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The Strategy of the Spirit?

A Roman Catholic priest seeks a reconciliation with evangelical wings of the church without compromising his own orthodox beliefs

The Strategy of the Spirit?
By Peter Hocken
Eagle. £8.99. 276 pages
ISBN 0 86347 191 9

If you only read books you agree with, coming from a theological stable with which you are at home and confident, then I suspect you will want to avoid this one like the plague. The very constituency from which it comes will raise negative feelings in many, and the subject which it endeavours to deal with raises the hackles of others, for the author, Peter Hocken, is a Roman Catholic priest, both charismatic and overtly ecumenical, and that should be enough to be going on with. But 'go on' with it I suggest we must, not to agree necessarily, but to be informed and challenged by what this man has to say.
It is Peter Hocken's thesis and desire that the historic churches (mainly seen as the Roman Catholic and Orthodox!) should build bridges towards the evangelical, Pentecostal and charismatic churches but, nevertheless, says the foreword writer: 'He seeks an authentic reconciliation without compromising his beliefs as an orthodox priest', and something of the work of the Holy Spirit in the various streams of churchmanship. It might be felt that such an author has very little to say about the strategy of the Spirit, and it is encouraging to see the question mark in the title!
Yes, there are question marks about this book, and not only in the title. There are problems of fundamental complexity that are obvious and cannot be dealt with here, and yet ... The author gives a masterly historic overview of the various streams of what he calls 'revival' in the evangelical, holiness, pentecostal and charismatic constituencies, and that he is able to distinguish between these streams so expertly is, in itself, credit-able. His chapter on the similarities between these streams and the mainline churches (Roman Catholic and Orthodox remember) is as fascinating as it is tantalising, for he describes a journey from a place where we would not begin and takes us to a place where we are not sure we want to go. He takes as accepted matters which we would wish to qualify, and makes presumptions which we would not wish to pre-empt. And yet ...
It seems there is hardly an evangelical or charismatic matter of which he is ignorant. People quoted or referred to include J.I. Packer, D.W. Bebbington, Hudson Taylor and Patrick Johnstone, with organisations as diverse as The Navigators, Keswick and even the Schofield Bible coming before his attention.
This book is a fascinating read, has a deeply spiritual tone, grapples with issues that many of us have probably never thought of and gives insights into one Roman Catholic's thought of evangelical, charismatic and pentecostal life, from an angle most will never have read before.
In seeking a cross-fertilisation between Roman Catholic and Protestant streams of renewal, Hocken seeks to build bridges over a gulf so wide as to be almost unbridgeable, for both banks are out of sight to many of us. Because of the stable from which this book comes and because it deals with the contentious subject that it does, it could be dismissed at a stroke, unless you only read books you agree with !

Robert Amess
Richmond