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 enlarge | Author: Carl Anderson
Publisher: HarperOne
Category: Book
List Price: $19.95
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Rating:  28 reviews
Sales Rank: 94321
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 224
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 8.4 x 5.4 x 1
ISBN: 0061335312
Dewey Decimal Number: 261
EAN: 9780061335310
ASIN: 0061335312
Publication Date: April 1, 2008
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| Showing reviews 26-28 of 28 | | « PREV | | |
 What Every Catholic Can Do to Transform the World March 27, 2008
8 out of 8 found this review helpful
Today many ask, "What will become of the people in our world?" More specifically, author Carl Anderson asks, "What kind of people are we becoming in our world?" With the way the world is headed, many wonder what can be done to turn things around. We have perhaps heard various names used to describe our world as it stands today - the culture of death, the clash of civilizations, the dictatorship of relativism - but the leader of the international men's fraternal organization The Knights of Columbus, Carl Anderson, chooses to focus his new book on the theme of building a world of hope and love.
Anderson states that his new book, A Civilization of Love: What Every Catholic Can Do to Transform the World, is "a call to active hope." Practical hope is the reason I think this book succeeds, because it is about the hope and means of building a civilization of love; and this book truly inspires hope, but more - while offering a clear and engaging theological treatise on the social doctrine of the Church it is also a practical guide to making such a hope a reality. This book is for anyone who is looking to be part of the revolution of love that has already changed both individual hearts and sectors of society through organizations like the Knights of Columbus.
Mr. Anderson, a first-class theologian in his own right, has written a how-to book that appeals to Catholics of all backgrounds. The author does for Catholic social teaching what Lee Iacocca did for American corporate business - he first leads a revival within his own social enterprise at the Knights of Columbus and then calls the rest of us to follow his success, to transform the world with love.
Anderson weaves his chapters with thematic discussions that focus on various ways to build the civilization of love - topics that include the power of Christ, the domestic church, globalization, business ethics - while filling in the gaps with illustrative examples of people and successful projects that demonstrate the practical possibility of making his plan, which is ultimately the plan of the Church and the Holy Spirit, a new world-wide reality. From Fr. Michael McGivney who founded the Knights of Columbus, which is today a 1.7 million volunteer Catholic men's organization that gave $143 million to charity in 2006, and who was recently regarded by Pope Benedict for his heroic virtue, to Lt. Dan O'Callaghan who died at the World Trade Center on 9-11 and was found holding his Knights of Columbus rosary, to Karol Wojtyla (John Paul II) who found his vocation to become a priest while learning the "Gospel of work" in a rock quarry in Nazi-occupied Poland. In this way, Anderson's book offers the best of both Church social teaching and inspiring examples of modern witnesses of love.
Pius IX once said that if there were one million families praying the Rosary every day, the entire world would be saved. After reading this book, I would add that if there were a million people who would read this book and attempt to put its principles into action, the entire world would be changed... into a renewed civilization of love. Outlining how we can build our contemporary culture with an authentic spirit of progress, Anderson's book gives his readers an invaluable resource on how to become living stones in the building of a global civilization of love. And this is the kind of people Christ is calling us to become in building our world of tomorrow.
Kelly Bowring, STD, is dean of spiritual mission and associate professor of sacred theology at Southern Catholic College in Georgia.
Inspiring March 26, 2008
10 out of 11 found this review helpful
Carl Anderson's "A Civilization of Love" is simply inspirational. As a Catholic, most every Mass touches on the need for us to spread the word about our faith. Anderson's work really takes this to another level. Thank you Carl for a truly wonderful book.
Editor of Michele Cozzens' award winning work of women's fiction A Line Between Friends
Gives Concrete Advice on How we can Change the World March 26, 2008
37 out of 39 found this review helpful
Is it possible for our Catholic faith to transform our increasingly secular culture? Carl Anderson answers that question with a resounding "Yes!" in his new book "A Civilization of Love: What Every Catholic Can Do to Transform the World." Anderson is the leader of the Knights of Columbus, the world's largest Catholic fraternal group. He has worked closely with both Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI and has served on several Vatican committees. In "A Civilization of Love," he relies heavily on the teachings of Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI, especially the theology of the body and Pope Benedict's recent encyclical Deus Caritas Est (God is Love).
Anderson begins with St. Paul's visit to Athens between 50 - 58 AD to illustrate how one person could begin to change a culture. The Greeks believed in many gods, but they had a shrine to an "unknown god." While this was primarily to make sure that they were not angering any gods that they might have forgotten, St. Paul used this as a jumping off point to begin to introduce them to the Judeo-Christian God. Anderson argues that "the responsibility of Christians in our own time remains as it was in Paul's - to radically transform culture, not by imposing values from above, but through a subtler yet more powerful process - living a vocation of love in the day-to-day reality of our lives."
Our world has become increasingly secular. A faith in God has been replaced by a faith in progress. The belief in a creator who has endowed us all with certain unalienable rights is falling by the wayside. "Human life is reduced to a meaning and purpose only in reference to this world, which is asking of this world something that it does not have the power to give." In contrast, Jesus' great commandment was to love God and one another. "It is the vocation to love that not only makes each person, but makes each person human."
"A Civilization to Love" focuses on Catholic social values, what it means to love our neighbor. Especially as lay persons, we are called to work in the world. We are called to change society by the way we raise our families and conduct our business affairs. We are called to witness to what it means to be a people rooted in faith. Everything we possess has been given by God. "Every talent is given as a gift. Every moment is a chance and an opportunity for conveying love. . . Fundamentally, one of the only ways in which we can show our love for God physically is through service to him through people."
Anderson focuses on the ways we can serve in our families, our workplaces, and in the global economy. He discusses many of the social ills that face Catholics and the world today such as the breakdown of the family, the reality of abortion, the increase in working hours, the loss of the Sabbath rest, the need for more ethical behavior in the workplace and government, and adjusting to a changing Church. He offers concrete ways Catholics can make a difference.
Catholics do have the power to transform the world. "They will do so by their actions, by their attitudes, and by their influence. But above all, they will do so by their love. This love is a matter not of mere high-minded sentimentality but of genuine compassion tempered with a well-grounded realism. It is a love that offers hope not only for eternity but for a better way of life on this earth." "A Civilization of Love" invites us all to be part of that transformation. It is up to us to answer the call.
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