In Quest of Catholicity by Malachi Martin

In Quest of Catholicity by Malachi Martin

WHAT MIGHT HAPPEN WHEN TWO OF THE MOST EXPANSIVE AND ORIGINAL Catholic thinkers of our times engage in a discussion on issues that profoundly affect our understanding of the Church past, present and future? In a two-year correspondence with Malachi Martin, Wolfgang Smith broaches a wide spectrum of topics, to which Fr. Martin responds in a way that may surprise many readers. What ultimately stands at issue is the meaning of authentic Catholicity--the universality of Catholic truth.

It emerges from the exchange that when it comes to this fundamental issue, theologians have long been stymied and misled by what Malachi Martin refers to as an intellectual impasse that needs to be deblocked. It proves to be needful, after all, to open doors and windows, not in the name of an aggiornamento, but for the very opposite reason: to rediscover an ancient wisdom, theological and cosmological at once.

In this profound dialogue--ranging from Jacob Boehme to Catherine Pickstock's esoteric Thomism--between a great Catholic historian and a great Catholic metaphysician and physicist, we catch a glimpse of a Church risen to the fullness of its Christ-given Catholicity by encompassing, mystically speaking, all truth.

This luminous exchange will be welcomed by all readers seeking deeper currents in contemporary Catholic thought.

A fascinating exchange of letters between two celebrated Catholic traditionalists, on topics from Boehme to Balthasar, Thomism to Kabbalah, depth psychology to quantum physics. Both Malachi Martin (Hostage to the Devil) and Wolfgang Smith (Christian Gnosis) hold strong, sometimes controversial views, making for a provocative, vastly enjoyable read. Highly recommended.--PHILIP ZALESKI, co-author of The Fellowship: The Literary Lives of the Inklings

This is a book of extraordinary interest. It touches on nothing less than the intellectual credibility of the Catholic faith. Presenting this faith in a system narrowly contained in time and space can only have a provisional value. For the serious seeker, any truth claim has to be congruent with both the most ancient wisdom of humankind and the insight of contemporary science. Here Wolfgang Smith engages in a very personal dialogue with a priest whose over-riding concern is the welfare of souls. The salvation of a generation - at least - turns on an understanding that reaches as deeply into the truth as they do. We can no longer rely on the formulations of the past. In Quest of Catholicity is a providential stimulus and source for thought deep enough to establish us unshakeably in saving truth.--LUKE BELL O.S.B., author of The Meaning of Blue: Recovering a Contemplative Spirit

In this fascinating correspondence, Wolfgang Smith and the late Malachi Martin tackle an essential question, sadly much avoided, in Catholic letters: What is it that constitutes a Catholic worldview? It is not a simple answer In these cordial discussions, Smith and Martin consider Jacob Boehme, quantum theory, the natura pura debate, Perennialism, and various esoterica in their search for the core of Catholicism, both within and without the precincts of Mater Ecclesia. The result is an exhilarating journey at the frontiers of Catholic thought, frontiers which, even now, are little explored. Theirs is a welcome engagement.-- MICHAEL MARTIN, author of The Submerged Reality: Sophiology and the Turn to a Poetic Metaphysics

Smith, Wolfgang: - Wolfgang Smith was born in Vienna in 1930. At age eighteen he graduated from Cornell University with majors in physics, mathematics, and philosophy. At age twenty he received his Master's degree in theoretical physics from Purdue University, and climbed the Matterhorn. After contributing to the theoretical solution of the re-entry problem as an aerodynamicist at Bell Aircraft Corporation, Smith earned his doctorate in Mathematics at Columbia University, subsequently embarking upon a 30-year career as a Professor of Mathematics at MIT, UCLA, and Oregon State University. Above all, however, it needs to be realized that despite his impeccable credentials in physics, mathematics, and philosophy, Wolfgang Smith is at heart an outsider not only in regard to these academic disciplines, but more profoundly, in reference to the post-Enlightenment premises of our contemporary world. Early in life he became deeply attracted to the Platonist and Neoplatonist schools, and subsequently undertook extensive sojourns in India and the Himalayan regions to contact such vestiges of ancient tradition as still could be found. And one of the basic lessons he learned by way of these encounters is that there actually exist higher sciences in which man himself plays the part not merely of the observer, but of the scientific instrument: becomes himself, in other words, the microscope or telescope by which he is enabled to perceive hitherto invisible reaches of the integral cosmos. By the same token, moreover, Smith came to recognize the stringent limitations to which our contemporary sciences are subject by virtue of their extrinsic modus operandi: the folly of presuming to fathom the depths of the universe having barely scratched the surface in the discovery of man himself. Finding himself, thus, irreconcilably at odds with the prevailing Zeitgeist, Smith decided to forego a professional career in the fields of his primary interest-i.e., physics and philosophy-in favor of pure mathematics: the one and only academic discipline, he avers, in which political correctness can find no foothold. And so he enjoyed the luxury of pursuing a respected university career while being at liberty, as he puts it, to remain perfectly sane. It is no wonder, then, that when he finally confronted the so-called quantum enigma, Smith perceived the issue in a very different light than his peers. The problem all along had actually not been technical! It was not a question to be resolved by way of differential equations, nor primarily a matter of finding something new-but one of jettisoning an entire Weltanschauung. And for Wolfgang Smith this posed no difficulty: he had in fact done so decades earlier, as can be discerned in his remarkable series of publications. Wolfgang Smith's life and work are the subject of the documentary film The End of Quantum Reality, scheduled for release in early 2019.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9781621382133
ISBN 10	1621382133
Title	In Quest of Catholicity
Author	Malachi Martin
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Paperback
Publisher	Angelico Press
Year published	2016-08-10
Number of pages	164
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.