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Beyond Modernity: Reflections of a Post-Modern Catholic
Book by Rutler, George William
227 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1987
6 people are currently reading
23 people want to read
About the author
George William Rutler
30 books28 followersFr. George Rutler was born in 1945 and raised an Episcopalian in New Jersey and New York. He served as an Episcopal priest for nine years and was the youngest Episcopal rector in the country when he headed the Church of the Good Shepherd in Rosemont, Pennsylvania.
He was received into the Catholic Church in 1979. He attended seminary at the North American College in Rome, was ordained to the diaconate by His Eminence William Cardinal Baum in 1980, and received priestly ordination in St. Patrick's Cathedral by His Eminence Terence Cardinal Cooke in 1981.
Father Rutler graduated from Dartmouth, where he was a Rufus Choate Scholar. He completed graduate work at the Johns Hopkins University, the General Theological Seminary, and the Gregorian and Angelicum Universities in Rome. He holds a Pontifical Doctorate in Sacred Theology. In England, in 1988, the University of Oxford awarded him the degree Master of Studies.
From 1987 to 1988 he was regular preacher to the students, faculty, and townspeople of Oxford. He served as Associate Pastor of St. Joseph's in Bronxville; Our Lady of Victory in the Wall Street area; and St. Agnes, in Manhattan. He was a university chaplain for the Archdiocese, and also chaplain to a general hospital and a psychiatric hospital.
He served for ten years as the National Chaplain of Legatus. He is Chaplain of the New York Guild of Catholic Lawyers, Regional Spiritual Director of the Legion of Mary (New York and northern New Jersey) and is associated with the Missionaries of Charity, and other religious orders, as a retreat master. Since 1988 his weekly television program has been broadcast worldwide on EWTN.
Cardinal Egan appointed him Pastor of the Church of Our Saviour, effective September 17, 2001.
Thomas More College and Christendom College awarded him honorary doctorates. He is a knight of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre, and chaplain of the St. Andrew's Society of the State of New York, the Robert Burns Society of the City of New York, and the West Point Society of New York.
Father Rutler has made documentary films in the United States and England, and contributes to numerous scholarly and popular journals. As a member of the U.S. Squash Racquets Association, he’s published one book on the sport, in addition to his religious works.
He was received into the Catholic Church in 1979. He attended seminary at the North American College in Rome, was ordained to the diaconate by His Eminence William Cardinal Baum in 1980, and received priestly ordination in St. Patrick's Cathedral by His Eminence Terence Cardinal Cooke in 1981.
Father Rutler graduated from Dartmouth, where he was a Rufus Choate Scholar. He completed graduate work at the Johns Hopkins University, the General Theological Seminary, and the Gregorian and Angelicum Universities in Rome. He holds a Pontifical Doctorate in Sacred Theology. In England, in 1988, the University of Oxford awarded him the degree Master of Studies.
From 1987 to 1988 he was regular preacher to the students, faculty, and townspeople of Oxford. He served as Associate Pastor of St. Joseph's in Bronxville; Our Lady of Victory in the Wall Street area; and St. Agnes, in Manhattan. He was a university chaplain for the Archdiocese, and also chaplain to a general hospital and a psychiatric hospital.
He served for ten years as the National Chaplain of Legatus. He is Chaplain of the New York Guild of Catholic Lawyers, Regional Spiritual Director of the Legion of Mary (New York and northern New Jersey) and is associated with the Missionaries of Charity, and other religious orders, as a retreat master. Since 1988 his weekly television program has been broadcast worldwide on EWTN.
Cardinal Egan appointed him Pastor of the Church of Our Saviour, effective September 17, 2001.
Thomas More College and Christendom College awarded him honorary doctorates. He is a knight of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre, and chaplain of the St. Andrew's Society of the State of New York, the Robert Burns Society of the City of New York, and the West Point Society of New York.
Father Rutler has made documentary films in the United States and England, and contributes to numerous scholarly and popular journals. As a member of the U.S. Squash Racquets Association, he’s published one book on the sport, in addition to his religious works.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
August 23, 2022
For starters, Rutler uses "Post-Modern" in its most elementary sense: whatever comes after modernism. He was writing before he knew what that would be, when modernism was winding down and (the yet unnamed) post-modernism was taking root.
Regardless, Rutler plays the role of spiritual doctor, taking inventory of the ailments of a modernist society and prescribing Catholicism as the cure.
Whether or not you are Catholic, and whether or not you're a believer in the "moral decay" that modernism jumpstarted and relayed to postmodernism, you can't deny Rutler's writing ability. He writes with such power, authority, and pragmatic language that even atheists may find themselves nodding along with some of his points. His terse writing does well to distill entire theological teachings into passing aphorisms, but that of course comes with faults of its own.
On the whole, it's a well-written treatise on what's wrong with a modernist (and "post-modernist") society, and how religion can help to heal it.
I would suggest this book to anyone looking for good Catholic writing, or anyone disillusioned by the aforementioned moral decay of post-/modernism. If you like what modernism propounds, consider yourself atheist, or don't like authoritative writings on non-authoritative subjects, then I would suggest you don't read this...
Regardless, Rutler plays the role of spiritual doctor, taking inventory of the ailments of a modernist society and prescribing Catholicism as the cure.
Whether or not you are Catholic, and whether or not you're a believer in the "moral decay" that modernism jumpstarted and relayed to postmodernism, you can't deny Rutler's writing ability. He writes with such power, authority, and pragmatic language that even atheists may find themselves nodding along with some of his points. His terse writing does well to distill entire theological teachings into passing aphorisms, but that of course comes with faults of its own.
On the whole, it's a well-written treatise on what's wrong with a modernist (and "post-modernist") society, and how religion can help to heal it.
I would suggest this book to anyone looking for good Catholic writing, or anyone disillusioned by the aforementioned moral decay of post-/modernism. If you like what modernism propounds, consider yourself atheist, or don't like authoritative writings on non-authoritative subjects, then I would suggest you don't read this...
October 20, 2011
A great, deep, reflection on times and culture.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews