I BELIEVE IN HOPE

by Jose M. Diez-Alegria ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 1, 1974

Diez-Alegria is a Spanish Jesuit, a progressive theologian and a Marxist. On all three counts he catalogues the fallings of the institutional Church in living up to what the hierarchy views as the message of Christ. The remedy for these failings, the author writes, lies in a rediscovery of the true Jesus and his teachings through the application of some aspects of Marxist philosophy and methods to current problems. Indeed, he surmises that only by a form of Marxist Socialism is it possible for the world as a whole to resolve its difficulties. This is an argument which, from such a man, might be exciting and controversial. But it is only dull. Not even so excellent a translator as Gary MacEoin is capable of infusing life into page after page of quotations from Father Diez-Alegria's lectures, notes, and books, intended to demonstrate his evolution from conventional seminarian to Marxist theorist. And not even a theologian as subtle as Diez-Alegria is capable of persuading one that a failing Christianity and a failing Marxism, in combination, speak hope in a disillusioned world.

Pub Date: Feb. 1, 1974

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Doubleday

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1974

Categories: NONFICTION