THE FIRST GRACE
Rediscovering the Natural Law in a Post-Christian World
By Russell Hittinger
List Item No. 325
ISBN: 1-882926-82-X (cloth)
374 pages
List Price: $24.95
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In the book's first section, Hittinger defines the natural law, considers its proper relationship to moral theology and the positive law, and explains how and when judges should be guided by natural law considerations. Then, in the book's second section, he contends with a number of controversial legal and cultural issues from a natural law perspective. Among other things, he shows how the modern propensity to make all sorts of "rights claims" undermines the idea of limited government; how the liberal legal culture's idea of privacy elevates the individual to the status of a sovereign; and how the Supreme Court has come to cast religion as a dangerous phenomenon from which children must be protected.
Whether discussing the nature of liberalism, the constitutional and moral problems posed by judicial usurpation, or the dangers of technology, Hittinger convincingly demonstrates that in our post-Christian world it is more crucial than ever that we recover older, wiser notions of the concepts of freedom and law—since to oppose them is to misunderstand both profoundly.
What They're Saying...
"In short, the only significant difficulty with this brilliant and penetrating work of theology and philosophy is that it requires another-and the sooner, the better."
—First Things
"…sure to attract serious scholars of church-state issues."
—Booklist
"Russ Hittinger is one of the foremost legal minds in America today. In this book, he demonstrates his command of the classic Roman Catholic understanding of natural law. His insightful application of that understanding to some of the most pressing issues of our day is a vital contribution for us all."
—Chuck Colson, Founder, Prison Fellowship Ministries
"A decade after the issuance of Veritatis Splendor, many persons still ignore the key place in moral reasoning that the Church reserves for natural law. For more than a decade, Russell Hittinger has distinguished himself as a true connoisseur of the Church's natural law tradition. This book will confirm his status one of the few present-day authorities on natural law and, especially, on its applications in the temporal order."
—Romanus Cessario, O.P., Saint John's Seminary, Brighton, Massachusetts
"This is one of two or three books written in the past hundred years that every person interested in natural law should read."
—Steven Long, University of St. Thomas
"With remarkable learning, clarity, and moral passion, Professor Hittinger lays out for readers the richness of the classical Christian understanding of natural law, that 'order which reason has not made.'"
—Robert Tuttle, George Washington Law School
"In this book, Russell Hittinger insists that Catholics return to their own traditional way of presenting natural law by retrieving its theological roots. He then demonstrates that this traditional understanding of natural law illuminates a number of issues in American
constitutional law, such as church-state relations, and judicial legitimacy. Through his great learning and philosophical perspicacity, Hittinger shows how Catholics have the most to contribute to democratic discourse when they are most faithful to their own intellectual tradition. By analogy, members of their religions, who have their own
versions of natural law, can be well instructed by both the content and the logic of this excellent new book."
—David Novak, J. Richard and Dorothy Shiff Professor of Jewish Studies University of Toronto
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