Avery Dulles

Cardinal Avery Dulles, S.J. (1918–2008), was one of the leading American Catholic theologians of the twentieth century. Published in partnership with America Media, this collection of Dulles’s essential work from America magazine includes more than five decades of writing that showcases his wide-ranging interests in ecclesiology, salvation history, pastoral theology, and contemporary literature and reflects the Jesuit’s warm personality and astute insights on the Church in an era of great change.

Avery Dulles: The Essential Writings from America Magazine includes occasional and formal writing, book reviews, reflections, and extended essays from America. Known as a synthesizer of Catholic thought from disparate traditions and theological positions, Cardinal Avery Dulles is perhaps best known for his book Models of the Church, one of a number of important academic works he wrote. Dulles was the author of twenty-five books and produced hundreds of articles for America and other journals.

In these selections from America, Dulles reflects on theological questions such as the relationship between faith and reason, as well as events like the Second Vatican Council that affected average Catholics. Avery Dulles also includes the late cardinal’s exploration of the teachings of John Paul II and the authority of the episcopacy—solidifying our understanding of Dulles as both a towering figure and a mediating voice in American Catholicism.

Avery Cardinal Dulles, S.J. (1918-2008), was a Jesuit priest who was appointed a cardinal by Pope John Paul II in 2001—the first American-born theologian who was not a bishop to receive the honor. At the time of his death, Dulles was the Laurence J. McGinley Professor of Religion and Society at Fordham University, where he served for twenty years. Dulles was a veteran of the United States Navy. An internationally known author and lecturer, he served on the faculty of Woodstock College from 1960 to 1974 and at The Catholic University of America from 1974 to 1988. He had been a visiting professor at a number of colleges, universities, and seminaries throughout his career. Dulles was the author of more than 750 articles and twenty-three books, including Models of the Church (1974), Models of Revelation (1983), The Splendor of Faith: The Theological Vision of Pope John Paul II (1999, revised in 2003), Newman (2002), and Magisterium (2007). He served as president of the Catholic Theological Society of America and the American Theological Society. Dulles also served on the International Theological Commission and as a member of the United States Lutheran/Roman Catholic Dialogue.

“Avery Dulles was one of the most important American Catholic theologians of the twentieth century. This brilliant collection of short—but always substantive—essays reveals the itinerary of Dulles’s theological journey. With characteristic clarity, Dulles ranges across topics that stretch from the nature of revelation to the meaning of culture, from the Virgin Mary to academic freedom, from Vatican II to John Paul II—offering along the way a master class on the momentous changes that have shaped Catholicism and Catholic theology over the past half century."
Edward P. Hahnenberg
Breen Chair of Catholic Theology at John Carroll University

“Avery Dulles’s occasional writings, like his scholarship, demonstrate his lifelong determination to ‘think with the Church.’ Thus this welcome collection is a reminder to all Catholic theologians and writers that innovation for its own sake (not to mention innovation for the sake of cultural accommodation) is not a virtue, while the mere repetition of ancient formulas can be an obstacle to the New Evangelization in an age of profound cultural confusion.”
George Weigel
Distinguished Senior Fellow and William E. Simon Chair in Catholic Studies
Ethics and Public Policy Center

“Avery Dulles was a humble, holy and faithful brother in Christ. . . . I am grateful for his scholarship, his leadership, and his inspiring example, but I am most grateful to have had him as a friend and brother.”
From the introduction by Rev. James Martin, S.J.