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in the nal chapter is a ne piece of argumentation that regains the category of imagination for theologies that might nd Kaufmans thoroughgoing theological pragmatism too insipid. Most of all, what shines through the last chapters is a theological voice characterized by a very clear awareness of the fact that theology is about the practice of wisdom and faith in a concrete community of persons who learn to see the world a different way in that practice. Whatever the problems with the reading of Barth, Clark certainly is after something salutary, and we might hope for more from him on this subject. Travis E. Ables Vanderbilt University

Reason, Faith, and Revolution: Reections on the God Debate, Terry Eagleton, Yale University Press, 2009 (ISBN 978-0-300-15179-4), 185 pp., hb $25 One thing believers and theologians surely need to be grateful to the so called New Atheists is that they had greatly contributed to place again God and religious faith at the center of the public discussion. This is good news for Theology, whose worst destiny seemed to be its increasing marginalization from the public square, and the feeling that the question of God was becoming irrelevant. For those dealing with the issue of secularization and religious indifference, we were missing the good old times plenty of true atheists, with whom you could engage in healthy and hot debate, because the issue of god mattered for that generation. The issue of God matters again for both, those who, like Dawkins, Hitchens, and Dennett, look at its most negative consequences, and for Eagleton, among many others, who nd in this question a clue about the destiny of humanity and the only alternative to a heartless world. The essay of Eagleton is not easy to classify and summarize. Originally it gathers the Dwight Harrington Terry Foundation Lectures on Religion in the Light of Science and Philosophy, delivered at Yale in April 2008. Reading the book, this context becomes even more surprising, since the author indulges in every sort of mockery and even insult of American politics and culture. This is not his central target; he points rather to what he calls Ditchkins, a synthesis between Dawkins and Hitchens, which includes some other celebrities of the recent party of militant atheists. However, the victims of his scorn go beyond this:
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the Christian churches, religious fundamentalism, the postmodern thought, nancial and political headquarters, the most glamorous universities, lobbyists of every kind. At some point, the feeling is of a very angry intellectual who has broken with almost everybody and looks desperately for some last source of hope. Perhaps our readers could think that the new book of Eagleton, a self-confessed Catholic, is not worthy of a review in a theological journal. In my opinion there are several points that deserve attention from a theological point of view. Probably the rst one is that the author manages in a formidable way to restore theology as a relevant partner in the intellectual debate and a qualied voice in dealing with the current crisis. This claim reaches some extreme expression in the last pages of the book, where theology becomes the only discourse able to mediate between the everyday human conditions and its deepest hopes; in his own words: . . . Theology, however implausible many of its truth claims, is one of the most ambitious theoretical arenas left in an increasingly specialized world one whose subject is nothing less than the nature and destiny of humanity itself, in relation with what it takes to be its transcendent source of life (167). Theology is a problem, and at the same time, it is also fostering kind of critical reection which might contribute to some of the answers (p. 168). The main question arising form this statements is which kind of theology may be most tted to do the programmatic job. Surprisingly, one of the most quoted authors is Thomas Aquinas. Not liberal theologians, not other forms of theology engaged in the costly dialogue with science and society, but some inspiration from the traditional stuff, combined with the radical expressions of political theologies since the seventies. Then, Eagleton engages himself in theological arguments with the God-deniers. Taking a shortcut away from the intricate explorations of the scientists theologians, he rather puts the theological issues at a very different level to those decided by the science, avoiding with this maneuver part of the criticism pointing to the cognitive deciencies of the traditional forms of religious thinking. Gratuity, solidarity, commitment on alleviating suffering, and human delight are perhaps better clues to understand what is religion about. Along the pages of the book, repeated dismissive expressions disqualify the arguments of its opponents as boring, politically disreputable, and unrealistic, in the sense of ignoring human basic needs. Theology, in other words, delivers a much better anthropology, a more realistic account of human needs and desires. At some point, an uncompromising concurrence emerges between Christian values and its eschatology, on one side; and the Enlightened liberal model, on the other; a clash of two worldviews. If there is a narrative, a plot in this essay, it could be the one of the great virtues of Christian theology and praxis, its betrayal or
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inability to deliver what it promised, and the challenge to recover its stand and promises, unmatched by any other discourse. Part of this story of indelity is due to the distortions of Gods image, to a wrong theology which renders an idea of the divine as opposed to humans and a powerful controller, only concerned about moral rightfulness. This is rather more ideological than scriptural. Nevertheless, theology has once again an immense opportunity to overcome its limits and to stand up as the main discourse of hope, as an integrative wisdom, able to link ethics, metaphysics and aesthetics. This at the condition that it avoid the current tendency to the commoditization of religion. Theological questions arise again in the chapter devoted to faith and reason. Eagleton envisages a kind of complementarity, compromised by both forms of fundamentalism: religious and rationalist. However, his solution points to a performative view of faith, less concerned with facts and contents, but with inspiration, passion, and motivation, and able to build community. It is rather a question of which difference faith makes, or how it can become a source of meaning and love. All this requires a kind of conviction, beyond any relativism. This view seems to avoid direct confrontation with science, and looks for a division of jobs. Only together faith and reason are able to overcome the threatening forces of barbarism and to promote a more encompassing culture. And here again a sense of mission becomes apparent for religion and theology Some pearls of Eagletons irony are remarkable along the book as: He [Dennett] also commits the Ditchkins-like blunder of believing that religion is a botched attempt to explain the world, which is like seeing ballet as a botched attempt to run for a bus (p. 50). In any case, beyond its unquestionable rhetoric force, the essay is far distant from a satisfactory engagement between faith and reason, and to do justice to the current theological commitment, that Eagleton surely ignores. Even if his arguments are compelling and will be helpful for many readers, this approach to the questions of faith and reason, theology and science, church and society, could prot much more from recent theological reection and engagement in these elds. Some other minor points would deserve criticism, as several nave opinions on the complex eld of world religions and their identities, or about the problems linked to immigration and cultural pluralism. A bit more realism could be helpful. In any case, this is a good and stimulating reading for theologians, and invites in a provocative way to think about theologys identity and mission in times of deep changes and challenges. Lluis Oviedo Ponticia Universita Antonianum
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