Journey to Wholeness: Healing Body, Mind and Soul

Description

142 pages
Contains Bibliography
$16.95
ISBN 2-89507-247-7
DDC 234'.131

Publisher

Year

2003

Contributor

Reviewed by A.J. Pell

A.J. Pell is rector of Christ Church in Hope, B.C., editor of the
Canadian Evangelical Review, and an instructor of Liturgy, Anglican
Studies Programme at Regent College in Vancouver, B.C.

Review

The subtitle, Healing Body, Mind and Soul, touches a nerve in society at
the moment. Even the most normal of people don’t feel normal, perhaps
because we expect too much of ourselves, of others, and of our world. We
want more, and “wholeness” seems to speak to our need. In this book,
authors Thomas Maddix, a member of a Roman Catholic religious order, and
Ian Soles, a massage therapist, try to provide guidance toward that
elusive goal.

Though written by Roman Catholics and published by a Christian
enterprise, the book seems surprisingly vague. In fact, the reader has
more of a sense of Carl Jung rather than Jesus Christ as the underlying
worldview. So it is startling two-thirds of the way through the book to
encounter a chapter on “Purging the Evil.” Yet even here there is a
disconcerting feeling that “evil,” not “Evil,” is the focus, so
the latter can’t be truly acknowledged for what it is, and thus
can’t be truly redeemed—in the same way the sacred is politically
correct and inclusive, and thus elusive. Spiritual healing comes from
the rootedness of a particular religious tradition, which gives a sense
of centredness and belonging. Because Maddix and Soles cannot bring
themselves to be so specific, this book will provide no wholeness.

Citation

Maddix, Thomas D., and Ian C. Soles., “Journey to Wholeness: Healing Body, Mind and Soul,” Canadian Book Review Annual Online, accessed October 10, 2024, https://cbra.library.utoronto.ca/items/show/15739.