{'fraction_non_alphanumeric': 0.02385008517887564, 'fraction_numerical': 0.002271436683702442, 'mean_word_length': 5.034246575342466, 'pattern_counts': {'":': 0, '<': 0, '<?xml version=': 0, '>': 0, 'https://': 0, 'lorem ipsum': 0, 'www.': 0, 'xml': 0}, 'pii_count': 0, 'substrings_counts': 0, 'word_list_counts': {'cursed_substrings.json': 0, 'profanity_word_list.json': 0, 'sexual_word_list.json': 0, 'zh_pornsignals.json': 0}}
Book Review: The Changing Face of the Priesthood

Given the nature of the debate with which this work deals, is it of more than scholarly and historical interest? Undoubtedly. For myself the most powerful material in this work deals with the proper understanding of divine transcendence, the necessity involved in divine knowledge, and its relationship to divine providence. This forms an important and relevant corrective to modern process theology with its caricature of so-called "classical theism" (which is really eighteenth century deism) and to loose and popular talk about divine suffering. Any serious student of theology will benefit from grappling with these issues, and from engaging with the intellects of Aquinas and Lonergan in the process. However it must be admitted that the style of these works is no longer fashionable. These are closely reasoned and dense arguments, drawing on detailed knowledge of the writings of Aquinas, in their historical unfolding. They demand concentration and the ability to sustain an "intellectual pattern of inquiry". One may well ask why it is that theologians are often satisfied with less than the rigour displayed in this work (the present reviewer included)? Still these works do not present Lonergan's own contribution to the theology of grace. They remain basically an historical study of Aquinas. For Lonergan's own contribution, written in Latin, thesis-style, we will need to await the publication of a future volume of these Collected Works. In the meantime one should refer to the excellent volume by Michael Stebbins, The Divine Initiative (Toronto: UTP, 1995). As with all the volumes of the Collected Works, the editors have done a splendid job and Lonergan scholars everywhere are in their debt.