To say that The Primacy of God is an important book about an important subject matter is true, yet at the same time it is a serious understatement—it is a very important book about a most urgent subject matter. Staudt puts his finger on the deepest reason why our modern culture is an upside-down world in which the 'exile of God' is intimately connected with the 'eclipse of religion.' The fact that the 'eclipse of religion' is leaving its traces all over the contemporary Church and theology tells us how much the 'eclipse of God' is affecting church and theology. Staudt's book is very timely and a must-read for seminarians, priests, bishops, and the proverbial educated lay person." - Reinhard Huetter The Catholic University of America"Staudt shows the indispensable role of the virtue of religion as conceived by St. Thomas in fundamental and moral theology, and in political theology and Christology. With the help of Hans Urs von Balthasar and Joseph Ratzinger, he vindicates its utility in making theological sense of the history of revelation and of contemporary religious pluralism. Staudt's deft rebuttal of the critical positions of Kant, Barth, Rahner, and Dupuis is complemented by his re-introduction of Christopher Dawson's fruitful discussion of the relation of theology and sociology. Not to be missed." - Guy Mansini, OSB Ave Maria University"Staudt's The Primacy of God is a synthetic masterpiece drawing together biblical wisdom with the theological insights of Aquinas and Balthasar and Christopher Dawson's meta-history. It is a significant contribution to the renewal of the field of fundamental theology. It also explains why the 'all we need is love' mantra is a woefully reductionist understanding of what it means to have been baptized in the name of the Holy Trinity." - Tracey Rowland University of Notre Dame (Australia)"The virtue of religion in St. Thomas, as in St. Augustine, is the key to right order—but get it wrong, and the world will collapse, just as we are witnessing today. Jared Staudt has written an essential and powerful book on this virtue that can turn the altars of our world the right way round again. Highly recommended." - C. C. Pecknold The Catholic University of America