We were saddened to hear of the death of author Fr. James Schall, S.J., on April 17, 2019. Thank you for your interest in his book. Please take a moment to pray for his soul and the souls of all the faithful departed. Thank you.
Who does not long for a “sinless” world where nothing we do goes
wrong, nothing we do has dire consequences for others, nothing we do
need make us sorry? But we do not live in such a world. Furthermore, if
we give the matter some thought—as is done in these pages—we come to see
that in such a world we would not even really want to live.
Rather than talking endlessly of mercy, helping the poor, legislating
ever more and newer “rights,” we will find it most refreshing to
become—for a time at least—realists. If we turn a clear eye inward, we
find that the source of most human ills lies, not surprisingly, within
our own souls, in our habits, in our conception of what we are.
A Line Through the Human Heart is not a systematic treatise
on sin and all its consequences. It is, rather, a compilation of many
short reflections upon the issues that never fail to arise for all
people, especially those fully aware that they are living in an
imperfect world. This is a book of quiet insight that enables us to look
at the reality of this world, a reality we ourselves have too often
abused, for only in this way may we come to see it as something flawed,
which we can begin to repair simply by our act of acknowledging what is
right, what ought to be, what we want to be—beings whose sins are
forgiven.
Bestsellers, Spirituality, Theology2016Paperback146 pages5.5 × 8.5 inPraise for A Line Through the Human Heart
“Fr.
Schall offers us a 21st century syllabus of errors all too common in
our culture and country: errors about who and what man is as a rational
creature in a fallen world; errors about the reality of sin and the need
for forgiveness and mercy. Here, as in his other books, Fr. Schall
shows that true happiness for man consists in knowing who he is and
‘what is’—that he find the truth about God, man, and the world.”
— Fr. Kenneth Baker, S.J., editor emeritus of Homiletic & Pastoral Review
“At a time when sin and forgiveness—as
well as the related roles of punishment, mercy, and compassion—are
widely misunderstood, Fr. Schall draws on the Great Philosophical
Tradition and Christianity to illuminate the connection between sin and
free will. With his customary clarity, logical rigor, and concision, he
explains why justice requires the acknowledgment of wrongdoing and
punishment, demonstrating that any attempt to define sin away results,
ironically, in a world at war with reality, in which forgiveness would
be impossible.”
— Anne Carson Daly, scholar and educator, former president of Mount Saint Mary College