Reviews

Review of The Spiritual Way of St. Jeanne d'Arc, by George H. Tavard

Kennison, Rebecca R.

In 
the 
conclusion 
to
 this 
book, 
one 
of 
many 
to 
have 
appeared
 in 
recent 
years 
on
Joan 
of
 Arc (or,
 as
 this
 title
 and
 text
 would
 have
 it,
 Jeanne
 d’Arc),
 George
 H.
 Tavard
 presents
 his
 purpose 
in 
writing:
 Jeanne’s
 “way
 of
 holiness,”
 he
 says,
“was 
general,
 not
 specific,
 public,
 not
 private,
 Catholic,
 not
 sectarian.
 .
 .
 .
 As
 such
 it
 remains
 available 
to 
all 
believers
 in 
all 
ages 
of 
the 
Church”. 
As 
a 
devotional 
tract 
or 
as a 
series 
of 
sermons
 with 
spiritual lessons
for 
the 
reader 
to
be 
drawn
from
 the 
life 
of
 Jeanne
 sprinkled
 throughout
 the
 text,
 it’s
 not
 so
 bad.
 Unfortunately,
 in
 the 
Foreword, 
Tavard
 claims 
that 
his 
“precise” 
intent 
in 
writing
the 
book 
is 
“to 
analyze 
the
 structure
 and
 depth
 of
 [Jeanne’s]
 inner
 life”,
 but
 as
 a
 work
 of
 analysis,
 much 
less 
of 
balanced
 scholarship, 
this 
book 
gravely 
misses
the 
mark.

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Mystics Quarterly

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July 8, 2011