The Challenge Of Our Hope

With The Republic of Grace Charles Mathewes aims to supply a primer of politics and the public square to help Christians in these dark times find hope in public life. He asks such questions as How should our Christian convictions lead us to see the world differently than those who do not share them? What are the categories that believers should use to act on the challenges of the world? Mathewes uses theological virtues best loved by Augustine faith, hope, and love to provide an analogical mirror for Christian citizenship in a post 9/11 American world. He examines not how religion has shaped our politics but rather how politics has shaped and mis-shaped our religious life and how we can begin to correct that shape. The Republic of Grace will help reignite and inform a fierce commitment to the common good of our society, caring concern for the least and most vulnerable, and the use of each person s gifts, power, and wealth as a force for good and justice in the world. In short, this book will enable readers to realize the sacramental possibilities of political life.

A bold new interpretation of Augustine’s virtue of hope and its place in political life When it comes to politics, Augustine of Hippo is renowned as one of history’s great pessimists, with his sights set firmly on the heavenly city rather than the public square. Many have enlisted him to chasten political hopes, highlighting the realities of evil and encouraging citizens instead to cast their hopes on heaven. A Commonwealth of Hope challenges prevailing interpretations of Augustinian pessimism, offering a new vision of his political thought that can also help today’s citizens sustain hope in the face of despair. Amid rising inequality, injustice, and political division, many citizens wonder what to hope for in politics and whether it is possible to forge common hopes in a deeply polarized society. Michael Lamb takes up this challenge, offering the first in-depth analysis of Augustine’s virtue of hope and its profound implications for political life. He draws on a wide range of Augustine’s writings—including neglected sermons, letters, and treatises—and integrates insights from political theory, religious studies, theology, and philosophy. Lamb shows how diverse citizens, both religious and secular, can unite around common hopes for the commonwealth. Recovering this understudied virtue and situating Augustine within his political, rhetorical, and religious contexts, A Commonwealth of Hope reveals how Augustine’s virtue of hope can help us resist the politics of presumption and despair and confront the challenges of our time.

A complete set of Pope Benedict XVI's addresses, speeches, homilies, and press conference during his visit to the United States, April 15-20, 2008. Includes reflections on the papal visit by the Apostolic Nuncio to the United Nations and the Archbishops of Washington and New York.

Over five decades the author has pastored churches in Delaware, Florida, California, and Texas. He also has taught in graduate schools of theology in Missouri, California, and Florida. He and his wife Gloria presently live in Naples, Florida where he serves as Pastor-at-Large to Covenant Church. In this book he puts before lay people far more than a series of doctrinal affirmations. For those seeking to explore Christianity, for new believers, and for those in the pew seeking to enrich their spiritual life while adding precision and depth to their underestanding of the Bible, the author puts before his readers thoughtful, warm, and inspirational insights into essential apostolic teaching.

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This handbook to the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA), written by a renowned religious educator and theologian, invites converts, the clergy, and all those engaged in the catechumenal process to appreciate anew the richness of the Catholic faith. Regis Duffy articulates the requirements for becoming and remaining a full Christian committed to gospel values on every level of life to the building of the Kingdom of God. On Becoming a Catholic is a complete introduction to the essentials of the catechumenal process and clearly relates what the church teaches to its members. Duffy's exposition stresses: - The theology of the Cross as the root of all Christian conversion and formation, and its meaning for individual Christians and parish life - The Word of God as prophetic Word in parish, familial, and personal lives: learning to recognize the Lord in unexpected places of our lives and world, and nurture openness and responsiveness to the Word - How to live and act as one marked by the Cross and the Word of God: participating in a conversion process that profoundly changes our priorities, values, lifestyle, and -- most importantly -- our involvement in worship and sacraments - What it means to be a Christian community: discovering the meaning of the Liturgical Year and the Church's role as teacher - The value of Lenten observance, the meaning of Good Friday, and the centrality of the Easter event as basis for a practical theology of our redemptive need and God's enduring response - How honest Eucharistic participation embodies a renewed sense of personal commitment to Christ and sense of mission and ministry in the community.