The Splendor of Faith: The Theological Vision of Pope John Paul II

by Avery Dulles and Avery Cardinal Dulles S.J.

Book Overview

To understand the Pope's life, you need to understand the rich thought that shaped his life. An in-depth and comprehensive study of the theology of Pope John Paul II by the first American theologian... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 082451792X
• ISBN13: 9780824517922
• Release Date: May 1999
• Publisher: Herder & Herder
• Length: 216 Pages
• Weight: 0.75 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Doing JUSTICE to John Paul

An American friend of mine once remarked that most people's impression of John Paul II amounts to little more than `pro-life, anti-communist'. Now if one counts oneself a traditional Catholic, as I myself do, the above perception indicates nothing less than tragedy on an enormous scale. Heartbreaking tragedy, as I consider all the implications involved in millions of people believing in John Paul as representing little else, than being against abortion and communism ... A Papacy that can hardly be reduced to `pro-life, anti-communist', but which over twenty-six years addressed and rejuvenated countless dimensions of the Catholic faith. leaving countless numbers with a profound sense that they have witnessed one of the greatest, most overarching and far-reaching papacies of the past two thousand years. What is desperately needed then, is literature that testifies to the sweeping scope and enormity of John Paul's mission. To this task, Avery Dulles' book makes a most admirable contribution. Clearly it focuses on John Paul's thinking and teaching, rather than his vast legacy of decisive, pragmatic ACTION that had such enormous geopolitical impact - including though not limited to, the Gandhi-like pacifist movement begun in 1950's Poland by the future pope - then a simple priest - which would so alter the world. (For as Gorbachev said, 'Without the Pope from Poland, the mighty changes in Eastern Europe would have been inconceivable.' But for that story, one will need books like Weigel's Catholic biography `Witness to Hope' or Kwitney's non-Catholic biography `Man of the Century', which reveals John Paul both as a very ***human*** being, with both human shadows and human greatness ...) But here in Dulles' book, what we get is not a focus on John Paul's vast legacy of direct action and initiative, but on his equally vast legacy of ideas. As Dulles makes clear in highly accessible layperson's language, the scope of what John Paul addressed was truly STAGGERING. Truly staggering then - once one gets beyond the media stereotypes - is not only John Paul's profound and personalist meditation on the Christian Mystery, but also its implications for our contemporary culture in countless regards - from economics to human rights, from ecumenism to the world religions, from war and non-violence, to secularism and epistemology, from gender and the `Theology of the Body' ... to how much else besides? The list goes on ... (How many people, for example, would credit the man who became John Paul II, with radically arguing for the importance of the female orgasm in ***1950's Poland***?!). And running like a golden thread of love through all of his profound thought, there is the dignity, the dignity of the human being, human freedom, human rights and EMBODIED human existence ... the new dignity conferred to all of these through the Mystery of Christ. There is so much more one can say about John Paul's epic achievement. But this is a book review and not

Excellent Theological Condensation

This is one of the best books that I have read on the theology of Pope John Paul II. The book Witness To Hope by George Weigel was good but lacked the theological ideas/philosophy of this Pope. I highly recommend this book as to Catholic theology for both Catholics and Protestants.

Splendor of Discipleship

Another Dulles masterpiece---clear, balanced, sympathetic to the pope's position but not without some critical questions. The book gets at the religious vision animating the moral and political positions. A dazzler.