Reviews for The Catholic tradition

The average rating for The Catholic tradition based on 2 reviews is 3 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2013-10-27 00:00:00 Mark Hillyer I first heard of this book after it was referenced in the Met Gala materials. I soon found out that Andrew Bolton only really quoted from the beginning of the introduction... but it was still an interesting read. Some of Greeley's argument is a bit of a stretch (particularly the "statistics he uses" to defend his thesis). But overall, the idea that the popular (not high) church has ingrained an enchanted imagination that sees the possibility of the divine all around is incredibly compelling. Greeley suggests that this "enchanted imagination" enables the unconscious development of art and social structures that reveal the nature of God about observation. I found it interesting to read in part because I agree with him that being raised Catholic marks you in a specific way in how you view the things around you. Whether it appears in the iterations he suggests is up for debate, but it's a quick and interesting read. A few notes: His chapter on hierarchy was fascinating. I appreciated that he referred to God with a number of gender pronouns. He has a slightly bizarre chapter about sex and the Catholic imagination that was thought provoking (even if I didn't buy it). Finally, Greeley is writing in a different time; I wonder what he would think of the Pope Francis Catholic Church. I also don't think he anticipates the level of power social issues (for both conservatives and liberals) play a part in young people's dedication to Catholicism or the amount of harm that the clerical abuse cases would cause. So overall, an interesting read, but a little bit of a stretch and dated. I think if it attempted to be a little less timely it would have benefited the piece.

Review # 2 was written on 2014-04-07 00:00:00 Andre Warrren This book is mentioned by many people in the arts, however I would only recommend it for people who are well- formed and with good critical skills. Greeley’s field is sociology and the impetus for this book comes from a survey of people from different religious backgrounds and their views including the arts. Of the sociology or statistics, I cannot comment for accuracy, I will here concern myself with the presuppositions and conclusions. To begin Greeley presents a distorted version of the Catholic theological principle that the sense of the faithful cannot really contradict the Magisterium. On this ground he supports things like contraception, ordination of women and other matters. On the other hand he upholds the tradition of transcendence in Sacred Music and architecture. No bongo masses for him. His compelling central argument is that the Liturgy is the root of Catholic imaginative powers, the more involved a Catholic is in the Liturgy ( attendance at mass included) the more open he is to the arts. This, I think, is worthy of exploration. Catholics are fed on images and metaphors and narratives from the cradle. (Who said: nothing exists in the intellect that did not exist in the senses first?) I find Greeley’s use of Catholic filmmakers to discuss community very enlightening. Maybe the Liturgy is communal because communion/relating is human. Greeley references a variety of modern Catholic artists which is fun, but I don’t always think he is correctly analyzing the works. His analysis of Bernini’s statue led to an interesting discussion on pornography around here. (I think limiting ecstasy to only the sexual context is reductionist) I think Greeley is a charitable and intuitive researcher but he is much too focused on how Catholics relate to each other and too little concerned with how we relate to God. Artists know that creativity is irrigated by limitations. I can be more creative in a monochromatic painting or in a haiku. Form forces one to recognize meaning. By trying to liberate Catholicism from the loving limits of the Church, Greeley is actually campaigning to limit its creative powers.