888 THEOLOGICAL STUDIES very little response from bishops in either Church. This collection of essays underscores the need for further theological reflection on the role and function of lay ministry, as the Church continues to explore new and cre- ative ways to engage the world with the gospel of Jesus Christ. Ordering the Baptismal Priesthood is a well organized and thoughtful contribution to the contemporary understanding of ministry. The Union Institute and University, Cincinnati WILLIAM C. MILLS ON CREATION, CONSERVATION, AND CONCURRENCE: METAPHYSICAL Dis- PUTATIONS 20, 21, AND 22. By Francisco Suarez, S.J. Translation, Notes, and Introduction by Alfred J, Freddoso. South Bend, Ind.: St. Augustine’s, 2002. Pp. cxxiii + 267. $45. The reputation of Francisco Sudrez, $.J. and his contribution to both philosophy and theology has waxed and waned since he flourished in the late 16th century. Until the suppression of the Society of Jesus in 1773, many European and colonial universities had chairs in Suarezian theology. Since the mid-20th century, his reputation has unquestionably diminished, not only because of the eclipse of the neo-Scholastic revival by Anglo- American analytic philosophy, but even among Catholics much influenced by the criticisms of E. Gilson. Since Vatican II, only the most intrepid scholars of Scholasticism have much bothered with S.’s work. A. J. Fred- doso is one of these few. More recently, however, many scholars involved in various aspects of postmodern philosophical and theological discourse have begun to trace S.’s signal role as an impetus to the with the rise of the reactionary, anti-Aristotelian agenda of his Cartesian successors. Moreover, these scholars have begun to publish rather weighty translations, with commentative introductions, of important sections of S.°s Metaphysical Disputations. Laudatory though this recovery project might be, Freddoso’s interest lies in a different recovery, which this volume serves. He advocates nothing less than a recovery of the very Aristotelian ways of thinking that so marked Catholic thought through many centuries, and that culminated in the thought of $. That aim, he admits, is possibly overly ambitious in the current atmosphere of Anglo-American philosophy. The project, begun with his 1994 translation of Disputations 17-19 on efficient causality among creatures, continues with this translation of the three succeeding dis- putations on God's efficient causality. As Freddoso avers, “my deepest ambition as a philosopher has been to promote and ... to contribute to the Catholic intellectual tradition” (vii). He understands S.’s thought as not only viable, but salubrious for philosophy today, presenting impor- tant insights otherwise unavailable to many contemporary perspectives. Freddoso is extraordinarily careful here (as in other translations) to make the text as clear as possible to non-Latin readers. He offers constant guide- posts through the complex arguments, clearing the undergrowth of S.’s voluble text not with condensation and imprecision, but rather withBOOK REVIEWS 889 helpfully cross-referenced notes and amplifying commentary. The trans- lation itself is close, accurate, and concise. Notes are—most helpfully— at the foot of the page. Most helpful too are scholarly and pedagogical details, such as an index of names that includes dates, careful referenc- ing to the standard Latin edition of S.’s works, and thorough cre referencing in the notes to the texts, both Latin and English. Many times while reading S., one can lose a clear sense of antecedents and references; Freddoso is consistently careful to elaborate and clarify S.’s intention at these points. Freddoso’s own explication of basic Scholastic ontology and terminology demonstrates a pedagogical sureness born of much classroom experience. In his important and extended introduction, Freddoso takes on the ques- tion of S.’s place as modern or medieval by countering one recent inter- pretation of S.’s understanding of the relation between theology and phi- losophy. Whereas one opinion regards Suarezian thought as fundamentally modern and discontinuous with the medieval tradition, Freddoso argues that none of the apparent discontinuities is substantial, and that S. in fact sees himself as “a full-fledged member of the medieval scholastic guild” (xx). Here Freddoso may not give his opponent’s arguments their due, but his interpretation of the fundamental continuity in S.’s thought does allow him to highlight the profound grasp that S. had of Thomistic thought. Freddoso emphasizes that S. regarded theology and philosophy as int mately bound together, pointing out that $. adopts certain metaphysical positions because of his assent to certain doctrines of the faith (xxii). How- ever, Freddoso disregards the importance of how the Suarezian pedagogy nonetheless separates the two inquiries. The attitude one takes toward S. as a medieval or modern thinker may depend merely on emphasis. In his emphasis on the proper method of teaching, S. is utterly “scholastic,” but there is doubtless a modern aspect to his focus on methodology. Having said this, Freddoso makes an important point about S.’s true continuity with his predecessors. The theological foundations of his meta- physical thought are manifest throughout his text. S. makes quite clear that he was at pains to do philosophy for the sake of theology, and this deeper continuity with tradition conforms well to Freddoso’s desire to recover a kind of philosophy that can indeed serve the Christian theological tradition today. After usefully laying out the basics of “scholastic composite ontology,” Freddoso addresses several contemporary Lockean and Humean views to the contrary in order to show their inadequacy. Here he makes concise but substantial arguments that often help clarify the importance of his (and S.’s) metaphysical perspective for contemporary theology. However one comes to assess the value of Suarezian metaphysics, Freddoso offers some excellent critiques of a variety of empiricist and other contemporary views that reveal how inadequate such approaches are in the context of faith. Creighton University, Omaha JoHN F, Monta, SJ.