Sacred and Social

"This book provides a theological treatment of a body of literature commonly called Catholic Social Teaching (CST). This literature is mainly comprised of papal, conciliar, and episcopal statements addressing social concerns from the 19th to the 21st centuries. What is often neglected in studies of CST, however, is the underlying theology that it presumes, especially the biblical and patristic roots that have forged a broader tradition of social thought than found in the more recent writings of the Catholic hierarchy. The book argues that, prior to the documents of the modern papacy, there was already a rich existing tradition that shaped and informed a Catholic lens on social reality. Himes makes the case that the presence or absence of a previous Catholic imagination largely determines whether the later writings of CST can be judged successful in their teaching or not. Rather than an analysis of the recent texts, this book illustrates the theological basis for the ethical commitments in CST through a treatment of fundamental theological themes-creation, incarnation, Trinity, Body of Christ-that gave rise to a Catholic social imagination"--