By Louis Bouyer | Edited and with an Introduction by Michael Heintz

Christian Initiation is in many ways a point of entry for the magnificent theological scholarship of Louis Bouyer. Addressing the central elements of the Christian faith in a simple and straightforward manner, Bouyer explains the mystery of initiation into Christian truth and the reality of life for those who profess—or hope to profess—faith in Jesus Christ. Each chapter is a “discovery” of that new life which Christ brings to the believer, infusing each and every experience with the light of his own risen glory. 

First published in French in 1958 and translated into English in 1960, Christian Initiation is presented here in revised translation and with an introduction and annotations by Monsignor Michael Heintz. As in all his works, Bouyer makes the emphasis of Christian Initiation that the truth of the Gospel is a life to be lived in Christ Jesus and passed along, through sacramental grace, to his disciples for the joyful integration of truth and life.

“The vocation of the Christian, enabled by the grace of Baptism, Confirmation, and Eucharist is expressed by a life lived and offered in love: Christ, living in the believer, loving in the believer, forgiving in the believer, all by sacramental grace” (Louis Bouyer).

Louis Bouyer (1913–2004) was a member of the French Oratory and one of the most respected and visionary Catholic scholars and theologians of his time. Formerly a Lutheran minister, Bouyer entered the Catholic Church in 1939 and became a prominent figure in the Catholic theological movements, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with such intellectual giants as Hans Urs von Balthasar and Joseph Ratzinger. A prolific author, Bouyer wrote over fifty works.

Michael Heintz (PhD, University of Notre Dame), a priest of the Diocese of Fort Wayne–South Bend, Indiana, is currently associate professor of Historical and Systematic Theology at Mount St. Mary’s Seminary in Emmitsburg, Maryland.

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Paperback: 170pp.

ISBN: 978-1944418625