Ever Ancient, Ever New - (Ernest L. Fortin: Collected Essays) by Ernest L Fortin (Paperback)

About the Book

Almost single-handedly, Ernest L. Fortin resuscitated the study of political philosophy for Catholic theology. Fortin's interests were vast: the Church Fathers, Dante and Aquinas, modern rights, ecumenism. All of these are in Ever Ancient Ever New, the fourth and final volume ...

Book Synopsis

Almost single-handedly, Ernest L. Fortin resuscitated the study of political philosophy for Catholic theology. Fortin's interests were vast: the Church Fathers, Dante and Aquinas, modern rights, ecumenism. All of these are in Ever Ancient Ever New, the fourth and final volume of Fortin's collected essays. Edited by Michael Foley, the volume contains articles never before published and is for anyone wishing to continue their education from Ernest Fortin or to begin learning from him for the first time.

Review Quotes

Ernest Fortin has a place of honor at the table of quiet erudition and uncompromising curiosity, where adults try to understand how the world went crazy and what might be done about it. If we are ever so much more fortunate than we deserve, younger scholars will follow Fortin in what is best described as the path of wisdom.

Provide[s] readers with a personal and inside look at the man so many admired and loved.

Such deep and wide learning is rare enough. But the cumulative effect of bringing together all these valuable contributions is to let us see something rarer still: the life of a mind that is humane, lucid, and wise.

The first three volumes of Ernest Fortin's works are fundamental contributions to the problem of modernity. In his analysis of rights, Catholic social thought, the state, and general questions of justice, Fortin has penetrated to the core of the misplaced ideologies and enthusiasms that have appeared in religious circles. The welcome fourth volume of Fortin's works again covers the vast range that a political philosopher-theologian must cover to make the whole intelligible. Fortin's essays are a direct challenge to, and redirection of, the major trends in political philosophy in the modern era. Few writing in intellectual circles today have Fortin's breadth of interest and profundity of analysis; his grasp of the classics and of modern theory is incomparable. Fortin is one of the few thinkers who take everything into consideration-experience, history, philosophy, revelation, the tradition of reason. His is a remarkable example of an active philosophic mind at work which knows that the pursuit of truth is both difficult and exhilarating. Fortin's works are not to be missed.

This fourth volume of the papers of the late Father Fortin underscores what a loss it is no longer to have him among us. This is simply the obverse of realizing what a blessing he was; and through his writings he will continue to influence, stimulate, and delight. And another thought comes: 'The Importance of Being Ernest' could be the title of the whole collection. Many thanks to Brian Benestad and Michael Foley.

About the Author

Michael P. Foley is Assistant Professor of Patristics in the Great Texts Program at Baylor University, where he has been teaching since 2004. He is co-editor of Gladly to Learn and Gladly to Teach: Essays on Religion and Political Philosophy in Honor of Ernest L. Fortin, A.A.