Karl Rahner is one of the great theologians of the twentieth century, known for his systematic, foundationalist approach. This bold and original book explores the relationship between his theology and his philosophy, and argues for the possibility of a nonfoundationalist reading of Rahner. Karen Kilby calls into question both the admiration of Rahner's disciples for the overarching unity of his though, and the too easy dismissals of critics who object to his 'flawed philosophical staring point' or to his supposedly modern and liberal appeal to experience. Through a lucid and critical exposition of key texts including Spirit in the World and Hearer of the Word, and of themes such as the Vorgriff auf esse, the supernatural existential and the anonymous Christian, Karen Kilby reaffirms Rahner's significance for modern theology and offers a clear exposition of his thought.

Series Information:
Studies in Major Literary Authors: Outstanding Dissertations

This booklet outlines fpr Catholic Christians the twelve promises of the Sacred Heart.

This book, based on extensive research including in the Russian and Vatican archives, charts the development of relations between the Catholic Church and the Soviet Union from the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917 to the death of Pope Pius XI in 1939. It provides background information on the animosity between the Orthodox and Catholic churches and moves towards reconciliation between them, discusses Soviet initiatives to eradicate religion in the Soviet Union and spread atheist international communism throughout the world, and explores the Catholic Church's attempts to survive in the face of persecution within the Soviet Union and extend itself. Throughout the book reveals much new detail on the complex interaction between these two opposing bodies and their respective ideologies.

In recent years, there has been an upsurge of interest in religion and religious issues. Some have linked this to a neo-liberal form of individualism, while others noted that secularism has left people bereft of a humanly necessary link with the transcendent. The importance of identity issues has also been remarked upon. This book examines how liberal forms of religion are allowing people to engage with religion on their own terms, while also feeling part of something more universal. Looking at liberal approaches to the Abrahamic faiths - Judaism, Protestant and Roman Catholic Christianity and Islam - this book teases out how postmodern culture has shaped the way in which people engage with these religions. It also compares and contrasts how liberal thinking and theology have been expressed in each of the faiths examined, as well as the reactionary responses to its emergence. By considering how liberalism has influenced the narrative around the Abrahamic faiths, this book demonstrates how malleable faith and spirituality can be. As such, it will be of interest to scholars working in Religious Studies, Theology, Sociology and Cultural Anthropology.

The year 2000 witnessed the 900th anniversary of the birth of Adrian IV, the only Englishman to sit on the papal throne. His short pontificate of four and a half years, distracted by crisis and controversy and followed as it was by an 18-year schism, could be judged a low point in the history of the papacy. The studies in this book challenge the view that Adrian was little more than a cipher, the tool of powerful factions in the Curia. This is the first large-scale work on Adrian since 1925, and is supported by a substantial appendix of relevant sources and documents in facing translation. Relations with the Empire, the Norman kingdom and the Patrimony are all radically reassessed and the authenticity of 'Laudabiliter' reconsidered. At the same time, the spiritual, educational and devotional contexts in which he was operating are fully assessed; his activities in Catalonia and his legatine mission to Scandinavia are examined in the light of recent research, and his special relationship with St Albans is explored through his privileges to this great abbey. These studies by leading scholars in the field, together with the introductory chapter by Christopher Brooke, reveal an active and engaged pope, reacting creatively to the challenges and crises of the Church and the world.

Spain and the Irish Mission, 1609-1707 examines Spanish confessional policy in 17th-century Ireland. Cristina Bravo Lozano provides an innovative perspective on Spanish-Irish relations during a crucial period for Early Modern European history. Key historical actors and events are brought to the fore in her account of the missionary networks created around the Irish Catholic exile in the Iberian Peninsula. She presents a comprehensive study of this form of royal patronage, the changes and challenges Irish Catholicism had to face after the peace of London (1604) and the role that Irish missionaries played in preserving its place within the framework of Anglo-Spanish relations.

This classic text outlines the development of the papacy as an institution in the Middle Ages. With profound knowledge, insight and sophistication, Walter Ullmann traces the course of papal history from the late Roman Empire to its eventual decline in the Renaissance.
The focus of this survey is on the institution and the idea of papacy rather than individual figures, recognizing the shaping power of the popes' roles that made them outstanding personalities. The transpersonal idea, Ullmann argues, sprang from Christianity itself and led to the papacy as an institution sui generis.

eBook available with sample pages: 0203349520

The British Christian Women's Movement charts the British Christian women's movement and its inception in the post-sixties decades, amid new currents generated in the British denominational churches, and the wider current of Women's Liberation. Focusing on Christian women's concern with the position of women in the church, this book identifies core Christian women's theology which affirms a (rehabilitated) 'new Eve in Christ', and contrasts with a paradigm shift taking shape in North American feminist theology. It argues that this divergence is primarily because of the effect of prolonged Church of England women's ordination debates upon the ethos of the British Christian women's movement.

In May 1998, John Joseph, the first native Pakistani Catholic bishop, shot himself in front of the courthouse where a Christian had been sentenced to death for blasphemy. This book tells the story of the Christians in Pakistan, with Bishop Joseph as its centrepiece. It is an account of outcastes who sought hope through Christianity, but who now find themselves victims of a struggle to define Islam in Pakistan. The majority of Pakistani Christians are descendants of untouchables converted to Christianity in the late 19th century. In Pakistan a minority religion is linked with low status, perpetuating the Indian Hindu caste system even though the Muslim majority has disassociated itself from all things Hindu and Indian. The book also deals with enculturation in the Pakistani church, the rise of native clergy, conflicts between the local church and Rome, the rise of 'fundamentalist' Islam and the position of women in society and church.

Originally published in 1988, this title looks at the importance of the Catholic school in American education from 1830 to 1980. The articles in this collection illuminate the patterns of development. The most prevalent theme is that of school controversy, involving either Catholic conflict with public education and the wider culture on the one hand, or internal dissension within the Catholic community regarding the desirability of separate schools on the other. Taken together, these essays serve as pieces of a mosaic, interesting in themselves yet corporately providing a comprehensive picture of the history of Catholic schooling in America. They remind us that these institutions grew up as a response to particular forces at work in the wider society as well as within the Catholic community itself.

The number of minority students, many of them not Catholic, who have enrolled in Catholic secondary schools is substantial. Since it is reasonable to assume that the cost of tuition in such schools is considerable for a minority family, the phenomenon suggests that parents in these families believe that their children will obtain a better education in Catholic secondary schools. The problem of measuring the effect of Catholic secondary schools on minority students is difficult because it is a complex and intricate task to separate family background and student motivation as influences on academic performance from the school's contribution. Here, Andrew M. Greeley makes the case that the burden of proof rests on those who contend that family and student motivation are more important than the character of the school. Using a complex analytic technique that includes sophisticated mathematical models, Greeley demonstrates that the preponderance of evidence tilts in favor of the school. There appears to be an authentic Catholic school effect, attributable to religious order ownership of some schools, more regular discipline in the schools, and especially to a higher quality of teaching in such schools. The effect of Catholic secondary schools on minority students does not occur among students from well-educated families who have been successful in their previous education experiences, but rather among students disadvantaged by race, the fact that their parents did not attend college, and by their own previous educational experiences. As these schools were originally established at the beginning of the twentieth century to socialize the children of the urban poor, their present success with today's urban poor may be due to the fact that these schools are simply doing what they have always done. In a preface written for this new, paperback edition of "Catholic High Schools and Minority Students," Greeley confirms the continued success of Catholic schools based on recent studies, despite dissenting voices who wish to attack both private and religious educational institutions. This is an important contribution to the debate on the future of the education of young people in the United States. Andrew M. Greeley is professor of social sciences at the University of Chicago and the University of Arizona, as well as research associate at the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago. Both a priest and a best-selling novelist, Greeley is the author of "Priests in the United States, The American Catholic: A Social Portrait," and most recently, "Irish Stew."

Year 2000 is a Jubilee year for the Catholic church and very large numbers are expected to make the pilgrimage to Rome. Debra Birch's lively account of pilgrimage to Rome throughout the medieval period is well-documented and clearly presented. HISTORY TODAY [Emma Mason]Well researched, clearly written, and, quite apart from the eternal city, provides an excellent introduction to pilgrimage as a whole. CHURCH TIMES [Nicholas Orme] Rome was one of the major pilgrim destinations in the middle ages. The belief that certain objects and places were a focus of holiness where pilgrims could come closer to God had a long history in Christian tradition; in the case of Rome, the tradition developed around two of the city's most important martyrs, Christ's apostles Peter and Paul. So strong were the city'sassociations with these apostles that pilgrimage to Rome was often referred to as pilgrimage `to the threshold of the apostles'. Debra Birch conveys a vivid picture of the world of the medieval pilgrim to Rome - the Romipetae, or `Rome-seekers' - covering all aspects of their journey, and their life in the city itself. DEBRA BIRCH is assistant secretary at the Institute of Historical Research. CONTENTS The Cult of Saints and Pilgrimage to Rome. The Journey to Rome . Obligations and Privileges . Rome of the Pilgrim I . Rome of the Pilgrim II . Welfare Provisions for Pilgrims in Rome . The Popularity of Pilgrimage to Rome in the 12th Century . The 13th-Century Revival.

This book is a study of the changing relationship over time (1856-1994) between the Rishi, an ex-Untouchable jati of Bengal/South-West Bangladesh, and various groups of Catholic missionaries. The book's originality and importance lies in its multi-disciplinary approach, which combines anthropological fieldwork, historical research, philosophical enquiry and contemporary missiological debates. Moreover, it addresses issues of great current relevance in its discussions of Orientalism, Neo-colonialism and Otherness.

Starting from the premise of the letter as literary artefact, with a potential for ambiguity, irony and textual allusion, this innovative analysis of the correspondence between the Cluniac abbot, Peter the Venerable, and the future saint, Bernard of Clairvaux, challenges the traditional use of these letters as a source for historical and (auto)biographical reconstruction. Applying techniques drawn from modern theories of epistolarity and contemporary literary criticism to letters treated as whole constructs, Knight demonstrates the presence of a range of manipulative strategies and argues for the consequent production of a significant degree of fictionalisation. She traces the emergence of an epistolarly sequence which forms a kind of extended narrative, drawing its authority from Augustine and Jerome, and rooted in classical rhetoric. The work raises important implications both for the study of relations between Cluniacs and Cistercians in the first half of the 12th century and for the approach to letter-writing as a whole.

Women, Enlightenment and Catholicism explores, for the first time, the uncharted territory of women's religious Enlightenment. Each chapter offers a biographical insight into the social and cultural context of female Enlighteners and how Catholic women in Europe used the thought and values of Enlightenment to articulate their beliefs about how to live their faith in the world. The collection of portraits within this book offers a closer look into the new understanding of womanhood that emerged from Enlightenment culture and was conceived independently from marital relationships. They also highlight the distinctive contributions that women made to political and religious philosophy, spirituality and mysticism, and the efforts to bring scientific knowledge to the attention of other women. Guiding readers through the complex religious, intellectual and global connections influenced by the Enlightenment, Women, Enlightenment and Catholicism brings the achievements of Enlightenment women to the foreground and restores them to their rightful place in intellectual history. It is ideal reading for scholars and students of Enlightenment history, early modern religion and early modern women's history.

Offers the opportunity to spend a month with Saint Augustine, with readings for both morning and evening

This title was first published in 2003. Fields traces the origins of recent economic growth in Ireland over a long period of development. In doing so, he opens up an old debate with new data, interpretations and evidence that will force many to question existing truths about the role of religion in economic growth. The work is founded on an innovative methodology and unique primary and secondary resource material that has never been used in a study of this kind. This is timely as the area has a growing international market and addresses some recently ignored themes in the Social Sciences, in particular religion. Whilst concerned with global issues this text also focuses on one country which economists and sociologists as well as those in other Social Sciences areas will find of great interest.