The Poverty of Riches: St. Francis of Assisi Reconsidered - Couverture rigide

Livre 15 sur 70: Oxford Studies in Historical Theology

Wolf, Kenneth Baxter

 
9780195158083: The Poverty of Riches: St. Francis of Assisi Reconsidered
Couverture rigide
ISBN 10 : 0195158083 ISBN 13 : 9780195158083
Editeur : Oxford University Press Inc, 2003

Synopsis

Saint Francis of Assisi is arguably the most attractive saint ever produced by the Catholic Church. The unusually high regard with which he is held has served to insulate him from any real criticism of the kind of sanctity that he embodied: sanctity based first and foremost on his deliberate pursuit of poverty. In this book, Kenneth Baxter Wolf takes a fresh look at Francis and the idea of voluntary poverty as a basis for Christian perfection. Wolf's point of departure is a series of simple but hitherto unasked questions about the precise nature of Francis's poverty: How did he go about transforming himself from a rich man to a poor one? How successful was this transformation? How did his self-imposed poverty compare to the involuntary poverty of those he met in and around Assisi? What did poor people of this type get out of their contact with Francis? What did Francis get out of his contact with them? Wolf finds that while Francis's conception of poverty as a spiritual discipline may have opened the door to salvation for wealthy Christians like himself, it effectively precluded the idea that the poor could use their own involuntary poverty as a path to heaven. Based on a thorough reconsideration of the earliest biographies of the saint, as well as Francis's own writings, Wolf's work sheds important new light on the inherent ironies of poverty as a spiritual discipline and its relationship to poverty as a socio-economic affliction.

Les informations fournies dans la section « Synopsis » peuvent faire référence à une autre édition de ce titre.

Présentation de l'éditeur

Saint Francis of Assisi is arguably the most attractive saint ever produced by the Catholic Church. The unusually high regard with which he is held has served to insulate him from any real criticism of the kind of sanctity that he embodied: sanctity based first and foremost on his deliberate pursuit of poverty. In this book, Kenneth Baxter Wolf takes a fresh look at Francis and the idea of voluntary poverty as a basis for Christian perfection. Wolf's point of departure is a series of simple but hitherto unasked questions about the precise nature of Francis's poverty: How did he go about transforming himself from a rich man to a poor one? How successful was this transformation? How did his self-imposed poverty compare to the involuntary poverty of those he met in and around Assisi? What did poor people of this type get out of their contact with Francis? What did Francis get out of his contact with them? Wolf finds that while Francis's conception of poverty as a spiritual discipline may have opened the door to salvation for wealthy Christians like himself, it effectively precluded the idea that the poor could use their own involuntary poverty as a path to heaven. Based on a thorough reconsideration of the earliest biographies of the saint, as well as Francis's own writings, Wolf's work sheds important new light on the inherent ironies of poverty as a spiritual discipline and its relationship to poverty as a socio-economic affliction.

Revue de presse

Wolf's argument is assured and erudite, and the book serves as a solid introduction to mendicant spirituality.... I found myself asking whether and how thirteenth-century Franciscan ideals might indeed be relevant to modern life (as I instinctively feel them to be) for all their historical strangeness. (Speculum)

Les informations fournies dans la section « A propos du livre » peuvent faire référence à une autre édition de ce titre.

Éditeur
Oxford University Press Inc
Date d'édition
2003
Langue
anglais
ISBN 10 
0195158083
ISBN 13 
9780195158083
Reliure
Relié
Nombre de pages
176
Coordonnées du fabricant
non disponible
Personne responsable
Messaggerie Libri
ufficio.anagrafiche@meli.it

Via Verdi, 8
Assago Milano
Italie

Autres éditions populaires du même titre

9780195182804: The Poverty of Riches : St. Francis of Assisi Reconsidered

Edition présentée

ISBN 10 :  0195182804 ISBN 13 :  9780195182804
Editeur : Oxford University Press USA, 2005
Couverture souple