The goal of this ambitious, highly scholarly, and truly innovative book is to reimagine the purpose of systematic theology as a discipline focused on discourse designed to foster friendships. Because those friendships, hopefully, will lead to love for God and one's neighbors, Jackson maintains that all genuine discourse—and hence systematic theology—seeks interpersonal conversion.
To substantiate her claim, Jackson turns first to the work of David Tracy, David Burrell, and Sarah Coakley. She values Tracy for emphasizing why theology, precisely as public discourse, must be attentive to the social, political, economic, and religious context of its audience if its goal of personal and social transformation is to be achieved. Jackson finds an ally in Burrell because he recognizes how the receptivity and mutual trust intrinsic to friendship, the gratitude friendships evoke, and the conversation in which friendships are centered and thrive prepare friends for life in God. And Coakley's insistence that theology must give more attention to gender, and that theologians must adopt regular contemplative practices, reminds us of how easily systematic theology can mask a desire for domination, whether of God or the other.
The heart of Conversation, Friendship, and Transformation is Jackson's retrieval of Augustine, Heloise and Abelard, and Aquinas for what they can contribute to a theology of discourse. She focuses on Augustine's De doctrina christiana and his Confessions because both, despite their differences, illumine the process of conversion as it occurs through conversation with God and others. Moreover, both emphasize that for language to be used properly it must be rooted in love and be an expression of love. Jackson values De doctrina christiana for Augustine's claim that the fundamental human calling to love God and our neighbors should inspire, guide, and transform our search for knowledge; that Christian speakers should seek neither acclaim nor recognition, but the conversion of their listeners; and that prayer must precede discourse if it is to be an act of love by which both speaker and listeners are drawn closer to God. The appeal of the Confessions for a theology of discourse is the place Augustine gives rightly ordered human friendships as a means for growing together in friendship with God. If the conversion of oneself to God is an always unfinished journey, only the ongoing accompaniment, support, and witness of friends can sustain it.
The twelfth century witnessed a deepening appreciation for friendship as a setting in which friends, through their love for one another, could grow in love for God. Although examples abound, such as Aelred of Rievalux's Spiritual Friendship, Jackson focuses on the letters between Abelard and Heloise as a rich resource for appreciating discourse between men and women and a memorable example of how each learns from and helps the other. From their correspondence, Jackson concludes not only that discourse can be a means of nurturing friendship, but also that friendship is the locus for all genuine discourse.
Jackson's most compelling and memorable contribution is her study of Aquinas. She rightly notes that the Summa Theologiae is explicitly designed to invite discourse, reflecting Aquinas’ conviction that we come to the truth not individually, but together. Like Aristotle, Aquinas believed that human beings are created for friendship, that friendships are necessary for happiness, and that it is through the communicatio or shared life among friends that men and women flourish and are fulfilled. But Aquinas ultimately transcended Aristotle's understanding of friendship by claiming that God has befriended every human being and thus opened possibilities for friendship and community that Aristotle could never imagine. Through charity, the gift of God's very life, goodness, and happiness, friendships become a way of life conducive not just to virtue, but to holiness and joy.
Conversation, Friendship, and Transformation is a remarkable achievement. Because of its high scholarly quality and the rigorous analysis of its arguments, it is best suited for doctoral seminars and for academics researching the persons and ideas Jackson engages in the book. It is not a text to be read lightly, but anyone who invests in it will be richly rewarded and even inspired.
