The Priority of Christ: Toward a Postliberal Catholicism - Paperback

by Robert Barron (Author), George Omi Francis (Foreword by)

For a long time, Christians have tried to bridge the divide between Christianity and secular liberalism with philosophizing and theologizing. In The Priority of Christ, Bishop Robert Barron shows that the answer to this debate--and the way to move forward--lies in Jesus. Barron transcends the usual liberal/conservative or Protestant/Catholic divides with a postliberal Catholicism that brings the focus back on Jesus as revealed in the New Testament narratives.

Barron's classical Catholic post-liberalism will be of interest to a broad audience including not only the academic community but also preachers and general readers interested in entering the dialogue between Catholicism and postliberalism.

Front Jacket

It is crucial for Christians to apprehend the implications of Robert Barron's trenchant thesis: 'Modernity and decadent Christianity are enemies in one sense, but in another sense, they are deeply connected to one another and mirror one another.' Moving beyond the 'decadent Christianity' that mistakenly sought its very starting points in the epistemological and metaphysical dead ends characteristic of 'modernity, ' Barron expertly weaves together a robust short summa. Readers seeking spiritual and intellectual renewal will be revitalized by this much-needed book, which overflows with love of God and his path of salvation.
--Matthew Levering, Mundelein Seminary

"Catholic theology stands at a foundational moment, and in this extended meditation on the figure of Christ, Robert Barron boldly argues for a Catholicism that rethinks the controversy between modern and postmodern thought through classic theological formulations. Broad in reference and informed by the homilist's touch, The Priority of Christ will be an important contribution to a conversation the Church must have."
--Richard A. Rosengarten, University of Chicago

"An extremely well-written, informative, and insightful text that would be a delight to use in an undergraduate or seminary classroom."
--Stephen H. Webb, Reviews in Religion & Theology

"Barron's project is impressively traditional and thus postmodern, aggressively independent and thus postliberal, and philosophically undistracted and thus properly theological. This book brings together many of the motifs of a re-emergent, unembarrassed, and confident Catholic theology."
--Daniel P. Sheridan, CatholicBooksReview.org

"The Priority of Christ is unusually stimulating for an exercise in 'postliberal' theology. The book is strikingly readable and saturated with what one might call 'first-order' doctrinal claims instead of primarily methodological navel-gazing. . . . Its title, 'The Priority of Christ, ' indicates the epistemic primacy of believing, doctrinally traditioned engagement with the Jesus Christ of biblical narrative. This scriptural primacy is a great strength and delight of the book. . . . [It] will challenge readers to formulate their own understanding of what constitutes authentically theological interpretation of Scripture."
--Daniel J. Treier, Modern Theology

Back Jacket

By displaying how an imaginative human spirit can be illuminated by the manifold sense of Scripture, and by activating tradition to dissolve lingering philosophical distractions, this stunning summa for a 'postliberal Catholicism' will at once subvert any tendency among the faithful to demand a facile 'fix, ' as well as offer lucid direction for anyone daring to undertake a pilgrimage of understanding--in and with the Christ.
--David B. Burrell, University of Notre Dame / Tantur Ecumenical Institute (Jerusalem)

"Drawing deftly on Aquinas, Newman, Lonergan, Balthasar, and many others, Barron convincingly explains what a postliberal Catholic theology might be. But the great merit of this book is that he not only talks about what theology should be, he actually does it--above all in his lucid mystagogy on a series of Gospel stories and in striking meditations on the mind of Christ embodied in four great women saints of our time."
--Bruce Marshall, Southern Methodist University

"It is crucial for Christians to apprehend the implications of Robert Barron's trenchant thesis: 'Modernity and decadent Christianity are enemies in one sense, but in another sense, they are deeply connected to one another and mirror one another.' Moving beyond the 'decadent Christianity' that mistakenly sought its very starting points in the epistemological and metaphysical dead ends characteristic of 'modernity, ' Barron expertly weaves together a robust short summa. Readers seeking spiritual and intellectual renewal will be revitalized by this much-needed book, which overflows with love of God and his path of salvation."
--Matthew Levering, Mundelein Seminary

"Catholic theology stands at a foundational moment, and in this extended meditation on the figure of Christ, Robert Barron boldly argues for a Catholicism that rethinks the controversy between modern and postmodern thought through classic theological formulations. Broad in reference and informed by the homilist's touch, The Priority of Christ will be an important contribution to a conversation the Church must have."
--Richard A. Rosengarten, University of Chicago

Author Biography

Robert Barron (STD, Institut Catholique de Paris) is auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. He founded Word on Fire, a Catholic ministry of evangelism, and previously served as rector of Mundelein Seminary and president of the University of Saint Mary of the Lake. Barron has written numerous books, including Catholicism, Exploring Catholic Theology, 2 Samuel in the Brazos Theological Commentary on the Bible series, The Strangest Way: Walking the Christian Path, and Heaven in Stone and Glass.