Books on Theology/Philosophy

Spanning nearly 500 miles across the Rocky Mountains, the Colorado Trail is an epic, arduous route through some of America's most breathtaking natural grandeur. In the summer of 2022, Fr. John Nepil, priest-theologian and mountaineer, set out to traverse the entire trail as a "thru-hike" with a trio of companions, accompanied along the way by an eclectic rotating cast of priests and young people. This memoir, which is simultaneously a theological reflection on life, Christianity, and the moun...

Dom Jeremy Driscoll offers a fresh approach both to theology and to the eucharistic celebration itself. He sets forth and develops here a method for the tasks of academic theology inspired by the eucharistic rite. There are studies of the foundational role of the liturgy for conceiving the identity of fundamental theology; a proposal for developing a curriculum on the basis of the shape of the eucharistic rite; historical studies on the relationship between liturgy and doctrine; and suggestio...

Why do some religious believers slaughter those who refuse to convert to their faith, refuse scientific evidence for an ancient universe, or hold God to be an utterly arbitrary being? Why do some scientists believe that universes pop into existence from nothing, that aliens seeded life on earth, or that fish turn into reptiles by chance processes? The answer, for both, is the same: the abandonment of realism, the human way for knowing reality. In The Realist Guide to Religion and Science, Fr ...

"The mystery of the human person becomes truly clear only in the mystery of the Incarnate Word." Taken from the Constitution Gaudium et Spes of the Second Vatican Council, this phrase is the foundation of Christian anthropology, an area very often neglected in theological studies. Mgr Jean Laffitte offers us a wealth of reflections on a wide range of themes including the family, love, life, suffering and death, the moral conscience, society, Christian action, forgiveness and the Heart of Chri...

In practically the only recent book in English to give a global picture of the theology of creation, Paul Haffner explores God's masterpiece, the spiritual and material cosmos, from the angels to man and woman centred in Christ. Paul Haffner provides an authoritative, detailed and systematic introduction to this fundamental subject in Christian theology. This is the first volume in a series that has now seen publication of The Sacramental Mystery, the Mystery of Reason and the Mystery of Mary...

The highly respected and influential philosopher Peter Kreeft presents a thought-provoking exploration of sixteen key questions about the existence of God in his latest book, Because God Is Real.For those looking for clarity on their spiritual journey, no matter where they stand on their faith today, this work of popular apologetics is an ideal starting point. Written from an inviting and easily digestible perspective that seeks to win minds as well as hearts, Kreeft tackles important questio...

"Aquinas's Lenten Meditations: 40 Days with the Angelic Doctor" by Saint Thomas Aquinas is a profound journey through Lent, guided by one of the Church's greatest minds. This book offers a collection of sixty-three Scripture-based sermons tailored for the Lenten season, from Ash Wednesday to Holy Saturday. Aquinas explores themes such as deepening prayer life, conquering temptation, and the virtues cultivated through reflection on Christ's Passion. Designed to detach readers from worldly conc...

When the medieval theologian Thomas Aquinas addressed the best arguments against God in his masterwork, the Summa Theologica, he listed only two. The first was the problem of evil: How can God -- who is perfectly good -- exist alongside that which is against Him? His second: Is God really needed to explain the world? In this landmark work, Patrick Flynn presents the best arguments for God while also addressing the strongest objections. This book is destined to become the apologetic gold stand...

This book presents the chief insights concerning the mystery of atonement in the works of four theological guides: John Paul II, Joseph Ratzinger/Benedict XVI, Hans Urs von Balthasar, and Norbert Hoffmann.The author argues for the central importance and perennial value of a theology of atonement, even as she explains the modern aversion to it. The book's central aim is to deepen our understanding of the biblical claim that God shows himself to be love precisely by sending his Son as atonement...

Former prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith Cardinal Gerhard Müller guides you on a powerful personal retreat based on one that he has given to hundreds of priests and consecrated religious across the globe. In these life-changing pages, His Eminence will help you grow in union with God personally and find comfort in His love as you learn to discern and place your hope in the Holy Trinity. Cardinal Müller deftly breaks open Sacred Scripture and the writings of theologians...

To mature as a man is to grow in virtue. And yet, year after year, many of us regress in our fundamental calling for a host of reasons: poor catechesis, modernism, isolation, self-absorption, and, to sum it up, the chains of vice. But God calls us to a life of virtue--that is, a life of faith, hope, charity, prudence, justice, fortitude, and temperance. These theological and cardinal virtues, the "traditional virtues," which this book walks through, are at the heart and soul of the spiritual ...

The Philosophy of Existence, among the first translations into English of the Catholic existentialist Gabriel Marcel, is composed of four distinct essays--"On the Ontological Mystery"; "Existence and Human Freedom"; "Testimony and Existentialism"; and "An Essay in Biography." Together, the essays articulate the integral elements, constitutive terminology, and characteristic anthropology of Marcel's philosophy of existence, and describe its marked differences with the atheist existentialism of...

When one lists the influential figures who gave shape to the modern psychological disciplines, a thirteenth-century philosopher and theologian does not immediately come to mind. After all, what illuminative value could the philosophical treatises of St. Thomas Aquinas claim for the case studies of Sigmund Freud, for example? In Thomistic Psychology, Robert Edward Brennan, O.P., explains how philosophical principles influence psychological practice and inquiry. Although Thomistic Psychology fi...

Social justice: the expression evokes images of protests in the streets, economic and political debates about human and civil rights, unions, wages, welfare programs for the poor, foreign aid, immigration, race conflicts, and even climate change. All seemingly intractable problems. Taking the wrong side of the debate can lead to exclusion from our inclusive society. One thing is always missing in our secular, pluralistic society: God and religion. The Church herself seems to enter the debate ...

Based on his study of great theologians and philosophers dating back to Aristotle, eminent philosopher and physicist Rev. Dr. Robert Spitzer devised his Four Levels of Happiness, asserting that whichever level dominates our lives will dictate our actions and determine the depth and endurance of our happiness. Incorporating examples from science, philosophy, psychology, and everyday life, Spitzer engagingly lays out achievable ways to ascend the ladder of happiness and find the fulfillment of ...

Augustine's Quest for Wisdom, originally published in 1945, is a veritable encyclopedia of Augustinian thought. Meticulously tracing the saint's intellectual and spiritual conversions toward God, Vernon J. Bourke develops a rich study of Augustine as the original Christian philosopher--a man wholly devoted to the love of wisdom. This study has two parts: first, the scholarly career of one of the brightest intellects the Western world has ever known; second, the ecclesial and pastoral ministry...

In this second English-language issue of Sedes Sapientiæ, two prominent themes emerge. First, Fr. de Blignières and Joseph Shaw debate the feasibility of establishing an "ordinariate," i.e., a canonical structure with a bishop, to harbor traditional Catholics. This constructive solution to the current predicament of traditionalists stands in contrast to critical or defensive postures that "custodians of Tradition" have generally been constrained to adopt. Bishop Athanasius Schneider broaches ...

Per Étienne Gilson, "philosophy is a collective enterprise in which no one can pretend to take part unless he is first properly introduced." To provide that proper introduction vis-à-vis the modern period, Gilson and Langan move systematically through the landmark figures and ideas of the seventeenth and the eighteenth centuries. Beginning with the vestiges of medievalism in Montaigne and Bacon, they then cover the interplay of science and philosophy (Descartes, Newton, and Vico); the emergen...

The Glories of Divine Grace: A Fervent Exhortation to All to Preserve and to Grow in Sanctifying Grace We know that through Baptism we become children of God and heirs of heaven--that we receive sanctifying grace and have a share in the life of God himself. But what does that mean in our daily lives? The Glories of Divine Grace describes the immense gift of grace won for us by the Savior and the inconceivable power this grace gives to our lives. Among the mysteries of faith, the doctrine of g...

"Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign of contradiction." For the 1976 Lenten retreat to St. Paul VI and the Roman curia, Karol Wojtyla set this prophecy of Simeon to the Holy Family at the heart of his preaching. Over the course of twenty-two meditations, Wojtyla examines and tests the apparent contradictions in the words and deeds of Jesus Christ-all of which are occasions for profound encounters with God himself. Indeed, the "words a sign...

The Summa Theologiae is a work of astounding breadth and scope: five folio vol-umes of closely packed print, and more closely packed thought; incredibly, it was a work intended, not for the learned and wise, but for beginners. Walter Farrell, O.P., fully honors that intention with his four Companion volumes to the Summa, which together offer an easy guidebook to St. Thomas's greatest work. These are not simply more books about St. Thomas or about the Summa; rather, they are a distillation of ...

The Summa Theologiae is a work of astounding breadth and scope: five folio volumes of closely packed print, and more closely packed thought; incredibly, it was a work intended, not for the learned and wise, but for beginners. Walter Farrell, O.P., fully honors that intention with his four Companion volumes to the Summa, which together offer an easy guidebook to St. Thomas's greatest work. These are not simply more books about St. Thomas or about the Summa; rather, they are a distillation of t...

With this concise anthology of Benedict XVI's lessons on the Christian life--on faith, hope, love, joy, youth, holiness, and freedom--readers find themselves walking side by side with a great spiritual father."Benedict XVI", as Pope Francis reflects in the book's foreword, "knew how to bring heart and mind, thought and feeling, rationality and emotion in concert with one another--a fruitful model of how one can tell the world about the shattering power of the Gospel."The crystallized excerpts...

To help celebrate the fourth centenary of the birth of St. John of the Cross in 1542, Edith Stein received the task of preparing a study of his writings. She uses her skill as a philosopher to enter into an illuminating reflection on the difference between the two symbols of cross and night. Pointing out how entering the night is synonymous with carrying the cross, she provides a condensed presentation of John's thought on the active and passive nights, as discussed in The Ascent of Mount Car...

One day, philosopher Peter Kreeft reads an open letter published by a friend, Nat Whilk. He's Catholic, but he sees the Church as unsteady, outdated, obsessive. As a challenge to the "True Believers", Nat pens a twenty-point manifesto for "cafeteria Catholics", who pass up certain Church teachings and scoop up others like a diner in a buffet line."I find in [Catholicism] both much to accept and even love and also much to refuse and even despise", he asserts. "If you insist on tying God to the...

"What Is Christianity?: The Last Writings" by Pope Benedict XVI, edited by Elio Guerriero and Georg Gänswein, presents a comprehensive exploration of Christian faith's essence, its relationship with other religions, and its foundational beliefs. This posthumous work encapsulates Benedict XVI's profound theological insights on topics ranging from the liturgy and the priesthood to the challenges of modernity and the beauty of creation. It serves as a spiritual testament from one of the leading ...

"Theology in Practice: A Beginner's Guide to the Spiritual Life" by Roch Kereszty and Denis Farkasfalvy is a profound exploration into the essence of theology as the study of God, emphasizing its integral role in the spiritual life of believers. This work serves as a bridge between the academic study of theology and the practical application of its truths in daily living. Drawing upon the rich heritage of Cistercian spirituality and the wisdom of Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, the authors guide ...

The World Council of Churches does not limit its conception of ecumenism to what unites or divides Christians. In a famous 1997 text entitled "Common Understanding and Vision," ecumenism is more broadly defined as "everything that relates to the whole task of the whole church to bring the gospel to the whole world." Moreover, further steps have since been taken toward integrating other religions and faith traditions, leading to a new discipline offering a fully realistic and fully spiritual e...

The life and work of John Henry Newman makes abundantly clear that the work of a true theologian is not conjured in the void of an ivory-tower mind, but emerges co-creatively from mind informed by heart-heart, that is, as an organ of a deep experiential truth-discernment lying beyond conceptual expression. With heart and mind thus attuned, discernment of the heart comes into alignment with that of the intellect. This leads to the discovery of the experience of love in the truest sense, which ...

City of God, cities of men "If God is one, the worlds are many." Meta-Politics: City of God, cities of men explores the philosophical and spiritual basis for political representation and pluralism. Drawing on ancient as well as modern sources, it traces how universal functions have been understood to be "indexed" to particular persons and institutions, and why universals must manifest in a plurality of forms. It argues that, ultimately, the idea of absolute transcendent oneness is the necessa...

Theology is in fact the intellectus fidei-the intelligence of the one faith, the same yesterday and today, composed of distinct but analogical mysteries. The truth is symphonic, as Hans Urs von Balthasar says. It is like one piece of music played by many instruments. The greater the variety of instruments playing the same piece, the better they express the beauty of that one musical score. The same should be true of the multitude of believers around the world. If this is not the case, there i...

This is the first of a series of reprints by Arouca Press. It features an exact reproduction of the interior from the original work published in 1961. It includes a new and classically designed cover. Excerpt from the Preface:The term "dialogue" crops up today more and more frequently. It emerges before the reading public in publications as diverse as Theological Studies, Time, Harper's, or the New Yorker. While this book was never intended by its author as a contribution to the dialogue betw...

Faith as a door is a fascinating image. A new horizon appears at precisely the moment when a man decides to cross the threshold and look out at the reality that is beyond his doorstep. Yet, faith turns out to be an absurdity in today's post-Christian society. Reason would no longer be able to furnish us with certainties, such as the foundational role of truth to undertake the study of any discipline. Consequently, God is nonsensical. But while reason has seen its oblivion, there is however an...

An Arouca Press Reprint of Msgr. Van Noort's classic work that was originally translated into English in 1955. It features an exact reproduction of the interior with a newly designed cover. Excerpt from the Preface: All priests know of many excellent manuals of theology in Latin. Many, however, confess that their long years in the ministry have seen them lose their mastery of that language and, as a consequence, the urge to pick up their seminary textbooks is not too strong. Our own teaching...

This is the first of a series of reprints by Arouca Press. It features an exact reproduction of the interior from the original work published in 1957. It includes a new and classically designed cover. From the inside of the original book:This volume is one of the most interesting in the series. It gives a full treatment of the Church, how it was considered through the ages, what others object to in Catholic teaching and what true theology can prove to be the case. While accurately adhering to...

How Platonic Thought Shaped the Christian Faith What does Plato have to do with the Christian faith? Quite a bit, it turns out. In ways that might surprise us, Christians throughout the history of the church and even today have inherited aspects of the ancient Greek philosophy of Plato, who was both Socrates's student and Aristotle's teacher. To help us understand the influence of Platonic thought on the Christian faith, Louis Markos offers careful readings of some of Plato's best-known texts...

A Reader in the Philosophy of Catholic Education No other living tradition has been thinking about thinking longer than the Catholic Church. With carefully selected readings from classical, patristic, medieval, modern, and contemporary sources, Renewing the Mind proposes the Catholic tradition as the noblest and best hope for a recovery of humane learning in our time. Edited by theologian and philosopher Ryan N.S. Topping, this anthology draws from a range of classical and contemporary philo...

The Dimensions of the Literary Imagination Christ and Apollo juxtaposes Christian definiteness to romantic mythologizing. A strong warning might be in order: anyone coming to this book expecting a comparison of Jesus Christ to the god Apollo or a treatment of Greek mythology next to the Christian story will be disappointed. Lynch's Apollo is not the god who batters Achilles' armor from the shoulders of Patroklos in Book XVI of the Iliad, but the symbol of art as dream reconceived by Nietzsche...

Narrative and the Problem of Suffering Only the most naive or tendentious among us would deny the extent and intensity of suffering in the world. Can one hold, consistently with the common view of suffering in the world, that there is an omniscient, omnipotent, perfectly good God? This book argues that one can. Wandering in Darkness first presents the moral psychology and value theory within which one typical traditional theodicy, namely, that of Thomas Aquinas, is embedded. It explicates Aqu...

Metaphysics and Hermeneutics of the Image Thomas Pfau's study of images and visual experience is a tour de force linking Platonic metaphysics to modern phenomenology and probing literary, philosophical, and theological accounts of visual experience from Plato to Rilke. Incomprehensible Certainty presents a sustained reflection on the nature of images and the phenomenology of visual experience. Taking the "image" (eikōn) as the essential medium of art and literature and as foundational for the...

In the struggle to find the touchstone between faith and reason, modern psychology is often a very problematic area for Catholics. Why? Because post-Freudian psychology is based on a mistaken idea that moral laws lead to neurosis. It argues that we must be freed from morality in order to become psychologically whole. In this powerful and assuring book, Fr. Brian Mullady examines the nature of a healthy Christian emotional life, and ultimately provides the Catholic answer to the problematic th...

First published in 1962, The Metaphysics of Love is both a concise study of Thomas Aquinas's existential metaphysics and a demonstration of the enduring influence of Thomism on Western thought. Penned by distinguished Thomist scholar Frederick Wilhelmsen, this book explores the ontology of the human person, placing it in dialogue with philosophers ranging from Plato, Aristotle, and Aquinas to Kant, Hegel, and Heidegger. Wilhelmsen ultimately narrows his discussion to an examination of human l...

The Ancient Art of Memory Meets the Timeless Art of Living Memorize the Stoics! The Ancient Art of Memory Meets the Timeless Art of Living. The title says it all! Extolling the powers of God-given human reason, Stoic philosophers such as Roman knight Musonius Rufus and his student, the former slave, Epictetus, developed powerful practical lessons for living tranquil, virtuous, loving lives. These lessons were praised by such early Church Fathers as Justin Martyr and Origen. Epictetus's Handbo...

A Primer on Ascetical Theology Do you want to dive deeper in your relationship with Jesus Christ? Are you looking for the deep springs of our spiritual nature? Do you suspect that you're missing the fuller picture of our supernatural life? If so, Glory Unto Glory: A Primer on Ascetical Theology was written for you. Most such books today limit themselves to the practice of prayer or a broad introduction to the spiritual life. Some address moral truth. But few, if any, situate all these aspects...

The Theology of the Christmas Mystery In Cradle of Redeeming Love, John Saward returns to the mystery of Christ's incarnation and birth. Drawing upon both the rich traditions of the Church and the writings of the great Christian mystics, he fashions a work both new and old, revolutionary and orthodox. This profoundly moving meditation on the meaning of the Incarnation will enrich any contemplation on the life of Christ. The subject of this book is the "Christmas" dogma: the divinely revealed ...