Epiphany: A Theological Introduction to Catholicism

Now in its second edition. Renowned theologian Aidan Nichols presents the Catholic faith as a unique source of illumination for the good, the true, and the beautiful. To his mind, that faith is destined to be, and humbly offered as, light for all peoples. For it was as “light” that that the babe Jesus Christ was hailed by the aged prophet Symeon when he was presented in the Jerusalem Temple. The Church has applied the term “epiphany”—shining forth—to his first, pre-verbal contact with the Gentiles, as his mother held him out to the “magi,” the representatives of the non-Jewish nations. Thus the title of this book.

The book is a theological “Introduction” because one could hardly encapsulate all the illuminating richness Catholic Christianity can offer. Still, Nichols skillfully weaves into his own work a truly-catholic gathering of other great lights from the tradition.

This is a traditional theology and, as Nichols writes, “a consciously non-liberal theology, but not, I think, an illiberal one, for its subject is the generosity of God in his revealing Word and sanctifying Spirit. . . It is not a neutral work, since it aims to arouse a 'Christian maximalism' and the boldness to seek in Catholicism’s theological tradition inspiration for present and future.”

This second edition corrects some errors in the original.