Science has now demonstrated without a doubt that we live in an "unfinished universe." Discoveries in geology, biology, cosmology and other fields of scientific inquiry have shown that the cosmos has a narrative character and that the story is far from over. The sense of a universe that is still coming into being provides a fertile new framework for thinking about the relationship of faith to science. John F. Haught argues that if we take seriously the fact that the universe is a drama still unfolding, we can think new thoughts about God, and indeed about all the perennial themes of theology. Science's recent realization that the universe is dramatic, however, has yet to penetrate deeply into either spiritual or intellectual life. Most Christian thought and spirituality still presuppose an essentially static universe while influential academic and intellectual culture remains stuck in a stagnant materialist naturalism and cosmic pessimism. Resting on the Future asks about the meaning of an unfinished universe from the point of view of both Christian theology and contemporary intellectual life. Each chapter covers a distinct aspect of what Haught takes to be an essential transition to a new age in Catholic life and thought. Biology, cosmology, and other fields of science now provide the setting for a wholesome transformation of Catholic thought from a still predominantly pre-scientific to a more hopeful and scientifically informed vision of God, humanity and the natural world.

"Benedict's Rule: A Translation and Commentary" is the first line-by-line exegesis of the entire Rule of Benedict written originally in English. This full commentary - predominately a literary and historical criticism - is based on and includes a new translation, and is accompanied by essays on Benedict's spiritual doctrine.

A monk who has striven to live according to the Rule of Benedict for thirty-five years, Father Kardong relates it to modern monastic life while examining the sources (Cassian, Augustine, and Basil) Benedict used to establish his Rule. Overviews - summaries of notes, source criticism, or structural criticism - follow some chapters, and a large bibliography of the current scholarship and source references are also included. "Benedict's Rule: A Translation and Commentary" also includes the Latin text of the "Regula Benedicti."This reference work is invaluable to libraries and to those who are called to interpret the Rule. It will be opened again and again. Indexed.

What role do novels, drama, and tragedy play within Christian thought and living? The twentieth century Catholic theologian Hans Urs von Balthasar addressed these questions using tragic drama. For him, Christ was the true tragic hero of the world who exceeded all tragic literature and experience. Balthasar demonstrated how ancient, pre-Christian tragedy and Renaissance works contained important Christian concepts, but he critiqued modern novels as failing to be either truly tragic or Christian. By examining the tragic novels of Thomas Hardy on their own terms, we have an important counterpoint to Balthasar's argument that the novel is too prosaic for theological reflection. Hardy's novels are an apt pairing for examination and critique, as they are both classically and biblically influenced, as well as contemporary.The larger implication for Balthasar's theology is that his innovations in theological aesthetics and tragedy must be expanded in the light of modernity and the tragic novel.

John Henry Newman is often described as 'the Father of the Second Vatican Council'. He anticipated most of the Council's major documents, as well as being an inspiration to the theologians who were behind them. His writings offer an illuminating commentary both on the teachings of the Council and the way these have been implemented and interpreted in the post-conciliar period. This book is the first sustained attempt to consider what Newman's reaction to Vatican II would have been. As a theologian who on his own admission fought throughout his life against theological liberalism, yet who pioneered many of the themes of the Council in his own day, Newman is best described as a conservative radical who cannot be classed simply as either a conservative or liberal Catholic. At the time of the First Vatican Council, Newman adumbrated in his private letters a mini-theology of Councils, which casts much light on Vatican II and its aftermath. Noted Newman scholar, Ian Ker, argues that Newman would have greatly welcomed the reforms of the Council, but would have seen them in the light of his theory of doctrinal development, insisting that they must certainly be understood as changes but changes in continuity rather than discontinuity with the Church's tradition and past teachings. He would therefore have endorsed the so-called 'hermeneutic of reform in continuity' in regard to Vatican II, a hermeneutic first formulated by Pope Benedict XVI and subsequently confirmed by his successor, Pope Francis, and rejected both 'progressive' and ultra-conservative interpretations of the Council as a revolutionary event. Newman believed that what Councils fail to speak of is of great importance, and so a final chapter considers the kind of evangelization - a topic notably absent from the documents of Vatican II - Newman thought appropriate in the face of secularization.

The Gouda Windows (1552-1572): Art and Catholic Renewal on the Eve of the Dutch Revolt offers the first complete analysis of the cycle of monumental Renaissance stained-glass windows donated to the Sint Janskerk in Gouda, after a fire gutted it in 1552. Central among the donors were King Philip II of Spain and Joris van Egmond, Bishop of Utrecht, who worked together to reform the Church. The inventor of the iconographic program, a close associate to the bishop as well as the king, strove to renew Catholic art by taking the words of Jesus as a starting point. Defining Catholic religion based on widely accepted biblical truths, the ensemble shows that the Mother Church can accommodate all true Christians.

Since 1965 there has been an explosion of fiction about being Catholic, clearly a result of confusions in the post-Vatican II church. American Catholic culture has suffered severe dislocations, and fiction has provided one way of coping with those dislocations. In Testing the Faith, Anita Gandolfo provides an overview of fiction about the American Catholic experience. The book considers emerging novelists such as Mary Gordon and Valerie Sayers and established writers like Paul Theroux. Among the popular writers covered are Andrew Greeley and William X. Keinzle. The volume also considers the emergence of new, young writers, such as Jeanne Schinto, Sheila O'Connor, and Philip Deaver. By analyzing patterns in contemporary Catholic fiction, Gandolfo shows both the shared interest these writers have in the Catholic experience and their individual perspectives on that experience. The book is the first to consider post-Vatican II Catholic literature, and will be of interest to those concerned with both the Catholic experience and current literature.

This monumental book outlines, clarifies, and defends official Roman Catholic teaching on the relationship between christianity and other religious traditions in the light of Catholic belief that "We must hold that the holy spirit offers to all the possibility of being made partners, in a way known to God, in the paschal mystery" (Gaudium et Spes, 22).

Part I studies the history of these issues. Part II examines their theological framing. Part III deals with Christianity and the religions since Vatican II. Part IV deals with Judaism, Confucianism, Hinduism, and Islam as they see themselves in relation to Christianity. A final chapter by Michael Fitzgerald is a theological reflection on the foundations of interreligious dialogue.

Unlike the traditional terms Counter-Reformation or Catholic Reform, this book does not see Catholicism from 1450 to 1700 primarily in relationship to the Protestant Reformation but as both shaped by the revolutionary changes of the early modern period and actively refashioning itself in response to these changes: the emergence of the early modern state; economic growth and social dislocation; the expansion of Europe across the seas; the Renaissance; and, to be sure, the Protestant Reformation. Bireley devotes particular attention to new methods of evangelization in the Old World and the New, education at the elementary, secondary and university levels, the new active religious orders of women and men, and the effort to create a spirituality for the Christian living in the world. A final chapter looks at the issues raised by Machiavelli, Galileo and Pascal. Robert Bireley is a leading Jesuit historian and uniquely well placed to reassess this centrally important subject for understanding the dynamics of early modern Europe. This book will be of great value to all those studying the political, social, religious and cultural history of the period.

Writing Catholic Women examines the interplay of gender, race, ethnicity, nationality, and sexuality through the lens of Catholicism in a wide range of works by women writers, forging interdisciplinary connections among women's studies, religion, and late twentieth-century literature. Discussing a diverse group of authors, Jeana DelRosso posits that the girlhood narratives of such writers constitute highly charged sites of their differing gestures toward Catholicism and argues that an understanding of the ways in which women write about religion from different cultural and racial contexts offers a crucial contribution to current discussions in gender, ethnic, and cultural studies.

Grazia Mangano Ragazzi offers an in-depth examination of the concept of discretion in the spiritual writings of Saint Catherine of Siena (1347-1380), who is honored as one of the few female ''Doctors'' of the Catholic Church and who in 2000 was named a co-patroness of Europe by Pope John Paul II. Despite her illiteracy, which necessitated that she dictate to a scribe, Catherine is revered for her writings, which reveal spiritual reflection of remarkable depth. At the same time she is an inspiring example of one who remained active in the political and ecclesiastical life of her time without sacrificing an intense contemplative life. This book investigates the concept of "discretion," to which Catherine dedicates chapters IX to XI of her Dialogue and letter 213. Discretion, Ragazzi argues, is a helpful tool for interpreting the whole edifice of Catherine's spirituality. The term evades precise definition but can be summarized as a form of self-knowledge that leads to an authentic knowledge of God. Ragazzi first examines the role played by scribes in the composition of Catherine's writings, and whether it is possible to consider such writings as authentic representations of her thought, then provides a detailed analysis of Catherine's works to determine the meaning and importance of discretion in her spirituality, and how it relates to the concept of prudence. Ragazzi finds that the clearest influence on Catherine's thought was that of Dominican spirituality: her spiritual director, Raymond of Capua, was a Dominican, as was the majority of those belonging to her circle. But Franciscan mysticism, which was prevalent in religious life during the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, also seems to have exerted considerable influence. Ragazzi's meticulous study shows how Catherine's way of being a theologian exemplifies the principle that any person authentically striving to live a Christian life, if gifted with great faith and intellectual ability, can engage in theology in a creative manner without the abstract and specialized speculation reserved for academic theologians.