At the start of the nineteenth century; the Jesuits seemed fated for oblivion. Dissolved as a religious order in 1773 by one pope; they were restored in 1814 by another; but with only six hundred aged members. Yet a century later; the Jesuits numbered seventeen thousand men and were at the vanguard of the Catholic Church's expansion around the world. In the United States especially; foreign-born Jesuits built universities and schools; aided Catholic immigrants; and served as missionaries. This book traces this nineteenth-century resurgence; showing how Jesuits nurtured a Catholic modernity through a disciplined counterculture of parishes; schools; and associations.Drawing on archival materials from three continents; American Jesuits and the World tracks Jesuits who left Europe for America and Jesuits who left the United States for missionary ventures across the Pacific. Each chapter tells the story of a revealing or controversial event; including the tarring and feathering of an exiled Swiss Jesuit in Maine; the efforts of French Jesuits in Louisiana to obtain Vatican approval of a miraculous healing; and the educational efforts of American Jesuits in Manila. These stories place the Jesuits at the center of the worldwide clash between Catholics and liberal nationalists; and reveal how the Jesuits not only revived their own order but made modern Catholicism more global.The result is a major contribution to modern global history and an invaluable examination of the meaning of religious liberty in a pluralistic age.
#365620 in Books Halbertal Moshe 2015-06-02Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 9.10 x 1.00 x 6.10l; .0 #File Name: 0691165661400 pagesMaimonides Life and Thought
Review
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful. A Religious Path Through ScienceBy Dr. Debra Jan BibelIn Cordoba; Spain; is a statue of Moses ibn Maimon; Maimonides; for he was born in that Andalusian city during the cosmopolitan Golden Age of Sefarad. The common language was Arabic; even when written in Hebrew letters. The science of experimentation was yet centuries to come but Aristotle and Galen and other Greek thinkers; translated by Muslim scholars; yet offered logic and some understanding of nature; structure; function; and causality. The philosophical Maimonides offered science and knowledge as a key religious path leading to awe and love or compassion. He attacked superstitions; talismans; and causative incantations and any anthropomorphic conception of God; even in use of personal pronouns; as de facto idolatry. He took the Babylonian Talmud and the body of subsequent traditions and created essentially a practical; categorized moral and legal handbook; the Mishneh Torah; separating core teachings from doubtful or obsolete interpretations. Moreover; his Guide to the Perplexed; because of its ambiguity; became a religious map with four interrelated paths whose philosophical; skeptical; mystical; or orthodox approach would depend on an individual's education and provisional predilection. Maimonides had a deep understanding and respect for people's psychological needs; even if contrary to scientific logic. Author and scholar Moshe Halbertal's book provides a penetrating look into the mind of this great religious thinker.While some of the sections discussing the Mishna Torah become tedious and turbid by its detail legal analysis and historic comparisons of wisdom; the later examination of the Guide to the Perplexed is stunningly clear and comprehensive. The book examines Maimonides' views on evil and its personal; legal; and biological forms; on destiny of individuals and of species; on cosmic origins; on miracles versus logic and knowledge; on divine punishment and reward for governance and social order versus personal spiritual developmental gains and blocks; and on love and awe as steps toward perfection and experiencing the divine. The medieval mind and social outlook is revealed yet the reader also finds modern thinking and connections to the later Jewish philosopher; Spinoza. I grew up hearing about Maimonides without actually knowing anything about his great writings. Halbertal fills that void with an insightful book. Maimonides now become relevant to my own religious pursuits.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. The definitive account of the RambamBy Mr. Shaun JacksonMoshe Halbertal has written the definitive account of the Rambam.Halbertal has placed all of his works in the context of the Rambam's own biography which in itself is fascinating. I did not appreciate that the Rambam was a refugee from a young age; and this feeling of being an 'outsider' had an important influence on his works.Halbertal has an incredible capacity to explain esoteric and difficult language in clear and simple language. Philosophic concepts are easily understood. For example his explanation of 'will' and 'wisdom' (the world was created ex nilo as opposed to being eternal) and what the broader implications this has for the Rambam's thought is made easily understandable to the lay person.At the end of the book; one is left with a real appreciation of the Rambam's brilliance and his attempt to develop a new philosophic approach to Rambam. However; at the same time; he leaves it still open as to who the real Rambam was and leaves us with 4 possible approaches. The old simplistic approach to the Rambam advanced by the likes of Leo Strauss who thought that there was a great chasm between the Rambam of the Mishneh Torah and the Rambam of Moreh Nevuchim strikes me as remarkably unsophisticated after reading this book.1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. A Great TreasureBy David G.Of the four or five books I've read devoted to Maimonides this is the most comprehensive and the best of the lot. While scholarly it is quite readable for the intelligent reader. Most illuminating is Halbertal's treatment of the esoteric; of Maimonides' approach to Jewish mysticism; proposing possible answers to questions I've had for some time and compounded with each new read until now. Halbertal is a great mind and a beautiful writer; clear and precise.
