Louis Roy, Self-Actualization and the Radical Gospel, 2nd ed. Eugene OR, Wipf and Stock (Cascade Books), 2022, 13,9 × 21,5 cm, 128p., ISBN 978-1-66679-440-3

Father Louis Roy makes clear in several places, including in the title of his book, what he intends to do. One might say, following in the footsteps of St. Thomas, that his project is a both/and one, the challenge to be both self-actualizing and a radical follower of Jesus. In chapter six he states that his central question is: “Are these ideals [self-realization and the radical Gospel] incompatible, or can they coexist?” (73). And in chapter seven he asks: “How can we take seriously the radicalism of the Gospel while being also concerned with our own personal development?” (92). The opening sentence in his conclusion is: “In the course of this undertaking, a double conviction has propelled us: living faith is both inculturated and countercultural” (106). One might phrase it: Is it possible to be both a Christian and a humanist at the same time? Is a Christian humanism possible? Roy clearly sees these two values as not only compatible but integral to each other. You will have to read the book to see how he succeeds, which reading will be of benefit to every Christian struggling to live the Gospel in a secular and psychologically oriented world. Roy distinguishes self-actualization and self-transcendence, both aspects of self-realization, although practically they are almost interchangeable. There are two forms of self-realization. In self-actualization, we seek to actualize our human potential. In self-transcendence, we seek to find ourselves by moving beyond any egoic sense of self. Roy utilizes the psychologies of Abraham Maslow, Viktor Frankl, and Erich Fromm. He points out that self-actualization and self-transcendence can each be envisioned in healthy or unhealthy ways. The question is: Can one seek self-realization if one desires also to live in accord with the Gospel which calls forth radical self-sacrifice. Can one both be one’s truest self and deny oneself in following Christ? Is this a contradiction? Do we not need to choose either self-fulfillment or a gospel way of life? Is it possible to love God, neighbor, and self at the same time? Whatever expression we use, whether self-transcendence, self-actualization, altruism, or some other, they can exist in unhealthy as well as healthy forms. In the first two chapters Roy unpacks some of their unhealthy, false, or distorted manifestations – such as a self-abnegation that lacks true self-love, the quest for immediate satisfaction, an individualistic egoism, to name only several. The question is what is truly healthy and what masquerades as healthy. When altruistic actions are genuinely performed for the sake of the other, they are healthy. What is lacking in unhealthy forms is an attentiveness to objective aspects of self-transcendence or self-actualization. What is lost or becomes problematic in societies today is this loss of any objectivity, the loss of objective norms in terms of which one might evaluate one’s human growth. What is genuinely about the “other” and not just about “me” in some disguised form? There is the “psychological self” and the “moral self,” and they ought to be integrated, not at odds with each other. Roy brings in Bernard Lonergan’s intentionality analysis. Religious values are intrinsic to healthy self-realization, not inimical to it. In what Maslow calls a “peak experience,” one forgets oneself, goes out of oneself or beyond oneself, becomes part of something greater than oneself. Roy quotes Viktor Frankl: “It is true that young people should not be subjected to excessive demands. However, we have also to consider the fact that, at least today, in the age of an affluent society, most people suffer too few demands rather than too many (39).” What is true Christian altruism? Are altruism …