Thomas O'Loughlin – författare

The Didache is one of the earliest Christian writings, earlier than most of the documents that make up the New Testament. It provides practical instructions on how a Christian community should function, and offers unique insights into the way the earliest Christians lived and worshipped. In this highly readable introduction, Thomas O'Loughlin tells the intriguing story of the Didache, from its discovery in the late nineteenth century to the present. He then provides an illuminating commentary on the entire text, highlighting areas of special interest to Christians today, and ends with a fresh translation of the text itself.

What is the point of the Lectionary? What are the problems and opportunities that it presents to those who use it? What are its strengths and weaknesses as an aid to worship? How can it be used and communicated most effectively today? These are among the key questions that Thomas O'Loughlin explores in this stimulating and much-needed guide.

The only true apostle of Ireland who more or less converted the country the single-handed? or A Christian bishop from the embattled edge of a crumbling empire? All that can really be known of Patrick comes from his authentic writings - the Confession and the Epistola (Address to the Soldiers of Coroticus). Thomas O'Loughlin's engaging yet scholarly reflections on these fifth-century texts lead us into a greater understanding of the mind of Patrick, the man, believer and missionary.

One of the significant developments in scholarship in the latter half of the twentieth century was the awareness among historians of ideas, historians of theology, and medievalists of the importance of the Christian scriptures in the Latin Middle Ages. In contrast to an earlier generation of scholars who considered the medieval period as a ’Bible-free zone’, recent investigations have shown the central role of scripture in literature, art, law, liturgy, and formal religious education. Indeed, to understand the Latin Middle Ages one must understand the value they placed upon the Bible, how they related to it, and how they studied it. However, despite the new emphasis on the Bible’s role and the place of exegesis in medieval thought, our detailed understanding is all too meagre - and generalisations, often imagined as valid for a period of close to a millennium, abound. How the Scriptures were used in one pursuit (formal theology for example relied heavily on ’allegory’) was often very different to the way they were used in another (e.g. in history writing was interested in literal meanings), and exegesis differed over time and with cultures. Similarly, while most medieval writers were agreed that there were several ’senses’ within the text, the number and nature varied greatly as did the strategies for accessing those meanings. This collection of fifteen articles, concentrating on the early Latin middle ages, explores this variety and highlights just how patchy has been our understanding of medieval exegesis. We now may be aware of the importance of the Bible, but the task of studying that phenomenon is in its infancy.

Adomnan, ninth abbot of Iona, wrote his book, On Holy Places (De Locis Sanctis), in the closing years of the seventh century. It is a detailed account of the sites mentioned in the Christian scriptures, the overall topography, and the shrines that are in Palestine and Egypt at that time. It is neatly broken into three parts: Jerusalem, the surrounding areas, and then a few other places. The whole has a contemporary and lively feel; and the reader is then not surprised when Adomnan says he got his information from a 'Gallic bishop name Arculf'. Things then get interesting for the more one probes, the book the amount of information that could have been obtained from Arculf keeps diminishing, while the amount that can be shown to be a reworking of written sources increases. We then see that Adomnan's book is an attempt to compile a biblical studies manual according to the demands of Augustine (354-430) - one of which was that there had to be an empirical witness. Thus, Adomnan wrote the work and employed Arculf as a literary device. However, he produced the desired manual which remained in use until the Reformation. As a manual we can use it to study the nature of scriptural studies in the Latin world of the time, and perceptions of space, relics, pilgrimage, and Islam. While a study of how the work was used by others, transmitted, reworked (for example by the Venerable Bede) brings unique light onto the theological world of the Carolingians.

Fergus Kerr, OP is one of the foremost Catholic theologians of his generation. His works are widely read by specialists and students in the UK, North America and across the world. His ‘Theology after Wittgenstein’ is regarded as a seminal work in philosophical theology. His ‘After Aquinas: Versions of Thomism’ and ‘Twentieth Century Catholic Theologians’ are two of the finest student-focussed introductions to their topics currently available. The essays in this collection cover the two key areas of Kerr’s contribution: the relationship between theology and philosophy, focusing particularly on Thomism; and twentieth century Catholic thought. These themes provide the volume’s coherence. A key strength of this volume lies in the stature of its contributors. These include the Canadian Catholic philosopher and Templeton-laureate Charles Taylor, Stanley Hauerwas, John Milbank, David Burrell and Denys Turner. A number of younger contributors, representing the influence of Kerr over several generations, are also represented.

Theological reflection upon the Eucharist is dominated by two paradigms: One approach interprets the Eucharist almost exclusively in theological terms, shaped by Scholasticism and the Reformation. Most discussions about the nature of the Eucharist, Eucharistic presence or the role of the priest follow these categories, even if they come in modern disguise. The other reads the Eucharist as an event which can be explored empirically. O'Loughlin develops a new understanding of the Eucharist. This can be done by looking afresh at the historical evidence and bringing it in dialogue with modern theology. In the past decades, historical research and new discoveries have changed our view of the origins and the development of the Eucharist. By bringing history into a fruitful dialogue with sacramental and liturgical theology, he shows not only ways how theology and practice can be brought closer together again, but also how current ecumenical divisions can be overcome. His book makes an important contribution to eucharistic theology, both for individual church traditions as well as for ecumenical dialogues.

Theological reflection upon the Eucharist is dominated by two paradigms: One approach interprets the Eucharist almost exclusively in theological terms, shaped by Scholasticism and the Reformation. Most discussions about the nature of the Eucharist, Eucharistic presence or the role of the priest follow these categories, even if they come in modern disguise. The other reads the Eucharist as an event which can be explored empirically. O'Loughlin develops a new understanding of the Eucharist. This can be done by looking afresh at the historical evidence and bringing it in dialogue with modern theology. In the past decades, historical research and new discoveries have changed our view of the origins and the development of the Eucharist. By bringing history into a fruitful dialogue with sacramental and liturgical theology, he shows not only ways how theology and practice can be brought closer together again, but also how current ecumenical divisions can be overcome. His book makes an important contribution to eucharistic theology, both for individual church traditions as well as for ecumenical dialogues.

Fergus Kerr, OP is one of the foremost Catholic theologians of his generation. His works are widely read by specialists and students in the UK, North America and across the world. His Theology after Wittgenstein is regarded as a seminal work in philosophical theology. His After Aquinas: Versions of Thomism and Twentieth Century Catholic Theologians are two of the finest student-focussed introductions to their topics currently available. The essays in this collection cover the two key areas of Kerrs contribution: the relationship between theology and philosophy, focusing particularly on Thomism; and twentieth century Catholic thought. These themes provide the volumes coherence. A key strength of this volume lies in the stature of its contributors. These include the Canadian Catholic philosopher and Templeton-laureate Charles Taylor, Stanley Hauerwas, John Milbank, David Burrell and Denys Turner. A number of younger contributors, representing the influence of Kerr over several generations, are also represented.

We all want to celebrate the liturgy well, to experience good, uplifting, and meaningful worship. But what is the best route to follow? In The Rites and Wrongs of Liturgy, Thomas O’Loughlin offers a way forward that strengthens faith, builds up Christian community, and points toward a new direction based on liturgical principles that are rooted in our natures as ritual beings as well as in the gospel.The Rites and Wrongs of Liturgy explains why good liturgy is important, how to recognize it, and how to assess liturgy in terms of a larger vision of the Christian life. O’Loughlin, a seasoned theologian and teacher, identifies ten principles that make for good liturgy. Such liturgy must be honest, open, joyful, inclusive, celebrative of community, facilitative of engagement, based in creation, attentive to the marginalized, free of clutter, and true to the pattern of the incarnation.Since good celebrations build faith and bad liturgy weakens it, these principles promise to bring new life and meaning to every celebrating community.

More than half a century after its introduction into the Easter liturgy, the rite of the washing of feet on Holy Thursday goes to the heart of what it means to take part in Christian liturgy—as well as to live a Christian life. In Washing Feet: Imitating the Example of Jesus in the Liturgy Today, Thomas O’Loughlin explores the significance of mutual foot washing in early Christian communities and in the rituals of churches today.Washing Feet is a sound and engaging combination of liturgical theology, historical exploration, and practical pastoral guidance. Clergy, liturgy committees, and RCIA leaders involved in Holy Week liturgies will find this a useful and accessible resource for understanding how this practice is a key to how ordinary Christians understand the nature of the church and their relationship to others within their particular communites.

What does it mean to be a eucharistic community? In Christ Now Meet Both East and West approaches the Eucharist from the perspective of Christianity being a religion of the table—a place where our thanksgiving happens by gathering as a people with Christ. Author Thomas O’Loughlin emphasizes that any renewal of ourselves as a eucharistic people involves discovering that we are then sent from that table to act, to be eucharistic in our communal activity. He explains that this task is not located in an awesome temple or an otherworldly place but in the heart of the everyday. Through this action of blessing, praising, thanking, and being eucharistic to our heavenly Father, we set about celebrating our faith eucharistically with the risen Jesus present among us.

2020 Catholic Press Association first place award, ecumenism or interfaith relationsIn November 2015, Pope Francis called on theologians to explore whether normal Catholic practice should be changed to allow Christians, belonging to other churches, to share fully at the table when they take part in a Eucharist celebrated by Catholics. Thomas O’Loughlin provides his contribution to that challenge in this volume. He argues that the various ways of thinking about what we are doing in the liturgy should lead us to see intercommunion as enhancing our participation in the mystery of the Church and the mystery we celebrate.Learn more and watch Professor Tom O'Loughlin's interview with the Aqueduct Project, discussing Eating Together, Becoming One: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ySkMzHtkMU

O'Loughlin examines the theological framework within which St. Patrick presented his experiences and considers how the Celtic lands of Ireland and Wales developed a distinctive view of sin, reconciliation, and Christian law that they later exported to the rest of western Christianity.

One of the significant developments in scholarship in the latter half of the twentieth century was the awareness among historians of ideas, historians of theology, and medievalists of the importance of the Christian scriptures in the Latin Middle Ages. In contrast to an earlier generation of scholars who considered the medieval period as a ’Bible-free zone’, recent investigations have shown the central role of scripture in literature, art, law, liturgy, and formal religious education. Indeed, to understand the Latin Middle Ages one must understand the value they placed upon the Bible, how they related to it, and how they studied it. However, despite the new emphasis on the Bible’s role and the place of exegesis in medieval thought, our detailed understanding is all too meagre - and generalisations, often imagined as valid for a period of close to a millennium, abound. How the Scriptures were used in one pursuit (formal theology for example relied heavily on ’allegory’) was often very different to the way they were used in another (e.g. in history writing was interested in literal meanings), and exegesis differed over time and with cultures. Similarly, while most medieval writers were agreed that there were several ’senses’ within the text, the number and nature varied greatly as did the strategies for accessing those meanings. This collection of fifteen articles, concentrating on the early Latin middle ages, explores this variety and highlights just how patchy has been our understanding of medieval exegesis. We now may be aware of the importance of the Bible, but the task of studying that phenomenon is in its infancy.

Space is all around us – and we constantly refer to it. He is taking my space! This place is homely! This room is very impersonal! We need more room!  We need to de-clutter! I was lost in the vastness of the hall! I felt locked in and had to go outside!We also know that how space is arranged affects us: we want ‘round table talks’ and we do not want to be put in the back row! Churchill captured the importance of built space in a couplet: We shape our buildings, then our buildings shape us. And in every society buildings have been used to project power and authority, to regulate society, and to project an image of how that group sees itself.Strangely, we out do not think about this aspect of space when it comes to liturgy – yet every religion (and every Christian denomination) has used buildings as part of their worship: from Newgrange to classical temples to churches build of steel, concrete and glass. And it was this concern of the Second Vatican Council that led to the changes in the arrangements in Catholic Churches in the 1960s and 70s. But this religious use of space – just as with the changes mandated by Vatican II – are little appreciated or understood.This book brings together nineteen Christians – liturgists, pastors, architects, artists – from several churches and from around the world who all try to answer the question of how space affects us in worship.The topics covered include the role of light in a religious building, the need for space to appreciate dance as part of worship, the varying needs of spaces for different liturgies, accounts of how communities have become creative with space, and questions about how the liturgical renewal begun in Vatican II should continue today.

In less than a decade the notion of ‘synodality’ has emerged as a central theme in Catholic life and thought, especially in Catholics’ self-reflection on who they are as the People of God: ecclesiology. The notion of the Church as ‘synodal’ has early roots in the many councils and synods of the early churches, east and west, but now this notion has emerged from the history of canon law to become one that portrays a whole new image of the church. The church, Pope Francis has said, is called to be synodal as it changes its self-perception from being a power pyramid seeking to impose its vision to being a pilgrim people at the service of humanity. But what are the implications of synodality?The synod on synodality in Rome 2023/24 is grappling with this question, but if the notion has any meaning it will require steady examination over a much longer period, it will need to be owned, and it will call for engagement from all parts of the Catholic Church. One can only have a synodal coming together when people from every corner of the church set out on the journey to that meeting place (synodos) of many roads.As part of this synodal engagement the Catholic Theological Association of Great Britain invited its members – and some friends of the association – to offer their reflections on the importance of synodality, what it means, how it can build on the work of the Second Vatican Council, and how we can engage with it today.These essays – deliberately kept short and to the point – are offered to our sisters and brothers in baptism in order to help us all on our journey of renewal as a pilgrim people.

The contemporary world is struggling to deal with the ecological crisis. In the midst of the current world-wide concern, how can Christians respond in a meaningful way? Pope Francis has taken a lead and has demonstrated a keen interest in the protection of, and care for, the created world. This theme has been a prominent feature of many of his homilies, public addresses and, quintessentially, the papal encyclical, Laudato Si’ (2015) and the recent Apostolic Exhortation, Laudate Deum (2023).This book offers a variety of well-informed theological responses to the ongoing destruction of the environment and the need for the preservation and care of the created world for future generations in our ‘common home’. Many of the contributions draw on the writings of Pope Francis, but also draw extensively on a variety of biblical texts and contemporary thinking in ecological theology. This is the second edited collection produced by the Catholic Theological Association for Messenger Publications, following on from the success of Synodality and the Recovery of Vatican II – A New Way for Catholics (2024).  This edited book features some of the prominent Catholic theological thinkers who are members of the Association and includes contributions from some invited guests.