Consecrated Obedience Revistited

CONSECRATED OBEDIENCE REVISITED Consecrated obedience must be studied from the points of view of both superior and subject. For, although obedience has usually been related to subjects, obedience has a twofold obligation, on the superior first, and then on the subject. Although obedience has always been a core Christian virtue, it has undergone a great deal of redefinition since the Second Vatican Council. In a time when much attention is given to the abuse of power, especially among religious and the clergy, how are we to understand the gift and virtue of obedience today? What understanding of it is necessary for it to be liberating and humanizing rather than to be oppressive, manipulative, and destructive? This book answers such questions. Contents INTRODUCTION PART ONE CONSECRATED OBEDIENCE: FROM SUPERIOR'S SIDE Chapter 1 For Proper Understanding of evanglical authority 1. Nature of Evangelical Authority 1.1. Authority as Love 1.2. Authority as Service 1.3. Authority as Obedience to the Will of God 1.4. Authority as Leadership Superiorship and Leadership Leadership and Administration Evangelical Authority as Leadership 1.5. Authority as Instrument of Attaining True Happiness 1.6. Authority and Power 2. Superior's Will and God's Will 2.1. Superior's Will as Always Formally God's Will 2.2. Superior's Will Need not Necessarily be Materially God's Will 3. Theology of Command 4. The Future of Authority in Consecrated Life Chapter 2 FOR A PROPER EXERCISE OF EVANGELICAL AUTHORITY 1. Portrait of a Good Superior 2. Exercise of Authority in the Contemporary World 3. Preparing Superiors 4. Collaborative Reform PART TWO CONSECRATED OBEDIENCE: FROM SUBJECT'S SIDE Chapter 3 FOR A PROPER UNDERSTANDING OF EVANGELICAL OBEDIENCE 1. Holiness as Doing God's Will 2. Nature of Consecrated Obedience 3. Intellectual Obedience Chapter 4 FOR A PROPER PRACTICE OF EVANGELICAL OBEDIENCE 1. Are We Always Bound to Obey Our Superiors? 2. Is Religious Disobedience Always a Sin? 3. Obedience in Practice 4. Responsible Disobedience 4.1. Responsible Disobedience and Individual Good 4.2. Responsible Disobedience and Social Good. Responsible Disobedience and Salvation History Responsible Disobedience and Canon Law Responsible Disobedience and Traditional Theology Responsible Disobedience and Contemporary Theology Element in the Church Responsible Disobedience as Obedience to the Spirit of the Law Responsible Disobedience as Obedience to the Law of the Spirit Responsible Disobedience as Expression of the Primacy of Conscience Responsible Disobedience and the Virtue of Epikeia 5. Obedience in My Life