The Catholic Enlightenment

The Catholic Enlightenment PDF Author: Ulrich L. Lehner
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0190232919
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 273

Get Book Here

Book Description
"Whoever needs an act of faith to elucidate an event that can be explained by reason is a fool, and unworthy of reasonable thought." This line, spoken by the notorious 18th-century libertine Giacomo Casanova, illustrates a deeply entrenched perception of religion, as prevalent today as it was hundreds of years ago. It is the sentiment behind the narrative that Catholic beliefs were incompatible with the Enlightenment ideals. Catholics, many claim, are superstitious and traditional, opposed to democracy and gender equality, and hostile to science. It may come as a surprise, then, to learn that Casanova himself was a Catholic. In The Catholic Enlightenment, Ulrich L. Lehner points to such figures as representatives of a long-overlooked thread of a reform-minded Catholicism, which engaged Enlightenment ideals with as much fervor and intellectual gravity as anyone. Their story opens new pathways for understanding how faith and modernity can interact in our own time. Lehner begins two hundred years before the Enlightenment, when the Protestant Reformation destroyed the hegemony Catholicism had enjoyed for centuries. During this time the Catholic Church instituted several reforms, such as better education for pastors, more liberal ideas about the roles of women, and an emphasis on human freedom as a critical feature of theology. These actions formed the foundation of the Enlightenment's belief in individual freedom. While giants like Spinoza, Locke, and Voltaire became some of the most influential voices of the time, Catholic Enlighteners were right alongside them. They denounced fanaticism, superstition, and prejudice as irreconcilable with the Enlightenment agenda. In 1789, the French Revolution dealt a devastating blow to their cause, disillusioning many Catholics against the idea of modernization. Popes accumulated ever more power and the Catholic Enlightenment was snuffed out. It was not until the Second Vatican Council in 1962 that questions of Catholicism's compatibility with modernity would be broached again. Ulrich L. Lehner tells, for the first time, the forgotten story of these reform-minded Catholics. As Pope Francis pushes the boundaries of Catholicism even further, and Catholics once again grapple with these questions, this book will prove to be required reading.

The Catholic Enlightenment

The Catholic Enlightenment PDF Author: Ulrich L. Lehner
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0190232919
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 273

Get Book Here

Book Description
"Whoever needs an act of faith to elucidate an event that can be explained by reason is a fool, and unworthy of reasonable thought." This line, spoken by the notorious 18th-century libertine Giacomo Casanova, illustrates a deeply entrenched perception of religion, as prevalent today as it was hundreds of years ago. It is the sentiment behind the narrative that Catholic beliefs were incompatible with the Enlightenment ideals. Catholics, many claim, are superstitious and traditional, opposed to democracy and gender equality, and hostile to science. It may come as a surprise, then, to learn that Casanova himself was a Catholic. In The Catholic Enlightenment, Ulrich L. Lehner points to such figures as representatives of a long-overlooked thread of a reform-minded Catholicism, which engaged Enlightenment ideals with as much fervor and intellectual gravity as anyone. Their story opens new pathways for understanding how faith and modernity can interact in our own time. Lehner begins two hundred years before the Enlightenment, when the Protestant Reformation destroyed the hegemony Catholicism had enjoyed for centuries. During this time the Catholic Church instituted several reforms, such as better education for pastors, more liberal ideas about the roles of women, and an emphasis on human freedom as a critical feature of theology. These actions formed the foundation of the Enlightenment's belief in individual freedom. While giants like Spinoza, Locke, and Voltaire became some of the most influential voices of the time, Catholic Enlighteners were right alongside them. They denounced fanaticism, superstition, and prejudice as irreconcilable with the Enlightenment agenda. In 1789, the French Revolution dealt a devastating blow to their cause, disillusioning many Catholics against the idea of modernization. Popes accumulated ever more power and the Catholic Enlightenment was snuffed out. It was not until the Second Vatican Council in 1962 that questions of Catholicism's compatibility with modernity would be broached again. Ulrich L. Lehner tells, for the first time, the forgotten story of these reform-minded Catholics. As Pope Francis pushes the boundaries of Catholicism even further, and Catholics once again grapple with these questions, this book will prove to be required reading.

The Catholic Enlightenment

The Catholic Enlightenment PDF Author: Ulrich L. Lehner
Publisher: CUA Press
ISBN: 0813233984
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 310

Get Book Here

Book Description
The Catholic Enlightenment: A Global Anthology presents readers with accessible, translated selections from the writings of fifteen major Catholic Enlightenment authors. These early modern authors include women, priests, lay intellectuals, and bishops. Twelve of these figures are being brought into English for the first time. The purpose of the volume is to provide students, scholars, and interested non-specialists with a single point of departure to delve into the primary sources of the Catholic Enlightenment. This anthology shows the geographical and intellectual diversity of the Catholic Enlightenment, while also demonstrating significant threads of commonality in intellectual orientation. One strength of this volume is the geographical spread of the figures considered. Included are Catholic thinkers from England, the United States, Mexico, Spain, Portugal, Brazil, France, Portugal, and the Italian and German-speaking lands. Another strength of this volume is the breadth of subject matter treated – it features pastoral letters, mystical tracts, pedagogical treatises, political manifestos, and theological works. These texts elucidate Catholic Enlightenment views on topics such as the history of women’s education, liturgy and devotions, and the relationship between church and state. The co-editors, Ulrich Lehner and Shaun Blanchard, have assembled a team of international scholars from Europe and the Americas for this exciting project. Lehner is one of the central scholars behind the renewed interest in the Catholic Enlightenment. He co-edits the volume, contributes to the introduction, and introduces and translates two significant German-speaking figures. Shaun Blanchard, who has recently published a monograph on radical Catholic Enlightenment figures, also co-edits, contributes selections from two English-speaking figures and has completed the first English translation of a section of Lodovico Muratori’s landmark On the Regulated Devotion of a Christian since 1789.

The Visual Culture of Catholic Enlightenment

The Visual Culture of Catholic Enlightenment PDF Author: Christopher M. S. Johns
Publisher: Penn State University Press
ISBN: 9780271062082
Category : Christianity
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Get Book Here

Book Description
Investigates the response of the Roman Catholic Church to European Enlightenment critiques of revealed religion and clerical governance through the lens of its art, architecture, urbanism, and material culture.

Enlightenment and Catholicism in Europe

Enlightenment and Catholicism in Europe PDF Author: Jeffrey D. Burson
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780268022402
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Get Book Here

Book Description
The contributors to this book argue for a robust, frequently positive, often complex, relationship between Roman Catholicism and the Enlightenment.

A Companion to the Catholic Enlightenment in Europe

A Companion to the Catholic Enlightenment in Europe PDF Author:
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9004193472
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 468

Get Book Here

Book Description
This book offers the first comprehensive overview of the Catholic Enlightenment in Europe. It surveys the diversity of views about the structure and nature of the movement, pointing toward the possibilities for further research. The volume presents a series of comprehensive treatments on the process and interpretation of Catholic Enlightenment in France, Spain, Portugal, Poland, the Holy Roman Empire, Malta, Italy and the Habsburg territories. An introductory overview explores the varied meanings of Catholic Enlightenment and situates them in a series of intellectual and social contexts. The topics covered in this book are crucial for a proper understanding of the role and place not only of Catholicism in the eighteenth century, but also for the social and religious history of modern Europe. Contributors include: Jeffrey D. Burson, Richard Butterwick, Frans Ciappara, Harm Klueting, Ulrich L. Lehner, Michael Printy, Mario Rosa, Evergton Sales Souza, and Andrea J. Smidt.

Enlightenment and the Creation of German Catholicism

Enlightenment and the Creation of German Catholicism PDF Author: Michael Printy
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 0521478391
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 257

Get Book Here

Book Description
The first account of the German Catholic Enlightenment, this book explores the ways in which 18th-century Germans reconceived the relationship between religion, society, and the state.

Catholic Thought Since the Enlightenment

Catholic Thought Since the Enlightenment PDF Author: Aidan Nichols
Publisher: Gracewing Publishing
ISBN: 9780852444740
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 244

Get Book Here

Book Description


Women, Enlightenment and Catholicism

Women, Enlightenment and Catholicism PDF Author: Ulrich L. Lehner
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1351344153
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 236

Get Book Here

Book Description
Women, Enlightenment and Catholicism explores, for the first time, the uncharted territory of women’s religious Enlightenment. Each chapter offers a biographical insight into the social and cultural context of female Enlighteners and how Catholic women in Europe used the thought and values of Enlightenment to articulate their beliefs about how to live their faith in the world. The collection of portraits within this book offers a closer look into the new understanding of womanhood that emerged from Enlightenment culture and was conceived independently from marital relationships. They also highlight the distinctive contributions that women made to political and religious philosophy, spirituality and mysticism, and the efforts to bring scientific knowledge to the attention of other women. Guiding readers through the complex religious, intellectual and global connections influenced by the Enlightenment, Women, Enlightenment and Catholicism brings the achievements of Enlightenment women to the foreground and restores them to their rightful place in intellectual history. It is ideal reading for scholars and students of Enlightenment history, early modern religion and early modern women’s history.

On the Road to Vatican II

On the Road to Vatican II PDF Author: Ulrich L. Lehner
Publisher: Fortress Press
ISBN: 1506408990
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 414

Get Book Here

Book Description
In the present day, there is widespread confusion regarding the theological achievements of the Catholic Enlightenment. This book outlines such contributions in the fields of biblical exegesis, church reform, liturgical renewal, and the move toward a more tolerant view of other churches and religions. Since some of the most important Catholic Enlighteners lived in Germany, this book concentrates on their endeavors, but also frequently points to other European players. Only an unpolemical historical assessment of the Catholic Enlightenment can help us to get out of the current gridlock of interpreting Vatican II: was there a break with tradition, or was there continuity? By reviewing the historical debates that preceded Vatican II, the unknown, marginalized, or deliberately forgotten roots of the conciliar debates come to light that can help us fine-tune future hermeneutical endeavors. This history is hitherto unknown to most researchers. Indeed, it is possibly the most neglected field of modern literary history.

Religion, the Enlightenment, and the New Global Order

Religion, the Enlightenment, and the New Global Order PDF Author: John M. Owen IV
Publisher: Columbia University Press
ISBN: 0231526628
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 305

Get Book Here

Book Description
Largely due to the cultural and political shift of the Enlightenment, Western societies in the eighteenth century emerged from sectarian conflict and embraced a more religiously moderate path. In nine original essays, leading scholars ask whether exporting the Enlightenment solution is possible or even desirable today. Contributors begin by revisiting the Enlightenment's restructuring of the West, examining its ongoing encounters with Protestant and Catholic Christianity, Judaism, Islam, and Hinduism. While acknowledging the necessity of the Enlightenment emphasis on toleration and peaceful religious coexistence, these scholars nevertheless have grave misgivings about the Enlightenment's spiritually thin secularism. The authors ultimately upend both the claim that the West's experience offers a ready-made template for the world to follow and the belief that the West's achievements are to be ignored, despised, or discarded.