Search Results (5)

Jacques Maritain’s understanding of integral humanism influenced the relationship between Christianity and culture at the Second Vatican Council, yet soon afterward, Maritain recognised that in many instances it was misinterpreted, leading Catholics and Catholic theology to a radical accommodation to secular culture. Yet Maritain continued to believe in his approach as a middle way for Christianity between integralism and liberalism. He responded to these misinterpretations by recalling the pre-political foundations of his new type of humanism and the unquestioning need for holiness to transform the culture. This article revisits Maritain’s integral humanism and restates the importance of the metaphysical foundations he articulates for dialogue with culture and politics but also argues that perhaps Maritain put too much trust in the liberal state to protect Christianity and recognise its usefulness to society. This article enquires furthermore how, in an increasingly secular culture, a more specifically public and ecclesial form of integral humanism may be needed and asks whether this means a new form of integralism. It argues to the contrary but also that to maintain her identity and transformative potential in the culture for all humanity, the Church needs to actively consider how best to connect with both her metaphysical and revelatory sources in Christian faith and manifest these publicly in the culture. It concludes by offering examples of how the Church as a sacrament of salvation in the secular world can witness to Christ at various levels of association and also accept the inevitability of providing a counter-cultural witness. Full article

It is often said that Jacques Maritain, having disavowed his earlier right-wing political views, became a foremost enthusiast for liberalism among the Catholic cognoscenti of the mid-20th century. In this paper, I suggest that there is another reading of Maritain, one found in the thought of T.S. Eliot, whose political thought was, by his own insistence, inspired by his study of Maritain. In Eliot’s reception and use of Maritain, the modern age has not put an end to the traditional Christian teaching that Jesus Christ’s authority must be acknowledged not only by private individuals but by all temporal, political powers. Rather, the complexities of the modern age have brought to the fore the priority of personal holiness—and by extension, the holiness of the Christian community—in establishing a Christian social order over any causal power of legislative or executive acts by political leaders. In developing my case, I indicate that Eliot emphasises the categorically embodied character of the Christian life, and I highlight that the corollary of this observation is that Christian integralists and secular liberals may be falling into precisely the same error, namely the privileging of abstract schemas over existential spiritual and moral transformation. Full article

This paper aims to present and compare contemporary concepts of the common good formulated by economists with reference to the understanding of the common good by the great men of prayer: Augustine of Hippo; Thomas Aquinas; Jacques Maritain; and Popes John XXIII, John Paul II, and Francis. It seeks to determine in what direction the economic theory of the common good can develop, taking into account inspiration drawn from Catholic social teaching (CST). Given the interdisciplinary nature of the common good, a historical and interdisciplinary approach, along with the descriptive method, was adopted. The paper highlights the tendency of economic theory toward one-dimensional and relativistic concepts of the common good and suggests a search for economic ideas of the common good that are simultaneously multidimensional and universalistic. It recognizes the achievements of CST, created by the great men of prayer, in enhancing the understanding of the category of the common good and posits that these teachings can serve as research inspiration for economists. Full article

Times of crisis push human beings, a clannish creature, to retreat into closed societies. Anthropologically, this can be explained with concepts such as pseudospeciation, group narcissism, or parochial altruism. Politically, the preference for closed societies results in our modern world in nationalism or imperialism. Henri Bergson’s distinction between static and dynamic religion shows which type of religion promotes such tendencies of closure and which type can facilitate the path toward open society. Bergson rejected nationalism and imperialism and opted for an open patriotism with its special relation to dynamic religion. Dynamic religion relativizes political institutions such as the state and results today in an option for civil society as the proper space where religions can and must contribute to its ethical development. It aligns more easily with a counter-state nationhood than with a state-framed nationalism. Whereas Bergson saw in Christianity the culmination of dynamic religion, a closer look shows that it can be found in all post-Axial religions. Martin Buber, Mohandas Gandhi, Leo Tolstoy, Abul Kalam Azad, and Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan exemplify this claim. After World War II, Catholic thinkers such as Jacques Maritain or Robert Schuman by partly following Bergson chose patriotism over nationalism and helped to create the European Union. Today, however, a growing nationalism in Europe forces religious communities to strengthen dynamic religion in their own traditions to contribute to a social culture that helps to overcome nationalist closures. The final part provides a positive example by referring to the fraternal Catholic modernity as it culminates today in Pope Francis’ call for fraternity and his polyhedric model of globalization that connects local identity with universal concerns. Full article

If Catholic educators are to equip students to engage with contemporary culture in a way that is credible and winsome, they need first, to be able to draw upon the living tradition of their faith appreciatively, critically and creatively, and second, to articulate a renewed form of Christian humanism. This paper addresses the second of these prerequisites by taking two steps towards the development of a Christian humanism for our times. First, I propose a rationale for the task of rethinking the case for Christian humanism as a resource for both cultural engagement and for educational practice. Second, I consider three potential sources and guides for becoming confident and competent in communicating this renewal of Christian humanism: Jacques Maritain, Romano Guardini and Pope Francis. Full article