Lay Spirituality: From Traditional to Postmodern. By Pierre Hégy. Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock, 2017. Pp. xiii + 236. $44.48; $22.19. Reviewed by William P. O’Brien, SJ, Jesuit Novitiate of Saint Alberto Hurtado, Saint Paul, MN

In this engaging book, Christian sociologist Pierre Hégy offers a reform-minded “sociology of the spirit and spirituality,” motivated by the question of what people can gain by practicing rather than simply speculating about religion (14). His aim, predicated on the theory that one can attain the spiritual experience of a faith-group through participation in its religious practices, is to identify and address “the deficiencies which needed to be addressed by the church leadership [following Vatican II] but were not” (63).

            As such, H. promotes the universal-call message of the council, relying largely on interviews with non- and former clerics in church communities in the USA and Guatemala to make his case. Having framed the inquiry with reference to categories and figures from Book Reviews 481 both Christianity and the social sciences (part 1, chaps. 1–2), H. structures his analyses according to three paradigms or schools: traditional or premodern (part 2, chaps. 3–4), post-Vatican II (part 3, chaps. 5–7), and postmodern (part 4 chaps. 8–11). He helpfully associates each paradigm with a corresponding doctrine from church teaching, relating traditional devotions to the communion of saints, pre- and post-conciliar practice to treating the hierarchy of the institutional church as sacred, and postmodern usage to the Holy Spirit. While the associations are fluid, each evokes central dynamics of US Catholicism while grounding them in the common Christian heritage.

            Regarding tone, the argument feels at times like a polemic against the Roman Catholic diocesan clergy since Trent, and the ecclesial life that H. sees it engendering. This tone is evident, for instance, in the clear opposition of such categories as lay–clerical (27–31) and traditional–clergy-centered (39–55). While overdrawn, these dyads do, however, represent enduring notions about religious duties and avenues to vocational fulfilment. For instance, H. presents a progressive parish in the Midwestern USA as a fragmented attempt to cultivate a spirituality of the sort that the council promoted but never realized (63–79). With reference to that parish, H. raises, illustrates, and discusses a number of “spiritual issues . . . that should be the concern of the whole church” (66): alienation from the institutional church, spiritually sustaining rituals, community, silence, and social justice. The critique develops with reference to what he sees as the clericalized official Catholic debate about the role of the laity in the United States, and John Paul II’s “spirituality of mission,” which H. sees as lacking the practical quality required for an authentic lay spirituality. Part 3 then addresses the postmodern global culture, which according to H. requires that Catholicism adopt a new set of assumptions—namely, integration, pluralism, communicative action, and transparency, the last of which implies mutual trust between clergy and laity.

            In making his historical analysis, H. characterizes Martin Luther (1483–1546) as “the first to write about the Christian vocation” (18)—a claim that some scholars of the early church might dispute when considering the apostolic and patristic traditions. Also, notably absent is any mention of Francis de Sales (1567–1622), whose Introduction to the Devout Life (1609), like the teachings of other post-Tridentine clerics, had an enormous and lasting influence on the development of modern lay spirituality. Some readers too might wonder about the criteria that H. used for selecting interviewees, as well as the implicit notion that outsider-participants can have access to the religious experience of true believers. For instance, do participant-observers know the Father-God of Jesus in the same way as do Christian neophytes, who through their own faith commitment and engagement in sacramental ritual are “initiated into a new life” (16)? And what about US parishes in the Vatican II model that seem to be thriving—for instance, with programs like Cursillo and LifeTeen; active lay leadership in parish governance, liturgical planning, and all manner of prayer and music ministries; as well as Bible studies and faith-based justice initiatives such as those at Chicago’s Saint Sabina (chap. 11)? Without absolutizing any single expression of faith or morality, do not these examples of Christian discipleship and service contradict (cf. Luke 2:34) rather than adapt themselves to the postmodern attitude? More broadly, what sort of contribution can the social sciences promise credibly to make to pastoral theology? Paul Lakeland raises some of these issues in the foreword, and H. addresses others in his conclusion. With these questions in mind, college-level 482 Theological Studies 80(2) instructors may find this book useful for introducing undergraduates to themes in the interdisciplinary study of religion, or perhaps as an example of such for graduate students in the field, complementing H.’s earlier studies in this vein.