The Reformation as Renewal

The Reformation as Renewal

Author: Matthew Barrett

Publisher: Zondervan Academic

Published: 2023-06-06

Total Pages: 1009

ISBN-13: 0310097568

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A holistic, eye-opening history of one of the most significant turning points in Christianity, The Reformation as Renewal demonstrates that the Reformation was at its core a renewal of evangelical catholicity. In the sixteenth century Rome charged the Reformers with novelty, as if they were heretics departing from the catholic (universal) church. But the Reformers believed they were more catholic than Rome. Distinguishing themselves from Radicals, the Reformers were convinced they were retrieving the faith of the church fathers and the best of the medieval Scholastics. The Reformers saw themselves as faithful stewards of the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic church preserved across history, and they insisted on a restoration of true worship in their own day. By listening to the Reformers' own voices, The Reformation as Renewal helps readers explore: The Reformation's roots in patristic and medieval thought and its response to late medieval innovations. Key philosophical and theological differences between Scholasticism in the High Middle Ages and deviations in the Late Middle Ages. The many ways sixteenth and seventeenth century Protestant Scholastics critically appropriated Thomas Aquinas. The Reformation's response to the charge of novelty by an appeal to the Augustinian tradition. Common caricatures that charge the Reformation with schism or assume the Reformation was the gateway to secularism. The spread of Reformation catholicity across Europe, as seen in first and second-generation leaders from Luther and Melanchthon in Wittenberg to Zwingli and Bullinger in Zurich to Bucer and Calvin in Strasbourg and Geneva to Tyndale, Cranmer, and Jewel in England, and many others. The theology of the Reformers, with special attention on their writings defending the catholicity of the Reformation. This balanced, insightful, and accessible treatment of the Reformation will help readers see this watershed moment in the history of Christianity with fresh eyes and appreciate the unity they have with the church across time. Readers will discover that the Reformation was not a new invention, but the renewal of something very old.


Book Synopsis The Reformation as Renewal by : Matthew Barrett

Download or read book The Reformation as Renewal written by Matthew Barrett and published by Zondervan Academic. This book was released on 2023-06-06 with total page 1009 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A holistic, eye-opening history of one of the most significant turning points in Christianity, The Reformation as Renewal demonstrates that the Reformation was at its core a renewal of evangelical catholicity. In the sixteenth century Rome charged the Reformers with novelty, as if they were heretics departing from the catholic (universal) church. But the Reformers believed they were more catholic than Rome. Distinguishing themselves from Radicals, the Reformers were convinced they were retrieving the faith of the church fathers and the best of the medieval Scholastics. The Reformers saw themselves as faithful stewards of the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic church preserved across history, and they insisted on a restoration of true worship in their own day. By listening to the Reformers' own voices, The Reformation as Renewal helps readers explore: The Reformation's roots in patristic and medieval thought and its response to late medieval innovations. Key philosophical and theological differences between Scholasticism in the High Middle Ages and deviations in the Late Middle Ages. The many ways sixteenth and seventeenth century Protestant Scholastics critically appropriated Thomas Aquinas. The Reformation's response to the charge of novelty by an appeal to the Augustinian tradition. Common caricatures that charge the Reformation with schism or assume the Reformation was the gateway to secularism. The spread of Reformation catholicity across Europe, as seen in first and second-generation leaders from Luther and Melanchthon in Wittenberg to Zwingli and Bullinger in Zurich to Bucer and Calvin in Strasbourg and Geneva to Tyndale, Cranmer, and Jewel in England, and many others. The theology of the Reformers, with special attention on their writings defending the catholicity of the Reformation. This balanced, insightful, and accessible treatment of the Reformation will help readers see this watershed moment in the history of Christianity with fresh eyes and appreciate the unity they have with the church across time. Readers will discover that the Reformation was not a new invention, but the renewal of something very old.

Planting the Cross

Planting the Cross

Author: Barbara B. Diefendorf

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2019-02-15

Total Pages: 304

ISBN-13: 0190887036

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The first thing that Catholic religious orders did when they arrived in a town to establish a new community was to plant the cross--to erect a large wooden cross where the church was to stand. The cross was a contested symbol in the civil wars that reduced France to near anarchy in the sixteenth century. Protestants tore down crosses to mark their disdain for "popish" superstition; Catholics swore to erect a thousand new crosses for every one destroyed. Fighting words at the time, the vow to erect a thousand new crosses was expressed in the rapid multiplication of reformed religious congregations once peace arrived. In this book, Barbara B. Diefendorf examines the beginnings of the Catholic Reformation in France and shows how profoundly the movement was shaped by the experience of religious war. She analyzes convents and monasteries in three regions--Paris, Provence, and Languedoc--as they struggled to survive the wars and then to raise standards and instill a new piety in their members in their aftermath. What emerges are stories of nuns left homeless by the wars, of monks rebelling against both abbot and king, of ascetic friars reviving Catholic devotion in a Protestant-dominated South, and of a Dominican order battling demonic possession. Illuminating persistent debates about the purpose of monastic life, Planting the Cross underscores the diverse paths religious reform took within different local settings and offers new perspectives on the evolution of early modern French Catholicism.


Book Synopsis Planting the Cross by : Barbara B. Diefendorf

Download or read book Planting the Cross written by Barbara B. Diefendorf and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2019-02-15 with total page 304 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The first thing that Catholic religious orders did when they arrived in a town to establish a new community was to plant the cross--to erect a large wooden cross where the church was to stand. The cross was a contested symbol in the civil wars that reduced France to near anarchy in the sixteenth century. Protestants tore down crosses to mark their disdain for "popish" superstition; Catholics swore to erect a thousand new crosses for every one destroyed. Fighting words at the time, the vow to erect a thousand new crosses was expressed in the rapid multiplication of reformed religious congregations once peace arrived. In this book, Barbara B. Diefendorf examines the beginnings of the Catholic Reformation in France and shows how profoundly the movement was shaped by the experience of religious war. She analyzes convents and monasteries in three regions--Paris, Provence, and Languedoc--as they struggled to survive the wars and then to raise standards and instill a new piety in their members in their aftermath. What emerges are stories of nuns left homeless by the wars, of monks rebelling against both abbot and king, of ascetic friars reviving Catholic devotion in a Protestant-dominated South, and of a Dominican order battling demonic possession. Illuminating persistent debates about the purpose of monastic life, Planting the Cross underscores the diverse paths religious reform took within different local settings and offers new perspectives on the evolution of early modern French Catholicism.

Crisis and Renewal

Crisis and Renewal

Author: R. Ward Holder

Publisher: Westminster John Knox Press

Published: 2009-01-27

Total Pages: 290

ISBN-13: 0664229905

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This latest volume in the Westminster History of Christian Thought series introduces readers to the events and ideas that propelled the various religious reformations of sixteenth-century Europe. A splendid introduction to this momentous period, Crisis and Renewal examines the historical and theological developments that dramatically changed the religious landscape of Europe and continue to have important effects today. Discussion questions and other aids make this an excellent book for classroom use. Designed particularly for undergraduate courses in theology and religion, the Westminster History of Christian Thought series offers reliable and accessible introductions to Christian thought for each major period in Christian history--the early church, the medieval era, the Reformation, the modern age, and the contemporary period--and concludes with a volume on American religious thought.


Book Synopsis Crisis and Renewal by : R. Ward Holder

Download or read book Crisis and Renewal written by R. Ward Holder and published by Westminster John Knox Press. This book was released on 2009-01-27 with total page 290 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This latest volume in the Westminster History of Christian Thought series introduces readers to the events and ideas that propelled the various religious reformations of sixteenth-century Europe. A splendid introduction to this momentous period, Crisis and Renewal examines the historical and theological developments that dramatically changed the religious landscape of Europe and continue to have important effects today. Discussion questions and other aids make this an excellent book for classroom use. Designed particularly for undergraduate courses in theology and religion, the Westminster History of Christian Thought series offers reliable and accessible introductions to Christian thought for each major period in Christian history--the early church, the medieval era, the Reformation, the modern age, and the contemporary period--and concludes with a volume on American religious thought.

The World of Catholic Renewal 1540-1770

The World of Catholic Renewal 1540-1770

Author: R. Po-chia Hsia

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 1998

Total Pages: 258

ISBN-13: 9780521445962

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A thematic study of Catholic renewal from the Council of Trent to the eighteenth century.


Book Synopsis The World of Catholic Renewal 1540-1770 by : R. Po-chia Hsia

Download or read book The World of Catholic Renewal 1540-1770 written by R. Po-chia Hsia and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 1998 with total page 258 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A thematic study of Catholic renewal from the Council of Trent to the eighteenth century.

Reformation Theology

Reformation Theology

Author: Matthew Barrett

Publisher: Crossway

Published: 2017-03-16

Total Pages: 546

ISBN-13: 1433543311

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Five hundred years ago, the Reformers were defending doctrines such as justification by faith alone, the authority of Scripture, and God's grace in salvation—some to the point of death. Many of these same essential doctrines are still being challenged today, and there has never been a more crucial time to hold fast to the enduring truth of Scripture. In Reformation Theology, Matthew Barrett has brought together a team of expert theologians and historians writing on key doctrines taught and defended by the Reformers centuries ago. With contributions from Michael Horton, Gerald Bray, Michael Reeves, Carl Trueman, Robert Kolb, and many others, this volume stands as a manifesto for the church, exhorting Christians to learn from our spiritual forebears and hold fast to sound doctrine rooted in the Bible and passed on from generation to generation.


Book Synopsis Reformation Theology by : Matthew Barrett

Download or read book Reformation Theology written by Matthew Barrett and published by Crossway. This book was released on 2017-03-16 with total page 546 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Five hundred years ago, the Reformers were defending doctrines such as justification by faith alone, the authority of Scripture, and God's grace in salvation—some to the point of death. Many of these same essential doctrines are still being challenged today, and there has never been a more crucial time to hold fast to the enduring truth of Scripture. In Reformation Theology, Matthew Barrett has brought together a team of expert theologians and historians writing on key doctrines taught and defended by the Reformers centuries ago. With contributions from Michael Horton, Gerald Bray, Michael Reeves, Carl Trueman, Robert Kolb, and many others, this volume stands as a manifesto for the church, exhorting Christians to learn from our spiritual forebears and hold fast to sound doctrine rooted in the Bible and passed on from generation to generation.

The Catholicity of the Reformation

The Catholicity of the Reformation

Author: Carl E. Braaten

Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing

Published: 1996

Total Pages: 126

ISBN-13: 9780802842206

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As the title of this engaging book suggests, "catholicity" was the true intent of the Reformation. The Reformers did not set out to create what later came to be known as Protestant Christianity. Theirs was a quest for reformation and renewal in continuity with the "one holy catholic and apostolic church" of ancient times. The authors of the essays collected here demonstrate this catholicity of the Reformers and stress the importance of recovering the church's catholic tradition today. Robert W. Jenson examines communio ecclesiology, describing ecumenical thought on this ecclesiology and developing it in a number of areas. David S. Yeago proposes a new way of reading Luther, suggesting that the shift in Luther's thought actually brought him closer to the church's catholic tradition. Frank C. Senn discusses the Reformers' changes to the order of the mass, which restored the people's participation and regular preaching on biblical texts. Carl E. Braaten explores the problems that arise from the lack of an office of teaching authority in Protestant churches. James R. Crumley examines various perspectives on the office of pastor, seeking to clarify the notion of ministry in the catholic tradition. Robert L. Wilken looks at Pietism, showing that this movement sought to recover lost aspects of medieval spirituality and called for a deepening of personal piety. Finally, Gunther Gassmann discusses the ways in which the church universal is and should be a communion of churches.


Book Synopsis The Catholicity of the Reformation by : Carl E. Braaten

Download or read book The Catholicity of the Reformation written by Carl E. Braaten and published by Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. This book was released on 1996 with total page 126 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: As the title of this engaging book suggests, "catholicity" was the true intent of the Reformation. The Reformers did not set out to create what later came to be known as Protestant Christianity. Theirs was a quest for reformation and renewal in continuity with the "one holy catholic and apostolic church" of ancient times. The authors of the essays collected here demonstrate this catholicity of the Reformers and stress the importance of recovering the church's catholic tradition today. Robert W. Jenson examines communio ecclesiology, describing ecumenical thought on this ecclesiology and developing it in a number of areas. David S. Yeago proposes a new way of reading Luther, suggesting that the shift in Luther's thought actually brought him closer to the church's catholic tradition. Frank C. Senn discusses the Reformers' changes to the order of the mass, which restored the people's participation and regular preaching on biblical texts. Carl E. Braaten explores the problems that arise from the lack of an office of teaching authority in Protestant churches. James R. Crumley examines various perspectives on the office of pastor, seeking to clarify the notion of ministry in the catholic tradition. Robert L. Wilken looks at Pietism, showing that this movement sought to recover lost aspects of medieval spirituality and called for a deepening of personal piety. Finally, Gunther Gassmann discusses the ways in which the church universal is and should be a communion of churches.

Renewing Christianity

Renewing Christianity

Author: Christopher M. Bellitto

Publisher: Paulist Press

Published: 2001

Total Pages: 260

ISBN-13: 9780809140282

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This book follows the tide of reform and renewal in Church history, and demonstrates that reform has always been an essential element of Christianity. Indeed, Christopher Bellitto emphasizes that reform should not be perceived as limited to the Reformation or Vatican II. As one learns from the author's analysis, the history of Christianity is little other than the history of reform. This sweeping assessment of Church history is both remarkable and deep, but is also highly readable. Bellitto begins with an introduction to the subject of reform and follows that with chapters on the patristic period and Carolingian Renaissance, the High Middle Ages (1050-1300), Avignon to Trent, From Trent to Modernity, and Vatican II. He ends with a conclusion that draws together the recurring themes and patterns of reform activity in the Church. In short, this is a unique book on the subject of Church reform. Renewing Christianity is useful to both scholars and non-academics alike. It is written in a "learnedly popular style," and would appeal to clergy, seminarians, academics, graduate students or anyone interested in Church reform and renewal, Church history, or historical theology. +


Book Synopsis Renewing Christianity by : Christopher M. Bellitto

Download or read book Renewing Christianity written by Christopher M. Bellitto and published by Paulist Press. This book was released on 2001 with total page 260 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book follows the tide of reform and renewal in Church history, and demonstrates that reform has always been an essential element of Christianity. Indeed, Christopher Bellitto emphasizes that reform should not be perceived as limited to the Reformation or Vatican II. As one learns from the author's analysis, the history of Christianity is little other than the history of reform. This sweeping assessment of Church history is both remarkable and deep, but is also highly readable. Bellitto begins with an introduction to the subject of reform and follows that with chapters on the patristic period and Carolingian Renaissance, the High Middle Ages (1050-1300), Avignon to Trent, From Trent to Modernity, and Vatican II. He ends with a conclusion that draws together the recurring themes and patterns of reform activity in the Church. In short, this is a unique book on the subject of Church reform. Renewing Christianity is useful to both scholars and non-academics alike. It is written in a "learnedly popular style," and would appeal to clergy, seminarians, academics, graduate students or anyone interested in Church reform and renewal, Church history, or historical theology. +

Getting the Reformation Wrong

Getting the Reformation Wrong

Author: James R. Payton Jr.

Publisher: InterVarsity Press

Published: 2010-07-08

Total Pages: 273

ISBN-13: 0830838805

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Most students of history know that Martin Luther nailed his ninety-five theses to the Wittenberg Church door and that John Calvin penned the Institutes of the Christian Religion. However, the Reformation did not unfold in the straightforward, monolithic fashion some may think. It was, in fact, quite a messy affair. Using the most current Reformation scholarship, James R. Payton exposes, challenges and corrects some common misrepresentations of the Reformation.


Book Synopsis Getting the Reformation Wrong by : James R. Payton Jr.

Download or read book Getting the Reformation Wrong written by James R. Payton Jr. and published by InterVarsity Press. This book was released on 2010-07-08 with total page 273 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Most students of history know that Martin Luther nailed his ninety-five theses to the Wittenberg Church door and that John Calvin penned the Institutes of the Christian Religion. However, the Reformation did not unfold in the straightforward, monolithic fashion some may think. It was, in fact, quite a messy affair. Using the most current Reformation scholarship, James R. Payton exposes, challenges and corrects some common misrepresentations of the Reformation.

Reassessing Reform

Reassessing Reform

Author: Christopher M. Bellitto

Publisher: CUA Press

Published: 2012-11-07

Total Pages: 306

ISBN-13: 081321999X

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Intro -- Contents -- Preface - John Howe -- 1. Introduction - Christopher M. Bellitto and David Zachariah Flanagin -- I. Gerhart Ladner's The Idea of Reform After 50 Years -- 2. My Debt to Gerd: His Legacy as Teacher of History and Historian of Ideas, Fifty Years after The Idea of Reform and in Light of Present Research - Lester L. Field Jr. -- 3. Gerhart Ladner's The Idea of Reform: Reflections on Terminology and Ideology - Louis B. Pascoe, S.J. -- 4. The Continuing Relevance of The Idea of Reform - Phillip H. Stump -- II. Models and Case Studies of Medieval and Reformation Reform -- 5. "He does not say, 'I am custom'": Pope Gregory VII's Idea of Reform - Ken A. Grant -- 6. Administrative Change in the Fourteenth-Century Dominican Order: A Case Study in Partial Reforms and Incomplete Theories - Michael Vargas -- 7. The Six Errors: Hus on Simony - C. Colt Anderson -- 8. Church, Bible, and Reform in the Hussite Debates at the Council of Basel, 1433 - Gerald Christianson -- 9. In Search of Unity: Reform and Mathematical Form in the Conciliarist Arguments of Heymeric de Campo's Disputatio de potestate ecclesiastica (1433) - David Albertson -- 10. Premonstratensian Voices of Reform at the Fifteenth-Century Councils - William P. Hyland -- 11. "Memoriam Fecit": The Eucharist, Memory, Reform, and Regeneration in Hildegard of Bingen's Scivias and Nicholas of Cusa's Sermons - Ann W. Astell -- 12. Visions of Reform: Lay Piety as a Form of Thinking in Nicholas of Cusa - Inigo Bocken -- 13. Carthusians as Public Intellectuals: Cloistered Religious as Advisors to Lay Elites on the Eve of the Protestant Reformation - Dennis D. Martin -- 14. Black and White and Re-Read all Over: Conceptualizing Reform across the Long Sixteenth Century, 1414-1633 - William V. Hudon -- Contributors -- Index


Book Synopsis Reassessing Reform by : Christopher M. Bellitto

Download or read book Reassessing Reform written by Christopher M. Bellitto and published by CUA Press. This book was released on 2012-11-07 with total page 306 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Intro -- Contents -- Preface - John Howe -- 1. Introduction - Christopher M. Bellitto and David Zachariah Flanagin -- I. Gerhart Ladner's The Idea of Reform After 50 Years -- 2. My Debt to Gerd: His Legacy as Teacher of History and Historian of Ideas, Fifty Years after The Idea of Reform and in Light of Present Research - Lester L. Field Jr. -- 3. Gerhart Ladner's The Idea of Reform: Reflections on Terminology and Ideology - Louis B. Pascoe, S.J. -- 4. The Continuing Relevance of The Idea of Reform - Phillip H. Stump -- II. Models and Case Studies of Medieval and Reformation Reform -- 5. "He does not say, 'I am custom'": Pope Gregory VII's Idea of Reform - Ken A. Grant -- 6. Administrative Change in the Fourteenth-Century Dominican Order: A Case Study in Partial Reforms and Incomplete Theories - Michael Vargas -- 7. The Six Errors: Hus on Simony - C. Colt Anderson -- 8. Church, Bible, and Reform in the Hussite Debates at the Council of Basel, 1433 - Gerald Christianson -- 9. In Search of Unity: Reform and Mathematical Form in the Conciliarist Arguments of Heymeric de Campo's Disputatio de potestate ecclesiastica (1433) - David Albertson -- 10. Premonstratensian Voices of Reform at the Fifteenth-Century Councils - William P. Hyland -- 11. "Memoriam Fecit": The Eucharist, Memory, Reform, and Regeneration in Hildegard of Bingen's Scivias and Nicholas of Cusa's Sermons - Ann W. Astell -- 12. Visions of Reform: Lay Piety as a Form of Thinking in Nicholas of Cusa - Inigo Bocken -- 13. Carthusians as Public Intellectuals: Cloistered Religious as Advisors to Lay Elites on the Eve of the Protestant Reformation - Dennis D. Martin -- 14. Black and White and Re-Read all Over: Conceptualizing Reform across the Long Sixteenth Century, 1414-1633 - William V. Hudon -- Contributors -- Index

Evangelical Catholicism

Evangelical Catholicism

Author: George Weigel

Publisher: Basic Books

Published: 2014-04-22

Total Pages: 307

ISBN-13: 0465038913

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The Catholic Church is on the threshold of a bold new era in its two-thousand year history. As the curtain comes down on the Church defined by the 16th-century Counter-Reformation, the curtain is rising on the Evangelical Catholicism of the third millennium: a way of being Catholic that comes from over a century of Catholic reform; a mission-centered renewal honed by the Second Vatican Council and given compelling expression by Blessed John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI. The Gospel-centered Evangelical Catholicism of the future will send all the people of the Church into mission territory every day -- a territory increasingly defined in the West by spiritual boredom and aggressive secularism. Confronting both these cultural challenges and the shadows cast by recent Catholic history, Evangelical Catholicism unapologetically proclaims the Gospel of Jesus Christ as the truth of the world. It also molds disciples who witness to faith, hope, and love by the quality of their lives and the nobility of their aspirations. Thus the Catholicism of the 21st century and beyond will be a culture-forming counterculture, offering all men and women of good will a deeply humane alternative to the soul-stifling self-absorption of postmodernity. Drawing on thirty years of experience throughout the Catholic world, from its humblest parishes to its highest levels of authority, George Weigel proposes a deepening of faith-based and mission-driven Catholic reform that touches every facet of Catholic life -- from the episcopate and the papacy to the priesthood and the consecrated life; from the renewal of the lay vocation in the world to the redefinition of the Church's engagement with public life; from the liturgy to the Church's intellectual life. Lay Catholics and clergy alike should welcome the challenge of this unique moment in the Church's history, Weigel urges. Mediocrity is not an option, and all Catholics, no matter what their station in life, are called to live the evangelical vocation into which they were baptized: without compromise, but with the joy, courage, and confidence that comes from living this side of the Resurrection.


Book Synopsis Evangelical Catholicism by : George Weigel

Download or read book Evangelical Catholicism written by George Weigel and published by Basic Books. This book was released on 2014-04-22 with total page 307 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Catholic Church is on the threshold of a bold new era in its two-thousand year history. As the curtain comes down on the Church defined by the 16th-century Counter-Reformation, the curtain is rising on the Evangelical Catholicism of the third millennium: a way of being Catholic that comes from over a century of Catholic reform; a mission-centered renewal honed by the Second Vatican Council and given compelling expression by Blessed John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI. The Gospel-centered Evangelical Catholicism of the future will send all the people of the Church into mission territory every day -- a territory increasingly defined in the West by spiritual boredom and aggressive secularism. Confronting both these cultural challenges and the shadows cast by recent Catholic history, Evangelical Catholicism unapologetically proclaims the Gospel of Jesus Christ as the truth of the world. It also molds disciples who witness to faith, hope, and love by the quality of their lives and the nobility of their aspirations. Thus the Catholicism of the 21st century and beyond will be a culture-forming counterculture, offering all men and women of good will a deeply humane alternative to the soul-stifling self-absorption of postmodernity. Drawing on thirty years of experience throughout the Catholic world, from its humblest parishes to its highest levels of authority, George Weigel proposes a deepening of faith-based and mission-driven Catholic reform that touches every facet of Catholic life -- from the episcopate and the papacy to the priesthood and the consecrated life; from the renewal of the lay vocation in the world to the redefinition of the Church's engagement with public life; from the liturgy to the Church's intellectual life. Lay Catholics and clergy alike should welcome the challenge of this unique moment in the Church's history, Weigel urges. Mediocrity is not an option, and all Catholics, no matter what their station in life, are called to live the evangelical vocation into which they were baptized: without compromise, but with the joy, courage, and confidence that comes from living this side of the Resurrection.