THE FIRE AND THE ROSE ARE ONE

by Dom Sebastian Moore ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 1, 1980

Mystical Christology--a bold and sometimes brilliant series of poetical meditations on Jesus as the locus of a transcendent love joining God and man. Moore (a Marquette theologian) takes his title from the last line of Eliot's Little Gidding, which refers to this devout consummation, but he got his inspiration from Ernest Becker's The Denial of Death, and specifically from Becker's axiom, ""That we all desire to be desired by one we desire is the one uncontested human proposition."" Or, as Moore would say, we long to be for a significant other. This central ""erotic"" element in our make-up grounds our sense of being unique and valuable. But at the same time we feel our ""total dependence on a total mystery""--the radical helplessness of creaturehood, most vividly manifested in death. We resolve this contradiction, says Becker, the only way we can, by denying the mystery that threatens to annihilate the fragile fabrications of our selfhood. No, counters Moore, we can embrace the mystery and discover the ""positive, life-enhancing possibilities"" that lie within it. Ultimately we recognize that our quintessentially human experience of self-esteem only arises out of dialogue (whether conscious or not) with ""the unknown that knows me."" And although we deliberately turn away from the mystery (sin) and fall into a state of ""affective impotence"" (guilt), we have Jesus, the sacramental presence of God as love rather than power, who shatters our guilt and releases the dammed-up forces of love, which flow into a ""new community."" All this, of course (and it's only the beginning of a long and densely wrought argument), is perfectly orthodox. But not the least of Moore's surprises is the way he can invest ancient dogma with fresh, personal vigor. Not a theological masterpiece, perhaps, but a very fine achievement.

Pub Date: Nov. 1, 1980

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Seabury

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 1980

Categories: NONFICTION