Aidan Nichols

An analytical exploration of Williams' poetic magnum opus, guiding the lay reader through the rich and challenging text. Charles Williams, Oxford's 'Third Inkling', is less well known than C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien, yet both recognized his brilliance. Nichols moves through the Arthuriad poem by poem, drawing on the historical, religious and literary context informing Williams' poetical work and drawing out poignant details to enrich one's reading of the collection. Below the Summer Stars does not proceed with line-by-line analysis, but instead illuminates the overall sense and message of the Arthuriad poems; the result is a concise and informative study which accompanies the reader through the text rather than overshadowing Williams' words. Ultimately, Nichols argues, the Arthuriad is theological in character, yet it also establishes a hitherto lacking mythopoetic world for the British Isles; Nichols' historical and cultural analysis is an invitation to step into this world, confident in the authorial voice which shows you the way.

Charles Williams, Oxford's 'Third Inkling', is less well known than C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien, yet both recognized his brilliance. Below the Summer Stars: The World of Charles Williams' Arthuriad by Aidan Nichols is an analytical exploration of Williams' poetic magnum opus, guiding the lay reader through the rich and challenging text and offering perhaps fresh insights for scholars. Nichols moves through the Arthuriad poem by poem, drawing on the historical, religious and literary context informing Williams' poetical work and drawing out poignant details to enrich one's reading of the collection. Below the Summer Stars does not proceed with line-by-line analysis, but instead illuminates the overall sense and message of the Arthuriad poems; the result is a concise and informative study which accompanies the reader through the text rather than overshadowing Williams' words. Ultimately, Nichols argues, the Arthuriad is theological in character, yet it also establishes a hitherto lacking mythopoetic world for the British Isles; Nichols' historical and cultural analysis is an invitation to step into this world, confident in the authorial voice which shows you the way.

This important and illuminating book focuses on Ratzinger's status as one of the preeminent Catholic theologians of the 20th century. Aidan Nichols provides a full-scale investigation of his theology as it develops from the 1950s onward. The book presents a chronological account of the development of Ratzinger's writing which reflects a wide range of historical and theoretical interests such as: Augustine's ecclesiology, early Franciscanism and the idea of salvation history, Christian brotherhood, the unfolding of the Second Vatican Council, the Apostles’ Creed, explorations of the concept of the Church, preaching, liturgy and Church music, eschatology, the foundations of dogmatic and moral theology, and the problem of pluralism. This third edition, as well as providing a two-chapter-long biography of Joseph Ratzinger/Benedict XVI, and amplifying the account already given of his later pre-papal writings, describes the new thinking that belongs to the years of Benedict's pontificate. That comprises his trilogy of books on Jesus of Nazareth, his quartet of encyclicals, and the set of major speeches he gave at global venues, chiefly on the contribution of faith to culture and civil society. An expanded Conclusion, weighing the lasting significance of his work, leads into a presentation of the themes of his posthumous essay collection - the 'curtain-call' he entitled 'What is Christianity?’

This important and illuminating book focuses on Ratzinger's status as one of the preeminent Catholic theologians of the 20th century. Aidan Nichols provides a full-scale investigation of his theology as it develops from the 1950s onward. The book presents a chronological account of the development of Ratzinger's writing which reflects a wide range of historical and theoretical interests such as: Augustine's ecclesiology, early Franciscanism and the idea of salvation history, Christian brotherhood, the unfolding of the Second Vatican Council, the Apostles’ Creed, explorations of the concept of the Church, preaching, liturgy and Church music, eschatology, the foundations of dogmatic and moral theology, and the problem of pluralism. This third edition, as well as providing a two-chapter-long biography of Joseph Ratzinger/Benedict XVI, and amplifying the account already given of his later pre-papal writings, describes the new thinking that belongs to the years of Benedict's pontificate. That comprises his trilogy of books on Jesus of Nazareth, his quartet of encyclicals, and the set of major speeches he gave at global venues, chiefly on the contribution of faith to culture and civil society. An expanded Conclusion, weighing the lasting significance of his work, leads into a presentation of the themes of his posthumous essay collection - the 'curtain-call' he entitled 'What is Christianity?’

"I . . . find these Fathers to be, in words of William Butler Yeats, 'singing-masters of my soul'. Anyone who prays through the year the Office of Readings in the Roman Liturgy of the Hours will understand why." -- Fr. Aidan Nichols, From the IntroductionTheSinging-Masters, written by the author of Rome and the Eastern Churches, is a passionate, personalized account of the theological achievement of eighteen of the Church Fathers. Ten come from the Greek East: Irenaeus, Origen, Athanasius, Gregory of Nyssa, Gregory of Nazianzus, Basil the Great, Cyril of Alexandria, Denys the Areopagite, Maximus the Confessor, and John Damascene. Eight come from the Latin West: Tertullian, Cyprian, Ambrose, Jerome, Augustine, Leo the Great, Gregory the Great, and Bede the Venerable. The Fathers chosen here are those who have been especially authoritative for Catholic doctrine or particularly influential in Church life. While giving a dramatic, humanized account of patristic thought, colored by biographical detail, Aidan Nichols, O. P., draws the reader into a serious discussion of the Fathers' complex theological doctrines. The Singing-Masters offers a holistic and loving introduction to the figures who most shaped Christian thought, both in the East and in the West.

This is the first comprehensive study of the theological significance of Paul Claudel, a poet frequently cited by literary-minded theologians in Europe and theologically-minded poets (such as von Balthasar, de Lubac and Eliot). His writing combines cosmology and history, Bible and metaphysics, liturgy and the drama of human personality. His work, which continues to arouse discussion in France, was acclaimed in his lifetime as the 'summa poetica' of a new Dante. Aidan Nichols' study demonstrates how Claudel's oeuvre, which is not only poetry but theatre and prose including biblical commentaries, constitutes a rich resource for constructive doctrine, liturgical preaching, and theological reflection. As the comparable example of Geoffrey Hill, Professor of Poetry at Oxford suggests, Aidan Nichols illuminates how Claudel's synthesis of many dimensions remains an important way of practising poetry in the Christian tradition today.

A comprehensive introduction to one of the most significant dogmatic theologians of recent centuries. Exploring the vigour, coherence, and beauty of Scheeben's theological vision, Nichols concludes that the great German theologian's work combines "romance and system" - a lyrical appeal to the imagination and a virile challenge to the intellect, the inspiration of metaphor and the conceptual power of an architectonic account of the revelation carried by the Church. Romance and System examines the major themes of Scheeben's works and underscores their preeminence in Catholic dogmatic theology.

A lively debate continues in the Roman Catholic Church about the character of the teaching provided by the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965). Did it represent a decisive rupture with previous doctrine, or the continuation of its earlier message under new conditions? Much depends on whether the Council texts are read in the light of subsequent events, which shook and sometimes smashed the life, worship and devotion of traditional Catholicism - rather than considered for themselves, in their own right as documents with a pre-history that historians can know. In this work Dominican scholar and writer Aidan Nichols maintains that the Council texts must be interpreted in the light of their genesis, not their aftermath. They must be seen in the light of the public debates in the Council chamber, not the hopes (or fears) of individuals behind the scenes. On this basis, he provides a concise commentary on the eight most significant documents produced by the Council, documents which cover pretty comprehensively all the major aspects of the Church's life. Nichols describes the Council as a gathering where the Conciliar minority - guarded, prudent, and concerned for explicit continuity at all points with the preceding tradition - played a beneficial role in steadying the Conciliar majority, enthused as the latter was by the movements of biblical, patristic and liturgical 'return to the sources' and a desire to reach out to the world of the (then) present-day in generosity of heart. The texts that emerged from this often impassioned debate remain susceptible to a reading of a classically Christian kind. That is precisely what Nichols offers in this book.

AftŸer a long period of comparative neglect, starting almost immediately upon his death in 1900, John Ruskin began to attract, from the 1960s onwards, a remarkable degree of critical interest. Although the formidably ample Library Edition of Ruskin’s works will always constitute the primary basis for interpretation, there is also newly available source material, in the form of letters and (in part) diaries, as well as a scintillating body of modern comment to which the present study seeks to contribute. Ruskin had an extraordinary ability to bring together aesthetics, religion, ecology, and social issues in a unitary, overarching vision, all expressed in a prose style worthy of comparison with any in the English language. All Great Art is Praise focuses especially on the themes of art and religion, for Aidan Nichols takes the view that Ruskin’s writings on art cannot be appreciated without taking into account at many points his approach to religion. This volume offers an analytic account of Ruskin’s principal writings on art, viewed through the lens of Ruskin’s religious claims. For readers new to Ruskin, an opening chapter provides an overview of his work in the context of a life that combined public celebrity with private sorrow. Succeeding chapters consider his comments on art andreligion in broadly chronological order, ending with the highly innovative open letters to working men, and his moving autobiography which was leŸ unfinished at the time of his descent into madness and death. Ruskin’s evaluations of (among others) Turner and the Pre-Raphaelites, the Italian Primitives, and the artists of the high Renaissance, gave the Victorians eyes to see. But his writings call for comment not only from literary scholars and art historians but also from students of ideas since they address a wide range of issues in both theology and philosophy. The volume looks especially closely at Ruskin’s changing attitudes to Catholicism. The son of a stoutly Bible-Protestant mother and a father politically opposed to the civil emancipation of Catholics, Ruskinfound it increasingly difficult to combine his inherited anti-Catholicism with his appreciation of Byzantine-Venetian, Renaissance-humanist, and Franciscan-evangelical art and the program for living these contained or implied. The rumors in late life of his immanent conversion to Rome proved unfounded, but they were not implausible. All Great Art is Praise seeks to show why.

Mary continues to be a source of theological interest and concern for Catholics and Protestants alike. For Catholics, Mariology was codified in a set of dogmas over the centuries; yet many Catholics remain unaware of the biblical, historical, and theological matrix that gave rise to the magisterial teaching. Protestants, with some exceptions, remain skeptical of Marianism in Catholic theology, viewing such as intrusions upon biblical doctrine and faith or unnecessary accretions threatening of sound Christian theology. Aidan Nichols, OP, attempts to address this "puzzlement" of Mary. Working through the biblical, patristic, and medieval sources, Nichols introduces readers to the robust scriptural and theological bases for the Church's celebration of Mary in its doctrine and liturgy, alongside the work of the Councils and the magisterium, to argue for the crucial relevance of Mary in the theological articulation of the gospel, the celebration and practice of the liturgy, and the sacramental life of the Church.