Originally entitled Integrating Wisdom and Discipleship, this handsomely produced, concise volume offers eight essays tracing Cardinal George's intellectual journey since the Second Vatican Council, as he endeavored to assimilate its theological teaching and spiritual wisdom according to popes Paul VI, St. John Paul II, Benedict XVI, and Francis. Nine days before his death from cancer, George submitted the manuscript of A Godly Humanism, the last of a trilogy based on lectures given in his archdiocese of Chicago. The volume comprises eight chapters, which according to the preface (xi) trace the cardinal's personal integration of intellectual insight and discipleship as these have been informed by Vatican II and subsequent papal interpretation. Each chapter introduces a horizon of meaning and living within the history of the church, which now finds itself inserted into highly secularized contexts (even within itself). Major classical guides for George's personal interfacing of faith and culture are Augustine and Bonaventure, as they were able to combine within diverse cultural settings significant intellectual achievement with remarkable spiritual transformation.

“As a Catholic and a bishop, I have worked to integrate my own thinking with that of the Church,” affirms George (vii), particularly with the conciliar and papal magisterium of the last fifty years, the ones of his priestly life and ministry. Accordingly, after indicating the fundamental compatibility of holiness and the Catholic intellectual life, the volume's overall plan traces dimensions of an integrated life in a post-Christian society where the communion of faith, reason, and moral goodness, of culture and religion (especially in a university context), and finally of Vatican II's teachings can testify to the vitality and persuasive power of Christianity. His overriding concern is to renew Catholic intellectual life, specifically university education, by proposing “a godly humanism” founded upon the Second Vatican Council and its papal implementation. Repeatedly he acknowledges the formative impact of Pope St. John Paul II on his intellectual and spiritual development. Major encyclicals of that pope are cited sometimes at length as are The Acting Person and his plays, poems, and prayers. His final essay offers a dense, perceptive, and moving appreciation of the philosophical and theological wisdom of John Paul, who proposed and lived “a spirituality that advances the conversation between faith and reason, both personally and publicly” (192). For George, the pope would epitomize the very godly humanism that comprises this volume.

The genre of this brief but engaging volume combines an intensely personal search and the zeal of a pastor with an in-depth reading of classical Christian texts from the New Testament, Fathers of the Church, medieval theologians, and contemporary thinkers. While the volume is neither a purely autobiographical nor an exclusively philosophical and theological investigation, George presents cogent evidence for his views and argues for a wide-ranging dialogue between Catholic faith and culture. Thus, the volume forms partly a public apologetic and partly an incisive apologia of a prominent pastor of the church, who treasured the intellectual and spiritual patrimony of Christianity and lived its missionary mandate. Not all will agree with his interpretations and conclusions, especially concerning the role of a Catholic university. Not all will agree with his selection of sources, both contemporary and historical. He frankly and graciously admits to frequent disagreement with certain conversation partners who yet impacted his thinking, “since I have often disagreed with them, even as I learned from them how to live as a disciple of the Lord” (xiv).

A carefully chosen bibliography and an abundant index further enhance the value of this volume. Because of its evident learning and pervasive concern for the present-day dialogue between Christianity and world culture, I recommend it highly for upper-class university students, informed laity, professors, and church ministers and pastors. It will certainly generate lively discussion and perhaps, as George wished, a resurgence or continuation of Catholic intellectual life.