Wonder as a New Starting Point for Theological Anthropology, Postcolonial and Decolonial Studies in Religion and Theology by José Francisco Morales Torres (review)

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Reviewed by:

• Wonder as a New Starting Point for Theological Anthropology, Postcolonial and Decolonial Studies in Religion and Theology by José Francisco Morales Torres
• Jeffrey Dudiak

José Francisco Morales Torres, Wonder as a New Starting Point for Theological Anthropology, Postcolonial and Decolonial Studies in Religion and Theology. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books (Rowman and Littlefield), 2023. Pp. 226. $100.00, cloth, $45.00, eBook.

This book is a sprawling set of studies, heavy in references to, and quotations from, an impressive range of material across several disciplines. We tour twentieth-century phenomenology and visit a representative medieval ontologist from each of the Jewish, Christian, and Islamic traditions to provide a new vista upon theological anthropology, with implications for our understanding of some of our central and perennial ethical values. Its unifying theme is "wonder." While the author brings a broad and admirable erudition to this book, in style and substance he is more encyclopedic than incisive. I enjoyed learning from each of the parts but was less persuaded by the book's argument as a whole.

The first chapter is a phenomenology of "wonder," which emerges as "an encounter between the 'excess-with' of the other, that acts first, and the available openness of the self" (p. 41). While the analyses of the chapter are both interesting and credible, I would have been more convinced had there been more focus on a sustained phenomenological analysis of wonder itself so that the reader could "see" what is being described, rather than being given a ready-made description of the phenomenon.

In Chapter 2, Torres attempts "a metaphysical inquiry [that] allows one to go where phenomenology cannot and propose what [ontological structure] may lie behind the phenomenon of wonder" (p. 50). Here, the anti-metaphysical concerns that motivated so much of the phenomenological movement are ignored, and the phenomenology that the book advocates is unproblematically shown to not only open up upon, but also to require, a metaphysical grounding. The author attempts to cover this objection in his conclusion by claiming that he accepts "phenomenology as a method, but not as an ideology that discourages or rejects the metaphysical enterprise" (p. 181). He shows how the metaphysics that "'stands under' the ontological dialectic between identity and difference that is present in the event of wonder" (p. 181) is developed across the doctrine of "participation" as it emerges across a reading of three medieval metaphysicians: Ibn Gabirol (Jewish), Ibn Arabi (Islamic), and Thomas Aquinas (Christian). All three ground this participation in "generosity," which Torres presents as a metaphysical condition of possibility for, and a key moment in, the "experience" of wonder. [End Page 289]

Torres proceeds toward his renewal of theological/anthropological by working from this idea of God as Generosity itself (and creation as God's gift perennially given as the gift and call of God to humanity) to our wondrous, subjective attunement as humans to this giving—an infinite response at the core of our human being, directed toward God in faith. In the final chapter, Torres dissects the event of wonder and correlates an ethical stance with sustainability, solidarity, and vulnerability, all synthesized under the rubric of liberation. From phenomenology to metaphysics to theology to ethics—there is a lot here!

The text is plagued by a disappointing number of small errors (e.g., the wrong verb endings repeatedly attached to simple words), making following the already thick prose even harder. On the positive side, Torres writes well and provides regular summaries throughout, indicating how the disparate analyses of the book are meant to hang together. Nevertheless, following the thread of the argument was a struggle. I found myself wondering whether "wonder" was a thread substantial enough to support the weight of the diverse analyses hanging upon it. "Wonder" wandered in and out, centering the analyses for a while before giving way to other themes, the author then attempting to show how all of these paths lead back to "wonder"—sometimes more successfully than others. Whether or not "wonder" really can provide a new starting point for theological anthropology, the refracting of reality through a previously underexploited lens always brings things to light that otherwise would have remained in the shadows...