A ground-breaking study that unveils, for the first time, the entirety of a founding Jesuit's theology. Revered as a founder of the Jesuit order, an accomplished preacher, a papal theologian at all three sessions of the Council of Trent, and the provincial of Naples, Alfonso Salmerón was a significant figure in the intellectual life and ecclesiastical affairs of the sixteenth century. His Commentaries represent one of the most ambitious theological-exegetical endeavours of the post-Tridentine period. Fr. Sam Zeno Conedera, SJ, brings long-overdue recognition to a foundational figure and key theologian of the order. Here, presented for the first time, is a detailed overview of Salmerón's writings and theology. It explores the author's creative use of history, his endeavour to integrate Scripture and tradition, and his exposition of the mysteries of the Christian faith. As Conedera shows, Salmerón's approach to controversial Reformation issues, such as the veneration of Mary, justification, the sacraments, and the nature of the Church, combined respect for tradition with innovation. Furthermore, his moral teachings offer profound insights into significant societal issues of the period, including public worship and the relations between the sexes. Salmerón's brief yet carefully crafted discussion of the Society of Jesus provides invaluable insight into the self-perception of the first generation of Jesuits. This book highlights the ways in which this exceptional figure enriches our understanding of early modern Catholicism and Jesuit history.

Ever since it was first published in 1930, William Empson’s Seven Types of Ambiguity has been perceived as a milestone in literary criticism—far from being an impediment to communication, ambiguity now seemed an index of poetic richness and expressive power. Little, however, has been written on the broader trajectory of Western thought about ambiguity before Empson; as a result, the nature of his innovation has been poorly understood. A History of Ambiguity remedies this omission. Starting with classical grammar and rhetoric, and moving on to moral theology, law, biblical exegesis, German philosophy, and literary criticism, Anthony Ossa-Richardson explores the many ways in which readers and theorists posited, denied, conceptualised, and argued over the existence of multiple meanings in texts between antiquity and the twentieth century. This process took on a variety of interconnected forms, from the Renaissance delight in the ‘elegance’ of ambiguities in Horace, through the extraordinary Catholic claim that Scripture could contain multiple literal—and not just allegorical—senses, to the theory of dramatic irony developed in the nineteenth century, a theory intertwined with discoveries of the double meanings in Greek tragedy. Such narratives are not merely of antiquarian interest: rather, they provide an insight into the foundations of modern criticism, revealing deep resonances between acts of interpretation in disparate eras and contexts. A History of Ambiguity lays bare the long tradition of efforts to liberate language, and even a poet’s intention, from the strictures of a single meaning.

An engaging and accurate introduction to the Protestant Reformation, told in the words of those who led it, opposed it, and lived it. The Protestant Reformation was a pivotal event in world history and religion. Documents of the Reformation collects more than 60 primary documents that shed light on the personalities, issues, ideas, and events of the 16th-century upheaval and will help readers to understand how and why the Protestant Reformation began and transpired as it did. The book is divided into 12 sections on topics such as indulgences, persecution, and women in the Reformation, each of which offers five document selections. Detailed introductions preceding the documents put them into historical context and explain why they are important, while a general introduction and chronology help readers to understand the Reformation in broad terms and to see causal connections. Bibliographies of current print and digital resources attend each document, and a general bibliography lists seminal works on the Reformation.

In Beyond the Inquisition, originally published in an Italian edition in 2007, Giorgio Caravale offers a fresh perspective on sixteenth-century Italian religious history and the religious crisis that swept across Europe during that period. Through an intellectual biography of Ambrogio Catarino Politi (1484–1553), Caravale rethinks the problems resulting from the diffusion of Protestant doctrines in Renaissance Italy and the Catholic opposition to their advance. At the same time, Caravale calls for a new conception of the Counter-Reformation, demonstrating that during the first half of the sixteenth century there were many alternatives to the inquisitorial model that ultimately prevailed. Lancellotto Politi, the jurist from Siena who entered the Dominican order in 1517 under the name of Ambrogio Catarino, started his career as an anti-Lutheran controversialist, shared friendships with the Italian Spirituals, and was frequently in conflict with his own order. The main stages of his career are all illustrated with a rich array of previously published and unpublished documentation. Caravale's thorough analysis of Politi's works, actions, and relationships significantly alters the traditional image of an intransigent heretic hunter and an author of fierce anti-Lutheran tirades. In the same way, the reconstruction of his role as a papal theologian and as a bishop in the first phase of the Council and the reinterpretation of his battle against the Spanish theologian Domingo de Soto and scholasticism reestablish the image of a Counter-Reformation that was different from the one that triumphed in Trent, the image of an alternative that was viable but never came close to being implemented.

Saint Ignatius of Loyola was a man who saw above and beyond his century, a man of vision and calm hope, who could step comfortably into our era and the Church of our time and show us how to draw closer to Christ. Ignatius' autobiography spans eighteen very important years of this saint's 65-year life...from his wounding at Pamplona (1521) through his conversion, his university studies and his journey to Rome in order to place his followers and himself at the disposal of the Pope. These critical years reveal the incredible transformation and spiritual growth in the soul of a great saint and the events that helped to bring about that change in his life. This classic work merits a long life. Apart from providing a splendid translation of the saint's original text, Father Tylenda has included an informative commentary which enables the modern reader to grasp various allusions in the text-and to gain a better view of a saintly man baring his soul.