Catholic social teaching took an important turn when Pope John Paul II promulgated his magisterial encyclical Centesimus Annus in 1991. The Pope dealt with a wide range of topics, but focused special attention on economic justice. While there is much that a democratic capitalist (to broow Michael Novak's useful phrase) might quibble with in the encyclical, it nevertheless rewards careful reading. Unfortunately, this book does not do it justice. The book is in two parts. First, a poorly edited condensation of the encyclical itself. Second, a collection of essays. The commentaries mostly appeared in a 1991 issue of National Review. They average 3-4 printed pages. The analysis is uniformly shallow and even trite. In short, there is little here that would be of interest to the serious scholar or even the informed layman.

"The Way of Christ," by Pope John Paul II, is a brief book in which the author contemplates the Christian path in the modern world. Unfortunately, most of the book is very bland and generalized; it reads like it could have been written by some anonymous bureaucrat working in an obscure Vatican office. The essential subject matter covered in this book has been covered before and in more depth by many other authors.

The book is further marred by a number of questionable declarations. The author decries "the massive presence in society of atheistic, agnostic, and even anti-Christian conceptions," but fails to give any concrete examples. And for that matter, I believe that many atheists and agnostics are very moral and tolerant people who should not be demonized in this way.

Unfortunately, that flavor of narrow-mindedness and intolerance surfaces in other parts of the book. The author asserts that "Only Jesus has kind and consoling words" and that there "is no solution for skepticism and despair except in faith in Christ." I imagine many of my Jewish, Hindu, and Buddhist sisters and brothers, many of whom respect and appreciate the ministry of Jesus, would disagree with such restrictive statements. The author of this book needs to read more interfaith literature.

The author also naively asserts that "Christianity is the religion of universal peace," and that all Christians become sisters and brothers. What then, I wonder, has been happening in Northern Ireland, where competing Christian groups have been slaughtering each other for centuries? I see it like this: Christianity is like any other religious or philosophical system; its precepts can be (and have been) used both to uplift and heal, or to justify the most horrific atrocities.

I have great respect for the great Christian prophets of the modern era: Thomas Merton, Martin Luther King Jr., John McNeill, and others. Unfortunately, this shallow little book pales in comparison to the work of such truly insightful Christian thinkers.

This collection purports to be a scholarly study of the moral teaching of His Holiness Pope John Paul II. But all the authors dissent from the teaching of the Church on morals. The result is a trashing of the Pope's teaching: not very fair, not very convincing, not very noble. Give me Humanae Vitae any day.