(Madrid, Spain) The Redemptorist publishing house of the Perpetual Help of Madrid has just published volumes 7 and 8 of the History of Moral Theology written by the Spanish moralist Redemptorist theologian Marciano Vidal. They constitute a set of 1,502 pages (Volume I with 848 pages and Volume II with 654 pages), plus a selected graphic part in each of them. The two volumes are offered in a beautiful case in which the image of Alphonsus de Liguori shines as it was conceived by the Spanish painter Fernando Álvarez de Sotomayor (1875-1960).
The author wanted two goals. The first: to introduce Alphonsus de Liguori (1696-1787) into the history of theology and to give it the exceptional place that corresponds to it. The second: to offer an authorized balance of studies on the historical significance of the Neapolitan saint, founder of the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer. In this way, the value of Alphonsus de Liguori will have to be recognized by the scholars of moral theology and these will have within their reach the proofs and the meaning of this historical value, which is concretized in the subtitle of the work: The triumph of benignity before to rigorism.
But work wants to overcome the academic limitations of specialists in moral theology. It is an offer for the general public and, in a special way, for all Redemptorists. It offers a summary of Alphonsianism at the height of our time.
In the presentation the author assures the reader that if he reaches the end of the two volumes:
1. You will have the knowledge of the content of all the works of Alphonsus, which, according to the latest figures, reach 128 titles.
2. You will have had the opportunity to get in touch with (almost) all the bibliographic production on the Alphonsian theme.
3. You will have a complete biography of Alphonsus’ main work, his Theologia Moralis, analyzed with an original method which the author calls the socio-biographical method.
4. You may have an in-depth analysis of Alphonsus’ moral thought and a detailed history of his reception by both moral theologians and the ecclesiastical Magisterium.
5. Furthermore, your are presented updated summaries on topics of great interest such as the following: the analysis of Alphonsus’ family experience; the presentation of the formation, both civil and ecclesiastical of Alphonsus; the description of the biographical trajectory of the Neapolitan saint, in which the wise reader will evaluate Alphonsus’ presentation as a writer; the analysis of Alphonsus’ contributions to the various fields of theological knowledge: to biblical theology, to historical theology, to dogmatic theology and, above all, to apologetics; the extensive exposition on Alphonsian spirituality.
6. At the opening of the first volume, the reader finds a geographical, historical, social, cultural, religious description of the Kingdom and of the City of Naples. The author confesses that he could not have done otherwise if he wanted to make explicit the historical significance of the most Neapolitan saint of all saints (and, adds others, of the most holy Neapolitan of all the Neapolitans).
The work is already being translated into Portuguese by the Redemptorist province of Porto Alegre (Brazil).
The editorial director of Perpetuo Socorro in Madrid is open to organize translations into other languages and to specify ways of acquiring the work in Spanish.
For further information:
Editorial: www.pseditorial.com
Email: perso@pseditorial.com
