Passion of Israel
Jacques Maritain, Catholic Conscience, and the Holocaust
- History & Biography
- Publisher: Wipf and Stock
- Published: 2014
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Publisher's Description
In his lifetime, French philosopher Jacques Maritain (1882-1973) achieved a reputation as both a leading Catholic intellectual and an outspoken critic of anti-Semitism. Here, historian Richard Francis Crane traces the development of Maritain's opposition toward anti-Semitism and analyzes the Catholic appreciation of Judaism that animated his stance. Crane probes the writings and teachings of Maritain--before, during, and after the Holocaust--and illuminates how Maritain's ideas altered Christian perceptions of Jews and Judaism during his lifetime and continue to do so today.
Endorsements (2)
“Richard Crane's extraordinary work brings much-needed nuance and keen insight to a still hotly contested aspect of Jacques Maritain's thought. Refusing to settle for simplistic answers, Crane brilliantly analyzes the complexities and gradual developments in Maritain's thinking on Jews and Judaism in the years surrounding the Shoah. Combining careful readings of Maritain's published and unpublished works with cultural, political, and intellectual history, at last Maritain and the enduring issue of Christian-Jewish relations are brought to life. This important and original book is a must-read.”
“By assembling Maritain's writings, situating them chronologically within their historical contexts, and subjecting them to trenchant philosophical and theological analyses, Crane has produced an indispensable volume. More importantly, however, Crane's intellectual biography also provides an invaluable interpretive key that unifies the philosopher's thought and life. Beneath Crane's finely detailed surface narrative flows this powerful subterranean stream revealing an otherwise obscure coherence: as unimaginable horrors continued to unfold, Maritain had a deep need--perhaps a profoundly anxious one--for both reason and God in history.”
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