Omnes Sancti et Sanctæ Coreæ, orate pro nobis.

Now Blogging Afresh at Ad Orientem 西儒 - The Western Confucian



Wednesday, May 19, 2004

A New Book

I just received a copy of Pentecost in Asia: A New Way of Being Church by Thomas C. Fox, which is published by Orbis Books, the publishing house of the Maryknoll. I hope to write a review of the book for Traditional Catholic Reflections & Reports.

I read a lot of books from Orbis Books a few years ago, when I was still a Protestant and a Leftist on many political (never social) issues. Many of their books focus on Liberation Theology, which I now know often comes close to heterodoxy.

I can say one thing for Liberation Theology; it was my first point of interest in the Catholic Church. I'm sure it has been also for many others. Hopefully, these folks will be lead into full communion with the Catholic Church and an orthodox understanding of her doctrines and dogmas (I love using those despised words).

The excesses of Liberation Thology need to exposed, however. While we all should be concerned with building a better society, we need to keep in mind that it is, in the end, an impossible task. The poor will always be with us. Grafting Marxist milleniarianism onto Christianity is a recipe for heterodoxy or even heresy.

Back to the book in question, from a quick survey of Pentecost in Asia, it appears to be more orthodox than I had thought it would be, which is a very good thing. It has no nihil obstat or imprimatur, but those things are not necessarily necessary for a book to be a valuable and edifying read.