The Mystery Hidden for Ages in God

by Paul Quay

Overview

Original sin, widely denied today, is nevertheless the condition in which our spiritual life begins. Fetal psychology helps one see original sin as a psychic negation of the created reflections in Christ of the traits of divine love within the Trinity. Hence, only through Christ can such damage be healed. But before we can live in the full freedom and power of the Holy Spirit, we must relive, in Jesus and as He did, all that God led His people through, from the fall of Adam till Jesus' death and resurrection. Through the «spiritual sense» of the Old Testament, each word of which speaks of Jesus, we learn how to do this. The loss of this sense, embedded in the doctrine and practice of the much maligned «institutional Church» but forgotten by most Christians, explains the chasm that has opened between the intellectual life of the West and the spiritual life of Christians.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780820440392
Publisher:	Peter Lang Inc., International Academic Publishers
Publication date:	11/29/2002
Series:	American University Studies: Series 7: Theology and Religion , #161
Edition description:	2nd Revised ed.
Pages:	438
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.92(d)

About the Author

The Author: Paul M. Quay, S.J., Research Professor of Philosophy at Loyola University Chicago since 1981, was also an associate professor of Physics and of Theology at St. Louis University for 14 years. He has written some 75 scholarly articles and a book, The Christian Meaning of Human Sexuality, which has been translated into Spanish and Polish. He earned Licentiates in both Philosophy and Theology from West Baden College of Loyola University Chicago, and his Ph.D. in Theoretical Physics from M.I.T. After a year of post-doctoral research in Physics at Case I.T., he spent two and a half years in France and Germany, studying Philosophy of Science and Ignatian spirituality.

Table of Contents

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Preface

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Editorial Reviews

«This book is both traditional and innovative, conservative and radical. [Though] a powerful reaffirmation of traditional Roman Catholicism, the author feels free to criticize Catholic theologians in the past and those practices in the church that detract from the gospel. This work will help both educated Catholics and non Catholics to understand the theological and spiritual heritage of the Catholic church» (Donald G. Bloesch, University of Dubuque)
«Agonizing over the chasm between the intellectual life of the West and the spiritual life of Christians, Paul Quay demands that theology be restructured so as to serve a living faith and Christian action. Not only [does he offer] fresh insights into original sin and Trinitarian life, but, unexpectedly and happily, [he presents] a richer understanding of Scripture by linking the commonly accepted historical-critical hermeneutic to a spiritual sense stripped of its excesses. Hackles will be raised (thank God), but it is high time for theology to wed talk about God with experience of God. Not by head alone does man or woman live...» (Walter J. Burghardt, S.J.)
«‘The Mystery Hidden for Ages in God' is a masterful synthesis of Catholic Christianity. It provides the answer to the most demanding question of our times: How can the Church rekindle the true Faith throughout the West (central to the Pope's 'New Evangelization' in spite of the moderns' refusal to honor anything higher than one's own Self. Fr. Quay's book deserves a wide circulation and should be read by every perceptive believer in the English-speaking world.» (John A. Hardon, S.J.)
«This book is lucidly and gracefully written, with a clearly articulated structure and well-marked at each transition point...‘The Mystery Hidden' deserves to be widely discovered and discussed.» (Dennis D. Martin, Anglican Theological Review)

From the Publisher

Jesuit- and MIT-trained Quay (philosophy, Loyola U. Chicago) credits a Jewish atheist friend with prompting him to ponder the question: What accounts for the chasm between Christians' ideal spiritual path and the all too typical reality? While drawing upon social science perspectives in discussing themes such as original sin, recapitulation in Christ, and the Church as the new Israel, the author attributes the divide to the West's cultural regression from its religious roots. Indexed by scriptural citations as well as by author and subject. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

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