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When, in the 1970’s, Sister Prudence Allen, RSM began to investigate philosophical thought on woman, the question was considered to be, at best, a marginal area for philosophical research. Rather, it was seen as a sociological, anthropological, psychological, or political issue. This book confirms that today, partly due to Allen’s groundbreaking work, the complementarity of man and woman is an important and fruitful area of research in philosophy providing an evaluative framework that enriches and challenges many other disciplines. No one could have foreseen the centrality of her research for questions of gender theory that are, in the third decade of the 21st century, in the forefront of public attention. In the present volume, leading authors in the area of sex/gender complementarity reflect upon and further develop various aspects of Allen’s research. In 16 original, scholarly essays, some contributors build upon Allen’s project of exploring “the concept of woman” throughout the history of philosophy. Others explore the work of 20th century philosophers, most of them Christian Personalists, whom Allen credits with significant influence on the development of integral gender complementarity, such as Karol Wojtyła/ John Paul II, Jacques Maritain, Edith Stein, Emmanuel Mounier, W. Norris Clarke, SJ, and Bernard Lonergan, SJ. Still other contributors consider Marian spirituality, analogies between Benedictine spirituality and the physiological realities of a woman’s body during pregnancy, seminary education in the writings of Allen and others, and the impact of Allen’s work on the real lives of women in families, the Church, and professional life. Upon completing her magisterial, three-volume work, The Concept of Woman, Allen passed the baton to a new generation of scholars, stating, “The next phases will be developed by those who themselves take the argument further and deeper in their own research, writing, living, and lecturing.” The present volume takes up the baton, carrying Allen’s work forward and paying tribute to the lifetime achievement of a great scholar.

General Principles of Sacramental Theology addresses a current lacuna in English language theological literature. Bernard Leeming’s highly respected book Principles of Sacramental Theology was published more than sixty years ago. Since that time, there has been a noted decrease, especially in English language sacramental theology, in treatments of the basic topics and principles – such as the nature of the sacraments of signs, sacramental grace, sacramental character, sacramental causality, sacramental intention, the necessity and number of the sacraments, sacramental matter and form, inter alia – which apply to all of the sacraments. This book will be of use in seminary, graduate, and undergraduate courses. The sacraments play an irreplaceable role in pursuing a Universal Call to Holiness that is so central to Vatican II’s teaching.

The biblical book of Genesis stands nearly without parallel in the shared history of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Because of its abiding importance to late antique theology and practical life across religious boundaries, it gave rise to a wide range of literary responses. The essays in this book study an array of Jewish and Christian responses to Genesis as they took shape in specific literary forms—the unique genres of late antique poetry. While late antique and early medieval Jews and Christians did not always agree in their interpretations of Genesis, they participated broadly in a shared culture of poetic production. Some of these poetic genres paralleled one another simply as distinct examples of metered speech, while others emerged in conversation and through mutual influence. Though late antique poems developed in a variety of languages and across religious boundaries, scholarly study of late antique poetry has tended to isolate the phenomenon according to language. As a corrective to this linguistic isolation, this book initiates a comparative conversation around the Jewish and Christian poetry that emerged in late antique Aramaic, Greek, Hebrew, Latin, and Syriac. Tending equally to exegetical content and literary form, the essays in this book sit at the intersection of a variety of scholarly conversations—around the history of biblical exegesis, the formation of late antique and early medieval literature and literary culture, and the comparative study of Judaism and Christianity.

Gift and Communion offers a critical presentation of John Paul II's theology of the body, understood in the light of Christian theological tradition. The main thesis of the book is that John Paul II's theology of the body forms a new, inspiring approach to Christian ethics and the theology of marriage and family, as well as to theological anthropology. A central thrust of Gift and Communion is to treat theology of the body - as it deserves - in all its philosophical and theological seriousness and to present it as an important stage in the historical development of Catholic theology

According to the vast majority of recent Trinitarian theologians, to believe in the Trinity is to believe that God is Love: it is to believe in three divine Persons who know each other, love each other, and give themselves to each other. St. Thomas Aquinas is rarely invoked as a patron of such a social approach to the Trinity. Aquinas’s Trinitarian theology, after all, revolves around the immanent processions of a Word and Love within the unity of the divine essence. Many have assumed that this “psychological analogy” is removed from—or even incompatible with—interpersonal knowledge, love, and self-giving. Some have concluded that Aquinas is therefore unable to accommodate a social Trinity. Others have argued that he is open to a social Trinity, but that his psychological categories need to be complemented by a more overtly social framework. This study, however, shows that these psychological categories themselves are shot through with interpersonal knowledge, love, and self-giving. More specifically, Aquinas’s psychological analogy is often accused of emphasizing the unity of the divine essence at the expense of the distinction of the divine Persons. In fact, it emphasizes distinction just as basically as it emphasizes unity, and it ensures that the distinction between the divine Persons is a radical one. Similarly, it is criticized for being a matter of self-knowledge instead of interpersonal knowledge, self-love instead of interpersonal love, and self-regard instead of self-giving. In fact, it is a matter of self-knowledge as interpersonal knowledge, self-love as interpersonal love, and self-regard as self-giving: it ensures that there can be no self-knowledge or self-love in God that is not just as basically interpersonal knowledge, interpersonal love, and interpersonal self-giving. Aquinas’s psychological analogy, then, does not shut down the possibility of interpersonal Trinity. Nor does it need to be complemented from the outside by an interpersonal Trinity. Instead, it contains within itself an intensely interpersonal Trinity.

Cyril of Alexandria (ca. 376–444) is best known for his defense of orthodoxy at the time of the Nestorian controversy over the nature of Christ. However, by far the larger part of Cyril’s literary output consisted of commentaries on books of both Old and New Testaments, written before the Christological debate was sparked off in 428. One of these works, of major proportions, was the so-called Glaphyra (“elegant comments”) on the Pentateuch. This comprises a total of thirteen separate “books,” or volumes: seven on Genesis, three on Exodus, and one each on Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. The comments primarily concern the narrative portions of the Pentateuch, hence the greater space given to Genesis, though a number of the legal prescriptions are also treated. This present volume, containing all seven books on Genesis, is the first of a projected two-volume set which will offer a translation of the whole Glaphyra for the first time in English. Cyril’s aims within the commentary are both theological and pastoral. His chosen method begins with a consideration of the historia. Here the Alexandrian patriarch deals with the text at the literal level. At this stage he explains any historical, cultural, and at times even linguistic and textual issues presented within the passage, which is then followed by some theological instruction or lessons of a more practical nature based upon the literal interpretation. The exposition then moves on to the theoria. This is Cyril’s preferred term for the contemplation of the spiritual sense, that is to say, the mystery of Christ which he firmly held lay hidden beneath the surface of the Old Testament text. With great adeptness and consistency Cyril identifies elements within the ancient narratives as figures, or “types and shadows,” of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Church, and the teachings of the gospel.

The translation of the commentary of Cyril of Alexandria (ca. 376-444) on the Pentateuch, known as the Glaphyra, or “elegant comments,” is now completed by this second volume. Volume 1 contained the whole of his remarks on Genesis, and now Volume 2 presents his comments on Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy, along with indices for the entire work. At this early stage in his patriarchate Cyril was an avid expositor of Scripture, on books of both Testaments, possibly undertaking this work as a model and guide for the clergy under his direction. While Cyril’s other large-scale commentaries on Old Testament books, such as Isaiah and the Minor Prophets (the latter commentary also published in translation by CUA Press), followed a verse-by-verse approach, the Glaphyra is more thematic. As Cyril works through the narrative passages of the Pentateuch, he pauses to explain those elements within the text that present possible difficulties or admit alternative interpretations, and invariably concludes each section by bringing out spiritual lessons of benefit to the congregation. Many of these latter relate to Christ, since, for Cyril, a Christological reading of the Old Testament was unavoidable. While in the Glaphyra it was not Cyril’s purpose to tackle the legal passages within the Pentateuch, a task that he wished to reserve for a separate work of an entirely different character (De adoratione et cultu in spiritu et veritate, “Concerning Worship and Service in Spirit and in Truth”), he does nevertheless here depart from his own remit on occasion and deal with some of the more prominent ceremonial passages. Cyril gives considerable space, for example, to the sacrifice of the Passover lamb and the levitical ritual for the cleansing of the leper, among others. As with Volume 1, Cyril’s treatment of these books is published here for the first time in English translation.

This book dedicates three essays each to three different theological problems regarding the Holy Spirit: In God and for Us (The "Filioque" and "Uncreated Grace"); Thomas's Understanding (Not His Commentators) of the Relation between nature and sanctifying grace; and our ability (and that of the angels at their creation) in fact to resist God' grace and thus be the first cause of sin. This later problem is developed in an "excursus" on the way God moves the free will, one that takes into consideration much recent work on this issue and situates the essays' position in relation to it. The book ends with a brief epilogue on the credibility of God, again giving Thomas's account of this. The principal aim throughout is to understand the doctrine of Thomas Aquinas. It places his views in relation to three audiences: chiefly to the orthodox regarding the first issue; to Catholics in relation to the second; and to Protestants in relation to the third. Thus, its second aim is to join "ecumenical debate" about these matters. The essays were mostly written to be delivered orally, to an informed audience of philosophers and theologians., but one that consisted of "generalists" and serious students of Thomas, as well as of "professional" philosophers and theologians. All three of the debated issues discussed have generated an enormous amount of disagreement and debate, not a little of it being quite "technical." Thus, each issue would easily require a long and significant book to be addressed as it deserves. The essays do not do this, but they do indicate what Torre holds is the "directive line" of Thomas's thought that deserves to be defended and developed in each case, and, in each case, this line is held to be markedly different than many have thought it to be.

There are many ways of understanding the reality of the world we live in and experience. Science, philosophy, art all offer us ample descriptions, explanations and intuitions. But Christian believers go beyond all that, for they attempt to understand the origins of the universe in terms of the creation of the world by God. Revelation tells us what God had in mind when he made the world ex nihilo, without presuppositions of any kind. God’s Gift of the Universe attempts to present the principal elements and stages of creation theology. The doctrine is to be found fundamentally, of course, in Scripture, both Old and New Testament, which describes the world in the light of God’s word. Yet since God actually gave existence to the world, down to the last detail, our reflection on God’s word not only explains the reality of creation, how it works, its nature, as science does. It also explains how creation came into being in the mind and heart of the Triune God, and, ultimately, why God created the world. In God’s Gift of the Universe, a considerable effort has been spent throughout the book on the Christological and Trinitarian aspects of creation, particularly in the theology of Church Fathers. Creation is presented besides in a deeply eschatological key, for God created the world for purpose of making his glory eternally manifest. The book also considers the way God ‘intervenes’ in the life of the created world, through conservation in being and providence. The meaning of time, matter and spirit are considered. The need for ecological awareness is central. One aspect of the mystery of creation that receives special attention is the presence of evil in the world. This is of particular importance once we accept that God made the world, whole and entire, thus assuming responsibility for the world as it is. The origin of evil through the sin of spiritual creatures provides the ultimate though not the only explanation of the mystery of evil. Particular consideration is given to the reality of ‘original sin’.

Although the doctrine of the Holy Spirit has often been a neglected subject in theology, it remains vital for understanding both the Christian confession of God as Trinity and the nature of the Christian life. In view of those two topics, God's Love through the Spirit examines the relationship between love and the person and work of the Holy Spirit in Thomas Aquinas and John Wesley - two very different figures whose teachings on the Spirit and the Christian life are found to be, on the whole, surprisingly compatible. An investigation into Aquinas's amor-based pneumatology, including a groundbreaking analysis of his recently discovered Pentecost sermon, and a fresh assessment of the doctrine of sanctification in Wesley show that in distinctive yet largely complementary ways, Aquinas and Wesley provide resources that can be used to reclaim a richer pneumatology, specifically in relation to the theological virtue of love.

"What is God?" asked Thomas Aquinas as a child. Contemplation of the mystery of God, in the light of reason enlightened by faith, is the heart of the theological enterprise. It is based on the Revelation that God has made of himself in the history of salvation and, in order to foster the understanding of faith, it assumes the best of metaphysical reflection, since the saving God revealed in Jesus Christ is not another God than the Creator of heaven and earth, the subsisting Being, the First Cause of all being. The One God deals with a first "part" of the mystery of God: God contemplated in the unity of the essence common to the three persons of the Holy Trinity. It explores the ways of our knowledge (section 1) and presents the theological question of his existence (section 2). It then sets out the perfections of God's very being (simplicity, goodness, infinity, eternity, etc.)(section 3) and, after a critical review of the value of theoretical knowledge and language (section 4), presents the principles of his action (knowledge, will, omnipotence) (section 5). The One God is a continuation of the treatises De Deo ut uno, which, in the form of a systematic, historical and doctrinal commentary on questions 2-26 of the Prima pars of the Summa Theologiae of Saint Thomas Aquinas, have succeeded one another throughout the history of the Thomist tradition. Its aim is to update a theology treatise that is unjustly neglected today and to offer teachers and students a solid and informed manual on this fundamental subject.

In the course of a long and distinguished academic and civic career, the Canadian philosopher Charles Taylor has been, for articulate atheists and learned believers alike, an incisive, insightful, gracious, and challenging conversation partner on issues that arise at the intersection and interaction of religion, society, and culture. Grace and Freedom in a Secular Age offers a concise exposition of key ideas – contingency, otherness, freedom, vulnerability and mutuality – that inform his probing analyses of the dynamics of religious belief and religious denial in the pervasive contemporary culture he calls a “a secular age,” within which religious belief and practice have, for many, become just an option. Those ideas provide the basis from which Rossi argues that, despite a clear-eyed recognition of the deep fractures of meaning and the pervasive fragmentation of once stable societal connections that a secular age has brought in its wake, Taylor also sees and affirms strong grounds for hope in a healing of our broken and fractured world and for the possibilities—and the importance of—active human participation in that healing. Taylor points to signs indicative of potent re-compositions and renewals taking place in religious belief and practice from its interaction with the dynamics of secular culture, particularly ones that make possible radical enactments of deeper human solidarity and mutuality, of which the one most often potent is the reconciliation of enemies. In pointing out these signs, Taylor suggests a richly expansive reading of the Christian doctrine of Creation, as it marks the radical contingency of all that is upon a freely bestowed divine self-giving: Creation is the ongoing enactment of the divine hospitality of the Triune God.

The contributors to Grace for Grace focus on the debates on grace and free will inspired by Augustine's later teachings on grace and the various reactions to it. In both popular and scholarly literature, the conflict has been traditionally referred to as the "Semi-Pelagian Controversy." For several decades, scholars have distanced themselves from that overly-simplistic and inaccurate portrayal. This book intends to solidify a disparate movement of scholarly thought and offer a secure basis for renewed study of the persons, texts, and events of this critical period in the reception of Augustine in the Early Middle Ages. This volume brings together new perspectives, based on fresh study of a wealth of primary sources, from an international team of scholars to explore the intra-church debates over grace and free will, after Augustine and Pelagius.

In Grieving Pregnancy: Memorializing Loss in Japanese Buddhism and American Catholicism, Maureen L. Walsh compares how the two religious traditions respond ritually and discursively to miscarriage, stillbirth, and abortion experiences marked by grief for the women involved. The experience of pregnancy loss has always been a part of women’s lives, yet only recently has it garnered attention from religious leaders and scholars commensurate with its prevalence. This book examines pregnancy loss as a theological problem for both Buddhism and Catholicism and analyzes the rites and memorials that have developed to address it, such as Japanese Buddhist mizuko kuyō (water children rites) and emergent American Catholic memorial practices focused on pregnancy loss. These parallel practices have emerged within distinct religious landscapes—a fact reflected in their forms and purposes—and when considered together, they raise questions of keen interest to theological and religious studies about the goals of religious practice and the imagination of human life at its earliest stages.
 

Many studies of spiritual development exist under the heading of “Christian Perfection.” However, John Gavin revisits such topics as asceticism, prayer, sacraments, virtues, and spiritual combat through scriptural and patristic texts that present the Christian life as one of growth from spiritual infancy to a particular fulfillment or end (telos): divinized humanity as formed and revealed in Jesus Christ. Thus, though Christian maturity does incorporate such things as physical and cognitive development, its true distinction lies in its gifted, supernatural end that does not exclude human freedom. Part One establishes the pillars of Christian maturity – form and finality; virtue and character; vocation and mission – and explores the opposition to maturation in the form of demonic infantilism. Part Two examines the means of maturity given to us in the life of the Church: the Scriptures, the Mysteries (Sacraments), and asceticism. Finally, Part Three reviews four figures of Christian adulthood: the Witness, the Teacher, the Servant, and the Fool. A concluding chapter applies the insights from the previous chapters to our modern world to see in what ways our times need to “grow up.” Growing into God includes a variety of early Christian voices: Irenaeus of Lyons, Origen of Alexandria, Gregory of Nazianzus, Gregory of Nyssa, Basil of Caeserea, Augustine of Hippo, Ambrose of Milan, John Cassian, Dionysius the Areopagite, Mark the Monk, John Moschos, Maximus the Confessor, Symeon the Holy Fool, and others. Their collective insights, all the fruits of great learning and the contemplation of God’s Word, describe a wondrous figure: the mature saint transformed by union with the Father, Son, and Spirit.

Bartolomé Felipe de Ita y Parra was the most influential preacher in New Spain on Our Lady of Guadalupe. His orations helped advance expansive growth in Guadalupan devotion. The advocacy of Ita y Parra and his fellow Guadalupan promoters culminated in Pope Benedict XIV’s 1754 endorsement of Guadalupe as the patroness of New Spain, the first major international recognition of the Guadalupe tradition. While Guadalupan studies have tended to focus on the origins of her cult in the sixteenth century, the most pivotal turning points in Guadalupe’s devotional ascent occurred in the eighteenth century. A monograph dedicated to Ita y Parra’s impact on this decisive evolution is long overdue. Moreover, his sermons illuminate the theology of divine providence at the heart of colonial Guadalupan sermons and devotion, indeed at the core of colonial Catholicism and society. Guadalupe in New Spain breaks new ground through a critical examination of Ita y Parra’s Guadalupan sermons and their significance for understanding the most renowned Christian tradition indigenous to the American hemisphere.

In this interesting and insightful work, Eugenia Scarvelis Constantinou, the leading expert on Andrew of Caesarea and the first to translate his Apocalypse commentary into any modern language, identifies an exact date for the commentary and a probable recipient. Her groundbreaking book, the first ever written about Andrew, analyzes his historical milieu, education, style, methodology, theology, eschatology, and pervasive and lasting influence. She explains the direct correlation between Andrew of Caesarea and fluctuating status of the Book of Revelation in Eastern Christianity through the centuries.