Description
About the book
This is a reprint of book originally published in the 1980s but its message is still as relevant today as it was when it was first published. In this book two Dominicans, Albert Nolan OP and Mary O’Driscoll OP, write on biblical and theological themes of justice and truth from a Dominican perspective. On truth, Mary O’Driscoll writes that it ‘is evident [that] when we look at Dominic or Catherine or any of our great Dominican brothers and sisters . . . all of these responded to truth not merely with their intellects but with their whole beings . . . [and that] the greatest Dominicans have always been those who have combined the pursuit of speculative truth with that of existential truth, who have known how to maintain these two dimensions of the search for truth, not in conflict but as complementing one another.’. While on justice, Albert Nolan writes that justice is first and foremost an attribute of God. God is just not only because [God] is fair and honest in all [of God’s] dealings with human beings but also because all God’s activity is a matter of putting right what is wrong in the world and all God’s laws and commandments are simply demanding that justice be done. In fact, justice is the distinguishing characteristic of the God of the Bible.’
Both authors were vocal critics of the apartheid regime. What they wrote in the 1980s regarding race, poverty, injustice and inequality, the fruit of many years of study and theological reflection, remains of relevance for today.
Both myself and Albert chose the title When Justice and Truth Meet because we believed that justice and truth are two important characteristics for those who want to live out Gospel values. When justice and truth meet, the human person flourishes and the Kingdom of God becomes a reality. Seeking justice through truth will set us free, leaving no room for injustice, war or apartheid From the Foreword by Mary O’Driscoll OP.
Albert Nolan OP (2 September 1934 – 17 October 2022). Albert was a theologian, writer, activist and member of the Dominican Order. He is well known for his book, Jesus Before Christianity, first published in 1976. Nolan published his second major work, God in South Africa in 1988. In 2006, Nolan published his Jesus Today: A Spirituality of Radical Freedom. In 1990 Albert Nolan received an honorary doctorate from Regis College, Toronto, Canada while in 2003 the South African government awarded him the Order of Luthuli in silver, in recognition of ‘his life-long dedication to the struggle for democracy, human rights and justice and for challenging the religious dogma including theological justification of apartheid’. On 15 November 2008, the then Master of the Dominican Order, Fr Carlos Azpiroz Costa OP promoted Nolan to a Master of Sacred Theology in recognition of the significant contribution he had made to theological research and debate.
Mary O’Driscoll OP. Mary has taught spirituality and ecumenism at universities in Ireland, Italy, and South Africa. Born in Ireland, she is a Dominican Sister of the Cabra Congregation. She lived and worked in South Africa during the apartheid era and taught at the Angelicum in Rome for many years. Her doctoral work concentrated on the theology of Catherine of Siena OP. She has published a number of pieces about Catherine’s life and work including Catherine of Siena: Passion for the Truth, Compassion for Humanity, 1989 and in 2007 Catherine of Siena. She is retired and living in Dublin, Ireland.
