Against the grain : Christianity and democracy, war and peace / George Weigel.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Weigel, George, 1951-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Democracy--Religious aspects--Catholic Church.

Democracy.

Christian sociology--Catholic Church.

Christian sociology.

Just war doctrine.

Catholic Church--Doctrines.

Catholic Church.

Physical Description:

x, 339 pages ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

New York : Crossroad Pub. Co., [2008]

Summary:

Cutting against the grain of conventional wisdom, New York Times best-seller George Weigel offers a compelling look at the ways in which Catholic social teaching sheds light on the challenges of peace, the problem of pluralism, the quest for human rights, and the defense of liberty. In this major contribution to public theology, one of America's most prominent public intellectuals offers a meticulous analysis of the cultural foundations of the free society, as he makes a powerful case for the role of moral reasoning in meeting the threats to human dignity posed by debonair nihilism, jihadist violence, and the brave new world of manufactured men and women.

Against those who would argue that public theology is unsafe for democracy, Weigel shows how contemporary Catholic thinking can help all people of good will grapple with the great issue of our time: how do we live freedom wisely and well? In doing so, he creates a new angle of vision on the state of the West in the first decades of the 21st century, even as he proposes solutions to present problems that draw on the perennial wisdom of the past.

Contents:

Introduction: Against Several Grains 1

Chapter 1 The Free and Virtuous Society 11

Chapter 2 The Sovereignty of Christ and the Public Church 37

Chapter 3 Diognetus Revisited, or, What the Church Asks of the World 64

Chapter 4 The Paradoxes of Disentanglement 85

Chapter 5 Is Political Theology Safe for Democracy? 109

Chapter 6 Popes, Power, and Politics 131

Chapter 7 Two Ideas of Freedom 155

Chapter 8 Thinking World Politics: A Catholic Optic 176

Chapter 9 Moral Clarity in a Time of War 200

Chapter 10 Just War and the Iraq Wars - I 224

Chapter 11 Just War and the Iraq Wars - II 250

Chapter 12 Is Europe Dying? Secularist Shibboleths and the Future of the West 270.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 305-326) and index.

ISBN:

9780824524487

0824524489

OCLC:

179813913