A major work in moral philosophy by the Puritan who was the most modern man of his age. "Edwards at his very greatest . . . he speaks with an insight into science and psychology so much ahead of his time that our own can hardly be said to have caught up with him." Perry Miller, 'Jonathan Edwards' Like the great speculators Augustine, Aquinas, and Pascal, Jonathan Edwards treated religious ideas as problems not of dogma, but of life. His exploration of self-love disguised as "true virtue" is grounded in the hard facts of human behavior. More than a hellfire preacher, more than a theologian, Edwards was a bold and independent philosopher. Nowhere is his force of mind more evident than in this book. He speaks as powerfully to us today as he did to the keenest minds of the eighteenth century.

The captivating autobiography of the first Western nun ordained in Thich Nhat Hanh's Vietnamese Zen lineage. In 1988, Sister Annabel Laity became the first Western person to be ordained as a monastic disciple in Thich Nhat Hanh's Vietnamese Zen lineage. She was given the Dharma name Chan Duc, which means True Virtue. Thirty years later, Sister Annabel is a much-loved senior Dharma teacher in the Plum Village community. She teaches and leads retreats worldwide, and is widely recognized as an accomplished and insightful Buddhist scholar. In this autobiography, Sister True Virtue shares the trials and joys of her lifelong search for spiritual community. First inspired by the kind Catholic nuns who ran her primary school, she encounters Buddhism while studying ancient languages at university in England. A few years later, when teaching classics in Greece, she meets a Tibetan Buddhist nun, an encounter that changes the course of her life and eventually leads her to her teacher, Thich Nhat Hanh, and to her spiritual home in Plum Village, Thich Nhat Hanh's practice center in France. True Virtue is a timeless testament to the importance of spiritual exploration, and offers a unique perspective on Thich Nhat Hanh's monastic community.

We all want true friends. But how many of us really know what friendship is, or where to find it? In these pages, philosopher John Cuddeback weaves together the timeless wisdom of Scripture, of the ancient Greeks, and the saints to map out the steep and beautiful path to man's greatest joy—true friendship. Following Aristotle's teachings on the unbreakable connection between happiness and virtuous living, Cuddeback sees friendship at the very center of the human drama. Although there are different kinds of friendship, the deepest kind can only be achieved through a life of virtue, and this is where the human person comes most fully alive. True Friendship offers simple yet rich advice on how to tap into this reality in our own lives. Such friendship demands much of us, but it gives us even more, as individuals and as a society. Both the Old and New Testaments place a premium on friendship. In the Christian vision, the philosophers' insights attain a broader supernatural perspective. Christ transforms human friendship and expands it. With help from the writings of Saints Thomas and Aelred, Cuddeback discovers what lies at the heart of the Christian life—the wondrous and unsurpassable reality of friendship with God in Jesus, the Divine Friend, who is at work in all our authentic friendships.

A major work in moral philosophy by the Puritan who was the most modern man of his age. Edwards at his very greatest . . . he speaks with an insight into science and psychology so much ahead of his time that our own can hardly be said to have caught up with him. Perry Miller, 'Jonathan Edwards' Like the great speculators Augustine, Aquinas, and Pascal, Jonathan Edwards treated religious ideas as problems not of dogma, but of life. His exploration of self-love disguised as true virtue is grounded in the hard facts of human behavior. More than a hellfire preacher, more than a theologian, Edwards was a bold and independent philosopher. Nowhere is his force of mind more evident than in this book. He speaks as powerfully to us today as he did to the keenest minds of the eighteenth century.

This study details the compatibility of ideas between Jonathan Edwards and Emanuel Swedenborg that helped forge the theological socialism of Henry James Sr. Duban demonstrates how a forgotten newspaper exchange between the elder James and Unitarian minister Henry Whitney Bellows clarified the Puritan foundations of the elder James's philosophy. Henry James Jr., in turn, transformed the phenomenalistic and Edwardsian foundations of his father's philosophy into the psychological dramas of major novels, although deeming the father's political radicalism destructive of aesthetic valuation.

Whether in the cafeteria, classroom, or dorm lounge, questions abound on college campuses. Not only do students grapple with existential issues but they also struggle with ethical ones such as "Why be moral?" In Introducing Moral Theology, William Mattison addresses this question as well as grapples with the impact that religious belief has on day-to-day living. Structured in two parts, this unique text on Catholic moral theology covers cardinal virtues (temperance, prudence, fortitude, and justice) as well as theological virtues (faith, hope, and love). It is equipped with study questions, terms and their definitions, and illustrative case studies. Rooted in the Catholic tradition, this overview will also appeal to non-Catholics interested in virtue ethics.