Christian Faith and the Theological Life [Paperback]

Romanus Cessario (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1996

"[W]ill appeal to a significant body of readers interested in the continuing influence of Aquinas on Roman Catholic theology. . . . Contemporary conversation about character could benefit from an encounter with the depth of this exploration. . . ."-Booklist What does it mean to believe in God? This question still provokes a recalcitrant world. In spite of the apparent disinterest of our age, the religious question continues to task and to vex, sometimes quietly, sometimes dramatically. When religious divisions occasion civil strife, believers are faced with an even more radical inquiry. Wherein lies the real truth about Christian doctrine and its place in our lives? Can we appeal to any authority for belief? How do we escape the suspicions of a skeptical age? Even for believers, the problem of relevance occurs again and again. In this book, Romanus Cessario explores these questions and suggests responses taken from the history of theology. He offers a readable account of the accumulated wisdom of the Christian tradition concerning the faith-question, citing as major authorities the saints, those who have realized the will of God throughout the ages. As Scripture suggests, faith supplies not only the assurance but also the substance of things hoped for. The experience of Israel teaches that "God has foreseen something better for us"; this "something better" resides in the Word of God that takes flesh in the womb of the Virgin Mary. Because it keeps being born again in the heart of every believer, as St. Thomas Aquinas reminds us, it leads us to the blessedness of eternal life. Since the end of the Second Vatican Council in 1965, authors have dealt mainly with the existential dimensions of Christian life. This volume, the fruit of more than two decades of contemplation on the virtues of Christian life, complements these as well as historical studies about faith. It presents a coherent meditation on faith's principal concerns: its acts of belief and confession, and its character as a virtue in the Christian life. Father Cessario explains how the mysteries of faith--what the Christian believer professes each Sunday in the Creed--transform our lives and make us living images of the Triune God. Consequently, this book will meet a wide range of needs by answering the questions of the informed reader, animating study groups and parish seminars, and stimulating the ordinary believer to appropriate "the depth of the riches and the wisdom and knowledge of God." Romanus Cessario, O.P., is professor of systematic theology at St. John's Seminary in Brighton, Massachusetts. Before assuming this post in the fall of 1995, Father Cessario taught at the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, D.C. He served there as Academic Dean from 1979 to 1987. He is the author of numerous works, including The Moral Virtues and Theological Ethics, Le Virtu, and Perpetual Angelus: As the Saints Pray the Rosary, and presently serves on the editorial boards of publications such as The Thomist,the French journal Pierre d'Angle, and the National Catholic Register.

--This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Not written for a general audience, this book nonetheless will appeal to a significant body of readers (academic and otherwise) interested in the continuing influence of Thomas Aquinas on Roman Catholic theology. The "theological life" of the title is one in which the whole person is infused with the theological virtues--faith, hope, and love. Cessario's careful, closely reasoned description of that life provides considerable insight into the Thomistic understanding of virtue as habit (habitus). Contemporary conversation about character could benefit from an encounter with the depth of this exploration: careful readers will learn as much from Cessario's method as from his conclusions. Steve Schroeder --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Review

"This is a discussion of the virtue of faith of unusual depth and insight. In it the relevance of theology to the Christian life becomes plain. It is a splendid book, a book for which to be thankful."-Prof. Alasdair MacIntyre, Duke University -- Prof. Alasdair MacIntyre, Duke University --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 232 pages
• Publisher: Catholic University of America Press (November 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0813208696
• ISBN-13: 978-0813208695
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #141,727 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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