one comes across a book that has beautiful thoughts and is beautifully written. It is rare to find such a book and it is a joy. One, long ago, was Seven Storey Mountain by Thomas Merton. Here is another. Kathleen Norris is a Protestant woman and the monks she writes about are those at St. John's Abbey, Collegeville. Her book has been on the New York Times bestseller list.

In a day when the clergy are highly criticized, Mrs. Norris has high praise for the monks, for their ideals and for these men who serve the Lord. Catholics would do well to read this book and see how highly a non-Catholic regards priests and brothers. She puts to shame the pettiness of those parishioners who can say nothing good about priests.

Mrs. Norris is a poet who writes in prose, not unlike Willa Cather, and her paragraphs are wonderful, especially for those who love words. Why do so many Catholic books have rich thoughts but are written in such a poor way?

The author writes, "A friend who was educated by the Benedictines has told me that she owes to them her sanity." She states that religion is "an open door, which no one is able to shut." She tells us that "every Commandment is about love."

Kathleen Norris says, "Many a soul is as exhausted as a drought-stricken tree, dry as the bristly grasses of early fall." She relates that in the times of St. Benedict, sixth century, things were as violent and troubled as our own. He left the city determined to find a life of peace and stability. This was the beginning of Western monasticism. "A monastery is a heavenly place after the chaotic days we spend in society," she relates.

She says so many fine things: We have rules to safeguard love. The psalms have an emotional honesty. They have concreteness and vigor; they are refreshingly realistic. Some spiritual books have a kind of holy talk that makes a person feel like a worm. Some books do, but not this wonderful book. Every page is a joy.

Fr. Rawley Myers

Colorado Springs, Colo.

The Daughters of Mary
Help of Christians

St. Mary Mazzarello is the foundress of the feminine branch of the Salesians, the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians. The author Domenico Agasso conveys the zest of a woman who within nine years established a congregation of women and was instrumental in its growth and presence in four countries.

The title "Mary Help of Christians" was originated by Pope Pius VII in 1814 after the Pontiff had been released as a prisoner of Napoleon (from 1809 to 1812) and finally permitted to return to Rome in 1814 after Napoleon fell. The feast was celebrated on May 24, the actual date the Pope returned to Rome.

The setting is the mid-nineteenth century in the Piedmont area of Italy, a time of great turbulence due to the oncoming Franco-Prussian War and the many difficulties within the process of unifying Italy. The Church was soon to find that Giuseppe Garibaldi, the patriot of unification was no friend of the Church. At the same time it was the age in which Mary appeared to the children at LaSalette and Bernadette at Lourdes and Pope Pius IX proclaimed the dogma of the Immaculate Conception.

Members of the Mazzarello family were farmers who worked a small plot of their own land and another piece which they sharecropped. The family lived in Mornese, the place of Mary's birth and the site of the birth of the Order. It was here through the assistance and guidance of the local cleric, Father Pestarino, that she established the Order. Mary and likewise this pastor saw a crying need for the education of young girls. Father Pestarino already knew Don Bosco and the establishment of a religious order of men to teach in schools for boys. This Order of Sisters established schools for girls which was then an innovative concept within the small villages of northern Italy.

The author Domenico Agasso conveys the hardships of the Sisters in relating the initial failure of schools and lack of finances. The times when there was not enough food for boarders and Sisters, the Sisters did with very little. There was a decided movement among the Sisters in ministering to the physically poor who often did not have the cash for the education of their children. The author conveys the incident when the foundress knew there was no food in the house for supper so she took all boarders and Sisters on an outing, had a surprise picnic lunch, and then, when they arrived home, they were too tired for supper. It was this sense of joy amid suffering within the foundress which made difficult times less painful. One of the Sisters conveyed their financial plight to her mother who immediately gave a family cow to the Sisters. Don Bosco made frequent visits to the Sisters, provided for the Constitutions of the Order, and when he saw their economic plight in addition to how well the foundress handled it, provided means by which the Sisters would be adequately cared for.

The need for education among young women living in Italy at that time conveyed a call to Mary through her own daily prayer to utilize her gifts in this apostolic work. Mary, in working with children, taught them that regardless of what they were doing, whether it be splitting wood or praying in the chapel, that they were in God's presence. She also had ingenious ways of making simple tasks such as doing the laundry, joyful ones. The response to this need of working with children led the order to grow rapidly within a few years. She was to see the order spread to France, Uruguay, and Argentina before her death at the age of 45.

This foundress was not a woman experiencing great visions, but rather one who saw a need and the means to meet that need. Today, especially within the United States, most Catholics are far removed from foundation stories of religious orders. In a certain sense St. Mary Mazzarello is part of modern times, yet her conditions are far removed from our own. Her mission does convey a woman of faith generously responding to the needs of her day. The author does not provide a study of the spirituality of this foundress or Don Bosco but rather the mission by way of education that her Sisters continue to provide.

This is a book for older youth as well as adults who are searching out their own role in responding to the needs of evangelization in the Church today.

Sr. Madeleine Grace, C.V.I.

University of St. Thomas

Houston, Tex.

Advice for Catholic families

ONLY HEROIC CATHOLIC FAMILIES WILL SURVIVE. By Robert J. Fox (Family Apostolate, as above, 1994), 296 pp. PB $8.50, plus $2.50 P&H.

Having recently been married and having searched extensively for appropriate reading material as preparation for the sacrament of matrimony, these two books were by far the best I discovered. The first as its title suggests, is primarily designed for those preparing for marriage. It is written by two priests both known for their orthodox defense of Catholic faith and morals, and reflects their extensive experience in preparing young couples for marriage. Each of the major topics which should be considered by couples preparing for marriage (the meaning of marriage, communication, children, sexuality, etc.) are dealt with in individual chapters. At the end of each chapter there is a series of discussion questions which are designed to encourage reflection and discussion by the couples upon the issues raised in the chapter. The book would make an ideal textbook for marriage preparation courses as well as for private reading by couples.

The second of these works, Only Heroic Catholic Families Will Survive is mainly designed for married couples. It consists of a series of essays about various topics related to Catholic family life by various writers. The foreword to the book is written by Rev. Fox, and the book must be read in the light of this foreword. Rev. Fox argues that families must be heroic in order to survive current attacks upon family life. The type of heroic family required is one which is dedicated to the teaching of the magisterium of the Church, attends Sunday Mass and frequents the sacraments, and prays daily as a family unit. Such families, he argues, will provide the wellspring for the authentic renewal of the Catholic Church and of society as a whole.

Both of these books are easy to read, and provide timely, practical and above all "down to earth" advice for those wishing to live authentic Catholic marriages. Both of these works provide excellent "further reading lists" as well as lists of organizations and apostolates designed to promote family values. They would make ideal engagement or wedding presents.

Michael Daniel

North Fitzroy, Victoria, Australia

Too artificial and too corny

Rave reviews have greeted Bud Macfarlane, Jr.'s "fast-paced" Catholic "action" novel, Pierced By A Sword ranging from "a 'must read'" all the way to being possibly "one of the most important books ever written."

Doubtless the author, founder of the Marian Foundation, a unique apostolate which distributes free Catholic audio tapes-many of which are his father's own talks on Marian apparitions-has satisfied an anticipation that many thousands have for the actualization of the messages contained in the plethora of reported Marian apparitions.

This reviewer, however, does not join the chorus of raves.

It is not owing to the story per se. While there is plenty of story in this book, it suffers from being invariably too facile, too artificial, too contrived, packaged in dialogue too saccharine and, well, too corny. (E.g.: "I'd be happy to pray for you, Nathan. Damned happy. Oops-sorry, Anne . . ." [p. 122]). The cumulative effect is insufferably cloying.

The following is typical: One month pregnant, long-fallen away Catholic "Becky Macadam" throws out her live-in boyfriend when he presumes she will abort. In less than 36 hours: she comes back to the Church; goes to confession; embraces the Rosary; and, miles away, meets "Joe," Super Bowl star; instantly falls "completely in love" with him and he with her; they pray together, ("Let's pray a rosary." "Sure. I'd be glad to.") Then this dialogue (p. 216):

"Becky?"

"Yes, Joseph darling."

"I think I should marry you."

"Okay," Becky answered after only the slightest hesitation . . . .

"Joseph?"

"Yes, my love."

"I think I should tell you something before you go off and marry me. I'm pregnant. The baby is due in eight months." She bit her lower lip.

"So?" he asked.

The same plasticity carries through into the action. The heroes are invariably led around by archangels-Raphael, Uriel, Gabriel. The evil that befalls them is but the assault of devils trying to disrupt these new converts. All the bad men are dark-clothed, dark-eyed, and wear dark glasses, appearing as mere cardboard figures wherewith to move the story.

Finally, there is PBAS's extremely lopsided time frame. Nearly all of the first three quarters of the book occurs over a three-week period, while the earthshaking events of an entire year-everything from the "Tribulations" to the "Three Days of Darkness" -are squeezed into the last quarter of the book.

However, it is the adventure of "Pope Patrick" (successor to "the Magnificent Pole") which even strains credulity to the breaking point.

With apparently absolutely no one in the entire Catholic world to turn to, he flees the Vatican in his "trusty Fiat" after an assassination attempt in the papal apartment. Destination: untold. The angel Gabriel lifts him to safety when his ambushed car plunges into the Tiber. Presumed dead, he makes his way by train across Europe, then to an Irish convent, where he lapses into a coma.

In the meantime, the "Tribulations" begin when a major earthquake destroys New York City. Other disasters occur worldwide, bringing on a devastating economic depression, catalyzing the conspiratorial Europe-based "World Union," whose forces rumble across America, initiating the "Second Revolutionary War."

Enter the Pope again, walking alone, on Interstate 19, Indiana, guided there by the Holy Spirit, who also prompts our hero "Nathan Payne" to happen by and pick him up. He agrees to Nathan's "plan"-to go public via satellite TV. It works. "It changed the world overnight." But determined World Union forces head for the Pope, saying Mass before a crowd of 200,000 at Notre Dame. At the moment of consecration comes the Warning: in a suspended instant the entire world undergoes a searing judgment of consciences. The Three Days of Darkness cleanse the world of the reprobate.

The New World which follows-the "Regna Eucharistiae"-is purely millenial. People live "more by the sun, than by the clock." There is "no drunkenness, no heresy, no fornication or adultery, and practically no mortal sin. It's heaven on earth" (p. 564).

PBAS is not a total loss. The Divine Judgment passages are good; demonstrating the seriousness of sin is good; lifting the Mormon "mask" is good; exposing New Age concourse with evil spirits is good. Nevertheless, this reviewer was left quite unedified. Its modus suffers the Holy Faith to effect itself through contrived circumstances and maudlin caricature.

Finally, let it be noted that this critique comes from one firmly convinced that our era's accelerating degeneracy cannot be remedied but by Divine Judgment. Our civilization is currently inverting the moral order. Faith is being desupernaturalized. Everything pure and good and beautiful has, indeed, been "pierced by a sword." It is a travail for which we look in vain for precedent. This book, if nothing else, poignantly manifests that travail.

Gregory Zabielski

Torrington, Conn.

Genesis revisited

GENESIS: TRANSLATION AND COMMENTARY. By Robert Alter (W.W. Norton & Co., 500 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10110-0017, 1996), xlvii + 324 pp. HB $25.00.

With so many English versions of the Bible, why yet another translation of Genesis? A fair enough question and one which Robert Alter, professor of Hebrew and comparative literature at the University of California, Berkeley, answers with a blanket indictment of all the familiar-as well as some arcane-English translations as faulty at best. Were the sources of the accusation any less of a figure than Alter, author of The Art of Biblical Poetry, The Art of Biblical Narrative, and over a dozen other works, the charge could be dismissed out of hand as the product of runaway academic hubris. However, there is much merit to his contention that, broadly speaking, the problem with all the modern translations of the Scriptures is a shaky sense of English and, in the case of the classical versions such as the King James, a shaky sense of Hebrew (for all of its literary charms, there are over 7,000 errors in this venerable translation).

The problem, as Alter argues in his exhaustive introductory explanation of his methodology, begins with the contemporary tendency to attempt to explain rather than to translate the sacred texts, that is to say, rather than simply representing the texts in another language. In some instances, this modern approach means explaining the Bible away. In their zeal to uncover the precise meanings of texts for modern readers, translators have frequently lost sight of the way in which the texts themselves can intimate their own meaning. In Genesis, for example, when God reiterates his promise to Abraham to "multiply your seed like the stars of the heavens and like the sand on the shore of the sea" (22:17), if "seed" here is rendered "descendants" as is the case with the three versions approved for liturgical use in the U.S. (the New American Bible, the Revised Standard Version, and the Jerusalem Bible), the richly concrete way in which the text imposes visually on the imagination the picture of millions of seeds scattered like the constellations across the vast expanse of space or on the shores of the sea is lost. While meaning of the text is not fundamentally altered, its power is diminished, making it harder for the reader to sense why this text has been so compelling through the ages.

Another problem with modern translations is the tendency to repackage the biblical syntax on the assumption that it is either unintelligible or alienating to the contemporary reader. Alter contends that these presuppositions are founded on a very simplistic notion of what constitutes modern literary English. Among great 20th-century English writers-Alter cites William Faulkner and Ernest Hemingway, among others-there is not one whose use of language and syntax resembles even vaguely the bland norms of the editorial committees of the principal translations of the Bible.

The final problem is that modern translators fail to confront the central question of the level of style in the Bible. Even if almost no one falls into the trap of banality which ensnared the editors of the Good News Bible, most translators still proceed as if their texts had no style whatsoever and that an English style can be chosen at random with little or no regard for the precise tonality of which particular biblical words may be carried in their original linguistic context. Alter argues that biblical prose is a formal literary language, albeit, paradoxically, a plain spoken one.

What then, are the norms for translation? While he notes that "the Bible should certainly not be represented as fussily old-fashioned," Alter does contend that "a limited degree of archaizing colorization is entirely appropriate, in combination with other strategies for creating a language at once stylized and direct, free from the overtones of contemporary colloquial usage yet retaining a certain timely homespun quality." In a certain sense Alter's Genesis is reactionary: it is a studied reaction by a noted literary scholar to the literary insensitivity of modern translations. However, it is more than that. Alter's generous annotations to the text also explain-and it is worth noting, in readily understandable language and without the usual "critical" rancor-the principal textual, literary, and historical issues raised by recent research and by his own choices of words, rhythm, and syntax.

While Alter's translation is by no means perfect, it is by no means to be ignored. No doubt the principles for translation enunciated in his introduction will spark much debate both in the scholarly community and beyond. Whatever the result of this, his demonstration of how a sacred text can be made, by sheer force of fine English poetry, to read very much in English as it was heard in the original will stand as a challenge to all translators-liturgical as well as biblical. As for the rest of us, his magistral translation will be an invitation to reread, through new lenses, the dramatic saga of the beginnings of salvation history.

Fr. John-Peter Pham

Champaign, Illinois