After This Life
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Father Benedict J. Groeschel, C.F.R., is an internationally known lecturer and retreat master. He is also the host of the weekly EWTN program "Sunday Night Live with Father Benedict Groeschel" and is the author of many Our Sunday Visitor books.
Aquinas on the Four Last Things
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We often think of death as the end, but it's really just the beginning of eternal life. Death, judgment, heaven, and hell - often called the Four Last Things - are both awe-inspiring and fear-inducing, yet countless saints testify to the profound spiritual benefit of contemplating the awesome mysteries that await us in the afterlife. Few saints have thought more deeply about the Four Last Things than St. Thomas Aquinas - history's greatest theologian. In these pages, Dr. Kevin Vost has made readable and accessible St. Thomas's core teachings and insights on the Four Last Things and the wondrous experiences God has in store for us. With St. Thomas as his guide, Dr. Vost explores the destination, of our souls after death and uncovers the mysteries surrounding limbo and purgatory. He unveils what our bodies will look like at the resurrection and identifies the four special gifts that will perfect our bodies in heaven. You'll learn whether sinners will be "left behind" on earth and why we pray/or the dead and to the saints. You won't find here any long, ponderous theological treatises, but rather rapid-fire summaries in simple, accessible language that answer for you a wide range of questions, including: Do our souls go straight to heaven or hell when we die?, Are souls ever allowed to leave heaven or hell?, Will children who die without Baptism suffer eternal punishment?, Where is purgatory mentioned in the Bible?, Will our glorified bodies glow?, How could God, in His justice, punish us eternally for the sins we committed in our brief time on earth?, Will the damned and the demons be released from hell one day?, What kinds of rewards await us in heaven? Book jacket.
Between Being and Time
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This book explores the relationship between being and time --between ontology and history-- in the context of both Christian theology and philosophical inquiry. Each chapter tests the limits of this multifaceted thematic vis- -vis a wide variety of sources: from patristics (Maximus the Confessor, Gregory of Nyssa) to philosophy (Kant, Kierkegaard, Heidegger) to modern theology (Berdyaev, Ratzinger, Fagerberg, Zizioulas, Yannaras, Loudovikos); from incarnation to eschatology; and from liturgy and ecclesiology to political theology. Among other topics, time and eternity, protology and eschatology, personhood and relation, and ontology and responsibility within history form core areas of inquiry. Between Being and Time facilitates an auspicious dialogue between philosophy and theology and, within the latter, between Catholic and Orthodox thought. It will be of considerable interest to scholars of Christian theology and philosophy of religion.
Christ Our Hope
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Christ Our Hope is a masterful reflection on Christian eschatology, in a textbook of twelve accessible chapters.
City of God
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Saint Augustine of Hippo is one of the central figures in the history of Christianity, and this book is one of his greatest theological works. Written as an eloquent defense of the faith at a time when the Roman Empire was on the brink of collapse, it examines the ancient pagan religions of Rome, the arguments of the Greek philosophers, and the revelations of the Bible. Pointing the way forward to a citizenship that transcends worldly politics and will last for eternity, this book is one of the most influential documents in the development of Christianity. One of the great cornerstones in the history of Christian thought, The City of God is vital to an understanding of modern Western society and how it came into being. Begun in A.D. 413, the book's initial purpose was to refute the charge that Christianity was to blame for the fall of Rome (which had occurred just three years earlier). Indeed, Augustine produced a wealth of evidence to prove that paganism bore within itself the seeds of its own destruction. However, over the next thirteen years that it took to complete the work, the brilliant ecclesiastic proceeded to his larger theme: a cosmic interpretation of history in terms of the struggle between good and evil. By means of his contrast of the earthly and heavenly cities-- the one pagan, self-centered, and contemptuous of God and the other devout, God-centered, and in search of grace-- Augustine explored and interpreted human history in relation to eternity.
The Coming of God
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Winner of Grawemeyer Award In this remarkable and timely work — in many ways the culmination of his systematic theology — world-renowned theologian Jurgen Moltmann stands Christian eschatology on its head. Moltmann rejects the traditional approach, which focuses on the End, an apocalyptic finale, as a kind of Christian search for the "final solution." He centers instead on hope and God's promise of new creation for all things. "Christian eschatology," he says, "is the remembered hope of the raising of the crucified Christ, so it talks about beginning afresh in the deadly end." Yet Moltmann's novel framework, deeply informed by Jewish and messianic thought, also fosters rich and creative insights into the perennially nettling questions of eschatology: Are there eternal life and personal identity after death? How is one to think of heaven, hell, and purgatory? What are the historical and cosmological dimensions of Christian hope? What are its social and political implications. In a heartbreakingly fragile and fragment world, Moltmann's comprehensive eschatology surveys the Christian vista, bravely envisioning our "horizons of expectation" for personal, social, even cosmic transformation in God.
Dare We Hope "That All Men Be Saved"?
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The Church's teaching on Hell has been generally neglected by theologians, with the notable exception of Fr. von Balthasar. However, what he has said has stirred controversy both in Europe and in the United States. Here he responds in a clear and concise way, grounding his reflections clearly in Scripture. Revelation gives us neither the assurance that all will be saved, nor the certitude that any are condemned. What it does require of us is the "hope that all men be saved" rooted in a love of Christ that reaches even into the depths of Hell.
Death, Judgement, Heaven, and Hell
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Catholic University of America Press is proud to present the second volume in its new Sayings of the Fathers of the Church Series. Featuring a wide range of scholars compiling material from our acclaimed Fathers of the Church volumes, each title will be devoted to a few specific areas of theology. The inaugural volume covered The Seven Deadly Sins, and future volumes are planned to focus on Angels and Demons, the Mass, and Mary. Nothing has the power to inspire, or terrify us like the unknown. Life after death is the perhaps the greatest unknown that confronts mankind. But the wisdom of the Church, especially in the teachings of the Church Fathers, reminds us that we know a great deal about what awaits us at the end of life. What the Church knows about the four last things--death judgment, heaven, and hell--is essential for helping on the way of the pilgrimage of life. The teachings of the Fathers, far from sating our curiosity, serve to increase the power of heaven to inspire us, and of hell to terrify. In this volume, canon lawyer and writer Edward Condon compiles a book full of wisdom and compelling insights. More than anything, the Fathers warn us that our life is short, and the reckoning for how we have lived it eternal. The urgency of the Church's message, brought to life in the sayings of the Fathers, comes to remind us of our true calling and inheritance in baptism, and of the richness of the heavenly reward, which is not so much the fruit of our efforts on Earth but the fulfillment of God's promise of love to us. The terror of hell is not the threat of the dictator, but a dire warning of the true scope of our freedom as children of God. This book, rich with the traditional teachings of the church, will guide and inspire readers as they continue their life journeys, which have a beginning but no end.
Eschatology
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Originally published in English in 1988, Joseph Ratzinger's Eschatology remains internationally recognized as a leading text on the "last things"--heaven and hell, purgatory and judgment, death and the immortality of the soul. This highly anticipated second edition includes a new preface by Joseph Ratzinger/Pope Benedict XVI and a supplement to the bibliography by theologian Peter A. Casarella. Eschatology presents a balanced perspective of the doctrine at the center of Christian belief--the Church's faith in eternal life. Recognizing the task of contemporary eschatology as "to marry perspectives, so that person and community, present and future, are seen in their unity," Joseph Ratzinger brings together recent emphasis on the theology of hope for the future with the more traditional elements of the doctrine. His book has proven to be as timeless as it is timely.
Eschatology
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A complete introduction to the Christian view of the future. What does the Bible say about the future, about death, about human destiny and heaven and hell? This volume presents a clear and comprehensive introduction to the Christian hope for the future that is particularly relevant to today's world. Hans Schwarz guides readers through the range of opinions on this fascinating subject, showing how our understanding of eschatology has developed and laying out the factors that must be considered when speaking meaningfully about the Christian hope here in the twenty-first century. He surveys the teachings about the future in both the Old and New Testaments, discusses the views of Christian and secular thinkers throughout history--including the challenges posed by science, philosophy, and New Age beliefs--and explores the major themes of eschatology, including death, immortality, and resurrection.
Eternal Life and Human Happiness in Heaven
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Eternal Life and Human Happiness in Heaven treats four apparent problems concerning eternal life in order to clarify our thinking about perfect human happiness in heaven. The teachings of St. Thomas Aquinas provide the basis for solutions to these four problems about eternal life insofar as his teachings call into question common contemporary theological or philosophical presuppositions about God, human persons, and the nature of heaven itself. Indeed, these Thomistic solutions often require us to think very differently from our contemporaries. But thinking differently with St. Thomas is worth it: for the Thomistic solutions to these apparent problems are more satisfying, on both theological and philosophical grounds, than a number of contemporary theological and philosophical approaches. Christopher Brown deploys his argument in four sections. The first section lays out, in three chapters, four apparent problems concerning eternal life--Is heaven a mystical or social reality? Is heaven other-worldly or this-worldly? Is heaven static or dynamic? Won't human persons eventually get bored in heaven? Brown then explains how and why some important contemporary Christian theologians and philosophers resolve these problems, and notes serious problems with each of these contemporary solutions. The second section explains, in five chapters, St. Thomas' significant distinction between the essential reward of the saints in heaven and the accidental reward, and treats in detail his account of that in which the essential reward consists, namely, the beatific vision and the proper accidents of the vision (delight, joy, and charity). The third section treats, in five chapters, St. Thomas' views on the multifaceted accidental reward in heaven, where the accidental reward includes, among other things, glorified human embodiment, participation in the communion of the saints, and the joy experienced by the saints in sensing God's "new heavens and new earth." Finally, section four argues, in four chapters, that St. Thomas' views allow for powerful solutions to the four apparent problems about eternal life examined in the first section. These solutions are powerful because, not only are they consistent with authoritative, Catholic Christian Tradition, but they do not raise any of the significant theological or philosophical problems that attend the contemporary theological and philosophical solutions examined in the first section.
Four Last Things
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It has ever been the practice of the Catholic Church to recommend to her spiritual children the meditation on man\'s Four Last Things - death, Judgment, Heaven and Hell. Keeping these sobering aspects of human destiny ever before our eyes, we will be that much less likely to fall into mortal sin and be lost eternally. Gives many facts we should meditate on as we contemplate death. This book has converted numerous Protestants in our day because of its cogent reasons for rectifying our lives. Impr. 223 pgs, PB
The Hope of the Early Church
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This book is an outline of the development of eschatological thought in the first seven centuries of Christianity. It is the first attempt, in any language, to give a comprehensive description of the origins of Christian eschatology, as it expanded from its Jewish roots and Jesus' preaching, and as it drew upon the philosophical and folkloric notions of death and its aftermath held by the peoples of the Mediterranean. Based on a study of the original texts, the book considers not only the eschatology of the Greek and Latin fathers, but also what can be known from the early Syriac, Coptic, and Armenian Christian literature. Brief and clearly-focused in its range of subjects, the book provides an accessible historical survey of a centrally important aspect of early Christian doctrine.This book is an outline of the development of eschatological thought in the first seven centuries of Christianity. It is the first attempt, in any language, to give a comprehensive description of the origins of Christian eschatology, as it expanded from its Jewish roots and Jesus' preaching, and as it drew upon the philosophical and folkloric notions of death and its aftermath held by the peoples of the Mediterranean. Based on a study of the original texts, the book considers not only the eschatology of the Greek and Latin fathers, but also what can be known from the early Syriac, Coptic, and Armenian Christian literature. Brief and clearly-focused in its range of subjects, the book provides an accessible historical survey of a centrally important aspect of early Christian doctrine.
Life Everlasting and the Immensity of the Soul
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A serious, theological treatise on the Four Last Things - Death, Judgment, Heaven and Hell - but purposely written for the average reader. Shows the exalted \"immensity\" of the human soul and that only possession of God in the Beatific Vision can completely satisfy man\'s desires. The author touches on many theological aspects that bear fruit on our final end - the roots of vice and virtue, the grace of a happy death, the pain of loss, the nature of eternal beatitude, and many more. An enlightening study of man\'s final destiny that will inspire the reader with its many insights.
The Oxford Handbook of Eschatology
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Eschatology is the branch of theology that deals with the final consummation of all things. Covering such subject matter as death, judgment, and the life to come, the discipline of eschatology must grapple with some of our greatest hopes, fears, anxieties and expectations. The issues involvedare uniquely complicated because they are both intensely personal and of universal significance. To ponder the "last things" is to consider not only the final fate of all things, but to question daringly how one's individual journey through life relates to God's grander scheme. Over the course ofhistory, many prominent thinkers have elevated eschatology into one of the most fascinating and controversial dimensions of religious belief. The Oxford Handbook of Eschatology provides an invaluable critical survey of this diverse body of thought and practice from a variety of perspectives:biblical, historical, theological, philosophical, and cultural.Through centuries of Christian thought - from the early Church fathers through the Middle Ages and the Reformation - eschatological issues were of the utmost importance. In other religions, too, similar concerns were central to the shaping of the beliefs, practices, and identities of believers.After the Enlightenment, though, many religious thinkers began to downplay the importance of eschatology which, in light of rationalism, came to be seen as something of an embarrassment. The twentieth century, however, saw the rise of several phenomena that restored eschatology to the forefront ofreligious thought.From the rapid expansion of fundamentalist forms of Christianity, with their focus on the end times; to the proliferation of apocalyptic new religious movements; to the recent (and very public) debates about suicide, euthanasia, martyrdom, and paradise in Islam, interest in eschatology is once againdramatically on the rise. This expansive handbook offers thirty-nine chapters exploring the diverse terrain of eschatology's past, present, and future-providing informative insights on heaven, hell, and everything in between. This volume will prove to be the primary resource for students, scholars,and others interested in questions of our ultimate existence.
T&T Clark Handbook of Christian Eschatology
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This textbook offers a systematic introduction to eschatology. The first part introduces the historical approaches to eschatology. The second part concerns the reasons for eschatological statements in light of important aspects of the doctrine of God and Christ. The third part is devoted to different concepts of the relationship between eternity and time, space and infinitude as well as the question of what is good, true and beautiful. Using a thematic structure, the multiple different approaches and concepts of modern eschatology are clearly presented, and illuminated by the perspective of the classical teachings on the Last Things; which are ultimately brought together in a synthesis. This is an important contribution to a crucial part of the study of systematic theology.
The Trinity Guide to Eschatology
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La Due offers an even-handed and accessible survey of the history of theological thought related to eschatology. He begins with the witness to the idea of eschatology in the Bible and then traces its early development from the early Church councils to the late nineteenth century. He devotes the next chapters to a consideration of various contemporary New Testament theologians and systematic theologians. Included here are assessments of the thought of Bultmann, Tillich, Rahner, Kung, Pannenberg, Moltmann, Hick, Cone, Ruether, and Elizabeth Johnson. In a day when the Left Behind series has focused everyone's attention on the end times, La Due's measured voice provides us with a wonderful guide to how we have come to this point.