The Mystery of the Child

Charlotte Observer
"The thesis of the book is entirely radical, and yet, once you think about it, so obvious that we should have known it all along. A child is not a problem to be solved, but a mystery — and not in the sense of a confusing puzzle, but of wonder, reveling in uniqueness, being moved by what is profound and elusive."

Library Journal
"A vigorous advocacy for seeing the child as a useful disrupter of convention, resistant to control, and open to the unexpected. . . Likely to become extremely important in our view of human personality and possibility from childhood forward. Highly recommended."

Publishers Weekly
"Breathtakingly ambitious in scope, written with the author's customary sober and reflective erudition, this wide-ranging exploration of the wonders of the child is both inspirational and slightly elegiac in tone. Although it covers topics such as the tension between nature and nurture in child development, this is no ordinary child guidebook. . . Marty's deeply personal and sometimes dauntingly scholarly book urges his readers to abandom seeing a child as a problem to be controlled. Instead, he calls adults not only to nurture wonder in children, but to seek their own 'childlikeness,' or what, near the end of the book, he terms 'childness.'"

Lawrence S. Cunningham
— University of Notre Dame
"I have never fully understood those transcendent moments when I have observed very young children at play, mine especially, with a sense of awe too deep for words. Martin Marty helps me give voice to those experiences as an in-breaking of grace. An extended meditation on the sheer gift of children in our midst, this beautifully rendered book makes clear the deep truth of Gabriel Marcel's assertion that life is not a problem to be solved but a mystery to be lived "

James J. Bacik
— University of Toledo
"The renowned historian Martin Marty has woven his vast knowledge of the Western intellectual tradition into a brilliant and inspiring reflection on the child, seen not as a problem demanding control but as a mystery evoking joy and wonder. Especially illuminating is his sustained dialogue with the German theologian Karl Rahner, which yields valuable perspectives and practical suggestions for relating to children and maintaining a childlike attitude throughout the adult life cycle."