One of the things that I am in the midst of doing at present is expanding and cutting my personal library. There are numerous books that I simply do not use or refer to ever so I will soon be making a list of these on ebay to clear off shelf space for some other areas in theology where my library has holes. This summer I am hoping that the PhD is fully submitted and behind me as I then move to venture out into other theological areas of interests. So, to all of my Catholic readers, I would like to ask a favour.I want to make a list of theological categories where the reader would graciously recommend the top five books of their choice within each category that they believe would be beneficial for my shelf and reading. I explicitly want the categories to be within the Catholic Church teaching. Do not worry about repeating titles from other comments as that will only help solidify the recommendation of a book that I do not already have on my shelf. Please forward this to any Catholic blogs or other readers who would be interested in coming here and adding their helpful contributions. Thank you very much!!
Readers, please recommend what you believe would be the best books in the following areas (Feel free to add a subject too along with recommended books):
1) Theology
2) Sacred Scripture
3) Sacramental Theology (The Seven Sacraments)
4) Pastoral Theology
5) Liturgical Theology
6) Spirituality
7) Saints
8) Church History
9) Spiritual Direction
10) Moral Theology
11) Canon Law
* I should say that as a result of my working on a PhD in Eucharistic theology, I do not need recommendations on Eucharistic theology as I have nearly 35 or more books in my own personal library.
21 comments:
Just out of interest, which category does Marian Theology come under?
1. 'Authenticity', Thomas Dubay
2. Chesterton: everything
3. The Fathers, the Encyclicals, and Social Teaching: of course
4. Walker Percy: more or less, everything, especially the essay, 'Why I am a Catholic'
5. 'The End of the Affair.' Graham Greene (yes, yes,'The Power and the Glory' or whatever else).
6. 'B-head Revisited' E. Waugh. Ooops, that's 6, sorry.
As GKC said, it's bigger *inside* than *outside*, so holding it to 5---nearly impossible. My apologies.
James Jordan, The Liturgy Trap
Two books by Fr Paul McPartlan (a friend of our local RC priest)
1 The Eucharist makes the Church. Henri de Lubac and John Zizioulas in Dialogue (Edinburgh:
T & T Clark, 1993; paperback edition, 1994; reprinted, 1996, 1999; ISBN 0 567 29241 X).
2 Sacrament of Salvation. An Introduction to Eucharistic Ecclesiology (Edinburgh: T & T Clark,
1995; reprinted, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005; ISBN 0 567 29299 1).
Available on Amazon and expensive!
Thanks, Joel, but no thanks. I have the book and it's out of date and personality driven. It's up for sale on ebay and plus it is against everything I'm for!! Good try though! ;-)
If you want to add a category, Catholic Social Teaching (related to but distinct from Moral Theology), try Himes, Cahill, et al., "Modern Catholic Social Teaching: Commentaries and Interpretations" (Georgetown University Press, 2004). Good in-depth commentaries on the encyclicals from Rerum Novarum through Centesimus annus. (Don't let the fact that Curran is one of the editors put you off.)
Before you read anyone's church history, stop and read Eusebius' Ecclesiastical History . That will get you off to a solid start.
For Liturgy, I would suggest Pope Benedict's "Spirit of the Liturgy", for Theoloyg, I would suggest his reflection on the Apostles Creed ,"Introduction to Christianity" and "Principles of Catholic Theology: Building Stones For Fundamental Theology", all 3 of which are published by Ignatius Press.
For Church History, I recommend Professor Warren H. Carroll's "History of Christendom" series published by Chistendom Press of Front Royal, Virginia.
Regards from Louisiana Catholic
For theology I recommend Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma, by Ott and Biblical Theology, by Vos. For liturgy I recommend Shape of the Liturgy, by Gregory Dix.
If you read French then get the great Dictionnaire de Theologie Catholique in thirty three volumes. It will cost you about £1,500 but you will know everything.
Theology - Janet Martin Soskice, The Kindness of God: Metaphor, Gender and Religious Language (OUP, 2008)
Spirituality - Anthony de Mello SJ, Walking on Water: Reaching God in our Time (Columba Press, 1998)
For your theology and church history sections, the five volume series "The Christian Tradition: A History of the Development of Doctrine" by Jaroslav Pelikan is essential.
I should note that I haven't yet read Msgr. Gamber's book. I've heard good things about it, however, which is why I've recommended. Two of the other books (*Papal Primacy* and *Turmoil & Truth*) I still have yet to read in full, but I like what I've seen of both so far.
One other point. You may already know the background of Amerio's book; I thought that I should provide a brief explanation of *Iota Unum*, however, given its rather controversial publishing associations.
For better or worse, the company that has managed to secure the rights for American distribution of *Iota Unum* is Angelus Press, the publishing company for the Society of St. Pius X. The late Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre apparently thought well of the book—mostly, it would seem, as a result of having taken Amerio's criticisms as evidence of a widespread apostasy in the Catholic Church caused by Vatican II
To read *Iota Unum* this way is to misunderstand, not only the author's words, but his purpose in writing the book. Amerio's intention was to confront what he saw as distortions of Catholic teaching in the post-conciliar Church and to call the Church learnéd back to fidelity to Tradition. If the book has any flaw, it is that Amerio diagnoses and responds to individual issues but does not provide a broad solution to what he clearly views as a crisis in the Church; this, I suspect, is what has allowed some Catholics to interpret the book as did Lefevbre.
Even so, the Angelus Press connection is rather odd from a number of angles. At several points in the book, Amerio criticizes Paul VI for not cracking down on dissidents in the Church; as one example of this supposed leniency, he cites the pope's much-publicized letters to Lefebvre, whose Society was already in an irregular canonical by the mid-'70s. Indeed, though Amerio obviously held a somewhat unfavorable view of the post-conciliar reforms, he remained in communion with Rome until his death in 1997. The book's translator, Fr. John Parsons, is a priest of the Archdiocese of Canberra-Goulburn in Australia. He says the Mass in the Extraordinary Form with the permission of his local ordinary—a traditionalist, maybe, but not of the sort affiliated with the SSPX.
On the whole, Iota Unum is a worthwhile contribution to the debates of the last 40 years on the interpretation and implementation of Vatican II. For more information about the book and its author, here are two useful articles on the subject, with prefaces written by Sandro Magister, editor of the news website Chiesa:
http://chiesa.espresso.repubblica.it/articolo/1336957?eng=y
http://chiesa.espresso.repubblica.it/articolo/1336884?eng=y
Again, I hope you find this to be of use. Take care!
Pax+
Matt
The comment system isn't working so well, apparently; the comment already published was supposed to be preceded by the following suggestions:
Theology—
*Iota Unum* by Romano Amerio (Angelus Press 1996)
Liturgical Theology—
*The Reform of the Roman Liturgy* (Roman Catholic Books 1993) by Msgr. Klaus Gamber
Historical Theology—
*Papal Primacy* by Fr. Klaus Schatz, S.J. (Liturgical Press 2001)
Church History—
*Turmoil & Truth* by Philip Trower (Family Publications 2003)
Fiction—
*Silence* by Shusaku Endô (Taplinger Publishing Company 1980)
Hope that helps!
Pax+
Matt
For Spirituality, I would recommend "The Way of a Pilgrim". And I'm not sure how to categorize it, it's on the philosophy of married love, but I found JPII's "Love and Responsibility" very good.
Besides anything by von Balthasar?
Above all, "Man and Woman He Created Them" by Pope John Paul II. Basically, his "Theology of the Body." I personally think that this offers a kind of Trinitarian-grounded spirituality that would help all who take it to heart to live liturgically.
I've already suggested five books (and written far too much else besides), but I have a few more to recommend. Hope that's alright. ;)
In the area of historical theology, I would like to second Jay's recommendation of *The Christian Tradition* by Jaroslav Pelikan. Given your specific request, it is worth noting that Pelikan was not a Catholic; a Lutheran when he started the series, he converted the Russian Orthodoxy near the end of his life. Still, the author's religious affiliations won't keep me from giving the series--or at least volume one, which is all I've read at this point--my highest recommendation.
In the field of Church history, you may wish at some point to familiarize yourself with the five-volume *History of Vatican II* edited by Giuseppe Alberigo. Representing the viewpoint of the Bologna School, it can hardly be called an unbiased account. At the same time, Alberigo's narrative and its precursors have determined the manner in which many influential Catholics have chosen to interpret the Council; for this reason alone, it would be worth a look.
While we're on the subject of interpreting the Council, I would recommend this (relatively) short essay written by a professor of mine on the interpretation of *Gaudium et spes*:
http://www.stthomas.edu/gaudium/papers/Schenk.pdf
Okay, that's all. Take care!
Pax+
Matt
Don't touch Balthasar except with a barge pole.
Funny you've separated spiritual direction, moral theology and spirituality. All the more then, under all of those heads:
Garrigou-Lagrange, The Three Ages of the Interior Life: the magnum opus of a neglected theologian.
Pinckaers, The Sources of Christian Ethics Pinckaers died not long ago, this is an excellent work.
On spiritual direction and confession, if you read Italian:
bl. Luigi Boccardo, Confessione e Direzione
and a "popular" text, but very good:
Dom Benedict Baur, Frequent Confession
Saints:
Gorres, The Hidden Face: a study of St Therese
Saward, Sweet and Blessed Country - what ressourcement should look like (this sh'd probably go under dogmatics)
and more eschatology
Pitstick, Light in Darkness: because Balthasar is prolific and very popular - Pitstick mortified herself and read the lot so we don't have to :-)
I don't know what you read as an Anglican, but you might find it useful (as I have done) to read something like Aidan Nichols's After Aquinas and David Greenstock's 1950 article in The Thomist, "Thomism and the New Theology" - the Trower books are popular but useful in this direction to, for getting an idea of where people are coming from. This may all be old hat to you, of course.
Jeffrey,
I am interested in your PhD thesis in eucharistic theology. This is so because I am also pursuing (as a gaol) doctoral studies in Eucharistic theology. I was wondering if, once complete, you would be willing to let me see a copy of it, or lead me to a place where I can find it. Also, I'm interested in your own list of books on eucharistic theology,
Please reply at my email-- jdbratt at hotmail dot com.
In Christ,
Jared B
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