Thomas Aquinas is one the great figures of the Christian church, and his ideas continue to have a powerful effect on theologians and contemporary thinkers from very different backgrounds and traditions. In Discovering Aquinas Aidan Nichols offers a lively and authoritative introduction to the life, thought, and ongoing influence of this singular churchman. After a lengthy period of declining interest in Aquinas, we are now witnessing a Thomistic renaissance, including a renewed appreciation for the way his work brings together philosophy, (...) theology, spirituality, revelation, and ethics. After first introducing the compelling facts of Aquinas's life in relation to his own time, Nichols explores the major facets of Aquinas's thought, showing not only its historical importance but also why so many today now see it as a vital partner in current debates about the future of Christianity. (shrink)

Say It Is Pentecost completes Aidan Nichols's presentation of the great theological trilogy of Hans Urs von Balthasar.

A Kantian beginning : Georg Hermes -- A Catholic Hegel? Anton Günther -- The response of fideism : Louis Bautain -- Magisterial interventions : Gregory XVI and Pius IX -- Return to the schoolmen : Joseph Kleutgen and Leo XIII -- Embodying the Leonine project : Etienne Gilson -- The philosophy of action : Maurice Blondel -- The dispute over apologetics : from Blondel to Balthasar -- A synthetic outcome? John Paul II's letter Fides et ratio -- From Cracow to (...) Regensburg : Benedict XVI. (shrink)

The volume and diversity of Balthasar's output makes it hard to grasp his theological purpose. This article considers the aims of Herrlichkeit in particular. To take the beautiful seriously is ontologically important but evangelically more urgent still. The Gospel requires sensitivity to the form of Jesus Christ. If the anxieties of those who fear the aesthetic will displace the ethical and even the religious can be overcome, this approach permits a wonderful integration of apologetics and dogma, fundamental and systematic theology. (...) This primary aim of Herrlichkeit is supported by showing it is not unknown to the history of Christian thought. To gain a proper idea of its scope, however, requires exploration of pre‐Christian paganism's estimate of the beauty of being, and of the human capacity to register it. then, under the impact of revelation, it is possible to locate the climax of ontological thinking about beauty in the work of Aquinas—which integrated revealed and natural sources in an account of being as glorious because given away: supremely on the Cross, in self‐diffusion of the Trinitarian life. Balthasar's purpose now shifts. He will show how Western metaphysics declined from this high‐point of perception—but in such a way that the glory of being took refuge in the holy folly of the saints. Finally, he aims to show how re‐reading Scripture in the light of the above can generate the conviction that the message of the Bible is ultimately about the self‐giving divine glory as universal foundation of history and the world. (shrink)