Janet E. Smith has been among the world’s preeminent voices in the study
of the issues raised by Pope Paul VI’s 1968 encyclical letter
This collection not only includes Smith’s English
translation of the encyclical from the original Latin text, but also
helpful background on the development and release of this authoritative
magisterial document.
With a particular emphasis on the personalist and
Thomistic philosophy of Pope St. John Paul II and how it illuminates the
two-millennia tradition of Catholic teaching on human sexuality, Self-Gift delivers crucial insight into the Creator’s plan for human sexuality and our full flourishing in Christ.
About the author:
Janet E. Smith holds the Father Michael J. McGivney
Chair of Life Ethics at Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit. She
previously taught for many years at the University of Dallas and the
University of Notre Dame. She is the author of Humanae Vitae: A Generation Later and The Right to Privacy and the editor of Why Humanae Vitae Was Right: A Reader. With Christopher Kaczor, Professor Smith co-authored Life Issues, Medical Choices, Questions and Answers for Catholics. She has edited with Fr. Paul Check Living the Truth in Love: Pastoral Approaches to Same Sex Issues. She has received two honorary doctorates
and several other awards for scholarship and service.
Endorsements:
“Janet Smith is one of the most significant—and one of the ablest—defenders of Humanae vitae
in the English-speaking world. It is a wonderful resource to have her
work on this theme, spanning thirty years, gathered into a single
volume. This book is timely, not only because of the fifty-year
anniversary of the document, but because the need for a defense that
penetrates to the profound anthropological vision at its heart has never
been greater.”
—D.C. Schindler, Pontifical John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family, The Catholic University of America
“Even when disagreeing with scholars who criticize or support the teaching of Humanae vitae
in ways that differ from her own defense, Smith writes clearly and
irenically and helps her readers focus on the deeper issues at stake. An
excellent text for advanced undergraduate or seminary courses on
marriage or sexual ethics, but scholars too will find much to profit
from in these essays.”
—John S. Grabowski, The Catholic University of America
“Students and scholars of all theological persuasions will find these
essays to be required reading. Janet E. Smith demonstrates her keen
ability to make essential distinctions, elucidate key arguments, and
reframe the tired debates that have beset theological thinking since the
1960s.”
—Angela Franks, St. John’s Seminary
“In the wake of the contraceptive revolution the Catholic Church
insisted—contra mundum—that contraception is beneath the dignity of the
marital embrace. For over a quarter of a century, Janet Smith has been
the leading defender of a teaching which was almost everywhere supposed
to be wrong. This volume assembles her finest contributions in a
magisterial collection which should be of special interest to
interdisciplinary readers, especially from the social and cultural
sciences. Students and scholars alike will find this a necessary
resource to assist the Church as Humanae vitae matures and inevitably suffers new attacks. A masterpiece.”
—Catherine R. Pakaluk
Busch School of Business and Economics, The Catholic University of America