English writer Gilbert Keith Chesterton was widely known not only for his newspaper columns, novels, poetry, plays, and detective stories, but also for his theological and Catholic apologetical works. This celebration of Chesterton's passion for his faith builds on his own words to reveal the Catholic paradox he was so fond of exploring and which he articulated with zeal, wit, and total lack of animosity. David W. Fagerberg draws on Chesterton's theological writings - avoiding secondary sources so that the reader can encounter his thought as directly as possible - to show how Chesterton championed a Catholicism of great robustness accessible by a thousand doors. /// Through these doors, Fagerberg shows that Chesterton believed the Church to be a living institution that confounds its critics. He organizes Chesterton's material around seven themes, fashioning a mosaic from the illustrations and arguments found in these apolegetical works. We see how Chesterton responded to accusations that the Church avoids the world with his defense of ordinary life and to the allegation of blind obedience with a defense of doctrinal complexity. We explore his interest in paganism and ritual and learn his response to the objections of liberal Protestantism. /// Chesterton is shown to be an apologist for a "catholic" Catholicism and he saw in every heresy an effort to narrow the Church. Chesterton said about the Church "that it is not only larger than me, but larger then anything in the world; that it is indeed larger than the world." /// Fagerberg suggests that the ultimate apology Chesterton made for Catholicism is that it is capacious enough to accommodate the paradoxical combinations which reveal reality - that the Church is a trysting-place for all the truths in the world.

The Size of Chesterton’s Catholicism

Biographies & Memoirs

Fagerberg, David W.

Arts & Literature

University of Notre Dame Press

English writer Gilbert Keith Chesterton was widely known not only for his newspaper columns, novels, poetry, plays, and detective stories, but also for his theological and Catholic apologetical works. This celebration of Chesterton's passion for his faith builds on his own words to reveal the Catholic paradox he was so fond of exploring and which he articulated with zeal, wit, and total lack of animosity. David W. Fagerberg draws on Chesterton's theological writings - avoiding secondary sources so that the reader can encounter his thought as directly as possible - to show how Chesterton championed a Catholicism of great robustness accessible by a thousand doors. Through these doors, Fagerberg shows that Chesterton believed the Church to be a living institution that confounds its critics. He organizes Chesterton's material around seven themes, fashioning a mosaic from the illustrations and arguments found in these apolegetical works. We see how Chesterton responded to accusations that the Church avoids the world with his defense of ordinary life and to the allegation of blind obedience with a defense of doctrinal complexity. We explore his interest in paganism and ritual and learn his response to the objections of liberal Protestantism. Chesterton is shown to be an apologist for a "catholic" Catholicism and he saw in every heresy an effort to narrow the Church. Chesterton said about the Church "that it is not only larger than me, but larger then anything in the world; that it is indeed larger than the world." Fagerberg suggests that the ultimate apology Chesterton made for Catholicism is that it is capacious enough to accommodate the paradoxical combinations which reveal reality - that the Church is a trysting-place for all the truths in the world.

Size of Chesterton’s Catholicism, The

Drawing on the Eastern Orthodox tradition of asceticism and integrating it with recent Western thought on liturgy, David W. Fagerberg examines the interaction between the two and presents a powerful argument that asceticism is necessary for understanding liturgy as the foundation of theology. Asceticism may have been perfected in the sands of the desert, but it is demanded of every theologian and, indeed, every Christian. It grants the capacity for pondering liturgy and sharing the life of Christ. Fagerberg brings to light asceticism's essential importance in liturgical theology.
Fagerberg's earlier work, Theologia Prima, understood liturgy as the foundation of theology. To that framework, he now adds the relevance of asceticism. Asceticism was understood to overcome the passions by cooperating with grace. It detailed how to train the life of grace and produce what the ancient church called a theologian. Fagerberg carries the wisdom of the earliest centuries forward. He develops a new framework called liturgical asceticism that combines discipline with sharing the life of Christ.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
 David W. Fagerberg, associate professor of theology at the University of Notre Dame, is the author of What Is Liturgical Theology? and Theologia Prima.PRAISE FOR THE BOOK:
"Fagerberg's contribution is creative and original. He presents an able and accessible summary of the Orthodox ascetical tradition―valuable in its own right―and combines it with creative insight to bring this tradition to bear on how we conceive our own participation in the liturgy and what effect this has on our understanding of theology. This brings the discussion of liturgical theology onto a whole new level."―Jeremy Driscoll, OSB, professor of theology, Mount Angel Seminary and Pontifical Athenaeum San Anselmo, Rome
"The idea of liturgical theology has become popular during the past few decades, wresting liturgy from the liturgiologists and testing what the church teaches against how the church prays liturgically. In this powerful and original book, David Fagerberg takes this development a stage further. By exploring Christian asceticism, mostly using Orthodox sources, he introduces another dimension, essential if liturgical theology is to be fully assimilated in the lives of Christians."―Andrew Louth, professor emeritus of patristic and Byzantine studies, Durham University
"Consistent with the tradition of the Church, Fagerberg aims to restore asceticism to its rightful place within liturgical theology. It is a rich journey through Chestertonian style, paradox and prose, and dense with wise quotes from the Desert Fathers." -Transpositions

On Liturgical Asceticism

Religion & Spirituality

Christian Books & Bibles

The Catholic University of America Press

What Is Liturgical Theology?: A Study in Methodology (A Pueblo Book)

Liturgical Press

'Liturgical Theology' is often a convenient label for any theology that has loosely to do with worship or Eucharist. In this innovative book, David Fagerberg distinguishes liturgical theology from a general theology of worship. He proposes two defining attributes of liturgical theology: (1) 'ex orandi': It is manifested in the Church's historical rites.(2) 'theologia prima': It is theology done by the liturgical community.In straightforward, clear, concise language, he dilates our definition of liturgy:Liturgy is the trysting place of truth, beauty, and goodness.Christ is the premiere liturgist, and Baptism summons apprentices to his labor. Liturgy is our place of steadfast encounter with God.By this understanding, liturgical theology can be adequately defined:Liturgy is the faith of the Church in motion, and as such is the basis of the Church's 'lex credendi'.To see liturgical theology (to witness lex orandi), one must go to the deep structures of the rite.Liturgical asceticism gives us the capacity to participate in the liturgical response. The subject matter of this book is how the liturgical assembly makes theological adjustment to its encounter with God. Liturgical theology is therefore the basis for all theology, whether done by a believer in the pew, a monk in the cell, or an academic in the study. 'Theologia Prima: What Is Liturgical Theology?' is a thorough revision of Dr. Fagerberg's groundbreaking 'What Is Liturgical Theology?' (The Liturgical Press, 1992). It has been reorganized for easier reference and contains new examples as well as more anecdotal material derived from Dr. Fagerberg's extensive experience as a teacher and theologian.David Fagerberg is an associate professor of theology at the University of Notre Dame. He was the former acting director and associate professor of liturgical studies at The Liturgical Institute, University of St. Mary of the Lake/Mundelein Seminary, Mundelein, Illinois. He holds an MDIV from Luther Northwestern Seminary; an MA in liturgical studies from St. John's University, Collegeville; an STM from Yale Divinity School; and a PHD in liturgical theology from Yale University. Publications include 'What Is Liturgical Theology?' (The Liturgical Press, 1992) and 'The Size of Chesterton's Catholicism' (University of Notre Dame Press, 1998) as well as journal articles in 'Worship', 'America', 'New Blackfriars', 'Pro Ecclesia', 'Diakonia', and 'Antiphon'. Published by Liturgy Training Publications.

Theologia Prima What is Liturgical Theology

Hillenbrand Books

Consecrating the World: On Mundane Liturgical Theology

What has liturgy to do with life? The sacred with the secular? This study proposes that the liturgy calls us, in the words of Aidan Kavanagh, “to do the world as the world was meant to be done.” The sacramental liturgy of the Church and the personal liturgy of our lives should be as a seamless garment.
 Consecrating the World continues David Fagerberg’s exploration of the Church’s lex orandi (law of prayer) by expanding two major themes. The first considers liturgy as the matrix wherein our encounter with God becomes an experience of primary theology. The second illustrates how a believer is made ready for this liturgy through asceticism in both its faces—the one negative (dealing with sin), the other positive (dealing with sanctification). This book turns these two themes outward to a liturgical theology of the cosmos—a mundane liturgical theology of the consecration of the world and the sanctification of our daily life.
 “David Fagerberg invites us, with the urgency of the gospel, to see God the Trinity in every created thing, and to offer to God as a joyful sacrifice of praise the good things He has made, rather than cleaving egocentrically to these good things. When, through the Dove (the Spirit), Christ frees us to do the world in this way, we become the liturgical priest-kings we were meant to be; we learn how to live and die on the ascending path of Christ. Steeped in the spirituality of the Orthodox East and the Anglican West, enriched by the Catholic masters of Ressourcement, Fagerberg shares his vision in everyday language for all to hear. Just when it seemed that spiritual masters no longer roamed university hallways, God has raised up a true spiritual guide for our time. Open this book, awaken from spiritual slumber, read and rejoice.”—MATTHEW LEVERING, Mundelein Seminary
 “Consecrating the World takes up where David Fagerberg’s masterful On Liturgical Asceticism left off, providing a key to living the liturgy in every moment and aspect of human life. That this is indeed an everyday task takes nothing away from its divine content and sublime finality. Fagerberg is rightly regarded as one of the foremost liturgical theologians of our day. His engagement with the tradition is both fresh and fruitful.”—DOM ALCUIN REID, Monastère Saint-Benoît
 “Consecrating the World is no ordinary book. It is a course in re-training the mind and the senses to perceive the world in a new way. Like the ancient Fathers, David Fagerberg sees all material things as sensible signs leading us to heavenly realities. Like Maximus and Dionysius, he shows us that the cosmos is itself a liturgy, calling us to consecrate ourselves and our work, our passions and the world to God—to sanctify the temporal order. This is a theology most visionary, joyful, and passionate.”—SCOTT HAHN, Franciscan University of Steubenville
 “In David Fagerberg’s new book, his trademark genius for integrating liturgical theology, ascetical theology, and the theology of creation is on full display, but here developed in a new, pneumatological direction that seems to lift it all up on the wings of the Holy Spirit. This book fully corroborates Fagerberg’s reputation as one of the most creative and inspiring liturgical theologians of our time.”—JOHN C. CAVADINI, University of Notre Dame
 “This book succeeds as an imaginative, at times provocative paean to the total integration of liturgy and life, by carrying to the utmost the logic of the Incarnation and the radical challenge of the Ascension. Can God become flesh, as it were, in all the aspects of life? And can the whole of creation really be raised up on high, as a sign, even a foretaste, of the heavenly liturgy? Fagerberg’s arguments lead us to see the urgency of rediscovering the full symbolic richness, the ‘splendid beauty,’ of traditional liturgy as the means by which we must glorify God and divinize our lives in this world.”—PETER KWASNIEWSKI, Wyoming Catholic College

Angelico Press

What has liturgy to do with life? The sacred with the secular? This study proposes that the liturgy calls us, in the words of Aidan Kavanagh, "to do the world as the world was meant to be done." The sacramental liturgy of the Church and the personal liturgy of our lives should be as a seamless garment. 
Consecrating the World continues David Fagerberg's exploration of the Church's lex orandi (law of prayer) by expanding two major themes. The first considers liturgy as the matrix wherein our encounter with God becomes an experience of primary theology. The second illustrates how a believer is made ready for this liturgy through asceticism in both its faces-the one negative (dealing with sin), the other positive (dealing with sanctification). This book turns these two themes outward to a liturgical theology of the cosmos-a mundane liturgical theology of the consecration of the world and the sanctification of our daily life. 
"David Fagerberg invites us, with the urgency of the gospel, to see God the Trinity in every created thing, and to offer to God as a joyful sacrifice of praise the good things He has made, rather than cleaving egocentrically to these good things. When, through the Dove (the Spirit), Christ frees us to do the world in this way, we become the liturgical priest-kings we were meant to be; we learn how to live and die on the ascending path of Christ. Steeped in the spirituality of the Orthodox East and the Anglican West, enriched by the Catholic masters of Ressourcement, Fagerberg shares his vision in everyday language for all to hear. Just when it seemed that spiritual masters no longer roamed university hallways, God has raised up a true spiritual guide for our time. Open this book, awaken from spiritual slumber, read and rejoice."-MATTHEW LEVERING, Mundelein Seminary 
"Consecrating the World takes up where David Fagerberg's masterful On Liturgical Asceticism left off, providing a key to living the liturgy in every moment and aspect of human life. That this is indeed an everyday task takes nothing away from its divine content and sublime finality. Fagerberg is rightly regarded as one of the foremost liturgical theologians of our day. His engagement with the tradition is both fresh and fruitful. If we are to be 'thoroughly imbued with the spirit and power of the liturgy, ' we must grasp what the Sacred Liturgy in fact is. For this, Fagerberg is a worthy and rightly demanding guide."-DOM ALCUIN REID, Monastère Saint-Benoît, La Garde-Freinet, France 
"Consecrating the World is no ordinary book. It is a course in re-training the mind and the senses to perceive the world in a new way. Like the ancient Fathers, David Fagerberg sees all material things as sensible signs leading us to heavenly realities. Like Maximus and Dionysius, he shows us that the cosmos is itself a liturgy, calling us to consecrate ourselves and our work, our passions and the world to God-to sanctify the temporal order. This is a theology most visionary, joyful, and passionate."-SCOTT HAHN, Franciscan University of Steubenville 
"In David Fagerberg's new book, his trademark genius for integrating liturgical theology, ascetical theology, and the theology of creation is on full display, but here developed in a new, pneumatological direction that seems to lift it all up on the wings of the Holy Spirit. This book fully corroborates Fagerberg's reputation as one of the most creative and inspiring liturgical theologians of our time. It will have a wide readership both inside the academy, in seminaries, and in the hands of anyone interested in learning what is the deep connection between the sacred moments of the liturgy and the mundane moments of life in the world as we all must live it."-JOHN C. CAVADINI, University of Notre Dame

Angelico PR

Desiring to Desire God

Take up Your Cross: A Theology of Liturgical Abnegation

Sensus Fidelium Press

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

Books by Fagerberg, David W.

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

The Size of Chesterton’s Catholicism

Size of Chesterton’s Catholicism, The

On Liturgical Asceticism

What Is Liturgical Theology?: A Study in Methodology (A Pueblo Book)

Theologia Prima What is Liturgical Theology

Consecrating the World: On Mundane Liturgical Theology

Consecrating the World: On Mundane Liturgical Theology

Desiring to Desire God

Desiring to Desire God

Take up Your Cross: A Theology of Liturgical Abnegation