The Natural Desire to See God According to St. Thomas and His Interpreters (Faith and Reason: Studies in Catholic Theology and Philosophy)
This is a stunning book, on many counts: the sheer toil it represents, the amount of information it offers, the force of its arguments, and above all, the significance of its conclusions. Much of recent Catholic theology turns on the relation between the natural and the supernatural, and this deep and careful investigation sets the issue in a new light. Theologians and philosophers alike can benefit greatly from it. --Stephan L. Brock, Pontifical University of the Holy CrossLawrence Feingold has performed an invaluable service to all who seek to understand the profound and difficult question of the character of the natural desire to see God. His magisterial command of the doctrinal tradition, exegetic care, and capacity to unfold an argument while appreciating all the delicate reticulations of commentatorial interpretation, highly commend this book. The sheer scope of the book, treating all the principal commentators engaged with this question, up to and including Laporta and de Lubac, combined with its speculative penetration, render it far and away the finest of the historico-doctrinal works addressing this issue. This is a tour de force: a book whose implications for the future of theology, and for a just appreciation and assessment of its past, truly need to be drawn. --Steven A. Long, Ave Maria University