John Courtney Murray
The Reverend Dr. John Courtney Murray Queens, New York | |
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Alma mater | Boston College Gregorian University |
Academic work | |
Institutions | Ateneo de Manila, Jesuit theologate Woodstock, Maryland |
Main interests | Theology |
Notable works | We Hold These Truths |
Notable ideas | Dignitatis humanae |
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John Courtney Murray
During the Second Vatican Council, he played a key role in persuading the assembly of the Catholic bishops to adopt the Council's ground-breaking Declaration on Religious Liberty, Dignitatis humanae.
Early life and education
John Courtney Murray was born in
Career
In 1930, Murray returned to the
After his return from Rome to the United States, just before the beginning of
In 1941, he was named editor of the Jesuit journal Theological Studies. He held both positions until his death.[1]
As representative of the
By 1944, Murray's endorsement of full co-operation with other
Similarly, Murray advocated religious freedom and pluralism as defined and protected by the
"Pluralism, therefore, implies disagreement and dissension within the community. But it also implies a community within which there must be agreement and consensus."[3]
Postwar reconstruction
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His background and training suggest a heavily-
In 1951 to 1952, after a lectureship at
In his increasingly public role, several American
From 1958 to 1962, he served at the
Throughout the 1950s Murray promoted his ideas in Catholic journals where they received heavy criticism from the leading Catholic thinkers of the day.
Tensions with the Vatican, 1954
By the late 1940s, Murray argued that Catholic teaching on
Murray’s claim that a "new moral truth" had emerged outside the Church led to conflict with Cardinal
Second Vatican Council, 1963
In spite of his silencing, Murray continued to write privately on religious liberties and submitted his works to Rome, all of which were rejected.
In 1963, he was invited to the second but not the first session of the Second Vatican Council in which he drafted the third and the fourth versions of a document on religious freedom.[9]
In 1965, the document eventually became the Council's endorsement of religious freedom Dignitatis humanae personae.[10] He continued to write on the issue by claiming that the arguments offered by the final decree were inadequate even if the affirmation of religious freedom was unequivocal.
In 1966, prompted by the
Murray then turned to questions of how the Church might arrive at new theological doctrines. He argued that Catholics who arrived at new truths about God would have to do so in conversation "on a footing of equality" with non-Catholics and
Death
In August 1967, Murray died of a
References
- ^ a b c d e f "John Courtney Murray, SJ (1904-1967)", Ignatian Spirituality
- ^ a b c "Murray, John Courtney, American theologian". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 2017-04-18.
- ^ Murray, John Courtney, "We Hold These Truths", Lanham, MD: Sheed and Ward, 1960, Foreword,x.
- ^ Murray SJ, John Courtney. We Hold These Truths: Catholic Reflections on the American Proposition, (Sheed & Ward, 1960)
- ^ "Time Magazine cover: John Courtney Murray". Time. Time. Retrieved 14 February 2019.
- ^ Ashley, J. Matthew (27 December 2011). "An Ignatian Spirit Avery Dulles's Theological Journey". Commonweal Magazine. Society of Jesus. Retrieved 14 February 2019.
- ^ Wemhoff, David A. "John Courtney Murray, Time/Life, and the American Proposition: How the CIA's Doctrinal Warfare Program Changed the Catholic Church (book review)". Federal Bar Association. Retrieved 14 February 2019.
- ^ "Religion: Man of the City". Time. 25 August 1967. Retrieved 14 February 2019.
- ^ "Religious freedom-- Vatican II modernizes church-state ties," Agostino Bono, Catholic News Service, 12 Oct 2005, retrieved 15 May 2007.[1]
- ^ "Dignitatis humanae personae", Second Vatican Council, 1965, retrieved 15 May 2007 [2]
- ^ a b S.J. Leon Hooper,Murray Biography from American National Biography Edited by John A Garraty and Mark C. Carnes. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999
Further reading
- Baxter, Michael J. "John Courtney Murray." The Blackwell Companion to Political Theology (2004): 150-164. online
- Bersnak, P. Bracy. "John Courtney Murray, SJ, and the Development of Doctrine." Catholic Social Science Review 27 (2022): 57-68. online
- Cadeddu, Francesca. "A call to action: John Courtney Murray, SJ, and the renewal of American democracy." Catholic Historical Review (2015): 530-553. online
- Cadeddu, Francesca. "John Courtney Murray." The Oxford Handbook of Reinhold Niebuhr (Oxford University Press, 2021) pppp. 180-198. online
- Curran, Charles E. Catholic moral theology in the United States: A history (Georgetown University Press, 2008) online.
- Diaz, Miguel H. "An Unfinished Project: John Courtney Murray, Religious Freedom and Unresolved Tensions in Contemporary American Society." Loyola University Chicago Law Journal 50 (2018): 1+. online
- Ferguson, Thomas P. Catholic and American: the political theology of John Courtney Murray (Rowman & Littlefield, 1993). online
- Hollenbach, David. "Religious Freedom, Morality and Law: John Courtney Murray Today." Journal of Moral Theology 1.1 (2012): 69-91. online
- Hooper, J. Leon, and Todd Whitmore, eds. John Courtney Murray & the growth of tradition (Rowman & Littlefield, 1996). online
- Komonchak, Joseph A. "The American Contribution to" Dignitatis Humanae": The Role of John Courtney Murray, SJ." US Catholic Historian 24.1 (2006): 1-20. online
- Lovin, Robin W. "Religious Freedom and Public Argument: John Courtney Murray on the American Proposition." Loyola University Chicago Law Journal 50 (2018): 25+. online
- Whelan, Gerard. "John Courtney Murray on Church and State." Studies: An Irish Quarterly Review 106.421 (2017): 70-94. online
- Witte, John, and Frank S. Alexander, eds. The teachings of modern Roman Catholicism on law, politics, and human nature (Columbia University Press, 2007).
External links
- Published and Unpublished Works woodstock.georgetown.edu
- Essays on Murray's Thought woodstock.georgetown.edu
- A compilation of writings by and about Fr. John Courtney Murray, SJ. johncourtneymurray.blogspot.com
- "The Problem of God Yesterday and Today". Georgetown University Library. Retrieved 2015-12-09.