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How Catholic was Thomas Merton? Since his death in 1968, Merton’s Catholic identity has been regularly questioned, both by those who doubt the authenticity of his Catholicism given his commitment to ecumenical and interreligious dialogue and by those who admire Merton as a thinker but see him as an aberration who rebelled against his Catholicism to articulate ideas that went against the church. In this book, Gregory K. Hillis illustrates that Merton’s thought was intertwined with his identity as a Catholic priest and emerged out of a thorough immersion in the church’s liturgical, theological, and spiritual tradition. In addition to providing a substantive introduction to Merton’s life and thought, this book illustrates that Merton was fundamentally shaped by his identity as a Roman Catholic.
Thomas Merton played a critical role in facilitating and embodying a revolutionary paradigm shift in Catholic life and thought. His public grappling with the issues raised by this shift in the life of the Catholic Church provided a vocabulary with which a generation of seekers has attempted to frame an on-going discussion regarding the future of the Catholic Church. Consequently Merton's life and thought continue to be guideposts for spiritual pilgrims confronting issues of authority in the church, a changing moral landscape and the contemporary crisis in the Catholic Church. Part One of the book describes this profound paradigm shift and locates Merton's developing thought within that landscape. It places Merton's thought within the larger framework of the Catholic imagination as described by David Tracy, Andrew Greeley, and Thomas Groome. The landmark research of Robert Wuthnow of Princeton University concerning the nature of contemporary spiritual-seeking, provides a framework that helps to identify Merton's continuing relevance for the study of spirituality. Parts Two and Three discuss Merton's lasting importance for contemporary spirituality.
"This pictorial biography of Thomas Merton - revised now for the fortieth anniversary of his death - tells the story of the extraordinary Trappist monk whose writings, including his classic autobiography, The Seven Storey Mountain, have exerted a profound influence on millions. Beginning with Merton's early life and conversion, his entry into the Abbey of Gethsemani, and his fame as an author, Forest explores his increasing search for solitude, his emergence as a prophetic voice of peace and social justice, and the dialogue with other religions that continued until his sudden death in 1968." --Book Jacket.
Thomas Merton recognized the value and possibility of contemplative dialogue between monastics and contemplatives of other religious traditions and hoped that, through such dialogue, monastics would strive for ‘inter-monastic communion’ and a bonding of the broader ‘spiritual family.’ He held out hope that this bond would demonstrate the fundamental unity of humanity to a world that was becoming ever more materialistic and divided. Among other themes and topics, this book explores Thomas Merton’s role as a pioneer of Buddhist-Christian dialogue and monastic interreligious dialogue. It delves into the process of Merton’s self-transformation through contemplative experiences, explo...
In The Blue Sapphire of the Mind, Douglas E.
The face of Christianity is changing. In recent years, and in rapidly increasing numbers, people have begun to understand the core message and purpose of Christianity differently. They have returned to its ancient roots and found a wisdom that speaks to their experience of faith and God. According to this emerging vision, Christianity is primarily about transformation - the transformation of the self through a living and dynamic experience of God, who is not separate from us, but a part of us; and the transformation of society. The Emerging Christian Way: Thoughts, Stories, and Wisdom for a Faith of Transformation is a collection of 13 essays, by some of the leading authors and thinkers in the field, covering every aspect of this developing Christian paradigm. Contributors include Marcus Borg, Matthew Fox, Tom Harpur, Tim Scorer, Sallie McFague, Cynthia Bourgeault, Nancy Reeves, Don Grayston, the Very Rev. Bill Phipps, the Very Rev. Anne Squire, Mark Maclean, Bruce Harding, and Michael Schwartzentruber.
2022 Catholic Media Association second place award in theology: history of theology, church fathers and mothers The Sayings and Stories of the Desert Fathers and Mothers offers a new translation of the Greek alphabetical Apophthegmata Patrum, The Sayings of the Desert Fathers. For the first time in an English translation, this volume provides: extensive background and contextual notes significant variant readings in the alphabetical manuscripts and textual differences vis-à-vis the systematic and anonymous Apophthegmata reference notes to both quotations from Scriptures and the many allusions to Scripture in the sayings and stories. In addition, there is an extensive glossary that offers information and further resources on people, places, and significant monastic vocabulary. Perfect for students and enthusiasts of the desert tradition.
This book hails from decades of challenging trial-and-error work, abundant reading, and an enduring obligation to ministers, activists, and unsung lay heroes whose legacies matter. As there is little that actually addresses the elusive meanings, if not the dangers inherent in pursuing alleged spoils of "success," it is kairos time. Seemingly scarce resources and competition to make and maintain ministries in the city challenge those of us in the field, or on the sidelines, to speak, write, and communicate clearly, and convincingly--not only for ourselves and our "people," past and present, but for those who come along soon to receive the baton or wear the mantle. Concretely narrated, with un...
This book explores the possibility of a "liberatory postmodern rhetoric" or, alternatively, a "postmodern liberation rhetoric." The author turns to one of the most ancient disciplines, rhetoric, in order to address a most contemporary concern: how can humans imagine new and better worlds when surrounded by unspeakable pain? After a foray into key terms—rhetoric, postmodern, liberation, pain, imagination, religion—the author places into conversation the theory and practice of four contemporary rhetoricians, two postmoderns, Kenneth Burke and Thomas Merton, and two liberationists, Paulo Freire of Brazil and Oscar Romero of El Salvador.
Jesus in the Hands of Buddha is an enthralling memoir of Father Shigeto Oshida, a man who was at once a Japanese Zen Buddhist master and a Catholic Dominican priest. Guided by the hand of God and the Buddha dharma, he became the founder and director of the Takamori Hermitage in the Japanese Alps, a place where pilgrims have been drawn for decades. He was a unique pioneer in the encounter between religions East and West who felt he was led to the Catholic faith and the priesthood by a trick of God. Overwhelmed by the weight of European-styled Catholic culture inundating the Catholic Church in Japan, Oshida received permission from his superiors to strike out on his own and listen to the voice...