A Godly Humanism: Clarifying the Hope that Lies Within

by Francis E. George

For Cardinal Francis George, the Catholic Church is not a movement, built around ideas, but a communion, built around relationships. In A Godly Humanism, he shares his understanding of the Church in lively, compelling prose, presenting a way to understand and appreciate the relationships of God to human beings and of human beings to one another. These loving relationships are continually made present to us in and through the Church, from the time of Jesus' first disciples down to our own day. We are introduced to how the spiritual and intellectual life of Christians, aided in every generation by the Holy Spirit working through the Apostles and their successors, resist the danger of splitting apart from one another. Though they take different outward forms at different times, both wisdom and holiness are made possible for every Christian of every station of life. Sign-posting his conversation by the milestones of his own spiritual and intellectual journey, Cardinal George invites us to view the Church and her history in ways that go beyond the categories of politicsthrough which we find merely human initiative, contrivance, and adjustmentand rather to see the initiative as God's first and foremost. God is the non-stop giver, we are non-stop recipients of his gifts, and the recent popes, no less than the Father of the Church, have made every effort to make us aware of the graces that is, of the unearned benefitsthat God confers on us as Catholics, as Christians, as believers, and simply as human persons. Pope Francis, he reminds us, contrasts human planning with God's providence, and this book is at once an exposition of that providence and a personal response of gratitude for the way it has operated in one man's life.
This persuasive book, imbued with the thoughts of profound thinkers from the Ancient world, from St. Augustine and other Church fathers, and steeped in the wisdom of church teaching from earliest times through to the Popes John Paul II, Benedict XVI, and Francis, invites and persuades the reader to reimagine the church as communion and the life of faith that we live as part of it.

Genres: Philosophy

214 pages, Hardcover

First published August 20, 2015

About the author

His Eminence Francis Eugene Cardinal George, O.M.I., was an American cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church and Archbishop Emeritus of Chicago. He was the eighth Archbishop of Chicago (1997–2014) and previously served as Bishop of Yakima (1990–1996) and Archbishop of Portland, Oregon (1996–1997). He was the first native Chicagoan to serve as Archbishop of Chicago.

A member of the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate, George was created a cardinal by Pope John Paul II in 1998. He served as president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops from 2007 to 2010. In 2010, Pope Benedict XVI appointed Cardinal George to the Pontifical Council for the Study of the Organizational and Economic Problems of the Holy See.

He was initially diagnosed with cancer in 2006, and died from the disease in 2015.

Reviews

[Joseph · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great primer on the dialogue between faith and reason. Begins with a brief history of the debate that arose during the Victorian Era and progressed to today’s apparent chasm between science and religion, where in an earlier time, the two were more hand-in-hand. It reads at first as a philosophical primer and historical walk thru the faith and reason debates through the ages, but then begins to synthesize the need of both towards the other. Finally, it beautifully weaves the two towards its practical application in our own lives and faith lives; and moves towards a pastoral approach to the two in everyday life and application

[Conor · Rating 4 out of 5]

The late Cardinal George finished this book days before his death. What a lucid and beautiful Christian.

[Kristjan · Rating 4 out of 5]

The preface makes it clear that this is a series of essays (30-45 mins ea.) meant for reflection and not for apologetic discourse and theology/philosophy. While they contain a unifying theme and is directly targets to a relatively small audience of Catholic Intellectuals, it is useful for reflection by the laity as well. In general, these essays identify a tension between modern secular culture, grounded in rational/intellectual ideals and the traditional culture of the church grounded in faith/spirituality. These essay attempt to argue for the necessity of a synthesis between the two … without surrendering the putative authority of the magisterium … by appealing to the belief that [American] culture sees religion as the basis for communicating a moral code that tells us how to what we should do [as well as what we should think] that us a way to behave within society. All of this appears to be used as a foundation for essay 7 and the rehabilitation of Vatican II as a means to renew the mission of the Church to change the world by renewing/reforming the Church to be able to “talk to everyone” aka ecumenism. There is an interesting caveat here that highlight the danger of the Church losing its identify if it abandons its intellectual roots to become absorbed into service where there is no call for conversion (the primary mission of the Church). The last essay continue the rehabilitation effort for recent Popes attempting to preserve their moral authority and leadership.

Over all these was an interesting series if lacking in much depth; however, in view of the stated goal in the preface, it accomplished what it sets out to do, so I am inclined to give due credit with respect to how it rates against other works in the genre even as the preferred audience remains fairly restrictive (I doubt it would hold much interest for those outside the Catholic Church).

Preface and Retrospective
Chapter 1 - Saints in Catholic Intellectual Life
Chapter 2 - An Integrate Life
Chapter 3 - How God Thinks
Chapter 4 - A Christian Intellectual in a Post Christian Society
Chapter 5 - A Christian Intellectual and the Moral Life
Chapter 6 - Education that Integrates Culture and Religion
Chapter 7 - Integrating the Second Vatican Council
Chapter 8 - Recent Popes and the Renewal of Catholic Intellectual Life


I was given this free advance listener copy (ALC) audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

#AGodlyHumanism #AudibookFree

[Stuart · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Godly Humanism is the last book written by by Francis Cardinal George before his death. In this book, Cardinal George calls on us to understand and appreciate the human relationships with God and each other. He begins his book by talking about the intellectual tradition of the Catholic Church, how it has grown, evolved, and taken shape. He also explains that this intellectual tradition is not just important for the Church, but for society as a whole. This leads us to the whole "faith and reason" argument that we have all heard and read countless times. The Church, unlike other Christian churches does not put these two things against each other, but embraces both.

Chapter Two talks about Catholics who become intellectuals and intellectuals who become Catholics. The chief example in this chapter is, of course, St. Augustine. So many of us in our formative years are like St. Augustine. We go to college. We listen to many different thoughts and ideas. We absorb so much knowledge. But then, we have to parse through it and decide where ultimate Truth lies, and that is with God and His Church. Chapter Three delves into what makes Catholics different than Protestants, namely Tradition. Because of this Tradition, we can be assured of access to God due to things such as apostolic succession and the fact that our Church was founded after Jesus' Resurrection. The rest of the book focuses on topics such as living in a post-Christian society (very useful); education to integrate culture and religion; how to integrate Vatican II; and what recent popes have done for the Catholic intellectual tradition.

Reading through this book, it's easy to be reminded how brilliant of a mind that Cardinal George had. He pulled from numerous teachers both ancient (St. Augustine) and recent (Pope Francis) to demonstrate his point that the Catholic Church is built upon a relationship with God and each other. God is continually reaching out to us and showing us His presence and love. He reached out to us with the Holy Spirit when, the Holy Spirit worked through the Apostles, and he continues to reach out to us through their successors as well. Cardinal George reminds us of this and and the untold graces that God continues to shower on us, if we only let him, This was truly a beautiful book and is a fitting final book for the brilliance that was his life. Highly recommended!

[Tom Wascoe · Rating 4 out of 5]

In a series of essays, Cardinal George explores the role of the Catholic intellectual in the modern culture. He touches subjects like the impact of the Second Vatican Council on Catholic thought, the role of theological studies in academic institutions and the philosophy and poetry of Pope John Paul II. Difficult reading, as the essays are written at a scholarly level, but interesting thoughts on the role of reason and faith in today's society.