Romanus Cessario explores the questions of what it means to believe in God, and all the associated difficulties that arise in a sceptical age. He suggests answers taken from the history of theology.

Since the first followers of Saint Thomas Aquinas took up the task of explaining and defending his writings, Thomists have influenced deeply the Western intellectual tradition. Together they form a school called Thomism that can claim an uninterrupted history since the end of the thirteenth century. Using carefully selected resources, Romanus Cessario has composed a short account of the history of the Thomist tradition as it manifests itself through the more than seven hundred years that have elapsed since the death of Saint Thomas. A Short History of Thomism, originally published in French as Le Thomisme et les Thomistes, supplies a need that has not been met in over a century, and is the first such comprehensive account written in English. The author, who has worked in the field for more than thirty-five years, brings to his study an appreciation for the place that Saint Thomas Aquinas holds as a perennial teacher of Christian theology, and for the influence that the Common Doctor has exercised on all stripes of theology and philosophy. The book suggests suitable criteria for including and excluding authors from the catalogue of Thomists, and proceeds to identify the principal periods during which Thomism fared both well and less well. Appeal to broader historical contexts helps the reader locate Thomism within the flow of intellectual history as it unfolds in the West. Representative figures in the history of Thomism are named and their literary compositions described in order to show the variety of ways that these authors have carried on the tradition. To enable the reader to learn the positions that are commonly identified with the Thomist school, the book includes an exposition of its major theological and philosophical themes.

Christian satisfaction stands at the center of the Church’s teaching about salvation. Satisfaction pertains to studies about Christ, redemption, the Sacraments, and pastoral practice. The topic also enters into questions about God and the creature as well as about the divine mercy and providence. Somewhat neglected in the period after Vatican II, satisfaction now appears to scholars as the forgotten key to entering deeply into the mystery of Christ and his work. Seminarians especially will benefit from studying the place satisfaction holds in Catholic life.Further, ecumenical work requires a proper understanding of the place that satisfaction holds in Christian theology. Various factors operative since the sixteenth century have worked to displace satisfaction almost entirely from reformed practice and theology. To address such concerns, The Godly Image, has, over the past several decades and more, done a great deal to put satisfaction within its proper context of image-restoration. That is, to interpret satisfaction within the context of the divine mercy and not the divine justice. This unique contribution to satisfaction studies owes a great deal to the achievement of Saint Thomas Aquinas. In this sense, the book enacts a retrieval of the theology of the high classical period. Like much of Aquinas’s refined teaching, a proper understanding requires appeal to the commentatorial tradition that follows him. Interested students will find in this study the touchstones for further studies of these authors.The Godly Image aims also to distinguish the theology of Aquinas from that of the medieval author with whom the notion of satisfaction remains mostly identified, that is, Anselm of Canterbury. Although not a developed focus of the book’s contents, the attentive reader will recognize that Aquinas treats Saint Anselm with a reverential reading, even as the Common Doctor moves significantly away from interpretations of satisfaction that suggest that an angry God exacts from his innocent Son a painful substitutional penalty for a fallen human race.

The chief characteristic of Christian morality is its being linked to the person of Jesus Christ who is himself the universal, personal, and concrete norm of moral action. This book is about the virtues of the Christian life--both the theological virtues (faith, hope, and charity) and the cardinal virtues (prudence, justice, fortitude, and temperance)--and it deals particularly with the question, how it is possible for believers to decide for the morally good and to live accordingly. Reflecting on the basic questions of Christian morality, the book offers a commentary on the corresponding sections of The Catechism of the Catholic Church.

The chief characteristic of Christian morality is its being linked to the person of Jesus Christ who is himself the universal, personal, and concrete norm of moral action. This book is about the virtues of the Christian life--both the theological virtues (faith, hope, and charity) and the cardinal virtues (prudence, justice, fortitude, and temperance)--and it deals particularly with the question, how it is possible for believers to decide for the morally good and to live accordingly. Reflecting on the basic questions of Christian morality, the book offers a commentary on the corresponding sections of The Catechism of the Catholic Church.

There are seven sacraments administered in the Catholic Church. What are they, and what do they do? Why do human beings require sacramentalized, visible realities to seal their confession of faith in Jesus Christ? Why does the Catholic Church administer the sacraments in the way that it does?Leading Catholic theologian Romanus Cessario, OP, offers an in-depth explanation of the seven sacraments celebrated in the Catholic Church. He addresses the rationale for the sacraments and provides detailed exposition of each one, highlighting the importance of the Catholic tradition--and of Thomas Aquinas, in particular--for contemporary reflection on the sacraments.This book examines why participation in the sacramental life of the Church is required for the believing Christian and helps readers understand the role the sacraments play in the sanctification of the world.

There are seven sacraments administered in the Catholic Church. What are they, and what do they do? Why do human beings require sacramentalized, visible realities to seal their confession of faith in Jesus Christ? Why does the Catholic Church administer the sacraments in the way that it does?Leading Catholic theologian Romanus Cessario, OP, offers an in-depth explanation of the seven sacraments celebrated in the Catholic Church. He addresses the rationale for the sacraments and provides detailed exposition of each one, highlighting the importance of the Catholic tradition--and of Thomas Aquinas, in particular--for contemporary reflection on the sacraments.This book examines why participation in the sacramental life of the Church is required for the believing Christian and helps readers understand the role the sacraments play in the sanctification of the world.

There are seven sacraments administered in the Catholic Church. What are they, and what do they do? Why do human beings require sacramentalized, visible realities to seal their confession of faith in Jesus Christ? Why does the Catholic Church administer the sacraments in the way that it does?Leading Catholic theologian Romanus Cessario, OP, offers an in-depth explanation of the seven sacraments celebrated in the Catholic Church. He addresses the rationale for the sacraments and provides detailed exposition of each one, highlighting the importance of the Catholic tradition--and of Thomas Aquinas, in particular--for contemporary reflection on the sacraments.This book examines why participation in the sacramental life of the Church is required for the believing Christian and helps readers understand the role the sacraments play in the sanctification of the world.

Saint Thomas Aquinas showed the world that Catholic theology is not just something meant to stimulate the mind. Indeed, the authentic study of the sacra doctrina exercises a shaping influence on the whole of the Christian life. In this volume, Dominican theologian Father Romanus Cessario, OP, follows this precedent by considering the integration of theology and Christian living. Focusing on various aspects of Catholic theology and spirituality, the essays in this volume explore the essential relationship between truth and grace. With characteristic wisdom and insight, Father Cessario reveals how theology and sanctity share a common origin and end. Here the doctrine of Saint Thomas Aquinas and his exponents emerges as something eminently relevant to Christian living in the twenty-first century. Written for all those who take the theological life seriously, Theology and Sanctity explains how - and why - only the truth has grace.

Romanus Cessario explores the questions of what it means to believe in God, and all the associated difficulties that arise in a sceptical age. He suggests answers taken from the history of theology.

Since the first followers of Saint Thomas Aquinas took up the task of explaining and defending his writings, Thomists have influenced deeply the Western intellectual tradition. Together they form a school called Thomism that can claim an uninterrupted history since the end of the thirteenth century. Using carefully selected resources, Romanus Cessario has composed a short account of the history of the Thomist tradition as it manifests itself through the more than seven hundred years that have elapsed since the death of Saint Thomas. A Short History of Thomism, originally published in French as Le Thomisme et les Thomistes, supplies a need that has not been met in over a century, and is the first such comprehensive account written in English. The author, who has worked in the field for more than thirty-five years, brings to his study an appreciation for the place that Saint Thomas Aquinas holds as a perennial teacher of Christian theology, and for the influence that the Common Doctor has exercised on all stripes of theology and philosophy. The book suggests suitable criteria for including and excluding authors from the catalogue of Thomists, and proceeds to identify the principal periods during which Thomism fared both well and less well. Appeal to broader historical contexts helps the reader locate Thomism within the flow of intellectual history as it unfolds in the West. Representative figures in the history of Thomism are named and their literary compositions described in order to show the variety of ways that these authors have carried on the tradition. To enable the reader to learn the positions that are commonly identified with the Thomist school, the book includes an exposition of its major theological and philosophical themes.

Christian satisfaction stands at the center of the Church’s teaching about salvation. Satisfaction pertains to studies about Christ, redemption, the Sacraments, and pastoral practice. The topic also enters into questions about God and the creature as well as about the divine mercy and providence. Somewhat neglected in the period after Vatican II, satisfaction now appears to scholars as the forgotten key to entering deeply into the mystery of Christ and his work. Seminarians especially will benefit from studying the place satisfaction holds in Catholic life.Further, ecumenical work requires a proper understanding of the place that satisfaction holds in Christian theology. Various factors operative since the sixteenth century have worked to displace satisfaction almost entirely from reformed practice and theology. To address such concerns, The Godly Image, has, over the past several decades and more, done a great deal to put satisfaction within its proper context of image-restoration. That is, to interpret satisfaction within the context of the divine mercy and not the divine justice. This unique contribution to satisfaction studies owes a great deal to the achievement of Saint Thomas Aquinas. In this sense, the book enacts a retrieval of the theology of the high classical period. Like much of Aquinas’s refined teaching, a proper understanding requires appeal to the commentatorial tradition that follows him. Interested students will find in this study the touchstones for further studies of these authors.The Godly Image aims also to distinguish the theology of Aquinas from that of the medieval author with whom the notion of satisfaction remains mostly identified, that is, Anselm of Canterbury. Although not a developed focus of the book’s contents, the attentive reader will recognize that Aquinas treats Saint Anselm with a reverential reading, even as the Common Doctor moves significantly away from interpretations of satisfaction that suggest that an angry God exacts from his innocent Son a painful substitutional penalty for a fallen human race.

The chief characteristic of Christian morality is its being linked to the person of Jesus Christ who is himself the universal, personal, and concrete norm of moral action. This book is about the virtues of the Christian life--both the theological virtues (faith, hope, and charity) and the cardinal virtues (prudence, justice, fortitude, and temperance)--and it deals particularly with the question, how it is possible for believers to decide for the morally good and to live accordingly. Reflecting on the basic questions of Christian morality, the book offers a commentary on the corresponding sections of The Catechism of the Catholic Church.

The chief characteristic of Christian morality is its being linked to the person of Jesus Christ who is himself the universal, personal, and concrete norm of moral action. This book is about the virtues of the Christian life--both the theological virtues (faith, hope, and charity) and the cardinal virtues (prudence, justice, fortitude, and temperance)--and it deals particularly with the question, how it is possible for believers to decide for the morally good and to live accordingly. Reflecting on the basic questions of Christian morality, the book offers a commentary on the corresponding sections of The Catechism of the Catholic Church.

There are seven sacraments administered in the Catholic Church. What are they, and what do they do? Why do human beings require sacramentalized, visible realities to seal their confession of faith in Jesus Christ? Why does the Catholic Church administer the sacraments in the way that it does?Leading Catholic theologian Romanus Cessario, OP, offers an in-depth explanation of the seven sacraments celebrated in the Catholic Church. He addresses the rationale for the sacraments and provides detailed exposition of each one, highlighting the importance of the Catholic tradition--and of Thomas Aquinas, in particular--for contemporary reflection on the sacraments.This book examines why participation in the sacramental life of the Church is required for the believing Christian and helps readers understand the role the sacraments play in the sanctification of the world.

There are seven sacraments administered in the Catholic Church. What are they, and what do they do? Why do human beings require sacramentalized, visible realities to seal their confession of faith in Jesus Christ? Why does the Catholic Church administer the sacraments in the way that it does?Leading Catholic theologian Romanus Cessario, OP, offers an in-depth explanation of the seven sacraments celebrated in the Catholic Church. He addresses the rationale for the sacraments and provides detailed exposition of each one, highlighting the importance of the Catholic tradition--and of Thomas Aquinas, in particular--for contemporary reflection on the sacraments.This book examines why participation in the sacramental life of the Church is required for the believing Christian and helps readers understand the role the sacraments play in the sanctification of the world.

There are seven sacraments administered in the Catholic Church. What are they, and what do they do? Why do human beings require sacramentalized, visible realities to seal their confession of faith in Jesus Christ? Why does the Catholic Church administer the sacraments in the way that it does?Leading Catholic theologian Romanus Cessario, OP, offers an in-depth explanation of the seven sacraments celebrated in the Catholic Church. He addresses the rationale for the sacraments and provides detailed exposition of each one, highlighting the importance of the Catholic tradition--and of Thomas Aquinas, in particular--for contemporary reflection on the sacraments.This book examines why participation in the sacramental life of the Church is required for the believing Christian and helps readers understand the role the sacraments play in the sanctification of the world.

Saint Thomas Aquinas showed the world that Catholic theology is not just something meant to stimulate the mind. Indeed, the authentic study of the sacra doctrina exercises a shaping influence on the whole of the Christian life. In this volume, Dominican theologian Father Romanus Cessario, OP, follows this precedent by considering the integration of theology and Christian living. Focusing on various aspects of Catholic theology and spirituality, the essays in this volume explore the essential relationship between truth and grace. With characteristic wisdom and insight, Father Cessario reveals how theology and sanctity share a common origin and end. Here the doctrine of Saint Thomas Aquinas and his exponents emerges as something eminently relevant to Christian living in the twenty-first century. Written for all those who take the theological life seriously, Theology and Sanctity explains how - and why - only the truth has grace.