John R. Sommerfeldt, PhD For the medieval Cistercian abbot Aelred of Rievaulx, human beings are capable of happiness because human nature is good-but the self-defeating choices of humans have led to their misery. A loving God leads humans to happiness by nudging their free wills toward choosing the good and then, if they respond positively, giving them the power to realize that good. The …

Hans Urs von Balthasar In this third book, Balthasar presents various ways in which something of the Creator Spirit should be experienced through his manifestations: in the way in which he leads human persons to the living God ("Faith"), in the way in which he distinguishes the spirits of this time ("Crisis"), in the way in which he initiates into the mystery of the Incarnate One ("Night"), in …

The Advocate: The Spirit of Truth in the Life of the Individual Christian Fr. Andrew Apostoli In an age where image is everything and the very idea of truth is often relegated to the irrelevant, it is refreshing to find a book that restores this stable and necessary value to the place of prominence it once held in society when people accepted the truth and based their lives on it. Opinion …

Moral Theology Fr. Heribert Jone An authoritative handbook in moral theology. A classic that went through 18 editions in the original German alone and was eventually published in 9 different languages. This printing is from the 1962 edition, the last in English. Universally accepted throughout the Church as authoritative and recognized everywhere as the best book of its type. It is a handbook …

A Cloud of Witnesses An Introductory History of the Development of Christian Doctrine By David N. Bell This book is a fine introduction to the fascinating study of patristics, the study of the Church Fathers, and reveals how Christians over five hundred years forged the deposit of faith. ". . . a triumph of clarity and concision." - The Canadian Catholic Review ". . . …

The Church lives in the "in-between" times. This book is a sustained reflection on this fact, on the meaning of the Church's life in time. It is at once a theoogy of history and the reflections of a practicing historian on Church history. Each chapter takes up a period of Church history and examines one or more of its central developments in relation to the present. If the Church is in time, …

Catholicism Christ and the Common Destiny of Man by Henri Cardinal de Lubac, S.J. This book first appeared just over fifty years ago. It is the pilgrimatic work of one of the 20th century's greatest theologians. Deeply rooted in tradition, it breaks ground and sows seeds which will bear their fruit in the Second Vatican Council's central documents on the Church. Here, de Lubac gathers from …

"...You've heard it said, 'I couldn't put it down.' In this case that's literally true. ...I enjoyed it immensely. I found the book illuminating and entertaining. You can, in a very sneaky way, teach."  -Most Rev. Edward J. O'Donnell, Bishop of Lafayette, Louisiana "I never knew that theology could be so much fun!" -Sister Marie tucker, C.S.J., of Avila College …

Prepared and co-published by the National Catholic Bioethics Center in Philadelphia, this book is a combination of two lengthy essays written by Cardinal Ratzinger and delivered in talks when he was head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. Both talks deal with the importance of conscience and its exercise in particular circumstances. Ratzinger's reflections show that …

THE PHILOSOPHY OF TOLKIEN Peter Kreeft While nothing can equal or replace the adventure in reading Tolkien’s masterwork, The Lord of the Rings, Peter Kreeft says that the journey into its underlying philosophy can be another exhilarating adventure. Thus, Kreeft takes the reader on a voyage of discovery into the philosophical bones of Middle earth. He organizes the philosophical themes in The …

Fr. Von Balthasar provides us with a wonderful and concise spiritual guide for all who desire to know and love the Mother of the Lord. The acclaimed theologian von Balthasar gathers from the Sacred Scriptures and the richest tradition of the Church the elements of a portrait which shows Mary's place and her relevance for today.

The nature of God is that he cannot be "bound" to one place or time-but he also took finite form, bounded to a redemptive act and time that forever changed the world. The understanding of the Triune God also brings together a certain “boundedness” that cannot be taken in any way to limit the bounds of the Creator. In this treatment on the nature of the Lord, Adrienne Von …

Leon J. Suprenant, Jr., editor Servants of the Gospel is a collection of essays by American bishops on the bishop’s role in the Church today. Written in anticipation of the Synod (worldwide gathering) of Bishops scheduled for the Year 2000 to discuss this very topic, these essays are geared to helping all people understand the unique and challenging task of the successors of the apostles. This …

An Essay on the Devleopment of Christian Doctrine , reprinted from the 1888 imprint, “is rightly regarded as one of the most seminal theological works ever to be written,” states Ian Ker in his foreword. “It remains,” Ker continues, "the classic text for the theology of the development of doctrine, a branch of theology which has become especially important in the …

Josef Pieper The popular Thomistic philosopher and writer Josef Pieper focuses on the thesis of Plato, which at first sight appears strange and unrealistic, that those experiences that advance human life to its true fullness are bestowed on us only during a "god-given" state of "being-beside-oneself". This thesis is then resolutely confronted with our contemporary and above all …

Hans Urs von Balthasar Theo-Logic is the third and crowning part of the great trilogy of the masterwork of theologian Hans Urs von Balthasar, following his first two parts, The Glory of the Lord and Theo-Drama . Theo-Logic is a variation of theology, it being about not so much what man says about God, but what God speaks about himself. Balthasar does not address the truth about God until he …

Conceived originally as a serious presentation of the development of philosophy for Catholic seminary students, Frederick Copleston's nine-volume A History Of Philosophy has journeyed far beyond the modest purpose of its author to universal acclaim as the best history of philosophy in English. Copleston, an Oxford Jesuit of immense erudition who once tangled with A.J. Ayer in a fabled debate …

In scope and in vision Dawson's conception of history ranks with the work of men like Spengler, Northrop, and Toynbee. This classic Dawson work is a conspectus of his thought on universal history in all its depth and range. Containing thirty-one essays selected from his writings it gives a clear and fascinating picture of his achievement in helping to widen our perspective of world history and …

Etienne Gilson The best summary of this book is in the authors words from the forword: "It is the proper aim and scope of the present book to show that the history of philosophy makes philosophical sense, and to define its meaning in regard to the nature of philosophical knowledge itself. For that reason, the various doctrines, as well as the definite parts of these doctrines, which have been …

There is no better way to understand our present world than by exploring the Great Books written by the great minds that have made it. There is no better way to study the beginning of modem political philosophy than by studying its foundations in Machiavelli's The Prince. There is no better way to study the Great Books than with the aid of Socrates, the philosopher par excellence. What if we …