In this remarkable collection of interrelated essays Avery Dulles addresses the issues that have been hotly debated since Vatican II. Clearly and judiciously, he examines the church's position on secular matters such as war, politics, and economics. He explores the Church’s ability to preserve inner unity while adapting to many different cultures and its role as a modern channel of grace and salvation.
That Vatican Council II has lost none of its immediacy in the past twenty-five years is a central thesis of The Reshaping of Catholicism. Dulles argues rather that the Council's insights and directives have become more practical for the emerging world church. Drawing from his full command of the relevant literature and his many years of study and teaching in the areas of ecclesiology and ecumenism, Dulles writes succinctly on these complex issues. Theologians, priests, ministerial students and laity, both Catholic and non-Catholic alike, will find his balanced treatment of controversial issues enlightening.