Here is a list of books I own that might be of interest to some of you. I've been collecting books about the Christian faith since my conversion to Catholicism in 1993. (Most of the quoted descriptions are courtesy of Amazon.)
Christian Classics
Harld Gardiner, Ed., Thomas a Kempis -
The Imitation of Christ
PDF:
http://www.catholicplanet.com/ebooks/Im ... Christ.pdf
For more than five centuries, The Imitation of Christ has been acclaimed by people of every faith and belief as one of the greatest spiritual writings of all time. Next to the Bible, probably on other work has been so widely read nor has had such influence. It has provided inspiration and food for spiritual strength and consolation for people of every creed.
C. S. Lewis,
Mere Christianity
In the classic Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis, the most important writer of the 20th century, explores the common ground upon which all of those of Christian faith stand together. Bringing together Lewis’ legendary broadcast talks during World War Two from his three previous books The Case for Christianity, Christian Behavior, and Beyond Personality, Mere Christianity provides an unequaled opportunity for believers and nonbelievers alike to hear this powerful apologetic for the Christian faith.
C. S. Lewis,
The Screwtape Letters
The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis is a classic masterpiece of religious satire that entertains readers with its sly and ironic portrayal of human life and foibles from the vantage point of Screwtape, a highly placed assistant to "Our Father Below." At once wildly comic, deadly serious, and strikingly original, C.S. Lewis's The Screwtape Letters is the most engaging account of temptation—and triumph over it—ever written.
C. S. Lewis,
The Four Loves
A repackaged edition of the revered author's classic work that examines the four types of human love: affection, friendship, erotic love, and the love of God—part of the C. S. Lewis Signature Classics series.
C.S. Lewis—the great British writer, scholar, lay theologian, broadcaster, Christian apologist, and bestselling author of Mere Christianity, The Screwtape Letters, The Great Divorce, The Chronicles of Narnia, and many other beloved classics—contemplates the essence of love and how it works in our daily lives in one of his most famous works of nonfiction. Lewis examines four varieties of human love: affection, the most basic form; friendship, the rarest and perhaps most insightful; Eros, passionate love; charity, the greatest and least selfish. Throughout this compassionate and reasoned study, he encourages readers to open themselves to all forms of love—the key to understanding that brings us closer to God.
Josef Pieper,
The Four Cardinal Virtues
In The Four Cardinal Virtues, Josef Pieper delivers a stimulating quartet of essays on the four cardinal virtues. He demonstrates the unsound overvaluation of moderation that has made contemporary morality a hollow convention and points out the true significance of the Christian virtues.
The book delves into ethics, civics, justice, philosophy, psychology, and I think it is a healthy tool for understanding classical literature: Shakespeare, for example, and the inner psychology of his characters as this moral plain, that Pieper describes, is so much closer to his than most of what we hear in our modernity.
Pieper, here, spends time defining what the classic moral compass is, taken primarily from the last officially sanctioned church doctor St. Thomas Aquinas. Pieper brings Aquinas and other philosophers' language up to date, for the ears of the modern mind. Christianityfs definition has too much to do with how it's enemies, or alterior users, wish to define it and Pieper spends a short time correcting this in places.
Josef Pieper,
A Brief Reader on the Virtues of the Human Heart
Josef Pieper's account of the centrality and meaning of the virtues is a needed primer to teach us exactly the meaning and relationship of the virtues and how they relate to the faith and its own special virtues. Pieper's attention is ever to the particular virtue, its precise meaning, and to its contribution to the wholeness that constituted an ordered, active, and truthful human life. No better brief account of the virtues can be found. Pieper has long instructed us in these realities that need to be made operative in each life as it touches all else 'that is', as Pieper himself often puts it.
Raymond E. Brown, Ed.,
The New Jerome Biblical Commentary
This contemporary verse by verse commentary examines the scientific, literary, and historical content of the Scriptures — reflecting the exegetical variation found within the community of scholars. Features current theories on dating, historical reconstruction, and archaeological information. Provides contemporary perspectives on hermeneutics, theological depths relating to the biblical word, and themes in the Old Testament. Includes articles on Jesus, the Early Church, Gnosticism, and the subapostolic church.
Books by Peter Kreeft
Peter Kreeft,
Love is Stronger Than Death
In one of his most penetrating books, Kreeft ponders the meaning of a terminal illness we all have: death. The three vital questions of Life, Death, and God are approached through a variety of human experiences. Kreeft's book is a new statement of the Christian vision: the meaning of our existence, and of death, is the fulfillment of our deepest desire for the infinite joy and love of God.
Peter Kreeft,
Making Choices: Practical Wisdom for Everyday Moral Decisions
"It's a moral jungle out there," writes Peter Kreeft. In Making Choices he describes why we find decision-making so difficult and living with our choices even harder. With penetrating wisdom, good humor, and common sense, Peter Kreeft draws a map through the everyday jungle of moral choices, one simple enough for the believer and convincing enough for the skeptic. This book clears a straight road through the thorny jungles of skewed modern thinking about the way to live, and does do with the easy brilliance, impish insight, and searching simplicity that have become Peter Kreeft's special trademarks.
Summa Theologica
St. Thomas Aquinas,
Summa Theologica (5 Vol.) (Tr. - Fathers of the English Dominican Province)
The Summa Theologica, St. Thomas Aquinas' brilliant synthesis of Christian thought, has had a decisive and permanent impact on philosophy and religion since the thirteenth century. As the title indicates, is a summing up of all that can be known about God and humanity's relations with God. Divided into three parts, the work consists of 38 tracts, 631 questions, about 3000 articles, 10,000 objections and their answers. This complete edition of the work, published in five volumes, was translated into English by the Fathers of the Dominican Province and first appeared in 1911. A revised edition was published in London in 1920, and in America in 1947. The Christian Classics edition is a reproduction of the 1947 Benziger Brothers edition.
Peter Kreeft, Ed.,
Summa of the Summa
Saint Thomas Aquinas is universally recognized as one of the greatest philosophers who ever lived. His writings combine the two fundamental ideals of philosophical writing: clarity and profundity. He is a master of metaphysics and technical terminology, yet so full of both theoretical and practical wisdom. He is the master of common sense. His major work, the Summa Theologica, is timeless, but particularly important today because of his synthesis of faith and reason, revelation and philosophy, and the Biblical and the classical Greco-Roman heritages. This unique book combines selected essential philosophical passages from Thomas' Summa with footnotes and explanations by Kreeft, a popular Thomist teacher and writer. Kreeft selected those passages from Thomas that are intrinsically important, non-technical enough to be intelligible to modern readers, and most likely to be used in a class or by independent readers who want to study the Summa on their own. Kreeft's detailed footnotes explain difficult or technical passages and call attention to points of particular significance for the modern reader. This book is the most intelligent, clear, and useful access to Saint Thomas in print. Includes a glossary and an index.
R. P. Thomas Pegues,
Catechism of the Summa Theologica
This work follows the outline of the Summa Theologica of St. Thomas Aquinas but presents the Summa, which is a theological treatise concerning God and His creation and spiritual matters, in the form of questions and answers like a catechism. Highly recommended for all who want to understand and study the Summa more thoroughly and more fundamentally.
Catholic Writings
The Catechism of the Catholic Church
John Hardon,
The Question and Answer Catholic Catechism
The question and answer format is the most popular way of providing specific answers to specific quetions about Catholicism. Father John A. Hardon, using the material from his best-selling Catholic Catechism, has put together a book of over 1,700 questions and answers to provide the modern Catholic with easy access to the issues of the Catholic faith.
The Question and Answer Catholic Catechism is divided into three parts:
1. Christian Belief -- a study of the articles of faith as presented in the Apostles' Creed
2. Living in the Christian Faith -- an examination of the Ten Commandments, the Beatitudes and the Commandments of the Church
3. Sources of the Christian Life -- a consideration of grace, the Sacraments, prayer, the liturgy
Keeping in mind that a good catechism must speak to the hearts of the faithful and answer their questions in clear, understandable language, The Question and Answer Catholic Catechism presents the modern Catholic with the essentials of the Catholic faith in a manner that is easy to use and spiritually sound.
Richard P. McBrien,
Catholicism: New Study Edition
A look at the history and future of the Roman Catholic Church from a highly competent observer who has walked the halls of the Vatican with dignity and knowledge. Fr McBrien is qualified to offer opinions on the wrongs and rights of Catholicism from the view point of a participant instead of just an observer..Strongly recommended.
Albert C. Outler, Ed.,
Augustine: Confessions
Augustine:
Our Lord's Sermon On The Mount
Pope John Paul II,
Gift & Mystery: On the Fiftieth Anniversary of My Priestly Ordination
This is the moving story of Pope Saint John Paul the Great's vocation. Its origin in his small family, and its growth as he matured. A wonderful slender volume in which you feel that you have learned much about a great man's outlook and disposition - what made him GREAT! I loved reading it and it also led me to examine my own conscience to see if they were on a par with his Holiness' humility and gratitude to the Lord Jesus Christ.
Pope John Paul II,
Veritatis Splendor (The Splendor of Truth) (Encyclical Letter)
Veritatis splendor is an encyclical by Pope John Paul II. It expresses the position of the Catholic Church regarding fundamentals of the Church's role in moral teaching. The encyclical is one of the most comprehensive and philosophical teachings of moral theology in the Catholic tradition. It was promulgated on 6 August 1993.
Veritatis splendor responds to questions of moral theology that had been raised during the postconciliar period of the Church (events after the Vatican II ecumenical council of 1962-65). These questions revolve around man's ability to discern good, the existence of evil, the role of human freedom and human conscience, mortal sin, and the authority of the magisterium of the Catholic Church in guiding man. In response to these, Pope John Paul II emphatically insists that moral truth is knowable, that the choice of good or evil has a profound effect on one's relationship with God, and that there is no true contradiction between freedom and following the good. Veritatis splendor consists of three chapters: (I) Teacher, What Good Must I Do; (II) Do Not Be Conformed to this World; and (III) Lest the Cross of Christ be Emptied of its Power.
Pope John Paul II,
Evangelium Vitae (The Gospel of Life) (Encyclical Letter)
Evangelium vitae is a papal encyclical promulgated on 25 March 1995 by Pope John Paul II. It deals with issues pertaining to the sanctity of human life, including murder, abortion, euthanasia, and capital punishment.
Beginning with an overview of threats to human life both past and present, the encyclical gives a brief history of the many Biblical prohibitions against killing. The encyclical then addresses specific actions in light of these passages, including abortion (quoting Tertullian, who called abortion "anticipated murder to prevent someone from being born"), euthanasia (which John Paul II calls "a disturbing perversion of mercy"), and the death penalty. According to John Paul II and the magisterium the only potentially acceptable use of the death penalty is when it would not otherwise be possible to defend society, a situation that is rare if not non-existent today (§ 56).
The encyclical then addresses social and ecological factors, stressing the importance of a society which is built around the family rather than a wish to improve efficiency, and emphasizing the duty to care for the poor and the sick.
Kevin Wildes & Alan Mitchell, Eds.,
Choosing Life - A Dialogue on Evangelium Vitae
Evangelium Vitae, or "The Gospel of Life," Pope John Paul II's 1995 encyclical, addresses practical moral questions that touch on the sacredness of human life: abortion, euthanasia and assisted suicide, and capital punishment. Tackling major moral and cultural ideas, the Pope urged "all men and women of good will" to embrace a "culture of life" instead of the prevailing "culture of death." In this book, scholars from a wide range of disciplines―law, medicine, philosophy, and theology―and various religious perspectives discuss and interpret the Pope's teachings on these complex moral issues.
The opening essays establish a context for the encyclical in the moral thought of John Paul II and examine issues of methodology and ecclesiology. A second group considers the themes of law and technology, which are crucial to the way the encyclical views the specific matters of life and death. The final section turns to the specific topics of abortion, euthanasia, assisted suicide, medical experimentation, and capital punishment.
Seeking to promote discussion between the ideas of the encyclical and other points of view, this volume does not attempt to endorse Evangelium Vitae but rather to illustrate its relevance to both private choice and public policy. It will serve as a foundation for further dialogue and allow others to approach the pontiff's thought with new awareness and insight.
John Paul II,
Fides Et Ratio (Faith and Reason)
Fides et ratio (English: Faith and Reason) is an encyclical promulgated by Pope John Paul II on 14 September 1998. It was one of 14 encyclicals issued by John Paul II. Georges Cardinal Cottier, Theologian emeritus of the Pontifical Household and later Cardinal-Deacon of Santi Domenico e Sisto the University Church of the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas, Angelicum, was influential in drafting the encyclical. The encyclical primarily addresses the relationship between faith and reason.
Fides et ratio was the first encyclical since Pope Leo XIII's 1879 Aeterni Patris to address the relationship between faith and reason.
The encyclical posits that faith and reason are not only compatible, but essential together. Faith without reason, he argues, leads to superstition. Reason without faith, he argues, leads to nihilism and relativism.
Saints
One Hundred Saints: Their Lives and Likenesses Drawn from Butler's Lives of the Saints and Great Works of Western Art
On street and city names, churches and other, more personal associations, the saints are always with us. This text presents saints in all their splendour - in both word and image. The selection reflects contemporary interest and patronage. All the apostles are featured, as are the Church Fathers. Also included are saints whose lives and works provide fascinating glimpses into ther holy lives and the traditions and beliefs that have grown because of them. We see Bernini's sculptural representations of Teresa of Avila in ecstasy; Debastian's martyrdom as pictured by Titian; and El Greco's penetrating rendering of St. Martin and the Beggar.
Clemens Jockle,
Encyclopedia of Saints
The Encyclopedia of Saints presents three hundred of the major saints of the Roman Catholic calendar, of celebrations in alphabetical order, and gives information on their lives, the Feast-days, the legends, patronage, places of pilgrimage, and their representations in art. This informative book is a source of enjoyment and education to all those who read it.
John Walsh,
The Bones of St. Peter
In the year A.D. 68, St. Peter was put to death in Rome as an enemy of the state. Roman law forbade him a proper burial and denied his friends even the right to recover his body, so few souls were able to learn his final resting place.
For centuries, tradition held that to honor and preserve the mortal remains of this true Prince of the Apostles, St. Peter's Basilica had been built right over St. Peter's grave.
Not, however, until 1939, did researchers, scholars, and scientists begin sustained, systematic efforts to discover the truth, an archaeological task that spanned 30 years. Carefully studying every known clue while literally unearthing others as they tunneled their way through a tangle of ancient structures beneath the magnificent high altar of St. Peter's, they slowly unraveled the secrets surrounding the burial of St. Peter.
The Bones of Saint Peter is the engrossing true story of how these determined researchers finally solved the puzzle of St. Peter's burial and rescued his bodily remains from centuries of oblivion.
Books About Sin
Ted Peters,
Sin: Radical Evil in Soul & Society
Peters boldly revisits the dark side of human nature and the perennial categories of sin that have been glossed over by our pluralistic culture. Using numerous illustrations from everyday life as well as the social sciences, Peters examines the kinds of evil - both personal and societal - that we all confront on a daily basis. Writing with the goal to both educate and inspire, Peters offers serious theological reflection on sin in a popular style, provides an up-to-date examination of Satanism, and introduces a provocative new theory about how sin works in daily life. An illuminating guide for the educated reader, regardless of field or walk of life, this compelling book forces everyone to ask the question "Am I a sinner" while it simultaneously provides the gentle and much-need reminder that God's grace is available to all who answer in the affirmative.
Gerald Vann,
The Devil and How to Resist Him
Christian de Duve,
Genetics of Original Sin
Increasingly absorbed in recent years by advances in our understanding of the origin of life, evolutionary history, and the advent of humankind, eminent biologist Christian de Duve of late has also pondered deeply the future of life on this planet. He speaks to readers with or without a scientific background, offering new perspectives on the threat posed by humanity’s immense biological success and on the resources human beings have for altering their current destructive path.
Focusing on the process of natural selection, de Duve explores the inordinate and now dangerous rise of humankind. His explanation for this self-defeating success lies in the process of natural selection, which favors traits that are immediately useful, regardless of later consequences. Thus, the human genome determines such properties as tribal and group cohesion and collaboration and often fierce and irrational competition with and hostility toward other groups’ attributes that were once useful but now often ruinously dysfunctional.
Christian de Duve suggests that these traits, imprinted into human nature by natural selection, may have been recognized by the writers of Genesis, thus inspiring the myth of original sin. Is there redemption for genetic original sin? In a brilliant and original conclusion, the author argues that, unique in the living world, humankind is endowed with the ability to deliberately oppose natural selection. Human beings have the capacity to devise measures that, while contrary to local or personal interests, can bring forth a safer world.
Other Books
Michael Casey,
Living in the Truth - St. Benedict's Teaching on Humility
This book shows us how humility brings a basic happiness that is able to cope with difficulties and sorrows. Casey translates the ancient wisdom of Saint Benedict into the modern arena of capitalistic competition. He also demonstrates how people must stop regarding others as rivals and be content with what we have because it is a waste of time to envy those who possess qualities different than our own. Humble individuals are content with both the gifts and limitations inherent in who they are.
Raymond E. Brown,
The Death of the Messiah (2 vol.)
The late Ray Brown is one of the most highly respected Christian scholars of our time. Although he was Roman Catholic his work is regarded very highly among non-Catholic scholars and he was a passionate but fearlessly clear thinker with a lucid and beautiful writing style.
This work is the culmination of a lifetime of serious study and contemplation of the four canonical Gospels. In it he contrasts and compares in great detail the passion stories as they play out in the three so-called synoptic gospels and the fourth, the Gospel of John.
This two-volume work is certainly not an "easy read" but is indeed rewarding and manageable by any general layperson with the will to perservere in study. For example, unlike some works of no greater scholarly attainment, it does not presuppose a knowledge of ancient languages, and can be read in isolation (with occasional use of a Bible), not sending you round to find background studies to try to make sense of what you are reading. I would recommend this work highly to anyone seeking a better understanding of the Passion of Christ.
Raymond E. Brown,
The Birth of the Messiah: A Commentary on the Infancy Narratives in Matthew and Luke
The manger of Bethlehem has always been the cradle of much of Western art and thought, yet modern scholarship has too often raised the question of that manger's reality without probing for the deeper truths which inspired the infancy narratives of Matthew and Luke. "The Birth of the Messiah" is a thought-provoking presentation of the best modern criticism combined with insight into the spiritual concerns of the Gospel authors. Each scene of the narratives is followed by extensive notes and commentary relating it to its Old Testament antecedents and its function in the first-century church as well as to current thought. The result is the first major modern commentary which treats the two narratives together, an inspiring book which reveals the beloved childhood tales of Magi, shepherds and star as theologically profound and relevant for the mature Christian of today.
Soren Kierkegaard,
Works of Love; Some Christian Reflections in the Form of Discourses
One of Soren Kierkegaard's most important writings, Works of Love is a profound examination of the human heart, in which the great philosopher conducts the reader into the inmost secrets of Love. "Deep within every man," Kierkegaard writes, "there lies the dread of being alone in the world, forgotten by God, overlooked among the household of millions upon millions." Love, for Kierkegaard, is one of the central aspects of existence; it saves us from isolation and unites us with one another and with God.
Blaise Pascal,
Pensees (Tr. W. F. Trotter)
For much of his life, Pascal (1623-62) worked on a magnum opus which was never published in the form the philosopher intended. Instead, Pascal left a mass of fragments, some of them meant as notes for the Apologie. These became known as the Pensées, and they occupy a crucial place in Western philosophy and religious writing.
Origen, On Prayer (Tr. William A. Curtis)
W. R. Inge,
Light, Life, and Love: Selections from the German Mystics of the Middle Ages
William Ralph Inge was an Anglican priest who served as a professor of divinity at Cambridge and was also Dean of St. Paul’s Cathedral. Inge was also a well-read author of many books on history and religion. One of Inge’s best books is Light, Life, and Love which summarizes some of the teachings from German Mystics in the Middle Ages.
Holy Rule of St. Benedict
St. Benedict originally intended this text for use in monasteries. St. Benedict highlights the importance of peace, prayer, work, sacrifice, humility, frugality, and obedience. His guidelines are to aid those in the pursuit of godliness, and he shares how individuals should relate to each other, authority, and guests. St. Benedict explains the responsibilities of the Abbott, or community leader, in whose care rests the welfare of the community's members. The Rule of St. Benedict provides tangible advice regarding how a community of Christians can cultivate contented souls that are modest and free from want. This book contains a thorough set of principles for those who wish to grow in God's love by communally engaging in Christ-like disciplines.
Boethius,
The Consolation of Philosophy
Boethius (AD 480-524) was a Roman, a Christian, well-educated in neo-Platonist philosophy (possibly in Alexandria - see Pierre Courcelle, Late Latin Writers and their Greek Sources [Harvard UP, 1969], chapter 6), who had spent his life in philosophical and political activity. The Roman Empire was Christian, its capital was Constantinople. Italy was ruled, nominally on the Emperor's behalf, by the Goths, who were Arian heretics; their capital was Ravenna, Rome kept its Senate and its Consuls (Boethius was a Consul and a Senator). Boethius had been arrested on a charge of treason and writes this book in prison, where he was later executed.
Edmund Burke,
On the Sublime and Beautiful
Burke's eminence in the field of æsthetic theory is not comparable to the distinction he achieved as a statesman, orator, and political thinker; yet it is probable that, in England especially, his political writings have unduly overshadowed his contributions to the theory of the beautiful.
His "Philosophical Inquiry into the Origin of our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful: with an Introductory Discourse concerning Taste" was published in its first form in 1756, and in its enlarged form in 1757; but it is understood that it was composed some years earlier. "It was a vigorous enlargement of the principle," says Morley, "which Addison had not long before timidly illustrated, that critics of art seek its principles in the wrong place, so long as they limit their search to poems, pictures, engravings, statues, and buildings, instead of first arranging the sentiments and faculties in man to which art makes its appeal. Addison's treatment was slight and merely literary; Burke dealt boldly with his subject on the basis of the most scientific psychology that was then within his reach. To approach it on the psychological side at all, was to make a distinct and remarkable advance in the method of the inquiry which he had taken in hand."
Anonymous,
Cloud of UnknowingSome things never change, including the human need to connect with our creator. Prayer and meditation on the divine are techniques that have been used for millennia to grow in the knowledge of God. Cloud of Unknowing documents techniques used by the medieval monastic community to build and maintain that contemplative knowledge of God. Scholars date the anonymous authorship of Cloud of Unknowing to 1375, during the height of European monasticism. Written as a primer for the young monastic, the work is instructional, but does not have an austere didactic tone. Rather, the work embraces the reader with a maternal call to grow closer to God through meditation and prayer.
Meister Eckhart - Selected Writings (Penguin Classics)
Composed during a critical time in the evaluation of European intellectual life, the works of Meister Eckhart are some of the most powerful medieval attempts to achieve a synthesis between ancient Greek thought and Christian faith. Writing with great rhetorical brilliance, Eckhart Combines the Neoplatonic concept of oneness—the idea that the ultimate principle of the universe is single and undivided—with his Christian belief in the Trinity, and considers the struggle to describe a perfect God through the imperfect medium of language. Fusing philosophy and religion with vivid originality and metaphysical passion, these works have intrigued and inspired philosophers and theologians from Hegel to Heidegger and beyond.
Erich Fromm,
The Art of Loving
Published in 1956, the entirety of this work postulates love as an art, one which requires practice and for it to be successful a certain degree of attained maturity. As an art it requires knowledge and effort. Fromm makes allusions to modern cultures starvation for love - `trashy songs', happy and unhappy cinema - and states that most people assume it is something we `fall into' as opposed to the more realistic `standing in' and that a `mature love is union under the condition of preserving one's integrity, one's individuality.' (265).
This is certainly a difficult read if you're not prepared, if you're not to some degree `mature' as Fromm posits. Also of notable difficulty are Fromm's concern with machination, automation and the anologies he draws from the capitalistic market unto man. It's easy to see how the two correlate, and I do feel it's an apt description, but I could also see how people unobservant to how our society functions might miss the parallels. Fromm is also very concerned with parables of the religious sort, which may deter some people from investing in the work as a whole, however, remember this is about `love', first and foremost. Something we all need to remain cognizant of and practice daily.
Bernard McGinn,
The Foundations of Mysticism
In this first volume of the highly-acclaimed Presence of God series, Bernard McGinn explores the origins of Christian mysticism, from early Jewish apocalyptic writings to pre-Christian Greek contemplative thought; the New Testament witnesses; early Greek Patristic thought; and the contribution of early monastic practice. In Part 2, McGinn discusses Western Christian mysticism proper, with special attention to Augustine of Hippo. Of special interest is the now-influential appendix, which reviews various theoretical approaches to mysticism.
Tikva Kensky,
Reading the Women of the Bible
Reading the Women of the Bible takes up two of the most significant intellectual and religious issues of our day: the experiences of women in a patriarchal society and the relevance of the Bible to modern life.
Angelus Silesius - Love
Great Courses Lectures
Fr. Joseph Koterski,
Natural Law and Human Nature (Great Courses lecture)
This course traces the origins and consequences of the theory of natural law. Natural law is the idea that there is an objective moral order, grounded in essential humanity, that holds universal and permanent implications for the ways we should conduct ourselves as free and responsible human beings.
Phillip Cary,
Augustine: Philosopher and Saint (Great Courses lecture)
Long before he was declared a saint by the Church, Augustine gained profound influence as both a Church Father and a Christian Platonist philosopher—defending the doctrine of the Trinity, defining the epochal idea of religious grace, delving into the inner relationship between God and soul, and much more.
Odds & Ends
Will Durant,
Caesar & Christ
Will Durant,
The Age of Faith
Richard Bach,
Jonathan Livingston Seagull
People who make their own rules when they know they're right...people who get a special pleasure out of doing something well (even if only for themselves)...people who know there's more to this whole living thing than meets the eye: they'll be with Jonathan Seagull all the way. Others may simply escape into a delightful adventure about freedom and flight. Either way it's an uncommon treat.
Bertrand Russell,
The History of Western Philosophy
Hailed as “lucid and magisterial” by The Observer, this book is universally acclaimed as the outstanding one-volume work on the subject of Western philosophy.
Considered to be one of the most important philosophical works of all time, the History of Western Philosophy is a dazzlingly unique exploration of the ideologies of significant philosophers throughout the ages—from Plato and Aristotle through to Spinoza, Kant and the twentieth century. Written by a man who changed the history of philosophy himself, this is an account that has never been rivaled since its first publication over sixty years ago.
Since its first publication in 1945, Lord Russell’s A History of Western Philosophy is still unparalleled in its comprehensiveness, its clarity, its erudition, its grace, and its wit. In seventy-six chapters he traces philosophy from the rise of Greek civilization to the emergence of logical analysis in the twentieth century.
Among the philosophers considered are: Pythagoras, Heraclitus, Parmenides, Empedocles, Anaxagoras, the Atomists, Protagoras, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, the Cynics, the Sceptics, the Epicureans, the Stoics, Plotinus, Ambrose, Jerome, Augustine, Benedict, Gregory the Great, John the Scot, Aquinas, Duns Scotus, William of Occam, Machiavelli, Erasmus, More, Bacon, Hobbes, Descartes, Spinoza, Leibniz, Locke, Berkeley, Hume, Rousseau, Kant, Hegel, Schopenhauer, Nietzsche, the Utilitarians, Marx, Bergson, James, Dewey, and lastly the philosophers with whom Lord Russell himself is most closely associated—Cantor, Frege, and Whitehead, coauthor with Russell of the monumental Principia Mathematica.
