Wholeness and Holiness: A Study in Human Ethology and the Holy Trinity

This most remarkable and challenging of books is written by a theologian who, like many of us, has been profoundly disturbed at the extent to which the spiritual reality of life has been neglected in the headlong pursuit of a lifestyle based on positivist scientific values. Whilst acknowledging the undeniable technological benefits of modem science, many will recognise that by themselves they can never lead to a healthy, wholesome and fulfilling life. Douglas Trotter here puts forward the view that that a spiritual dimension, necessary for full living in health, can be reawakened and cultivated, not by any theological argument but by the nurturing of young families in their natural environment. His inspiration came from observing first hand the quality of vibrant community and communion which was patently obvious amongst those families who participated in The Peckham Experiment some fifty years ago in London, the first systematic attempt to cultivate health in a community as distinct from treating and preventing disease. He recognised in the hypothesis investigated at Peckham insights corresponding to those embodied in the experience of the early Christian communities of the primitive church, out of which evolved the doctrine of the Holy Trinity, in which community and communion intertwined to form a unitary vision of all life and creation. It was affirmation of their intuitive understanding of an 'uncreated' reality, 'the Holy Trinity', as the transcendent ground of their experience. Although an academic, and his language takes some getting used to, his subject is of profound significance for the further evolution of mankind. His message is simple: by paying greater attention to the cultivation of health and wholeness in the nurturing of our young families, we could reawaken that unified experience of community and communion within the broad context of the cosmos which the work at Peckham glimpsed and which was the common experience of the early Christian communities. Here could well be the future meeting place of theologian, artist, philosopher, mystic and scientist, thus contributing to the recovery of the universality of the faith originally envisioned in the early church.