In almost all ways a model for this kind of book. Kerr writes clearly, concisely, and with a nice ironic turn. It's well structured: it start with "before Vatican II," then a bunch of individual theologians, and ends with "after Vatican II." The story of the individuals* is largely one of a progressive move from neo-scholasticism, via a recovery of various church fathers, to a wider range of theological positions. The 'nuptial mysticism' comes out of one of those strands, and finds its most famous, and perhaps silliest, representative in John Paul II.

Kerr himself acknowledges the limitations of this structure, to wit, he doesn't deal with many of the big changes in theology. There are no women, there's no liberation theology (though Rahner leads towards it), and so on. He does suggest pieces that can tell us about those movements, but I read one of them and... well, I would rather read Kerr's clear, concise, ironic prose any day.


*: Chenu, Congar, Schillebeeckx, Lubac, Rahner, Lonergan, Balthasar, Kung, JPII, Benedict. ( )