Slightly more than halfway through Sacred and Social, Kenneth Himes details the idea that “the ethical insights distilled from” the Catholic social tradition “function as a set of coordinates that allow adherents of the social tradition to map the moral landscape of their social world” (177). Showcasing Himes’s expertise, this evocative image ably captures the distinctive role of what others have variously called the “principles,” “norms,” and “themes” of Catholic Social Teaching (CST), which are meant to inspire and guide more than to dictate and prescribe. It also offers an apt analogy for the tremendous service Himes provides in this text to all who study Catholic social thought, from novice to expert alike.

First, just as coordinates help people find their location when they are otherwise disoriented, Sacred and Social establishes guideposts to help thinkers navigate the world of Catholic social thought. In its first two parts (“Foundations” and “Theological Anthropology”), the text defines the fundamental theological claims that Catholicism’s social tradition seeks to emphasize and preserve. These are commitments like the imago Dei and the transformative impact of the incarnation detailed in chapter 1 (“The Human Person is Sacred”), the doctrine of the Trinity and the call to communion explored in chapter 2 (“The Human Person is Social”), the interrelationship of communitarian and personalist impulses in Catholic theology described in chapter 3 (“Human Dignity in Community”), and the holistic understanding of flourishing summarized in chapter 4 (“The Human Person Adequately Considered”). Throughout the text, Himes utilizes these central convictions as theological coordinates, showing how more complex principles, such as solidarity and subsidiarity, derive from and point to these tenets of the faith.

This strategy of triangulating common themes in Catholic social thought in relation to the most basic beliefs found in Scripture and tradition—Himes is particularly attentive to the practice and reflection of the early church during the patristic period—has numerous benefits. The most salient is the way it facilitates a critical rather than hagiographical reading of CST. Hence Himes uses the coordinates of Catholicism’s theological foundations to question CST’s reluctant embrace of environmental responsibility (284–97) and to chart the painfully slow evolution toward a more egalitarian vision of the proper social order and corollary human rights (97–102, 201–17). Rather than devolving into indictments, these analyses land as aspirational lessons calling the tradition to its fullest potential. This is because Himes has established the theological coordinates to justify the interpretation that the developments he charts are an expansion in continuity with the best of the tradition and not a betrayal of its core.

If this were not service enough, Sacred and Social also offers a rich topographical map to contextualize these coordinates within the theological landscape that has shaped CST, empowering readers to decide where to go next. The book is strongest as an intellectual history, explaining, for instance, the origins of the idea of “social justice” (269–71), the background behind solidarity (224–34), or the classical roots of the common good (181–82). In some cases, the explanations could be further enhanced through more engagement with contemporary sources, such as global authors applying Catholic social thought to concrete issues, but this is where the topography of the text becomes so valuable. A reader could easily augment the book with these practical illustrations from other sources because Himes’s map helps them see exactly where those developments fit.

Adding to the value of these tools, Sacred and Social is impressively accessible. Throughout the text, Himes’s ample experience as not only a scholar but also a teacher of the Catholic social tradition shines through with clear examples that have undoubtedly been honed in the classroom. As such, the book would be at home in upper-level undergraduate and graduate classes on Catholic social thought. Individual sections would also make excellent contributions to other ethics classes; the discussions of freedom (153–59), conscience (146–53), and moral norms (175–76), for example, would be outstanding for those studying fundamental moral theology. Any library with a theology section should have this text. With its coordinates and mapping, it is a resource that will help a whole generation of scholars find their way.