The Afternoon of Christianity

Reviews / Votes

"When one happens upon a work like Tomas Halik's The Afternoon of Christianity, one experiences a most refreshing and capacious reflection on Christian faith's necessary maturation through the crucible of doubt. A Christianity and a Church attentive to the Spirit, less concerned with power, more devoted to the spiritual passion that afflicted the heart of the great mystics, unanxious over discovering God in all things, more humble and able to forgive as we have been forgiven-such are the hues in Halik's vision of Christianity's next form. A welcome reminder that love alone is credible." -Jordan Daniel Wood, author of The Whole Mystery of Christ

"Clearly and engagingly written, this book is a visionary product of a major thinker whose work cannot be pigeonholed as religious or spiritual but rather, by interweaving philosophy, theology, sociology, and psychology, seeks to address the human condition in toto." -William A. Barbieri Jr., editor of At the Limits of the Secular

"This book is key to understanding Pope Francis's effort to lead Catholicism and religion in general in a period not primarily of structural or institutional reform, but of spiritual deepening in light of the global crisis. Halik describes the present suffering not as agony, but pangs of labor." -Massimo Faggioli, author of The Liminal Papacy of Pope Francis

"The Afternoon of Christianity serves to shine a light on the hope that is in the Church and the world. Halik's ecclesiology is one that is badly needed in today's Church, and one from which we must all learn if we are to be the community that we are called to be." -Daniel Cosacchi, vice president for mission and ministry at the University of Scranton

"Tomas Halik is one of the most important public intellectuals of our time, heroic in his engagement with the most challenging questions for church and society." -Janet Soskice, author of Sisters of Sinai

"Tomas Halik is remarkable, always, for his intellectual balance and his pastoral insight. He sees modernity as an opportunity for a recovery of a genuine Biblical vision, deeply Traditional, in a way that can enliven even this 'afternoon' of Christianity, which, he reminds us, is indeed neither an evening nor a night." -John C. Cavadini, co-editor of Pope Francis and the Event of Encounter

"Analytical and prescient, Tomas Halik's stunning theology book The Afternoon of Christianity makes projections about the future of Christian faith in light of the sweeping demographic and cultural changes it faces. . . . An impressive work of theology that's rooted in Catholic teachings, The Afternoon of Christianity applies prophetic sensibilities to the question of how Christianity is changing." -Foreword Reviews (starred review)

"The Czech priest-prophet has penned the most compelling, thorough account of what Pope Francis means by this being a 'change of era' in the Church. The shift is much bigger than most realise, one that requires re-imagining much of what we take for granted." -The Tablet

"Beyond Scripture, few books demand we 'take up and read.' Fr. Tomas Halik's The Afternoon of Christianity: The Courage to Change, however, may just be one of those books. . . . With wisdom only few can summon, Halik calls the church to consider how the most faithful expression of its mission may be in its future." -National Catholic Reporter

"Halik is calling for exactly what Cooke thought we needed exactly fifty years ago.... The self-surrender of the Church is the way forward to its self-transcendence... I think he is certainly of the opinion that without such a radical shift, our future as a Church is perilous indeed." -Commonweal

"Halik is proposing... not that the faith is dying, that Christianity is dying, or that the churches are dying. Rather, for him, Christianity today finds itself in a certain cultural homelessness, in a time where so many social structures that once supported it are collapsing, so that the Christian faith is now needing to seek a new shape, a new home, new means of expression, new social and cultural roles, and new allies." -Angelus

"Because Halik is so loyal to his church, he earns the right to be critical of its current state-indeed, of the state of Christianity in general. Halik considers his church, the Roman Catholic Church, as a part of Christianity; he never treats other Christians as second class or outside the "true" church. (Which is more than can be said of some of us.) The title of his newest book is about all of Christianity, not just the Roman Catholic Church." -Adventist Today