Jacques Maritain

Through an in-depth study of four key figures û Pierre Rousselot, Joseph Marechal, Jacques Maritain, and Etienne Gilson û From Unity to Pluralism traces the evolution of Thomism in the first half of the twentieth century. Through their work, Thomisism encountered contemporary thought and rediscovered its authentic roots, and the ideal of a univocal, unitary doctrine of Scholastic truth embodied in the unambiguous teachings of Thomas Aquinas, which had inspired the Thomist revival at the end of the nineteenth century, gradually gave way. The result is the emergence of pluralism within the system itself and the independent development of the theologies of Karl Rahner and Bernard Lonergan.

What drives religious people to act in politics? In Latin America, as in the Middle East, religious belief is a primary motivating factor for politically active citizens. Concluding that religious motivations are important in their own right, Lynch challenges traditional views and raises important questions about the relationship between religion and politics in Latin America. This volume concentrates on Liberation Theology and Christian Democracy. Nicaragua and Venezuela are used as case studies of how these two philosophies have fared when vested with political power. For Latin American scholars, this timely volume describes the motivations behind important political actors.

Liberalism forms the dominant political ideology of the modern world. Despite its pervasive influence, this is the first book-length treatment of liberal political thought from a Christian theological perspective. Song discusses the different approaches to the subject of three twentieth-century theologians--Reinhold Niebuhr, George Grant, and Jacques Maritain--and draws out the implications for current political thought.

The Catholic literary revival in America refers both to the impact of the modern resurgence in European Catholic thought and letters upon the American Church between 1920 and 1960, and to efforts by American Catholic leaders to induce a similar flowering in their own country. Sparr examines those areas of Catholic thought and culture that most concerned educated American Catholics, critics, and cultural leaders between 1920 and 1960: the renaissance in Catholic literary, theological, philosophical, and social thought; its application to modern problems; and the growth and development of the 20th century Catholic novel.

Through an in-depth study of four key figures û Pierre Rousselot, Joseph Marechal, Jacques Maritain, and Etienne Gilson û From Unity to Pluralism traces the evolution of Thomism in the first half of the twentieth century. Through their work, Thomisism encountered contemporary thought and rediscovered its authentic roots, and the ideal of a univocal, unitary doctrine of Scholastic truth embodied in the unambiguous teachings of Thomas Aquinas, which had inspired the Thomist revival at the end of the nineteenth century, gradually gave way. The result is the emergence of pluralism within the system itself and the independent development of the theologies of Karl Rahner and Bernard Lonergan.

In Art and Intellect in the Philosophy of Etienne Gilson, Francesca Aran Murphy tells the story of this French philosopher's struggle to reconcile faith and reason. In his lifetime, Gilson often stood alone in presenting Saint Thomas Aquinas as a theologian, one whose philosophy came from his faith. Today, Gilson's view is becoming the prevalent one. Murphy provides us with an intellectual biography of this Thomist leader throughout the stages of his scholarly development. Murphy covers more than a half century of Gilson's life while supplying the reader with reminders of the political and social realities that confronted intellectuals of the early twentieth century. She shows the effects inner-church politics had on Gilson and his contemporaries such as Alfred Loisy, Lucien Levy Bruhl, Charles Maurras, Henri de Lubac, Marie-Dominique Chenu, and Jacques Maritain, while also contextualizing Gilson's own life and thoughts in relation to these philosophers and theologians. These great thinkers, along with Gilson, continue to be sources of important intellectual debate among scholars, as do the political periods through which Gilson's story threads--World Wars I and II, the rise and fall of Fascism, and the political upheavals of Europe. By placing Gilson's twentieth-century Catholic life against a dramatic background of opposed political allegiances, clashing spiritualities, and warring ideas of philosophy, this book shows how rival factions each used their own interpretations of Thomas Aquinas to legitimate their conceptions of the Catholic Church. In Art and Intellect in the Philosophy of Etienne Gilson, Murphy shows Gilson's early openness to the artistic revolution of the Cubist andthe Expressionist movements and how his love of art inspired his existential theology. She demonstrates the influence that Henri Bergson continued to have on Gilson and how Gilson tried to bring together the intellectual, Domi