This is a major work on the theology of Joseph Ratzinger by a highly regarded German theologian, priest and writer. Since his election to the Papacy, Ratzinger's theology, and in particular his ecclesiology (theology of the Church), has been in the limelight of theological and ecumenical discussions. This work studies in detail Ratzinger's ecclesiology in the light of Vatican II, against the ongoing debate about what Vatican II really meant to say about the life of the Church, its liturgy, its worship, its doctirne, its pastoral mission, and more.
Schwarz guides readers through the range of opinions on the subject of the future, telling how readers' understanding of eschatology has developed and laying out the factors that must be considered when speaking meaningfully about the Christian hope in the 21st century. He surveys the teachings about the future in the Old and New Testaments and addresses the views of Christian and secular thinkers throughout history.
A thoughtful reflection on how the "Francis revolution" can address the practical concerns of ordinary Catholics on a range of contemporary issues The papacy of Pope Francis has ushered in remarkable changes for the Roman Catholic Church. From a new emphasis on collegiality in ecclesial governance to a transformed set of public priorities for the global Church, Francis's unique model of pontifical leadership has far-reaching implications for virtually every aspect of Catholic practice. Catholic moral theology—particularly in the United States—has still not grappled fully with the emphases of Francis's pontificate. To address this lacuna, The Moral Vision of Pope Francis brings together a range of Catholic ethicists to reflect on Pope Francis's implicit approach to moral theology, establishing the unique insights of this first Jesuit pope. This evaluation of Pope Francis's teachings and actions draws out the moral vision animating his work and demonstrates how his moral vision should apply to Catholic ethical reflection on a range of contemporary issues. The Moral Vision of Pope Francis shows how the "Francis revolution" meaningfully addresses the practical concerns of Catholics in the United States.
The publication of this volume marks the Ten Year Anniversary of the Postcolonialism and Religions series. In intersectional and interdisciplinary perspectives, the chapters of this book constitute a complex whole: a volume that does justice to the justice-seeking origins of Latin American Liberation Theology, philosophy, and sociology as it emerged in the 1960s-70s and its development to the present. What drives this book is a common spirit and conviction: Liberation Theologies of the Global South remain relevant to the sociocultural and geopolitical contexts of today, which remain ensconced in the dynamics, exclusions, and resistances that gave rise to Liberation Theologies six decades ago. Today we may speak of interculturality, of borderlands, of in-betweenness, in ways that complicate, confirm, affirm, and interrogate the “underside of history”, and the spaces that are marginalized but de-centered centers of liberation struggle — within, alongside, underneath, over-against societal projects that claim and exclude them, and that represent some of the actual challenges and opportunities to liberation.
Hauke provides a tour de force study of the history and basic characteristics of modern feminism. Hauke presents an objective, detailed study of the facts of feminist theology around the world, using their own words and writings. He looks at the distinctiveness of feminist theology, what its image of man is as a fundamental point of departure, its basis from the experience of women as "formal principle", its views of the image of God, Christ, Mary, the Church, liturgy, ecology and eschatology. After carefully describing what the feminist position is, Hauke gives a critique from the point of view of the Catholic tradition. "The purpose of the present work is to provide, not a kind of "encyclopedia" on feminist theology, but an introduction and representative survey of central themes that will enable one to form a personal opinion. Addressed here are not just specialists in theology but all women and men who desire to inform themselves further about the powerful historical current that is feminist theology." -Manfred Hauke
This essay develops a response to the historical situation of the North Atlantic world in general and the United States in particular through theological reflection. It offers an overview of some decolonial perspectives with which theologians can engage, and argues for a general perspective for a decolonial theology as a possible response to modern/colonial structures and relations of power, particularly in the United States. Decolonial theory holds together a set of critical perspectives that seek the end of the modern/colonial world-system and not merely a democratization of its benefits. A decolonial theology, Joseph Drexler-Dreis argues, critiques how the confinement of knowledge to European traditions has closed possibilities for understanding historical encounters with divinity, and thus possibilities of critical reflection. A decolonial theology reflects critically on a historical situation in light of faith in a divine reality, the understanding of which is liberated from the monopoly of modern/colonial ways of knowing, in order to catalyze social transformation.
This book draws together leaders in science, the health sciences, the humanities, and the social sciences to investigate the role of religion, its meaning and relevance, for their area of specialization. It provides a much-needed fresh perspective on the way in which religion operates within the modern, neo-liberal world. The book approaches the topic by way of a critical engagement between religion, broadly defined, and the individual disciplines in which each of the contributors is expert. Rather than simply taking the dogmatic position that religion offers something to every possible discipline, each of the chapters in this collection addresses the question: is there something that religion can offer to the discipline in question? That is the value of the book – it takes a truly critical stance on the place of religion in contemporary society.
This book is volume two of a three-volume work, Christianity Under Stress, which focuses on the experiences of Christian churches in contemporary communist and socialist societies. In this volume a distinguished group of experts examines the changing relationship of the Catholic church to contemporary communist and socialist societies in Eastern Europe, Latin America, and Asia. Catholicism has, on the one hand, traditionally regarded earthly life as of secondary importance--as an instrument of spiritual transformation--and, on the other, has ascribed great value to the early institutions of the church, taking great interest in temporal matters that affects its institutional concerns. Against the backdrop of this duality, the church has changed over the centuries, adapting to local and national conditions. Catholicism and Politics in Communist Societies surveys these local and national adaptations in their historical contexts, linking the past experience of the church to its present circumstances. Organized around themes of tradition vs. modernity, hierarchy vs. lower clergy, and institutional structure vs. grass-roots organization, this comprehensive volume presents a detailed, country-by-country portrait of the political and social status of the church today in communist and socialist settings. Contributors. Pedro Ramet, Arthur F. McGovern, Roman Solchanyk, Ivan Hvat, Robert F. Goeckel, C. Chrypinski, Milan J. Reban, Leslie Laszlo, Janice Broun, Eric O. Hanson, Stephen Denney, Thomas E. Quigley, Humberto Belli, Hansjakob Stehle, George H. Williams
Though he was a familiar Church leader for many years before becoming pope, there has been little awareness of the spiritual side of Benedict XVI. Now for the first time readers are given a brilliant overview of the Pope’s most inspirational teachings in Let God’s Light Shine Forth. Editor Robert Moynihan offers a brief introduction to the life and work of Pope Benedict XVI and then presents an absorbing collection of his most persuasive words. Within these pages, Pope Benedict XVI introduces a God who is good, beautiful, and true, the fountain of all life. The most important thing for each person, in Benedict’s view, is to discover and develop a loving relationship with God, because this is the way to the deepest and most lasting happiness that human beings can experience. Even in our darkest moments, he teaches, we can have hope that all things will ultimately work out in a wonderful way to show God’s glory and bring blessedness to individual men and women. Many of these selections deal specifically with questions such as: Who is God? How we can know him? What does he wants us to do and to be? Having spent his entire life thinking, studying, and praying about such questions, Benedict has become perhaps the leading contemporary theologian (the word literally means “knower of God”) in the Roman Catholic Church. From his earliest work as a teacher to his first words as leader of the Catholic Church, Pope Benedict’s vision of hope is powerfully summarized in Let God’s Light Shine Forth.
