Edward Collins Vacek, SJ is a Jesuit priest and academic who teaches Catholic Studies at Loyola University New Orleans.

Education edit

Vacek earned his doctorate in Philosophy from Northwestern University, and holds the Stephen Duffy Chair in Systematic Theology at Loyola University New Orleans. He teaches Christian Ethics, Christian Love and Christian Theologies.[1]

Publications edit

Vacek has over 60 academic publications,[1] including one book:

  • Vacek, Edward Collins (1994). Love, Human and Divine: The Heart of Christian Ethics. Georgetown University Press.

Reflections edit

In Love, Technology and Theology, Midson points out that Vacek argues: "those who do not recognize their own self-interestedness are usually involved in broad and profound self-deception."[2]

Wong observes of Vacek 1) that God shows preference for Israel in the Old Testament and that thus God's love is preferential. Vacek goes on to say that God's retribution towards to them (again in the OT) is because He is undeceived by them. Preferential love is thus a natural consequence of God's freedom to do what He wants with His creation.[3]

Vacek, for Jackson, holds the opinion that "love has not been central in most Christian ethics and dogmatic theology."[4]

Vacek and others point out for Dillen that by creating a cycle of reciprocity, eros "can counteract agape's tendency to deplete itself."[5]

References edit

  1. ^ a b "Edward Vacek, S.J." Loyola University New Orleans. Retrieved 5 July 2020.
  2. ^ Midson, Scott A. (2020). Love, Technology and Theology. Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 9780567689962.
  3. ^ Wong, Bernard K. (2017). Beginning from Man and Woman: Witnessing Christ's Love in the Family. Langham Publishing. p. 281. ISBN 9781783682713.
  4. ^ Jackson, Timothy Patrick (2003). The Priority of Love: Christian Charity and Social Justice. Princeton University Press. ISBN 0691050856.
  5. ^ Dillen, Annemie (2014). Soft Shepherd or Almighty Pastor?: Power and Pastoral Care. Wipf and Stock Publishers. ISBN 9781630875565.