The Book Of Modern Catholic Prose

This book is the first comparative study of its kind to explore at length the French and English Catholic literary revivals of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. It compares individual and societal secularisation in France and England and examines how French and English Catholic writers understood and contested secular mores, ideologies and praxis, in the individual, societal and religious domains. It also addresses the extent to which some Catholic writers succumbed to the seduction of secular instincts, even paradoxically in themes which are considered to be emblematic of Catholic literature. The breadth of this book will make it a useful guide for students wishing to become familiar with a wide range of such writings in France and England during this period. It will also appeal to researchers interested in Catholic literary and intellectual history in France and England, theologians, philosophers and students of the sociology of religion.

This powerful and timely book, written by a former Fundamentalist, is a thorough critique of the popular Fundamentalist notion of the "Rapture", the belief that Christians will be removed from earth prior to a time of Tribulation and the Second Coming. It examines the theological, historical, and Biblical basis for "premillennial dispensationalism", the belief system based around the Rapture, and popularized in the best-selling Left Behind books and taught by "Bible prophecy" writers Tim LaHaye, Hal Lindsey, Jack Van Impe, and many others. Written for both the lay person and the serious student, this book combines an engaging, popular approach with detailed footnotes and exhaustive research. Beginning with the big picture, it focuses first on key concepts such as eschatology, the Parousia, and the relationship between the Kingdom and the Church. It then examines the Book of Revelation, providing insights into the nature and purpose of that difficult, final book of the Bible. Another chapter looks at the concept of the "millennium" and how it has been understood by various Christians over the centuries. Olson then shows how Left Behind creator LaHayeಙs many works on "Bible prophecy" are filled with attacks on Catholicism, and often rely on sensationalism, shaky scholarship, and subjective interpretations of Scripture Olson, a former dispensationalist who now edits Envoy magazine, also presents a history of apocalyptic belief and theology, beginning with the Early Church Fathers and including the Montanists, St. Augustine, Joachim of Fiore, the Protestant Reformers, and the American Puritans. He shows how John Nelson Darby, an ex-Anglican priest, developed the premillennial dispensationalist system, which hinges on the Rapture, in the 1830s and how Darby relied upon faulty assumptions about Jesus Christ, the Church, and the Bible. The second part of the book, "A Catholic Critique of Dispensationalism", focuses on three important topics: the relationship between Israel, the Church, and the Kingdom; the interpretation of Scripture; and the nature of the Rapture event. Filled with a wealth of information drawn from both Protestant and Catholic sources, this section provides a complete rebuttal to the premillennial dispensationalist system and the "left behind" theology. The book concludes with a reflection on the Catholic understanding of the end times, salvation history, and the final judgement. Glossaries of key persons and terms are also included. A strong, but fair, critique of a dangerous and popular belief, Will Catholics Be "Left Behind"? provides Catholics and Protestants, lay people and clergy, and students and scholars with important answers and information about the roots and meaning of the "Rapture". "Millions of Americans believe the Lord will snatch them up any day now, leaving the rest of us to the horrors of a seven-year tribulation. The hitch is that the 'Rapture' has no pedigree. As Carl Olson shows, no Catholic or Protestant believed in it prior to the nineteenth century. It is an authentic Fundamentalist 'invention'." Karl Keating, Author, Catholicism and Fundamentalism "In this extraordinary book, Carl Olson uses a surgeonಙs scalpel to cut through the mass of confusion that dominates contemporary reflection on the Last Things. Achieving far more than a refutation of millennialist errors and other disordered apocalyptic theories, he illumines the Church's majestic vision of time and eternity and demonstrates that Jesus Christ is the Lord of History and its end." Michael O'Brien, Author, Father Elijah

The Treasury of Catholic Wisdom is a Catholic library in miniature, a one-volume microcosm of what the Church's great minds have thought and said since the apostolic age. Indeed, in The Treasury of Catholic Wisdom, noted theologian Fr. John A. Hardon has compiled the works of thirty-three of the greatest Catholic thinkers and writers, representing every period of the Church's passage through time, from the beginnings of Christianity to the present day. Here are men and women, bishops and priests, religious and the laity "whose native talents were elevated by the supernatural light that God reserves for those who are most submissive to His will." Included in this extraordinary and fascinating anthology are the works of the early saints, such as Gregory, Basil, Augustine, John Chrysostom, Patrick, Bernard Francis, and Thomas Aquinas. Here, too, are the writings of the great reformers Ignatius, Catherine of Siena, and Teresa of Avila; the mystic John of the Cross; the practical wisdom of Francis de Sales, Louis de Montfort, and Peter Julian Eymard; and the modern-day reflections of Gerard Manley Hopkins, Francis Thompson, Therese of Lisieux, G.K. Chesterton, and Fulton J. Sheen. The Treasury of Catholic Wisdom is a comprehensive anthology of the outstanding Catholic literature from the first century to modern times. Mystics and martyrs, philosophers and theologians, poets and prose writers are quoted at length and in depth. They are truly representative of the spirit and substance of Catholicism in its paradox of phenomenal stability and versatility over the centuries. Fr. Hardon has selected those writings which are representative of the thought and philosophy of each contributor, and has carefully chosen excerpts which are not always the most familiar. Thus, his volume provides not only a fresh collection of the best of Catholic wisdom, but also a uniquely comprehensive work which offers enlightenment and faith for generations of readers. John A. Hardon, S.J., holds a master's degree in philosophy from Loyola University and a doctorate in theology from the Gregorian University in Rome. He is the author of The Catholic Catechism and many other books. Fr. Hardon is also a founder of the Catholic Home Study Institute, a correspondence school which operates under pontifical approval.

Writing Catholic Women examines the interplay of gender, race, ethnicity, nationality, and sexuality through the lens of Catholicism in a wide range of works by women writers, forging interdisciplinary connections among women's studies, religion, and late twentieth-century literature. Discussing a diverse group of authors, Jeana DelRosso posits that the girlhood narratives of such writers constitute highly charged sites of their differing gestures toward Catholicism and argues that an understanding of the ways in which women write about religion from different cultural and racial contexts offers a crucial contribution to current discussions in gender, ethnic, and cultural studies.

Publisher Description