Catholics, Evangelicals, and Receptive Ecumenism

On the closing day of the Catholic Theological Society of America’ s 76th Annual Convention and its theme, “Thinking Catholic Interreligiously” we are pleased to announce the latest publication of respected author Eduardo J. Echeverria, Are We Together? A Roman Catholic Analyzes Evangelical Protestants. An adherent of Receptive Ecumenism and a longtime member of Catholics and Evangelicals Together, Echeverria brings an informed and erudite perspective to the often misunderstood relationship between representatives of these two traditions that have much in common. An expert especially on the Dutch master of dogmatic and ecumenical theology, G. C. Berkouwer (1903–1996), Professor Echeverria critically tackles the writings of Gregg Allison and Leonardo De Chirico among others. To be published this month, read the book’s endorsements and description, and pre-order your copy now »

David Carlin’s Three Sexual Revolutions

Lectio is proud to publish the latest work of noted columnist and commentator David R. Carlin. Having received graduate degrees from the University of Notre Dame (philosophy) and the University of Rhode Island (sociology), David taught philosophy and/or sociology at the college level for more than fifty years before his recent retirement. 

Three Sexual Revolutions Catholic, Protestant, AtheistThree Sexual Revolutions: Catholic, Protestant, Atheist is a discussion from both a sociological and historical perspective. While there have been numerous sexual revolutions throughout history, Carlin focuses on the three major revolutions that have molded today’s American culture.

Carlin is well-versed in the unfolding of America’s current predicament of sexual permissiveness to the breakdown of the ubiquity of marriage and even the questioning of one’s sexual identity. He traces our societal crisis from earliest days of Christianity when the Catholic faith supplanted the then-current mores of sexual permissiveness with a message of Christ-modeled chastity, in and outside marriage. He then unravels the effects of the Protestant Reformation on the sexual mores of the latter Middle Ages. Read the full description and order your copy, see our book page »

The Controverted Chapter 8 of Amoris Laetitia

In the wake of Pope Francis’s promotion of Bishop McElroy, Professor Eduardo Echeverria, author of Pope Francis: The Legacy of Vatican II, has asked us to make available to you the essay comprising the fourth chapter in the revised edition of his book. He comments:

I agree with theologian Larry Chapp on the significance of Amoris Laetitia for understanding why Bishop McElroy was promoted to the red hat. The bishop has been an “unabashed supporter of Amoris Laetitia.” This promotion is the “pope’s way of signaling that McElroy’s approach to the moral theological principles of Amoris is correct.”

This essay from the revised and expanded, second edition of my book, Pope Francis: The Legacy of Vatican II critically discusses the moral theological principles of chapter 8 of Amoris Laetitia, Pope Francis’s 2016 Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation. I show that the troublesome arguments of his chapter 8 are both pastoral and moral theological. I also show that despite Pope Francis’ claims to the contrary, his moral theology is neither Thomistic nor does it reflect a “hermeneutic of the Church,” as Francis puts it, “always in continuity (without ruptures), yet always maturing.” My analysis of Amoris Laetitia will help the reader to understand what is wrong with the pope’s moral reasoning.

Read Professor Echeverria’s essay »