Jacques Maritain and the Jews

Jacques Maritain, one of the most prominent 20th-century Catholic philosophers and social theorists, played a crucial role in the development of modern Catholic teaching about the people of Israel. Today relations between Christians and Jews have reached an historically unprecedented cordiality, and the 17 essays in this volume reveal the process by which Maritain's thought and work contributed to this development. ""Jacques Maritain and the Jews"" is a thorough survey of ihe influence Maritain exerted on various persons inside and outside the Catholic Church, as well as of the influences of the Jewish question on Maritain himself. Here Maritain's thought on Jews and Judaism is examined from historical, philosophical and theological perspectives. Part I provides an historical analysis of the development and consequences of Maritain's thought regarding the Jews. The essays in Part II focus on Maritain's personal relationships with such figures as Leon Blay, Charles Peguy and Henri Bergson, among others. The selections included in Part III show how Maritain's thought developed and how it may be extended and applied to the Christian-Jewish dialogue of today.