Search results for ""Author Christopher M. Bellitto""
Georgetown University Press Humility: The Secret History of a Lost Virtue
This cultural history of humility reveals this lost virtue as a secret defense against arrogance and incivility History demonstrates that when the virtue of humility is cast aside, excessive individualism follows. A person who lacks humility is at risk of developing a deceptive sense of certitude and at worst denies basic human rights, respect, and dignity to anyone they identify as the enemy. Humility, a cultural history and biography of the idea of humility, argues that the frightening alternative to humility has been the death of civility. In this book, Bellitto explores humility in Greco-Roman history, philosophy, and literature; in the ancient and medieval Jewish, Christian, and Muslim scriptures and sermons; in the Enlightenment; and in contemporary discussions of education in virtue and citizenship. The author encourages readers to recover and reclaim this lost virtue by developing a new perspective on humility as an alternative to the diseases of hubris, arrogance, and narcissism in society. This book offers a fresh perspective on this lost virtue for readers interested in finding a path to renewed civility.
£20.00
The Catholic University of America Press Reassessing Reform: A Historical Investigation into Church Renewal
At the conclusion of his definitive study The Idea of Reform, which carved out reform as a distinct field of intellectual history, Gerhart Ladner stated that the idea of reform was “to remain the self-perpetuating core, the inner life spring of Christian tradition through lesser and greater times.” Ladner himself sought to explore patristic theology and early Christian monasticism and his insights laid the groundwork for a half-century of scholarship. Now, in celebration of the 50th anniversaries of the publication of The Idea of Reform and the Second Vatican Council, Reassessing Reform explores and critiques the enduring significance of Ladner’s study, surveying new avenues and insights of more recent reform scholarship, especially concerning the long Middle Ages. Contributors aim to reassess Ladner’s historical and theological examination of the idea of reform in the Christian tradition, with a special focus on its meaning from the end of the patristic age to the dawn of modernity, through case studies and historiographical assessments. Many of the authors are not only scholars of history, but they also work intimately with church reform in their own everyday professional and faith lives. This study brings together the following contributors: David Albertson, C. Colt Anderson, Ann W. Astell, Inigo Bocken, Gerald Christianson, Lester L. Field Jr., Ken A. Grant, John Howe, William V. Hudon, William P. Hyland, Dennis D. Martin, Louis B. Pascoe, S.J., Phillip H. Stump, and Michael Vargas.
£75.00
The Catholic University of America Press The Church, the Councils, and Reform: The Legacy of the Fifteenth Century
The Church, the Councils, and Reform brings together leading authorities in the field of church history to reflect on the importance of the late medieval councils. This is the first book in English to consider the lasting significance of the period from Constance to Trent (1414-1563) when several councils met to heal the Great Schism (1378) and reform the church. The authors look afresh at this era and consider how its legacy of reform and conciliarism may remain relevant to today's contexts of challenge and change. Since the central convictions of the conciliar movement involved the relationship between authority and consent, collegiality and hierarchy, diversity and identity, the book reflects on the predicaments of modern community-building when communities are experimenting with broader participation in the decision-making process.The authors examine how theologians, jurists, humanists, and reformers articulated three essential tasks - to promote unity, defend the faith against heresy, and guarantee continuing reform. The Schism caused them to rethink accepted concepts of church government, and to balance their belief that a general council was informed by the Spirit and represented Christ with the need to reaffirm its legitimacy and yet preserve order in the visible institution.Written by noted specialists in generally non-technical language and in an ecumenical context, this volume will appeal to readers with an interest in issues of authority, consent and reform. It will have a special appeal to scholars looking for a provocative but balanced contribution to late medieval political theory, the history of conciliarism, and the coming of the Reformation.
£80.00
