Religious Studies Review • VOLUME 39 • NUMBER 4
THE RISE AND EXPANSION OF CHRISTIANITHY
IN THE FIRST THREE CENTURIES OF THE
COMMON ERA. Edited by Clare K. Rothschild and Jens
Schröter. WUNT, 301. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2013.
Pp. x + 543. Cloth, €139.00.
The title nicely captures the topic and timeframe of the
thirteen English and seven German essays contained in this
volume, which originated in a 2010 Berlin conference of the
same name. The essays are spread across three sections,
framed by an introduction by Rothschild and a concluding
summary essay by Schröter: 1) Cultural Milieu (Jewish ante-
cedents); 2) First Century Developments: From Galilee to
Asia Minor (Synoptic Gospels; Paul; Acts; Revelation); and 3)
the Formation of Christian Identity According to “Apocry-
phal” Writings, “Gnosticism,” and Paganism (covering a
range of noncanonical texts). Although Rothschild’s intro-
duction frames the question around the “rapid growth” of
Christianity displacing the unified “paganism” of the Roman
empire, the essays themselves show the developments were
anything but systematically planned and executed, and had
varied manifestations in different times and places. As
Schröter concludes, “Christianity” in the first three cen-
turies was polymorphic, and its identity was emerging
throughout the time. There is thus no “grand theory” of
Christian “success” assumed, and each essay in and of itself
is stimulating and explores its focus subject in detail. The
volume is an important resource for the ongoing exploration
of the development of the early Christ groups into “Christi-
anity,” although it is more likely to be found in a research
library than on the personal bookshelves of anyone other
than those working directly on this issue.
Richard S. Ascough
School of Religion, Queen’s University
History of Christianity (Early)
TRAVEL AND RELIGION IN ANTIQUITY. Edited by
Philip A. Harland. Studies in Christianity and Judaism, 21.
Waterloo, Ontario: Wilfrid Laurier University Press, 2011.
Pp. xi + 289. $85.00.
Numerous studies devoted to travel, geography, and eth-
nography have appeared recently, yet as Harland notes in
his introductory essay, research devoted specifically to reli-
gious aspects of journeying remains underdeveloped. The
eleven essays in this volume address this lacuna. Specifi-
cally, the authors explore five themes that illustrate the
intersection between religion and travel: 1) honoring the
gods; 2) promoting divine teachings; 3) exploring foreign
cultures; 4) migrating to new lands; and 5) engaging in an
occupation or vocation. The result is an eclectic collection
that examines the significance of religious itinerancy in
Mesopotamian, Jewish, Greco-Roman, and NT literature. The
authors demonstrate on the one hand that the mobility of
religious practice enabled travelers to maintain a sense of
identity with their home regions (Muir), while on the other
• DECEMBER 2013
hand, it contributed to innovations in religious art and archi-
tecture (Murray). Moreover, religious pilgrimages offered
Jewish sojourners the opportunity to reinforce their sense of
communal identity through acts of piety based upon purity
regulations (Haber) and sacrifice (McCready). Still other
essays explore literary topoi used to highlight heroic itiner-
ants such as Apollonius of Tyana, Peregrinus, Pythagoras,
and Thessalos (Scott, Harland). For these figures, transloca-
tion included the opportunity to encounter “others,” a
feature Rives explores in his examination of Roman ethnog-
raphy. Travel was not always temporary, however, and could
result in the formation of permanent communities whose
religious life was informed by new cultural influences, as
Lightstone argues in his discussion of diasporic Judaism.
The issues addressed are appropriate for graduate students
and specialists, but readers looking for a sustained conver-
sation with theory will need to supplement this book with
more recent studies.
David M. Reis
University of Oregon
TWO SHIPWRECKED GOSPELS: THE LOGOI OF
JESUS AND PAPIAS’S EXPOSITION OF LOGIA
ABOUT THE LORD. By Dennis R. MacDonald. Atlanta,
GA: Society of Biblical Literature, 2012. Pp. ix + 711. $69.95.
MacDonald’s fondness for overturning scholarly tables
reappears here in the form of a new reconstruction of Q and
a new solution to the synoptic problem. He argues that
Papias’s gospel commentary drew upon Mark, a Greek trans-
lation of Matthew, and an expanded version of Q (called Q+
or the Logoi of Jesus), a text similar to canonical Matthew.
After MacDonald demonstrates that Luke had access to
Papias, he argues that the third evangelist displays a textual
dependence upon Matthew when describing the death of
Judas and narrating the infancy and passion narratives. This
model, which MacDonald terms the “Q+/Papias Hypothesis,”
challenges the prevailing scholarly consensus known as the
two-source hypothesis. MacDonald then sifts through the
synoptics’ “textual wreckage” to uncover Q+. He first asserts
that Matthew redacted both Mark and a primitive source
(“Matthew’s Q”) in the construction of his narrative, and that
Mark too had access to this Logoi document. Thereafter, he
finds that Luke also had access to this lost gospel, and that in
many instances his version of a saying is more primitive
than Matthew’s. The final five chapters situate Q+ within the
history of early Christianity, exploring topics such as its
literary coherence (a rewriting of Deuteronomy) and its
implications for historical Jesus research, and concluding
with remarks that attribute the demise of these gospels to a
narrow mission (Q+) and failed eschatological prophecies
(Q+ and Papias’ gospel). The technical nature of this argu-
ment will likely restrict the book to specialists, but all of
them should have it on their shelves.
David M. Reis
University of Oregon
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 Religious Studies Review • VOLUME 39
THE ASCENT OF CHRISTIAN LAW: PATRISTIC
AND BYZANTINE FORMULATIONS OF A NEW
CIVILIZATION. By John A. McGuckin. Yonkers, NY: St.
Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 2012. Pp. 279. Paper, $24.00.
In his latest offering, Orthodox theologian and patristics
scholar McGuckin addresses the question, “What did Chris-
tianity do to build a civilization?” While the focus of the book
is Christian understandings of law in the patristic and Byz-
antine eras, McGuckin insists in the Proemium that it is not
a book on canon law. Rather, reflections on Christian legal
thought are brought to bear on more comprehensive ques-
tions about how the church transformed the ancient world
and gave birth to a new form of society. Much of the material
in the first half of the book (such as the surveys of Plato,
Aristotle, Tertullian, and Augustine) will likely be familiar to
most readers; however, once McGuckin turns eastward in
the latter half of the volume, the reader is presented with
some fascinating material (for example, on the later
Byzantine canonical commentators such as Balsamon and
Zonaras) that is not readily available outside of specialist
literature. Because of this, despite McGuckin’s disclaimer,
the book would be a good place to start for a nonspecialist
seeking a grasp of the development of Eastern Christian
canon law. It would also work well as assigned reading for a
survey course on early Christianity, particularly if the
instructor has an interest in exposing students to Eastern
Christian social thought. Those interested in McGuckin’s
larger questions and concerns would also do well to seek in
the book some insights into how Christianity continues to
inform civilization as we know it.
John Taylor Carr
Boston College
THE UNITY OF CHRIST: CONTINUITY AND CON-
FLICT IN PATRISTIC TRADITION. By Christopher A.
Beeley. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2012.
Pp. xii + 391. $50.00.
In this book, Beeley proposes a re-telling of the develop-
ment of patristic theology that diverts attention away from
the development of Nicene Trinitarian theology to a unitive
Christology, beginning with Origen and continuing through
Maximus the Confessor. Beeley criticizes Athanasius,
Gregory of Nyssa, Hilary of Poitiers, Leo of Rome, John
Damascene, and other “Antiochenes” for their strict distinc-
tion between God and creation, evidenced by scriptural
exegesis which distinguished between what is spoken of in
reference to Christ’s humanity and divinity and a reluctance
to ascribe suffering to Christ’s divine nature. In their stead,
Beeley presents his own cast of theological heroes: Origen,
Eusebius of Caesarea, Gregory of Nazianzus, Ambrose,
Augustine, Cyril of Alexandria, and Maximus the Confessor.
In contrast to the former group, these theologians began
from the “plain sense” of scriptural witness to the single
subject of Jesus Christ and reveled in the mystery of the
union of God and humanity and the salvific suffering of God.
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• NUMBER 4 • DECEMBER 2013
Unfortunately, practically none of the principal figures in
the book fit perfectly into such distinctions, which Beeley
himself readily admits. Furthermore, while Beeley consis-
tently objects to the ontological separation between God and
creation that Athanasius introduces, as well as attempts to
preserve divine impassibility, it is unclear whether he
desires an alternative ontology or simply the language of
paradox and mystery. Nevertheless, this book excels in its
deep familiarity with a vast range of patristic literature and
its enviable clarity of presentation, earning it an audience
from scholars and students of Christian history and theology
alike.
Jonathan Bailes
Boston College
THORNS IN THE FLESH: ILLNESS AND SANCTITY
IN LATE ANCIENT CHRISTIANITY. By Andrew
Crislip. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press,
2013. Pp. 237. $65.00.
Crislip explores how early Christian monastics in Cap-
padocia and Palestine interpreted physical illness’s source,
cause, and treatment. He finds that writers understood
the connections between personal holiness and physical
illness in a surprising variety of ways. Crislip begins with
Athanasius’s Life of Anthony, a widely distributed monastic
biography, where despite harsh asceticism, Anthony is
depicted as being strong, fit, and well. This led to some
communities holding that asceticism led to health by bring-
ing the body under the mind’s control. Yet, other writers
argued that patiently remaining faithful to God in the midst
of severe illness was a mark of sanctity: the holy suffered
well. Yet, the book also argues that ascetics had differing
ways of relating illness to asceticism. For some, illness was
an ascetic practice, while for others, illness compromised
their ability to be willfully ascetic and survive on minimum
amounts of food and water. Some counseled tempering
asceticism during times of illness, believing that asceticism
could make one ill; other writers did not. Some saw illness
during asceticism as a sign that one’s ascetic practices were
too extreme to be faithful and could perhaps be demonically
inspired. While this book will primarily interest historians,
pastors and chaplains will also find it useful because con-
temporary believers’ speeches on God’s role in illness can
echo voices of the faithful in the past.
Aaron Klink
Duke University
IRENAEUS: LIFE, SCRIPTURE, LEGACY. Edited by
Paul Foster and Sara Parvis. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress
Press, 2012. Pp. xv + 274. $39.00.
Originating in a 2007 conference hosted by the Univer-
sity of Edinburgh, this recent volume comprises eighteen
essays which have been roughly divided into three sections:
the life and historical context of Irenaeus, his engagement
with Christian scripture, and the shape and reception of his
 Religious Studies Review • VOLUME 39
theology. Although some of the essays attempt to tackle
broad themes, such as Michael Slusser’s admirable attempt
to identify the heart of Irenaean theology in seven pages,
most confine themselves to smaller points of dispute within
contemporary scholarship—including a back-and-forth dis-
pute between Charles Hill and Sebastian Moll regarding
the identity of the unnamed elder in Adversus haereses IV.
This guarantees the volume’s relevance for those conversant
with current scholarship, but may make it less helpful for
those seeking an introductory text to Irenaeus. As with all
edited volumes, one should expect variations and points of
disagreement amidst the contributors. Nevertheless, what
emerges from the volume as a whole is a rather consistent
portrait of the ancient bishop which is more consonant with
his name than some modern interpretations have allowed.
Instead of a divisive figure who seeks to impose an artificial
uniformity, we find an irenic vir ecclesiasticus: celebrating
the diverse work of the Spirit, intent on promoting peace in
the church, and preeminently concerned with preserving the
faith handed down to him. This volume is to be highly rec-
ommended for any interested in Irenaeus, his historical
context, and his immediate and abiding influence on the
shape of Christian theology.
Jonathan Bailes
Boston College
HILARY OF POITIERS ON THE TRINITY: FROM DE
FIDE TO DE TRINITATE. By Carl L. Beckwith. Oxford
Early Christian Studies. New York: Oxford University Press,
2009. Pp. 240. $99.00.
In this rigorous and illuminating study of Hilary of
Poitier’s De Trinitate, Beckwith tackles the vexed problem of
the chronology and structure of Hilary’s classic work and
provides a compelling diachronic analysis of its contents.
Beckwith argues that Hilary was motivated to revise two
earlier works, de fide and Adversus Arianos, in reaction to the
“Blasphemy of Sirmium” in 357 and that this revision was
significantly informed by his subsequent collaboration with
Basil of Ancyra and the Homoiousians. Beckwith parts ways
with the previous consensus on the composition of de
trinitate on several fronts. He argues that Book 1 was not part
of the original de fide but was added as part of the revised de
trinitate as a kind of theological prolegomenon under the
guise of an autobiographical account of his journey of faith.
He also concludes that Books 7–12 were composed intention-
ally as part of the new treatise and were not part of the
original Adversus Arianos, which is now comprised of Books
4–6. Throughout his analysis, Beckwith attempts to distin-
guish original from revised material and thereby to identify
the development of Hilary’s thought. He especially focuses
on two issues of theological methodology raised by Hilary in
Book 1, the appropriate relation of faith and reason, and the
use of Scripture. By the nature of the case, Beckwith’s con-
jectural reconstruction does not admit of empirical certainty.
It will surely be invaluable, however, to graduate students
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• NUMBER 4 • DECEMBER 2013
and scholars who negotiate the complex terrain of Hilary’s
de trinitate.
Khaled Anatolios
Boston College
OROSIUS AND THE RHETORIC OF HISTORY. By
Peter Van Nuffelen. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012.
Pp. viii + 252. Cloth, $110.00.
Van Nufflen offers a learned and thought-provoking
reappraisal of Orosius’s Historiae, arguing that the work is
best understood as a largely conventional exercise of late
antique Roman history steeped in then widely recognized
rhetorical conventions. The author first helpfully locates his
work in the scholarly bibliography on Orosius, lamenting
that the work is usually studied in comparison with Augus-
tine or as a theology of history and rarely with attention to its
own logic. Van Nuffelen then concentrates on the rhetorical
features of the work to reveal that Orosius’s chief concern
was to destabilize the picture of Rome’s glorious past
enshrined in the contemporary educational curriculum.
Individual chapters offer close readings of Orosius’s rhetori-
cal decisions at key moments in the text, including the use of
allusions to Vergil, the deployment of exempla, an emphasis
on pathos, and the inclusion of panegyric. Throughout, Van
Nuffelen shows how Orosius employs established pedagogi-
cal techniques to undermine traditional educational ideology
by exhibiting past miseries and the comparatively pleasant
state of the present against a school curriculum stressing the
glory of the Roman past. The book concludes with a brief
comparison of Orosius’s understanding of the history of the
Church with those of Augustine and Eusebius, distinguish-
ing the Spanish priest from both through his optimistic but
hardly triumphalist view of the Church’s impact on society.
This book is of broad interest to students and scholars of
historiography, Christianity, and late antiquity.
Owen M. Phelan
Mount Saint Mary’s
A COMPANION TO AUGUSTINE. Edited by Mark
Vessey. Chichester, UK: Wiley-Blackwell, 2012. Pp. vii +
595. $199.95.
This rich volume seeks to account for the “hermeneuti-
cal shift” in the study of Augustine and “late antiquity” that
has led to the “effacement” of the “disciplinary boundary
markers” that previously relegated Augustinian scholarship
to the domain of patristics. As Vessey observes, the works of
Brown and Marrou have accounted for such a shift, carving
out a niche for studies that broaden and expand the scope of
research in the field of Augustinian studies. The articles
found in this Blackwell Companion reflect movement into
new intellectual territory, for while they address familiar
themes such as philosophy, Scripture, language, and the
Church, they also offer fruitful forays into political history,
cultural geography, Roman public life, and the legacy of
 Religious Studies Review • VOLUME 39
Augustine from antiquity to postmodernism. Readers will
benefit from the contributions of scholars such as J. J.
O’Donnell, J. van Oort, M. Cameron, P. Fredriksen, and L.
Ayres, along with illuminating entries from S. Byers, J.
Caputo, and J. P. Kenney. The volume includes a list of the
works of Augustine, although the dates of the works are
notably absent, and the bibliographies found at the end of
the articles, albeit brief, are helpful and reflect current schol-
arship. This is a successful Companion that fills in certain
lacunae in the study of Augustine and late antiquity. As
such, it is more suited to scholars with specific interests
than beginners looking for entry points into Augustine’s
complex and sophisticated thought.
James K. Lee
Southern Methodist University
HAPPINESS AND WISDOM: AUGUSTINE’S EARLY
THEOLOGY OF EDUCATION. By Ryan N. S. Topping.
Washington, DC: Catholic University of America Press,
2012. Pp. vii + 252. $64.95.
Topping’s study is a welcome contribution to the inter-
pretation of Augustine’s early thought “on its own terms.”
Topping argues that Augustine’s theory of education arises
from “ethical reflection,” and so is a function of “moral the-
ology.” The net effect is a “distinctively Christian paedeia,”
whose highest aim is the supreme good of the knowledge
and love of God that constitutes happiness. The liberal arts
serve as “rungs on the ladder” on the way to God. Liberal
education further cultivates “virtue” and “community”
toward the ultimate end of happiness. Topping provides a
learned discussion of education in antiquity before attempt-
ing to demonstrate how Augustine views liberal education as
an antidote to Ciceronian skepticism. In the strongest chap-
ters of the book, Topping explores the themes of curriculum,
pedagogy, and authority, although it is not always clear how
these themes cohere. In Chapter 5, Topping does well to
address issues of continuity and discontinuity, yet by simply
asserting the recognition of grace in Augustine’s early
works, Topping effectively closes the conversation on the
significance of the relationship between the theological
virtues (i.e., faith, hope, and charity) and the ascent to God
that yields vision. At times, the study seems more preoccu-
pied with education than with Augustine, leading one to
wonder whether the “terms” of discussion are, in fact,
Augustinian. Nevertheless, scholar and nonscholar alike
will benefit from reading this insightful book.
James K. Lee
Southern Methodist University
THE CAROLINGIAN DEBATE OVER SACRED
SPACE. By Samuel W. Collins. New York: Palgrave
Macmillan, 2012. Pp. 234. Cloth, $85.00.
Collins illumines a basic problematic underlying
Carolingian approaches to the meaning of sacred places:
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• NUMBER 4 • DECEMBER 2013
Does holiness inhere in a place? More than recovering
explicit debates about sacred space, Collins uncovers how
assumptions about place shape three otherwise rarely com-
pared Carolingian intellectual, social, and legal challenges.
An introduction surveys spatial theory in antiquity and sets
his study in modern historiography. Chapter 1 summarizes
the two most important sources on which Carolingian
authors depend, Bede’s biblical exegesis and an early medi-
eval Irish canon law collection, the Collectio canonum
Hibernensis. Bede expressed a deep ambivalence about the
nature of present things, while the compilers of Collectio
viewed OT buildings as allegorically reflecting heavenly
archetypes and prefiguring contemporary Christian
churches. Chapter 2 examines the polemical exchanges
between Amalarius of Metz and Florus of Lyon over whether
liturgical actions and architecture should be interpreted in
the same fashion as the Bible. Chapter 3 surveys early ninth-
century monastic texts, lifting out the spatial assumptions
behind the famous Plan of St. Gall as well as commentaries
on the Benedictine Rule by Smaragdus of St-Mihiel and
Hildemar of Corbie. The book culminates in Chapter 4 with
an analysis of the well-studied dispute between Alcuin of
York and Theodulf of Orleans over a fugitive cleric from
Orleans who seeks sanctuary in Alcuin’s church. In Collins’
analysis, Theodulf’s successful efforts to recover the priest
turn on his argument for the purity of sacred space and
contrast sharply with Alcuin’s position that holiness is
not intrinsic to buildings. Collins concludes that while
Theodulf’s position seems dominant, contention continues
throughout the Middle Ages between those who connect
churches to a heavenly prototype and those who reject iden-
tifying the mundane with the supernatural. This book will be
of interest to early medievalists and others with an interest
in theoretical interpretations of place.
Owen M. Phelan
Mount Saint Mary’s
A COMPANION TO ST. PAUL IN THE MIDDLE
AGES. Edited by Steven R. Cartwright. Leiden: Brill, 2013.
Pp. xii + 509. Cloth, $199.00.
This recent addition to Brill’s “Companions to the Chris-
tian Tradition” is simultaneously a bit more and a bit less
than one would hope for. The volume is divided into two
parts. The first part consists of nine essays on the history of
Pauline exegesis: 1) the first four essays examine the patris-
tic period, treating Origen, the anonymous fourth-century
theologian known as “Ambrosiaster,” Pelagius, and Augus-
tine; 2) the subsequent three essays examine the medieval
exegesis of Romans during the Carolingian era, the eleventh
century, the twelfth century; while 3) the final two essays
treat Thomas Aquinas and Nicholas of Lyra. The first four
essays on patristic exegesis set the stage for the rest of the
volume (hence, a bit more), while the treatment of the medi-
eval literature is uneven, beginning with helpful summary
articles for the high middle ages, but providing only cursory
 Religious Studies Review • VOLUME 39
coverage of the thirteenth through fifteenth centuries
(hence, a bit less). Part II of the volume treats the influence
of Paul in medieval theology and culture. Thus, the volume
concludes with six essays that examine the Pauline influ-
ence on medieval ecclesiology, spirituality, art, preaching,
and literature (including vernacular literature, i.e., Old and
Middle English). In general, the essays are informative and
of a high quality; they should be of use to both scholars and
students working in the field of medieval Pauline exegesis
and its influence.
John T. Slotemaker
Fairfield University
A COMPANION TO ANGELS IN MEDIEVAL PHI-
LOSOPHY. Edited by Tobias Hoffmann. Leiden: Brill, 2012.
Pp. viii + 335. Cloth, $212.00.
The present volume contains nine essays on
late-thirteenth- and early-fourteenth-century scholastic
angelology (the exception being Peter King’s essay on
Augustine and Anselm). Chronologically, the essays focus
on the thirteenth century, with the majority of the essays
treating the thought of Thomas Aquinas and Bonaventure
(among others). Thematically, the essays treat: the demon-
strability of angels, the metaphysical composition of
angels, the individuation of angels, angelic time and
motion, angelic knowledge, angelic language, and angelic
sin. As these themes suggest, medieval angelology pro-
vided a forum for discussing serious metaphysical and
epistemological questions. The essays are of a high quality
and focus on the significant philosophical issues raised by
late medieval theologians. That said, it is unfortunate that
the volume has such a narrow chronological and thematic
focus; for example, expanding the discussion into the late
fourteenth and fifteenth century and thematically treating
issues of a properly theological nature would have
improved the volume. Regarding the latter, it is important
to note that almost no mention is made throughout the
volume of the Pseudo-Dionysius’s Angelic Hierarchy or the
substantive commentary tradition (e.g., the commentaries
of John Scotus Eriugena, Hugh of St. Victor, Thomas Gallus
et al.) that it engendered.
John T. Slotemaker
Fairfield University
SAINT ANSELM OF CANTERBURY AND HIS
LEGACY. Edited by Giles E.M. Gasper and Ian Logan.
Toronto: Pontifical Institute of Medieval Studies, 2012.
Pp. xii + 461. $95.00.
Gasper and Logan have culled together an expansive
collection of twenty-one essays from an array of scholars,
focusing on the historical, philosophical, and theological
setting and influence of St. Anselm of Canterbury. The
editors allude to R. Southern’s seminal work St. Anselm: A
Portrait in a Landscape to frame their project as an explo-
ration of the landscape of Anselm’s legacy. The essays
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• NUMBER 4 • DECEMBER 2013
trace Anselm’s influence through the latter half of the
medieval period and twentieth century. The bulk of the
essays concentrate on Anselm’s impact on the thinking of
twelfth- and thirteenth-century theologians. Essays on the
freedom of the will (J. Dunkthorne) and the Trinity (J.
Slotemaker) stand out as thoroughly accessible for readers
new to the thought of St. Anselm, yet each contain insights
and depth that will enrich the thought of senior scholars.
Eight essays, each exceptional, comment on the modern
legacy of Anselm. Essays by E. Sweeney, B. Goebel, and
G. Gasper expertly engage the thought of Anselm in the
work of other twentieth-century thinkers, such as Sartre,
M. Ramsey, and H. Blumenberg. I. Logan deftly counter-
critiques Rahner’s notoriously low evaluation of Anselm,
revealing common methodological movements, while M. M.
Adams insightfully offers her own assessment of Anselm’s
notion of divine goodness. The history of Anselm’s recep-
tion is complicated and not without controversy, but the
careful crafting of the editors results in a portrait of a land-
scape with contours, valleys, and peaks that will leave both
experienced scholars and novices with an appreciation for
the work of St. Anselm of Canterbury.
Nicole Reibe
Boston College
A SENSE OF THE SACRED: ROMAN CATHOLIC
WORSHIP IN THE MIDDLE AGES. By James Monti. San
Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2012. Pp. xxiv + 684. Paper,
$34.95.
This extraordinary work provides a thoroughgoing
examination of the liturgy of the Middle Ages, particularly as
it was understood by such medieval liturgical commentators
as Amalarius of Metz (d. 850), Lothario of Segni (who became
Pope Innocent III; d. 1216), and William Durandus of Mende
(d. 1296). The book is divided into three major parts: Part 1
considers each of the seven sacraments in turn; Part 2 treats
the liturgical year, with chapters on, e.g., Christmas, Good
Friday, Easter, and the Corpus Christi procession; and Part 3
provides an overview of other rites of the Church, such as the
installation and coronation of a pope, the canonization of
saints, and funeral rites. Although he makes use of an
impressive range of primary source materials from across
medieval Europe, Monti’s purpose extends beyond the his-
torical and descriptive. Indeed, over against what he takes to
be the general neglect and even “vilification of medieval
liturgy by those intent upon ridding Catholic worship of its
medieval inheritance” (p. xix), Monti hopes that his synthe-
sis of the profound theological explanations and spiritual
insights of the medieval commentators will lead not only to
a renewed appreciation of the many rich and beautiful con-
tributions of medieval liturgy to the Catholic heritage but
also to an increased sense of the sacred in contemporary
liturgical practice.
Franklin T. Harkins
Durham University
 Religious Studies Review • VOLUME 39
ROBERT GROSSETESTE: HIS THOUGHT AND ITS
IMPACT. Edited by Jack P. Cunningham. Papers in Medi-
aeval Studies, 21. Toronto: Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval
Studies, 2012. Pp. xvii + 361. Cloth, $90.00.
This excellent volume, which originated in papers deliv-
ered at the 2009 conference of the International Robert
Grosseteste Society, contributes much to current scholarly
understanding of the thirteenth-century bishop’s multifac-
eted work and its wide-ranging influence. Divided into four
parts—“Translations and Commentaries,” “Science and
Magic,” “Impact and Legacy,” and “Pastoral Theology”—the
book includes thirteen essays treating such themes as
Grosseteste’s translation methods (James McEvoy, Cath-
erine Kavanagh), his exegesis of the Psalms (R. M. Ball), his
understandings of corporeity (Cecilia Panti), the magical
arts in the Grosseteste school (R. James Long), the influence
of Grosseteste on John Wyclif (Anne Hudson, Edgar Laird),
the Anglo-Norman translation of the bishop’s penitential
sermon Perambulavit Iudas (Matthias Hessenauer), and his
teaching on the Jews in De cessatione legalium (Mark W.
Elliott). In particular, the third section, on Grosseteste’s
impact and legacy, distinguishes this volume from other
recent studies, such as Robert Grosseteste and His Intellectual
Milieu: New Editions and Studies, ed. John Flood, James R.
Ginther, and Joseph W. Goering (PIMS, 2013). In short, there
is rich intellectual fare here for scholars and students of
scholastic philosophy and theology, the history of science,
medieval biblical exegesis, church history, Latin and ver-
nacular literature in the Middle Ages, linguistics and trans-
lation studies, and the history of interreligious relations.
Franklin T. Harkins
Fordham University
A COMPANION TO ALBERT THE GREAT: THEOL-
OGY, PHILOSOPHY, AND THE SCIENCES. Edited by
Irven M. Resnick. Leiden: Brill, 2013. Pp. xv + 833. Cloth,
$271.00.
This volume is the single best introduction to Albert the
Great in English and constitutes a comprehensive study of
his thought. The book begins with a biographical introduc-
tion that summarizes Albert’s life and literary corpus. The
rest of the volume consists of three parts treating Albert’s
theology, philosophy, and influence, respectively. The first
section is comprised of four essays on various aspects of
Albert’s theological project (e.g., the notion of theology as a
science, Mariology, mystical theology, etc.). The second and
most substantial section of the volume treats Albert’s phi-
losophy in great detail. It begins with an introduction, fol-
lowed by eleven essays on a range of topics (i.e., physics,
botany, medicine, epistemology, anthropology, ethics, math-
ematics, astronomy, magic, logic, etc.). The second section
concludes with a single essay (written by eight authors) on
Albert’s metaphysics that provides a comprehensive (180-
page) introduction to the subject. The third section of
the volume considers Albert’s influence on vernacular-
278
• NUMBER 4 • DECEMBER 2013
philosophical literature in the fourteenth and fifteenth
centuries. The work concludes with a comprehensive bibli-
ography and index. The true value of the volume is its intro-
duction to Albert’s massive philosophical corpus; in short,
for those interested in the philosophy of the Doctor
Universalis, this book will provide an outstanding introduc-
tion to his work for years to come.
John T. Slotemaker
Fairfield University
THOMAS AQUINAS: A PORTRAIT. By Denys Turner.
New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2013. Pp. xii + 300.
$28.00.
The goal of Denys Turner’s engaging and helpful “por-
trait” of Thomas Aquinas is to make Thomas intelligible to
educated lay readers. As such, it fits into the genre of books
explaining the thought of famous intellectuals like Descartes
and Spinoza. Turner’s Thomas is a nonreductive materialist,
and his theology is “but an extended meditation on the
meaning of bread and wine” for articulate human animals.
Thus, it subtly polemicizes against the flat, monochromatic,
opposed, and therefore mirroring worlds of gnostic Chris-
tians and atheistic naturalists. Clear and accessible, and
written with Turner’s characteristic pedagogical flair, the
book not only provides a very nice introduction to Thomas’s
thought, but it also provides a very good account of
Wittgensteinian Thomism. Two strands of reasoning charac-
terize the argument. First, Thomas’s thought can be made
intelligible by relating Thomas philosophically to other con-
ceptual possibilities. Second, Turner slowly unfolds Thom-
as’s thought to demonstrate its plausibility and coherence.
After briefly introducing the themes of the book with an oft
returned-to presentation of Thomas’s life, Turner begins by
emphasizing the embodied nature of human knowing and
acting. This discussion frames an account of God in noncom-
petitive relation with the world and with the rational bodies
of human beings, who need God for the world to be intelli-
gible. God shares divine life—the Trinity “interanimates”
human bodies, and does so infallibly with noncoercive grace.
Christ fittingly articulates divine life to the world, and
through the Eucharist, maximized divine presence, intensi-
fying Christ’s embodied articulation of God’s love as much as
possible in the present dispensation.
Sean Larsen
High Point University
A COMPANION TO THE PHILOSOPHY OF ROBERT
KILWARDBY. Edited by Henrik Lagerlund and Paul
Thom. Leiden: Brill, 2013. Pp. x + 424. Cloth, $203.00.
Kilwardby (c. 1215–1279) was an English scholastic
theologian who was trained at the University of Paris and
subsequently returned to England where he joined the
Dominican order (c. 1250), became regent master of theol-
ogy at Oxford (1256–1261), and was elected archbishop of
 Religious Studies Review • VOLUME 39
Canterbury (1272). Kilwardby is significant as a theologian,
philosopher, and churchman; he is perhaps best known for
his mastery of Aristotelian logic and his unique attempt to
harmonize the thought of Aristotle and Augustine of Hippo.
As the title indicates, this is an introduction to Kilwardby’s
philosophy and does not engage in the explicitly theological
topics developed in his commentary on Peter Lombard’s Sen-
tences. Following an introductory essay on his life and
thought, the volume contains nine essays that analyze in
depth a significant theme or concept in Kilwardby’s thought
(i.e., Grammar, Semantics and Ontology, Syllogisms,
Science, Time, Matter, Soul/Epistemology, Ethics and the
division of the Sciences). The essays in the volume are of
a high quality. Further, the studies are broad and compre-
hensive, such that the reader is introduced to the central
philosophical aspects of Kilwardby’s thought. Several of
the studies, in particular, increase substantially our under-
standing of his philosophy by studying heretofore unedited
manuscripts.
John T. Slotemaker
Fairfield University
THE DIFFERENTIATION OF AUTHORITY: THE
MEDIEVAL TURN TOWARD EXISTENCE. By James
Greenaway. Washington, DC: The Catholic University of
America Press, 2012. Pp. viii + 309. $69.95.
Greenaway’s well-written and insightful study draws
from the philosophical and historical investigations of E.
Voegelin to offer an interpretation of the Western struggle
for order through the lens of the rising existential authority
of the individual in late medieval thought. Alongside the
existing domains of political and spiritual authority in medi-
eval society, the text traces the gradual recognition of a third
form of authority derived from the concrete experience
of individual persons. Greenaway ably outlines the conse-
quences of this emerging claim to authority, both in the
fracturing of older political and spiritual syntheses and in
the remarkable variety of new attempts at integrating these
three competing zones of authority. The text’s analysis is
both detailed and sweeping, considering specific works of
thinkers ranging from John of Salisbury to Marsilius of
Padua and Nicholas of Cusa while also examining the devel-
opment of English constitutionalism, the growth of French
hegemony, and the increasing expansion of papal power.
The study concludes by contrasting this distinctively
Western discussion with notions of authority and the promi-
nence of Sharia law in Islam. While its frequent references to
Voegelin’s philosophical works may prove distracting to
some readers, the volume presents a welcome contribution
to the developing discourse of medieval political thought
that will be of interest to scholars and graduate students
working in the areas of late medieval and early modern
thought.
Kevin M. Vander Schel
Villanova University
279
• NUMBER 4 • DECEMBER 2013
A COMPANION TO MEISTER ECKHART. Edited
by Jeremiah M. Hackett. Leiden: Brill, 2013. Pp. xxx + 781.
Cloth, $271.00.
Meister Eckhart (c. 1255–c. 1327) was a German theo-
logian, philosopher, and mystic who studied at the Univer-
sity of Paris and was a member of the Dominican order.
The present volume is dedicated to the life, thought, and
influence of Meister Eckhart and is divided into three
parts. The first part (consisting of nine essays) begins with
a substantial piece by Walter Senner (pp. 5–84) on the life,
education, and career of Eckhart. Further, this introductory
section contains two detailed essays on Eckhart’s Latin
works and German works respectively. Thus, the reader
is provided with robust biographical and bibliographical
information for subsequent study. The first part also con-
tains several essays on Eckhart’s philosophical works. The
second part (consisting of six essays) treats in some detail
Eckhart’s career as a preacher and theologian, with several
of the essays examining his mystical theology. The third
part (consisting of eight essays) considers Eckhart’s influ-
ence on Western thought from the fourteenth through the
twentieth century. The volume concludes with an appendix
on Dominican education, a bibliography, and several
indices. While this “Companion” is a useful resource and
the individual contributions are often very solid, the orga-
nization of the volume is problematic and appears haphaz-
ard at best.
John T. Slotemaker
Fairfield University
ORTHODOX READINGS OF AQUINAS. By Marcus
Plested. Changing Paradigms in Historical and Systematic
Theology. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012. Pp. xi +
276. $99.00.
Plested offers a fascinating historical overview of Ortho-
dox engagements with Aquinas. After introductory chapters
showing Thomas’s use of Eastern sources and Palamas’s
openness to scholastic theological approaches, Plested
surveys Orthodox theologians who respond, both positively
and negatively, to Aquinas. Plested argues convincingly
that, prior to the Slavophile movement of the nineteenth
century, Orthodox theologians, while rejecting Thomas’s
views on issues like the Filioque and Papal primacy, were
often quite open to his theology, both on specific points (such
as transubstantiation) and on questions of theological
method, not seeing Thomas as a representative of a rational-
izing Western theology, but prizing his philosophical acuity.
Plested is not coy about his aims in this book: to overcome
the gulf that has opened up between Eastern and Western
theology in the modern period. This becomes clear in the
final part of the book, which looks at the treatment of
Aquinas by theologians such as Bulgokov, Lossky and
Romanides, the last of which represents one of the clearest
examples of the “theology of reaction” that Plested sees as
afflicting much of modern Orthodoxy. Other thinkers,
 Religious Studies Review • VOLUME 39
notably Florovsky, whom Plested describes as “something of
a hero of this study,” offer a more irenic approach, though
Plested thinks even more openness is called for. My one
disappointment is that Plested could not go into more detail
about the many figures he treats. One can only hope that this
book will serve as an outline of future scholarly research for
theologians both East and West.
Frederick Bauerschmidt
Loyola University, MD
SACRED HISTORY: USES OF THE CHRISTIAN
PAST IN THE RENAISSANCE WORLD. Edited by Kath-
erine Van Liere, Simon Ditchfield, and Howard Louthan.
Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012. Pp. xvi + 339. Cloth,
$125.00.
The sixteenth-century Reformation of the Latin Church
motivated both Protestant and Catholic scholars to analyze
early Christian history. The present volume traces this
sixteenth-century development, demonstrating how the his-
torical method developed during the Renaissance influenced
the narration of early and medieval Christian history by
Protestant and Catholic historians. Central to these essays
are the massive works of Matthias Flacius, Johannes Wigand
et al. (i.e., the Magdeburg Centuries, Basel 1559–1574, 13
vols.) and Cesare Baronio (i.e., the Annales Ecclesiastici,
Rome 1588–1607, 12 vols.). The Protestant Magdeburg Cen-
turies argued for a radical break between the early and medi-
eval Church, while the Catholic Annales defended the claim
that the Church survived semper eadem (always the same/
unchanged) throughout the first millennium. The thirteen
essays are divided into three parts: four introductory essays
on Church history and Renaissance methodology; five
essays on the relationship between national history and
sacred history; and four essays treating sacred history in the
early modern Catholic world. Although the essays are gen-
erally of a high quality, one often concludes that the topic
being discussed in a given essay is much broader and more
complex than can be addressed in a twenty-page essay.
Thus, the volume lacks both the rigor and unified historio-
graphical approach that one finds in other volumes, such as
Irena Backus’s monograph Historical Method and Confes-
sional Identity (Leiden 2003).
John T. Slotemaker
Fairfield University
History of Christianity (Modern)
TO THE ENDS OF THE EARTH: PENTECOSTALISM
AND THE TRANSFORMATION OF WORLD CHRIS-
TIANITY. By Allan Heaton Anderson. Oxford: Oxford Uni-
versity Press, 2013. Pp. xvi + 311. $24.95.
Adding to his widely read collection of books on global
Pentecostalism, Anderson examines in this volume the
reasons for the dramatic growth of this missionary, poly-
centric, and transnational religious movement and its
280
• NUMBER 4 • DECEMBER 2013
impact on the transformation of world Christianity. In nine
chapters, the book captures the innovations, challenges,
and achievements of Pentecostals through the lens of what
Anderson sees as significant defining features: revivalist
precedents; origins and organization; mission and migra-
tion; women and family; Bible and community; the full
gospel motif; transformation and independence; charis-
matic experience and faith; and, preaching and entrepre-
neurship. These features survey Pentecostal characteristics
through complex historical and theological terrain in an
attempt to characterize the multifarious impulses that have
led to the movement’s proliferation and diversification. The
book discusses the theological history of global Pentecostal-
ism by examining contemporary issues in light of the past
to reveal the patterns and distinctive features of the move-
ment. For Anderson, the first two decades of Pentecostalism
determine almost entirely the theological configuration of
global Pentecostalism today. To the Ends of the Earth is a
mature companion to Anderson’s Introduction to Pentecos-
talism: reflective, personal, unapologetic, well informed,
and eminently readable. While the list of features arguably
could have included a discussion on the ecumenical history,
tensions between the local and the global, structural shifts,
economic and political distinctives, or social ethics among
Pentecostals, this book is a sure guide for students of global
Pentecostalism and, if we see the Pentecostal and charis-
matic movements as its representative, the transformation
of world Christianity.
Wolfgang Vondey
Regent University School of Divinity
Jewish Thought
THREE TIMES A YEAR: STUDIES IN FESTIVAL
LEGISLATION IN THE PENTATEUCH. By Shimon
Gesundheit. Forschungen zum Alten Testament, 82.
Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2012. Pp. xiii + 277. €84.00.
This is a remarkable book that only few scholars today
could write. It provides an extremely close and intelligent
reading of the texts in the Pentateuch dealing with the three
festivals: Pesach, Festival of Weeks, and Festival of Taber-
nacles. Using classic philological tools, Gesundheit points
out the underlying ideas of the different texts related to
them in Exod 23 and 34, in Exod 12 and 13, and in Deut 16.
Based on his readings, he shows the difficulties in trying
to explain the differences between the texts as the product
of a “simple” chronological development. Instead, he points
out that there was a process of exegesis and expansion in
each tradition. Gesundheit goes on to point out the similarity
of this process to that of midrash or rabbinic expansion.
Although he explicitly avoids coming up with any over-
arching theory to explain the developments that he clarified,
his work is extremely suggestive. This stimulating and
strikingly mature study shows the potential for traditional
philology in a contemporary setting. This monograph is
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