Conscience and Power: The Contest for Civilization in the West

by Dr. Richard Bishirjian

Conscience and Power examines how civilization in “the West” arose after the fall of the Roman Empire and has grappled ever after with a desire of citizens of nations of Western civilization for justice and the necessities of political order. This contest between Western man’s sense of justice and the rule of nation states has had consequences for democracy in America and in the centers of Western Europe, and the reason is that Roman religion was replaced by a new truth of social order–the order of Christendom. Consciousness of that new Christian faith defined a new era, from the 5th century to the 14th century, which historians call “First Europe,” during which period Christian monastics and theologians celebrated faith in Christ and replaced the old order with a new tradition. Their “conscience” contested with monarchs who resisted their claim to dominance and gave us insight into the truths of Christendom. What we in the West inherited from ancient Israel, the ancient Greeks and Romans and an enduring Christendom formed during the Middle Ages, however, is no longer central to the lives of citizens of Western nation states. Because the death of everything living is preceded by a natural process of birth, growth and senescence, death is an end point for all “being things.” Conscience and Power asks, therefore, how much longer can democracies in the West live before they, too, meet their end?

Paperback: $19.95 | Kindle $9.99

TESTIMONIALS

“One of the most significant books of our age.” –Dr. Sebastian Mahfood, OP

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Richard J. Bishirjian was Founding President and Professor of Government at Yorktown University from 2000-2016. He earned a B.A. from the University of Pittsburgh and a Ph.D. in Government and International Studies from the University of Notre Dame.

Dr. Bishirjian was Gerhart Niemeyer’s teaching assistant at Notre Dame. He was an assistant professor in the Department of Politics at the University of Dallas in Texas, chairman of the Political Science Department at the College of New Rochelle in New York and founder of Yorktown University where he served as President and Professor of government from 2000-2016.

He served as a political appointee in the Reagan Administration and in the Administration of George H. W.  Bush.

He is the editor of A Public Philosophy Reader and author of three books, The Development of Political Theory, The Conservative Rebellion and The Coming Death and Future Resurrection of American Higher Education. His most recent work, “Coda,” is a novel published by En Route Books. His most recent three scholarly studies are Ennobling Encounters, Rise and Fall of the American Empire, and Conscience and Power. Ennobling Encounters was published by En Route Books in September, 2021.

Dr. Bishirjian’s essays have been published in Forbes, The Political Science Reviewer, Modern Age, Review of Politics, Chronicles, the American Spectator and The Imaginative Conservative.

For the full story, see Dick’s website.

OTHER ACADEMIC BOOKS

Clerical Sexual Misconduct, Vol 2: A Foundational Conversation

Editors — Jane F. Adolphe and Robert L. Fastiggi

TESTIMONIALS

“What is truly remarkable about this book is the breadth and depth of the analysis of the entire sex abuse crisis from men and women possessed of deep Catholic identity and firmly committed to authentic Catholic renewal.” -Jeffrey Mirus, CatholicCulture.org

This book “belongs on the shelf of every chancery, seminary library and rectory.” It “examines the causes of the crisis, both inside and outside the Catholic Church, such as the role that cultural Marxism has played in undermining the family and sexual morality; the impact of the now-debunked Kinsey reports on human sexuality; and the pernicious theories of Wilhelm Reich that undergirded the sexual revolution of the 1960s…. While comprehensive and packed with scholarly footnotes, Clerical Sexual Misconduct offers an engrossing read, accessible to anyone who cares about cleansing the scourge of clerical sexual abuse from the church and in preventing its resurgence.”-Deborah Gyapong, Catholic News Service

“Over the last decade I have read several books on the subject, often written by disgruntled Catholics or liberals who loathe the Church and who exploit this very real issue to further their own agenda. What I felt was required was an in-depth analysis in order to bring about an authentic Catholic renewal. I believe that this is the book that was needed…. In summary, this is by far the best book on the subject.” -Dr. Pravin Thevathasan, Catholic Medical Quarterly

This book “is valued not only because of its scholarship, but also for the commitment to Catholic orthodoxy of its contributors, who realize that any remedies must be faithful to the liberating truths Jesus has revealed to his Church in particular and to mankind in general…. Clerical Sexual Misconduct serves as a reference work to understand better the key factors that enabled the scandal to develop over time, and also proposes measures to ensure it never happens again.” -Thomas J. Nash, The Catholic World Report

Jane F. Adolphe

Dr. Jane F. Adolphe is called to practice law in the State of New York, USA and Province of Alberta, Canada with degrees in civil law (LL.B/B.C.L)  and canon law (J.C.L/J.C.D). As a Professor of Law at Ave Maria School of Law (AMSL), in Naples, Florida (2001 – present), with an expertise in international human rights law, from 2003 she worked for the Holy See (Pope), Secretariat of State, Section for Relations for States, first as an outside legal advisor for Popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI, then in 2011, during the final years of Pope Benedict VI’s papacy, as an inside expert on international human rights issues within the United Nations System in Vatican City State, and continued into the papacy of Pope Francis, until her resignation in 2020.

While working for the Holy See, in her capacity as Professor of Law, Adolphe established the International Center on Law, Life, Faith and Family (ICOLF), in 2014, as a forum for Catholic jurists guided by the Holy See’s Charter on the Rights of the Family. It was renamed the International Catholic Jurists Forum (ICJF), in 2021.  Under the auspices of this forum, Adolphe has organized multiple international conferences on topics of relevance for the Holy See, some of which have resulted in the publication of books that she has co-edited: Clerical Sexual Misconduct: An Interdisciplinary Analysis (Cluny: 2020); Equality and Non-discrimination: Catholic Roots, Current Challenges (Pickwick: 2019); The Persecution of Christians in the Middle East: Prevention, Prohibition, Prosecution (Angelico Press: 2018).

Robert L. Fastiggi

Dr. Robert L. Fastiggi, Bishop Kevin M. Britt Chair of Dogmatic Theology and Christology, has been at Sacred Heart Major Seminary since 1999. Prior to coming to Detroit, he taught at St. Edward’s University in Austin, Texas from 1985-1999. Dr. Fastiggi received an A.B. in Religion (summa cum laude) from Dartmouth College in 1974; a M.A. in Theology from Fordham University in 1976; and a Ph.D. in Historical Theology from Fordham in 1987. During his time at Sacred Heart, Dr. Fastiggi has taught courses in Ecclesiology, Christology, Mariology, church history, sacramental theology, and moral theology. He is a member of the Society for Catholic Liturgy, the Mariological Society of America, the International Marian Association, and a member of the Pontifical Marian Academy International (P.A.M.I).

OTHER CATHOLIC ACADEMIC BOOKS