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Christian Spirituality
By Wolfhart Pannenberg
Philadelphia, Westminster, 1983. 115 pp. $8.95.

The Protestant suspicion of spirituality knows a long history. Although profoundly influenced by the fine spiritual classic, Theologica Germanica, Martin Luther may have set the tone that endures in many Protestant circles to this day when he repudiated devotional practices as a human work and hence a "filthy rag" that might deflect our utter abandonment to God by faith. For all its emphasis on individualism, Protestantism did not take too kindly to the devotional disciplines, with the exception of spiritual reformers like Boehme or Schwenkfeld, as well as other sixteenth century forerunners of German pietism, and, of course, the Methodists and the Quakers.

Wolfhart Pannenberg, professor of systematic theology at the University of Munich and a frequent lecturer in America, is aware of but undaunted by the doubt that surrounds much in the history of spirituality. In fact, in this expanded version of the Taylor Lectures which he presented at Yale University, Pannenberg does not mince words about the fact that "academic theology works often at a distance from the emotional life of Christian piety." Thus, of many favorable things that might be said of this book, the first might well be the forthrightness with which he tackles "the emergence and decay of historic types of piety." Pannenberg believes there is an intrinsic causal relationship between forms of piety and the realities of life. His analysis yields the possibility of testing types of piety by establishing criteria for new and more

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appropriate forms of Christian spirituality.

Respectfully critical of a variety of pietistic movements, Pannenberg finds traditional penitential pietism to be an unfit model for contemporary Christian spirituality. Nietzsche and Freud may have overstated their cases, but Pannenberg concedes that the type of Protestant pietism that gave rise to their criticism still unfortunately remains particularly vulnerable to it. Penitential pietism, according to Pannenberg, does not embody the spirit of liberation of the gospel's proclamation throughout history. Nor does it adequately motivate conversion of the person since by emphasizing guilt and sin consciousness, it virtually paralyzes the Christian man or woman, thus denying the process of formation in Christ begun in baptism.

Not one to leave us marooned, Pannenberg offers eucharistic piety to replace the penitential one, and he reminds his readers, in italics, that "the Eucharist, not the sermon, is in the center of the Church's life." That sobering statement is followed by his observation that "it should sadden a Protestant theologian to think that the Reformation, while … emphasizing the right principle, i.e., the communal or congregational character of the Eucharist, nevertheless failed to develop a new and powerful eucharistic piety." That task has been left for this generation of theologians.

For Pannenberg's next step, he moves into the area of "Sanctification and Politics" and wrestles with how, for a Calvinist, regeneration and sanctification are related to the political community. The yield of his tight and convincing argument is that "although the activism takes place primarily in the individual, it is also a communal concern." Max Weber, Ernst Troeltsch, Michael Walzer, Gustavo Gutierrez, James Cone, Karl Barth, and Karl Marx, among others, are each heard from in this bold and vital chapter. From now on, social justice spirituality will need to attend to what Pannenberg has to say here.

Two additional chapters supplement the Taylor Lectures. One on "The Absence of God in Theological Perspective," and the other on "A Search for the Authentic Self" are fine essays, but they do not carry forward the theme of the book. This is hardly worth quibbling about, because Pannenberg has fashioned a significant contribution to the field of spiritual theology. His reflections will raise the ante in all future discussions on the subject.

Doris Donnelly
St. John's University
New York, N.Y.,
and Princeton Theological Seminary
Princeton, N.J.