Thomas F. O'Meara

Erich Przywara, S.J. (1889–1972), is one of the important Catholic intellectuals of the twentieth century. Yet, in the English-speaking world Przywara remains largely unknown. Few of his sixty books or six hundred articles have been translated. In this engaging new book, Thomas O'Meara offers a comprehensive study of the German Jesuit Erich Przywara and his philosophical theology. Przywara's scholarly contributions were remarkable. He was one of three theologians who introduced the writings of John Henry Cardinal Newman into Germany. From his position at the Jesuit journal in Munich, Stimmen der Zeit, he offered an open and broad Catholic perspective on the cultural, philosophical, and theological currents of his time. As one of the first Catholic intellectuals to employ the phenomenologies of Edmund Husserl and Max Scheler, he was also responsible for giving an influential, more theological interpretation of the Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius Loyola. Przywara was also deeply engaged in the ideas and authors of his times. He was the first Catholic dialogue partner of Karl Barth and Paul Tillich. Edmund Husserl was counted among Przywara's friends, and Edith Stein was a close personal and intellectual friend. Through his interactions with important figures of his age and his writings, ranging from speculative systems to liturgical hymns, Przywara was of marked importance in furthering a varied dialogue between German Catholicism and modern culture. Following a foreword by Michael A. Fahey, S.J., O'Meara presents a chapter on Pryzwara's life and a chronology of his writings. O'Meara then discusses Pryzwara's philosophical theology, his lecture-courses at German universities on Augustine and Aquinas, his philosophy of religion, and his influence on important intellectual contemporaries. O'Meara concludes with an in-depth analysis of Pryzwara's theology—focusing particularly on his Catholic views on person, liturgy, and church.

Toward a Cosmic Theology considers topics and areas from Christian revelation as they draw on forces and worlds, insights and developments, now unfolded by science. It explores such topics as: the vastness of the universe of nature; implications for what God might be like; relationships of the Trinity to being and evolution; divine presence and the world of the universe and of the subatomic realm; extraterrestrials; time, the future, and change and transformation; the personal and religious world as a society of planets and their cultures. The author draws on the theologies of earlier theologians like Origen, Thomas Aquinas, and more recent ones such as Yves Congar, Karl Rahner, Douglas Vakoch, John Haught, and Jacques Arnould. Thomas F. O'Meara, OP, is the author of over a dozen books in theology, including Theology of Ministry and God in the World. He taught at Aquinas Institute of Theology and served as the Warren Professor of Theology at the University of Notre Dame; he has served as visiting professor at Weston Jesuit School of Theology, Wartburg Lutheran Seminary, and the Dominican Institute of Theology, Ibadan, Nigeria. He is a past president of the Catholic Theological Society of America. †

These essays are an important resource for American medievalists. They show that St. Albert was not only a scientist and philosopher, but a theologian and a political mediator as well.They range from Cardinal Lehmann's overview of St. Albert's conception of theology to a comparison of Albert's and Thomas' commentaries on the Gospel of Matthew by Ulrich Horst, to Erhard Schlieter's discussion of artistic portrayals of St. Albert in art. While St. Albert is the subject of a great deal of scholarly research in his homeland, he is less well known in the United States. Fr. O'Meara's translations and study guide will help bring the life and thought of this remarkable medieval scholar, who was considered to be an "astonishing wonder" by his contemporaries, to an American audience.This volume is being published by New Priory Press to celebrate the 75th Anniversary of the Dominican Province of St. Albert the Great which is based in Chicago.

In Thomas Aquinas, Theologian Thomas O'Meara considers Aquinas the theologian and his influence, past and present. O'Meara focuses on Aquinas as teacher and preacher, and theology as the subject of his thought and most of his writings. Studying the Summa Theologiae as well as providing an overview of six centures of interpretation, O'Meara shows how few have understood the structure and intent of Aquinas' theology.