“People who take God seriously will not remain silent about their faith. They will often disagree about doctrine or policy, but they won’t be quiet. They can’t be. They’ll act on what they believe, sometimes at the cost of their reputations and careers. Obviously the common good demands a respect for other people with different beliefs and a willingness to compromise whenever possible. But for Catholics, the common good can never mean muting themselves in public debate on foundational issues of human dignity. Christian faith is always personal but never private. This is why any notion of tolerance that tries to reduce faith to private idiosyncrasy, or a set of opinions that we can indulge at home but need to be quiet about in public, will always fail.” —From the Introduction
Few topics in recent years have ignited as much public debate as the balance between religion and politics. Does religious thought have any place in political discourse? Do religious believers have the right to turn their values into political action? What does it truly mean to have a separation of church and state? The very heart of these important questions is here addressed by one of the leading voices on the topic, Charles J. Chaput, Archbishop of Denver. While American society has ample room for believers and nonbelievers alike, Chaput argues, our public life must be considered within the context of its Christian roots. American democracy does not ask its citizens to put aside their deeply held moral and religious beliefs for the sake of public policy. In fact, it requires exactly the opposite. As the nation’s founders knew very well, people are fallible. The majority of voters, as history has shown again and again, can be uninformed, misinformed, biased, or simply wrong. Thus, to survive, American democracy depends on an engaged citizenry —people of character, including religious believers, fighting for their beliefs in the public square—respectfully but vigorously, and without apology. Anything less is bad citizenship and a form of theft from the nation’s health. Or as the author suggests: Good manners are not an excuse for political cowardice. American Catholics and other persons of goodwill are part of a struggle for our nation’s future, says Charles J. Chaput. Our choices, including our political choices, matter. Catholics need to take an active, vocal, and morally consistent role in public debate. We can’t claim to personally believe in the sanctity of the human person, and then act in our public policies as if we don’t. We can’t separate our private convictions from our public actions without diminishing both. In the words of the author, “How we act works backward on our convictions, making them stronger or smothering them under a snowfall of alibis.” Vivid, provocative, clear, and compelling, Render unto Caesar is a call to American Catholics to serve the highest ideals of their nation by first living their Catholic faith deeply, authentically.

Render Unto Caesar: Serving the Nation by Living our Catholic Beliefs in Political Life

History

Chaput, Charles J.

World

Doubleday Religion

“People who take God seriously will not remain silent about their faith. They will often disagree about doctrine or policy, but they won’t be quiet. They can’t be. They’ll act on what they believe, sometimes at the cost of their reputations and careers. Obviously the common good demands a respect for other people with different beliefs and a willingness to compromise whenever possible. But for Catholics, the common good can never mean muting themselves in public debate on foundational issues of human dignity. Christian faith is always personal but never private. This is why any notion of tolerance that tries to reduce faith to private idiosyncrasy, or a set of opinions that we can indulge at home but need to be quiet about in public, will always fail.” —From the Introduction Few topics in recent years have ignited as much public debate as the balance between religion and politics. Does religious thought have any place in political discourse? Do religious believers have the right to turn their values into political action? What does it truly mean to have a separation of church and state? The very heart of these important questions is here addressed by one of the leading voices on the topic, Charles J. Chaput, Archbishop of Philadelphia. While American society has ample room for believers and nonbelievers alike, Chaput argues, our public life must be considered within the context of its Christian roots. American democracy does not ask its citizens to put aside their deeply held moral and religious beliefs for the sake of public policy. In fact, it requires exactly the opposite. As the nation’s founders knew very well, people are fallible. The majority of voters, as history has shown again and again, can be uninformed, misinformed, biased, or simply wrong. Thus, to survive, American democracy depends on an engaged citizenry —people of character, including religious believers, fighting for their beliefs in the public square—respectfully but vigorously, and without apology. Anything less is bad citizenship and a form of theft from the nation’s health. Or as the author suggests: Good manners are not an excuse for political cowardice. American Catholics and other persons of goodwill are part of a struggle for our nation’s future, says Charles J. Chaput. Our choices, including our political choices, matter. Catholics need to take an active, vocal, and morally consistent role in public debate. We can’t claim to personally believe in the sanctity of the human person, and then act in our public policies as if we don’t. We can’t separate our private convictions from our public actions without diminishing both. In the words of the author, “How we act works backward on our convictions, making them stronger or smothering them under a snowfall of alibis.” Vivid, provocative, clear, and compelling, Render unto Caesar is a call to American Catholics to serve the highest ideals of their nation by first living their Catholic faith deeply, authentically.

Render Unto Caesar: Serving the Nation by Living Our Catholic Beliefs in Political Life

Image+

Charles J. Chaput's Strangers in a Strange Land is a vivid critique of American life today, but also an empowering guide to how Christians―and particularly Catholics--can live their faith vigorously, with confidence and hope, in a post-Christian public square
From the author of Living the Catholic Faith and Render Unto Caesar comes a fresh, urgent, and ultimately hopeful treatise on the state of Catholic life and Christian community in the United States. 
America today is different in kind, not just in degree, from the past. And this new reality is unlikely to be reversed. The reasons include, but aren't limited to, the decline of a sustaining sense of family and community, the impact of new technologies and economic changes that widen the gulf between rich and poor, diminished religious belief among young people, significant demographic shifts, profound new patterns in sexual behavior and identity, the growth of federal power and its disregard for religious rights, and the growing isolation and elitism of our leadership classes. 
But the author gives more than a penetrating diagnosis of the nation’s problems. Archbishop Chaput offers a compelling reflection on the person of Jesus Christ, the nature of the Church, the urgency of radical faith, and the redemptive power of beauty – all in the spirit of Psalm 8 and the enduring words of Irenaeus: “The glory of God is man fully alive."

Strangers in a Strange Land: Living the Catholic Faith in a Post-Christian World

St. Martin's: Griffin

With a balance of wisdom, candor, and scholarly rigor the beloved archbishop emeritus of Philadelphia takes on life's central questions: why are we here, and how can we live and die meaningfully? InThings Worth Dying For, Chaput delves richly into our yearning for God, love, honor, beauty, truth, and immortality. He reflects on our modern appetite for consumption and individualism and offers a penetrating analysis of how we got here, and how we can look to our roots and our faith to find purpose each day amid the noise of competing desires. Chaput examines the chronic questions of the human heart; the idols and false flags we create; and the nature of a life of authentic faith. He points to our longing to live and die with meaning as the key to our search for God, our loyalty to nation and kin, our conduct in war, and our service to others. Ultimately, with compelling grace, he shows us that the things worth dying for reveal most powerfully the things worth living for.

Things Worth Dying For: Thoughts on a Life Worth Living

Henry Holt and Co.

A vivid critique of American life today and a guide to how Christians―and particularly Catholics--can live their faith vigorously, and even with hope, in a post-Christian public square. 
From Charles J. Chaput, author of Living the Catholic Faith and Render unto Caesar comes Strangers in a Strange Land, a fresh, urgent, and ultimately hopeful treatise on the state of Catholicism and Christianity in the United States. America today is different in kind, not just in degree, from the past. And this new reality is unlikely to be reversed. The reasons include, but aren't limited to, economic changes that widen the gulf between rich and poor; problems in the content and execution of the education system; the decline of traditional religious belief among young people; the shift from organized religion among adults to unbelief or individualized spiritualities; changes in legal theory and erosion in respect for civil and natural law; significant demographic shifts; profound new patterns in sexual behavior and identity; the growth of federal power and its disregard for religious rights; the growing isolation and elitism of the leadership classes; and the decline of a sustaining sense of family and community.

With a balance of wisdom, candor, and scholarly rigor, the beloved archbishop emeritus of Philadelphia, Charles J. Chaput, traces the human experience from ancient times to today to find threads of connection in our yearning for God, love, honor, beauty, truth, and immortality. He looks at our modern appetite for consumption and individualism and offers a penetrating analysis of how we got here and how we can look to our roots and our faith to find purpose each day amid the noise of competing desires.Chaput examines the chronic questions of the human heart: the idols and false flags we create and the nature of a life of authentic faith. He points to our longing to live and die with meaning as the key to our search for God, our loyalty to nation and kin, our conduct in war, and our service to others.Ultimately, he concludes that the things worth dying for reveal most powerfully the things worth living for.

Dreamscape Media

Rare book\nFrom the Author\nEl arzobispo Charles J. Chaput, O. F. M. Cap., fue nombrado por el papa Benedicto XVI arzobispo de Filadelfia en 2011. Miembro de la tribu Prairie Band Potawatomi, es el segundo obispo nativo norteamericano, y el primer arzobispo. Autor de los libros Vivir la fe católica: vuelta a los básicos y Dad al César lo que es del César: Servir a la nación llevando la fe a la política, y de numerosos artículos y conferencias.

Extranjeros en tierra extraña. Vivir como católicos en un mundo poscristiano

Religion & Spirituality

Palabra

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Chaput, Charles J.. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Chaput, Charles J.

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Chaput, Charles J.. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Render Unto Caesar: Serving the Nation by Living our Catholic Beliefs in Political Life

Render Unto Caesar: Serving the Nation by Living Our Catholic Beliefs in Political Life

Strangers in a Strange Land: Living the Catholic Faith in a Post-Christian World

Things Worth Dying For: Thoughts on a Life Worth Living

Strangers in a Strange Land: Living the Catholic Faith in a Post-Christian World

Things Worth Dying For: Thoughts on a Life Worth Living

Things Worth Dying For: Thoughts on a Life Worth Living

Extranjeros en tierra extraña. Vivir como católicos en un mundo poscristiano