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EDITED BY LEO J. ZUBER
2332 North Decatur Rd. Decatur, Georgia
. A. M. D. G.
For the greater glory of God
and for the spiritual benefit of
authors, publishers, reviewers
and readers.
ESCAPE TO UTOPIA, by
Everett Webber, Hastings
House, 1959, 444 pp., illus.,
$5.50.
Reviewed by
Frank D. Lovette
This book is a splendid com
pendium of the various com
munal organizations which ap
peared in the United States
when the country was young
and growing. The reader will
be able to find in one cover
a fascinating collection of
some unusual characters and
their wild dreams of the Pro
mised Land, and can draw in
teresting observations from
the data as presented.
First; the magnet that seem
ed to be the basic attraction in
this country was free land. It
seemed that many originators
of these communes (and this
also applies to many present
day ones) felt that with free
land all their problems were
solved. How erroneous this
proposition can be is brilliant
ly set forth.
Second; the characters of
the principals display one of
the factors which originally
made America great: that is,
their fertile imaginations.
America was a magnet which
drew from the Old Country
the intellectuals who were dis
satisfied with their world and
their lives and who had the
ability to pull up stakes and
start out anev^. Their imagi
nation, which is a faculty de
veloped in humans through
their efforts to find mates, led
to some unusual marriage cus
toms. Mr. Weber has chronicl
ed these in detail and with
tact.
Third; the reader will be
amazed at the gullibility of the
adherents of these leaders. No
thing seems too bizarre for
their followers to believe; al
though it is pointed out that a
goodly number of them were
free-loaders and panhandlers
eager for a handout, and they
probably acquiesced to the
pronouncements of their lead
ers with tongue in cheek.
Fourth; an interesting obser
vation may be drawn from the
above chronicle: the Germanic
peoples appeared to be the
best suited for communal liv
ing as their villages seemed to
prosper and survive.
Lastly; that these communes
were a real part of the Ameri
can scene and assisted in the
development of the country
may be found in the names of
some familiar ones which are
still with us or have' become
part of the folklore, such as,
Adventists, Shakers, Mormons,
Amana (freezers), Oneida (sil
verware), and the House of
David (baseball team).
WOMAN TO WOMAN, by
Katherine Burton, Kenedy,
1961, 217 pp., $3.95.
Reviewed by
E. Maithews
From a depth of womanly
insight, Katherine Burton
writes to other women on such
subjects as ' Christmas and
commercialism, What about
the single woman? Modern art
and music, dieting and fasting,
St. Paul and women.
Wife, mother and convert,
Mrs. Burton’s literary achieve
ments included thirty full-
length books, chiefly biogra
phy of American Catholics,
and numerous articles and sto
ries for such magazines as
Cosmopolitan and America.
Her wealth of experience is
reflected in her treatment of
her choice of material for
these Woman to Woman col
umns written for The Sign.
Readers who have come to
know her through this month
ly publication will enjoy re
newing their friendship. Oth
ers who have known her
through her books will be in
terested in her comments on
these various subjects. Women
will find some of her opinions
expressions of their own and
others stimulatingly contrary
to their thought.
Grouped by topics such as
“The Lively Arts” and “Lis
ten, Father,” there is sure to
be discussed here some sub
jects of interest to everyone.
For anyone who has ever long
ed for a woman’s opinion or
just some good “second cup of
coffee” conversation, Woman
to Woman will be a pleasure. -
CHRISTIAN FAITH AND
MAN'S RELIGION, Marc C.
Ebersole, Crowell, 1961, 183
pp., $5.
CHRISTIANITY DIVIDED,
ed. Callahan, Oberman and O’-
Hanlon, Sheed & Ward, 1961,
333 pp., $6.
Reviewed by
Flannery O'Connor
Christian Faith and Man's
Religion, a study of five non-
Catholic religious thinkers, is
based on the distinction be
tween religion of simply as
man’s deep involvement with
his own existence, not neces
sarily from a theistic point of
view, and the specific belief
in Christmas the God who has
redeemed us. Much of the
thought of these men, with the
exception of Barth and Fromm,
is an effort to fit Christianity
into a frame of the 18th cen
tury enlightenment. Fromm
WHAT THINK YOU OF
CHRIST? by William R. Bon-
niwell, O.P., B. Herder Book
Company, 1958, ix, 199 pp.,
$3.75.
Reviewed by
Theodora Koob
Father Bonniwell does well
to probe Christian thinking in
this clear, readable volume.
With an easy and yet forceful
style he sermonizes briefly on
the important teachings,
events, and meetings in the
life of Jesus. Chapters Three
and Four, for example, are
based on messages from the
parables while the last three
chapters are dramatic portray
als of the crucifixion, death
and resurrection. Personages,
too, are used in terms of how
their contact with Christ
changed them in relationship
to the material world.
Chief emphasis seems to be
on translating our very ma
terialistic modern thinking
into spiritual understanding
and appreciation. In brief,
What Do You Think of Christ
in relationship to what you
expect as a Christian. If the
author over-emphasizes our
reason for creation: namely, to
know, love and serve God in
this world so that we can be
happy with Him in the next, it
is intentional reiteration for
Father Bonniwell’s message is
primarily a trumpeting of
what has been casually forgot
ten by so many today. He has
written a crossroads warning
of “Stop, Look, Listen” that
you may know again the
Christ you have disregarded.
Stop and consider why the
Lord was born of a Virgin;
look again at the testimony of
His words; listen to what His
contemporaries thought of
Him. A good book for Sun
day afternoon reading and
cheerful meditation, What
Think You of Christ can be
picked up and put down which
is one good criterion of any
didactic work.
CATHOLIC RELIGION COURSE
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FOR NON-CATHOLICS
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get to know Christ—the Way, the Truth, and the Life.
If you’d care to know Christ better—to learn His
Divine teachings and the Christian way of life—Re
quest this course today.
NO CHARGES NO OBLIGATIONS
Name I— !
Street
City
Slate *
Send to HOME STUDY SERVICE, St. Mary's
Seminary, Roland Park, Baltimore 10, Md.
rejects Christianity entirely in
favor of natural religion;
Barth rejects religion entirely
and sees the Christian faith as
a judgment against it. Bon-
hoeffer rejects religion on the
grounds that man has out
grown it but accepts the Chris
tian faith; Schleiermacher
sees the Christian faith as the
fulfillment of religion but
makes this faith dependent on
feeling. Niebuhr emerges as
the most balanced and most
nearly orthodox of the five.
He sees the Christian faith as
both the judgment against and
the fulfillment of religion.
Aside from several refer
ences to St. Augustine and one
to St. Thomas, it is nowhere
suggested that any thought
took place before the time of
Luther. This is a fascinating
book for any Catholic who
wants to understand better the
problems and achievements of
Protestant theology .
An equally fascinating and
more profound book is Chris-
lianiiy Divided, a collection of
theological essays by Protes
tant and Catholic scholars on
the fundamental issues which
divide them — scripture and
tradition, hermeneutics, the
Church, the sacraments, and
justification. The aim of the
book is to make available to a
wider audience some of the
significant works of important
theologians in critical areas of
ecumenical discussion. The se
lections will reveal new direc
tions in Protestant and Catho
lic thought that are not as
well known as they deserve to
be.
THE WOUNDED HEART by
Raphael Brown, Franciscan
Herald Press, 1960, 180 pp.,
$3.50.
Reviewed by
E. Matthews
The Wounded Heart is the
first full length English bio
graphy of St. Charles Sezze,
Franciscan lay brother canon
ized by Pope John XXIII in
1959. The title of the book is
taken from one of the greatest
of Brother Charles’ many mys
tical experiences, the wound
ing of his heart with the love
of God. God’s timing for the
giving of His gift is perhaps
of especial significance to all
who feel caught up in a vari
ety of districting duties for at
the time Brother Charles’
questing duties had taken him
from the retirement of the
monastery and into the market
place of the town. In fact, the
story of this 17th century lay
brother holds many lessons for
us today, proving the timeless
ness of the saint’s love of God.
Raphael Brown, convert and
Franciscan Tertiary, writes
with the sincere simplicity we
have come to think of as cha
racteristic of the Franciscan.
From his personal experience,
St. Charles wrote with under
standing and depth on many
spiritual subjects, among them
his “Treatise on the Three
Ways of Meditation and States
of Holy Contemplation.” Mr.
Brown’s The Wounded Heart
should be the herad of deeper
works on this saint including
translations of his works.
Photographs of places con
nected with the life of the
saint have been used on the
end sheets. The jacket design
for the book is by Publication
Associates.
THE LAYMAN AND HIS
CONSCIENCE, by Msgr. Ron
ald Knox, Sheed and Ward,
1961, 218 pp., $3.50.
Reviewed by
E. Matthews
The Layman and His Con
science, a retreat given by
Msgr. Knox shortly before his
death in 1959, is the second
one published for lay people.
He sets the tone and purpose
of this retreat with a medita
tion on the words “He’s asking
for you”, and places the em
phasis on the need for a per
sonal religion, a personal re
lationship with God, a person
al realization of His. reality.
In these nineteen meditations,
Msgr. Knox, with the clarity of
insight given saints, opens our
hearts and minds to give us a
clear look at ourselves. For
instance, he begins his medi
tation on the Rosary with the
idea that most of us don’t want
to say the Rosary — we want
to get it said.
For all those readers who
have learned the value of a
real retreat from the world,
these meditations will be the
means of carrying on the value
received during their own per
sonal retreats. For those souls
who have yet to experience
the aloneness with God a re
treat affords, this book will
give much material for daily
meditation and will probably
arouse a desire for a real re
treat. Everyone is sure to en-
ojy Msgr. Knox’s presentation
of his material and in particu
lar the English-flavored anec
dotes he used to illustrate his
points.
Tve located the technical failure that caused everyone to over
sleep. There's a wad of gum on the bell clapper ”
From Sem Beams, Seminary Life in Carioons, by Ed
Sullivan, St. Paul Publications, 1961, 61 pp., 50c.
THE DIARY OF JAMES J.
STRANG, by Mark A. Strang,
Michigan State University
Press, 1961, 78 pp., $3.75.
Reviewed by
Sister M. Harriet, O.P.
To what purpose, beyond
satisfying idle curiosity about
the erstwhile King of Michi
gan’s Mormons, will Catholics
read The Diary of James JJ.
Strang, deciphered, transcrib
ed, introduced and annotated
by his grandson, Mark A.
atrang? There is an Ecumeni
cal stir and dialog in the im
pending movement will even
tually seep to grassroots level.
To the Catholic' operating
there, an historical perspective
on the American Protestant re
vival movemehts is going to
be invaluable. This small vol
ume may well stimulate him
to peer into those environ
mental factors which contrib
uted to the formation of
American religious leaders of
the last century. The diary’s
publication is, then, a timely
alert to the role of revivalists
in nineteenth century Ameri
can developments.
Professor Russel B. Nye’s
Foreword and Mark A.
Strang’s Introduction compen
sate for the five-year, age
eighteen-to-twenty-three time
limitations of the diary’s en
tries. Assuming a reader bent
on gaining historical insights,
one wishes that the Foreword
had been expanded. Likewise,
one questions Mark Strang’s
evaluation: “Much of the lit
erature developed around
tSrang since 1930 has been in
fluenced by this mistranscrip
tion (i.e., “I am ignorant (not
eager) and mankind are frail.”)
and many of the books and
theories and articles have
quoted or commented on it
while ignoring his many veri
fiable statements that indicate
an unselfish, altruistic, benev
olent personality.” (11. 17-21
p. XXIX) The diary’s entries,
in the judgment of this re
viewer, cannot be construed as
verification. The editor, having
stated his thesis and built his
case, might have left judgment
to the reader.
James JJ. Strang appear to
have been obsessed with the
concept of Person, in its full
est liturgical definition. More
is the pity that for him a Cath-
oli cexponent of this never
crossed his path. While the
diary reads quickly, jt evokes
long thoughts in this vein.
WHEN F. D. R. DIED, by
Bernard Asbell, Holt, Reinhart
and Winston, 1961, 211 pp., in
dexed, $4.00.
Reviewed by
W. L. Schmidt
Reading each chapter of this
work reminds one of the occu
pation of the wheelwright of
early days assembling the
spokes of a wheel into a hub.
After the last one is properly
placed, all are then firmly se-
i K K i> K o f r. B
JUBILEE, ed. Edward Rice, A.M.D.G. Publishing Com
pany, 377 Park Avenue South, New York 16, $4 per year.
Reviewed by
Flannery O'Connor
Jubilee is a partly pictorial monthly magazine which
should be of interest to those who would like to see more
taste and imagination in popular Catholic journalism than
is usually found there. After some years of planning and
search for the necessary funds, Edward Rice published the
first issue of Jubilee in 1953. Since Mr. Rice’s plan included
insistance on good taste in advertising, funds were hard to
come by, but Jubilee has continued to appear despite diffi
culties of this kind and now has a circulation of 50,000.
A magazine “of the Church and her people,” as Jubilee
calls itself, could easily become a grab-bag of pictures and
stories of merely topical interest, but Jubilee is guided by
a controlling intelligence with a strong historical sense and
the intention of making manifest the universality of the
Church. The emphasis is on ecumenism, particularly with
the Eastern churches, the liturgy, social issues, and Catholic
culture around the world. These stories are always well
written and illustrated with excellent photographs. The
art work in Jubilee makes subject for vigorous debate in its
letters column. The editors have a predilection for printing
their stories on colored paper of various bilious or har
rowing shades of green, blue and yellow. One can expect
to find a double page devoted wholly to a two-line liturgi
cal fish or a red ball. The reader can tolerate this since it
is a healthy reaction to so much bad religious art of a dif
ferent and worse kind. A subscription to Jubilee extends
one’s knowledge of the Church and one’s pleasure in it. It is
a magazine to be recommended highly.
THE BULLETIN, February 17, 1962—PAGE 7
IGT Vt TWf F»VHITY
Jit OVKr TAW AMP HOLY RUTH.
RRMeiffM LrrvRffy
“One can expect to find a double page devoted wholly to
a two-line liturgical fish or a red ball.”
cured by the rim.
Here the hub is the death of
F. D. R. on April 12, 1945. Each
spoke, or chapter, is shaped
by the narration of apparently
unrelated events, whether it be
Eleanor’s day far away, or a
day in the life of the station
agent in Warm Springs, Geor
gia. All become related in
their ending . . . the news of
F. D. R.’s death. To complete
the analogy, the rim is the
burial and aftermath.
Except for personal interest
political and White House per
sonalities may have for the
reader, nothing of real depth
will be found here. The author
is said to have traveled thou
sands of miles and interview
ed hundreds of people in ga
thering material for his writ
ing. Certainly he draws on his
imagination when describing
the actions of all the charac
ters which supply the sub
stance of these pages. And in
the course of them, major
events in F. D. R.’s life as
President are curiously retold.
Those who would like to re
view them will find this book
easy reading.
Three Priests
Die In Red
China Jails
HONG KONG (NC) — Word
has reached here of the deaths
of three Chinese priests im
prisoned by China’s communist
masters.
They were Fathers Silves
ter T’sa Si-eul, born in 1901
and ordained in 1932; Andrew
Tsang Tsong-ming, born in
1905 and ordained in 1935; and
Berchmans Tsang Wei-bing,
born in 1901 and ordained in
1933.
It is believed they died early
in 1961.
All had worked in Shanghai.
They were probably put in
jail during or after the Red
campaign of 1957-58 to push
the Shanghai c-lergy into a
communist invention known as
the “Patriotic Church.” Most
of the priests of Shanghai have
been imprisoned or sent to la
bor camps.
Jews Ask Stop
To Bible Reading
NEW YORK (NC) — The
American Jewish Congress has
asked the New York City
Board of Education to end the
practice of reading Bible vers
es in public schools.
The congress said minority
group children are treated un
fairly by the practice.
A board spokesman said ev
ery school here carries on the
reading of the Bible, usually
at least once a week. Pupils
whose parents request it are
excused.
MARRIAGES
O-
-O
| McDONALD-MURPHY |
O —O
HAPEVILLE — Miss Anne
Elizabeth Murphy, daughter of
Mr. and Mrs. William C. Mur
phy and David Bruce McDon
ald, son of Mr. and Mrs. James
E. McDonald of Charleston,
S. C., were married in St. John
the Evangelist Church January
20th, Father Edward O’Connor
officiating.
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