J.R.R. Thomas Chesterton of Hippo?

J.R.R. Thomas Chesterton of Hippo? | Francis J. Beckwith | Catholic World Report



Moody Publishers and its safely dead Catholic authors.

Several months ago
I was invited to contribute to a festschrift in honor of a dear friend
of mine, a well-known Christian philosopher who is a professor at a well-known
Evangelical university. I was, of course, eager to contribute to this volume,
to honor a man who I have known, as both friend and collaborator, for over a
quarter of a century. The editors, I am pleased to announce, were able to secure
a publisher, which is difficult to do, given the book’s genre. In fact, I was
present, on the evening of November 14 at a reception sponsored by the
Evangelical Philosophical Society, when a representative of Moody
Publishers revealed that his press had offered the editors a contract for this
tome. I was delighted to hear the news.

Several days later,
however, the editors informed me that the publisher had forced them to
disinvite me. Why? Because the members of Moody’s board, as the editors put it,
“are not ready as an institution to allow Catholic contributors for their
books,” even though in my prospective chapter—“The Reclamation of First
Philosophy”—I
had planned to do nothing distinctly Catholic. I had intended to defend the
honoree’s understanding of philosophy and its relation to other disciplines.
(To get a sense of what I mean by “first philosophy,” see my essay, “In Defense of First Philosophy,” published last June at The Catholic Thing.)

Although I was
disappointed by the dis-invitation, I was not offended. Nor did I think that I had
lost something to which I was entitled. For reacting in such ways would have
been inconsistent with what I believe about theological integrity and the
obligation that I have to respect the confessions of my fellow Christians, even
when I think they are mistaken.  

Nevertheless, out
of curiosity, I went to Moody’s website to find out what sorts of books it is
publishing. I was surprised at what I found. 

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