Synopses & Reviews
In his most provocative book yet, Pulitzer Prize–winner Garry Wills asks the radical question: Why do we need priests? Bestselling author of Papal Sin and Why I Am a Catholic, Garry Wills spent five years as a young man at a Jesuit seminary and nearly became a priest himself. But after a lifetime of study and reflection, he now poses some challenging questions: Why do we need priests at all? Why did the priesthood arise in a religion that began without it and opposed it? Would Christianity be stronger without the priesthood, as it was at its outset?
Meticulously researched, persuasively argued, and certain to spark debate, Why Priests? asserts that the anonymous Letter to Hebrews, a late addition to the New Testament canon, helped inject the priesthood into a Christianity where it did not exist, along with such concomitants as belief in an apostolic succession, the real presence in the Eucharist, the sacrificial interpretation of the Mass, and the ransom theory of redemption. But Wills does not expect the priesthood to fade entirely away. He just reminds us that Christianity did without it in the time of Peter and Paul with notable success.
Wills concludes with a powerful statement of his own beliefs in a book that will appeal to believers and nonbelievers alike and stand for years to come as a towering achievement.
Review
"...[T]his otherwise candid, richly informative and perfectly timed book comes as an anticlimax and a distinct disappointment, not least for its studied indifference to contemporary American Catholic theology....here is a Chestertonian paradox about which we would willingly hear more. Here is as well in the Madisonian vein of ''Under God'' -- a ''new task'' for the Catholic faithful, particularly if, in the current crisis, they begin to heed this prophet's call and seize the authority that he believes is already theirs." Jack Miles, New York Times July 14, 2002, author of Christ: A Crisis in the Life of God.
Review
"The prolific historian offers a timely confession of faith and an apology in the true sense of the term....Deserves-and will almost certainly find-a wide readership while garnering for Wills both praise as a principled oppositionist and condemnation as a heretic." Kirkus Reviews
Review
"Although it is unlikely that this book, which cites many more papal sinners than its predecessor did, will mollify Wills' critics, it is compellingly argued, intellectually satisfying, and spiritually moving." Ray Olson, Booklist
Synopsis
Papal Sin and its exposé of a fundamental dishonesty at the heart of the papacy provoked both praise and heated debate. Accused by some of harboring deep resentments against the church, Wills counters with a powerful statement of his Catholic faith. Wills begins with a reflection on his early experience of that faith as a child, and later as a Jesuit seminarian, revealing the importance of Catholicism in his own life. He goes on to challenge, in clear and forceful terms, the dogmatic claim that criticism or reform of the papacy is an assault on the faith itself. In a sweeping narrative covering two thousand years of church history, he reveals that the papacy, far from being an unchanging institution, has been transformed dramatically over the millennia and can be reimagined in the future. Wills ends with a moving meditation on the significance of the creed, the timeless core of the Catholic faith, which endures even as the institution of the church changes. Posing urgent questions for Catholic and non-Catholic readers alike, Wills argues for the continuing relevance of a papacy newly understood. He has already stirred up controversy about the failures of the church. Now, at a time when the selection of a new pope is imminent, he is sure to spark an equally heated conversation about its future.
Synopsis
In this provocative work, which could not be timelier, Garry Wills, one of our country's most noted writers and historians, offers a powerful statement of his Catholic faith. Beginning with a reflection on his early experience of that faith as a child and later as a Jesuit seminarian, Wills reveals the importance of Catholicism in his own life. He goes on to challenge, in clear and forceful terms, the claim that criticism or reform of the papacy is an assault on the faith itself. For Wills, a Catholic can be both loyal and critical, a loving child who stays with his father even if the parent is wrong.
Wills turns outward from his personal experiences to present a sweeping narrative covering two thousand years of church history, revealing that the papacy, far from being an unchanging institution, has been transformed dramatically over the millennia -- and can be reimagined in the future. At a time when the church faces one of its most difficult crises, Garry Wills offers an important and compelling entrée into the discussion of the church's past -- and its future.
Intellectually brisk and spiritually moving, Why I Am a Catholic poses urgent questions for Catholic and non-Catholic readers alike.
Synopsis
In his most provocative book yet, Pulitzer Prize–winner Garry Wills asks the radical question: Why do we need priests? Bestselling author of Papal Sin and Why I Am a Catholic, Garry Wills spent five years as a young man at a Jesuit seminary and nearly became a priest himself. But after a lifetime of study and reflection, he now poses some challenging questions: Why do we need priests at all? Why did the priesthood arise in a religion that began without it and opposed it? Would Christianity be stronger without the priesthood, as it was at its outset?
Meticulously researched, persuasively argued, and certain to spark debate, Why Priests? asserts that the anonymous Letter to Hebrews, a late addition to the New Testament canon, helped inject the priesthood into a Christianity where it did not exist, along with such concomitants as belief in an apostolic succession, the real presence in the Eucharist, the sacrificial interpretation of the Mass, and the ransom theory of redemption. But Wills does not expect the priesthood to fade entirely away. He just reminds us that Christianity did without it in the time of Peter and Paul with notable success.
Wills concludes with a powerful statement of his own beliefs in a book that will appeal to believers and nonbelievers alike and stand for years to come as a towering achievement.
About the Author
Garry Wills, one of our most distinguished historians and critics, is the author of numerous books, including Saint Augustine, Papal Sin, and the Pulitzer Prizewinning Lincoln at Gettysburg. He has won many other awards, among them two National Book Critics Circle Awards and the 1998 National Medal for the Humanities. A regular contributor to the New York Review of Books, he is an adjunct professor of history at Northwestern University. He lives in Evanston, Illinois.
Table of Contents
Introduction 1
I. Born Catholic 9
1. Saint Mary's and Campion 13
2. Jesuit Days 21
3. Chesterton 31
4. Encyclicals 43
II. Church without Papal Primacy 53
5. Peter 57
6. Paul 70
7. Rome Mediating 78
8. Rome Meddling 85
9. Rome and the East 93
10. Rome Turns West 109
III. Forms of Papal Primacy 123
11. Forgeries and Populism 127
12. Rise of the Secular State and the Church Council 142
13. Renaissance and Reformation 154
14. Trent and England 165
15. Ancien Regime and Revolution 178
16. War on Democracy 190
17. Reign of Terror 208
IV. The Vatican II Church 223
18. The Great Rebirth 226
19. Born to Set Times Right 239
20. Fighting Vatican II 255
21. Living Vatican II 271
22. The Pope's Loyal Opposition 282
V. The Creed 293
23. I believe in God . . . 299
24. . . . the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth . . . 308
25. . . . and in Jesus Christ, our Lord, the only son of God . . . 316
26. . . . conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin
Mary . . . 324
27. . . . who will come to judge the living and the dead . . . 331
Epilogue 340
Notes 345
Acknowledgments 368
Index 369