Toward a New Catholic Church: The Promise of Reform

For the first four chapters, I thought I had never read a book on the Catholic Church where the ideas so perfectly meshed with my own. When talking about the exercise of church power, interpreting the Bible, relations with those of other religions (especially Jews)and treatment of women, James Carroll has written a book that rings of truth. In the chapter on a New Christology, however, he advocates an emphasis on creation and divine love available to all rather than salvation and diverges so much from what has been thought of as Catholicism (or even Christianity) that he virtually creates a new syncristic religion. The advocated embrace of pluralism would place Catholicism as one religion among many with nothing particular to recommend it over any other. One wonders what the place of evangelism would be in such a structure. In the final chapters on democracy and repentance he is once again on more solid ground, though he has more faith (if I may use that word) in democracy that I do. All in all, however, a thought-provoking book that will both please and offend many. No one will be bored, however.