The Idol of Our Age
Title | The Idol of Our Age PDF eBook |
Author | Daniel J. Mahoney |
Publisher | Encounter Books |
Pages | 157 |
Release | 2020-04-14 |
Genre | Religion |
ISBN | 1641770937 |
This book is a learned essay at the intersection of politics, philosophy, and religion. It is first and foremost a diagnosis and critique of the secular religion of our time, humanitarianism, or the “religion of humanity.” It argues that the humanitarian impulse to regard modern man as the measure of all things has begun to corrupt Christianity itself, reducing it to an inordinate concern for “social justice,” radical political change, and an increasingly fanatical egalitarianism. Christianity thus loses its transcendental reference points at the same time that it undermines balanced political judgment. Humanitarians, secular or religious, confuse peace with pacifism, equitable social arrangements with socialism, and moral judgment with utopianism and sentimentality. With a foreword by the distinguished political philosopher Pierre Manent, Mahoney’s book follows Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI in affirming that Christianity is in no way reducible to a “humanitarian moral message.” In a pungent if respectful analysis, it demonstrates that Pope Francis has increasingly confused the Gospel with left-wing humanitarianism and egalitarianism that owes little to classical or Christian wisdom. It takes its bearings from a series of thinkers (Orestes Brownson, Aurel Kolnai, Vladimir Soloviev, and Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn) who have been instructive critics of the “religion of humanity.” These thinkers were men of peace who rejected ideological pacifism and never confused Christianity with unthinking sentimentality. The book ends by affirming the power of reason, informed by revealed faith, to provide a humanizing alternative to utopian illusions and nihilistic despair.
Confronting the Idols of Our Age
Title | Confronting the Idols of Our Age PDF eBook |
Author | Thomas P. Power |
Publisher | Wipf and Stock Publishers |
Pages | 82 |
Release | 2017-02-20 |
Genre | Social Science |
ISBN | 1532604343 |
An idol is a good thing. It is good because God created it. Nothing exists that God did not create and God created all things good. So sex can be an idol, but before it was an idol it was a good creation of God. Materialism is an idol, but to have a material world was God's idea in the first place. Workaholism is an idol, but work is itself a good gift of God. What turns these good gifts of God into idols is what we have done with them. So we have common forms of idolatry expressed in consumerism, individualism, narcissism, careerism, and hedonism; while there are less familiar expressions found in omnism, fatalism, Gnosticism, relativism, positivism, and reductionism. We have put these and other things on a pedestal and made them into mini-gods. In the end they fail to deliver what they promise. These twelve mediations on a scriptural passage by faculty members of Wycliffe College, Toronto, emphasize that the good news is that God can redeem idols. Each one can be restored to its proper place in God's created order and placed under God's authority.
The Idol of Our Age
Title | The Idol of Our Age PDF eBook |
Author | Daniel J. Mahoney |
Publisher | Encounter Books |
Pages | 175 |
Release | 2018-12-04 |
Genre | Religion |
ISBN | 1641770171 |
This book is a learned essay at the intersection of politics, philosophy, and religion. It is first and foremost a diagnosis and critique of the secular religion of our time, humanitarianism, or the “religion of humanity.” It argues that the humanitarian impulse to regard modern man as the measure of all things has begun to corrupt Christianity itself, reducing it to an inordinate concern for “social justice,” radical political change, and an increasingly fanatical egalitarianism. Christianity thus loses its transcendental reference points at the same time that it undermines balanced political judgment. Humanitarians, secular or religious, confuse peace with pacifism, equitable social arrangements with socialism, and moral judgment with utopianism and sentimentality. With a foreword by the distinguished political philosopher Pierre Manent, Mahoney’s book follows Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI in affirming that Christianity is in no way reducible to a “humanitarian moral message.” In a pungent if respectful analysis, it demonstrates that Pope Francis has increasingly confused the Gospel with left-wing humanitarianism and egalitarianism that owes little to classical or Christian wisdom. It takes its bearings from a series of thinkers (Orestes Brownson, Aurel Kolnai, Vladimir Soloviev, and Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn) who have been instructive critics of the “religion of humanity.” These thinkers were men of peace who rejected ideological pacifism and never confused Christianity with unthinking sentimentality. The book ends by affirming the power of reason, informed by revealed faith, to provide a humanizing alternative to utopian illusions and nihilistic despair.
The Idol in the Age of Art
Title | The Idol in the Age of Art PDF eBook |
Author | Michael Wayne Cole |
Publisher | Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. |
Pages | 392 |
Release | 2009 |
Genre | History |
ISBN | 9780754652908 |
Conflicting attitudes towards devotional art was a major factor in the confessional divisions that split Reformation Europe. By presenting essays concerned with both European subjects and European perceptions of other cultures, The Idol in the Age of Art contributes to ongoing attempts to globalize the study of European art. Approaching the Reformation idol as an essentially international problem, and placing particular emphasis on cultural encounters, it provides fresh perspectives on the very nature of Renaissance art, and underscores how colonial issues came to be often framed in terms of European religious conflicts.
No Other Gods
Title | No Other Gods PDF eBook |
Author | Kelly Minter |
Publisher | David C Cook |
Pages | 204 |
Release | 2008 |
Genre | Body, Mind & Spirit |
ISBN | 9780781448970 |
Minter explores what happens when good desires become false gods, robbing people of an intimate relationship with the heavenly Father. (Christian)
Political Problems for Our Age and Country
Title | Political Problems for Our Age and Country PDF eBook |
Author | William Rathbone Greg |
Publisher | |
Pages | 366 |
Release | 1870 |
Genre | Great Britain |
ISBN |
Progressive Essays, on Popular Topics of Our Age
Title | Progressive Essays, on Popular Topics of Our Age PDF eBook |
Author | Henry Marcus Cottinger |
Publisher | |
Pages | 350 |
Release | 1889 |
Genre | American essays |
ISBN |