Tomáš Halík provides a poignant reflection on Christianity’s crisis of faith while offering a vision of the self-reflection, love, and growth necessary for the church to overcome and build a deeper and more mature faith.
In a world transformed by secularization and globalization, torn by stark political and social distrust, and ravaged by war and pandemic, Christians are facing a crisis of faith. In The Afternoon of Christianity, Tomáš Halík reflects on past and present challenges confronting Christian faith, drawing together strands from the Bible, historic Christian theology, philosophy, psychology, and classic literature. In the process, he reveals the current crisis as a crossroads: one road leads toward division and irrelevance, while the other provides the opportunity to develop a deeper, more credible, and mature form of church, theology, and spirituality—an afternoon epoch of Christianity.
The fruitfulness of the reform and the future vibrancy of the Church depends on a reconnection with the deep spiritual and existential dimension of faith. Halík argues that Christianity must transcend itself, giving up isolation and self-centeredness in favor of loving dialogue with people of different cultures, languages, and religions. The search for God in all things frees Christian life from self-absorption and leads toward universal fraternity, one of Pope Francis’s key themes. This renewal of faith can help the human family move beyond a clash of civilizations to a culture of communication, sharing, and respect for diversity.
Spis treści
Preface
1. Faith In Motion
2. Faith As Experience Of Mystery
3. Reading The Signs Of The Times
4. A Thousand Years Like A Day
5. Religious Or Non-Religious Christianity?
6. Darkness At Noon
7. Is God Coming Back?
8. The Heirs Of Modern Religion
9. From Global Village To Civitas Oecumenica
10. A Third Enlightenment?
11. The Identity Of Christianity
12. God Near And Far
13. Spirituality As The Passion Of Faith
14. The Faith Of Non-Believers And A Window Of Hope
15. The Community Of The Way
16. A Community Of Listening And Understanding
Recommended Reading
Acknowledgements
Index of Names
Summary
O autorze
Gerald Turner has translated numerous authors from Czechoslovakia, including Václav Havel, Ivan Klíma, and Ludvík Vaculík, among others. He received the US PEN Translation Award in 2004.