Customer Reviews

The Catholic Imagination

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

There's a huge number of catechisms and books out there that will tell you how to "do Catholic," but very few that capture the essence of what *being* Catholic means quite as well as this work of Greeley's does.

As a non-Catholic -- and very satisfied with the depth of my own religious experience -- I will probably never experience some of the phenomena Greeley describes. But it's fascinating to plumb the depths and be given this intimate peek into how Catholicism actually FEELS to Catholics.

I admit, I found his thesis controversial at first: that Catholics have a different way of looking at the world. But without getting bogged down in specifics, he manages to define many of those distinctions from his own wealth of experience.

It's easy to put down another religion if you just look at the surface details. Greeley leads all readers -- regardless of their own religious convictions -- to respect and admire his fellow believers for the uniquely Catholic outlook on and contribution to the world.

For most of the past ten years Andrew Greeley has been slowly developing his conclusions on "Catholic Imagination." This latest effort is indeed his best. The book never really defines "Catholic Imagination," choosing instead to describe it over and over in various ways -- an effective technique. Seven chapters go through various aspects of life -- place, time, desire, community, authority, etc -- and explain that there is a distinctive and particularly Catholic way of understanding and living those realities. His unique style is to spend the first half of each chapter explaining his point, and the last half citing sociological data confirming his conclusions. The book would be good for Catholics seeking self-understanding and non-Catholics trying to get a grasp of why Catholics are sometimes so different from Protestants. Greeley is a good author so it is an easy book to read. The introduction is an absolute necessity and the first chapter is the most difficult to understand. It would be easy to give up on the book about page 33 or so, but that would be a mistake. It is well printed, good type face, wide margins, but only minimally adequate pictures.

I've long heard about U. of Chicago sociologist Andrew Greeley but never had the opportunity to read any of his works. The Catholic Imagination was a very approchable work for the general reader that looks at the Catholic Church's roots in both the divine and the flesh (as opposed to the condemnation of the flesh and worldly things by Reformation Protestants).

Greeley bends over backwards not to trumpet the superiority of Catholicism over other denominations or faiths. He attempts to take the reader on a tour of Catholic iconography and community and explain to Catholics and non-Catholics alike why Catholics are more attached to art, music, architecture, community (over individuality), sexuality and salvation in an imperfect world than other Christian congregations.

He also argues quite eloquently that much of the above aspects of Catholicism are rooted in folk history and the Church's roots in a illiterate, pre-Enlightenment Europe where local traditions held greater sway than detached theological mandates from a distant Rome. Greeley even touches on this conflict in today's Church, believing that improved communication technologies have resulted in friction between Rome and "ordinary" Catholics as the Holy See has attempted to tighten its control over local clergy and laity.

Again, Greeley aims for the general reader as his audience, not the learned theologian. That is the target of his book and the ingredients in much of his arguments in The Catholic Imagination.

This book would be better served by some more color photos of the artwork Greeley mentions in his book, as I found myself unfamiliar with many of the works of art, films and music listed in the essay.

Catholic Priest, socialogists, and writer, Andrew Greeley has written an insightful book. But it should had been a little better developed and bigger, citing more examples (or exploring the examples already presented even deeper), antedotes and history. With the negatives aside, this book still warrants four stars as Father Greeley's talent for writing to a variety of reading levels in one text is outstanding. Whether one reads more academic works or populists books, this book is sure to be a pleasure to read for most.

Greeley's psoition is to write a book to show the differnce between the Catholic imagination juxtaposed against a Protestant imagination in American society in particular. In expressing this difference, the first three chapters exceed in engaging the reader. The fisrt chapter, "Sacred Place, Sacred Time" deals primarily with the Catholic tradition and religious imagery and I think there is a strong difference between the two traditions. As the Protetsant tradition moves further West (I mean West in the abstract), the churches become increasingly more plain and look more often than not as small civic centers, while the Catholic Church, still builds beautiful places of worship, whether the facilities are in an older gothic or contempary style.

The second chapter titled "Sacred Desire" is beautiful. Most of the other chapters are still engaging, but a little less so. The saddest thing is that I think many, if not most American Catholics have lost this imagination. My assertions are mostly from my limiited expierence with Catholics, but besides the strength of family and community, many of the ideas presented in this book do not seem to touch the homes of many American Catholics. This is why, the book should be developed even more and maybe taught to Catholics, because I tthink that Catholics can learn from the book as much as Protestants.

Before reviewing this book, I must take exception to some scathing denouncements of both Greeley and his works. Apparently, these people & I must not have read the same Greeley books (and since I have read nearly every Greeley book published to date, that would take some doing). If Greeley is a blasphemer, then so am I. If he is going to hell, then I want to go there with him. If Greeley hates God, then I must too, because I see God the same way as Greeley. For the record, I am a minister, a writer, an avid reader, a woman, and an unabashed Greeley fan. I find Fr. Greeley's vision of God is so empowering, especially for women, that I shudder to think of a God who is not like the Being that he describes, defends, and quite obviously, deeply loves. All I can suggest, to those who decry Greeley & his work, is to re-read all of his books-this time without the blinders. If this happens, then I think his detractors will find that Greeley's overall themes are much more beautiful, resonant, and inspiring than they originally thought.

Now, on to the book I'm supposed to be reviewing... "The Catholic Imagination" is yet another example of Greeley at his best. When I finished it, I still wanted more. In fact, I hope Fr. Greeley does see fit to write a sequel to this evocative, delicious, and wonderfully moving book. It felt like he wrote this one more in the same vein as his fiction, and I think it is preferable to the rigid, often dry prose many others use when writing about `the big things,' (God, Humanity, and the Universe).

Like many others, I especially loved Chapter Two (Sacred Desire). But the chapter that touched me the most was Chapter Three (The Mother Love of God). Seeing Greeley acknowledge the older female goddesses, many of whom represent the same ideals as Mary, made me appreciate him all the more. I like the inclusiveness that resonates in all of Greeley's works (fiction and non-fiction alike), and I can't help but wonder; why aren't there more writers (and readers) doing the same? God is all about inclusiveness, unconditional love, and being in our lives, every second of every day, forever. Greeley gets it. He sees it, and he celebrates it, in every book, and I would imagine every sermon, and every class, he writes.

Once you've read this book, read at least two Greeley novels. "Contract with an Angel" and "The God Game" come immediately to mind. While reading them, remember all that you've gleaned from "The Catholic Imagination," and you will see what I mean when I say that this book was written more like his novels than his other non-fiction work. Greeley's special gift, or rather, one of his special gifts, is the ability to make God and the big issues more real and immediate. He makes them understandable, even the complex or perplexing stuff. What Greeley gives us is the gift of perception, and even, for some of us, introspection. He helps us to be better people, and he shows us a God who dearly and deeply loves each and every one of us, no matter what. That, in itself, is one of the most priceless gifts anyone can give another person.

Overall, I'd give this book a rating of 10, but Amazon only allows 5, so I will give it 5 and ask y'all to double it in your minds. Then, once you've done that, indulge in as many Greeley books as you can. It will be worth more than you can ever imagine.

The purpose of this review is to point to just one sentence: "Catholics live in an enchanted world." The sentence is quoted above as part of the book's description. It is an inspired sentence, for it summarizes the entire tradition, at least as experienced by this convert. And perhaps one has to be a convert to appreciate the depth, excitement, and wisdom packed into the sentence. I have not met many so-called cradle Catholics, if any, who have the faintest idea what the experience means of encountering Catholicism as an adult, as did I at the age of 70 when confirmed after a long stretch in RCIA. Cradle Catholics are bogged down by ritual, dos and don'ts, and such expected behaviours and responses as never missing a Sunday Mass and never missing Eucharist. They do not appear to appreciate the excitement of being born again in the fullness of the faith. For it's the communion of saints, the angels, the whole host of Heaven that open to a brand new Catholic. It's experiencing some of the greatest music ever created by Catholics who lived before they did. All these are available to faithful Catholics all the time and were even present at the Mass in 2007 in which I became a Catholic. It's impossible to convey most of this to folks who never chose the religion but were merely born into it. I feel sorry for them because Catholicism never really can come alive to them as it does to converts and others deeply involved, such as monks, nuns, sisters, and others who choose and rechoose the religion and allow themselves to be excited by it over and over again. This is the enchanted world that Jesus, Fr. Greeley, and others offer to our sick and craven world.

In describing and contrasting the catholic worldview, this book also describes and defines the worldview of people raised in the Reformed Traditions (i.e. Protestants). If you want to better understand Protestants and Catholics, read this book.

Protestants and Catholics alike can benefit greatly from Professor Greeley's insight. This book is a great venture into the sociology of religion.

Greeley's book, which strikes me as "popular sociology," documents how Catholics view the world differently from their non-Catholic neighbors. In short, his thesis is that Catholics tend to be more inclined toward the sacramental, the supernatural, and the mystical. Particularly interesting is that even in the post-Vatican II period, when Catholics have largely blended into the mainstream of American "secularized Protestant" culture (as Cardinal George of Chicago put it), Catholics still show these tendencies to a statistically significant degree (including those who do not practice their faith regularly). One wonders whether this can hold among those who continue to become more Americanized.
Greeley is a liberal, but following from his premise, he advocates for a stronger emphasis within the Church on areas where conservatives will happily make common cause with him: notably, a restoration of beauty (eg, classical art and architecture) and fostering traditional piety (eg, colorful devotions, feasts, Marian emphasis, etc). That's not to say that I don't have any reservations about anything in here (one wonders whether the supposedly higher use of "exotic underwear" among Catholics is a healthy thing), but all in all it makes for a fascinating read.

While Father Greeley's sociological investigations are admirable & frequently funny
(Catholics have a sense of community, more satisfying sex life, their imagination
is saturated with God's presence etc. etc.)- I don't think his analyses are as universal
as he, perhaps, thinks they are. For instance, Mr. Greeley insists on Protestant "individualism"
& alienation from society, and he illustrates it with a few examples (Benjamin Britten, Sinclair Lewis,..).
But- what about great artists & writers who have been Catholics, brought up as Catholics- and
frequently remained staunch believers- and do not show traits of communality, hope, reliance on
God's immanence ? What about Michelangelo and Beethoven, whose titanism far exceeded any "individualism" ?
Or Stendhal, Honore de Balzac, Emile Zola, Joseph Conrad, Marcel Proust, James Joyce, F. Scott
Fitzgerald, Albert Camus, Robert Musil, Rainer Maria Rilke, Thomas Pynchon, Cormac McCarthy,
Anthony Burgess, Gunter Grass (all cradle Catholics),
plus converts like Ernest Hemingway, Hermann Broch - all drenched either in alienation or hopelessness,
nihilism & hyper-individualism combined ? Or Protestants like William Faulkner who
are inextricable from their community ?

This book is good & entertaining, but frequently superficial in sweeping remarks.

This book is a fantastic essay on what Andrew Greeley calls the "Catholic Imagination", or put differently, the way in which Catholics view reality and how that affects the way they live. As a Catholic, I found this to be a refreshing look into Catholicism through a sociological approach. Greeley presents fascinating statistics that show how different Catholics are compared their Protestant counterparts. One of the most interesting facts is that Catholics tend to be far more liberal than the Christian Right - something that I have always believed to be true. Greeley presents all of his information in a clear, precise, and friendly way and makes everything quite understandable for those who, like me, know very little about sociology.

One of the greatest aspects of this book is that Greeley, who is a Catholic himself, offers thought provoking criticisms of the Church with well defended reasonings but never ventures into the realm of being heretical by any means. In fact, it is because of his love for the Church that he wants to make sure it is seen by the world as a leader in human morality and equal rights.

I truly enjoyed reading this book and highly recommend it to Catholics and non-Catholics alike. It offers a unique view into the Catholic Church and explains how Catholicism is not simply a religion, but is also a culture, a window into the beauty of the universe, and a way of living.