Thomas Joseph WHITE, OP.  Principles of Catholic Theology.  Book I. On the Nature of Theology.  Washington, D.C.: The Catholic University of America Press, 2023.  pp. 177. pb. ISBN978-0-8132-3693-3.  Reviewed by Peter DRILLING, retired professor of Theology.

In the introduction to this book, the author informs his readers that it is the first volume of what is intended to be a four-volume study on the meaning and content of Catholic theology.  This introductory volume studies the ways in which Catholic theology works itself out or, as the author expresses it explicitly, "the nature of theology as a science of divine revelation" (p. 3).  A companion volume will consider how Catholic theology has a philosophic component as well.

Fr. White devotes considerable reflection on the role of analogia fidei in theological thought.  In a first order, theology primarily reflects on the Word of God as it has come down to us in Sacred Scripture.  But there are many meanings related in the multiple contents of the Bible and their meanings are further nuanced when we consider human historicity.  Related to the interconnected meanings of the Scriptures is the consistency of Catholic doctrine down the centuries, involving at once continuity and development.  The author suggests that five areas are analogically related: (1) the triune God to be understood in terms of subsistent relations, (2) the Incarnation of the Word of God to be understood in terms of the hypostatic union, (3) the Eucharist to be understood in terms of transubstantiation, (4) the gift of God's grace to be understood in terms of sanctifying grace and actual grace, and (5) the development of doctrine to be understood in terms of organic ecclesial development.

The author also writes of the important interaction between the analogia fidei and the analogia entis.  In other words, while "the essence of theology pertains primarily, then, to the study of God, revealed in Christ" (p. 103), it is also necessary to be alert to the innumerable instances in which philosophical considerations relate to theology, including metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, etc.
At this point it must be noted that Thomism is at the heart of Thomas White's understanding of the principles of Catholic theology.  He admits that the writings of Thomas Aquinas are not doctrinally required.  At the same time, he considers that a revived employment of Thomistic theology and philosophy offers a much-needed alternative to the often-confused contemporary Catholic theological scene.  For example, he writes: "In our own age, Thomism has become one of the only plausible contenders present that provides an authentic vision of the sapiential unity of human knowledge amidst the diversity of university disciplines" (p. 134).  He goes on to acknowledge immediately that this is very often not a popular position: "Politically, the situation of those who self-identify as Thomists is one of cultural disenfranchisement, to be sure."

As I read this book, I thought that it calls for a symposium of theology professors to engage in discussion of its content for an afternoon or even a few days.  The author provides so much to ponder.