Richard John Neuhaus (1936–2009)

Author of Death on a Friday Afternoon

258+ Works 3,045 Members 20 Reviews 6 Favorited

About the Author

Richard John Neuhaus (May 14, 1936-January 8, 2009) was a prominent American clergyman (first a Lutheran pastor and then a Roman Catholic priest) and writer. Born in Canada, he moved to the United States, where he was the founder and editor of the monthly journal First Things and the author of show more several books, including The Naked Public Square: Religion and Democracy in America (1984), The Catholic Moment: The Paradox of the Church in the Postmodern World (1987), and Catholic Matters: Confusion, Controversy, and the Splendor of Truth (2006). He was a staunch defender of Church teachings on abortion and other life issues and an unofficial advisor to President George W. Bush on bioethical issues. show less

Includes the names: RJ . Neuhaus, Richard Neuhaus, Neuhaus. Richard, Richard J. Neuhaus, ed. Richard Neuhaus, Fr. Richard Neuhaus, Richard John Neuhaus, ed. Richard John Neuhaus, Mr. Richard John Neuhaus, Fr. Richard John Neuhaus, Rev. Richard John Neuhaus, Father Richard John Neuhaus, Ричард Джон Нейхаус

Works by Richard John Neuhaus

Popular Recent

Death on a Friday Afternoon (2000) 529 copies, 7 reviews

The Naked Public Square: Religion and Democracy in America (1984) 334 copies, 1 review

Catholic Matters (2006) 294 copies, 1 review

Freedom for Ministry (1979) 177 copies, 3 reviews

The Second One Thousand Years: Ten People Who Defined a Millennium (2001) 164 copies, 2 reviews

As I Lay Dying: Meditations Upon Returning (2002) 155 copies

The Best of the Public Square: Book 2 (2001) 139 copies

American Babylon: Notes of a Christian Exile (2009) 118 copies

Welfare Reformed: A Compassionate Approach (1994) 75 copies, 1 review

Doing Well and Doing Good (1992) 69 copies

The End of Democracy?: The Celebrated First Things Debate With Arguments Pro and Con and "the Anatomy of a Controversy" (1997) 65 copies

The Catholic Moment: The Paradox of the Church in the Postmodern World (1987) 65 copies

The Eternal Pity: Reflections on Dying (The Ethics of Everyday Life) (2000) 46 copies

The Best of "The Public Square": Book 3 (2007) 45 copies

Piety and Politics: Evangelicals and Fundamentalists Confront the World (1987) 45 copies

Biblical Interpretation in Crisis: The Ratzinger Conference on Bible and Church (Encounter Series) (1989) — Editor — 42 copies

The best of The Public square: Selections from Richard John Neuhaus' celebrated column in First things (1997) — Author; Author; Author — 32 copies

To Empower People: From State to Civil Society (1985) 32 copies, 1 review

Christian faith & public policy, thinking and acting in the courage of uncertainty (1977) 31 copies

Theological Education and Moral Formation (Encounter Series) (1992) 29 copies

The Bible, Politics and Democracy (Encounter Series) (1987) 29 copies

Appointment In Rome: The Church in America Awakening (1998) 26 copies

Unsecular America (second in Encounter Series) (1986) 26 copies

The Preferential Option for the Poor (Encounter Series) (1988) 25 copies

Jews in Unsecular America (Encounter Series) (1987) 24 copies

America Against Itself: Moral Vision and the Public Order (1992) 23 copies

Confession, Conflict, and Community (Encounter Series) (1986) 22 copies

Reinhold Niebuhr Today (Encounter Series) (1989) 20 copies

The Believable Futures of American Protestantism (Encounter Series) (1988) 20 copies

Guaranteeing the Good Life: Medicine and the Return of Eugenics (Encounter Series) (1990) 19 copies

The Chosen People in an Almost Chosen Nation: Jews and Judaism in America (2002) 17 copies

Virtue--Public and Private (Encounter Series) (1986) 17 copies

In defense of people: ecology and the seduction of radicalism (1971) 17 copies

Aspiring to freedom: Commentaries on John Paul II's encyclical The Social concerns of the Church (1988) — Contributor — 15 copies, 1 review

Dispensations: The Future of South Africa As South Africans See It (1986) 13 copies

Time Toward Home (1975) 9 copies

Being Christian Today (1992) 8 copies

The Lutherans (Ecumenical series) (1985) 4 copies

First Things (Feb 2009, No 190) 2 copies

Christian Belief, Anti-Semitism, & Salvation History — Author — 2 copies, 1 review

First Things Magazine October 2004 2 copies

First Things, Number 144 (June/July 2004) 2 copies

First Things, Number 67 (November 1996) 2 copies

First Things, Number 73 (May 1997) 1 copy

First Things, Number 63 (May 1996) 1 copy

First Things, Number 133 (May 2003) 1 copy

First Things, Number 93 (May 1999) 1 copy

First Things, Number 103 (May 2000) 1 copy

First Things, Number 53 (May 1995) 1 copy

First Things, Number 113 (May 2001) 1 copy

First Things, Number 123 (May 2002) 1 copy

First Things, Number 83 (May 1998) 1 copy

First Things, Number 163 (May 2006) 1 copy

First Things, Number 143 (May 2004) 1 copy

First Things, Number 153 (May 2005) 1 copy

First Things, Number 33 (May 1993) 1 copy

First Things, Number 173 (May 2007) 1 copy

First Things, Number 183 (May 2008) 1 copy

First Things, Number 7 (November 1990) 1 copy

First Things, Number 17 (November 1991) 1 copy

First Things, Number 27 (November 1992) 1 copy

First Things, Number 37 (November 1993) 1 copy

First Things, Number 47 (November 1994) 1 copy

First Things, Number 57 (November 1995) 1 copy

First Things, Number 77 (November 1997) 1 copy

First Things, Number 43 (May 1994) 1 copy

First Things, Number 191 (March 2009) 1 copy

First Things, Number 23 (May 1992) 1 copy

First Things, Number 81 (March 1998) 1 copy

First Things, Number 11 (March 1991) 1 copy

First Things, Number 21 (March 1992) 1 copy

First Things, Number 31 (March 1993) 1 copy

First Things, Number 41 (March 1994) 1 copy

First Things, Number 51 (March 1995) 1 copy

First Things, Number 1 (March 1990) 1 copy

First Things, Number 184 (June/July 2008) 1 copy

First Things, Number 97 (November 1999) 1 copy

First Things, Number 61 (March 1996) 1 copy

First Things, Number 71 (March 1997) 1 copy

First Things, Number 91 (March 1999) 1 copy

First Things, Number 13 (May 1991) 1 copy

First Things, Number 101 (March 2000) 1 copy

First Things, Number 111 (March 2001) 1 copy

First Things, Number 121 (March 2002) 1 copy

First Things, Number 131 (March 2003) 1 copy

First Things, Number 141 (March 2004) 1 copy

First Things, Number 151 (March 2005) 1 copy

First Things, Number 161 (March 2006) 1 copy

First Things, Number 171 (March 2007) 1 copy

First Things, Number 181 (March 2008) 1 copy

First Things, Number 3 (May 1990) 1 copy

First Things, Number 87 (November 1998) 1 copy

First Things, Number 116 (October 2001) 1 copy

First Things, Number 107 (November 2000) 1 copy

First Things: August/September 1996, Number 65 1 copy

Le ultime parole di Gesù dalla croce (2001) 1 copy

The World Council of Churches and radical chic (1977) 1 copy

The Way They Were, The Way We Are (2020) 1 copy

First Things, November 2003 Number 137 1 copy

First Things, December 2003, Number 138 1 copy

First Things, January 1996, Number 59 1 copy

First Things, June/July 2004, Number 144 1 copy

Christianity and Politics 1 copy

Democracy and the Renewal of Public Education 1 copy

Als ich im Sterben lag (2007) 1 copy

This World: A Journal of Religion and Public Life (Volume 21, Spring 1988) 1 copy

First Things, Number 186 (October 2008) 1 copy

UnsecularAmerica. Essays by Paul Johnson, Everett Carll Ladd, George M. Marsden, and Richard John Neuhaus. Foreword by Richard John Neuhause 1 copy

La verdad (2015) 1 copy

℗Lo ℗splendore della verit©: perch©♭ sono diventato cattolico (e sono felice di esserlo) 1 copy

Very selective compassion. (religious liberals): An article from: First Things: A Monthly Journal of Religion and Public Life (1998) 1 copy

A Voice in the Relativistic Wilderness 1 copy, 1 review

Who, NOW, Will Shape the Meaning of America? 1 copy, 1 review

Humane Vitae Conference, 1993, Tape 1, This is the Catholic Moment 1 copy

Humanae Vitae Conference: This is a Catholic Moment 1 copy

Union with God, according to the letters of direction from Don Marmion 1 copy

Invitation to the Talmud (1975) 1 copy

Mirtis penktadienio popietę: septynių paskutinių Jėzaus žodžių apmąstymas (2013) 1 copy

First Things, Number 176 (October 2007) 1 copy

First Things, Number 117 (November 2001) 1 copy

First Things, Number 36 (October 1993) 1 copy

First Things, Number 127 (November 2002) 1 copy

First Things, Number 137 (November 2003) 1 copy

First Things, Number 147 (November 2004) 1 copy

First Things, Number 157 (November 2005) 1 copy

First Things, Number 167 (November 2006) 1 copy

First Things, Number 177 (November 2007) 1 copy

First Things, Number 187 (November 2008) 1 copy

First Things, Number 6 (October 1990) 1 copy

First Things, Number 16 (October 1991) 1 copy

First Things, Number 26 (October 1992) 1 copy

First Things, Number 46 (October 1994) 1 copy

First Things, Number 166 (October 2006) 1 copy

First Things, Number 56 (October 1995) 1 copy

First Things, Number 66 (October 1996) 1 copy

First Things, Number 76 (October 1997) 1 copy

First Things, Number 86 (October 1998) 1 copy

First Things, Number 96 (October 1999) 1 copy

First Things, Number 106 (October 2000) 1 copy

First Things, Number 164 (June/July 2006) 1 copy

First Things, Number 126 (October 2002) 1 copy

First Things, Number 136 (October 2003) 1 copy

First Things, Number 146 (October 2004) 1 copy

First Things, Number 156 (October 2005) 1 copy

First Things, Number 174 (June/July 2007) 1 copy

First Things, Number 179 (January 2008) 1 copy

First Things, Number 154 (June/July 2005) 1 copy

First Things, Number 165 (August/September 2006) 1 copy

First Things, Number 55 (August/September 1995) 1 copy

First Things, Number 65 (August/September 1996) 1 copy

First Things, Number 75 (August/September 1997) 1 copy

First Things, Number 85 (August/September 1998) 1 copy

First Things, Number 95 (August/September 1999) 1 copy

First Things, Number 105 (August/September 2000) 1 copy

First Things, Number 115 (August/September 2001) 1 copy

First Things, Number 125 (August/September 2002) 1 copy

First Things, Number 135 (August/September 2003) 1 copy

First Things, Number 145 (August/September 2004) 1 copy

First Things, Number 155 (August/September 2005) 1 copy

First Things, Number 175 (August/September 2007) 1 copy

First Things, Number 35 (August/September 1993) 1 copy

First Things, Number 185 (August/September 2008) 1 copy

First Things, Number 8 (December 1990) 1 copy

First Things, Number 18 (December 1991) 1 copy

First Things, Number 28 (December 1992) 1 copy

First Things, Number 38 (December 1993) 1 copy

First Things, Number 48 (December 1994) 1 copy

First Things, Number 58 (December 1995) 1 copy

First Things, Number 68 (December 1996) 1 copy

First Things, Number 78 (December 1997) 1 copy

First Things, Number 88 (December 1998) 1 copy

First Things, Number 98 (December 1999) 1 copy

First Things, Number 45 (August/September 1994) 1 copy

First Things, Number 25 (August/September 1992) 1 copy

First Things, Number 118 (December 2001) 1 copy

First Things, Number 82 (April 1998) 1 copy

'Kierkegaard for Grownups' in First Things 146, Oct 2004 [from intro to K's 'Training in Christianity'] 1 copy

'Marching onward' in TLS 5124, 15 June 2001 [review of various books on American religion in late C20th] 1 copy

First Things 10/08 1 copy

First Things, Number 2 (April 1990) 1 copy

First Things, Number 12 (April 1991) 1 copy

First Things, Number 22 (April 1992) 1 copy

First Things, Number 32 (April 1993) 1 copy

First Things, Number 42 (April 1994) 1 copy

First Things, Number 52 (April 1995) 1 copy

First Things, Number 62 (April 1996) 1 copy

First Things, Number 72 (April 1997) 1 copy

First Things, Number 92 (April 1999) 1 copy

First Things, Number 15 (August/September 1991) 1 copy

First Things, Number 102 (April 2000) 1 copy

First Things, Number 112 (April 2001) 1 copy

First Things, Number 122 (April 2002) 1 copy

First Things, Number 132 (April 2003) 1 copy

First Things, Number 142 (April 2004) 1 copy

First Things, Number 152 (April 2005) 1 copy

First Things, Number 162 (April 2006) 1 copy

First Things, Number 172 (April 2007) 1 copy

First Things, Number 182 (April 2008) 1 copy

First Things, Number 192 (April 2009) 1 copy

First Things, Number 5 (August/September 1990) 1 copy

First Things, Number 108 (December 2000) 1 copy

First Things, Number 128 (December 2002) 1 copy

First Things, Number 134 (June/July 2003) 1 copy

First Things, Number 4 (June/July 1990) 1 copy

First Things, Number 79 (January 1998) 1 copy

First Things, Number 89 (January 1999) 1 copy

First Things, Number 99 (January 2000) 1 copy

First Things, Number 109 (January 2001) 1 copy

First Things, Number 119 (January 2002) 1 copy

First Things, Number 129 (January 2003) 1 copy

First Things, Number 139 (January 2004) 1 copy

First Things, Number 149 (January 2005) 1 copy

First Things, Number 159 (January 2006) 1 copy

First Things, Number 169 (January 2007) 1 copy

First Things, Number 189 (January 2009) 1 copy

First Things, Number 14 (June/July 1991) 1 copy

First Things, Number 59 (January 1996) 1 copy

First Things, Number 24 (June/July 1992) 1 copy

First Things, Number 34 (June/July 1993) 1 copy

First Things, Number 44 (June/July 1994) 1 copy

First Things, Number 54 (June/July 1995) 1 copy

First Things, Number 64 (June/July 1996) 1 copy

First Things, Number 74 (June/July 1997) 1 copy

First Things, Number 84 (June/July 1998) 1 copy

First Things, Number 94 (June/July 1999) 1 copy

First Things, Number 104 (June/July 2000) 1 copy

First Things, Number 114 (June/July 2001) 1 copy

First Things, Number 124 (June/July 2002) 1 copy

First Things, Number 69 (January 1997) 1 copy

First Things, Number 49 (January 1995) 1 copy

First Things, Number 138 (December 2003) 1 copy

First Things, Number 80 (February 1998) 1 copy

First Things, Number 148 (December 2004) 1 copy

First Things, Number 168 (December 2006) 1 copy

First Things, Number 178 (December 2007) 1 copy

First Things, Number 188 (December 2008) 1 copy

First Things, Number 10 (February 1991) 1 copy

First Things, Number 20 (February 1992) 1 copy

First Things, Number 30 (February 1993) 1 copy

First Things, Number 40 (February 1994) 1 copy

First Things, Number 50 (February 1995) 1 copy

First Things, Number 60 (February 1996) 1 copy

First Things, Number 70 (February 1997) 1 copy

First Things, Number 90 (February 1999) 1 copy

First Things, Number 39 (January 1994) 1 copy

First Things, Number 100 (February 2000) 1 copy

First Things, Number 110 (February 2001) 1 copy

First Things, Number 120 (February 2002) 1 copy

First Things, Number 130 (February 2003) 1 copy

First Things, Number 140 (February 2004) 1 copy

First Things, Number 150 (February 2005) 1 copy

First Things, Number 160 (February 2006) 1 copy

First Things, Number 170 (February 2007) 1 copy

First Things, Number 180 (February 2008) 1 copy

First Things, Number 9 (January 1991) 1 copy

First Things, Number 19 (January 1992) 1 copy

First Things, Number 29 (January 1993) 1 copy

The Many Meanings of Christian America [The Thomas Aquinas College Lecture Series: October 2001] (2001) 1 copy

Work Explorer

Associated Works

God with Us (2007) — Contributor — 185 copies, 2 reviews

The Best American Spiritual Writing 2008 (2008) — Contributor — 89 copies, 4 reviews

Vatican II: Renewal within Tradition (2008) — Contributor — 84 copies

Springtime of Evangelization (1999) — Preface, some editions — 70 copies

All Theology Is Christology: Essays in Honor of David P. Scaer (2000) — Contributor — 60 copies

Homosexuality and American Public Life (1999) — Contributor — 46 copies

Good Order: Right Answers to Contemporary Questions (1995) — Contributor — 25 copies

By What Authority?: The Vital Questions of Religious Authority in Christianity (2010) — Contributor — 5 copies

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Main Associated

ABC (17) Apologetics (16) biography (15) Catholic (33) Catholic Church (12) Catholicism (54) Christian (17) Christian living (9) Christianity (46) Church History (12) culture (36) death (19) democracy (14) essays (12) ethics (22) Good Friday (16) history (26) Jesus (17) Lent (13) Meditations (14) Ministry (14) non-fiction (31) Pastoral Theology (10) philosophy (20) politics (66) religion (98) religion and politics (11) spirituality (21) Theology (63) to-read (37)

Common Knowledge

Birthdate: 1936-05-14
Date of death: 2009-01-09
Gender: male
Education: Lutheran Concordia College [Austin, Texas, USA]
Occupations: cleric
Nationality: Canada (birth)
USA (naturalized)
Birthplace: Pembroke, Ontario, Canada
Places of residence: Pembroke, Ontario, Canada
Austin, Texas, USA
Brooklyn, New York, USA
Rockford, Illinois, USA
New York, New York, USA
Place of death: New York, New York, USA
Associated Place (for map): USA

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Fr. Richard John Neuhaus, 1936-2009 in Catholic Tradition (December 2009)

Reviews

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23 reviews

sergerca 74 reviews

Death on a Friday Afternoon: Meditations on the Last Words of Jesus from the Cross by Richard John Neuhaus

I've read this book every Lent for three years and I don't intend to stop doing so anytime soon. While my search has been far from exhaustive, I've yet to find a better book than Fr. Richard's deep meditations on the last words of Christ from the Cross.

Each year I find new passages that strike me. It seems that someday the entire book will be highlighted and every page tabbed. His proposal, and reasoning that, in the end, all will be saved is both comforting and challenging. But this is not show more a "feel good" Christian book. Far from it. And, yet, it's also not a book aiming to pile on the guilt for being the fallen human beings we are.

Fr. Richard tells reminds us that, "the worst that could possibly happen has already happened." But that is not where it ends. The crucifixion of Christ was a glorious event! "We preach Christ crucified," as St. Paul wrote. Surely, in this life, we'll not understand even a fraction of a fraction of the totality of what was done on that Friday afternoon. But there are dimensions of it that can understand, and Fr. Richard helps us to do that better than anyone else that I've read.

There are so many passages worth sharing, but this is my favorite:

"The Christian life is about living to the glory of God. It is not a driven, frenetic, sweated, interminable quest for saving souls. It is doing for his glory what God has given us to do. As with the Olympic runner in the film "Chariots of Fire," it is giving God pleasure in what we do well. Souls are saved by saved souls who live out their salvation by thinking and living differently, with a martyr's resolve, in a world marked by falsehood, baseness, injustice, impurity, ugliness, and mediocrity." show less

May 6, 2011 (Edited)6 other reviews

StFrancisofAssisi 2,419 reviews

Catholic Matters: Confusion, Controversy, and the Splendor of Truth by Richard John Neuhaus

Millions of people journeyed to Rome in April 2005 to say farewell to Pope John Paul II. As televisions beamed these images into American homes, it became undeniably clear that Catholic matters really matter, and not only to Catholics. In Catholic Matters, Father Neuhaus addresses the many controversies that have marked recent decades of American Catholicism: the battles over the meaning of the Second Vatican Council, the "destabilizing" of the liturgy, the declining number of priests, and show more the sexual abuse scandals. Looking beyond these troubles to "the splendor of truth" by which the Church is constituted, he proposes a vibrant, forward-thinking way of being Catholic in America. Drawing on his personal encounters with the late John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI, Father Neuhaus describes their hope for a springtime of world evangelization, Christian unity, and Catholic renewal. Catholic Matters shows a vibrant Church-one strengthened and unified by hardship-that is on the cusp of a great revival in her spiritual vitality and an even greater contribution to our common life. show less

Sep 11, 2024

LudieGrace 242 reviews

Death On A Friday Afternoon: Meditations On The Last Words Of Jesus From The Cross by Richard John Neuhaus

Hmm. I was torn about how to rate this book; I guess I'd give it a 3 1/2 if I could. It was the first Neuhaus book I read, and, to be honest, I now think I enjoy his thought as a cultural commentator more than as a theologian.

I was looking forward to reading it during Holy Week, and it truly did contain some wonderful meditations on the Cross, which alone made it well worth reading. However, I felt that Neuhaus veered off his meditative course rather distractingly at times, and I found some show more of his thoughts on universalism and soteriology troubling. Occasionally he just went on too long.

For someone who worked so closely with evangelicals, he sometimes sounded, to my admittedly ultra-sensitive ears, a bit straw-mannish in his appraisals of Protestant theology. And I just don't really feel like debating what happened on the Cross when I'm reading this book on Good Friday. Still, for all that...an undeniably rich and well-written book by a godly man with a pastoral heart. show less

Aug 10, 20206 other reviews

jeterat 86 reviews

Death On A Friday Afternoon: Meditations On The Last Words Of Jesus From The Cross by Richard John Neuhaus

An absolutely beautiful and punchy meditation on the Seven Last Words of Christ. Neuhaus has a sledgehammer style which is fairly unusual in meditative works, but highly effective when reviewing the Passion of Christ. Excited to read other books by him and to follow up on references he made in this work. Highly recommend.

Apr 10, 20206 other reviews

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