A Resource Guide to Books by Pope Benedict XVI

Learning about Jesus Christ

Perhaps one of the most compelling books on Christ in recent years is Jesus of Nazareth by Pope Benedict XVI. Over the past decades, “popular” depictions have distorted Jesus and how people perceive His message. In this book, Pope Benedict XVI seeks to restore the image of Jesus to His true identity as revealed in the Gospels. The book is newly available in paperback and now a great Jesus of Nazareth Study Guide is available for purchase as well. Designed for individual study or for group/parish discussion, this guide has the following features for each section and chapter of Jesus of Nazareth: a reader-friendly summary, an outline, a list of key terms, questions for understanding, reflection, application and discussion, and a section for readers to include their personal reflections on the reading. The study guide is not meant to replace the book but to be used in conjunction with it, to make the book more accessible to readers.

The History of the Church

The rich and beautiful aspects that make up the history of the Church is something that is often overlooked by many in today’s rushed world. Knowing the history that shaped the Church in which we still worship after two millennia is a valuable way to help us live the Faith in this modern world. Pope Benedict XVI, both as pope and in the years before his papacy, has written books and given many talks that help us to discover and understand the history of the True Faith, such as:

• The Apostles, a collection of Wednesday audiences in which Pope Benedict reflects on the teachings of the Apostles and the life of the early Church.

• The Fathers, in which the Pope describes the vital roles of Church Fathers such as Saint Clement, Saint Ignatius of Antioch, and Saint John Chrysostom.

• Jesus, the Apostles, and the Early Church, which describes the relationship between Jesus and the early Church and how the early followers of Christ spread His message to the world.

The Church in Modern Society

Given the troubling hold of secularism on so many people, and the disarray and immorality of modern society, Pope Benedict XVI has also written and spoken on society and how Catholics are called to live within it. Some titles of interest include Europe Today and Tomorrow, Handing on the Faith in and Age of Disbelief, the Dialectics of Secularization, and Values in a Time of Upheaval.

Encyclicals

Aquinas and More also carries the encyclical letters of Pope Benedict XVI:

• God is Love, the Pope’s first encyclical, which explains the unity of love in Creation and in Salvation and the practice of love by the Church as a “Community of Love.”

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