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Book Review: Catholic Cults and Devotions: A Psychological Inquiry

Hoffman has modeled for us an effort in ecumenical theology. His own Jewish background is always clearly discernible, but his familiarity with Christian worship is also evident. Because he does not treat liturgical issues as primarily denominational in character but as stemming from a breakdown of a system, he brings a fresh outlook to perennial liturgical problems. For this reason I found the book more helpful and more believable than most of the "introductions to liturgy" written by my Roman Catholic colleagues. Too often the latter identify the cause of the failure of worship and its renewal as a lack of appreciation and full understanding of a received ritual and are loathed to blame the ritual structure itself or the system that supports or does not support that structure. H.'s refreshing solution is actually not particularly new, as it has been put forth by others along different, more strictly liturgical lines. On the horizontal axis the group of worshipers must be unified around an alternative world view, and so the rituals must articulate the favorite themes and conventions of a particular religious tradition. On the vertical axis it must be clear that this group is really praying, and today this means more the intimacy of community than it does the numinosity of former times. For this interaction of the vertical and the horizontal dimensions of worship to take place, there must develop a new master image, a view of God which is in accord with the cultural backdrop of our age and is expressed in a vocabulary which is contemporary, i.e. one which is familiar to those involved in that process of communication called liturgy. For those who are looking for another recipe book on liturgical preparation or celebrational style, this book will disappoint. For those seeking a deeper understanding of the liturgical situation of the present time, it is clearly the companion for that journey.