Books by Robert Butterworth

'Catholicism Revisited' is an attempt to render Roman Catholicism morecredible. The book rests on the author's conviction that a fuller and morecorrect understanding of Catholicism as a religion can emerge only from aradical reappraisal of the salvific role of Jesus' humanity, and of hishuman faith, hope and love, in line with the basic and central doctrines of theIncarnation and the Trinity. Being a Catholic means sharing in an ordinarybut truly mystical way in the spirit of Jesus' human faith, hope and love,and to the maintenance of this insight and the faith-vision of reality itentails all else must yield precedence - the conventional notion of God,the necessary system of Catholic beliefs which support the faith-vision, andthe Church itself. In the course of the book many fundamental issues areraised and discussed, not least the metaphorical nature of theology, theconnection between faith and beliefs, the meaning and use of Catholicdoctrines, the actual experience of being human. It is in the light ofthese issues that the author sees an urgent need to re-imagine the God ofCatholicism. A born Catholic, Robert Butterworth was educated by the Jesuits and spentforty years in the Society of Jesus. He read classics at Oxford andcompleted his doctorate in early Christian theology at the GregorianUniversity in Rome. During more than twenty years as Head of Department hetaught theology at Heythrop College in the University of London and atRoehampton University. On retirement from academia and from the Society hemarried and now lives near London. He has published autobiographicalreflections on his experiences in 'The Detour' (Gracewing, 2005).

Dickens, Religion and Society examines the centrality of Dickens's religious attitudes to the social criticism he is famous for, shedding new light in the process on such matters as the presentation of Fagin as a villainous Jew, the hostile portrayal of trade unions in Hard Times and Dickens's sentimentality.