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The Spirit of Vatican I

From the October 2018 Print Edition

Vatican I:  The Council and the Making of the Ultramontane Church by john w. o’malley belknap, 320 pages, $24.95 In 1860 Pope Pius IX lost the papal states, which had been held by his predecessors for a thousand years. Four years later he issued the Syllabus of Errors. The eightieth and . . . . Continue Reading »

An Integrated Humanist

From the November 2017 Print Edition

John Senior and the Restoration of Realismby francis bethel, o.s.b.thomas more, 452 pages, $34.99 H igher education has survived the end of the American century, if just barely. American colleges and universities are like a naval mothball fleet that’s still afloat but not seaworthy. Some schools . . . . Continue Reading »

All Together Now

From the January 2010 Print Edition

Biblical Natural Law: A Theocentric and Teleological Approach by Matthew Levering Oxford, 260 pages, $110 The Dominican philosopher Fergus Kerr observes that natural law is “currently perhaps the most contested topic in Thomas Aquinas’ work.” In recent years, scholars have proficiently . . . . Continue Reading »

Persons and Rights

From the December 2005 Print Edition

Who is My Neighbor? Personalism and the Foundations of Human Rights by Thomas D. Williams The Catholic University of America Press, 342 pages, $69.95 When the Christian churches incorporated “human rights” as a philosophy and project, did they take on an ethic that corrupts their best moral . . . . Continue Reading »