Review by Choice Review
The "Mercersburg Movement" was a major moment in American religious thought at the small German Reformed Seminary in Mercersburg, PA (later moving to Lancaster). Associated with it were historian Philip Schaff and theologian John W. Nevin. Wentz (Arizona State Univ.) admits that the present volume is "a kind of postmodern portrait of Nevin's ideas." In a real sense he finds himself in dialogue with Nevin in a double contextual understanding. The first is that of Nevin calling religious and secular America "to a wholeness that is greater than the sum of its parts"--urging a radical catholicity in the context of an incarnational theology that takes history seriously. He urged the country to move beyond nationalism and the churches to move toward "the sacramental character of the mystical presence of Christ." Indeed, to Nevin "the radical catholicity of the Incarnation" is both sacramental and liturgical. This leads to Wentz's strongest chapter, "A Transcript of Mystical Presence: Liturgy and the American Cultus." The second contextual understanding is Wentz in dialogue with his contemporary world, urging it to an appreciation of Nevin's major themes. Berdyaev, T.S. Eliot, Tillich, and Teilhard de Chardin are among those used by Wentz to allow Nevin to speak to our Sitz-in-Leben. Where does Nevin stop speaking and Wentz start? This is a question for the textual critics in Nevin's sources. However, this carefully done volume by a scholar in long-standing dialogue with his subject is well worth a thorough reading. Adequate notes and index assist the reader. Upper-division undergraduate; graduate; faculty. G. H. Shriver; Georgia Southern University
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
