Mystery & Tradition: Catholicism for Today's Spiritual Seekers by Joseph Stoutzenberger (review)

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Reviewed by:

• Mystery & Tradition: Catholicism for Today's Spiritual Seekers by Joseph Stoutzenberger
• Dennis Feltwell

Joseph Stoutzenberger, Mystery & Tradition: Catholicism for Today's Spiritual Seekers. Mesa, AZ: iPub Global Connection, 2023. Pp. 359. $24.99, paper.

From high schoolers learning morality or sacraments to college students studying world religions, Stoutzenberger has striven throughout his venerable [End Page 442] career to introduce concepts at a level appropriate to their religious backgrounds. In Mystery & Tradition, he now engages readers who identify as "spiritual but not religious" or "seekers on a spiritual quest." He proposes that Catholicism offers a worldview that helps to answer what he calls the "big picture questions" of life in its mystery, tragedy, and wonder (pp. 2–3), giving those who ask such questions a helpful, accessible text to ponder those questions.

From the outset, Stoutzenberger argues that Catholicism is not monolithic. "Universality does not wash away diversity, even from the very beginning of the Christian movement" (p. 10). He describes faith as a universal human experience with four aspects: heart, head, hands, and soul. Thus, he begins with existential and intellectual phenomena such as radical amazement (Abraham Heschel) and progressive disenchantment (Charles Taylor) before introducing questions about theistic belief or religious doctrines. He invites readers into the mystery of the divine by describing faith in mystical terms with vocabulary from William James's classic, The Varieties of Religious Experience. For instance, he relates the quality of this hidden mystery as "ineffable" (p. 12). Later, he refers to the "noetic quality"—another term that James employed—to put into words a seeker's "knowing of the heart" beyond scientific data (p. 17).

Stoutzenberger also addresses earnest questions that seekers might have about the Bible's relationship with science. He outlines the tensions between historical-critical and fundamentalist methods of biblical study. At the same time, he offers an account of classical approaches to reading the Bible to grasp its spiritual meaning beyond the literal sense. He carefully sketches the content of the Hebrew and Christian scriptures to include various ways they are classified to encourage fruitful reading. In subsequent chapters, he also shares key details about the four Gospels, describing their development from eyewitness accounts to oral traditions to the canonical texts. Throughout these sections, he emphasizes scripture as an invitation to faith and wisdom rather than a book about history or science.

For an introductory work, Mystery & Tradition is fairly comprehensive, covering the breadth of the Catholic tradition with major highlights on scripture, Christology, liturgy, history, and sacraments. Readers will find few instances of superficial treatment in any section of the book. In his chapter on church, Stoutzenberger shares concrete examples of a faith-filled people in action. Empowered by the Holy Spirit, "Catholics quietly run homeless shelters, hospitals, schools, and sports programs for kids. They try to figure out how to live their [End Page 443] faith at home and at work, in their schools and businesses. Go to any trouble spot in the world and chances are that Catholics are already there helping people in need" (p. 137). When introducing Catholicism's moral teachings, he similarly describes "how to put love into action" by emphasizing person-centered and socially focused moral agency rather than law-centered, rule-keeping morality (p. 265).

Structurally, the author presents the text in digestible portions. Each chapter focuses on a topic without straying far from its intended purpose. Ever the teacher, he supplies reflection questions in each section. All chapters conclude with review questions to check for understanding and an annotated bibliography to encourage further reading on the chapter topic. Hence, this is an excellent text for introductory courses on the Catholic faith as well as personal reading for spiritual inquiry.

Would committed Catholic practitioners recognize their church as Stoutzenberger has presented it here? Surely, those who have internalized the teachings of the Second Vatican Council will immediately identify the personalist ethics and social action found in his chapter on morality. Likewise, they will appreciate the Church's shift from fighting Modernism at Vatican I to fostering the common good after Vatican II (p. 130). Those with more traditionalist sentiments might balk at some of the teachings he presents here, though...