Church of the Ever Greater God
Church of the Ever Greater God

Author: Aaron Pidel, S.J.

Publisher: University of Notre Dame Pess

Published: 2020-05-31

Total Pages: 395

ISBN-13: 0268107793

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In Church of the Ever Greater God, Aaron Pidel offers the first major English-language study of the ecclesiology of Erich Przywara, S.J., one of the most important Catholic theologians of the twentieth century. As Pidel shows, Przywara’s idea of analogia entis, or analogy of being, shaped his view of ecclesiology. According to this theory, every creature is made of various tensions or polarities in its being. Creatures flourish when these tensions are in equilibrium but transgress their creaturely limits when they absolutize one polarity over the other. Pidel demonstrates how Przywara used the concept of analogia entis to describe the structure and rhythm of the Catholic Church. In Przywara’s view, the Church, too, is essentially constituted by her tensions or polarities, and the members of the Church conform to that analogical tension to varying degrees of fidelity. Przywara claims that analogia entis not only describes the Church as she is but also can be used as a criterion for discerning the spiritual health of the Church by helping her to see where her equilibrium has become imbalanced. Pidel maintains that Przywara thought that the biggest risk to the Church’s analogical equilibrium in the last century was a de-emphasis of the typically Ignatian ideas of reverence for the Divine Majesty and missionary extraversion. Przywara’s vision of the Church is presented as a corrective to this one-sided imbalance. In drawing attention to Przywara’s metaphysically informed and deeply Ignatian ecclesiology, Pidel’s study will appeal not only to scholars of Przywara but also to all those who study ecclesiology and Catholic theology more broadly.

The Joy of the Gospel
The Joy of the Gospel

Author: Pope Francis

Publisher: Image

Published: 2014-10-07

Total Pages: 164

ISBN-13: 0553419544

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The perfect gift! A specially priced, beautifully designed hardcover edition of The Joy of the Gospel with a foreword by Robert Barron and an afterword by James Martin, SJ. “The joy of the gospel fills the hearts and lives of all who encounter Jesus… In this Exhortation I wish to encourage the Christian faithful to embark upon a new chapter of evangelization marked by this joy, while pointing out new paths for the Church’s journey in years to come.” – Pope Francis This special edition of Pope Francis's popular message of hope explores themes that are important for believers in the 21st century. Examining the many obstacles to faith and what can be done to overcome those hurdles, he emphasizes the importance of service to God and all his creation. Advocating for “the homeless, the addicted, refugees, indigenous peoples, the elderly who are increasingly isolated and abandoned,” the Holy Father shows us how to respond to poverty and current economic challenges that affect us locally and globally. Ultimately, Pope Francis demonstrates how to develop a more personal relationship with Jesus Christ, “to recognize the traces of God’s Spirit in events great and small.” Profound in its insight, yet warm and accessible in its tone, The Joy of the Gospel is a call to action to live a life motivated by divine love and, in turn, to experience heaven on earth. Includes a foreword by Robert Barron, author of Catholicism: A Journey to the Heart of the Faith and James Martin, SJ, author of Jesus: A Pilgrimage

Church of the Ever Greater God
Church of the Ever Greater God

Author: Aaron Pidel

Publisher:

Published: 2020-05-31

Total Pages: 310

ISBN-13: 9780268107772

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In Church of the Ever Greater God, Aaron Pidel offers the first major English-language study of the ecclesiology of Erich Przywara, S.J., one of the most important Catholic theologians of the twentieth century. As Pidel shows, Przywara's ecclesiology was thoroughly shaped by his idea of the analogia entis ("analogy of being"). According to this idea, every creature is constituted by the various tensions or polarities in its being. Creatures flourish when these tensions are in equilibrium but transgress their creaturely limits when they absolutize one polarity over the other. Pidel demonstrates how Przywara used the concept of analogia entis to describe the structure and rhythm of the Catholic Church. In Przywara's view, the Church too is essentially constituted by her tensions or polarities. And yet, the members of the Church may conform to that analogical tension to a lesser or greater degree of fidelity. Przywara claims that the analogia entis not only describes the Church as she is but also can be used as a criterion for discerning the spiritual health of the Church by helping her to see where her equilibrium has become imbalanced. Pidel maintains that Przywara himself thought that the biggest risk to the Church's analogical equilibrium in the last century was a de-emphasis of the typically Ignatian ideas of reverence for the Divine Majesty and missionary extraversion. Przywara's Ignatian vision of the Church is presented as a corrective to this one-sided imbalance. In drawing attention to Przywara's metaphysically informed and deeply Ignatian ecclesiology, Pidel's study will appeal not only to scholars of Przywara but also to all those who study ecclesiology and Catholic theology more broadly.

Encountering God through the Church
Encountering God through the Church

Author: Wade Rutland Howell Jr.

Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers

Published: 2019-02-21

Total Pages: 154

ISBN-13: 1532658044

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In this thought-provoking examination of how people encounter God, Wade Howell examines the way humans come in contact with the divine. Howell presents a biblical, theological, and philosophical case for why people, who are physical, can have a relationship with God, who is spirit. With an emphasis on centrality of the local church, Howell demonstrates how God designed the church to satisfy the most intimate human needs, which God placed in humans so he could be the source of their fulfillment. With a heart for people and a love for God's church, Howell echoes Augustine in showing why our soul is restless until it finds rest in God through his church.

Single for a Greater Purpose
Single for a Greater Purpose

Author: Luanne Zurlo

Publisher: Sophia Institute Press

Published: 2019-11-19

Total Pages: 156

ISBN-13: 1622826574

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In these fascinating pages, author Luanne Zurlo shows that, contrary to popular opinion, single life is often a holy, joyful vocation lived out, sometimes in a hidden way, by souls who have had an authentic encounter with Christ. Here she sheds light on this little-understood vocation discerned and embraced by a growing number of single persons who neither marry nor enter religious life. These souls are joyfully single for a greater purpose, nourishing both the world and the Church with the unique spiritual strengths and graces that God gives to souls who deliberately remain single for Him — in the world but not of it. Read these pages to learn: Why dedicated single life is uniquely suited to our times How it builds on our baptismal vocations The special role that dedicated singles have in the Church How the dedicated-single vocation complements marriage and religious life How celibacy for the sake of the Kingdom yields a fruitful spousal relationship with Christ How dedicated singles can follow the evangelical counsels of obedience and poverty without the structured life of a religious community The vows that singles can take to dedicate themselves to such service of God within the world In the face of mounting difficulties within our world and our Church, God is now calling for an army of dedicated singles — laymen for the Kingdom of God — nourished from within and empowered by an authentic, personal encounter with Him alone.

Grace Is Greater
Grace Is Greater

Author: Kyle Idleman

Publisher: Baker Books

Published: 2017-02-28

Total Pages: 172

ISBN-13: 1493406507

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The writer of the letter to the Hebrews said, "See to it that no one misses the grace of God." Over the centuries much ink has been spilled on the subject of grace. Yet perhaps nothing is as hard to explain as God's grace. It doesn't make sense. It's not fair. It can't possibly cover over what I've done. The best way--perhaps the only real way--to understand it is to experience it. But too often in our churches we're not getting grace across and grace is not experienced. Bestselling author and pastor Kyle Idleman wants everyone to experience the grace of God. Through the powerful medium of story, Grace Is Greater leads readers past their hang-ups toward an understanding of grace that is bigger than our mistakes, our failures, our desire for revenge, and our seemingly impossible situations. No sin is so great, no bitterness so deep that God's grace cannot transform the heart and rewrite the story. Perfect for individuals and also for small groups and church-wide studies, Grace Is Greater will help readers truly grasp God's grace, even if the Christians around them have failed to live it.

Voting about God in Early Church Councils
Voting about God in Early Church Councils

Author: Ramsay MacMullen

Publisher: Yale University Press

Published: 2008-10-01

Total Pages: 182

ISBN-13: 0300135297

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In this study, Ramsay MacMullen steps aside from the well-worn path that previous scholars have trod to explore exactly how early Christian doctrines became official. Drawing on extensive verbatim stenographic records, he analyzes the ecumenical councils from A.D. 325 to 553, in which participants gave authority to doctrinal choices by majority vote. The author investigates the sometimes astonishing bloodshed and violence that marked the background to church council proceedings, and from there goes on to describe the planning and staging of councils, the emperors' role, the routines of debate, the participants' understanding of the issues, and their views on God's intervention in their activities. He concludes with a look at the significance of the councils and their doctrinal decisions within the history of Christendom.

Does God Need the Church?
Does God Need the Church?

Author: Gerhard Lohfink

Publisher: Liturgical Press

Published: 2014-12-16

Total Pages: 356

ISBN-13: 0814683541

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Are not all religions equally close to and equally far from God? Why, then, the Church? Gerhard Lohfink poses these questions with scholarly reliability and on the basis of his own experience of community in Does God Need the Church? In 1982 Father Lohfink wrote Wie hat Jesus Gemeinde gewollt? (translated into English as Jesus and Community) to show, on the basis of the New Testament, that faith is founded in a community that distinguishes itself in clear contours from the rest of society. In that book he also described a sequence of events that moved directly from commonality to a community that was readily accessible to every group of people and was made legitimate by Jesus himself. Only later did Father Lohfink learn, within a new horizon of experience, that such a description is not the way to community. The story of the gathering of the people of God, from Abraham until today, never took place according to such a model. Today Father Lohfink states that he would not write Wie hat Jesus Gemeinde gewollt? the same way. The situation of belief and believers has undergone a shift: the question of the Church has become much more urgent. Church life is declining and the religions are returning, often in new guises. In light of these shifts and the change in his own view of community, Father Lohfink inquires in Does God Need the Church? of Israel's theology, Jesus' praxis, the experiences of the early Christian communities, and of what is appearing in the Church today. These inquiries lead to an amazing history involving God and the world - a history that God presses forward with the aid of a single people and that always turns out differently from what they think and plan.