He looks at the nature of theology, at its status as a science that is also a wisdom, at its intrinsic principles and methods, its sources, its sub-divisions, and, not least, the qualities which the budding theologian must make his own if theol- ogy is to be authentically Christian and Catholic and assist rather than hinder the Church's mission.
In a time of considerable confusion in the intellectual life of the Catholic Church, arising not only from professors but hierarchs, The Theologian's Enterprise offers comprehensive counsel to those setting out in the study of their faith, per- haps for the first time, with solid advice on the habits of mind theology requires. The text seeks to combine profun- dity with brevity. It would be difficult to find a more concise guide in any language.
Aidan Nichols, O.P., is a Dominican friar who has taught theology in England, Italy, the United States, and Ethiopia. He held the John Paul II Memorial Lectureship in Roman Catholic Theology and was for many years a Member of the Cambridge University Faculty of Divinity. He has published over fifity books on a variety of topics in fundamental, historical, and ecumenical theology, as well as on the relation of religion to literature and art. His books include Lovely Like Jerusalem, Conciliar Octet, Figuring Out the Church, Rome and the Eastern Churches, and The Theologian's Enterprise.