Everything about Richard John Neuhaus totally explained
Richard John Neuhaus (born
May 21,
1936) is a prominent
Catholic priest and
writer born in
Canada and living in the
United States, where he's a naturalized citizen. He is the founder and editor of the monthly journal
First Things and the author of several books, including
The Naked Public Square: Religion and Democracy in America (1984),
The Catholic Moment: The Paradox of the Church in the Postmodern World (1987), and
Catholic Matters: Confusion, Controversy, and the Splendor of Truth (2006).
Biography
Born in
Pembroke, Ontario, Neuhaus was one of eight children, and his father was a
Lutheran minister. As his father was earlier, he was
ordained a minister around
1960, later serving as
pastor of a poor congregation in a minority area of
Brooklyn in
New York City.
He was active in liberal politics until
Roe v. Wade was handed down. He is the originator of "Neuhaus's Law",
which states that "Where orthodoxy is optional, orthodoxy will sooner or later be proscribed".
In 1984, Neuhaus established the Center for Religion and Society as part of the Rockford Institute, which also publishes
Chronicles. He and the center were "forcibly evicted" from the Institute in 1989 under disputed circumstances. Neuhas wrote in 2003 that:
» I became increasingly uneasy with what was understandably viewed as the racist and anti-Semitic tones of
Chronicles under the direction of, its then new editor. I was preparing to break the connection with Rockford and go independent when one rainy Friday morning Rockford executives showed up, fired the entire staff, put us out on the street, and changed the office locks. We could have done without the melodrama, but every May 5 we've a gala staff luncheon to celebrate the occasion.
In 1990, Neuhaus founded
First Things, a journal published by the Institute on Religion and Public Life, as an ecumenical journal "whose purpose is to advance a religiously informed public philosophy for the ordering of society."
Neuhaus supported the mainline (
ELCA) wing of American Lutheranism before converting to
Catholicism on
September 8,
1990.
A year later, he was
ordained a
priest by
John Cardinal O'Connor. He was a commentator for the Catholic
television network EWTN during the
funeral of Pope John Paul II and the
election of Pope Benedict XVI.
He promotes ecumenical dialogue and
social conservatism. Along with
Charles Colson, he edited
Evangelicals and Catholics Together: Toward a Common Mission (1995; ISBN 0-8499-3860-0). This ecumenical manifesto sparked much debate; some Catholics and evangelicals claimed that Neuhaus and Colson had compromised major doctrines to promote a neoconservative agenda and unfairly demanded that both branches of Christianity stop trying to convert the other's members.
Neuhaus has expressed a strong hope in
universal salvation, but has stopped short of teaching it as a doctrine, emphasizing it as a hope, not a belief. "In sum: we don't know; only God knows; but we may hope." He writes:
that absolutely no one is beyond the reach of God’s love in Christ. All are found, and therefore are not lost. That some may choose not to accept the gift of being found is quite another matter. We pray and hope that all will accept the gift of salvation that's most surely available to all. At least for Catholics, the teaching is definitive: God denies no one the grace necessary for salvation.
Similar to
Cormac Cardinal Murphy-O'Connor, another Catholic clergyman, Neuhaus has said that it can't be known if
hell is populated by anyone. In
2005, Neuhaus was named one of the "25 Most Influential Evangelicals in America" by
Time Magazine.
Partial Bibliography
- The Naked Public Square: Religion and Democracy in America (1984; ISBN 0802835880)
- Freedom for Ministry: A Critical Affirmation of the Church and Its Mission (1984; ISBN 0060660953)
- The Catholic Moment: The Paradox of the Church in the Postmodern World (1987; ISBN 0060660961)
- America Against Itself: Moral Vision and the Public Order (1992; ISBN 0268006334)
- The Eternal Pity: Reflections on Dying (2000; ISBN 0268027579)
- Death on a Friday Afternoon: Meditations on the Last Words of Jesus from the Cross (2001; ISBN 0465049338)
- As I Lay Dying: Meditations Upon Returning (2002; ISBN 0465049303)
- Your Word Is Truth: A Project of Evangelicals and Catholics Together (co-edited with Charles Colson; 2002; ISBN 0802805086)
- Catholic Matters: Confusion, Controversy, and the Splendor of Truth (2006; ISBN 0465049354).
- The Theocons: Secular America Under Siege by Damon Linker, Doubleday 2006. Account of the rise of the "theocons" in which Neuhaus is the central figure; includes biographical information.
Further Information
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