Matthew T. Eggemeier received his master's degree at Harvard Divinity School and his doctoral training at the University of Notre Dame. An assistant professor at the College of the Holy Cross, he regularly teaches courses on Latin American liberation theology, liberation theology, political theology, and contemporary Catholic spirituality.
One goal of theology is to make us ready to offer an account of the
hope that is in us as Christians (1 Pet 3:15). A
Sacramental-Prophetic Vision meets this goal with impressive scope,
discriminating concision, and refreshing clarity. Eggemeier brings
together thinkers not often treated in the same work (von Balthasar
and Sobrino; Benedict XVI and Foucault; Heidegger and Dillard) to
offer such an accounting for hope. Even more, he translates the
book's demanding vision into a set of spiritual exercises that make
up a "micropolitics" to counter the enervating apathy that too
often results from seeing clearly the grim realities of our
suffering world. He also shows how figures such as Aldo Leopold,
Dorothy Day, or Martin Luther King demonstrate in wonderful variety
that persons formed by such a micropolitics into the practice of
seeing those realities against a broader horizon of hope suggest
and provide warrants for "macropolitical" solutions as well. In
short, Eggemeier provides a concrete proposal for what a "mysticism
of open eyes" (J.B. Metz) should look like in our world.
J. Matthew Ashley, University of Notre Dame
Many theologians today are calling our attention to the devastating
effects of global capitalism, the destruction of the environment,
and the church's present spiritual malaise. Far fewer seem equipped
to offer intellectual resources and spiritual practices for sowing
resistance and hope in ourselves and in the next generation.
Matthew Eggemeier's new book is a tour de force of prophetic
imagination grounded in sacramental wonder and hope. In the midst
of competing cultural claims on our hearts, Eggemeier sees
Christian spirituality as a means of retraining and reorienting our
deepest human desires. His attention to the best critical minds and
spiritual writers of the modern and postmodern era is masterful
and, in a refreshingly clear and understated way, symphonic. I
found this book difficult to put down, but even more, I believe my
students will resonate deeply with the transformative vision of the
Christian life that Eggemeier advances. This is a fabulous
book.
Christopher Pramuk, Xavier University
Eggemeier's first book is principally a diagnosis of naïveté.
Christians have been naïve in their participation in the
development of two interrelated crises: environmental degradation
and global poverty. Wary of the tendency of American Christians to
be co-opted by the state and the economy, . . . [Eggemeier]
advocates for a distinctively Christian perspective on these two
pressing ethical concerns. . . . Thus, the emphasis on "vision"
throughout the text: Christian practices of asceticism, liturgy,
and contemplation create the lens through which we are habituated
to see the world as sacred and the poor as not just unfortunate,
but as crucified. . . . This book is particularly well suited for
undergraduate courses in theological studies.
Jonathan Martin Ciraulo, University of Notre Dame, Theological
Studies
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