Heather M. Erb, The Path of Spiritual Happiness
Journal Title: Studia Gilsoniana - Year 2017, Vol 6, Issue 1
Abstract
One of the most famous political documents, The Declaration of Independence, claims that our Creator has created everyone with the right to the pursuit of happiness. When asked about what they think the happiness actually is that one has a right to pursue, many students respond in a relativist manner, claiming that it is different for everyone, or rather, it is what each determines it to be. It can be difficult to get students to entertain the possibility that there might be an objective understanding of happiness that everyone is called to achieve. That is why I am glad Professor Heather Erb has written this excellent book. In the introduction we discover that her motivation for this book is the unfortunate state of affairs where there appears to be an emphasis on the pursuit of ephemeral desires and too little desire for truth and wonderment about reality. One is reminded of the infamous Rolling Stones, who tell us we can’t get our satisfaction no matter how hard we try. The author makes the case that only in the two sources of reason and revelation, as transmitted by Christian philosophy and theology, is a reflective and authentic spiritual happiness to be found.
Authors and Affiliations
Steven J. Brust
CROSSING THE THRESHOLD OF HOPE INTO THE MEDIA CULTURE
The new atheism and the new evangelization have become the buzzwords of the age. Athe-ism is now the fastest growing religious‖ group in the United States; the new evangelization decisively shaped the conclave that elect...
GILSON ON THE RATIONALITY OF CHRISTIAN BELIEF
The underlying skepticism of ancient Greek culture made it unreceptive of philosophy. It was the Catholic Church that embraced philosophy. Still, Étienne Gilson reminds us in Reason and Revelation in the Middle Ages that...
REDPATH ON THE NATURE OF PHILOSOPHY
In this article the author discusses Peter A. Redpath’s understanding of the nature of philosophy and his account of how erroneous understandings of philosophy have led to the decline of the West and to the separation of...
E-BOOK: Studia Gilsoniana 7, no. 4 (2018)
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Why Augustinian Apologetics and Logical Dialectic Are Not Enough to Defend the Reasonableness of the Christian Faith in an Increasingly-Fragmented World
From close to its inception, St. Augustine’s misunderstanding of the nature of ancient Greek philosophy, “Christian philosophy,” and the way the human soul essentially relates to human body caused formal Christian educat...