"Heart-Rending Ambivalence": Jacques Maritain and the Complexity of Postwar Catholic Philosemitism
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.6017/scjr.v6i1.1820Abstract
Philosopher Jacques Maritain (1882-1973) embraced a quest for sanctity at the core of his vocation as a French Catholic intellectual. Known as an exponent of the teachings of Saint Thomas Aquinas, he also devoted considerable energies to the promotion of democracy and human rights, as well as the combat against antisemitism. Maritain has been lauded for his sometimes courageous attempts to eradicate anti-Jewish prejudice from the Christian conscience, though some prevailing interpretations oversimplify this thinker's motivations and ideas. Keeping in mind the historically-contingent and often ambivalent nature of philosemitism, this article analyzes Maritain's postwar writings on the Jewish Question and his interactions with Popes Pius XII and Paul VI, Anglican theologian James Parkes, Jewish historians Leon Poliakov and Jules Isaac, and fellow Catholic writers Paul Claudel and Francois Mauriac.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2015 Studies in Christian-Jewish Relations
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
All content in SCJR, unless otherwise noted, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License. Under this license, authors retain copyright to their work and full publishing rights to their work, though mention of its original publication in SCJR would be appreciated. Users are free to copy, distribute, display, and perform the work; to make derivative works; and to make commercial use of the work, provided that attribution is given to the original author and that the license terms are made clear in any reuse or distribution.
Authors are required to agree to the following license terms:
License Agreement
I grant to Boston College the right to include and publish my submission in the online journal Studies in Christian-Jewish Relations. I will retain copyright ownership but hereby grant to Boston College the non-exclusive, world-wide, royalty-free right to use, copy, distribute, and display my submission in any format or medium for any educational, non-commercial purposes, including as part of the online journal. Boston College will apply the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License to all works published in Studies in Christian-Jewish Relations.
These rights include, without limitation, the right to maintain one or more copies of the submission in multiple formats for security, back-up, and preservation purposes, and to allow a third party to hold one or more copies solely for such purposes.
I represent and warrant that the submission is my original work, that I have the right to grant the permission in this agreement, and that, to the best of my knowledge, the submission will not infringe upon anyone’s intellectual property rights. I have obtained all necessary permissions to include in my submission any materials created or owned by third parties and any such third party material is clearly identified and acknowledged within the content of the submission.
If the submission is based upon work that has been sponsored or supported by an organization or agency other than Boston College, I certify that I have fulfilled any right of review or other obligations required by any contract or agreement with such agency or organization.
Boston College will clearly identify my name as the author or owner of the submission.
Nothing in this agreement shall be deemed to obligate Boston College to publish the submission.
