Overview

Tomas Halik 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, Tomas Halik 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. Halik 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.

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9780268207472

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Reviews

“The Afternoon of Christianity serves to shine a light on the hope that is in the Church and the world. Halík’s ecclesiology is one that is badly needed in today’s Church, and one from which we must all learn if we are to be the community that we are called to be.” —Daniel Cosacchi, vice president for mission and ministry at the University of Scranton “This book is key to understanding Pope Francis’s effort to lead Catholicism and religion in general in a period not primarily of structural or institutional reform, but of spiritual deepening in light of the global crisis. Halík describes the present suffering not as agony, but pangs of labor.” —Massimo Faggioli, author of The Liminal Papacy of Pope Francis “Clearly and engagingly written, this book is a visionary product of a major thinker whose work cannot be pigeonholed as religious or spiritual but rather, by interweaving philosophy, theology, sociology, and psychology, seeks to address the human condition in toto.” —William A. Barbieri Jr., editor of At the Limits of the Secular

"“The Afternoon of Christianity serves to shine a light on the hope that is in the Church and the world. Halík’s ecclesiology is one that is badly needed in today’s Church, and one from which we must all learn if we are to be the community that we are called to be.” —Daniel Cosacchi, vice president for mission and ministry at the University of Scranton “This book is key to understanding Pope Francis’s effort to lead Catholicism and religion in general in a period not primarily of structural or institutional reform, but of spiritual deepening in light of the global crisis. Halík describes the present suffering not as agony, but pangs of labor.” —Massimo Faggioli, author of The Liminal Papacy of Pope Francis “Clearly and engagingly written, this book is a visionary product of a major thinker whose work cannot be pigeonholed as religious or spiritual but rather, by interweaving philosophy, theology, sociology, and psychology, seeks to address the human condition in toto.” —William A. Barbieri Jr., editor of At the Limits of the Secular ""When one happens upon a work like Tomáš Halík's The Afternoon of Christianity, one experiences a most refreshing and capacious reflection on Christian faith's necessary maturation through the crucible of doubt. A Christianity and a Church attentive to the Spirit, less concerned with power, more devoted to the spiritual passion that afflicted the heart of the great mystics, unanxious over discovering God in all things, more humble and able to forgive as we have been forgiven—such are the hues in Halík's vision of Christianity's next form. A welcome reminder that love alone is credible."" —Jordan Daniel Wood, author of The Whole Mystery of Christ"

"“The Afternoon of Christianity serves to shine a light on the hope that is in the Church and the world. Halík’s ecclesiology is one that is badly needed in today’s Church, and one from which we must all learn if we are to be the community that we are called to be.” —Daniel Cosacchi, vice president for mission and ministry at the University of Scranton “This book is key to understanding Pope Francis’s effort to lead Catholicism and religion in general in a period not primarily of structural or institutional reform, but of spiritual deepening in light of the global crisis. Halík describes the present suffering not as agony, but pangs of labor.” —Massimo Faggioli, author of The Liminal Papacy of Pope Francis “Clearly and engagingly written, this book is a visionary product of a major thinker whose work cannot be pigeonholed as religious or spiritual but rather, by interweaving philosophy, theology, sociology, and psychology, seeks to address the human condition in toto.” —William A. Barbieri Jr., editor of At the Limits of the Secular ""When one happens upon a work like Tomáš Halík's The Afternoon of Christianity, one experiences a most refreshing and capacious reflection on Christian faith's necessary maturation through the crucible of doubt. A Christianity and a Church attentive to the Spirit, less concerned with power, more devoted to the spiritual passion that afflicted the heart of the great mystics, unanxious over discovering God in all things, more humble and able to forgive as we have been forgiven—such are the hues in Halík's vision of Christianity's next form. A welcome reminder that love alone is credible."" —Jordan Daniel Wood, author of The Whole Mystery of Christ ""Tomáš Halík is one of the most important public intellectuals of our time, heroic in his engagement with the most challenging questions for church and society."" —Janet Soskice, author of Sisters of Sinai ""Tomáš Halík is remarkable, always, for his intellectual balance and his pastoral insight. He sees modernity as an opportunity for a recovery of a genuine Biblical vision, deeply Traditional, in a way that can enliven even this 'afternoon' of Christianity, which, he reminds us, is indeed neither an evening nor a night."" —John C. Cavadini, co-editor of Pope Francis and the Event of Encounter"

Author Information

Tomáš Halík is a Czech Roman Catholic priest, philosopher, theologian, and scholar. He is a professor of sociology at Charles University in Prague, pastor of the Academic Parish of St. Salvator Church in Prague, president of the Czech Christian Academy, and a winner of the Templeton Prize. He is the author of many books, including Touch the Wounds, From the Underground Church to Freedom, and I Want You to Be. His books have been published in twenty languages and received many awards, including the Foreword Reviews’ INDIES Book of the Year Awards in Philosophy and in Religion. 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.

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