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As a peritus at Vatican II and by the end of his life arguably the world’s leading Mariologist, René Laurentin has earned the privilege of republication of a work of considerable value for any theologian who aims for comprehensiveness of Catholic theological perspective, historically and systematically. Laurentin’s orthodox, yet highly original treatment displays his command of all of the relevant biblical, patristic, medieval and modern texts up to and including the entire proceedings of the Second Vatican Council, as well as the whole range of related historical and theological scholarship. His proposal to pursue Mariological speculation along two tracks – first, “from above,” following the course of doctrinal development from biblical revelation to the VCII era, and second, “from below,” considering Mary’s own life (walking in her footsteps, as it were), from before the Annunciation to the Parousia – provides a clear, accessible structure for the work, yielding rich theological and spiritual fruit. Not only are all the major Marian doctrines and their developments handled with the greatest sensitivity, from the Virgin birth to the modern promulgations of Immaculate Conception and Assumption, but Laurentin’s approach in his second part opens the way to a human-psychological treatment of motherhood, still solidly bolstered by traditional Christian anthropology. Regarding Mary’s status as Mother of God, Laurentin’s discussion of the Theotokos exhibits his deep ecumenical commitments, as much as his specific attention to Mary’s soteriological role as a sticking point for Protestantism. One of the most striking qualities of the work is Laurentin’s deft integration of his evident scholastic formation into an overarching vision thoroughly at ease with the phenomenological (“personalist”) and existential currents in which he also inevitably swam throughout his education and professional scholarly occupation. As a result, the work can be read and appreciated instinctively, as it were, as much by the eclectic contemporary theologian, influenced by the likes of Heidegger, et al, as by the Thomist.

Oleg Bychkov's masterly exposition also shows how the texts analyzed have significantly influenced the development of Western theological thought.

The English translation itself, in facing-page format with the 1992 Leonine critical edition of Aquinas's Latin text, remains faithful to the text and at the same time clear and readable.

Apologist is the English translation of two of Chrysostom's treatises, written about 378 and 382, aimed at provoking the divinity of Jesus Christ.

Presented here for the first time in English translation (from Rufinus's Latin version) is the Apology for Origen, the sole surviving work of St. Pamphilus of Caesarea (d. 310 AD), who was one of the most celebrated priest-martyrs of the ancient Church

How can Paul, or you and I for that matter, speak with authority about mystery? Using the language of sacred riddles, Aquinas, Wittgenstein, and the Riddle of Spiritual Pedagogy argues that spiritual authority arises within the creative tension between the mystery of God’s will and our concrete human circumstances. Since at least the Enlightenment and increasingly in times of scandal, spiritual authority is suspect. Speaking authoritatively about mystery seems like a contradiction. Critics accuse such authorities of being at best vapid or at worst manipulative. Using a philosophical approach, Matt Dunch, SJ, defends the tradition of Christian spiritual teaching from St. Paul, through St. John Cassian and St. Ignatius Loyola, to contemporaries such as Dorothy Day. He supplements St. Thomas Aquinas’s account of prudence and counsel with Ludwig Wittgenstein’s sensitivity to the context and limits of sensible speech. Taken together, they all give us their accounts of how spiritual teaching can emerge from sacred riddles. Spiritual authority is unlike other forms of authority because the mystery or riddle of God is outside human understanding. At the same time, spiritual authority must address our concrete needs. Dunch considers how such riddles might be lived with and through, though not solved. This book will be of interest to readers who love the nature and practice of religious language, including philosophers of religion, systematic theologians, and spiritual directors. It will speak to anyone contemplating sacred mysteries.

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