This accessible introduction covers the complete history and contemporary contexts of the church’s involvement in Catholic social tradition, giving distinctive attention to the Bible, liturgy, Augustine and Aquinas’ thought, and recent theological developments.
Bringing together veteran teachers of Catholic social teaching who have worked together on the content, this volume is designed to set social questions within the Catholic tradition and contemporary life. End-of-chapter application sections address practical concerns, such as racism in the church, charity, consumerism, and talking with neighbors and coworkers about moral issues. It will work well for students of theology and ethics, particularly Catholics but also Protestants who want to know more about the Catholic social tradition.
With the Logos Bible Software edition of The Heart of Catholic Social Teaching: Its Origins and Contemporary Significance, every word is essentially a link, equipping you to search the entire collection for a particular verse or topic—“doctrine of God” or “moral theology,” for example. This gives you instant access to a wealth of information on twentieth- and twenty-first-century Catholic theology.
- Offers questions for discussion
- Explores various case studies
- Provides excerpts of church documents
- Gives suggestions for further reading
- Part One: Sources
- Biblical Justice
- The Liturgy as a Source of Formation in Catholic School Teaching
- Eucharist and Social Justice
- Pope Leo XIII and a Century of Catholic School Teaching
- Part Two: Love
- Saint Augustine of Hippo—Love, Community, and Politics
- A Contemporary Augustinian Approach to Love and Politics—Pope Benedict XVI’s Deus Caritas Est
- Modern Politics and Catholic School Teaching
- Part Three: Justice
- Natural Law—St. Thomas Aquinas and the Role of Reason in Social Order
- Modern Economy and the Social Order
- Through the Needle’s Eye—The Catholic Worker Movement and the Challenge of Voluntary Poverty
- Part Four: Moving Forward
- The Challenge of Religious Liberty
- Compassion and Hospitality
- From Despot to Steward—The Greening of Catholic Social Teaching
- Mary Katherin Birge
- James M. Donohue
- Rodica Stoicoiu
- John F. Donovan
- William Collinge
- David Cloutier
- Joshua P. Hochschild
- David M. McCarthy
- Kathy Dow Magnus
- Richard Buck
- Trudy Conway
- Brian G. Henning
Praise for the Print Edition
This collection brings the venerable tradition of Catholic social justice in line with a newer generation’s concerns about community, personal commitment, and liturgy. Social action and policy reform are integrally and dynamically related to the nature of the Christian life and the necessity of conversion. The book will be a superb teaching resource for students who want to link theology and tradition with the contemporary search for a meaningful way of life that includes justice and the common good.
—Lisa Sowle Cahill, J. Donald Monan Professor, Boston College
This collection arises from the collaborative habits of a real community of teacher-scholars, philosophers, and theologians who live in the same place and talk to each other about the general education program in which they all work. Wise, timely, rigorous, and accessible to students, The Heart of Catholic Social Teaching is an ideal choice for an undergraduate course.
—William L. Portier, Mary Ann Spearin Chair in Catholic Theology, University of Dayton
The Heart of Catholic Social Teaching moves beyond principles to the lifeblood of Catholic thought—Scripture, Eucharist, Augustine, Aquinas, and more. The book will be a useful resource for those who teach the Catholic social tradition.
—M. Therese Lysaught, associate professor, Marquette University
David McCarthy and the contributors of The Heart of Catholic Social Teaching: Its Origins and Contemporary Significance have done us an enormous service by providing a text that masterfully interweaves all the key time periods, figures, sources, documents, themes, and issues in Catholic social teaching.
—William C. Mattison III, associate professor of moral theology, The Catholic University of America
Offer[s] brief, helpful studies of various themes in CST [Catholic social teaching]. This volume, coupled with the foundational documents of CST, would make for a solid set of readings for an introductory course on the subject. . . . The essays are nonideological, balanced, informative, and hold together well. Thus, the collection is well worth the read. Undergraduates in CST courses would be an especially good audience for the book.
—Journal of Markets & Morality
- Title: The Heart of Catholic Social Teaching: Its Origins and Contemporary Significance
- Editor: David Matzko McCarthy
- Publisher: Brazos Press
- Publication Date: 2001
- Pages: 256
About David Matzko McCarthy
David Matzko McCarthy is the Fr. James M. Forker Professor of Catholic Social Teaching at Mount Saint Mary’s University in Emmitsburg, Maryland. He is the author of Gathered for the Journey: Moral Theology in Catholic Perspective and Sex and Love in the Home: A Theology of the Household, and has written for publications such as New Blackfriars, Christian Century, and Modern Theology.