This is a fine book by the Jesuit Professor of Fundamental Theology at the Gregorian University in Rome, author of 20 books. He regards the resurrection of the crucified Jesus as the central mystery of the Christian faith. The first three chapters deal interestingly with the history of the Christian understanding of the resurrection: the Fathers and Trypho and Celsus; Aquinas; modern theologians—Barth, Bultmann, Pannenberg, Marxsen, Moltmann, Rahner, Küng, Sobrino. Ch. 4 deals with the historicity of the Easter event and comes down firmly on the bodily character of the resurrection and the fact of the empty tomb. Sadly, however, though affirming the agreement of the evangelists on the primary datum, he can do no more than say that ‘notoriously the evangelists do not agree about secondary details’. Ch. 5 is excellent on faith in the resurrection and its validation. Ch. 6 shows how all the great doctrines radiate from the central doctrine: Christology, the Trinity, Creation, the church—this is done in a biblical and heart-warming manner. On the sacraments there is a tiny whiff of transubstantiation! The section on Peter rightly stresses the primacy of Peter in the apostolic body, but labours rather unconvincingly to make him the Easter witness and by implication to make the Bishop of Rome the primary official witness to Christ’s resurrection today. Ch. 7 on ‘Redemption and Hope’ has a helpful treatment of the nature of the Christian’s resurrection body, while ch. 9 is a pioneer effort to show the resurrection as the triumph of divine love.

The final chapter, ‘Communicating the Risen Christ’, is a little disappointing, being a rather diffuse and sketchy discussion of the value of symbols, liturgy and experience and of what he calls ‘the communicative presence’, while failing to give a strong statement of the power of the Word of God and what should be the content of that Word in today’s preaching. Without retracting in any way my judgment that this is a fine book and one which would provide much material for thoughtful sermons, I was nevertheless disappointed that the whole work was not more closely integrated and brought to a more decisive conclusion. The last page of the book gives ‘Some Afterthoughts’ in which the author says, ‘I cannot finish this work on Jesus’ resurrection, I can only abandon it.’ Perhaps the writing of 20 books has its dangers!