Church in Crisis: The Enlightenment and It's Impact upon Today's Church - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1932589619 ISBN 13: 9781932589610

Publisher: Sapientia Press Ave Maria Univ, 2012

Synopsis

Fr. Martin R. Tripole, S.J. explains how the present crisis in the Catholic Church in America has its roots in the Enlightenment, specifically in the Enlightenment's presumption that human reason could stand alone in its pursuit of truth, thereby excluding or marginalizing the role of faith and revelation. He articulates how we can overcome present divisions and more effectively fulfill Christ's saving mission for the world.

About this title

About the Author:

Martin R. Tripole, S.J., is professor emeritus of theology, Saint Joseph's University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Father Tripole has edited two volumes of essays on Jesuit education: Jesuit Education 21: Conference Proceedings on the Future of Jesuit Higher Education (Saint Joseph's University Press, 2000) and Promise Renewed: Jesuit Higher Education for a New Millennium (Loyola Press, 1999); written a study on Jesuit spirituality: Faith Beyond Justice: Widening the Perspective (Institute of Jesuit Sources, 1994); and a work on Christology: The Jesus Event and Our Response (Alba House, 1980). He has published numerous essays and book reviews on theology, spirituality, and education, in various Catholic publications, such as Theological Studies and Review for Religious, and has also taught at Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and at Le Moyne College and Syracuse University in Syracuse, New York. He has an S.T.D. from the Institut Catholique in Paris, France.

Review:

Taking the crisis over clerical sex abuse as a point of departure, Tripole has written an incredibly insightful volume that combines careful sociological investigation with sound research in the history of ideas, philosophy, and theology. He situates a fair number of the problems now troubling the Catholic Church within the context of an historical trend so broad and pervasive as to be often overlooked. In this volume he connects the rationalism unleashed by William of Ockham and fourteenth-century nominalism with the still growing dominance of the Enlightenment mentality in the modern period. The persistent problem throughout is the presumed superiority of human reasoning over revelation and faith in the pursuit of truth. This is a superb contribution to the current debates. --Joseph W. Koterski, S.J., Fordham University

Father Tripole faces things as they are. Drawing on a wide range of survey data and a thorough grasp of the condition of Catholic theology at the university and parish levels, he makes clear that we are facing a crisis of faith. In the spirit of Saint Ignatius of Loyola, he shows that the solution requires revitalizing believers' faithful obedience to the pope, whose ministry is at the service of Christian unity in charity. The road to renewal runs through Rome a truth that today is as bold as it is refreshing. --Matthew Levering, University of Dayton

Since ideas and doctrines have further-reaching impact than movements and campaigns, Father Tripoli has rightly situated the various difficulties in the Catholic Church today not simply in past generations' abuse of Vatican II or in today s clerical crisis, but in the Enlightenment which sought to divorce true discipleship from intelligence, to place the individual over the community, and to separate the divine from any actual intervention in this world. His analysis is clear and convincing, showing once again how a truly Catholic mind can be charitable without being uncompromising, truthful without being trenchant. --David Meconi, S.J., Saint Louis University

Father Tripole faces things as they are. Drawing on a wide range of survey data and a thorough grasp of the condition of Catholic theology at the university and parish levels, he makes clear that we are facing a crisis of faith. In the spirit of Saint Ignatius of Loyola, he shows that the solution requires revitalizing believers' faithful obedience to the pope, whose ministry is at the service of Christian unity in charity. The road to renewal runs through Rome a truth that today is as bold as it is refreshing. --Matthew Levering, University of Dayton

Since ideas and doctrines have further-reaching impact than movements and campaigns, Father Tripoli has rightly situated the various difficulties in the Catholic Church today not simply in past generations' abuse of Vatican II or in today s clerical crisis, but in the Enlightenment which sought to divorce true discipleship from intelligence, to place the individual over the community, and to separate the divine from any actual intervention in this world. His analysis is clear and convincing, showing once again how a truly Catholic mind can be charitable without being uncompromising, truthful without being trenchant. --David Meconi, S.J., Saint Louis University

About this edition

• Publisher: Sapientia Press Ave Maria Univ
• Publication date: 2012
• ISBN 10: 1932589619
• ISBN 13: 9781932589610
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 606
• Editor: Tripole Fr. Martin R.