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Type of bind: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 261.708828273
EAN num: 9780385522281
ISBN number: 0385522282
Label: Doubleday
Manufacturer: Doubleday
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 272
Printing Date: August 12, 2008
Publishing house: Doubleday
Release Date: August 12, 2008
Sale Popularity Level: 1211
Studio: Doubleday
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“People who take God seriously will not remain silent about their faith. They will often disagree about doctrine or policy, but they won’t be quiet. They can’t be. They’ll act on what they believe, sometimes at the cost of their reputations and careers. Obviously the common good demands a respect for other people with different beliefs and a willingness to compromise whenever possible. But for Catholics, the common good can never mean muting themselves in public debate on foundational issues of human dignity. Christian faith is always personal but never private. This is why any notion of tolerance that tries to reduce faith to private idiosyncrasy, or a set of opinions that we can indulge at home but need to be quiet about in public, will always fail.”
—From the Introduction
Few topics in recent years have ignited as much public debate as the balance between religion and politics. Does religious thought have any place in political discourse? Do religious believers have the right to turn their values into political action? What does it truly mean to have a separation of church and state? The very heart of these important questions is here addressed by one of the leading voices on the topic, Charles J. Chaput, Archbishop of Denver.
While American society has ample room for believers and nonbelievers alike, Chaput argues, our public life must be considered within the context of its Christian roots. American democracy does not ask its citizens to put aside their deeply held moral and religious beliefs for the sake of public policy. In fact, it requires exactly the opposite.
As the nation’s founders knew very well, people are fallible. The majority of voters, as history has shown again and again, can be uninformed, misinformed, biased, or simply wrong. Thus, to survive, American democracy depends on an engaged citizenry —people of character, including religious believers, fighting for their beliefs in the public square—respectfully but vigorously, and without apology. Anything less is bad citizenship and a form of theft from the nation’s health. Or as the author suggests: Good manners are not an excuse for political cowardice.
American Catholics and other persons of goodwill are part of a struggle for our nation’s future, says Charles J. Chaput. Our choices, including our political choices, matter. Catholics need to take an active, vocal, and morally consistent role in public debate. We can’t claim to personally believe in the sanctity of the human person, and then act in our public policies as if we don’t. We can’t separate our private convictions from our public actions without diminishing both. In the words of the author, “How we act works backward on our convictions, making them stronger or smothering them under a snowfall of alibis.”
Vivid, provocative, clear, and compelling, Render unto Caesar is a call to American Catholics to serve the highest ideals of their nation by very first living their Catholic faith deeply, authentically.
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Rated by buyers 
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"the sons of Issachar, men who understood the times, with knowledge of what Israel should do" -1Ch12
To this concise book by Bishop Chaput, this non-Catholic says: Wow, a true tour d'force. A continuous flow of historical, cultural, moral, and spiritual insight and perspective.
At times the text flows almost non-stop with memorable quotes, representing an enormous amount of research, imparting a deep well of understanding and wisdom.
I liked the way Chaput didn't gloss over the church's difficulties in implementing the Vatican II changes, or indeed, the need for those changes prior to that council. I think this was a very honest and perceptive presentation of the challenges facing, not only Catholics, though the book was certainly geared primarily to them, but all Christians, indeed all sincere religious, as well.
The game has shifted, and aggressive secularists are at the throat of all who would live by - and especially proclaim - standards of objective morality. The basic theme of this book is one every believer would benefit in reconsidering: we are in a battle, the stakes are both real and high, and we cannot legitimately excuse ourselves. If we fail to rise to the challenge then we fail to live out the Gospel of salvation in its fullest and most necessary expression at this point in historical time, and one day we will have to face that shameful, unloving reality before both our Redeemer and the ones we allowed this culture to victimize.
Highly recommended. Bravo, Bishop Chaput.
Rated by buyers -
Just kidding... but Bishop Chaput gives an amazingly accessible overview of the history of the Catholic Church in the US and why the Catholic voice/morality has been lost in recent decades. I pride myself on knowing quite a bit of the Church' history, but this little gem of a book taught me alot and I found myself scribbling in the margin and asterisking quotes that I've never read. A VERY EASY READ BUT CHOCK FILLED WITH FACTS, INCITEFUL ANALYSIS and VERY PERSUASIVE AND TIMELY recommendations on how and WHY us Catholics must live fully the Faith... or America may be doomed. An easy and enjoyable read, I read this on a 3 hr plane trip. GET IT, READ IT and THEN PASS IT ALONG TO THOSE YOU LOVE (my mom has my copy and then my brother (who gave it to me for my birthday) gets it...)
Rated by buyers -
American Catholics are ignorant not only about the doctrines of the Catholic faith that they profess to believe; they, naturally, also don't have a clue about how to LIVE it in the "real" world! Thanks to Abp. Chaput, we now have a reliable guide to both. In "Render Unto Caesar," Chaput gives us a condensed history of 2000 years of Catholicism & how Catholics have lived(& died for) their faith under various forms of government during that time. But, his primary focus is Catholicism's effects on the history of the U.S., & where & how Catholics should be living their faith in today's society.
One quote from the book sums its content up very well. "To Caesar we owe respect & prayers for our leaders (1 Tim 2:2); respect for the law; obedience to proper authority; and service to the common good. It's a rather modest list. And note that "respect" is not subservience, or silence, or inaction, or excuse making, or acquiescence to grave evil in the public life we all share. In fact, ultimately, everything important about human life belongs not to Caesar but to God: our intellect; our talents; our free will; the people we love; the beauty & goodness in the world; our soul; our moral integrity; our hope for eternal life. THESE are the things that matter. These are the things worth struggling to ennoble & defend. And none of them came from Tiberius or anyone who succeeded him." ("Render . ." pp.218-219)
These words are an excellent example of Abp. Chaput's writing. An inspirational call to action for ALL Catholics. This book is long overdue. Thank you, Abp. Chaput, for being the shepherd Catholics have been wandering the fields looking for for far, far too long!
Rated by buyers 
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Chaput has two main ideas and two clarifications of Church teaching.
The very first main idea is that Catholics, and other believers, have both a moral and a civic duty to witness for their faith in the public square. The Constitution in the Bill of Rights guarantees freedom of religion, not the secularist goal of freedom from religion.
The founders frequently appealed to religious values in their deliberations and public statements. The Declaration bases its arguments for independence in God's order for his creation. Indeed, many of the colonies had an established religion; the First Amendment was not intended to overturn them.
The second main idea is that the religious freedom of the US and the separation of religious and political authority is beneficial for religion.
As early as the 1830s de Tocqueville noted the comparative vitality of belief and churches in the US as compared to Europe. In Europe, the establishment of Christianity as the state religion under Constantine had entangled religious and secular authority. The discontent with the Acien Regimes and consequent revolutions lead to an aggressive laicism and anti-clericalism including anti-popery.
The European bishops and traditionalists among the US bishops distrusted the US system and fought a rear-guard action. Dissent by Americanists was surpressed as late as the 1950s, but eventually Vatican II accepted freedom of religion in principle as well as in practice.
The proper principles can be traced to Augustine; there are separate secular and religious authorities, but Christian authority has the greater moral authority and should guide political authorities. Although Chaput doesn't give it the name, this is the doctorine of subsidiarity, in which authority is devolved to the lowest competent level but the Church, acting for God in the world, has primacy. He doesn't acknowledge the competing Protestant doctorine of separate spheres of authority, in which authorities in households, communities, states, and churches are directly responsible to God without subsumption under higher levels.
The very first clarification of Church teaching restates the US Conference of Catholic Bishops' Faithful Citizenship guidance particularly with reference to abortion and euthenasia. A Catholic may support a politician who doesn't strictly follow Church preferences as long as the politician (or other public figure) doesn't give direct material support for these practices and they believe that other grave moral reasons justify a Catholic's support for the leader.
The second clarification of Church teaching concerns the denial of Communion to those who do not affirm Church teachings in all aspects. It is not intended as a punishment. The Church is an eklasia, a moral community. Communion is a central act establishing that community. For someone who doesn't affirm Church teaching to seek Communion damages the community. Denial of Communion is sometimes necessary for the protection of the eklasia and the clarity of Church teaching.
Chaput's presentation raises in my mind several questions which are not addressed:
How universal is the interpretation of natural law?
Chaput argues that although the natural law philosophy emerged in Medieval Christendom, it is based on the instrinsic nature of creation and hence is available by the exercise of reason to all and expresses universal values. Even if accessible to all and therefore universal, the Catholic Church by virtue of its strong natural law tradition is equipped to lead in dictating its application.
Here Chaput exposes an seeming lack of knowledge about how cultural premises shape conceptions; two cultures may denounce murder but hold different accounts of what acts constitute murder based on different premises about legtimate authority and norms of human relations. He holds that Church opposition to abortion is not a consequence of doctorine but based in universal natural law. He does not discuss why different faiths or cosmologies may have different stances on abortion. Arguing from universal principles, he ignores empirical evidence of their culturally-influenced interpretations.
The long tradition of the Church is not a sufficient guarantee of the validity of its interpretations. Tradition may entrench prejudices and errors. The best mechanism for cleansing tradition of error is vigorous and open argument. The Church's interest in protecting its magisterium or teaching authority and preventing confusion among its flock often leads it to attempts to surpress open debate; censorship or the execution of heretics do not favor the refinement of its traditions. Eventually Church resistance to reform lead to a split in Christendom.
Chaput recognizes, half-heartedly, mistakes in the Church's history, but these do not lead him to a cautious appraisal ... Read More
Rated by buyers -
The book is well written and very interesting.Archbishop Chaput handles a very difficult topic with such simplicity. I would recommend this product to everyone.
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