Founded in 1540, the Society of Jesus quickly established itself as one of the most dynamic, influential but divisive orders within early-modern Catholicism. Yet whilst the order's role in combating Protestantism, reforming the Catholic Church and advising rulers during its first century has been well documented, much less is understood about its later years. Covering the generalate of Tirso GonzA!lez (1687-1705), this book offers a window onto Jesuit politics and theology during the late seventeenth century. GonzA!lez's generalate was dominated by two crises - one political, the other theological - both of which were to have important ramifications for the Jesuits and the wider Catholic world. The first of these was the confrontation between Louis XIV and the Papacy over the question of control of the church in France. GonzA!lez strongly and publicly supported Pope Innocent XI's primacy over the French clergy, despite widespread opposition from many French Jesuits who took a more 'Gallican' position. The second crisis revolved around GonzA!lez's opposition to the theory of 'Probabilism', to which the bulk of Jesuits subscribed. His publication of a book opposing a theological position that was deeply ingrained within the order, provided another fracture line that was to generate much heat. Whilst both crises were essentially matters for the Jesuits, this study demonstrates how they developed and played themselves out on a wide, international and increasingly public stage, showing how contending identities were forged from apparently narrow but intense and durable conflicts. As such, the book not only illuminates the role and theology of GonzA!lez, but also the tensions within late seventeenth-century Catholicism. It contends that, by the end of the century, Catholic confessional culture appears unable to resolve its contradictory relationship to the individual, which it empowers and dismisses at the same time.

St Anselm's archiepiscopal career, 1093-1109, spanned the reigns of two kings: William Rufus and the early years of Henry I. As the second archbishop of Canterbury after the Norman Conquest, Anselm strove to extend the reforms of his teacher and mentor at Bec, and his predecessor at Canterbury, Archbishop Lanfranc. Exploring Anselm's thirty years as Prior and Abbot of the large, rich, Norman monastery of Bec, and teacher in its school, this book notes the wealth of experiences which prepared Anselm for his archiepiscopal career--in particular Bec's missionary attitude toward England. Sally Vaughn examines Anselm's intellectual strengths as a teacher, philosopher and theologian: exploring his highly regarded theological texts, including his popular Prayers and Meditations, and how his statesmanship was influenced as he dealt with conflict with the antagonistic King William Rufus. Vaughn argues that Rufus's death influenced Anselm's rivalry with King Henry I and fostered a more subdued and civil conflict between Anselm and Henry which ended with cooperation between king and archbishop at the end of Anselm's life. King and archbishop became'yoked together as two oxen pulling the plow of the church through the land of England'. Anselm's final years at the pinnacle of power reveal a superb administrator over Canterbury and Primate over the churches of all Britain, in which position his followers described him as 'Pope of another world'. The final section includes a selection of original source material including archiepiscopal letters drawn primarily from Lambeth Palace Library.

St Anselm's archiepiscopal career, 1093-1109, spanned the reigns of two kings: William Rufus and the early years of Henry I. As the second archbishop of Canterbury after the Norman Conquest, Anselm strove to extend the reforms of his teacher and mentor at Bec, and his predecessor at Canterbury, Archbishop Lanfranc. Exploring Anselm's thirty years as Prior and Abbot of the large, rich, Norman monastery of Bec, and teacher in its school, this book notes the wealth of experiences which prepared Anselm for his archiepiscopal career--in particular Bec's missionary attitude toward England. Sally Vaughn examines Anselm's intellectual strengths as a teacher, philosopher and theologian: exploring his highly regarded theological texts, including his popular Prayers and Meditations, and how his statesmanship was influenced as he dealt with conflict with the antagonistic King William Rufus. Vaughn argues that Rufus's death influenced Anselm's rivalry with King Henry I and fostered a more subdued and civil conflict between Anselm and Henry which ended with cooperation between king and archbishop at the end of Anselm's life. King and archbishop became'yoked together as two oxen pulling the plow of the church through the land of England'. Anselm's final years at the pinnacle of power reveal a superb administrator over Canterbury and Primate over the churches of all Britain, in which position his followers described him as 'Pope of another world'. The final section includes a selection of original source material including archiepiscopal letters drawn primarily from Lambeth Palace Library.

The concept of Purgatory was a central tenet of late-medieval and early-modern Catholicism, and proved a key dividing line between Catholics and Protestants. However, as this book makes clear, ideas about purgatory were often ill-defined and fluid, and altered over time in response to particular needs or pressures. Drawing upon printed pamphlets, tracts, advice manuals, diocesan statutes and other literary material, the study traces the evolution of writing and teaching about Purgatory and the fate of the soul between 1480 and 1720. By examining the subject across this extended period it is argued that belief in Purgatory continued to be important, although its role in the scheme of salvation changed over time, and was not a simply a story of inevitable decline. Grounded in a case study of the southern and western regions of the ancien regime province of Brittany, the book charts the nature and evolution of 'private' intercessory institutions, chantries, obits and private chapel foundation, and 'public' forms, parish provision, confraternities, indulgences and veneration of saints. In so doing it underlines how the huge popularity of post-mortem intercession underwent a serious and rapid decline between the 1550s and late 1580s, only to witness a tremendous resurgence in popularity after 1600, with traditional practices far outstripping the levels of usage of the early sixteenth century. Offering a fascinating insight into popular devotional practices, the book opens new vistas onto the impact of Catholic revival and Counter Reform on beliefs about the fate of the soul after death.

Our home, our duties and routines, our relationships, and the way we use our time, are the monasteries of our lives. It is through these practices that we build our relationship with God, that we find opportunities for contemplation, and deserts for reflection. In this beautiful little book Ronald Rolheiser turns on its head the idea that religious life is the preserve of monks and nuns. Our cloisters are the walls of our home and our work, the streets we walk, and the people with whom we share our lives. The domestic is the monastic. Chapters include: Monasticism and Family Life; The Domestic Monastery; Real Friendship; Lessons from the Monastic Cell; Ritual for Sustaining Prayer; Tensions within Spirituality; A Spirituality of Parenting; Spirituality and the Seasons of Our Lives; The Sacredness of Time; Life's Key Question.

In a culture obsessed with law, judgment, and violence, this book challenges Christians to remember that Jesus urged his followers to judge no one, bring harm upon no one, and follow no law save the law of altruistic love. It traces Christian history first to show that Christians of an earlier age took very seriously the gospel injunctions against punitive legal judgment and then how the advent of formal legal codes and philosophical dualism undermined that perspective to create a division between a private Christian spirituality and a public morality of order and legally sanctioned violence. This historical approach is accompanied by an argument that the recovery of a Christian ethic based upon unconditional love and forgiveness cannot be accomplished without the renewal of a Christian spirituality that mirrors the contemplative spirituality of Jesus.

This book helps you to distinguish depression from similar looking, but fundamentally different, mental states such as guilt, sloth, the darkness of sin, and the sublime desolation called "dark night of the soul" that is, in fact, a privileged spiritual trial sent as a special gift from God. You'll come to know how to identify the various types of depression and come to understand the interplay of their often manifold causes, biological, psychological, behavioral, cultural, and moral.

Legal scholars and authorities generally agree that the law should be obeyed and should apply equally to all those subject to it, without favour or discrimination. Yet it is possible to see that in any legal system there will be situations when strict application of the law will produce undesirable results, such as injustice or other consequences not intended by the law as framed. In such circumstances the law may be changed but there may be broad policy reasons not to do so. The allied concepts of dispensation and economy grew up in the western and eastern traditions of the Christian church as mechanisms whereby an individual or a class of people could, by authority, be excused from obligations under a particular law in particular circumstances without that law being changed. This book uncovers and explores this neglected area of church life and law. Will Adam argues that dispensing power and authority exist in various guises in the systems of different churches. Codified and understood in Roman Catholic and Orthodox canon law, this arouses suspicion in the Church of England and in English law in general. The book demonstrates that legal flexibility can be found in English law and is integral to the law of the Church, to enable the Church today better to fulfil its mission in the world.

Teaches us how to speak personally and with confidence in prayer to God, who, the Saint says, will not "speak" to us unless we first speak to Him. We can approach God as His friends, with confidence and boldness. (5-2.00 ea.; 10-1.75 ea.; 25-1.25 ea.; 50-1.00 ea.; 100-.75 ea.).

This book presents a view of Christianity and Christian thinking that draws on some key thinkers from Plato to Wittgenstein and represents a thoughtful 'common sense' theology offered as an alternative to the anti-intellectualism of many contemporary Christians and to the distortions of Christianity provided by some of the most vocal critics. Seeking to make accessible some traditional Christian thinking and practices that are rooted in the desire to make the most of life, Felderhof highlights the additional Platonic corollary that unless we have learned to live well, we shall not properly understand, thus presuming the mutual interdependence of theory and practice. Felderhof portrays how Christian theology is to do with making sense of what Christians do and how generally we are best advised to live. This is an invaluable introduction to key themes for students and a wide range of readers.

This book presents a view of Christianity and Christian thinking that draws on some key thinkers from Plato to Wittgenstein and represents a thoughtful 'common sense' theology offered as an alternative to the anti-intellectualism of many contemporary Christians and to the distortions of Christianity provided by some of the most vocal critics. Seeking to make accessible some traditional Christian thinking and practices that are rooted in the desire to make the most of life, Felderhof highlights the additional Platonic corollary that unless we have learned to live well, we shall not properly understand, thus presuming the mutual interdependence of theory and practice. Felderhof portrays how Christian theology is to do with making sense of what Christians do and how generally we are best advised to live. This is an invaluable introduction to key themes for students and a wide range of readers.

These stories of St. Francis and his first followers have inspired millions of people over the centuries. Since they were first committed to paper, they were told to inspire people to become better followers of Jesus (not St. Francis). For that reason, they have endured unlike any other early Franciscan literature. This new paperback edition edition of The Little Flowers is unique in its physical beauty as well as its editorial arrangement. For the first time, the stories have been arranged in the most likely chronological ordering of when they happened-rather than following the traditional ordering of them handed down for centuries. As a result, today's reader is now able to read The Little Flowers as a biographical narrative of the life of St. Francis and the world-transforming movement that he founded.

In a lecture entitled 'Scotland's shame', delivered at the Edinburgh Festival in August 1999, Scotland's leading musical composer James MacMillan sought in an explosive way to expose the continuing pervasiveness of anti-Irish and anti-Catholic sectarianism and bigotry in contemporary Scotland. A decade of heated public debate has followed. Drawing upon post-colonial critiques of the provincial nature of metropolitan theory, this book approaches the Scotland's shame debate as, in many ways, itself a classic metrocentric cultural struggle over the true and essential telos of a once colonised population. It argues that the most interesting question the debate has provoked, a question which thus far has failed to generate a worthy answer, is: is the Irish Catholic encounter with Scotland intelligible and if so, what is the nature of this intelligibility? The purpose of this book is to harness the complex and rich theory of colonialism which French philosopher, political activist and novelist Jean-Paul Sartre developed and struggled over, to venture a qualified and partial interpretation of the Irish Catholic experience of Scotland. Nevertheless, in so doing, the book takes seriously the charge of metrocentricism as it bears on the search for the meaning of the Irish Catholic adventure in Scotland and refuses to permit any simplistic interpretation of this adventure. Presenting findings from a new oral history archive consisting of 67 interviews with members of the Irish Catholic community in Scotland, attention is given to the themes of national identity, estrangement and belonging; diasporic imaginings of Ireland; anti-imperial activism, agitation and advocacy; culture, faith and family; and poverty, work education and equality.

As with Muslims today, Catholics were once suspected of being antidemocratic, oppressive of women, and supportive of extremist political violence. By the end of the twentieth century, Catholics were considered normal and sometimes valorized as exemplary citizens. Can other ethnic, racial, and religious minorities follow the same path? Minorities and Reconstructive Coalitions provides an answer by comparing the stories of ethnic Catholics' political incorporation in Australia, Canada, and the United States. Through comparative and historical analysis, the book shows that reconstructive coalitions, such as labor and pan-Christian moral movements, can bring Catholics and Protestants together under new identities, significantly improving Catholic standing. Not all coalitions are reconstructive or successful, and institutional structures such as regional autonomy can enhance or inhibit the formation of these coalitions. The book provides overviews of the history of Catholics in the three countries, reorients the historiography of Catholic incorporation in the United States, uncovers the phenomenon of minority overrepresentation in politics, and advances unique arguments about the impact of coalitions on minority politics.

Why is the Resurrection of Christ so remote, almost non-existent in many early Christian writings of the first 140 years of Christianity? This is the first Patristic book to focus on the development of the belief in the Resurrection of Christ through the first centuries A.D. By Paul, Christ's Resurrection is regarded as the basis of Christian hope. In the fourth century it becomes a central Christian tenet. But what about the discrepancy in the first three centuries? This thought provoking book explores this core topic in Christian culture and theology. Taking a broad approach - including iconography, archaeology, history, philosophy, Jewish Studies and theology - Markus Vinzent offers innovative reading of well known biblical and other texts complemented by rarely discussed evidence. Christ's Resurrection in Early Christianity takes the reader on a fascinating journey through the wilderness of unorthodox perspectives in the breadth of early Christian writings. It is an eye-opening experience with insights into the craftsmanship of early Christianity - and the earliest existential debates about life and death, death and life - all centred on the cross, on suffering, enduring and sacrifice.

A key tenet of Christian faith is that the crucifixion of Jesus Christ is a unique death by which the powers of death in the world have been conquered, so that Christian life in the Spirit is marked by the promise and hope of 'new life' already anticipated in the community of baptized believers. Notwithstanding this basic tenet regarding the Christian life as a participation in the redemptive death of Jesus Christ, theology in the past, as well as much contemporary theology, tends to assign no salvific significance to the event of our own death, focusing instead on death in negative terms as the wages of sin. This work is a significant retort to theological neglect, both Catholic and Protestant, of the positive and transformative aspect of our death when conceived as a dying into the redemptive death of Jesus Christ. The development of Henry L. Novello's proposed theology of death takes place in conversation with the pre-eminent contemporary contributors to this field of theological inquiry. By offering comprehensive critiques of Karl Rahner, Hans Urs von Balthasar, Karl Barth, Eberhard JA1/4ngel and JA1/4rgen Moltmann, Novello painstakingly pieces together a positive construal of death as salvific and transformative. What is especially distinctive about Novello's work is that he develops the idea of death as a sharing in the 'admirable exchange of natures' in the person of Jesus Christ, from which emerges his theory of resurrection at death for all. The reach of the work is extended by exploring some pastoral and liturgical implications of a theology of death conceived as the privileged moment for the actualization of God's grace in Jesus Christ, and thus being created anew in the power of the Spirit.

For much of the sixteenth-century, France was wracked with religious strife, as the Wars of Religion pitted Catholic against Protestant. Whilst the conversion of Henri IV to Catholicism ended much of the conflict, the ensuing peace highlighted the fractious nature of French Catholicism and the many competing threads that ran through it. This book investigates the gradual division of the French Catholic reform movement, often associated with those known as the 'devots' during the first half of the seventeenth century. Such division, it is argued, was emerging before the publication in France (1641) of the posthumous 'Augustinus' of Jansenius, not simply as a sequel to that. Those who were already distinguishing themselves from other 'devots' before that date were thus not yet identifiable as 'Jansenists'. Rather, the initial defining sentiment was increasing French hostility towards Jesuit involvement in Catholic Reform, both at home and abroad. Drawing on sources from the Jesuit archives in Rome and on Port-Royal material in Paris, the book begins with an investigation into the development of Catholic Reform in France, showing the problems that emerged before 1629 and the degree to which these were or were not resolved. The second half of the book contrasts the fragmentation of the movement in the years beyond 1629, and the context of Richelieu's new directions in French foreign policy. Covering a crucial period in the lead up to the establishment of an absolute monarchy in France, this book provides a rich new explanation of the development of French political and ecclesiastical history. It will be of interest not only to those studying the early modern period, but to anyone wishing to understand the roots of French secular society.

Charles Plomer Hopkins (1861-1922), born in America and educated in Falmouth, England, became a seamen's chaplain in Burma, and then India, where he founded a seamen's union and used the Merchant Shipping Acts to pursue erring captains and ship owners through the Courts. Against a backdrop of the British Empire, the Raj, and the Church of England's Catholic revival, accusations of sexual impropriety, murder, and fi nancial malpractice followed him to England, where he began to build Alton Abbey in Hampshire, and to throw in his lot with the National Sailors' and Firemen's Union. As Secretary of the International Committee of Seamen's Union he announced in 1911 the start of the fi rst and, to date, only international strike of merchant seamen, conducting most of the negotiations to effect its conclusion, before being appointed a Trustee of the National Sailors' and Firemen's Union and then Joint Secretary of the National Maritime Board. This gripping story will be of interest not only to readers concerned with maritime or Church history, but to those who fight for human rights, morality or freedom. R.W.H. Miller, a Roman Catholic priest in the West of England and a long-time student of maritime social history, has worked for both the Missions to Seamen and the Apostleship of the Sea. He is a member of the Society for Nautical Research and the International Maritime Economic History Association.

Says \"The Mass is the greatest wonder in the world, \" seconded only by \"the next greatest wonder. . .the indifference and ignorance of Catholics regarding the Mass.\" Quotes Saints, plus Our Lord Himself in revelations to various Saints. Filled with incomparable insights on the glories of the Mass.

The first examination of predictive technology from the perspective of Catholic theology Probabilistic predictions of future risk govern much of society. In business and politics alike, institutional structures manage risk by controlling the behavior of consumers and citizens. New technologies comb through past data to predict and shape future action. Choosing between possible future paths can cause anxiety as every decision becomes a calculation to achieve the most optimal outcome. Tomorrow's Troubles is the first book to use virtue ethics to analyze these pressing issues. Paul Scherz uses a theological analysis of risk and practical reason to show how risk-based decision theory reorients our relationships to the future through knowledge of possible dangers and foregone opportunities-and fosters a deceptive hope for total security. Scherz presents this view of temporality as problematic because it encourages a desire for stability through one's own efforts instead of reliance on God. He also argues that the largest problem with predictive models is that they do not address individual reason and free will. Instead of dwelling on a future, we cannot control, we can use our past experiences and the Christian tradition to focus on discerning God's will in the present. Tomorrow's Troubles offers a thoughtful new framework that will help Christians benefit from the positive aspects of predictive technologies while recognizing God's role in our lives and our futures.

This book offers a mature assessment of themes preoccupying David Martin over some fifty years, complementing his book On Secularization. Deploying secularisation as an omnibus word bringing many dimensions into play, Martin argues that the boundaries of the concept of secularisation must not be redefined simply to cover aberrant cases, as when the focus was more on America as an exception rather than on Europe as an exception to the 'furiously religious' character of the rest of the world. Particular themes of focus include the dialectic of Christianity and secularization, the relation of Christianity to multiple enlightenments and modes of modernity, the enigmas of East Germany and Eastern Europe, and the rise of the transnational religious voluntary association, including Pentecostalism, as that feeds into vast religious changes in the developing world. Doubts are cast on the idea that religion has ever been privatised and has lately reentered the public realm. The rest of the book deals with the relation of the Christian repertoire to the nexus of religion and politics, including democracy and violence and sharply criticises polemical assertions of a special relation of religion to violence, and explores the contributions of 'cognitive science' to the debate

This book offers a mature assessment of themes preoccupying David Martin over some fifty years, complementing his book On Secularization. Deploying secularisation as an omnibus word bringing many dimensions into play, Martin argues that the boundaries of the concept of secularisation must not be redefined simply to cover aberrant cases, as when the focus was more on America as an exception rather than on Europe as an exception to the 'furiously religious' character of the rest of the world. Particular themes of focus include the dialectic of Christianity and secularization, the relation of Christianity to multiple enlightenments and modes of modernity, the enigmas of East Germany and Eastern Europe, and the rise of the transnational religious voluntary association, including Pentecostalism, as that feeds into vast religious changes in the developing world. Doubts are cast on the idea that religion has ever been privatised and has lately reentered the public realm. The rest of the book deals with the relation of the Christian repertoire to the nexus of religion and politics, including democracy and violence and sharply criticises polemical assertions of a special relation of religion to violence, and explores the contributions of 'cognitive science' to the debate

Richard Sipe examines the continuing sexual crisis facing the Catholic Church today. Has the storm of publicity and controversy caused the church to acknowledge any of the accusations? Will the church accept statistical evidence or alter the way it trains its clergy? How has it come to grips with reforming or retraining abusers? Has it acknowledged the spread of AIDS among its ranks? Why does the church oppress women and react with hostility and fear towards them? Sex, Priests, and Power: Anatomy of a Crisis addresses these and other questions.