Short notices

Michael W. Brierley and Georgina A. Byrne (eds), Life After Tragedy: Essays on Faith and the First World War Evoked by Geoffrey Studdert Kennedy (Eugene, ON: Cascade, 2017); 254 pp.: 9781532602269, £24 (pbk)

The editors are both residentiary canons of Worcester Cathedral and have persuaded their colleagues in Worcester, together with a few experts from outside, to reflect critically upon the ministry of ‘Woodbine Willie’, Geoffrey Studdert Kennedy (1883–1929), who also served as a priest in Worcester. I must admit a personal interest here. Just before the First World War, Studdert Kennedy was curate in Rugby, where I was also a curate in the late 1960s. His sacrificial work among the poor of Rugby was still remembered there by the oldest residents – who, like the residents of Worcester, claimed that he gave away his (and his poor wife’s) bed to needy parishioners (perhaps he gave away more than one bed!). Both editors contribute well to this excellent collection, as does their Bishop John Inge. Mark Dorsett adds a fascinating note of dissent, arguing that Kennedy’s paternalistic approach compares unfavourably with R. H. Tawney’s equally passionate, but politically influential, Christian socialism, and (as others also note) that his experience-based denunciation of war was regrettably preceded by some jingoistic fervour. Ilse Junkermann, a bishop of the Evangelical Church in Central Germany, nicely contextualizes Kennedy’s passionate ministry in her Afterword:

I have been particularly moved, in reading this book, by the account of Geoffrey Studdert Kennedy, during his time as an army chaplain in the First World War, coming across the body of a young dead soldier who looked ‘like a tired child that has cried itself to sleep.’ What mother – or father – would not be moved, picturing such a scene in their mind’s eye? This dead young man could be one of my relatives … The sight of the dead young ‘enemy’ pierced Studdert Kennedy’s soul … It was a key ‘transformational’ moment, such as lies at the heart of Christian faith. (pp. 210–11)

David Cox and Robert P. Jones, America’s Changing Religious Identity (October 2017), available online at <https://www.prri.org/research/american-religious-landscape-christian-religiously-unaffiliated/>

This significant report is based upon the huge resource of the 2016 American Values Survey of over 100,000 Americans. It shows that, although religious affiliation is much higher in the US than in the UK, it is declining in a similar way. In 1976, 81 per cent of Americans self-identified as white and Christian (mainly Protestant), whereas now only 43 per cent do so. In addition, over the last decade, there have been sharp decreases of white Catholics (albeit with increases of Hispanic Catholics) and white mainline Protestants and, tellingly, of white Protestant evangelicals (the latter from 23 per cent to 17 per cent). All of these groups are also ageing, with only one in ten affiliates being under 30 years old. Non-Christian religious groups have meanwhile increased but still represent fewer than one in ten Americans. The religiously unaffiliated are also increasing, rising from fewer than one in ten of all Americans in 1976 to a quarter today. Interestingly, though, only a quarter of these unaffiliated Americans self-identify as atheists or agnostics. American ‘exceptionalism’ (when compared with European institutional religious decline) does seem to be fading.

Philip McCosker and Denys Turner (eds), The Cambridge Companion to the Summa Theologiae (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2016); 368 pp.: 9780521705448, £19.99 (pbk)

This Companion has a strong line-up and a very specific focus on Aquinas’s masterpiece Summa Theologiae. Contributors include Timothy Radcliffe, Karen Kilby, Kathryn Tanner, David Burrell, James Keenan, Jean Porter and Sarah Coakley. They all provide good value, but it is the late Herbert McCabe who once again dazzles with an edited version of a lecture he gave in the 1980s on eternity. This collection is well worth buying, as a welcome paperback, for that alone.

Michael Stausberg and Steven Engler (eds), The Oxford Handbook of the Study of Religion (Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 2016); 880 pp.: 9780198729570, £110/$150 (hbk)

Stewart J. Brown, Peter B. Nockles and James Pereiro (eds), The Oxford Handbook of the Oxford Movement (Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 2017); 608 pp.: 9780199580187, £110/$150 (hbk)

Joel D. S. Rasmussen, Judith Wolfe and Johannes Zachhuber (eds), The Oxford Handbook of Nineteenth-Century Christian Thought (Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 2017); 736 pp.: 9780198718406, £110/$150 (hbk)

Three enormous and comprehensive Oxford Handbooks (all sadly in expensive hardback) that will be required purchases for theological and religious studies libraries. The first contains 51 essays, the second 43 and the third 40, from leading international scholars – too many to itemize adequately here. Such reference books are popular with academic publishers (because of sales to libraries) but less popular with academics (who can seldom include them in research assessments), so the editors are to be congratulated for persuading so many of their colleagues to contribute. Taken together, these Handbooks show just how vigorous theology and religious studies still are.

From Conflict to Communion: Lutheran-Catholic Common Commemoration of the Reformation in 2017 (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2017); 153 pp.: 9780802873774, $18 (pbk)

The 2013 joint report (reproduced again here) of the Lutheran World Federation and the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity is available free online at <https://www.lutheranworld.org/sites/default/files/From%20Conflict%20to%20Communion.pdf>. However, this Eerdmans American edition also includes a new introduction by William G. Rusch of Yale University, setting this important report in its historical context, and a study guide and joint Catholic-Lutheran Common Prayer and Vespers.

Jeremiah L. Alberg (ed.), Apocalypse Deferred: Girard and Japan (Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 2017); 274 pp.: 9780268100162, $50 (hbk)

Mimetic theory was central to the work of the French intellectual René Girard (1923–2015). He argued that human desire results from people unconsciously imitating or mimicking each other (and can thus be cynically manipulated through advertising). Unfortunately, mimetic desire can soon lead to violent jealousy and scapegoating – themes that underlie many ancient forms of mythology. Formerly an atheist, he became a Christian when he concluded that biblical stories such as that of Joseph and, especially, that of Jesus are the best antidotes to violent scapegoating. The editor of this unique collection is a professor of philosophy and religion at the International Christian University in Tokyo. Japanese and American contributors variously reflect upon the relevance of Girard’s work to Japan following the atomic destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki (what Girard termed the oxymoron of nuclear peace – especially poignant because the Nagasaki bomb fell directly upon a community of ‘hidden Christians’, instantly destroying two-thirds of them), as well as to Japanese culture and films today. Another interesting contribution to the growing literature on religions and violence.

Vincent J. Miller (ed.), The Theological and Ecological Vision of Laudate Si’: Everything is Connected (London: Bloomsbury, 2017); 277 pp.: 9780567673169, £28.99 (pbk)

This splendid collection reflects upon Pope Francis’s ecologically friendly 2015 encyclical Laudate Si’ (a phrase drawn from St Francis of Assisi’s ‘Canticle of the Sun’). This fine encyclical is available free online at <http://w2.vatican.va/content/dam/francesco/pdf/encyclicals/documents/papa-francesco_20150524_enciclica-laudato-si_en.pdf>. Within this encyclical, Pope Francis calls for an ‘integral ecology’ which is ‘inseparable from the notion of the common good, a central and unifying principle of social ethics’ (para. 156). Having set out some of the empirical factors involved in the current ecological crisis, he calls for a renewed vision – an ‘ecological conversion’ – across religious faiths and, especially, among Christians, and supports various practical ways in which this can be achieved at the level of both individual lifestyle and political changes. Vincent Miller’s collection follows this general order but adds considerably more detail and references, with an opening section on the scientific evidence, a middle section on theological and ethical themes, and a final section on practical responses. Well worth buying.

Calling People of Goodwill: The Bible and the Common Good (Swindon: Bible Society, 2017); 32 pp.: 9780564046577, £3.99 (pbk)

Much briefer, this accessible account of the ‘common good’ principle, underlining Pope Francis’s encyclical mentioned above and those of his immediate predecessors, makes an ideal parish discussion booklet. It comes with the strong support of both Archbishop Justin Welby and Cardinal Vincent Nichols and is jointly written by Jonathan Rowe, Director of Ministry Development in the Anglican Diocese of Truro, and the Jesuit Nicholas King. It takes six biblical passages (Acts 2, Genesis 11, Amos 5, John 17, 1 Peter 2 and Revelation 14) to illustrate the common good principle. Nicely produced.

Richard Bauckham, Jesus and the Eyewitnesses: The Gospels as Eyewitness Testimony , 2nd edition (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2017); 680 pp.: 9780802874313, $50/£41.99 (hbk)

The original edition of this significant book was published in 2006. Richard Bauckham adds a new preface, three additional chapters ‘that respond to critics and clarify key points of his argument’ and an updated bibliography.